Dr Archeville

"The ground floor is open to all," he said, still trying to push down his Edge-fan smile and resume at least a semblance of professionalism, "while the three floors above are semi-open. There are laboratories, think-tanks, and workshops there, and some are open for tours," he gestured to the group below, "like the one those students from Luke Rand High are on. The next seven floors are where all the real work goes on, and access is by appointment only, following certain background checks, of course. Then there is the top floor, administration, also open by appointment." "Some branches are more secured than others, though." He turned and began walking down the hall, "the branch in California, for example, focuses on high-energy physics and power systems, and the work there is exceedingly delicate. And, of course, the satellite and super-sub, simply due to their location, though I would like to get parts of those open to tourists."

Archeville shifted uneasily at the angel's words, as most do when uncomfortable truths are revealed (something his fellow Leaguer seemed to specialize in). He had spent much of his life fighting against those monsters and their legacies, partly out of true love for his country and all the positive contributions its people have made, but more from guilt at his grandfather's roles in their atrocities. "The... 'angel' speaks truth," Archeville admitted, still finding it hard to use that label (though in this case the shortcut was acceptable), and finding it equally hard to look Thrude in the eye. But look her in the eye he did, because, for all his faults and shortcomings, Viktor Archeville did not let shame rule over him. (Plus, he wanted a good look at her eyesocket, to see if anything could be salvaged.) "The madmen who overran my country were not content to shackle men -- they shackled gods as well. I know not how, but they did, and they killed millions... not just other soldiers, but... but..." He shook his head, cleared his throat, "I do not know how many fell by your father's hand, in the six years he was forced in bondage to them, but I do know that in time he was freed, and many of the madmen involved -- including the one whom Donar was bound to -- were executed for their atrocities. I work to protect humanity from the legacies of those madmen, and restore the honor of my countrymen," he proclaimed, straightening a bit, "As a counter to my associate's offer," he nodded towards Freedom Angel, "I would invite you to remain here, and do the same for your people."

Archeville had offered his hand to the armored hero, who he knew by reputation. When he saw the man was about to introduce himself, he intended to cut him off, "Oh, yes, I am aware who-" Too late. "Ah, yes, you!," he replied, loudly. "Yes, I have heard much of the heroic deeds you have performed in your short time here, and how you have done so without once resorting to lethal force! Why, just the other day I... was..." "Now, now, I am sure Freedom Angel had the best of intentions," he said, desperately trying to avert any flaring of tempers (not that Heyzel was likely to get angry, but it was the principle of the thing), "and from his reaction, it appeared he was just as surprised at the disruption of his transdimensional breach as we were! I am sure he had no idea that... that...," he gestured towards the Yggdrassil, "that that would burst through! Have the people who made your suit never performed work under less than ideal cond-" "There is a time and place for such recriminations," he counseled the battlesuit wearer, "and this is neither. There are civilians who need attending, and infrastructures to repair. You should go where your talents would be better used." "Before she attempts to remove your head," he added, under his breath.

Indeed. He's going back to where they first appeared, then going in the direct where he saw them go. He should (he thinks) be able to track their trail (using Enhanced Wis for Notice & Enhance Int for Search) -- even without being able to use his Electromagnetic Screwdriver to track her Terminus Radiation, he should still be able to track footprints (and pawprints of pursuing wolves!), broken branches, etc. I should also add that he's going fully cloaked, too: he knows there are two other hunters out there, so there's no sense in leaving himself open to ambush by them!

Reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tangent_Comics

"Ah, young Mr. Lucas!," the Doktor exclaimed, with more enthusiasm than Erin would have expected. "I met him once, briefly, during that bit of trouble you all had on Erde, and of course I have seen him on the news; he seems a fine young man. I had often wondered what he would be doing with himself after he graduated from Claremont. So much potential! And to do such wide-reaching work -- this is wonderful!" The Doktor laughed aloud, drawing a few looks form the lobby below. "Ah, do forgive me -- I guess I am a bigger fan of his than I realized!" He took a moment to gather himself, cleared his throat, "right, so, down there is the main lobby, behind the desk is the main security office. Loading docks at the rear and sides, though much transport is handled by the teleporters, housed in the basement. Most of the ground floor is devoted to the public, information kiosks, rooms for press conferences, and the like."

"Thank you," he said, smiling serenely and giving a little bow. "I had hoped, of course, that these techniques could help others as well as myself. Alas, I have been unable to pass on these lessons... but, perhaps, one of you would be interested? I believe you both have what it takes, and could benefit from the techniques." "Yes, the virus analogy is certainly apt," he agreed, "particularly in that it seems to have passed from host to host, back over a dozen generations, as best my research can tell. And so, as enlightening at this iteration of my mind is, perhaps it is time for another shift, yes?" He began to unfold himself from his lotus position.

