Dr Archeville

Gossamer's "gentle squeeze" compressed the armored mercenary in just the right spot and with just enough pressure to make him black out for a few moments. His boot jets stayed on, but their protests were not enough to prevent the gold-tressed scientist from reeling the man in. He was already starting to regain his bearings, though, so her next actions would need to be swift if she were to take advantage of his momentary impairment. Archeville remained in the chair, staring ahead, words streaming softly from his mouth.

Sorta. Add Accurate and Acute to your Olfactory senses, they're as good as Vision & Auditory. You can be blinded (either by a Dazzle attack or being in an Visual Obscure field, or by simply closing your eyes), but still function fine in combat and other situations, able to target and distinguish things as well with your smell/taste as you could with vision.

"I'm workin', I'm workin'!" a two-headed, four-armed Vince squealed. The tattoo shared by the out-of-place victims -- the ones that looked like they were trying to blend in with the other lower-to-middle class students -- appeared on one of the large monitors. "Bloody skull with light blue crosses in the eyesockets, with the cross in the left eyesocket inverted. Sign of Los Diablos Rojos, the Red Devils, a gang coming up from Mexico. Guns and drug running, mostly, some prostitution; word is they've come to Freedom to try and score some Max." "Their most prominent rivals are Il Diavoli Neri, the Black Devils, an Italian gang that the mafiosi see as young rebellious punks. But rumor is some of the rebels are rebelling and going further back in their history books, taking cues from some obscure Venetian traders who used necromantic skill to provide a business edge. Could be just for added intimidation, but if they've got some real ju-ju, say, by allying with some of the Voodoo gangs..." A "get to the point" glare from Jack made Vince gulp nervously. "Since many of the kids had IDs from Joseph Clark or FDR high, the gangs are probably operating near there, or near popular hangouts like the Youth Center. Places where it'd be easy to recruit. Lincoln's the best place to check, it's where Joseph Clark High and one of the biggest youth centers; I'll upload coordinates for the known and suspected gang hangouts there to the MAVERIC's computer." "And f you see Sonic, one of Lincoln's protectors, work with him on this!"

Or, replace "adventure" with "thread" and it should work out. But that adds another layer of bookkeeping, and we Refs are lazy, lazy gods, so what Geez3r said works, too.

Both sound fine to me.

Sure, PM me the details, or post 'em here.

Alright, using his Electromagnetic Screwdriver, but keeping his brain set on Enhanced Charisma, Doc has a +26 on Disable Device. And he's got Skill Mastery on it, so he can Take 10 for a 36. And some Subtle Telekinesis so he can manipulate it from afar. Enhanced Skills 6 (Disable Device +6) [2pp] Telekinesis 3 (Str 15; Extra: Range/Perception; PFs: Precise, Subtle) [11pp] 2+11 = 13/15 points spent in his Gadget

The Doktor narrowed his eyes a bit, and reached into the inside of his labcoat pocket, drawing out... a wand-like device. "Do you know vhat did is, Herr Finn? It is mein Elektromagnetischer Schraubenzieher, mein Electromagnetic Screwdriver. I can do a lot mit it." He scraped the 'barrel' end of it along the Finn's cheek, "It can maim. It can vound. It can even kill. But do you know vhat it is best at?" He points it at the concealed door in the floor. The wand flashes, and emits a whirring noise. "It is very good at opening doors."

"Coordinates for where?" "Look, guys, I'm all for stopping crime on the streets," Vince quickly chimed in, "and this is some bad stuff. But there's several Voodoo gangs around that could've been behind this, and we don't know which one did it. So unless you plan on going out stabbing and shooting every Voodoo-affiliated gang member in the face for this -- and every root-woman and conjure-man just to be on the safe side -- there's more digging to do. Like finding who these people were, what gangs they were in, and what gangs they had a beef with."

