Still Not Safe [M&M 2nd ed]

[TooManySecrets]

Sara
Sara starts to walk away mumbling to herself under her breath.

"Oh no, no. I have to tell them."

And then she stops, like she realized something.

"But, they probably already know. It's so obvious. And since they didn't tell us, then they probably don't want us to know so telling them that I know isn't going to help this out at all."

She stops mumbling and turns on her heels to Lorne, her shoes squeaking in protest.

"Lorne..." she says cautiously, "you have a computer that's able to access the SECT database right? My laptop keeps throwing exceptions whenever I try to log in. Haven't had time to fix it. Would you mind helping me out? Emi, you might want to come along as well."

[Cubey]

I'm assuming James didn't tell everyone about the beatdown, and that Lorne heard about it from someone in the lab who was in the library at the time.

That's right. Also, to add insult to injury, few were surprised - apparently knowing about Devon's superhuman abilities while being out of armor is common knowledge on the base.

Also, Todd is stunned now, so Ben moves again. (As I posted in the OOC thread)

[Drascin]

"I wonder, what kind of trouble are you going to get into, Sara?" Andy whispers from near her. It seems he got quite a bit of the conversation and her mumbling, despite seemingly being absorbed by the fight. If nothing else, Andy is a perceptive kid. He winks, though, making it seem pretty probable he was just joking about that last part "And more importantly, can I come?"

"Also, take into account what Laura said - oh, wait you weren't there. Right, sorry. Well, anyway, she implied a couple times that Devon was a decent - though probably somewhat abrasive, this is Devon we're talking about - person before the shockwave, but turned into that after it. I'd say your first idea seems likely. She just decided to walk, and with no shifters left... well, who the hell could have stopped her? I mean, she seems to be a woman-sized battlecruiser"

[Haven]

Sara
Sara starts to walk away mumbling to herself under her breath.

"Oh no, no. I have to tell them."

And then she stops, like she realized something.

"But, they probably already know. It's so obvious. And since they didn't tell us, then they probably don't want us to know so telling them that I know isn't going to help this out at all."

She stops mumbling and turns on her heels to Lorne, her shoes squeaking in protest.

"Lorne..." she says cautiously, "you have a computer that's able to access the SECT database right? My laptop keeps throwing exceptions whenever I try to log in. Haven't had time to fix it. Would you mind helping me out? Emi, you might want to come along as well."

Well, we were dismissed, Lorne thinks to himself.

"Of course," he says. "I've been working with SECT long enough that having to cajol the database a little is nothing new."

[TooManySecrets]

Sara
"Yeah, come along. If I'm wrong, it's probably going to be pretty boring, though."

Sara looks around. "We're probably going to need a quiet space where any old boffer won't interrupt us, but still has access to the network. Let's pick a place and meet up there in about 20 minutes. I need to get my laptop and it'll be less suspicious if we don't all leave here at once."

[Cubey]

Due to most buildings having multiple condignations, the HQ's population is scarcer than you'd initially think. Finding a relatively empty place with no one to spy on you will be a simple task.

Or to be absolutely sure, you can go to one of your rooms. As far as you know, no one but the owner has access to one's room. Well, maybe the commander has some kind of a master key - but would he enter a room without a good reason?

[ChronicLunacy]

Ben Brooks

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Instead of editing this into the last post where no one will see it, I'm going to post it here. This happens at the end of Ben's last action and before Todd's. So now it's Todd's action since he's not Stunned.

After smashing Todd in the face, Ben went up. He darted back and up at a diagonal at great speed until he was near the ceiling of the great dome they were contained within. He'd seen Todd's strength before and didn't want to get caught within melee range if he could help it.

[Tengu_temp]

"Sure, I can come - I'm curious what do you want to show us. As for the place - maybe my roo..." Emi suddenly remembers a very important detail - no, they can't go there! That'd be a terrible idea! She blushes slightly. "Er, maybe one of our rooms? They're private enough."

[Drascin]

"Ouch" Andy winces at the uppercut, looking at the fight. "But Ben, my friend, I think you've forgot a little thing..." he smirks. He likes watching fights, after all, and if he didn't think the other would find it annoying he'd actually be playing Battle Commentator in the finest anime tradition.

He also notices Emi's embarrassment at others entering her room, and has to repress a chuckle. "Well, we can use my room, if you want, I don't have anything embarrasing there. Well, there's the nuclear head under the bed, but just don't hit the bed too hard and it'll be okay" he winks.

