The somewhat harried, but still beautiful woman skidded to a halt, two men right behind her, both carrying equipment. As one man set up a camera on a tripod, the woman switched from sneakers to heels, checked her make-up and hair, then caught the mic tossed her way by the other man.
She composed herself quickly, then smiled at the camera as it focused on her. They'd had to literally race several other crews to do it, but they'd found a prime spot for coverage. As her producer silently counted down from five, she raised the mic to her lips. "Good morning, Titan City. This is Nina Snow with Channel Nine News. We're here at the opening of the Hearthfire Center, a brand-new state of the art medical center built by Promethean Dynamics. The Center has an express purpose - caring for and rehabilitating citizens that have been severely injured in villains attacks or superhuman battles, at little to no cost to the patients. The woman behind the idea is none other than Promethean's President and founder, Danielle Burns."
The camera zoomed in on a flame-haired woman in a white suit and skirt as she smiled for the camera while cutting the ribbon in front of the doors. A cheer went up from the crowd and she waved as the camera moved back to the reporter. "Come with us now as we go on the first tour of the Center..."
200 feet above the noise and crowd, a hero was perched on the side of the skyscraper next to the Hearthfire Center. Whipcrack was crouched with his feet flat against the wall, a thin layer of amber psionic energy creating a temporary bond between the soles of his costume and the stone.
As he listened to the broadcast on his earpiece, he thought about when Tinker had spoken to him about her relative who was injured and he'd come up with this idea, which he'd shopped to Danielle. He didn't mind that she was taking the credit, since she and her company had done 99% of the creating anyhow.
He found himself hoping that Tinker and her compatriots weren't off somewhere, making trouble. The three of them had the potential to be heroes and the Hearthfire Center would hopefully remove the motive for their villainous acts of the past.
As the tour started, he dropped off the side of the building and fell, throwing out a strand to catch a corner of the Center and using the momentum to fling himself skyward, swinging between buildings while keeping an eye and ear out for trouble.
[color=#FF7F50]Putting yourself in another persons shoes emotionally is something that everyone has to experience eventually. It's part of learning to be a human being. Roleplayers do it for fun.[/color]
Whipcrack may suddenly find something happening that's unusual; if he has an communicator of any kind, even a phone, it'll suddenly start buzzing. If it has some kind of caller ID, the display will show a long string gibberish. If activated, the communicator will blare out, "Tinker Requests Aid" over and over again until it's turned back off, at which point buzzing will resume. It's the same message being tightbeamed right to him constantly.
If he moves even five feet, it'll stop, and resume if he moves back into the space. Seems the transmission is focused on that particular spot.
An infinite number of tries doesn't mean that any one of those tries will succeed. I could flip an infinite number of pennies an infinite number of times and, barring genuine randomness, they will never come up "Waffles".
Whipcrack had just finished discouraging a mugger from continuing his larcenous ways when his earbud went nuts. He threw the strand that was wrapped around the mugger up at a lightpole, hanging the man several feet off the ground, then tapped the control on his glove that opened the channel. It started blaring the aid message over and over again. Unsure of how to respond to an automated message of this nature, he spoke. "Uhhh... message received? I'd help, but I don't know where she is."
[color=#FF7F50]Putting yourself in another persons shoes emotionally is something that everyone has to experience eventually. It's part of learning to be a human being. Roleplayers do it for fun.[/color]
The same message continues to blare, over and over again. Seems it's truly automated - there's no AI or anything that can understand Whipcrack's response to it. One has to imagine that it's being broadcast from somewhere, though; maybe the distress beacon needs to be triangulated, then?
An infinite number of tries doesn't mean that any one of those tries will succeed. I could flip an infinite number of pennies an infinite number of times and, barring genuine randomness, they will never come up "Waffles".
Whipcrack turned and threw an arrest beacon onto the mugger's chest. It would summon a pick-up and also contained video of the attempted mugging from multiple angles, filmed by minicams that Whipcrack had set up before taking the thug down.
