Ari

Yes, they are Minions.

That misses, unfortunately. Their initiative rolls: 17 and 4 That of the other 8 'bots: 4. Tiebreaker roll: Sneaking one goes first So in order: 1. Ironclad: Unharmed, 4HP 2. Sneakbot 1: Unharmed 3. Penitent, the: Unharmed, 1HP 4. Corp. Cosmos: Unharmed, 1HP 5. Sneakbot 2: Unharmed 6. Weissbots(x8): Unharmed GM post up shortly.

Now then, going to rule that nobody hears the two robots that just passed Steve, which in this case means they can get the drop on the Penitent and/or Ironclad in the upcoming fight, if Corp. Cosmos doesn't stop them that is... Shofet, the Penitent can try to decipher the briefly-seen blueprints on his own(DC25 Knowledg(Technology) check), or he can transmit the captured thought to Ironclad for her to try and make heads and/or tails out of them. Using for the most part the Pawn archetype from the Crooks! 2e book, with the addition of Super-Movement(Wall-Crawling) rank, removal of the Flight power, dropping the Blast power to rank 10(previously 15) and removing the trade-off of Attack for Damage. Also increasing their Strength to 28(previously 18), and buying 2 ranks of Concealment(Auditory). Buying up the open Attack bonus. WEISSBOT stats:

GM A round of applause greeted the emergence of the metal-bound Ironclad, the heroine a welcome sight to the expo-goers, mostly because the Lab's representative was most likely more than a match for most schmoes in battlesuits. A general chorus of "Go get 'im, Ironclad!" sounded from the assembled visitors, most of whom began settling in for an interesting part of the day. The Penitent's mental call resounded through the building, the repentant spirits carrying his thought to the very summit of the skyscraper, where it was responded to by someone whose thoughts at least sounded like someone talking in Weissnacht's accent: <I'm on the roof> was the scornful reply <And if you even try to attack me up here, I'll...> a sudden succession of images like blueprints flashed by almost subliminally <...you know, I think I'll keep that a secret for now. Suffice to say you WILL regret any actions you take against me, personally. You can blow up those robots all you like, it's no problem to me, I've got boxes of the things. Have fun in my force-field, and don't go anywhere now!> with an internal snigger, the received thought faded. Evidently his attention had gone elsewhere. From above, the repetitive clanks of many heavy metal feet echoed from above, and several guests dashed down from the upper floors, one of them pointing at the staircase a few rooms away and yelling, ashen-faced "They're coming! Ge-! Oh!" he stopped and looked at the Penitent and Ironclad "Nevermind then! I was going to tell you guys to run and hide from the incoming 'bots, but I bet with you two here they won't be a problem" he casually strolled over to a forgotten snack plate, helping himself to a few slices of cheese. Steve was taken utterly by surprise when two tall, lanky robots suddenly crept out from a janitors' closet that couldn't have possibly fit even one of them standing up. On silent fingers and toes they slipped down the hall, not seeing(or apparently hearing) the human next to them. Their destination seemed to be a room that controlled the power supply on that floor. (OOC note: the robots aren't actually going to be THAT tall. They're just a head or so taller than most humans)

Thanks for volunteering! Stormbreaker looks like she'd be an excellent addition to any group. Odds are low space-travel will be much used, but a flying space-galleon is about as stylish a mode of transport as one could wish.

King of Suits ...For Services Rendered (also GMing) Paris by Moonlight The Goodly Fear (also GMing) Vignette El Heraldo A Very Claremont Excursion (also GMing) Bound in Dust (also GMing) Shark Week: Flying Sharks? Slave to Time To Be Free, By Sea Venture into the Forest (also GMing) Y Dderwen Vignette Wave-Eye Who's That Coming, From Somewhere Up in The Sky? Under the Bridge GM Please give all PP earned to Wave-Eye. ...For Services Rendered (also IC as King of Suits) A Very Claremont Excursion (also IC as El Heraldo) Bound in Dust (also IC as El Heraldo) Quick to Err Seal of Sedna The Closed Circle! The Goodly Fear (also IC as King of Suits) Two's Company, Three's a Party Venture into the Forest (also IC as El Heraldo)

