ic [IC] Fantastic Bloggers and Where to Find Them

[Blarghy]

Leviathan wondered about the best way to go about this.  He didn't exactly have experience in the matter at hand.  What if this was actually the other hacker?  Even if he and Bonfire had correctly spotted their contact, much less friendly people were very likely on their way to crash the party.  He became acutely aware of how many civilians were in the park...

 

Then there's no time to waste, either way.  We'll just have to risk it.

 

With a nod to Bonfire, he moved forward to the statue.  Leviathan looked down at the top of that blue hood and cleared his throat.  "...You should be careful with those," he gestured to the laptop.  "I've had some computer-related troubles myself today.  You never know who might be watching when you go online."

[olopi]

GM

 

 

 

On second glance, the person didn’t seem all that relaxed. After having started up their laptop, they did the best to look like they were looking at it, but also were frantically looking around the area. When Leviathan approached, they lost some of their tension. Also, they didn’t actually do anything on the laptop, they were just holding it.

 

They were slightly shorter than Leviathan’s current form, and as he approached he could make out a somewhat feminine face, soon accompanied by a similarly feminine voice,responding almost immediately, and speaking in some hurry. “You don’t have to say that twice. You’re minding your own business, and suddenly there’s somebody else on your website.”

 

She(?) came forward, storing the laptop in the bag again, in one swift motion. As she approached, she whispered. “Let’s go. Lead the way. And let’s hurry, we don’t have much time. “All the while, she continued to look around, observing the various crowds.

Edited December 6, 2016 by olopi

[Blarghy]

Leviathan, too, was interested in the other people in the park, but in a different way.  He felt a little surprised--not to mention proud--that he didn't have to force his concern for innocent civilians being caught in the cross-fire of a potential attack.  Of course, he was more fearful of not having a convenient place to transform in the event of trouble, but one step at a time.

 

As he began to walk--just where could they go?  Hopefully not back to his lab--he asked, "Are you speaking from paranoia, or do you have solid information on our enemies?  If you know who is coming after us, and what they may have at their disposal besides foam-bombs, then please do share."

 

To Bonfire, he added, "I'm thinking that a hotel might be prudent.  I can rent us a room while we discuss this business." 

 

Assuming we can make it there.

[olopi]

GM

 

 

 

The hacker kept up with the pace no problem. In fact, she actually added to it, walking just slightly faster than the two heroes, making them catch up and walk faster in the process. She was in a hurry, and she didn’t try hiding it.  Much like her two allies, she continued scanning her surroundings. So far, nothing had happened, but she didn’t leave it at first glance, she actually properly looked at her surroundings. At the same time, she continued, almost completely hushing her speech.

 

“Suspicions, more than anything. Suspicions, which were made more concrete by the attack on the page. If there’s any truth to it, we don’t want to be out here. He probably knows my face. “As she said that, she pulled the hood of her hoodie down further, hiding more parts of her face once more. Then, she, somewhat dumbfounded replied again. “Wait, foam bombs? What?”

Edited December 8, 2016 by olopi

[olopi]

PC

 

 

 

As the two had begun to walk, Bonfire quickly joined up, looking similarly on edge. All three, looking tense and in a hurry, two of them doing the best to hide their face. It was somewhat strange, even for Freedom City, but still the other pedestrians didn’t seem to care too much.

 

As soon as Leviathan had mentioned it, Bonfire was on his phone. “Good point, on it.” He managed to walk pretty quickly even while staring down at it, not losing any speed. It took a few seconds, but soon afterwards, he replied. He sounded a bit disappointed, as he began to scroll through the options. “Good news, bad news. Good news, we’re in hotel central. Bad news, they’re way above any reasonable price. There’s a four-star one just down the street, and a few more around here. But, anything actually affordable is at least a five minute walk away. I could sneak it, but I doubt that also goes for the two of you. Your call, I don’t have any spare cash on me.” He took a few fast steps to catch up the slight distance he had fallen behind regardless.

Edited December 8, 2016 by olopi

[Blarghy]

"Money shouldn't be a problem," Leviathan replied, distracted and more focused on their contact.  "Rent whatever's closest."  Although he didn't dare use--or even carry--his numerous credit cards while on any kind of mission, he had decided to empty his spare safe while he was changing clothes and faces, back at the lab.  The billionaire wasn't aware that he had more cash on him than any reasonable person should ever carry; a skilled and fortunate pickpocket might risk more than they knew, given the secret natures of this group, but success could mean instant retirement. 