With that done, he retrieved his cams and threw out two elastic energy strands to both sides of the alley, stretching them out to slingshot himself straight up. He cleared the roofs of the buildings, then threw out another strand to tug himself onto the roof. Landing on his feet, he dropped his armor and retrieved a slim smartphone from his belt. He scrolled through his contacts until he found one labeled League of Titans and dialed it.
"Good afternoon, please identify yourself." the Titans computer requested.
"This is Whipcrack, Hero ID 3775-40."
"Please wait. Confirming identification... identity confirmed, Whipcrack. Forwarding..."
A human voice answered this time. "Whipcrack! What's up, it's Overdrive!"
Whipcrack explained what was going on and asked if the Titans could help him to track the signal. "Sure thing, Whip. Switch on your earbud and I'll see if we can pick it up."
He started to switch it on, but realized it was no longer buzzing. Once it was on, nothing emerged from it. "Well, that's weird..."
He thanked Overdrive and ended the connection, then stood on the rooftop, scratching his head about the problem. He was worried about Tinker and the other two, but he had no idea how to contact them.
[color=#FF7F50]Putting yourself in another persons shoes emotionally is something that everyone has to experience eventually. It's part of learning to be a human being. Roleplayers do it for fun.[/color]
After a few minutes, the buzzing starts up again, apparently having readjusted to Whipcrack's new position. Overdrive will find it trivial to triangulate the beacon, to a place on the beach.
An infinite number of tries doesn't mean that any one of those tries will succeed. I could flip an infinite number of pennies an infinite number of times and, barring genuine randomness, they will never come up "Waffles".
After ending the second communication with Overdrive, Whipcrack swung off towards the position indicated by the triangulation. He soon found himself on the beach. He looked around, but couldn't see anything that indicated any sort of trouble, now or recently. "Okay, I think someone's jerking my chain here..." he said, growing impatient. He plunked down in the sand and decided to wait and see if anyone showed up.
[color=#FF7F50]Putting yourself in another persons shoes emotionally is something that everyone has to experience eventually. It's part of learning to be a human being. Roleplayers do it for fun.[/color]
When he sits down, something clicks underneath the sand, and then a wooden plat.form begins rising out from underneath. Now, he's currently sitting half on it, so it might tip him over if he doesn't get up quickly. Coming up with the platform is a sapphire, in her stylized, wetsuit based costume. However, it's a bit frayed, and Whipcrack will be able to see her olive skin through the rents in her costume; small wounds all, and hastily stitched up by a surgeon who isn't amazing at their job. There's no blood soaking into the costume though; perhaps it's a waterproof substance and that extends to blood, or maybe her aquakinetic powers just let her clean them better. Either way, she looks tired.
"I was worried you'd think it was a joke. We need help. Come on, I'll explain on the way down."
An infinite number of tries doesn't mean that any one of those tries will succeed. I could flip an infinite number of pennies an infinite number of times and, barring genuine randomness, they will never come up "Waffles".
Fortunately for Whipcrack, his mutation had given him superhuman equilibrium, so he adjusted quickly and balanced on the edge of the platform. Once it was done moving, he spun to his feet and found himself looking at Sapphire.
"Holy hell, you look like shit." he blurted out, then stopped to listen as she explained.
"Well, at first I wasn't sure when I lost the signal the first time, but after I received it again I decided to check it out. So... what's going on?" he asked as the platform began descending.
[color=#FF7F50]Putting yourself in another persons shoes emotionally is something that everyone has to experience eventually. It's part of learning to be a human being. Roleplayers do it for fun.[/color]
"Tinker could give you the tech mumbo jumbo, but the gist of it is, basically, there's someone in our systems." Sapphire says, leaning against the railing as she pushes a button to make the platform descend into the sand once more, "Tinker thinks it's some kind of organic AI. All the automated stuff we have is attacking us; We've tried taking it back, using the brute force approach, but the computers have our specs. The only thing we can do is bring in someone who won't get shot to pieces."
