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08:23, 29th March 2024 (GMT+0)

[Location] Headquarters (Outside Las Vegas, Nevada, USA)

Posted by RydiFor group archive 0
Operations
NPC, 149 posts
Comstock's
ST Voice
Mon 31 Dec 2012
at 17:40
  • msg #515

Re: Proteus, Pandora, Triton and Utopia

"Yes Sir."

The Ghost's mask betrayed no expression as Tucker and others moved in to lock the man down.  Wrist and arm restraints went on.  "Sir: surrender your eufiber colony or we will sedate you."  The Ghost stared for a moment, physically intimidating Sgt. Tucker before finally relenting.

"Alright, limpdick, fair's fair."  The eufiber colony sank away, revealing a body covered in scar tissue, the damage of serious, life threatening blisters and burns.  A wide, jagged smile dominated his face.  Dragón finally placed the man behind the mask: former T2M:A team member Harley Logan.  Logan's file had stood out when Dragón was preparing for his current position: disciplinary problems during candidacy, disciplinary problems during service, and disciplinary problems leading to his alleged death in the Iraq Chemical Weapon detonation at the end of the Equatorial Wars.  Turns out they were looking at a literal ghost.

"Whose the big man now?" Afterburner snarked.

"It ain't you.  I give you all about a day before I'm walking out of here.  Hate to say it, but you lost this one before you even started."  Logan just kept smiling.  "Good planning though, DeVarga.  Rangers, right?"
El Dragon
player, 195 posts
Do you dare dance with
The Dragon?
Wed 2 Jan 2013
at 19:04
  • msg #516

Re: Proteus, Pandora, Triton and Utopia

El Dragón simply nodded curtly in reply to Logan's question.  The man's tough-guy attitude notwithstanding, his confidence belied connections.  Connections he was sure would have him quickly out of custody.  You're wrong pendejo, he thought, we may lose your sorry hide, but we've got something more valuable.  First; we caught and outed our mysterious intruder, second; as soon as we get the call to turn you loose, we'll know whose pulling your strings.

Once Logan was safely stowed, he pulled out his phone and dialed up the former leader of T2M:A.  "Hey Comstock, do you remember Harley Logan?  ...Yup, that's the one.  What would you say to him if you could meet him again..."
Comstock
GM, 1091 posts
a.k.a. Dillon Amargosa
Man or Mineral?
Mon 7 Jan 2013
at 22:00
  • msg #517

Re: Proteus, Pandora, Triton and Utopia

"Logan?  But he-"  Dillon paused for a long moment.  "I'll be there soon.  Hopefully with a friend."

Almost immediately, he dialed Phantasm.  "P, I need a portal back to the T2M:A base in Vegas.  Dragón says he's got Harley Logan there.  Something feels weird.  I need your help."

If she responded, hopefully they'd be there in two portal-hops.
Operations
NPC, 151 posts
Comstock's
ST Voice
Mon 7 Jan 2013
at 22:10
  • msg #518

Re: Proteus, Pandora, Triton and Utopia

Logan let himself be locked up in one of the holding cells.  He seemed to know exactly how this worked and where he was going.

"We're on the clock, Dragón," Binary chimed in nervously.  "Frostburn's desk just got a call.  I'm not exactly listening in but ... but it doesn't sound good."  A few moments later.  "She's buying us time, I think.  I hope.  You did talk to her, right?"

Johnny took it upon himself to sit outside of Logan's cell, ready to fill the man with mox and sedatives if he tried anything.

