In reply to Audrey Eden Davis (msg # 74):

You make a quick flicker of the lights.  After you shut it off, you see movement from the big tank.  The body in the water begins to move.  It rolls around the inside of the tank, stopping here and there.  It's like whatever it is woke up and is looking around, trying to see what woke it up.

Aubrey stays completely still as she listens for any communication. Is this poor "person" being held captive, is shehe there for treatment. The list of questions that race through her mind are hard to keep back. But she listens for any morse code and tries to be patient to find her escape from that area of the room.

In reply to Audrey Eden Davis (msg # 76):

There's no Morse code.  Instead whatever it is starts beating against the sides of the aquarium.

'It' has a little more definition now.  It looks like a man, but with oddly shaped skin.  It's like it's a fluid slightly thicker than the water containing it.  You can see bits of the skin float off like bubbles off a soapy sponge.

It's thumping against the glass, though it doesn't seem to know where you are.  It's kicking back and forth along the aquarium, swimming back and forth.  Like it's trying to figure out where you are.

At the same time, you see a red light wink into existence.  It's near the base of the aquarium on the outside.  It's starting the blink.  Rapidly.

Aubrey will try to use "ITs" disturbance as a cover to move her spider into hiding. She tries for the ducts but as she is moving she looks for any hidey hole she can find.

In reply to Audrey Eden Davis (msg # 78):

You do have time to make it to the vent.  Though that would mean leaving the log book behind.  You can drag the book under the desk if you want to peruse it a little longer...
This message was last edited by the GM at 03:04, Fri 03 Jan 2020.

IC:

Common sense would tell you that you could look at the book again after the threat. But in the heat of the moment Aubrey wasn't alway thinking with common sense. Aubrey used the spider to pull the book under the desk, hoping to find somewhere to hide until things calmed down and she could look through the book.

In reply to Audrey Eden Davis (msg # 80):


The desk is cramped, but the spider seems to be doing fine.  You pull the folder under.

From where you are, you can't see anything.  But the spider's mic is still working fine.

You can hear the boom boom on the glass.  And then you hear a woman's voice.  Maybe that woman who was working late in the other lab. Her footsteps are hurried.

"Dr. Roberson!  Dr. Roberson! Calm down!  Calm.  Down.  It's okay.  It's okay."

Flo's last name is Roberson.  Her Dad was a doctor.

Seems like Flo isn't really an orphan anymore.  At least that's your guess.

Aubrey sat behind her spider in amazement. Was this a punishment for Dr. Roberson or was this something he wanted. Someone had hired her company to try and keep Flo safe. Was it Dr. Roberson or someone in this lab. Aubrey sat still and tried to listen for anything said.

In reply to Audrey Eden Davis (msg # 82):

Shh...shh...hush now.  It's gonna be okay.

The thumps on the glass dim and then stop.

That's good.  You remember who I am?  It's Nyla.  You remember me today? Mmmm?  No.  Maybe.  You hear a bitter laugh.  Well.  Teach me to start screwing a guy who wants to become a superman.

You hear what you think is Nyla tapping away on some keyboard.

's okay.  I'll be in the next room.  I'll come visit after I finish writing up the results of this round of antidote reactions.  You wanna be a man again, right?  There's a short pause.  I damn sure want you to be one again, she adds in a whisper.

The room lights go on.  Don't worry, Nyla says to someone. It's just me.  He got freaked out again and started pounding on the tank walls.

You hear a voice.  It's one of those guards from earlier.  The alarms are off in here.  Did you do that?  There's a pause.  Sorry Dr. Clemmons.  But rules are rules.

Fine.  But I'm gonna be going back and forth all night.

Just call us before you come back in here. There's a pause.  Dr. Clemmons.  We need to get the alarms back on.

Okay.  Okay.

You hear Dr. Clemmons leaving.  And then what sounds like a switch being thrown.  And then the lights go out and a thrumming sound starts up.

Aubrey waits a few moments after everything. If she had had enough time she would have ran the spider up the wall and into the the vent. But it didn't seem to work that way for her. She had to plan and it would seem that this lady, who seemed to have a thing for the Dr. would be back another time to check on him. So Aubrey looked, from her location , around for any changes that would speak about their security in this room. Was there a grid on the floor or other activators. After going through that she will look through the lab notebook and take as many notes as possible from it. She will then try to figure out her best way of escaping up the wall and to the vent. What would be the most obscure way to plan her escape.

