The Lucky Penny - IC thread

[happyturtle]

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Anyone who wants can walk in on this conversation. Lexi isn't trying to keep it private.

"The way a normal 'doc works is that it compares the patient to a database of healthy specimens. If there's a significant deviation, it goes to the diagnostic software to determine if treatment is required."

"This thing," Lexi says, patting the 'doc, "Works differently. There isn't a database. Instead, it compares the patient to the blueprint given in their own DNA. It's way beyond anything I've ever even heard of before. If I were to attempt to put a price on it... well, I can't conceive of it. It's worth more than Penny and everything on it, by several orders of magnitude. It doesn't make sense that a Puppeteer just gave this to us. That's the first problem."

"The second problem is that this thing obviously has not had any human input in the design. When it rebuilds you according to your DNA blueprint, it does it even if the DNA is stupid. It tried to grow back my wisdom teeth, and the diagnostic software convinced it not to on the grounds that there wasn't room. It did grow back my appendix. On Luna, those are routinely removed during infancy. And well... um..." Lexi grimaced. "Let's just say I seem to be a virgin again."

"I'm not a gene engineer, so I can't tell it how to interpret the DNA. All I was able to do was to get it to pop up a confirmation box whenever it wants to do something. So it's going to be tedious and need babysitting, but it's still amazing. Simply amazing."

"So then I wonder how it will handle Mark. If it rebuilt him from the DNA up, it could make him completely human again, but he wouldn't be Mark. Most of his brain would be a blank slate, and whatever of his mind is stored electronically would be gone. But the 'doc won't do that. It's got an override set up so that if Mark is put in the 'doc, it will ignore his DNA and rebuild him according to a set of specs loaded into the system. Basically it's a snapshot of the way he is now. If he's ever hurt, he'll be rebuilt exactly the way he is today. So that's clever."

"Now we get to the main problem. Mark's specs aren't the only ones in the 'doc. There's another set of specs in our 'doc. Remember when Ambir told us about the theft of a bioweapon? As far as I can tell, our autodoc has been modified to be able to provide maintenance to the weapon. Are we supposed to be transporting it somewhere? Did you know anything about this?"

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The contract says nothing at all about the bioweapon. Ambir never mentioned to you the possiblity of you doing anything with it.

[Wizard of the Coat]

Nathan had merely given an afirmative nod as he accompanied Lexi to the autodoc. As she spoke the psychic could not help but wonder about some of the device's other functions. maybe it could restore my memory. For the first time she was around Nathan Lexi would be able to read something of him, he'd let his guard down...unwillingly and seemingly unaware of it...she'd sense a mix of fear, hope and resolve in Nathan as she spoke of the miracles of this machine. The next feeling she sensed was one of disapointment...blank slate...it would remove my memories...again and a kind of mental absense...as if she was talking to a wall. His body made all the right intuitive sounds "hmmn.......interesting...", but she could feel his mind wasn't paying attention.

As Lexi mentioned the bioweapon Nathans mind closed as fast as the bedroom door of an angry child. interesting....

"Let's take a look at this bio-weapons specs then. If she's got anything planned it's best to know about it. I have a bad feeling about the place we're heading...as if we're driving a hovercar full speed into a misty forest."

Nathan pull up the autodocs specs on the bio-weapon and examines them.

OOC

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Precog: (4d3)[3][3][2][1](9) What does nathan's mind sense of this bio-weapon. => result: superior

Oh also for the record: Precog (4d3)[2][1][3][1](7) general meditation about the mission before leaving (I'll boost it all the way up to legendary if needed using his Psi operative trait) => result (with two flicks of 1's to 3's) Legendary (the top one)

[happyturtle]

Lexi wasn't consciously aware that she was seeing into Nathan's mind. She was used to reading people, even Nathan, though she was unaware that she was generally only reading the mental facade he was projecting. But when his mind suddenly closed, she felt it. Something wrong. It was like he wasn't there, and that made her uneasy.

The image from before of Nathan using the disintegrator came into her mind, and she pushed it down. Stop it. Nathan would never do that. But the mental jar from his mind shield combined with the vague suspicions that Dan had planted had affected her.

