Wormverse 'Villains' Game Team 2 IC

[ThreadNecro5]

http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?525591-Wormverse-Villains-Game-Team-2-OOC



After twenty-four hours to prepare you have all met up again where you originality did. Singularity was waiting for you, and after everyone is present, the best he can tell anyway, updates you all on the how things will be set up.

“Right, first you will be separated into two teams, You are to function for now without the support from the other, appearing to be independent teams. No doubt once you are established presences you can disguise your cooperation as alliances and deals but until then two large teams appearing at the same time and cooperating might be suspicions. I have allocated you to teams of seven each.” At this time a pair of drones fly over and begin dispensing colour coded sheets containing directions as well as either a key or keycard. “And yes there are fourteen of you, there’s a stranger among you whose invisibility does not turn off. On that topic there is some sand in the tray behind me, alongside a pen and some paper, should you require it, Unbodied”.

“The drone that provided you with the key will take you to your teams’ base of operations. They should have whatever you need but you can requisition more when needed. You will have an E-mail waiting on you on arrival. As will a member of the Sewer Rats. Please respond with a confirmation of arrival, and either Rat King or Gator to answer any questions you may have.

Later:
The drone took you to a sewer exit after which you can finally get out and into the nighttime air. The time of night it Is means that, in this area at least, a group of capes could get around unnoticed.

A short distance away is your base. An abandoned apartment complex, on the smaller end of such constructions, and featuring an adjoining garage. Between the building an the closest road is a row of greenery serving to help hide the surrounding going on. The neighborhood itself seems to have one been much nicer.

A visible sign of the neighborhoods’ decay are the gang of a half-dozen hooligans hanging out in fort, carrying a mixture of beer bottles and cans of spray-paint. The vandals have yet to notice the group of capes behind them.

[Vorpalspell]

Claire, noticing the pause in her companions and its source, thinks to herself, This should be fun.. She strides forward, in fashionable but practical civilian clothes, parting the group with a confident: "One moment; I've got this." and a wave of her hand.

What a perfect moment to show off my skills, she thinks to herself, and then begins to really focus her attention on the group to pick up as many cues with her power as possible, actively looking for those small glances and deferring actions to indicate a possible leader, the way they hold themselves to see what their motivation might be (was this merely stress relief? Or perhaps them looking to deface the territory of a rival gang on the whims of intoxicants?), and their general disposition at the moment.

"What's a bunch of cuties like you doing out so late?", Claire asks, searching for signs of attraction she could use, or discomfort at the sign of a possible authority, wondering if perhaps a playful youth, concerned parent, or sympathetic and like-minded peer approach would be best, and checking with the active portion of her power.

[Ramsus]

Nicky, not being entirely sure some person she just met does in fact "got this", skulks around while the other girl distracts them enough that they at least look away. She tries to find a spot they won't look at but is close enough to dash in and deliver a sucker punch to the kidneys if it becomes necessary.

[Iceseer]

Daniel watched as his companions dealt with the situation. It could prove useful. After all the way they deal with these guys would indicate what they would most likely do n the future. Course to the others he might as well not even be there. Sure it was easy to get to places but knowing what to do was the real trick. He might take a little bit of blood and take more and more from one of them if they did end up with violence without murder. Then again murder wasn't very interesting. The end of the world is easy after all. The real trick is to have the world under your control. Without them realizing it. This task he undertook would greatly help with that goal.

[Thematthew]

Tina gives Claire a sidelong glance, then just watches the action hoping that she doesn't have to get involved.

[Kiranvonstrom]

Anagenesis

Darwin is a hard person to miss, in clear lighting. Not that any of their features, taken independently, were particularly distinctive, but the combination of all of them created an effect that was somehow monstrously off. A wide mouth became animalistic, eyes didn't blink for far too long and long pianist's fingers that were simply too long. The longer you stared at them, the more noticeable it became. Those unblinking eyes nictated, and those fingers had far more joints on them than they rightly should. While it wasn't immediately obvious with their almost-simian hunch, Darwin stood over seven feet tall, barely fitting into the cheap, ill-fitting jeans and cheaper undershirt that hung off their slim frame.

Thankfully, this wasn't good light. Darwin had snuck behind the rest of the group, giving every indication of being both overwhelmed and slightly bewildered by the entire set of circumstances. How the huge cape managed to take up such little space at the back of the group was frankly fairly impressive.

[ThreadNecro5]

Claire:
The six people before you turn around, startled to various degrees. Most of them are rather unremarkable and share basically the same emotional cues, feelings of bravado, inebriation-fuled and otherwise, spill from them. One with more of an ego than the others takes a few steps towards you, power telling you his immediate future contained a cheesy pick-up line. The remainder of the group has their eyes dart toward one specific individual, especially the younger ones who look to be about sixteen. This apparent leader smiles and brushes his chatty buddy out the way to talk himself, apparent subordinates relaxing as this seems to be confirmation that the strangers are not enemies.

Two of the group are armed. A man with similar features to the leader, a brother maybe, wields a baseball bat while a woman holds a tire iron. The man with the bat's stare at the leader held different implications than the others. Jealousy. He too appears more sober than the others and more devious. If the night went any differently perhaps a power struggle would have broken out. Perhaps it might still.

As to the groups likely future, they were going to mark the area with gang signs, staking claim to the area. Beyond that they haven't really planned ahead, most thinking of partying the night away in one form or another.

"We was making sure everyone knows me and my crew's boss around here." says the leader, taking himself up all he can. "After, we going to party. What about you babe, you got any plans"?

While he talks the man with the bat is discreetly keeping an eye on Nicky as she moves.

Nicky:
Moving into position so that you can flank them in a fight you do not appear to be noticed. The one possible exception is that of the guy with a baseball bat, cautiously staying towards the back.

[Vorpalspell]

Claire approaches the leader, smiling coyly. "Perfect," she says as she invades his personal space hoping to pick up some extra cues, "though I'm afraid I've got plans tonight, honey." As she says this, she leans and whispers into his ear, "However, if you can give my friends and I some privacy, perhaps there's some way I can reward you for the trouble? I promise I can make it worth your while."

She then leans back with a shark-like grin, and holds out her phone, open to the contacts page. "Put your number in." As the gang member is distracted by her phone, she quickly glances at the jealous gang member and winks, hoping he'll think to keep his leader's phone in the case of a power struggle, and checking to see if her power thought so. Glancing back, she speaks in a sugary voice, "Clear out quickly, and I'll give you ring."

[gawwy]

While he had initially been annoyed that two of the three NON bulletproof members of the team had decided to engage with the hooligans Marco saw that Queen Bee was playing the situation perfectly. Getting a phone number was smart, they would need some easily controlled muscle if they were to attempt to hold a real presence here.

Had that hooligan said something about a boss? Marco looked around to see if had missed a tag that might reveal the name this motley crew went by. What would we call ourselves?

As he mused this Marco wandered closer as non threateningly as possible, preparing to pull Queen Bee out should one of them pull a hidden gun or simply ask which gang they belong to if Queen Bee somehow missed that.

[Ramsus]

Nicky very slowly facepalms when the other girl straight up informs the group of mooks that they were trying to sneak past that they're there. She thinks to herself that if they were going to let them know they were around that they should have just walked right on past them.

[ThreadNecro5]

Claire:
"I think that sounds good." says the one in charge, or 'Anthony S' as he adds to the contacts. "Though if you plannin' on braking in here, it's a bust. We tried and the door wont budge. Windows must be something fancy too, ******* things wont break." He adds without looking up. He finishes and hands the phone back.

"Right guys, best we be moving out, nothing for us here anyway!" he shouts over his shoulder. Meanwhile the one with the baseball bat recognises your gesture, even if you get the impression he has a preference for more concreate details.

The gang swiftly heads out, one of them sharing a fist-bump with 'Anthony', while another is something of a straggler and takes the time to draw a quick gangsign at the corner the others turned around.

I am assuming you all enter after ensuring you remain unobserved.

Inside:
Now that you are free to enter you all find the key fits in the door as expected.

The interior is a standard apartment complex. The bottom floor adjoins the garage, as well as containing a storage closet and one actual apartment. Each floor up thereafter containing another three. It is not long until your liaison, Gator, can be seen coming down the stairs to join you. She is a case fifty-three as was written but still more unusual than the alligator look the name would suggest. Built like a pole she is a head taller than most and more narrow than any of you have probably seen, if not monstrously so. In terms of serious abnormalities what can be seen of her skin is primarily dark green, with olive areas on the extremities, and she has a tail as long as she is. This is rounded off with a face whose lower jaw is split into two mandibles. She is in full costume, rags worn under polished scrap metal armour over her vitals, hands, feet, knees, tail, and eyes.

She offers a wave with one hand while the other is finishing a text. "Hey."

"So, I am Gator and you all are the new guys we're helping out, right? I thought there were seve-" She raps her knuckle's against the band of metal covering her eyes "right! Stranger. So I'm here to run you though what all you have available here, the political climate of the local gangs, provide contact details for us Sewer Rats, and to answer any other questions you may have." She is talking quite fast. "Where should I begin? Oh, and I have some ideas for you to use to get yourself something of a presence in the city".

Claire:
Your power is telling you that this 'Gator' woman is quite nervous, worried about messing something up or otherwise just not used to this scenario.

[Iceseer]

Daniel decides to check if the metal band lets her see strangers. So, he decides to wave hello which no one who couldn't see him would notice. He decides to see what the others are interested in. After all he still needed to gain information about their thoughts and attitudes even if some of them didn't seem to be the smartest people in the world. He was slightly depressed but satisfied that what happened outside didn't happen as he expected. Though this was a strange one to look at with her strange tail. He wondered what happened to her to get to where she was today. It was something that he wondered about all capes. After all each one had something happen to them to get them to where they are today. He survived on a desert island slowly dying when his power came into play. He was sure that given the circumstances if he had a different shard something else would of happened. But he was happy he was the way he was. Destroying the world was easy so was stealth. Seemed like the best of both worlds. Though he sometimes wish he could eat food again man what he would give for the taste of a hamburger.

I don't think your ability works on me. since you can't see me.

[Kiranvonstrom]

Darwin dropped to all fours, padding quietly behind the group on reinforced knuckles. They were surprisingly quiet for such a large cape, shrinking behind the rest of the group to avoid any sort of notice.

*

Darwin's maintained their position at the group's rear, quietly lurking behind the rest of the party as they investigate the new base. Between their finely-tuned barometric senses and their keen sense of smell, they felt no need to investigate their surroundings more thoroughly. There were, after all, so many new scents and textures for them to feel. Everything about the situation was so incredibly unfamiliar to them. Were the villains supposed to smell different from the protectorate? Because there didn't seem to be a common 'villain-scent'.

Darwin was the first to notice Gator, catching her scent before she descended the stairs. Upon catching sight of her, Darwin rose to their feet, erecting themselves to their full height. They raise a hand in greeting, holding it aloft for slightly too long, before striding over to other Case 53, their hand outstretched at an angle that would be uncomfortable for a human. Their face cracks open into a grin, their mouth opening far too wide, splitting open past the cheek into what would ordinarily be the edge of the jaw, revealing a row of large, tombstone-like teeth, and, behind those, a row of canid fangs.

"Brother Case 53," Darwin's voice has an odd thrum to it, subharmonics from their unusual throat structure, their every word taking on an odd, tritonal quality. They offer out their hand, seemingly to shake.



As we talked about, your power reads nothing off Darwin.

[Ramsus]

As they enter Nicky approaches Claire and says quietly enough that probably only she would hear (though it's not exactly a whisper), "I'm glad that didn't wind up going the way I thought it was for going for a second there."

Nicky's first thought upon seeing Gator is "Mandibles? I was expecting some ****. I was not expecting ****ing mandibles."

[gawwy]

"Smooth" Marco says to Clair as the hooligans move off. He quickly checks the gang sign that was left, committing it to memory, before following the rest of the group into the apartment block.

He steps quickly acutely aware of Darwin, or was it Anagenesist, the large intimidating Case 53 that seems intent upon lurking behind the group. As they approached and entered the apartment building Marco attempted to get a feel for the layout (is there an interior mezzanine?) looking for alternative exits. Broken windows in the war-world provided plenty.

Gator was a shock to behold, as Darwin rose tall to offer his hand Marco couldn't help but think of how easily either could crush his skull. Gator spoke and the quickness of her words betrayed her nerves, Marco relaxed realizing that beneath the terrifying visage was a young girl struggling with self-confidence issues. A wave of shame flowed over him at the prejudice he had felt toward the case 53's, both had signed up to help work against one of the most terrifying villain groups in the country after all.

As Gator finished her introduction Marco spoke up a little more shakily than he would have liked for first impressons.

"Hi, Im Flashback but you can all call me Marco if you want. ah. How much contact with the PTR are we supposed to have? I assume this is a maximum deniability deal right? Can we get access to there para-human records? We should probably come up with a name for this group too before we start talking about our first job. Hell we should probably get to know each other a little first too."

The smooth was non-sarcastic and appreciative, though looking deeper would reveal that Marco was mildly concerned for your safety. You'll probably pick up the general unease outline above

[Vorpalspell]

Claire smiles at Marco, saying "Thanks, I try", as they enter. Then Claire glances at Nicky, saying with a smirk, "Of course it did! Their minds were open books before me." And then quiets as the group approaches Gator, turning her mind toward picking apart the latest curiosity in front of her. She carefully sizes up Gator, making note of their posture, focus, etc. hoping to piece together this new entity quickly.

Then, as Darwin makes a bee-line for Gator, Claire's face turns gleeful, and, Gator forgotten, she dashes forward, circling Darwin like a hawk. "Now, now, what are you, big guy? Clearly not human, yes, not even a case 53 are you? I'd be getting more from my power otherwise. Hm, how very interesting", she says rapid-fire. She then reaches out and shakes Darwin's hand in place of Gator, grinning all the while, having lost her sense of decorum in front of the fascinating new mind before her. "Speaking of introductions, name's Claire. Queen Bee when the buzzing starts. But I'm far more interested in you."

Strictly speaking, it's more that Claire's power doesn't pick up too much that's non-obvious since Darwin doesn't have a lot of the cues most have either learned or have pre-programmed into them.
Yep, if she can't see, hear, feel, etc. she gets nothing.

[Konatsat]

Dorian follows the others into the building trying to stick closer to the back of the group just in case of any surprises. Surprises like that of Gator's appearance. After overcoming the initial shock of the situation, she realized that Gator was an ally and that there was no reason to be wary of the girl, and - as everyone else was introducing themselves - Dorian decided she may as well follow suit. "Hey, I'm Heartbeat, or Dorian, pleased to meet you."

[Ramsus]

"Not human? Whut." Nicky comments under her breath. "Oh, are we doing introductions now? Ok. I'm Nicky or Synthesis in costume." she says, sort of half-extending a hand in case anyone feels like this is a hand shaking kind of moment.


((Sorry forgot to be putting stuff in for the Thinker. Man this is probably gonna get exhausting at some point.))

So earlier, like right after the goons left, she was a bit upset with Claire for a moment, but it quickly faded away once it was clear they were leaving without snooping around.

When they saw Gator and Darwin in good light, she was a bit intimidated. Mostly in the physical "these people are clearly larger and stronger than me" sense. Otherwise she doesn't appear to think they're any weirder, as individuals, than she seems to think anyone else present is. (Though she did appear to think the goons were so non-weird as to be downright banal.) Though she does of course think the parts that make up Gator and Darwin are pretty weird. She's also not acting like weird = bad as much as the average person does.

The earlier thought about Gator's mandibles is easily conveyed as far as Claire is concerned as well. It's mainly registering as surprising rather than shock or being grossed out. Like someone told you that you were going out for dinner and they brought you to a donut shop.

She seems really unsure of what she's supposed to be doing right now at this moment.

She's also been avoiding making eye contact with and even trying to not be directly in the line of sight of Tina. Clearly some amount of nervousness there with a strong undercurrent of trying to avoid something awkward.

Thanks to the "not human" comment she's currently re-assessing who is weirdest. Darwin and Claire being the top contenders at the moment.

[Thematthew]

Tina puffs up with pride a little at the suggestion of introductions, "I'm Tina, your choice if you use Titanium or Murphy 'cause it doesn't really matter to me. You might have seen my dad's ads, because we make stuff for capes, governments, worried normals, etcetera.
And, wow, a non-human entity! That's so cool! Are your powers natural, or did you trigger like a normal cape?" She then takes a moment to breath and center herself, "sorry, that was rude. I get that way sometimes, I think it's when my brain starts to come up with some things. Like when I came up with my armor design, did you know that I invented a new metal composite for it? Not the cheaper stuff I let my dad use for his devices, but good high quality stuff. I call it Tinatanium, I know kinda derivative, but it works for a name and it wasn't under patent yet, also I'm glad you mentioned the seventh, mostly to prove that they're still there. That band let's you see them then? Huh, neat, I wish I could make something like that, but oh well. No use complaining when you've got a job to do, I'm thinking it's time to make something for the group to use. Who wants some base defenses? I could probably make something to turn gravity upside down if it isn't disarmed, or something to make their forward momentum drive them into the floor! Like the whole world turned 90 degrees on them!"

With that thought she continues to rant on, having the occasional moment of what seems like an epiphany and scribbling fiercely in her notebook.

I'm sure that you can tell she's excited. She also seems to be wholly interested in an academic way, as if this whole situation was a big experiment to her.

[Kiranvonstrom]

Darwin reels back a bit, dropping back to all fours, trying to make sense of the sudden outburst of communication. Large conversations were still somewhat new to them, and there was just so much to process. Just so much everything. New places, new people, this tiny man getting in their face and moving so fast and talking so fast and talking to them, talking about not being a Case 53 (not a Case 53? Look no further than the vicious claws that would sprout from their hands in training drills) and it was so much so fast.

Both of Darwin's brains reeled trying to process all the stimuli around them and failing horribly, before something clicked inside them, their power moving nerves and adjusting Seratonin and Dopamine levels in their primary brain to compensate. The sensory overload headed off at the pass, their power returned to dormancy, allowing normal neurochemical structure to reassert itself in a few hours as the mutations were broken down.

