Nissa greets the Marshall. “Great to see you again, Marshall.
“I think you might remember me mentioning ‘L.C.’ when I was on your world? Well, here she is, Dr. Preston! She’s in charge of TAROT on our world, and, unlike me, she actually knows what the acronym stands for. I… forgot again.
“To his credit, Moore helped us foil FATE’s plan to an extent. Unfortunately, we lost our dear Colonel Greer.
“We did gain a wonderful new member on our team.” She turns the mirror to face—“Kai, our tech guru, who worked closely with our friends from World 12. I’m sure they’ll fill you in on what they learned of the FATE operation that’s taking place on both their world and ours.
“But I’m gonna hand this mirror to Dr. L.C. Preston, and leave you two to all that upper management stuff.”
Nissa gives L.C. a smile, and from the way she says upper management, it’s clear to L.C. that Nissa means I’m so proud of you!
Verve had a point, if F.A.T.E. were trying to get all the stuff shipped to that island it would probably be a bad idea to deliver it right into their hands. "Alright, so the wand and the equipment stay here, and we can examine them when we're back. Another thing, if we are taking the ship there's no reason it has to be slow." Kai smiles at Nissa. "You probably remember this one, because it had a character with gorgeous fashion - there's an old sci-fi show... actually, it's set in the current time, more or less, now that I think about it. Huh. Anyway, I remember they had a stolen military spaceship, and they disguise it as a gas hauler, so there's no reason we can't slap some frigate engines to the ship. A bit of cargo redistribution to improve the drag in water and it should be at least a little faster."
============================================
Kai tries to hide nervousness as the face from another world appears in the mirror. "This is some fairytale stuff, alright." Kai mutters before smiling as Nissa makes the introductions. "An honour to meet you, Marshall."
Nissa seems to be struggling with what fashionable heroine stole what ship.
Regardless, she likes Kia’s idea—especially the part about making the ship go faster!
The Marshall is happy to meet L.C. and has a number of questions about FATE and the extent to which they have other operatives working for them in your dimension.
She reveals that Moore, after getting an update on news of World V, has asked for asylum in Tarokh. She acknowledges he has may have reason to feel unsafe returning to his dimension: "Apparently, the Canonites have taken over the Great Library". She doesn't explain what that means, assuming Moore gave you all the gossip about World V, which he did not.
When you arrive on the cargo ship, the crew is still emptying out any of the tech. Some of the shipping containers contained relief supplies. It may be part of the ship's cover, but they leave those on.
This is a hasty retrofit and I wouldn't try any fancy maneuvers with this ship, but, by the time the devices are removed from the ship, Kai manages to get it going faster.
The voyage takes a full day.
It may have felt like longer to any of the heroes that get seasick.
Nissa manages to get everyone to the Bahamas efficiently, and she handles the choppiness with such grace, she quips, “Maybe I should have Ron order a me captain’s hat!”
But after peeking through the binoculars, she adds, “Or a red shirt.” She let’s someone else take a peek so they’ll see (with the aid of binoculars) what she means.
On the way to the Bahamas, Kai spends some time poring over notes made on the wand and the portal components, looking for previously overlooked patterns or insights. When that avenue is exhausted, Kai does a round to check in on everyone, including the ship.
If there is one thing this ship has no shortage of, it's red shirts. There are crates of them among the supplies marked 'hurricane relief'. There's actually a ridiculous number of red shirts, as if, someone, somewhere, added too many zeroes to an order for company shirts and now they have to ship them off as 'hurricane relief' in order to get a tax write-off.
Verve looks out through binoculars as the ship approached it's destination.
Nissa needs a child-size or extra-petite shirt, and even that will fit her like Lt. Uhura’s uniform. Or at least it’s the look she attempts, pulling a(n altered) shirt over her sun dress, and working the feather boa over the red shirt. The gun belt is also worn over the red.
If anyone is curious, she explains, “Unless I transform, I can’t actually remove my dress.” She does not and will not elaborate on what is and is not an issue because of this fact. The closest she comes to hinting that hygiene is un-compromised is: “It’s made of sunlight.”
Verve, scanning around, sees three people on the beach. They're dressed in shorts and semi-casual shirts. One is looking through his binoculars and waving at the ship.
There are a lot of shirts. Nissa finds one that fits.
Charles is silent for the trip over, though he stares with interest into the ocean from time to time, hoping to see some of the animals he's only read about.