"I'm not crazy about the idea of having a bioweapon on the ship," Lexi said, showing him the specs. "If I'm reading this right, it's dangerous as hell. Super deadly, and no off switch, short of dumping it in the 'doc and leaving it sedated."

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Between the doc specs and the files Ambir provided, you know what implants Bianca's been enhanced with, as well as her skills and somewhat of her personality. You don't know anything about her origin.

What your precog tells you is that you need Bianca with you on the mission or it will not succeed.

Oh, and you can sense that Lexi's trust in you has been a bit shaken, as well as that she is keeping secrets.

(Further details to come by PM when I'm home from work.)

[Wizard of the Coat]

"There is always a permanent off-switch." Nathan said in a tone that Lexi could not tell if it was cold and heartless or meant to reasure her, Nathan wasn't too sure either. He felt Lexi's unease and was strangely disheartened by it, he wasn't too used to having friends...even less at letting them down. "Still I do not distrust this thing. In fact I think it's a good idea to take it along."if anything Nathan sounded completely confident of this fact and he was. It was the first solid good fealing he'd had about this mission. He had to have that bioweapon...

"They obviously do not have a great deal of controll over it themselves and we're pretty much aware of what it's capable of. I think it's going to be a usefull addtion to our growing complement of high tech equipment. Besides I doubt we'll be able to piss of the bluesky corp any more if we complete this mission and such a device is an excelent insurance policy. They'd be loathe to damage it...and negotiations become all the easier when you have a bargaining chip."

OOC

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I love being a bit scary and mysterious to Lexi. Nathan is meant to be able to freak people out. His mind is alien to most humans...he's partly a mindweapon afterall. Though in this case not on purpose.

[happyturtle]

"You want to take it with us," Lexi said, in full sarcastic mode. "'Oh hello, security guards. We really belong here, honest! And to prove it, we've got your stolen bioweapon.' How is that supposed to work? No offense, Nathan, but that's just stupid." Lexi plopped down in one of the clinic's massage chairs. "The smart thing to do is to just destroy it. If I delete the datafile, then the first time it goes into the 'doc, it will remove all the implants. That would probably kill it."

[Wizard of the Coat]

"Well first of all we're not going to announce her presence to the security guards." Nathan replied with a smile in a patronising, yet loving tone, he was fond Lexi's naivity and he showed it.

"We have to remember that this is likely a top secret project of theirs, so it's unlikely that they'll have security guards looking for it or even be aware of it's general existance. I doubt they'd have more then a hand full of highly loyal agents on the case. Afterall if word leaked out they'd face massive problems." Nathan pauses to let Lexi think. "Furthermore, if this weapon proves to be managable then we'd have a very effective tool on our hands. A tool that is likely to be fully aware of Blue Sky military and security procedures."

Nathan stops, obviously pausing to think for a second. "The only real risk we'd face is the mental stability of this thing. I personally don't think it's too much of an issue, afterall it's unlikely to have a great deal of love for the Blue sky corp as it has made no obvious efforts to return to them. In addition I've heard no reports of random and mysterius slaughter, so I think we're in the clear. Still if you'd want an absolute 100% certainty there's always this autodoc." Nathan taps the device lightly. "Have it run an analysis on it's mental state, or better yet get Marc and Kerouac to reprogram it to make it favorably inclined to our cause. Who knows maybe Mr Trained Psychic** could give it a private reading. Combined with his mechanical skills I'd put more trust in him then the autodoc if he says he's up for the challenge."

**OOC: He's indicated Kerouac with this.

[happyturtle]

Lexi rolled her eyes. "Nathan, you're probably the smartest person I've ever met, but you know bugger all about medicine. You can't just program a human mind like it's a computer." She didn't like using the words 'human mind' to refer to the bioweapon. It was a thing, not a person, whatever it looked like. "Ambir could probably program a 'doc to do it. Med school dropout here," pointing to herself, "certainly can't. And it's not something Mark or K could do either. Autodocs are meant to be safe. They are very very difficult to compromise. A normal hacker can't do it. Not even a super hacker like Mark. Not unless Mark's been to medical school and never told us. We can use the 'doc to sedate it, or to destroy it, but not to control it. If you want to control it, you'll have to find another way."