"Thing is, it's not shooting to kill, or I'd probably be dead right now. The sense I'm getting is that the AI is trying to force us out for whatever reason. There's a lot of Tinker's tech down there, and I'm thinking whoever set the AI on us wants it for themselves - most of it isn't in the computers, so the only way they'd be able to get blueprints of it is by reverse engineering the stuff."
"At the moment, we fortified a small section of the base, but Azoth's out of commission, so we're down a person already. Tinker set up the beacon to call you - dunno why you, but she insisted - and was hoping you'd be willing to help. We might need to bring in some others as well, but I suppose that decision's yours."
At the bottom of the elevator shaft, the platform comes to a stop, and a door opens up, leading to an area illuminated by red light. Tinker sits off against a wall, her fingers typing away on a computer that seems to be half put together with vehicle parts. Whipcrack will get the opportunity to see why Azoth is out of commission too; rather than legs and arms coming from her hips and shoulders, she instead has metal sockets, the edges of her costume frayed where the limbs were taken out. Her mask is still on, though, and a tiny table with a thick drink sits beside her.
"Your boyfriend's here," Sapphire says, and Azoth grins, her mouthpiece currently missing from her costume.
When Tinker herself turns to look at Whipcrack, he can see how tired she is even through the armor. It doesn't have the same kind of cuts in it as Sapphire's costume, but there's a few burn marks on her gauntlets and over one eye, and several of her anti-grav plates are cracked. "Glad you could make it," she says, "hope you're here to help."
An infinite number of tries doesn't mean that any one of those tries will succeed. I could flip an infinite number of pennies an infinite number of times and, barring genuine randomness, they will never come up "Waffles".
Whipcrack's first instinct was to crack a joke, but he decided against and walked over to plunk down near Tinker, but he was still able to see all three of them. As he walked, he studied the other two, taking in their various wounds and/or damage. "Well, Sapphire gave me the basics, but can you fill me in on the details?" he asked, looking at Tinker.
[color=#FF7F50]Putting yourself in another persons shoes emotionally is something that everyone has to experience eventually. It's part of learning to be a human being. Roleplayers do it for fun.[/color]
"Sure." Tinker says and, like last time, fiddles with the projector on her arm for a moment. when she's done, a slowly spinning image of a complex of rooms is projected as a hologram, "This is the layout of the base. We're here," she points out a room with a shaft going up from it, and a hallway at the other end of the door across from there, "this place was set up that we could flood it in the event of an enemy getting the drop on us, but this AI was in our system before we could do that. Besides, it seems to just want us out, and dropping the bay down here would just give them the ability to salvage the waterlogged wrecks."
"As such, I've got a plan. This AI's organic, so it can respond better and faster than we can even through a direct computer interface. I've tried." the grimace can be heard in her voice, "As such, we take out the systems housing it, destroying the data on us it's accumulated and, with luck, also destroying it. There's a few important things though." She points out one of the five rooms, "There's people in this room, and the AI is holding them hostage. There's no weapons there, but there's enough medical tools that it doesn't need weapons to make life extremely painful for those people."
She points out a second room, "This is the armory. I made a few plasma bombs just in case, and to my knowledge the AI doesn't know about them, or if it does then it doesn't want them set off, since that'd likely destroy it and its work. But we can't do that unless we get the people out first, for what I imagine are obvious reasons."
"There's automated turrets in the hallways" Azoth puts in, "They're what gave Sapphire the love-taps."
Tinker nods, "And there's a mech situated outside the door to the armory. Without my stuff I can't get into the armory to get my stuff, the mech tore off Azoth's limbs, and Sapphire would get shot by the turrets before she made it there. We can't get in there without help."
[img]http://i.imgur.com/n21N4SZ.png[/img]
An infinite number of tries doesn't mean that any one of those tries will succeed. I could flip an infinite number of pennies an infinite number of times and, barring genuine randomness, they will never come up "Waffles".
Whipcrack memorized the map while listening to everything Tinker had to say about the various rooms, questions already forming in his head. Once she was finished, he spoke up.
