Adventures in Time & Space IC

[davyjones]

"All I did was disrupt their communications with HQ for a while with a UHF pulse. Just temporary, but it gave us enough time to get out of sight," Calico admits, returning his attention to the console to begin the dematerialization sequence. Too bad Pavilion wasn't conscious to help speed things up. "It's really nothing more than a parlor trick, and one that the cybermen will be guarding against next time."

The professor dematerializes the TARDIS and continues, "There. That'll give us a little more privacy. Now, gentlemen.

"My name is Professor Calico and, well, I'm not from around these parts. And I don't mean the Midlands, or even England. I'm from a planet called Gallifrey, in the constellation of Kasterborous. My people are the Time Lords, and we have developed the ability to travel through both time and space. Most of us do little beyond observing events from afar, but a few, like me, recognize that we sometimes have to do more," he says. "Especially when villains like the Cybermen are around."

The professor pauses - one of those academic pauses where he scrutinizes his pupils to see if they're getting any of what he's saying - then shifts to another station on the TARDIS console, just on the other side of the main rotor. He types in a command to bring up data on their foes. "How do we stop them, you ask? Like I mentioned earlier, they're formidable, and military tactics and competencies aren't going to win us the day. But they're not without their weaknesses.

"Their logic is implacable, but often inflexible. They've lost the creative leaps and hunches and outside-the-bigger-on-the-inside-box thinking that forms the hallmark of most sapient species; that gives us an edge," he explains. "And, even though they're often hardened against electronic warfare tactics, their sensors can be scrambled and fooled occasionally, and their innards are highly susceptible to gold contamination. Yes, that gold. Expensive, but effective."

Completing the circle around the console, Calico orders, "Now, give me your cell phones. You're correct, Mr. Marwood, that communication is paramount to our success. It just so happens that my lovely TARDIS here, combined with a little help from my 'gadget,' as you called it, can assist us with that."

When the phones are offered, Calico sonics them for a brief moment, then hands each one back to its owner. "There, now you'll be able to communicate with each other and the TARDIS with ease. And from any place and time!"

[Ridai]

Having done what he could, Miles is next confronted with the good Professor being an alien time-space-traveller. Given the frequency of revelations in very recent history, Miles does what he is able to do in this very moment: carry on.

"Uhuh," is heard from him, acknowledging the matter, handing over his phone a bit later.

"Well then we are lucky we ran into you, Professor," Miles says, seeing the now time-and-space-ignoring numbers on screen. "So uhm, this here is the... the TARDIS?" He looks around. "Smaller on the outside, right. Right." Back on track.

"How do we go about this? Can we triangulate the signal? Do they have... substations or, uh, signal middle management people I guess?" When out of depth, might as well start brainstorming with things he heard about at some point.

[Zelphas]

"Definitely a strange night," Donald mutters, listening to the Professor lay out all sorts of odd scenarios. "If Miss Pavilion hadn't spoken to me in her unusual way earlier, all of this would be much harder to swallow.

"I'll echo the concern about what to do next. Based on how you've described them, these 'Cybermen' don't seem to understand the idea of moderate growth." Now, why does the idea of seeing just how they'd expand from here interest him? Best not to chase that line of thinking.

[davyjones]

Donald's comment catches Calico off guard, and he raises an eyebrow in response, casting a sideways glance through a squinted left eye at the delivery driver.

"No, they're highly-motivated expansionists who believe fervently that their...'condition' is an improvement on biological life," he replies deliberately. “I think they were first encountered, at least chronologically, during the Zeus space program efforts of the ‘80s. I think they next pop up in the 26th Century, and begin to expand from there - it was then they got their taste for converting humans of all planetary origins, not just their own.

“What’s worse is that they’ve acquired the ability to travel through time, meaning they can cause all sorts of headaches all over the place. And, believe me, they have.”

The professor shakes a thought from his head and gives attention to the question at hand. “Yes, finding their base is definitely a priority, then we can figure out how to stop them,” he confirms. “The whole reason we stopped by your village was a surge of what we call artron energy. Without getting too technical, it’s associated with time travel, and the presence of Cybermen here may be the cause of that surge. If so, we might be able to assemble a portable artron sensor - something that we can use to pinpoint the source of the energy surge. Are either of you gents decent with putting things together?”

