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

[Drascin]

Nodding in approval of Ben's treatment of the psycho, Andy then looks around and quickly catches up to Emi when he notices she's gone ahead and doubled the corner alone. "Damn, Emi, don't go gallivanting first in line, you're our medic" he admonishes her a bit. After all, Andy reasons, while she's on her feet we're pretty well off, but if she's down any wound any of the others takes might be lethal - and Andy, incorrigible white knight that he is, hates to so much as consider that possibility.

He pokes his head out of the hatch and into the storeroom, and gets out, back into his usual point position.

[Tengu_temp]

"Well, someone has to move on first, and nobody else looked as if they were going to do that."
While everyone else is catching up, Emi tries to open one of the metal crates. Maybe there's something important inside.
They didn't try to shove Sarah into one of those, did they?

[Cubey]

The crates are full of carefully packed computer parts and other electronics. No humans inside.

Outside the storeroom there is a corridor - not a suspicious looking one, but a bright, ordinary one that may belong to an office building. And in fact, other doors around the corridor open to offices or a building lobby. And it's all empty, although it looks like it was quickly evacuated rather than abandoned.

[ChronicLunacy]

Ben Brooks

"Damn it! Was this all just a smoke and mirrors thing to get Sarah? Are they that scared of taking us on again?" Ben growled as he stomped out into the building lobby. "I wish they'd stop hiding under their beds long enough to really try and take us out. I'd prefer a stand up fight to all this running around."

One armored hand pressed to the side of his helmet. "Lorne, can you pinpoint our location now? We're out of the tunnel and inside some kind of empty office building." Ben radioed to the team science guy.

Spoiler

Show

Notice: (1d20+9)[26]

[Cubey]

There is no need to ask Lorne for localizing you, as you can see the other Shifters all by yourself when you leave the building. It less than a hundred meters away from the warehouse you entered in the first place, after all.

[Matar]

"Man..." Todd scratches his head and gives a small moan of annoyance. "This didn't turn out perfectly at all. But what the hell did they plan on gaining from all this?... Annoying us to death...?"

Todd begins to leap back to where Lorne is. Was it all over? He has no idea. But really, this seemed so... anticlimactic. He expected more explosions.

[kamikasei]

"Lorne, can you see any sign of other Shifters in our direction? Andy, sense any other tunnels?" This made no sense. How could Ascension have gotten away? They couldn't have gotten that much of a lead over the team - could they? If they'd come out of the tunnels in the same place, where were they now? Had they reverted to normal appearance and slipped away? Or had they gone down a different, hidden tunnel somewhere along the way?

Cat's jaw was tense with keeping her teeth from grinding. "Commander! Can you find out who owns this building?"

[Fri]

"No! This can't be!"

James frantically looks around for something, anything. A hidden door. A piece of sarah's clothing. Anything! It can't end this way.

(1d20)[11]

He went back to the uncouncious shifter. "Wake up you bastard!" He smashed the wall beside it hopelessly.

"Hey, aren't a shifter is supposed to shift back into their human form or something if he's uncouncious? Dammit, I can't even remember the rules for my own power. How to make him shift back?"

[Cubey]

"I already know." The Commander answers Cat. And he sounds grim.
"Both structures, the warehouse and the office building, belong to a company that supplies us with equipment. Sophium walls in the warehouse were built on purpose, to prepare its future goods against Shifter intrusion. The company has no direct links with Blackstone Arts." He adds the last sentence in a quieter voice, as if worried about eavesdropping.

"Is it over now?" Sara sounds a bit disappointed. But since it seems it really is over, she does something unexpected. Already on the streets, she unsummons her PSA... and throws up, shaking violently.
"That guy was... crushed..." She mutters, once she's done.

James finds no other secret tunnels or anything that can tell him where did Sarah go.
"Well, yeah." Says Anne, who is watching over the captive Shifter along with Frank.
"This one's beaten up, so he should revert back to normal human form. But he doesn't. What's going on? And what kind of a freak is it anyway?"

"We fought, and we won." Akira is still in his PSA, and sits down beside a group of knocked-out Ascenders. Since they are not conscious, their robes are gone and they're indistinguishable from normal people.
"I did not enter this building, but I fought bravely outside. Protecting Laura-san and Akiho-san."

