Still Not Safe [M&M 2nd ed]

[Cubey]

((I totally forgot about it... anyway, its fate was grisly. It slowly turned from glass to fleshy carapace, and only after that did it dissolve. The process took a few hours, but eventually you were left with nothing.))

[Matar]

((I will find a way to get a souvenir! Or at the very least, cook and eat some of it. For the lulz.))

((-edit: Actually...))

Todd also dreams about finishing off one of the SE's and eating it. It's a really weird dream.

[Haven]

Lorne looks for someone to make contact with (uh, figuratively) about his status or position in this facility's labs, hoping he still has one.

[Cubey]

Lorne looks for someone who can answer him, and finds one - professor Kovak, a rather young (looks slightly less than 30) person for her accomplishments. You remember her for being a genius physicist, who was working as a vice chancellor of one German university or another (the exact location escapes you) before being hired by SECT.
"Lorne Leander." She moves a stray lock of brown hair out of her eyes. "I didn't expect to see you here. But now that you are around, help us analyze this data." She looks around, taking a few steps to a cluttered desk to grab a stray report. She hands it to you. "You had first hand experience - that's something irreplacable."

The report is about SE01A. To be more precise, its ability to travel underground.
You feel like wincing on a mention of Platonic world of ideas in the report. How unscientific! It provides loose speculation on why SEs cannot travel through Earth (it is a very solid idea, so it exists when Shifting and you cannot move through it), but that speculation was just proved incorrect, as you witnessed yourself when dealing with that monstrous spider-human mix.

[Haven]

But now that you are around, help us analyze this data."

Data's something of a strong word for this.

The report is about SE01A. To be more precise, its ability to travel underground.
You feel like wincing on a mention of Platonic world of ideas in the report. How unscientific! It provides loose speculation on why SEs cannot travel through Earth (it is a very solid idea, so it exists when Shifting and you cannot move through it), but that speculation was just proved incorrect, as you witnessed yourself when dealing with that monstrous spider-human mix.

Lorne hides his amusement.

"Actually, I was wondering something while I was reading the report prior to the mission, Dr. Kovac. Since 01B's trajectory was absolutely straight from the time of its detection by Stork's Nest until it entered the atmosphere, we could calculate a possible path. If we matched it up with galactic mapping data from Hubbard and Stork's Nest, I think we could come up with some possibilities for its point of origin.

"Also, speaking of my first-hand experience...my armor should have been relaying all its telemetry on the SEs. Did you receive that data?"

Spoiler

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Taking 10 on any needed knowledge rolls to analyze the data.

[Cubey]

"We received your data - both of us know how important it is. Good work. As for the trajectory..." Miss Kovak looks very content of herself. "We analyzed it already. It confirms earlier theories - the relative position of any nearby planets to arriving SEs changes, so it is unlikely they are the point of origin. But if you look at a larger scale..." She browses through the papers she carries. Finally, with a satisfied smile, she grabs one and gives it to you - map of the nearest universe, with a straight line drawn in.
"Groombridge 34. That's the closest star... a binary star system, actually, that SEs could come from. Or at least that's what they want us to believe - don't be easily deceived. We must make sure that space-types do not change their path of travel while in space before this hypothesis turns into a viable theory."

As for 01A's data... you are stumped. You have no idea why it acted the way it did. It might be that SEs could travel through the Earth all the time before, but they simply chose not to... or maybe they originate from Earth itself (which makes sense since the others originate from space, seemingly from a star system - but doesn't it mean Earth-based ones should come from the Sun instead?), and lose the ability to re-enter it once they emerge from the surface... but it's all speculation, and you don't find any data that neither confirms nor denies it.

[Fri]

James only bring his duffelbag with him, beside his bike, which is as far as he know, will be fairly useless in the island so he left it on the coast.

After throwing his bag inside his cupboard, he lies down on the nearest beach chair with headphone on his ears, pulls his shades up, and start writing deep, emotional lyric that mirrors his burdened yet cool soul in his notebook.

"What rhymes with orange..." he deeply ponders.

(OOC: He's either in the beach or the pool, wherever people are, because simply put, as cool and loneful he is, he still need interaction...)

