ic Medical Maladies (IC)

[Raveled]

Vincent was already pretty rattled from being kidnapped, and when the companion of the terrifying pirate queen stalked into his cell like death on two legs, that destroyed what little resistance he had left. He curled into a ball on the little bench he had to sit on, flinching away from the King of Suits' questions. "I didn't mean for anyone to get hurt! I just read Highfollow's thesis, and thought if I could make the meta-virus -- well, I'd be a shoe-in for graduate study! You don't know how hard it is to get into the grad programs at FCU. But it can't hurt anybody! The viral bodies only live for 48 hours, then they dissolve into protein." He unfolded slightly and sat on the bench, hunched over and looking defeated. "I can't understand how it got out. It was secured in the lab. Any of the students in the biology department could've gotten in, I suppose, but only me and my professor knew what I was working on!"

He fell silent, but after a minute he spoke up again. "I don't know what you want Tory for. He's in sociology, he wouldn't know what a meta-virus is if it gave him West Nile."

[Ari]

There was a pregnant silence as the King of Suits glowered down at Vincent for over a minute, slowly rolling the new information the graduate student had given around his head. At length he relaxed, shook his head and spoke "Your friend tried to get involved with a group called the 'Cult of the Dripping Pox', their original beliefs revolved around the idea that viruses are the true masters of the planet, and that infections from as many viruses as possible is a worthy goal. They've disbanded, as far as I can tell, but Tory seemed to take them a little more seriously than was wise. I believe he is responsible for this" he shrugged, his cape flaring a little at his arm movement "It seems this was committed for even worse reasons than I thought it was" he said, largely to himself, staring wearily into space before abruptly glancing sharply back at Vincent, saying shortly "I will inform the captain what you told me, with any luck this will be resolved quickly, and with minimal blame to yourself. I would advise, however," he added as he rapped on the door to alert the guard and drop the shield "that the next time you need to make a splash, go with something less likely to cause a mass panic" as the door opened, he bowed his head slightly to Vince, stepped quickly through the door, and glanced irritably at the guard as the portal slammed just short of his cape again, muttering "Such manners..." as he set out rapidly to find Stormbreaker.

Seeming to appear out of thin air beside the Captain, Marceau began at once "The boy is responsible for the illness existing, but apparently not for its assault on the city. As well, he says the virus he made will break down within forty-eight hours before breaking apart into its component molecules. Of course it is entirely possible it has been modified somehow, prolonging its life" he added, watching the city pass by beneath them over the rail of the ship.

[Blue Rose]

Silvia listens as she supervises the goings-on on the weatherdeck, not that it's needed at the moment unless some giant fire-breathing virus jumps up and tries to eat them, which has only happened to the ship once, but you can't be too careful.

"I see," the captain begins. "And unfortunately, even after Mister Vetto, there is sure to be more legwork. We may have found the source of the disease, and we are closing behind the will to spread it, but mere students surely do not have the resources to cause this epidemic." She sighs, growing frustrated, longing to find the real culprits so that she can blow down their doors, storm their base, and wage glorious battle against them.

[Tiffany Korta]

“Heya. Yeah the doctor also mentioned this guy, so kinda a bust.â€

Agnes gave a frown and leant against the wall. How would they be able to track down this cult? They’d need some massive advantage, but where could they find such a thing?

“Wait we’re on a starship with a massive computer that can keep track of a planet rotating a star going around a galaxy and plot a course to another planet doing exactly the same thing. Could we not track all the victim and look for release points or do some face recognition to look for the cultist?â€

[Blue Rose]

Silvia scans the passing cityscape while the group plans their approach, catching Young Britannia's supercomputer comments, which raise an eyebrow. Presumptuous, though it is perhaps understandable from one who does not understand the ship.

"Unfortunately," she corrects, "That will not be possible. This ship does not have a supercomputer, as you understand it. Much of her control equipment is biological. Central navigation is as comparable to an animal brain as to an Earth hard drive, and the same is true for most ship functions. If you require equipment which can interface with Earth technology, Lord Giles has a laptop and a wireless internet connection."