Spoiler: OOC: Thoughts

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Figuring we can do a little Jiggery-Pokery with Calico's Boffin talent. :)

[Ridai]

"They continue to sound unpleasant," Miles offers on the topic of Cybermen.

Then something dawns on him. He might not be slightly insane! "So, um, I should mention that I, uh, should probably not be there when that device will be made. You see, I... oh how should I put this. I saw Tech Gremlins at some point. And they apparently hate me for it. Anything tech no longer likes me. And I lost my job at Scotland Yard because of that..." Ouch, Miles made himself sad again.

"Just point to a corner for me to sit in and not touch anything." He really doesn't want to get kicked off this team as well right now.

[davyjones]

"Just point to a corner for me to sit in and not touch anything." He really doesn't want to get kicked off this team as well right now.

The professor gazes blankly at Miles for several moments, blinking periodically before a quick shake of his head snaps him out of his stupefaction. "Let's, uh, let's have you stand just over there," he says, pointing to the coat tree in one corner of his control room as he moves around to his console keyboard. "I'll move a chair over to you."

Inputting a quick command, Calico materializes an 18th-Century style rocking chair next to the former detective - no, a detective. No need to short the man's credentials.

"That was a gift from Sir Henry Clinton after I helped him resolve a small matter regarding what he originally thought was a haunting at Portland Palace in 1795, I think," he notes. "Anyway, it's a pretty sturdy chair, so I hope it'll stand up to your, uh, unique qualities.

"As for you," the Time Lord continues, turning to Donald. "I don't suppose you have some sort of quirk or electromagnetic pulse field or whatnot that renders you unable to porter equipment around. No? Then come with me to the storage closet; we need to grab the parts we need to assemble the scanner."

The corridor from the main control room appears to be a winding s-curve, through which Calico leads the deliveryman to within sight of its terminus. A number of doors line the passage, and the Time Lord makes note of points of interest along the way. He cuts through a couple doors, passing through his workshop to his "storeroom" - which, to any neutral eye, looks more like a standard shipping container-sized junk drawer than anything else.

[Ridai]

"Thank you, sir," Miles says and carefully sits down on the Rocking Chair of Greater Provenance. He really hopes the Tech Gremlins have not infiltrated the TARDIS. There is no telling what power they wield.

[Dodgeson]

With the brilliant intellect of a Time Lord and the resources of a fully fledged Tardis at his disposal, Professor Calico had an artron scanner ready to go in short order and two hours might not seem like short order but when you're dealing with technology and concepts that humanity won't fully understand until the 52nd century it was really quite impressive.

Kicking the device in to gear it would immediately tell the Professor exactly what his screwdriver had already told him, Birchmoor was absolutely lousy with artron energy but as a more specialised scanner it would quickly begin to home in on exactly where it was coming from, a trail leading outside the small town and across the moors, into the pit of the old abandoned mine.

It wasn't going to be all that simple though, the same outpouring of energy that made the place so obvious to the scanner would also make attempting a short hop in the Tardis not impossible but certainly more difficult that a normal jaunt through the vortex. Of course the mine wasn't so far away that walking was out of the question but who knew how long Calico's sonic trickery was going to keep Father Pleasance and his cult of the Cybermen busy?

[davyjones]

The Time Lord activates the main viewer and brings up an overhead map of the area - not exactly a feat for 21st Century Earth, but nonetheless useful. He then pinpoints the location that appears to serve as the artron source.

"Mr. Marwood, I believe you're the local here. What can you tell us about this old mine pit?"

[Ridai]

Once construction is finished, it may indeed be safe enough for Miles to carefully stand back up (double-checking the rocking chair) and head on over. Prompted by the Professor, he goes "Well, Birchmoor used to be a mining town, until that whole business dried up. Also on account of loads of safety hazards. And young people didn't want to work in mines either, in favor of city life. Haven't been to the place myself yet."