As they near the island he says, "So how are we doing this? Are we trying to bluff our way in until we see what's going on, or is it more along the lines of shouting surrender or else?"
“Bluffin’s my middle name!” Nissa adds unconvincingly, “Nissa Bluffin van Donk.
“Just gotta come up with a convincing story. Open to ideas, but really the trick’s to be vague and play off what the greeters say. The cover’s what? A relief fund? So that makes me… a clueless celebrity that somehow got dragged into this.
“Be ready for this to blow up in my face if they’re killers. But if they’re innocents, we can get information.
“Shall I work my magic then?”
“Be ready for this to blow up in my face if they’re killers. But if they’re innocents, we can get information.
“Shall I work my magic then?”
With arms crossed, Theo agrees with the order of action.
Nissa suggests others don red shirts. But in any case, she steps out to see who awaits.
"Looks like we have a small welcoming committee. Nissa, once we get closer I'd like you to do a fly over and see if you can spot any hidden enemies/ambushers just out of sight of the dock. Theo, I'd like you to be the face of the group and see if you can hold their attention. I'm going to wait on the boat with Kai to see how things go."
Verve glanced at Kai and said "Speaking of, how good are you at sneaking around and not being seen or heard?"
Kai dons a red shirt and takes a step forward as Verve assigns positions. "If you don't mind, I think it would be best for me to disembark. I researched Red Shirt Labs extensively, so if someone needs to pose as them I can do that. Besides, I'm big and clumsy, not the best at being inconspicuous."
A few commands on the handheld terminal and Legion rises, motors whirring, hovering about a foot above the deck. "And we have my little buddy here who can do some scouting if you want."
Charles slips his cloak on, then hesitates.
"...I'm really not sure how *I'm* going to put one of those shirts on... the cloak just makes me look human, it doesn't actually make my second pair of arms disappear."
Clearly not pleased, Theo puts on a red shirt. "Since Kai knows what she's talking about, I say she takes the lead on this one."
Nissa is happy to abandon her plan but… “I tend to glow very brightly in my fastest flying form, so if Kai’s robocopter can do the scouting, that may seem more normal-ish.
“Still, Theo can do the celebrity guest thing if he wants and I can pose as, like, the yellow light on top of Legion. Then I can fly a different path so you get two scouts.”
Nissa’s open to either. She asks Kai, “Shall I help with the scouting, or with the BS’ing?”
Nissa shows what she means by transforming and landing atop Legion. She is about the size of a grape, and possibly the same shape. She shines as brightly as a flame on a candle.
"If we want Legion to be sneaky, then you can help Theo and I with the bluffing." Kai offers. Either way, Legion is programmed to do a quick scan of the island, including in infrared, while trying to stay low and unobtrusive.
Nissa just rolls off of the machine. Clearly, legion is sneakier without a yellow light drawing attention. She flutters down and reverts to her red-shirted self.
“I’m more a people person.”
Once outside, Nissa has no clue what the greeters will think of her presence. For all she knows, the people consider her FATE’s worse enemy. But she acts as if she belongs.
“Thank you all for the super-cute welcome sign,” she says of the homemade sign. “And oh! What beautiful weather! Perfect for the beach! Too bad I’m not with Red Bikini Labs, ain’t that right, boys?”
Kai is carrying an engineering toolkit and a tablet, trying very hard to look like a techie out of their element in this tropical environment.
"Right, we're finally here. I'm not going to miss that boat, I tell you that. I hope none of the cargo got damaged in transit." Kai peers over imaginary glasses at the welcoming committee. "Alright, let's get to work before this sun cooks my brain."
"Well... guess I can try," Charles says to himself.
He finds the largest of the red shirts and awkwardly puts it on, keeping his lower arms underneath it. He's somewhat surprised by how much he hates the feeling of having them trapped. That done he puts the cloak on and notes how it incorporates the new item of clothing into his disguise.
Still, he thinks it best to keep out of direct sight. He hangs back as Nissa and Kai talk, doing his best to look like a bored sailor waiting to offload things.
Three men come to meet you grinning. They blush and guffaw nerdily at Nissa's Red Bikini comments.
They seem to assume Kai's encouragement to 'get to work' is meant for the rest of the Venture team and not them.