Darwin raised a hand up in what was clearly a gesture of peace. "Am human. Don't look like it. Case 53. Subscribed to newsletter," Darwin's jaw dislocates to shove itself forward, an indecipherable piece of body language. "Even on forums. Part of community discourse,"

Darwin's attention returned to Gator, their unblinking eyes focusing on the other case 53. With their raised hand, they make a short gesture for quiet. Clearly a learned behavior, rather than a natural one, judging by its comprehensibility alone.

"Let Brother Gator talk, then plan. Mission briefing," Darwin smiled again. It's just as horrifying as the first time.

Maybe that was confusion? Pride? Maybe the hulking cape is pissed, it's still hard to tell, but your power is hard at work cracking them open.

[ThreadNecro5]

There is a second where Gator is not quite sure how to react to what all just happened, and so she decides to think through what all had been said so far. She settled on replying to Darwin first, after responding to everyone's greetings with a nod.

"Well, uh, not to start things as awkward as possible, but I'm a woman, so 'Brother' doesn't really work. Still good to meet another Fifty-Three though." she says with (what is likely supposed to be) a friendly smile. It seems the general weirdness of the introduction to current company has done much to help calm her nerves.

"So, onto the PRT and Protectorate, as far as I'm aware only Singularity is part of this plan, at least on the cape side of things, I wasn't told anything about anyone unpowered. And yes. Their records are on the same computer you use to contact Singularity, it's just upstairs, first room. Also unfortunately I cannot see the Stranger, I only remembered there was supposed to be one. My vision is only about as good as anyone else, or so I'm told".

Anyway before I move on to plans I should give a run-though of what all is available to you here. So, ground floor, there is the garage, the closet is filled with some supplies for a fight, pepper spray, Tasers, and the like. Bulletproof vests, and some weapons too I think. The apartment down here also has been converted into a workshop for any Tinkers. Next floor has the computer from which you can contact Singularity and view any other useful files. There's some money up there and a key to the other teams base in case of emergency. Following room is for storage, and then a stocked kitchen. After that its apartments for anyone needing a place to stay, two bedrooms each so you have someone to cover you in case of an enemy Stranger sneaking in." She is trying to get though this quickly in the hopes she does not forget anything.

"Alright, onto business. Around here none of the big gangs are active, at least not recently. Splinters and smaller groups mostly. This is good for you because you can probably avoid making serious enemies for a bit. In terms of your first takeover you have couple of options. There's this place growing and dealing weed a stones throw away. Next up you could also try this neutral fence who operates in the area, he will provide a steady stream of income and you can probably find something interesting occasionally among his goods, you might have time for both places assuming there are no surprises. I was also to tell you that you should think up a name before trying these first, helps with street cred".

"Right... I'm sure I am forgetting something. Right!" she says, mandibles swing wide in a grin(?). "In the future, should you wish to contact the Sewer Rats, that is me and Rat King in terms of capes, your best bet is to ask one of the cities homeless who will pass the message along, or you can ask any rat you catch walking around that you want to talk. After that either me or my father um, Rat King that is, will get to you as soon as possible. In emergencies coming to out territory also works.

The Unbodied:
No matter your Telekinetic 'waving' you find that Gator truly cannot see you.

[Kiranvonstrom]

"Sister Gator, then," Darwin nodded slowly. It's a very deliberate nod, Darwin forcing their head up and down as if to mimic the general shape of a nod.

Most of the logistics went over Darwin's head. They had a place to sleep, and there was food, and, at that point, Darwin tuned out. There wasn't a bulletproof vest in the world that would fit Darwin in a fight for very long. Nevertheless, Darwin tried their best to listen. If they were going to be much use in this project, they needed to be informed.

[Iceseer]

Daniel was disappointed. He figured he encountered the first person to truly see him in a long time. His hopes dashed he thought and decided the smartest move was to split up. After all his teammates were surely capable by themselves and could handle the threats they could possibly face. Since it was a small start. If they went together the threat of failing one was possible just by not having the time. Since time was a factor it made all the more sense to split up. So he decided to wait and see if his group came to the same conclusion.

[Vorpalspell]

Claire spares a glance at each group member in turn, as they introduce themselves, not willing to pass up the opportunity for at least a little information about their personality that could be gleaned from their introductions. As Tina introduces herself, Claire smiles, briefly overcome with nostalgia, as the excitable, rambling introduction reminded Claire of her sister.

Then she turns her attention back to Gator at Darwin's bidding, willing to postpone bombarding them with questions until business was done. After Gator finishes, correcting Darwin on her gender, Queen thinks, that confirms my theory that they're non-human then; even 53's come pre-built with an intuitive understanding of our weird gender norms. After this, though, Claire mind switches into work mode, attacking the problem at hand.

"I'm certain I can turn both into assets given enough information. What do you know?" Claire pauses, then, realizing there are some logistics to work out first. "Though, I suppose that can wait until we've decided on how we're going to represent ourselves," She sidetracks, and continues with a grin, "I suggest we call ourselves the The Queen's Bees!" She declares, then looks around the room, "Orrrrr maybe the The Killer Bees?" she says, searching the room for approving faces, "Well, how about The Buzz Killers? Your Royal Honeys? Hive? Oh come on!" she pouts, then says, "Fine, I see the bee puns aren't popular. What about the Bleeding Heart Royals?"

[Ramsus]

Nicky is rolling her eyes at the bee puns. At the last one though she grins, "The Bleeding Heart Royals has some style to it, especially compared to a lot of other cape groups."


At the mention of the fence Nicky seemed like she was suddenly more in her comfort zone. She doesn't seem put off by the other idea either.

[Thematthew]

Tina looks over at Claire when she starts suggesting team names, "I mean, Bleeding Heart Royals sounds cool but seems all emotional or something. Maybe I'm just picky. Oh, hey, thinking of picky! Do you guys have any preferences on colors or stuff, 'cause I really want to take this Tinker shop for a ride." She then gives a quick thought, "Hey, do you think that our Stranger friend might have some problem communicating with us? We could probably work something out if we know how their power works, maybe make something for them to communicate with us."

Tina seems slightly annoyed at first, but quickly loses it as she takes in the next problem. She seems genuinely interested once she starts referring to The Unbodied.

[gawwy]

"Bleeding Heart Royals... I like it but if its to soft we could change the Bleeding to something else like Iron or Rock. A different angle could be something like The Seelie Court, fond of pranks brutally murder or imprison those who insult them. Names were never my strong point."

I would like to go on the weed raid though, I've had some experience with it. Always wanted to try and bonsai one. Queen bee should probably go on the fence mission, Her powers would just be wasted on some stoners." Marco pauses for a moment, distracted, "3 apartments with 2 bedrooms each? Even if our Stranger friend doesn't sleep he, or she should get a room of their own."

Marco pulls some coins out of his pocket, "We know you can move stuff stranger, Singularity offered you a pen, If you cant find anything better you can tap morse code with the coins and I can translate for the group. Why don't you introduce yourself."



I expect everyone to read this, feel free to use this text to add appropriate emotions to the text above.

Marco has used weed in the past to manage his PTSD, his use has been becoming more infrequent as his therapy progresses. He has genuinely taken up the hobby of bonsai it relaxes him. the mention of bedrooms adds some anxiety to the mix, deep inspection would reveal that Marco has night terrors that.. spill, and hes considering sleeping outside the base. Hes a touch on edge thinking about the stranger he cant see nor hear.

[Iceseer]

Daniel grabs a lot of air to the point that he can pick up the coins. Daniel thought and decided that his powers should actually let him be able to speak if he was creative about the uses of them. The group seemed to be making him think of new creative uses for his powers. That made him happy. He was glad he wasn't so twisted as to kill off humanity. After all humanity was kind of needed to be alive for him to not be bored.

[Thematthew]

At Marco's prompting, Tina exclaims, "That's it! They've probably got something like telekinesis! I can build something to convert the impulses they make into sound waves. With this artificial voice box they should be able to communicate with us, and then explain to us what we can do to help them with their condition." With that she starts wandering towards the area set aside as a workshop, "let's be honest, I don't too much about team names. If you need me, I'm going to be having some fun! So... uhm...
Unbodied was it? Can you come with me, I need to take measurements of what you can do for my notes. If all goes well, we'll have you talking through a box in no time."

She pauses on her way out, "by the way, if anybody else needs something specific for equipment that I can provide, let me know. I'm thinking any non-Brute classified personnel, that is anyone with a normal Human's level of protection, should have some armor fashioned for them at the very least." She then smiles even wider. "I know I'm going to be having some fun for a while."

Tina is going through an even greater level of excitement, at this point it's obvious that she's fully assured in her own ability to do everything she's saying. It's also obvious that she's serious about not being concerned about the direction of the group, she's content to have found a little corner of the world to call her own.

[Kiranvonstrom]

"No need to bother for me. Hard to fit. Change during fights. Unpredictable. Usually grow armor anyway," Darwin nods to Tina, the odd subharmonics in their voice giving it an unearthly musical quality. If they realized they probably didn't fit in the category of non-brutes, they made no indication.

Darwin seems to catch on that everyone else had given their names, even if they would be hard-pressed to remember what everyone was called. Somewhat delayed, they thrum out "Wanted Darwin for name. Told me three Tinkers and one Changer have name worldwide. Still like it. Personal name Darwin. Cape name Anagenesis. Paperwork filled out," Darwin juts out their chin again at that last piece.


Your power fills in that the dislocated jaw probably indicates pride around the same time you figure it out yourself.

[Iceseer]

Daniel follows Tina. Willing to try anything to speak once more. He is surprised that they would do this for him. It was even more surprising that they actually believed he was there before he picked up the coins. When Tina told him to do something he did it without hesitation if he was capable of doing it.

[Ramsus]

"I also have a Tinker power right now and a few ideas of what I could make with it. Is it a priority to go out and establish territory and control of things right now or do we have a few days we could spend messing around making stuff. Because if we have the time I think we should. Maybe get some people armor like Tina suggested, because in my short experience as a cape so far it seems like no matter what it is you're going out to do, some **** goes down nine times out of ten even if it should just be a ****ing milk run." Nicky says.


Nicky is holding back excitement about messing around with her Tinker power, it seems like maybe she's never had one before. Also her prior cape experiences were clearly violent and unpleasant. And despite the job they have to do, it doesn't seem like she has any particular enthusiasm to go out and rush to actually do it.

[Vorpalspell]

Claire smiles, amused, as Tina leaves in a flurry of excited tinker talk. As Darwin introduces themselves--themself, Claire wonders?--Claire tilts her head to the side, taking in their strange grammar and pride, mind working at unraveling the mystery in front of her, before she shakes it off, reminding herself to stay on task.

After Nicky speaks, Claire says, "Taking a couple days might be the wisest course of action--the more information I can glean about this fence, the easier it will be to turn them to our cause, or at least at less of a cost," She pauses, tapping her chin contemplatively, "Especially if I can find their weakness.", she muses, then catches herself, "But I can drone on about that to myself later."

"So, if Bleeding Heart Royals is a little to emotional, can the rest of us agree on the Steely Heart Royals? Tina may have left, but I'm sure she'd be more approving of this one. It's stylish enough to say we've got personality, doesn't really give anything away about us, and it implies that we're determined to do whatever we need to accomplish our goals with the whole "hearts of steel" implications."

[Ramsus]

"Steely comes off a bit silly." Nicky comments and then ponders aloud other metal words, "Bronze, Brass, Platinum, too much of a mouthful? Silver? Hmmm. I dunno, Bleeding worked because it was an action I guess? **** if I know really. Black Heart Royals would sound good but makes us sound intentionally evil and might give away our hand about being opposed to the Tarot. Oh ****ing damnit. I seriously didn't mean to make a stupid pun there." Nicky finishes with a groan at her own words.

[Vorpalspell]

Claire grins wickedly, "Ha! Y'know, the card puns really suit you." She thinks for a moment then, "Well, if we're not going to tip our hand, then Bleeding Heart Royals might be the best. Heart and royal refer to the suit and its faces in a deck of cards, letting us have a name counter to the Tarot, while the bleeding heart part will let us keep our cards close to our chest until we've made it obvious we're out to get the Tarot."

"Hm, does that settle it? Speak now or forever hold your peace and all that?" She says, glancing around at everyone still here.

[Ramsus]

Nicky just groans.


Nicky's micro-expressions and tone express something similar to a feeling of "this is going to be a looooooong trip".

[ThreadNecro5]

Gator is presently attempting, and failing, to avoid giggling at the sudden hurricane of puns.

"I think ther-" interrupted by a last moment of giggling she continues "Sorry, sorry. I think there are no big issues putting you onto a time limit, but there's always chance someone else might try to muscle in. It you guys making that decision anyway.


Queen Bee:
It is quite clear that Gator is expressing her true thoughts and feelings, overall she is an open book.

[Konatsat]

Dorian shrugs, "Eh, Bleeding Heart Royals works for me if everyone else is in agreement about it. It would be a damn shame if anyone was dissatisfied with it."

[ThreadNecro5]

"So is Bleeding Heart Royals official then?" Says Gator, looking around the room to face everyone in turn. "Rat King will want to know".

"And assuming That is done with anyone have questions on the targets I suggested? A game plan is also good to".

[gawwy]

After standing awkwardly with the coins in his hand for a while Marco assumes that the Unbodied has followed Tina and puts them back into his pocket. He cant help but smile broadly at the puns and Gators good humor is quite contagious. Getting himself under control Marco attempts to get the group on task again following Gators prompting.

"Well no one has objected and I like it. Especially if we can use it to take a more robin hood approach to villainy rather than just being cartoonishly evil for the sake of it. Though we may need to make this place into a palace."

"Game plan.. I going to make some assumptions just correct me if Im wrong. With the fence i figure were looking to get in contact and will be getting jobs from them? Like high profile thefts and targets maybe? If that's the case then the meeting itself should be pretty low risk but a show that we are competent as stealing things. Something queen bee and the Unbodied should have down pretty much by themselves, I assume Queen can negotiate us a good rate, right?" Marco pauses to look at Queen Bee raising an eyebrow.


After her response he continues, "The weed growers, I'm assuming we need to convince them to give us a part of their cut, either in exchange for "protection" or because we can offer them an edge in competition with other growers. Once we've established that link we start finding their competition and either eliminating or subsuming them into our own business."

"I would take Darwin with me if hes ok with that. No offense but you look pretty intimidating and that would help sell the protection angle."Another pause for Darwin to respond."I could offer up controlled and supervised use of war-world for large scale grow operations... Synthesis do you think you could make something with your current tinker powers to benefit pot growth?"Again Marco pausses giving Synthesis a chance to respond.

"Heartbeat could serve on either team, either come look threatening at the stoners or demonstrate your ability to get into small places for the fence. I figure Tina's probably going to be wrapped up here doing her tinker thing.


"Before we do anything though id like to get measured up for a bulletproof helmet to go with the vests we have... I suggest Queen Bee and Synthesis do the same, dont want some rando punk with a gun taking you out.... Then I want to run inventory on our stocks here and do a scouting run on the weed growers to make sure were not going to be running into heavily armed gangs already running protection. I figure that last one can be done while we wait for the tinkers to make their toys."

Marco takes a deep breath, "Did i miss anything?"


The puns and giggling have given Marco a surge of confidence prompting the tirade of suggestions and planning. As he continues you notice his stance straitening as he slips into the familiar at ease stance he used use use when commanding his squad. At some point in the past Marco was a competent leader and fragments of that show here as he strives to include roles for every member of the team.

The mention of bulletproof helmets shatter this confidence and Marco reverts to a slouch and his speech starts to trail off as hes distracted by thoughts of others hes lost to mundane gunfire.

Marco manages to shake of this train of thought as he distracts himself with a list of logistical tasks.

[Ramsus]

In response to Marco's suggestion about a pot-growing tinker device, Nicky says, "I mean... I could probably. But it seems like a waste of effort. Let the growers do their thing, we just need to take a cut of the profits. I'd rather go with Queen Pun, I've got some experience with fences. And yeah, the whole not getting shot in the head thing is why I think we can wait a few days to get into ****. Though I actually have armor myself."


The joke about Queen Bee's name was clearly meant as a lighthearted jab. Though also to test out how sensitive/touchy the other girl is.

[Kiranvonstrom]

Darwin shrugs with seemingly their entire body, and pads over beside Marco.

"Am intimidating. At peace with fact." Darwin says, the tritones in their voice neutral. Their voice seems to be serene, an island of calm amid the laughing and planning. But, then, the Case 53 is hard to read. "Please. Anagenesis while on the job,"


Their ears twitched a hair when Marco referred to them as he, but the significance of that action is still a mystery.

[Vorpalspell]

Claire nods along as Marco begins talking, approving of his confidence. As he asks her if she can secure the group a good rate, Claire puffs up her chest and boasts, "Of course! If you want something from someone, I'm your Bee." As he mentions the prudence of bulletproof helmets, Claire agrees, "Yeah, it'd be a real buzz kill if my monarchy were to end prematurely."

Claire looks at Nicky, amused. Then she curtsies with a taunting smirk before saying, "Good to see at least one person has recognized that I'm not only the Queen of Bees, but Queen of Puns as well. Rest assured, however, I well love my honeyed words, and abhor the use of my stinger."

Claire carefully examines Darwin's words after he finishes speaking, certain that they will be important to further understanding this interesting specimen, especially Darwin's preference for their cape name, despite this merely being planning. Maybe using some heuristic for determined 'job things' instead of their intuition?, Claire thinks to herself.

"If Nicky's got knowledge of fences, then I'd like her to come along with me as well. Her experience with fences will synthesize," Queen Bee winks at Nicky, "well with my power. Plus, a Queen needs her Knight. Who better than the tinker in their tinker suit?"

[Ramsus]

"Nope nope! Enough of that!" Nicky announces and leaves to go find the workshop. Though she has the hint of a grin in the corners of her mouth.


When Claire mentioned her stinger, Nicky's eyes flickered down to Claire's bottom parts and it's possible her first thought in regard to "stinger" wasn't a sharp tongue but the part of the anatomy where a stinger would be on a person. Though she quickly got what Claire meant to be saying a fraction of a second later.

Nicky is actually pretty amused by the puns and is objecting for the sake of appearances and the knowledge that they're pretty much done with planning and maybe it wouldn't be the best thing to, while having an audience, spend tons of time just standing around making puns and bad jokes instead of being productive.

