Crown Tower Hotel
Yellow Brick Row
Lachesis, SolidState
Vanguard when he joins us

Winter on the West coast was always cold and wet.  Emerald City was on the edge of a rainforest locale, after all.  And the mountains to the East demanded their seasonal tribute.  No weather-system moved East without paying the toll.  But this winter, the storms were worse than usual.  Seismologists said that the storms were related to the fracturing of the pacific plate north of Hawaii.

The Emergency sirens had given warning nearly fifteen minutes before the giant wave had made landfall.   Most of the waterside had been cleared and the Yellow Brick Row had been all but abandoned, shuttered down in anticipation of the the fierce onrush of water,

When the tsunami made landfall, it wasn't an enormous wave of towering height.  But ther were waves up to nine feet, and the inexorable force pushed further island than Emerald City had seen in a long time.

When the heroes arrived, they were met by a thick-set black man, Captain Malcolm Forsythe.  He was a bear of a man, encased in, of all things, a wet-suit.  He waved them over.


"Glad you're here."  Forsythe said, nodding at the heroes.  "This is a rescue operation.   There are a handful of civilians trapped in the lower concourse of the Crown Tower Hotel.   Most people moved to the upper floors, but reports said there was some sort of disturbance shortly after the waves started flooding into the main lobby.   We believe it's a metahuman eruption, but I don't have any details yet.

Even as he spoke, the background behind him pixelated and resolved into the familiar skyline of Emerald City's buildings.

First priority is the safety of any civilians.  After that, identification and containment of the metahuman." Forsythe grimaced.  "This is classified as a code red indigo. "

So, your characters know that this is a psychic/digital simulation.   But it's realistic enough that you can't actually tell the difference.  You've had enough assurances that while this is psychic in nature, it's a collaboration between two other metas on-contract with AEGIS. They can't go digging in your head.  They can, with the proper equipment hooked up to you, provide a fully immersive VR scenario.

This message was last edited by the GM at 13:19, Sun 08 Mar 2020.

  "Yes.  Any 'civilians' we find."  Cassandra made air-quotes with her fingers around the word and didn't even try to sound like she was taking the simulation seriously.  It was much like having her on an actual mission, in that sense.  The biggest difference, really, is that she was tense and irritable in simulation, as opposed to the cocky ebullience she'd show in the real thing.

  "Hey Yoshi.  Been a while.  I heard you finally graduated; how's the new lot in life treating ya?"  She turned her back on Forsythe to talk to her partner.  "You can kill the power if it's hitting the water, right?  But can you find your way in the dark?  I didn't get a full dossier, and the visions only tell me what they feel like telling, still.  I should be able to keep us out of any new disasters along the way—through all the static—but I think a lot of this is gonna' be your show."

Solid state frowned, partially at the scenario and partially at Cassandra, as a researcher he knew how important it was to take roleplays and simulations seriously, but he also knew that Cassandra was...well....different, interesting and fascinating at the same time. I mean just the fact that her healing process was incomplete was enough to have him considering the damage to her ocular nerve and how it had never been fully......

Shaking his head, the armored helmet shaking from side to side he focused on Forsythe first,"When you say a handful, how many is a handful? Do we have identities on any of them? Any histories? What about equipment? Are we in contact with any of them? Do they have cellphones, power, air, food? How long do we have? Structurally how is the building? Is it going to collapse?"

Blinking he looked at Cassandra and then at Forsythe,"While you were speaking I compiled an email with the questions if it is easier for you to review them in text?" His brain worked faster than a computer and he had many, many things that were going on in there as he looked at Cassandra.

"Graduated? I've got multiple degrees, Cassandra, and life treats me as it treats all with random chaotic unfairness.", he nodded,"I can kill the power if needed, I'm busy working on downloading schematics for the building so we can find our way and no...I can't see in the dark, but I'm sure that one of the Emergency Responders has a torch we can bother if needed...."

OOC: With quickness 10 Solidstate is trying to download plans for the building, power schematics and any kind of reports he has on the people trapped below or anything else of interest...including if there are anymore tsunami's or aftershocks coming.

  "Pfffff... Never change, Yoshi." Cassandra rolled her eyes and smirked over her shoulder in Forsythe's direction. "Would you believe he was like this before the glittering? Hey, actually, did you two ever... Well, you won't tell me until later. Whatever."

  With an exasperated sigh, she turned back. There was a strip of cloth in her hand that hadn't been there a moment ago, bright white and wide as her spread fingers. "All right. You wrap up the briefing your way. I'm gonna start investigating my way. See you inside, flash man."  And then, the instant she got the blindfold tied tight, she began accelerating away toward the Crown—... well, toward the right block, anyway. It took the colorful blur a few tries to get to the right building. Took her the better part of a second, even.
This message had punctuation tweaked by the player at 00:20, Mon 09 Mar 2020.

Forsythe offered a serious shake of his head.   "Survivors are triaging on the fourth floor ballroom level.  Concierge service said that it happened during shift-change, so it should be between six and eight people--all cleaning staff.  Hotel computer system is down as power has been shut-off.  We're waiting on government emergency override to get access to staff lists via hotel corporate.


"We had radio contact using hotel security radio channels.  Security Guard named Brian Hayes.  but they've been quiet for about an hour."  Forsythe said.  "I sent two divers in, but they reported that a debris field is preventing them from accessing the lower-level.  There were also some very unusual water movements suggesting that the metahuman may have some ability to manipulate elemental forces of water.  Conjecture only.

The hotel is earthquake rated, and the divers tell me that the structure is still sound."


SolidState is easily able to access building plans that are available online.  Power-schematics and the like are certainly accessible if he's willing to hack into the county clerk's office.   Likewise for accessing hotel employee information from hotel corporate if he want's to bypass the bureaucracy.  Ultimately, it's not a dramatically interesting element of the story--not even from the standpoint of delaying him.  So, let's just assume you get the info you need.

any kind of reports he has on the people trapped below or anything else of interest...

That's always a difficult phrase to deal with.  I'd rather not throw a crapload of interesting but utterly irrelevant stuff at you.   Are you looking for something in particular?  I promise I'm not going to haul out the tired old excuse "but you didn't ask for that" without having given you at least some leading clues to try to drive you in the direction I want you to go (which, of course, presupposes I have a direction I want you to go in.  In this case, I don't).

including if there are anymore tsunami's or aftershocks coming.
Oh, good point!   Analytics SolidStatre is able to throw together suggests the simulation is pulling information from the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami and applying it to Emerald City's skyline.   There does not, however appear to be any aftershock's incoming at this point.

Forsythe grunted as Cassandra took off.   "You tell me what you need."  He nodded and tapped the earpiece, indicating that Forsythe was standard AEGIS frequencies.
This message was last edited by the player at 13:42, Sun 15 Mar 2020.

Okay,...  consider that there's three potential entry-points:

Front lobby
Front lobby is filled with debris.  Corridors leading to stairwells and elevators to lower-levels are accessible,. but the level of debris washed in from outside is astounding.

Rear Entry
Starbucks on one side, boutique stores on the other.  Area is currently about waist-high with water, and water is acting erratically.     One can get about forty or fifty feet in, then a wall of debris block further entry.

Loading bay
There is a small yacht in pieces, nestled between a food delivery truck and another couple of heavier vehicles.   Entry is possible, but floorpalsn indicate that only a couple of doorways and a small adjoining hallway separate it from the Starbucks Rear Entry corridor.