El Heraldo Etemenanki March 8th, 2012, 4.18 P.M., Subito wandered casually down the street a few blocks from Claremont, enjoying the setting sun as the winter finally began to depart, a sense of deep peace and contentment seeping into him as the chill of night began its return, a sip of water from a convenient fountain, and he began quietly humming "Acangana" and running the song over and over again in his head. It was only by the time he'd gotten to the small convenience store at the corner that something struck him as odd. Humming the song still, he noticed to his surprise that several of the customers were shaking their heads with puzzled expressions, and was dumbfounded when an old man of Japanese descent asked the teller uncertainly "Beg pardon, but are you playing some Mexican music in here?" at the teller's definite negative, the old man wandered out with his purchase, muttering to himself about leaving the radio on at night. When the teller asked Subito if he was playing a song on "Your iPod or something?" a feeling of definite unreality settled upon him, and he quickly left the small shop to get back to school so he could potentially figure out what was going on. He suspected there was a plot afoot to pirate radio stations by psychics, though for what purpose he couldn't have guessed. It was when a thickset man started singing the same song under his breath as he passed by that a suspicion began to grow in his mind that he might be the cause of this. This was confirmed momentarily as simply thinking of another song not only thinking of a different song caused the other man to switch also, but he could see several other people stopping in surprise and looking around for the source of the song in their heads. Seized by an unthinking panic, he dashed to school, noticing to his horror people from even blocks away starting at some noiseless intrusion of their thoughts. He was almost within sight of the extranormal institute when a speeding van crashed nearby him, which he only barely managed to dodge before it came to a halt in a pile of dented metal and shattered glass. The three who piled out were shouting at each other over both the ringing in their ears and..something else. "WHY ARE YOU SPEAKING IN SPANISH?" hollered the first in the ear of the second "WHAT?" was the second's erudite and reasoned response "I SAID-" began the first, only to be struck smartly the third, who evidently wasn't as bothered by a sudden torrent of music in his head interspersed with random thoughts bubbling up from the young herald's brain. "Okay!" he shouted unnecessarily "We need to get the stuff out and move it, or..." the three(Robbers? thought Subito) stared at the stocky teen in front of them, before as one they shouted out furiously "Hey! We're no-" they looked at each other in confusion "...robbers?" offered the third at length, but it was clear that they at least suspected the boy in front of them as the source of the random bursts of sound, and now they had heard a clear word they all understood that was NOT from any of them. "You're the dirtbag psychic who made me crash that car!" exploded the first "I'll get you for that!" he yelled, leaping forward to punch the youth with all his strength. He was very surprised when Subito caught his hand and he heard, clear as day <Niza telegrafo, Senor Ladron> before a fist pushed the wind out of his lungs and an elbow sent him out of consciousness. The brief burst of violent imagery that succeeded the thwarted attack was almost enough to discourage the other two as their comrade dropped. Almost. Twenty Minutes later... Officer Cesar carried the last of the three men the anonymous caller had reported into the ambulance. Whoever had knocked the men out had been quite strong, powerful enough to bend an axle around them as a binding method. He scowled at the wrecked van, his mind had been recently overrun with music and thoughts he had hoped to be done with ages ago, and it was with a certain emphasis that he went over the abundant clues that linked the three badly bruised men to the recent robbery of a townhouse further east in Bayview. He almost snarled as "Acangana" started up again, the thirty year-old long ago having started hating that song. He jotted down some final notes as he got back into his cruiser, glancing up at the sky just in time to see an odd blue and yellow bird up in the sky. Meanwhile, several hundred feet in the air... "Hey! Stop that!" "Turn that crap off!" "That's not what I think about her, I'd.."id never think that!" "Who said that? Who's there?" "Mommy! Someone was talking to me in my head!" <"Lazy?! I'll show YOU lazy!"> Subito crushed his hat over his ears, the wind buffeting him, and doing nothing to block out the slowly increasing scenes of confusion, fear, anger and suspicion playing out below and being carried into his ears. What did I DO?! How did this happen, and how can I stop it? he thought wretchedly, not daring to descend in case he began causing even more trouble in his search for an answer and cure. He looked around, and saw to his surprise a blockade being constructed several miles away Another mystery he thought glumly "and one I bet I'll regret investigating" For lack of any better ideas coming to mind, he hung in the air, clouds passing around, above and below, and always the distant sound of his wandering thoughts spreading confusion below...

Gotcha VG, and thanks!

