Still Not Safe #2 [M&M 2nd ed]

[Fri]

"So.." says James after he got his seat. "You guys know what you're going to say in the conference? Cause I actually don't. We don't HAVE to talk at it, right?"

[Matar]

"Don't worry buddy!" Todd is sitting next to James and Laura. He reaches his arm around Jame's neck and gives him a friendly hug. "I can deflect any questions if they ya something!"

[Cubey]

"Umm, you did read the documents we got from the Commander, didn't you?" Laura sounds worried over what James said.
"We still have a little bit of time to go through them if you didn't. I brought my copy, so try not to worry."

As the plane begins its landing at the large Brussels Airport, you can already smell trouble coming. The part where you land has been reserved and nobody has access to it, but there are crowds of people visible just outside it. Crowds that look like neither passengers nor airport workers.

"Ohh, what's going on down there?" Akiho wonders loudly, staring outside the tiny plane window. The reaction she gets is a quiet "tch" by Takeshi.

"Captain, is everything alright? Will we be able to leave the airport without difficulty?" Miss Darius asks the pilot, who can answer since you have landed already - but you did not leave the vehicle yet, for some reason. You can hear them both speaking from the cabin, even if they are out of field of sight.

"I'm sorry ma'am. Security is doing its best to clear a path, but before that you cannot move out. This looks organised... too many people for a spontaneous gathering."

Even a cursory glance outside reveals the nature of the crowd. Some of them carry large "NO to child soldiers!" or "Save Benjamin (and friends)" signs.

What do you do? Although nobody leaves, the aircraft's doors are open. But if you try to leave, you will be noticed by the protesters.

[Fri]

James pulled his shades down.

"Umm... document? What document?"

As he saw the protester outside, James let a small chuckle out. "Sarge, looks like you're getting popular."

[Haven]

"L-let's just wait...for security to do their jobs..." Lorne says, eyes wide, hands holds the armrests in a death grip.

[kamikasei]

Cat clucks her tongue at the scene outside. "Yeah. If we're seen it'd probably just make things worse. We can let the guys outside get things under control." She looks over at James. "The briefing? For the conference? What we can and can't say? Didn't you read it?" She looks back out the window. "Well, you can read over it tonight I guess. You don't have to say anything unless you're asked a question directly, and you can always just say 'no comment', though it might sound weird."

[Tengu_temp]

"And here I though I didn't care about the whole conference...", Emi mutters quietly after hearing James. She then takes a look into the window, at the crowd outside, and sighs.
Here comes the first annoying part... Out of how many? God knows. Emi glances at Ben to see his reaction about all this, and notices Lorne is nervous.
"Hey, don't worry. I'm sure not a single one of these protesting idiots will even come close to us. At worst you can just fly above them."

[Haven]

"Hey, don't worry. I'm sure not a single one of these protesting idiots will even come close to us. At worst you can just fly above them."

"I, ah...right." Lorne looks a little reassured by Emi. "Though I-I don't know what effect flying above them would have on our, ah, public image," he says.

[Tengu_temp]

"No worse than you having a panic attack. Besides, maybe if they see that one of the 'child soldiers' they want to save is running away from them, at least some of them will think they might be doing something wrong." Emi smiles slightly, but her tone is more joking than anything. She doesn't really believe anything they can do could change the protesters' minds.

[Matar]

"Hey Ben!" Todd looks out at the crowed, his arm still resting on James shoulders. "Looks like you have some friends out there!"

[ChronicLunacy]

Ben Brooks

"Tch..." Ben made a small noise of irritation as he stood and then bent over to look out a window, looking quite official in his SECT uniform despite being younger than your average army recruit. He got a sudden urge to start setting protesters' hair and pitiful little signs on fire. Didn't they know that these "children" were the only thing standing between them and swift death? It was insulting. He thought of the protesters as the children in this scenario. He just barely resisted the urge, slamming the window shade closed and turning to remove his bag from the overhead compartment. "Idiots..." he mumbled out loud.