Forsythe is more than happy to provide public floorplans (since he doesn't know that you'll have downloaded your own).   His plans indicate where the divers went in (Front Lobby) and how far they went in, where the survivors are believed to be (sub-basement,  actually underneath the swimming-pool, which is  bloody mess and mostly submerged).

By rights, there is no plausible reason they should be alive.  The amount of water that flooded in, their depth and location.  Nothing there would have been airtight.

After a minute of concentration, SolidState found the survivors.

They were located in a second sub-basement, housekeeping supply room, with a couple of big rows of shelves and a bunch of amenities for guests (toiletry kits, extra pillows, blankets, that sort of thing).  ALthough the room was dark, they had light.  And it appeared to emanating from an individual--a young East Asian male who crouched and covered his head with his hands.  But all around him, a sphere of pressure kept the water at bay.  They were practically submerged--only a couple of feet at the top of the room held normal air.  The sphere the kid projected went from ceiling to floor, and, likely beyond.

If you don't mind... give me some sort of text description for what it looks like when SolidState does this remote-sensing thing.    I've more details to hand out,, but I wanna know what he does and how he does it...

Solidstate processed the information as rapidly as he was given it, the plans for the hotel going into his computer, the information that Forsythe was feeding him being added to the diagram as he listened a blur of things happened electronically between the Technopath, his computer and the worldwide web as he downloaded and hacked information as easily as other people breathed.

He blinked as his mind dissected the information about the people who were trapped, sorting them into people who might have connections with any phenomenon that were normally related with people manifesting superpowers, trying to narrow down who could have them and make sure their were no strange connections to any villain organizations or things like that.

Taking Forsythe's plans he assimilated them with his own, the growing information providing him with a wealth of knowledge that he would use to rescue these people. With a sigh he reached out to the radios that AEGIS had given them++Cassandra, let's go in via the Rear Entrance, start clearing it if you can I'm going to locate them first.++

With a touch of his mind several microscopic drones flew through the air, they were always around Solidstate, but were too small to be seen, they were his eyes and ears when he looked around himself and with a thought they slid off into the building. Moving rapidly, silently and with great speed they slid under doors, through air and water with equal ease, avoiding electricity , fire or other hazards that could harm them, and from their link with Solidstate their master, as they scanned room after room in rapid succession .

Solid state walked, slowly and carefully, images imposing themselves on his vision rapidly, his brain processing and discarding them as rapidly as they came if they didn't serve as a way closer to those he needed to rescue and he frowned as at last he found them. With a thought he summoned up the files, finding the one for the Asian guy who had met the description,"Forsythe, I've found them, the Asian kid is keeping the water back, I'm forwarding you his information. We're going to need to pump water out to get to them, unless Cassandra has a way to get through water...they are deep down in the subbasement."

As he spoke he was finding the easiest path to the room directly above them, checking if it was full of water, and he kept going directly up till he found a room that had air in it,"I'm looking for a room for us to get into that we can then use as a way to get to them. If we can find a room clear of air I can break the floors slowly through and make a way for them to come up..but it would be easier if we could pump out the water...is that a possibility?"

  'Sure I can get through water,' came Cassandra's voice over comms, exactly as nonplussed as she had been before taking off.  'It's called swimming, Yoshi.  All the cool kids are doing it these days.'  Her tone on the comms was unabashedly taunting, and it was probably a step down from the provocations she'd be up to in person.  She at least cooperated while delivering the smart-assery, and was on her way in at the rear of the building before she even finished the last sentence.

  Arriving at the barrier of debris gave Cassandra a bit of pause, but very little in the grand scheme.  She raised one hand dramatically and laid it on the nearest bit of schmutz piled in her way.  The first bit of scrap dissolved into rust that colored the water in the area bright orange; the next bit jerked toward the wall and grew into the damaged plumbing like a graft from a young tree.  'Just try to make contact before we throw ourselves into danger, if you can.'

Using I'll Guide You Through the Years and The Past/The Future Stay the Same as applicable to destroy or repair the downstairs debris out of the way.

SolidState

Super-impressed with the writing and the thought-process behind it.

Most of the front lobby was about calf-deep with water.  The waves were receding now.  But it did nothing for the huge amount of water in the lower floors of the hotel.  It was going to take the hotel staff weeks to clean this place out, and even more, it was going to take months before they could get certification to reopen.

"The Asian Kid" was probably Magating "Michael" Arbeus.  He'd just started working in Housekeeping, helping his mother on  a part-time basis.  Mostly, he did work in the laundry after school.  The kid was a fifteen years old Filipino, a pretty-boy with a strong academic record.

"The Nook" Cafe, which served a light buffet and continental breakfast  each day was a complete shambles.    The cupboards had been thrown all about and unidentifiable debris was just everywhere.  But the Nook was directly above the laundry, according to the plans SolidState had.  And although it was grimy and wet and dark, it met with SolidState's requirements.

So... What now?
This message was last edited by the GM at 01:19, Thu 02 Apr 2020.

Super-impressed with the writing and the thought-process behind it.


Lachesis


While Cassandra couldn't tell how dark it was, she moved unerringly into the passage, into the chest-deep water.  The current eddied around her slightly, a light pull that told her the water was going somewhere.  it wasn't stagnant.

There were bodies in the water, among the debris.  Two of them.  Their flesh was cold and clammy, bloated lightly and squishy.    One felt substantially lighter than it should have been, and Cassandra briefly considered hat would happen if she should restore the body to it's former state...


"Oh no, no, no...."  A voice whispered.  A dry, brittle man's voice, throaty and hoarse a sif they'd smoked too many cigarettes and drank too much whiskey.  "You're getting much too close, too easily.  Can't have you interfering quite yet.  The boy is just so close to the realization, the insight, the epiphany.   What butterfly do you think will come from this little caterpillar, hm?"

But then, there  was only the comparative silence.  The voice did not continue.  And Lachesis continued on making her way through the debris.


The Debris doesn't really provide much of a challenge.  So, no rolls required.  But once you're past the initial wash of debris... what then?

Solid state sighed at Lachesis' comment and shook his head++Yes, I've heard of it, terribly inefficient for when you are under water for longer than a few minutes...unless you have another means to breath too? Also, what does the temperature of the 'kids' have to do with them swimming? The water could be warmed.++ Solidstates approach to much of what she did was simply to be as logical as he could be.

Now that he had a clear idea of where things were he started moving to where Lachesis was, using his telekinesis he started moving bigger bits of debris as he worked to catch up with the blind mutant and smiled softly,"We are going to the Cafe, from there we will break open the floor, carefully and should be able to lift them out from there. One of them, a 15 year old, has manifested power. This is the quickest way to get them out of the rubble and to safety, I can only imagine that Magating will be exhausted."

Solidstate's plan was simple, head to the Nook, break open the ground and remove the people who were trapped. Simple, concise and with as few moving parts as he could manage. There was a niggle in the back of his mind that if this simulation was to test them it couldn't be just this. Realistically there had to be something that would go wrong, otherwise he'd have been able to do it himself and the people running this organization were many things but wasteful of their resource was not one of them, but he couldn't predict everything and so he continued along his path of action till something proved to be an obstacle.

  "Pick another route," Lachesis replied in her most matter-of-fact tone.  She was still wading forward, into the current.  "There's a squidder here who isn't in the briefing, and he's trying to slow us down to trigger something in Magating.  No idea what, but if it was good for us, he'd have told us before we got soaked."