"How mobile are the people in the infirmary and will I need to bring any equipment out with them? What size are the ventilation ducts? What do the turrets shoot and are they in the main hallway, the shorter hallways, or both? What are the specs on the robot and will it chase me? Are Azoth's limbs salvageable and, if so, can you reattach them without your workshop or infirmary? What's the yield on those plasma bombs?" he asked a bit rapidly, finally stopping to catch his breath.
[color=#FF7F50]Putting yourself in another persons shoes emotionally is something that everyone has to experience eventually. It's part of learning to be a human being. Roleplayers do it for fun.[/color]
"Two are able to move - slowly - under their own power. One hasn't had his new limbs attached yet. The last is comatose and entirely unresponsive, but they're all stable and won't need immediate medical aid if they're removed from the base, so we can leave the equipment. The ventilation ducts are small; too small for any movie-style shenanigans, and have rotating fans in them to keep airflow going, so I wouldn't suggest sending anybody through them. The turrets shoot solid projectiles made of lead. Basic bullets, except for their size for the most part, and they fire very fast." Tinker says.
She continues, "The robot is similar to the ones that attacked the city six months ago - where you and I first met as it were - but I've upgraded it some. It doesn't have any ranged weapons attached, but it's a lot more durable and has more strength in its arms and legs, so you've been warned. thankfully, it won't chase you out into the main hall, but unfortunately that's where most of the turrets are."
"My limbs got ripped off, though," Azoth cuts in, "We have spares in the armory, but we'd need to clean the debris and fix the sockets first, and that'd take more precise equipment than we have access to right now. I'm basically out of commission for this whole little event," she sounds rueful at that.
Tinker nods, then starts talking again, "The bombs won't damage the city, I promise; they'll take out the base and the small surrounding area and collapse a part of the beachhead down here. Rocks fall, everything inside gets crushed. As long as there's nobody on the beach above the base when it happens, we shouldn't have an issue."
An infinite number of tries doesn't mean that any one of those tries will succeed. I could flip an infinite number of pennies an infinite number of times and, barring genuine randomness, they will never come up "Waffles".
"Okay, so here's the plan I've got so far. Depending on their arcs, I may be able to trick the guns into firing on each other, that is if they can damage or destroy one another. If you can show me on the map where they are, that'd be super. Once I've taken care of the guns, head to the infirmary. Neutralize any threatening equipment in there, then evacuate the patients. I'm assuming that the AI's nest is in the workshop, so that's where I want to go last. Head for the armory and take out the bot, which should clear the way for you and Sapphire to get in there to retrieve the bombs and any other working tech you want to keep away from the AI. After that..." Whipcrack stopped, thinking. As he did this, he absentmindedly put a foot on the wall and generated a psi-field, then drew the other foot up to join it, so that he was crouched on his haunches.
"After that, we'll hit the workshop with at least one bomb in tow. That way, if we can't chase the AI off, we can destroy the computer. Are there any projects in the workshop that it could have weaponized for its own defense? or weapons it could have finished the work on?" he asked, looking to Tinker.
[color=#FF7F50]Putting yourself in another persons shoes emotionally is something that everyone has to experience eventually. It's part of learning to be a human being. Roleplayers do it for fun.[/color]
"The gun arcs can't target one another; they're angled down, from the roof." Tinker marks out three turrets along the ceiling of the hallway, spaced evenly along the main hallway. they're positioned so that they can fire down the side hallways as necessary. "One of the first things I considered when making the place. I put an override on them, though; at the base of the turret, at the back of each swivel, is a button that disconnects them from the ceiling. Disconnects them entirely from the system and has them drop harmlessly to the floor. Press in, then turn clockwise"
"I would have taken care of that, normally," Azoth says, "But it's a little hard when you don't hard limbs to press the keys with"
"And I don't have that level of precise control" Sapphire chips in.
"The mech's a prototype" Tinker continues, "The programming and AI features aren't perfect because it's meant to be manned; if you can open up the cockpit hatch at the back, Sapphire can get a lot of water in and short it out. I hate to lose the prototype like this, but I'm losing everything else, what's one more piece? Anyways, for the workshop, I've no idea. The majority of my tools and supplies are in there, so it might have found a way to ambulate the equipment. If that's the case, we have precision laser cutters, saw blades, and vices to worry about."
