Supercape

GM "I would not profess to understand the engineering involved in your generator" replied North. "I'll take your word it is not powered by a black hole!" He added as a little joke, before wondering if it was, in fact, powered that way... "The library and infirmary are unlikely to be threats, of course. But I am a doctor by background and if you would indulge my personal curiosity, I would like to see them...?" he asked politely.

GM "A sensible philosophy...for the most part" replied North carefully looking, but not touching. He could not but help a sour sting at the thought. WEST was indeed being well funded. But he still had to make tough calls. They had decided on depth rather than breadth...doing a little very well rather than a lot superficially. He often wondered if that was the right call... Never mind...making allies like Doctor Deoxy would certainly help! "We are well funded, or rather, reasonably funded. But it would certainly help if we can call on your assistance now and again..."

Mr Murk "I have the same ethos. And yet, I find it less than simple in practice" Club Immortus of Dehli was suitably Indian in style and decor, harking back to the day of the ran. Elegant but with edge of dusty antiquity. They sat down to some tea served in equally antique silver served by a sprightly, almost effeminate short haired young man. Or perhaps, given his beauty, a woman dressed in masculine style. So settled, Mr Musk dispensed with his facade. In front of Tsunami sat a Neanderthal, dressed in a suit. "As you can see, I am rather old..." he smiled, looking directly at her with milky white blind eyes.

GM "It would be a foolish man to come poaching here. Although the world is full of fools, I suppose. And plenty of fools are greedy" He conceded. "I commend you on the charity and humanity if these cells. But let us hope they are never needed.." What he was growing to trust doctor deoxy, he did have unspoken nagging worry. Somebody could potentially be imprisoned, however humanely, and nobody would be any the wiser. Not really his department. And unlikely. But he did ponder the thought. Perhaps the doctor might concede to annual inspection as a safeguard...

GM "mmmm" replied North non-comittaly. So.ulated realities, by and large were at least safe. In the wrong hand, malign. In the wristbands,benign.a tool.and like any tool, a potential weapon. But WEST were not about weapons.they were about explosions. And this did not seem like an explosion. "Useful, I am sure. I much prefer simulated catastrophes to real ones!" Unless we are in a simulated reality. Or those infinite copues of me an infinite multiverse that are.. Bah! I'm a no microbiologist not a philosopher! Too much see ulationrots the brain! He waited for the next destination on the tour...

GM "That would be most agreeable. As was the meal" replied North.in truth be was not much of a meat eater and whilst there was no cause to complain about the cooking he half wished he had gone for the vegetarian option. "The more I see, the more reassurance I can give" Provided, of course, that what I see is reassuring... "Please, lead on..."

GM "A fair question, to which there is no fair answer" replies North, honestly. "Humanity, obviously, is the priority. We all would prefer to save the human race compared to, say, the termite. Or even animals we are close to, such as dogs, if the choice boiled down to something that hard" He folded his napkin away. "But the humanity is woven into the world. A catastrophe, such as we aim to prevent, affects all. It would perhaps be best to consider us as firemen. Firemen save human lives, but what they really do is prevent and put out fires. Except, of course, the fires we deal with could consume everything"

GM A man of science then, rather than politics. I can't say I blame him...the two are uneasy bedfellows at best. That was what they had hired him for, he thought as he munched into an i teresting, unique, and far from unpalatable steak. Perhaps, thoough, he should have asked iit a litlle more cooked... "If you like sharks you should meet this British guy, half man, half shark" he rambled, recalling a brief meet with Sgt Shark last month. He found Doctor Deoxy's love of them slightly disconcerting even if understandable. "But if you love them for being so unchanged, why your own love for...dabbling?" He asked.

GM This was enough to crack the bravest of souls, and sunder the stupidity of the most foolish. However seductive the lure of social media hits on scrapchat or Instagrime one had to be alive to bask in its ephemeral allure. In other words they ran away as hard as they could. The factory was no empty! Except, one would presume, for a chocolate living and third of a magic key!

