...
10:45 PM The PRT had spoken to you two days ago and, though the town sings your praises for having saved their home-town hero capes, the mood in the resort town has gone from a stoic sadness to a sullen anxiety.
10:47 PM You see them while out in your civvies; Bikers. The Baldr Brotherhood, tales of a cape attacking teenagers and shaking them down for cash and drugs, the ReaGentZ getting restless and shaking down their 'competitors' in the poorer part of town.
10:47 PM Not much competition, more college students or high schoolers who had their own suppliers trying to make a quick buck, but that was somehow an insult to Tenteki or Cadena's honour.
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10:50 PM <•Spell|GM> The rooftop of an apartment building affords you a decent view of the centre of town, close to the make-shift PRT headquarters and university campus. Town is busy, using your ears to listen in on the conversations down below to pass the time and hopefully learn something.
10:51 PM "... arrived up at that old chalet, stocky dude with some weapons. Kev says..." and they're gone out of range.
10:51 PM "... -Eki trashed a bunch of apartments down by the south side! Cape or not, he's asking to get his shit ki-..."
10:52 PM An hour passes by before you hear an odd rustling sounds, like glass being dragged over sand or stone - you spot the odd mass of what looks like dark black and grey class in a strange ovoid, approaching you from a distance away.
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10:54 PM <•Spell|GM> "Do-on't be-e alar-armed." The ovoid snaps, seeming to explode inwards on itself before it's replaced by the figure of a rail-thin, tall woman with black curls cut short and a costume of what looks like glass and steel plates over a black body-suit, clad in a mask of the same materials covering every inch of her face.
10:55 PM "I'm Nemain. You're the hero I've been sent to chat with." She does a short curtsy. Her voice is accented. Irish?
10:55 PM ||
11:00 PM <Ww|Ratchetman> Perched up on rooftop for so long, Ratchetman had been getting antsy. His powerful, insectile legs were ready to launch him clear and into the action, but nothing had been even close to criminal down there.
11:02 PM "Chat with... or a team up?" Ratchetman said, injecting that trademark enthusiasm into his voice. He reached for his belt, pulling loose a wrench, "I crank them up, you- uh... You got a catchphrase?"||
11:03 PM <•Spell|GM> You hear he suppress a snort, striding up to you with her arms folded.
11:03 PM "Talking's hard when I do my thing. More likely to confuse than psyche-out whoever I'm being a prat to."
11:04 PM She stands beside you, overlooking the town.
11:04 PM "And not exactly a team-up. More an invitation I and my colleagues think you've earned."
11:04 PM ||
11:08 PM <Ww|Ratchetman> "Ooo, a seat at the round table. I've always fancied myself for a knighting," Ratchetman says, placing the wrench down so that the head faces down into the lip of the rooftop. He mock pulled on it, struggled and then pulled it free, his own sword in the stone.
11:09 PM He smiles a little, hoping that she wouldn't take offense to his playing around with the otherwise somber mood the city was in.
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11:09 PM <Ww|Ratchetman> "What's the discussion? And should I be bringing wine or something? I always worry before these dinner parties."||
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11:10 PM <Ww|Ratchetman> ((Can I use scrutinize to pick up some info on her?))
11:10 PM <•Spell|GM> ((You may!))
11:12 PM <Ww|Ratchetman> $roll 2h6 Scrutinize The Glass Egg
11:12 PM <[ATM]> Ww|Ratchetman "Scrutinize The Glass Egg" [4] (2)  = 4
11:13 PM <Ww|Ratchetman> ((He would probably care about flaws in a personal sense, the type of person she is))
11:14 PM <•Spell|GM> Her posture is unsure, a noticeable apprehension to her movements. The city's unfamiliar to her and by approaching you, you suspect that the new heroes don't actually know where to even start.
11:14 PM <Ww|Ratchetman> ((Also, if that is a success, could I use my third pip to go for extra info?))