GM The day proceeded for the next twenty minutes without a hitch, until the lights went out and the windows were flooded with a wash of green shimmers. With an electronic groan, the screen portraying the talking heads abruptly shut off, powering back on again to reveal a man dressed in a suit of armor that looked eerily like a mass of metal bandages. With a slight crackle he announced in a slight Austrian accent "Visitors to the expo, your cooperation is required: I am Weissnacht, and I have placed a force field around this skyscraper and shall shortly flood the building with my mechanical agents to secure the interior of this structure. You will know them by their great height and the blue lights they have on their faces" apparently seeing the growing horror and surprise among the guests staring at the screens, Weissnacht added casually "Do not be alarmed, I merely wish to draw the eyes of the local heroic population here" a flicker passed over the screen and he appeared to move several meters back. His voice, as close as before, concluded "As I said, your cooperation please. Struggling will not help you. Weissnacht out" at the close of those words, the screens clicked off, though for some reason sound could still be heard, the soft rush of wind moving at high speed through the concrete canyons. The visitors, to their credit, soon regained their calm, most of them quite confidently predicting a speedy response by some League or other associate of civic-minded heroes. Some of them even laughed heartily at the mere idea of being frightened in this situation.

""A perfect plan! agreed the youth, accepting the scribbled number and scanning it repeatedly before slipping it into a hidden pocket. "Sorry I can't give you one miss, but I don't have a cell phone. What time would be best for us to meet and start hunting for whoever did this?" he asked eagerly, the prospect of doing something a very attractive one to him "And I hear you on falling asleep, happens to me when I tried reading about the production and refining of rocket fuels. Really interesting stuff, but the way it was written..." he shook his head sadly "It's just a shame"

The powerfully-built teen blinked in surprise at this sudden turn of events. He figured there were more important things to focus on though "Same here" he murmured, sinking into the chair opposite her and with difficulty smoothed over the emotions playing across his face "I was..sent as well. The Blue Dame of Puerto Rico wanted me to find something in the book, something about that lost continent of Lemuria, and a 'serpent empire' that's got a will and power of its own, like her" he scowled, a look of vaguely annoyed confusion stamped on his features "So..did you find anything about that?" sudden horror "D'you think Ms. Hart's kidnapping had anything to do with this?"

Subito arrived not long after she had, though considerably sunk into gloom. For all I know, THAT was the reason I was supposed to go look for the book, to try and prevent that from happening he thought glumly to himself, pushing open the library coffee shop doors with a casual shoulder and walking directly up to Agne's table. Smiling as best he could he said "Glad you could make it, Ms. Stone. Mind if I sit?" he asked, distant memories of the archaic propriety possessed by his patrician grandfather bubbling up from his brain. "Awful shame about what's happened to Ms. Hart" he added, much more soberly.

GM Glow: "My powers aren't much good in a fight" Lucy admitted sheepishly, suddenly vanishing, though her voice came from the same spot "and the thermal cameras they have can see me even if the monitors can't. So, because they never need to open the door more than that slot in the door" she pointed at the aperture in question "they never figured they'd need to keep me from using them" she looked in admiration as Kristin as the other student nimbly got her 'cuffed arms out from behind her back. At the declaration of their immediate attempt at escape, her admiration visibly deepened "Uh..I don't really know how we would" she still had to admit "That ventilation shaft would be hard to get through, it's really narrow, and moving around inside is it pretty freakin' loud. If you know how to do it, or know a better way to escape, I'm all for it" Arcturus: "Of course I could intimidate without killing his soldiers" Waker replied blandly "But I think the dramatic effect of his fleet and army being destroyed by a storm unforeseen and by a monster carried aloft by wings that disturb the clouds at the apex and creates whirlpools ten miles across at their nadir, would be very persuasive messages about how serious I am about this" he nodded fervently at Marcus' comment about the captive's power "I'm not entirely sure even I could rein him in before he did great harm to the island. I hope to avoid finding out. The artifact in argument is an armband called the Circle of Salt, it prevents the dead touched by its wearer from being raised to life and was made during a troublesome war against a necromancer alongside the Demons, I want to try and make more, to prevent us from being hamstrung in case it happens again" he rolled his eyes "But my brother assumes I wish to destroy it or some other foolish act, and refuses me that. I haven't any idea why he would think that, I only called upon a departed soul once! To find his lost crown(it had fallen into a sea serpent's mouth, who could have guessed?). Anyway, I can't see much any way of resolving this without force. If I relent now, won't he just assume I'm too weak to stand up to him? He doesn't know what I can REALLY do, you see, thinks I'm just some conjuror of cheap tricks" Net Fly: The robots(and the ship) appeared quite unaware of his attempt at sabotage, and the rhythmical thrum and gentle drone of the ship continued as it had before. 'The calm before the storm' would have been an accurate(if rather cliche) phrase at that point of his simulation.