[Raveled]

The pseudo-galleon cut through the air above Freedom City, casting its shadow over the core of the city as it navigated the currents towards the bohemian district of town. The Drunken Mule was technically open at this time of day, though largely unoccupied just yet. Still, as the large ship came to a halt above it, the few stubborn afternoon drinkers filtered out and stared up at the vast ship. Among them was a young man in a white apron, polishing a glass mug with a clean cloth and squinting against the glare of the sun.

[Ari]

Upon their arrival at the Drunken Mule, Marceau observed the scene beneath the bizarre ship and gave the good Captain a sweeping bow, saying "Many thanks for your allowing us to travel on your wondrous vessel, Stormbreaker. With any luck and the favor of God, this unfortunate matter is nearing its end." He leaped onto the edge of the ship's rail amidships, balancing against a convenient line as he attached the anchor of his grapple gun before dropping unceremoniously off, releasing the tough cord gradually as he swung elegantly to the ground in front of the bar, landing with a swirl of his black and red cape and a soft thud of his boots. Rising to his full height and flourishing the cape back around his shoulders, he smiled warmly at the regulars "Good day, gentlemen! Have no fear, I and my comrades are looking for one person specifically." Turning to the man in the white apron, he said casually with a kind smile "I beg your pardon, citizen, but are you by any chance named Tory Vetto? We need to ask you a few questions about a meta-virus that was stolen and released upon the city" he placed a hand on the bartender's shoulder "It is a matter of considerable urgency" he added with a hint of steel in his voice.

[Raveled]

The man in the apron eyed the King of Suits and stepped back, out of his grasp. "I'm Tory Vetto, yeah. I don't know what a meta-virus is. If you want some medical advice, you should talk to my roomie, Vincent. He's going for his PhD in medicine, I'm studying sociology." He craned his neck up and looked at the ship again, mouth hanging open slightly. "Are you guys with the Freedom League or something? Are you sure you should have something that big up there? What if there's, like, an airplane coming in to Jordan or the Jameson?"

[Blue Rose]

Silvia raises an eyebrow as King of Suits jumps the rail, then turns to her other guest. "You do not need to jump off of my ship," she assures her, then announces to her crew, "Extend the gangplank!" While the ship does have a traditional, wooden gangplank, it isn't nearly long enough from this position. Instead, the ship projects an energy field downward, creating a shimmering rainbow stairwell to the ground. The brave and noble captain, however, just jumps the rail and floats down, disconnecting King of Suits' rope along the way.

"I assure you," she announces as she descends from on high. "We are thoroughly familiar with local flight patterns. Right now, you need only worry about explaining to us your connections to the Cult of the Dripping Pox. Do not waste our time denying this; we already have your involvement independently verified by multiple sources. The sooner you explain this matter to us, tell us how you helped them get their hands on your roommate's project and how to locate them, the sooner you may leave."

She stretches some information and makes some assumptions, but right now, maintaining a position of authority is far more important than being technically accurate.

[Cubist]

Jubatus had been hanging back, on the theory that Vetto would be more likely to cooperate if he didn't have an inhuman predator breathing down his neck. Since Vetto was disproving that theory, he decided to get more-directly involved. He stepped forward, in the center of Vetto's field of vision: "What she said," he stated with a gesture at the one-armed space pirate captain. "Dunno if you've thought this far ahead, but we're dealing with a blatantly artificial engineered pathogen that's threatening lives, okay? Me not being a lawyer, I dunno whether that counts as an act of biological warfare or terrorism or aggravated assault or what—but I'll bet you a kilobuck that the federales know exactly which laws have been violated by this little stunt, and they're gonna come down on someone like 47-hundred metric tons of molten lead.

"So you basically have two choices, Vetto. One, you can help us get to the bottom of this mess ay-ess-ay-pee… or two, you can blow us off until the [bg=black]xxix[/bg] hits the fan, at which point you'll be explaining yourself to a Federal judge." The feline paused to let his words sink in. "Choose wisely."