Logan had ground his wrist communicator to powder, probably to keep it from being looked over.  The rest of his gear was unremarkable.  Cigars, stick matches, sturdy undergarments, nano-hardened combat knife, pencil, some cash.  He traveled light, that was sure.  The eufiber colony was put in a jar and subjected to a magnetic field to settle it down.  The damn thing kept writhing and moving with a life of its own.  Even to an amateurs eyes, it was an impressive colony: massive, robust, and holding onto a huge quantum charge.
Phantasm
player, 480 posts
Happy Shiney Person
DeathTeady loves you!
Tue 8 Jan 2013
at 22:24
  • msg #519

Re: Proteus, Pandora, Triton and Utopia

Fortunately, Phantasm was in the neighborhood.  It was only 5 minutes of 100 mph speeding later when her bike pulled up to Comstock's location.  Unfortunately, quantum was in short supply, and it showed in her waxy, sunken features and nearly human mannerisms.  Walking up to the big man, she asked "Just how badly do we need to get there, and will I need to be worth a damn when we arrive?  I'll have to pull in enough juice to create the phantasms and then feed them more to create the portal.  It'll take everything I've got to get it open."
Comstock
GM, 1092 posts
a.k.a. Dillon Amargosa
Man or Mineral?
Wed 9 Jan 2013
at 01:17
  • msg #520

Re: Proteus, Pandora, Triton and Utopia

"Jesus P."  Dillon hadn't seen her this bad off.  "DeVarga has an intruder.  Says its Harley Logan.  The dead man.  I don't know much else, but it stinks and I need a brain with me.  A portal would keep us from being noticed, or at least noticed as quickly."  He frowned.  "You sure you can do it?"
Phantasm
player, 481 posts
Happy Shiney Person
DeathTeady loves you!
Wed 9 Jan 2013
at 01:52
  • msg #521

Re: Proteus, Pandora, Triton and Utopia

"As long as it's worth it I'm up for it.  And it sounds like this is pretty big either way.  If it's some guy pretending to be our old and frankly not missed teammate then someone out there is dredging up the past and I want to know why.  And if it really is him... Well, that's another big mess to deal with."  Taking a deep breath, Phantasm pulled on the ambient quantum in the area, using it to create small, wasted mice.  It was all she could muster, but it was enough.  The sickly rodents began gnawing a slow tunnel in reality.

Tired and sweating, Phantasm looked at her friend.  "After you..." she said huskily as she tried to regain her breath.
Comstock
GM, 1095 posts
a.k.a. Dillon Amargosa
Man or Mineral?
Wed 9 Jan 2013
at 02:37
  • msg #522

Re: Proteus, Pandora, Triton and Utopia

Comstock stepped through and they arrived at the portal-platform.  A minute later they were in the basement proper.

"Alright, Dragón, we're here.  What's going on?"
El Dragon
player, 196 posts
Do you dare dance with
The Dragon?
Wed 9 Jan 2013
at 20:15
  • msg #523

Re: Proteus, Pandora, Triton and Utopia

Angelo hooked a thumb over his shoulder toward the holding cells.  "See for yourself," he said.  "Binary picked him up on the sensors, sneaking onto the base at regular monthly intervals to slip into Dr. Greenburg's office.  Johnny, Binary and I decided to pull off a quick capture without making a big announcement that might tip him off.  Much to our surprise, the 'Ghost' we were corralling turned out to be a real ghost.

"We won't have him long, Frostburn has already been getting calls about cutting him loose.  So, whatever you want to do, we have to do it quick."

Phantasm
player, 482 posts
Happy Shiney Person
DeathTeady loves you!
Thu 10 Jan 2013
at 04:13
  • msg #524

Re: Proteus, Pandora, Triton and Utopia

Phantasm shook her head slowly.  It was strange seeing people walking around that you thought dead, but life was nothing if not strange ever since nova's first erupted back in '98.  Almost 10 years, but the more the world changed, the more it stayed the same, because people stayed the same... Backstabbing and shortsighted idiots happy to screw each other over with little provocation.

"It sure does look like him.  Good job Angelo." After thinking for a moment, she added "think we can get some information out of him, or at least track him somehow?  I'd like to get Impetus down here for some solid interrogation, but I don't know if we have time...  You wanna give your team leader a call?  It'd look less suspicious coming from your phone, since they're probably monitoring all the base communications."
El Dragon
player, 198 posts
Do you dare dance with
The Dragon?
Sat 12 Jan 2013
at 01:07
  • msg #525

Re: Proteus, Pandora, Triton and Utopia

"Sure," Angelo said, pulling out his phone, "I just wanted to get Logan's old team leader up here to to confirm his identity, and give him a chance to talk to him."  He put his phone to his ear and said, "Call Impetus."

