Gizmo

Bluebird Café Staff Eve Martel - French gymnast turned small business owner kept out of the Olympics by an injury. Frosty and authoritative, she never forgets a customer and knows their order before they do. Comes from money, making it on her own. Hella gay. Kimber Storm - Bubbly and gregarious barista determined to strike up a conversation with everyone who comes through the door. Sugar and caffeine consumption off the charts; rarely sleeps. In charge of pastries. Probably more than a little bit gay. Indira Singh - Unfailingly polite barista with numerous metal piercings. Has a habit of appearing behind customers undetected. Sees everything, knows what you did, doesn't judge. In charge of latte art. Doesn't subscribe to your gender binary. Eric LaCroix - Cool and collected night shift barista. Sympathetic ear and zen master of comfort food, stuck hearing about everyone’s relationship woes. Frontman for a rockabilly band that plays live at Criminal Records once a week. Half gay, half decaf. Regulars Tara Bulle - Melodramatic aspiring poet who practically lives in the café. Probably not her real name. Tries very hard to be well liked, has a dark sense of humour. Doesn't like to talk about her last bad breakup. Maybe gay? Detective Erin White - Stern police officer with a carefully controlled hot temper. Frugal and hard working, she came up from nothing. Soft spot for cats. Only recently allowed to carry a nightstick again after 'the incident'. Not gay, stop asking. Detective Mark Lucas - Unusually upbeat police officer with a carefree attitude. Absurdly good luck and a deep belief in justice make him the golden boy of the force. Determined to make his partner laugh. If gay means happy then absolutely! House of Waffles Staff Erik Espadas - Outgoing owner of a 24 hour diner and father of four. Makes genuinely terrible coffee but amazing waffles, pancakes and other breakfast foods. Somehow finds time to also head up the local business owner’s association, too. You’d think, but no. Ellie Espadas - Long-suffering, sarcastic waitress working at the family diner to help pay for medical school. Here to hear your order, not your life story but enjoys verbal sparring matches with the right sort of person. Totes magotes gay. Steve Murdock - Soft spoken cook who prefers to stay in back. Bit of a sad sack but appreciates the little things other people take for granted. The reason the HoW has had one - and only one - attempted robbery. All we’re saying is nobody’s ever seen his girlfriend. Chris Kenzie - Excitable delivery boy and short order cook. Has a bad habit of making up completely incomprehensible slang for daily specials. Gets into a lot of accidents of his bike but heals surprisingly quickly. Needs to stop trying to get people to call him ‘metrosexual’. Regulars Seth Gibson - Outrageous hipster never seen without a smart phone in hand. The sole reason the House of Waffles has vegan options on the menu. A legitimate social media savant who makes sure community events are well attended. More pan than a wok. Sakinah Mataraci - Tolerates hanging out with Seth for completely unknown reasons. Brash and outspoken, sometimes allows her better judgement to be overruled by her temper. Secretly binge watches drama series on Netflix. A whisker too gay to be straight. Joe's Hardware Staff Joe Macayle - Affable punk rocker who inherited the hardware store from his grandfather. Acts as the community handyman, finds he has to talk a lot to make up for his employees. Doesn’t need to know why you’re buying all that rope, thanks. Mara Hallomen - Definitely too smart to be working in a hardware store but she likes having all the free time to work on her own projects. Chronically grumpy, she’d forget to eat most days if the House of Waffles wasn’t right next door. For realsies gay. Trevor Hunter - In charge of the automotive section of the store, he dresses in black and makes wearing sunglasses inside work. Nearly monosyllabic. Subsists mainly on coffee and engine grease, spends his breaks at the Bluebird Café. Gay for lady cops. Jessie White - Works in the stock room, avoids interacting with customer's at all costs. Met Aquaria in therapy after the same event that led her sister to become a cop. Likes to paint but too self-conscious to display her work. Doesn't function well enough to