[Tengu_temp]

"Mhm. I hope he won't do that again." Emi responds to Lorne's words with a slight nod and waves, before leaving for her room.
Hmm. I'll have two computers now... One of the reasons for her abundance of baggage explained, it seems. It takes her a longer while to carry all the things into her room, and then even more to unpack at least the essentials and put them into a configuration that reminds her of her old room.
When Emi's done roughly an hour later, she leaves the room to explore the island, taking the guitar with her - maybe she'll find a nice, private place where she could practice her music. Coincidence draws her towards the pool, though.

[Cubey]

The pool is situated in a part of the base that seems to be dedicated to various forms of recreation - sports, reading, a park (with Todd sleeping somewhere under a tree, no doubt). Arriving here, you even caught glimpse of a small shopping mall.
The swimming area is indoors - in a way, as the building's roof is openable, and at the moment it is indeed open. The pool itself is quite standard, designed for swimming races rather than just splashing around. Except for a small number of staff who are keeping an eye out on the whole facility, there is nobody here but you - no one swims in the water. At least yet. Maybe everyone is too busy working.

Oh yeah, and beaches are hard to come by on the island (its shoreline are mostly steep cliffs, and what aren't cliffs is taken by the port), so James went to the pool.

[kamikasei]

Cat does unpack, but doesn't take too long about it, so Andy shouldn't have to spend much time waiting. Besides her clothes and other necessities, there isn't much: a couple of books go on the shelves, a plush penguin on the desk; a tablet-netbook she leaves beside the desktop machine, deferring the task of figuring out how to hook it in to the base's systems (if that's even possible) until later. Her phone/music player she keeps with her. When she meets Andy to track down the pool, she's in the same jeans-and-tshirt outfit from the flight, though she's braided up her hair. In their chitchat while hunting for the exercise facilities, she manages to limit herself to occasional amused looks out of the corner of her eye at his rather impractical getup.

At the pool, it's clear she wasn't kidding about wanting to make sure she slept - although taking occasional breaks to hang out at the chairs-and-tables end of the pool to chat with Andy, James and anyone else who might show up, she tears up and down the pool with obvious relish.

[Tengu_temp]

Wandering around the base, Emi encounters the pool. It wouldn't normally grab her attention - even if she wanted to dive in, she took no swimming suit with her - but some of the others seem to be here. She decides to watch for now, standing near the building's entrance, her guitar's strap over her shoulder.

[Fri]

James raised an eyebrow from behind his shades.

"You play guitar? Never thought you're the type."

[Tengu_temp]

Emi comes in a bit closer - she doesn't want to shout, after all.
"Well, yes, I do, but just as a hobby. I'm nowhere near professional level." She sounds a bit embarassed - and she lives out the fact that sometimes this hobby is the only thing that makes her feel alive.
"What do you mean by the second part, though?"

[Haven]

"Groombridge 34. That's the closest star... a binary star system, actually, that SEs could come from. Or at least that's what they want us to believe - don't be easily deceived. We must make sure that space-types do not change their path of travel while in space before this hypothesis turns into a viable theory."

Lorne takes the paper, looks at it for a bit, and then tucks it away in a pocket.

"Mm. Nice as it would be to have a definitive answer about where they come from, I think I'd rather discover that their path is noncontinuous and they have some means of warping space. Otherwise, it suggests either that they travel faster than light--and are thus potentially capable of defying causality as we know it--or that they are...well, functionally immortal, if they've been traveling through space all this time. Both are rather daunting prospects.

"As for 01A...I encountered Devon after the sortie. She mentioned that her PSA had detected the SE emerging in North Africa. She was, of course, disinclined to elaborate, but...well, it's another point of data we didn't have before.

"I have no concrete ideas on why it came through the earth this time, something which no other SE to my knowledge has done before, but...perhaps it's related to the re-emergence of SEs. They may have new capabilities this time around. It may be a new generation." Just like us, I suppose.

"Is there an available work station I could use? I've been meaning to go over the data I collected in a slightly less, ah, hectic context." Swimming will have to wait. Though I'd better take care not to isolate myself, that could affect our combat efficiency...perhaps these classes will turn out to be a good thing. Come to think of it, I need to meet with the base's psychiatrist as well.

