Fox
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Because I'm guessing we're going to need it at some point in the near future: Initiative Rolls (Gaian Knight, Tiamat) (1d20 + 0=6, 1d20 + 1=12)
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The shatter-proof case was certainly a start, and Midnight looked well-equipped to back them up if necessary. But they needed the duplicate online and functioning for the best answers; that was a little harder. An EMP could disabled it (but had a bad habit of frying circuitry), her fire system could keep it from destroying itself (but who knew how much damage it would do first if the fire came from inside), but if she could keep it from-- She went into a flurry of activity all at once, grabbing a tray of tools off a shelf and making her way toward the fallen duplicates, picking through their heads, necks, and torsos with surgical precision. She hesitated only once, glancing over at Midnight and Fleur, before frowning and deciding that some things were just less important; lights danced behind her eyes when she turned back to her work, monitors lighting up with rough schematics of her findings. "...brain's in the head - odd - not unreasonable; easier to cool, replicates human structure better more room inside main body for power replication - good - excellent even - could re-use synaptic interrupt designs - not as complicated to interrupt wiring, easier to do non-lethally - signal signal signal has to be here; relay, entanglement unit, antenna, something - wouldn't make them autonomous if it were me - have to be able to gather data, alter behavior if HAH! Found you!" She actually laughed, turning to look at a monitor and the small piece she'd just added to the design. "Yes! Hahaha-- wait, no - tracking - huge distance, would need a triangulation program we don't have time to make while also building oth---yes, okay. Okay." Quickly scribbling some information on a sheet of paper, she gave it and one of the pieces from one of the imposters to a drone and sent it and all but three of the pack off to find Gina. She stopped to take a breath, organizing her thoughts, when it dawned on her that she wasn't alone at the moment. And that she probably looked and sounded crazy. And that the city had a very bad history of people who looked and sounded crazy. "Right! Sorry. Okay," she repeated, taking another breath and turning to address the others. "It's...sorry. Brain. Good news: pretty sure I can disable it safely, pretty sure we can trace it to its owner, or close enough. Will be building disabler - could use a hand - and my...friend...can probably get tracking working. Once it's done, though, will want the robot working for as long as possible, on its own: need it transmitting. Seconds, minutes, as much as we can get. And as much information as it can tell us in that time."
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Puppy was suitably surprised and backed up a foot before thumping against the rear of the elevator; once he'd realized what the 'threat' was, though, he made a little series of chirps that sounded suspiciously like a sigh and gently rolled toward Charlie to lure him out of the way of Mara, Trevor, Fleur, and Mara's miniature squad of drones. Once more thankful that she'd gotten elevators big enough to handle large equipment - or, as the case may be, small crowds - Mara ordered conveyance down. Mara's secret lab wasn't grand, but it was relatively spacious, and quite well-equipped - half-formed and nearly unidentifiable projects were littered across tables and floor, parts taking up all available shelf space that wasn't already claimed by tools and more projects. A few doors were scattered across the walls, mostly closed; the open ones looked like they led into storage rooms. Two of the larger tables had already been cleared off, though, and were now dominated by the remains of those who thought they could duplicate Freedom City's heroes. going to need a third table "....okay. First: you never saw this room. Second: have a...friend...helping here, but she doesn't like people, so is probably off in another room. Probably best not to look for her, for now. Need to make something to disable or contain a sophisticated android without hurting it. ....mmmh. Said you were an engineer? Could use another pair of hands. And a good mind for contingencies and failsafes, if either of you have one."
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"Will have to make sure we won't need it," Mara grimly noted. She was already planning, trying to anticipate what if anything Gina had done while down in the lab and what she'd need past that to isolate a potentially dangerous robotic foe. fire suppressants - suspend in tube? - difficult to work on him then - disrupt energy flow? - cleaner than EMP - harder - mmh - need parts - security She absently gestured at the two heroes to follow her, issuing a sharp whistle at...nothing, at first, though the signal became clearer when a series of medium-sized drones dropped out of the ceiling or popped up out of the floor to start following her. Coming down, she thought, little lights dancing behind her eyes as her message was relayed below the earth to the screens in her private lab. Company. Having hit the elevator button before absent-mindedly doubling back to grab a small potted plant off the reception desk, the young inventor did a double-take when the doors opened to reveal a little drone like a round ball, its clear plastic shell dominated by a large, single eye. "...hello, Puppy. You're late. Come on - time to find Ellie."