 

He waved away the hacker's question.  "It's a long story.  Who is 'he'?  What can you tell us?  Even guesses would be helpful.  We need whatever we can get at this stage."

Edited December 9, 2016 by Blarghy

[olopi]

GM

 

 

 

The capnokinetic nodded, storing his phone in his pocket again. “Right over there.” He pointed to a building that didn’t really stand out, a sign on the front indicating that there were spare rooms. The building looked like all others, but as the group approached, the door clearly showed that this wasn’t exactly a cheap hotel. As the group approached, the also saw a plaque, showing a variety of good ratings, and a full four stars.

 

In the meantime, the hacker continued to talk, still on edge. “Calls himself Solemn. Don’t know a lot, he was our boss before we got shut down by that Bonfire-freak. Only ever contacted us through really secure channels. Judging by his payment, money’s not much of a problem for him, and I feel he’s a lot more powerful than we all thought back then. “

 

And then, the group entered. The lobby was empty save a receptionist, who gave them quite the look. In their outfits, two of them concealing their face, and without baggage of any sort, they didn’t look like the kind of people that would usually enter this place. He seemed a bit careful, one of his hands moving below the front counter, as he did his best to put on a smile Regardless.

 

“Good day. Welcome to the Brandt Parkside. Have you made an advance booking?”

Edited December 12, 2016 by olopi

[Blarghy]

So Bonfire was right; one of those hackers does have a grudge against him.  Reasonable enough, for a villain to want revenge after being foiled.  That makes sense.  Although he wasn't precisely at ease, and he still had questions, Leviathan felt a little better now that he had a handle on the situation.  This kind of scenario just happened to heroes from time to time.  He had watched and read enough about his idols growing up to know that. 

 

Before he could pursue this topic further, they were no longer alone.  The receptionist looked wary of them, and for good reason.  Just please don't call the police as soon as we go to our room, Leviathan thought.  That's the last thing we need, on top of our other problems.

 

He took an envelope from his jacket pocket and counted out the bills as he answered.  "No, I'm afraid not.  We were hoping for a spare room."  He laid a small--perhaps not so small--stack of high-denomination currency on the counter, not precisely offering it yet, but plainly prepared to pay.  "Whew!  It's been a long day.  We're just trying to get out of the weather for a while and decide what part of the city we want to visit next.  Our original plans haven't quite worked out; you know how it is.  I hate to drop in without a reservation; I'll understand if we don't get the usual rate, for your inconvenience."  Leviathan smiled as he chattered, hoping to disarm the other man's suspicions.

[olopi]

GM

 

 

 

The sight of all the money on the table caused quite a reaction. All of the people in the room, the receptionist, and the two accompanying Leviathan, staggered a bit. All three of them then looked at Leviathan, a mix of surprise, scepticism and sheer amazement. Other than that, all three reacted differently.

 

The Hacker shot a questioning glance at Bonfire, looking rather unsure about it all, tilting her head in the direction of their ally. She also walked further into the room, up to a nice, expensive looking, leather couch.  Bonfire gave Leviathan a questioning look, but soon changed his expression to something more content. He had not expected this, and it clearly showed, but he seemed to realize that this was an entirely positive thing.

 

The receptionist continued to look a bit wary, but certainly warmed up at the sight of the money, proving that these three were able to at least pay for what they had come. His hand remained below the table just in case, but his other began to type something on the keyboard.

 

“I’m sure we’ll be able to find something. We’ve got quite a few rooms spare at the moment.” A monitor facing outwards, towards the customers, lighted up, showing pictures of what appeared to be a highly luxourious suite. “For three people, I personally suggest the Sentry Suite. It offers two separate rooms, a large bathroom, and a large balcony, with perfect view towards the Sentry Statue, as well as large parts of Riverside.” The screen showed a few more pictures, as the printer below the counter printed out a form, which the receptionist immediately put on the counter, grabbing a pen right afterwards. “How many nights are you staying? After that, I’ll just need a method of identification and the payment, and you will be ready to enjoy the finest we have to offer. “

Edited December 14, 2016 by olopi

[Blarghy]

As usual, Leviathan wasn't very good at hiding his instinctive reactions.  His eyes widened with mild dismay; even if he had his driver's license, he certainly wouldn't hand it over.  He didn't currently match the picture, either.  Fake IDs sounded more and more useful these days, and the legal issues therein less and less of a drawback. 