gay. Aquaria Innsmouth - Excitable worker in gardening supplies. Grew up in a remote commune, has odd ideas about basically everything. Sings regularly at Criminal Records, has Jessie paint her backdrops. Hella platonically codependent. Rock of Ages Rare Books Staff Tarrant McLeod - Appropriately bookish and dusty, has a love of learning and teaching. Needs to be occasionally reminded that he’s not running a library. A grounded voice of reason on the local business owner’s association. Flattered, but not gay. Gina Evans - In charge of acquisitions and keeping the stock room in order, which ends up being enough work for two people. Never, ever, ever deals with customer’s face to face, can track down any book you need from behind her computer. Not nearly well adjusted enough to gay. Teagan Delphyne - Aggressive saleswoman with an intimidating smile. Rarely lets a customer leave without buying something, has no patience for lookie-loos. Recently took up hot yoga and lost a lot of weight. Gay for Susan B. Anthony dollars. Sean Tulink - Stock boy and go-fer who read a few philosophy textbooks and thinks he’s more advanced than everyone he meets. Civic minded and helpful but only really listens to Gina. Finds your notions about sexuality archaic and quaint. Regulars Dr. Dimitri Peshkov - Local veterinarian and a bit of an eccentric creep, albeit ultimately harmless. Likes books about WWII and ancient mythology, particularly Russian translations. Any warm body will do! Siobhan Drake - Member of LaCroix’s band and occult aficionado. Gets into frequent arguments with Peshkov over rare books and whether keeping a pet raccoon is a good idea. Not all wiccans, guys. Criminal Records Staff Richard Cline - Half of an eighties New Wave duo with Paige. Opened a record shop with the royalties from their one-hit wonder, insists it sounds better on vinyl. Introduces acts at Criminal Records' open mic nights with an endless stream of dad jokes and dated references. Gay for Duran Duran. Paige Cline - The business sense behind Criminal Records, convinced Richard to diversify beyond cassettes. Organizes shelves and open mic nights. Attributes uncanny ability to know what people are thinking to 'mom senses'. Everybody was experimenting in the eighties, you know. Regulars Natalya Peshkov - AKA Talya Browning: amateur jazz singer, professional knockout. Stays in her stage persona around new people and inquisitive police detectives. In a serious relationship with Erik and Min Espadas; geometrically gay. Huang Faretti - Smugly handsome indie rock teen. Never buys anything but has a lot of opinions about what everyone will be listening to in the future. Embarrassed by his supportive parents and excellent home life. Leather-jacket-in-summer gay. Fleur de Joie Florist and Wedding Planners Staff Stesha Madison - Florist, single mother and divorcee. Fully aware of the irony, thank you. Known and well liked by everyone in the community, the real power behind the local business owner’s association and every block party. Sometimes wishes she were gay. Min Espadas - An old soul with a green thumb and a font of new-agey wisdom. Known to be nauseatingly publicly affectionate with Erik and Talya. Talks to trees to help develop their ‘cosmic energy’. In charge of large arrangements and landscaping. Cross polinates. Carson Keefe - Smooth talking wedding singer and ordained officiant. Charming and easy-going if a little old fashioned. Seems to end up volunteering for every good cause that crosses his path, somehow keeps his obligations straight. Not gay, not that there’s anything wrong with that. Eliza Oxum - Up and coming ice sculptor with a strong sense of social justice. Also does deliveries for smaller orders. Splits her free time between Rock of Ages and training at the local pool. Goes with the flow. Sweet Dreams Bakery Staff Doctor Elis Sanford - Left a successful practice to start the bakery his late wife always talked about. At times melancholy but a good listener. Prescribes different cupcakes based on the day a customer is having. Doesn't need to defend his frilly apron. Raina Sanderson - Assigned to Sweet Dreams through her high school co-op program. Enjoys firing up the oven more than is probably normal. Impressive collection of plush monkeys, unimpressed by everything else. One time on a dare.