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"Hah!" Tiamat looked at the weapon with a sense of appreciation, albeit appreciating tinted with heavy amusement. "It's cute. I like your style, kid." Gaian Knight was no less impressed, but his was colored by caution, rather than humor. "Just promise me you won't be using it on people," he said, frowning. "We don't know what's down there yet, and I think we've pretty well-established that we have difficulties telling the difference between these duplicates and real humans." With that out of the way, he cracked his knuckles and pulled his face cloth up around his mouth. "Right, so. Coming in from a tunnel, was it?" There was surprisingly little fanfare as he started to move: he just walked, the ground under his feet silently opening up to form a ramp into the dark earth. "Guess we'd better get going, then. I'll leave it open behind us, in case we need a fast way out."
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Wraith watched the second round of foes pour in with an eerie, feral calmness, standing ready among the bodies of their failed first attempt to bring the heroes down. Her eyes snapped into thin, angry lines when she heard her name, though - when the almost literal wave of robots hit her they may as well have been leaves in a blender. Metal tore, frames bent, and limbs flew as she danced through their ranks, a lashing, never-halting engine of alien destruction. When she had a moment, a break in the rush of the fight and the metaphorical breathing room, she looked up at the Curator's image from a small field of his minion's inorganic corpses. "My people were born on a planet that would have killed any others, and we survived. The Grue attempted to claim our planet as their own, and we survived. We were trapped between the Lor and the Stellar Khanate in their war, and we survived. I fight alongside my friends against strange and powerful enemies, and together, we survive." She pointed one bladed limb straight at the three-eyed display on the screens in direct, unmistakable challenge. "You do not offer us anything we want, and our rejection is only a negative survival trait if you can stop us."
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Melee Attack Roll vs. Robots (whip-blades; All-Out Attack +2/-2) (1d20 + 11 + 2=25) Bless you, all-out attack. DC26 Toughness, plus Takedown, etc, etc. Wraith is at -2 defense until her next turn. Wraith will be interposing for Glow, for now, when possible or necessary.
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Initiative Roll (1d20 + 7=25) EDIT: 1 (base hero) + 2 (Luck 2) + 1 (misuse of her creations [Hatred]) + 1 (theft of HAX designs [Responsibility]) = 5 HP, I believe. 4 HP, if GM judgement is that HAX's involvement and the security breach aren't pertinent enough in the context of the thread alone.
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"Easier to see in hindsight," Mara agreed, looking awfully uncomfortable at the thought; she'd been trying not think about how long the imposters might have been there, and about how far back she could trace all the little things that weren't quite right. It was an awful thought experiment - how could she ever be sure what had been Ellie and what had been her duplicate? How much of what they'd been through had been her girlfriend, and how much had been some meat-and-metal puppet? How could you know? She could find her, that's how. She straightened up, her face settling back into an angry determination. Everything important - answers and otherwise - lie with finding those who were missing. "Lab," she instructed, pointing toward the elevator at the back of the lobby. "No easy button for it - get in, will send you down. Will be down too as soon as functional specimen arrives. Could use the assistance."
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[bg=#555555]"Multiple paths to underground areas,"[/bg] Dragonfly observed, making her way toward Fenris - or, at least, where she'd last known Fenris to be, judging by the noise and flow of people. She could find him from there. [bg=#555555]"Will meet up with you and take you to the one I am certain off. Underground area seems to connect both buildings, but not entirely sure what to expect - manufacturing area, at least. Bee Keeper is right - has to be where robots are coming from."[/bg] She paused only when she had to fight, or to let any remaining civilians pass; the former were in her way and the latter weren't likely to be responsible for stealing her designs, her tech. Probably. They could always be found later, if necessary.... She was starting to get impatient by the time she finally found Fenris. [bg=#555555]"Come on. Falling behind."[/bg]
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A pair of drones had poked their heads out from behind ceiling tiles when the motorcycle pulled up, but a wave from Mara as she her way toward the doors to let its rider in had them hiding away again. "Not much yet," she admitted, apparently unintimidated by the towering man and his outfit. "But have acquired two destroyed examples, and expecting one functioning one shortly - preparing for it downstairs. Extraterrestrial, sophisticated duplicate robots - best current theory is the Curator, but need more information than that. Learn what we can from all of them, track to a source - or find and trace communications." She looked down at the kitten for a moment, sending a silent call out to someone she hoped could keep it out of trouble. "Would include subtle communication ability, if I were building duplicates. Monitoring, recall, override. True autonomy is dangerous."