"Hey, welcome Red Shirts! Do we get one of those?" they laugh. They're a cheerful lot. One of them is holding a camera and filming you as the other one talks. A third man, taller and dreadlocked, whom they introduce as Ian, kind of lurks in the background.
After introducing themselves, the one without the camera says, "So, that's us. We're Thin Spot Productions and we really want to thank you for hiring local for your filming needs. Your shareholders are going to love this film."
The one with the camera pauses it, and asks, "So, I was told I'd be just filming you setting up the big mysterious device today. Are the bigwigs still only arriving tomorrow?"
"They'll miss the barbecue," says Ian.
"Do you have enough people for the set-up? We know some guys..."
The smell of pork cooking wafts over the beach.
Nissa smiles pleasantly. The guys seem sweet. Well… Ian could be all-business or just shy. In any case, Nissa’s more supermodel than super-spy, so right now being herself should keep the bluff play going without having to fake it. She genuinely wants to keep the guys smiling.
“Oh! Yes, definitely there are shirts in every size from Toddler to Sumo. What size do ya need?”
"Sumo," says the chatty one, Mackie.
"Junior Sumo," says the camera one, who looks like he could be Mackie's brother.
"Extra-long?" asks Ian.
The guys continue to film and chat and walk you over to the camp they have set up near the clearing.
They keep hinting that they can't wait to find out what the big surprise is and promising a film of the big reveal that will be a viral hit.
They think you're from Red Shirt and are being kind of kiss-asses, but they're very appreciative of the contract for their company and the generous donation to the hurricane relief effort promised by the company too. They're trying to sell Red Shirt on a second video highlighting the generous contribution. They suggest one of you could bring it up to the bosses who are supposed to pull up in a luxury yacht tomorrow in time to flip the switch on the exciting mysterious device they believe you're here to build.
"Right, so we want the personable angle here. Good idea with the barbecue, let's get some shots of that, everyone eating and drinking and having a good time. I'll go get the stuff unloaded." Kai leaves Nissa and Theo to keep the Thin Spot Productions people occupied, clapping them on the shoulder and turning back towards the ship. Once out of their line of sight, Kai checks the video feed and the telemetry from Legion.
If nothing interesting or alarming shows, Kai reunites with Verve and Charles. "It looks like we arrived just in time. The Red Shirt Labs bosses are due tomorrow, on a yacht. We grunts were supposed to assemble the device and wait for them to push the big red button. The other people on the island seem to be a film cred hired to document the entire affair."
"So what type of power grid you guys got on the island? Solar? I bet solar", Theo started looking around for power relays.
Charles frowns a bit as he listens to Kai. "So that means we need to keep these guys busy and not suspicious for an entire day until the other people show up? And then trap them?"
After Nissa gets shirts in sizes XL and sizes with more Xs, she lets the guys try them on and is honest about which size fits best. She asks if they want a Red Shirt selfie, using their equipment for the shot.
At one point, she says, “I gotta make a quick call to someone very special.”
She calls L.C. on video, and says, “Hey, my love! I’m here in the Bahamas. There are three gentlemen from Thin Spot ready to record the big moment when the Red Shirt bigwigs show!”
It’s clear to L.C. that Nissa’s talking the way she is to make the call appear personal. While her feelings for L.C. are real, she’s not breaking her promise to keep it professional when on the job. Everything she’s saying is in code.
Nissa explains asks permission to be honest with the men by saying, “I think I better keep it real with these guys, so we’re all good when the shooting starts.”
She then suggests the yacht may not be as it appears by asking, “Ya think the luxury yacht has better features than our old boss’ chopper?”
She finally says of the ship, “I wonder if it’s so big you can see it from space!”
After all that, she slowly pans around, asking, “Can you see how clear the sea and sky are here, sweetie? Should I pan again?” And by this she means, Let me know if I need to repeat the coded messages again.
Also, while panning, L.C. will know whether the camera men are close by or not.
Legion doesn't find anything suspicious on the island. They've removed quite a few trees to make way for this very large device that you don't have with you. There are a couple of sheds and some dozerbots nearby.
"Solar kites!" says Ian, very excited that someone is asking an engineering question. He points up to some large reflective black kites flying in a perfect circle high above the island. Thin wires connect them to the ground. "But you were gonna bring your own power source for the device, right?"
When Nissa gets on the phone with L.C., she looks like she have lots of things to tell Nissa, but none of them urgent.