[Kiranvonstrom]

Darwin tranquilly watches Nicky leave the room, their expression seemingly even. Internally, of course, they have no idea what's going on.

There's a particular narrowing of Darwin's eyes that, in an oddly human gesture, suggests they have completely lost track of the conversation.

[Thematthew]

When Nicky comes into the workshop Tina turns to face her, "Oh, hey! I think I've gotten somewhere with our body-less compatriot's problem! With this new device he can talk, though I do think we need to make a few more adjustments so he can have a voice that doesn't sound like he's on a cellphone in a tunnel underwater... Given a couple more hours he'll be good, but we can at least talk somewhat now. What's going on with the rest? Making plans and silly names? You guys need me to scare someone? I can be quite intimidating if I put my mind to it, I can deadlift over a ton I'm pretty sure though I haven't measured it in a while..."

She then pauses, waiting for a response from anybody else, while turning back to the device she was working on.

[Ramsus]

"Uh... yeah pretty much. Plans are planned. We're gonna just spend some time making stuff. I think two of the others wanted armor. That sounds like a you thing rather than what I've got going on right now. Uh... speaking of armor... and you... uhhh....." Nicky replies, kind of unsure if she actually wants to have this upcoming conversation after the reminder that Tina is strong enough to lift a ton.

[Thematthew]

"Hmm, yeah, armor... We can make something lightweight and bulletproof. Probably modular in design, so upgrading it would be easier. Maybe make something to improve powers... Do you know if QB's power is based on sight, or something else?" At Nicky's stuttering Tina looks concerned, "something wrong? You seem a little... concerned? Hey, do I know you? You look kinda familiar..."

[Ramsus]

"I don't know, I haven't touched her yet.... I should probably do that at some point." Nicky replies, though mostly to herself.

"Uh...yeah. You were... there. When I triggered. I wound up with.... actually I'll just take it out since... yeah." Nicky says and goes over to the briefcase she keeps her armor in and takes it out. Showing Tina armor that Tina's father made. "I hope you're not mad about that still. Though I kind of am. Seriously, what were you guys thinking designing this thing so that the bright neon lights can't be turned the **** off?" she says, accusingly. Despite her nervousness and at this point mild fear Tina might rip her arms off, she's also been bottling up that particular irritation for a good while now.

[Thematthew]

"Oh, that suit. Yeah, I don't understand what dad was thinking when he designed that particular feature. Probably watching too many 80's sci-fi movies. Pretty sure I can get the lights to turn off with a bit of, well, tinkering. Small T, I promise. But, yeah, he has weird tastes... Almost as if a switch flicked, she lights up again, "so... Does it work? Kinda a neat idea, right, implanted force fields to protect the wearer without restricting movement. I don't think I'd be able to make more like it... My stuff gets all, weird... Mostly causes ricochets and the like."

She pauses thoughtfully while tinkering with the device in front of her some more. "I think I'm going to need to work on my new materials. I'm thinking a light weight polymer, something like plasteel. Is there a thing called plasteel already? Anyway... Don't really want to give you guys the good stuff, but I'm fine with arming people with something better than what's out on the street." She looks back to Nicky, "I hope you understand, I'm sorta only doing this because it'll give me a chance to do some good."

[Ramsus]

"Uh...." Well that wasn't the reaction Nicky had expected. After a pause to re-align herself with the difference between her expectations and reality she says, "Yeah. It works pretty well aside from that. And no, I don't think plasteel is a real thing. It's a movie thing. Though I guess that makes it probably a tinker thing too."

"I mean... ok, no skin off my back. Mostly because I already have protection. But I think the Tarot are probably pretty bad, worse than any of us are. Like me, I didn't have a choice about being a villain. It was that or they kill me and take the suit for themselves. And then I was in jail. And now here I am. So I don't think there's anything 'bad' about putting in extra effort to make sure we don't die." she says while handing the suit over in the hopes Tina will actually fix the whole lights thing and not just forget half-way through and start working on something else.

[ThreadNecro5]

"Erm... actually the idea with the fence was more the 'kick down the door and show that you are in charge now' approach. Well, probably a little more refined than that but, you know. Anyway charging him for protection like Flashback suggested with the growers might be worth considering. However using him to find notable thefts and having him turn them into profit is probably a good idea. Builds money and get you street cred." She says this slowly, as if she is thinking about the idea while saying it.

[Vorpalspell]

In response to Gator, Claire says, "I see. Well, what can you tell me about this fence? Everything at all, by the way--even those little details like what he eats for breakfast, or how he walks, if you've got any info like that. It sounds weird but those details will help me figure them out. I can check to see which approach might work best afterwords." As Gator explains what she does know, Claire checks with her active power to see how it thinks the fence will react to a direct "You're gonna pay us protection money, now" and how they will react to a "you're going to be working for us, now" kind of approach.

[ThreadNecro5]

Gator waits for a minute, thinking on details about the Fence.

"The guy's called Omar. Omar Witt. Well... He's a show-off for one. Keeps a big car in front of his place, fancy suit, covered in gold. Greedy too, willing buy from and sell to anyone, but probably thinks highly of himself. Unless you got a name or show something interesting he's not interested. Capes will get in fine though. Diet... I think I saw some fruit, protein bars, so something of a health nut? He's not quite in shape though, whatever that's worth".

After a second she remembers something else. "He keeps things blunt. Prefers things all business-like".

Queen Bee:
"You're gonna pay us protection money, now" approach:
Would be offended by the idea of a villain group with no reputation trying this scheme on him. Conflict will be likely.
A possibility he will try and manipulate you by arranging a trap on one visit or another.
Would require you to do something to impress him to make this path work long-term, but if achieved may just end up with a more beneficial result.

"you're going to be working for us, now" approach:
Of the two approaches the more likely to get some amount of respect.
Is likely to send hired muscle after you all, if any, but will stay back himself, observing for a time.
Will attack if he believes himself able to win.
If the situation looks against him he will open negotiations and try and find your goals while twisting the arrangement into whatever benefit he can acquire.

[Vorpalspell]

Claire nods along as Gator tells her about Omar. Then, when Gator is finished and after she has checked with her active power, she says, "I see. In that case, I think I'll favor hiring this fence on as a worker bee. It'll probably be best if we give him the most...royal of welcomes." She pauses for a moment, a hand on her chin, thinking, "Yes, a strong show of a force. A carrot in one hand, but a very large stick in the other. Don't want him running over to some other crew for help, nor do we want things going lop-sided if he's well protected... I'll have to talk to Nicky and the stranger and see what they think." Claire then goes off to find Nicky, pausing and realizing that she'd gotten caught up in plans and says, "By the way, there's one more thing I need if you have it; do you have Omar's contact information?" After Gator responds, Claire parts with, "Thanks, you've been a great navi-gator."

Claire then resumes her search of the tinker to tinker around with some ideas. Upon finding Nicky she says, "Hey, tinker tailor soldier! I've decided on an approach for that fence of ours. I want to get past any misgivings he's got about our strength before we get into any verbal fencing. Unfortunately, I favor the pen nigh exclusively. Got any ideas?"

[Thematthew]

Tina notices Claire 'intruding' on the workshop right as she starts removing the panes over Synthesis's armor's power supply, "Two quick questions! One, does your power work via sight? And two, would you prefer something that looks like this suit or something more like..." She pauses as she opens up the case containing her armor and turns it so Claire can get a good look at it, "my armor?"

[Ramsus]

"Huh?" Nicky replies, having been focused on what she and Tina were doing. After a moment she'll reply with, "If you want a show of strength, actually bring someone strong? I mean, I could try and get a strong power off of people here when we go do it. But I wasn't planning on making much in the way of weaponry right now so that'd still just leave me with the amazing power of regular strength punching people while wearing armor if people decide we need to go before I'm done with this tinker power."


Nicky is more interested in getting to play around with her tinker power than the job they're supposed to be doing.

[ThreadNecro5]

"Don't have his number memorised but I think I can find someone who does. One minute." says Gator, smiling away after the latest pun and shaking her head. "You're going to drive Rat King insane, you know that"?

She pulls out her phone and gets to calling someone.

"Hey, Jeb, it's Green. You know that Witt guy right? the fence's cousin"?
"Yeah, him. Can you get me the fence's number"?
Whatever this Jeb says next causes Gator to sigh. "Worknumber smart***, got some guys here looking to sell".
"No, already talked to them about JD, they want someone neutral".
"...Funny." She says sarcastically as the call ends.

"He'll 'Make it snappy' he says. Family of yours by any chance?" she says to Claire as a joke. Anyway He's texting me the number in a bit".


Lo and behold, the text does in fact arrive.

"Here we are." Says Gator, holding the phone out so that the number can be seen.

[gawwy]

"Awesome thanks Gator" Marco gets a folded paper map of the city from his backpack and spreads it on a nearby table. "Where abouts is the fence? And the Weed dealers for that matter?" Marco asks as he pulls the cap off a marker. "Do you know if the dealers have any protection already?'

After Marco has got the relevant information from Gator he thanks her "Thank you Gator for your help. Is there anything we can help you with?

After the conversation finishes with gator Marco goes to the garage to see Tina. "Hey there my new favourite metalsmith. I heard you offering up armour. I was hoping you could make somthing to keep my head from being blown off. Did your dad ever sell stuff to the military by the way?"

[Thematthew]

Tina looks over to Marco as he speaks, "Yeah, I can make something like that. I'm currently trying to make a new light weight polymer, something that should be able to take a bullet while having about the heft of a Halloween costume. I'm thinking of calling it plasteel,
it has a ring to it..." She then takes a quick moment to process what Marco also asked, "the army would contract out to dad once in a while, and he was never too picky when it came to work. I think he made some force field projectors that they asked for,
but his usual sense of style seemed almost at odds with what they wanted. For some reason most people don't want their equipment to look like it came from a B-movie set... Well, except capes... They love that stuff..."

She continues talking as she starts pouring out a couple of small test samples to cool. "Did you know that the average weight of the metal plates used in bulletproof vests is 4 pounds each? I'm pretty sure with some work I could get it down to at most an eighth of that. Oh, do you need anything special for your powers to work? Line of sight, quiet, you know? I can work that into the full suit later if you do.
I actually have a spare helmet with soundproofing and an external mic. It lets me have some quiet to think."

[ThreadNecro5]

"Fence is here, and Dealers are here. I think it was said they usually keep a guy or two around but talk was they were thinking of expanding. Given how the city is they might have a few more. Can't say what they are packing in weapons but a gun or two is likely. Replies Gator to Marco. She marks and labels the targets on the map with the offered marker as she talks.

"I have nothing really pressing, right now at least. She says to the offer of assistance. She makes her way to the Workshop a little after Marco, seeing as people seem to be congregating there.

"Did I hear something about metal?" says Gator before seeing that the mention was directed at Tina. "I know this is a little out of the blue, but once you and the rest of the Royals are set up would you object towards making me some new armour? I'll pay of course, just want to check it an option first". She sounds quite pleased with the opportunity.

[Ramsus]

After Tina has finished modifying the lights on her armor with an on/off feature and it's clear the other people in here don't need her right now, Nicky gets to work on the first device she wants to make. A food replicator.


Basically I'm thinking it's a rectangular device that you put biological material into and get food out of. It can learn recipes by instruction or being given digital text of the ingredients and cooking methods and it's also "smart" and learns preferences/how a user expresses things. Also if possible I'm wanting the device to be able to change size and shape, with it's smallest around the size of a rubik's cube and at its largest around the size of a pizza oven.

[Vorpalspell]

As Tina questions Claire about her power, Claire responds, "It's perception based. Sights, sounds, touches, smells, and even taste give me information. Maybe if I had other senses those would work too? I'm not sure what other senses there are, or even if they would work, but maybe." Claire pauses for a second, examining the suits, before saying, "Both look great, and I'd be happy with either! I do prefer mobility over durability, though, if that would make a difference."

As Nicky replies, Claire says, "Alright, punching is more than acceptable for whatever thugs they have. I can see if the stranger has any ideas later." Claire then smirks before continuing, "I'll leave you to your buizzness then."

[gawwy]

Tina looks over to Marco as he speaks, "Yeah, I can make something like that. I'm currently trying to make a new light weight polymer, something that should be able to take a bullet while having about the heft of a Halloween costume. I'm thinking of calling it plasteel, it has a ring to it..." She then takes a quick moment to process what Marco also asked, "the army would contract out to dad once in a while, and he was never too picky when it came to work. I think he made some force field projectors that they asked for, but his usual sense of style seemed almost at odds with what they wanted. For some reason most people don't want their equipment to look like it came from a B-movie set... Well, except capes... They love that stuff..."

She continues talking as she starts pouring out a couple of small test samples to cool. "Did you know that the average weight of the metal plates used in bulletproof vests is 4 pounds each? I'm pretty sure with some work I could get it down to at most an eighth of that. Oh, do you need anything special for your powers to work? Line of sight, quiet, you know? I can work that into the full suit later if you do. I actually have a spare helmet with soundproofing and an external mic. It lets me have some quiet to think."

"Yea I remember hearing his name being thrown around by scuttlebutt, providing the power armour for some super secret super solider program.Marco seems to dift off a bit, Crazy stuff. Glad your on our side."

"light is good. Less metal im wearing the more medical supplies I can carry. I dont really need anything in particular for my powers, but that soundproofing sounds really really useful. If you've not got any better use for it that is. And if your not making a new one you can focus more on neat toys" Marko finishes with a smile.

--After--
The next morning Marco is up early so he cook's breakfast for those that want it, its bacon and eggs.


Marco's may have had a run in with aformentioned super soldier. It didnt go well. He is imagining another team member in 7 foot tall green power armour. The parallels are disturbing.
The mention of a sound proofed helmet perks Marco up significantly. Its obvious that he relishes the idea of being able to block out the noise of combat.

Marco has not slept well. He never sleeps well. Bacon and eggs is the only meal he knows how to cook that isnt an MRE.

[Kiranvonstrom]

Darwin is the second to lumber into the kitchen, wearing the same set of clothes as the previous night. They nod to Marco as they pad past him, opening up the fridge, apparently searching for something to their taste.

Darwin inhales deeply, then reaches for what remains of the carton of eggs, closing the door behind them with a gangly elbow and leaning against the fridge. Gently, with long and too-delicate looking fingers, they open the carton, and grab an egg. They consider it for a moment, before popping it, shell and all, into their mouth. They crunch down on the eggshell, savoring the taste, before swallowing its remains in one smooth motion.

"Good morning," They thrum in greeting, removing another egg from the carton.

[Ramsus]

"Smells good. Speaking of food, I made a food replicator, that I just finished working on before going to sleep last night. It's a bit heavy though. Would someone mind helping me move it in here after we eat?" Nicky says, and takes a plate of breakfast.

[gawwy]

Marco watches darwin take out the tray of eggs with growing confusion as he proceded to eat one raw, "Would you like that cooked Anagenisis? Their much better that way...

When Synthesis comes in he serves her some eggs, sunnyside up, "Ill help move your machine. Itd probably be best to get it sooner rather than later." he glances at the egg tray that Darwin has. How much does someone your size eat anyway? No offense intended."

"After breakfast im going to go scope out this grow operation from a distance. Did anyone want to join me? Be a good chance to get a feel for the area here too."

[Ramsus]

"Fanks. I'll probably, mfh, stay here and work on making more things." Nicky replies over a mouthfull of food.

[Thematthew]

Finishing up in the workshop
Tina turns back to her samples after Claire and Marco answer, "great, I can have that together as soon as my new samples are ready.
Also, Gator, given our plans I think selling some of my tech sounds like it should be acceptable. We can set ourselves up as arms dealers that way. Just give me some specs and I'll hammer something out. Un-B, can you test out your voice box? I think it's about done."

Breakfast

Tina comes out to the smell of food, "mmmmm, that smells fantastic... Can I get some of that?"

[Vorpalspell]

-After, at breakfast-

Claire bumbles into the room after Tina, hair disheveled and eyes bleary as she yawns and beelines for the coffee maker. She carefully begins making a very large pot of coffee, not paying attention to anything going on. Instead of turning and making any kind of conversation while waiting for the coffee to finish, she sits on the counter, leans backs, and closes her eyes. When the coffee finishes brewing with a beep, she reaches over, eyes still closed, and grabs the pot. Instead of grabbing a mug or some other container, she simply unscrews the top and carefully sips directly from the pot, eyes still closed.

[ThreadNecro5]

Finishing up in the workshop:
Gator nods, pleased with having access to a tinker. "How about I come by in... a week or two? You can take my measurements and we discuss pricing and any specifics to work with my power".

A moment of thought later she speaks again.

"So if I heard Marco right the current plan before hitting the targets is to let the Tinkers do their thing, while some of the others scope out the area? Because if you guys are done with questions I may as well hit the road. You know how to get into contact anyway. Oh, actually I could write down my number, the whole 'ask the homeless or a rat' thing is Rat King's idea. I swear that Ward with the..." After a second of confusion she continues. "...EMP is more tech-savvy than him. Wont even look suspicious, if anyone asks why you have it I can just say how I'm talking business with the Tinker".

[Kiranvonstrom]

Breakfast

Darwin slurps down another egg before answering. "Enjoy eggs. Can eat them raw," they pull a third egg out of the carton, and toss it into their mouth, "Enjoy doing so," they say with a full mouth, "Find combination in crunch of eggshell and delicate yolk sublime," They quickly ate a fourth egg before delicately closing the carton and returning it to the fridge.

Darwin gives Claire a wide berth as she shuffles into the kitchen to nest at the coffee pot. Darwin may not have much in the way of social understanding, but the thinker could talk their wars off, and that was the last thing Darwin wanted.

"Would love to join you," they say, indicating Marco with a nod that seems to involve their entire neck, "But...am not subtle. Stand out in crowds. Better to stay home. Have book. Will read,"


Darwin seems to be avoiding doing something that might provoke you, in the same way an animal might be cautious around something that isn't a predator, but could be more trouble than it's worth.

Also, man, that cape loves eggs.

[Iceseer]

Finishing up in the workshop
In a very shaky voice I say "tes..., test,... testing,... 1, 2. 3. This... sounds... like. It's. Working..."

[Thematthew]

Finishing up in the workshop
Tina nods at Gator's suggestion, "week or two should be good. I'll have some basic test pieces done tonight, which I should be able to put together into a test suit. By the end of the week I should have this stuff at a sell-able state, barring any serious problems. It isn't nearly the trouble that Tinatanium gave me. Also, cell phone number sounds good."

