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

[Paladin Sheppard]

"Ahhh screw this, wait for me!" Wanting to work out some of his anger on some faceless brotherhood goons, Victor grabed his duffle bag and sprinted out to the vans. "I can work something out with Jackson later." He said as he got into the seat next to Dr Sally.

[Tapewolf]

Somehow Dorcan had wound up at the end of the queue.  Selecting the first van with room, he hopped in.  He had to lean forward to avoid squashing his backpack and the wings inside, but he didn't have any problems of muscle strain anymore so it was no great hardship.

[Prof B Hunnydew]

Seeing Victor's angry look, the Doc says "Peace Victor, I have work something out with Mia.. I will give my services for free and we get your sensors.  Let's mind the mission and when you're Better then you can go for revenge."

It was too late now, but the otter had hope to sit with Baiye, and girl-talked with her, which would have drove the males mad during the three hour drive.

PBH

[Ryudo Lee]

Jackson and Mia watched as the group piled into the vans.
"Think they'll be able to figure this one out?" Mia asked.
"With a little luck, they just might pull it off.  If they do, I've got big plans for them." Jackson replied as he waved goodbye to the group.

~~

(Moving on)

As the group drove on, they passed several smaller settlements that appeared to have been burned to the ground.  There was the odd hitchhiker or two along the way, looking to bum a ride.  Otherwise, the trip to Northon was completely uneventful.

Northon itself would appear strange.  There's next to no Brotherhood presence, except for the tower.  The people seem to be going about their day, but there are no zealots, no enforcers, no Brotherhood at all, save the tower.

[Tapewolf]

"Perhaps we should have used a coach," Dorcan said as the group congregated outside the vans.  The journey had been long and boring, but it had given him a few interesting ideas in the meantime.

"Exo," he said, "I believe you mentioned voice-activated cortex bombs.  Tell me more about those.  For example, do they all have the same keyphrase?  And if so, do you know what it is?"

[techmaster-glitch]

   Jexx blinked his eyes a bit, getting used to the sunlight as they all clambered out of the vans for a break and to organize to split up when he heard Dorcan's question. "Actually, I could tell you about those. " Jexx said. "What are they? They are godamned annoying, that's what they are. They can be disabled, but even if you do know what you are doing, the success rate for disabling them is very low, though I have managed to do it a few times. And yes, the activation command is the same; 'I give my life in sacrifice for the Brotherhood of the Machine'. If you hear someone start to say that, stop his ass, quick."

[lucas marcone]

Josh clambered out of the little box he'd been stuffed in fot the duration of the trip. "Thank you for the nice chat Bayie, all that info will do me some good."

[Azlan]

Morgan slipped out of the seat and stretched, "I loved the scenery on the way here, early ground war or late witch-hunting, I'm having trouble placing the theme."

Morgan activated his optics and examined the tower, which he moved to a window in his field of vision.  His primary concern was extending his sense out to the area for any odd emanations or auras that may be present within his line of sight.

[Tapewolf]

Dorcan stood pondering, as though in a trance.  "Baiye," he said suddenly, "I am not sure quite how we are going to approach this, but since we are splitting into teams, may I possibly tag along with you?  Among other things, I'll need a native guide in order to appear incon... uh, well, less conspicuous."  And I would like to expand upon our earlier discussion of android technology, he added mentally.

[techmaster-glitch]

   "Hey, I answered your question, you deaf, ungreatful xenopunk! And I think you're also getting waaaay ahead of yourself." Jexx said, narrowing his eyes at Dorcan for what he said to Baiye. That does it. I'm keeping an eye on this guy. He though. "First, we have to figure out where we are going to deploy the vans around the city for surveilence, then we figure out who's going in which van, then we decide who's going in pairs with who, and who's going in singles."
   Jexx quickly jumped back in one of the vans, and came back out clumsily holding a map of Nothon with his handcannons.
   "Now, the vans should be deployed at three points, preferably near the borders of the city. They will serve as staging points, places to fall back to if something goes wrong, and command posts to coordinate our efforts." Jexx flattend the map out on a wall of one of the vans, and was silent for a moment. "And... this is where someone else picks the spots. All I know how to do is wing' it. I'm not used to having any sort of base in a strategic location. I just adapt to whatever I can get."