"Thin Spot? Oooh. Ask them about their 'Ruins of Atlantis' tour. They film you under water in this ancient sunken city. My cousin did it on their polycue's anniversary, all five of them ..."
L.C. remembers herself and, in answer to Nissa's implied question about letting the Thin Spot guys in on the truth, she says only, "I trust you."
Nissa thanks L.C. for the okay on telling the truth, and assures her, “We’ll do our best to keep these guys safe. And… when we’re off-duty, I’d like to talk more about Atlantis.” She adds, “Maybe you can gimme a midnight call? Um… partly a work-related call, if you can follow the luxury yacht by satellite. I’ll text you any info that’ll help.”
After wrapping up the call, Nissa says to the Thin Spot men, “So… how about we all enjoy the barbecue while we talk? I was just calling my girlfriend-slash-boss, and it seems she’s heard good things about you guys.
“So good, I’m allowed to let you in on a secret that’s even bigger than me having a girlfriend.” Nissa actually doesn’t mind this being a public thing, but she does add, “And if you guys can keep my love-life real quiet, I’ll make sure you get the exclusive interview when I’m ready share that with the world.”
She also tells Charles and the rest of the team, “We won’t need to keep a secret from Thin Spot. Dr. Preston knows who these guys are, and she agreed—for their safety, we gotta let them know the ugly truth.”
The Thin Spot crew lay out a great spread and eagerly await Nissa's news. They do bring up the subject of their underwater filming expedition to a sunken city, which is quite popular with tourists. It's clear they're very excited about the site, "There's acres of it."
When the subject turns to the Bermuda Triangle, Mackie explains, "I know this will sound crazy, but we believe this area is a 'thin spot' between this world and somewhere else and that the city is part of that, you know?"
They're more interested in hearing what you have to say.
Nissa actually isn’t sure where to start. There’s a lot to tell, but she only wants to say enough that these men will not be in danger.
She says, “There’s a lot to unpack. And actually, I don’t know what about me has gone public. So before I say too much, um…” Nissa makes sure no one is sipping coffee, or doing anything that might result in her tiny body being spewed at from a spit take. “…do most people know I can do this?”
She shrinks into her fairy form and hovers above her chair… and it finally dawns on her: the answer to why here?
“To put it mildly, I don’t think your belief about the Thin Spot is crazy. I believe you’re right.”
Kai looks dubious at Charles's suggestion. "I think it would be best to have them leave the island entirely, for their safety. If the RSL bosses are not kindly inclined to forgive us taking their interdimensional gate device and their ship, things could escalate into unpleasantness. And speaking of," Kai turns and gestures at the island behind.""We should set up some defensive positions in the clearing there. And something looks at least a little bit like the gate device, at least from a distance. I'll send Legion to take inventory of what we have, and I'll go back to Nissa and Theo. Unless..." Kai looks at Verve and Charles expectantly. "You have other ideas?"
"I suppose it's up to Nissa now on what to do with the Thin Spot guys. If she's telling them what's going on, we can have them mock up whatever they were supposed to before they leave," Charles says. "Not sure how much we can do about defensive positions, but if we can we should."
Remaining in Stellar Mote form, Nissa goes on, “We’re here on business. Like, superhero stuff. There’s an organization from another world that plans to rebuild on our world.
“I’m guessing I don’t need to explain parallel worlds. They’re real. I’ve visited one. People there are humans and elves and English is the official business language. And like people, being from another world doesn’t make you good or bad. Choices do.
“The people we’re up against made their own world a barren wasteland. We weren’t sure why this area was so important, but… the Thin Spot. They intend to use that to open a breach.”
Nissa sits on the edge of her plate. The food smells great! In her fairy form, she finds it hard to believe she can normally consume an amount of meat she could now use to build a hut. Hmm... maybe a Pizza Hut ad where I… nope. That’s gross.
Shaking off distracting thoughts, she asks the Thin Spot guys, “Can you tell me more about the Thin Spot? Why do you call it ‘thin?’”
“…do most people know I can do this?”
She shrinks into her fairy form and hovers above her chair… and it finally dawns on her: the answer to why here?
“To put it mildly, I don’t think your belief about the Thin Spot is crazy. I believe you’re right.”
The Thin Spot crew is out of their chairs covering their mouths in astonishment and shouting things like "So cool!" and "Frikkin amazing!".