Corona can figure out that since they used up a fair amount of their explosives fighting the antibodies the troopers are going to need her firepower to make up the difference. Redbird's direction should help them get the most out of their efforts but if they stay put too long they'll get overrun by more antibodies or caught in the blast.

By the time Wildcat turned around all that was left was to watch the second guard collapse to the ground with a pathetic gurgle, knees collapsing beneath him and phone slipping from his fingers to clatter against the gravel. Stepping primly over the twitching hired gun Jill waved her hand over her shoulder to beckon the feline themed pugilist into the water treatment plant at as quick a pace as she could manage without completely giving up the element of surprise. Past some basic administrative space were dull metal catwalks circling around huge turbines with chipping robin's egg blue paint, environmental system working in vain to counteract a pervasive, clammy cold. The sound of rushing water through the pipes along the walls and ceiling was almost deafening and Jill risked speeding up, her footfalls against the catwalk drowned out. Heading downward at an angle, the next chamber greeted them with the reservoir itself, a wall about half Wildcat's height preventing anything from rolling into the water. Accidentally, at least. Another quartet of figures in the now familiar paramilitary outfits were hefting barrels from a stubby utility vehicle at the direction of a disheveled middle-aged man in a labcoat, moving toward the water supply.

Jill O'Cure Move Action: Feint Paramilitary: 1d20+15 32 Standard Action: Charge Paramilitary: 1d20+12 18 Paramilitary Thug Will Save vs DC 32: 1d20+3 17 Fortitude Save vs DC 22: 1d20+6 7 Fortitude Save vs DC 27: 1d20-6 10 Good job, team! Now, into the water treatment plant...

"Oh, you know me," Set drawled, sidling up beside Temperance and managing to flex every muscle in his exposed chest in an enticing manner without coming across like he was trying too hard. "I be easy and I go either way. Truly, why choose when one may have both at the same time?" Making a thoughtful sound in the back of his throat the godling considered the warehouse. "I expect I might hold the misnamed Madame's attention long enough for your binary beau to slip into her computer systems," he suggested, tone turning slightly more serious as he thought about Langstrom's condition. "I doubt she mixed the psychotropic herself; mayhaps the relevant information be upon her hard drives?"

Rock streaked through the empty void with his hefty fists outstretched in front of him, the glowing embers of his eyes narrowed as he focused on the huge, wedge-shaped Communion craft Paradigm had hurled him toward. The stoney goliath was not a being who worried overly about the precise mathematics behind his work but his practical grasp of the results when combining mass and momentum was very nearly unmatched. The nanite deployer's silvery, seamless hull crumpled where he struck it, rippling silently in the vacuum and tearing itself apart with shockwaves moments before his trajectory took him straight through its core. At the speed he was going Rock didn't have much time to take in the sights but he reflexively flung his arms apart like a swimmer doing a breaststroke, rending sensitive innards apart. The ship erupted in a violent explosion of twisted fragments and brightly annihilating exotic matter and Rock shot out the other side, having barely slowed down. He bellowed something in triumph but with no medium to carry his shout the specific words were anyone's guess.

The analyzing look Jean had given the bald man returned, though this time it was less coolly calculating and more taking in the other man as a whole. A smile began to pull at the corner of the Frenchman's mouth, giving way to a laugh. "Heh. Hah! No, no I expect they will not. You would be doing me a courtesy to let me join you, mon ami," he agreed, giving Steve an ornate bow from the waist, flourishing both arms. He continued to look amused as he straightened and moved into a better vantage point to keep watch on the street below. "I don't think I can explain the joke without ruining it," he apologized off-handedly, shaking his head. "I do think I now understand why Nassor wished to speak with mon fils, however! Ils doivent être terrifiés...!"

Rock Move Action: Move to something that looks important. Standard Action: Attack Something Imporant: 1d20+5 25 Something important needs to make a DC 35 Toughness Save!

Hit me with whatever Knowledge checks you think might be relevant, Rav. We're into the endgame at this point so I'm not going to make you jump through a whole lot of hoops.

Meanwhile the Coalition troopers forged toward the cyberformed city and the conspicuous tower now serving as a communication relay for the enemy. The remaining antibody's offered less resistance, reeling from the staggering casualties they'd been dealt, processors refusing to compute that the wildly outnumbered insurgents were actually winning. Redbird's voice crackled in Wander's ear as a streak of crimson and black flickered in and out of view up in the air. "I have telemetry on the target now, shieldmaiden. They cyberforming process has significantly added to the tower's structural integrity but I have noted several weak points that should offer inviting opportunity to our allies!"