Once The Unbodied responds Tina smiles, "great, this will at least let you talk. We'll need to check to make sure that everything is okay, so I'll do some diagnostics checks on it daily and hopefully have it working perfectly by tomorrow or the next day. Anything else I can get you, now that you can actually tell me?"

Tina appears somewhat nervous about selling to villains, but also hopes that she can make a positive impact here. She's incredibly happy once she gets a response from Unbodied.

Breakfast
Tina watches Claire with the coffee, then stifles a laugh when she starts drinking straight from the pot, "rough night?
Anyway, I've got the parts ready to make a test suit. Like I told Gator, it shouldn't be too long before we can actually have something useful made of this stuff." She walks over to the fridge to grab some oj while she continues, "I'm probably going to want a break from the workshop for a bit though, don't really want to burn out. Hey Marco, can I come with you? I could use a chance to get out,
and would make a pretty good insurance policy if things go sideways."

She clearly wants to get out for a bit, though she's obviously not sure why she does right now. She seems a little concerned about the possibility of Marco going alone.

[Ramsus]

Once Marco is finished, Nicky guides him over to the food replicator. Currently it's the size of a microwave and surprisingly heavy. After they carry it back to the kitchen and find a place to set it down, she throws some organic ingredients in she doesn't particularly like or care for (like say brussel sprouts or canned corn or such). She then tells the food replicator, "Make a single layer cheesecake, the kind with the strawberries and strawberry syrup stuff on top."


Nicky is basically taking the food replicator for a test run here. Seeing how well it handles making something radically different from the organic ingredients put in as well as how it handles instructions that are vague enough it'll have to look them up and figure out the correct answer.
It seems like she's fairly confident as otherwise you get the impression she might not have brought it into the kitchen, but that she's not 100% it'll work 100%.

[gawwy]

Unbodies speech jolts Marco out of his hypnotic watching of Darwin eat whole eggs. "OH! Great to hear you unbodied, was starting to question if someone was playing a prank on us."

He tries to hide his stupid wide grin as Clair drinks from the coffee pot and is about to ask about her night when Tina beats him to the punch.

"Yea id be happy to have a scouting buddy..." Marco replys to Tina, pausing to think for a moment."You're basically bullet proof right? It might be good to see how you fare in war world. Itd be great if we could move around via it as a group for stealth. Ill be picking up a vest, taser and flashbangs from the supply closet after breakfast then heading out. So like half an hour."

--After moving food replicator--

"So you can make machines that turn one thing to another?"Marco asks Synthesis" Could you make a gold plating machine? Build a palace to match the team name."

When he has a chance he discreetly asks Synthesis "Could you synthesize me a strong fast acting sedative? just need a couple of doses."

As he is preparing to leave the base with Tina Marco asks the rest of the group. "Has anyone seen Heartbeat? They might not be a morning person but... Someone check on them while were out? Anyone else coming?"


Marco is genuine in basically everything said here.

Hes genuinly curious about how the war world will react to another person being there while hes not stressed out and is fairly confident that he can pull Tina out before things can escalate to a point that she might get hurt. Low risk is Marcos prefered mode. Thus the desire to scout out.

You passively pick out that Marco dosent consider dealing pot a real crime in that there are really no victims, Hes toying with the idea of using his civilian identity to build legit dispensierys and warding the cops off with his cape persona. Would regular cops raid if they had to deal with capes there. Would the PRT bother with somthing so.. Trivial?

You pick up that he wants the sedative for himself, not in a substance abuse way in a plan b sort of way.

Hes sorta concerned about Heartbeat. They should be up by now.


Edit: oh yea I grab some binoculars as well

[Thematthew]

Tina smiles back to Marco, "outside of my suit, bullets are a little more bothersome than getting repeatedly punched.
In my suit, It might as well not be happening. My Tinkering is just something passed on to my dad, you know second-gen stuff. My primary ability is all about force. Forces don't act as hard on me as they should, and I act a whole lot harder on everything else than I should. As such,
I've been able to bench press some cars and walked away from more than my share of car accidents." While she's explaining she thumbs in the direction of the workshop to emphasize the point about her armor.

At Marco's equipment suggestions she nods, "sounds good, just don't point the taser at me. Armor doesn't conduct well,
but I don't like getting directly zapped."

[Konatsat]

Dorian stumbles into the kitchen as Marco mentions her name. "S-sorry, I haven't slept in a real bed in a while." She goes to grab a plate while stifling a yawn and grabs some of what's left of breakfast. "Anyways, what's happening today? Anything I can help with?"


Dorian doesn't seem too fazed by the cold breakfast and appears to want to join on a mission.

[Ramsus]

After Breakfast
"Well, my next project is going to be a sort of philosopher's stone sort of thing. So yeah I guess that's a thing we could do. Though we really shouldn't." Nicky replies.

To the discreet query she responds, "Ugh. More wordplay. So that's how this team is gonna be huh?" Her disdain/annoyance is clearly contrived as she has a grin right after the grimace. "Hmmm. I could maybe make a chemical fabricator of some sort. That does seem like a thing this tinker power could do. Sounds interesting. Mind if I ask what you'd need a sedative for?"

Tinker Time

As discussed with Marco, Nicky begins working on the next items on her list. Starting with the "philosopher's stone". Maybe getting around to the chemical fabricator.


So what I'm thinking of for the first item is a flat disk that has a base size of about a dinner plate and can extend out to large enough to park a tank on. It can change the metal or minerals on the plate into any other basic metal or mineral or simple alloys (or nonsensical non-real "alloys" of minerals like ruby + marble or even of metals and minerals like iron + copper + sapphire). Basically I'm thinking it can't make anything more complex than regular steel. It can do this without changing the shape of the item in question or it can be set to change the shapes of the material into basic geometric shapes that sit on the plate. (Bars, poles, disks, spheres, pyramids, cylinders, etc. Nothing more complex than say a hollow cylinder.) It takes a bit of time to work and the object(s) that are being changed can't be moving very much. So this isn't a combat device.

The second device is.... well it's a chemical fabricator. It turns any other chemical (like say water) into any other. To make this a bit more interesting, let's say it can also make bottles, canisters, vials, and even injectors of various sizes (though nothing bigger than a thermos). This makes sense since not all chemicals are something you'd want just exposed to open air. The device itself is probably about the size of a coffee maker. Though it doesn't look like one (unless you have a particularly weird coffee maker I guess).

[ThreadNecro5]

Scoping Out the Growers:
Gunshots sound through the air, their origin unseen.

The worn streets and ruined roads are lined with foliage of all sorts, plants foreign to the area thriving in the humidity. In front of you all is your target, or at least it's counterpart in whatever reality or pocket dimension you all presently inhabit. Close by lies the corpse of one of the locals, left where it dropped. Just turning the corner to move out of sight a small patrol is leaving the area.

The building from where the grow operation takes place is denser with hanging plants than its surroundings, from the ground creepers reach up while packed vines pour down from any opening from the first floor. One wall has rotted away to expose a room containing a pair of conversing figures in reality.

When looking into the real world Marco spots a burnt-out husk of an office building that can reasonably be said to be uninhabited in reality. While the buildings interior is gutted and stairs destroyed, the roof and exterior fire escape prove stable in both worlds. both the roof and the top floor are suitable as places to observe from.

[gawwy]

Scoping Out the Growers:
Gunshots sound through the air, their origin unseen.

The worn streets and ruined roads are lined with foliage of all sorts, plants foreign to the area thriving in the humidity. In front of you all is your target, or at least it's counterpart in whatever reality or pocket dimension you all presently inhabit. Close by lies the corpse of one of the locals, left where it dropped. Just turning the corner to move out of sight a small patrol is leaving the area.

The building from where the grow operation takes place is denser with hanging plants than its surroundings, from the ground creepers reach up while packed vines pour down from any opening from the first floor. One wall has rotted away to expose a room containing a pair of conversing figures in reality.

When looking into the real world Marco spots a burnt-out husk of an office building that can reasonably be said to be uninhabited in reality. While the buildings interior is gutted and stairs destroyed, the roof and exterior fire escape prove stable in both worlds. both the roof and the top floor are suitable as places to observe from.

Marco points up to the side of the burnt building where the fire escape is. He points up sharply and then taps his finger back down.

Without waiting for the others he moves to the building and climbs the fire escape. Once on the roof he tests the integretiy of the floor below in both worlds. If its safe he leads the others down there and brings them all to the real world. if the floors unstable even slightly they emerger on the roof.

"Well that went nice and smoothly! Lets see what kinda Cheetos these stoners like." Marco offers the binoculars to Queen Bee.

[Vorpalspell]

Claire grins, accepting the binoculars, and replies, "My money's on 'flamin' hot'." She then begins observing what she can of the growers, trying to scope out their approximate size, temperament, success, and hoping to find something particularly interesting.

After a time, she checks with her power to see which type of cheetos most of the group would prefer.

[ThreadNecro5]

Scoping Out the Growers:
Back in reality it is discovered that the hole in a wall is not present, but a change of angle opens up an angle from which those inside can be viewed. The area the vines emerge from have most of their curtains shut.

The two people in the room are both male. One is a slim guy in sunglasses and casual wear, he is the one the best view is of and is leaning adjacent the window. The other is on the short side, bearded, bearing a nose piercing, dressed in camo-pattern pants, and all-in-all built like a brick wall. The second man is pacing the room, clearly displeased.

This is where Claire's power steps in.

The thin guy looks to be one of the people in charge around there. He is presently relaxed, coming down off a high, and emotionally shows that mix of low quantity hope, pride, and gratification, indicative of either a businessman or a gambler. He is primarily comforting the other man and his concerns in the way business is heading. The scale of his ego is notable, few without powers show anything close to his even if there is nothing suggesting he has any.

The Bearded man is a little harder to get a read on with his pacing taking his out of view half the time. He is... overstressed? overworked? In whatever case he is disliking the way business is going, you get the distinct impression the term 'small fish in a big pond' is getting thrown around between puffs on his cigarette. His future plans likely including an early stiff drink. His condition and attitude make it likely he is the equivalent of 'head of security' for the dealers.

Beyond those two, out back a van has parked and the driver is presently involved in dragging a cardboard box inside. The driver calling inside for help moving the box, that on closer inspection is a cheep table, and a woman makes her way over to help. Their emotions offer little of use although the woman find it a bother that she has to help with moving it. between that and her empty holster it can be inferred she is among the operation's muscle and the driver a more general purpose 'handyman'.

Also of note is a customer of the establishments product who has came to buy direct from the source. She looks normal enough but everything about radiates danger. The way she turns corners as if inspecting it for hidden attackers. The way she stands ever so slightly crouched, prepared to dash at any potential attackers. Fists at the ready and sometimes inching towards her waist, searching for a weapon that is not there. The way her stare shows not a willingness but an expectation for violence. Whoever she is, she has gone through some form of trauma, likely related towards the signs of a military background. Her thoughts are nothing especially complex, just her wish for some drugs to calm her nerves and an edge of worry as she is prepared for a fight in the near future.

Overall it can be inferred from what Claire can find on shift changes that the group has about six or so people who would be of worth in any sort of fight, plus the owners and an unknown number of other dealers who would likely not be present for the takeover. The people mostly have a preference for staying quiet, apart from 'slim' upstairs wanting to expand larger.

The group's overall Cheeto preference is an even split between Flamin' Hot and Crunchy Cheddar Jalapeño.

[Kiranvonstrom]

The Hideout

Darwin watches the others leave, retrieves their latest book from the room they've claimed as their own, and pads back to a couch in the main room. They fold themselves up into a surprisingly strong bundle, and begin to read.

[Ramsus]

The Hideout (10 Minutes Later)

Nicky comes out from the workshop. Well out of the bathroom after cleaning grease and other substances off of her. On her way to the kitchen to get a bite to eat, she notices Darwin on the couch. Approaching she looks down to see what he's reading and says, "Hey big guy. Watch'a reading? Anything good?"

[gawwy]

During the stake out Marco pulls out some paper and starts drawing a map of the growers building in marker. Making sure to note down possible entry and escapes in both worlds such as the hole in the wall.

"Any idea on who's in charge of our coniferous compound down there? Any suggestions on how to approach beesiness here?" Marco asks Queen Bee


Marco is far to proud of his pun here.

But hes set up an entry plan and has designated the building that we currently reside in as a rally point in case anything goes wrong. The act of drawing out the map is soothing the previously increasingly jittery nerves he had.

The less unknowns the calmer he is.

He is incredibly pleased that Bee is here to figure out the social aspects of the business proposal. He feels kinda bad that Tinas not got much to do at this point.

[Thematthew]

Tina watches what Marco's doing, making sure that she keeps an eye out for any potential trouble.

Tina is uncomfortable with being out here, mostly because she's still uncomfortable with acting like a villain. Given some pushing of semi-heroic villainy, she's probably start to open up to it.

[ThreadNecro5]

Scoping Out the Growers:
When Claire looks like she is about to respond she instead swiftly clutches her head, drops to the floor, and utters a cry of agony as migraines overtake her.

The initial response to the pain is only brief but leaves her crouched on the floor cradling her head in the arms and showing an expression of purest agony.

[Kiranvonstrom]

Darwin blinks a few times, removing themselves from the book they're slowly reading. " 'Cape and Community'. Alain Badiou. Power dynamics in superpowered age. Fascinating. Relevant. Perhaps beyond me." They rumble. Darwin tries to smile again. They have far too many teeth. It does not work.

Darwin is silent for a moment. Perhaps thoughtful. "Am glad you came by. Comment reminded me to mention. Not 'big guy'. Not guy. Theoretically have haploid-diploid gamete structure. Evidence presence in scans. All evidence points to isogamy. Question academic. Have no sex organs. Chromosomes ZW-WW configuration. Socially, want to avoid taking gender role without careful thought. Not a guy," Darwin again tried to pull their lips into what they probably meant as a reassuring smile. That's, at least, the sentiment you feel them failing to get across.

"Do not wish to make problems. Simply wanted to correct. Understand where impression comes from. Am built quite large," Darwin calmly produces a bookmark from their pocket and gently marks their place, before shutting the hardcover book with a snap. "You wish to talk?"


Alain Badiou is a real philosopher, but I imagine he'd be writing something very different in the wormverse. I imagine 'Cape and Community' would be some sort of neo-marxist take on capes.

In other news, thank god for wikipedia, when characters know way more about a subject (biology, fictional modern philosophy) than you do.

[Ramsus]

Nicky stares blankly at Darwin for a moment, barely understanding anything they just said. "Uh.... sure? Guess Bee was right. Humans tend to have genders. So... no 'sex organs' huh? That blows." Nicky pauses and then laughs at her own accidental joke. "Well I guess it very specifically doesn't." and then snickers for a bit.

[Kiranvonstrom]

Darwin shrugs, muscles that wouldn't be there on any human rippling. "Not concerned. No desire to reproduce," They thrum. "Still human. Condition somewhat comparable to Müllerian agenesis, or Turner Syndrome. Obviously, significant differences due to Case 53 biology,"

Darwin takes a moment, then realizes what Nikki said was a joke. "Fear I missed your humor,"

[Ramsus]

Nicky looks puzzled for a moment and then shrugs and replies, "That's ok big... something." she stumbles over the word, clearly having been going to say "guy" again. "I missed most of what you were saying too. But ok, human but no gender. I don't know what kind of case you're talking about either."


I realize we all as players know what a Case 53 is, but Nicky has no reason to know what that means. She's too new and has no Protectorate contacts who would be using that term.

[Kiranvonstrom]

Darwin smiled again. The overall effect is almost friendly. "Case 53.
Monstrous parahumans. Powers have effect on biology, appearance. Studies suggest psychology, as well. Secret identity impossible, no identity beyond cape life," Darwin's voice is higher than normal, with a faster cadence. The echoes in it seem deeper, as well. What that means, however, is a complete mystery.

"Few to no memories before trigger also common," Darwin finishes.

[gawwy]

Scoping Out the Growers:

Queen bees sudden screaming startles Marco immensely. A small patch of dirt covered in creeper vines appears around him. As Clair becomes scilent with a few seconds of deep breathing the patch fades away. Still shaky Marco opens his back pack and rummages through the first aid kit.

"S£*t... Knew I should've waited until Synthesis could make some morphine to go out.... Are you able to carry her?" Marco asks Tina. "We need to get her back to base and i remember you saying something about lifting a ton?"

"This ll have to do, wish i had something stronger than paracetamol in here." Marco attempts to force Clair to take the tablets. "We should look into hot wiring a car or its gonna be a long 15 minutes for her."

[Thematthew]

Tina scoops up Claire, "I've got her, though I have to admit I've never hotwired a car before. If you know how we can probably do it, though I can run her back pretty easily." Looking over towards the building they were watching she adds, "we should definitely get moving before somebody decides to check out what happened. Do you think you can cover our tracks so I can get her back quicker?"

[Ramsus]

"Oh. Those guys. Didn't know there was a term for it. Really I hadn't actually seen any in person before I got wrapped up in this mess." Nicky replies with a shrug. "Are all the books you read like that? All science and serious subjects like that?" she asks.

[Kiranvonstrom]

Darwin grins, "Have community. Newsletter. Forums. Crosses hero/villain lines in spirit of solidarity," Darwin's glassy, nictating eyes seem a bit brighter when talking about Case 53s.

"Largely read philosophy. Existence raises certain questions. Hope to find answer. Power makes biology easier to understand. Benefits from further research," Darwin paused, "Read novel once. Enjoyed experience. Have not had time to broaden experience. Only have memories from last six months,"

[Ramsus]

"Six months? And they put you in this situation? Hero, my butt!" Nicky exclaims, not really all that surprised that people (or in this case person she supposed), supposedly heroic or not, would use people in such a way. Though she still found it distasteful they'd be so obvious about it. Darwin might as well be a child as far as real world experience and they conned or extorted him into signing up for a suicide mission. Part of her irritation was probably due to having been strong armed into this situation herself.

[Kiranvonstrom]

"Can survive nuclear explosion. Speak three languages. Am adequately prepared for world, barring mandatory pop-culture quiz. Many Case 53s have life experience, understand world. Lack memory, but not understanding," Darwin shrugged, again a whole-body motion. They've dislocated their jaw again, pushing it forward in a gesture of...something.