 

He made a show of patting down his pockets.  Unless the clerk was particularly dim or focused on the money on the counter, Leviathan wasn't likely to convince anyone, and he knew it. 

 

"I think I forgot my license back at the apartment," he claimed lamely.  "We weren't planning to drive anywhere, so..."  With an exaggerated shrug, he looked to Bonfire hopefully.  "Could one of you sign us in?  I'll still pay."  A suggestion he doubted would go over well, especially given the circumstances, but maybe the other hero could think of a better solution instead.

[olopi]

GM

 

 

 

 

As soon as the mention of an ID had been made, Bonfire had gotten ready. He felt he knew Leviathan well enough to realize he would not just reveal information like that. So, by the time he’d asked, Cass had already reached for his wallet, and as he walked up to the counter, he pulled down his scarf, then laid the ID on it.

 

If he watched it, Leviathan could probably make out the name, as the clerk made a cursory check. Seeing nothing wrong with it, the only thing that was left to do was singing the form, which Bonfire was nice enough to do. Two keys in hand, and without any luggage, the three made their way towards their room.

 

Shortly later

 

The Sentry Suite was located on the second uppermost floor of the building. After a short elevator ride, the three stood in the hallway. It was quite luxourious, the carpet looked expensive and the paintings all had polished wooden frames. The door to the room was easy to find, a large golden plaque on it.

 

The keys worked, and stepping through, the group was greeted by a spacious room, a full window front with the aforementioned view towards the statue. The kitchen was quite large, and in the middle of the room there was a set of couches, all turned towards a coffee table in the middle. The door to the bathroom, right next to the entrance, was open, inside was a room with stone floor and walls, a nearly whirlpool size bathtub and a separate shower.

 

Two jaws metaphorically hit the floor, as both the hacker and Bonfire just stood and watched in amazement, before taking a few steps inside and further looking around.

Edited December 18, 2016 by olopi

[Blarghy]

Finding their lodgings adequate, Leviathan strolled in and made a quick check of the rooms.  He knew he was probably being a little paranoid, but he still kept an eye out for suspicious electronics, especially any computers with built-in microphones or webcams.  Fortunately, even nice hotel rooms tended not to include those.

 

"Alright," he said when he returned to their hacker friend.  "About this Solemn.  You don't have any way to find him?  You said he used to pay you; maybe we could track that.  Or maybe just set up a trap for him this time.  We know he's trying to watch us, so we could give him a false lead and then ambush him, or at least whatever goons he sends.  But for someone this smart and good with the web, we'd have to be incredibly subtle..."

[olopi]

GM

 

 

 

It took a few seconds for Leviathan’s two companions to fully process what they were seeing. It didn’t look like either of them had ever seen a room this lavish before. The two took a few steps inside and looked at each other, unsure what to make of the situation, and still unsure what to make of their host’s (he kind of was now!) money. Electronics wise, the room wasn’t as interesting. A big flatscreen hung on the wall, but there were no computers of any sort.

 

Bonfire went into the bathroom, leaving the door open behind him. “Whoa. “ The faucet was somewhat quiet, but still loud enough to be audible with all the doors open and not a lot of other noise.

 

The Hacker slowly moved forward, towards the couch. Moving a few pillows beforehand, she sat down, with her bag at her feet. She grabbed her laptop and put it on the coffee table, before looking back at Leviathan and responding.

 

“I’m not sure. We never bothered with tracking down the payments. They were on time, they were generous, and we didn’t want to antagonize him. We could probably check the payments, they were online after all. I can pull them up, I did a fair bit of bookkeeping back when things were running. We’d have to trace back the transaction, and I imagine Solemn’s good enough to not make it easy. Then again, you managed to get into our page…”

 

She paused for a second, while thinking about the alternate proposal, before giving her thoughts on it.  “I’m not sure how we’d do the false lead, but maybe … if we could somehow fake our position. He doesn’t strike me as somebody to wait, but it’d have to be convincing. “

Edited December 25, 2016 by olopi

[Blarghy]

She's right; we'd be better off not faking it at all.  Would Bonfire consent to be bait?  He'd be ready for trouble this time, and I could wait nearby, ready to transform and jump in as soon as Solemn and his new goons arrive...