[Drascin]

Andy looks at the mob outside, pensievely. "You know, on the base of it, I'd kinda agree with them, except the funny thing is that they're only protesting because we're "children". If we were a couple years older - well, except Sara -, very few of these would bat an eyelash, even though it'd still be undertrained youngsters against unholy abominations, which you'd think should by all rights be the real issue here. It's weird how people's minds work, sometimes" he grins a small sarcastic grin.

Then something seems to cross his mind. ...wait, we're going to try to avoid the masses. Of course. He smacks himself on the forehead. Why didn't I think of it? I could have saved myself from wearing this stupid thing! I only put it on because I thought we'd be seen in our way to the hotel! He chuckles very softly. "Man, I'm an idiot sometimes"

[Cubey]

"I have a plan." You could swear there was a visible glint in Sara's eye for a second there.
"We Shift and sneak out from the other side of the plane, unnoticed. If these people notice us like that, we run away. It's efficient in its simplicity." She nods.

"Ignore them. They should mind their business, not ours." Someone joins into the planning. It is, surprisingly, Takeshi.

[kamikasei]

"That won't get the rest of the passengers off the plane, though. Or, for that matter, our luggage..." Cat replies to Sara, then looks at Ms Darius. "It might be that if we're just not here the protesters would eventually go away, though. Do you think it's worth trying?"

She looks back out the window before replying to Takeshi. "We can't really ignore them if they're blocking the path, though. If security can clear us a way out then I agree that we should take it without responding to the protestors at all, yeah."

[Haven]

Lorne finds an uncrowded window to check and see how effective security is in dispersing the mob.

"Well...if nothing else...Andy, Emi, perhaps you could raise some barriers between us and them?"

[Fri]

If we really can't wait much longer, we transform, we put the crew on our shoulder, and we jump away above of their head. Can't be simpler. James shrugs.

[Cubey]

If you decide to wait a bit (with a slightly grumpy Sara, disappointed that nobody went with her plan), soon you will find that the crowd is getting thinner at places. It's not that it's getting dispersed, but rather a passage is formed for you to pass through. Security is ushering people to sides, the whole process taking place without much struggling or other aggressiveness (because SECT doesn't really need accusations of violence vs civilians atop what it already has), but also without haste as well.

"The transport is prepared, we should be going now." Says miss Darius after consulting things with the captain once again.
"Make sure you do not forget anything, okay?"

Your means of locomotion (at least until you leave the airport) are several electric powered carts, suitable for transporting luggage but also coming with six passenger seats each. More importantly though: the crowd gets loud and restless as soon as it can get its sights on you. People are trying to break security lines formed by the airport security, although they're not being very successful - the guards are plenty and come with riot shields. Other protesters focus their might at yelling.

"Come with us! Don't let the man abuse you!"
"No to child soldiers!"
"How does it feel to be a tool of a fascist government?"

Others take pictures with cameras. Especially as you pass through on the carts. The situation doesn't look very dangerous, but it's loud and extremely uncomfortable. Especially for Kazuma, who is easily cowed even without crowds shouting at him. His teammates take it a little better - Akira gazes down, pretending nobody is here, while Takeshi and Usagi have annoyed and indignant expressions respectively. Akiho looks like if she was curious and somewhat sulking at the same time, probably because she doesn't understand what all the people around her are saying.

As for Laura, the crowd evokes surprisingly little reaction from her. Her cheeks are reddened slightly and she tries not to look anyone in the eye, but compared to her usual reactions to stressful situations, it's as if nothing happened. In fact, she is more alert than embarassed.

The carts make their way through the airport, the way guarded by security now that your cover is blown and it's not a secret that SECT came to town. Will anything unexpected happen before the conference? Maybe the Thoughts planted agents... some of them might be looking at you this very moment.

(Reaction time before going to the hotel. Apologies if I'm doing this too slowly - let me know.)

[Fri]

"Stay cool"

Tux+shades+crowds.

James touches his shades and walks among the crowds in the coolest possible way that he can imagine.

[kamikasei]

"That's a relief."

While she fetches her luggage down Cat debates with herself the merits of giving the crowd a big, go-to-hell smile and wave, but decides against it. Instead she simply ignores them, doing her best to keep her expression neutral rather than showing the annoyance they're provoking in her. Noise permitting, she chats to whoever's beside her, about whatever inconsequential thing she can think of - movies, music, books, sports. The message is "your concerns are so absurd they don't even register for me".