[Kryptic]

Despite the bumpy ride that Exo had provided, Baiye had gotten a fair amount of work done on the transponder. It hadn't helped that Josh was being irritating and annoying with his questions, but she had gotten it mostly workable. She streached as she got out of the van, yawning and shaking her head.

"Exo - it should be close to finished by now... the transponder. I'll leave it to you to get it working the rest of the way. All it needs is for you to flip switches on the chip until it works. That's about all." She grinned and handed the transponder back to the 'bot, then turned around to face Dorcan.

"Sure, Dorcan. Gid'll come along too. He's got the layout of the town programed in, so we'll be fine. To be honest, I've never really been out here, save for one or two repair jobs. Of course, this is only if everyone else thinks it's a good idea." She jerked her head almost involuntarily in the direction of Jexx, her lop-sided smile creeping up her features again.

"In my opinion, It'd probably be best if you're with either me, Doc, or maybe, er, Griff, right?" She cast a look towards the red-head, a tiny bit embarrassed. "Anyhow - I think we're probably the best match... Doc's got Victor to keep an eye on, and Griff's got more important stuff than to harass citizens, I believe."

[Tapewolf]

"Thank you," Dorcan said to Baiye, a faint note of relief in his voice.  He turned back to Jexx.

"Peace," he said, with a slight flash of his eyes.  "Thank you for your information... it was most interesting.  I must admit I'm not sure who put you in charge, though.  Or perhaps I missed that too."

[Prof B Hunnydew]

"Well, Baiye Can you check the local wireless net for any hidden signals or something coming fro the tower... and I will scan the people ramdomly... Goddess, I wish I could walk around in a Bio-suit.  I have know way of knowing what, or how the populous is effected or where it is coming from.  Do you guys someway to communicate with each other.?  and a command post?  How about this hotel south end of the city on the far side of town from the Tower.  Or we could just set up in the woods west of town.."

PBH

[techmaster-glitch]

   "Yeah, actually, we do have a way to communicate with each other and the van command posts," Jexx said. Jexx quickly nanomorphed his right handcannon into a hand to pull something out of his pocket to tack the map to the van side with, then jumped back in the van again. Jexx came back out with a handful of small black somethings.
   "I saw some of the Rebel techs loading our vans as we were getting ready to leave. We actually have a nice stock of stuff in those babies, weapons, tools, equipment, some totally random shit, in addition to the vans being our tricked-out command modules. I checked out some of it. These are microcommunicators. Found 'em in a storage compartment. Earpieces and tooth-mics. Several are made to fit furre ears and teeth, some made to fit human ears and teeth. There are even some designed to attach to a bot. Just fit one over whatever you use as an audio receptor, be you mechanical or biological, and one where you make noise. Take whatever fits." Jexx said with a wide smile on his face, like some kid at Christmas. Nanomorphing his other handcannon into a hand, he took two of the small black devices, fitted one into his ear, and another onto one of his teeth.
   But after he had done this, Jexx's face fell just slightly. "The only problem is, I'm not entirely sure how to work them. I've seen these kinds of things before, of course, who hasn't? But every model is different, I'm not sure how to turn them on." Jexx turned to Exo and Baiye. "Would either of you care to enlighten us? This is your standard equipment, after all."

[lucas marcone]

Josh was slightly biwildered at all the tech. He was, however just as amazed" For a while all they saw of hime was a tail and legs. The tail swishing in joy and his legs and feet moveing as he positioned him self to better reach or see more tech. All the while grabbing random gizmos and pressing buttons to figure out what it does. "OH look at this!" he cried, "And this and OOOooo!" Then as he found what seemed to be a communication device they saw him land flat on his bum holding his ears as static noise came from it. Seems he turned the volume all the way up before turning it on createing a feedback loop. He was unaware though. "AH make it stop! I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry!"