 

"Let's try the financial angle first," he suggested.  "If we can't find Solemn that way, then we'll consider other options."  Leviathan went to the couch and sat down so that he could see the computer too.  "How do you want to do this?  I'm willing to help, if you want to take the lead.  Or vice versa."

[olopi]

GM

 

 

 

“The payments came in over the ShadowBank.“ The hacker waited for a second, before realizing the others may not know what she’d been talking about. “It’s … a sort of banking and transaction service for everything that goes on in the DarkNet and other shady places. Lots of security, well-hidden, and probably more powerful than any of us imagine. “

 

“Anyways, that’s how the money came in. We had ... or probably still have … an account there. It doesn’t show you who makes the payments when you receive them, but it should be somewhere on the website’s code. I’ve only paid things with it twice, but both times I had ways to track the payment. “

 

She opened up a bunch of windows on her laptop, some recognizable, some not. “Considering how this website deals with hackers as part of their customer base, their security will be top-notch. But if there’s two of us, we might be able to do this. Do you have a laptop? If we attack from two directions, we should be able to find something. “

 

Quick on his feet, Bonfire walked forward and deposited his laptop on the table, before also taking a seat on the couch, looking at both of the screens. He had no idea of any of this, but he didn’t need to show that.

 

“Okay. “ She took a sheet of paper from a stack the hotel had left on the table, and wrote something onto it, a few names. “Open that, then that, and go to that. That should open the Bank, and from there I’ll give you access to the account. And then, we just delve into the code. I wrote down which payments were made by him on here. “

 

Edited December 29, 2016 by olopi

[Blarghy]

Leviathan began typing as directed.  He wondered how he'd compare to a professional hacker; he might know his way around some code, but this woman probably had tricks he couldn't dream of.  Perhaps this would be a learning experience. 

 

Or she's still working for Solemn and leading us into a trap somehow.  Unlikely...but not as unlikely as I'd prefer.  I guess that, too, would be a learning experience. 

 

Still, if he could forget about the danger he and Bonfire were in for a minute, then this was pretty cool!  Look at little Leviathan, snooping around the Dark Net, investigating major hackers.  It'd make for a nice memory, assuming it didn't go terribly wrong!

[olopi]

GM

 

 

 

Once he was inside the V-Arr’s account, Leviathan managed to get a hold of just what these payments had been. It wasn’t right to snoop, of course, but when they were on the screen they were unavoidable. It was sums of a few thousand dollars that were moved, multiple times across the past year. Until they had suddenly stopped in April this year.

 

They weren’t the only payments, but seemed to be the majority. The hacker had designated all the ones related to the current problem at hand. Diving into the code was easy, the hacker had seemingly tried to do it a few times before as she had a pretty good idea of how to access it. But, even she didn’t know how to find a weak point.  

 

It took some time. The hacker didn’t have too much of an idea, she’d tried beforehand. But there was one thing Leviathan had to offer over a professional hacker: he had a completely different view and idea of the code. Hackers had their way of doing it, and others had a different one. And in this case, it actually mattered for more than some confusion from either side.

After about an hour or so, something came up. Hidden deep inside the code, inside a variety of fake batches (some obvious, some less so), was something that looked genuine.

 

“Nice one. This looks like we can build off of it, we should be able to find him with this. Might take some more time, but the first step’s the most difficult. “

 

She got up from the couch, and moved over to Leviathan, to get a better look at the screen. Bonfire had spent the time reading some sort of magazine about Nature Photography. Leviathan looked upwards, at the Hacker moving in, when he noticed something. Something out of the ordinary. Just as he’d began to look at her, a red laser dot appeared on her forehead.

Edited December 30, 2016 by olopi

[Blarghy]

Fast as he could, he threw himself at the hacker and tried to bring her to the ground.  Leviathan at first moved on pure adrenaline and reflex; in any other situation, he might've hesitated, but today he was doing hero work, and hero work usually meant that he was a towering mountain of undying muscles.  It only occurred to him after he had jumped that he just put himself in real peril, and he doubted that anyone else in the room besides himself could provide medical care.  Treating his own gunshot wounds in a hotel room without proper tools would put even his skills to the test. 