"," he called behind him, his voice becoming more confident and tone more flippant. " " "" Archeville slowed, making them think he was tiring. He zig-zagged a bit, making them shift their positions; their mysterious director saw an opening through the trees when all three could pounce at once on him. Eager to make this smug stranger pay, the golems were commanded to pounce. And fell over the cliff, passing by the hovering Archeville, and plunged into the river below. "" he called down. Archeville turned and zipped back, at full speed, to the clearing where Mona and he had appeared.

Mona of course knew Archeville had talked to Jack of all Blades, many times, particularly about improvements to the schools in the West End. It was a matter of public record that Archeville (and ArcheTech) made generous donations to numerous schools and universities, but very few knew he was the secret founder of the Interceptors, and so had a direct line to the super-swashbuckler. "I will see if I can talk with Jack of all Blades; he seems the type that would be difficult to get to sit down for any length of time. Perhaps knowing of my donations would help that... and," he placed a hand gently over Mona's, and smiled up at her, "if you put in a good word for me..." Thanks to his super-fast mental processes, he could spend a whole minute lovingly gazing up at her before a second had passed for Carrie, and he took advantage of this. As far as she could tell, as soon as he put his hand on Mona's, he turned back to his menu and snorted derisively. "Yes, I have faced that jackbooted pyro before," Archeville recalled, and sighed. "Did not realize he had his own fanclub, though. Unfortunately, I have faced far too many people like him, and seen that prejudices like his are still far too common." Soon the server returned, asking for drink and appetizer orders.

"Some, yes," he replied as they entered the elevator. "AEGIS receives most of the 'super-tech,' though UNISON does much the same job, but on a far wider scale, as well as less flashy but no less vital tasks like distributing food and medicine in Third World countries. We have done some work on communications, defense, and transport-related items for them." The elevator stopped at the second floor, opening to a hallway mostly empty of people. Displays along the hallway showed local and international newsfeeds, and brief presentations on the latest ArcheTech inventions; currently a new type of efficient solar panel was being demo'd. One end of the corridor forked, but Archeville went down the other end, which lead to a mezzanine from which the entire ground floor lobby could be seen. He looked out over it, watching a group of high school kids come in; he beamed at the sight of the field trip. "Of course, most of the humanitarian work we do is in the countries where an ArcheTech facility exists. During the recent Grue invasion, for example, this branch uses its transporters to move people to safety, and equipment to resupply STAR Squads and other heroes, and our satellite helped locate the invading fleet. Our Russian facility helps with cases of radiation damage, and our mobile Pacific ocean station helped in Japan during the tsunami a couple of months ago." "Who is it that is going to help UNISON in Africa?," he turned and asked. "If you do not think they would want it advertised, that is fine," he added, again being quite sincere; he was curious, but he was not going to pry.

"Indeed," he nodded as the double doors opened for them. "This, the first ArcheTech facility, opened in October 2009. Since then, over a dozen other branches have opened, across the globe, making it an international chain of research laboratories." They continued down the hall, towards the elevator. "My vision was to establish a center for multi-disciplinary research, unconnected to any one government, working in a number of scientific fields. Particularly those pertaining to extranormal activity and the increasing emergence of metahumans. Our fields of research & development include bionics and cybernetics, energy projection, force field generation, genetics and genome stability, gravimetrics, advanced metallurgy, nanotechnology, and particle physics, among others. and, n addition to this exotic research," he was briefly interrupted by the chime of the arriving elevator, "ArcheTech also provides humanitarian aid in times of crisis."

Archeville looked up from the four cases of 'explosive' (technically 'implosives') he had created, smirked and nodded back at Victory. "I suppose we should." He touched a control on his Gravimetric Belt, and the familiar blue-gray glow of his force field enveloped him, and the Belt made a soft hiss as he hypercompressed tank in his belt filled the airtight force bubble with air. He exited the vehicle with two of the cases, one in each hand; when he exited the space-plane, the glow of his field intensified as it fought against the vacuum and cold of space. He pauses a moment, drinking in the awesome sight before him. He had been out this far before, short jaunts taken with Dark Star or with a space travel module for his own Gravimetric Belt, but the sight was one that would likely not get old for many, many years. "Hey!," Archeville's voice came across the comm channel they were using "a little help getting the rest of the bomb out? The weight is not an issue, but I only have so many hands!"

