Royal [IC]

[swrs3d]

To Gambler: "I'm in room ___, ask them if there's anything else in here I should check on. There are a lot of numbered boxes on the walls, and a locked computer terminal."

"S***, if only I'd been 5 seconds sooner.

[Business Scrub]

@Hourglass: There's a brief pause, and Gambler sounds a bit demoralized as well when he responds.

"No... They say no, just come back here."

[swrs3d]

"I'll finish my sweep quickly and head back. I don't want to leave another goon around that we don;t know about."

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Queue running down the hall, gun in face, room full of scared scientists...

Hourglass jumps back from the door and throws his hands up in the air.
"Woah! I'm on your side, please put the gun down. My name is Don, I'm one of the people who was transformed here today. My flock mate and I have been searching the building for survivors, I think all of the hostiles have left, I just saw one teleport away."

[Business Scrub]

@Hourglass: The man lowers his muzzle somewhat, though doesn't open the door.

"What? Look, I probably don't have clearance for whatever project you're on, but sounds like good news. We're not opening until we get the all clear from Doctor Mausial or a proxy."

[swrs3d]

"Huh... I guess they woouldn't tell just anyone about giving people super powers. That's what the guy running around throwing fire was after. Anyways, I'd better be off."

With that HOurglass runs back to Malice at full speed.

"I assume you heard me talking to Gambler? Other than that nothing but a bunch of scared scientists who pointed a gun at me and didn't know about the meta human project. Lets head to Gambler and Rachelle. Remember, this might be a trap so have your wits about you."

Spoiler: Readied action

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Assuming we get to them without incident, readied action to use paralyze on anyone who attacks us.

[El Zombi]

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While Hourglass goes running around checking stuff, Malice is going to ask a favor of Scia

"Hey Scia, you can see into the past kinda, right? Can you try and figure out what happened here?"

[Business Scrub]

@Malice: She looks at you, eyes shifting from green to blue. "Hmm... Let's see. The past is more garbled. But less uncertain than the future. Let me give it a shot."
She concentrates for a long moment, and the color of her eyes radiates out until the sockets glow, not just the iris color. She looks around, apparently panicked and paying you all no heed.
"There were more here. Men. Two of them. Then there was a red one. Then there were six. No, five. Five and six. Then four. Then one... oh. Then... the one is angry, moving. Nothing... nothing... nothing... Oh, wow! Then a lot of people showed up. One, two, three... eight. Oh, now--" She snaps out of it, looking a bit embarrassed, and a lot tired.
"Haha, I guess I went too far. I'm just going to sit down for a bit..."
And she does so.

@Hourglass and Malice: The eight of you head back down to 3BW, where you find, in addition to the others of your team, Rachelle pacing worriedly, and a man you haven't seen before wearing an ill-fitting white t-shirt, jeans, and a scowl. He looks pissed, while Rachelle looks positively distraught. A bit of her worry goes away when she sees you.
"How many is that... eight? Is that it..? Oh God. They've been filling me in on what's going on down here. Is anyone hurt?"

[El Zombi]

"We're all fine, and this is everyone who wasn't taken or left of their own accord."

[swrs3d]

"I saw Axon run off into this part of building after taking a few serious hits, around when Erik got killed. I haven't seen any sign of him since, not sure if that's good or bad new honestly, he seems able to take care of himself."

"So, before we go anywhere I want to know exactly what they took. Don't spare me details you think will be confusing, I'll ask you a question if I'm not following."

[Business Scrub]

@Hourglass & Malice: Rachelle sighs. "Well, there's that. Under normal conditions, here's where I would say that this is where you're free to go. Given the circumstances, that doesn't feel right.

But you, are, certainly. We're not holding any of you here, and your observation period is over: we'll walk you out if you want. Other than that... If you want time to recuperate, we can work something out. Obviously we're in disaster control mode right now, and for the time being that starts with you all: what do you guys need?"

A fairly large number of people start to speak up when she says they're free to go, but she waits to hear from everyone.

Hourglass mentions that Axon went missing, which prompts the other man to speak up.
"We get that a lot of you got split up or taken. We did our best to stop that from happening and... well, we couldn't. I'm sorry about that. Honestly I am. But we didn't put trackers in you or anything, so I have no idea where your friend might be. As soon as we're in some kind of organized group, we'll start directing resources to track them down."