A beat. "Oh, um, I'm not actually... from here. Moved here recently, into my uncle Monty's cottage. Until I can find a steady job again. And income to afford my own place. Or at least repairs to the cottage roof. And food..." At least he has the last bits of a snack from several hours ago and parts of a pint in his belly. Liquid bread, r-right?

Feeling a little useless, he quickly offers "I could ask around for more information. I got to know a few people here."

[davyjones]

The professor pauses again. His adventures take him to all sorts of places, but, when speaking truth to power, one often doesn't see the poverty hidden behind the pillars of marble and lavishly appointed chambers that are barely large enough to comfortably house a Roman legion. The people for whom luck has made them its sworn enemy. Such a man is Miles Marwood, stricken by poverty and misadventure.

"Well, if we survive this, I'll see what I can do about setting you up in better accommodations," he offers. "For now, though, let's not worry about inquiries. I think we're close enough to get a look at it."

Calico engages the TARDIS' scanner and zeroes in on the mine in question. He looks at the screen, then back down at his controls. Did he set the coordinates correctly? "That's strange," he muses. "I swear we're pointed in the right direction, but I feel like I'm looking at a familiar wasteland on Spiridon.

"I was there once, you know," he mentions to his companions. "Spitting image of this place, really. My companion at the time mentioned something about Beachfields, so we took to calling it Beachfield-in-Space - oddly, it also reminds me of the Outlands near the Citadel on Gallifrey. Didn't realize that before. Awfully dreadful place, really. Well, I suppose every civilization starts out building with stone, doesn't it?"

Switching off the viewer, the professor confesses, "The artron energy is making it impossible to land next to the mine; how far away is your Uncle Monty's cottage?"

[Ridai]

The offer is nice, but like the Professor is focusing on the here and now, Miles adds "Agreed. There's work to do." Lot of people in danger, after all. Well, Miles is one of them, but details.

The similarity of... "Spiridon" to this here Earth as well as what sounds like the rough parts of Gallifrey has Miles go "Huh." He glances over for a brief moment between making sense of the various readings. "Do you think that is significant or coincidence, Professor?" Might as well ask. There is a lot to get a feel for, and that includes whether these observations are part of a puzzle, or more an idle facet of extended time-space exploration/tourism.

On a topic where he very much can provide some real information on, Miles does not need long to answer. "Just down the road on the edge of town, few minutes on foot, actually. Got a view of the moor and everything." A short consideration later: "If you intend to fly there, you may not want to land right next to it. I'm not sure if the roof could take it." It can barely take the weather as is.

[Zelphas]

"There's a remarkable amount of similarity between mines and quarries the universe over, really," Donald spoke up, the words appearing before he could truly parse what he was saying. He blinked, trying to figure out his own thinking. "What I mean is... there's only so many ways to dig rock out of the ground, you know? Universal laws are called that for a reason, so things are bound to be similar... I think."

He lapses into an uncomfortable silence for a moment before talking again. "Look, I'm not much for plans and plots, but I'm handy enough with physical work. Just direct me where to go and what to carry or bash in, and I'll do it; I'm not much use in all this, otherwise."

[davyjones]

Calico engages the TARDIS' scanner and zeroes in on the mine in question. He looks at the screen, then back down at his controls. Did he set the coordinates correctly? "That's strange," he muses. "I swear we're pointed in the right direction, but I feel like I'm looking at a familiar wasteland on Spiridon.

"I was there once, you know," he mentions to his companions. "Spitting image of this place, really. My companion at the time mentioned something about Beachfields, so we took to calling it Beachfield-in-Space - oddly, it also reminds me of the Outlands near the Citadel on Gallifrey. Didn't realize that before. Awfully dreadful place, really. Well, I suppose every civilization starts out building with stone, doesn't it?"

The similarity of... "Spiridon" to this here Earth as well as what sounds like the rough parts of Gallifrey has Miles go "Huh." He glances over for a brief moment between making sense of the various readings. "Do you think that is significant or coincidence, Professor?" Might as well ask. There is a lot to get a feel for, and that includes whether these observations are part of a puzzle, or more an idle facet of extended time-space exploration/tourism.