GM "Hey, hey, take it easy, will ya!" Gasped Smokey. "I ain't going to fight two superheroes! Look, I ain't a good man, I admit it. But I ain't a total to drag either" "So I'm cooperating. I'll take ya to greenfingers. I was gonna drive ya" he offered. "Me and my crew are at her disposal. Like I said, we ain't gonna ever be upstanding members of society. But even if we live in da gutter, we got some kinda line..." He nodded at their truck. "Do ya want a lift, or ya going to lift us? As long as you don't leave me stranded without my wheels, good by me!" He grinned

Snakebite "No, we can't. That phrase...caged...sounds to me like that's a code. A code for under duress. Which would be standard operation. We give the duress code. They lock onto our signal. Or set a trap" She turned back to the drugged man. "So, you blew it. You just cut your payment. Next time you criss me, I'll cut something off you that's going to be a lot more painful" she said, bluntly. "You may think you are in control here. But that's all it is. Just thinking you are. How about I throw you in the water face down with a couple of tranq darts and see if your buddy is going to be as stupid, and dead, as you are?"

Initiative: 1d20+6 17

With her JoT skill, Replica can make a Knowledge [Tactics] Roll. (Ill fudge it so she automatically recognises, as per IC, these are well drilled soldiers) DC 20 DC25

GM The Four Sodliers abseiled down on their ropes. Well armed, well armoured. This was a very well drilled set of soldiers, Replica could tell that much at least. Two stood guard, standing on abandoned cars, AK-47s at the ready. Replica could see various other arms - a handgun, grenadres of various types, combat knife. These guys meant business. Particularly the one with an RPG launcher strapped to his back. The other two set to work on the back of the armoured car. Both fired up cutting torches, and proceeded to get to wrok on the truck. Whilst the truck was indeed heavily armoured, the cutting torches were brutaly effective. It would be only a few minutes to get through... But for now, none of them had spotted Replica!

Notice: 1d20+2 16

Off for a break tomorrow for four or five days, with spotty internet connection and mobile phone!

So, doing a full mind probe to get to who was speaking to them on the comms. DC 20 Will Save. Its also a feedback flaw - so if hit do feel free to roll Echoheads resistance (a tough roll equal to 10 from the Mind Reading plus the Purposes' Toughness, if I understand the conflicting entries in UP correctly - although roll whatever your intepretation is!) for me so thread not slowed down! Its all sensory link but I doubt that is particularly important! Also a subtle and insibidous effect! Muahahaha!

Echohead Theft! But of what? And by whom? Something rather cosmic, by the sounds of it! Well, not on his watch! Making sure he stayed under cover, he reached out into the purpoises' head, trying to read his thoughts. As he did, he linked in with the villain's senses. He was half tempted to let the purpoise go - to see whom was behind this, and why...but for now, he just crept, stealthily, into the brain of the purpoise, drilling down... Who was their master?

GM "Mammoth steak? Well I cant very well turn down the opportunity of that!" replied North, quite interested. This job will, for all its toxic stress, afford me some most interesting experiences! "And let us be bold. I doubt I will eat Mammoth Steak again, so Ill trust...er...Thomad...to do them as he best sees fit" he declared. "As for funding, or even equipment, that is being negotiated now with the united nations and member states. You will appreciate that quite aside from the risk of an extinction event, the economic cost to the world of such events is between painful and astronomical" he explained. "The philosophy, and on this I concur, of the united nations is to be a small organisation that is well funded. And that all relevant organisations, such as AEGIS or UNISON, as well as national intelligence agencies and academic institutions, are signed up to a principle of coorperation" "So I think the resources will be there. The problems, I fear, will be in coordinating all the information and agencies. You understand..conflicting agendsa and so on. Dangerous science breeds paranonia. Some states, no doubt, will want to harness it. I forsee the problems being political rather than financiall..." he said, gloomily.

GM "Dinner would be good" noted North, although he was going to try and scan the dish for microbes before he ate. Or at least, for harmful microbes. "As for donations, I thank you for the offer but I we cannot accept. It would stain our public perception...we do not want to be seen to be beholden to any one individual. It is tricky enough with states" he said diplomatically. And image aside, it would behold us to Doctor Deoxy...he reasoned. If WEST was going to survive, let alone prosper, they had to be diplomats and politicians as well as scientists. The political landscape was a quagmire. But best trudge through that quagmire than have nothing at all. "But your own island may well be of use. Ill pencil you in!" he said, more brightly. "As for AEGIS, well, we do work with them, in principle" he explained "but they deal with superheroes, we don't. Or rather, we do, but incidentally rather than it being our remit" he said, shrugging his hands. It was indeed a messy business. "And we certainly are not trigger happy. You don't pull the trigger on the stuff we are dealing with. Not unless we are absolutely sure a trigger needs to be pulled. Might well do more harm than good!"

