A Heroes Challenge IC (Worm-Verse Game)

[GameOfChampions]

Psych - Patch

The psychiatrist ***** an eyebrow "Is that possible? Well I can help speed along the process of your probation if I believe you are actually opening up to me and not lying or just trying to achieve your ends. I need to see real progress though."

Drug King of Miami

"Every group that plans on operating long term in any area has to be concerned with their body count, it may result from morality or it may result from not wanting to get a kill order but the end result is the same. In regards to finding out who can tell, there could be dozens of ways to peg Shining Path with the murder; they could use a gun from Peru, a power they use could leave a distinctive mode of death, something could mess up and one of the drivers could accidentally live long enough to talk to someone or message someone. There are lots of ways it could go wrong and if they get pegged with not only the disappearance of the trucks but murders of several people it would result in even worse situations, especially if who ever found out leaked it to the public or law enforcement."

She nods to Volta "I think Volta has a good point, the longer we wait the higher the possibility that the information we have will be useless and the situation will degrade into a mess."

Scouting Out the Combination

Titania rubs the ears of the pair of Cat Sith she's just finished creating. She plucks them off her lap and puts them into the center of the van they were camping out in. "All right the Cat Sith are ready to go we just need to give them the ear pieces and send them in. Which Shining Patch holdout is this?"

Spoiler

Show

You guys decide which warehouse you wanted to start at and anything to look for in particular.

Just off the Boat... from Hawaii

The Director sticks her head into the cape office center and noticing some members walks in "Hey everyone glad I could find some of you. Since Snap got transfered I cast my net out trying to get a transfer willing to come to Miami. We were lucky to catch someone and they'll be joining us here indefinitely. You all know the drill by now, make the new guy feel at home and catch him up on everything that's going on at the moment."

[Chivy]

Psych - Josie

"Thank you Mateo and as long as I don’t have my mask on Josie or Josephine is fine." Josie sat down on the couch, then lay down folding her hands on her chest before taking a deep breath.
"I’m a traditionalist patient, plus I don’t get to lie down much anymore lately." she said with a grin by way of explanation.

"I guess busy sums it all up doc. There is so much to do, so much to think about. Patrols. Shining Path. Spook. Pinpoint. Gods if I didn’t have Jack and Ju Yi to share some of the burden I would be going mad now. That’s why I told the Director that we needed counselling."
"That’s not true." she quickly corrected herself.
"I’ve been having nightmares. That’s why I asked for counselling. It’ll help the others as well, but it was mostly for me. Just talking to somebody helped a lot on my previous team and I never stabbed somebody in the eyes and watched brain gore dribble from their face over there…" Josie blinked realizing that she had just thrown a huge issue out to a guy she had only just met.
"Sorry. I shouldn’t just dump something like that on you."

Drug King of Miami

"Or we could wait for them to beat each other up a little and then go in and scoop up both of them", The tinker suggests."[/COLOR]

"I’d rather prevent the civilian casualties and property damage that would cause, but if they do get into a fight before we’re ready, we’ll be there. Then the first priority will be getting civilians to safety and making sure one of us doesn’t get taken down, then and only then do we try and capture them. Unless there are any other ideas?"

"I think that our patrols have been sporadic and at different enough places that I find it unlikely that anyone will sniff it out. That said I admit that there is a risk but I think it's worth it to give us the mental break we need to be able to move out."

"That’s… fair." Echo says almost reluctantly. It wasn’t that she disagreed, but she wanted to be doing a good job and some sort of predictability would help their standing with the public.
"We’ll ease up on the patrols, but I’m still not completely comfortable with people patrolling on their own, so we’ll keep the two person patrols for now. Just less of them, alright?"
She then looked at Patch questioningly as an idea formed in her mind.
"Patch, just an idea. But there are a lot of those camera drones around in toy shops. They might be toys, but maybe you can make something similar but more robust. Is it possible and in the budget to build some kind of program that they can scout the city on their own and alert any cape activity or any criminal activity? We could transfer the normal crimes to the MPD and take the cape things ourselves? Maybe add some kind of invisibility like the cats and solar cells so they can stay in the air for longer?"
"They’d need some kind of self-destruct system as well, it wouldn’t do for our surveillance to fall into anybody else’s hands." She continued, her tone of voice turning speculative
"It would take a lot of time to make enough for the entire city, but maybe you could construct a device that builds them instead of building them all yourself. We might be able to trade something like that to other cities and pad the budget a bit."
"Sorry, got carried away a bit."

"I think what Echo and the Director are trying to say is that we shouldn't look a gift bird in the mouth. Or was it about a horse in the hand? Whatever. Point is, we've got the info on one gang, we should use it now before the Fang f*cks everything up and nothing we got from our captives downstairs will amount to sh*t." She stops, before apologizing about the swearing. "We should stick with the plan as is: get the Shining Path out of the way. Six places to hit at the same time is probably gonna be hard enough, especially if we have to split up our cape numbers. That's my vote, anyway."

"Language." Echo admonishes Volta when she swears, then gives her an approving nod when she continued with her opinion. The girl had a good head on her shoulders, she decided that she’d ask her about her schooling and try to subtly get her to commit to a real education.
"We’ll probably not be hitting all six locations at the same time. There’s a good chance that the Shining Path capes will all be holed up in the same location for safety. That place will be the most secure, the rest not so much. We have us capes as well as three PRT squads and we’ll see if the Miami police commissioner wants to help out in a headline making drug bust."

Spoiler

Show

Everybody can pretty much assume that Echo says “language” every time one of you swears.

"Snap I've gotten a message from the New York PRT branch. They watched the footage of the Peacemeal fight and with my testimony of your abilities and attitude they're transferring you over to the Lancer team in New York. They'll be training you in fast response and I think you'll be a great fit there. They want you ASAP so Strider will be teleporting in to bring you to New York and they'll handle the rest of your transfer there. It was nice working with you when we had the chance Snap and I'm sure you'll do well in New York."

"What?! No." Echo burst out in shock, it took her a moment to regain some form of professionalism.
"Sorry…" she apologized after taking a deep breath
"Congratulation Snap, the Lancer team is prestigious and with them interested in you it just proves that I was right about you. I will miss you though."


She swallowed the lump in her throat and with a slightly hoarse voice she tried to make
"Alright. We have to make a few decisions here. As usual, if you have other ideas please voice them."
She looked around the table before she started
"Titania, Patch and…. Volta if you feel comfortable enough out there, I want you to start scouting the Shining Path locations and warehouses. We need floorplans, approximate guards, any traps and escape routes that are set up in advance. "
Keeping an eye out for any body language that would indicate disagreement she continued
"Patch and Apogee, I’d like you to pick up where Snap has left off and contact the Grey Hand. Try and get a face to face with them, we know who they are without the masks so it shouldn’t feel like a trap for them. Inform them of our plans to completely take down the Shining Path and ask them to stand by for if it turns out they actually did split up and the MPD and PRT are unable to handle the cape in question." She shook her head before the Director could object.
"We will only bring them in as a last resort. We want them to want to come back and sitting on the bench waiting for a call that won’t come will get them wanting in the game, especially if Patch and Apogee can help them realize that they would be in on this if they were part of the Wards. But if they can save the lives of PRT members or any police officer the hit to PR is worth it if you ask me."
She waited for any objections on this point before continuing
"I and ..."She looked around the table, Snap would be gone. Patch was busy as it was, the rest were all very young. There wasn’t a perfectly clear choice here.
"Somebody else will meet with the MPD commissioner and we’ll hash something out which will get S.W.A.T. raids on the Shining Path locations we’re not targeting at the same time we’re engaging the Shining Path."
Echo looked at the notepad in front of her and noted the final point she had scribbled down
"If anybody has some time contacting the Panther’s Fang Task Force might get us a head’s up about what they know and if the Fang is preparing to strike the Path, volunteers?."

Spoiler

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Holding off on the MPD meeting because I ran out of time... Will try and get it up soon, hopefully with somebody else.

[Forum Explorer]

Just Off The Boat...From Hawaii

Dressed in his full costume, Maelstrom enters the room, closing a folder full of files.Hey, my name's Maelstrom in costume, and Shawn outside off it. I've been catching up on you dossiers and reports, but I'm still not through it all. But you're currently planning an assault on the Shining Path, right? What's the status of that? he says, gesturing to the folder in his hand.

[3SecondCultist]

Just Off The Boat... From Hawaii

Bella looks up from what appears to be a copy of today's most recent tabloid magazine, her eyes only realizing that it's the director belatedly as she gets up and does her best to look professional. She registers a second individual behind her, what looks like a man in a weird looking wetsuit. The f*ck? She's learned better than to say this out loud by now, instead nodding her head when he asks about the Shining Path.

"Yeah... our prisoners got real chatty, gave up all the dirt on their bases and stuff. We were just about to head out to do a bit of recon, scout their base at the docks before we go in to get them all off the streets." She pauses, taking his outfit into consideration. She's never heard of this guy, but that doesn't mean much when she wasn't really tuned into cape names and classifications before this. Wanna come? I bet you can swim well, with that getup."


Scouting Out the Combination

Volta adjusts the straps of her costume, the pale grey paneling making her sweat slightly in the Miami heat. Even the light colors isn't enough to protect from the glare. She thought that after spending most of her childhood in Colombia, she'd have developed some kind of tolerance, but apparently that was silly of her. She triple checks everything at her utility belt, making sure it's there even though she already knows it is. It's a ritual of self-assurance. In front of her, past the barrier of the parking garage, is the skyline of the docks. Moving out of the passenger's seat, she clambers into the back of the van where Titania and the others are waiting.