[Cubey]

"It tells something about our situation that we hope our enemy can 'only' warp space." Kovak smiles dryly. "Any workstation that's not full of junk is probably free - feel free to move in. We'll organise a brainstorming session later, and see what kind of incredible theories everyone has inside their brains." Unless you have further questions or comments, she walks away, busying herself with work.

About half an hour after you arrived at the pool, you hear a male voice.
"I'm glad we don't have guard duty today..."
Two people enter - a tanned man with slicked back black hair, and a tall woman with short blonde hair. Both of them are wearing SECT uniforms and look young, in their mid-twenties perhaps.
"Ahh! I knew we'd find you here. My sources of information were flawless." The man exclaims cheerfully as he walks towards you.

"Now they'll think we're spying them. Don't act stupid." You recognize the woman's voice! It's the Bravo squad leader.
"Listen, we came to you because of a friend. Do you remember Mike? He spoke at the briefing two days ago - he wanted to see your PSAs. One of you even promised to have a picture with him. Well, he couldn't take that picture. He was wounded by these flying flower monsters, and he's in the hospital now. Hey!" She notices that her companion walked away from her. He went straight towards the closest guy from those present (probably Andres, but let's assume that whomever answers first is the one who was closest), and whispers loudly towards him.

"Huh. I expected the girls from your squad to have such a great body as Laura. Curvaceous, ample, oh yeah! Did you know she used her Shifter powers to give herself a figure like that?"

"Are you a gossiping housewife to spread rumors like that?!" The female squad leader really looks like she's on the edge of losing patience. Although the male trooper has a point about Laura's body...

"Hey, hey! Everyone around knows that anyway. Even that pilot, miss Pineapple. Fine... ahem." He coughs. "Because Mike is wounded now, promise that you'll let him take a picture with all of you when he's back on his legs, alright? In full armor - PSA activated, all that stuff. You can do that for a poor guy who almost lost his arm, right?"

"He's not even here - his condition was bad enough that the doctors at that French hospital didn't let us transport him to HQ. I'm sure he's lonely..." Although she sounded and acted all tough, there was an obvious note of concern in the woman's voice.

[Fri]

"Well.. you know," James combs his hair and pulls his headphone down. "You're.. uh... just doesn't look like someone... who play guitar... You look more like a... vocalist."

He hastily adds. "But it's not like a cute guitarist is wrong, you know?"

James winces. This is why he prefer to stay silent and act cool.

[TooManySecrets]

Sara
"Oh frag!"

Todd is woken by his legs being roughly battered. Feels like somebody tripped.

"Come on man, startup," says a girl's voice close by.

[Matar]

Todd grumbles as he wakes up. He sits up and looks up at the girl in front of him, while rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.

"Who 'da whazit?"

A short pause. Todd's sleepy mind starts to clear as he looks at the new person in front of him. He... didn't think they met.

Oh well, better safe then sorry.

Todd gets up off the ground and stands tall! A lazy grin is on his face, and he thrust his hand into the sky!

"Why hello! I don't think we've met! I am Todd, spelled "T-O-D-D", because it's just that damn intense!"

Todd lowers his hand and holds it out for you to shake. He looks you straight in the eyes as he does so, a grin on his face and his gaze unwavering. He seems to stare straight into your very soul.

"Nice 'ta meet 'cha!

[Tengu_temp]

"I don't have a band or anything, though... I'm not that good at singing.", responds Emi, blushing a little at the "cute" remark. And then it deepens when those two new people appear - even though the man's comment was not directed to her, he was loud enough for her to overhear it.
"Um, we have very limited access to our PSAs, so I don't know will that work..."

[TooManySecrets]

Sara
...and is met with a girl who seems far more interested in starting up the laptop which is sprawled on the ground. Then again, maybe the fact that she's wearing Vim earbuds has something to do with that. Or the fact that her back is to you.

"Yeah, charmed..." she says, absentmindedly holding out her hand in your general direction.

She's a rather petite girl. Khakis and a loose-fitting white shirt.

As the laptop lcd starts to scroll white text on a black background, displaying who knows what type of information, she seems to realize something.

"Wait, did you say Todd?" She slowly turns around to look at you. Her white shirt says "fnord." in a cracked black font. "As in Alpha-team?"

She takes out the earbuds and holds her hand out for a shake with far more conviction.

"I heard you guys fragged some bogles a couple days ago. What's it like fighting 'em?"