An infinite number of tries doesn't mean that any one of those tries will succeed. I could flip an infinite number of pennies an infinite number of times and, barring genuine randomness, they will never come up "Waffles".
"Of course not. The easy way is never an option, is it?" Whipcrack asked rhetorically.
"Well, to this point, the heaviest projectile my armor has absorbed was a depleted uranium slug from an anti-tank rifle. I'll return after taking out the turrets and we can head to the infirmary." he said, stepping off the wall.
He strode over to the door, then looked back at the ladies. "Any last bits of advice?"
[color=#FF7F50]Putting yourself in another persons shoes emotionally is something that everyone has to experience eventually. It's part of learning to be a human being. Roleplayers do it for fun.[/color]
Tinker nods, "They turn to the sides slower than up and down, so if you can get around them it'll take a bit for the turrets to aim at you again."
"Good luck," all three say at once.
When Whipcrack opens the door, he'll see the dark metals of the base along the walls; along the top of the ceiling are domes hanging down from it, each with a pair of barrels hanging down, and aimed towards the door. If he steps past the threshold, they'll begin to fire, as fast as an assault rifle might - the bullets aren't very accurate, but they're big, thick, and jagged. Nothing like a tank shell, though.
An infinite number of tries doesn't mean that any one of those tries will succeed. I could flip an infinite number of pennies an infinite number of times and, barring genuine randomness, they will never come up "Waffles".
Whipcrack dodged the hail of slugs and jumped back behind the threshold. He looked back at the girls. "Y'know, it's a good thing I like you three. Allons-y!!!"
With that, he charged through the door and threw strands at the first two guns, hitting their barrels even as they were preparing to fire again. He whipped his arms out and threw the strands towards the walls, yanking the guns aimpoints out of line.
As the third gun opened fire, Whipcrack threw himself down the corridor and rolled, then jumped towards the wall. He spun in midair and landed, his feet adhering. As he started to run along the wall, the third gun swiveled and belched lead. The burst caught him on the leg and tracked up his torso, the impacts throwing him backwards but not penetrating his psi armor. "Son of a bitch!"
He started to tumble across the ground, but managed to spin back to his feet. He was right next to the dormitory hallway, so he dove down it and then jumped towards the ceiling, flipping at the last second to land on his feet.
The gun that could track down that hallway finally broke free of his strand and began to turn towards him. With a desperate lunge, he caught the barrel with one hand and stopped the rotation, then reached for the switch. With a press and a turn, the gun's clamps disengaged and it dropped.
Whipcrack ducked back into the hallway to catch his breath. Though his armor had stopped the slugs, some of the impact force had still bled through, leaving welts the size of baseballs. He radioed the girls. "Well, the first attempt was less than stellar, but gun number one is down."
[color=#FF7F50]Putting yourself in another persons shoes emotionally is something that everyone has to experience eventually. It's part of learning to be a human being. Roleplayers do it for fun.[/color]
"Good job," Tinker's voice comes through, "the next two should be a bit easier, given you'll only have two guns shooting at you. If you need it, there's some healing paste in the infirmary when you get there."
An infinite number of tries doesn't mean that any one of those tries will succeed. I could flip an infinite number of pennies an infinite number of times and, barring genuine randomness, they will never come up "Waffles".
"Groovy." Whipcrack said sarcastically as he grabbed the corner and prepared to swing around it. At the last second, his gaze drifted across the turret on the floor and he paused, thinking. With a devious grin, his strategy changed.
He shot a strand out and snagged it, then whipped the strand so the gun would go sliding down the hallway and into the entrance room. He then crawled across the roof and swung around that corner, then fired two strands and yanked himself down the hallway, flying back across the threshold. "Okay, so I had a thought. Can you rig this turret so that I can fire it?"
