Lorenzo
The rain and thunder quiets in a short lull leaving you alone in the research lab.
On the one hand, Dr. Coriolis' disappearance so soon after his project was canceled seems now more than coincidence. And this might be the only chance you can legally enter the research lab (Dr. Cobalt is a stickler about loaning out lab passes to anyone outside his team, you will have to return it tomorrow or suffer his wrath). If you could shed some light on this mystery or even solve it, you'd could be on the fast track to fame, the police reward, or maybe even a promotion!
On the other hand, the lab is damn creepy this time of night and it might be a good idea to just abscond while the absconding is good.
Lorenzo, you are maybe 3 blocks away when the rain suddenly ceases. At the next stop light you crane your neck to see the sky. It could be just your imagination but you could swear the clouds are lingering around RoboCorp. Like the full focus of the storm is centered around it. Good thing you got out of there.
Timeline kisses Katana's hand
Katana nice to make you acquaintance.
Timeline flexes his muscles.
My Powers...Oh you know....Super strength, flight, laser eyes the normal stuff.
Timeline notices Katana take his id and teleports it back.
Come one timeline. i am glad that you met katana here, but we should probably get going. sorry about using you as a transport system. i can get home by myself if you prefer. friendly advice though, she can be rather, sharp.
Lorenzo heads home, and makes sure to not be seen by his landlady, as too many questions might lead to unwanted attention.
When he gets to his apartment, he clears a space at his makeshift workbench.
Good thing I worked as a mechanic before going into IT. This is going to be a special kind of nightmare, sorting through all the leftovers from Robocorp.
Using the full range of equipment available to him, Lorenzo works through the night. Soldering, welding, cutting, molding, and creating a persona that will allow him to find, and question, anyone who might have information concerning Baker Scott.
Lorenzo puts on the HUD helmet, to make sure it fits.
Yea, this'll do nicely. And it doesn't look too bad either...
Lorenzo takes the helmet off and continues working through the night.
Timeline and Joe
Katana looks Timeline in the eye and seems to reach a decision. So you're a teleporter huh? I bet you just know how to get in all the right places.
As Joe tries to peel Timeline away from Katana's predations, she snaps her fingers. Nearly forgot why I was down here in the first place. A crate of stolen religious artifacts is being shipped here and the ambassador wants an expert to take a look at them to assess their value and significance. I figured Joe with your expertise on the subject you could let us know if there was anything significant?
The full shipment won't arrive arrive for a week or two. Red tape and all that.
Lorenzo
You feel a strange combination of exhilaration and fatigue as you roll out of bed the next morning.
You were able to make considerable progress on the suit overnight. It even has a cool mask! Configuring the suit and integrating each of the systems will take awhile longer but you set the custom code you created to compile while you're at work.
Despite your best intentions, working as late as you did has you running behind as you enter RoboCorp...
Mister Pachenti. A word in my office if you please. The cold tone of Dr. Cobalt's voice sends shivers down your spine. You were only ten minutes late. The lab technicians and assistants make a point to look anywhere but at you.
The door to Dr. Cobalt's office closes behind you and he offers you a chair. You sit in uncomfortable silence for several excruciating seconds. Just as you're about to speak up to defend yourself he interrupts. There has been an unfortunate incident in the lab. Technological prototypes were stolen last night after hours.
His eyes burrow into your very soul as he asks, You were in the lab very late last night. Do you have any knowledge about the thefts that should come to light before I file my official report?
Lorenzo thinks very quickly, trying to put anything together that might help his case.
Uh...
There is an uncomfortable silence for a few moments.
Well...I remember some weird stuff happening. Someone must have left the window open, because the wind picked up, and I don't know who left the window open, but I saw an ID badge of Dr. Cory fly out the window. That's when I decided to leave and when it got real stormy out. I wanted to beat the weather home, you know. But it was really weird, like, when I was driving away from the building I noticed that the storm cloud was only centered around Robocorp tower.
Lorenzo listens to himself and how crazy he sounds.
I am so getting fired for this...