"Let's check out the shoreside warehouse first," she says with a confidence she doesn't feel. "If the Shining Path are waiting for a shipment, they'll probably be here later, but for now we should be okay to scout at least."

Spoiler: OOC

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Whoever is joining the scouting scene is welcome to just post IC with me, and we can figure this all out in-game.

[Sønderjye]

Psych - Patch

Patch is stunned for a moment. Hope burst forth and he for a brief moment he would have been willing to do practically anything for Mateo. Could it be true?

Then his doubt kicks in. Was this another PRT ploy? He would have to wait a few more moments before the lie detector had processed the feed but in the meantime it couldn't hurt to play along.

"Really?" he responds, allowing his genuine enthusiasm about the possibility to shine through. "What areas do you want to see progress in?"

"It should be possible. Even before tinkers showed up we were many who believed that it could happen within the next two centuries. Most people thought that nanobots, which would repair aging cells, would be the solution but I've always favored the hydra solution. Have you heard of the Hydra? Not the fable creature that Titania probably could summon but the actual sea creature?"

Drug King of Miami

Patch bites his tongue. How could the director be so ignorant? It was like she already had forgotten how someone in the city had murdered CJ in cold blood not event a block from both him and Echo. And they still didn't have a single clue who the murderer was. Remembering her death scream his anger is replaced with a shiver down his spine.

Patch sends Bella a discrete look. She seems suspiciously eager on taking on Shining Path as soon as possible. Or was it to not fight Panther's Fang?

"We’ll ease up on the patrols, but I’m still not completely comfortable with people patrolling on their own, so we’ll keep the two person patrols for now. Just less of them, alright?"

"Sounds good to me", the tinker answers genuinely. Truth be told he had no wish at all to patrol alone.

She then looked at Patch questioningly as an idea formed in her mind.
"Patch, just an idea. But there are a lot of those camera drones around in toy shops. They might be toys, but maybe you can make something similar but more robust. Is it possible and in the budget to build some kind of program that they can scout the city on their own and alert any cape activity or any criminal activity? We could transfer the normal crimes to the MPD and take the cape things ourselves? Maybe add some kind of invisibility like the cats and solar cells so they can stay in the air for longer?"
"They’d need some kind of self-destruct system as well, it wouldn’t do for our surveillance to fall into anybody else’s hands." She continued, her tone of voice turning speculative
"It would take a lot of time to make enough for the entire city, but maybe you could construct a device that builds them instead of building them all yourself. We might be able to trade something like that to other cities and pad the budget a bit."
"Sorry, got carried away a bit."

Patch just stares at Echo for a long moment then: "THAT'S AN AMAZING IDEA!" he burst out, his eyes lighting up with enthusiasm and wheels start spinning. "We could.. It would have to be without... Maybe if... Yeah that..." he mutters to himself as a rough idea starts forming.

"I'll have think about it some more to have the more practical stuff down, and.." he stops himself and then looks at the director: "Wouldn't it be problematic for the PR department if we had surveillance drones flying over the city?"

Just Off The Boat...From Hawaii

"Welcome!" Patch says offering an outstretched hand while discretely pulling up the file for the new addition on his glasses by a few eye movements. "I'm Patch, generalist tinker, let me know if there's anything you need."

"A few questions on your power. Is it correctly understood that while using your power you can move out of shape without it hurting you?"

If the above is met with a confirmation he continues: "Can you voluntarily bend out of shape and if so can you move in any form?"

Scouting out the combination

Patch nods agreeing with Bella. Even if he didn't trust her motives, her logic had been sound.

"Would you mind making this one open it's mouth?" He asks Titania kneeling down beside one of the cats. He thenplaces the last camera in the cat's mouth. "That should be the last of them."

"Those two have camera's in their mouth" He points at two of the cats and then points at the two others "And both of those have a tiny speaker instead. Keep them paired up and you should be able to give them detailed instructions. Just to recap: initial instructions should be something like, enter that building discretely scout around making as little noice as possible and obviously not touch into anything. Cats should open their mouth when they're nobody around and no camera's on them, and only then. Am I missing something?"

Reaching out to the SMT

From: Patch
To: Juan J. Perez
Subject: Meeting

To the Miami-Dade Police Director

This is Patch from the PRT Miami Hero Team. We have important information and would like to coordinate efforts. Are you available for a meeting within the next days?

Best,
Patch

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Do we have an official team name or something? If so this should be subtituted in, in Patch's presentation of himself.
@Goc, do you want to set up the scene for the meeting?
@All, Anyone who want to participate in the meeting scene can.

Home Sweet Home II

Patch looked out the tanned window in his door, checking again that he wasn't followed. He takes a deep breath and conjures the convolute with his fake ID's from inside his coat. He had really done it, there were no going back now. The victory was bittersweet. He felt strangely guilty for not including Josie in this. Sure, he rationalized, she would disprove of going behind the law, even if it were to help those the law is failing, and would probably report him. Still, he had gotten to like the woman over the month they had been working together, she was hard-working, genuine and listened to her collegee's ideas, and he had a hard time shaking off the feeling that he was going behind her back personally.

[Chivy]

Drug King of Miami

"THAT'S AN AMAZING IDEA!" he burst out, his eyes lighting up with enthusiasm and wheels start spinning. "We could.. It would have to be without... Maybe if... Yeah that..."
"I'll have think about it some more to have the more practical stuff down, and.."

Echo grinned at Patch’s excited outburst.
"It’s just an idea." she said, coloring a bit with slight embarrassment.
"You’re the one who has to make it amazing."
"Keep us updated on how it goes."

"Wouldn't it be problematic for the PR department if we had surveillance drones flying over the city?"

Echo also quirked an eyebrow at the director questioningly.

Just off the Boat...From Hawaii

"Echo. Josie when not in costume. " Echo introduced herself and held her hand out to shake the newcomer’s. Like most of these first time meeting she was in her costume, but Patch’s gear allowed her to have the lower part of her face uncovered for times like this.
" Welcome aboard Maelstrom, it’s good to have you."
"I’m sorry, but I was… unaware of your transfer, so you’ll have to excuse me for not being up to date on your experience and abilities. Could you give me the Coles Notes?"
She gave him an encouraging smile.
"We’re in the middle of a big operation so excuse the railroading. Once Patch gets you outfitted we’ll get you into the patrol rotation as quickly as we can and one of us will get you up to speed as soon as you’re settled."

Returning to the fold (or not), part 1

Josie stared at the private message she had typed on the Parahuman Online website. It was the first step in what could be the first step in what could be the largest step forward for the Miami protectorate. Or a disaster.

Private message to: Static (Verified Cape); Hardlight (Verified Cape); Redirect (Verified Cape); Trigger (Verified Cape)
From Echo (Verified Cape)

I am sorry. With everything that has been happening we have been unable to reach out to you after Vanguard transferred and have left you without a contact with us.
We heard about your recent attack on the Shining Path. Patch, our tinker, has an invention which can heal almost any wound. If any of you is wounded it would get you up on your feet again quickly.

I would like to meet with all of you face to face and talk. We are about to start a big operation and I would like to see what we can do for each other. If any of you is hurt we can bring the healing invention with us. You can choose the place we meet.

I will make sure that my patrol this afternoon is around your school during lunchtime so you can verify that this message is from me. If you want to contact me directly, my direct PRT phone extension is #76243.

I hope to hear from you soon.

Echo

She reread the message again. It looked good to her. If they had wounded it would be enticing for them to meet, she’d show them that it was actually her by being seen near their school and by doing so she’d subtly reminded them that the PRT knew their civilian identities, so this wouldn’t be a trap and that if she had bad intentions she could have picked them up at home.

She hoped it was enough.

Email
To: all capes, Director Sanderson
From: Echo
Subject: Contacting the Grey Hand

All,

I have used the same method as Vanguard used initially to contact the members of the Gray Hand. I have asked them for a meeting and offered to help them with their wounded using Patch’s healing invention, if they have any after their fight with the Shining path. I am confident they will contact me for a face to face meeting soon. Anybody who wishes to join me in that meeting is welcome.

Echo

[Forum Explorer]

Just Off the Boat...From Hawaii

It's nice to meet you. Maelstrom said, shaking Echo's hand. As for my powers, well I'm basically an water kinetic slash water breaker, that is I can control water around me and take on a state that is not entirely like water. Experience wise, I've been with the Hawaiian Protectorate branch for years now, and I'm pretty familiar with the whole system by now.

A generalist tinker huh? Nice. I really just need a way to carry water around with me easily. You think you could figure out a way let me do that? As for my powers, no I'm afraid not. I've got to stay in a mostly human shape, too much deviation from that will break my power. So no ambushing people as a puddle.

Well considering I don't need to breath, I like to think I'm pretty good at it. Maelstrom said smiling. Sure,
I'll tag along. It'll be good to see how you guys work in the field.

Scouting out the combination

The more water the better for me. So if it does come to a fight, I'd rather be by the shore. Maelstrom said, agreeing.

[GameOfChampions]

Drug King of Miami

The Director thinks for a moment "Hmm it shouldn't be too much of a problem, there would be restrictions though. They can't be used to spy on private property or we will be slapped with a lawsuit before you can blink. Flying laws shouldn't be a problem due to their small size but if they get to be too large you'll have to obey certain restrictions on fly space. As far as PR it wouldn't be to hard to spin it, our PR department is second to none so it won't be too much of a problem. Don't build to many though, a few small drones flying around is easy to spin but giant dark swarms of the things over the city would be a lot harder."