The man looks at Rachelle when Hourglass mentions the sphere, but she shakes her head at him seriously.

"I get that you want answers. But those answers - and the thing that you saw, Donovan - belong to Royal and have a very strict secrecy clearance associated with them."

[El Zombi]

"Well then you can at least tell us who that was who tried to capture us and what they wanted from us, cause I'm sure we haven't seen the last of them."

[swrs3d]

"While I understand that there is a lot of secrecy around the technology behind us, a small group of probably terrorists just smashed into your facility and took your crown jewel. I hardly think that telling the people who might be able to get it back for you what they're up against is going to hurt Royal. Hell, give me the clearance level required, I'll sign your paperwork. You must have background checked us before giving us super powers...please tell me you did background checks and didn't just let anyone with enough cash through. "

[obilisk260]

"Don't worry, you WILL be rescued. You just have to understand, I'm only one guy, trying to rescue dozens of people. But whatever happens, if I fail, I will personally see to it that we mount a proper rescue attempt. We will launch a full scale attack if we have to. You won't be there for long. I promise.

Sounds like we are almost there."

[Business Scrub]

Rachelle thinks for a second, then shrugs.
"I suppose that's fair enough. We believe, and this is just guess albeit a fairly likely one, that the man who orchestrated this attack is Doctor Hans Voigt,. He was a partner with Royal at its inception, but his partnership ended around ten years ago. Since then, we've had very little contact with him, and of course the company had none whatsoever.

As for why, well, Clint and I are making theories as we speak. Voigt was always impulsive man. It's possible he is still bitter about being terminated, though we doubt it. Obviously he's planning something, but what? A political move? You're the first people of your kind; if it is, he's bound to make one hell of a statement. We have some other ideas, but each one is just about as likely as the next.

However what baffles us more is where the funds for an operation of this scale came from. I mean he's been working at a diner for gods sakes. Well, officially, anyway. Obviously that's a front."

Clint and Rachelle level their gaze at Hourglass. They haven't been having a good day, and his last remark does little to help it.

"Part of the reason of clearance is to restrict knowledge to need-to-know, and not fill in every Tommy and Sue that passes a background check. A concept that any good physicist should understand. Hell, there are people working here that have passed the background for years that don't know. So no, Donovan, you won't be getting any--"
"Clint, be quiet for a moment please."
"Excuse me?" He seems fairly angered at Rachelle's snap decision to cut him off. They give each other a long look, apparently having a conversation.
"In light of our position, and because yes we have done extensive background checks prior to accepting you for treatment, Royal Incorporate is prepared to offer a number of you a nonrenewable, nonnegotiable contract. The rest of you will be escorted out of the building immediately."
She looks at you all with an unreadable gaze.

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I'm handing Cam and Brooks a small amount of GM power: you can each pick up to one person (so a total of four, including you two) that wants in on this as well.

@Perceptus: For a long time, there's nothing over Alice's mental link. Then, you fear across it, but it's not without hope.

Don't make a girl a promise... unless you know you can keep it.

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And Perceptus' Prologue is done! I would kindly ask that Tim refrain from posting until all the prologues are.

Also, I've graduated Alice to colored text. Whoopee!

@Axon: With Singed safely behind bars and backup on the way, you exit his body and fly up into the sky. The sun is setting beside you as you fly high into the air to get your bearings, and you're filled with determination: you may not have been able to save everyone, but you put one villain behind bars. And everyone has to start somewhere. A sense of fated purpose comes over you. This is something you were meant to do.

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Axon's Prologue is done as well! Again I ask that Dan not post until Malice and Hourglass's prologue is done.

[Business Scrub]

@Malice & Hourglass: There is a heavy silence, as people weigh the decision before them. Eventually, Scia speaks up.
"Well no way am I missing out on what this thing does. Yeah, I'm in."
Almost immediately, Polarus adds her voice to the mix.
"That man took people I knew. My brother included. I'll be damned if I don't figure out why."

A few more minutes go by, and no one else speaks up.
"Alright then. The four of you, follow me. Everyone else, Clint will escort you out of the building. I believe one of you has collected your personal belongings."

