Bryan
Dang it, I'm up against the fire controller. If we meet again that could lead to complications. I also now understand why this man is an instrument. No emotions, highly trained, highly efficient, willing to do anything. Heck, I don't even know if he has any amount of free will.
Faron
Don't influence actions this turn
((FYI, we're saying Irene never used her fire abilities on you.
Now, let us never speak of that again and hope I do better in the future.))
{Irine}
pay close attention to what Zoe is hearing, listening for a second opponent behind her and what sounds Morgan is or isn't making. If I think Zoe is going to be ambushed then push the problem to the fore of her mind, drawing her attention to what is wrong with that we're hearing. Otherwise leave her be, and let her make her own pursuit choices.
{Zoe}
Call out to Morgan and have her circle around in her car to cut off the assailant, while I make a more direct pursuit. Stay alert to cover and lines of fire, and check corners before rounding them, don't get myself shot.
Your attempt to influence your host to be careful for ambushes fails. She just runs towards the man a fast as she can. Your interface beeps and blinks red several times.
"MORGAAN! CAR! AFTER HIM!" you shout in between breaths.
As you reach the sidewalk and turn to go after the man once more, you catch a glimpse of Morgan getting out of hiding inside the car.
A couple of seconds later, you hear the car trying to start and failing.
Meanwhile, the man keeps running away with incredible speed, reaching the car parked at the nearby intersection.
After two more tries, the engine starts.
The man opens the door of his car and then shoves the one he is carrying on the passenger seat (you'd swear you saw him lifting him with one arm like he weighed nothing) while getting in himself.
You see Morgan at the edge of your vision, driving by with her car, accelerating towards the man, who is currently in the process of starting his car's engine.
With the illumination the car's headlights are providing you can see clearly that Edward is lying in the passenger seat of the man's car. You can also see the man's face. He seems vaguely familiar to your host.
Any actions you want to do?
"The plot thickens, ooh!"
>Quickly move upstairs. Perhaps you can find this... other one. Stealthiness would be good, but it is of secondary importance.
You almost run up the stairs towards the private room, earning the disapproving looks of many of the establishment's customers. You keep your eyes focused on the leftmost private room, long enough for you to spot two men exiting it. One of them must be Raul. The other... You do not know him. But he can't be good news.
And, while your host cannot see it, you can see he has an interface on his wrist, its crystal transparent.
Wow. He changes personas almost as fast as I do.
Almost, but not quite.
>Get Raul out of there, preferably through some back exit or something. Do it smoothly, you must not lose the control you've gained.
((Yes, it's almost as if the results of his actions are dependent on the results of dice rolls, don't you think?
Plus, the fact that that guy betrayed your host's organization is a big contributor to his anger and disposition towards him.))
This room is just 4 walls and a door, you'll be trapped if you stay here. Got to get away.
"Move it. We're getting out of here." Maybe you can get out through the balcony or-
"Huh?" He just looks at you, his scared look changing to one of confusion.
"You were followed." Can't wait for that scum to move on his own.
"Wha-? How? I was- How did you-?"
"No time to play 20 questions. We're getting out of here. Now." You say as you shove him up and open the door to push him out of there.
Once you're out, you look around. You're outside the leftmost private room, near the left stairs, near the railing.
You spot the enemy Agent who has just gone up the right stairs. Even if you hadn't seen him before, you could tell he was an Agent. He reeks of it.
From the looks of it, he has spotted you too. And he's coming your way. And, while your host cannot see it, you can see he has an interface on his wrist, its crystal transparent.
((Excellent!))
Go to the bar and order a shit ton of booze. In bottles and such.
You try to influence your host to turn around and go back to the bar.
It's hard. He really wants to just kill those two guys right now. Your interface beeps and blinks red alarmingly many times, your vision going blurrier and your control over and awareness of your host dulling.
Nevertheless, you manage to make him go back to the bar and order a shit ton of booze. Looks like he's going to have to go through with whatever crazy plan you've thought of.
Your entity laughs with its strange laugh. Well, at least the two of you are having fun. Because your host is feeling really confused and conflicted right now.
Meanwhile...
((Whoo, my mission idea was semi-accepted!))
Locate some area with a lot of projectiles as large as any I can throw at a good speed. Grab them, telekinetic myself so I'm flying, and then head towards wherever the BETA is going to land. If it is there, begin smashing it with stuff.
Well, there are plenty of large machines in the nearby undeveloped land, plus there are all sorts of I-beams, sheets of metal and other building materials lying around here, along with a couple of abandoned cars. So I'll just have you stick with Toaster for now.
"Are you sure it's alright not to warn the others of what you saw?""Hey kid, want to help me... oh, you're gone."
Make sure that shell's loaded, then start racking up more DU shells. Make a ClF3 shell too for giggles.
Small DU Shell loaded.
Your first attempt to produce a shell results in a rubber duck manifesting. You wonder how that's even possible. At least it's not an animate rubber duck that's trying to kill you.
You make a perfect DU shell. Yep, that thing will ruin that robot's day alright.
