Brotherhood of the Machine (IC) [PG/14]

[Ryudo Lee]

"Now is the height of the persecutions being wrought upon our people by the Brotherhood!  We cannot stand idly by while they haul away our friends and family, never to be heard from again!  It is our responsibility to put an end to these evils!  Every day that they are not opposed is another day where more of our own people are taken from us!  These people are your children, your parents, your friends, none are spared from their iron fist, in the name of cleansing the land of magic!  Will you let this continue?!  Will you stand by and watch as your loved ones get taken away, and others killed in their hunt?!  I say no more!  We are here to put a stop to this!  Join us, join the rebellion!  You must do something or eventually they may just kill us all!"

A man clad battle worn armor with a laser pistol on his hip shouts his rhetoric from a rooftop in a small suburban area to a group of people who had gathered nearby.  Everyone knows his face from the Wanted posters plastered across every city by The Brotherhood.  This man was Jackson Phoenix, the leader of the rebellion.  On the wall below him are several Wanted posters with his face printed on it and a generous reward listed for his capture, dead or alive.  Across some of the Wanted posters is another poster, this one of the rebellion's propoganda.  A picture of a sword behind a shield, and beneath the picture the words "JOIN THE REBELLION!  END THE OPPRESSION!"

Jackson steps down from his perch and heads into the attic of the house, leaving the people to make their decision.
"How many do you think we'll get Jackie?" A woman in the attic asks.
She was dressed in a similar way, in battle worn armor, but with a particle rifle strapped to her back.
"I don't know Mia.  But if we can get through to at least one person, then that's one more person going against The Brotherhood." He said.
She snapped a salute and escorted him out of the house and into a waiting vehicle.

Once the vehicle had left, two of The Brotherhood's enforcers arrived to find the area that the people had gathered in had been left abandoned.
"We missed them." One said in a monotone voice.
The other made no reply as he produced an explosive pack.  He attached it against the rebellion's propoganda poster, and then the two walked away.  Once they were at a safe distance, the explosive detonated, destroying the home.

[techmaster-glitch]

Jexx was sitting on a rooftop, spaced out, just trying to think about what to do. His latest Brotherhood lead turned out to be a dead end... again. He'd been at this for two years, but he'd be damned if he just gave up now.
Suddenly, and explosion rocked some buildings to his right. He looked at the spectacle, and cocked his head.
"That was either the Rebels or the Brotherhood," He said to himself. "Where there are Rebels, there will be enforcers. Where there is an act of the Brotherhood, there will be enforcers." He smiled to himself. "Works for me."

[Kryptic]

Baiye had merely been checking out the corner shop she frequented for spare parts when she heard the ruckus going on outside - and she remained inside the shop, fingering a micro-motherboard as she watched the people drift away and the "cleanup" afterwards. She winced at the explosion - and she gripped the chips in her hands on impulse. Kam, manager of the small store, coughed at her and gave her a glare.

"You of all people know the deal, Baiye - Break it, Upgrade it, Disassemble it, Tweak it, etc...  Buy it" He grumbled.

She blushed and waited as he rang up the parts, with the scene still playing back in her mind. How could people do something like that to each other? It defied logic... and logic was the only explanation for anything. Sure, she herself didn't understand and avoided magic at all costs - but she would never kill or blow a building apart... It was so unreal...

She smiled uneasily as Kam handed her the merchandise in a bag, his face still bored and blank. She strode out the door, still deep in thought, brushing her silvery hair back behind her ears as she headed back to her apartment.

[Arcalane]

Exo watched as the Enforcers walked away, standing on a flat rooftop of a three-floor apartment building, near the building where The Leader had held his speech. It simply shook it's head and held up the radio.

"Building was destroyed."

"Destroyed?" the reply came.

"Explosive pack." It confirmed. "Unit did not get a chance to identify the pack. Calculation of damage inflicted and analyzation or the smoke suggests custom detonator and specialized compound mix, given the power of the explosion."

"They're not being subtle are they?" the radio-voice commented.

"Unit believes they are trying to make an example of those who would defy the Brotherhood."

"Logical as ever I see. Sounds like them, at least."

