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

[Ryudo Lee]

At the diner...
Babs looked at Josh for a moment, with her head tilted to one side.
"Oh, are you asking me out on a date?" She asks.
Before he could muster an answer, she pulls out an order-taking pad from the diner that she keeps on her for some odd reason, and jots down her address and phone number.  She hands it to him.
"Call me." She says and then walks off to her car.

At the shed...
After a few moments, footsteps could be heard inside.
"I heard it from over here." A zealot's muffled voice said.
There was the sound of a door opening, and more footsteps.
"Over here, the window's broken." Another zealot's voice said.
A moment of silence.
"Tower come in... possible break in at station PC-03... no one visible on the inside, beginning perimeter search." A zealots voice said.
More footsteps, and then the front door opened, and out stepped the zealots who had entered earlier.

[techmaster-glitch]

   Jexx heard the brief exchange between the two Brotherhood members. Curling up even more, and whispering as quietly as he could, he hissed into his microcomm, "Guys! They think someone's still on the outside, they just got out. Hide! Take cover!"

[Tapewolf]

"Shh, we know!" hissed Dorcan urgently, wondering as he said so whether Morgan actually did know, having normal human hearing.  Either way, he wanted to hear anything else that the Brotherhood said.

He kept to the shadows, quietly edging backwards and hoping that they didn't have infra-red vision themselves.  If they do, both Morgan and I are screwed, he thought.

[lucas marcone]

Josh walked into Lenny's feeling pretty good. it had been a while since he tried to get a date with anyone and this time was by far the most sucessful.

[Ryudo Lee]

One of the zealots turned his head.
"Hey, you hear that?" He asked.
"No." The other replied.
"I know I heard someone talking." The first one said.
"Sure you did, just like reporting that some invisible person tried to break into the station." The other replied, sarcastically.
"What?  The window's broken, and it looks to me like..." The first said.
"Who cares what you think it looks like.  Let's just check out the perimeter and get back to work." The other said, interrupting him.
The third one finally spoke up.
"You guys handle the perimeter, I'm going back in." He said.
The third one reentered the station and closed the door behind him.
"You go that way, I'll go this way." The other zealot said to the first.
They began walking around the building.

[Catffeinated]

<Ha Ha! Knew it!>
<Phhht>
<Anyways, got the frequency and channel locked, all we need is the go-code>
Good... Gerald responded as he was pulling the van around, Maybe this will go as planned...

[Prof B Hunnydew]

Oops I erase this by accident I had to rewrite

But summary is

The doctor comments and teases Josh on his success with Bab the waitress... Ask Gerald to check the girl's info is right. 
The doctor drives them the local Hospital, Hospital of Southwind to check out more of townpeople victims.  And meets up with an old friend and college mate Dr Chad Westling

PBH

[Tapewolf]

Dorcan kept frozen.  There's only two of them, he thought.  There's three of us, and they've split up.  We could pick them off...
His hand drifted towards the stungun, ready to grab it at a moment's notice.  It was set to a wide beam, so he didn't even have to aim - one of the reasons he'd sprung for an energy weapon.  He might not even need to take it out of his pocket.

...But when the other guy inside realises they aren't coming back the place will be swarming, he added mentally, the impulse fading as he reasoned it through.  On the other hand if they find us we'll have lost the advantage of surprise.  There's no way I can pretend to be a happy brainwashed citizen if I'm lurking in the shadows like this...

[Azlan]

OOC: Sorry for not posting yesterday, I was lingering, but some serious issues at work kept me too busy to get a moment to do anything.


Morgan *thought* quickly on the comm channel, which translated to voice, Snap decision, we'll deal with the reprucussions later, Jexx... take out the zealot inside, we'll handle the two out here... or at least I will.  Any objections, voice them quickly before I strike or we will be committed.

Morgan quickly and quietly moved to the corner edge, ready to intercept the zealot as he reached it.  A quick move, grab over the mouth to stiffle any sound and a deadly knife hand to the base of the skull... right where the spine connected.  Quick, brutal and silent death was what he was aiming for.  He would strike when the zealot reached position.

[Tapewolf]

Dorcan winced slightly as Morgan gave the word.  He couldn't quite shake the idea that attacking these guys from behind with no warning would be murder.  It was hardly a fair fight - unless they made a critical mistake - and for all they knew these guys had joined the Brotherhood out of fear or coercion.  Either one of them could even be a double-agent like the cat who'd saved him, although that was rather unlikely.  Jackson would surely have told them if they had contacts in place here.

Whatever Morgan and Jexx may do, I'm taking mine alive, he thought.  After all, we can question him.  I'd be interested to know why he joined the brotherhood in the first place.

"One thing," he whispered into the comms.  "Are their vital signs transmitted via telemetry?  If attack these guys, is their friend inside going to know?"