"Was not put into situation. Volunteered. Have agency in process,"

I realize now that Darwin has never really explained what their powers do.

[Ramsus]

"Oh. Eh... that's still some pretty shaky **** to me, but if you're happy with it... I guess... whatever." Nicky replies with a shrug. "So like, not to be rude but.... that thing you just did with your jaw is pretty unsettling. Is it something you could.... not do?"


"Just asking for a friend."

[gawwy]

Scoping out the growers

Marco starts packing his bagSure I can cover us but that means your gonna be walking through real world streets with her over your shoulders. Probably more noticeable than what little mess we've made here.

As long as her whimpering stays to a minimum well be less noticeable, and thus safer, taking my back road. Marco says as he offers his hand to pull Tina through.

[Thematthew]

Scoping out the Growers

After a brief moment of hesitation Tina takes the offered hand. "You make a good point, we should get moving though."

[gawwy]

Marco pulls slightly and the real world fades away replaced by its overgrown analogue, distant gun shots ring out. With each shot Marco flinches slightly "Stay close and lets move quickly," Marco says with a nervous tone. "First sign of real trouble and Ill pull us out." Marco makes his way to the stairs to leave.

[Thematthew]

Tina follows silently, carrying Claire as to protect her with Tina's body if necessary while watching the overgrown cityscape with worry.

[Kiranvonstrom]

Darwin stares intently at Nikki, their odd and alien gaze switching between her eyes, like they could divine her intentions. Hard to read though the cape was, it was clear Nikki had lost them somewhere along the way.

"Jaw...Thing?" Darwin said, their subvocals higher than normal, "I don't know what you mean,"

[Ramsus]

"Ok then, guess not." Nicky says with a shrug. "Well it's been nice chatting, but I should probably get back to it." she says and goes to leave the room unless Darwin says anything aside from the likes of "later".

[Kiranvonstrom]

Darwin nods, "Thank you for taking time. Realize may be difficult to talk to. Probably should have given more prompts to talk about yourself. Never sure what to ask, personally. Still, enjoyed conversation. Will be here, if extra hands needed,"

[Konatsat]

Heartbeat takes the down time as an opportunity to find out more about what the group would be dealing with and heads to the computer to browse the files.

[ThreadNecro5]

Returning to Base:
The War-world is about as peaceful as it gets for those currently within, meaning the only gunfire is distant and when the locals remind them that they're still there it's only them moving away or distracted by others of their kind. Of the natives, almost as if to hint at the overarching will here, one was posed in front of a fire to emblazon a giant shadow of itself onto a wall in your path while somehow remaining ignorant of your presences.

One could almost get the idea they were being hunted. Or mocked.

Distracting from the ever-present threat of the locale and cloying humidity are the occasional snippets of conversation as one of the two in any state to listen pass by and sometimes through the spectre of a real person.

"...eard of him?"

"...ld for this..."

"Mom, Tod's touching me!"

That last one was a car parking on top of you, your equivalent position anyway. Clearly visible from the speed of the occupants as they belt down the road.

In the end Marco and Tina manage to skulk their way back to base with them and Claire unharmed. All in about the same state they entered it, the effects of sudden shifts between jungle-humidity and average-Texas-weather aside.


Browsing PRT Files:
The first thing you notice, besides the pop-up asking if you wish it to run you through all the features on the desktop, is the blinking icon notifying of an E-mail.

As to the PRT files they prove easy to find and access, available right from the desktop.


Will add the others over time[/I]
Identity: Fool Name: Axton Surname: Welch Age: 26
Sex: Male Height: 5ft 7in Ethnicity/b]: Caucasian First Appearance: 5/5/1999

Power:
Thinker 1
Fool has demonstrated the capacity to recognize the presence of parahuman abilities in others by sight. While specifics are unknown it appears inferior to that of Spotter. This aspect of Fool’s powers were noted when he was able to copy the powers of an uncostumed rogue (later identified to be Face) who was present during an encounter between Fool and the Protectorate..

Trump 1-8
Fool’s primary power is to mimic the abilities of other parahumans. A copied power has been known to last for between approximately 12-48 hours. The initiation of the coping process requires the ability to visually perceive the target parahuman, but does not in all cases occur immediately, seemingly under Fool’s control.

The running hypothesis (confirmed by Spotter) is that Fool can hold onto two powers. For the purposes of this file these are referred to as the ‘active’ or ‘inactive power. Fool may use the active power as per the original parahuman, although it should be noted he appears to harm or otherwise accidentally target himself with such copped powers, suggesting a flaw in the coping process. At any time Fool may discard his active power to turn the inactive power into the new active power. Fool can only take on a new inactive power when he otherwise lacks one.

Threat Rating: Thinker 1, Trump 1-8
Recommend response Procedures:
Due to his powers Fool should be contained as per the parahuman he is currently mimicking. The presence of parahumans is to be avoided post-capture if possible.

Other Notes:
Observation should be made of fool at all times. PRT personnel are to maintain status updates of both fool’s current power and any possible inactive power he may hold.

All personnel should be made aware that Fool will typically hold a Brute or Mover power inactive in order to escape capture should it appear he will be appended. In larger Tarot engagements this is often Death’s power that is replicated.

Appearance:
Fool is of somewhat broad build and has been described as ‘gangly’ and is beleaved to be in good physical shape.

Costume:
Fool’s costume is a green and red ensemble, consisting of an green embroiled doublet with wide cuffs. Beneath is a form of armour, either a Kevlar vest or equivalent. His legs are covered in a plain pair of padded trousers and his extremities are covered in a pair of leather gloves and boots. In regards of further adornment, he has a belt whose buckle is embossed with the fool card of the Rider-Waite tarot deck. At his left side is a pocket for sheaving his knife.

His mask surrounds his head entirely and features padding and armour. The mask forms a classic ‘jesters hat’ with a ball-tipped projection down either side. Over Fool’s face the mask is a plastic grotesque split down the center with the classic comedy, in black, and tragedy, in white, theater masks.

He carries a Tinkertech knife that can repair and reconstruct itself in the vent of damage. The blade is composes of dense nanobots and has proven capable of extending into a rapier or whip on demand. When a rapier the blade has been shown bending itself to get around someone’s guard, and the whip appears to be partly adhesive in nature.

Identity: Magician Name: UNKNOWN Surname: UNKNOWN Age: 60-65
Sex: Male Height: 5ft 1in Ethnicity/b]: Caucasian [b]First Appearance: 1989

Power:
Tinker 5,(Shaker 5, Mover 5)
Magician

Threat Rating: Tinker 5,(Shaker 5, Mover 5)
Recommend response Procedures:
Magician is to be combated indoors and in a location with a minimum of loose material that can be repurposed into projectiles or obstacles. Magician should be doused with containment foam. Should this prove ineffective his technology should be deactivated with an EMP and/or Magician himself should be targeted with tear gas.

Other Notes:


Magician’s costume integrates an assortment of his technology. He posses a personal field of normal gravity, presumably to protect against his own devices. His shoes also contain devices allowing him to treat any surface he steps on as ‘down’, allowing traversal of vertical surfaces. His gloves also contain devices that manipulate air density, imitating the effects of telekinesis. Finally is a device that projects a gravitational field around him, allowing him to increase or decrease the gravity in the surrounding area, with sufficient degree of control in order to cause time to slow in the immediate area.

A Metal plate surrounded by a dome of glass. This dome is filled with crystallize shards. When activated the device explodes and the the shards orbit the area at high speed in a 5x3ft cylinder. A minute later the device had been reduced to harmless dust and almost any material in the effected area is shredded. Variants of these devices exist, producing specialized shapes.

A highly maneuverable one-man aircraft. Its flight is powered by minute gravitational fluctuations. It has a slot where an incomplete weapon system would have been placed. Presently sized by the PRT.

Magician’s cane contains numerous devices, besides a seemingly mundane stun-gun, it can modify a person or objects mass for an hour, imitating the effects of much of his other technology but on single individuals. It also modifies its own mas so that it can be swung as a club faster and hit harder. Finally it can create a barrier of pressurised air sandwiched between two gravitational fields.

‘Gravity grenades’ that either create a few superdense particles to pull matter towards it or multiples the mass of objects in the effected area.




Appearance:
While his costume is all-enclosing, Magician is noted to be notably slim and has a pronounced stoop.

Costume:
Magician wears a classic tuxedo and top-hat magician’s costume with a red bow tie. This appears to all be of mundane manufacture. This is coupled with a wide cape that stretches to cover his arms and several concealed belts that all serve to carry his devices. His face is hidden with a large red mask covering his whole face.


Identity: High Priestess Name: Diane Surname: Delkhan Age: 33
Sex: Female Height: 5ft (estimation) Ethnicity: Middle Eastern American First Appearance: 17/11/1998

Power:
Master 7
Produces a three part projection initially between 75-110 feet in the air. Each component of the projection begins within appropriately 25ft of the other two. The projection consists of two matte-black hands of appropriately three meters with fingers extended, and an orange-gold ‘eye’ of comparable diameter that at all times glows with blinding light.

At the moment of creation the ‘eye’ apears directly over High Priestess. High Priestess has been encountered controlling projection using both voice commands and by entering a coma-like state during which the projection displays a greater degree of awareness and planning, theorized to be due to High Priestess gaining direct use of the projection’s body and senses.

Each pert of the projection must stay within 1800ft the others and appears to have a range limit of several miles of High Priestess. If destroyed the projection’s hands regenerate in a minute at the location of the eye and if the eye is destroyed the hands are also destroyed and the projection must be recreated.

Shaker/Blaster 6
The projection is capable of generating energy beams from any point of itself, each component limited to one at a time. These beams can generate most common materials found in the surrounding environment (with an urban area such as a city this consists of concrete, glass, assorted metals, and human material, among others) but are limited to one mineral at a time. This material builds in layers at the point of contact with a solid or liquid surface.


Threat Rating: Shaker/Blaster 6
Recommend response Procedures:
During initial manifestation of the projection PRT personnel and on-site parahumans should use whatever means are available to discover High Priestess’s approximate location before she can block of points of access with the projection.

Once found she is to be encased with containment foam and gagged. Should High Priestess attempt to enter the coma-like state she should be administered tranqualisers or electrified by qualified personnel. Once contained she is to be removed from the area of engagement.

To combat the projection, containment foam can be used to coat a part of it to reduce the angles it can fire its beam from to to limit its mobility. This is only a temporary solution however and it will often if given the change rupture the foam with generated material.

Other Notes:
Despite being controlled by voice the projection can respond to the orders despite the distance between it and High Priestess, intervening objects, or the ability for sound ways to reach the projection. Thus blocking High Priestess’s ability to vocalize entirely is the sole means of preventing it’s control.

Despite appearances the projection is actuality physically frail and has little strength, being unable to lift most grown adults.

Appearance:
High Priestess is a woman in her late twenties. She is reasonably slim and appears to have a shaved head.

Costume:
High Priestess wears a blue bodysuit whose shoulders and arms are covered in a white fabric resembling that of a robe which serves to obscure her hands. These are all of mundane manufacture and bear no abnormal properties.
She wears a mask that covers most of her face and is made of a single sheet of mirrored back material.

Identity: Empress Name: UNKNOWN Surname: UNKNOWN Age: 45-50 (approximately)
Sex: Female Height: 5ft 4in Ethnicity: African American First Appearance: 17/11/2001

Power:
Master/Shaker 5
Empress takes control all living plant matter she touches or that other controlled plants touch. Should Empress become separated from her controlled plants for an unknown duration or distance they revert to being otherwise normal plants of their species apart from retaining their enlarged shape.

Brute 3
Any plants taken control off grow extensively (usually between x4 and x20 times, with smaller species tending towards the larger end of that scale) and become prehensile, moving as per Empresses wishes but not of their own volition. All such altered plants are highly durable and have any natural defense they possess modified for direct combat usage.

Threat Rating: Master/Shaker 5, Brute 3
Recommend response Procedures:
Empress is to be separated from all plant material she may have access to. The use of Germ-manufactured Tinlertech is authorized for use in such purposes. Beyond this she can be detained as per any non-Brute.

Other Notes:
One imprisoned It is imperative to avoid the inclusion of fresh plant material in her diet as it can be processed into improvised weapons. Similarly Empress should be denied access to any environment in which she may encounter live vegetable material, including mosses.

Appearance:
Due to the layers of grasses and vines that cover Empress, up to date details on her build are not available.

Costume:
Empress wares a green bodysuit banded with living turf intermixed with other plants (exact species vary). Around her limbs and torso are woody vines that wrap around to serve as Armour and weapons. She has a belt around her waist that contains tubes of various seeds, tubers, and spores. Her mask is an assortment of leaves that are tied into her hair.
Identity: Emperor Name: Darius Surname: Kramer-Zhao Age: 37
Sex: Male Height: 6ft 9in [b]Ethnicity/b]: Caucasian First Appearance: 5/5/1994

Power:
Shaker/Trump 10
Emperor’s power is unknown but has demonstrated nigh unparalleled flexibility. There are several hypothesis over what Emperor’s power is (see below) but until more information is forthcoming all known effects Emperor has manifested are listed below.

Emperor’s power has is many manifestations but in many cases has shown the ability to bypass the manton effect and should be assumed capable of doing so with any manifestation. Emperor has preformed modifications on the environment, but most such effects have reversed themselves after Emperor has left, Additionally he has been seen standing on a floating platform rather than directly effecting himself with telekinesis, suggesting he cannot effect himself.

Dynakinesis,
Power copier that features Shaker elements.
May secretly have the support of a power boosting parahuman.
Modification of physical laws of reality.
Matter/energy creation and conversion.



Telekinesis.
Generation of matter (including chemical elements, complex objects, and organic material).
Molecular dissembly.
Generation and negation of light.
Slowing and increasing the speed of time.
Creation of barriers of compressed air.
Demonstrations of geo, pyro, cryo, hydro, and aero, -kinesis
Passage through solid surfaces (potential incorporeal state).
Localized ‘bending’ of light to grant 360 degree vision.


Threat Rating: Shaker/Trump 10
Recommend response Procedures:
As in Standard procedure the are around Emperor is to be evacuated and engagement to be avoided. Due to the unknown nature of Emperor’s power methods to formalize response procedure proves impossible. During each encounter with Emperor the primary goal is to discover his goal and prevent it’s success. All on-site parahumans and personnel are to slow down Emperor while his target or objective is either rendered out of his reach or so costly to him that he retreats.

The most reliable means of delaying Emperor this discovered is the targeting of his teammates. Emperor has never been encountered apart from at least one other member of the Tarot and he has responded aggressively.

Other Notes:
The injury and targeting of The World is to be avoided when possible when encountered with Emperor. The one recorded instance of her injury resulted in Emperor preforming what has been termed the ‘molecular dissemblance’ of all on-site personnel.

8/6/2002: Proposal to issue a kill order on Emperor denied.

Appearance:
As was discovered by scans by Singularity-developed drones Emperor would be (within .05% variable) proportionally identical to the ‘Artemision Bronze’ statue beneath his armor. As such it is believed he uses some Changer power of biokinesis to alter his form.

Costume:
Emperor wears a suit of gold armor over a white bodysuit. The chest has sculpted muscles and the greaves, shoulders, and lower arms, are composed of sculpted golden leaves. There are no obvious joints or straps and so it is thought the armor is held in place with Emperor’s power.

Emperor’s head is covered by a white gold mask shaped like a face, enclosing his head and featuring actual hair composed of metal. He wears a classically style gold, sliver and ivory, crown encrusted with jewels.

Identity: Hierophant Name: UNKNOWN Surname: UNKNOWM Age: 25-30 (assumed)
Sex: Male Height: 5ft 3in [b]Ethnicity/b]: Hispanic First Appearance: 12/2/2005

Power:
Thinker 4
The following is paraphrased from a report by Spotter.

Hierophant can acquire extra detail on any and all events he watches happen. He also has the ability to split his attention across all such actions but doing this for longer than a few minutes a day leads to Thinker migraines. Hierophant gains all information on the event related as to the cause (as in the mechanical physics-based side), the process by which the event occurred, and what result the event has caused to the area. All of this is in great detail and is flawless within its parameters of detail.

Threat Rating: Thinker 4
Recommend response Procedures:
Hierophant can be dealt with as per any normal. Care should be taken to minimize the time Hierophant has to observe PRT personnel.

Other Notes:
Hierophant is rarely on the frontline of Tarot engagements and instead will generally be found on rooftops. When encountered alone or observing a particular target this detail is to be reported and is a sign of later Tarot activity in the target location.

Appearance:
Hierophant has been described as a fairly nondescript individual with minimal distinguishing characteristics. Hierophant may be missing an eye.

Costume:
Hierophant wears a red and khaki robe with a bullet resistant vest underneath, alongside rubber gloves and a large slightly pointed hat. His mask consists of a pair of large goggles the left of which is at all times blacked out. He is commonly equipped with a machine pistol of some nature.
Identity: Lovers Name: UNKNOWN Surname: UNKNOWN Age: 30-40 (assumed)
Sex: Female Height: 4ft 11in Ethnicity: UNKNOWN First Appearance: 4/16/2001

Power:
Blaster/Master/Trump 2
Lovers fires a pair of pale gray beams of harmless energy at two humans. This energy is harmless and otherwise unremarkable aside from being a degree warmer than the air at the time. The beams originate from the hands. Any range limitations are unknown but the beams are limited to moving in a straight line from Lovers and their target.

Should one or both beams miss any suitable target it dissipates harmlessly. Should both hit the energy separates from Lovers, forming a direct line between the two targets that ignores intervening obstacles. This energy will last until either Lovers chooses to end it or the distance between the targeted individuals becomes double its original distance.

Once the two targets are ‘connected’ by the energy they both begin to share sensory information, thoughts, and memories, between each other. The primary result of this is the disorientation of both parties although those who have had time to adapt to the power have reported in better ability to remain functional when under its effects and have acquired useful information.

Should one of the linked individuals be a parahuman they will find the effects of their powers halved in all respects. Similarly the other individual acquires the ability to use the other party's powers at half capacity, and should both targets be parahumans they both have their power halved and mirrored in this way.