The phone rang a couple of times then went to voice mail.  "He must be in a meeting," Angelo mumbled.  After the beep, he said, "Impetus, this is the Dragon, you need to get down to the holding cells absolutely ASAP.  We've got a guest here you might want to talk to, but he's not gonna be here long."
Operations
NPC, 152 posts
Comstock's
ST Voice
Sat 12 Jan 2013
at 16:54
  • msg #526

Re: Proteus, Pandora, Triton and Utopia

A camera in the cell provided another view of Logan on a nearby screen.  He was sitting calmly, drumming his fingers on the single metal table built into the floor.

Phantasm, for all the edge she had lost, was certain that Logan's calm was a facade.  He was counting down the time, playing it cool, hoping that someone would show up presently and he could be out of there.
Comstock
GM, 1096 posts
a.k.a. Dillon Amargosa
Man or Mineral?
Sat 12 Jan 2013
at 16:56
  • msg #527

Re: Proteus, Pandora, Triton and Utopia

"Do you think I should talk to him?  We got along back in the day.  Mostly."  Dillon seemed uncertain.  "Hey wait, could he be shapeshifted?  Someone just trying to throw us off?"
Phantasm
player, 483 posts
Happy Shiney Person
DeathTeady loves you!
Sat 12 Jan 2013
at 18:41
  • msg #528

Re: Proteus, Pandora, Triton and Utopia

"Anything is possible, though he has all the mannerisms down pat, whoever he is.  Right down to the bad attitude, and smell of cigars.  Either way, preliminary interrogation hasn't gotten much, but I don't think he'll hold up long under pressure.  Imp would be best here, but if he isn't here soon I'll go in and give it another whirl.  If Angelo is right, we've only got limited time here."
El Dragon
player, 199 posts
Do you dare dance with
The Dragon?
Mon 14 Jan 2013
at 17:35
  • msg #529

Re: Proteus, Pandora, Triton and Utopia

"Right," Dragón said, "we're basically running on whatever time Frostburn can buy us.  Speaking of which," he added, "I'm really, really curious to know who is calling to get him released.  It might give us some leverage in our interrogation."  He tuned his radio to the command channel and keyed the mic.  "Frostburn, Dragón, come in please; Frostburn, Dragón, come in; over."
Frostburn
NPC, 82 posts
Thu 17 Jan 2013
at 04:00
  • msg #530

Re: Proteus, Pandora, Triton and Utopia

There was a lengthy pause.  Then: "I'm busy on the phone.  You've kicked a hornet's nest."  Frostburn listened quickly.  "Right now?  I'm on the other line with one of Utopia's security heads.  In Addis Ababa.  Yeah, the new headquarters and facilities that aren't even finished yet.  This organization wide security head says he just got a formal complaint from a 'person of interest' and wanted to know what was going on here.  Someone out there found out that you'd nabbed your ghost almost as fast as I had.  Do what you have to do and do it fast, because he's already asking if I think it's severe enough that the infiltrator should be black-bagged and sent out of the United States."
This message was last updated by the player at 04:00, Thu 17 Jan 2013.
El Dragon
player, 202 posts
Do you dare dance with
The Dragon?
Thu 17 Jan 2013
at 18:30
  • msg #531

Re: Proteus, Pandora, Triton and Utopia

"I think we're being played," Dragon said into the radio. "That offer of a black bagging is just a way of whisking him away from us.  I'd like a chance for us to question him, but realistically, he's too tough a nut to crack without a telepath or something."  He thought for a moment, looking for a way to get more information out of this mess.  "We should probably put some hard questions to Dr. Greenburg, but since I don't have any evidence of wrongdoing on his part, that will have to come through you as his boss.  After all, it looks like he's the one Logan has been coming to see.  Other than that, see what you can do to pin down who within Utopia is so blasted interested in him.