[techmaster-glitch]

   Being a furre like Josh, and thus having a bit better hearing than a human, Jexx's ears were also more sensitive to the feedback loop being emitted by the handheld extended-range radio transcommunicator lying next to the technology-challenged idiot. Quickly tossing the handful of microcommunicators onto a chair in the open van, Jexx stepped over to Josh in one stride, and crushed the communicator beneath a heavy metal foot.
   "There. It stopped." Jexx said through gritted teeth. "This may not be my stuff, but please, for the love of all that is unholy, ask someone to tell you what something does instead of randomly activating crap. Quite a bit of this stuff is dangerous. Lethaly dangerous. As in, there-won't-be-enough-ashes-of-you-left-to-fill-a-cremation-jar lethal. Got it?"
   Jexx slowly reached back in the van and scooped up the microcommunicators. "Now, everyone grab two and fit them, before Mr. Techno-Dazzled here blows us all to hell. And we still need to know how to activate them." Jexx said pointedly to Exo and Bayie.

[Arcalane]

Exo shrugs at Jexx as it fiddles with the transponder, then pops it's chestplate off and puts it in - but doesn't plug it in just yet. "Don't look at me."

It pauses and processes, calculating...

"Unit recalls a covered clearing... perhaps to the south-west of Northon... big enough for a small camp... invisible from the air by most means due to thick foliage. Enough room for a vehicle and some tents, should we need to spend several days in the vicinity... given the nature of Northon, Unit would advise that nobody eat from any food stores or restaurants, drink from any public fountains or bottled drinks, or even rest in any beds inside the city whilst we are here. There are numerous similar coverings on the outskirts for hiding the vehicles in... suffice to say, Unit finds these vehicles somewhat suspicious in appearance. Three unmarked black vans is somewhat suspect, to say the least."

[techmaster-glitch]

   Jexx stared slightly at Exo. "It's made by your people...and you're not familiar with it. Wonderful." Jexx popped the microcommunicator reciever out of his ear and looked it over, fingering it. After a minute, "Aha! I think I've got it!" Jexx put a metal pinky on a flat spot on the reciever, and twisted. A tiny beep was heard. Jexx then replaced it back in his ear, and stuck his pinky in his ear after it, twisting back and fouth. "Yeah, I think this turns it on as well as being the volume control..."
   Jexx then took the transmitter microcommunicator off of his tooth and looked it over. In a much shorter time, Jexx found a very small bump and pushed it. Another beep emitted from it. Putting it back on a tooth, Jexx said "Yeah, I think that does it. Alright, now everyone else take one transmitter and reciever that fits you so we can test them."
   Jexx held out his hand, palm open and up, offering the handful of assorted-fitting microcommunicators to the group.

[Tapewolf]

"Was that a good idea?" said Dorcan nervously, as Jexx smashed one of the communicators.  "We might have needed that later."  He took a receiver and fitted it.  With his long ears flopping down, it was undetectable.
Gingerly he attached one of the transmitters to a tooth.  With a relatively low audio bandwidth, no-one should be able to tell that he didn't have normal vocal apparatus.

Jakob had discarded the idea of synthesizing the entire voice early on, since it would have meant that the robots could talk with their mouths closed, and even if they mimed the action of speaking, it was possible to tell that the fricatives and other such sounds were not being produced by the mouth.
So instead, Dorcan's throat contained a small transducer which generated the fundamentals.  It did slightly more than this as he didn't have the normal resonant cavities, but that was nitpicking.  His voice was carried in a stream of compressed air to his mouth where it was finalised by his tongue and lips.

"Testing," he said.  "1-2-3 testing..."

[Prof B Hunnydew]

The Doc dislike the idea of Implant for herself, so she took the choker mic and earrings model.   It look like a matching junk jewelery set with a remote unit to setting up the frequencies and volume controls.

"Okay listen up Ladies!" says the Doc with giggle"I always want to say that... NO seriously Remember no eating or drinking and avoid any touching of the townpeople.  I think the BrotherHood may have found a way to reproduction nanites in the biological body and they can be program to to change moods and maybe even control thoughts.  So, be carefull, The reason I scan all of you is so I can check on any change in you.  So, I will be check on anyone who returns to our base of operation to ensure you are still on our side.  And where is our base of operation?"