[Raveled]

Tory looked around, his cleaning motion slowing as he took in the widening circle of superheroes. "Whoa, whoa. Wait a second. The Cult of the Pox?" He shook his head. "Those /b/tard rejects? Listen, I was studying religions and how they form. I thought I'd talk to a few homegrown cults and the like. I found those guys through a Google search, thought 'hey, they have a message board with an archive! I can see how their beliefs grew!' But any question I asked was met with in-jokes and trolling. They'd be making life hard for noobs on 4chan, except I don't think any of them know how use Photoshop." He shrugged. "I don't know anything about a virus, sorry."

[Blue Rose]

Silvia stares. Then she opens her mouth. Then she stares again. Then she raises her hand. Then she just stands there looking confused, and turns to King of Suits.

"How many of those were words, and was anything in that coherent?"

The good captain had never actually bothered using the Earth's 'internet,' let alone its seedier corners. Those were usually left to Lord Giles and her Earth-based business partners, and she knew some among her crew used it as a toy when they were in Freedom City, but even the basic terminology eluded her.

[Ari]

Marceau was mildly irritated with how this case was going. He was familiar with the sinking sensation when everything you pinned your hopes on crumbled away, and was feeling it now as he glowered at the Drunken Mule sign, Tory Vetto's claims running busily through his mind...

"How many of those were words, and was anything in that coherent?"

"Pardone?" he said in slight bewilderment, quickly catching himself Ah, right, not native here, and evidently not very interested in that aspect of our culture.

"What Mr. Vetto here just said is, regrettably, entirely made up of existent words put together with the utmost coherency and meaning" he explained drily "The reference to 'tards' and 'noobs' is internet slang common to..some circles we rarely deal with. 4chan being the name of such a circle, and Photoshop a tool used to manipulate images on computers often used by those in said circle"

He turned fully on Tory. "I spoke with the founder of the Cult of the Dripping Pox hardly two hours ago, he said that he and the others that had founded the cult had, to be quite honest, barely believed it themselves. It was founded by a Mr. Stills when he was still in high school, as a reaction to some things that angered him then. By the time you contacted them, he and the other 'cultists' used the site solely as a way to talk with each other. They did take your questions foolishly, though, I'll give you that." He scowled at the sign again.

[Tiffany Korta]

Whilst the three of them decided to interrogate the poor guy she decided to stay on crowd control. She’d floated down to just in front of the crowd beaming, both a wide smile and her glowing aura. She was used to dealing with crowds and all this was natural to her. She couldn’t help but grin as she listened into the conversations, talk about the generation gap.

“So are we going to be long here, because I skipped lunched and I could murder a burger. Cause if not we probably just throw him in hold with his mate and move on.â€

[Ari]

Alright, he sounds like he's telling the truth, or at least not showing any signs of lying. He would probably try to put the blame on someone else if he was trying to get out of something...I am not a lie detector, not like some. Marceau shook his head, deep in thought.

“So are we going to be long here, because I skipped lunched and I could murder a burger. Cause if not we probably just throw him in hold with his mate and move on.â€

"I doubt that will be necessary" he said with a note of weariness "He isn't lying, as far as I can tell. My vote is that he accompany us anyway, just in case someone used his identity or something to get access to the meta-virus" he turned to Stormbreaker "I would suggest we go to the lab where the theft occurred, we might find valuable clues there."

He shrugged his cape more comfortably over his shoulders, looking around at the flying patriotically-attired woman with light powers, the talking cheetah in the vest who was the Fastest Cat Alive, and the sword-bearing starship captain with stylings as anachronistic as Captain Kraken's. He felt deeply conspicuous in front of the crowd of regular Freedonians. As well as ravenously hungry.

Oh come on! I was set to go for the rest of the day with that ration!

[Blue Rose]

Silvia taps her chin, still not sure about this '4chan' organization, though Young Britannia's suggestion seems to instantly strike a chord.

"An excellent idea," she replies, both to Britannia and King of Suits, beginning to scheme.

"Mister Vetto," she says, turning her attention to their lead. "The matter at hand is quite delicate. I am sure you have been sick at some point, yes? Imagine being sick with every disease, at the same time. That is what your roommate created, and what has fallen into the hands of an unknown organization. Now that they have the weapon, and confirmed that it works, they will most likely begin severing loose ends. You may be one of them. If you come with us, we can protect you, and we may have use for you as a consultant. If not, I fear you are on your own. Please call in whatever relief you must and come with me."