  The girl turned right seconds later, right into the force of a flow of water that shouldn't be moving, and barely sidestepped a chair drifting by.  "I can't tell you how to deal with that interference, either.  He can track what we're doing and spoke to me, so I have to assume he'd know what I tell you and use it to lead you astray.  Don't tell me what you're up to, either.  Nothing out loud.  Just get me headed in the right direction and go be unpredictable."  She sighed and turned toward her partner.  Even blindfolded, she still seemed to be looking at him.

  "And Yoshi, we gotta hurry.  He's trying to turn Mags into something else, trying to... I dunno, put him under so much stress he has a break-through?  Anything you can do to send water somewhere else will buy us time."

Despite the amount of crap in the cafe, it wasn't difficult to create a workable space.  Already, the damp had given the entire place an ugly, fetid scent that clung to everything.  It was going to take the Crown Tower months to get the place up to snuff and open to the public again.

Getting into the Nook was time-consuming, but nothing particularly challenging.  Except for the sheer amount of it.    It Even with his enhancements it still took longer than SolidState would have liked.

Sorry, SolidState. Forsythe's voice came across the radio.   I can get Army Core of engineers in there in twenty minutes, maybe.   So, this means there are survivors.  Good.  Do what you can.

Reality was, probably twenty minutes wasn't enough.

Even as he worked, SolidState could hear a deep groaning sound reverberating through the building around him.   It was safe for now, but eventually, one support-columns for the upper concourse was going to buckle under damage it had taken when the water flooded in.  It was still a while's away.  They'd get the survivors out and be well on their way before it collapsed.  And SS couldn't tell for certain what the results would be.  It was a load-bearing structure.  But given it's use, it would probably mean the open-area part of the second-floor concourse would become inaccessible.

Not, really his problem right now.
This message was lightly edited by the GM at 08:06, Tue 21 Apr 2020.

So, what does SolidState do to start breaking through, and how will he deal with the foot and a half of water he's in..

Can you call for backup?  construct something to bulwark the water away from a defined area?
This message was last edited by the GM at 06:53, Fri 10 Apr 2020.

  "Hey, Forsythe!" Cassandra's voice responded first. She sounded out if breath, but then, she had just put in ten minutes struggling through chest-deep water while they were talking. She'd made little progress in that time, and she was seriously considering giving up on defiance and just checking out where the water was going. But first~~

  "I need some accompaniment down here. Fugazi if you got it, but I'll take anything angry young and poor." She ended transmission before he could hear her sigh. The stuffy career officer probably wouldn't even get the joke. She had made her way to a locked door with a placard on it that she was wagering said "Staff Only", and she ducked briefly into the alcove next to it to concentrate. She might have to go where she was being steered, but she wasn't about to make it easy.

  It started slowly; she wasn't trying to overstress the building's structure, after all. Just a few low spots where the water flowed away faster than it filled in, or slower, causing a swell that would hang in place, sometimes after the water beneath it head drained elsewhere. The same things happening beneath the surface began to create chaotic eddies and cross-flow. As the patterns sped up, spread out, and became more disruptive, she stepped out into them and let herself be swept up.

It's her favored environment, so she usually moves through it very well (albeit at normal speed), but that's in air where only the time-warping itself is tossing her around. So an acrobatics roll for balance comes to: a healthy 25.

Flowingwater is going somewhere, and she's going with it to find out if that's a possible drain.
This message was last edited by the player at 01:25, Fri 17 Apr 2020.

Lachesis information was like a lot of what she said, he just didn't know enough to understand it but he understood the warning, a third party was interfering and time was of the essence. It also meant that largely he had to work on his own so whatever was interfering with Lachesis was not aware of his work.

Solidstate compartmentalized the information about the possible collapse of the concourse, that was information that wasn't helpful. Instead he set to work, settling on his feet he focused his attention on first sealing the room up, except for the roof and somewhere he could pour the water he was going to move. If he could seal this room he could lift the water out without it coming back.

Concrete, metal and tools from his suit flew around the room in a whirl of telekinetic motion, tools worked, seemingly by themselves and huge bars of metal were bent or twisted as needed, with Solidstate in the center seemingly still as he conducted the speedy orchestra of tools.

Once the room was sealed and a one way valve was in place all the tools went back to their assigned places on his suit and he started to move the water, huge globs of water being forced through the valve and out of the room till he had enough dry floor to start cutting out a hole above the people he was trying to rescue, just big enough to get them out quickly, but not too big he didn't have a space to put the rubble.

He'd prefer to get the people out straight, but if he had to he'd remove more water and get the people out separately but he'd prefer to be efficient and just get the people out.

OOC: Using Quickness 10 (floating tools are just a descriptor) and Move object to move and build (I have precise) and seal off the room, then remove the water before cutting a hole big enough to remove the people one at a time with the guy holding back the water last...if it's quicker I'll take the water out first.

@SolidState
It took precious minutes to move that amount of water out, but at least it stayed out.

I put the difficulty to move the water at about a DC20, which makes this a pretty routine task for SolidState.  Although it is still time-consuming moving that much water safely.

Drilling through the floor, SolidState is faced with the next level between him and the survivors.  The swimming Pool.

From the looks of it, the tsunami had hit while the pool was closed.  At least there was some small blessings.  But anything that had been around the pool was now part of the general miasma of  brown water that submerged nearly 2/3rds of the room.  Obviously, it would mean more of the same... a siphon engine would  be easy enough to rig to suction the water out.

But what caught SolidState's attention, mor than anything, was the roiling mass of bubbling water in the middle.  The brackish water swelled and undulated, and slow,y the middle seemed to rise toward him, as if the swell of water was reaching up toward the hole SolidState looked down through.

"Three of you?"  A distorted voice sand angrily from behind him. "Does everybody got to play the hero?"

In the doorway to the main lobby, a shadowy, semi-translucent humanoid figure stood.  It's body appeared to be made of the same brackish water that had flooded the entire place.

"This won't do." The figure sloshed into the room--it didn't step, it didn't appear to have feet... only oblong legs, as if creating a humanoid form with details might have been an effort. "This won't do at all.   The boy is so close to the final step.  If you interrupt it now, he'll only ever be mediocre.  He can do what must be done,  But he needs time.  And you, whoever the hell you are.  You and your friends need to back off!"

Normally, I'd roll for initiative, but since we're not running at a break-neck speed (though I am going to speed up... a few posts a week, I think), it should be worthwhile for you to roll initiative.

Also:
Reminder: according to Message #7:

2nd floor:	Concourse, ballroom A: abandoned triage center
1st floor:	The Nook - SolidState
Basement 1:	Swimming Pool
Basement 2:	Sub-Basement - Survivors

@Lachesis

"Roger that." Forsythe said.   "I've a three-man conflict team heading to your 20 now.  Also, Army Core engineers en route to SolidState.  ETA 10 minutes."

Traversing the current was certainly different from how she usually traveled and it felt oddly familiar.     The water was moving, albeit through a couple of debris-jams, to a stairwell.  The door had been wedged open--or it had come open during the flood, and while everything was dark, the stairwell was a yawning chasm.  She simply couldn't see what the possibilities were beyond it. SO, for all intents and purposes, it was a yawning chasm.

The pull of the current isn't strong enough to draw lachesis down into it, but it is very clear that this is where the water is going.

At the same time, some of the upper levels of water seem to be going in a different direction.

When Lachesis surfaced for a breath, she could sense thick rivulets actually streaming up the walls.