Arrows of light illuminated the most direct path from Fulcrum and Ace's arrival points to the MedLab with Archeville and Phantom. Fulcrum reached him first; Ace got in just in time to see them part from a more-than-colleagues embrace. "Ah, Ace, glad you could make it. Like I said, Dracula's coming, for Jack und Taylor's child. Said child is due any moment, so my place is here to help mit delivery. Jack is down in de main lobby already; I believe Fleur it mit him. Taylor has called for reinforcements, but I do not know if Jack did de same. Most of de staff here is in or on deir vay to panic rooms. Some of dose haff deir own air supplies, separate from de buildings systems, but most share de same system as de entire building, so a 'vampire' in mist form could still reach dem." Archeville withdrew his techno-wand and a holographic image of the building appeared in the air. "De building has a number of security systems, including stun beams... but dose von't vork if dis Dracula truly is an un-dead, mit all de powers myth und legend ascribe to him. I do have a few ideas -- I can program all de internal news monitors to show religious icons, flood de air vents mit colloidal silver und garlic extract, try und redirect some satellites to beam pure sunlight down on us -- but it vill take time to implement dem."

"" He offered her his hand to ride from the table. "" A short walk down the hall saw them in a bigger room, with a large MRI-like device at one wall. "" Moments later, Ashley was slid head-first into the machine. She now knew what a bullet felt like when it was loaded into the chamber of a revolver. "" Archeville's voice crackled over the intercom, "" Five minutes later, Ashley was sitting by Archeville's side, looking at the recorded scan of her brain, and of the tiny artificial device nestled deep inside. The scanner showed it was clearly an inorganic structure, a cybernetic implant of some sort, and completely nonfunctional.

"Ja, ja, I'm a horrible person or having you spy on und betray de trust of two high school students," he replied in a tone that only showed a bit of condescension. "You know vhat else is horrible? Dat dey spent almost two-thirds of deir lives in isolated government care, und vould haff eventually been indoctrinated into de military. Und if not for Headmaster Summers, dey vould still be in dose conditions." "I dink ve vould both agree dat dey are in a far better environment now." he said in a very calm and reassuring tone. "Und I vould like to make sure dey remain stable und happy. A Metahuman's mental und emotional state is key in regulating deir abilities, und vhen dose abilities stem from de Terminus... vell, dings can get volatile very quickly."

He can show her on the second scan, with the bigger machines; that's when he'll show her it's a bionic implant. Feel free to post her reaction to him telling her she's got a weird "dead" spot in her brain now, though ;)

I missed that in chat. Excellent! Master Plan check (Int check). 10-14 = +1, 15-24 = +2, 25+ = +3 on all allies skill checks and attack rolls; bonus lasts 3 rounds, then decreases at a rate of 1 per round. (1d20+14=23) Okay, first three rounds of The Plan, we all get a +2 bonus on all skill checks & attack rolls; on round 4, we all get +1.

Archeville glanced at Ace, and smirked. "De alternate universe versions of Daedalus, Raven, und Siren are left," he began, "und, mercifully, ve do not haff to vorry about deir Doctor Metropolis coming over, as dey need him to maintain deir stranglehold on deir city. I dink it vould be best if Fleur focused on getting any hostages out, vhile Ace distracts de Syndicate und leaves dem open for Dark Star to trap in his gravity fields. Daedalus' armor vorks on gravitic manipulation, dough, so he may be able to nullify your field, at least around himself. However, a properly modulated blast of electromagnetic radiation should knock his armor out of commission. Fleur, be sure to reassure de hostages dat all vill be vell, dat ve vill stop dis; de shock of being held by dark reflections of de city's heroes is sure to cause emotional trauma beyond a normal hostage situation. I vill vork on undoing vhatever technological mess Daedalus has done. If any of you come across our Freedom League, free dem und bring dem up to speed; Dark Star, your healing abilities may be needed, so try to keep your senses open for dem or for vord from us." The Doktor stood tall, "Und remember, ve haff von ding dey do not, dat dey cannot haff: trust. Dey barely function as a team, dey are more like a gang. Ace, if you can find a way to sow dissent among dem mit your honeyed vords, I encourage you to do so."