[Matar]

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Please excuse me if I mess anything up. My previous post is going to be the same, except all I change is ju,ping up to reach Ben. I guess, sorta confused right now.

[ChronicLunacy]

Ben Brooks

Of course Todd could jump. Of course he'd be as blunt and without finesse as he was all the time even when fighting. Ben growled as they both fell to the ground. It wasn't far enough to damage them, but it was still annoying. He struggled, but with the massive strength of the Green Wizard he was getting nowhere. So instead of trying any further to escape, he just turned up the heat. Turning so that he could either get his hands free or just face Todd, Ben's PSA started to grow uncomfortably hot even for the Green Wizard. It seemed to glow a molten red for a moment before a point-blank blast of roaring fire hot enough to melt steel slammed into him. "This is why you don't grab a coal out of the fire." Ben said, his voice slightly strained as he continued to fight.

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Do I even need an attack roll? They're touching.
Full Blast 15 Power Attack:[roll]1d20+5[/roll]
I hate that you can't edit in rolls like on Myth-Weavers. Just going to use Invisible Castle then: 1d20+5=23

[Matar]

Todd grunts and stumbles back, momentarily stunned from the blast.

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Your move, manj

[Tengu_temp]

"Why would I want to hit someone's bed anyway?" Emi smiles in amusement. And then the duel in the other room starts to get even more intense. "Um... Don't you think they are going a bit overboard?"

[ChronicLunacy]

Ben Brooks

Ben pressed his attack, rushing forward only to have his fists suddenly burst into flame again. He put his fists together above his head and brought them downward in an double ax-handle smash against Todd's head or chest. If or when he hit, the fire surrounding his fists seemed to explode, adding force to his normal strength. Not only that, but he did it again, not letting up at all. If Todd was going to press his grappling advantage, Ben had to press any advantage he could as well.

Spoiler

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Rerolled both attacks to account for Todd not being prone. Two Strike 15 Power Attacks...
1d20+5=20, 1d20+5=22
If the first attack knocked Todd out, Ben wouldn't attack again. So no extra effort in that case.

---

* post roll count doesn't match database

[Matar]

The attack hits Todd. Hard. His PSA cracks around face from the sheer force of the attack. Though the PSA re materializes almost instantly, it's still more then enough to leave a deep gash on the left side of his face. The last thing you hear before he slumps to the ground unconscious is an entertained laugh.

[kamikasei]

"It looks like they can take it," Cat answers Emi. Although she's listening to the others, she remains facing the "arena" until the fight is over. Charitably, she's paying careful attention to the performance of her teammates and the tactics they're discovering for PSA combat. Less charitably, she's enjoying seeing Todd get beaten on. Cough.

With the fight done, she turns to the others. "So do we wait for those two before going... wherever we're going?"

[ChronicLunacy]

Ben Brooks

Ben halted in the middle of following up on his first attack, skidding in the dirt to slow his movement. His PSA shifted and then glowed white hot until it disappeared off of his body. "Oops...Hey, Todd, are you okay?" he shouted as he ran toward where Todd had fallen. Todd's PSA would start to dematerialize as well now that he was unconscious. Ben made sure that Todd hadn't fallen on anything and found a rock to put his legs up on to get the blood back into his head. Then stood back once the medics started to rush over. He ran a hand through his black hair, casting a look back up to where the Commander had been watching/moderating from. He felt a little guilty...mostly because he'd enjoyed it a little too much.

"Damn it..." he swore under his breath.

[Cubey]

"Interrupt..." The commander's order is interrupted itself - it seems he noticed that you stopped fighting the moment Todd lost consciousness.
"Get a medical team in there! What's the status on vitals?"
You do not hear the answer - he's in another room after all, and whomever answered him was not heard over the radio communication.

Some medics quickly appear to carry Todd away. Fortunately, his wounds do not look serious - but he's still unconscious.

And with that, your Saturday training session ended. Commander Clayton did not allow any subsequent sparring sessions, even if anyone of you asked for one.
(Todd regains consciousness quite quickly. The fight left no serious damage for his body - except for possibly the scar.)

[Tengu_temp]

"No, that doesn't look like they can take it." Emi sounds worried, and gets more tense with every second - Todd might be crazy, but she doesn't want anything bad to happen to him! She wants to burst in and activate Genesis, but then the medical team appears to take care of things anyway. She starts to feel guilty about her indecisiveness.
"It's not up to me.", she answers Cat's question.

[Haven]

"Can we meet somewhere else?" Lorne says. "If we're all meeting up, our rooms would be a little...cramped."

"No, that doesn't look like they can take it."