"There's a remarkable amount of similarity between mines and quarries the universe over, really," Donald spoke up, the words appearing before he could truly parse what he was saying. He blinked, trying to figure out his own thinking. "What I mean is... there's only so many ways to dig rock out of the ground, you know? Universal laws are called that for a reason, so things are bound to be similar... I think."

"Yes...," the professor trails off, again scrutinizing Donald with a wary eye. He was "just a bit off" at first glance, but, in the TARDIS, he's doubly so. There's a mystery to this delivery driver, one that needs uncovering. He'll go down that rabbit hole later. They have a quarry to investigate.

He lapses into an uncomfortable silence for a moment before talking again. "Look, I'm not much for plans and plots, but I'm handy enough with physical work. Just direct me where to go and what to carry or bash in, and I'll do it; I'm not much use in all this, otherwise."

"I'll be sure to keep that in mind," Calico notes, pushing the mystery into a remote corner to let it percolate for a while. "I can assure you that decisive action will be necessary at some point."

Switching off the viewer, the professor confesses, "The artron energy is making it impossible to land next to the mine; how far away is your Uncle Monty's cottage?"

On a topic where he very much can provide some real information on, Miles does not need long to answer. "Just down the road on the edge of town, few minutes on foot, actually. Got a view of the moor and everything." A short consideration later: "If you intend to fly there, you may not want to land right next to it. I'm not sure if the roof could take it." It can barely take the weather as is.

"Don't you worry, my good Mr. Marwood. While my girl here may weigh several solar masses overall*, her dimensional interface allows her to step very lightly. Your dreary little cottage won't notice a thing," Calico boasts. Then, he leans into the console and coos, "It's probably extra fragile, my dear; just try to be careful. And maybe appear as a shed or something."

* I'm basing this on the fact that the Eye of Harmony is a literal collapsing star (which needs to be 2.5-10 times larger than Sol to become a black hole), so it would figure into the overall mass of the vehicle (and probably dwarf all other considerations) through its interdimensional connection to the TARDIS.

[Ridai]

The simple "yes" draws a "Right."

To Donald: "I guess so?" Miles really can't go check how mining is done in other star systems and galaxies.

And in regards to the TARDIS' actual and relative weight: "Oh, very impressive!" Because it is! Hard to fully grasp, but it is! But let's not... let's not think about the solar masses thing too much. Yes.

[Dodgeson]

The village of Birchwood and its surrounding environs were flooded with artron energy but not all areas were created equal. Materialising in the belly of the beast would have required some slick (but certainly not out of the Professor's reach) piloting but arriving outside of Great Uncle Monty's cottage was easily achievable with some groans and juddering from the rotor in Calico's Tardis and little bit of temporal turbulence, nothing the capsule couldn't handle.

Reappearing back in real space a quick check on the scanners would reveal nothing amiss since Miles had fled his wood chopping duties in the presence of the cybershade The Beast of Birchmoor, sure it had gotten darker but the unchopped wood pile was as he had left it and the building itself seemed to be in order. Anyone exiting the timeship would find themselves clambering out of the footwell of an old british roadster, in far better condition that the one it was parked next to that Monty had been swearing that he was going to find time to restore since the Heath government.

The sudden change in orientation might have been a little disorientating but considering it was either this or a coal bunker and at least they way nobody was get black dust on their shoes.

[Ridai]

Exiting the TARDIS, Miles gestures to the cottage. "Well, here we-" He stops as he sees the TARDIS looking very different than what they climbed into not too long ago. "...here we are. Please excuse the mess, I was out of chopped firewood when the Beast of- um, the cybershade made itself known." That was... not one of his proudest moments. In a long series of not-so-proud moments.

"I might still have some tea and biscuits!" Boiling a kettle might take a moment, however.

Eyes on the mission."Um, the mine should be in that direction," Miles quickly adds, pointing in said direction.

Spoiler: OOC

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Assuming that Miles knows at least the rough whereabouts of the mine. If not, please let me know.

[davyjones]

Calico gives the console an affectionate pat, then downloads the mine's location data onto his sonic. As long as it can communicate with the TARDIS, the screwdriver should point him in the right direction from anywhere on the Isles.