He shrugs,
That's really all I know, sir.
I wonder if I can get Marissa to vouch for me... I just don't know how much I'd honestly be able to tell her.
Thank you katana, that actually sounds quite interesting. i would gladly investigate these pieces of history when they get here. i wonder what they will be about. it was nice seeing you again and i hope you have a very fruitful day. good day madam.
Timeline, shall we head out our would you like to stay?
Oh miss Katana if you only knew!
Timeline looks to Joe as he poses his question.
Indeed old friend we should take our leave. Well Miss Katana it was certainly a pleasure.
Timeline winks at Katana and puts his hands on Joes shoulder and off we go back the the HQ.
Lorenzo
Dr. Cobalt takes it all in for a moment. Dr. Coriolis' ID badge "flew" out the window? Interesting. He seems to comtemplate this bit of information as he dismisses you from his office. Thank you for your cooperation, Mr. Pachenti. Please drop those reports here on my desk and take the day off. There is little we can accomplish in the name of science with S.H.R.U. mucking about.
You drop the reports off and prepare to leave. Oh and Lorenzo, before you head out deliver this disc to the head of the investigation force, Captain Abrams.
Dr. Cobalt gives you a significant look and you take the disc. These are last night's surveillance tapes of the laboratories. You should review them and make sure there aren't any unfortunate gaps in the data say from 10:39 to 10:48 PM? Storm's of last night's magnitude have been known to disrupt delicate electronics from time to time.
Joe & Timeline
Katana smirks, Be sure to bring your friend again when you come, Joe. I'm sure we can find some way to pass the time while you search through those dusty relics.
Joe
Joe, you let Timeline know that you have to stop by Medical before you leave. At your insistence, Timeline heads out without you.
You arrive in Medical and before you know it you're being driven home in a nondescript government Jeep. You don't even remember what tests they did on you. It strikes you as odd that you can't recall the questions you were asked. You remember the nurse was very charming and you answered every question correctly.
Lorenzo heads back to his desk to grab some equipment that he'll need to run a diagnostic on his suit back home, as well as cause an "unfortunate accident to those tapes."
Dr. Cobalt has never so much as told a white lie, from what I hear, and he's always up to scratch with turning in even his 50 cent receipts for reimbursement and cataloging. Why the heck is he covering for me? That is not like him...
Lorenzo heads out, waves at Marissa on the way out, deflecting a curious look with a wave. He heads home, past the S.H.R.U. vans, pondering what Dr. Cobalt has told him, and how best to get some information on Baker, or Risen Fate's whereabouts.
The next several days pass in a dreary blur. Rainstorms plague Maximum City like rats plagued the sailing vessels of old. Even the criminal element seems drowned by the inclement weather.
The perfect weather for a funeral some would say.
It's the day before the funeral and Baker's absence is sorely felt.
As it's a Saturday you have the day to collect your thoughts and make any preparations you'd like to make before the funeral.
E.O.N. handles the mundane preparations but he still needs a little help from you guys.
Emit, you still have to prepare the eulogy for Baker.
Joe, you are in charge of picking out the floral arrangement.
Lorenzo, you have to find where the funeral is being held.
Ellie is flying in for the funeral. She'll arrive late tonight.
There will actually be two funerals simultaneously. Both funerals will be held at an isolated location north of town, at the . One for Baker's family and friends of the non-superhero variety and one for the Guardians of Earth and associates. E.O.N. apologized but there were no other openings this month. Emit and Joe had the unfortunate duty to inform Baker's parents about how their son had gone missing and was presumed dead during an unfortunate flyover of the Amazon Basin on the return trip from an archaeological digsite. Emit, as the head of the expedition you expressed your deepest remorse at the loss of such a bright young man. Joe, as the expedition's theological expert and translator you also expressed your sorrow most passionately.
Timeline spends the day trying to write the eulogy.
What do I say it has to be good, although we didn't know each other for long he was a good friend and deserves to be remembered as such.
Timeline as he does not sleep stays up all night editing the eulogy and rehearsing it and committing the whole thing to memory. He also checks with E.O.N. at different times to make sure things are in order.