11:14 PM <•Spell|GM> ((You may))
11:15 PM <Ww|Ratchetman> $roll 2h6 Really Study What Makes Her Tick
11:15 PM <[ATM]> Ww|Ratchetman "Really Study What Makes Her Tick" (3) [6]  = 6
11:15 PM <•Spell|GM> Her focus is on the hospital - It's got more than a few news vans and journalists outside, held at bay by a rather rag-tag looking security staff.
11:16 PM Fingers curl and twitch slightly, a subtle nudge of her hips or shoulders - she's anxious and wants to get moving.
11:16 PM "You up for a hospital visit?"
11:16 PM ||
11:17 PM <Ww|Ratchetman> He isn't. "Sure. That's more of a chocolates and balloons thing, though."
11:17 PM ((Does she have a mover status that I know of?))
11:18 PM ((Like, could she follow me if I just dropped to the ground))
11:18 PM <•Spell|GM> ((She could fall using her form and reform in human shape. Not exactly a mover, just gaming her forms.))
11:19 PM <Ww|Ratchetman> "Express route?" he asks, pointing down to the ground several stories below.||
11:21 PM <•Spell|GM> She peeks over the edge and steps off, falling a few meters before her form explodes outwards in a flurry of those dark shards, a monochrome stain glass explosion that wallops into the ground and reforms back into human shape an instant later. You see her rub her knees then look back up to you, giving a quick thumbs up.
11:21 PM ||
11:22 PM <Ww|Ratchetman> He drops, not even hesitating, feeling that satisfying weight in his strange, digit-grade legs as he hits the floor.
11:24 PM Acting like he hadn't even broken stride, Ratchetman begins leading Nemain in the direction of the hospital. "So you're new in town! Tell me you've gone to Gino's place on main street and had a slice. The /best/ in New York, I swear."
11:25 PM That /wasn't/ true, but he smiled nonetheless. It wasn't a massive town, and it didn't have much in the way of claims to fame, but if he could make her feel a little more at home here he would do his best.||
11:26 PM <•Spell|GM> People stop and stare, a few even point or snap pictures, Nemain walking with you across the University's plaza towards the hospital.
11:27 PM "We got take-out from them last night, actually." She chuckles, waggling a hand in the air. "I've'd better in Albany." She giggles.
11:27 PM The plaza is chock full of students, most studying at wooden tables or playing catch.
11:28 PM The hospital, packed around the entrance, sees more the police and security trying to maintain a clear path to the doors.
11:29 PM "We're visiting your friends - Boom Box and Turn Table... As unfortunate as Saint Sacred's passing may be, she was sure she'd do some good in this town before she planned on leaving..." Nemain sounds genuinely sad as she speaks of the fallen cape, her own face still in your mind from that night.
11:29 PM ||
11:33 PM <Ww|Ratchetman> "Slander. Lies," Ratchetman mutters mostly to himself after her insult to Gino's, clutching for other terms of reproachment. "Pure falsehoods."
11:34 PM Were those two friends? He hadn't even visited them in the days since the attack, but he supposed that if further threats were made against them, he would be there to back them up.
11:35 PM He wouldn't be able to deal with his own conscious if he didn't help.
11:36 PM "Ah, yes. Maybe- uh, maybe some music would cheer them up," Ratchetman says, cringing a little even as he does. A weak suggestion, and probably even a little callous.
11:36 PM <•Spell|GM> She simply tilts her head slightly at the remark but doesn't comment on it.
11:37 PM <Ww|Ratchetman> "I just know that I would get so sick of lying still like that, even if I wasn't awake for most of it." He turns some of his attention towards the police ahead, using his sensitive ears to see if he can't pick anything out.||
11:38 PM <•Spell|GM> As you approach the cluster of reporters and camera men, the costumes invite a lot of attention on yourselves. Nemain simply stays walking forward, a few over-eager reporters stand almost directly in front of her, but she doesn't at all flinch, continuing straight and forcing them to move or bump into her.
11:39 PM "Your plans for the Baldr brotherhood?" "Gesselschaft presence in New York?" "-onfirm rumours of your relationship with Manasume?"
