Brotherhood of the Machine (IC Thread) [PG/14] {02}

[Arcalane]

[I hate to bother you whilst you're busy Morgan, but would you kindly open the front door? I'd rather not have to break it down.] Exo glances over at Mackenzie, who smirks and checks his silenced carbine.

"Start at the bottom 'n' work our way up, Boss?" the wolf grins, leaning against the wall as he waits for the door to open.

"Naturally. Thorough demolition. The less we leave of the tower the better." The bot nods, hefting the repeating plasma rifle casually in one hand and watching the door.

"Eh, that'll be easy. We should 'ave more'n enough charges fer it." Mackenzie peers out into the darkness, watching for movement. "Wonder if the tech 'eads'd like a look at this metal. Looks weird, eh?"

[Tapewolf]

Dorcan was taken aback at the sudden outburst.  Not for the first time, he cursed the loss of his empathic abilities.

"I, uh... was just trying to make conversation," he babbled.  "I guess... I guess it's because where I come from the only humans are shapeshifters... and really... I've never met one before..." his voice trailed away, cowed.

"Don't they have fuses in these things?" he asked a few moments later, prodding the burning terminal.

[Azlan]

Morgan breathed a sigh of relief, possibly a bit more obviously then he really should have, oi, this Dorcan.  The things he says sometimes, makes me wonder if there is just space underneath those dog ears and head-wings.

"Ha, ha... ha, okay I see what you mean.  Sorry about that, it was just such an unorthodox question.  I am, uh, 26 years old."  Morgan let it drop there, "some of these Brother terminals have built-in self-destruct units, I tripped that one by accident... sorry."

Morgan received Exo's request and immediately split his focus between both the front entrance and the other door he had been working on.

"So, uh, Dorcan... what is it like... being you?  Er, what are you exactly?"

[Tapewolf]

"Do they, indeed?" Dorcan asked, referring to the terminals.  "That implies that the tower has been designed with the assumption that people may infiltrate it."  He began to glance at the walls suspiciously, as if they might harbour some hidden energy weapon aimed right at him.  He almost missed what Morgan said next.

"I've been through a few changes," he said.  "Grew up thinking I was a Be... ordinary mortal, I mean.  Then I was taken aside, told I was actually a soul-stealing monster.  Then I spent 275 or so years learning how to do all kinds of cool stuff like reading minds and shape-shifting and trapping souls.  And then," his voice rose slightly in frustration.   "As soon as I graduated I got myself almost killed and lost the ability to do pretty much any of it.  It took a lot of work... a lot of rebuilding to save my life.  Not that I'm ungrateful, but it was a bit of a bummer."

[techmaster-glitch]

   Jexx waited for a little time, during which he realized that no one would be coming to check on the zealot he ambushed. His red glow went out shortly after that. He was a bit put-out by his lack of a number of kills, but he reached up and felt the bandanna on his forehead, and his dejectedness drained away.
   A few minutes later, he trotted up alongside Exo. Squinting up at the Tower, he said "So...seems like everyone's dead. What's going on now?"

[Azlan]

Morgan never expected such a revelation from the enigmatic, secretive alien.  He silently wondered to himself if Dorcan was serious, but his expression seemed to indicate so.

Focusing ever so strongly on Dorcan, Morgan actively probed his surface thoughts.  While he parsed through the jumble of nonsense, Morgan pressed Dorcan with a loaded question, "what is it that you so fear we will find out?  What kind of secret could you hold that would be worse in comparison to being a self admitted soul-stealing monster?"

In case he could not get a flash of insight from his thoughts, Morgan carefully added a bit to the scale, "if you tell me, I'll let you know why your question about how long I've been human rattled me so much.  What say you mate?"

[Tapewolf]

"You're going to work it out anyway," Dorcan said.  "At the end of the day, you're right... you probably should know since you're running the show at present.  And hey, now... soul-trapping is like any other technology - you can use it to do good or evil things.  Sure, you only ever hear about the evil things, but at the end of the day it's up to you."

He paused as the offer sank in.  "Well, if you are a shapeshifter, it's nothing to be ashamed of, really.  As for me, well... the more I think about it - how we've got Exo and all - the more I realise that I may have been overreacting.  But look at it this way.  We're fighting the Brotherhood of the Machine, right?  I suddenly appear out of nowhere, promptly leave a Brotherhood compound and then enlist with the rebellion, right?  That's not going to look too good when it comes out that... that I'm a machine myself, now is it?"

[Azlan]

Morgan honestly was surprised at the revelation, but it was also not nearly as bad as he thought it was going to be, "Is that what all your secrecy is about?  I must say, I never expected that.  I would be a fool if it did not concern me, but I do not think you could escape the notice of Phoenix's men.  I have quite a number of cybernetic parts in me, but I am still the original flesh... I really am not sure what it would be like to be all machine."

He tapped his forehead for a few moments while thinking, "I can not imagine a way that tearing the soul from a living being can be considered 'good'."