Illumia nods and starts passing around a big pile of clothes, coats, wallets; things that had been left in the rooms. After everyone has taken from it, it's still sadly large: a reminder of all the dead or the missing. Clint signals to them, and they form a large group, and head upstairs. Meanwhile, Rachelle motions to you to follow, and leads you up several flights of stairs, into a small office room on the fourth floor. After closing the door, she turns to you all. Immediately, the keys on a nearby computer begin typing rapidly, seemingly of their own accord.
"Before we say a word more, let's get documentation done with."
You hear the printer fire up, and four pages drift out, flying unerringly (along with pens) to each of you.

Spoiler: Contract

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Agreement of Cooperation
Between the belowsigned and Royal Incorperated

Described below is the agreement between Royal Incorperated (hereby referred to as Royal). Signature of this form represents knowledgable consent to the terms presented. Failure to comply with these terms, where applicable on the signee's part, should be considered a threat to national security, and is punishable by up to and including life imprisonment. The terms will be enforced until either the object specified is retrieved and returned to Royal's custody, or until both parties agree to end them.

1) The signee will locate and retrieve the Infinity Core and return it to Royal.
2) Upon recieving the Inifinity Core and confirming its validity, Royal will compensate the signee with the sum of $200,000 (two hundred thousand dollars), in the form or currency of the signee's choosing.
3) The signee will not disclose information pertaining to the Infinity Core or its applications to entities that are not of required Royal clearance.
4) Royal will not be required to represent or support the signee in a court of law.
5) Royal does not condone illegal actions performed by the signee, and is not responsible for the consequences of such actions.
6) If Royal becomes aware of any such illegal actions preformed in persuit of the Inifinity Core, it will notify San Fransisco authorites, and suspend contact with the signee until resolved.
7) Should disclosure of information pertaining to the Inifinity Core with someone of unsatisfactory clearance become necessary and unavoidable, the signee will notify Royal at the next possible instance, and cooperate with Royal to identify said individual.
8) Royal is not resposible for injuries mental or physical sustained by the signee in pursuit of the Infinity Core.

X______________
Signee
X______________
Date

Scia's eyes seem to scan it in an instant, while Polarus takes more time reviewing it. However, both women sign the form and hand it to Rachelle.

[swrs3d]

"Sounds like a good deal to me."

Hourglass snags the pen out of the air and signs the contract.

"Alright, so this infinity core. What exactly does it do?"

[El Zombi]

Malice, after reading the document over, picks up the pen and signs his name.

[Business Scrub]

You sign the contract with confidence, as Rachelle signs and floats them to the copier. She sighs, sits down and invites you to do the same. Time to get some answers.

You hear Clint's voice over an unseen intercom. "This is Doctor Marseu. We've swept the building: all clear."

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End of Prologue

(Posting in a second)

[Business Scrub]

Chapter 1
A Shining Example

Everto stands in a darkened room, clutching the Core tightly. He hears footsteps approach from the shadows, and drops to his knees.
"And the cur returns with his tail wagging in pride. No troubles, I presume?"
"No, sir, th--"
"Sir? Is that what I taught you to call me?"
"No... No, my lord. There were a handful... uppity subjects. But they were of little consequence."
"I should hope so. One who cannot control his pets is... shameful. You know what is expected of you next, I presume?"
"Of course."
"Good. You have one week."
"A week?? My lord, that's--"
"A shortened timespan, I am aware. But my plans have changed."
"O-of course. I'll get to work immediately then."
"See that you do. Don't dissapoint me, Hans."
The person flickers, and fades away, leaving just Everto, who stands shakily and leaves.

***

@Perceptus: The drill slows considerably, and breaks into a lighted area. It seems to be a garage, of some sort: factory-style metal walls and floors, leading into a bay where the drill parks. Symmetrical staircases lead up to a catwalk, an observation deck, and a closed door up above. Down below, there is a wide set of double doors dead ahead and to the left, a smaller one, each open.

And of course, there are agents everywhere. Unlike those that came on the drill, these aren't armored, but rather dressed in simple work clothes. They immediately swarm the drill, one that looks like a manager taking charge and directing people. The armored agents get off, remove their masks, and head down the side door, leaving just the fresh ones. With passive efficiency, the men and women swing open the cages, taking your unconscious peers and carrying them through the double doors.