Timeline
At one point during your morning you wander into your lab to think about the eulogy. You know how you want to start it but you can't quite find the words. You shake your head to clear the cobwebs and that's when you notice it...a weird fluctuation out of the corner of your eye. You turn to find a piece of paper materialize out of some sort of quantum distortion and float into your hands. On it is written the eulogy you were trying to come up with. It's even written in your handwriting! There are a few dark stains smudging the words but you think you can make out enough to reconstruct it.
Assuming this is future you, why would he risk breaching the space-time continuum just to deliver your own eulogy? This must be more important than it looks.
i stop by the bank from my work, then stop by the Florist at the corner of my ghetto. i make an effort to make an arrangement of peace lilies, and possibly get some flora native to Visskonia. Also i contact through the internet for any darklands flora, as i vaguely think risen got his powers from there. lastly i try to find some baby blue forget-me-nots, as they seemed to match the glow Risen had when powered up.
Lorenzo, as the Obsidian Spectre, heads out before dusk to try and find the whereabouts of this Rabbi Frankenburg and see what he can learn about him.
Using his HUD's quick-uplink and information collecting web-bots, Lorenzo sets a quick-search probe out on "Rabbi Frankenburg."
The search brings up highly minimal results.
Hmm... looks like this thing still needs to be calibrated.
Lorenzo makes his way across the rooftops until he reaches Maximum City University, heading for the Theology Dept.
While waiting on the roof, Lorenzo uses the suits in-helmet bluetooth to call Darius Jones at the local Boys and Girls club he volunteers at on the weekends, knowing that Darius usually works late.
Hey, Darius, buddy, I was wondering if you could do me a solid?
I need to know if you've ever heard of a Rabbi Frankenburg? He's been doing something shady, and I'm looking into it. That name ring a bell to you? I know you get some church volunteers in from time to time.
Alright, time to do a little sleuthing and see if I can't find some information on this Rabbi.
Rabbi Joe
While in line at Fidelity Savings and Trust you get the unnerving feeling of being watched. A quick scan of the area doesn't reveal anyone or anything out of the ordinary and you shrug it off.
You stop at Sodenberg's floral shop to pick out a floral arrangement. Much to your dismay the shop has no lilies of any variety nor any of the other flowers you were thinking of. In fact the store seems completely devoid of anything but a single bouquet of exotic blue roses. The man behind the desk watches your every movement from the corner of his eye, ostentatiously watching the muted baseball game on the small mounted TV above your head. The clerk is not someone you've seen before but dresses non-descriptly. Mr. Sodenberg himself is nowhere to be seen.
Maybe it's a case of the nerves but every instinct of your training tells you something is up.
Lorenzo
You spread your information gathering bot programs out into the web but unfortunately the only thing they seem to be transmitting back to you are advertisements for Monkey Grease (tm).
Darius picks up on the fifth ring. Welcome to the Boys and Girls Club of America, Maximum City branch. How can I direct your call?
Once you explain the situation, Darius quickly tells you to call him back on his cell phone. I told you to use discretion when ringing me up. Don't be calling me on the job, Big Brother has ears everywhere. About this Rabbi Frankenburg, he seems polished on the surface. Single, unattached, volunteers for museum tours. He's actually a professor at MCU but you already knew that. All-in-all your everyday average Joe. So he's obviously working for the government and this is a cover for a very deep undercover mission. Aliens, ancient artifacts, possibly mind control. I was only able to find one piece of actual footage on him so far. I'm sending you the clip now.
The video displays on your HUD and you see a blurry piece of footage of what looks to be a protest group on the University's lawn. The Rabbi is attacked by a couple of the protesters and he single-handedly disables both of them after exchanging some words. Another student is stabbed by a protester and then the video screen fills up with some sort of blue static before cutting out.
I would stay far away from this dude, dude. If he's beating up armed civilians like that, he's either crazy or a government agent. Please tell me you are going to leave this one alone. if it really bothers you all that much do what I do, blog about it.