"You do good work, Frostburn.  I, for one, haven't given you the props you deserve for all you do.  I can only imagine the chaos we'd have here without you holding the wheel steady...Thanks."

Frostburn
NPC, 83 posts
Fri 18 Jan 2013
at 00:28
  • msg #532

Re: Proteus, Pandora, Triton and Utopia

Another long delay before Frostburn's next reply, her unhappiness with the situation clear in her voice.  "You're damned right on that last bit, you don't even know the world of shit I keep from rolling downhill on this team, current and retired members both.  Glad someone finally appreciates it.  That said, there's only so much I can do, and I bet it'll be less than an hour, two tops, before we have people on base breathing down our necks for his release.  I'll bet Greenburg winds up disappearing not long after, so we'll need to work fast on the both of them."


Spoiler text: (Highlight or hover over the text to view)
In lieu of Imp's magic voice, the three of you can probably pull off some interrogation rolls to get at least some info out of him.  Or failing that, some mega persuasion stuff to get thim to at elast be "helpful" towards you.

El Dragon
player, 204 posts
Do you dare dance with
The Dragon?
Sat 19 Jan 2013
at 05:09
  • msg #533

Re: Proteus, Pandora, Triton and Utopia

I definitely want to coordinate with the others as much as possible, but here are my basic skill rolls:

Questioning Logan, I play on his cocky ego to keep him talking: 

Spoiler text: (Highlight or hover over the text to view)
I rolled 3 successes using 8d10 with the Target Number system with a target of 7 ((7,1,6,9,7,6,6,5)) plus 1 success spending a point of Willpower.


Questioning Dr. Greenburg, I put on a bit more pressure, assuming he never expected to get caught because of Logan's superior stealth abilities. 

Spoiler text: (Highlight or hover over the text to view)
I rolled 2 successes using 8d10 with the Target Number system with a target of 7 ((5,6,8,1,6,4,10,1)) plus 1 success spending a point of Willpower.

Operations
NPC, 156 posts
Comstock's
ST Voice
Mon 28 Jan 2013
at 08:55
  • msg #534

Re: Proteus, Pandora, Triton and Utopia

Comstock went with some people to detain Dr. Greenburg while Phantasm and Dragón worked on Logan.

"Brought in a spook to talk to a spook, huh?  Alright Ranger boy.  What did you want to talk about?"

For a few minutes, Logan tried to play the card of catching up with Phantasm without admitting to being Harley, and had just enough time to get comfortable before Dragón started laying it on thick.

"You two ... you two really want to know what's going on, don't you?" He chuckled.  "Well, my name's James.  James Doe, but my friends call me John.  I'm in the 18-34 demographic, and I like long walks on the beach and candle-lit dinners.  You could say I like taking a walk on the beach every month."  His laughter was forced.  Trying too hard.  Despite his physique, he had a smoker's cough and wretched breath.  "You can ask me whatever you like, but I'm confident that you can't do anything to me.  Either you black bag me and send me away before someone walks in here and sees that you're holding a baseline without cause and denying him a lawyer, or I'll just end up walking as soon as the phones get ringing and someone starts asking those tough questions.  I'll end up on a nice plane, probably one of those triple-7's, and have a nice seventeen hour flight with hard drinks and nothing to do but laugh.  Maybe even one of those weird little coconut drinks with the umbrella, those stewardesses can do damn near anything these days."

They'd buttered him up.  A seventeen hour flight from Las Vegas could put him in Bangkok, but more likely it would put him in Bahrain.  Utopia turf.  Feeling invulnerable and goaded on, he kept talking.  "It's sad, you know?  Sitting here dealing with you two.  Even if you think I'm not James Doe, I'm pretty sure you can't prove squat without making up some shit about me 'dorming down' like they talk about in those tabloids."  Phantasm knew Logan had made a big deal to Solitaire about being able to dorm down, way back when he joined the team.  He probably used that skill to help maintain identities and convince cops he was just an innocent bystander.  He wouldn't explicitly admit to being Harley Logan, but he'd always liked having power.  The protection of being an officially dead man only goaded him on.