22 - Roulette - Dazed, Staggered, 2HP > 21 - Corona - Uninjured, 0HP 19 - Eclipse - Uninjured, 1HP 17 - Wander - Uninjured, 3HP 02 - Giant Mole-Slug - Injured x2, Staggered

As if in agreement with Wander's assessment the mole-slug's mountain of flesh lurched forward, propelled by some unseen method to crash into the canyon walls. The ground in front of it split violently, computronium splintering and spraying in all directions as Roulette and Eclipse's footing abruptly became dangerously uncertain. The side of the fissure broke free with a deafening crack and slid downward in a glossy green avalanche. The chunks of cyberformed planet swept over the aggravating bounty hunter, knocking him off of his feet and carrying him several meters away, leaving him half buried and struggling to breathe let alone to move.

Mole-Slug Standard Action: Attack Roulette: 1d20+7 27 Whelp. That's a DC 37 Toughness Save there, Turk. > 22 - Roulette - Uninjured, 3HP, Pending Toughness Save 21 - Corona - Uninjured, 0HP 19 - Eclipse - Uninjured, 1HP 17 - Wander - Uninjured, 3HP 02 - Giant Mole-Slug - Injured x2, Staggered

The truck seemed to accommodate Indira's unexpected weight without too much protest while Kimber sat down in the space behind Eve for the look of things more than anything, her spectral being actually just floating a few millimeters above the black fabric and her elbows occasionally passing through her friend without resistance or notice in the confined space. Avro got himself comfortable on her lap without much convincing but tensed up a bit as the truck started down the uneven roads out of town. Kimber let Tarva get a few bars into the anthem before clearing her throat and leaning forward to catch the sorceress' eye. "That's not really-- Maybe a different song?" she suggested with a smaller smile than the one Tarva was forcing, not entirely sure where to start with explaining why O Canada might be an odd choice for passing the time. It occurred to her that most music in the Terminus was probably propaganda extolling the glory of Omega and suppressed a shudder. Annoyed by her moving around, Avro dropped down onto the floor mats and began wandering around Indira and Tarva's feet. "I'm, um, not allowed to sing anything from Frozen anymore!" she explained a little too quickly to Becky in the hopes of swinging some of the awkwardness over to herself.

Trevor almost said that he wanted to get behind the wheel and just drive around aimlessly for a while but his eyes were stinging with occasional, unexpected wisps of mist and his arms felt sore and tired like he'd pushed himself too hard during an intense workout. He knew most of that had to just be in his head but he wasn't sure he trusted himself behind the wheel just then. He was silent for longer than he meant to be, mulling over the question and letting Redbird take them in an aimless loop around a city block before saying, "The Manor. Midnight Manor." He made the distinction even though both the woman beside him and the autonomic machine intelligence who followed the direction and piloted the car toward home knew what he'd meant. The underground base, the network of caverns filled with equipment and mementos where his grandfather had spent so much time. That was where he needed to be.

Is another move action enough to get the technicians to their target or will it take a full round?

Mole-Slug Can't beat the Acrobatic Bluff, shockingly! Toughness Save vs DC 35: 1d20+16 32 With the antibodies sufficiently disrupted, the troopers are going to push ahead to the target. Since there are still antibodies in the cyberformed city - in-characters if not mechanically - somebody should probably still go with them! 22 - Roulette - Uninjured, -2 Defense, 3HP 21 - Corona - Uninjured, 0HP 19 - Eclipse - Uninjured, 1HP 17 - Wander - Uninjured, 3HP > 02 - Giant Mole-Slug - Injured x2, Staggered

Paramilitary Thug Toughness Save vs DC 22: 1d20+6 7

Indeed, go ahead, Rav! Nothing in Eclipse's post that should conflict with Corona's actions.