"Huh? Oh, thanks Morgan" the stocky teen adjusted his cap with a deft hand, staring at the reflective surface of the bus like it held a baffling riddle. After roughly twenty seconds of thought he said contemplatively "I bet he'd have lots of close-up pictures of what the skeleton looked like, and at least be aware of who took care of and made the thing before it was shown. If he's as into paleontology as I bet he is, we'll have to bring up the subject pretty delicately. That replica probably wasn't too cheap or easy to make. not to mention a bunch of kids showing up saying "Hi! That megaladon replica you were so hyped about broke into a zillion pieces! Wanna help us find out who made it turn into a crazy monster?" pro'lly won't go over too well" he frowned and considered the situation "How about this: me and Luke and Kris go to this guy to find out about the replica, with Luke doing most of the talking, we'll ask if anything weird happened while it was being made or somethin'. I dunno if you've already figured out what it was that made the thing go mad like that, but maybe you could do that and make up some kind of plan for dealing with it if it comes back, Morgan?" he felt more than a little out of his depth with drawing up investigation plans, and wished his cousin was there to help out.

GM The elevator wasn't much to look at. A rusted hulk of slightly warped metal with a bent roof and deep, narrow imprints on the floor. The apparatus still worked though, and with a pull of the lever they rattled up the dizzying passage. The elevator shaft was lined with what seemed like mine lamps, flickering bulbs that dimmed worryingly as they passed. The ride aws jostling, seemed to shake them to pieces unless they flew, and the hole in the roof didn't make it seem any less nerve-wracking, but at last it came a squealing halt at the summit, and the doors slid open, grinding against their holding slots as they creaked apart, revealing a dim passageway filled with silent metal bodies staring at the walls, their eyes softly glowing and fading in an eerie rhythm.

"No officer, she never mentioned anything about being in danger or anything like that" Subito leaned against the dorm wall, listening carefully to the questions, shooing away some of the other students who had started clustering about him "Hm? Oh! Yeah she was wearing mostly black, with a little white. No ma'am, I didn't pay much attention to what exactly she was wearing, I don't do stuff like that, it's rude. I apologize ma'am. Yes, it would have made it easier for you to be sure. Closest I can put it? She wore kind of..gothy stuff. Yeah, like that. Alright, sorry I can't help more officer. Bye" he hung the phone back in its recess of the wall. He glanced at the two or three other teens still watching him like owls "Someone got kidnapped" he said shortly, and stalked off out the front door. It nagged at him that even in a city filled with some of the most powerful people in the world stuff like this kept happening.

GM The rep of Ajax stared at the display of power, eyes widened and mouth slightly agape at it and the sudden revelation. He didn't seem actually frightened though, and after a moment he used to collect himself he said hesitantly "That is..incredible. I had no idea sin-eaters really exist" a worried look came over his face "Is something going to happen here? Is someone going to die at this expo? I mean" he quickly corrected himself "of course you'd have no idea. Not like you're an angel or something, sorry" he shook his vigorously "Forgive me sir, I'm still not fully adjusted to the idea of sin-eaters" Steve had a great deal to do. A lot of the people just coming in from the downstairs were still carrying snack plates piled or carefully lined with cheeses, small breads and fruit. They tended to go through these rapidly and then seemingly teleport them into obscure corners of the room, with only about half actually making it into the trash receptacles. In their defense, there were lots of robots and little time to look upon them all, not to mention the other wonders the room held, like a sleek green headset that allowed people to 'feel' magnetic fields around them.

Oh yeah. Bits and bobs, clutter from years past. Lots of random stuff. Cloth and ancient chairs among it.

Wave-Eye had been shot many times before in his long life of war. He knew what it was that the tool Mead was holding did. He had never been struck by a bullet from a gun, however. He lay stretched on the ground, ears ringing from the report of the explosion, staring at the sky and feeling the throbbing in his arm. Gruggh he thought to himself I may need to try and dodge these things next time. They hurt. Argh with surprising grace, he nonetheless got back on his feet. "My thanks Mead" he said brusquely, though a little softer than his earlier tone "It would have taken a while to pull open my skin with just my claws, and I do not have my knife with me" so saying, he painfully dug out the bullet, inspected the flattened chunk of metal that had struck hard against his humerus and holding it aloft declared in a measured gurgle "I, Nochehuatl, the Wave-Eye, son of Chalchiuhtlicue and once bearer of the drowned to the Tlalocan, swear by this shed blood to find whomever has shed that of those buried in the waters below this bridge. I vow on my immortal and inviolate soul that I shall find them, bind them with all that they can bear, and bring them to face judgement, or else perish in the attempt. If I have not found them or died in one week, I shall return, and suffer whatever justice the humans of this realm decree. I shall not veer from this, I shall not flinch from whatever must be done, and may I be torn to pieces and eternally barred from passing to the afterlife if I do not keep my word" He buried the bullet under a stone on the shore and faced Mead. "Are you satisfied?" to Skull-Face he added "I am sorry for the sudden drop, I did not expect their weaponry to be so...forceful"