"There were only two. Terminate?"

"Negative."

"Confirmed." Exo glanced down at the street, processing the thermal imaging data as the smoke cleared, watching Baiye from the rooftop. [Potential] it processed. [Logging appearance] it filed the data away in it's memory for a later date, standing as it looked down over the street, black and grey frame making it look more like some strange metallic statue than a machine... like a piece of decoration.

[Paladin Sheppard]

Working on a large suit of armor in a studio apartment not far from the explosion Victor looked up. 'Wonder what that was about' he thought as he moved to the window.

Spotting the two Enforcers he swore. "Goddamned brotherhood" Vic sighed as he looked back the the battlescared armor and the damaged parts all over his apartment. "Looks like another trip to Mack to get some parts...If I had the cash."

Moving over to his computer he quickly called up Mercnet and started looking. 'I wonder what the Rebelion pays...'

[techmaster-glitch]

WHUF!!!!
Jexx let out a breath as he just managed to pull himself up onto the roof of a building, after trying to jump to it from another roof. He took just  moment to catch his breath, then quickly ran to the opposite side of the roof, where he look down into an alleyway, and waited. After a few moments, the two Brotherhood enforcers turned a corner, into the very alleyway that Jexx was monitoring.
"I've got you now..." he whispered to himself.

[Ryudo Lee]

A person in an oversized coat approached Baiye as she exited the store.  He silently handed her a folded sheet of paper.
"The boss wants you at the base.  If y'can, bring some friends.  We need as much help as possible y'know." He said.
Before she would be able to reply, he had already walked around the corner and disappeared.  The piece of paper contained an address to a warehouse that had been thought abandoned.

~~~

The two enforcers walked down through an alley way.  One of them turns his head a bit.
"We got company." He said.
They came to a street and then split up.  One went straight down the street, the other began moving towards the nearby Brotherhood tower.

~~~

In another part of town, a couple of Brotherhood zealots approached a rather large mansion.
"This the place?" One asked.
"Yeah.  They said there were some kinda magic robot of some kind here." The other replied.
"There's no way that can be right.  Magic and androids don't mix." The first said.
"Well that's what recon said." The other said.
The second one pulled up a shotgun and cocked it.
"Let's get in there." He said.
They opened the gate and entered the property.

[techmaster-glitch]

   Jexx continued to observe the Brotherhood members as they passed by him. Then, to his delighted amazement, they split up! Jexx did not try to stop a smile. This actually made things easy for him. He only needed one enforcer alive, and now he didn't have to deal with first killing off one, and running the risk of the other shooting back. Jexx followed the one not going to the Tower.
   After a little time tailing the enforcer, he finally passed by an empty area again. That's when Jexx made his move. Jexx jumped down from the roof he was on. The enforcer however had anticipated him, and whipped around, machinegun barrels poking out of his sleeves. But Jexx had already let loose a barrage of plasma balls from his handcannons, and they slammed into the enforcer's arms, turning them to useless smoldering things. Half a second later, Jexx had his left cannon morphed to a hand, and another half second had the hand around the neck of the enforcer, and slamming him into a wall.
   "What do you know about Project Fusion?" Jexx demanded. It was highly unlikely that the enforcer would actually know what he was talking about, but it was much more likely that he could point Jexx to a priest or high priest who would know. The only problem was "convincing" the enforcer to "cooperate".
   "Tell me everything you know about Project Fusion, now!" The enforcer remained silent.
   Jexx quickly morphed his unused right hand into hacking tools, and reached behind the enforcer's neck. He had to disable the enforcer's implant before...
   "I give my life in sacrifice for the-"
   "Oh no you don't!" Jexx snarled, tightening his grip around the enforcer's neck.
   "B...Brotherhood...of the..." the enforcer managed to choke out.
   "No! No! Don't say it!"
   "M...m..Machine."
   "NO!!"
   The enforcer's body fell limp. Jexx let go, and it slumped to the ground.
   "God...damn it." He said, giving the corpse a good kick. "I hate it when they do that."
   Jexx sat down, away from the body.
   "Well, now what?" He said to himself. He looked in the directon of the Tower. He wasn't fool enough to try to break into a Tower alone again, not after the he almost got killed the last time. But who would possibly want to help him? He had nothing in the way of money to pay anyone, and he couldn't think of any good reason of why the Rebellion would help him, since he couldn't care less about the political state of the world. All he cared about was blasting Brotherhood members and finding his memories.
   "Well," he said to himself. He seemed to be doing that alot lately. "I guess I'll just stand here until inspiration smites me upside the head or something. Heh heh. It's not like I've got anything better to do at the moment."