She manages not to flip anyone off. It takes some willpower though. Somewhat to her surprise, she finds herself wishing for a pair of James' shades.

[Matar]

Todd more or less follows Cat's example. He picks up his luggage over head and tries to sit next to James and Laura, if at all possible. He ignores the crowed, and instead tries to talk James and Laura into singing a little song with him.

Assuming he can get them to sing a song with him, he whispers the lyrics into there ears before singing it. If they refuse, he pouts and chats about random topics the rest of the way, making sure to make them feel bad for not singing.

Spoiler

Show

Also, it's this song.

"Link, he come to town
Come to save the princess Zelda
Ganon took her away
Now the children don't play
But they will when link saves the day
Hallelujah!

Now link, fill up your hearts
So you can shoot your sword with power
And when you're feeling all down
The fairy will come around
So you'll be brave, and not a sissy coward

Now link has saved the day
Put Ganon in his grave
So now Zelda is free
And now our hero shall be
Link! I think your name shall go down into history!"

[Tengu_temp]

Lorne finds an uncrowded window to check and see how effective security is in dispersing the mob.

"Well...if nothing else...Andy, Emi, perhaps you could raise some barriers between us and them?"

"I don't know... They don't want to stand still, what if I create a wall atop of someone?"

Luckily the security manage to secure a route on their own, and there's no need to test this idea. The passage isn't east for Emi, though - she tries to enter full Ignore All The Idiots Around mode, but she can feel all these stares focusing on her regardless, and it's not something she's comfortable with. A tormented "let me live" look is basically all over her face.
Fascist government? SECT is not even a government organisation! Do these people have any idea what are they talking about? Just give me a break...
She looks at Lorne to see how he's holding up.

[Drascin]

Andy, on the other hand, has no problem with looking at the crowd. He looks strikingly serene. "There is perhaps no phenomenon which contains so much destructive feeling as moral indignation, which permits hate to be acted out under the guise of virtue" he intones softly, grinning a sad grin, and sighs. "I always hated that quote so much. Why has it to prove itself right sometimes?". Still, he wants to think it's just ignorance. If he was ouside and thought the SECT children were exploited, he'd have thrown a fit as well, maybe. Perhaps something good will come from this conference. Heh. Yeah, right.

In any case, he chatters with the others without much trouble - unlike the carefully designed uncaring faces of the others, Andy seems to simply, actually not care too much, beyond the inevitable eyerolls every now and then when something particularly stupid is shouted. In truth, he had kinda expected a riot, and had come prepared for it, so...

[Haven]

Lorne is visibly angered; he wants to shout what he's thinking: Do you have any idea how well they treat us--how much SECT is the best thing to happen to me? ...No, I suppose if I tried to tell them that they'd just say it's proof of "brainwashing". Especially since it's different, lately, now that I'm fighting. But even that is...

At this point, he glances over at Emi, realizes she's looking at him, gets a little embarrassed, then smiles.

[ChronicLunacy]

Ben Brooks

For his part, Ben didn't need the mask of moral indignation. It was plain on his face that he was angry at the crowd, giving them a look that could have melted steel into butter. He didn't respond to their comments or demands, but instead focused on keeping his head high and looking down his nose in contempt at them. It was another reason why he'd worn his SECT uniform, to upset the idiots holding the "Save Benjamin" signs.

Sheeple...they had no idea what was really going on. Ben had a suspicion that they'd try to spit in the face of a police officer after he saved them from a mugging. They made people in general look almost as bad as the Thoughts of Ascension nuts. Hell, there probably were Ascension cultists hidden amongst the crowd rallying the rest and reporting the team's location to their leaders.

Even amidst his building fury, Ben had the presence of mind to walk on the outside of Lorne, most likely with Andy or Cat on his other side, keeping the phobic young man as far away from the reaching hands of the crowd as possible.

[Fri]

James tries his best to ignore Todd. Sorry dude. You're an amazing friend and all, but...