 

How did they find us so quickly?!  Were we followed?  Did I get noticed on the web?  Could this all just be a trap?

[olopi]

GM

 

Leviathan, or more specifically, his human form, suddenly jumping at the hacker took everybody by surprise. She was quite strong judging by the impact, but nevertheless, the sudden impact of Leviathan’s body made her fall over, and then be dragged to the ground. And right at the same time, the glass shattered. For the second time today, and once more shards flew across the room. A few of them landed around the two on the ground, but none actually hit. Bonfire had gotten less lucky, still sitting upright, the force of the projectile making the shards fly straight into the magazine he’d been reading, and a few more into his hands.

 

The hacker looked up, at the ceiling, and then over at Leviathan, seeing the scattered window behind him, most of the pane shattered into the room. She whispered, sounding rather angry, while also doing her best to not move at all.

 

“S***! He found us. What do we do?” She turned her eyes towards Bonfire, who had by now stood up, probably by the shock, and was looking around the outside, scanning what could be seen from his current position. “Get the **** down. Now. “

 

[olopi]

PC

 

This really was one of those days. First, a grenade shattering a window when all Cass had wanted to do was get some coffee. Now, only a few hours later, another window being shattered, when all Cass wanted to do was read about, and admire, Tim Laman’s work. One moment to the next. First, Leviathan had suddenly jumped at their new ally. Then, boom, glass gone. And of course, a bunch of the shards had to his hands. Not only was the magazine completely scratched now, but his hands were bleeding.

 

And it hurt quite a bit. Without really thinking about it, he catapulted himself into an upwards positon. Immediately, he switched to his smoke-form, remaining in his human appearance however. His clothes were sustained by parts of his body still fully made of flesh, the rest hung loose.

 

Fortunately, most of the glass had been shattered into the room, so looking outwards wasn’t that big of an issue. He turned his head, looking around the outside. Dusk was starting to happen, so seeing details from up here wasn’t easy. But, whatever that attack had been, the person … or thing … doing it had to be somewhere where Cass could see them now. So, he stood there, nearly motionless, trying to spot the attacker, not responding.

[Blarghy]

What do we do, indeed?  That's a good question, my troublesome friend.  I'd like to grow scales and go kick around that sniper, but I can't really do that with you here watching me.  I shouldn't do it at all, anyway; we're nowhere near the water, and nobody will believe that Leviathan snuck into this hotel without being noticed.  It'll raise so many questions...but so will Tristan Delacroix being found shot to death in a room with a hacker and an eco-terrorist.  Pretty sure that'll make the news. 

 

Screw it.  Someone out there wants to murder this lady and Bonfire, and a real hero wouldn't let that happen, personal inconvenience or no.  Fake it 'til you make it, yeah?

 

Leviathan rolled away from the woman until he lay on his side with his back to her.  He seemed to curl in on himself like a dying spider, his arms and legs folding close together.  The others might've easily thought that he'd been shot, but in addition to the lack of blood, his voice remained steady when he spoke.

 

"Stay low, crawl to the bathroom, and hide," he told the hacker, soft but urgent.  "Wait there until we come to get you.  Hurry--hurry hurry hurry hurry..."

Edited January 7, 2017 by Blarghy

[olopi]

GM

 

At first, the hacker just looked confused at what Leviathan was doing. Why would he roll away from a save position? Why would he move like that? What was he doing? Once she realized what it was, she looked a bit less confused, even if she still gave him a questioning look. Either way, she nodded slightly. As she too turned just a bit, she whispered once more.

 

“On it. “

 

Even with the fear and panic in her body she realized that something was up if these two weren’t hiding, or, in the red-haired one’s case even specifically putting themselves into the line of fire. Still, she wouldn’t complain, she just wanted to get out of this for now.

 

Meanwhile, Bonfire continued to stand in front of the shattered window. He had a confident look, as if he either didn’t care about the impeding danger or knew hot to handle it. His head turned, trying to find the sharpshooter. After a few seconds, by now the hacker had almost made it to the bathroom, it happened.