Up above, a man the purple armor like those from before watches silently.
---
@Axon: Even at your incredible flight speed, it takes you just over an hour to return to San Fransico. You hover high in the air and a distance away to avoid being seen by the civilians below. From here, everything seems... quite normal. One could get used to this sort of flighted freedom.
---
@Malice & Hourglass: Rachelle pulls a bottle of water out of the fridge, offering one to each of you as well. Polarus looks dissapointed as it turns to ice in her hands.
"So. I guess it's twenty questions time, huh? I guess I'll just start answering questions as they come.

Donovan, you asked what it does. In a really really simplified answer, it's a battery. A very complicated one."
Polarus looks quizically. "That's it?"
Rachelle laughs a bit. "I suppose it's easy to get caught up in specifics, but yes. Obviously, it's a special one. I know not everyone here comes from a science background, so I'll explain in a way that everyone can understand. Don, you'll forgive me if I go slowly.

I'm sure you're familiar with the concept: put energy in, it's stored for later, then you take energy out when you need it. Well, it takes in energy fine. Infact, it seems hungry for it, and it doesn't care what type it gets. We gave it an electrical charge, it bled it dry. We pushed sound at it: right next to the Core was dead silent.
When we heated it up, that's when we knew something was amiss. We kept track of the temperature right next to it, underneath that mesh part you probably saw Donovan. Anyone want to guess how hot it was under six hundred degrees? Zero. And yes Don, I am talking about zero Kelvin. But it wasn't resisting the heat. The heat was going somewhere: it wasn't just sticking around in the room. So the real question is, what is it doing with it?"
She sits back, and takes a drink.
"Anyway, that's what happened when we put energy in."

[El Zombi]

"So what happened when you tried to take energy out of it?"

[swrs3d]

Don takes one of the offered water bottles, and takes a sip while digesting what Rachelle just said.

"Wow! There are a million reasons why that isn't possible, but you have already shown that the bounds of impossible aren't where we thought they were. That's basically the worst news I've heard all day. Don't get me wrong, its the most impressive scientific advancement I've ever heard of, and I'd be ecstatic if not for the circumstances. Do you have any idea how to get energy out of it, or is it still just an infinite sink? Or, at least nearly so if its bringing local objects down that cold."

After thinking for another second. "Yeah, I can think of at least a half dozen ways Everto can cripple the city or country without even getting the energy out, and I'm sure he has ideas about how to do that. One other question, have you made more than one?"

[pyrefiend]

Axon floats lazily in the clouds above the city, enjoying a feeling of intense serenity. He has finished the incredibly stressful task of bringing a murderer to prison. And at the same time, he's finally released himself from that murderer's body. The resultant feeling of release is akin to slipping into cool, clean water after doing manual labor in sweaty and ill-fitting clothes all day.

At the very least, flying beats hitchhiking my a wide margin. Axon spins in the air, turning downward to face the distant city sprawl.

A moment of respite is fine, but I still need to meet the others. We should be working together.

He tries to get his bearings and then flies in the direction of Royal Laboratories.

I wonder what they could be up to now. Something important. I may not know what I need to be doing now, but I'm sure the path will become clear once I've met them again.

[obilisk260]

Ok, I need to be seriously careful to not bump into anyone, or they would raise the alarm.

Perceptus flies straight into the air, up to the ceiling.

"Alright, lets set some priorities. 1: Find a map of the place. 2: Figure out how to get out of here. 3: Gather information on this place. 4: Figure out a way to rescue the prisoners. 5: Attempt to sabotage them, whoever 'them' really is.

That seems like a good place to start."

Perceptus scans the room, looking at the agents. He looks for identifying features, such as an ID badge, so that if he has to copy one of them, he gets it right. Then he starts looking for anything that might guide him towards a map of the building, such as a sign indicating where he is.

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Notice check: (1d20+11)[21]

[Business Scrub]

Rachelle nods. "You right Don. Given what modern physics tells us, it really shouldn't be. And yet... Numbers don't lie, so they say.

And yes, Voigt could wreak quite some havoc if that was the extent of it. But we know him. He's crafty and immoral, but he's not insane. Maybe that's not better, but atleast we're not expecting some kind of coldbomb. We can plan.

As for getting energy out, that's where things get scary. The Core is, as I said, complicated. Absorbing energy is it's default state, but it has... Awareness. I don't mean to imply it's intelligent, not at all, but it seems to understand when a draw is expected of it. For example, we hooked it up to a simple circuit: it powered it. We moved to something bigger: we adapted it for a computer, and it powered it. Then a machine. Then a whole room. After first we thought we were just getting back out the power we put in but... it kept going, and going. Suffice to say, Royal Laboratories has been fueled by the Core, and only the Core, for the past seven months."

