ic Hot and Bothered (IC)

[Supercape]

GM

 

The station was well insulated, but there was no doubt that it was inhabited; or at the very least, the heating was on. the walls were too thick for resolution of life signs, but from a thermal perspective there was no doubt that it was a lot warmer than the surroundings. Looked like a solid, room temperature 20 degrees; or therabouts. 

 

Creepin closer, Predator could see some mid - level security around the place. No machine gun turrets or laser zappers, but a few camera's. And a door with a keypad lock. Probably pickable for someone of Predators talents, but the proof of that would be in the trying. 

 

At a guess, the building has a basement, below ground, but there was no way of knowing for sure. 

 

The walls were thick, insulated, concrete and plastic layers. Again, Predator could probably blast through them, but perhaps not quickly...

[Spacefurry]

Predator

 

She wasn’t surprised the building’s insulation was enough to interfere with her scans, but it didn’t make it any less bothersome.

Her other sensors picked out various security measures, mostly cameras and locks.

 

Predator moved up to the door and glanced at the keypad. 

Simple enough. 

She thought as she moved to disable the locking mechanism, conscious that someone could already be watching her. After all, someone already knew she had been on her way here.

 

She had no preconceptions of learning who was behind this here, she did reason she could find a potential lead though.

[Supercape]

GM

 

The keypad beeped, and burped, and beeped again. And then the thick door open, sending the coated snow a tumbling. 

 

Inside, a stairway - and an elevator - heading down. Clearly the station was largely subterranean. Maybe for security, maybe to provide protection against a missile attack. Or maybe to provide the world against protection from something getting out. 

 

It was, as far as Predator could see, empty. 

 

So far, so good. 

 

Just as the coast was almost clear, the keypad fizzed. A solitary and ominous spark arced between its edges. 

 

And then the alarm went off. 

 

"INTRUDER ALERT! INTRUDER ALERT!" came the call, twice, as the lighting of the station changed to a dim red. 

[Spacefurry]

Predator

 

Predator peered into the room as the door opened. Her sensor reveal nothing as yet. As he noted both the stairs and elevator.

Carefully she started across the snowy threshold when the keypad beside the door sparked again. She didn’t even have a chance to glance back at it before a red tinge covered the room and a recording announced her arrival to most likely everyone in the camp.

She cursed her sloppy haste, but what was done, was done.

 

When no active defenses revealed themselves, the armored hero slipped up to the elevator. She purposely pressed the call button, pausing to see if it was already at her level or if it had to be called up.

[Supercape]

GM

 

Ping!

 

The elevator doors peeled open. A regular elevator inside, steel, lit with red light, empty. The controls indicated two floors below them. "REC" and "RESEARCH". 

 

Despite the beeping alarms, there was no rush of soldiers, no swarm of security. The flashing red lights continued pinging, but the initial blaring "INTRUDER ALERT" had stopped. 

 

No security - but what, or whoever, was in the base had clearly been alerted...

[Spacefurry]

Predator

 

Predator contemplated taking the stairs instead. But ultimately, they were already aware of her intrusion and she had no reason to suspect any overwhelming threat.

 

In the end, she stepped into the elevator and pressed the button labeled ‘Research’. The armored figured stood statue still as she waited. The only betraying movement was the end of her tail, which flipped from side to side in irritation.

[Supercape]

GM

 

The elevator slowly descended, bathed in an eerie red light. The alarm was off now, dropping the lift into a deep silence. 

 

All that could be heard - and it was faint, was the sound of hissing, like steam escaping from a pipe. Slow, steady. 

 

Gas!!!!

 

 

[Spacefurry]

Predator

 

Predator caught the hint of something in the air as it filtered through the suit. Warnings sprang up on her screens even as it tried to tug gently at her thoughts, but the hero quickly shook off the effects. A fraction of a second later air hissed from the environmental seals and the armor’s internal environment became a separate entity from the outside.

It wasn’t the best option, but it was all she had at the moment. 

 

She reflexively started to move but her mind was faster and she kept herself still. With a conscious effort she even stopped to tail from fidgeting. If she was being observed, whoever was watching had no way to be sure whether the gas had taken effect or not. If she remained still, she may be able to catch anyone waiting at the end of this ride off guard.

 

All she could do was wait.

“Cynthia, move the repair of the environmental filtering system to the ‘Top Priority’ list.”

“Yes ma’am.”

[Supercape]

GM

 

The elevator slowed and stopped at the very depths of the outstation. Almost silently, the doors opened to reveal a dimly lit laboratory. Soft lights on the banks of computers and other scientific questions. 