[Boog]

Mister was a good golem. He was working hard. The numbers of grouse on the Master's grounds had been dropping, and he'd finally found the cause. A fox and her kits had moved in. He relocated them to another part of the estate; the rabbits had been overzealous in their function of late, so this would solve both problem. He had stopped to refill on water for steam when the creak of the front gate reached him. He stopped what he was doing and wiped his face grille with a towel. Guests? Marvelous! He hadn't had guests to look after in a while. Had he such a habit, he would whistle as he traversed the grounds, stopping every so often to pluck a weed out of the finely kept grass. It was so good to have people in the house again!
He saw them from behind a line of hedges; part of a well kept laberynth that he had long since memorized. Just in time, he remembered his master's warning that a proper servant greeted guests at the door, not on their way up the path. Mentally berating himself for almost committing so egregious a social faux pas, he slipped away and entered the mansion via the side door to wait for the sound of the doorbell in the lobby. These guests were to be granted every courtisy!

[Azlan]

Morgan pulled into the garage of his modest suburban home.  As his garage door closed and he stood in his driveway, he noticed the emergency vehicles speeding off towards a plume of dark smoke a number of blocks off.

I thought I lived in a nice area?  Perhaps the brotherhood was murdering innocents again, but no one was truly innocent these days.  Maybe a rebellion target?  Who knows other then those involved.

Shaking his head, Morgan checked his box for any package deliveries and headed into his home.  Hanging up his jacket and dropping off his briefcase, Morgan checked his messages and as normal, no one called.

The weekend was circled on his calendar, jarring a memory.  "Father's day is coming up.  I should give dad a call and see how he is doing."

Plugging his laptop into the docking station, he booted up the computer and accessed his email.  Having spent the better part of an 8 hour shift plying away in front of a desktop workstation and churning out hundreds of lines of code would normally make anyone tired of using a computer.  Not Morgan though, he had a slight advantage over most people, he could interface with a system directly through an advanced system built into his own body.  Using an interface jack, he plugged directly in and scanned through the messages in his mind. 

 

[Kryptic]

Baiye blinked at the paper shoved in her hands - more than speechless. She flicked her hair behind her ears again in thought, pondering the offer... Stuffing the new parts into her knapsack, she flicked the transmitter at her earlobe on, the simple two-way communication link she kept with Gidget, her canine companion.

"Gid - I need you to meet me down the street near Kam's place - Bring a good toolkit and my 'set. I have upgrades..."

The vocal link echoed back in her ear - a clipped sarcastic voice. "Roger. Did you remember to pick up those new camera lenses? I have a hard time seeing around these stupid scratches." Gidget's electronic voice fell into a low grumble, as he cut out the link.

Baiye's lips curled up in a soft smile - some AI she picked - but her eyes flicked back to the corner that man had disappeared around. Boss? Was this about the resistance? If it was... what did it really mean to her? After all, she was just another tech...

But she would go - curiosity hadn't killed her yet.

[Arcalane]

Exo brought the radio up again.

"Confirm Contact."

"Excellent. Follow her, for the time being. If she tries to find anyone from the Brotherhood to give them that address, you must stop her."

"Objective logged, sub-objectives added. Mission commences. Unit out."

Exo shut the radio off as it moved along the rooftops and followed Baiye, stopping dead and looking like a strange statue whenever she glanced up toward it.

--

~The Warehouse~

Two Rebellion technicians lurked in the shadows of the warehouse, around the old console and comms system they used to keep in touch with Exo. It was old, and thus ideal - the Brotherhood was so obsessed with it's advanced technology that older radio systems could be used and the Brotherhood would never think to check them...