She sighs, and lets that sink in. "This is where you all come in. See, when the Core is acting as a power source, we've noticed it gives off something we've called Malleable Energy Form. The energy given off was not decided until it reached whatever it was it was powering. One thing led to another, and we became curious what shape the Malleable Energy From would take when placed at living creatures. Of course, it started simple. Single celled organizisms, Lab rats, that sort of thing. And the subjects became mutated. Err, that is to say simply that their genetic make-up changed. But we noticed it was never directly harmful to the organism, the way that mutation often is. We grew bolder. We wanted to see these effects on a practical scale. So we adapted it for humans."

She shrugs, and levitates her bottle a few feet above her in display.

"I was the first person to be a test subject. A few other Royal members followed suit. Then we decided we needed a wider array of subjects. We've done a bit of observation of humans subjected to the Core. Polarus, you clearly can drain the heat from objects. But where does it go? Are the laws of thermodynamics simply false? I, and several of my colleges hypothesize that the Core, and the energy it produces, has a way of 'breaking the rules', so to speak, though I sincerely hope that is not the case."

She pauses and takes another drink, as Clint walks in. Scia speaks up simply. "So... it's magic?"

Clint rolls his eyes as he sits down. "Oh Jesus, this again?"

"No, not 'magic'. I refuse to believe something simply can't be explained. However, it seems the universe might be wildly not what we once thought.

Donovan: you asked if there were any other Cores. We have no reason to believe there are, but we weren't the ones to create this. Actually, it was given to us by Voigt himself, when he first assisted in the founding of Royal."

[Business Scrub]

@Perceptus: You take a good look around the room, remembering some faces as well. Everyone there seems to be wearing similar black Polos, with green, yellow, or purple coloration. Each person wears a card key, and every once in a while someone goes through a closed door, and presses their card against it to unlock it.
That's when the tunnel starts shrinking. At first you think it's just a trick of the light, but no. The hole the drill dug gets smaller and smaller. The cages quickly empty, and people begin to filter out the double doors and look ready to close the garage.
From where you are, you see no map of the place.

@Axon: You head back towards the Lab. As you fly, you can hear people shout out. The sky is growing dark, and for a second you stick out as a red streak against the sky, before phasing through the outer walls and into the building. You find yourself on the first floor again, back in the waiting room that felt like a lifetime ago.

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Can Axon switch back into human form? I forget.

[El Zombi]

Malice scrunches his face, absorbing the information he just took in.

"Well then it would appear that Voigt at the very least has the capabilities to make more meta-humans. So if that was the case why did he try and capture us?... As a diversion maybe?... No, no, he has some other end game with us..." Malice trails off, unable to come up with a valid theory as to what other purpose Voigt would have with the first batch of metas.

[swrs3d]

"You weren't kidding about that's where things get scary. To recap briefly, we're probably facing an incredibly intelligent, possibly crazy scientist turned supervillain, who has an infinite power sink/source that creates metahumans, and if anyone in the world understands it, its probably him."

Hourglass has started pacing slowly around the room, mostly to force himself to stay calm.

"Did anyone ask him where he got this thing in the first place? I assume so and he wouldn't say, but I'd be curious to know more about what he claimed his background to be."

[Business Scrub]

@Malice & Hourglass:

"Well, it's not exactly right to assume he can create more metahumans with it. Not in the same way you all were augmented. I don't know what those people in purple were though. I breezed over the details when I said 'adapted for humans'. The machine we subjected you at the beginning of all this actually took thousands of man hours to develop and tons of research, neither of which he has, to our knowledge. As for what he wants with you... I have no idea. I don't suppose he said anything while he was here?"

Clint responds to Hourglass. "Besides being able to create metahumans, that's about the size of it. You can see why, besides wanting the Core out of his hands, we want to restrict who knows about this.

Those that worked with him asked about it, of course. He said it was found on an archaeological dig. I don't know how true that is, but it just adds to the mystery if it is."

[El Zombi]

Malice thinks on what they have said and gauges whether he thinks they are hiding something from him (as these entities are aught to do).

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Gonna make a sense motive check: (1d20)[2]

[Business Scrub]

@Malice: It seems to you that these two are being quite honest.