"Oh, I'm really sorry I can't help you."  He poured each word out like it was syrup.  "But I'm just a wounded old soldier caught up in something a little too big.  I like simple things, like cigars and whiskey and a good brawl now and again."  He respected Dragón more than Phantasm, that much was obvious, and wanted to keep walking the line, playing like he wasn't Logan to avoid answering questions straight while flapping his gums and reveling in how clever he was.  "Ms. Phantasm, I've seen you in the news and the magazines, and now that I'm sure it's you you look awful.  That celebrity lifestyle, it gets to you huh?  I have a doctor I go to see, knows a lot about machines and gray goo and that kind of thing, and he always fixes me up.  That and Jack Daniels.  You should probably look at getting one or the other.  Your cheeks are all sunken in."  He couldn't stifle another chuckle.  He knew something about the nanoweapon virus.

Logan had lost all sense of time.  Instead of stalling, he was taunting, confident he could keep it up all night.


Spoiler text: (Highlight or hover over the text to view)
OOC: Trying to make sure this scene closes out in a timely fashion so it won't interfere with the other fireworks going on.  Beyond tactics, I really need to know what questions you want answered here.

---

A few rooms over, soldiers started interrogating Dr. Greenburg.  Sgt. Tucker handled the start of the interrogation while Dragón and Phantasm talked to Logan.  Some of the rest of his men had gotten the okay from Frostburn to look through the medical lab and his quarters for anything they could use.  Comstock watched through another video camera.

At Dragón's suggestion, Sgt. Tucker explained that they'd detained an intruder using eufiber camouflage, then asked if Dr. Greenburg had found any evidence of a break-in in the labs or his quarters.  Greenburg demurred.  Tucker stalled for time with more routine questions about security in the lab, assuring Greenburg that some of the novas would be along once they'd finished with the intruder.

Twenty minutes passed.  Binary and the soldiers called Comstock to let him know that they'd completed their search.  Greenburg didn't have any journals or anything like that, but he did have about 8 terabytes of data encrypted and off the network.  Binary had flexed his cyberkinetic muscles to unlock them, and said they were complete medical workups and assorted other observations of every member of T2M, files that went above and beyond the standard workups and included Greenburg's professional opinions of everyone's strengths, weaknesses, and the progression of their quantum taint, both psychologically and physiologically.  And ever since Logan had come paying visits, files had been copied every month on the dot, generally in the hours before Logan would arrive.

Dragón and Phantasm had left Comstock with instructions if something like this came up before they took a break from talking to Logan.  He walked into the room and sat down next to Sgt. Tucker.

"We caught Harley Logan.  And we have your files."  He paused to let it sink in.  "I can protect you.  But I need to know why."

"I ... I'm not sure what files."  Greenburg broke out into a full sweat.

Comstock didn't feel clever.  He didn't really feel like he knew what he was doing.  But Phantasm had told him to just keep repeating one word, and see what comes spilling out.  She and Dragón would be along to get whatever the doctor was still holding onto.  "Why?"

"Look, I need a lot of data for my work.  The health and well being of Team Tomorrow's nova members is paramount to, to, to our position and prestige around the world, to our ability to function and-"

"Why?"

"I kept those files on my personal computer.  It's a secure facility.  You shouldn't even have seen them and-"

"Why?"

"Look, I can't talk about anything here.  I need to speak to-"

"Why?"

Greenburg sighed.  "Oh ... I'm probably a dead man anyway.  Alright it's ... yes, I met Logan once a month.  For over a year now.

"No.  Start with why those files exist."