"That thing gives me the creeps." commented the younger of the two, a human somewhere in his early 20s.

"The 'bot, Exo?" the other replied, this one a white-furred feline somewhere in his late 30s.

"Yeah. It's... kinda unnerving."

"Learning artificial intelligences start off like that, but then they grow. At the end of 10 years you can have a psychopathic warmachine or an administrative genius. The important part is the first two or three years." said the older, obviously a little more experienced, "I'm not sure which route our friend there will take."

"Let's hope it's not the former."

"He's not showing any signs of uncontrollable rage and anger so it's a good bet that he's not going down that path yet." the older smiled as he looked back to the console, tail swishing idly. "Now, let's see if the bird takes the bait."

"Sooner rather than later, I hope."

"Patience is a virtue, my friend."

"Yes, well..." the younger shrugged.

The older muttered to himself. "Humans... impatient animals..."

[techmaster-glitch]

After standing around for a minute or so, Jexx decided to simply go back to his usual standby: Find a high place, and wait for something interesting to happen. After getting up onto the roof of a building, Jexx jumped around roofs until he found a tall spire to climb. He got to the top, and alighted on it. There he sat, scanning the city before him...watching...waiting...

[Ryudo Lee]

After a long while, Jexx would eventually notice that someone down below was looking up at him.  Seems this guy wanted to be noticed.  He doesn't look like he's from the Brotherhood.  Rather he looks like he'd blend in with a crowd.  Rebellion?  Was he worth checking out?

~~

The zealots approached the door.
"Think it's strong?" One asked.
The other brought his rifle up.
"Just get your gun out.  Strong or not, it's going down, and coming with us." He said.
The other brought out his rifle and knocked on the door hard, both guns aimed at the door.

~~

Morgan's messages were the usual things.  Bill, spam, job offer, spam, spam, spam, you've won a million credits reply now, spam, spam... and one other with a subject line of "Join the Rebellion".  The contents of the message contained the usual rebellion propoganda, but what sets this message apart from any other is that this one addressed Morgan by name, and provided a real address... to an abandoned warehouse.

[Boog]

Mister heard their entire conversation from his corner of the lobby and, had he the required points of articulation, would have frowned. Guests did not arrive armed. That was nothing more than purest rudeness. Then again, the Master at times had friends over to join him in hunting. These did not act like associates of the master, though. They were course in voice and manner, and seemed most unbecoming. Hesitantly, Mister crossed the room and opened the door.
The first of the zealots fired on sight. Fortunatly, he was too surprised to point the gun anywhere other than directly at the door and thus missed the golem by inches. Mister's reflexes were not nearly so sluggish, one hand snapping palm out forward toward the offending zealot.

[Tapewolf]

In a completely different world, Jakob and Azrael fussed over the console in their arctic research lab.  Behind them, Ashley ran through a series of diagnostics and consulted the source code, but to little avail.

"It's the compensators," he said.  "It must be.  I guess we still just haven't got them to work as effectively as magic would."

Azrael swore.  "We'll get there in the end.  I guess we'd better shut down now as the power coupling is starting to overheat again."

Resurrected as an android, Azrael had lost his magical abilities.  For the most part he didn't mind, but he did miss the ability to create portals, and since he couldn't even identify the correct type of enchanted crystals by himself anymore, he had been developing a system to create portals that was based entirely on regular physics.  Besides, they could probably even sell the technology as a star-drive.

The warp system was a curious mixture of technologies.  The computer systems were state-of-the-art about two hundred years earlier but still adequate for the job.  This went hand in hand with quantum memory storage, repair nanites and the valve technology used in the power couplings.  It could have been designed to use transistors of course, but added complexity was something Jakob hated, or he would probably have replaced the computer.
Vacuum tubes were simpler and cheaper for amplifying and modulating the megawatts of power that it took to open an interdimensional portal.

"I've lost contact with the probe," called a voice over the intercom.  "I'm going to fetch it."

"No, Dorcan!" yelled Ashley.  "Get back here.  We're going to have to shut down!"  There was no reply.

