KnightDisciple

Just in case rolling-type things happen! (If they do it will be skill-check things.)

Hughes Household Friday, August 9, 2013 The invitation had gone out some 2 weeks prior. Out of the metaphorical blue, Corbin Alphonse Hughes had invited some of his closest and longest-running friends over to his home. He'd mentioned it would be "breakfast for dinner" and that he'd be providing a "nice spread", but that people were welcome to bring an additional dish. There was little else on the note, but for someone who supposedly had intended to take a break from school to go off and hunt ancient artifacts, it did perhaps seem a bit sudden. It was a fairly decent day out when everyone started arriving, just a bit before 5pm. The house had several lights on on the ground floor, though there was no evidence of anyone moving about from the front entrance. There was a hand-written note on the front door.

Cobalt Templar nodded at Cavalier's words. "Yeah, that jives with what the Archetech folks were saying. I mean, I've heard...rumbles...about this sort of thing, but nothing concrete. It makes a disturbing amount of sense, though. Sometimes all you need for a good psychological warfare operation is the suspicion of something of "the enemy". It's...not really pretty." He frowned, like he was tasting something awful. Then he shrugged, the frown fading. "Makes sense about unlocking potential, though. I guess in that case it works a lot like the other "triggers" that a lot of metahumans run across that activate powers. Either way, hopefully Archetech can help him either purge the abilities, or get them reigned in." He glanced back toward the town. "Do you think the rest of the family and town will be okay? Or will we need some psychic healers out here before long?"

Fenris Initiative: 21.

Galactic Lore: 20. Not bothering with the others.

"Well, I certainly appreciate being security-conscious. We're not exactly low-profile, even if we didn't take out a classified ad in the local newspaper." The Baron took in the strangely...not empty, but perhaps "strangely orderly" fit...kibbutz. He turned toward the professor after taking in the view of the pavilions. "Well, that's a perfect test, yes? They've not had previous experience with driving the robots themselves, but know the sorts of things to look for on a dig. It'll be an excellent chance to see how smooth the control interface is, I'd imagine." He chuckled. "I just hope we don't end up making too many of your students switch over to engineering, professor!"

Cobalt Templar nodded as the instructions were passed along. He looked at the scientists still handling the wreckage from the crash. "I'm going to go help out at the airport, just in case. If you guys and gals need anything just holler on the radio." With that, the young man floated a couple of feet into the air, before rocketing up to at least 500 feet. From there, he was able to home in on the location of the airport. Leaving a trail of ethereal fire in his wake, he passed through the air at incredible speed, soon landing a few feet away from Caradoc and Thresher. He stopped for a moment to speak to the caped hero from Nebraska. "Hey Thresher. Good to see you. Stormchaser and Casey Jones are in town, making sure everything's mostly back in order. You guys let us know if you need any help, okay?" He seemed oddly familiar with the hero who should be a veteran compared to him, but otherwise genuine and friendly as he gave the man a friendly nod and moved on to Caradoc. "Anything in particular you need us to do at the moment, or we just need to stand ready?"

"Thank you for your time, Mister Crowe. I look forward to seeing where our business takes us. And if we manage to avoid singing the building I might recommend you to some friends." Handshakes and final pleasantries were soon exchanged, and Morgan Crowe was soon on his way out of the skyscraper and back to his magical laboratory, likely for long hours of runes calculations. Magnus Katastrof, meanwhile, would spend a bit of time writing up a priority list for potential warding, to help set the pace for things if the demonstration schema proved rigorous enough for his standards.

Gabriel was stunned for a moment at the raw...power...bleeding off of Asad, displayed by him. Then, as the other hero was moving, he turned to the others. "He's right. Let's go. Someone grab Motley, I'll move ahead and make sure everyone gets up top." And with that the sound-flinging hero all but flew down the corridors, urging everyone, villain and hero alike, to move quickly to the top of the platform, as this place wasn't long for the world.