[Ryudo Lee]

The zealot went down without a fight.  He was too surprised to move.
"Hey, I don't see anything on this side." The one on the other side of the building shouted.
There was a moment of silence.
"Hey, you hear me?" He asked.
He started walking over to where he thought his comrade was.

[Azlan]

I do not know for sure, I this is my first significant contact with Brotherhood agents in anything other then a digital construct tussle.  I do not think that these zealots have much augmentation, or else this other one would not be bothering to use vocal communications to coordinate with his late comrade.  If you are going to do something, do it quickly!  Morgan added to the communications channel.

Morgan quickly moved the body from view and hid it. (note it is just temporarily hidden from direct view along the side line of the shed... a temporary measure.)

Using a vocal unit, Morgan copied the voice he had heard earlier from this zealot, "hey, over here I want you to see this."

Morgan attempted to lure the other one over so Dorcan could get his clear shot.  Though if the zealot came face-to-face with him, he would have to deal with him.

[Tapewolf]

Dorcan winced again as the first zealot fell.  He's only a Being, he told himself, but somehow it didn't make him feel much better.  He fingered the weapon in his pocket as the other zealot came into view before suddenly glancing back as Morgan called out.
At least, Dorcan assumed it was Morgan.  Either way, it distracted his opponent and he was going to take full advantage of it.  Gritting his teeth, the doberman whipped out the stunner and played the beam over the zealot.

[techmaster-glitch]

   Jexx thought he had died and gone to heavan when he heard Morgan's command. "With utmost pleasure!"
   Jexx jumped up from behind the crate, instantly spotting the walking enforcer. "YEE-HAW! SURPRISE, ASSHOLE!" Jexx shouted as he simultaneously let loose a steady stream of hell-red plasma balls at the startled enforcer, hitting and frying him. In five seconds his corpse was just so much crispy barbacue. Literaly.
   Looking aroud, Jexx said, "Is that all? Dammit!"


(OOC: What do I see in the shed, Ryudo?)

[Ryudo Lee]

The other zealot jumped at the noise from inside the station, but kept walking.
"Man, I don't like the look of this.  I think we should call the tower for backup." He said as he rounded the corner, and right into Morgan's sights.

Inside the station, the room is pretty bleak, decorated only with crates... except for that big rusted out trap door in the corner.

[Tapewolf]

Bloody hell! thought Dorcan as his victim turned, seemingly oblivious to the attack.  I'd expect the stunner to fail on an Enforcer, but a zealot...?  They must have a lot more hardware in their skulls than I thought.
He increased the power, determined to try and take them alive.  But things were starting to look bleak for that prospect.  If it took maximum power to bring them down, they were going to have big problems keeping him under.  He was not likely to make a very cooperative prisoner.

[Ryudo Lee]

The zealot spotted the stunner shot.
"Hah, dampening armor sucker!" The zealot shouted.
The zealot brought his gun to bear.
"Hands u....glkajsgdh!!" The zealot shouted and then hit the ground.
The increased power got through his armor and got him, but good.  He lay still on the ground, a few wisps of smoke drifting up from under his armor.

[Tapewolf]

Jexx seemed to have neutralised the remaining opposition, so the doberman dragged his victim into the shed.  Working quickly, he disarmed them, pocketing their weapons, ID and anything else that looked handy.  If the armour was able to protect him from the sonic, matey was going to have to lose that too.
Dorcan gazed down at the pile of it wistfully - it looked pretty cool, but it wasn't going to fit him, not with his wings and all.  Besides, the others wouldn't like it if he turned up at the camp dressed as a zealot.

"How long do these stunners last?" he asked over the comms, as he gently lifted the 'prisoner' with minimal effort.  "How long will he be out, I mean?"

[techmaster-glitch]

   "I don't know, but I'm going to chek out this trapdoor over here." Jexx said.
   Jexx walked out past the crates, looking around the room. It seemed pretty plain enough, aside from the trapdoor. Walking past the fried corpse, Jexx went to the trapdoor, morphing his left handcannon to a hand as he went. Setting down next to the trapdoor, he fully charged his remaining handcannon, and reached out with his hand, leaning back to avoid any potential "surprises". With both arms fully outstretched, the handcannon pointed at the trapdoor, and his hand on the latch, he threw the trapdoor open...

[Ryudo Lee]

The zealot started to stir and brought a hand up to his faceplate.
"For the brotherhood... of the... machine." He said.
He touched his faceplate and mumbled something unintelligible, and then suddenly went completely limp.  His weapons and armor fizzled as their components fused into worthless scrap.

Underneath the trap door were pipes and cables... lots of pipes and cables that all seemed to go between the tower and somewhere underneath the town.

[Tapewolf]

"Damn it," yelled Dorcan, furious that his pet captive had died.  "I thought that was an Enforcer thing!"

Next time, remove the helmet first, he added mentally.  It was only later that he wondered how the weapons had melted too, and a curious expression flickered across his features.