Threat Rating: Blaster/Master/Trump 2
Recommend response Procedures:
During engagement measures should be taken to minimize Lovers ability to observe her surroundings. Should any PRT personnel or parahumans with confidential information be linked to a villain, they or the villain are to be removed from the area as soon as is reasonable.

Lovers can be contained as per any parahuman comparable to a normal human. Care should be taken to restrain Lovers’ hands.

Other Notes:
None

Appearance:
Lovers appears to be a slightly overweight or out of shape. Reports by a PRT employee subject t her power suggest she has a scar on her cheek and suffers from ‘bad teeth’.

Costume:
Lovers wears an large lavender coat and hood, seemingly made of leather. Under the hood little can be seen beyond a plain fabric mask. She wears a large pair of spikes metal, gauntlets used during unarmed combat.

Identity: The Chariot Name: Chariot Surname: None Age: 24 (appropriately)
Sex: Female Height: 5ft 5in Ethnicity: Case 53 First Appearance: 4/16/1998

Power:
Tinker 5, (Brute 5, Mover 5, Master 5)
The Chariot produces, via various means, produces living organisms or organic technology of some stripe. While The Chariot tends to produce objects with specific tasks in mind, dissections of her tech show some repeat motifs and ideas that are increasing improved upon in each new variant. At other times The Chariot’s work has demonstrated adaptive capacities or the rapid nullification of countermeasures to their abilities. It is believed her specialization is in genetics and evolution.

Striker 1
The Chariot’s claws are capable of draining fluid similarity to a hypodermic needle. This is usually used to drain blood but has also been used to inject various forms of venom in the past. It is believed this venom is created by The Chariots Tinker rating and is not as a natural part of her anatomy. Injected animals blood has been seen acting as a rapid mutagen on other species, producing some chimeric hybrids. This aspect of The Chariot’s power seems unable to effect humans.

Threat Rating: Tinker 5, (Brute 5, Mover 5, Master 5), Striker 1
Recommend response Procedures:
The Chariot can be contained as per any parahuman comparable to a normal human.

Live ammunition is permitted for use against The Chariot-produced creatures.

Other Notes:
As The Chariot produces tech for specific objectives, no list of technology likely be be encountered is available.

Appearance:
The Chariot is a case 53. She is humanoid with mutations limited to variable patches of of hide across her skin, all of which are between encounters changing between thick skin, scales, fur, feathers, or other forms and patterns. It is unknown if these changing is a natural part of her mutation or the result of self-experimentation.

Her face is lipless with all non-molars elongated and pointed teeth which protrude from her mouth. The rest of her face is in a random arrangement of more teeth, in all varieties and not always human.

The Chariot’s arms are longer than average and are tipped with retractable claws capable of draining blood.

Costume:
The Chariot dresses in a Thick navy-blue waterproof coat with protective padding underneath. Over her torso and lower legs is a harness used both to chain herself to her creations and to carry other assorted objects.
Identity: Justice Name: UNKNOWN Surname: UNKNOWN Age: 25-30 (assumed)
Sex: Female Height: 5ft 1in Ethnicity: Hispanic First Appearance: 7/9/2002

Power:
Thinker 2
Justice demonstrates enhanced hearing seemingly unaffected by intervening obstacles, other noise, or distance. At present observation has shown her limited to the normal human hearing range.

Mover/Striker 5
Justice may grant herself periods of enhanced speed for up to a minute at a time, with a comparable period until this ability has recharged and may be used again. During this time she has exceeding speeds of -. The momentum of of this speed allows for enhanced strikes but otherwise follows conventional physics.

Shaker 4
Justice may create up to four forcefields. Each forcefield is limited to being two-dimensional and geometric in shape. Such forcefields have been shown taking the impact of a PRT van traveling at 40kph, but has been broken by a similar vehicle traveling at 50kph. When broken the forcefield shatters into sharp glass-like material that fades over 10-30 seconds. Without continued concentration by Justice the forcefields fade over time.

Threat Rating: Thinker 2, Mover/Striker 5, Shaker 4
Recommend response Procedures:
Response teams are recommended to split their number to minimize the effectiveness of Justice’s forcefields and to distract Justice should one group become trapped.

PRT personnel are to form a perimeter to keep out of effective range of Justice’s period of enhanced speed.

During an engagement with Justice personnel are to avoid vocally communicating classified information

Other Notes:
Justice is the Tarot member most likely to be encountered independently of their larger actions and primarily targets those who oppose their interests, especially non-parahuman ones.

Justice has shown a willingness to engage in murder and arson. Caution is advised on encounter.

Appearance:
Justice appears to be of a thin build and in a state of physical fitness. She also appears to have relativity long hair, of roughly shoulder length.

Costume:
Justice’s costume consists of a navy blue costume of resilient, armored fabric worn under conventional full-body armor. She has a belt containing a holster to both carry a pistol and a club of weighted plastic.

Her mask is composed of the same color and material as the rest of the fabric in her costume, shaped in a wedge going from the hairline to below the nose.
Identity: Hermit Name: Martín Surname: Casaus Age: 67
Sex: Male Height: 4ft 9in Ethnicity: Hispanic First Appearance: 13/11/1998

Power:
Mover/Striker 7
Hermit can teleport any object or person he is in contact with to a random location some distance away, generally from between one-to-five hundred yards. He can charge up the power for five seconds, taking place over the period of contact, to either increase the distance of the teleport (with a known maximum range of about two miles) or to choose the location the target gets transported to. When teleported a creature either lands on solid ground or in a location where they will land safely.

Hermit can effect himself with this power, with no obvious sign showing he is about to use it.

There are no indicators when hermit is about to use his power or is charging it.

Threat Rating: Mover/Striker 7
Recommend response Procedures:
Hermit can be contained as per any parahuman comparable to a normal human. If Hermit is in arms reach of any parahuman hostile to the PRT extra care should be taken to combat them.

Other Notes:
None.

Appearance:
Hermit is mostly average for a man of his age with minimal distinctive features besides his pooe posture.

Costume:
Hermit wears what appears to be old and tattered casual clothing with a brown leather jacket on top of the rest. His face is covered by a ski mask. His costume is accompanied with a metal rod used both as a cane and as a quarterstaff.


Identity: Wheel of Fortune Name: UNKNOWN Surname: UNKNOWN Age: UNKNOWN
Sex: Male Height: 5ft 7in Ethnicity: UNKNOWN First Appearance: 10/5/1999

Power:
Trump/Mover 6
Wheel of Fortune’s power allows him to cause all living humans within a range somewhere between 40-60ft swap places at random. The equipment (seemingly defined by the power as any individual nonliving object that is carried to serve a physical purpose, although armor and the costumes of parahumans have been effected as well) carried by these individuals is also randomized between those such carrying objects, showing a trend towards swapping items of similar functions.

The powers of any parahumans in the effected radius are also randomized between those effected, potentially granting those powers to nonpowered individuals. This ends after 5-15 minutes or when Wheel of Fortune chooses to use his power again. Wheel of Fortune is unaffected by his own power.

Threat Rating: Trump/Mover 6
Recommend response Procedures:
During and after engagements with Wheel of Fortune in-field Master/Stranger protocols are active for fifteen minutes to ensure no other parahumans are disguised as different parahumans or PRT Employees.

PRT personnel and all on-site parahumans are to keep a minimum of a 60ft perimeter from Wheel of Fortune.

Other Notes:
Wheel of Fortune has been known to be equipped with a variety of both Tinker-developed and mundane technology. Caution is advised as this lends an edge of unpredictability to engagements with Wheel of Fortune.

Appearance:
Wheel of Fortune is notably bulky and walks with a pronounced limp.

Costume:
Wheel of Fortune wears a bodysuit of dark purple fabric with the chest, neck, and thigh. On his chest is the image of a roulette wheel emblazoned on the front. This is accompanied with matching colored boots, and a face obscuring half mask over the layer of fabric covering his head, showing a smirking face.

Identity: Strength Name: UNKNOWN Surname: UNKNOWN Age: UNKNOWN [B]
Sex: Male (assumed, uses a male voice) Height: 20ft Ethnicity: UNKNOWN First Appearance: 26/2/1998

Power:
Tinker 7 (Brute 7, Blaster 7, Thinker 7)
Strength constructs technology that must be attacked to an organic being to function and is designed to enhance the being’s natural capacities, add new ones, or integrate means of self defence. This includes sensory capacities, mental function, and the like.

Threat Rating: Tinker 7 (Brute 7, Blaster 7, Thinker 7)
Recommend response Procedures:
Strength is to be engaged by parahumans only. They are to disable his limbs. Once immobilized Protectorate Tinkers are to be called in and find a method to place Strength within a cell, preferable through removal of Strength’s self modifications..

Other Notes:
Strength is unaffected by containment foam.

Appearance:
Strength’s body is believed to consist of his vital organs within a shell of his own technology. It includes a variety and variable array of integrated ballistic, chemical, energy, and melee, weaponry, significant reaction speed (slightly exceeding that of a normal human), and physical strength.

The artificial body itself is a four-armed humanoid and composed of some from of metal, featuring a pair of miniguns on each should, arrays of variable-payload missiles, and a combination surface-to-air/area denial cannon.

Costume:
None. Strength lacks a costume or other clothing due to his cybernetics.

Identity: Hanged Man Name: Josephine Surname: O'Neal Age: 17
Sex: Female Height: 4ft 8in Ethnicity: Caucasian First Appearance: 10/5/2003

Power:
Breaker 2
All effects that are directed towards Hanged Man experience variable nonstandard interaction with physics that results in Hanged Man in almost all cases being missed completely or only glanced by the effect. Solid and energy-state effects are the most effected by this power compared to liquids and gasses. There are no noticed differences resulting from the range between the point of origin of the effect and Hanged Man.

Effects subject to this power will be subject to slowing, acceleration, twisting in motion, rebounding, and other such effects to ensure Hanged Man remains unharmed. The effects of this power will in most cases appear as subtly as they can while retaining the results .

Effects failing to hit Hanged Man will in appropriately one-in-four cases be reflected towards someone in the vicinity of Hanged Man in a clearly unnatural manner. Should a possible target be close to Hanged Man or within the approximate are the reflected effect would target the likelihood of reflection increases significantly.

Threat Rating: Breaker 2
Recommend response Procedures:
Hanged Man is to be combated solely with containment foam If at all possible. The use of explosive or similar weaponry is to be avoided.

It should be noted that a quantity of containment foam will likely attack to PRT personnel but over time sufficient levels will attach to Hanged Man to immobilize.

Other Notes:
Hanged Man was noted as receiving significant injury to their left arm during the latest engagement with her. See the report on the engagement at Kramer-Zhao enterprise we rehouses for more details..

Appearance:
Hanged Man is noted as having black tribal tattoo on her left arm.

Costume:
Hanged Man wears clothing similar to biker leathers and it is believed she also has some form of armor underneath. Several areas on the costume are reinforced with metal including functional spikes along the limbs and shoulders. Around the collar is an area resembling a noose that is part of the jacket.

Hanged Man’s mask is a wide but otherwise plain black domino mask covering the areas between the brow and nose, with projections on either side extending down the cheeks.
Identity: Death Name: UNKNOWN Surname: UNKNOWN Age: UNKNOWN
Sex: Male Height: 5ft 5in Ethnicity: UNKNOWN First Appearance: 5/5/1994

Power:
Mover/Stranger/Breaker 5
Death is capable of moving at an accelerated speed, extending to all parts of his body. Whenever moving at sufficient state Death becomes invisible, his body absorbing all forms of radiation to prevent detection.

Blaster 1
Death may emit an invisible effect of unknown composition. This automatically seeks and hits the target chosen by Death. When struck the target fees pain in their chest or shoulder likened to that of a coronary heart attack for appropriately one second. Beyond the short lived pain this Blaster component of Death’s power also allows Death to overcome his manton effect limitations for his enhanced strength on the target for five hours.

Once used this power requires either five hours to recharge or the death of the original target in which case it recharges instantly.

Brute 9
Death’s Brute-durability comes from three individual effects. First any effect that damages any of Death’s tissues other than the skin results in the nigh immediate (approximately .05 of a second at most) triggering of invulnerably to the damaged body parts. Only the area that was damaged by the effect that triggered this is rendered invulnerable. Any acquired invulnerability lasts for a minute after removal of the source of that harm (should it have been left in the wound) or until Death leaves the area of effect (for effects that target an area which Death entered).

Second, death has a slow regenerative ability, healing and regenerating what wounds Death does receive despite those wounds being something the human body can heal from with the time frame, healing shattered bones in hours and regrowing body parts over days.

Third, death is, according to all readings from both mundane and Tinker-made devices, dead. He is biologically inactive, failing to respire, produce body heat, breathe, or show any other sign of life. Due to this he appears to lack feelings of pain and no amount of damage has been shown to hinder him. Additionally Death is immune to most powers that exploit a creatures biology to take effect.

Death’s strength is otherwise standard enhanced strength took to an extreme degree. This strength shows manton effect limitations on anyone not targeted by Death’s Baster power. This limitation extends to any object Death puts in motion. Death is thus entirely unable to harm any living creature until he has allowed himself to bypass this limitation of that specific individual.

Threat Rating: Mover/Stranger/Breaker 5, Blaster 1, Brute 9
Recommend response Procedures:
The priority when engaging Death is to find his target (the being he has used his Blaster power on) and evacuate them by any means necessary. Beyond this standard procedures when dealing with a parahuman of these capacities apply.

Other Notes:
Airborne PRT personnel and parahumans are to remain cautious of Death leaping from a rooftop or leaping while using his enhanced strength.

Death has been noticed as occasionally slowing or stopping before striking in close quarters. This has lead to discussion that Death’s speed and strength may draw from a single ‘pool’ of energy and using one weakens the other. Discussions are ongoing

Appearance:
Death is noted as being thin in the extreme, possibly to the point of emaciation.

Costume:
Death wears a simple black skintight bodysuit. His mask is a plastic helmet shaped like a skull.
Identity: Temperance Name: UNKNOWN Surname: UNKNOWN Age: 25-30(assumed)
Sex: Male Height: 5ft 3in Ethnicity: UNKNOWN First Appearance: 2/11/1998

Power:
Master 5
Temperance may render any human unable to preform any actions specified by his voice. This requires a specific statement from Temperance and lasts for appropriately an hour or until Temperance states that the order is canceled. Issuing an opposing order to an individual will also cancel any prior order made by Temperance.

Orders given by Temperance can either be general statements or apply to specific individual and the limitations they give follow the literal wording and not the intent of the statements.To take effect the the order must be heard and understood by the target. Temperance’s power is known to transfer through electronic devices that amplify it and alterations in pitch does not hamper it’s effectiveness, but the power does not function through recordings.

Threat Rating: Master 5
Recommend response Procedures:
All PRT personnel are to be equipped with soundproof headgear when engaging Temperance.

During combat disabling the amplifiers attached to Temperance’s costume is a priority.

Other Notes:
Temperance has shown at least some understanding of the following languages: English, Spanish, French, and, Japanese.

Appearance:
Temperance is described as a nondescript individual with minimal distinguishing characteristics to mark them outside of a costume..

Costume:
Temperance’s costume is an all covering bodysuit with reinforced boot and gloves and a bullet resistant vest. This whole ensemble is in an urban camouflage pattern. Temperance additionally wields an assault rifle.

Over his mouth Temperance wears a device containing a microphone that connects to a pair of amplifiers on either shoulder serving to amplify his voice.
Identity: Devil Name: NONE Surname: Faust Age: 30-35(assumed)
Sex: Male Height: 5ft 4in Ethnicity: Case 53 First Appearance: 13/9/2002

Power:
Master 8
Devil may inject his blood into another willing human via skin contact. These people are then effected by Devil’s Trump power (see below) and then depending on how much they are effected by the power Devil gains a proportional amount of control over them. The effects of this are permanent. The victims of this power have been separated into four categories for the purpose of internal classification.
Type 1: The victim is unable to harm or knowingly working against Devil. Otherwise they are entirely free willed.
Type 2: The victim is unable to form thoughts that result in Devil receiving injury and still cannot otherwise indirectly harm Devil. The victim also feels a degree of unnatural loyalty toward Devil.
Type 3: The victim functions as per Type 2 except that the sense of loyalty is increased, to the degree that they will compulsively seek him out. Should Devil issue them an order they will unquestionably obey.
Type 4: The victim’s personality is functionally dead, and proves near mindless except when following Devil’s commands or defending itself.

Trump 4
When devil injects his blood into another creature they are subject to mutation that allows them to imitate parahuman capabilities while lacking a Corona pollentia and Gemma. The extensiveness of the mutation suffered correlates with the strength of the granted powers. All those effected gain at lease some degree of resistance or immunity to heat based damage.

Type one victims of Devils power are mostly uniform in mutations, having their blood replaced with the black substance Devil bleeds and producing pronounced black veins. Some individuals also show a change in eye color and in rare cases the blood or eyes become bioluminescent, a trait that appears more common for those that develop or will develop Blaster capabilities. Beyond this the mutations that can manifest are unpredictable, with stony or reptilian skin, natural weapons, or additional limbs.

Most powers granted by Devil are based around the mutations itself, potentially containing Breaker, Brute, and/or Mover abilities, but those effected often gain pyrokinesis of some form or another, having manifested itself as Striker, Blaster, Master, Shaker, and Changer, powers.

Threat Rating: Master 8, Trump 4
Recommend response Procedures:
Devil can be contained as per any parahuman comparable to a normal human.

Those Devil has granted Parahuman abilities to can usually be dealt with as per standard protocol for their effective threat rating.

Other Notes:
6/11/2003: Proposal to issue a kill order on Devil begins. Results still in consideration.

Evidence indicates that Devil may increase the level of mutation among those already effected.

The Substance that replaces the blood of Devil and those effected by his power will harden and grow into a coral-like substance if allowed to settle on inorganic material. After hardening it will continue to spread via unknown means (believed to require Devil’s presence) and increase the temperature and decrease the humidity of the surrounding environment exponentially. Areas showing over 60% coverage require PRT personnel to be equipped with suitable protective gear. Devil and those effected by his power are immune to the effects of the heat this emits.

Appearance:
Devil reassembles an otherwise normal humanoid covered from head-to-toe in burns ranging from second-third degree. Beyond this his blood is replaced with a mildly caustic tar-like substance that serves the same purpose.