The Baron simply raised an eyebrow regarding the "evil experiments" line, though his body language suggested he was amused, not offended. He did smile at the suits line. "I'll make sure when my people set up scheduling they give you some tailor's numbers. Just tell them I sent you, it'll help grease the proverbial wheels. I would say that if our demo run succeeds I would strongly suggest a new suit of some sort, since at that point I'd be taking the idea to the Board of Directors." He made an odd gesture in mid-air and a holographic screen and keyboard appeared. His fingers flew across the hard-light interface as he spoke. "I'm setting up some tentative appointments. We've already got your number, and I'll give you the proper number for scheduling. Sadly I can't be involved too much due to plenty of other duties, but I'll be keeping my eye on the project. Like I said, right now we're contracting you for this demo run, and we'll negotiate anything more from there." A couple final keystrokes, and the hologram dissipates while the Baron pulls out a business card from a pocket, handing it to Morgan. It has no company name or anything, just a couple of phone numbers, names, and email addresses.

Gabriel >Here There Be Dragons: 2 IC Posts, roll to Fenris Cobalt Templar >Hell Comes to Missouri: 8 IC Posts Fenris >The Man Who Fell to Earth: 2 IC Posts >So What Fork Do You Use?: 15 IC Posts >Shadows of History: 2 IC Posts Total: 19 IC Posts + 2 = 21 IC Posts

"You don't try sneaking into our bathrooms and slipping onto the company wifi network to steal corporate secrets because 'information deserves to be free', though." The baron actually used air quotes. "A few of them tried to slip into a store room or maintenance room or something and use alligator clips. That did not work out for them so well either." Uh, any more details there, Baron? "We sometimes must dress as is expected of us; I myself prefer more casual clothes, as they are better suited for laboratory environments, but I am sadly in the office more than the lab these days." Nope, no more details on how things didn't work out for the wannabes. That's cool. "If you're worried about needing a suit, I know a few tailors who service multiple price brackets." Which is good, because what he's wearing probably costs a good chunk of the proposed consulting fee. "The small building will be the second test; I want to see how a normal office building interacts with what you have in mind, first."

"Can you fly? If you can get out of here, I'd say you should get back to the League HQ and try to get a couple of your team-mates here to help contain the situation. I think we can probably wrangle this one, but backup's good." He paused, which might have given her time to object, but he didn't really give her space. "Your armor's damaged, and you yourself said they were trying to compromise you. It seems like the best, safest course is for you to get to help, both medical and mechanical, and for us to tear this place down around their ears. Metaphorically, anyways."

Gabriel paid no heed of basically anything as he focused on pouring sonic energy into the creature beneath him. He couldn't let his nerves or wonder distract him, or not only would they all die, potentially millions would die. So he kept pouring the energy on. Thankfully, it wasn't completely draining; he'd done this plenty of times before with big, unruly crows or the like. Finally, it was done, and he sat back on his haunches with a sigh and a rueful grin. "Anyone got a granola bar? I'm suddenly feeling a bit hungry; been a while since I did that much in one continuous go."

Cobalt Templar sagged in relief as the two Barnstormers finally, actually came back, instead of the pretender who had been there before. He couldn't help the big grin on his face. "That's fine, Casey. We'll try to regroup with the others." It was only after they'd gone that he blinked and turned to Cavalier. "Do you know where Caradoc and Miss Americana are? I, uh, don't have a headset on, and don't know their number offhand."

Magnus listened and mulled over the details. "I will have people calling you in the next couple of days to finalize days, times, and so forth. As far as "outside" versus "inside", let us go with "outside" for this trial run. I would prefer we try to nail down problem areas in the rune setup itself. Our second test might be a small building constructed to test the "inside" setup specifically. We might be able to figure out a way to get the best of both worlds, with some specialized internal niches in buildings with locked access panels and the like. Plenty of stuff like that already for things like networking cables." He gave a wan smile. "Have to keep the barely-competent adolescent hippy hackers on their toes, after all."