 

Glass cyliners, full of blue liquid, held bodies inside. Transluscent and hairless skin that Predator recognised well. A dozen bodies, lined up in seperate containers. Each body had a variety of electrodes and sensors attached to the white flesh, linked to the top of the cylinder. Life signs - present, but faint. 

 

On a solitary chair, surrounded by computers and microwave meals, was a lone woman. Small, robust, wearing a scientists coat. Maybe forty years old - a few lines, but not wrinkled. A brow that looked like a potent mix of intelligent and driven. 

 

"Not a step closer!" she barked at Predator. 

[Spacefurry]

Predator

 

The doors slid open and Predator’s eyes scanned the room displayed on her screens. Her AI was already highlighting and marking predefined important equipment it could identify. Her attention falls on the woman and a small window in the corner of her screen is already cycling through images as Cynthia tries to ID the woman, starting with WEST personal lists before moving on to other data banks.

 

Predator remains silent and motionless for a moment longer before the metallic clad tail flips in agitation.

“Or?”

She challenges in an indifferent tone, but doesn’t move yet.

[Supercape]

GM

 

The scientist paused, hand hovering over a computer keyboard. "Or I set them loose..." she said, waving her hand over the six cylinders full of blue fluid and floating bodies. 

 

"And you don't want that, believe me. I don't want that, either, to be honest. I don't know what will happen, but it won't be anything good."

 

The woman's voice had the edge of squeak, her skin that palid sweat, all indicating extreme nervousness. And she wasn't even trying to hide it. 

 

"I haven't perfected the programming yet. Letting them out would be like letting supercharged babies out onto a minefield. Your guess is as good as mine."

 

Her eyes narrowed. 

 

"How did you get here? I mean, I know you got here by plane. I did everything to try and stop you. And yet you managed to get here anyway. Impressive. How?"

[Supercape]

GM

 

The scientist paused, hand hovering over a computer keyboard. "Or I set them loose..." she said, waving her hand over the six cylinders full of blue fluid and floating bodies. 

 

"And you don't want that, believe me. I don't want that, either, to be honest. I don't know what will happen, but it won't be anything good."

 

The woman's voice had the edge of squeak, her skin that palid sweat, all indicating extreme nervousness. And she wasn't even trying to hide it. 

 

"I haven't perfected the programming yet. Letting them out would be like letting supercharged babies out onto a minefield. Your guess is as good as mine."

 

Her eyes narrowed. 

 

"How did you get here? I mean, I know you got here by plane. I did everything to try and stop you. And yet you managed to get here anyway. Impressive. How?"

[Spacefurry]

Predator

 

Predator’s helmet turned to look in the direction of the cylinders as the scientist indicated them. Her computer systems recording everything.

 

She turned her attention back to the woman, letting her speak as she watched, noting her nervousness.

“I used the door.”

She stated matter-of-factly, continuing in that same, seemingly indifferent tone. 

“Your security systems are underwhelming in comparison to your genetics work.”

 

The helmet cocked slightly in an inquisitive gesture.

“You have to realize if you hadn’t made your initial contact with me via Dr North, I wouldn’t have had any reason to come here. Most likely no one would have come before it was too late.”

She waving gesture with a gauntlet.

“You presented a unique and intriguing mystery, one I could not abide going uninvestigated.”

 

“Now, I feel I must ask: Why? What is it you hope to accomplish?”

[Supercape]

GM

 

"I didn't design the security systems," said the scientist, flatly, hey eyes slightly narrowing. 

 

"This is an enterprise. I firmly believe it is only a matter of time before the world burns. Nuclear war, greygoo, global warming. And that's just the stuff we are doing to ourselves. How about if the ebola virus becomes airborne? Or countless other threats, from aliens or other dimensions. The World is running out of time."

 

"No doubt more optimistic folk would want to try and save it. Me, I want to escape it. And that means money. A lot of money. So I have developed a weapon. A weapon that can be sold for that kind of money. As you can see, there are some... hitches."

 

She frowned. 

 

"Are you a scientist yourself? Come, I will show you..."

Edited July 13 by Supercape

[Spacefurry]

Predator

 

Predator didn’t move at first. She was torn of two minds.

 

On one hand, she was sure she could take the woman down before she could but up suitable resistance.

 

But on the hand, her curiosity drove her to finally step forward and follow the scientist. This was simply to gather more evidence and determine. Her own overwhelming need to know and understand was, of course, not a part of the equation.

She made a token effort to hide her curiosity with a few probing questions.