"Gentlemen, pay attention," he announces. Pointing to the interface controls, he says, "This is the switch to open and close the door to the outside world. Keep it closed unless you're about to exit the TARDIS. Understood?" He then demonstrates by opening, closing, then opening the doors again.

The professor darts deeper into the interior corridor and is back in a jiffy, now sporting a khaki bush jacket with matching trousers and wide-brimmed bucket hat, and dark colored hiking boots; it's a far cry from his dark colored conservative wool suit and oxford sneakers. Once outside, he nods appreciatively at the TARDIS' exterior, locks the door, then looks out in the direction indicated by Miles' outstretched arm.

It's at this point he realizes that it's starting to get late in the evening and, while the Time Lord may not have been up and about for the entirety of the local daylight hours, these poor gents likely have.

"Given the time," the professor wonders, "how do you gents feel? Not too tired, I hope. I don't know how long we'll be out on our little excursion."

The question posed, Calico leads the way forward.

[Ridai]

About the door controls, Miles has a good look at the process (and more importantly, the position of the switch) and says "Yes, sir." Like with more mundane vehicles, opening doors in the middle of transit is probably not a wise idea.

"I don't think I'd get much rest knowing what's going on and it not having been dealt with," he says. "And to be honest, I didn't get done chopping firewood, so there is no heating for me at the moment anyway." Little balled fist armswing and lips pressed into a line at that one.

So while he still has the energy and determination, Miles prefers to just get on with it and follows the Professor.

[Dodgeson]

With fresh attire and the offer of tea and biscuits unbritishly declined (we can let Professor Calico off but Miles and Donald have no excuse) our heroes marched off in to the darkness of the English countryside, what little light there was quickly fading away as they left the road and began their trek up the hills towards the mine. Normally this wouldn't be a problem, they had their directions after all and in the right situation the silence could even be relaxing.

This was not the right situation, any sudden noise could mean Father Pleasance and his partially converted cultist had found them or even the Beast of Birchmoor, but would they even be able to spy its night black coat before it was too late?

Luckily they had no such interruptions and soon enough the trio would find themselves nearing the mine, an enormous pit cut in to the earth to extract the precious coal that lay within. Miles had been straight on the money, the whole operation had been shuttered for decades but looking down at it you wouldn't know that now. Industrial lamps that had lain dormant for years were active again, guiding the way down and filling the whole place with light, and you know what? Calico had been right the place really did look remarkably like Metebelis 3...

At a cursory glance the pit would appear to be empty, baring the sort of derelict machinery that you would expect to find in the sort of industrial wasteland that time forgot whilst down at the far end lay what looked like a large lift to lead down in to the mine proper, although its actual platform currently looked to be somewhere deep within the bowels of the Earth.

[davyjones]

What is it with these places? Earth, Spirodon, Gallilfrey, and now Metebelis III? Is there some sort of extradimensional quality to this quarry that it has perfect doppelgangers on three other worlds?

"That reminds me; I think I'm due to present another paper to the chapter in 20 years," the professor muses. "This would make an interesting subject."

Turning to his companions, his eyes lighting up as if he just now realized they're here with him, Calico notes, "Part of me wants to observe the shaft entrance for a bit, but the other part of me wants to go snoop around inside. I've always been a bit of a nosy parker.

"A stakeout, though, needs good fare; Mr. Marwood, you mentioned tea and biscuits. That'd do nicely; do you have them with you?"

[Ridai]

"They really did make themselves at home here," Miles says as he looks at the lit-up quarry.

Being asked for tea and biscuits now pushes asking about this "chapter" or weighing in on the subject of lurking vs. snooping a bit further back on the priority list, in favor of a brief moment of befuddlement. However, like second nature, like Scotland Yard's (Former) Finest (Gopher), he quickly falls back into his old ways, like no tech gremlinly business had occured. He flashes a brief apologetic smile.

"Not at the moment, but I could go get them right quick." Detective work on a stomach bereft of tea and biscuits is hard doing, as he has learned. And to this font of knowledge, he adds that alien time-and-space detective work operates in much the same way. But such hurdles shall be conquered, as he has in the past!