Fascinate would not fit, since Fascinate just makes them sit/stand and listen. Trick is the way to go! Move Action: Switch from Enhanced Wis to Enhanced Cha Free Action: Extra Effort to SURGE Move Action: Keep flying! Standard Action: Bluff/Trick Bluff/Trick check (1d20+13=16) No, that won't do. Bluff/Trick check; HP re-roll (1d20+13=17) But HP reroll = +10 if die is Now down to 4 HP IC post to follow

Archeville beamed, "Thank you, Miss White! Ah, we can do so at another time -- we will need some specialized equipment to get the samples. But we can probably start... a month after you begin?" His tone indicated this was as much a question to her as it was to himself. "That should give you time to get a feel for the place, see if you still wish to stay on." "Speaking of," he rose and walked around his desk to her side, "would you like a tour now? Have you been by here before? Or is this your first time here?"

That's a bruise for Pixie!Grim 18: Grimalkin: Bruised, 5 HP 15: Dead Head: unharmed, 3 HP [bg=#FF0000]15: White Knight: unharmed[/bg] [bg=#000000]15: Cultists x4: unconscious[/bg] 12: Mutt: unharmed 02: Head Cultist: Bruised, Stunned White Knight Free Action: Maintain fire aura Move Action: Fly up 30 feet Standard Action: Attack w/ Blast vs. Pixie!Grim (Defense 24); All-Out Attack (-5 Defense/+5 Attack), Power Attack (-5 Attack.+5 Damage); DC 31 Toughness if it hits (1d20+10=22) so close! Cultists KO'd 18: Grimalkin: Bruised, 5 HP 15: Dead Head: unharmed, 3 HP 15: White Knight: unharmed [bg=#000000]15: Cultists x4: unconscious[/bg] [bg=#0000FF]12: Mutt: unharmed[/bg] 02: Head Cultist: Bruised, Stunned Mutt the Wonder Dog Move Action: Fly up to WK Mutt is Invisible & Incorporeal by default, making this a surprise attack. Standard Action: Chomp! Attack w/ Bite vs. White Knight (Defense 15); All-Out Attack (-2 Defense/+2 Attack), Power Attack (-2 Attack/+2 Damage); DC 23 Toughness if it hits (1d20+6=8) 'course, there is several PLs difference between them... 18: Grimalkin: Bruised, 5 HP 15: Dead Head: unharmed, 3 HP 15: White Knight: unharmed [bg=#000000]15: Cultists x4: unconscious[/bg] 12: Mutt: unharmed [bg=#000000]02: Head Cultist: Bruised, Stunned[/bg] Head Cultist Reaction: GM Fiat (DH gets HP) to shake off stun Free Action: Maintain force field Reaction: Knowledge (Arcane) check (1d20+8=13) He knows this is an undead of some sort, but not exactly what kind. So he's just gonna blast it. Standard Action: Attack vs. Dead Head (Defense 16); DC 23 Toughness save if it hits (1d20+4=19) Since his Blast is magic, DH's Impervious does not apply, so he does need to roll a Toughness save. Toughness save, DC 23 (1d20+17=36) Blast? What Blast? Free Action: Switch Magic Array from Blast to ESP/Flight Move Action: Fly to a superior position! (i.e. out of range of his shovel!) IC (well, GM/NPC) post soon, then top of the round, and Grim'll be up!

"I... am aware what Mr. Summers puts you all through," he said, shifting again in his chair, "but his purposes and mine are very different. Nor is he under the same level of scrutiny, both from peers and the general public-" "as I am. Which is but one reason I am averse to human testing." He was silent a moment, thinking through a dozen different things. How he could help her, how she could help him, how she could help herself. "There is... one thing which comes to mind, one contribution you could make aside from your strength, speed, keen senses, and time. Would you," he fixed her with his Rhine blue eyes, "and I do wish to emphasize that this is completely up to you, and your acceptance or refusal of this will have no bearing on your hiring here," he tapped on the desktop at each emphasized word. "Would you allow us to take some tissue samples, blood and whatnot, so that we may study the changes the serum did to your physiology, and, with luck, replicate it?"