“So ‘the end is nigh’ and your only thought was to hasten it for profit?”

She asked with her practiced indifference.

[Supercape]

GM

 

"My only thought is to survive," said the Scientist. "And the only way to survive in this filthy world is to escape it. And the only way to escape is with coin. I am a biogeneticist, not an engineer. I can't build a rocket, or a teleportation beam. And I don't have superpowers. All I have is my brain, my wit, and my will..."

 

"And good fortune. Someone popped up on the WEST radar. Someone who was trying to remain anonymous..."

 

She pressed a button on her computer, and a floor panel slowly retracted, revealing a block of ice surrounded by monitors. Minus 30 degrees. Predator could sense the chill from standing above the ice. 

 

Inside, a an albino figure, not a shred of hair, with no external features. Asleep, or frozen - probably both. 

 

"Synth..." said the scientist. "An experiment funded by SHADOW. Oh, they would very much like to get their hands on this DNA. They would pay a small fortune. But I can make a lot more by harvesting the DNA and creating my own weapons. Behold..."

 

She waved her hands across the half dozen transluscent figures floating in the cylinders. "My creation! the Hypersynth!"

[Spacefurry]

Predator

 

‘Synth.’

The scientist said it like it was important. It sounded familiar, like she had read it somewhere. It was going to bother her, but Jean couldn’t place it off the top of her head. The woman was still talking though so Jean focused on her.

 

Predator regarded the unmoving form for a moment before turning back to face her. When she motioned to the tubes she looked around.

This was indeed valuable research, but it was clearly being misused. Predator could not abide that.

 

“You’ve stood on the shoulders of others and all you could think to reach for was the lowest hanging fruit on the tree of mediocrity.”

Predator spoke in the monotonous manner that spoke of her mix of disgust and disappointment.

“Another potential mind lost, drowning in the sea of selfish greed.”

 

“You have, though, managed to make several significant mistakes.”

[Supercape]

GM

 

"Swimming, not downing," said the Scientist, a crooked smile on her lips. "And you, sir - or is it madam - are trying to tilt me..."

 

She took a deep breath in, deep breath out. 

 

"I am not the finest mind on the planet. But I know what am I doing. I studied psychology before biochemistry, and I can assure you I can recognise when someone is trying to tilt me. Or distract me, like know..."

 

Her finger poised over her keyboard. 

 

"We can either work this out, a comprimise where neither of us are particularly happy, or I can release my babies and we see where the dice fall. I would say the dice would be loaded for me. You have, I am sure, seen what even one of my creations can do. And I have six..."

[Spacefurry]

Predator

 

Predator watched the woman from behind her helmet. 

The woman may hesitate, but Jean was sure she would press it if desperate. 

She eyed the tanks, getting the impression from her that they may not quite be ready. But their stability was too much of a variable to dismiss.

The woman, though, had already caused too much damage and suffering. She couldn’t be allowed to escape.

 

“You are clearly of some intelligence. But you have to realize the odds are not as in your favor as you may like. You may have the advantage in numbers, but I have the advantage in speed and power.”

Fingers slid back into gauntlets.

“There can be no compromise, only an end to the harm you’ve caused. And while I may not be able to stop you from pushing that button, I can assure you I can stop you from fleeing. My armor will grant me a measure of protection, but you on the other hand…”

She trailed off. Within the helmet, tactical information began to dot Jean’s screens. The ear-like units on the sides on the helmet shifted, looking like they wiggled some before tilting back.

“So, perhaps you should recalculate your data and assess whether you believe you can survive your own creations.”

 

Predator’s tone was even as she mentally tried to account for possible actions. If she surrendered, it would be simple. But if she tried to release their creations and run, Jean would try to subdue her first, get her somewhere safe and secure. She may be acting cold and indifferent, but she had made promises to try to protect, and she couldn’t let those people she promised down… even if she may never see them again.

 

“You can surrender now and stand judgement for what you have done, or do you wish to become a tragic tale of caution for other would-be rogue scientists. We both know with what you’ve done here, some organization or another will swoop in with offers to help sweep this under the rug in exchange for the knowledge of your work.”

[Supercape]

GM

 

"Surrender?" said the woman, finger trembling. 

 

She frowned. 

 

"Justice. Hero. Law. I could see you have a titanium rod rammed up your... anyway. No. No, I wont stand for that. A life in prison? Not much of a life, in length or quality. No, I think I would rather die. Which means I have nothing to lose..."

 

The finger edged slightly towards the button. A millemeter. Two. 

 

"But on the other hand..."

 

She sighed. 