After you are done talking to Darius you replay the video multiple times trying to find a clue. You run it through a few filters to clean up the picture. The newly restored video indicates the blue static (obviously some kind of powerful device or ability) seems to emanate from a female student in the video. You can make out just enough features that you could probably recognize her if you saw her in person.
Joe
The rest of the day goes by in a drizzly haze but nothing weird or terrible ever manifests. You steer clear of the blue roses and find passable, if smaller, bouquets from a more expensive shop in another district.
Emit
Multiple tests performed on the time-traveling eulogy (after carefully copying it's contents) reveal only one disturbing fact. The smudge wasn't a coffee stain but dried blood. Yours in fact. It leaves you much to consider but the rest of the day passes in relative quiet save for the occasional peal of thunder.
Lorenzo
You are able to track down a student matching the video's depiction with relative ease. Sierra is shy at first but when you mention Rabbi Joe, she opens up. Curiously, all she has to say is good things about him. She buttons up when you ask her about the incident with the riots a couple of weeks ago. You try a different tack and she mentions that the rabbi canceled his classes for tomorrow due to a death in his extended family. She isn't sure exactly where the funeral is going to be and you don't particularly like barging into a funeral but you must have answers. Baker was like FAMILY dammit!
Day of the Funeral
The rain continues to pour in Maximum City as you gather at the .
The building is of sturdy construction with thick wooden rafters and walls and a solid brick foundation. Joe's bouquets have been carefully placed by the funeral director in key locations to brighten up the room.
Members of Baker's family and about half a dozen relatives arrive for Funeral A and a similar number of disguised superheroes arrive at Funeral B.
Minuteman and Eclipse arrive first, the former in street clothes and the later emerging from the nearby shadows in a black suit and tie.
Tempest arrives early having inappropriately brought a date. She is dressed in black but giggles at inappropriate times.
Several other GoE arrive in the next hour but none as conspicuous as Beryl Beacon. Maximum Silver has still not arrived.
Aunt Magaret: Oh my, that fellow's skin is bright blue!
Beryl just politely nods his head towards Bakers relatives before approaching Joe and Timeline.
Quite the turnout. I didn't know Eclipse was back from his mission already. Negotiations with the Mole Men are tricky affairs.
Looks like all of the off duty GoE near the city are here today. His eyebrows raise as the members of Rising Star file in late. Tuner noticeably doesn't meet anyone's gaze.
There is even a showing of our new sidekick team. Very impressive. Silver wanted to let you know that he's sorry he cannot be here in person but that he's listening in. Let me know if I can help in any-
Beryl is interrupted by the sound of shouting coming from Funeral B.
Tempest: Nuh uh, you're not the fastest! I could be you in under a New York Minute!
Minuteman: Calm down, this is a funeral. Show some respect!
Tempest: Minuteman? more like Minute Maid!
Minuteman: Don't make me shove your own katanas down your throat, knucklehead!
Emit greets the various heroes as they arrive shaking there hands and thanking them for coming. He greets Beryl and talks to him when its interrupted by raised voices.
Excuse me Beryl I should see whats going on.
Emit heads over to the arguing heroes,
Hey whats going on here guys.
Emit glares at the two of them mostly Tempest.
This is a funeral whatever your disagreement put it on the back burner and show some respect...You know the history behind the funeral is quite interesting.
Emit begins telling the two a long drawn out story on the history of the funeral.
well it is good that Silver could at least be here in spirit. Do you know who is overseeing the funeral? also not to be be rude, but is this what a super's funeral like? i haven't really been in many non military funeral for many years. Don't worry about tempest, Nile should be taking care of this.
moving over to the sidekicks, i try to say some calming words, resorting to some old scriptures. i try to use christian condolences resorting to what i remember.
I try to offer as much support as i can to my fellow supers.
After thanking her for her help, Lorenzo takes a look through the city obituaries to see what funerals happen to be scheduled for tomorrow, and where they are located.
If all else fails, I'll just go poking around each of the funeral home's records tonight if I have to...