There was a sudden rumble, a deep cracking sound that reverberated through the water.  Somewhere, deeper below her, something had shifted, and the water flow moving toward the stairwell increased.  That's when Lachesis became aware of an intermittent rhythm.  It wasn't morse code, but it was a burst of impacts that didn't sound random.  Again, from somewhere below...

The stairwell.

Of course, I'm assuming that Lachesis has a diver's flashlight or some other form of illumination--for the survivors benefit, obviuosly--if you want it.
This message was last edited by the GM at 06:04, Wed 22 Apr 2020.

  "Blind me? Really??" the girl complained at nothing in particular while treading water far enough back from the stairs to not be sucked down. She almost sounded angry. "I can feel the simulation, you know! And hell, do you have any idea how many times I've drowned in the past five minutes?" She rolled her eyes, not that it was visible in the dark, or behind her blindfold. But she did it.  And then she rolled away from the wall and let the current pull her down.

  Cassandra hated swimming. It was fine, when she was younger. She didn't mind getting wet. She wasn't even bad at it. But she couldn't sense more than a few yards out, in the water. Swimming made her world very small. So her trip down the stairs was a dizzying rush of walls and railings emerging suddenly from the unknown. And at the bottom, something was blocking her out entirely. Almost nothing had that ability, and that was frightening, not that she'd ever admit it, so she struck back the only way she could, truly blinded: chaos. The choppy water around her became even worse, tumbling and churning until the current was almost lost in eddies.

She's far enough down to turn up the power on the Environment effect. She can only really use 1 rank without hitting the upper floors where SolidState is, but 30' around her is visibility -2, movement -2 ranks, DC11 Will to use Aim or things like Power Attack. And +2 to her active defenses for now.

@Lachesis

As she went lower and lower, the ambient sound dulled and for a moment, it felt almost like time she'd spent in a neutral bouyancy tank.   Except that this time, there was a real, distinct tap-tap-tap going on.

Halfway down the flight of stairs, she sensed someone, felt the tickle of bubbles being released.  An air-tank?  There was a muffled blur of noise, but it was condensed and distorted.

A number of thoughts raced through her mind, but it ultimately settled on one most-likely conclusion:  There was somebody down there.

As she drifted closer, it became mroe clear.  A diver.  a single man--woman?  It was hard to tell.  They were pressed under something heavy.  Maybe concrete?  It was difficult to tell (and what the hell was a slab of concrete doing in the stairwell, anyway?).   The diver seemed to be tapping away at the chunk of concrete, whittling away at it with a resolute patience.
This message was last edited by the GM at 01:55, Fri 24 Apr 2020.

@SolidState

"Interfere any further and you too will drown!"  The watery humanoid surged forward and extended both arms towards SolidState, blasting an enormous surge of water at him.


--
Initiative:
+20 Waterworks
+05 SolidState

Waterworks rolled 27 to attack SolidState with Water canon
Waterworks attacks with a power I'm calling "Water Canon"  a Cumulative Line Area Affliction that gives you Dazed/Prone (no third effect) if successful.
Please roll Dodge to resist.  If affected, Fortitude will apply to remove effects at a later round...

@Lachesis
There was a sudden surge of the current around her, as the water swirled and bubbled around her.   Something had changed, and for a moment, the pull of water in a different direction lessened the water-level in the stairwell.

{ "Comm check." } Emerald Star's voice calls over the comm channel, { "Lachesis, SolidState, this is Emerald Star.  What's your sitch?  Over." }

  The water took a few seconds to settle, but the distortions warping it vanished almost instantly. Lachesis played fast and loose with her own life often, with civilians' never, if she could help it. And speaking of help, she couldn't, or not directly, in any case.

  "Forsythe! You missing a diver?" she nearly shouted over the radio when she surfaced, driven by the urgency of gasping for air as much as by the situation. "I have one pinned under rubble here, and I'm not actually the she-hulk you'd expect. I need something in to get a slab off them before it's a headstone. Bottom of stairwell five. And push your timing to max; I'm gonna try to investigate before their air runs out. I hit about a thousand-x these days."

  As much of a smartass as she could be, and as often as she chased a hunch off-mission, her sit-reps were generally to the point and useful. She took another deep breath, then, and vanished from the surface in less than an eyeblink. She took a grip on the concrete without paying much attention to where she put her weight—she'd be gone again faster than thought, after all—and traced its fate backward for any clues that might help them free the diver.


Okay! Dropped the environmental effect. Pushing Speed and Quickness to 10, which is 1000x dilation like she told the chief. She's also giving up her predictive awareness for rapid tracking postcognition. She should be able to rewind the past 15min of that slab's life in the 90s or so she can hold her breath. And for the diver, that takes her 90ms. She'll go back as needed, but unless Forsythe's whole reply takes less than a second, she'll probably be finished before she hears the first word of it. And she'll be winded from several minutes of breath-hold diving in a current.
This message was last edited by the player at 23:32, Tue 05 May 2020.

Solid state was fascinated, the building was going well and he realized he'd need to make a second water removal system but seeing the dark swirling of something more than just water and he started to analyze it, getting lost in his though processes so he didn't even notice Waterworks coming up behind him till the wall of water struck him.

The force of the water was far more likely to affect him than the water itself, thankfully drowning Solidstate was almost impossible with his armor on but smashing him to pieces with water...that was a thing.

OOC: Rolled 16 to dodge, I imagine that's a fail and 17 for fortitude.

@Lachesis

Getting it all in reverse was always an odd experience.  A couple of minutes before, the cement slab and diver both rose out of the stairwell, further up to the surface of the water, then exploded outward.  There was air, then a searing heat and then comfortable solidity.

Evidently, the diver had been higher up, above the water-level, and something had exploded or knocked into the wall, blowing chunk of cement and metal down into the stairwell, pinning the diver.

Physical contact told Lachesis that he wasn't wearing a wet-suit.  And that he had a crowbar that he was using to chip away at the slab.  He was making progress and his breathing seemed surprisingly calm for someone in that position.  But the question still hung heavily:  Would his oxygen last?

Even as her consciosuness returned to the present there was a rush of noise and warmth, an oddly familiar scent and hum that presaged the arrival of an old friend.

As Lachesis surfaced for a breath, Forsythe's radio chimed in, Got backup en route.  Forsythe said.  I'm estimating... Oh.  Now.
This message was last edited by the GM at 07:29, Sun 17 May 2020.

@SolidState

The sheer force of teh water was overwhelming--knocking SolidState back and momentarily sending half of his suit into a soft reboot cycle.  Warning lights flickered and several of his seals were pushing their tolerance level.

Whoever this guy--girl?--was, he was vicious!  And not terribly honorable.  He didn't even give SoliState a chance to talk.  Apparently, whatever was going on, this water-works guy wasn't here to talk...

What do you do?

--
Round breakdown:

• +20 Waterworks
  
  • Waterworks rolled 27 to attack SolidState with Water-Canon
  • Cumulative Line Area Affliction that gives you Dazed/Prone
    
    • SolidState rolled Dodge(16) - Unsuccessful avoidance
    • SolidState rolled Fortitude(17) vs DC20. - 1 degree of failure
    • SolidState takes on the Dazed condition
    • SolidState may roll another Fortitude roll (DC20) to overcome the Dazed condition at the end of each round.
• +05 SolidState
  
  • Action forthcoming

Reminder: although SolidState is Dazed, you can still take Free actions and a single Standard action this round...

"soft reboot cycle" is strictly a narrative conceit and has no mechanical bearing on anything.

"So no jumping out of helicopters today, right?" there's a laugh in her voice as she hovers just above the water where Lachesis floated, "I know this is a simulation but I think we still loose points if any of us fall to our deaths."