 

The sound of a bullet hitting the wall next to the door, where a bullet hole formed almost immediately, next to the one from the previous attack. Bonfire’s head, still human, looked a bit warped, as if it was smoke and somebody had sent a wave of air through it. Which, on second thought, was probably exactly what had just happened. “Gotcha. Apartment building, circa 10 on the clock, on a fire escape.”

 

With that, he turned to his more signature look, that of a cloud of smoke, and set off, flying straight towards the direction he had indicated beforehands.

[Blarghy]

Leviathan needed a little longer than that to prepare; he didn't truly start to change until their informant was out of the room.  Then, he shuddered and gave into the process that washed over him.  It oddly wasn't painful; he had deliberately adjusted his nervous system to lapse his pain receptors during a shift, or else the massive trauma would've driven him into shock every time.  Every bone in his body broke, grew, reforged, and in some cases broke again to repeat the process.  His hair follicles mutated into tough scales, which rose to the surface of his peeling skin, swallowing the pale flesh like one tectonic plate sliding over the top of another.  Most of his organs merely expanded, but some had to form from scratch, like his gills. 

 

His belt snapped in half from the strain; his shoes split apart, and his clothes shredded.  More evidence that he would have to dispose of later...but first, business.

 

At least the window was already broken, Leviathan thought as he climbed to his feet and took a running leap right through what remained of the glass--and brought down part of the surrounding wall too, to fit his enormous body.  He aimed after Bonfire and went to dispense some justice, probably in the form of punching. 

[olopi]

GM

 

 

 

As he leaped from the edge of the window (and the bit of wall he took with him), Leviathan managed to catch a glimpse of the fire exit Bonfire had talked about. There did seem to be somebody on it. As he leaped through the air, he managed to catch up to Bonfire within moments, and then overtaking him as his speed carried him towards his destination. Hitting the rather small fire exit was not only rather difficult, it would also most likely break it. So instead, Leviathan had aimed for the roof, which looked a whole lot sturdier.

 

 

Soaring through the sky, he saw the streetlights below him. Night was starting to fall, but it was still bright enough to see the ground. The ground, where at least one person was looking upwards, phone in hand. And then, he landed on the roof, next to the AC unit. By the fire-access stood somebody, wearing a fancy modern mask, and a grey coat. In one hand, he held his rifle, while in the other he held … a phone of some sort?

 

 

Right as Bonfire arrived next to Leviathan, before either of them really had the chance to act, said figure held up the arm, phone in hand. The voice, rather masculine in tone, was amplified by speakers.

 

 

“Mr. Bauer. Nice to see you made it. And you’ve brought a friend! How lovely.”

 

 

Bonfire had reformed to his mostly human form now, with his head in the form of the signature cloud. He took a step forward, but as he was about to take the second step, got interrupted by more speech. The figure showed his thumb, hovering it over the phone, the screen now lighting up, a big red button showing on it.

 

 

“Ah-ah-ah. I wouldn’t do that if I were you. It’d be a shame if a certain … troublemaker … suddenly revealed his name, address, bank account, and a lot of other things by accident, wouldn’t it? Especially some of the stuff in his E-Mail, right?”

Edited January 14, 2017 by olopi

[Blarghy]

If he hadn't been forced to come down on the roof, Leviathan would've gladly tried to squash the sniper beneath his huge webbed feet.  He almost wished he had; this apparently would've had consequences, but faced with the fear that the unseen voice provoked, he nearly preferred blissful ignorance.  The anger and bravado that propelled Leviathan out of the hotel window turned to deep worry; he acknowledged that Bonfire was in a truly difficult position here--Solemn knew his real identity, and might have more than just a name, unless he was lying--yet the lizard's main concern was for himself.  Was he the source of the email comment?  Just what could Solemn learn from reading the messages he sent to Bonfire to set up their meeting earlier today?  Leviathan had tried not to give anything away, given that he didn't yet trust his fellow hero at the time, but even just the electronic trail, plus whatever Solemn may've gained from his attack on the Dark Net website when they were back at the lab...

 

A cold hand clenched his heart.  When he spoke, hoping to frighten their enemies, his worries instead crept in through his tone.

 

"It'd be a shame if I pulled off your agent's limbs here and then beat you with them, too," he threatened unconvincingly.  "We're a pair of troublemakers ourselves, Solemn, and you don't want our kind of trouble.  Looks like you know that; you're too scared to show your face, aren't you?"