He ruffled his red hair a bit and stared intently at the LCD screen of the terminal, "as for... uh... my issue, it is not really a big deal.  I am not really human, I look like one yes... might even be compatible with one, but I am actually fox, genetically altered to be 'human'.  An ex-military experiment.  There, that was not so bad eh?"

[Tapewolf]

"Being a synthetic is not as bad as you might think," Dorcan told him.  "It's a step down from what I was before, but better than being dead by a long chalk.  My creators put a lot of effort into making this body feel as close to a living body as they could.  And yes, I'm sure Jackson knows.  The doctor certainly does and I'm sure she's told him.  Maybe that should have reassured me, but I couldn't shake the feeling that it was some kind of trap.  Just being paranoid, I suppose.
"Either way, someone had to know.  Just in case something happens to me... It's why I wanted the engineer to be with us.  I guess I was just over-eager back in the refectory.  Call it desperate if you will."

"As for soul-stealing someone who's healthy, yeah, that is a pretty nasty thing to do," the doberman agreed.  "But the dying is where it really into its own.  Consider the Brothers, for example.  They have this bad habit of committing suicide to avoid capture.  Were I fully an incubus - and assuming of course that the spells I know would still work in this realm - we could have grabbed them as they died and interrogated them anyway.  Then of course, you have me and the others whose souls have been installed in android replicas of their former selves."

He listened curiously as Morgan 'confessed' to being a fox.  "Since you seem to have humans and furred people here, I guess it's not such a great leap really, is it?  I'm kind of curious if that makes you genetically compatible with others on this world in terms of having cubs or whatever you'd call them, but still.  I would imagine the doctor knows about your condition too, if she took a blood or DNA sample during the medical."

He paused, somewhat more at ease for sharing what he considered to be his burden.

"Any joy with the door?"

[Prof B Hunnydew]

Jathon continues to check on minor injuries to the rebels forces, and his zealot guard. 

"Anyone check on the enforcement to coming to the tower?" Asks Jathon the secured comms.  "Anyone else have anymore injuries, Friend or Foe?"

PBH

[Ryudo Lee]

As if on cue to Dorcan's question, Morgan's efforts finally paid off, and the electronically locked door made an audible click and then slid open.  All that existed inside was an odd piece of machinery connected to several computer consoles, and although it was obviously not powered up, it had a sinister look to it.  An simple examination would determine that it is obviously some kind of field generator, but what kind of field is unknown.

[Azlan]

Morgan shrugs, "I kind of hid it because the faction that cleansed our facility may still want to eliminate the remnants such as myself... and because I do not want to be thought of as a freak.  It is silly, I know, but I have a strong sense to need to belong, it was probably programmed into my subconscious.  So despite being the loner, I need to be 'with' people to be happy."  He paused, "that strange doctor, I do not know what she did, but I have a feeling she might be the mad scientist type."

Just as he finished his thought, the indicator lights all registered green, releasing all locks.  "awww, snap!  There you go.  Check it out, everyone else converge.  Exo, you should be clear, but be careful."

[Tapewolf]

"I was killed for being different," Dorcan said.  "So I know where you're coming from there."  He broke off as the locks disengaged.

"Well, well... what have we here?" he said.  "Some kind of generator, I think."  The Doberman looked at it critically.  "If we can neutralise enough Brothers to ensure we have unfettered access to the tower for an hour or so, we might be able to remove this thing for study."

[Arcalane]

"Now? Now we bust into this joint and look for good places to put demolition charges. Pretty boring work. Close quarters, so be careful... and do try not to get lost." The bot glances over at Mac, who nods in return.

[We're all good here, Jathon. I'd recommend you head back to HQ with your little prize before he wakes up. Mitchell can drive if need be... there's enough room in the vans for those of us here anyway.]

Finally, the door starts to open, and Exo hefts the plasma rifle. It steps through the doorway once the door is open sufficiently, scanning the hallway for defense mechanisms with it's various sensors and cameras. [Careful is my four-hundred and fiftieth middle name.] The bot chuckles, though this comes out as rather mechanical, incredibly sinister and possibly a little spine-chilling.

[techmaster-glitch]

   "Close quarters? Close quarters is when I fight best." Jexx remarked offhand as he walked into the Tower with Exo. He ignored both what passed as chuckling for Exo and his cautious gait (though that Jexx missed entirely, actually), strolling right ahead of Exo down the hall a litte. Then he stood still, glanced around for a moment, and then proceeded to destroy any notion of "caution" as he raised his handcannons and began to seemingly randomly shoot balls of burning plasma all around the hall.

[Tapewolf]

"Watch what you're doing, Jexx," Dorcan called over the radio.  "You wouldn't want to demolish the tower while we're still in it, would you?"

[Prof B Hunnydew]

"This is Dr Joywaves... Assault team come in  Jathon get that Zealot back here in HQ, now..."  comes over the secure com channel.   

