MM: The Great Down Under

[Esprit15]

Solara dives down with the demon, landing gracefully as the demon lands with a loud thump. "After a fall like that? I'd say so. Or as dead as a demon can be. Demonology isn't exactly my specialty." She looks around. Where the heck... "What happened to the others? The stone, Zemouregal, Nabanik." (Did the truck disappear with the stone?)

[BluesEclipse]

"Nabanik vanished with the stone, Zemouregal vanished afterwards." He frowns, as he looks more closely at the corpse, his augmented eye compiling the data gathered from the battle.

[Esprit15]

Well... "So that wacko is running around and we don't know where he is."

[MesiDoomstalker]

Without an army, or a general. His resources are depleted. With him so far from the city, his control over the undead would have ceased. Without an intelligent commander, they are nothing more than simple animals, easy to slaughter. Jean hacked as he freed himself from the now empty truck. He's depleted his resources on a surprise attack. Even if he went back to the city, what remains of his forces will be a mere fraction. You've won. Do not discount that.

[Esprit15]

"And what if he decides some fresh forces are what he needs? He'd make short work of a town, even of Sydney's size. You guys go ahead," she says, aiming her cannon at the dead demon. "I'm going to take some precautionary measures and then make sure my town is safe." With that, her arm cannon lets out a blast of radiation on the demon for a solid minute. Try moving when your cells want to slough off of your bones.

If the others listen and go, she then takes wing, quickly passing them by (with a deafening boom as she does so) and heading to town. She wasn't always this fast... What had happened back there? That stone had changed her, more than she was already different from humans. ...humans? She was human, right? She didn't sound like an Icyene. They used magic, but this wasn't magic. This was science. Pure science... grafted to her body and generating impossible amounts of energy by current technological standards. But magic? No, it couldn't be...

If they don't listen right away, well, we wait and see.

[BluesEclipse]

Archon stands for a moment, deep in thought, before nodding to himself. "The stone is in Dr. Nabanik's possession - as such, I can assume that it's safe unless he informs me otherwise. I'll go with you to help clear out the town, but bear in mind that I'm still contracted to protect the stone. If a more evident threat to that pops up, I'll have to give it priority..." The distaste in his voice is clear when he says this.

Spoiler

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So... do I get a new power from Har'lakk, or no?

[MesiDoomstalker]

Sparkman barely moves out of the way in time for Solara's 'precautionary measures' turned the demon to ashes. Damn girl, give a guy some warning before you start blasting! If what Nabanik has told me about him is correct, he will not attempt an attack like today's without an army to back him up.

Spoiler: Nanocaster

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The powers you can choose from are:
Portal (Teleportation)
Inferno (Damage)
Miasma (Affliction)
Shadow (Weaken)
More specifics will be given when you pick. All cost 36 points.

[Esprit15]

"Well, all the more reason to find him while he's down an army." With that, she takes wing.

[BluesEclipse]

As Solara takes wing, Adrian nods to himself and takes a moment to configure the data from the battle, trying to replicate the portal-opening abilities that the demon used.

Spoiler

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Taking Portal.

[Esprit15]

Your drive back to town is uneventful. People have refused to leave their houses and apartments since the undead attack, but there was minimal harm done overall. About three hours of driving around town lets you clear out the remaining undead. Executioner is occasionally seen in the distance aiding, but by the end, there is no trace of him. Gone again.

Time Skip!
Two weeks pass since the Necromancer Incident. Life for most returns to normal after a few days. Sam is hardly heard from unless called on and returns to her nocturnal activities, patrolling, inventing and throwing soldering guns at walls.

However, several days later, October 30th, a televised announcement is made by the prime minister.

"In the past few weeks, some of you may have noticed an increase in the activity of the police force, including the carrying of higher power weapons than some of you are comfortable with. In part, I am speaking to the people of New South Wales today to say that this is only a precautionary action in response to the unusual events two weeks ago. As we assess the situation in Sydney and the surrounding cities, police forces will be cut back when we are sure that the threat to our state and country is eliminated.

However, this is not the only reason I am speaking to you today. One of our graduate students at UT Sydney has for some time been working on a project that may be more effective at both keeping the populace safer while at the same time allowing you to rest easy that New South Wales will not become a police state. To further explain this is the student herself, Nia River." The camera pans to a girl in very casual dress with blue dyed hair and a green baseball cap.

Spoiler

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"Hello, and thank you for having me. For several years, I have worked on a pet project of mine that I know many in robotics have only dreamed of achieving: competent AI. The ability to give a robot a job and trust them to carry it out even when the job becomes more complicated than expected, without having to receive further instructions from human operators. Last year, we seemed to reach a breakthrough, and the military took an interest. We have machines that are able to learn and respond to new info. If one saw you, it would recognize you later on. If you showed them a door, without being programmed to, they could figure out how to open it or bypass it while causing minimal damage, or none at all. They won't pass the Turing Test right away, but given enough time-" An audible cough off-screen interrupts the excited engineer. "Yes, anyways, Sydney will become a testing ground for a group of robots, and their ability to interact with humans. Unarmed, perfectly safe, but if they are successful, they may be put into jobs that are normally dangerous but require human reaction. Fire fighting, smoke jumping, police work, the applications are endless." The camera pans back to the PM.