Returning to the fold (or not), part 1

Private Message
To: Echo (Verified Cape)
From: Static (Verified Cape)

We were not particularly concerned with the lack of contact, we're focusing on the destruction of Shining Path not looking to get 'persuaded' to joining the PRT again. We have our own methods for treatment and don't need your tinker's help.

We've left school to focus on our mission, we all got our GED, so we can't verify that. Frankly our trust of the PRT is not very high right now, any disscussion you want to have can be over the phone or messaging until we see you are on the level.

Static

Who's This?

A few hours after hearing back from Static the phone rings at Echo's desk.

The harsh voice on the other side just spits out just one thing "What do you want from us?"

Psych Patch

Mateo shakes his head with a small smile "It's completely true, I have a lot of sway with Director Sanderson and I believe I could put in a very good word for you. However I'm not going to tell you what I want to see improvement in. While I'm sure you are a good person at heart I know that some heroes would use this opportunity to get rid of the limits holding them back, most of the time to help others but that does not change the fact that it does no favors to their mental health. I want to see you work through any and all problems you may have, not just the ones the Director and board want to see fixed... Alex."

Scouting out the combination

Titania whispers the instructions into the cat ears and the two cats vanish from sight and slip out of the doors Titania cracked open a bit. After a few seconds Titania starts to relay everything she is seeing through one of the cats eyes to complement the video with some sound and video when the cameras are in closed mouths.

The warehouse is simple on the outside and without decoration, the type of building people would walk by every day without any suspicions. The inside is layed out like a mixture of a fortress and drug den. The windows are reinforced with steel bars and the doors seem to be thick as bank vaults with dead bolts inside them. There are a pair of guards at every door and a single guard at the windows.

Further into the warehouse there is a large open area filed with unmarked crates full of mostly drugs but some weapons and cash, easily tens of thousands of product and contraband fill the warehouse. Off to the side there are several smaller rooms, some with beds and others seemingly office type rooms full of paperwork and desks. The warehouse has a dozen henchmen throughout the building with some guarding the entrances, some in the main room, and others spread out throughout the rest of the warehouse.

The most important find though is that in one of the rooms a women in costume is lying in bed with one of her arms in a cast and what seems to be a semi-healed burn over the parts of her skin that are visible, Barricade. Then in what seems to be the main office room is another costumed person, a man this time, in a costume that you recognize only from the PRT files. Aero.

Titania uses her power to listen in to Aero for several minutes but the only useful tidbit she manages to gather is when another henchmen comes in and they have a quick talk about the logistics of moving three quarters of the product in the warehouse in two days.

Reaching out to the SMT

From: Chief of Police Juan J. Perez
To: Patch
Subject: Meeting

I would appreciate a meeting with the new team of heroes and I can make time for a meeting tomorrow at noon. When you arrive just ask my secretary to show you to the meeting room where we can hold our meeting with privacy.

Regards,
Chief of Police Juan J. Perez

Meeting with the SMT

As you enter the building a young man spots you and quickly hurries over "Hello, please come with me. I'm Mr. Perez's assistant and I'll take you to him."

The young man takes you through part of the building to a nice meeting room with a massive table, chairs, a state of the art plasma tv, and several whitboards pushed up against the walls. Sitting near the end of the table is a middle aged hispanic man with greying hair and the look of someone who has had his nose broken in too many fights over his life "Hello everyone. Please take a seat, I'm Chief Perez."

Psych Josie

The small man gestures to the couch "Feel free, and please always fell free to come by if you need to get away from the bustle and hustle of the hero life and just lay down."

Mateo frowns in sympathy "That sounds rough Josie and don't worry that's why I'm here. To listen to peoples problems. I'm here to listen to anything you want to talk about."

[Sønderjye]

Drug King of Miami

"It’s just an idea." she said, coloring a bit with slight embarrassment.
"You’re the one who has to make it amazing."
"Keep us updated on how it goes."

Patch sends a big smile bag and notices that he feels less uncomfortable with the flattery than he did a month ago. Perhaps he had changed in more ways than he thought?

An idea comes to mind.

"Actually, instead of having drones it would be easier to use satalite surveillance. That should be able to cover all of the city without having people worrying about being surveilled. It might be expensive though"

Checking in

After the meeting ended and they had all properly said their goodbyes and gratulations to Snap and gone their own way Patch seeks out Echo.

A knock is heard on the door and Patch voice follows: "Echo, you in there?"

Spoiler: OOC

Show

I didn't want to godmod and if you're office has windows or whatever feel free to adjust

Psych Patch

Patch congratulates himself silently for extracting that direct a statement from Matou. Now he just have to wait a minute before the truth-detector would finish the processing and he'd know if Matou were just baiting him.

Patch freezes a moment at the implication and then forcibly relaxes himself. He takes a sip of water while considering how he should approach the idea and decides his best shot is to give Matou an organization.

"Alright, I can see how it looks. I gave everyone a fake name and was paranoid enough that I thought that some of my teammates might out my civilian identity but that isn't the case. Both Josie and Robert have way too high moral standards for that. I didn't trust Ji Yu immediately due to her criminal background but came to and Apogee seems like a genuine guy too. I don't know Bella or that new guy, Shawn, well enough to say anything about them. What it was about was to gain information. We're being recorded 24/7 at base and that information is available online only protected by a username and password. There is no way that there aren't at least 15 thinkers out there whose power makes codecracking a child's play and that's not talking about the capes who can just access electronic systems without using keys. Using a fake name was a move intended to bring proof, if anyone outside the PRT had used it we would have known. Unfortunately I haven't had a lot of opportunities to personally interact with the criminals in town. I think I accidently tricked Sanderson too, can't imagine her being pleased with that." In truth he felt bad about the whole thing, which was why he haven't given his fake civilian name to their latest addition. Sure, it felt slightly better knowing that he never outright said "My name is Jack" but it was marginal.

"Doesn't mean I like it."

He pauses for a moment and returns to another subject

"How is it exactly that you think that allowing me to biotinker will negatively affect my mental health?"


Just Off the Boat...From Hawaii

"Mhh", the tinker ponders: "I don't see any solutions popping to mind. Well, any affordable solutions anyway. I'm let you know if anything comes up."

Scouting out the combination

"Excellent job! This is super useful.", Patch says. "Lets scout around a little more and then move to their other main base."
Really there weren't any point in hanging around much longer. It was only in movies or stories that you could expect the bad guys to sit around and talk about fully fledged plans and they had the interior of the building recorded.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

FE and 3SC let me know if you want to do anything here or are ready to move on to another location.

Meeting up with the SMT

"I'm Patch, thank you for meeting with us", Patch greeted before taking a seat. He couldn't help but couldn't help but compare Perez' overarms to his own. Perez could have snapped him in pieces. Highly unprofessional thoughts.

Patch waited for the other capes to introduce themself and then started explaining.

"I'm sure you're a busy man so I'll get straight to the point. Anything I tell you here should be shared with as few people as possible. We have located the main bases of Shining Path and are planning an operation to take them down. They can expect to encounter between 10-20 heavily armored non-capes at each of their two main locatiosn in addition to the capes and we don't have the resources to deal with all of them. We want to coordinate an attack with the Police."

Email

To: all capes, Director Sanderson
From: Patch
Subject: Contacting the Grey Hand

I'll be there,

Patch

Home, Sweet Home III

Alex allows himself to crash down on his couch after getting him. Lying to the bank had to be one of the scariest things he had ever done. Alright, second scariest to Piecemeal. He had been sure that they would have heard his pounding heart but in his pocket was his new account information for him as a person and as a company. He had purchased a local boxpost to have the relevant mail delivered to, had used that address to create the bank account for his alias and used that account to get a company account at another bank.

He sighs deeply. He felt so exhausted and even so he knew that this were only the beginning. Next up were to actually fill the accounts before he could start improving the life of the slum ressidents.

[n0ble]

Psych-Max

"Hah, dont tease doc. Ex wouldn't approve." Max crossed his arms behind his head and sagged back into the chair, crossing one leg over the other. He paused before continuing while looking up at the ceiling "I dunno doc, seems more like a jungle than it ever did when I was here last. Must've done a number on infrastructure what with the team getting leaked out and all. But whose to say right? Been outta the loop for a bit, hopping to get back into it. More or less. "

Mutual Interest

Well, it was certainly cleaner than Tecton's lab, that was for sure. "They outta give you more moola for this kinda stuff Patch. Lotta good to be done with this stuff by my simple reckoning. I mean sheesh, rocket boots alone, now that'd be killer." Max rubbed the back of his head while trying to figure out the last of the designs. "Hm. Containment foam one looks like a good thing to invest in given the different things it can produce. Plus Sanderson strikes me as a person whose big on non-lethal." A small note of disappointment crept into Max's voice at that. He gave his head a slight shake. "Then again 'guess its more up to you and Echo for deciding on that sorta thing but that'd be my vote. Seems the most flexible all told."


Drug Kings of Miami

He nodded at what other people were saying and tried to look shocked at the news that snap was leaving. Given the high turnover rate the team had been going through so far it didn't come as a surprise to him. A disappointment sure, but not a surprise. Always a pain in the @ss for the criminal element when they're getting observed. Foundation of any criminal policing right there. "Satellite's a good idea. Getting the trajectory and alignment all proper could be a pain but it'd be effective within the window you had."


Just off the Boat...from Hawaii

Max held out a hand to the new guy and gave him a smile, "Max, Apogee in costume." Somone had said the other new guy had been from Hawaii of all places."Heard theres some pretty big waves in Hawaii. Big waves here too from what I hear."