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"Okay." Mara pulled some hair back behind an ear, frowning and tapping her screwdriver. "...okay. Can meet Fleur de Joie here. But need to not lose too much time - need you to get started. Take the elevator - will send you down to my lab once you're in. Follow you when I can. Can salvage anything - anything - down there if you need parts. Don't care if you have to rip it out of the walls. Personal projects are not more important than rescue, and you're smart enough to not do something stupid."
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Gabriel had only been gone long enough to let the silence settle before the elevator doors closed on Emerson...apparently without him touching anything. Stranger still, the elevator clearly went down - not such an oddity for an elevator, of course, but usually somewhat unusual in buildings that were not supposed to contain basements. Much less basements as deep as the long elevator trip implied.... He reappeared soon enough, though, accompanied by Mara herself. "Could probably build EMP without trouble," she said, agitatedly fiddling with a screwdriver. On a day like this, she was apparently keeping at least some of her attention on the building's security feeds. "Stopping the fire's easier - building has very aggressive anti-fire systems - but worst case could modify a drone. Basic energy weapon on them, easily repurposed." She gestured not at the little drone still patrolling the lobby, but up toward a corner of the room; one of the ceiling panels slid aside to reveal another little drone that peeked out curiously before hiding again. "Would need to do it in a cage. Not going to help to blow out building's electronics."
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Mara just kind of stood there for a moment, looking at where Mark used to be with an expression of utter confusion. what was that supposed to - it - Omega? what? - whatever - no She shook her head, kneeling down next to Wander's double's remains; the heavy steel choker around her neck lit up to fold them into her pocket. "Doesn't matter," she told thin air, just to clear her thoughts. "Priorities." She took the stairs back down to the third floor, grabbed a cart to unload the fake Wander into, and wheeled that into the elevator to head back down to the lobby. She could ponder the implications of the children of 'reality-warping gods' some other time.
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Wraith shifted her weight back and forth and then back again, nervously watching the drones wander and administrate. She wasn't that worried about getting hurt unless they all took her down at once - each and every robot was just a walking meal, after all - but she didn't know what other tricks they might have. Or if they already knew she was there. Or.... No. Too many questions, and not enough time. "I am going to distract them," she quietly hummed, growing into something sleek and agile with clawed feet. "So long as they only attempt to physically harm me, they will have a very difficult fight. Hopefully I will draw their attention enough to allow you to either take them by surprise or sneak away to do something clever." She was still for a moment - impossibly, inhumanly still, watching her prey with big eyes as she listened for the sound of drums. Not real drums, but the ones deep in her head, the hunting drums, the warrior drums.... She took off so suddenly that she nearly disappeared, arms whipping out behind her into long, scythe-tipped tendrils as she bore down on a group of robots.
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Wraith hungers! Hungers for FACES! Feed your faces to Wraith! Elongation 2 (+10ft) [2pp] Speed 1 (10mph / 100 feet per Move Action) [1pp] Strike 5 (Feats: Improved Critical [19-20], Mighty) [7pp] [2 + 1 + 7 = 10/10pp] She spends just enough time while hidden to quietly shapeshift and elongate, and then breaks cover to charge in and assault a clump of robots head-on. Because why not, I say! 'Clump' here being any group of enemies close enough to each other to all be in her ~15' melee range, and not too close to the cover they were using. Melee Attack Roll vs. Robot (whip-blades; Power Attack -2/+2) (1d20 + 11 - 2=23) She'll make with the Takedown Attack as necessary, and will be interposing for Koshiro, if he becomes a target. For the end of the surprise round: Initiative Roll (1d20 + 7=12)
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Mara looked very sad for a moment, kneeling down next to the robot duplicate of her head of security. "....yes," she said, tilting her face to the side. "Yes, I know exactly. And better here than inside; security system would have tagged you as an intruder, tried to take you out. It's...." She shook her head, standing back up with the same expression of determination that she'd had when she opened the door. "Never mind. Go - can manage from here, stronger than I look. Only really have to get it to the elevator, anyway."
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Tiamat, still leaning against the far wall (for lack of things to punch), snorted at Myrmidon's Russian comment. "Забавный. " Gaian Knight may not have been able to understand any of the Russian going around, but he didn't miss Frost's snubbing of Myrmidon, nor the tone in Myrmidon's reply. He held up his hands, shaking his head. "Let's be as civil as possible, hm? As for what they'll have ready for us, I honestly couldn't tell you; I can tell what the size of the place is -" - he paused to indicate its rough diameter on the map - "- but to me it just looks like a big void in the earth. It could be a big empty cavern, or it could have a complex, walled-off structure inside - I can't tell the difference. We'll have to play it by ear. I could get us in through a tunnel, though, if that's the way we want to go."