[color=#FF7F50]Putting yourself in another persons shoes emotionally is something that everyone has to experience eventually. It's part of learning to be a human being. Roleplayers do it for fun.[/color]
"Maybe?" Tinker says, looking it over as she takes it out of Whipcrack's hands, "These things were never meant for manual fire, though. We'd need tools I don't have to convert it - plus, all the ammo is stored in the roof. I don't think it's feasible."
Sapphire, for the moment is sitting aside with her back to the wall and waiting, "You okay? You sound huffed up."
An infinite number of tries doesn't mean that any one of those tries will succeed. I could flip an infinite number of pennies an infinite number of times and, barring genuine randomness, they will never come up "Waffles".
"Umm, not sure what 'huffed up' means, but one of the guns got me good and left some serious damn welts up my thigh and abs. By tomorrow, I'm gonna look like I volunteered to be a tackling dummy for the Captains 1st-string offensive line. But I'll be fine in a week or so. I heal relatively quickly." Whipcrack said, turning to look over at Sapphire and wincing as he twisted his torso.
"Owww... okay, so if I can't shoot it, maybe I can use it in another way..." he muttered, mostly talking to himself. Then, a memory popped into his head and he grinned. "When you three were kids, did you ever play with those giant slingshots that let you lob water balloons like mortar shells?"
[color=#FF7F50]Putting yourself in another persons shoes emotionally is something that everyone has to experience eventually. It's part of learning to be a human being. Roleplayers do it for fun.[/color]
"Of course!" Sapphire says with a grin, "between us I can get more strength out of the 'slingshot' as long as you can provide the straps. Are you game?"
She'll move over to the turret and take it out of Tinker's lap, looking it over for, possibly the best angle to fire it from.
An infinite number of tries doesn't mean that any one of those tries will succeed. I could flip an infinite number of pennies an infinite number of times and, barring genuine randomness, they will never come up "Waffles".
"Always." Whipcrack said with a grin. He shot two elastic strands to either side of the doorway, then slapped his hands together to join them. He began walking backwards slowly while reinforcing and widening the area between his hands, forming a cup to hold the turret wreckage. Once he was near the elevator door, he stopped and looked to Sapphire. "Yer up."
[color=#FF7F50]Putting yourself in another persons shoes emotionally is something that everyone has to experience eventually. It's part of learning to be a human being. Roleplayers do it for fun.[/color]
Sapphire nods, and Tinker presses a few keys on her computer console. Water begins to rush in the hallway, and then Tinker presses one more key to stop the flow - the result is an appreciable amount of water, and Sapphire very easily begins collecting it at the door.
It surrounds the detached turret, and Sapphire begins hauling it back using the strength of the water. She aligns herself behind the whirling ball of liquid, and then begins to aim it carefully, "hold 'er steady for a moment..." and then she lets the turret go - the end result, assuming the elastic didn't have any problems, is that the turret soars through the air, and will ricochet off the front of the second turret in the hallway, shattering both upon impact.
"I have soooo many ideas for your power," Azoth says amusedly from her spot against the wall.
An infinite number of tries doesn't mean that any one of those tries will succeed. I could flip an infinite number of pennies an infinite number of times and, barring genuine randomness, they will never come up "Waffles".
Whipcrack looked over at the grinning Azoth and smirked before asking, "Business or recreational?"
Before she could answer, he advanced to the door and began throwing out multiple slender strands to retrieve the larger pieces of wreckage strewn throughout the hallway. He began laying the pieces out into a rough 5-foot by 3-foot rectangle. "If there's enough pieces of scrap here, I'm going to make a shield. At least that's the idea..."
Once he had as many pieces as he could easily reach, Whipcrack knelt down and began fitting them together. Whenever he found pieces that fit relatively well, he created a small strand between his thumb and forefinger. He'd affix the strands to an edge, sticking the pieces to each other so that the strands functioned like super-glue. "It isn't pretty, but I think it'll do the trick." he muttered as he stood up and looked down at the ungainly hunk of metal.
[color=#FF7F50]Putting yourself in another persons shoes emotionally is something that everyone has to experience eventually. It's part of learning to be a human being. Roleplayers do it for fun.[/color]