[Cubey]

(Actually, it was two days ago.)

"Nobody ever said it's going to be easy. Try talking with the Commander, maybe he'll agree." The woman offers Emi advice, sensing hesitation in her voice.

[Haven]

"It tells something about our situation that we hope our enemy can 'only' warp space." Kovak smiles dryly. "Any workstation that's not full of junk is probably free - feel free to move in. We'll organise a brainstorming session later, and see what kind of incredible theories everyone has inside their brains." Unless you have further questions or comments, she walks away, busying herself with work.

Lorne nods, and finds a work station, then pulls up the data he gathered during the fight and starts going over it.

( physical sciences roll to see what I can get out of it -- (1d20+15)[32] )

[Matar]

Todd nods, and his eyes burn with the power of youth!

"What was it like!? It was excitement in it's purest form! Picture it, if you will!"

Todd pauses for a moment, and collects himself. He begins to weave a picture with words. He begins describing the battle, from the tentacled monster, to the beast with the screaming human face that was taken out in only two blows. His description is detailed, if not a bit exaggerated. However, it's not overly long. As annoying as Todd is at times, one has to admit.... he really knows how to tell a story.

Spoiler

Show

((Doing this mostly for kicks.))

Taking ten: Preform: Oratory. Total: 25

[Fri]

"Talent or the lack of it isn't important. Three chords and enjoyment is all you need..." James replies as he combs his hair once again. "You play guitar to soothe your heart. I myself prefer the soulful practicality of harmonica. And I guess that some people do... loud speeches" he says as Todd's voice rises into a crescendo.

[Drascin]

Andy is obviously not as much of a swimmer as Cat, but he holds his own - his impressive stamina helps, probably. But, in any case, he enjoys diving around the pool without much of an aim and generally splashing around and chatting with everyone.

He, however, gets out to greet the two soldiers that just joined them, talking to them without the slightest embarrasment. He hears Emi's remark. "I'm sure the boss will let us spend all of fifteeen seconds of the next armor training session doing a little photo. Though, now that I think about it, I didn't bring my camera. Anyone brought one?"

[TooManySecrets]

Sara
"Wow, that sounds pretty heroic. Wish I could have been there."

Her computer beeps and flashes some techno-text. Sara takes a look at it, seemingly satisfied, and closes the laptop's lid.

"It must have been hard punching out both SEs while saving the wounded civilian."

[Matar]

That gives Todd pause for thought.

"Actually... no. It wasn't. It wasn't really a hard fight at all. I don't really know, I just have a gut feeling the next fight is going to be much harder."

Todd pauses again. You can hear some eagerness in his voice.

"No, i'm sure of it. This fight was just a test. The next one, that's where the real excitment and risk will be. Nothing the other shifters and I can't handle, but it thrilling! I'm sure of it."

Another pauses.

"Heh. Oh hey, I don't think I ever got your name. Mind sharing dude?"

[Tengu_temp]

"I guess that's true...", Emi responds to Rooster Boy James. Something seems to be bugging her, though - and it's probably not the fact that Todd is so loud he can be heard here, even though he's in the park and not at the swimming pool.
"Yes, we could try asking the commander. And I brought my camera with me, but even with that aside, I don't think would there be any trouble getting one if you need it - they gave us free computers, there should be no trouble with cameras."

[TooManySecrets]

Sara
"Sara, Sara Lowe. I'm going to be part of Alpha Team."

She grimaces. "Or, rather, I already am. I should have been there fighting the baddies, but I got held back. I think it's because they think I'm too young."

"Not that they have much choice in the matter. With the bogles back in action, they're gatoring for any shifter who can see lightning and hear thunder."

[Matar]

"Ah~ A fellow Brother in Arms, eh? Or, well, I suppose I should say "Sister". Well, like I said, you didn't really miss much."

Todd gives his shoulders a shrug.

"We have training in our PSA's every saturday, so that'll catch you up to how and everything. Or... well, how we bash things. We don't really have a leader yet, so we haven't gone all out on the tactics department yet."

Todd laughs a little.

"Just so long as your here for the next fight, and don't ball yourself in a corner after the fight, i'd be glad to have you fight by my side!"

Tod nods.

"Just try to keep up, i'd hate to leave you in the dust~!"