"ah  Doctor what about the rest of the team" asks Jathon.

"I am on my way to the tower with a relief team, Dr Adams wants that guy back at HQ."

"OK OKay I am on the way... Geeesh" answer Jathon.....

Jathon checks that the Brotherhood guard.  he is still out and stable.  He starts the one medic van and find Michell at shotgun in the front of the van..... They head back to HQ.

"Commander Exo, your relief/backup team has an ETA of one hour" states Dr Sally..."If you need any assistance, don't hesitate to ask."

PBH

PBH

[Ryudo Lee]

Since the construction site was a day's drive away from the HQ, the relief team had left mere hours after the team had originally left, so that they would arrive just in time to provide backup.

Inside the tower, Jexx's shots only served to pockmark the walls, as the automated defense systems hadn't yet been installed.

[Arcalane]

Exo shakes his head at the random plasma fire. [Random gunfire won't bring this place down, why do you think we brought demo charges?] The 'bot chuckles oddly again as it marches off into the tower with Mackenzie in tow. [We should be fine, Doc. Feel free to park out front and bring the other vans up too, we took care of most of the guards, though do a sweep for any stragglers... check the workers as well if you can find any; they're not likely to know anything useful, it's best to have them accounted for in the unlikely event one of them wants to play the hero.] It switches back to the squad net. [The rest of you, do try not to get lost. There shouldn't be any resistance left inside and it looks like most of the defenses weren't installed, but stay sharp. Exo out.]

[techmaster-glitch]

   Thinking Exo's first comment was directed at him, Jexx irritably replied "I said before, you big iron ass, I'm not stupid. I wasn't trying to bring this Tower down, was checking for traps and turrets. Since I didn't wake anything up, that means there's nothing here to surprise us."
   After that, Jexx strolled forward, completely nonchalant, and then stopped again. "Is there anything else I can be useful for, big bot?"

[Tapewolf]

"What if they've already placed their own charges?" Dorcan queried, thinking of the self-destructing terminals.

[Arcalane]

The bot shrugs. "Sweep the tower for stragglers?" It pauses, thinking. "Ah, better idea! Check if they have a stocked armoury. The more intact samples of weaponry and equipment we get, the better. The ones we find in the field tend to be in... less than perfect condition. Particularly the armour, often comes with a fresh set of holes." The bot switches back to comms. [Then assuming we don't end up tripping them, it saves us some effort and our demo-charges, no? Well, that depends on whether or not they'd be sufficient to bring the place down.]

[techmaster-glitch]

   Exo's response to Jexx made him cock his head slightly, as if confused about something. However, he shook himself and continued down the hall, turning right and then end and going out of sight as he started to randomly search for any rooms that looked like they were stocked with armaments, or at least anything interesting.

[Ryudo Lee]

Their search for armaments would turn up an empty armory room.  They had built the room, but hadn't yet stocked it.

[Tapewolf]

"You know, if anyone's not busy, I'd welcome a second opinion on this machine," Dorcan called over the commlink.

[Tapewolf]

"Is this thing working?"  Dorcan said, tapping the commlink.  Then he stopped.  There was a sound coming from behind him.  A resonant, metallic sound.
Silently, he padded closer to the apparent source.  It was a set of water pipes, as yet uncovered by a fascia.  It sounded like someone was banging them.

Experimentally, he tapped the pipe five times in a distinct pattern and waited for a response.

[Lisky]

Darkshine felt the vibrations through the pipe, not really sure what else to do, he banged the pipe a few times with his forearm.  He had a splitting headache, and was still trying to figure out what had happened.  Figuring that it couldn't hurt, he shouted out "They got me trapped in this office and i can't move, anyone out there, think you could help?!"

[Tapewolf]

Dorcan's eyes narrowed as the pipe answered his tapping.  He could also hear a faint sound rather like someone shouting, but muffled and distant.  The Brothers don't seem the type to play this sort of game.  It must be someone else.

"Hey, guys!" he called, both over the commlink and within Morgan's hearing range.  "I think there's someone locked in the toilets!"

[Lisky]

Head still fuzzy, Darkshine thought he heard some movement in the distance.  Not really sure what to expect, he tried first extending his blades to cut the chains with no success.  With his head clearing, he asks his personal AI "Ranger, is there anything you can tell me right now that might help? the only thing i can really fight with is my spare pistol, and i'm not ready to give that away just yet..."

[Azlan]

Morgan stops his work and disconnects from the computer.  He had obtained all the data at long last, but there was no way he could crack the encryption without quite a large amount of time and effort.  Luckily, there was a dedicated team back at the rebellion headquarters just for that job.

He stretched and walked quietly into the previously locked area, coming up behind Dorcan.  "That generator is too big to take with us, unless we had some major heavy lifters and a construction team.  I suppose Exo could be handy in that.  I would be able to lift it, but I doubt I could carry it."

He considered what Dorcan had said about the sounds he was hearing, "perhaps we can call this new person Loo."