[Cubey]

Just like James, Laura doesn't seem like she wants to sing with Todd. But his very proposal makes her giggle quietly, visibly amused.

[Tengu_temp]

At this point, he glances over at Emi, realizes she's looking at him, gets a little embarrassed, then smiles.

Seeing that Lorne's handling it pretty well gives Emi a bit more confidence. She smiles a bit in response - she would tell him something, but anything loud enough to be heard by him over the loud crowd would probably be heard by the paparazzi in the crowd too. She knows they're here somewhere.

[Cubey]

The carts move through the airport, facing no troubles other than protesters yelling right and left. Security protects you against them though - nobody breaks the line, and soon you find the one responsible for this.

"Welcome." Frank Symes stands next to some kind of metal detection gate, arms folded and wearing a nondescript black suit.
"The airport is secured. Did you have trouble breaking through?"

After leaving the terminal, you head straight for cars that were parked just under the airport. Frank checks each car and its driver personally before letting you get in - he moves quickly and efficiently, trying to minimize the time you spend in a potentially threatening zone. Only after the last car drives away does he enter his own one and follow you.
"This is the first time I'm in this city. But we won't have time to go sightseeing, will we?" Laura is relieved now that you're inside the cars and away from noisy and numerous protesters... at least for now.
"Symes-san really is something. I did not see a lot of him until now." Akira tries to start up a conversation - by chance, he went to the same car as Laura did.

You move through the busy streets and finally park in front of a hotel. But before that, the cars go through a police-run security checkpoint - it seems the hotel is blocked off from the general public, which explains why there is a lot of sightseers and reporters (and probably protesters or Thought agents too) around it, but not right next to it.
"You will all have a very busy day tomorrow, so rest well. Remember, I am still around - if you want to talk about anything, I'll be in my room." Miss Darius lets everyone know, in her usual calming and encouraging tone. You are shown your rooms - the hotel is pretty high class and each one of you is attended by a seperate bellhop. Speaking of bellhops, it seems the normal hotel staff is around, and not only SECT agents, although there's plenty of these around too.

Your rooms are spacious, comfortable and accomodate two people each - you are asked if you'd like to pair off with someone or rather have a whole room for yourself. After that, you are informed about the time of meals (an evening one is available soon), and pretty much left to your own devices.

"I can't allow you to leave the hotel." You are reminded of what Frank said right before you entered. Well, this limits what you can do for today.

It seems there are no people staying at the hotel except for SECT personnel. Out of those not wearing staff clothing or a uniform, you can spot an unknown girl about your age, who walks around the corridors aimlessly and unaccompanied.

Also, the more aware of you may have noticed that there were metal detector gates at the hotel, similar to the airport ones. And you weren't told to remove metal objects before passing through each and every one.

(I know this post takes a lot of in-game time, so feel free to respond in your posts to situations that come in any part of the post and not just at the end.)

[Tengu_temp]

"Not really..." Emi lets someone else respond to Frank with more than just that mutter. When it comes to the cars, her preferance is to ride one with her friends (if it's Lorne, even better) rather than the almost-strangers from the Japanese team, and to avoid Todd. Everything is enough of a hassle already without his antics. She does look more relaxed once the protesters are out of sight, though.

At the hotel, Emi opts to take a single room. There isn't much around to explore - she's a bit annoyed they won't let them out, even if she understands the reasons for that - so she's going to spend most of the evening sketching or in front of a net terminal (a high class hotel like this one probably has those, right?). She's not going out of her way to meet with the others, but she's not avoiding them either, and she'll eat the meal with the them if that's the default option. Emi will go to bed rather quickly tonight, but before that she'll take a long, hot bath, combined with idle pondering, mostly about what might happen tomorrow.

Emi doesn't pay much attention to the unknown girl - if the security doesn't stop her then she's most likely meant to be here anyway.
She's probably one of the American Shifters. Well, we'll meet up with them later anyway...

[Fri]

Cozy enough, james silently mumbles as they arrives at the hotel.

"So, uh Laura" James says after he throw his bag mindlessly to a random room. "May I see the documents or whatever you were saying before?"