Greenburg had trouble looking Comstock in the face.  "About five months after I joined the project, I and some other medical personnel were asked to participate in a think tank.  They wanted contingency plans for a variety of problems: what if the novas turned violent, how to save someone's life if the node proved a health risk, how to evacuate a city after a quantum attack."  He swallowed.  "We mostly brainstormed, but it helped emphasize how little we really knew about the phenomenon.  So they asked us to stay in correspondence.  Called us a failsafe."

"When I got this job, the group agreed it would be prudent to keep our own notes.  I think the group got me this job, because soon I was getting a lot of requests for specific data.  I was supposed to keep an eye on T2M:A, and help coordinate with others to make further contingency plans.  After one doctor got caught by a telepath, the group agreed to anonymity and stopped talking face to face.  A few other doctors said they wrote a letter to Director Larangione and got special funding and a Director for our project.  And we got a name: Proteus.  After that, we worked off the radar completely."

"At first, a lot of it was ... was good.  Like, what if you had a heart attack and we couldn't operate?  Or what kind of therapy to get for Dr. Zero if he had a complete psychological meltdown?  We wanted to know how to help you, save your lives and protect Project Utopia.  But then, during the Equatorial Wars, it got a lot ... darker.  They started asking me to keep running reports.  And they kept asking me to model interactions between exotic chemicals or nano-scale elements and each of your bodies.  They started sending me new software or lab equipment to get the work done."

He looked small.  Defeated.  Glad to have finally been caught and confronted.  "Lately, since Binary came onto the team really, Logan has come to pick up my reports in person rather than risk transmission over a network.  He's always checking the security measures of the base.  He was recruited in after the end of the Equatorial Wars.  Said they faked his death so he could operate more freely."


Spoiler text: (Highlight or hover over the text to view)
OOC: Same here, I need direction for the questioning.  Comstock will want to know everything about Proteus.

El Dragon
player, 207 posts
Do you dare dance with
The Dragon?
Mon 28 Jan 2013
at 20:21
  • msg #535

Re: Proteus, Pandora, Triton and Utopia


Spoiler text: (Highlight or hover over the text to view)
For Logan:
Mostly let him talk himself out and jump on anything he says by guiding the conversation that way.
Throw some praise his way:  "This 'Dorming Down' thing seems dang handy...I'd love to be able to do that to exfil from my missions."  "Your camo was really effective...even with Binary on the job, it took us months to catch you."  This should make him feel more like he's in a position of power and 'loosen his tongue' a bit.

For Dr. Greenburg: (Send Phantasm to talk to him.)
What sort of threat does Proteus pose if he talks?
Who else is involved: from T2MA? from Utopia?


Phantasm
player, 490 posts
Happy Shiney Person
DeathTeady loves you!
Tue 29 Jan 2013
at 04:14
  • msg #536

Re: Proteus, Pandora, Triton and Utopia

Phantasm was angry, very angry, and she wasn't good enough to cover up every nuance of her body language to cover it up while carrying on a normal conversation. She was, however, good enough to flatten out her affect completely and leave only the cold voice of a child soldier that had killed dozens, if not hundreds, of enemies in the course of her service.

"You're forgetting option 3 Logan.  I can just kill you.  If you don't give me information, then all you are is a loose end I have to worry about, and in my diminished state I don't feel confident in tracking any more of them."

After that, her tone perked up a bit and she smiled.  "I tell you what Logan, we'll cut you a deal.  You fill the time until your friends arrive with some explanations, explanations I believe, and we'll make sure that they have someone to find when they get here..."

Under the table, Phantasm tapped a pattern out on Angelo's leg.  It was morse code. He may fight, be ready.  And after tonight, we will be hunted for what we know.


Spoiler text: (Highlight or hover over the text to view)
Questions: who does he work for, who else works for them, what are their goals, where do they operate out of, what do they have to do with nova powerlessness and nova sterility, are these the same people that framed Slider, and anything else my character is smart enough to ask but I'm not.