In reply to Audrey Eden Davis (msg # 84):

You peruse the notebook.  Luckily you can screen shot the hell outta the monitor, because there's not a lot here you understand.  There's a lot of chemical formulas and what appear to be notes about both Flo and Brad.  The lab was trying to get them to 'replicate'.  It seems there's enough here to show Anodyne was manipulating the two of them into having a child.  Something was wrong with the embryo though.  It was 'non viable'.  Anodyne then took steps to 'purge results'.

There's enough here to show Anodyne is not a good candidate for guardianship of Flo.

Now how to get out of here?

You study the security set up.  At least what you can see from under the desk.  There's lasers for one.  The spider has a scope that will allow you to see the beams.  So that should be doable.  You're good at video games, right?  Same principal.

The problem for you is that the walls appear to have pressure sensitive paneling installed.  It seems the floor has some spots for that as well.

You could try to guide the spider, carefully, through the maze of traps.

Or...maybe wait for Nyla to come back.  The guards may assume any disturbance is due to her.  You would just need to sneak past her and in to the other lab, shimmy up the walls there, and get out through a vent.

Easy peasy.  Right?

Aubrey frowns as she tries to figure out her best option. Stupid guards! She'll wait till Nyla comes in to check the Dr. again and try to sneak out the door and into the other lab. She hopes she can make it to the vent system that way. In the meantime she sends the encrypted file to the lawyer and to Bull.

In reply to Audrey Eden Davis (msg # 86):

Roll me a d6 please

It seems to take forever.  Of course it does.  But soon you hear the clack of her heels.

The door opens and Nyla comes in, tapping on her cell phone.  She flips on a light.

You can go left:  there's a long table on that side. You'll have to cross a space of open ground.  But you're pretty sure you'll do it before Nyla comes from around a set of file cabinets.

You can go right:  this is the longer way.  You'll duck behind the table supporting the tank and follow it clockwise around the outside, keeping the tank between you and Nyla.  Of course Flo's Dad might be able to see you.  But he'll probably be focused on Nyla.  Right?

You need to move now.

Aubrey had waited for this moment. She had what she needed and now she needed to get her spider out. Do they have a self destruct button....

Aubrey decides to go left and take the side of the long table, there was a little part where she would be out in the open...

ooc
11:33, Today: Audrey Eden Davis rolled 4 using 1d6.

In reply to Audrey Eden Davis (msg # 88):

I hate it when you make the right call...

The spider scurries from under the desk and makes it's way quickly behind the table.  You can see Nyla's ankle just as you whip around the corner.

After a tense second, you don't hear her make any kind of startled sound.  From the sounds, she's tapping on some kind of keyboard.

You move quickly and make it through the open door.

You are in the next lab.  As before, it's dark except for the space she was working.

Heading out?  Or you want to poke around some more?

Aubrey doesn't really want to tempt fate any more then she has at this point. But she does swing by the desk and, if the spider has a camera she takes a bunch of random pictures of everything. She pauses at the wall to verify she doesn't have to walk a maze up to the vents and out of the lab

In reply to Audrey Eden Davis (msg # 90):

Let's finish the Flo storyline up.  We have bigger fish to fry.  He he he

You make it out of the vents suprisingly easily.  You pick up the spider at the prearranged spot.

The next morning, you meet with Lillian and Bull.  They look over the documentation you found.

Oh my.  Does this mean what I think it means?

Yep, Bull replies to Lillian's question.  This is proof positive that Flo and Brad were engineered and used as test subjects.  I'll need a couple of days to break it out, but there's everything you'll need here.

Lillian grins.  Finally!  It feels good to win one!  Especially after those ass holes tore down my office!  I'm going to schedule a meeting with the Judge and Anodyne's shyster.  And then we are gonna have beer and jalapeno poppers all night long!

She gives you a hug and walks to the next room to make the calls.

Bull looks up from the file.  You do good work. Were there any problems?