11:39 PM A torrent of questions, a few at you - Are you a new protectorate swear-in? What did the cape killer look like? Are we safe? A torrent, no actual time to answer any one question.
11:41 PM The security at the door welcomes Nemain and then you in, doors closing behind you both to a relatively normal looking lobby and waiting room.
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11:42 PM <•Spell|GM> "Nemain. Ratchetman. Over here." A man, grey haired but fit and muscular, olympian looking physique in a costume that combines sports wear with armour, arms bared save for the elbow-pads and gloves.
11:43 PM Idealist. Ex-Louisiana Protectorate leader.
11:44 PM "Idealist." Nemain nods. The man smiles at you with genuine warmth. "A pleasure to finally meet you, sir." He takes your hand into both of his, shaking firmly and maintaining eye contact.
11:44 PM ||
11:46 PM <Ww|Ratchetman> "I'm still waiting on the knighthood, I'm afraid, but it's good to meet you too," Ratchetman says. "Got to say, I'm embarrassed. Kept reading it as Idea-list on the wiki, feel kind of stupid now. Ha."
11:49 PM He mimes a small notebook when he gets his hand back, flipping through it. "Ace-Jack around too? Seems like a real who's who here." The hospital was making Ratchetman even more on edge. So many people, just lying there, doing nothing. All day, all the time.
11:50 PM It was like he could feel that inactivity bleeding off of them.||
11:51 PM <•Spell|GM> He shakes his head, folding his arms as he urges the two of you follow him.
11:53 PM "'Fraid not - Ay-oh-Jay is across the campus, at the HQ. Meeting a new cape called Shaula - We think it's important we all get on the same page, get a contact network going. It's the one main advantage we have when the villains usually have the numbers." The hospital corridors are quiet, only the odd nurse or doctor passing you by. The elevator ride passes with Nemain and Idealist seeming to talk in code - Something about weaving.
11:54 PM "Not a good look, is all I'm saying..." Nemain mutters as the elevator opens, the 4th floor and it's eerily quiet.
11:54 PM "They've got them down here. Come on."
11:55 PM As you round the corner into a large ward, a collection of doctors and nurses huddled around a huge collection of yellow and white machines, alight with bright white and blue lights radiating past their huddled forms.
11:58 PM "He's here." Idealist says, the 7 or so medical workers parting when they notice you, affording you a look into the machines. Their angled at 75 degrees, laying in a metallic basin built into the yellow-white machinery, a glass panel covering their forms as they seem to float, silhouettes glaring in the clear liquid run through with what looks like veins - thin blue and purple tubes that pulse around them in a steady rhythm.
11:59 PM It's Boom Box and Turn Table. Fully costumed, although still in tatters - their skin looks red and raw, with patches of white or translucent skin... But no more open wounds.
11:59 PM "They're expected to make a full recovery." Nemain whispers to you.
Saturday, February 9th, 2019
12:00 AM <•Spell|GM> "More than a full recovery. They'll come out fitter than when they went in." A tall Asian man speaks, beaming as he looks to you then back at the machine.
12:02 AM "Dr. Saiga, this is the Ratchetman. The cape who saved these two before it was too late." Idealist introduces you. The other staff cast you quick smiles and nods, appreciative but occupied as they study the wounds. It's subtle, almost imperceptible if you weren't watching closely, but you can see it: Layers of skin slowly but surely layering one atop the other as the comatose capes float.
12:02 AM ||
12:05 AM <Ww|Ratchetman> His enhanced hearing was a special sort of hell here, picking up that uncomfortable beating of their hearts, every beep of the machines piercing. It set Ratchetman's teeth on edge, and he almost instinctively began changing to that colourful nose mutation.
12:05 AM That was /so much worse/. The lack of changed clothes in the past few days had done these two no favours, and the stink of chemicals was so strong Ratchetman nearly gagged. Another shift, moving past that stronger sense of taste to the improved eye-sight.