"That was exciting!" Speaking of Akiho. It seems she's as energetic as ever, her initial shock long past.
"But these guys are dangerous. Who do they think they are? I hope they'll think it over in SECT Prison!"

"I'm just... happy that nobody is hurt." Laura doesn't sound particularly convinced. There is some sadness in her words.
"But, everyone reacted quickly in such unexpected circumstances. Even... even if Sarah is gone, I am proud of you. You did your best." The last part is radio'ed over to everyone. She tries to sound encouraging, but isn't as good at it as the Commander and miss Darius.

Soon after, the whole local area gets a lot of cops, SECT agents (not in armor, but they carry weapons - are they able to harm Shifters, like the gun and knife Frank carried?), and other security, including the rest of the American team. Although the latter aren't in armor, so you don't have an opportunity to see their PSAs. It gets busy as everyone tries to gather clues on what happened, and take the Thoughts of Ascension members captive. The Shifter in the corridor is most troublesome, but there are no incidents so it seems everyone somehow managed to imprison him.

The atmosphere is uneasy. You survived the trap, but your mission, bring Sarah back, has failed. Nobody's in the mood for throwing an evening party for you, either...
Do you do anything in particular before returning to the hotel, or in the hotel itself?

[kamikasei]

Cat, still in armour, goes over to help Sara. Which is to say, hold her hair back. She can't think of anything to say under the circumstances, but perhaps the ice-cold hand she lays on the girl's back is soothing.

If the Commander gives her the opportunity over the radio, or later if she can find anyone who might have the answer, she does ask one further question. "When was the building evacuated?"

Back at the hotel, she's quiet. As with Sara, what is there to say? She does excuse herself early, go to her room, and shower. The explosive attack that killed the enemy Shifter has left her feeling a strong need to get thoroughly clean. The shower lasts a good long while, and the fact that the temperature of the water is turned way down doesn't seem to register with her. When she emerges, she sits on her bed for up to an hour, flicking through news channels, before dressing (in her exercise clothes - her casual clothes she's dumped in to the wash for the same reason she was hosing herself with ice) and rejoining the others.

[Matar]

Todd doesn't attempt to hang out with his friends. Instead he tries to find out where they are keeping the Ascender held, and speak with him. He had to, while he had the chance. He had no idea what to expect from a conversation from one of these people, if he would even be allowed to speak to him. But... he had to try. He was dead-set on communicating to an SE someday, and he had to know as much as he could about them.

Assuming he can talk someone into allowing him to speak with the Ascender (Giving the reason that it would be good to do so while he actually had the chance, seeing as how he planned on communicating with an SE one day, as they already know.). And seeing as how they tend to kill themselves...

If allowed, he assures whomever is in charge. "Er, before I head in. Don't take anything I'm saying to the dude too seriously, 'kay?". Assuming he is allowed to at all.

[Cubey]

Sara looks like she appreciates Cat's help, even if she's too busy with her... own actions to say anything.

"The building was evacuated when we asked civilians to be removed from the local area." The Commander explains.
"But there were very few people inside, as the workers had a day off due to roadblocks caused by our conference."

As for Todd, his actions bring him to the man again - Frank Symes.
"You can't talk with the Shifter yet." He says straightforwardly.
"He is still unconscious."

[Matar]

Todd grumbles under this breath.

"Alrighty, fine. Just uh... can you like... contact me when he wakes up or...? 'Cause I wanna talk to him before he magically makes his head explode or something. 'Cause that happens a lot"

[Haven]

Lorne flies over to the office and takes a look around, particularly looking over the electronics to determine what their function is.

Afterwards, he stays in his PSA and uses his telekinesis to help clean up any collateral damage from the battle (or help levitate the enemy Shifters to wherever they're being taken) until ordered to leave it alone. He's fairly laconic for the rest of the time, his body language even more closed off than usual; once they return to the hotel, he quietly shuts himself up in his room.

[Cubey]

Todd:
"I know. I will inform you when you can talk with the prisoner." Frank is being laconic.