[Catffeinated]

"Wa... Wait, didn't she give him her address?" Gerald wondered.
"Yeah, but it could be a fake one." Omega suddenly added in through the van.
"Hm, point. Ok, O. You know what to do! Encript yourself with 'shadow', then look for any references for the number."
"Rodger doger!" She chimed.
"Never say that again..." Gerald sighed, but Omega was already gone.

[Azlan]

Morgan was about to strike when Dorcan's weapon finally took effect, "stun guns mate?  If I knew you were going to be that daft, I would have told you to up the power... the armor is dampened."

Morgan dragged his own zealot in the shack and witnessed the suicide, "Well isn't that special, remember this... remove helmet first."

Seeing as his was already dead, he removed the helmet, armor and weapons... doing a complete field search of the body for anything of significance.  He then made a careful search for the suicide device in the equipment and on the body.  Using nanites and a psychic scan, he fully examined the corpse for anything of significance.

OOC: the examination includes weapons, armor and even clothes.

[techmaster-glitch]

   Jexx looked down the trapdoor. Seeing nothing worth shooting, he relaxed his cannon arm.
  Then Jexx looked over at Dorcan. "Damn it indeed. I hate it when they do that, too. Now you know what I deal with all the time." And I was hoping to be able to question him as well, thought Jexx.
   "I'm going to check where this leads. We'll keep in contact, but don't follow me, though you probably won't want too anyway. Don't worry about me, I can take care of myself, I've been doing this kinda thing for two years."
  With that, Jexx morphed his left hand back to a handcannon, and jumped down the trapdoor, closing it behind him.

[Azlan]

Morgan countermanded Jexx's actions over the comm, negative, we report back and then we will proceed.  First we need to know what this is before you go galavanting off trying to be an all-star MVP.


Morgan opened the trap door and focused his rather unused (directly at any rate) power of electrokinesis and touched the cabling, trying to use his psychic sense and the electrical ability to sense what was going over these cables.  If they were data, he tried to feed the info to the CTC for analysis.

Multi-tasking, he also fed this video back to Exo and anyone else monitoring the situation from the command camp.

[Tapewolf]

Dorcan looked at Morgan irritably as he chastised him.
"Our mission was a fact-finding mission," he stated, "and asking questions is the best way to learn.  That means taking someone alive, which you didn't manage either, I might add, although you did get the armour," he added with a touch of envy.

"'Course, if I still had my powers, I could have trapped his soul..."

As Morgan and Jexx approached the trapdoor, the doberman borrowed one of the gauntlets and the helmet and went outside, placing them upon the ground.

"I give my life in sacrifice for the brotherhood of the machine," he said.
[This was obsoleted by Ryudo's following post]

[Ryudo Lee]

The helmet would not come off easy, and in fact pulled more than a few wires out of the poor guy's head.  Morgan's search would find a hardwired implant at the base of the brain, wrapped around and integrated with the spinal cord, and a similar device in the weapon and armor.  Upon closer inspection, it appears that it's activated by a verbal passcode, though touching the helmet seemed to expedite the process somehow, possibly creating a short circuit.  Once activated, the device almost literally fries the brain, and quite efficiently shuts down the entire body.  During the process, a signal is sent to the device in the weapon and armor which causes their components to fry and fuse, making them pretty much worthless to weapons scavengers.  Removing the device in any other way would obviously mean death.

The cables were conduits of electricity, and oddly enough, the electricity was seemingly pulsating through the cables at the same frequency that the electromagnetic field that seems to feed signals to the chips in the people's necks around the town was.

[Azlan]

Morgan wrinkled his brow as he considered the situation.  He shrugged and concentrated on drawing off a small amount of power so he could add it to his reserves and to provide energy, as he has not eaten a single thing all day.

He sat down and examined the zealot's weapon and tried to channel power into it from the wire leads.

[techmaster-glitch]

   Jexx crouched down in the small tunnel space, and soon after got Morgan's comm. Opening the trapdoor again and poking his head out, he said, "It isn't hard to figure out what this is, if you don't already know. It's a Brotherhood network service tunnel, and I have seen them before, wherever there's a tower, there's a network of these tunnels. Report back, certainly, if all that is required is simply sending a communication with an update to our progress. Other than that, what's the difference between mapping this tunnel now and mapping it later?"
   Jexx then quizzically scratched his head."And what the hell is an 'all-star MVP', anyway?"

[Tapewolf]

Dorcan peered down the trapdoor.  "If this is a maintenance access for some sort of Brotherhood project, it could potentially lead into a network of tunnels under the entire town," he said.  "We could have a long job ahead of us if we decide to explore it."

He began to examine the 'working' suit of armour again.  It was messy, but he was still hoping to take it back to camp.  If they could clean out the mortal remains of its late occupant, it could make a useful disguise.  Pity about the other guy, he thought, still, it was his choice to die.  This one wasn't even given the option.

A sudden thought struck him.

"Morgan, do you think we ought to get going?  Sooner or later we're going to have more visitors from the tower.  And when they find the bodies..."