Closing her eyes for a moment, a soft green glow begins to emanate from her body, "Okay I should able to see.  Let's go."

Plunging into the water, Emerald Star dives to the trapped man.  If he still appears conscious she'll take a moment to look him over: does he appear to be one of the divers? anything off about him?

Assuming he looks as expected she'll use her gravikinesis to move the chunk of concrete trapping him here and help him reach the surface.


I suspected I was going to add this:
Environment: Light(Bright) 2 points - light will always be emerald in color but otherwise provides same visibility as normal daylight; didn't really plan on taking a flaw or anything

Will update her sheet
This message was last edited by the player at 01:59, Mon 18 May 2020.

  Lachesis treads water and grins at the ceiling, even after Star dives under. "Well, I wasn't sure whether there was air down here, if that counts. I was wondering when you'd make it out west. So hey, you should know—" The girl takes a moment to maneuver upstream until she can grip an overhead stair.

  "Forsythe, you copy? I don't think he's one of yours. And it was an explosion that knocked him under, the kind with fire. Did you send munitions in?"

"Negative."  Forsythe responded. "My guys are accounted for.  I can't speak to explosions or munitions.  We don't have any reports of--hold on."

A few moments later, then Forsythe came back on-line.   "I've got three more heat-signatures.  I can get you a heads-up, but I need to hear you give permission."

@Alicia

Oh weird.  I thought I posted this...  I'm guessing that I closed the browser before posting. 

The front lobby was only about calf-deep with water, now.   The tsunami had settled and most of the water had receded, but there was still fear of aftershocks.  Still, it did nothing for the huge amount of water in the lower floors of the hotel.

It was going to take the hotel staff weeks to clean this place out, and even more, it was going to take months before they could get certification to reopen.

The large open space of the lobby was filled with all sorts of debris--most of it unidentifiable.  twisted steel , chairs, tables, the remains of glass and plaster and bricks and what might've been wall-coverings or ceiling-decorations.

"The Nook" Cafe, which served a light buffet and continental breakfast each day was a complete shambles.    The cupboards had been thrown all about and unidentifiable debris was just everywhere.

But a steady stream of water flowed--through the air--out of the Nook, through the lobby and out toward the ocean.  Forsythe's team, whoever they were, ere doing a job of pumping the water out.

In the doorway of the Nook stood a watery humanoid, brackish brown and shifting continually.   There was a brief moment of breathing, and the water-level dropped, then a enormous BOOM as a jet of water surged from the thing in the door3ay of the Nook into the Nook...   Alicia was behind whoever it was...

This would be a result of the attack on SolidState, whom Alicia can't see because Waterworks is standing in the doorway and he's composed of ugly brown water... that's not transparent or even translucent at this point.

  "Hear me give... Why the hell would I not want that information?! Why would it be my permission you need???" It was rare, these days, that Cassandra got to feel the prickling suspicion of danger, at least the normal way. She was in no mood to savor it, though. More's the pity.

  "Yes. Tell me what's out there. I can barely find anything in sims as it is, and this one has swimming. Come on already! Yoshi, you hearing this nonsense? Jeez."

OOC: Do comm units work under water

Solidstate muttered under his breath as the reboot icons whirred across his HUD, he knew it was simply a matter of time before it was all back up and running his computer was already screaming at him it was coming back online and apologizing. Blocking out the machine's noise he looked over at the creature/person/thing in the doorway and reacted like anyone who'd been slammed by a spout of water would.

He picked up the biggest lump of concrete with his telekinesis and threw it at him but somewhere along the way he'd hit his head and the double vision meant he had to guess which of the figures was his foe....and Solidstate hated guessing, so he did it twice, and wrong. The various systems in his suit started to green light and he pushed himself away from the wall, the various servos in his armor started to whine and whir again and he groaned,"Ouch....we have contact...and it's not friendly."

---

Standard Action: Use Move Object to chuck concrete or rubble. Rolled a 1 to hit, so 11, with DC 25 damage but I assume that's a miss
Free Action: Communicate over the comms to let them know we have contact
Fortitude roll to remove Daze rolled 21...so that's better.

11:03, Today: SolidState rolled 21 using 1d20+8.  Fortitude.
11:01, Today: SolidState rolled 11 using 1d20+10.  Move Object, hurl concrete Strength 10 (DC 25).

The description "calf-deep" for the water level in the lobby had a different meaning for Alicia Alvarado.  With her reduced size putting her at the calf level of most people, the shrunken super-heroine had to resort to swimming to navigate her way into the lobby when the shelves, ledges, and other fixtures that would otherwise have allowed her to stay above the water level were no longer available.

A wooden plaque floating by became a makeshift raft as she pulled herself aboard to give herself a momentary break from the discomfort of being in the water.  The level of detail on the made her wonder if the psychic putting this image in her mind spent a lot of time in hotels or pulled an image of a wall display that she may have seen at a hotel on vacation somewhere.

Another reason for wanting to get out of the water was her awareness of a current caused by the water being pumped out of the room.  Although a competent swimmer, fighting the flow of the current was going to be make getting around difficult until found another landing spot that was more permanently fixed.



"What the...?" Alicia said quietly to herself, not recognizing what this watery form was.



"I think I see it!" Alicia replied excitedly over the communicator.  "I'm moving in to assist."  Not sure what I'm going to do when I get there, she thought.  If this thing was made out of water like it appeared to be, it was probably going to just flow around her if she attacked it directly.

@Solid State
"Ouch....we have contact...and it's not friendly."

SolidState lifted an enormous piece of concrete--debris that had been washed in, a testament to the sheer unyielding force of the tsunami--and hurled it at the water-man.  His systems were already re-initializing.

The water-man flowed to one side. easily evading the forceful attack.  The concrete hit the side of the doorway, tearing a massive hole and ripping apart the side of the door-jamb leading into the Nook.  A shower of whitish plaster cascaded from the ceiling, after-effects from the damaging impact.

"That's it?"  The water-thing jeered, it's voice underscored by a strange warbling.  "I was told you'd be more of a threat.  Jesus.  This is amateur hour!"


@ Alicia
From Alicia's vantage-point, she could see that the water-thing never actually separated from the water it stood in.  But as it flowed to the right, away from the huge chunk of debris that came hurtling out of the Nook, she did notice that the water-level around her went down.


--
OOC:

@Alicia:   
Waterworks is not aware of Alicia at this time, so you've totally got the drop on it.  I'll allow one surprise action/attack up front (you can time it as you like), then you're in the initiative order.  I rolled 1d20(+16) + 8 = 24 on your behalf.  You can reroll if you like, but you'll need to live with what you roll.

• ROUND 1
• +05 SolidState
  
  • Move Object attack
    Allowing it this time because I took so long to respond.  But please see In-Play Mechanics discussion.
  • Dazed Condition removed
  
  
• ROUND 2
• +20 Waterworks
  
  • Waterworks rolled 14 to attack SolidState with Water-Canon
  • Cumulative Line Area Affliction that gives you Dazed/Prone
  • SolidState, Please roll Dodge to resist.
• +05 SolidState
  
  • Action forthcoming

This message was last edited by the GM at 03:01, Sun 07 June 2020.

"All right.  You've got the go-ahead."  Forsythe said.  "Show them what you've got."

At once, a wire-frame style 3D map of the area came into focus.   It was basic as hell, more like an ancient video game.  But the stairwell was distinguishable.   There was a fuzzy red blob at the bottom of the stairwell.  Two blue blobs were arrayed a few floors above (Lachesis & Emerald Star).