[happyturtle]

"But even supposing we can control it, and even supposing no one there is looking for the bioweapon, it looks like a child. I don't imagine there are a lot of kids running around the military headquarters. And that reminds me, do you have any ideas for how we're supposed to get out with a Puppeteer in tow?"

[happyturtle]

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Thanatos PM'd me with Dan's comments, since he still can't log in to his main account

"Nathan, actually, my plan involved walking straight in." Dan syas in a matter-of-fact manner, complete with friendly smiles.
"And I think good ol' bioweapon in tow - or more approiatly, in chains, would do nothing but enhance our disguise and give us a quick, highly visible reason to head to to our Pupeteer's holding cells."
Dan grinned and pulled up a chair.

"Even without our retinel data in the locks, we could probably get away with using the weapon as our ticket down. Buncha grunts assigend to catch the target catch it, and they lead it downstairs. No sweat.
All else fails, we can go with the orignally planned aspect.
Subdue every Blue Sky jerk in the room, and give me time to pick ol' Mother Lock."
Dan's grin widens as he leans back - very comfortably in his chair.
"Once we're downstairs, we just take control of the situation - something I'm sure you mercanaries can do pretty well - and then bounce out through the front door.
Or we can create a back door. We'll figure it out when we get to the inside."

[rubakhin]

Meanwhile, Kerouac is not touching anything, not bothering anyone, and not paying too much attention at all. He's got unidentified mechanical gubbins strewn out on the table (nothing too important, otherwise they'd be in their proper place - probably futzing around with some useless contraption like that thermonuclear pencil sharpener he kept trying to invent last month) and is listening to this whole business with half an ear.

Look, I'm pretty sure you're sick of this touchy-feely crap," he says, the side of his tongue sticking out of his mouth as he prods a particularly delicate spring with a pair of tweezers, "and this is seriously naive, even for me, but come on, it's a little girl. Yeah, child soldiers can be pretty messed up, but they're basically people. Probably she is too. "Bioweapon" sounds terrifying and all, but it doesn't mean much other than that she's tricked out compared to those glassy-eyed twelve-year-olds with AK-47s you see in National Geographic. I want to know what she's like before we start panicking. Or trying to kill her, for chrissake, Lex. I mean, like you said, we could always keep her heavily sedated."

He picks a tiny sliver out of whatever it is he's working on and holds it up to the light, squinting.

"By the way, I would strongly advise against trying to control her, use her, or just generally ****ing with her at all. But strategy's your business. I'm just here to fix the Penny."

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They totally still have National Geographic a few hundred years in the future, right? Man, that thing's been around since 1888.

[happyturtle]

"It looks like a child. That doesn't mean it is a child," Lexi says. She's turned on the massage function in the chair and is bonelessly relaxed, barely even lifting her head. "They could have made it look like anything they wanted. They could have made it look like a big scary Jinxian soldier, but instead, they made it look like a child because humans come hard-wired to protect children. It's psy-ops. Nothing more."

[rubakhin]

"Somehow, I just can't picture a big scary Jinxian soldier with the mind of a ten-year-old girl," Kerouac replies, looking through the autodoc files.

[happyturtle]

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Yeah, Lexi's totally talking out of her ass here. There's nothing in the files to give anyone a clue about Bianca's origins.

"Does it have the mind of a ten year old girl, or is it just trained to act like a ten year old girl?" Lexi was growing uncomfortable again. If it was 'trained', that meant it was intelligent, which meant that destroying it--her--would be murder.

[rubakhin]

"I don't know about you, but if I were training a billion-dollar bioweapon, I think the last thing I would want to teach it is how to act like a ten-year-old. Have you ever babysat?" He shakes his head and straightens up. "Don't think we're going to find out much until we actually meet this girl."

[happyturtle]

"Do I look like the babysitter type?" Lexi says. "I'm glad children exist, in the same way that I'm glad sewage recyclers exist. We need them for society to function properly. Doesn't mean I actually want to be responsible for them myself though."

"If the three of you think we shouldn't destroy it, then we won't. But if it decides to kill us all, I hope I live long enough to say 'I told you so.'"