It took Set a moment to switch gears between the aggravating confidence he'd adopted to get under Madame Marvelous' skin back to the hopefully charming confidence he's been maintaining around Eliza and Sharl and in the intervening breath the glance he exchanged with the latter seemed to belong much more to a surprised young man than to the ancient personification of storm and chaos. With an imperious clearing of the throat the moment passed quickly enough and he leaned nonchalantly against the hotel room wall. "And you only required two attempts!" "I shall stay to watch over the playactors," Sekhmet spoke up, taking Langstrom from Gemmel with an unusually gentle manner and forcing the man to lie down on the nearby couch. "My healing talents may be needed and any sellswords shall not approach undetected." It wasn't a boast but a stated fact and her expression made it clear that there was little room for discussion. Set nodded and ran his fingers backward between his brick red dreadlocks, tossing them lightly. "Very well! Let us be off then, pretty people."

Mole-Slug Toughness Save vs DC 22: 1d20+17 19 22 - Roulette - Uninjured, -2 Defense, 3HP 21 - Corona - Uninjured, 0HP 19 - Eclipse - Uninjured, 1HP > 17 - Wander - Uninjured, 3HP 05 - Squad C - Unaffected 05 - Squad E - Disrupted x1 05 - Squad W - Unaffected 05 - Squad R - Unaffected 02 - Giant Mole-Slug - Injured x1, Staggered

Heavy Antibody Brigade Toughness Save vs DC 35: 1d20+7 12 22 - Roulette - Uninjured, -2 Defense, 3HP 21 - Corona - Uninjured, 0HP > 19 - Eclipse - Uninjured, 1HP 17 - Wander - Uninjured, -2 Defense, 3HP 14 - Heavy Antibody Brigade - Destroyed 05 - Squad C - Unaffected 05 - Squad E - Disrupted x1 05 - Squad W - Unaffected 05 - Squad R - Unaffected 02 - Giant Mole-Slug - Staggered

Mole-Slug Will Save vs DC 27: 1d20+8 13 Toughness Save vs DC 32: 1d20+17 36 Oof! I'm going to let you hang onto that HP, Morrison, for the set back there. 22 - Roulette - Uninjured, -2 Defense, 3HP > 21 - Corona - Uninjured, 0HP 19 - Eclipse - Uninjured, 1HP 17 - Wander - Uninjured, -2 Defense, 3HP 14 - Heavy Antibody Brigade - Disrupted x5, Staggered, Disabled 05 - Squad C - Unaffected 05 - Squad E - Disrupted x1 05 - Squad W - Unaffected 05 - Squad R - Unaffected 02 - Giant Mole-Slug - Staggered

The mole-slug let out a disturbingly high pitched shriek for its side under Wander's battering, two of its mouths clamping shut in uneven walls of yellowed teeth while the rest gnashed violently. There wasn't anything on its front end that the human warrior recognized as eyes but whatever sensory organs it was using seemed to be befuddled temporarily as the mountain of lumpy flesh riddled with invasive cybernetics threw itself against the walls of the canyon, causing the ground to shudder. Meanwhile the Coalition troopers continued to force their way toward the communication relay only to find the antibodies quickly adapting to their tactics. Jacia lobbed another makeshift grenade overhead only for a cyborg to leap into the air and tackle the explosive, sacrificing itself in a shower of desiccated meat and oil to mitigate the blast. Jilinson-08's firing team had the best luck, the Lor clone reaming composed even as he shoved the butt of his rifles down a drone's gaping mouth with a gut churning crunch.

Trooper Squads C, E, W & R Attack Heavy Antibody Brigade: 4#1d20+5 6 9 10 23 Heavy Antibody Brigade Toughness Save vs DC 23: 1d20+8 22 > 22 - Roulette - Uninjured, 3HP 21 - Corona - Uninjured, 0HP 19 - Eclipse - Uninjured, 1HP 17 - Wander - Uninjured, -2 Defense, 3HP 14 - Heavy Antibody Brigade - Disrupted x5, Staggered, Disabled 05 - Squad C - Unaffected 05 - Squad E - Disrupted x1 05 - Squad W - Unaffected 05 - Squad R - Unaffected 02 - Giant Mole-Slug - Staggered