"As much as loss as when I am use my 'face' iteration," he said calmly, "which is to say, I am merely as gifted as the great Daedalus, at least when it comes to scientific and technical matters, both theoretical and experimental, development and construction." He said this without the slightest hint of pride. "However, in matters historical and theological, he is by far my superior." "These mental edits were the first direct steps I took in trying to excise or at least contain my assorted mental problems," he replied, "after the counselors and therapists in the schools proved unable to help. Though my intellect was part of the problem -- I could easily figure out what they wanted to hear, what they were looking for in their tests and games. And I told them what they would need to hear to proclaim me sane and stable, though to this day I am not certain if it was manipulation by my Other, or by myself, fearful of the stigma associated with mental illness." He slowly rolled his head around, working out some kinks in his neck from the bird-like darting he'd done moments ago. "I added psychology to the host of topics I was already studying, and began working on myself. In time I came to know my mind as a programming language, one that is meta-self-descriptive and -self-editing. Not only can it describe thought, it can describe and modify its own operations as well, at all levels, where modifying a statement causes the entire grammar to be adjusted. With this language, I could see how my mind was operating, perceive the gestalts, see the mental structures forming, interacting. I see myself thinking, and I see the equations that describe my thinking, and I see myself comprehending the equations, and I see how the equations describe their being comprehended. And yet..." His voice trailed off, and he was silent a moment, eyes half open. He sighed heavily, then looked to Dragonfly and Miss A. "As with any software application, errors can arise due to semantic errors in the code. And all my attempts at debugging have, thus far, proved fruitless. It was only in the past few years that I have attempted to address this from a hardware issues, not just a software one, with psychopharmaceuticals."

"Monitoring is one of our key security measures," he said in reply to the first part of her analysis. "We have cameras that can scan every square inch of the building, out to the parking lots, with filters extending their scanning into the infrared and ultraviolet portions of spectrum. Each floor has its own security substation that their cameras feed to, monitored by at least two guards at all times; each floor also has three guards on patrol. The entrances have metal detectors and backscatter x-ray scanners, monitored by a trio of guards in the primary security station station, concealed behind the reception desk. The primary station also receives feeds from all cameras, internal and external, and all monitors also feed to my office here." "We do have motion detectors that can pick out invisible intruders, and neuro stunners housed in retractable turrets in the ceilings that can render unenhanced humans unconscious, and at least daze most metahumans. The walls are made of an assortment of highly resilient materials, which can be reinforced with energy screens for further protection. However...." The Doktor shifted slightly in his chair at her next questions, "we do not have any sort of anti-psionic or teleport denial fields in place, primarily for two reasons: one, those are rather expensive, particularly when the number of ArcheTech facilities around the world is taken into account, and our funds are pulled in a lot of directions already," he explained, placing each hand atop a pile of invoices on his desk and thumbing through them. "Two, those fields would interfere with a wide assortment of experiments, so having those fields active around the clock would be an impediment to our research. It is my hope, however," he steepled his fingers, "that you will be the first of many extranormal guards that I can hire for ArcheTech, as part of a 'metahuman job outreach' project I am working on in conjunction with a few other organizations." Her flash of insight caused the Doktor to pale a bit. His tone shifted, to a more formal (and slightly fearful) one, "that would not be necessary, Miss White. My company does not make a habit of human, or metahuman, testing, especially of weaponry, even nonlethal ones." His gaze fell to his desktop for a moment as he breathed in deeply, then exhaled sharply. He looked back up at her, seemingly calmer, and smiled, "besides, you are more than qualified for the position -- you do not need to add 'willing weapon effects test subject' to your list of qualifications."

As the strange woman rose up, Archeville shifted and edited his meta-intellect to a more combat-oriented mode. Then Freedom Angel opened his portal, which Yggdrassil burst through. Everything going on in these past few moments had worn on his 'outgrown such silly superstitions' mindset, but to have this, unfurling in his city, and absorbing part of the area into it? This was too much! As Archeville pondered the implications of this, and the mechanism of how this great tree has done what it had, Heyzel talked, and Fenris leaped. And then something caught his eye. For doing what he did. "Nein!" The Doktor's fingers flew over the controls to his Belt, altering the gravitic field that normally enveloped and protected him into a pair of fields that could change the gravitational constant in an area, thus decreasing weight to nothing. In a blink his Elektromagnetik Screwdriver was in his hand, now split into two stubby rods, with wires connecting them to his Belt. Each was pointed at a separate building, and beams of blue-gray light lanced out, enveloping both in that eerie glow. They abruptly stopped falling, and simply hung in midair. But there was one left, the biggest one, with which Fenris (the battlesuit) struggled. " someone help him! It is all I can do to hold up these two!"