 

"On the other hand I dont want to die. And I would rather be free than rich. So I will shut this down if you give me your word you will let me walk."

[Spacefurry]

Predator

 

Predator regarded the scientist for a moment, silent and unmoving. She considered the data before her.

 

The lab equipment would be invaluable evidence.

The things within the tubes, if released, could deal untold damage to all of it, as well as them.

If she could reduce the possibility of harm to herself, the scientist or the unconscious victim in the ice she should.

She had image and vocal recordings of the guilty party, combined with any physical evidence left behind would prove useful and could lead official law enforcement to her later.

She weight this against the possible harm this woman could cause later before her eventual capture.

As well was the harm she had already caused…

 

The armored figure finally nodded, but raised a mechanical finger.

“On one further condition. Tell me what happened to Dr North and anyone else that was here with him.”

[Supercape]

GM

 

"Dr. North..."

 

She frowned. 

 

"Very well, I suppose he has served his purpose...."

 

Another floor panel slid open, revealing Dr North, floating in faint blue liquid, tubes in every orifice, fed oxygen and nutrients, in a medically induced coma. 

 

"There he is, good as new. Maybe even better, given he had a stress ulcer and penicious aneamia. Had to correct those before copying him. He shouldn't work so hard..."

 

She clucked her tongue. 

 

And took her hand from the keyboard. 

 

"So, I am going to get my coat and leave. And we shall see if you do really keep your word..."

 

Taking a deep breath, face clammy from sweat, the scientist made to the door, picking up an arctic coat on the way...

[Spacefurry]

Predator

 

She was a hero of her word. Though, the armored hero watched the scientist carefully as she left. 

 

Once the elevator doors closed and she was ‘alone’, Predator moved to check first Dr North and then the mysterious woman. After verifying both were stable she looked around for communications equipment to contact WEST and AEGIS. She could let WEST know Dr North was safe. AEGIS could start looking for the rogue scientist. They would have to figure out what to do with the clones between them.

 

Something about the mystery woman though had her decide to contact the League. Perhaps someone there knew who she was.

[Supercape]

GM

 

Communications were fuzzy - the site wasn't in the best of health, and was underground. But Predator was able to get through to someone at the Freedom League, someone at WEST, and AEGIS. And everyone started to put her through to somebody else. The tabletennis ball pinged around several people until eventually she got through to Terrifica. 

 

The clones continues to float in their yellow fluid, and the mysterious figure - white, albino, featureless, continued to be frozen in the ice. Whatever that figure was, it had apparently been the source of the clones. 

 

Meanwhile, Doctor North was waking up from his chemical incarceration. He spluttered, he coughed, he mumbled under his breath about genetic corruption, and then pointed his two eyes at Predator. 

 

"Hnmmm.. .wha... where? who?"

[Spacefurry]

Predator

 

It had taken an effort to initiate contact with the various agencies with the equipment on hand. Nearly all of them had passed her from one office to another. It was a hassle, and yet another reason she preferred being an independent entity. Even now she waited to be connected to someone with the League.

Predator turned her attention from the monitors as Dr North came awake. On the screen behind her, the hero identified at Terrifica appeared on the monitor. She glanced at the screen, the back at the doctor.

“Excellent timing doctor, I would take it easy considering what you’ve been through. I will explain what I can to you and the League at the same time.”

Predator turned to the screen and nodded to Terrifica. She recognized the woman from various reports.

“Terrifica, it’s an honor to speak with you. I’m sure you know who I am, but for Dr. North’s sake,”

She turns back to the Doctor.

“You may call me Predator.”

She looks back at the screen and gestures to the doctor.

“And for your convenience, this is Dr. North of the agency known as WEST.”

Predator crosses her arms.

“I’m afraid this is a complicated situation, but I will do my best to stick to the important points. An, as yet, unidentified scientist has created clones of a volatile nature as bio-weapons. From what I have been able to determine so far, they have been genetically based off a subject I am unfamiliar with. I’m uploading an image of them now.”

Predator pulled a cable from her gauntlet and connected to the computer. An image of the pale woman lying in the ice appeared on the screen.

“What files I’ve had time to skim through on the computers here have identified the woman only as Synth. I’m afraid I don’t have any other information about them on hand.”

She began to tap away on the keys.

“I can send you all the data on site.”

As she does, she continues.

“The scientist stated their intent was of monetary pursuit. Unfortunately, in order to secure the facility and hostages I allowed them to escape. I have provided what I could to AEGIS to assist in their capture.”

She admitted.

“When Dr. North had had time to recover, I will inquire with him as well.”