"But back to problem number one. What's the deal with this thing?" she prods the autodoc with one toe. "I can think of at least three places where I could sell this for enough money to keep us all in luxury for the rest of our lives. It clearly needs a lot of work, but if someone could combine this technology with some kind of AI smart enough not to blindly follow the DNA, it would revolutionize medicine. So what makes Ambir so sure we won't hop over to the Serpent Swarm and sell it to the highest bidder?"

ooc:

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The Serpent Swarm is the belt of the Wunderland/Alpha Centauri system. The Wunderland First movement to rid Wunderland of UN authority is based there.

[happyturtle]

"Killing is bad, sweetheart, plain and simple." Dan says, clearly showing where he stands on the issue of killing the bioweapon.
"If it were a robot, I'd hacve no problem dismantling it. If it were trying to kill me, I'd have no moral problems knocking it out and slitting its throat. Simple survival.
Killing something because we don't understand, not smart, not morally acceptable, even to me. I'm not a murderer."
The thief stands up and moves toward's the clinic door, turning around when he actually reaches it.
"As for why Ambir trusts us to not just go out and sell it, thats not in most - if any -of our natures.
I can get all the money I want, easily. I consider every U-squared-C in any major city a walking bank.
I'm pretty sure you, Lex, would blow far too many stars far too quickly. And then, you'd be bored."Dan quickly jerks his head towards Kerouac
"And there's nothing beautiful about the rich"
Dan streaches a bit and turns back towards the door.
"Now, whaddayall want for lunch?"

[happyturtle]

Lexi sits up and looks Dan in the eye. "What about Nathan?" she says. "What's to stop him from doing it?" There's an undercurrent of challenge, as if she's daring Dan to voice his suspicions aloud.

[happyturtle]

"I left him out on purpose." the theif replies as he glares daggers at he first mate. "I'm not so sure about him. Hes a smart guy. Capable, too, I'm sure he'd have no trouble getting honest work in the military as an intel guru. And he chose to run with us, hell, he had a hand in recruiting us.
Besides, I'm pretty sure he'd enjoy the intellectual challange the bioweapon would provide." The stern gaze melts into a welcoming grin at this last sentance.
"Er... is there any hint of a name in the weapon's files? Calling it "the bioweapon" (or even "it", for that matter) feels kind of... wrong.
But we can discuss that over lunch. Orders, guys, seriously."

[happyturtle]

Lexi's eyes moved from Dan to Nathan, wanting Nathan to say something that will remove all suspicion. Willing him to say it.

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Nathan, you can feel Lexi subconsciously using her psychohypnotism here, but I won't bother rolling because first of all, she has no chance of succeeding against you, and even if she could, she can't compel someone to say something when she has no idea what the words should be.

[Wizard of the Coat]

"Intel guru?" Nathan says at Dans remark unphased by the rogue's accusing eyes, his bodylanguage saying not a chance Dan, i prefer my stay on this ship...he really did.


Shrugging to lexi he continues "Let's have lunch then" and walks to the door, concluding the meeting as if blissfully unaware that there even could be a reason to be suspicions about him...his mental facade to Lexi as if were truly unaware of what Dan could imply and innocent.

[happyturtle]

Lexi laughed, pleased that Nathan wasn't acting shifty or guilty or trying to hide anything. (ooc: Ha!) "Why don't you get an honest job, Dan? You can get an ident on Blue Sky, nice and legal and everything, and join the Home Guard."

"Anyway, you know what I want, southern fried moa and homefries. But since you'll veto that for being unhealthy, then surprise me. You know I'm easy."

[happyturtle]

During lunch, Lexi sat next to Nathan flirting with him shamelessly--listening to whatever he said, catching his eye, finding excuses to touch. Somewhere below her conscious mind, she was trying to connect with him again, the way she'd connected earlier.

She was now convinced that Dan was completely wrong about Nathan, and that Nathan had nothing to hide. She didn't resent Dan too much for being suspicious, but Lexi had known Nathan a lot longer than Dan had, so she knew he could be trusted. Dan would come to realize it in time.