This tar-like blood often oozes from various points of the body and dries into scaly or horn-like growths that crumble away over time.

Devil’s body temperature is on average five degrees higher than average for humanity.

Costume:
Devil wears a mundane tuxedo and top hat, in the standard design.
Identity: Star Name: UNKNOWN Surname: UNKNOWN Age: 40-45 (assumed)
Sex: Female Height: 4ft 9in [b]Ethnicity/b]: Hispanic First Appearance: 16/3/1997

Power: Blaster 4
Star may Launch a blue semi-amorphous glowing ball of energy from her hands. This ball travels in an upward arc for its point of origin and grows as it travels. Upon reaching the approximate size of up to a large van it freezes in the air. Star may also stop an orbs movement and growth with a thought. The orbs have a maximum range of 160 feet and are fully grown at around a third of that. Once the orb freezes in place it gains a degree of mass, displacing gasses and liquids.

After it has frozen in place Star may mentally fire beams of energy from the orb. These beams are narrow, around seven inches in width and show a range of up to 4921 feet. This range will generally be lower than listed as their accuracy is limited to where Star can see, although reports suggest she can fire blindly. As it fires the orb looses energy and shrinks.

Shaker 6
Once placed the orb begins to generate a constant electromagnetic pulse that disables and/or damages all electronic systems in a range dependent on the size of the orb, 90ft at maximum size. This beam emits a combination of thermal and kinetic energy sufficient to cause second degree burns and significant soft tissue damage on contact, worsening with continued exposure. The orb shrinks as it fires and eventually fades away.


Threat Rating: Blaster 4, Shaker 6
Recommend response Procedures:
Once no longer at distance Star can be contained as per any parahuman comparable to a normal human.

During engagement Keeping to cover and avoiding Star’s line of sight is recommended.

Other Notes:
Star has been sighted alongside a previously unknown female Brute during two engagements during the year 2000. After this the unknown parahuman was never seen afterword. Should more details on this individual be uncovered they should be reported.

Appearance:
Due to her costume no distinctive features can be found that would make Star distinctive out of costume..

Costume:
Star wears a black bodysuit featuring armor on the chest and thighs. Across this suit are star shaped patches of mirrored material. This is supported by a pair of unadorned boots.

Star’s mask is an extension of her costume, featuring a pair of black lenses within a plastic casing.

[ThreadNecro5]

Have to extend into another post. May as well use that an excuse to continue the Scene with Dorian and get it finished (unless someone want to enter the scene too and discuss things with Dorian).



Browsing PRT Files:
The first thing you notice, besides the pop-up asking if you wish it to run you through all the features on the desktop, is the blinking icon notifying of an E-mail.

As to the PRT files they prove easy to find and access, available right from the desktop.

Dorian decides to finish up with the Tarot's files before looking at the E-mail.


Identity: Moon Name: UNKNOWN Surname: UNKNOWN Age: 25-30 (assumed)
Sex: Female Height: 5ft 6in Ethnicity/b]: Hispanic First Appearance: 19/7/1998

Power:
Master/Trump 9
Moon may create a partial duplicate of a single individual that she can visible to her. Moon is limited to a single such duplicate at a time and may communicate mentally with the over any distance. According to observations by Spotter this duplicate has no range limitations in terms of its distance from Moon but has a limited lifespan of 14 hours. Moon may not create another duplicate while her current one still lives.

Duplicates are unerringly loyal to Moon and their behavior becomes erratic and violent if she becomes mentally impaired. The duplicate is physical, physiologically, and genetically, identical to the individual it is a duplicate off. The duplicate also appears to possess some extent of the memories of the original, primarily those related to the skills and training they developed. The duplicate tends to lack most of the skills and training the original possesses and instead either shows talent in areas the original is unskilled in or some variant of the original skill, such as trading one form or unarmed combat for another. Each duplicate is created as a ‘blank slate’ lacking the memories or skills of other duplicates of the same person.

Should the original have parahuman abilities the duplicate also shows such capacities but in either a ‘reversed or variant form of the originals. The powers of any such duplicates are listed below. All changes in skills and powers are consistent with any manifestations of a given duplicate.

Fool: The duplicate’s vision counters parahuman abilities. Projections and other creations fade, Tinkertech fails, powers are blocked, ect. This continues for the duration of observation.
Empress: The duplicate animates and controls nonliving fragmentary material (rock glass, metals, concrete, ect.), the results resembling a form of telekinesis.
Freezerburn: The duplicate fires beams that either disintegrate an object while covering the duplicate in layers of the disintegrated material, or that cause an object to build up layers of its own material while the duplicates fades away into an incorporeal state.
[B]Judge: The duplicate is unnaturally tough and draws the effects of any parahuman abilities used around it to itself.
Face: Any creature or object The duplicate touches turns into a rubbery, runny, elastic substance. Living creatures live through this transformation. Face may cure those effected.
Lovers: The duplicate bonds people as per Lovers. Those bonded cannot move closer under any circumstances.
Sun: The duplicate transforms into living ice, showing Brute and Blaster capacities.
Hermit: when the duplicate concentrates all creatures within 127ft become unable to move.
‘Roach: The duplicate is constantly rotting from a fast acting form of Necrotizing fasciitis that will result in death within an hour of creation. This form of Necrotizing fasciitis is contagious and the infected will spread it through contact.
Flood: The duplicate transforms into a mass of fire. Should the flames be extinguished it dies.
Upgrade: in an area immediately around The duplicate all objects slowly crumble and rot away.
Espectro: The duplicate glows with blinding light at all times. It has a second power preventing those looking at him from looking away.
Crater: The duplicate may touch an object to render it immobile. At a later time it may trigger the object to explode into kinetic force.


Threat Rating: Master/Trump 9
Recommend response Procedures:
It is a priority or disable any duplicates created by Moon at range. After it becomes safe to do so Moon may be restrained as per any parahuman that otherwise lacks the means to escape on their own. Moon is to be blindfolded at all times during and after containment.

Other Notes:
Moons duplicates that have been created prior to engagement are often equipped with explosive vests.

Appearance:
Moon maintains hair cut short in a buzz-cut style and died lilac. Interactions have shown that Moon wears a tongue piercing.

Costume:
Moon wears a plain blue bodysuit featuring armor on the chest. Her mask is a plain domino mask in the same colors.

Identity: Sun Name: UNKNOWN Surname: UNKNOWN Age: 25-30 (assumed)
[B]Sex: Female Height: 5ft 5in Ethnicity/b]: Hispanic [B]First Appearance: 19/7/1998

Power:
Breaker/Changer 3
Sun is capable on converting her body into living plasma that shows no need for fuel or other dependence on outside materials or conditions to exist. Despite her composition she retains her mass and ability to interact with other matter. When transformed Sun reaches temperatures of thirty thousand degrees but by whatever means her power functions prevents this heat from radiating over two foot from Sun. When transformed Sun has shown the ability to flex and compress in ways the human body is naturally incapable, allowing her to access location or move in ways unnatural to most humans.

Mover 5
When transformed Sum may travel at speeds of up to 146KPH via jet propulsion. When moving in this way at speed over 98KPH her physical form breaks down into a mass of plasma.

Blaster 5
Sun may, in her transformed state, fire waves of her own body up to 269ft. Any body matter lost in this way is immediately replaces swiftly cools to the temperature of normal fires once it has traveled around 67ft.

Threat Rating: Mover 5, Breaker/Changer 3, Blaster 5
Recommend response Procedures:
Sun can be dealt with as per standard procedure for a parahuman of her capacities. The fire department is to be made aware of any location Sun is encountered and are to prevent the spread of fires in the field.

Other Notes:
PRT personnel are to be equipped with thermal and eye protection during encounters with Sun.

Appearance:
Sun has been described as a fairly nondescript individual with minimal distinguishing characteristics. Their appearance can been likened to Moon, suggesting some degree of family ties.

Costume:
Sun wears a lightweight red and orange bodysuit featuring armor on the chest. Along her limbs are images of flames. Her mask is a plain domino mask in the same colors.
Identity: Judgement Name: UNKNOWN Surname: UNKNOWN Age: 30-35 (assumed)
Sex: Male Height: 5ft 2in Ethnicity/b]: UNKNOWN [B]First Appearance: 10/9/1996

Power:
Thinker/Trump 5
Judgement may Create an eye on any non-living surface he can see, through which he himself may see through. These eyes are structurally identical to a human eye but lack an optic nerve and display the usual level of variety between the eyes of unrelated individuals. The eye itself exists within a eyesocket that due to a spacial warping effect does not extend deeper than a millimeter into an object, and contains an eyelid that functions as per that of a human, but is formed from the same material as the surrounding surface. Should the eye be damaged into uselessness, destroyed or should judgment was to remove it, the eye disappears, closes, and over several minutes the surrounding socket fades away to restore the surrounding surface to the state it was in when the eye was placed.

As was discovered through observations by Spotter Judgement possesses the ability to augment each eye he creates with additional powers of their own, beyond those covered by his known blaster rating. It is known that Judgement is limited to granting each power to a single eye at a time, Each eye may have a maximum of one power each, and Judgement must wait five seconds after creating each. Each of these extra powers is (other than Blaster abilities) equivalent to a Thinker 2 or 3 and can range from being able to perceive other wavelengths of light, observe normally non-visual phenomena, the ability to expertly process some specific form of data, the ability to see through solid surfaces, and minor precognition. The benefits of these powers.

Blaster 2
Among the powers that Judgement may grant are the ability to emit one of five specific forms of energy, consisting of beams of fire, kinetic force, high-pressure water, electricity, and lasers. All such beams are fired from the pupal of the eye.

Stranger 3
Between his ability to extend his sight beyond his body and to grant his eyes the capacity to see through solid objects and to visually perceive noise, Judgement is capable of infiltration and acquiring classified information without personally entering the area.

Threat Rating: Thinker/Trump 5, Blaster 2, Stranger 3
Recommend response Procedures:
Any eyes created by Judgement are to be blinded by any means available. Line of sight between PRT personnel any any such eyes are to be avoided whenever possible.

Judgement can be contained as per any parahuman comparable to a normal human but during and post containment he is to be blindfolded at all times.

Other Notes:
After an eye is destroyed, the area it was placed on return to the state t was in when the eye was originally placed. As a result Judgement is known to provide objects with a degree of protection by coating them in a layer of eyes. Any such objects should be recognized as more resilient than they should by for as long as the target area is coated in eyes. When seeking to damage such any object all damage should be focused on a region not bearing any eyes.

Appearance:
Judgement is known to be somewhat overweight. Due to his costume may other details are unavailable.

Costume:
Judgement wears a plain black bodysuit that covers their entire body that is entirely coated in eyes created by his power.
Identity: The World Name: Ru Surname: Kramer-Zhao Age: 34
Sex: Female Height: 4ft 5in Ethnicity/b]: Asian[B] First Appearance: 5/5/1994

Power:
Thinker 9
While the specifics are unknown The World is believed to be capable of precognition, with any other particular specifics unknown.

Threat Rating: Thinker 9
Recommend response Procedures:
As long as The World is within the vicinity of Emerer she is not to be combated unless she personally attacks another person or Emperor is successively captured. It is imperative that physical harm is to be avoided when combating The World.

Other Notes:
None.

Appearance:
The World is described as having a distinctive gaze, maintaining a partly ‘spaced out’ look that occasionally changes to an especially piercing gaze accompanied by rapidly darting eyes.

Costume:
The World wears a costume consisting of a metallic fabric robe confirmed to be formed from a mixture of silk and gold processed into fibers. This is accompanied with white leggings and silver shoes. Since her unmasking The World has went without a mask.


Looking at the E-mail Dorian finds the message from Singularity to confirm the group's arrival. Sent yesterday. Oops.

Confirming the teams arrival the E-mail is also seen to contain a run-down on all the supplies and tech that was provided. Among this includes a number of robotic drones that will preform tinkertech maintenance and cleaning duties.

Finishing the investigation, Dorian goes to see what the others are up to.

[Thematthew]

Tina carries Claire into the base and places her onto the couch, "does anybody have experience with Thinker headaches?
Claire is having a really bad one, and I don't know too much to help on that."

After getting Claire situated she continues on, "we need to take a bit to go over what we can of the situation, hopefully we can get some more from Claire when she's feeling better. You get much Marco, I was admittedly distracted by watching out for trouble."

[gawwy]

I saw 4 people in there but there might be more depending on how often they rotate their shifts. There are a couple of entrances though the whole place is overgrown in the other-world so that wouldn't be a swift escape route. I didn't see anyone with obvious powers but only Bee would know that for sure. I saw a couple of holsters so their packing, mostly handguns though so regular vests and helmets would be enough cover. I didn't see any of them kitted out in anything that would give blunt force trauma any pause so we should be able to use fists, batons and tasers to neutralize them non-lethally. Would suggest a surprise visit with a show of force to disable the muscle before politely but firmly telling the leaders they are expanding under our superior protection.

[Ramsus]

"Yeah sure. If they can't really hurt us, then no real need to not just walk right in the door. And I like that wording. 'Expanding under our superior protection'. Sounds a lot better than actually saying they work for us now." Nicky says.

[ThreadNecro5]

Outside, on the way to base:

Alan and Dagr have finally reached what will be their base for the next... who knows how long. After reconsidering Singularity's offer the two of you had found your own means of contacting him.

Either way you were told to meet up at an established location where you were confronted by one of the drones the Tinker is known for. Within was a recorded message by the hero. Or perhaps an actual life video feed, the hologram left things unclear. In any case you were to follow the glorified Frisbee and trust it to conceal your presences as you travel using its holograms to project an image of your surroundings with you both edited out.

You both make your way up to the door, which opens by itself, and follow the drone inside to meet your new team. Once the door closes the drone emits a loud noise reminiscent of a doorbell and speaks.

"Attention: TEAM UNDESIGNATED. You have received additional reinforcement. Should additional bedding or supplies be required please make a request on the computer provided".

Those familiar with the local media would recognise it as the Austrian voice Singularity uses for the chrome skeleton dubbed 'Arny' in the news in reference to an old movie the Tinker was no doubt inspired by.

And with that the drone floats back out the door.

[JeenLeen]

Inside the base

Alan grimaces at the sudden and unpleasant sound from the drone. Not quite knowing what or who to expect, he decides it's safest to stay near the entryway rather than potentially make waves.
He had stayed quiet as they walked to the base, not wanting to disobey Singularity, but he now whispers to his also-new-arrival ally, "So, you know anything about the guys we're working with?"

Not yelling, but in a loud voice, he cautiously says, "Hello? Anybody home. This is Disquiet."
Anyone who walks towards him will see him in costume, with a knapsack (holding his civilian clothes and some personal effects) by his feet.

[Ramsus]

When Nicky hears the noise she goes to check it out. On hearing the new fellow's words she replies, "Well that's disquieting, but come in anyway before some snoop notices you guys out there."

[Extrail]

No, I'm not sure what to expect either. He replied. He was already thinking of how to escape. He figured turning the solid into liquid would be best. Though it was only an idle thought the person who greeted them was even more important. Of course He smoothly moves into the building.

[Kiranvonstrom]

Inside:

This was, Darwin decided, the worst possible time to have taken a nap. The gangly mutant emerged from their room, only to find the small talkative one comatose on the couch with a handful of members of the team looking gravely over her. Darwin barely had enough time to process the apparent disaster that had hit the away team before a voice blares through the house announcing apparent reinforcements.

Darwin seems to jump at the noise, or whatever Darwin's equivalent of jumping is. The Case 53 arcs their back, pushing them into an almost animalistic hunch, while bone and keratin rapidly reshapes their fingers into 8-inch talons. Their head snaps toward the source of the sound, before they process the message. As quickly as they extended, Darwin's fingers realign back into their original humanlike form, and the cape straightens back to their usual slouch.

Darwin pauses for a moment, trying to decide which situation to address first, before loping after Nicky. Queen Bee wasn't likely to get more passed out, was she? As far as Darwin knew, that wasn't supposed to happen.

At the Door:

A tall, inhuman figure pokes their head out from behind the doorframe, peering at Alan and Dagr from several feet above Nicky's head. Their face is highly angled, androgynous, and at those two descriptors the resemblance to any human you've ever seen stops. It's mouth is far too wide, and several rows of teeth gleam in its open mouth. The eyes are green, glassy, and, while not bulging, resemble a frog's far more than they do a human's. Every part, taken individually, appears to be a combination of near-human and near-animal, but the whole of it has no resemblance to either.

It peers down at you. It's eyes nictate once, before it speaks in an odd, polytonal voice, "Hello?"

[JeenLeen]

Seeing the... construct? Case 53? some tinker who overdid self-modification?... Alan takes a step back, but then composes himself. At least the other voice sounded human,and he assumed the pun was meant to be in good humor. He takes his fedora off and gives a slight bow, his actions in contrast to the nervousness in his voice.

"Hi, to both of you. I don't know a lot of what's going on, but our... employer, I guess you could say... told me the basics. We're part of a team to gain influence in town and stop some of the really bad villains, right? I'm pretty new to being a cape, but I was PRT before my triggering, so I'm not completely foreign to cape affairs. You can call me Alan, or Disquiet in costume. I can basically limit how much Masters can control someone, and make people dislike capes, so I can cause unrest among our targets' gangs."

When he sees Queen Bee, his training takes over. "I have some first aid training. Is she stable? One of us or a prisoner?"

OOC note: if it doesn't make sense for him to see Queen Bee based on the shape of the base, ignore the last line

[Ramsus]

Nicky looks back to where Queen Bee is and says, "Thinker migraine I think? One of us, Queen Bee. I'm Nicky or Synthesis in costume. Big guy is Darwin. Forget their cape name. Nice to meet you I guess? Who's your friend?" The last question aimed at the other person.

[Extrail]

My Names Master Molecule. Nice to meet you. My power is manipulation of molecules. He replied. He figured there was no harm in telling them his cape name. He figured they already knew anyway. Though admittedly there wasn't much else he could think of.

[JeenLeen]

Looking towards Queen Bee, he says, "Aw, man. I tested my power some after triggering and I've been told what I feel if I tag too many people feels like one of those. That looks like me on one of my worst days. I hope she feels better soon, but not much we can do for her, I think."