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The lobby was quiet bar a few small movements that, on inspection, turned out to be a security drone - it wasn't any bigger than a small dog, scuttling around on four metal legs as it surveyed its domain with a single red eye. Gina didn't get more than a curious glance - apparently Mara had told the system that she was a guest, and thus wasn't worth a closer look. Mara punched the button for the third floor, grumbling something about teleporters and helicopters. Not that there wasn't likely to be room in the intersection outside to land a reasonably-sized helicopter, but it was more attention that she was hoping to draw right now. But, whatever - the more examples of these robots they had to look at, the better. An elevator ride and a short flight of stairs later, the engineer emerged from the rooftop access door of her building to scowl at Mark. "There's a front door. ....but thank you for bringing the body."
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The elevator had just reached the main floor when the proximity alarm went off; for lack of a proper monitor in the elevator Mara linked into her security network directly and pulled up the rooftop security camera feeds. She almost immediately reached up to pinch the bridge of her nose, making a quiet strangled noise. "Teleported it up to the roof," she explained. "Going to have to go back up to get it. Can leave you here, if you want, in case he'll want to ride back down - shouldn't be anybody in the lobby but a security drone."
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[bg=#555555]"Not just robots and civilians,"[/bg] Dragonfly warned, peering around herself with no small suspicion. She hated the feeling of something brushing her mind - the memories were bad enough, but the rush of mental static she'd get if anyone or anything tried to force their way into her head was anything but comfortable. [bg=#555555]"Possibly super-human presence. Had to expect it, but...be careful."[/bg] When no threats were immediately apparent - for now, anyway - she took a moment to poke the building's network with her mind. It was locked down, sure, but how well? Little lights danced behind her eyes, barely visible through the lenses of her helmet, as she reached out for their computer system....
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Delicious rolls! Knowledge (Technology) Roll (1d20 + 15=28) Knowledge (Business) Roll (1d20 + 7=10) Computers - Skill Mastery for auto-27. Notice - Skill Mastery for auto-15.
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It was a bit of a wait, with relatively little to occupy one's self with and nothing but a clock to note the passage of time, but eventually the world turned in on itself again; the vast blankness of Dragonfly's spatial pocket folded outward into...a large, modern elevator. Dragonfly, for her part, was standing in the elevator's corner to give them space to reappear. As soon as she was satisfied that they were fine she turned around and pushed one of the buttons on the elevator panel, her armor disappearing in a wash of distorted space as they began to descend from what was apparently - according to the display over the elevator doors - the third floor. "Welcome to HAX. Looks like most staff went home; some are still here, but are gathered up in secure areas - labs, mostly. Seem like they're doing okay. Shouldn't have to bother them - have to wait for the robot to be delivered, and won't be using those labs."
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Mara nodded, faceplate snapping shut again as her suit lit up. [bg=#555555]"Remember,"[/bg] she said, placing her hand not on Gina but on Gina's bag, [bg=#555555]"don't try to fight free once you're in. Usually have something in there so you can tell time, if you need to, if no one's broken it again. Will let you out as soon as we're inside HAX."[/bg] Something deep inside Dragonfly's gauntlet hummed, and little lines like creases in paper shot across Gina's bag, jumping from there to the genius' body. After that, what happened was entirely a matter of perspective: Emerson saw Gina fold away, twisting and collapsing into nothingness. From Gina's perspective, the world folded up around her; her robot, her house, and finally Dragonfly herself wrapped up in dimensions the eye wasn't quite built to observe until everything was just...blank. There was a definite sense of 'down', but it wasn't clear what she was standing on, and the only thing around for as far as she could see was a simple battery-powered alarm clock silently ticking along the seconds. Dragonfly took a moment to pocket Emerson and the case he had brought upstairs - which both shortly unfolded next to Gina in the pocket - and was out of the house, barely shutting the door behind her before she was in the sky and headed toward HAX.
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Mara squinched up half her face like she'd been stabbed in the brain, making her way after Gina in an effort to get her going faster. "City's in a panic, full of dangerous robots, and you want----no. No." She made a frustrated motion with her hands. "Don't mind you coming to HAX - prefer it - but car is slow, and dangerous. Will take you myself - fold you into my spatial pocket, if I have to. Kind of empty, but perfectly safe as long as you don't try to fight your way out. Can take the car too, if you're worried about getting back."