"And so, should you see a machine moving down the streets of Sydney, please, interact with them. Say hi, answer questions they may have. The more we learn, the better they will be able to serve you. Thank you for your time." With that, the radio or TV, as is applicable, returns to its normal programming. All of you are enjoying a normal day so far.

[MesiDoomstalker]

Ricky sighed heavily. Ms. Leery's Political Science lecture was as dry as ever. Ricky's finger laid idly on his phone, hidden underneath the desk, listening to the code streaming through it. The Prime Ministers announcement perked him up. This is interesting. Uh Ms Leery? Can I go to the Loo? Ricky squirmed and wiggled in his seat, criss-crossing his legs.

[Esprit15]

Ms. Leery gives a sigh and rolls her eyes. "Yes, yes, but be back quickly!" With that, she turns back to the board, finishing a diagram of the different branches of government and going on about how they interact.

[MesiDoomstalker]

Ricky slung his bag over his shoulder and headed out of the class. But instead of going right, towards the nearest restroom, he swung right heading towards his locker. The tumblers of the lock twisting on their own as he approached and the lock clicking open as he arrived. He pulled open the locker, pulling out a second pack, stuffed with something big and lumpy. Those things are interesting. I gotta go find one.

He turned on his heels, jogging silently down the corridor and out one of the side doors. He hopped into the dumpster behind the school, taking time to get into his Sparkman suit. He pulled out his metal foil he used to fly, slowly ascending into the sky. He focused on the numerous radio signals flying around the big city, trying to piece out any unusual signals. If he found one, he bet that it was one of those robot things.

[Esprit15]

You fly around the city for a bit, filtering through radio transmissions. Most of it was junk: cellphones everywhere, combined with the steady hum of several dozen radio stations and TV stations. Amidst the noise, there is something new, though. Every now and then, you hear a sudden crash, like a boulder dropping into the ocean. You couldn't make out a word of it. Whatever it was, it was heavily encrypted and compressed in a way that you had never seen before. You hear the bursts periodically from around the town, at one or two minute intervals. In addition, you notice a short ping in response. The sources of the large bursts are all over the town, though the small bursts come from everywhere nearly at once.

In total, you guess there are between one and two dozen broadcasters. Some were groups, some were individual. The easiest to find was one out towards The Australian Museum, nearish the coast.

[MesiDoomstalker]

Got one! Ricky zooms towards the museum heading straight towards the source of the signal.

[Esprit15]

There's actually a crowd of people at the museum today. Several turn to gawk at you in your outfit (and flying), but attention actually returns to something more interesting than a flying teenager in clothes that don't match.

No, I do not wish to take over anything. I just want to learn. It is why I came to this museum. I do not appreciate that suspicion. A slightly mechanical, feminine voice says from the center of a crowd. Pushing through, you find... Well, it was best described as a pyramidal box. A camera looks out from the top, swiveling to meet your gaze. The rest is smooth, though you can tell just looking at it that there is so much beneath that smooth exterior that you can't even begin to understand.

G'day. Up close, it was more clear that the voice was a recording, though there were small signs that the machine had modified known vocabulary in order to play the slang.

[MesiDoomstalker]

Well hello there! Aren't you beautiful? Ricky reached out but hesitated. His body was constantly electrically charged. He might actually damage it if he touched it. Do you have a name?

[Esprit15]

Thank you. I do not have a proper name as you do, though I am designated as #7, as I was the seventh activated. And who might you be?

[MesiDoomstalker]

Ricky stood up a little straighter, striking a heroic pose and giving his best winning smile. They call me Sparkman!

[BluesEclipse]

Archon watches the robot - and the crowd attracted by it - from his station near the door, prepared to act if it looks like any problems will arise(whether from the robot or from the crowd) and otherwise just analyzing the construct to get some idea of its capabilities. When Sparkman appears, he blinks, before smiling wryly and opening up the radio channel used previously to communicate with the electricity manipulator. [Sparkman. I take it our mechanical friend here is what brings you by today? It hasn't shown any hostile intent if you're wondering - though it'll be helpful having the support if something does happen.] He doesn't speak during any of this - his job right now is just to continue providing security to the museum. The Stone is no longer present, but apparently they decided to retain his services in case of anything else happening - At least I'm not stuck inside, he muses as he continues his duties and hoping that things remain relatively calm.

[Esprit15]

Sparkman... Gimme a tick... Interesting. I can find no information on an individual resembling yourself earlier than the 3rd of this month. However, two unusual blackouts do show up on record earlier this year. Were those your doing? There is an awkward pause, several seconds long as the crowd quiets from the robot's words. Did I say something wrong? I assure you, it was not intentional. The accent changes, to a more formal, British tone, like that of its creator. What did I say wrong?

[MesiDoomstalker]

Sparkman's lips purse and his cheeks redden. No, no, no of course not. Wait, two? I've only heard of one.

[Esprit15]

Hm, a coincidence. But you admit the other was you. Why would you do that?