"Is this thing on?" a woman's voice.  Familiar but a little indistinct.  "Sorry.  I needed to hear it.  I can't do the mind-to-mind thing without actually getting permission. If you can identify any of the red entities, I'll label them.  It's the best I can do at the moment."

The stairwell became suffused with a soft green glow, illuminating everything.


The trapped man is still conscious.  He looked up at Emerald star with unmitigated awe.   His eyes wide and a series of bubbles erupted from around his regulator.

He isn't wearing a dive-suit.  He's wearing a black button-down shirt and a tie, of all things.  He's a twenty-something, probably, with brown hair and a big belly.

The chunk of concrete and rebar that Emerald Star lifts off of him is well under her mass tolerance, so she lifts it without any difficulty whatsoever.     The diver makes eye-contact and closes his eyes momentarily in thanks.  It's then that Emerald Star could see the duty-belt with a couple of packets, and a set of keys.   He was not wearing any shoes.

The diver nodded once then pushed off to the surface.  Emerald Star noticed an inky cloud left in his wake, blackish in the green of her light.



--
OOC:

There were other clusters of blobs:

• Group 1: Lachesis & Emerald Star and the diver at the bottom of the stairwell.
• Group 2: 1/2 a floor down and down a long corridor - a group of six red blobs.  (no callouts, presumably Mangatang and the other survivors)
• Group 3: One & 1/2 floors up--immediately above Group 2 - Two Blue blobs and a red blob  (callouts identify them as SS and AL.  The red one has no callout.)
• Group 4: A group of three red blobs one level above Group 3, at the top of the mapped stairwell, so... a few floors above Lachesis and Emerald Star.   None of them have callouts.

Lizette Thibodeaux.  She was one of the original NPCs of Starfish.   Had a sort of heat-map danger-sense (Blue = safe, red = dangerous).  She is an accomplished pilot.

@Lachesis
I imagine that Lachesis wouldn't actually be able to read the symbols on the callouts... not having actually read physical text since before the loss of her eyes at such a young age.

When the diver broke the surface he moved to the side and sat on the step just above the water-level.

"Holy fuck." He said.  "Thank-you.  You're...   I know you!  I mean, I've seen you.   You guys are superheroes, right?"
This message was last updated by the player at 02:53, Sun 07 June 2020.

Jenni smiles as she rises above the water, "We're...just here to help.  Speaking of," she extends her hand and the green glow envelops the guard, "I need to make sure you're okay. Thought I saw blood in the water."

Out of the water, floating in place, EM will check the man for injury, looking for torn clothes, lifting his shirt if necessary to find any sign.  If he were bleeding hopefully it would be easier to find this way and she could rush him to EMTs if necessary.  As she conducts her examination she asks, "I'm glad Lachesis found you when she did.   Why don't you tell us how you ended up stuck like that."

Use Move Object to hold guard above water and look for injury.  She doesn't have precise so she'll have to use her hands.
This message was last edited by the player at 00:48, Tue 02 June 2020.

  Lachesis dropped below the surface of the water abruptly, clutching her forehead with both hands.  Bubbles came up—a lot of bubbles.  Some of them rose as though through molasses, some so quickly that water hit the underside of the landing above when they popped at the surface.  The microphone picked up her voice, but even accounting for the muffling effects of the water, there was nothing that sounded like words.  It was a few seconds of this before she surfaced again, gasping and scrabbling toward the railing for support.

  "Damnit, you didn't tell me it was Lizzie!  Hi, Liz."  The exasperation was ever so clear in her voice.  She breathed heavily for a second before continuing.  "Cut me off already; you know I can't add your thing to mine.  Just tell me which way to go: we need to get to Mangatang fast.  Green, you good here?"

"Well, damn." Lizette responded.  "Was worth the shot.  Give me a little bit.  I'm trying to synch the maps.  Getting real-time feedback from anyone on-network...  The more you--well everyone else--sees, the more I can fill out the map.   SolidState's mapping gave us a big leg up.

Down one floor, then down the corridor about 500 feet.  If the map's right, your kid's pretty much right underneath the swimming pool. 
This message was last updated by the player at 02:53, Sun 07 June 2020.

The guard has a pretty nasty gash on his left side, from knee to ankle.   No deformities though... so no broken bones.

"Some of the housekeeping staff.is trapped was trapped a floor down.  Radio interference was getting bad.  I was able to swim to the security office.   I knew there was an O2 tank and regulator.  Got left behind last week.  Just lucky there was actually any oxygen in it.

Anyway, I was trying to get above the water-line to let the rescue-guys know where we were, when the wall caved in above.  It was loud and killed the lights when it happened.  This stairwell's near the outside, I I figure something crashed into us.

"Radio's gone.  But  since you're here, I'm guessing they heard me after all.  Did you get the others out?  Five housekeeping staff.   The water level was rising real quick. " There was a restrained fatalism to his words.  He'd guessed that the others hadn't actually made it.

Abruptly, he looked up, glanced at Emerald Star and then Lachesis. "Um... okay?"  Then his eyes lit up--literally--with a sort of cyan colored glow.

"Oh, man! What the hell?"  Hs whispered.
This message was lightly edited by the player at 02:52, Sun 07 June 2020.

~Hi I'm Hunter.~  Lizette said.

The guard's eyes went wide. "I'm Bryan.  Bryan Hayes.  I'm Hotel Security.  But, you know, this is like my third day..."
This message was last edited by the player at 02:52, Sun 07 June 2020.

Please see Message #37

  "Five... hundred... Ugh.  But the swimming pool helps; I'll just head toward the risk of the ceiling collapsing on us."  Lachesis turned to scowl at the stairs leading down, but it wasn't in her nature to stop planning.  At times like this, her eyes jumped all over, like during REM sleep.  Nothing that showed through a blindfold, obviously, but when she wasn't wearing it, it was easy enough to catch her looking further than usual into the future.  She might have sighed, but she was still breathing hard already, so she settled for shaking her head in disgust.

  "Welcome to the exciting world of simulated disaster, rookie.  I need your air tank."  She held out a hand in his—and, of course, Emerald Star's—direction, gesturing impatiently with a finger.  "Femme Fusion here can make sure you get out safe, but I need to move fast and I can't do it without breathing the way she can. Your housekeepers are still alive, but not for long.  Come on now."

As quickly as she can EM disconnects the harness holding the tanks and dive belt in place and passes them to Lachesis (plus mask and any other related items Bryan has on his person).  Once done she nods, "Going to get Bryan to the EMTs, I'll catch up."

Retracing her path in, Star will move at fastest comfortable speed for the injured guard back to medical personnel.  She'll waste little time in returning and heading back down the flooded stairwell to the lower level and down the corridor to the swimming pool.  if Mangatang was indeed holding back the water from the room's occupants currently it seemed reasonable he'd be able to do so after they'd breached the door.

  "Aight.  I'm going in.  I'm kind of expecting an ambush, but that's my gut, not a cape thing.  If I get to them safely, I'm gonna try to get even some temporary safety, then slow us all down to give everyone else time for a rescue before the air supply runs out.  Don't count on it until you hear me, though."  Cassandra fumbled with the mask for a few seconds, not only less familiar with them but holding herself in place with an elbow hooked over the railing.  She got there, though.