Operations
NPC, 157 posts
Comstock's
ST Voice
Thu 31 Jan 2013
at 06:48
  • msg #537

Re: Proteus, Pandora, Triton and Utopia

Logan kept a relatively blank expression, but became serious.  Suddenly, he seemed to respect Phantasm a little more.  "Well, you could kill me.  Lots of people have tried.  Maybe it's my time.  And I know you could, Ms. Phantasm.  You've got that killer's eye."

He paused a long moment, as though weighing his miserable life on some cosmic scale.  "Ah what the hell.  You have my cigars there, Ranger Boy?  Let me have 'em on my way out and I'll tell you a story."

"The camo's an old trick.  Started out a genius at this eufiber stuff, and got really good at it during the Equatorial Wars."  He rode the flattery of Dragón's 'good cop' and tried to ignore the danger of Phantasm's 'bad cop'.  "Haven't really shown anyone how its done, but it looks like you figured it out yourself.  Not bad, kid."  He breathed deeply, his hands fidgeting in search of his usual vices.  "Like I said, my names James Doe.  Don't really have another name anymore, and let's keep it that way.  I'm the Ghost in the Machine, the sick little bastard they call on to keep the boogymen at bay.  And whatever you all think is going on, you'll be happier if I keep doing my job so you can do yours."

"Let's say - hypothetically - that I've got a whole stable of sick fucks in search of a little direction.  Real crazy folk, with a talent for wetwork and no place in the status quo.  And I string them out over a few safehouses and underground lairs across the world, get funds the old-fashioned off-the-books way.   And hypothetically I give them a little direction.  From my understanding, Ms. Phantasm here already has a name for my little hypothetical unit, and I don't want to go putting words in her mouth so we'll just leave it to your imagination."  Proteus.  His rhythm returned, and once again he gestured wide with his hands, relishing the chance to talk openly and get some recognition.  Even the bad kind.  "The whole goddamn world could be collapsing, but while you pretty boys and girls are inspiring with heroics and all that humanitarian shit, ugly fucks like me are diving through the sewers and cleaning out the shit from the system.  Sometimes we even pull people into the shit.  That's just how it goes.  See, I personally don't believe there's a God.  Or a happy world.  Utopia, for me, was a paycheck.  And a sick joke.  Someone told me once it's supposed to be a joke, like it means 'no-place' or something like that.  Hah."

"The thing is, if my unit existed and poked around in secret underground labs, you guys wouldn't be on the shit list.  I mean, we'd come peek in on occasion, poke around, make sure none of you are planning to nuke Lower Manhattan or anything.  Goes without fucking saying, right?  But we need you guys where you are.  How the fuck else am I going to collect a pay-check?  And who else would I be killing for?  I'm no fucking Elite, that's for sure.  I like to know where my steak is.  So do you, I think."

"What we've got here is a situation.  Offing me might seem like a good idea, but in the little story I just told you, you need me.  You need my occasional glance and poke in the gray matter, because without it you all would have worse than me to ruin your day.  I'm like a dog at hell's door, and what's behind me is a lot worse.  Gray-goo in your gut is the tip of the iceberg.  And, personally, I think its a step up from what could have been.  We've got an awful lot of novas today; I don't even want to think of what it'd be like with a handful of little imps running around, getting ready to inherit the Earth."  He wasn't just talking about Nova children; the son of a bitch was making a direct reference to Impetus' child, Phantasm was sure of it.  Ignorant and full of Mox, Logan drummed his fingers on the table.  "But hey, what do I know?  It's all hypothetical anyway."

---

Comstock checked in with Phantasm and Dragón about what he had learned, and looked for more pointers on how to handle the interrogation.  Meanwhile, Sgt. Tucker took some time to grill Greenburg for details.  From Greenburg's perspective, Proteus was the ultimate failsafe, and his enthusiasm and best intentions had gradually given way to paranoia and cooperation with atrocity.  The conspiracy had trapped him.  After Colombia, the few people on the inside who had tried to talk to Utopia's administration about what had been going on disappeared.  He provided a list of names, but felt confident that they were either dead or given new identities.