[3SecondCultist]

Drug King of Miami

"Seconded on that satellite idea," Volta says with a flippancy that she certainly doesn't feel. Truth be told, the idea of anybody being able to watch her every move - even if it's a team member like Patch - makes her deeply uncomfortable. But if she expresses that, does that make her look with something to hide? She dismisses the notion as being too paranoid. As far as the PRT knows, she's done nothing wrong. She'll just have to stay between the lines for a little bit.

"How much would it cost, out of curiosity? I might be able to pitch in some of my personal budget next month if that helps." Why did she say that?



Just Off the Boat... From Hawaii

Bella perks up slightly at the mention of waves, a smile she turns disarmingly towards the new guy. "When we're done with the Shining Path and everything, I'd love to try out surfing. Always wanted to learn, but never got the chance. I'm sure you've got some tricks you can teach me." If that isn't an invitation to something, Bella isn't quite sure what is. It'll be fun! Hopefully.


Scouting out the Combination

When the cat sith return with the information they've collected, Bella can't help but feel slightly proud. This was her tip that had gotten them here. She knows she's supposed to feel sad or demoralized at the rate people were leaving the team, but f*ck it feels good to be useful. This isn't anything like with her father, either. She came up with getting the info on her own. Bella tries to suffuse the warmth she feels, but only a little.

"That's great! Once we get the Miami PD on board, we can hit them here! We should definitely check out their other base though too, so we can hit them from both ends at once." She's aware that she's offering tactical advice now. "I mean," she says with markedly less confidence, "if that's what you guys feel is the best call."

[Chivy]

Just Off the Boat...From Hawaii

"Water powers? Very useful in a coastal city." Echo mused for a moment and then gave Maelstrom a welcoming smile.
"Well welcome again. I’ll give you a day or so to settle in and then schedule you into the patrols. We have a mandatory tri-weekly two hour close quarter combat training as well as mandatory monthly psych visits, the rest is probably not much different from what you’re used to. Any questions you have, just ask. "

Returning to the fold (or not), part 1

Private Message
To: Static (Verified Cape)
From: Echo (Verified Cape)

Thank you for replying to my message. It is good to hear that you have your way of healing yourselves, but if you ever need it; the offer stands.

While I would love to have you all back here and working with us, that is not my primary goal in contacting you. We are all capes who are trying to clean up Miami against some pretty overwhelming odds, exchanging information or asking each other for help when we need it would be in our best interest. Especially with what we are building up to.

I was hoping to meet face to face, with my word given that we wouldn’t try and arrest you during the meeting, but I understand if you are hesitant. Use my number whenever you want and we can talk.

Echo

Who's This?

Taken back at the almost snarling voice at the other end of the phone Josie decides to play things safe.
"I hope you are who I think you are, but with the amount of ways this call could be from somebody else you understand that I need to check."
She then quickly tapped the Telepath at her throat to activate it.
"Patch, if you’re near a phone could you listen in on my private line. I think it might be the Grey Hand and I might need some advice in dealing with them."
She then quickly pressed three buttons in sequence on the phone to make sure that Patch could patch into the call whenever he wanted.
"I am Echo, who am I speaking to? And could you provide anything that would be in your file as proof of who you are? Like your birthday or something like that."

Drug King of Miami

Echo nodded with a smile when the Director gave her go-ahead on the spy drone idea, then her mouth fell open at the idea of using a satellite.
"Satellites… I had dismissed them because they wouldn’t be able to see inside buildings, but I should have thought that you’d think of a way past that. They’ll be able to see a lot more for sure and be a lot easier to hide PR wise."
She nodded to herself. She was very lucky to have Patch on their team and while she already missed Ju Yi, if she had to choose one of the people she started out with in Miami to stay with them it would have been Patch. Even with his (many) idiosyncrasies he was very good at what he did and as she had predicted; the most important person in the team.

Checking in
"Heya Patch, come in." Echo answered a moment after Patch had knocked on the door, her voice might have been slightly hoarse.

Echo’s office, or the windowless boxlike room she had taken as her office, would have been a spacious office for most people, but Josie had crammed three desks and six chairs inside a space made for one desk and three chairs. One desk held what looked like a computer with an almost armored keyboard and mouse, made for a brute, the other two held two and three screens, keyboards and mice respectively. The only other things that could hold any data was a tablet and a pen and notepad out on the center desk. She made an effort to make sure that she was careful with information, any information. This wasn’t to say that her office was clear. A few filled bin bags, and a roll of empty ones, (almost) empty mugs of coffee, used plates, towels, a t-shirt, briefs and what might have been underwear sticking out from beneath her shield littered the chairs and room behind the desks. Three very large pictures on each wall (A mountain covered in snow with people snowboarding and skiing down it, a beach and ocean with people sunbathing and surfing and a rain forest) showed that she had tried to personalize the place a bit, and make sure that it looked less like the fluorescent light box it actually was.

Psych Josie

(ran out of time, will finish this one quickly, but it's a private scene so the least important.)

Spoiler

Show

I’ll not be joining the contacting the meeting with the police chief. Echo will bow out with the excuse that she’ll be busy planning the Shining Path attack/doing paperwork/patrolling/whatever seems like a good and solid reason that she absolutely couldn’t be there.

[Sønderjye]

Mutual Interest

"Moola?" the tinker asks bewildered.

He nods at Max' thoughts "I think that your thoughts on this is as valueable as mine and Echos. Echo likes to do things democratically which I honestly find quite refreshing."

"So how do you feel about being on the Miami team?"

Spoiler: OOC

Show

I didn't really have anything in particular in this scene that I wanted to do. More so Patch wants to establish a relationship with Max, for more POWAH, so would you be fine with saying that they chitchat for a while and have similar meeting further down the line, maybe biweekly?

Drug King of Miami

"How much would it cost, out of curiosity? I might be able to pitch in some of my personal budget next month if that helps."

"I don't know yet, I'll have to do some calculations." Patch considered telling her that the director had strong feelings against the teammembers using their own money but there were no point when the director was present herself.

Checking in

"Thanks", the tinker responded as he closed the door behind him. He takes a moment to absorb the room, he hadn't been in here before. More or less what he had expected, Josie seems to be practical sort. "Brought something for you", he says as he conjures a coffee pot labelled with the now almost iconic "TINKER COFFEE" which he places at an empty spot near the table. "I recently read that coffee actually doesn't make you more efficient or make you perform better, it only makes you think that you perform better. Even so we do need to think we are performing well these days", he says with a playful smile.

"You like skiing and beaching?" he asks looking at the pictures.

Once the ice have been broken he turns to the real reason he visited: "I don't know your precise relationship but I have the impression you and Ji Yu were growing close and now she's heading out too. How are you feeling?"

Scouting out the Combination

"Good call, Bella. I agree, and after that we should take a look at their smaller hideouts as well. You said there were around 6, right?"

Spoiler: OOC

Show

GoC, I think you can move this scene forward.

Who's this?

'One sec' Patch responds before a moment later: 'I'm listening'

[Chivy]

Psych - Josie

"Feel free, and please always fell free to come by if you need to get away from the bustle and hustle of the hero life and just lay down."
Josie grinned at him as she lay on the couch.
"Most of the time there are three of me Doc, I don’t think you’ll want one of me here twenty-four seven. Comfortable couch though."

"That sounds rough Josie and don't worry that's why I'm here. To listen to people’s problems. I'm here to listen to anything you want to talk about."
"I’m looking for help Doc, I’m not sure listening will help." For a moment she was taken aback at her vehemence. It wasn’t Matheo’s fault she was still unsure of herself.
"Sorry…"
"Is it unethical for you to tell me how many protectorate team leaders second guess themselves? Or how long it takes for you to forget a man’s brain matter dribbling from your weapon?"
"Patch thinks we could have done things better. Differently. Maybe that would have saved Peacemeal’s life and PinPoint’s leg.."


Checking in

As soon as Patch stepped in and closed the door, showing that nobody else joined him, Echo flipped a switch under her desk. The resulting “click” coming from the door showed that she had had some kind of locking system installed in the door. It wouldn’t hold out anybody determined to enter, but it would stop anybody from just walking in unannounced. She then proceeded to unclip her mask and took it off.
"Ahh that's better. " Josie said with a smile for Patch, she then saw him looking around the room and her eyes quickly widened when she realized her office was a mess. She’d been almost living in it for the last few days and it showed.
"Don’t get me wrong, I love your inventions and this armour especially…" she stood up while she said it, then walked to the side of her desk. As she walked she gave her shield a quick kick sending it crashing across the floor with a racket. She cringed at the sound, and by the look on her face it was not what she had tried to do. She quickly bent down and picked up the sports bra that her shield had partially hidden and quickly stuffed it in a drawer. She looked at Patch apologetically before smoothing her embarrassment from her face (excepting the spots of color blossoming on her cheeks) and put her mask on a mannequin head which stood on the side of her desk.
"but walking around in it almost every moment does get tedious. " she said as if nothing had happened at all (almost).

"Brought something for you", Patch said as he conjures a coffee pot labelled with the now almost iconic "TINKER COFFEE" which he places at an empty spot near the table.
Josie’s look was something between thankfulness and a grimace. The coffee had helped her through a lot of sleepless nights the last few weeks and would for weeks to come, but she still disliked the taste of the vile brew.
"Thank you." she said with a genuine smile. It was like cough medicine, vile but good for you and you should always thank the people helping you out.

"I recently read that coffee actually doesn't make you more efficient or make you perform better, it only makes you think that you perform better. Even so we do need to think we are performing well these days"
His smile said that he was teasing her, but she couldn’t fathom about what.
Was it so obvious she disliked the taste? She thought, then noticed she had automatically pulled a large can of creamer and an even larger can of sugar out of one of her drawers.
"Yea and it also doesn’t make you go to the bathroom, but I still see people running after their first cup of the day. "
"You’re right though anything that helps, even if it’s only in your mind is something we can use."