Aubrey looked over at Bull and smiled a sad smile

"Some, but field work ones that got worked out. Still not comfortable with Brad dieing, I wanted him to get protected and have a life. And there is this small part of me that is terrified that I made this whole Flo thing worst, because if they deem her to dangerous then there is no life. It all feels so very unfair and I am facing some things I have to really think on. I mean... serious... I know how much fun, excitement, not quite sure of the word i'm looking for, in being a meta. It would be like being a cup of coffee but with some real good caramel in it. But to go to these lengths and the laws you have to live up to. Not to mention that my boyfriend is ghosting me and was that man in the fishtank Flo's dad...LiFE"

Aubrey sighs

"So I guess the answer is, everything is fine. Should I be expecting some retaliation from Anodyne? Is there any way of keeping my involvement after the whole bodyguard situation a secret ? "
This message was last edited by the player at 16:44, Tue 14 Jan 2020.

In reply to Audrey Eden Davis (msg # 92):

Bull nods sympathetically.  Meta life has it's perks.  And it has it's cons.  Flo will be fine.  And what happened to Brad wasn't your fault.  If Anodyne had gotten a hold of him, they probably would have scrubbed him.  No pun meant.  As far as Anodyne...don't worry about them.  Even if Lillian doesn't take 'em to court on Flo's behalf...and I'm guessing she will...I have a feeling a local Cape team named the Invincibles will be taking a good long look at them.  I just have that feeling.  He grins at you for a moment.

Then he sits up.  So...if you're boyfriend is dumb enough to dump you...well. I happen to be a very smart guy.  Remember that.  Subtlety doesn't seem to be Bull's strong point.  But...since you look so depressed and all...you are a detective, right?  Go find him.  Maybe something's happened to him.  And if it hasn't...well.  You deserve being told straight up how it is.  Does that make sense?

Aubrey smiled and got up and hugged her friend

"Thank you Bull. It makes sense. And thank you for being there and dealing with all of this"

Bull's words were a confirmation on what she had been thinking about before everything went crazy. She needed to research and find out where and what happen to her nameless boyfriend. She goes back over the things she did before and decided to go walk the floors on a the ones within the area of her house and the area of the attack .

In reply to Audrey Eden Davis (msg # 94):

I can't recall.  Does Bull know you're dating Condor?  I'll leave that decision up to you. Thanks.

I thought he did

In reply to Audrey Eden Davis (msg # 96):

I couldn't remember but I couldn't find it in either game.  Thanks.

And so...

Wait.

Bull sighs and looks at the ceiling.  He sighs again then looks at you.

I shouldn't tell you this.  Cause you'll just end up in trouble.  So promise me.  If you get in over your head, you call.  Got it?

Anyway. Your Boo's partner.  The Whir?  He called Invincible HQ about a week ago asking for info on The Scale Society.  You've heard of them, right?

You have.  They're some kind of underground army that seem to have some kind of reptile fetish.  They periodically pull some shenanigans that are supposed to let them take control of the world.  Or something like that.  There's a few of these private armies around.  This one is just the snake themed one.

The Scales have a couple of bases here in the city.  We know that.  But we don't know the location.  Cos...ya know.  If we did, we'd go bust all up in there.

I'm guessing your guy and his pardner have been investigating the Scales.  But that's just a guess.

Remember:  if you get in trouble, you call.

Aubrey grinned and listened to what Bull had to say.

"I do tend to find trouble, but in my defense, I do call when I realize that it is over my ability"

Aubrey leaned against the chair

"The Scales.... what sort of info where they looking for? It might lead me in the right direction in finding him? "

"Sorry for giving you all this grey hair and worry. I will call if there is trouble, and if you need anything you know that phone can reach me as well"

In reply to Audrey Eden Davis (msg # 98):

Bull grins at you when you say it's a two way line.  Promises, promises...

He sits back, moving the file on Flo to one side.  Well.  Whir was lookin' for anything about a recruiter for the Scales.  Woman named Veronica Blassingale.  The Scales are always tryin' to recruit up and coming thugs.  Supposedly they have some kinda school they send 'em to.  I've tangled with them a few times.  Their foot soldiers are decently trained.

I can tell you we don't know anything about this Veronica.  Or this school.  But.  He sighs and makes an Why-Am-I-Telling-You-This face.  But.  There is one guy who might know somethin'.  He's a reporter over at the Daily Feed.  Roger Couper.  He chases a lot of the Hood stories.  We've had to protect him a time or three from a meta who didn't like one of his stories.  Go see him and tell him I sent ya.  But Bree?  Don't trust him too much.  He's a user.