The doberman stepped gingerly through the portal, immediately catching a glimpse of some furless pink creature in the distance.  Humans! he thought, and quickly stepped back through the portal before they could see him.  Once he had been an incubus, but now, like Azrael, he was a machine, so he was forced to stick to a more conventional mode of disguise.

He donned a hooded robe and some gloves from the store cupboard.  With the hood down it concealed his animal features and he could probably be taken for a human from a distance.  Satisfied, he strode back into the Gate and the unknown world beyond.
The probe could be up to a hundred feet by now, but he had a signaling device and quickly located it.
Taking care not to tread on it, he tucked the small plastic vehicle under his arm, wondering yet again where the thing had come from originally.  Jakob had obviously modified it quite heavily which might account for why it had no tracks even though the word 'bigtrak' was written down the side of it.

Just as he approached the Gate, one of the valves blew in the power-coupling system.  For a few seconds the other two shared the load in a doomed attempt to take the strain, the glass glowing cherry-red until they quickly followed suite.  The gate flickered and vanished as though it had never been.

"Oh shit," said Dorcan.  Back in his home universe, Azrael and Jakob uttered exactly the same word.

[bill]

When the explosion happened, Griffith was a block and a half to the south, waiting for a bus. The explosion rattled his bench, and produced a deafening roar to the north.

"Fuck."
Griffith got up, and walked toward the now burning house. A small crowd of onlookers had gathered around the scene.
The explosion had destroyed most of the house, and the fire had little left to burn. In the distance, he could hear a familiar mixture of screams, shouts, and sirens.

He looked at the scene and sighed.
"I can't believe I forgot my fucking camera."

Griffith started to walk back to the south, whistling.

[Ryudo Lee]

During Victor's search, several hits for the rebellion came up.  Their listings displayed the usual propoganda as well as generous commissions, bounties, and getting in full time with the rebellion with good pay.  Though they don't list anything about a pension or long-term benefits.

~~

It soon became obvious that someone was following Griffith.  The person soon caught up with him and walked up along side of him.
"If it's pictures you'd like to see, I've got many." He said.
He produced a small palm-sized screen and clicked a button.  It began a slideshow of other demolished homes and buildings.
"This isn't out of the ordinary for them.  Want to do something about it?" He asked.

~~

The next thing Dorcan heard was several clicks as many Brotherhood weapons were pointed at his head.  Before he could react, he was hauled away and lead to room that contained a chair and several tools that appeared to have only one purpose: interrogations.  One of the Brotherhood zealots waved the others away.
"I got this one." He said in a monotone voice.
When the others left the room, the zealot walked over to the door and seemed to be listening for them.  He then turned and then pulled his hood back and pulled off his facemask.  He was a young cat, calico, with brown hair.
"Alright, I'm getting you out of here.  I don't know where you came from but you came in at a very bad time in a very bad place.  This is the Brotherhood tower, I'm with the rebellion.  They're the bad guys and they'll probably want to kill you." He said.
He approached a section of the floor and pulled up a hidden handle.  The tile came up revealing a trap door.
"Get in and follow the tunnel out of here.  I'll keep them occupied.  Get yourself to the abandoned warehouse 19 down the road.  You'll know it when you see it.  Our people can help you." He said. "Go now, there's no time for questions!"
The zealots on the other side of the door began knocking and then pounding on the door.

~~

Mister had caught that zealot off guard and caused him to fall back.  But the other brought his weapon to bear.
"Awright, time for you to die, magic scum!" He shouted as he pulled the trigger.

[Paladin Sheppard]

Selecting one of the contracts, Victor copied the contact point to his memeory then wiped the entry off the screen.

"Warehouse 19 huh."

Picking up a dufflebag he kept packed for long jobs he folded the stock on his MAS12 and placed the dualbarreled semi-auto shotgun in the bag with several drum mags.

Straping the Viper5 to his leg, he made sure the E-cell was fully charged, and ready as well as the two spares in the holster.

Turning out the lights he looked longingly at the MAWS. "Sorry partner can't take you on this job." Closing the door he started walking towards the warehouse district.

[Tapewolf]

Dorcan didn't need to be told twice.  Grabbing the probe he leapt down the tunnel and fled at a remarkable pace.  Most mortals could manage a burst of speed like this, but none of them would be able to sustain it and even if they could, they wouldn't be able to concentrate on anything else, the blood flow being diverted away from their brains.