She made herself a cup and offered Patch one as well while he looked at her pictures
"You like skiing and beaching?"
Josie nodded, grimacing at the mouthful of coffee she had just swallowed, then proceeded to add more sugar to her cup.
"Snowboarding mostly. My grandparents lived near the mountain when I was young and we visited them every winter for the holidays. I’ve stood on skies since I was four, then switched to a snowboard when I was twelve or so. I spent a few winters working in one of the lodges during college, but that’s a long time ago."
"Well I usually like something more active than laying on the beach, but I’ll confess that there are days I could just lay in the sun and bake. One of the perks of working in Miami if you ask me."
She didn’t mention that she’d been in Miami for over a month and still hadn’t seen the beach out of costume, but it was on her to do list.
"How about you? You into the snow or the sun?"


"I don't know your precise relationship but I have the impression you and Ji Yu were growing close and now she's heading out too. How are you feeling?"
Josie gave Patch a tight smile.
"We were… are… friends. For my part at least. We could even have been good friends, but... well…" She floundered for words. She knew what Patch was asking her, but she wasn’t even sure about those things herself. She had had a few boyfriends, but never for longer than a few months. She’d also experimented a bit in college. Both had been… pleasant, but her hopes and dreams had never revolved around being with somebody else. Male or female. She wanted her life to revolve around herself, it was why she had done what she had done.

She hadn’t had any relationships after Cauldron, she just hadn’t had time for relationships. That thought had her default back to a “teamleader answer”.
"I like her and she has a lot of potential, all she needs is a little confidence and some help with getting some specific gear matched to her abilities and she could be one of the most terrifying capes on our side. Being with the Lancers will give her all of that. It’ll be great for her."

Josie looked at Patch apologetically, then shrugged.
"Sorry. I know that was not what you were asking. I’m just not sure myself if I lean a specific direction."
"I like Ju Yi and consider her a friend. I’ll miss her."

She then looked at Patch sympathetically, thinking that he might have liked Ju Yi in that way and with a similar tone of voice she asked
"How are you doing with this? It’s just you and me left out of the original group to be transferred here and you… don’t seem the type to let people in easily and a changing roster can’t help much with that."

Spoiler

Show

That one got a lot longer than I thought, but I couldn't stop writing when I started.

[Forum Explorer]

Just Off the Boat...From Hawaii

Surfacing, scuba diving, whatever, Hawaii's a great place for it. And yeah, I'll gladly teach whoever wants to learn. It's pretty fun, and I'm always down for a trip to the beach. Maelstrom says smiling.

I don't mind training, but psych testing? Eh, I'll live with it I guess. It's not like it'll hurt right? Maelstrom said, frowning.

Well you know what'd almost work just as well? Something to pop off fire hydrant lids in a second or two. I've got the gear to pull it off in a couple of minutes, or I can brute force it, but one's not really viable for a fight, and the other busts the pipe. he says to Patch.

Scouting out the Combination

Hold on a sec, did they just say something about moving all that stuff? When are we doing the raid again? It might be better to just hit them tonight and pick up the other bases afterwards.

[GameOfChampions]

Drug King of Miami

The director breaks from her serious facade and snorts with laughter "Satellites? Seriously? Maybe if we can somehow scare up three hundred million as seed money if you want to build and customize a satellite. If you're talking about using one in orbit the PRT has maybe one or two specialized ones available but they're used for tracking serious threats like Endbringers and they aren't gonna be parked over Miami or even moved into this general area. The government has satellites but while I have a few contacts and friends spread over but I don't have the pull to ask them to park a satellite over the city."

Psych - Patch

Mateo raises an eyebrow "Well an intense paranoia isn't unheard of in this line of business you can be sure that your trust won't be betrayed by the security here in the building. We know the risk that comes with being exposed to cameras but it is extremely secure; the room is essentially a steel vault with armed guards outside at all times, the security is state of the art best of the best and footage can only be accessed from that room and a handful of dragon protected computers, and on top of that Dragon created a Tinker AI centered around protecting the content on top of the state of the art security it already has. Finally there is the unsaid promise that anyone caught screwing with this private information will be destroyed when they get caught, not if but when to drive off anyone capable of getting by all of that."

He laces his fingers together "I think your problem with this has to do with your paranoia and trust problems, the problem of a cape getting the 'ultimate' power isn't something you can control. A cape could decide to destroy the city, or kill the team, or round up all the tinkers, or any number of things. At a certain point you need to accept you can't control everything in your life no matter how skilled you've become at inventing. Biotinkering is related to this, the ability open someone up and essentially recreate them into a better version would feed into this idea you can control everything and in turn feed into the idea that you can't or don't need to trust anyone else. The worry that we have is this could develop into dangerous sociopathic behavior which is in someways even more problematic in Tinkers due to the nature of their powers, they can turn any two bit organization into a highly dangerous group capable of taking on Parahuman teams."

Scouting out the Combination

The minor warehouses all over the city were pretty much identical to each other in layout, consisting of a reinforced smaller warehouse with a large central area and an office towards the back. They all had 8-10 Shining Path members armed with various weaponry from guns to knives and each one had several crates of either drugs or weapons. There was no more sightings of any of the Parahuman members of the Shining Path however.

As the van gets to the other large Shining Path warehouse on the Docks Titania looks to the others in the van "Same thing as last time or any new instructions?"

Meeting up with the SMT

Perez leans back in his chair and folds his arms "How did you come about this information? It is kind of sudden that the new heroes in town suddenly have found all of the info to take down one of the strongest and largest gangs in the city. Besides does the PRT not have several squads on hand for just this reason?"

Who's This?

The voice pauses for a second and you can hear some slight whispering on the other end of the line "We're the Grey Hand. As for verifying it I dunno I don't want to give a birthday or anything that personal... there was this prank from back when I was on the Wards, and before I was the leader. I teleported one of my male teammates into the women's change room just after he got out of the shower... I managed to snag his towel just as I 'ported him so he was 'cough' completely naked. It wasn't reported or anything and the only people who know about it are my teammates, the old hero team and Sanderson who put a note on my record."

There is some louder whispering and what sounds like someone smacking someone before the voice comes back on a little more disgruntled "Is that satisfactory?"

Spoiler

Show

Searching up Static's record will verify this story, so will asking Sanderson.

Psych - Josie

Mateo shrugs "Well I'm not here in the evening or at night so you're welcome to crash on the couch then if you want."

The small hispanic man chews the inside of his cheek as he thinks "Well I can't mention specifically any session I had with previous team leaders but indecision and fear is something every leader struggles with. Only the arrogant or idiotic believe they never need to think twice about a decision or check themselves. Again no names but the number of high level PRT members, from team leaders to directors, I've had in my office or my colleagues offices with similar problems would astound you. Looking into the past can be a helpful for planning the future but it can be very limiting as well and an exercise in self induced pain. You can't change the past Josie, maybe you could have done things differently or maybe doing things differently would have resulted in more death and pain. I can't tell you to forget, that's not healthy, but I can tell you to accept it and try to acknowledge what you did."

Psych - Max

The smaller man makes a good natured whipping noise as he grins at Max bit the mention of the previous team sobers him up. "Ya it was tough for while there but with you guys filling up the hole they left it's definitely getting better. It was pretty much a jungle for a while there, gangs doing pretty much what they wanted after testing the waters. I'm surprised something like the Piecemeal incident didn't set off this powder keg. However as different as it may seem you'll get back into the swing of things no problem Max, you seem like the kind of guy to roll with the punches."

[Chivy]

Just Off the Boat...From Hawaii

I don't mind training, but psych testing? Eh, I'll live with it I guess. It's not like it'll hurt right? Maelstrom said, frowning.

"No not more testing, think we all had enough of that when we signed up." Echo gave him a reassuring smile
"Just someone to talk to about things. You can’t really talk to anybody outside about what you do and most won’t want to talk about everything with the people they work with. I know it's hard for most me... people to admit they need to talk to somebody about things, so the Doc is there to listen to you and give you some advice once a month, or more if you want. It's cathartic."

Drug King of Miami

Josie’s eyes bulged a bit when Sanderson told them a satellite would cost three hundred million. She had thought it’d cost a bit more than the drone idea, but the amount was staggering.
"That’s a lot more expensive than I thought." A LOT more. They could probably pay for a hundred new capes with that kind of money. Each of them stronger and more versatile than anybody on staff. She didn’t mention that of course. Instead she looked at Patch
"Patch, could you have a look at what’s most cost effective and keep in mind that if we can mass produce surveillance, we might be able to sell it to other teams. That might open up more options in the budget."
It was a request which was borderline useless and blatantly obvious. Patch had handled the budget since day one and done a better job than she could have done, asking him to do what he was probably already doing was… not even borderline useless, it was just that: useless.
"So… what you’ve been doing from the moment we arrived here... Yep I have this leadership thing down." She said with a self-deprecating smile, then realized she probably should not have said that in their present company.
"Sorry, just tired. Keep us informed Patch." She tried not to groan at another request for something he already did.

Who's This?

A mirthful snort escaped Echo as she imagined Sanderson’s reaction to the prank.
"One moment." She said, her smile obvious from her tone of voice. She then pulled up the files on her computer. She made sure to leave the line open so they could hear her typing. She read the note, it wasn’t as descriptive as Static’s explanation, but for now it was enough.
"Yes, thank you Static. I needed to be sure. I hope this phone number is enough to prove to you who I am, but until we meet face to face it will probably have to do. Unless you can think of anything which could prove who I am to you?"
She would answer any question they had to try and put them at ease.