[Ramsus]

Nicky just gives Alan a shrug because she has no personal experience with Thinker headaches.... yet. It'll come eventually she's sure.

Looking to Master Molecule she replies with a snarky tone, "Your name is 'Master Molecule'? Wow your parents sure were messed up. Also I'm not going to be calling you Master. Not my kind of kink."

[Extrail]

Well Molecule's my last name. With Master being a title like Doctor. So Master Dagr Molecule. It's actually extremely fitting. See here? Master molecule replied. He turned some gas into a small jail with a smaller dog inside. At least that's what he tried to make. The jail was easily done but, the dog was terribly made. He then made the "dog" do a flip.

[JeenLeen]

Meeting the Team

Seeing how many of the capes are unmasked, Alan/Disquiet takes his off as well and pockets it. He snickers a little at Nicky's remarks.

"It seems like we're on civilian names and unmasked in the base, huh?
So, what happened with Queen Bee and what's up in general? I reckon you were on some mission recently if she's this messed up. Oh, and I'm guessing our employer's drone vouching for us is enough for you to trust me and Molecule. If you have any Master-Stranger protocols you want to go through before talking to us, no offense taken."

Getting a Room
After the meet-and-greet, Alan sets up in one of the unused bedrooms. Some civilian clothes and spare costumes and gear in the closet. A picture of his wife and kids on the bedside table. A few books on a shelf, mostly some light fantasy and a copy of the PRT guidebook. All in all, he leaves the room pretty bare.

He then heads to the computers, to check what details might be available about the Tarot and other capes. He also checks if the PRT has his real name linked to Disquiet or his alias.

DM: not to make more work for you, DM, but checking if there's more info than in the OOC page for the other capes in town. I'll assume what he finds on the Tarot is the same as earlier

[Ramsus]

Nicky looks at Dagr, really unsure if he's being serious about this name stuff or not. She goes, "Oh right." at Alan's mention of protocols. Then she puts her hands on both of them to get a feel for their powers (not taking them) to confirm they are indeed what the email said they would be. "Yeah, you're good. And yeah, I don't have to walk around in a mask and armor at all times. The PRT already knows who I am and I don't really have a civilian life anymore either so I don't really care if other people wind up finding out either."

[JeenLeen]

Alan nods.

"I'm in a similar boat regarding losing my old life, but I have some family that I don't want identifying me in this line of work, so I'll keep to the mask when we're outside.

Glad to see you have some protocols in place. That's a handy method. If you all don't mind, I can add an additional Stranger protocol. My power either gives immunity to or interferes with the influence of Masters. I could place it on each of us for a few seconds to let anyone say they're being controlled if they are, then drop it. That should give the benefit without any of the averse, ahem, disquiet."

His attempt at a pun, if you can call using his name a pun, is poorly executed. Joking is not his forte.

He goes on and tags Queen Bee. It doesn't require touch and there's no outward sign, so without paranormal senses, none of the team would realize it. If no change to her situation in about half a minute, he drops the tag. Just making sure it really is a Thinker headache and not something making her act like she has one or that just seems similar.

[Kiranvonstrom]

Darwin/ Anagenesis

"Certain master/stranger powers can register as attack to my power. Sensory deprivation, direct mind control, etc. Will develop immunity in seconds. Worth noting. Useful tertiary M/S defense." Darwin rumbled, they paused for a moment, and, guessing where the conversation was going, continued. "Cannot maintain secret identity. Common Case 53 issue. Would break any costume anyway,"

Darwin remains oddly still, standing behind Nicky. They seem to be using the smaller woman as a shield.


I realize Darwin never actually mentioned what their power is.

[Ramsus]

"I think that's Darwin's way of saying 'no thanks', but you can go ahead and use it on me. It'd probably be helpful to know first hand what kind of mind****ery it does to people since... Oh right, dunno if you've been briefed or whatever. My power is a Trump where I get some kind of blend or at least something related to a combo of two people's powers that I've touched. Right now I've got a Tinker power goin on, courtesy of our bossman." Nicky says. She notices Darwin's behavior and is a little happy to know her socializing is going well. Certainly a marked improvement to her practically abusive relationship with her last team.

[Extrail]

What would happen if you had both me and Disquiet's power?" Master Molecule replied. He was actually extremely curious. What that would entail. He made the air dog in the cage make a flip.

[JeenLeen]

Alan nods and tags Nicky. "Alright, you're under my 'disquieting' tag. ...that sounds pretty lame; I don't actually call it that. From what I've been told, you can't really tell anything at the start, but in the first few hours you'll start to feel agitated and resentful towards capes you know. It slowly amps up to blatantly disregarding and distrusting them in a couple days, up to actively working against them in a week or so. I've only tested it on volunteers while under PRT surveillance, but from their reports you shouldn't feel anything amiss immediately.
Let me know if you feel anything, but I'll drop it before you should notice getting ticked at us.

For your synergy abilities, feel free to emulate mine if you want. A side-effect of my power... well, actually, not sure if it's the primary power or secondary, but I'm immune to most masters, so I reckon I'd be immune to my own power if it were used against me, but I can't tag myself so I don't know."

To Darwin, he says, "Since my power is rather subtle, at least to start, I'd be curious to see if you respond to it or not. Would you mine if I tag you, if only for a minute? Could you tell me if you were responding to it or not?"

[Ramsus]

"I have no idea." Nicky replies to Dagr. "It's not even the same every time if I get powers from the same pair of people."
Looking to Alan she says, "Actually it'd be most helpful if you didn't 'untag' me until I ask you to, so I can really get a sense for it. Or I begin acting like a total bitch."

[JeenLeen]

Alan laughs, a deep chortle.

"I wish half the PRT volunteers were as willing as you. I'd probably know more of the nuances of what I can do. Well, alright. Just--if you start feeling a distrust or unease to your allies, let me know. I'll keep it on a bit longer if you really want, but past then it might get dangerous. You should feel the distrust most towards the capes you know best, so you'd feel resentment and distrust for me and Molecule last, since we're new to the team."

He pauses a moment and adds, "Your power is synergy of existing powers. I think my power works by giving a temporary Thinker power to subconsciously sense capes, along with the Trump benefit. At least, when I read up on Teacher's profile -- a subtle Master in the Birdcage -- it seemed likely. If you absorb the power of someone I tagged, maybe you'd absorb a fragment of what my tagging does to them, if it counts as a secondary power. At least, seems worth investigating.

I hope I didn't cross a line, but I did tag Queen Bee, just in case her headache was actually something else just appearing like a headache. If you can sense what powers you'd get before, um, synergizing, maybe try seeing if you see a Thinker or Trump influence from me on her?"

He tries to keep his voice fairly casual and helpful -- his PRT voice, so to speak -- but others can likely see a sincere hope he didn't cross any lines with Queen Bee, and an excitement and enthusiasm about the chance to learn more about how his power works.

[Thematthew]

Tina looks at Alan a bit concerned, having finally decided to look up from tending to Queen Bee. "In the future it would be preferable if you asked first. She's probably one of the last people we want to start distrusting us here after all." She then sighs, "I suppose I should probably introduce myself. I'm Tina Murphy, Tina Titanium in costume."

[Ramsus]

Nicky gives Alan a look that expresses something like "Now that's a clever idea." and nods and goes over to touch Queen Bee and find out what she senses with her power.

[JeenLeen]

Alan's eyes drop slightly at Tina's comment, then smiles as Nicky walks towards Queen Bee.
"You're right, sorry. But I don't exert any influence on emotions until an hour or two has passed. That part's useful in the long-term, but in the short-term I just mess up other Masters. I'll drop my tag on Queen Bee once Nicky does her thing."

[ThreadNecro5]

Having Dorian enter the scene

Hearing the commotion Dorian heads over to the others.

"Hey, something happeni-" says Dorian coming into view. "Oh, hello there." She says to the new faces in the room before turning to collectively face the rest of the team before continuing "Have I missed something? Who are our guests?".

[Ramsus]

"Jehovah's Witnesses." Nicky responds flatly before anyone else can.

[Kiranvonstrom]

"Not missionaries. Have kept workplace professional. Not mentioned religion once," Darwin thrummed from behind Nicky, shooting her a look of what appeared to be reproach and confusion. Or it might have been indigestion. Perhaps it was an attempt at humor? Darwin's body language isn't terribly evocative. Both pairs of eyelids were slightly narrowed and their mouth was set into...something? It was definitely set, whatever it was supposed to imply.

Darwin dropped down to all fours and padded over to Alan on reinforced knuckles. "Not against attempting interaction. Would recommend safety procedures. Probably unnecessary. Still, would hate to nerve gas teammate," Darwin tries to smile, perhaps to indicate a joke, perhaps to indicate a threat. Either way, the Case 53 shows far too many teeth.

[JeenLeen]

Alan starts to answer Heartbeat, but stops himself and is trying to suppress laughter after Nicky's answer. When Darwin speaks up, he breaks into a full laugh. Rather the... person meant it as a joke or not, it was funny.

He settles down pretty quickly as Darwin continues to speak, some trepidation coming to his voice.
"Um... yeah, nerve gas isn't nice. I'll keep off tagging you unless there's obvious mind control--or maybe we should test it in a field at a distance, sometime out of the base? See if your power registers mine as a threat."

Turning back to Heartbeat, he adds, "We're the new recruits, so to speak. I'm Disquiet, civilian name of Alan." He gives a short summary of his powers, what the group has already discussed.

[Extrail]

You have me I am Father Molecule and I am here to talk about our lord and savior Jesus Christ. Are any of you interested. God will forgive you if you admit to your wrongdoing. Master molecule replied trying to go along with the jehovah's witness thing.

[ThreadNecro5]

After a bit of a laugh over the jokes, Dorian decides to introduce herself.

"New guys huh, Well I'm Dorian. Heartbeat in costume." she heads over to offer a handshake "Power wise I am strong, not super-strong but top weight-lifter strong, and I regenerate. When healing I also seem to get stronger for a few seconds. Beyond that my heart and blood vessels are really tough and I can move them around like a limb. Oh and I can make my body burst off if I want to move around as just those parts but I've not used that much".

Run down over Dorian turns to face the rest of the team. "Anyway, I was looking over the PRT files on the Tarot and found a message from Singularity. Turns out we have these little robots that can handle cleaning for us. So if you see something weird it's probably that".

[gawwy]

Marco stumbles down the stairs and emerges even more disheveled than usual. He struggles over to the coffee pot and gulps down a cup.

"I would call you noobies.. But weve only been here what two days? Any way it nice to meet you Im sure you'll both be assets to the team."

Marco settles in and puts on his best southern pastor impression. Its not convinving.

"Now I want to talk to you today about the dangers of the devils weed. For selling it within the city without giving the bleeding heart royals their cut is the most grievous sin."

Dropping the bad acent.

"So we were going to apply some muscle to a den of growers here. And then inform them of their new management situation. Are you both in? Any questions?"

[Extrail]

Of course. Sounds interesting.

[JeenLeen]

Alan/Disquiet responds, "Yep. Be a bit strange to be putting them under our thumb instead of in jail, but that's the job I signed up for, and this seems like a good way to get my feet wet.

I'm trained as good as your average cop or PRT if it comes to a fight, but otherwise I'm pretty mundane physically. Do you know if they are already paying one of the cape gangs? I could tag them and let the effect stew a couple days, if you like. But I'm good with just going now and looking intimidating. I got a gun and a taser on me, if one of 'em puts up a fight. Though if -- Darwin, right? -- comes along, we'd probably look intimidating enough it won't come to that."

He also drops his tag on Queen Bee, Nicky apparently having done her thing. Per her request, he leaves Nicky tagged.

ThredNecro, could you post if my power was sensed by Nicky when she sensed Queen Bee.

[Kiranvonstrom]

"Yes, Darwin. Anagenesis while in costume," Darwin thrummed, "Can supply muscle for operation. Physically intimidating. Will stand and menace,"

[JeenLeen]

Disquiet nods.
"Anagenesis. Sounds good. Well, I'm ready to head on. Or, well, I guess give me a few minutes to put my stuff in a room--there are bedrooms open here, right? seemed like that from what Singularity said--but I'll be ready to head out in about ten.

If the people refuse to work with us, I could tag them and we could give them time to reconsider and get our money ready. In a few days, they'll be so convinced their bosses will betray them that they'd probably gladly accept our aid, even if they feel a little extra uneasy around us.
I'd prefer that to roughing them up and breaking some stuff."

[Ramsus]

"I'm fine with however you guys want to handle this. Oh and yeah I can sense your 'tag' Alan." Nicky replies.

[ThreadNecro5]

The Burnt-out Building:

As discussion finishes up you all get prepared for your first takeover. Moving though the war torn wasteland of Flashbacks's war-world you make your way to the burned office building without otherwise getting disturbed. Well, interrupted would be the better term, an overgrown ruined version of the city wringing out with gunshots and just out of sight watchers would be pretty disturbing to many.

The spot is as good for observation as those here before would know. With the grow operation itself seemingly in full swing as someone who looks to be a dealer heads on inside. Now it is a matter of your approach...

So can I get a vote on if Heartbeat should be present or not? Just want to go by player preference.

[JeenLeen]

The Burnt-out Building:

Disquiet prompts, "You've been here before, right? So, can we walk into their building and watch what's up from in this world?"

Also, to test his power's dimensional reach, he tries tagging the dealer who walks in. He drops the tag immediately afterwards. Just testing if it works to tag someone in the 'real world' while in the war-world.

He also double-checks that his taser and gun are ready in their holsters, in case violence comes up.

[gawwy]

"The other side gets progressively scarier the more stressful things get. Walking across the city while not expecting any combat is fine. But having multiple of you in there with me while in the middle of hostile territory is asking for bad bad news. About here is as close as I want to get before I jump you all out."

In the cover of the burnt out building Marco transitions the team one by one back into the real world with gentle pushes. Once out he breaks out the map he had being making note on during recon.

"If things go south this building is FB1 and the park over the other side is FB2. I have decent first aid supplies with me and the nearest hospital is 11 minutes away. Dont get shot in the head or heart and dont let the major arteries in your upper inner thighs get slashed. Most everything else I should be able to keep you 'alive' long enough to get to the hospital."

[color=brown]"I didn't see any obvious displays of power when scouting though Queen Bee would have actually known. That means we assume worst of both worlds, there are probably low level capes and certainly easily startled civilians with guns."

Flashback pulls out a flash-bang and a marker and starts writing something on it as he continues.

"I propose operation koolaid man. We sneak up close Master Molecule weakens an exterior wall and Anagenisis bust through and we disorientate everyone inside with these."

Flashback hold up the flash-bang now decorated with a bold "OH YEA!!"

"Those more or less immune to small arms fire should follow in and begin dispatching any who offer resistance, Thats Tina and Heartbeat unless either of the two newer members left something off their resume?"

"The rest of us can flank round to the other side of the building avoiding detection and enter via window or wall. If we've managed to identify the leader sneak up on them and make them the 'offer'."

"Any questions? Concerns?"

[JeenLeen]

Disquiet emotes a thin smile at seeing his comrade's speech. This guy was definitely either PRT, military, or something similar in the past. Good to have someone else with combat training.

"Plan sounds solid. I think the OH YEA is more likely to elicit a violent response--even if from disoriented people--than walking in the front door, but as long as Tina and Anagenesis are up for soaking any initial response until they are ready to listen... we should be solid.."

Just to be clear, not trying to suggest another plan. I wanted to point out that potential weakness to the plan, but I think having our two tankiest folk enter first will likely counter out any "what happened? Shoot!" response an edgy gangster might have.

[Ramsus]

"In my armor I'm also fine against anything that wouldn't **** up a tank I think. So I'm kool with this plan." Nicky chips in.

[Extrail]

(you realize master molecule is not there. he was at base the entire time)

[Kiranvonstrom]

Anagenesis pads behind the group on all fours, an ill-fitting hoodie covering as much of their odd, gangly frame. They don't really make clothing designed to cover five foot long arms, so the hoodie stops about at the elbow. Beneath the hood, their face is quickly metamorphosing in response to the danger presented by the war world. Eyes mitosize, pupils splitting off into two, then pulling off into new pairs of dimly reflective eyes. Baleen-like scent-gills emerge from the top of their throat, forming into a combination chemical sniffer and gas mask. Proteins rearrange and nerves move quickly enough that it appears something is moving underneath the cape's skin.

Anageneis is quiet throughout the journey and the planning session, speaking up only at the end, "Unsure of Kool-Aid. Not familiar with phrase. Can function as assigned however. Will survive violent response barring military-class weaponry," They pause for a moment, "Marco, for future notice, how much more dangerous can War World get?"

[ThreadNecro5]

Takeover:

The sound of a fire engine nears and passes before you begin.

Everyone works into position, going through a window Brutes out in front.

Breach.

Inside the room is rectangular and of moderate size. In front of you one man is facing away from you at a coffee machine. To your right another two are at a couch, watching the television. All three are now turning to face the disturbance. At least two are visibly armed.

The room itself goes further to your left, a half-open door blocking sight. Another door leads to the right and the way to a stairwell can be seen just to the right of the table with the coffee machine.

A few seconds after while you all make your move a voice shouts out from nearby. "The **** was that"?

[JeenLeen]

Disquiet stays near the back, taser drawn but his gun loose in its holster. Upon seeing the occupants of the room, he 'tags' each of them. Even if they run away, they'll at least start to distrust whoever they might already be working for.

He's smiling beneath his mask. This is kinda fun. It's cool to be part of the capes in a fight instead of just the mundanes with guns.

[Ramsus]

After a moment to look at the others, Synthesis walks forwards and declares, "We would like to speak to whoever is in charge here."

[ThreadNecro5]

The initial response to the numerous capes that burst through the window remains ongoing for a bit.

The man facing away from you all goes to turn and draw his weapon in one motion before catching sight of what he's up against and freezing, facing towards you and prepared to draw if needed.

Of the two on the couch one draws his pistol automatically and stands where he is aiming, the other reacts less cool-headed and dives behind the couch.

From the left come two more. Armed. A pistol and a knife on one and a larger firearm on the other that the angle serves to conceal to a degree.

The words sink in.

From the stairs a face come into view for a second and ducks away. They seem to speak with another before steps are heard. Coming into view is the bearded man that may be recognised from earlier scouting.

"Okay." He says in clear displeasure "And who might I tell him is here"?