Alright, slight revising. Free Action: Curse Multiverse Reaction: HP for Heroic Feat (Alternate Power on Gravimetric Defense System) Move Object 31 (Str 155; Flaw: Limited [up & Down Only]; PF: Indirect 3, Split Attack) {35/36PP} Move Action: Reconfigured Gadgets, boosting power to Belt Enhanced Move Object 9 (to Move Object 40 [str 200]; Flaw: Limited [up & Down Only]; PF: Indirect 3, Split Attack) {13/15PP} Standard Round: Use Move Object, using Split Attack to split it between the two smaller buildings (Move Object 20/Str 100 on each). Ranged attack roll for Split Attack (2 targets) Move Object (1d20+13=15) Well, at least that's not a 1/automiss! And since his Defense System's tied up in this, it means he's a mere PL 6 (Defense +8, Toughness +4 [imp 4]) at the moment.

Archeville's plan is to lead the three chasing him into the river. How far is that? And how would you handle doing so? (I ask as a way of testing your GM skills!)

Archeville's eyes barely flicked over the sheet, for that was all he needed for his super-fast mind to read it. But he continued to look over it for a few seconds, lest Erin think he was brushing it off. "Alright, then, show me what you can do. Not hitting!" He quickly added, followed by some good-natured laughter. "I mean, when you came in here, into the building, walked through the corridors, what was your impression, from a security standpoint? Did you notice anything that you think could be improved?"

White Knight at first appeared to stagger back from the blow, but when Grim turned back to see, she saw he stood as tall and irrationally proud as ever! I had planned on runnin' up an' scarin' these fools, the zombie thought to himself as he shambled quickly towards the group, but I really, really don't want them gettin' 'way. Dead Head walloped the cultists with his trusty shovel, punctuating each hit with a roar. "Stop! Disturbin'! Tha! Dead!" He took out the cultists in the simplest robes first, leaving the one in the slightly more ornate finery for last. "Let 'em rest!" he roared as the shovel connected, sending the cultist flying back several yards! White Knight looked around to assess the situation.

Toughness save, DC 27 (1d20+12=14) fails by 13, that's Staggered + Stunned! Do I want combat to end that quickly? No. Have an HP as I GM Fiat a re-roll. Toughness save, DC 27; re-roll (1d20+12=21) +10 = 31 = unharmed Lil' Grim needs to make a Toughness save, DC 26, from the contact w/ his fiery aura. 18: Grimalkin: unharmed (?), 5 HP [bg=#8080FF]15: Dead Head: unharmed, 2 HP[/bg] 15: White Knight: unharmed 15: Cultists x4: unharmed 12: Mutt: unharmed 02: Head Cultist: unharmed Now Dead Head Dead Head Move Action: Shamble over to the Cultists Standard Action: Pummelings for all with his Mighty Shovel! They're Minions, so he can Take 10 on his Attack (and Power Attack for +5 Damage/-5 Attack, and All-Out Attack for -5 Defense/+5 Attack) for a total of 22. That hits. That makes a DC 30 Toughness save, but they're Minions with a mere +2 to Toughness. This means A) they cannot make the Toughness save, being Minions, a failed save = take the worse condition, so they'll be KO'd with each hit, and C) DH's Takedown 2 lets him take down all the Cultists. Knockback! ... not bothering, since they'll all KO'd. Free Action: Extra Effort to SURGE for another standard action. DH will be fatigued at the start of the next round (unless he uses an HP to nix it) Standard Action: Attack Head Cultist! Attack vs. Head Cultists (Defense 14); All-Out Attack (-5 Defense/+5 Attack), Power Attack (-5 Attach/+5 Damage), Sneak Attack (+2 Damage) = DC 30 Toughness save if he hits (1d20+12=31) Toughness save, DC 30 (1d20+8=17) also fails by 13! Again, not wanting it to end this early, so, GM Fiat (HP to DH) Toughness save, DC 30; Fiat re-roll (1d20+8=24) Fails by 6, he's Bruised & Stunned! Knockback! Damage 13 (we says bonus from Sneak Attack isn't added) - KB of 8 = 5 = 25 feet! 18: Grimalkin: unharmed (?), 5 HP 15: Dead Head: unharmed, 3 HP [bg=#FF0000]15: White Knight: unharmed[/bg] 15: Cultists x4: unconscious 12: Mutt: unharmed 02: Head Cultist: Bruised, Stunned Now White Knight, but I'll figure that out once I know how Grim did with the Toughness save vs. WK's fire aura.

The Doktor nodded, "I intend to, but I am more interested right now in knowing what your opinion of yourself is. What can you bring to ArcheTech, aside from your phenomenal strength and speed?" He nodded towards her folder, and held out one hand. "There is far more to being a security guard here than simply being able to take out trespassers, infiltrators, saboteurs, and escaped laboratory specimens."