Kai looks dubious at Charles's suggestion. "I think it would be best to have them leave the island entirely, for their safety. If the RSL bosses are not kindly inclined to forgive us taking their interdimensional gate device and their ship, things could escalate into unpleasantness. And speaking of," Kai turns and gestures at the island behind.""We should set up some defensive positions in the clearing there. And something looks at least a little bit like the gate device, at least from a distance. I'll send Legion to take inventory of what we have, and I'll go back to Nissa and Theo. Unless..." Kai looks at Verve and Charles expectantly. "You have other ideas?"
Legion, taking an inventory of the ship, reveals that among the food and consumable provisions included in the hurricane relief supplies, the ship is also hundreds of poles, tents, and canvas for making temporary shelters, a computer-operated sewing machine for assembling such shelters, and a spray-on chemical that tightens and hardens the canvas into something much sturdier. The computer-operated sewing machine is programmed to produce tents with it.
Remaining in Stellar Mote form, Nissa goes on, “We’re here on business. Like, superhero stuff. There’s an organization from another world that plans to rebuild on our world.
“I’m guessing I don’t need to explain parallel worlds. They’re real. I’ve visited one. People there are humans and elves and English is the official business language. And like people, being from another world doesn’t make you good or bad. Choices do.
“The people we’re up against made their own world a barren wasteland. We weren’t sure why this area was so important, but… the Thin Spot. They intend to use that to open a breach.”
Nissa sits on the edge of her plate. The food smells great! In her fairy form, she finds it hard to believe she can normally consume an amount of meat she could now use to build a hut. Hmm... maybe a Pizza Hut ad where I… nope. That’s gross.
Shaking off distracting thoughts, she asks the Thin Spot guys, “Can you tell me more about the Thin Spot? Why do you call it ‘thin?’”
They're a little bit stunned by Nissa's revelation that other worlds are real. It takes them a while to respond. They talk one after the other.
"How else do explain the Bermuda Triangle? We believe that buried Atlantean technology is responsible for the strange phenomena encountered around here. We think that, somehow, the Atlanteans opened a gate to another world and escaped the doom of Atlantis. Maybe that tech is still down there, opening gates and taking airplanes and boats elsewhere!"
"There are sunken cities all around here that are, like, outposts for Atlantis, maybe not Atlantis proper. We don't think we've found Atlantis, but we're sure it's in the Bermuda Triangle, or it was."
"We take people on these tours and they can film themselves exploring the 'ruins of Atlantis' but that's just to fund our research. Someday, we'll find Atlantis proper!"
"We took some execs from Red Shirt on one of those tours; that's kind of why they hired us for this gig, I figure."
Kai gets to work reprogramming the sewing machine to produce makeshift barricades - triple-layered chest height sheets that can be braced and propped up with poles - then goes to join Nissa and Theo and the Thin Spot crew.
"How are things over here, then? We'll start unloading some stuff from the ship in a bit. And we still have the relief supplies, where do those go?"
Makeshift barricades are easy. They won't stop a bullet, but they would provide cover.
"Those are supposed to go to Nassau tomorrow. We're supposed to go with them and shoot a feel-good story for Red Shirts," explains Ian. "Need any help? We have tons of experience with set assembly. We built a whole mock-up of an Atlantean fort out of this stuff. One of the tourists thought it was real."
"Well, perhaps we can skip the feel-good shoot, but glad to hear that these supplies will actually be put to use and aren't just a decoy." Kai briefly outlines the plan to the Thin Spot crew. "We would absolutely appreciate your expertise. Here, this is a 3D holo of that the thing is supposed to look like. What do you think, can we make a prop version of it?"
As they work, Kai keeps asking them about their trips and theories and their knowledge of the area, being especially curious about any descriptions of Atlantean ruins or artifacts.
“Oh, yes! We’d love your help—and we’ll do our best to keep you guys safe, though if you prefer to clear outta here before the yacht arrives, that’s totally understandable.
“Let me call up L.C. again and fill her in.”
Nissa does remember to address her as Dr. Preston, since this is work. She also remembers that L.C. or staff (maybe Ron) would be listening in.