With that, she turns towards the glowing stairway, making it clear that whatever the man's decision may be, he has to make it now. As she walks, she announces to all gathered, "I shall provide rations aboard the ship, while we are en route to the lab."

Of course, food is important, but right now, the more important matter is setting aside a little time. She's still suspicious of the two college students, and after leaving in the brig for a while, they may say something they'll regret, which Silvia's ears should pick up effortlessly.

"Five more for chow, including the one in the brig," she announces as she steps aboard. "The new human goes to the brig as well; he is a guest, not a prisoner, but do not allow him to wander."

[Cubist]

Jubatus found Stormbreaker's imperious attitude to be… 'amusing' was probably the right word. Whatever role she saw herself as playing, she was seriously into it; however, she did seem conscious of the 'limitations' of 'lesser' beings, so the whole of-course-my-least-word-will-be-obeyed deal probably was just play-acting on her part. Eh, whatever. Woman's only got one arm, so if her coping mechanism is Overcompensating For The Loss, I'm not gonna get in her face about it.

With an unnoticed shrug, the cheetah returned his attention to the problem at hand: Investigating the epidemiological cluster. Okay. All the victims ride public transit to their respective places of employment. So let's see which transit lines they share in common, if any. The Freedom City Transit Authority website had a slick interface for finding the perfect combination of bus, subway, and monorail to reach any place in the greater Freedom City area; the Freedom Medical Center had authorized the heroes to access the patient records for all meta-virus victims; within a clock-minute or three, Jubatus discovered that all of the victims' commutes passed through one particular subway station in Hanover!

Interesting. Unusual. No bleeding way that's just a coincidence, he thought. And… let's see if that FCTA password they gave me for that one job is still good… yes! I can harvest all the data I want on exactly which buses and trains and subway cars our meta-virus victims have ridden on in the past three weeks! Now Jubatus fired up a lightweight utility application to suck in all of that information. Gonna be a pretty damn big pile of data, though. Take a while for it all to get safely stored on my machine. Fine. In the meantime—

"Got a lead," Jubatus told the assembled heroes. "There's a subway station in Hanover that every one of our meta-virus victims passes through on their way to and from work. Anybody want to join me over there for a bit of forensics and/or good old-fashioned detective work?"

[Blue Rose]

And so, Mister Vetto is escorted aboard, and all who are hungry- Jubatus aside- are lead to the captain's personal dining hall. It's far cozier than the main chow hall, enough for maybe a dozen people if they expanded the table fully. Half that, at the moment. It's a room of polished wood and earth-toned tapestries, and furniture with deep green upholstery. The place are sterling, and there's fresh fruit on the table. "Please, be seated. We may not have time to savor our meal, but that does not mean we can't enjoy it." Nearly as soon as everyone is in the room, the meal comes all at once. Rolls, salads, and the main course; steak and crab on a bed of rice, already shelled and cut into bite-sized pieces. A courtesy for the one-armed captain, done for everyone so as not to single her out. Everyone gets a glass of water, and a young man makes the rounds offering white wine, which Silvia accepts.

Meanwhile, Vetto and MacBride receive their own meals, the same as is served above save that there is no water, only wine, and their guard is conspicuously relieved for chow without relief, leaving the pair completely alone. And well within earshot of the ship's captain.

[Ari]

Following the others into the dining hall, Marceau took a moment to admire the close aesthetics and lines of the room, nodding in appreciation of the gentle curvature, the elegant lighting, the impeccably-made chairs, the table loaded with bountiful food...

He waited until who everyone who had entered before him was seated before taking his place between Jay and Young Britannia, and in moments had pulled back his cowl from his head and managed to gather a heap of vegetables and fruit onto his plate, gladly accepted a slim glass of white wine and settled vigorously into the task of devouring the food piled before him. 'This is wonderful! I haven't had a non-ridiculous salad since that time in Carcassonne!' "Many thanks for your hospitality, Captain Silvia" he said to Stormbreaker earnestly, wiping a stray spray of blueberry and tomato from his lips "fruit where I live is hard to come by, and good vegetables even more difficult. Do you have gardens or farms where you hail from?" he rolled lettuce around some strawberries and kiwi slices, causing it to vanish into his mouth between blinks without disturbing his bright and pleasant smile.