What the hell was that about? he wondered.  Who were those people?
Dorcan had seen Jakob's videos of Earth although he hadn't been there himself.  Although Jakob admittedly hadn't done much exploring, he had yet to visit a world which had both humans and furres lived together.  Usually it was either one or the other.

The feline had said they were 'the Brotherhood', but why would they want to kill him?  The cat had been in disguise, though.  Obviously a militant anti-furre group, he reasoned.
Pulling the hood tight around his face, he emerged from a manhole and quickly spotted the industrial estate.  There was no-one around, but that could change at any moment and running would only make him look conspicuous, so he strode casually towards the warehouse and knocked on the door.

What am I going to tell them? he asked himself.

[techmaster-glitch]

OOC: Goddammit, I am so fricken late...

   Jexx was still up on the spire, scanning the city and contemplating. He didn't have any cybernetic implants beyond his limbs, save for the basic neural intefacing for them, so he didn't have anything in the way of optical enhancements, or synthetic audio receptors. Nevertheless, thanks to good genetics, he did posses slightly above-average eyesight.
   Which is why when, for one moment, he looked straight down...
   He saw one face looking up, right at him.
   "Oh..." Jexx stuttered, cursing. His mind was in a total frozen lockdown, taken completely by surprise. Who the hell was this guy? How did he see Jexx? Jexx was just high enough and keeping just still enough that most people should mistake him for a statue or something. Jexx though for a moment this guy might be looking at a bird or something, but the man's gaze never left Jexx. There was no doubt. He knew Jexx was right there, and this guy could see him clearly. He most likely had optical implants of some sort.
   When Jexx's mind began moving again, albiet like a chrome-snail, his first though was to get the hell out of there. This guy could be some sort of Brotherhood spy! But no, Jexx thought, if he is with the Brotherhood, he would tell them about Jexx. And Jexx had made it a point in his two-year-remembered life that he doesn't leave witnesses. But even as Jexx observed the man, who seemed strangely calm, Jexx just barely made out that he was dressed in the rugged, baggy type of clothing that the Rebellion prefers.
   Still completely confused, Jexx came to only one conclusion, and one course of action. Hell, if this guy can see me, he can see this. Jexx held out his left handcannon, pointing is straight at the stranger. Jexx morphed his right cannon into a hand, and, with his left handcannon still clearly trained on the mystery man, Jexx began slowly climbing down the spire.

[bill]

It soon became obvious that someone was following Griffith.  The person soon caught up with him and walked up along side of him.
"If it's pictures you'd like to see, I've got many." He said.
He produced a small palm-sized screen and clicked a button.  It began a slideshow of other demolished homes and buildings.
"This isn't out of the ordinary for them.  Want to do something about it?" He asked.

"Sorry man, I'm not a humanitarian. Plus, I never work for free."
Griffith took out a water bottle and took a long swig.
"Assuming, of course, that ya'll have a use for a retired Navy Amphib."
Griffith stood back a little and watched.
Let's see how much the guy offers.

[Boog]

"Magic scum," were certainly not the words that a guest of the Master would use. It could only be assumed that these were burglers, or part of that pro-alchemy movement he had heard tale of so many years ago. Either way, they must be dealt with.
The contruct's arm was already outstretched. It was the work of but a moment to slam said limb sideways (although still being careful not to damage the molding around the doors, it was quite expensive as he recalled) into the other zealot. The rifle fire went wide, smashing a gas lamp to the side of the door. Fortunately, the gas wasn't on in that particular light, preventing a nasty explosion. It did get Mister's back up. The nerve of these brutes! That lamp would take months to replace!
The first cultist was rising again, and the other had prevented his falling completely by throwing himself toward the wall. Fortunately, Mister was if anything resourceful. He quickly shifted onto one ankle wheel and executed a rapid spin in place, limbs flailing out to catch both members of the Brotherhood in a whirlwind of iron fisted blows. When it became apparent that the intruders were thoroughly incapacitated he slowed down and stopped, his whirling coming to an end with a sound not entirely unlike a teapot recently taken off of the stove. He picked both intruders up by the hoods of their robes and kicked their weapons further away from them, and checked for a pulse. By law, one did not simply hang or hex intruders nowadays, but apparently he had once more overexerted himself. He looked around at the damage that they had done after being knocked into the flower arrangements, the hole in the wall and the smashed lamp from their shots, and gave a tinny-sounding sigh. Always more work to be done about the place.
An idea occurred to the construct. The compost used in gardening is as important as the soil. This was why one regulated the compost heaps just as closely as the rosebushes one planted nearby to mask the aroma. These two intruders would probably enrich the current nutrient balance in the heaps by a great deal. That was how you do it, Mister thought to himself as he strode off, once more possessed of that "would whistle if I could" feeling. Always focus on the positive.