Baron Magnus Katastrof slowly set his cup down, picked up his napkin, and dabbed at his mouth. His eyes never moved from where Morgan sat, and he was clearly considering his next words very carefully. "On what date do you wish to commence initial setup of your warding schema? What level of access to the building will you require? What sort of disruption can we expect to the general routine?" He paused, rolling something around in his head for a moment. "Is there a particular time of the day more conducive to your particular warding construction?" Clearly the Baron didn't wish to discuss these other encounters, and was all but saying it to the young mage's face. Hopefully Morgan would catch on.

"That's an interesting question. I don't have a sample of 'pure elemental chaos' to work with. And of course, the question also becomes 'which kind of radiation?', because there are quite a few our labs can cook up on short notice, and....oh. My apologies, that was a jest." The Baron had been seriously considering the matter for a few moments. "Well, I didn't ask for miracles, and again, that's why we're doing a demo site. As far as I'm concerned, if you've never done something of this scale before, it's a test for both of us. Even if things don't go perfectly, depending on how they do go, you can always fix them later. As for believable or reasonable, you might be surprised. As I said, I have some knowledge of the arcane, at least in passing." And then Morgan asked if he'd ever "run into mages". Magnus's glass paused for a half-second close to his lips, his grip tightening just slightly, his eyes...his eyes. Morgan might swear up and down that for just a split second, his eyes were the color of polished steel, not the bright blue they'd been the whole time they'd talked. "I have dealt with those who wield forces referred to as magic before, yes."

Cobalt Templar's giant frame was suddenly only almost giant-ish, and he was standing far enough back that Casey Jones wasn't leaning on him. His expression was mostly controlled, but there was a mix of confusion, freaking out, and...was that anger? Either way, the young man didn't speak up. Instead, he opted to step back a few paces, cross his arms, and just watch the proceedings. He had responses to what this entity, person, whatever was saying, but he didn't think they'd be helpful, and frankly he was ready to be done with this. He had a trip halfway across the country to make before making another trip back across the entire continent. He wanted to wrap this up sooner instead of later.

"You did ask for a quote for an equivalent technological security system setup. Keep in mind such situations involve companies of at least a half-dozen people working on the project, with more expensive materials. Still not cheapskate territory, but consider that such a figure is not a major impediment for myself or my company. I'm giving you the offer I am not only because it is generally in line with industry standards, but because you have talent, Mister Crowe. I set this up expecting the typical magic-user spiel, which I would have paid for as a "consultation" and left at that. That's not what I got. Your mind approaches magic differently, and, more than that, seeks to find solutions that aren't exclusively magical. Something I appreciate. We still have to do this first building as a demo, of course. Theory is all well and good, but application and testing are the only way to be sure. If for some reason the plan fails, you will still be paid the original amount, which hopefully will give you some capital to further your own research." The businessman smiled at the "my people your people" comment. "I can give you the contact information for a few people who could, in time, become "your people"." His expression became slightly serious for a moment. "My one suggestion, and it's only a suggestion, is that when you do receive the money, you try to invest at least some of it. Hire a person who does investing, and tell them to go to town. I know plenty of intelligent, ethical stockbrokers who can grow initial investments quite healthily, without engaging in some of the more...morally dubious...methods. After all, even if something's legal doesn't mean it's really honest or ethical....Anyways. One way or another, I'm hoping this is just the first of many business meetings between us, and that, in time, we might be able to work together on more eclectic pieces of research and experimentation. There is a part of me that's always wondered how high-energy physics and magic might interact." The answer might be "explosions", but what proper scientist doesn't enjoy one or two of those on occasion?