As usual, Dan managed to make a meal that was both delicious and healthy. Lexi ate almost half again as much as she usually did. If she didn't know better, she'd think she was putting on muscle. Of course it was too soon for that. It was only her second day of Dan's PT. Then she thought about the 'doc and wondered. Maybe it's trying to rebuild me for 1 gee.

Dreadful thought! If she got too muscled up, she'd lose her agility! Better start doing some yoga--every day as long as we're in 1 gee. Gah! She didn't have to worry about getting killed on Blue Sky. Two workout sessions a day would be enough to finish her.

[happyturtle]

During the four days of hyperspace, Lexi spends a lot of her time on the bridge on mass detector duty. She sticks to Dan's PT schedule, and by the fifth day since leaving We Made It, she's able to gingerly jog about half the length of the cargo bay. The 'doc confirms that her bone density is increasing rapidly, and by this time, she can feel muscle developing.

Her shooting is improving too. She's not a great shot, but she now feels confident handling the Whistler, and the mercy bullets don't require precision.

She badgers Dan into doing yoga with her--mostly so she can one up him at something after days of getting her butt kicked during target practice and PT.

She doesn't mention the disintegrator again to Dan. She'd like to think he's forgotten about it, but isn't terribly optimistic about the chances.

She's cut down a lot on her partying--mostly from being too tired to bother. But one day she takes a few huffs from a party inhaler with the intention of getting a minor buzz and ends up smashed out of her ever loving mind. It seems the 'doc has cleaned out her system so thoroughly that she no longer has any tolerance for drugs or alcohol. (Any smokers who use the 'doc will find that every cigarette feels like the first one.... )

On the whole, despite the gravity, Lexi was as happy as she usually was, and excited about the mission. The fact that they still didn't have a plan did not bother her much. She knew Nathan would figure something out. Mark could break into the security system, Dan could open any locked doors and shoot down anyone who threatened them, and Kerouac would help her deal with the insane alien they were there to rescue. And the bioweapon--well, the guys thought they could deal with her, so Lexi didn't worry about it much.

And after the mission? Back to We Made It--with the cabin gravity down to a bearable .25 gee, or Dan would get an earful!--and back to hauling cargo around Known Space. Maybe they could try Gummidgy next. Now that she knew how to shoot, she could try hunting. That would be a new kick!

[Paladin5]

During the four days of hyperspace, Mark spends all of his time sitting in the mess. Those who wanders through find him slowly eating bowl after bowl of very sugary cereal while tracking their every movement in his unwavering gaze. His eyes, though slighly glazed over, lack none of their piercing nature and the whole effect is rather disquieting to those unused to it. Those who try and speak with him find him even more uncommunicative than usual, ignoring most conversations, and, when asked direct questions, supplying only very short, simple answers.

Contrasting his outward appearance, internally Mark is abuzz with activity. He uses the travel time to upload all data in his memory banks to the ships's computer and clear any data not relevant to the upcoming mission - ranging from unimportant memories to extraneous knowledge. He also downloads potentially mission pertinent information and lesser used, more specialized subroutines. Mark spends the remainder of trip through hyperspace pouring over the available mission data, comparing it to known historical events and applying current military theory.

[happyturtle]

After a few days of this behaviour, Lexi confronts him. "Okay, Mark. I've been over the 'doc with a fine tooth comb. Now I want you to get into it right now, while there's no emergency, so we can make sure everything's working properly. You won't even have to unLink. You can pilot the ship from in there."

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So what's Mark's favourite cereal? Is it Golden Grahams? I love me some Golden Grahams--too bad they don't sell them in jolly ole England

[Paladin5]

Mark acquiesces to Lexi's request with a listless nod. Dropping his spoon by his cereal bowl, Mark slowly stands up and walks - rather sluggishly - to the autodoc.

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I'm not very familiar with 27th (right?) century cereal brands.

[happyturtle]

Unlike when most people enter the 'doc, Mark can actually track the software's decision making skills while it works. There's lots of elegant Puppeteer technology in here, and the nanites get into his central nervous system, cleaning out the microcircuits and rebuilding a few here and there. The biological parts are not rebuilt from the DNA blueprint, so the 'doc is constrained to leave him mostly as it found him. It can't fix his brain damage without removing all the implants. But it can remove toxins, adjust his blood chemistry to optimum levels, ensure that he has the right levels of trace nutrients, and so on.