Tsar the control tower I'm in. Try to make the control panels and sensors and computers and everything much more powerful.
I want to become omniscient in this city. I want to be able to tell where every speck of dust is.
Also, does the control tower have the ability to control anything? If so, amplify this to control as much of the city as possible.
An entire control tower, eh? Let's see how lucky you are... Not that much. Nothing happens. Or very much, considering what rolling a 1 would had meant.
We'll just say you monitor the sensors for now. Controlling stuff is possible but it would require some guesswork.
"I picked up some weird noise. I think... This thing... It's trying to communicate to us. Maybe it doesn't want to annihilate us? Meh, doesn't matter."
Brace for any kind of impact.
You fasten your seatbelt and wish you had thought to wear a spacesuit, or at least the helmet of one. A crash with this thing won't be pretty.
Everyone
"The enemy has arrived."Those of you looking up can see three points of light in the sky. They continue moving towards opposite directions. Then the lights disappear. After a while, with the aid of the light produced by the city, you can see 9 spheres falling from the sky in groups of 3, each group going to a different part of the city. They are accompanied by a small shower of mostly harmless metal debris, some of them glowing red hot.
NAVYou monitor the sensors and watch as each of the three points in the radar break into three other points, making for a total of 9 points. They disappear shortly before hitting the city, but you're certain that each group landed somewhere near a landing point.
You hear something impact the roof of the control tower. Well, now you know where one of them has landed.
Toaster & GWGOne of the spheres is heading awfully close to you. It fires a burst of its thrusters and stops a couple of dozens of meters away from you and a bit higher. It remains hovering there for the moment.
It looks very simple, a metal sphere about 6 times the size of your head, with electronics surrounded by a robust looking spherical metal frame and several maneuvering thrusters. Lenses stick out from various parts of its body, with a big lens covering the "front" of its body. It also has an antenna near the "top" of its body.
You can also see two other spheres landing, one on the undeveloped land and one on a nearby building.
Coolrune206 & FniffFrom the cockpit of the Spaceplane, you notice three spheres landing on the spaceport.
One of them is hovering in the air with the help of short bursts from its thrusters and looks like it's covered with lenses, with a big lens covering the "front" of its body.
The other stands on a pair of tracks and has various tubes and arms sticking out from it, like the tentacles of an octopus.
The third fails to use its thrusters to slow down in time and hits the ground hard, thus breaking apart in a bunch of metal shrapnel. Well, one less to worry about.
They're both about 6 times the size of your head and have an antenna on their "top" part.
scapheapYou notice a metal sphere covered with various lenses landing near the statue in the center of the plaza. It has a big lens near the "front" of its body and an antenna on its "top" part.
Peregrine
Nhh, dear goodness. I'm not that used to speaking in first person. Hum...
Alright, now take the most visible route. If Zoe is in trouble, trouble must make its way to Ed's house first. So if I see nothing wrong at that point, I'll...just take the diversionary place so I can warn them from the..backdoor!
Ngh, not good Theri.
Though perhaps the spirits may know- OH GOODNESS. RIVER!- I better contact them when I get there. Hopefully not to burn the bridge. And all these metaphors.
Go along the route which has the best visibility of Ed's place, then upon nearing head along a different street to approach the home from another direction--if possible, contact spirits along the way.
Also hi River. River?
Mmm.mmmm...River? Am I doing ok?
Your host continues to drive towards Ed's house.
The suburbs you're driving through look deserted, few people living here, even fewer walking on the streets at this our. Most of the lights on the sidewalk are broken or otherwise non-functional and few houses have light coming from their windows. Everything is dark and quiet, save for the sound of the car's engine trying to keep the old thing moving and its headlights illuminating the bumpy road ahead.
You try to open your mind to the spirits you see in your hosts thoughts and memories, to try to influence them or talk to them, but this proves fruitless. They seem to be uninterested in interacting with you. Or maybe they're just not here right now. Or maybe you're doing this the wrong way. You're not really sure how this is supposed to work.
When you are close to your destination, you suddenly see a red haze surrounding your host's vision before it returns to normal. Your host shakes her head. A second later, you hear a gunshot coming from up ahead, close to your destination that is currently obscured by a small rise in the road.
Your host is frightened. That can't be good. She pushes the gas pedal down, driving as fast as she can.
The gunshot is followed by another one a few seconds after that.
Your host notices something strange. On the left side of the car flies a hummingbird with iridescent orange-red feathers that make it look like it's on fire. On the right side of the car swims a multicolored tropical fish. Spirits, no doubt.
The two creatures move away from the car, the fish continuing straight while the hummingbird turns at the next intersection. They're probably trying to tell you something but what?
"Hmph. Why do they always have to be so vague..." comments River.
"Red probably means anger or conflict or... fire? I'm not sure.
I have no idea what the other one might stand for."
Do you want to influence your host and have her choose a spirit to follow?
Poll
15 (42.9%)
Author
Topic: Special People: Mechanical Syndrome (Read 1147514 times)