Cobalt Templar sighed as his fears came true. He winced at the flurry of blows that struck Cavalier; Stormchaser always had packed more punch than you might have thought, given her comparatively small frame. Said the man built like an NFL player. With nary a thought, he was suddenly a blue glowing giant, encased in a faceless version of his armor, the surface smooth like metal, but clear like glass, showing the ring-slinging hero floating in the midst of a roiling field of translucent blue flame. "Sorry for the headache this'll give you in the morning, Stormchaser." And with that, his giant fist flashed forward and struck her head on, though he'd had to adjust at the last minute; he'd almost whiffed that one completely, and only his decades of experience fighting Ubersoldaten helped correct the blow's trajectory.

Free Action: Switch Holy Fire Control to Giant's Strength. Move Action: Get up in Stormchaser's busnax. Free Action: All-Out Attack 5. Defense now +2, Attack +12. Standard Action: Melee Attack! 13. Free Action: Hero Point Reroll! 14, but with the reroll that's 24. I think that hits, so, DC 32 Toughness Save!

The Baron regarded Morgan as he ran through estimates, no real expression showing on his face as he slowly ate his delectable dessert. Finally, the magic-user in front of him finished his...sales pitch? Either way, the Baron didn't show any reaction to the proverbial tables being turned back on himself. "There is no one rate in this situation. But. Considering the build we will be targeting, the utterly thorough nature of the work I'm expecting to be put forth into this, and the length of time you're estimating for me..." He paused, seeming to run calculations in his head, and certainly not drawing this out for the sole motivation of inserting a bit of drama into the proceedings. "Let us say $50,000 or the equivalent, with a potential rider of another $15,000 upon conclusion of the work and pending my personal evaluation of the initial setup. This is for the Anti-Magic Fields alone; considering the potential difficulties with the camera system, we will set that project aside for a research venue, to be negotiated later. If the work on this office building is found acceptable, we can begin negotiations on other locations as both your and my schedules allow." He looked down and took the last bite of dessert, dabbing his mouth again before looking back at Morgan, his eyes calm and his expression one of innocent curiosity. "Do you find that an acceptable offer?"

"As well, I can arrange most any legal payment method they would prefer. Cash. One-use credit cards. Precious metals. That sort of thing." As if it was normal for most folks to talk about paying people in gold or silver. He nodded at the comment regarding the cameras. "Let's table the camera idea for now. Perhaps at some point we can have something of a research project made out of it. I would say at least one of the fallback cages, assuming we had 2, would need to be fairly automated. And you're correct; blood-drawing requirements are unsanitary. I would be satisfied with a non-invasive DNA activation. Some shapeshifters can mimic thumbprints, but DNA's at least a bit trickier, and most of the methods to copy that with technology put off a rather noticeable amount of energy of some kind or another. I'd wager magical means wouldn't be undetectable, either." He gave the younger man his own smile at the talk of using rocks. "Well, if you ever hit a point you need metals, tools, or so forth, that could be negotiated." He finished up his own dish and patted at his lips with his napkin. His staff, knowing his tastes, brought in ostkaka slathered in chocolate. "If it's not clear, I'm definitely thinking you'll be doing at least one "demo" setup of this schema you've spoken of to me. So now it's not "will I hire you", but "how much"." He gave Morgan a smile with a twinkle in his eye. "So. Name a number, Mister Crowe."

The Baron was normally a very composed man, rarely given to easy displays of emotion. He was also from a region with not a lot of sunlight, so he was a bit on the pale side. That's why the blush that notably shifted the color of his face was so unusual for anyone who'd even heard of the not-quite-ruthless businessman. He coughed into his hand to hide the near-choke at his terrible blunder. Thankfully for his dignity he recovered quickly. "I apologize profusely for my error and ignorance, and wish to assure you I meant no offense. It was truly simple ignorance, which I must tell you is not a pleasant feeling for a man like myself. My interest is only piqued, however! I would truly like to see it if we have the time." He smiled at Doctor Farber's enthusiasm. "There is a rather nice symmetry there, yes."