So she first asks, “You got all that, right?” and if not, Nissa fills L.C. in on the details: mainly that the Thin Spot guys will help set up the area so the people from RSL and/or FATE will think everything is going as planned. She also mentions what the “thin spot” actually is, and whether she’s filling L.C. in now or L.C. heard it before, she adds a thought on it, “I can probably slip into that Thin Spot… not that I’d try that on my own. But to you think you and I might do that Atlantis thing sometime, and make the trip both pleasure and business? You might wanna contract these Thin Spot guys. If we can find their research, they won’t rely on tourism and can be more focused. Just a thought… but I’m no scientist.
“I can’t lift much either, but remember the bombs? I can help move supplies! Anything I can lift at all, I can fly over without effort! I’m gonna test that theory* by helping with the set-up! I just gotta hold my hands out when I change forms so I don’t drop a heavy object on my head or something.”
Her tendency to get sidetracked almost makes her forget the most important reason for calling now. Before the conversation is over, Nissa says, “One more thing before I forget! If you have eyes on the yacht, I’ll need an ETA. I don’t want to endanger the Thin Spot guys, so predicting when trouble will start should help.”
"Well, perhaps we can skip the feel-good shoot, but glad to hear that these supplies will actually be put to use and aren't just a decoy." Kai briefly outlines the plan to the Thin Spot crew. "We would absolutely appreciate your expertise. Here, this is a 3D holo of that the thing is supposed to look like. What do you think, can we make a prop version of it?"
Ian's eyes light up when he sees the image Kai shows him. "Shouldn't be hard ... It only has to look good from a distance, right?"
As they work, Kai keeps asking them about their trips and theories and their knowledge of the area, being especially curious about any descriptions of Atlantean ruins or artifacts.
[dice=Culture]1d20+12
They're quite happy to talk about Atlantis, as this is their passion. They theorize that many of the potential claims for the location of legendary Atlantis could have some truth to them. They believe that Atlantis was an island somewhere in the Bermuda triangle but had outposts on both sides of the Atlantic, from Greece to Ireland to Mesoamerica. They point to Bimini Road and to some other underwater structures as evidence of Atlantean outposts in the bahamas.
They also theorize, but with less evidence, that most of the strange events in the Bermuda Triangle are from gating technology that the Atlanteans used to escape the 'sinking of Atlantis'. They point to the five Navy pilots who left on a two-hour training mission in 1945, but returned in 2053, claiming to have been gone only two hours as evidence of some kind of "extratemporal" technology at work. Connecting this to some kind of last minute escape by the Atlanteans is pure speculation.
They speculate eagerly though. Some of it sounds like a pitch they give to tourists, but they seem sincere.
"The way we figure it, the Atlanteans fled, but they left some kind of gate down there ... and, after thousands of years, it still kind of operating and causing trouble."
Her tendency to get sidetracked almost makes her forget the most important reason for calling now. Before the conversation is over, Nissa says, “One more thing before I forget! If you have eyes on the yacht, I’ll need an ETA. I don’t want to endanger...
L.C. is excited about the potential future investigation of Atlantis. She seems both interested personally and thinks it might be good professionally.
"Wait, did I tell you about the Canonites? While Moore was away from World V, this religious group took over the Great Library and they're eliminating 'non-canonical' stories. Apparently, every time a Fictionaut takes a trip to one of those fictional sub-dimensions, the Great Library keeps a record of it ... like permanently. But, the Canonites are getting rid of anything but the 'purest of storylines.' Fictionauts like Moore are being persecuted. Moore's claiming asylum on World One. That's what Alashine .. uh, the Marshall ... told me. Isn't that wild?"
She says that she does have an eye on the yacht, just not one of hers. Space Force has a satellite watching it and is sharing information. "They're guessing it will get to you tomorrow at noon. Apparently, there's a huge party on the yacht. There's also a couple of suspiciously large objects under tarps on part of the deck, but they don't know what they are yet."
Kai continues the discussion as the decoy structure takes shape with the help of the Thin Spot team. Kai had come across the many theories and speculative "documentaries" arguing the possible location of the lost city or continent of Atlantis, but hadn't taken them seriously. In Kai's opinion, it was most likely a legend, perhaps with a small seed of truth distorted by retelling.
But after what Kai had seen and learned about in the last few days, the idea of an interdimensional gate on the ocean floor suddenly seems less wild. And with Red Shirts Lab so interested in this particular place, it certainly bore investigating. "I wonder if I can make a device to detect such 'thin spots'..." Kai muses and makes a mental note to start designing such once the decoy and defenses are assembled.