[Azlan]

Morgan routed all of the spam into the trash and blocked the senders, the job offer was nice, but he really did not want to travel to a place with Paradise in the name, they really ever were any type of area like that.  More junk, million credits won, sure. 

The last email was was worrisome.  Speaking to no one in particular as he reviewed email in his internal systems, Morgan stifled a small chuckle, "This had better not tell me to follow the white rabbit."

The email was sent from some anonymous sender or zombie mailer and was entirely untraceable.  Checking his firewall appliance's upstate and the settings on his software one as well, he reluctantly opened the message, hoping the dozen or so virus and other malicious algorithm detection software was not triggered by some hidden payload. 

While this computer work was being done, Morgan had physically begun to boil some water for pasta and had a small amount of meat sauce simmering.  He munched on some chilled champagne grapes as he prepared to review the odd message.

Opening the message in cyberspace coincided with Morgan adding a dollop of olive oil to the boiling water and vermicelli noodles.   The message was clean and mostly propaganda, but he was surprised to find a real address.

He had never been to this particular location, but he accessed the global mapping system and downloaded a three dimensional schematic for the warehouse and the surrounding area.  He used an anonymous business account and not his own to access the map data.

Morgan made note of three observation points he should check to make sure this was not some trap.

"If they know me, I should perhaps find out what they want."

Morgan finished his small meal of spaghetti,  salad and grapes (grapes were almost always present). 

Changing into dark casual wear, he paid a visit to his small, shielded and hidden room.  He had planned on milling a few more shells tonight, but that would have to wait.  He strapped on his shoulder holsters for the pistols and grabbed the special armored case, it would weigh a ton for most normal people.

In the garage he went from his inside house entrance, Morgan placed the heavy case in its special concealed spot in the trunk and covered it back over.

Morgan was known to club at nights, so his leaving now, though a bit early, was not unusual.  The drive through the city was typical and he kept to normal routes.  The maps downloaded to his computer system played out the route in his mind's eye. 

Arriving at his destination and a good bit away from the target area, Morgan turned off his lights and pulled into another abandoned warehouse and concealed his vehicle.  He exited and activated the security system, he also enabled the A-NAV, so he could remotely call and operate the car as needed.

As quiet as a fox, Morgan quietly and carefully examined his target points for any unusual people or concealed observation equipment.  though appearing human, his reflexes and physical abilities were far superior due to his species origin and cybernetic enhancements.  He observed his first point, then second and finally third before readying himself for the final approach for the "meeting".

[Kryptic]

Gidget met Baiye down on the street, his short mechanical legs moving in perfect robotic sync. He looked slightly perturbed, but he trotted up faithfully to Baiye, seemingly the typical canine. Baiye grinned at him, his ears flattened to his skull, and his jaw set in a sarcastic grimace.

"Now what?" he drawled at Baiye, swinging his head up toward her.

"Now..." she breathed as she slipped on the headset the cainoid had brought her "We go somewhere we probably can't turn back from." She pulled up on her fingerless gloves, breathing deeply. "Come on. We have a date with destiny."

"You know that sounds really cheesy coming from you, right? You're more of a 'Let's move' person anyways." The dog flashed a rather odd grin back up at her, and she narrowed her eyes in response. After her glare recieved no recognition from the crazed AI, she rolled her gray eyes and started walking to the address the note had indicated.