PBH 

[lucas marcone]

"As if i needed ANOTHER reason to feel like an outcast." Josh said "Maybe if you find a way to send him back to what ever magical world he came from you shold pop me into a portal to the same place." Josh motioned to Dorcan. Josh knew now that his inexperence with technology would really bite him in the ass later. For now though he stepped back poped both parts of communicator on and in. He would watch and learn.

[Boog]

Mister staggered out of one of the vans, one hand to his head.
"I have learned something important about this day and age," he braced one hand against the vehicle and straightened up, "And that is that next time, I suggest this vehicle be manned by a different driver. Now..." he looked down at himself, "How do we intend to properly hide our presence here?"

[techmaster-glitch]

   Jexx walked over to Mister. "Here 'ya go" Jexx said, placing a microcommunicator reciever and transmitter in the golem's hand and activating them for him. "Just place the reciever wherever you hear, and the transmitter wherever you speak. They should automatically magnatize and attach to you." Jexx then noticed that Mister was seemingly woozy as he had gotten out of them van. "What, are you carsick? A carsick robot?" Jexx said quizzicaly.
   Jexx looked over at Dorcan when he said crushing the handlheld communicator was a bad idea. Jexx simpy hoped back in the van, again, and came to the doorway holding five more in his hand by their antennas. "We have plenty more, I don't think it's going to be a problem. Besides, we probably won't even need them. These microcommunicators," Jexx said, pointing to his ear, "Usually have a range radius of about, oh say, a town of similar size to this one," Jexx waved around, indicating the town they were in, "Though if two of us get to opposite sides, the signal may start to get a little fuzzy. These handheld extended-range radio transcommunicators," Jexx said, waving the five he had in his hand, "Are powerful enough to reach across entire cities, and if hooked up to a booster, even furthur. I don't think we are going to need them, but you never know. There are also more in all three vans. You don't have to worry about me smashing one." Jexx put the transcommunicators where he found them.
   Jexx jumped back out of the van, and held out the rest of the microcommunicators. "Anyone who hasn't gotten some yet should grab some. Even you, Exo." Jexx said to the big warbot. "And even that little, um...giddy...thing...there..." Jexx said, pointing to the small robotic dog standing loyally next to Baiye.
   "I've got an idea about hiding you, if you want to hear it." Jexx said to Mister. "And setting up one of the vans in that clearing just outside town like Exo said sounds like a good idea. Still need places for the other two. I would suggest putting one in the general vicinity of the Tower," Jexx said, pointing to the east edge of the town on the map. "But not within visual range, of course. I got nothing for the third one though. But what do I know? Like I said, this isn't my area of expertise."

[Tapewolf]

"Good," said Dorcan, looking at the heap of transmitters.  "Are the handheld units compatible with the microtransceivers or are they just for calling back to base?  Either way, I'd like to take one just to be on the safe side," he said, stuffing one into his backpack.

[techmaster-glitch]

   "To be quite honest, I have no idea. Like I said, this is Rebel tech, and I've never used it before. Only by fiddling with the micros could I even figure out how to turn on the damned things." Jexx puased for a moment. "However, since there seems to be no way to adjust the frequency or channel of the micros, I would hazard a guess that they all operate on the same dedicated secured Rebel channel. At least I hope it's secure. It better be. The transcommunicators, however," Jexx jumped back in the van, "Are probably variable-frequency. Since they are also made by the Rebels, they probably have the same coding that would allow them to get into the microcommunicator channel." Jexx appeared in the doorway again, and tossed a transcommunicator to Dorcan. "Knock yourself out. Like I said, this isn't my stuff, but the Rebel techs obviously loaded our vans with the equipment to be at out disposal. No pun intended." Jexx said, glancing at the twisted remains of the transcommunicator he crushed. "Not my job to manage the inventory, or keep you from something you want. Unless said something is dangerous and you have no freaking clue what you're doing!" Jexx quickly added, glancing in Josh's direction.
   Instead of completely getting out of the van this time, Jexx just sat down on the floor of the van on the edge of the doorway, hanging his metal legs onto the sidewalk. Jexx held out the handful of microcommunicators again. "Now, please, if you haven't gotten some, please take some. It does get to be tiring to hold out these heavy metal arms all the time. If you want to know if the vans have a piece of equipment you want, just ask what you want and I'll poke around for you. Unless you'd rather look yourself, of course. In which case there are two more vans filled with more junk right here." Jexx said, pointing to the two other vans at the front and back of the van he was sitting in.