"I think I finally gave up on Proteus when I heard Andre Corbin had passed away."  Comstock returned, quietly closed the lounge door behind him, and took a seat next to the Sergeant.  "Corbin had been a trouble case, a lot like Logan.  Little respect for authority, great potential for manipulating others.  But he'd been looking into things, talking with Slider, and getting really suspicious.  Slider was willing to let it go, but Corbin wouldn't.  Everyone in the group knew he would either get recruited in or ... or killed."

"After the news broke, no one talked about it.  We all had aliases and passwords, but we still wouldn't talk about it.  I don't even know which of the novas did it, I just know they got him when his back was turned."

"I know you think you can protect me, Comstock, but right now I would just pretend I didn't tell you anything.  They'll come after you next.  And I know they infected you with something, a virus or nanomachine or something to weaken you.  Proteus is trying to level the playing field, so there won't be anyone or anything they can't control.  They've got obituaries and cover stories for everyone already written.  That's what happened to Slider.  Teleporters and psychics were first on the list to be neutralized.  After Slider was assigned to T2M:A I helped compile the report on how to find her and neutralize her assets."


---

"Guys, Frostburn super-unofficially wants you to know that Utopia's top lawyer, Steve Debow, and a Utopia consultant named Parallax are here, and you probably only have five minutes before they come in and ask to take charge of the prisoners.  Also, we can't guarantee that Parallax can't see you.  I guess she's a clairvoyant or something.  Wait.  Make that six minutes.  Afterburner just caused a problem with the security door."
Phantasm
player, 494 posts
Happy Shiney Person
DeathTeady loves you!
Thu 7 Feb 2013
at 02:23
  • msg #538

Re: Proteus, Pandora, Triton and Utopia

"Maybe you're right Logan, maybe the we DO need you.  You didn't tell us anything, and we didn't hear anything.  Your ride is here, enjoy the get out of jail free card."  It was difficult to tell if 'Tasm was sincere, but either way she moved aside to let her old teammate stand and make his way to the door.

"Oh, just one more thing: why all that trouble for Angelo here?  It doesn't add up..."
Operations
NPC, 163 posts
Comstock's
ST Voice
Fri 8 Feb 2013
at 04:34
  • msg #539

Re: Proteus, Pandora, Triton and Utopia

Logan shrugged.  "Ranger boy did a lot of time with the military.  Normally, Utopia and the US are buddy buddy, but then maybe they aren't.  Then this Directorate thing comes knocking, and does most of its recruiting from the military.  Maybe someone decided they just couldn't be sure they knew who's side he was on.  But me, I wouldn't know.  I mean, all of you have a screw loose, and I'm a piece of work myself."

He hopped to his feet.  "I sincerely hope we never do this again."  With relatively little ceremony, he exited.

---

Elsewhere, Parallax and Steve Debow flashed a lot of paperwork.  Utopia's super-lawyer just knew that he was supposed to be bringing the captives back to Addis Ababa where Utopia extra-territoriality was virtually complete, and Parallax had a whole kit of drugs and restraints to get the job done.  Frostburn herself arrived to deliver Max Greenburg, and Afterburner and Dragón escorted Logan.

If Debow knew what was going on, or recognized Logan, he gave no sign.  "Alright.  Let the record show that at this timestamp, we took the intruders into official custody.  I accept full responsibility for their transport and safety.  Project Utopia once again thanks the United States Government for their partnership and cooperation, and the Army for their expert security work."

With a thumb print, it was done.  Parallax was female, that much was obvious, but hardly made a sound.  She wore her eufiber colony as a white bodysuit and face-concealing helmet.  The moment Debow's thumb sealed the exchange, she cracked Logan over the head and double restrained his arms and legs, then checked his vitals before deciding the dosage for another hit of mox.  Greenburg remained silent, and clutched the container with Logan's eufiber colony a little tighter.

A portal to their destination opened, and they walked through.  And that was that.

"Well, we sure did catch that ghost," Johnny supplied unhelpfully.
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