Lorne:
The parts seem to be responsible for remote control and inputing programming, but they're designed for heavy machinery and not personal computers. These are pretty basic things though - maybe the company intended to store really secret or advanced things only after their Sophium warehouse was completed?

Nobody tells you to stop helping, so you were able to telekinetically move quite a few things, and people too. It seems the Japanese Shifter team didn't kill any of their opponents, instead opting on simply knocking them out. It means SECT will have many prisoners to interrogate, at least.

[Tengu_temp]

After the operation is over, Emi can be found sitting gloomily at the edge of the warehouse's roof, with her PSA still on.
We failed. I expected a tough battle or something like that, and instead we get... this. They've taken Sarah away and who knows what will they do to her. They obviously wanted her no matter what - so many of them died to get her, after all...
Emi sighs and looks up at the sky.
Is fighting SEs everything we're good for?

[ChronicLunacy]

Ben Brooks

"This is ridiculous. We can't just wait for them to attack us every time. Every one of these battles has been on their terms any time they feel like showing their cowardly faces. We have to take the battle to them on their home turf. If we could only find where they're hiding I'd shove that stupid camera up that guy's @ss." Ben fumed, still in his PSA. Open flames danced upon the outside of the suit and the area immediately around him was so blistering hot that no one could approach him without the protection of sophium armor. A potted plant sizzled and blackened as he went outside onto the street and the glass of the door when he opened it began to melt and run between his fingers. He rose into the air shortly afterward and perched atop a different corner of the warehouse than Emi. "If they're so weak that they can't face us directly then they should stay in their holes."

"Another thing. Why in the hell did they let Sarah fall into our hands if they were only going to run this costly operation to retrieve her? She didn't take anything from SECT while she was there. They gained nothing from this whatsoever. These @ssholes make no goddamn sense!" he stomped down on the roof, his armored foot sinking into the metal up to the ankle.

[Tengu_temp]

Maybe they didn't let Sarah fall into our hands., Emi responds, without turning. She's at the opposite side of the warehouse, but it's hard not to hear Ben in his current state. "Maybe she managed to run away from them on her own, or someone else broke her out, and they came back for her now."

[Drascin]

"Or they want to show to the world how useless we are, since the woman we just publically took into our custody has been kidnapped again while we got made ****ing fools of" Andy says, bitterly. It's obvious the whole thing is weighing a lot on him - the failure, the inevitable fate of Sarah, and the grisly death down there. He does a gesture to head and help Sara when she has her problem, but seeing Cat taking care of it is enough for him - which probably says a bit about his belief in Cat's competence, all told.

When they head back to the hotel, Andy heads to his room, changes into another tracksuit (good thing he'd brought two for changing clothes) and lays face up on his bed for a while, part thinking, part fuming, and part praying, all at the same time. The mattress takes a punch or two from his frustration, but he manages to calm himself down, before heading out to see how the others are.

[Fri]

James spends the rest of the day pacing around furiously inside the abandoned building, trying to find any clue on Sarah's dissapearance, even as he know that SECT team can handle it better than himself, and he might be just in their way.

(can he take 20 for search?)

He failed. Again. No excuses this time....

What's the difference? Even with his new power, and his so called friends and the whole SECT's resource...

When he arrives at the hotel, he tries to find Frank.

"Frank..." he says. "What happened. I want to know the details... You said you'd protect her, damnit. What did you do? What did SHE do? How come she could just... got away like that!"

[Cubey]

You can take 20 on a search check: James explores the building as intently as possible, at least until the PSA-caused tiredness and the place getting crawled with SECT operatives force him to stop. And you find... nothing.
But nothing can be a clue too - it shows that there were no signs of violence or struggle. Did Sarah come with the Thoughts by her own free will?

"I've told you." Frank's gaze is calm, despite facing an angry James.
"She ran away. We could not stop her, as she was in PSA and shifted. Even if we expected her to try to flee, there was no Sophium holding cell available on the spot. My options were to follow her, or to shoot her."

[Tengu_temp]

"Or they want to show to the world how useless we are, since the woman we just publically took into our custody has been kidnapped again while we got made ****ing fools of" Andy says, bitterly.