12:05 AM Again, he found himself looking at scars and wounds in way too much detail, but seeing how the skin patched itself together again-
12:05 AM He glances around the room, looking for the tinker tech. "Saint Sacred's tech?" he asks, almost allowing himself to hope. When he'd found the two, he had been sick to his stomach.
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12:07 AM <Ww|Ratchetman> ((Eh, he thought he saw scars, but he's just squeamish))
12:08 AM Was the clear liquid really all that was needed? He'd always thought of Tinkers as more of a laser-guns, rocket-pack sort of hero.
12:09 AM "That's- It's a relief," Ratchetman says, in response to their recovery status. "Haven't been sleeping well, these past few nights."
12:10 AM The past few months, more like.||
12:12 AM <•Spell|GM> "What sort of weaponry did you say the cape killer employed? These wounds weren't targeted to just the vitals - They were pin-point accurate. If not for this tech, they'd be goners." Dr. Saiga speaks to you, but his eyes are trained squarely on the tanks.
12:12 AM ||
12:15 AM <Ww|Ratchetman> "Uh, well they were kind of like needles, just not the kind your granny would make a sweater with," Ratchetman says, his attention focused on the flesh that is still layering over itself.
12:16 AM "What /is/ that stuff? I think we could all do with a cocktail of it, either way."||
12:17 AM <•Spell|GM> Dr Saiga's brow furrows, stabbing the tip of his pen into his clip board.
12:18 AM "We don't know. Our scans show a mixture of proteins, some unique virus-like constructs and other bio-matter but if we attempt to replicate it we just end up with a slurry with no actual use..."
12:20 AM "Tinker technology. Whatever process Saint Sacred used when creating the compound, it's completely beyond our ability to replicate." Another doctor says, holding a cial of the clear and veined liquid in one hand.
12:22 AM "This is the last batch we have and it can't be saved. It lasts about a fortnight, perhaps more? This batch was 8-days gone by the time we received and processed it. There are a few other amounts, most were shipped to New Delhi last month during the attack, a few stockpiles in LA, New York city and Boston, but in a week or so's time all of this tech becomes useless."
12:22 AM ||
12:27 AM <Ww|Ratchetman> "One of those things that can only be really used in emergencies like this one," Ratchetman says, glancing at the doctor. A little surprised that they so willingly used it up on these two heroes, especially so liberally as to heal all their wounds.
12:27 AM Were they testing it on them, like guinea pigs, or was it just orders from on high?
12:28 AM Now that he has had a chance to actually see that the two of them were doing alright, he felt a little bit more comfortable on falling back to the mutation of his ears, the sounds of the world being amplified, crystallizing.||
12:29 AM ((Intention is to see if he can't figure out why they are using so much of this limited supply rather than rationing it for further emergencies. Might just be that they know it will expire before it can be used))
12:30 AM <•Spell|GM> ((You can outright ask.))
12:31 AM <Ww|Ratchetman> ((Ratchetman wouldn't, at least not without trying to figure it out himself first))
12:32 AM ((He's gotten used to picking up those tidbits, figuring things out himself. Doesn't like relying on other people for that stuff))
12:33 AM <•Spell|GM> "It has it's limits - Patients with cancerous afflictions were shown in the past to develop further complications at an alarmingly rapid rate or to suffer extreme cellular deficiencies." The second doctor, a slim woman with dark hair and tanned skin, her accent vaguely Caribbean, holding a chart shown with skins of various kinds.
12:35 AM "It was shown to outright cause extreme rejection of implants in patients. If you see here, a pin inserted into this patients femur was forcibly ejected by the substance. Though the patient made a full recovery with a newly regenerated bone mass, the substance made no difference to the extent of the pain they felt undergoing the rejection. Similar cases have been recorded to occur with organ transplants, one such patient died of heart
12:35 AM complications before the substance could fully recover them." The pictures aren't exactly graphic - most are digital scans, not raw photographs.