GM North nodded attentively. He didn't know an awful lot about autism, but it was part of his medical training. He could understand that solitude, or at least sanctuary, would be desirable. He was not entirely sure the island was optimal for the job. "We are considering where to build the Headquarters of WEST" he explained. "We will need small offices in most areas of the world, clearly. We have already set one up next to Astro labs, after cutting through all the normal diplomatic vexations. But if we are to study dangerous science, or contain it, we don't want anywhere near populated land. In fact, as far as way as possible..." "We are looking at Rapa Nui. With appropriate investment and diplomatic balms, of course. One of the most remote islands on the world. And, as many have commented, its old name was Easter Island....a little poetry there. WEST based in EAST..."

GM "That is a fair point" agreed North. "Plenty of discourse around the water dispenser" North got out of the sphere carefully. He could not resist a quick check of his scanner, just to ensure the radiation levels were normal. Or at least close to normal. He wasn't exactly sure who could caretake the island. Several heroes had expressed interest in WEST, and some, like Replica or Gossamer had even helped WEST with some investigations. But he couldn't see any of them caretaking an island of dinosaurs. Still, you never knew... "There is something else I would like to ask. The running of this island. How do you find it?"

GM "I will see what I can do" said North, neutrally. The truth was, of course, that WEST was embryonic. It did not have much clout, yet, and whilst it had a database of interested scientists, and was training field agents, it was not the best forum for research. Or at least, collaboration. It was not, however, the worst. And there might be an angle - a stamp of approval from WEST would at least partially dissolve many scientists reluctance to work with the Doctor. "A good word, here and their" he added, to refine his statement. "WEST isn't really a research organisation. At least, that is not its focus. But it could certainly do with your expertise, particularly when it comes to biological threats" he said, sounding the Doctor out. "If that is something you would be interested in. Saving the world, that is. Not always glamourous, but always vital!"

GM "Nothing is fool proof" agreed North. "But the safeguards are certainly prudent" "You are astute, doctor. But before I make my point, as you say, I should perhaps explain W.E.S.T. We should have time before we reach your laboratory" "I suppose you are aware of the World Health Orginisation, and the United Nations" he started, hoping the Doctor was at least starting from that position. "Essentially, the WHO was set up by, and is run by, the United Nations on the premise that certain health risks are a risk to the entire world. HIV, the Ebola Virus, these things do not respect borders. At least, for the most part. The world needs to be aware of, and respond to, global health risks" he explained. "And I imagine you are aware of some of the things that have happened over the last decade and more. The Terminus invasion, the problems with Dr Archeville. You might even have heard of the Darwin-X virus, or the problems with Neutron Industries last year. Such threats are not confined to one border. What if a dimensional rift opened into Sagitarius A? Or a Comsic Energy Bomb was unleashed by Overthrow? What if a grey goo spread across the globe, or a Self Replicated Prion destroyed the worlds crops? The number of potential catastrophes are growing exponentially..." he explained, grim and glum. "WEST is the World Exotic Science Taskforce. Set up on the same prinicples of the WHO. To monitor global threats from, well, exotic science...."

GM North enjoyed the sphere ride. Better than walking, and safer too, I would imagine. It gave him time to collect his thoughts. He had not anticipated trouble (despite his nerves), but it was still going better than he had expected. I hope he can be helpful as well as reassuring! "I daresay" he responded a little dryly as they travelled through the island. "However, I was more worried about your specimins leaving on their own volition. What if a megaladon reached the ocean and started breeding? Or a Pterodactylus flew to the mainland?" he inquired. "Are your defence mechanisms as suitable protection against that?" "I am reminded of the Great Wall of China. Constructed more to keep the population inside, that barbarians out...."