  And then she took off.  Her bubble of accelerated flow was unmistakable: the water piled up in front of it and collapsed behind, until the flow stabilized into a wave rolling past her.  It was a rare sight; her powers were almost never this visible.  There wasn't much opportunity to appreciate the display though, since she was moving a few hundred miles per hour.  She vanished down the stairway in a flash and maintained the pace down the hallway below, according to Liz's display.

  If someone else could have properly experienced Cassandra's perceptions, they might have understood why she complained so much about the swim.  The world stretched out ahead of her, in the direction of the flow of water, but surfaces were incomplete and disconnected, made of only what she might brush against in passing.  All around her, though, it closed in until there was nothing at all beyond her armspan.  If she drifted right into the center of the hall, the walls didn't even exist until several feet ahead.  Behind her, only an empty void.  At least she could claim she was shivering because of the cold.

Really just using Speed here.  Call it 7 ranks at most, because she's fighting the environment so much.

Alicia flinched when a massive chunk of concrete suddenly ripped through the doorway and a shower of plaster powder that followed momentarily obscured her view.

"Be careful!  I'm on the other side of that door!" she warned Solid State over the communicator as she moved away from the line of fire in case her teammate followed up with a similar attack.

What affect water? the shrunken superheroine thought quickly.  Freezing it or evaporating it were possibilities but affecting this large of a volume of water would require a lot of time.

Absorb it?  Anything that could possible absorb water was probably fully soaked when the wave surged into the building but it was worth a shot.  If she could distract it, maybe she or Solid State could come up with a better idea.

OOC:  Looking for something absorbent that's dry or water-tight.  It's not likely that the bad guy is going to be defeated by a roll of the Quicker-Picker-Upper, a napkin dispenser, or a sealed bucket of kitty litter, but this is the first panel.
Is there a walk-in freezer that the creature could be lured into?
22:03, Today: Alicia rolled 7 using 1d20+4.  Perception 4.

@Emerald Star & @Lachesis

Emerald Star was able to get Hayes to safety.  It was almost anticlimactic that there was no impediment to their exit and her return.

Lachesis pushed through the harrowing emptiness of the corridor, kept going straight only by the inference of the inference of the walls.

Lachesis knew that sound traveled faster under-water.  But it was disorienting.  It was difficult to tell from whence the sound actually originated.   Sound through water didn't vibrate the ossicle bones in her ear.  It vibrated the heavier bones of her skull.   Someone was beating on something in a rhythmic function, keeping a steady tempo.

And there was singing of some sort.  Two tones, maybe three.  It was difficult to tell.  The higher-pitched tones traveled more easily.


--
OOC: She gets to the appropriate place.   But until she opens it up, she doesn't know for certain...  Question: What kind of entrance does she make?

As his systems came back online, Solidstate found himself holding his breath.  He'd have to tinker with the suit a little.  a water-attack shouldn't have done so much damage so quickly.  Maybe examine submersible technologies and calibrate the suit for variables in ambient pressure environments....

He found his mind wandering off, and though it was only a split second, he castigated himself for the inattention.

Then the subaudible ping of systems online sounded, and SolidState lifteded his hand and extended his mind to wrap a cocoon of force around the water-creature.

"I'm going to try to wrap in it in a cocoon of force.  Enough to hold it, but not break it.  I've got to run an analysis of who or what this is.  We don't know if it's sentient or an extension of someone we haven't seen..."

If it was actually made of water,then he had to treat it with kid-gloves to get the right amount of pressure to keep it contained while not causing it to dissolve out of his grasp.



--

Going to power-stunt the Move Object power to grant it Damaging, to try for a Grab.
SolidState rolled 15 using 1d20+7 to dodge vs 14
SolidState rolled 18 using 1d20+9.  Mover Object - Contain Water guy
This message was last edited by the player at 10:16, Mon 15 June 2020.

ROUND 2

+24 Alicia
No action this round, lost surprise.
+20 Waterworks
Waterworks rolled 14 to attack SolidState with Water-Canon
Cumulative Line Area Affliction that gives you Dazed/Prone
   SolidState rolled 15 using 1d20+7 to dodge vs 14
      He dodged successfully
      Waterworks attack misses!
+05 SolidState
SolidState rolled 18 using 1d20+9.  Mover Object - Contain Water guy
   Waterworks rolled 14 Dodge vs Move Object Grab
      SolidState's Grab Attack is successful!
      Waterworks rolls 12 Dodge to Resist vs DC24
         Waterworks failed by 3 degrees!
Waterworks is now Defenseless, Immobile, impaired
SolidState is now Hindered & Vulnerable while maintaining the grab

"All Right!" Solidstate let out a triumphant exclamation as he felt the bounds of psychic force containthe water-thing.  It sloshed back and forth, but without enough momentum, it seemed unable to break free of his containment field.


"I think I've got it." He said over the comms.  "But what the hell do I do with it?"


@Alicia & @Solid State
"The Nook" is just a big open room for continental breakfasts and the like.  But there is a small galley kitchen attached.  It makes sense that there would be a couple of big storage rooms beside...  One for dry-storage, the other a walk-in freezer.  So, Sure, there's a walk-in-freezer.

{ "It's possible it's drawing strength from all the water around it" } EM answers SolidState over the comm, { "Trying moving it out of the building to higher ground and break its contact.  Otherwise fire, cold and electricity all historically impact water in negative ways.  Cold or electricity might be your best bet to slow or incapacitate.  Since no one is getting fried wading through the building it seems a safe bet the building has no power." }

She gently deposits Bryan with the EMTs, "He's got a sizable gash on his leg.  I can't be certain but I don't think it's broken."  Rising again she offers a smile and small wave before rocketing back again.

{ "I have to admit," } she chimes over the comm again,  { "I've always wondered about the effect of increasing viscosity.  You know, adding instant cement or, don't laugh, even flour, pudding or jello.  Granted it would probably take a lot of jello." }

She enters the building from the rear, flying down the hallway once more, { "Lachesis and I should be at the maintenance room momentarily.  Will radio again when we're able." }

Then the elevator shaft is before her and there is no time for further comm chatter.  The emerald glow drops below the waterline, descends the shaft in a heartbeat, and disappears down the same flooded corridor Lachesis had previously taken.  She keeps the brightness level of her radiance high, hoping to illuminate any more of the opposition that seemed likely to be lurking nearby.  Assuming it finds Lachesis at the doorway to the storage room without incident she'll slow to a stop and pause a moment to give the woman a chance to register her presence.

She'll be sure to reduce her brightness before they breach the room, if the people in there had been trapped in the dark all this time the intense light would be overwhelming.  If the door is stuck fast she'll see if Lachesis has a way to open it; otherwise a low powered Plasma Blast should be enough to cut through it without harming anyone on the other side.

I've actually got room to add Precise to Plasma Blast.  Use it like a cutting torch to cut a hole through the door if we can't open it by force
This message was last edited by the player at 01:43, Tue 16 June 2020.

  Tone was one of those funny things that Lachesis' power distorted anyway, and while she made some accommodation for the downshifts out of habit, there were natural limits to that.  Three orders of magnitude, it turned out, were more than she could really make up for.  And so it happened that she never even heard the singing, or whatever it was, before she tried the door.

  Ordinarily, she would have made an entrance.  Ordinarily, Lachesis did nothing without showboating at least a little.  But it's hard to overstate how much she hated being in sims, and being forced to swim was almost as bad.  Both?  All her bravado was quiescent, her ego on the defense against the miserable conditions.  She just slipped in through the gap.

@Lachesis

The room was a mess.

Of course, the room was more than 3/4 submerged udnerwater.