"If that was their reason, then they succeeded. I give the public several hours at most until it starts yelling SECT is all talk.
And no matter what their reason was, it doesn't change one thing - Sarah is in their hands, and they can do whatever they want with her. And I don't want to even imagine what that might be."
Emi gets up and flies away, towards her hotel room. She doesn't bother avoiding any walls on the way - she just Shifts right through them. Once in her room, she unsummons Genesis and lies down on her bed, still in her business clothes - she doesn't feel like changing, or really doing anything right now.

[kamikasei]

After a while, Cat comes down to look for the others. She hasn't much to say, but wants to see what everyone's doing.

She does have one thing to say, though, and approaches Lorne if she can find him. "So what do you think happened? Didn't you say Sarah had no Sophium in her body? Did something fool your senses, or is there something even weirder than that?"

[Tengu_temp]

Emi's state doesn't last long. She usually closed up when something bad happened, but now not only does she have friends, but also someone very close. And she feels the need to talk with that person.

It seems someone else was first though. When she approaches Lorne's room, Cat is already there at the door.
"..." You can almost see the akward silence. "Um, hey. Am I interrupting you? Maybe I should come in later..."

[Drascin]

As for Andy, he's pacing around the hotel, waiting for the others so they can talk. So if someone goes down, they'll probably meet him.

[Cubey]

Andy meets an unexpected person.

"Umm, uh. Hey." Someone calls you behind your back. If you turn, you see Matilda there, standing with an expression of shyness and determination fighting each other for dominance.
"You are Todd's friend, right? I want, uhh... I need to talk to him."

[kamikasei]

Cat shakes her head in answer to Emi's question. "Just wondering something about what happened today. We can talk it over with the others if I can find any of them... if you're up for it, Lorne. I'll see who's around, you can meet us when you're ready?"

Cat makes ready to head off, waiting for Lorne to say he'll follow later. Once she leaves, she hunts around the communal areas to see who else has left their rooms so far. Before long (but possibly after enough time that Matilda's left?) she runs in to Andy.

"Hi," she says, and leaves it at that.

[Matar]

After finding out that the Ascender is still unconscious, Todd makes his way to finding James. It shouldn't be hard... and as it turns out, it wasn't. With a small smile Todd approaches his dear friend and brother in arms.

"Hey man... how ya taking it?"

[Haven]

Lorne has remained in his hotel room. When he hears Cat's voice, he approaches the door; on hearing her questions, he doesn't respond. I don't have any information...too little to go on.

Then Emi approaches. Even from behind the door, the awkwardness is palpable to him.

Cat shakes her head in answer to Emi's question. "Just wondering something about what happened today. We can talk it over with the others if I can find any of them... if you're up for it, Lorne. I'll see who's around, you can meet us when you're ready?".

"I, ah...sure," Lorne manages. After Cat leaves, Lorne pauses for a second, then looks out the eyehole to see if Emi's still there.

"Emi..." He leans against against the door, still not opening it. "Hey...doesn't it seem so strange, now, that we were so worried about the conference?" His tone of voice is bleak, but somehow relaxed.

[Fri]

Todd finds James sitting on a sofa, head low and arms clenched together. He turned his head toward Todd without any spirit.

"Hey Todd..." James answered weakly. "Bad, just bad..."

He then leaned his back and sighed heavily. He think he know what Todd want to talk about. For once, he want to talk about this to someone.

"I guess you, from all people, had the right to know what the hell was going on...

She was my friend. A childhood friend in fact, from my neighboorhood. You know about a year ago, there was a mysterious case of missing teenage athletes? I guess you don't. The news was strangely low on that. We were two of those athletes. And one of the shifter we faced back then is also one of them. We... we were kidnapped. Imprisoned. Experimented. Tortured. God know what else and for how long... " he shudders. "I managed to escape. She didn't.

My whole reason of being here is to find her. And guess what? We did find her. Just... Not long enough. Heh, I guess it can't end that easily."
He's surprised that he's able to talk about this. About a month ago, he won't be able to talk even one sentence about this. It's slightly painful, but not as bad as he thought.