"I am sorry about what happened to <name of ward who was killed by the Shining Path>." All mirth had disappeared from her voice, she knew what it meant to a team leader to loose somebody and her voice carried that pain. Opening with condolences was a risk, she knew reminding them of it might set them on the defensive, maybe even piss them off, but not mentioning it would be worse. She quickly continued with what she had to say.
"It’s the reason why we have been focusing on the Shining Path. We now know all their safe houses and distribution centers."
"We want everybody, from Vitalis down to their lowest street dealer and in the next few days we will be taking them out completely."
"And… we might need your help to do it."
There it was, she had baited the hook with something that she thought they’d want more than anything, at least it was something she would want more than anything: payback. Now it was their move.

Psych – Josie

Josie was ready to give an unbelieving snort at Mateo’s ‘learn from, but don’t live in, the past’ speech. She’d read it before in self-help books and seen it in tv programs, even given herself that advice, but it was different hearing it from somebody who knew about her cape life. Somebody actually trained for this and with a lot more experience than she had at this.
"That.. helps.." She said surprised that she was feeling a bit more relaxed. She briefly wondered if he was a cape, or just had a voice that was calming. Or maybe it was that she had actually told somebody what was wrong instead of keeping it to herselves and that person had been supportive where she was critical?
"So how did those others deal with it? How do they know what to leave behind and what to remember when planning things? If you can talk about it of course."

[Sønderjye]

Drug king of Miami

Patch frowns at Sanderson's outburst but largely kept his discontent to himself. Clearly she had no idea of what she was talking about. And as much as he disliked the director he needed to not show open hostility.

His frown turned into a smile at Josie's small monologue. "I'll look into it", he says reassuring.

Psych - Patch

Patch listens to Matou without interupting. He considers for a moment before deciding to be completely honest.

"I don't have any reasons whatsoever to trust the PRT. Our whole interaction started because I was accused of killing my own..", he stops, feeling a big block in his throat. He takes a deep breath and sinks a few times before forcing himself to continue: "Accused of killing my own only remaining family. And they used that to coerce me into working for them, fully knowing that I was innocent. They even had some out of town tinkers look at the tech, that I was accused of killed her with, and found it harmless.
While I admit that you have made me feel a little safer in here it is mindboggling to me that the PRT feels so safe in Dragon's protection that they don't consider the possibility that someone has a power that can penetrate it an option.
I didn't see a single statement from the PRT defending Piecemeat even thought it was clear from hearing from anyone there that he wasn't doing it dileberately.
On top of that I trusted them to find out what had happened to CJ and after a month they have come up with nothing. Any one of us could spontaneously disappear in a small pool of blood. And after failing to find the culprint for over a month Sanderson has the audacity to tell our group that the local villains were hessitant to kill and that they would know if a group were to kill.
In addition when they spontaneously transfer new people in they won't give us the nessesary means to give them protection.
And even without all of this the reason that I am here in the first place was because of incompetence of this department."

His resentment is clear from his tone and face and he ends his rant with a deep sigh. "So with all that Matou, how do you want me to trust either their intention or their competence?"

Spoiler: OOC

Show

I'll just point out that Patch actually have legit reason to distrust the camera's being secure. Tattletale had access to the PRT video's and other information.

"You might be right about that I have a tendency to have a hard time letting go of control. I'll think about that for next time."

Checking in

"It's fine, really, " Patch says with a shrugs in responds to Josie's embarrasment over the sportsbra.

"but walking around in it almost every moment does get tedious. "

"Why are you walking around in it? Are you expecting to get attacked while we're in here?" he comments only partly teasing.

"How about you? You into the snow or the sun?"

Jack gave the thought a thought but then answered: "Not really, wheather doesn't really matter much for me, it just is. I'm sure that if I knew more about the dynamics that it would fascinate me but as is I'd rather focus my energy otherwise."

"I like her and she has a lot of potential, all she needs is a little confidence and some help with getting some specific gear matched to her abilities and she could be one of the most terrifying capes on our side. Being with the Lancers will give her all of that. It’ll be great for her."

Patch doesn't fail to notice the sudden change in tone although he couldn't quite make up what that meant.

"Sorry. I know that was not what you were asking. I’m just not sure myself if I lean a specific direction."
"I like Ju Yi and consider her a friend. I’ll miss her."

She then looked at Patch sympathetically, thinking that he might have liked Ju Yi in that way and with a similar tone of voice she asked
"How are you doing with this? It’s just you and me left out of the original group to be transferred here and you… don’t seem the type to let people in easily and a changing roster can’t help much with that."

Patch shifted uncomfortably, he didn't like it when people understood him well and Josie was very accurate: "I don't know... I'll miss her too."

Who's this

'I'm so hearing all of this' Patch notes smugly through the Telepath hearing about the incident.

'You're doing good' he says reassuring to Echo.

Scouting out the combination

"I think that Echo wanted us to hit them in two weeks unless we found something important. Do you want to stick around and wait a little? If you want to take them on tonight I suggest airing the thought with Echo although I think it'll be difficult to coordinate with the police department if we do it tonight."

Scouting out the other combination

"Same instructions", Patch answers. It had worked fine the last time so there were no reason as to why it wouldn't work now.

[3SecondCultist]

How to Make Friends and...

"Hey, you mind if I join you?" Bella takes a seat at one of the tables in the PRT break room, water bottle in hand, still covered in sweat from her latest training session. She's been used to her workout routine - a girl's gotta stay fit, you know - but if joining the Protectorate team has been good for anything, it's been upping her game, fitness wise. Between the cross training, weights, and CQC classes, she's already adapted a few new routines. During said sessions, Bella has noticed a few officers on rotation, too often to be a coincidence. They'd be a surveillance detail, an observe and report type scenario.

So of course, the best way to deal with that kind of sh*t is to address it head on. No sense beating around the bush.

"Sorry, I figured you guys could use the company." Bella adjusts her sports bra slightly, not showing even the slightest discomfort at the amount of skin showing in front of two strangers. She looks at the woman first, then the man. "Keeping tabs on me has to be pretty boring, and judging by the way you keep to yourselves, you probably have a strictly professional relationship, right? You don't go out for beers afterwards, I mean?"

What the hell are you doing, Bella? She asks herself that question every morning, and every day the answer is a little bit different. Better to embrace the change than try to nail down a pattern, right? Maybe she's acting out against all of the routines that the Protectorate's been putting on her recently. Then again, maybe not. She's no shrink.


Drug King of Miami

Volta keeps her mouth shut at the current exchange, knowing next to nothing as she does about satellites. Still, she suggested surveillance, and the stone's still sort of in the air. Best to wait and see where it lands before she does anything else. Especially given the meetings I've been holding recently.


Scouting Out the Combination

When she hears word back from Titania, Volta ponders her options. Over the past few days, it's become increasingly clear that she's got a sort of knack for this whole 'tactics' thing, so she might as well actually try her best at it. After thinking things over for a few moments, she opens her mouth to speak to the rest of the team again, her reflective red-tinted goggles doing nothing to reveal her eyes.

"Sounds like this is the place to hit, then. Now I'm not an expert or anything, but if we get them here quick, take their capes and their stash, we... what's the word? De-moralize, that's it. We'll demoralize them. We can go in for strikes all at once, but we might as well get the big pot while it's all here - and if there aren't any of their capes at their other bases, we're probably all better off here. If any of these guys try to go to ground at their other locations, we can always have PRT guys pick them up there." She's aware that she's more or less making this up as she goes along, but it's worked out pretty well so far, so who is she to change up a winning strategy?

She turns to Patch, after listening to his input. "If you think we should wait until the Miami PD can get some support in place, I'm all for that. How long do you think it'll take to get all of them into position?"

Spoiler: OOC

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I'm good to go on this fight scene. If there aren't any capes at any of their other warehouses, we can let the PRT mop up the rest of them while we take care of Barricade and Aero. I'm going to leave the actual tactics to you guys first (I'm generally a better strategist than a tactician OOC anyways). Let's take out the Shining Path!

[Forum Explorer]

Just off the Boat...From Hawaii

Well that's better. It's been a while since I've done any of that sort of thing, but I guess I'll give it a try. Maelstrom said.

Scouting Out the Combination

I'd say that stash, which they said they were selling in a couple of days, is pretty important. I'd rather not let millions of dollars worth of product out into the world simply because we dithered over getting them all at once. Besides, if we can get all of there Capes tonight, that's a pretty big victory in of itself.

[Sønderjye]

Meeting up with the SMT

'Why did he have to ask that question?' Patch silently complains. For obvious reasons he couldn't reveal Volta's powers and simultaneously he didn't want to start his relations with the MDPD lying straight to their face.

"You may remember that we encountered Shining Path burning down a house of civilians on our first patrol. We have been searching for their hideouts ever since" True, even if they had been searching for hideouts from any criminal organization and hadn't had any luck before Volta had showed up. "It helped out that we had two of their members locked up." He pauses and then continues as if explaining: "I have a devise that can determine whether someone is lying and read microexpressions" Again true, if unrelated.

"You're right but as you said, Shining Path is a big organization and we simply don't have the manpower to do this throughly without your help." A little stroke of the ego couldn't hurt. "A less essential reason is that I expect that we in the future will need your help in other situation and I think that we can make the town safer together."

[n0ble]

Mutual Interest

"Moola yknow, like... money, dolla dolla billz, cheddar, alla that hoopla yknow?" Max momentarily sagged in resignation before re-adopting a Superman-esque posture "I like it. Feels good to be back in Miami if I'm being square with ya. Plus Echo seems a fair leader. Bit less... terse? yeah thats the wording. She's a whole helluva lot less terse than Myrddin, thats for sure..."