Gid did a quick double take after her, and quickly jogged up to her heels, his shoulders parallel to her short leather boots. He followed his creator as they rounded the corner in front of the warehouse, where he stopped short and cast her a strange look as she kept walking.

"Why here? Rent too costly downtown?" he quipped, his ears folded back again.

Baiye looked back at Gidget, exasperated. Stupid dog was afraid of nearly everything. She rolled her eyes and motioned with her chin to head inside.

Slowly Baiye slid the huge warehouse door open; robot dog quivering at her feet, tail tucked between his legs. She slid her headset down over her eyes... hopefully that new infrared camera had been worth the money she spent on it.

[Tapewolf]

Dorcan knocked on the warehouse door again.  Was it the right one?  'Nineteen' he'd been told, but there was no reply so far.  He listened carefully for any sounds within the building.

When he was alive, Dorcan's hearing had been somewhere between that of a human and a feral canine, sensitive and capable of hearing up to about 35 kilohertz.  After his death it was about the same - Jakob and Ashley had taken great care to try and replicate the hearing of a normal Being or Creature.  After all, the blessing of resurrection would be somewhat marred if you came back hard of hearing.

So although a human wouldn't have heard the faint scuffing behind him, Dorcan suddenly turned to to see a  red-haired man observing him.  He was armed.  Dorcan spun around in a panic, the hood flapping against his face and betraying the nonhuman shape of his muzzle.

"Oh gods," he yelped, placing the bigtrak between his knees and raising a pair of brown gloved hands.  "Don't shoot!  I surrender!"

[Ryudo Lee]

The man eyeing Jexx simply turned and calmly walked down the street.  After a few steps, he turned and gestured for Jexx to follow.  He seemed to be heading towards the warehouse district.

~~

The man didn't even turn his head to speak to Griffith.
"Everyone has their uses in our organization.  Humanitarian or not, these guys are a threat not only to everyday folks, but eventually to you too.  One day they may just decide that you're in the way, and poof, you're no more.  And as for money, we pay well, and you can keep what you find." He stopped talking for a moment and finally looked over at him. "The Brotherhood has a lot of advanced technology that I'm sure you'd be able to put to good use."
He produced a folded piece of paper and shoved it into Griffith's hand.
"No one works for free for us.  We pay hard credits and lots of 'em.  A man with your skills can go far.  If you're interested, go to that address." He said.
The man turned down an alley and disappeared from view.

~~

After the scuffle, both zealots weren't actually killed, only knocked out.  One of them regained consciousness to see that he was being held up.  His hands shot behind his back and came out with a detonation pack.  He hit the primer and tossed it.
"Praise techonology!  Praise Mother!  Praise God!" He cried out as the pack flew.
The pack exploded.

~~

The door to the warehouse opened and on the other side stood several armed rebellion men and one man in uniform who looked very important.  Noticing the exchange, he sighed.
"Alright, alright, get inside before someone sees you." He said.
The armed guards backed off and the important guy took a step to the side.
"Welcome to the rebellion, gentlemen.  We are still waiting for a few others to decide to take our offers, so come in, have a seat, relax." He said.
He looked out the door and caught sight of someone coming down the street.  (OOC that would be Victor and Baiye he sees.)
"Ah, more arrive as we speak." He said as he waved at Victor and again at Baiye.

[Paladin Sheppard]

Checking that no one other than the silver haired girl and her cainoid, (who seemed to be heading for the same warehouse) Victor hurried over to the man waving at them.

[Tapewolf]

"Rebellion?" said Dorcan, removing his hood and blinking.  He sounded confused.    "You guys are furre sympathisers, right?"

[techmaster-glitch]

   As Jexx got close to the bottom, the stranger began walking away, but then stopped for a moment to gesture for Jexx to follow. Jexx finally got to the bottom and took off after him.
   Jexx followed the man though twisting alleyways and streets. Jexx was barely able to keep up with him, the man was already turning the next corner everytime Jexx turned the last. I have really got to find a different lookout so people just can't look up and see me, Jexx thought, That or investing in personal cloaking technology and some new enhancement implants is really starting to sound like a good idea. Jexx still followed the man, barely keeping behind him...