"" Archeville murmured a bit as he passed his scanner over her, checking and re-checking the readings. Much of what he saw was familiar, triggering memories of the work he'd done with her so many years ago, and he was still impressed by the work Doctors Rycnov, Anluk, Conveir, and the others had done. "" He zoomed in on a tiny spot. It was a tiny cybernetic implant, and appeared non-functional. ""

So are you actually squeezing to damage this round? Or just holding him?

"I am not sure vhich is more disconcerting," the Doktor said, rubbing his chin, "dat dese beasts might be a distraction to cover up some other, subtler crime, or dat dese beasts are not de mindless creatures dey appear to be." "Mein first move vould be to scan for any odd energy signals," he said as he began typing on an unattended keyboard and checking what AEGIs had already found, "see if dese dings are communicating mit each other, or if de vons who sent dem are coordinating movements vhile dese beasties tromp about. Ve should also try und track vhere dese dings came from. Did dey approach from de sea, de rivers, from underground? Or did dey simply appear in de middle of de streets, as if teleported in? Or an innocent bystander vas hit mit some mutagenic compound dat turned dem into dose dings?"

Added Doktor Archeville & Fulcrum's recent encounter. Part of me thinks Dead Head should be a tiny black dot in the far corner of the image.

"Is dat so?," he began in response to her words about his attractiveness. "Is it de regal nose und high cheeks? De aksent? Or perhaps it is mein-!" Archeville was abruptly silenced when he found his lips and tongue otherwise engaged. And, Mona found, just as eager. When she released him, he let out a long breath. "Oh my...." "My... mein life has changed over de past few months," he began. "I used to be content in puttering on whatever struck mein fancy, tackling vhatever problems presented demselves to me. A fire here, a bank robbery dere, an innovative surgical procedure here, an extraterrestrial incursion dere.... but, mit mein company, mit ArcheTech, I have a chance to truly make de vorld a better place, to bring all humanity forvard. I am finally tackling some of de Big Picture, root problems... und dis change in vhat I vork on, vhat I devote mein intellect to, brings mit it a change in vhat mein... mein heart und soul vant." He reached up and caressed her cheek, "I am ready to move past tinkering on disparate projects, und to vork on someding long-term."

"A few things, yes," Vince answered while crouched behind a table. Seemed Jack's attitude was putting the AI ill at ease. "Found two drugs of note, Max and Zombie Powder. Both are somewhat uncommon, but police chatter's been that they've been seen more and more of these past month or so. Max can be found almost anywhere, it's a potent stimulant, and rumored to be derived from the formula used in the Patriot Project. Zombie Powder's a narcotic, but one tightly controlled by only a few select gangs, ones with Voodoo connections. Word is, anyone who dies while on it rises as some type of zombie." "Based on known gang colors in assorted police databases, the... uh... bodies in the photos aren't member of any gang with known or even suspected Voodoo ties. Maybe it was a turf war, they tried to push some of the Voodoo gangs out, but lost and got tunred into zombies instead?" Vince shrugged. "Unfortunately, there's some more bad news. Residue from a few of the vials indicated that someone was mixing the Max and Zombie Powder. Which could mean there's gonna be super-strong, super-fast zombies on the streets if this isn't stopped."

Correct, Colt finds nothing new by staring holes into the pictures.

"Created by her brain" = organic meaty bits, and not something like a bionic implant, yes?

From the discussion thread at the ATT: (Yes, that Taliesin.) Okay, my Cautious Optimism just ratcheted up to "Why isn't this in my grubby paws now?!"

So, what will Doc find on this basic scan? And what will he find on a more thorough scan? (Because what he's doing now is a thorough scan, but he's not telling her that. Partly so she won't be too weirded out by just how advanced the tech he's waving over her head is, partly b/c he wants to know what's going on in her now.) If you just have basics in mind, that's fine; I'm somewhat good at supplying technobabble ;)