Spoiler: OOC

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Totally cool with upkeeping a biweekly meeting between Patch and Apogee

Psych-Max

"I mean... yeah I suppose so doc. Sh-" He stopped abruptly and caught himself in the act "-ugar. Helluva thing coming back to something so different. Mind you it aint like I gotta choice in all've this yknow? Figured it'd be best to go and help out given what happened with the ex and all..." Max sagged even more into his chair as he spoke, in response to what was meant to perk him up.

Drug Kings of Miami

"Hurm. What if we just waited for those satellites to orbit around enough to scan something? They'd already be taking in the area, right?" Max looked to Patch for confirmation. Seemed like the person best suited to answering the question. "Couldnt we just just get them to focus in on the area for a bit or some such thing?"

[GameOfChampions]

Meeting up with the SMT

Perez crosses his arm and taps the fingers of his right hand on his left bicep and just watches you were several moments before talking again "Well I guess it doesn't really matter how you got the info as long as it's accurate. If you'll send the info you have and the information/proof you have of the various warehouses I'll get my teams ready, I can have five SWAT teams ready and enough officers to provide support and secure the areas. Everything can be ready in say 12 hours I'd say. I can't do much better since we'll need to call in off duty officers, prep our teams, and get all the appropriate documentation and bureaucracy out of the way. That acceptable?"

Psych - Max

Mateo looks at him curiously "Would you like to talk about what happened with your ex Max? You seem pretty torn up about it."

Scouting Out the Combination

The final warehouse and second of the main Shining Path bases doesn't seem to stand out much, same as the others. The cats infiltrate the warehouse fairly easily and start their inspection.

The warehouse has a single front entrance leading into a hall. There is no one outside but within there is a pair of armed guards at the door and a gunners nest at the end of the hallway with another pair of guards with heavy weapons. The hall leads into the main room and a corridor that goes around the warehouse. The corridor has several rooms attached with some containing cots, some storage room, and two as offices which has several people working in them. The center room is massive, almost identical to the other Shining Path base, and full of crates which are full of drugs or guns. The room is full of Shining Path members and a masked man that matches Vitalis' description yelling at various gang members to hurry up. The one difference between the two is a massive bolted trapdoor against the far side of the main room. No one seems to be going near it for anything at the moment.

Psych - Patch

Mateo checks some documents on his computer and checks again before responding "You know that the PRT weren't the ones to bring you to court right? You were brought to court by the city, they accused you of killing your grandmother not the PRT. Odds are a murder charge wouldn't have stuck but there seemed to have been a very good chance of a manslaughter charge sending you to jail. I do agree with you that the PRT used the situation you were in to their advantage, but it was just an offer you could have just as easily put your hopes in the legal system and refused it."
"As far as their belief in Dragon the belief is founded on the fact that she delivers time and time again and it isn't so much as people not believing in the possibility of a cape having those powers as the fact you can't do anything about it. We can't plan for things that are unknown to us and the PRT has given the information as much protection possible. However you can't not have this information, not having it opens security risks or a lack of intelligence, things that the PRT rate as far more harmful then the possible risk of someone risking all the inherent risks and having the ability to break in and get that information."
"You're right about Piecemeal though, there was clearly something wrong with him but he was a convicted mass murderer and so the PRT didn't want to be seen supporting him so they stayed silent on the matter. Was it right no, but they made a choice to keep the peoples confidence so that they could keep the levels of support necessary for massive organisations."
"Director Sanderson says that because that's what both her years of experience here in Miami have shown and what the statistics in the vast majority of every PRT patrolled city says. No one has given up searching for CJ but there is no evidence to go on, no clues, and no sightings anywhere in the country. It may not have even been local villains who took her, she was a powerful cape and sometimes that attracts national attention. You don't blame yourself or your team for losing her so why would you blame others for not being able to find her?"
"This is a dangerous job and sometimes people will get hurt, there are around seventy departments that all have around half a dozen capes give or take. That doesn't even include the wards or other Parahuman organizations related to the PRT. Everyone gets treated as best as the PRT can handle, the rules they implement are meant to make everything work best on the whole. This massive organization can't pander to individuals and sometimes that makes it seem heartless but that isn't the purpose."

Mateo looks you in the eyes "So yes I do expect you to trust them. Most of what you have listed is you twisting situations to make the PRT seem out to hurt you or being run by idiots. You seem to be twisting situations or pushing blame onto them to give yourself something to blame. You can't blame the PRT that has happened since you've become a parahuman, it benefits neither you nor them and if you actually worked with this group you could do great things instead of fighting them everystep of the way. Much of your problem with them isn't anyone's fault and you need to let go of this frustration with them."

Who's this

You can almost hear the shrug before Static replies "I don't know if I believe you are Echo and frankly it doesn't really matter, I know you're with the PRT and that's good enough."

Silence dominates the line after bringing up the dead Ex-Ward before Static's despondent voice rejoins "...Don't. Just don't bring up Allie."

Sad as Static seems he definitely seems interested as you bring up Shining Path "What would you need and how can we trust your info? Give us some of the info and we'll see if it corresponds with what we know."

Psych - Josie

Mateo smiles slightly and leans back in his chair, looking distantly at the wall "Well again no names but I can give a few examples. There was a team leader I worked with in another city that used physical exertion to draw the line between work and down time. They weren't a physical cape but they would do these intense work outs after getting off from work and run themselves into the ground. They used to say that the intense exertion didn't let them think about work at the time when they would typically do it most, right after. The year one of their teammates got injured and was sidelined for 3 months they ran the Ironman and finished 14th. Another ex patient of mine would use gourmet cooking, they're deviled crab was just mind blowing. They also did it for a similar reason, all the cooking and prep distracted them. I'd recommend a hobby of some sort that requires a lot of thought or effort of some sort."

[Chivy]

Checking in
"It's fine, really," Patch’s words didn’t exactly make Josie feel any better, she was a slob, she knew it and she was trying to change, but it was very slow going. At least she wasn’t a slob with what was important.

"Why are you walking around in it? Are you expecting to get attacked while we're in here?"
"I hope not," She harrumphed "but I keep my door unlocked and anybody could walk in and see me unmasked when I am. So better safe than sorry."

"Not really, weather doesn't really matter much for me, it just is. I'm sure that if I knew more about the dynamics that it would fascinate me but as is I'd rather focus my energy otherwise."
Josie blinked at him. It took her a moment to realize he wasn’t joking and had taken her question as one actually about the weather instead of what she had meant.
"No, I mean what do you like doing when you’re not in the lab? How do you relax?"

I don't know... I'll miss her too." Josie looked at the man sympathetically. He looked uncomfortable, maybe he had had feelings for their former teammate.
"Well at least we’ve still got each other and the new people seem like they’re ok company. In any case, don’t worry Jack, I’m not planning on going anywhere. If nothing else I need to get you in a speedo and out to the beach."
Her smile is more vulpine than disarming, but the twinkle in her eyes showed her merriment at the idea.

Who's this

'I'm so hearing all of this' Patch sounds almost smug to Echo, if so she thought he had more than a right to be. The Telepaths were a stroke of genius and having him listen in built her confidence. Especially when he said 'You're doing good'

"I don't know if I believe you are Echo and frankly it doesn't really matter, I know you're with the PRT and that's good enough." Josie momentarily wondered if he meant that being part of the Protectorate was a good thing or something bad in his book.
"That’s fine. We’ll work on trust for now and both get our confirmations when you’re ready and we meet."

"...Don't. Just don't bring up Allie."
"I am sorry Static." There wasn’t much more Echo could say and she didn’t want to anger the former Ward.

"What would you need and how can we trust your info? Give us some of the info and we'll see if it corresponds with what we know." A smile crossed her face before she wiped it off. More than a nibble, but Static didn’t trust her, that much was obvious. She’d have to ask Sanderson where the animosity had come from. What had caused it.
"Alright, I guess one of us has to start trusting. Might as well be us." Echo said after taking a second to formulate her thoughts.
"The Shining path has eight safe houses across the city where they regularly set up shop or store equipment and drugs. Six are small-ish and two are on the larger side. One is in the territory of another villain gang with that gang turning a blind eye to their presence in return for payment. They raided one of the Panther’s Fang’s drug shipments to recoup some of their losses after your raid on them and in less than two weeks a ship carrying more drugs will be arriving for them. Not counting their capes they have dozens of foot soldiers working in Miami. Does that match up with information you have?"
If they actually had information themselves, they could probably match a few things to what she had said, but the Grey Hand wouldn’t be able to act on just what she had given them without additional information.

"We are acquiring floorplans, video from inside the safe houses and a rough count of their members, armaments and the location of their capes."
"Once we have that we will be raiding all of the safe-houses at the same time in a joint effort with the Miami Police to arrest every cape and member of the Shining Path. We’ll dismantle the entire Miami branch in one fell swoop and they’ll all pay for their crimes."
Professional. Prepared. Making it clear this was happening and that they would achieve their goals. If Echo had a pen she’d be ticking off the list of things she had thought she had needed to hit to bring them in on this.

"What we might need you for is that if their capes are spread out too much we might not be certain that we will capture them all and I want every one of them."
"So all we want is backup if things go pear-shaped. How does that sound to you?"