There were five or six rows of industrial metal shelving units that extended into the distance.  There were heavy boxes still on some of the shelves, but also an inordinate amount of clutter free-floating in the water--various items at different depths depending on their relative bouyancy levels.

And at the far end of her awareness, a pressure-change that would've been the bubble SolidState's nanos had picked up.

And someone--definitely someone--banging away on something metallic.

There were voices, mottled and muddled through the water, but Lachesis could tell excitement from fear.  And they were excited.  It was kind of hard to miss.  They were cheering, after all.

As she drew closer, the forms resolved.  Five people.  One stood over them, arms extended and head back like he was in the midst of a cinematic scream.  Another was crouched down as if he'd been sucker-punched.

The sheer telekinetic power that held the water at bay came from the boy who was crouched down.  He was holding the bubble through sheer force of will, but there just wasn't anything else left in him but the maintenance of it.

The shock in the situation came from the woman that stood over him.   She was absolutely thrumming with power too, though Lachesis couldn't quite determine what the power-effect was.

And all about them, dust and debris swirled around and around and around the bubble...
This message was last edited by the player at 11:43, Sun 21 June 2020.

EM pauses at the sight of storeroom, momentarily awestruck.  As a slow smile spread across her face she glances to Lachesis to gauge her teammate's reaction, then back to the room.  Slowly she floats forward and tests the bubble with an outstretched hand.

If it appears to allow passage she'll float inside, pulling Lachesis with her as she does so.


Not certain if we're going to continue this or not but posting just in case

We can wrap it up to a fair conclusion :)

The bubble allows passage.  Two of the five look up from where they'd lay, startled and amazed--not the least reason was because, Emerald Star was, after all, green!.


The woman standing with arms outstretched lowered her head, stopped gazing at the ceiling.   "Please."  she said.  "This is killing him.  Get him out.  Get them all out."

[Uh, so... Forsythe?]  SolidState called out.  [I kind of one-shotted your guy.  Okay.  two-shots, but he caught me surprise!  I wasn't thinking.  You coulda thrown more of a challenge at us, you know.]

[Now that I've got this water-guy, what do I do with him?  I'm through to the swimming pool, but there's a lot of debris.  it'll take me about ten or fifteen minutes to clear this place up.]


Waterworks sloshed back and forth in SolidStaet's invisible grasp, straining and reforming into various shapes, all constricted.  The trick was told hold him a delicate container, not try to squeeze the life out of him....
This message was last edited by the player at 13:58, Tue 23 June 2020.

  "Wrth ah jid??" Decompressing Lachesis' speech was a muddled process at the best of times.  Doing it while she was in a noisy environment and relying on the larynx mic was basically a lost cause.  She took in the situation as well as she could, under the circumstances, but there were too many unknowns to really be certain what was happening.  The figure standing above the boy could very well be the one she'd heard earlier.  Cheering was a pretty weird thing to be doing down here, so, a mind controller?

  Deciding it wasn't worth the risk of being wrong, she went with her gut.  Decoupling time from speed and breaking the conservation of energy was always dangerous, but it beat whatever stupid quantum crap happened when she tried to throw bullets without doing so.  Gamma radiation, for one.  And in this case, it was more like kick.  She braced herself in the doorway with both hands, drew a leg up, and waiting for a nice, big piece of debris to line up just right with the mad-laughter weirdo's ba—Oh, there was Emerald Star.  Well, that would be much easier.

  It was always a bit strange to perceive someone who could move as fast as Lachesis herself, but through time that ran normal pace.  Emerald Star coasted toward Lachesis at a fairly reasonable walking pace, despite all the movements of her body happening in ridiculous slo-mo.  It made her feel like a sloppy animation, or wirework flying in kung-fu movies, with the repositioning not lined up to the action that should have moved them.  Lachesis dropped out of warp speed as the woman arrived and just nodded, lips pulled tight and wide in an awkward grimace, then let herself be the second one to slip out of the water.

  "Wait.  Whoa, you're on our side?  Hah!  I was totally ready to knock you out with a brick.  Good thing you caught up, slowpoke.  Give us a shell?"

"A shell," EM ponders hesitantly, "I...possibly...yes I should be able to extend my solar field enough to enclose the group.   But we've already got a field holding the water back," she motions in the direction of Mangatang and the woman.

Time was of the essence, it seemed clear the woman was right and Manatang needed help immediately.  So she laid out an option.

"My thought, I can widen the doorway and use my gravity field to pull all of us out the way we just came in.  I suppose we could even go straight up if I open up the ceiling but the doorway avoids any falling debris.  It should only take a few moments and we'll be out of the water and the boy can relax.  Maybe there's something you can do to help...speed up...the trip, either for us all or just Manatang."

"Or I'll try creating the shell if you've got another option in mind.  Either way I'm ready when you are."

Lachesis - wasn't sure where the shell idea was going so if want to lay it out I'm good to go with it.  Otherwise I presented an option.  You choose.  Let's end this simulation. :)

  Lachesis' head tilted to one side, facing Emerald Star.  "Yeah, so, I'm not sure when you got on the comms, but they're already pumping water out.  Buy us a second, I'll make it an hour, and the water'll be gone already.  Or yank them all through the bath at once, I don't care.  Just..."

  She turned her head toward the boy for a moment, then back up.  The blindfold made her expression hard to read, but her voice was tense.  "He's holding back a river with only his heart.  Do something."  It was the same metaphor she used for stopping time entirely, something that had never stopped causing injury.

If she wants, she can just move object the group and speed back out.  If she can take over maintaining the bubble, I have a power stunt for Burst Quicken -12 (Diminished Area; Only subjective time) ready to roll.  I can't see your sheet.  Your call!

The relief that showed on the woman's face was evident as soon as Lachesis and Star took over.
She couldn't tell you how she did what he did, only that she could and knew it was the only thing keeping everyone alive.

Her son, Mangatang, had kept them breathing.   But one the bubble was up and safely ensconced in "The Nook" restaurant, both the bubble and the air-flow atmosphere fell apart.   The woman sighed with relief and slumped to one side, the boy slipped into unconciousness.

~~End Simulation~~

Awakening from the Simulation left them with a slight buzzing in the ears that fade over the course of about a minute, and a slight disorientation, unsteady balance.

All four of them were in the same room, and Dr. Tupol Khan and his assistant removed their own head-gear.

"Well done."  Khan said.   "Michael and Analyn Arbeus both erupted in precisely such a manner, though in the Hotel St Ellis in Legazpi, the Philipines.    It was the first recorded tag-team  eruption.   Your friend 'Waterworks'...   is an as-yet unidentified meta.   They have been documented in three verified sightings--twice in Santa Monica and more recently, there's been a sighting here in Emerald City.   At this stage, they have not been clasified as a hostile and are not wanted on any kind of warrants.  The mastermind characters... well, I might save that for another simulation.   We're still perfecting the interface."

"The woman behind Doctor Kan had been talking on the telephone... she hung up and then nodded to Doctor Khan.

"All right then.  Apparently, Director Maddox wants to welcome you to Aegis West." He said with a smile, brushing the dreadlocks from his side.   "Let me be the first to say welcome aboard."
This message was last edited by the player at 00:05, Thu 02 July 2020.

"The interface was amazing, thanks for the practice session Dr. Khan," Jenni smiles to the man, "I'm curious though, what did Michael and his mother do afterwards?  Not everyone joins Aegis so how do people choose to live with their new abilities?"

Once her curiosity was satisfied Jenni joins the others in the director's office.