"At least he's getting immediate medical care. That match...escalated very quickly," Lorne understates.

[TooManySecrets]

Sara
"Hmmm, in that case we might want to use one of the unused conference rooms down in G Sector. This base seems to be half-empty, so I don't think that we'll be interrupted, especially if we lock the door."

[Tengu_temp]

"That sounds good enough for me." The locking the door part was a given for Emi - she always locks hers, after all.

[TooManySecrets]

Sara
"Wizard. I don't know the room numbers, so we'll just pick one when we get there. 20 minutes, okay?"

_/ _/ _/ _/ _/

Back at her room, Sara grabs her laptop, a small backpack, and her Vim mp3 player. She was probably going to need it.

Well, let's get this train wreck a-rolling, she thinks to herself sardonically.

[Tengu_temp]

20 minutes were more than enough to change from the borderline fetishistic bodysuit to something more reasonable - when Emi arrives at the meeting spot, she's wearing the same dress she had on the parking lot.

[ChronicLunacy]

Ben Brooks

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Yeah, so...I want to come, too. Let me know if I'm not wanted and I'll edit this into something different.

"Where are you guys going?" Ben asked, walking out from behind a hallway on Emi's trail. He hasn't been given the time to change since he noticed them all walking away, so he was still in his suit. He really didn't know what problem the others had with it. It felt like a wetsuit. He'd rather have had time to change, but it wasn't uncomfortable or anything.

[Drascin]

"I'm not entirely sure, actually, but it looks interesting and quite troublesome. So I'm going. You know how it is" Andy smiles, also appearing from a corridor.

He hadn't been much preoccupied for Todd - he could take that and more - but man, Ben sure didn't kid around. Would have to take that into account. He then had slipped away while everyone was looking at the fight and got changed.

[Tengu_temp]

"I think Sara wants to get some information on... something. And show it to us. You can come if you want too, I guess..." Emi doesn't sound too convinced - but then, this is not what she wanted to talk with Ben about. That other matter can wait, though.

[Cubey]

Finding an empty conference room was no problem. Locking the door might have been troublesome for someone who'd live in the past... but it's year 2017 and keycards are relatively commonplace.

You can do whatever you want, unbothered by outsiders.

[ChronicLunacy]

Ben Brooks

Ben raised an eyebrow in curiosity, but followed along quietly nonetheless.

[TooManySecrets]

Sara

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Assuming that Lorne helps me out with setting up the computer, that everyone makes their way to the conference room, and that Ben and Todd are is now wondering where everyone is...

Sara is typing away that computer, pausing only to read whatever database info flashes up on her screen.

"Now, I've got to admit that part of this is because I trust Devon about as far as I can throw her."

Sara stops and looks at something on the screen, only to decide that it isn't and continuing the flurry of activity.

"Without my PSA, of course. The fact that she has abilities without an amplifier should have set off warning bells all of the place. I'm a bit surprised that this entire building didn't collapse at the revelation."

She stops, picks up a pen, and starts twirling it absentmindedly as she slowly turns in the swivel chair. Her computer has stopped for the moment.

"A couple of my blackhat friends have done some work for a number of different organizations that have later turned out to be fronts for a certain group of people. One of them even met with his contact in person, and what he saw is what got my mind going."

"A quick check through the database seems to give more credence to my suspicions, but I'm going to need more proof. The database probably has the info, but it won't give it to me."

With a loud clack, Sara puts the pen back down on the table and turns back to her computer.

"That's going to require some deep, black magic. Whoever conjured the software for this is a real wizard. The security is like a black hole. It would take Bog and All His Angels to get this thing to govoreet to a non-auth. Unfortunately, it's just going to be me and Lorne."

Sara turns to the ground and starts rifling through her bag. After a sec, she takes out a screwdriver and a Vim mp3 player. She places them carefully, reverently, besides the computer and then turns to you all.

"I don't blame anybody if they want to get out right now. Cracking the database is not something like skipping class. If they catch me, they're probably going to take away my amplifier, kick me out, have me under permanent guard so that I don't blab to a non-auth something they shouldn't know, and pretty much end my life as an individual. End of line. Of course, they would have to catch me first."

"However, they're not the ones I'm most worried about. The database is maddeningly vague on Devon's surveillance capabilities. For all I know, she could be listening right now. And if she knew that we knew, then there would be some very bad mojo in our future."

Sara looks around seriously.

"So again, if this is making you frightened, then that's just reassurance that you're still human. But if you don't think you can deal with this, then leave now before we pass the point of no return."