12:36 AM "We've contacted Manasume in the opes that perhaps the process could be replicated by a fellow Tinker, but thus far the efforts by all PRT-affiliated Tinkers and other Rogues have borne no results..."
12:36 AM ||
12:39 AM <Ww|Ratchetman> Ratchetman glances back at Itemlist and Glassgirl, and says, "why do I get the feeling this meeting isn't really about checking in on our favourite musical-themed duo?"||
12:40 AM <•Spell|GM> Idealist holds his hands up in a placating gesture, shaking his head. "It is. We genuinely wanted you to be present and see they would make a full on recovery."
12:40 AM Nemain shifts her shoulders slightly, looking away to the side.
12:40 AM "But..." She mutters.
12:40 AM "But..." Idealist sighs.
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12:42 AM <•Spell|GM> "But, three ex-Protectorate capes are dead now. One of which was our best healer. The other two, we believe, were with her to protect her."
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12:44 AM <•Spell|GM> "Attache and Cashel were well-respected. Spotless records. Saint Sacred had a turbulent beginning, but she was a hero. I don't mean that in the cape sense, I mean that in the context of her humanity - She wanted to make the world a better place. She had no interest in fighting or causing harm in any capacity. She abhorred it."
12:45 AM "She never hurt anyone. Not really. And she's saved countless lives. She was on the brink of saving hundreds of thousands if she'd managed to get her tech mass-produced even in a limited capacity. Dozens of capes all across the United States resigned from the PRT, but one of the worlds best healers get killed. Why?"
12:45 AM ||
12:48 AM <Ww|Ratchetman> Ratchetman remembered the writing on the wall, the blood streaking down as the word settled in. COMPLICIT.
12:49 AM "Someone thought she was involved. Involved in something horrible enough that they killed her without- without really even considering the good she was doing." Ratchetman paused, struggling to get his thoughts in order.
12:50 AM After the incident, he'd tried to focus on the action, on just getting out in the city and /doing/. Fighting criminals, protecting people, making everyone aware that the heroes were still around, they weren't going to be scared off.
12:52 AM A big part of that had been stopping himself from thinking about the attack, the bloody horror scene he had come across. But now these heroes were asking him to help track down the people who did this, as well as the reason why.
12:52 AM He was being offered a chance, here, to do something big. To contribute, and maybe make up for past mistakes.
12:54 AM "I can- We, we will figure out why? We'll put these pieces together, and we'll stop whoever that weird ghost figure I saw was."||
12:55 AM <•Spell|GM> Nemain and Idealist share a look and then walk towards the hall, Nemain beckoning you with a wave,
12:56 AM "Good day, heroes." Dr. Saiga nods.
12:56 AM Outside in the privacy of the hall, Idealist speaks; "We don't know where to start."
12:56 AM "At all." Nemain sighs.
12:57 AM "There are no capes we know of in this town with any powers remotely similar to the person or creature you described. The Baldr, the ReaGentZ, even Curdle - None match these capabilities."
12:59 AM "Can you think of anyone? Even someone with a power remotely similar. It's possible a local may have developed abilities lately, or a power deviated."
12:59 AM ||
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1:04 AM <Ww|Ratchetman> "I-" Ratchetman hesitates. He really hasn't been a cape for all that long, and Turn Table and Boom Box had been the first capes he had even encountered in costume. He knew some of the locals, but that didn't mean he knew how their powers really worked.
1:04 AM At the same time, he is aware that revealing that could easily take that uncertainty these two were feeling and turn it into full blown panic.
1:05 AM It wasn't his forte, to stop, to think, to plan and prepare. If it meant building something, would that help?
1:06 AM Up till now, he had mostly been picking up info working shifts at the bar, the criminal underbelly of the city using it semi-regularly as their stomping ground. Could he translate that?
1:06 AM They're looking at him now. Did he pause for too long?
1:09 AM "I might have some ideas, though I'm honestly not sure that powers can deviate," Ratchetman says, hedging his bets just a little. "I think the first step, the one you've identified, is the right one. Our advantage is being able to work together. Let's organise a meet, all the heroes. Between us, we'll figure out the right track."