[Blue Rose]

"You are quite welcome," the good captain replies graciously, taking her seat but not starting her meal proper until all guests are seated, instead busying herself with the little niceties like straightening her napkin in her lap. There are rules and procedures for these situations, after all.

"We did, yes," she begins answering the question, placing a subtle emphasis on the past tense. "Farmland stretching from pole to pole, across the entire planet. But that was long ago." Her voice trails off, and she feels odd speaking of her lost planet as home. In her original form, she never could appreciate such things, and yet, what was it if not home? She's certainly not going to have a religion built around her anywhere else.

[Tiffany Korta]

Agnes picked at the food and looked longingly at the wine, it was still a couple of months before she could legally drink in the States. And yeah she was on an alien spaceship but best not to take any chances. She polity refuse the wine and sipped at the water.

“Well I must say this is wonderful spread, though you should try my Mums fried banana fritters someday.â€

After picking at the food for a more minutes she gave some thought to everything they’d learned.

“Sorry to bring work into the meal but I think we should split up again. Someone should go with Jubutus to check out the Subway station, I’m sure this thing could drop them off on the way to the lab.â€

[Blue Rose]

"That would be lovely," the captain replies, not entirely sure what a 'fritter' is. But with her guests seated, she can begin her meal, starting with a quick and entirely satisfactory bite of crab, then a sip of wine.

"Unwise," she says simply to Young Britannia's plan. "You have seen how he moves. He can do legwork far faster than we can. Were you to join him, either you would slow him down tremendously in the most literal sense, or he would continue at his own pace and it would defeat the purpose of going with him. Once we find something, we shall gather again, hopefully."

With that said, she tries a nice, juicy bite of steak, nodding approvingly while she keeps an ear peeled for her guests in the brig. No need to tell the immediate company that she had already brought business to the meal until there is something to report.

[Ari]

Around a partial mouthful of celery and tomato the King of Suits said gravely "I would agree with the good captain Young Britannia. I have met a few speedsters before and they tend to..not enjoy doing such delicate work in tandem with slower-moving people. Besides, we could do with another face at the University. I fear Stormbreaker and I may have left a not entirely positive impression on the faculty. Also," he added as he swallowed noiselessly "having someone with your puissant capabilities would doubtless be of great help, if our investigation leads to a fight. Mr. Xavier is quite capable, I am sure he'll be back with a lot to work with!" Neatly skewering a pile of mushrooms he chewed them with obvious and profound relish, eyes partially closed and jaws moving slowly.

[Tiffany Korta]

Agnes gave a broad smile at King of Suits comments “Why you little charmer you.†she gave him a playful tap on the shoulder with her fist “I suppose that if he does get into trouble I can get there straight away. Besides I’m not really a investigator, I’m just here to look pretty!â€

She spent a few minutes chasing her food around the plate before speaking again.

“So what exactly have we found out so far? And what do we still need to find? I mean beside the whole stop this super-bug spreading further…â€

[Ari]

Wiping his lightly stained lips with an impeccable napkin, Marceau bowed slightly to Agnes with a mock-roguish wink "A job that you perform with splendor, mademoiselle. But your Light will surely bring forth many things we otherwise would miss." Setting the napkin down he took out his small book, flipping through it with deft gloved fingers as he answered her question "Well, to sum up, we know that: this meta-virus was an artificial creation, it's maker, Mr. McBride, was motivated by a desire to impress the faculty of the University, it was stolen by some person or persons unknown at present a short time ago, spread via public transit, and clues for whoever it was may yet be found where this monstrous sickness was brewed. Fingerprints, possibly some slight DNA evidence, and hopefully a passing glimpse from the institute's security cameras are what I hope we can get there, but the odds are slim" the King of Suits admitted with an apologetic shrug to the patriotic paragon and a sip of water.