"You don't even have a case!" Wave-Eye barked "Just a suspicion that I might be who did this because I happened to be around! If you had never seen me, if I hadn't offered to help(which I'm still going to to besides this gross insult, you're welcome) you would never have even found out about all the other people killed by whoever's been doing this. Besides, I'm in a unique position to help solve this, if you will merely step two foot-lengths to the side, and let me pass I'll bring you the one or many responsible for this, or else in one week i shall return and give myself up for your race's judgement. If not you may rest assured I perished in the attempt" he looked around the shore in increasing frustration, asking at last "Look, human. Could you..shoot me in the arm? I need to make a blood oath to formalize this promise"

This place was built in the early 1900's and is a townhouse, it's not a castle dungeon. There are several electric bulbs on the ceiling though. And I'm sure Spitfire and KoS could fix up some torches without much trouble.

GM "Not a problem sir" assured the Ajax rep. "I didn't mean to put any untoward pressure on you. If you DO meet anyone who could help with this project, give them this number" he tore off a small strip of paper from a sign slid into a plastic slider and attached to the Tower of Babel-like display stand, and drawing a ballpoint pen from a hidden sheathe in his left sleeve quickly jotted down a number with a distinctly non-American order of numerals. "We, er, don't have an American branch I'm afraid. All our research is done in either Sweden or the UK, but we can easily get any potential associates to our facilities, they're all in urban areas near the coast. Again, no pressure meant" he smiled at Bram "So, Mr. Penaden, how did you come by those alterations, if you don't mind me asking? I've never seen anything so.complete. Mostly it's either a slight change to the skin or else changing the color and pupil shape with contacts" "Oh yeah, easily" the Samara rep said cheerfully "Telepresence works like a dream with them, there's not even a second's delay, limb movement is smooth, and it can even do sutures on its own power. It's quite adept, to say the least!" "Huh? Oh, the disk just had a software repair program that's supposed to smooth out this little problem with the next to last speech. The tech team caught it a little while ago but couldn't brew up a fix until now" Frank scowled at the Penitent "I could swear I just saw somethin' wispy floating about that guy..eh, probably just a reflection" he shrugged and grinned at Steve "And I am so not just sayin' that because he looks that way! I could feel something foreboding the moment I got within twenty feet of that guy. I'll prove it: go talk to him for at least two minutes, let's see how long it takes for you to start thinking about death. Go on, I dare ya!" he said, fighting to keep his grin from looking downright goofy(and only marginally succeeding).

I vote YB.

With a slight thrill at being so addressed, Subito briskly said "Alrighty then! How about we check through the library, gym and auditorium, administration building, that kickawesome greenhouse thataways" he pointed at the distant glass and metal enclosure that had been built several months ago "then the cafeteria, the student supply store in the Matthias Cooke Wing, the infirmary in the Dr. Claremont building, and ending with the Honor Wall" he rubbed his hands, the slight chill of the recalcitrant winter still present "And, if you feel like it, the chapel. How's that sound?" he asked eagerly, leaping heavily down from his perch on the branch to the earth. He looked to Morgan "Wanna come along?" he asked suddenly "I bet you know a lot more about this place than I do, and it would be nice to have some people along who know what they're talking about" To Cerys he called "By the way..who was your guide supposed to be? If it was another student I'll make sure this kind of thing doesn't happen again" he looked utterly serious about that.

GM It was easy to locate and access the stored maps of he complex(though the computer mentioned that such things were kept for the benefit of 'enfeebled minds'), which illuminated one of the central oddities of the station: the whole thing was layered at seemingly arbitrary depths, with some floors being only a meter above each other, and the first two over a kilometer apart. That aside, the map clearly explicated the directions that needed following to reach the center of the facility, a site identified as a 'Hazardous Reaction Containment Field' with an urgent request to all personnel aboard the ship that they not so much as open the dilation doors a crack, in case harmful energies were let free into the other decks. Between their current location and the center was over fifty mile-long passages that were still being slowly filled with deadly Terminus energy little less ultimately perilous than that fired by Omegadrones. Not to mention the vast pits that had collapsed into being, the areas where gravity had been turned inside out and a corridor near the center marked 'Impassable', without further comment.