Psych - Josie

"Well again no names but I can give a few examples. There was a team leader I worked with in another city that used physical exertion to draw the line between work and down time. They weren't a physical cape but they would do these intense work outs after getting off from work and run themselves into the ground. They used to say that the intense exertion didn't let them think about work at the time when they would typically do it most, right after. The year one of their teammates got injured and was sidelined for 3 months they ran the Ironman and finished 14th. Another ex patient of mine would use gourmet cooking, they're deviled crab was just mind blowing. They also did it for a similar reason, all the cooking and prep distracted them. I'd recommend a hobby of some sort that requires a lot of thought or effort of some sort."
Josie laughed merrily, she surprised herself with it and grinning she said
"I enjoy cooking Doc, just not eating what I cooked. I have the unique talent of making anything inedible. Mum called it my super power…"
Her smile faded as she trailed off. She didn’t want to talk about her family. She forced her smile back and levity into her voice then doggedly continued
"So your advice is get a hobby? Lying on the beach sunbathing probably doesn’t count as costing a lot of thought or effort right?"

[Forum Explorer]

Scouting out the Combination

So it looks like this is their main base. And perhaps they have another shipment? Let's get Echo on the line, and see if we can get move up the timeline on the operation. Maelstrom urged.

[Sønderjye]

Scouting out the combination

"Good idea", Patch responds. "I need to get on to the meeting with the police department but I'll hook you up first", He then touchees the side of his neck.

Spoiler: Only to Chivy and N0ble

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Patch uses the Telepath to communicate try to contact Josie and Max. If they respond she'll set them in contact with the comm in the car.

Spoiler: OOC

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This is mostly for the purpose of allowing people to discuss out when to attack.

Pre-combat meeting

Patch had send out a time and place to all major figures involved, and was standing with his back to the big screen at the end of the meeting room, looking at those who had responded to his call. He takes a deep breath and sinks to calm himself. It only partly worked.

"Thank you all for comming", he starts out: "You all know why we're here so I'll get started."

"This", he clicks on a remote and an slideshow starts behind him: "is one of the two major bases in town. In addition to these Shining Path have a number of lesser storehouses all guarded. We have footage of the inside of their assets which should be studied by those assigned to the locations."

Assuming the police chief sends him a questioning look he'll elaborate "One of our members have a stranger power"

"All the enemy capes are individually high threats and they have way more experiencing fighting together than we have. As such we need as many advantages as we can get which includes making the best pairings powerwise."

"Barricade is still bedridden and our best bet would be to have Titania's insiders take him out before the fight starts, be sure to coordinate when the attack happens."

"Aero's air spears are deadly and should be avoided at all cost. In an isolated situation Maelstrom should be able to counter him completely."

"I think that our best shot at getting Vitalis if with Echo. Force is the only one of us who can take more than two hits and Deft have a good chance of avoiding the shots all altogether."

"That leaves Avatar and Nova, both of which are big problems. Nova can melt all of us if he feels cornered and we don't have an effective way of dealing with. Volta, I think that you are our best bet on this and that goes in particular if we can keep your ability hidden from them until you see one of these two. I'll prioritize Nova as a target and hope I can good shot, maybe with the help of Apogee."

"That was all from me", he says walking back to his chair allowing someone else to lead the conversation.

Once the meeting was close to finished and people were ready to head out Patch contacts Titania, stationed at the big wherehouse with Barricade, over the comm and asks for who is there.

[n0ble]

Pre-combat meeting

Max nodded at Patch's assessment and proposal of tactics for dealing with the shining path. It somewhat rankled with him to suggest it, but two shots on Nova seemed better than one. There was a part of him that really wanted to get into close combat. "I can hand out accuracy to whoever needs it. Far as I can tell it works for aiming punches at people, so Echo could use some of it as well. Plus I can stay at another viable location for long range targeting and get a bead on Nova as well."Max looked around at everyone else while cradling his helmet in the crook of one arm. "Otherwise I can be where I'm needed most."

[GameOfChampions]

Who's This

There's some muttering on the other end of the line and you can hear some papers being rustled and more muttering before Static comes back on the line "Hmmm well some of that matches with stuff we know but we'll need a few days to corroborate this information. We'll start with some stakeouts and...", he sounds a bit begrudging here, "if we find any new information we'll try to pass it along to you guys."

"We can't work with the cops for obvious reasons but we'll be sure to capitalize on this information and try and keep an eye out for any Shining Path capes we can catch out alone."

Psych - Josie

Mateo nods along with a small smile "I know what you mean I can't cook to save my life, every time I try my husband takes one bite and then declares himself full."

The small hispanic man shakes his head "Probably not no. If you want something beach or ocean related then maybe beach combing? Looking for sea glass, shells, etc etc. Or scuba diving maybe?"

Taking the Fight to Them

Silent as possible the assorted PRT accompanying you lead the way until you are around the corner from the warehouse, just out of sight of any possible guards they have watching. They silently signal to each other and stop as a unit. There was light traffic in the area and a small handful of pedestrians walking around so they walk into a small side alley to downplay their presence.

The squad leader waves all of you over and joins the heroes "All right. We're in position and ready to storm the place, do you want us first through the door or on clean up? The local police weren't able to get their strike team mobilized but there are local beat cops in position to institute a 3 block lock down the second we give the word and there are undercover officers among the pedestrians out there to make sure the streets get cleared the second we strike."

The sun is shining and there isn't a cloud in the sky, the ocean is sparkling in the distance. Just another beautiful day in Miami.

Spoiler

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Place yourselves and specify what you brought. If the heroes will be leading the group in then start it up in your posts and bust down the front door.

[Sønderjye]

Checking in

"I hope not," She harrumphed "but I keep my door unlocked and anybody could walk in and see me unmasked when I am. So better safe than sorry."
Patch nodded in acknowledgement. She valued being careful over being comfortable and he could appreciate that policy.

Josie blinked at him. It took her a moment to realize he wasn’t joking and had taken her question as one actually about the weather instead of what she had meant.
"No, I mean what do you like doing when you’re not in the lab? How do you relax?"
Patch takes a moment to sort out his thoughts and then another one to gauge how he would expect Josie to react to the truth. Not well probably. Even so the psychologist wanted to see him trust people more and be more honest, and this definitely were one such a case "I don't. I relax when I progress in what need to be done." He pauses but continues before she has a chance to respond: "Before I triggered I was doing fundemental research in a way that potentially could allow people to live over a thousand years, and after triggering it seems like I could make it happen within my lifetime. But triggering is also a responsibility because noone except some of the dedicated biotinkers can get as far as I can." His eyes, even if they display his usual sleep-deprivation, have a power and seriousness to them that is only seldomly seen in Patch.

Lab sessions, issue 1

Patch looks at the screen and takes a deep breath. He had felt hopelessly inadequate in the political navigation that had to be done at this place in order for him to get the things he wanted but today nothing was required of him and he had the opportunity to continue his progress. In the last month his research had been stagnant and it felt good that he finally had found a way to work around his ban on experimenting on living beings.
He pushed the button with a gleeful smile and started the upload of the human genome to the predictor and the simulator in addition to all other knowledge on the topic that he had found, including which genes they thought they knew what did and which ones they had no idea.

Sure enough he couldn't tinker with cell culture and his power weren't directly related to biotinkering, which he admits would have been convinient, however by combining the programs that could both predict things and the one that could simulate things he hopes that he would be able to figure out further information about gene's. He'll also feed it the genome of the hydra and have it run a billion simulation where it spliced human and hydra DNA in various ways and recorded the results.

Who's this?

"Maybe let them know that we're attacking soon and ask if they're willing to be nearby if one of the Shines manages to escape?"

Pre-meeting preperation

Patch has the simulator run a bunch of simulations of the cape on-on-one matchups that he would be proposing at the pre-combat meeting.

Spoiler: OOC

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I forgot all about the simulation program. Let me know if any of the ideas for matchups that Patch will propose in the combat scene goes against us.

[Chivy]

Who's This

Static’s reply wasn’t what Echo had hoped for, but there was the beginnings of a dialogue there. Unconsciously she nodded at what Patch said, it was the right move and a little push might help there as well.

"We can't work with the cops for obvious reasons but we'll be sure to capitalize on this information and try and keep an eye out for any Shining Path capes we can catch out alone."
"Yes, I wish we could work together openly." She said, regret heard clearly in her voice.
"But it is what it is. We will be taking them down very soon. Do you have a number where I can reach you when we go? Having you waiting in the shadows to snap up any Cape that gets very lucky and escapes would give me some piece of mind."


Checking in

"I don't. I relax when I progress in what need to be done." He pauses but continues before she has a chance to respond: "Before I triggered I was doing fundamental research in a way that potentially could allow people to live over a thousand years, and after triggering it seems like I could make it happen within my lifetime. But triggering is also a responsibility because noone except some of the dedicated biotinkers can get as far as I can." His eyes, even if they display his usual sleep-deprivation, have a power and seriousness to them that is only seldomly seen in Patch.

"Thousands of years…" Josie whispered amazed
"That’s amazing Jack."
It didn’t sound like anything she would find relaxing, but she understood wanting to make progress with whatever she was doing. It was the reason she spent so much time working on patrol schedules, reading up on the wards and a couple of dozen other things.
"The Doc has been telling me that I should find a hobby that relaxes me and he came up with a few suggestions. They were all, well either incredibly boring or not something that’d relax me, so I guess we each have our own ways of relaxing. I don’t know if science-y things would relax me, but maybe you would show me a bit of what you do if you have some time?"
She then grinned up at him and said
"Then maybe you’ll come with me sometime and we’ll go out on the water in a canoe. I remember some lesson at school about a philosopher having an idea or two while taking a bath, maybe this’ll help you as well."

Spoiler: Shining path posts

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Posted in the OOC for now.