The procedure takes several hours. When it's done, Mark feels wonderful--the best he's felt since the brain damage first occurred. He's absolutely bursting with energy, and his data links run even faster than ever.

Lexi is looking over the autodoc's reports as Mark sits up. "Well, love, how do you feel?"

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The kitchen builds your food from a stock supply of proteins, carbs, and lipids. So it can replicate any cereal brand that's ever existed, providing someone puts its recipe into the software.

[Thanatos 51-50]

Dan sepnds his spare time (time between planning sessions with Nathan, PT, target practice, yoga, cooking and general engineer duties that are too small to bother Kerouac with) in the cargo bay or his quarters, going over the details of their faux uniforms, their equipment, everything.
By the time the fourth day in Hyperspace rolls by, the young Rogue has framiliarized himself with every last piece of kit.
He makes the announcement at the end of the fourth day's PT session:
"Hey, sorry about the higher grav, everyone - Lexi included." he jokes as he serves up nutritious breakfasts.
"When we drop back into Normal Space, I'm unlocking it, and I'm not running PT. Use the time to relax, and make whatever last mineute plans you need. Being rested should give us an edge. Over being tired, at least."
Dan treats everyonje to a geniune smile as he says this, deftly concealing the insertion of a liberal amount of hot sauce in Lexi's cereal.

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Sleight of Hand against Lexi's helpless Cereal! HarmlessPrank! - (4d3)[3][2][1][2](8) - break even! I don't know whther you want to use pick pocket or an "Average" score.

[happyturtle]

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Pick pocket seems reasonable.

Lexi squeals in delight, and gives Dan a hug and a kiss on the cheek. "My hero! Can we have null gee? At least for an hour or two?" Before he can answer, she sits down to tackle her breakfast--she's been eating like mad during this trip--and gets a mouthful of fire.

She jumps up, spilling her cereal, and grabs the pitcher-bulb of milk, gulping down about half of it. Thankfully it hadn't been contaminated as well.

"Good one, Dan," she says, picking up a towel to wipe up the spilled cereal. "You really had me there." Then as she walks past him to dispose of the towel, she mushes the whole soggy mess into his face.

[Wizard of the Coat]

Nathan had ignored most of Lexi's flirting over lunch, though hadn't indicated for her to stop it either, being his usual professional self. Instead he went over some of the standart protocols that Blue Sky personal would follow. Though not directly usefull to the mission Nathan felt it was essential that they knew the basic mindset of a Blue Sky employe. After lunch he got up and walked to the kitchen.

"Dan don't count on me for dinner...I've got some preparations to do for the mission..."

Retrieving some high energy protein bars and isotonic liquids from the machine he retreated to his room and locked the door behind him. Placing the rations in easy to reach places he sat himself on the floor and emptied his mind...

Late next day, not long before dinner he woke up from his bed...his room was a mess and a mixed odor of sweat from his clothes and body and sugar from spilled drinks and leftovers protein bars that littered the floor. Raising himself to his feet he pulled himself to the shower, extra cold, flexing his muscles one by one to purge the toxins that had build up the previous day and night. He was awake and his mental aquity was restored, still it took all his soma training to get his broken body to do what he wanted...the autodoc sure seems apealing now... Purging that thought from his mind he dried himself off and put on a simple robe and loose trousers, both tied at the waist, as he made his way to the dinner table.

The rest of the journey was uneventfull, some tactical planning and cleaning aside. At breakfast Nathan pulled the crew together on the fourth day to go over the details with them.

"Relaxation time is good Dan, but before we spend all day playing pranks on another let's go over the plan first."He was smiling as he said so, obviously amused by Dan's actions, there was something to the free spirit of the thief that he found endearing. Still he proceded profesionally.

"My reseach and sources have told me of a seperate underground entrance to level B-2. Apparantly there are numerous military tunnels under most of the city. I'd say that rather then use the main entrance that we use these tunnels to gain acces to the facility. The bioweapon and whomever it is with might help us with that."