1:09 AM ||
1:12 AM <•Spell|GM> Idealist and Nemain exchange another look - Nemain's face is obscured, but Idealist has a noticeably troubled expression.
1:13 AM "If he's sharing, then it's only fair." Nemain nods.
1:13 AM "... Come with us."`Idealist sighs, leading you back to the elevators.
1:14 AM He hits the button for the basement's level 2, a tablet beside the floor numbers prompting him to swipe a pass.
1:15 AM "Saint Sacred had only one condition that was to be absolutely followed if her technology was to be lended to any hospital or facility, PRT, private or otherwise." Nemain began, the basement level 2 button going green as all other buttons turned amber.
1:16 AM "ELEVATOR SECURED. STAFF ACCESS ONLY." A robotic voice chimed.
1:16 AM The descent is tense, you can hear Idealist swallow and sigh, Nemain digging her fingers into her own palms.
1:18 AM "And that was, without any exception, any capes with any form of serious injury, regardless of past-deeds or history, even those that would be sentenced to the Baumann Parahuman Containment center post-rehabilitation would be treated with priority to her technology."
1:19 AM The door slides open, leading to a rather narrow, bare concrete hallway, no doors on any of the openings into the rooms. The duo remain silent as the lead you a lengthy walk down a maze of tunnels, low halogen bulbs casting a dim light along your way.
1:20 AM You finally reach the end of a long corridor, the doorway flanked by armoured and visored PRT agents, rifles and foam-guns at waist and in hand.
1:21 AM "Password." One agent speaks.
1:21 AM "Runechild."
1:21 AM The guard nods, and the three of you pass through the blue-white medical curtain covering the door.
1:24 AM It's more of the yellow-white tech, but bulkier, thicker, built in a sturdy fashion you're sure it could house a rhino or even a small whale - the glass before you is inches thick, further distorting the view of the inside - It's almost hard to look at, a glowing orange-hot orb that seems to jump and pulse rapidly as waves of air or heat explode outwards from random parts of the tanks interior, the thick glass somehow keeping the energy
1:24 AM within at bay.
1:24 AM "This young man, though I know it's difficult to tell it's a human, is a local cape known as Ifrit." Idealist speaks, his voice hard and solemn.
1:25 AM "Were you familiar with him?" Nemain asks, turning to you.
1:25 AM ||
1:25 AM <Ww|Ratchetman> $roll 1d6 Do I know him at all?
1:25 AM <[ATM]> Ww|Ratchetman "Do I know him at all?" [4]  = 4
1:27 AM <•Spell|GM> Ifrit. He'd been one of the local drug-dealing capes. A cocky and vicious thug who'd been almost certainly involved in the murder of a young woman just last month. He was local living proof that even the lowest scum could become parahuman.
1:27 AM ||
1:29 AM <Ww|Ratchetman> "A little, and what I do know isn't what you'd call friendly. Killed someone, I heard," Ratchetman looks through the glass, trying to spot the figure in there. "Hothead in every sense of the word. I can't even tell that he's hurt in there."||
1:30 AM <•Spell|GM> The duo step up beside you, the boom of the explosions and warpings within muffled greatly by the glass and the liquid.
1:34 AM "This is what we mean by deviated powers. A more academic term is a second trigger event - a trauma with enough similarities to the original event that granted the parahuman their abilities the first time around that their powers and psyche are affected to the point that they change - sometimes greatly, sometimes only subtly. The files the local PRT representative kept on Ifrit indicated a Shaker ability to generate enclosed areas of
1:34 AM intensely heated space. As of now, it seems he's developed some type of Breaker power... We suspect, though it is exceedingly rare, that perhaps the cape responsible for our presence here went through something similar."
1:36 AM Idealist takes over; "A more well-known example of such a parahuman would be the Guild cape, Narwhal. It's rare, experts suppose the percentage of parahumans who experience such a phenomenon are in the single digit percentages, but it does happen."