[lucas marcone]

 "I may not be a technogenious but arn't you the one who just now suggested fiddleing with the devices to get them to work?" Josh said "If noone has any objections, it might be prudent to find a place to stay before we get caught."

[techmaster-glitch]

   Jexx looked at Josh. "First off, I didn't suggest fiddling with stuff to make them work, I said that's what I did with the microcommunicators, and only the microcommunicators. Second, I knew the micros were harmless, I just didn't know how to turn them on. Third, I know what's safe to mess with and what's not.
   "But you do make a good point. I also agree with moving out, for now. We can go to that clearing Exo mentioned. We can also kill two birds with one laser; we can finish planning, sorting, and equiping, as well as set up one of the vans as the first command post.
   "Who else thinks that Josh's idea is a good one?"

[lucas marcone]

Out of nowhere Josh came walking out from behind a building. "It seems however in fiddling with some gizmos I figured out a few things." He reached through his double and picked up an eliptical semi-flat object and turned it off saying " And that by FAR has to be my fave. I was looking over a few locals from out of sight and they seem pretty normal. What ever  they are doing to them it may be subliminal. but that is beside the point three vans full of gear out in the open is hardly normal...least to ME it isnt. I'm a little worried is all so we may wish to speed this up."

[Azlan]

Morgan took one of the units and spent a few minutes staring at it.

Analyzing... Frequency ranges determined, unit is capable of conventional broadcast, point-to-point link, paging and secure frequency encryption.  Frequency spoofed.

"Testing, testing... 1, 2, 3... Alpha, Bravo, Charlie."

Morgan tested the communications and pocketed the unit.  "We should use the secure channel, it uses a standard portable phone signal to hide the point-to-point communication.  I think we should move to Exo's suggested point and establish our base camp.  From there we should determine who does what."

change to subroutine for nanite intrusion.  change to <eliminate> as primary behavior; priority to <critical>; <analyze> all intrusive nanites, however <recycle> to base material composition only, eliminate all molecular engine components.

[Kryptic]

"Well, It's not my gadgets - but I'm sure they work similar to what I have." Baiye smiled and tapped her headset - she had a two-way communications link with Gidget, and so she was somewhat more literate in the technology than the others, she supposed.

"First off, I want to know if what I have is compatible - It'll be much easier to splice Gidget's internal implants into our network than to put ill-fitting communicators on externally. Mine may be a little more conspicuous, but I'd like to be able to have mine on rather than some Brotherhood technology - personal preference and all that." She smiled and removed her headset, gently prodding the antenna attached to it so it slipped back into the headband of the 'set. Now, it just looked like a simple set of earphones - with the mic being just a reciver for vibrations from her jaw. It was a bit older technology-wise, but it worked just fine - and she was rather sensitive about her teeth anyways.

"Well, it seems our wireless is clean - no traces really. After all, they're hiding just as much as we are. And it probably isn't so much of an internet signal as it is a radio signal - probably a short-band frequency only their operatives know. With today's radios - looking for their frequency would be more like finding a nanochip in a haystack. We're not going to get into their communications, as far as I can tell, but I certainly don't plan on the reverse happening either. I'm on our frequency now too, though - so I'm good." Gidget's electronic voice lacked all his earlier lightheartedness - he was monotone and down to business, no longer goofing off.

"As for turning those on..." Baiye paused as she picked up one of the receivers and one of the mics. "It's really self-explainitory. You don't need to mess with the frequency - all you need to do is turn it on. It's a smart bit of equipment, so it should adjust itself to your particular levels on it's own."

"Let's just get to Exo's spot - I definitely don't want to draw a crowd - it's a small town and just standing out here is definitely not helping our situation." She seemed a little on edge - maybe it was Jexx's remarks, or maybe Josh's antics - whatever. Something was starting to get her a bit anxious.