[davyjones]

"Tempting. Very tempting," Calico admits as he continues to observe the quarry. "But, as nice as that sounds, I want to see inside. I really want to go down there; you really want to investigate it, too, don't you?"

[Ridai]

There is a short pause. "There's probably a sloped road down somewhere around here. That sounds like a better way in than trying to call the elevator."

[Zelphas]

Donald is wrestling with two contrasting emotions at the moment. On the one hand, he feels a pressing urge to fade into the background, and in fact this has been by far the more pervasive impulse; drifting along in the wake of the Professor and Miles as they chatter and plan has allowed him to do this quite nicely, even if it meant he has to go along with the decision to refuse tea (something his scant memories seem to suggest is akin to the highest sacrilege).

On the other hand, there is a growing... concern, he supposes, that people on adventures such as he has found himself in are supposed to take a much more active role in the proceedings. At the very least, it's more polite to make conversation than to stand gormlessly in the background, yet he finds himself at a loss for what to talk about; the active subject is already covered, it seems.

The decision to go down into a mine, into what may be hostile territory, offers a chance to marry these two disparate desires, and Donald jumps at it. "I happen to be rather good at remaining unnoticed," he offers up in the middle of the conversation, his voice perhaps a bit too loud after a long period of silence. Donald coughs, a bit embarrassed, and continues on. "If it suits, I could pop down there via that road Miles mentioned, take a gander, and be back before who or whatever has a chance to notice. Where did you say the road was?"

[Ridai]

Donald suddenly joining the conversation somewhat loudly made Miles jump. "Oh, uh, yeah, if you think you can and want to do it, please, go ahead! We could follow after you meanwhile, perhaps at a bit of distance?" Taking initiative should be supported, as was sometimes said at Scotland Yard.

"The road shouldn't be too far from here. Putting it too far from a road would make it rather inconvenient." Miles looks around for said road (should be easy enough to spot, what with the pit being lit) and points the way. They will make their way down into the pit one way or another.

[davyjones]

"A man of action, indeed," Calico notes. "Lead on."

Not one to be sneaking (he'd be terrible at it, anyway), the professor hangs back a bit to open a decent gap between Donald and himself. Let the scouts do what scouts do and report back.

[Dodgeson]

Creeping down the dirt road and into the pit would be touch and go for the pair as they moved forward, there was precious little cover in on the track bar the shadows being cast by the lamps on their way down, fortunately if they were being watched by some concealed agent of Father Pleasance's cult they chose not to intervene and make their presence known just yet.

Once they were in the pit things were a little better, piles of rubble and the abandoned heavy vehicles left behind from the mine's glory days providing much better opportunities to stay out of sight while they approached lift but as they got close the sound of rumbling machinery began to come from somewhere in the earth deep below them, the platform rising back up to reveal a towering silver figure staring out impassively with its cold mechanical eyes, marching forward with loud clunky steps but not moving more than a few feet away from the lift.

On the plus side it didn't appear to have spotted either of our two heroes, for the moment anyway.

[Ridai]

Miles' lips are pressed into a very thin line, seeing the silver figure as he himself cowers behind a rusting excavator's tracks. "Guess that's the... a Cyberman. Should go get the Professor, might know more about what they can do." Miles whispers to Donald. Getting further away from whatever that thing is sounds great right about now. But of course, they will need to get past it, sooner or later.

If Miles can spot Professor Calico, he tries gesturing towards him to get his attention, then pointing towards the Cyberman. If not, well, he tries to use the more plentiful cover to move back to the Professor, who hopefully managed to get into the pit before the machine thing stepped out the elevator.

[davyjones]

OOC: Third try to finish this tiny little post, apparently.

Not lagging too far from his companions, Calico acknowledges Miles' bidding with a nod and makes his way through the obstacles of the lower quarry to join them. Peering out from behind cover, the professor takes a moment to scrutinize the Cyberman sentry, trying to note his model and origin.

Spoiler: OOC: Testing Calico's Cybermen Knowledge

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Calico Ingenuity + Knowledge + Alien Cultures +11
(2d6+11)[18]