"I guess I should come up with a better explanation for why I got it than 'it looked cool' to help with that promotion."
Okay, we need to find a way to ditch Brett and get Gae-Dearg. Maybe the out of town magic specialist's office isn't well guarded?
Either way, can't let my spear get locked up.
If i don't see anything promising before then, well, I'll try not to hurt him too much...
Apex backs down the stairwell, keeping his hostage between himself and the other guards. Upon reaching the elevator, he hisses to Flux "I've got some zip ties in my pocket. Help me tie him up, I don't want to be hauling this guy all over the building."
Looking around the elevator, Apex checks for a maintenance hatch on the ceiling.
Responding to Flux's question, he says "We may not need to get to the 5th floor if we can get to the 4th instead"
Brett smiles at Thor Girl, eager to assert his manly intelligence.
"Black is the clearance level that allows access up to the fourth floor. Not even one-tenth of employees get this kind of access, let alone interns. But for us black clearance holders, we're on the fast track to be hired after graduation."
At Bronwyn's offhand comment, he nods but flashes you with a smile.
"Don't worry, I'll write out a detailed report of how you came to me with such an inspired discovery, but had the cool head and keen wisdom to look to your higher-ups for advice."
With the cuffs in place and the unlock keys on your persons, Brett leads you into the level 4 area. Instead of cubicles and offices, the room itself is one large open space. Modular paneling sections out pieces of the room to private lab areas. As you pass you see a machine playing some sort of four-person chess as the pieces move rapidly across the board, the board resetting, and the process repeating. You also catch sight of an older woman at a desk, She isn't moving, but the glowing headband around her head glows a soft blue. Transparent screens in front of her seemingly scrawl through text and documents.
"Here we are!"
Brett leads you to the front of sectioned off area, stopping you both from entering. Inside you can see a normal looking wooden desk, shelves with suspended looking archaic objects such as bowls and dolls. Next to the front entrance, there is a box with an open tap with a light blue energy field on top.
"Okay, drop off box is here..." Brett says as he goes to drop Gae-Dearg into the containment box.
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Whippoorwill, Matrix is back with an update and its not good.
"They've been able to catch onto my intrusions on their system. If they stop, they will know they are being attacked and put the building on high alert most likely, but acting may fool their cyber defenses. Still, It's up to you. I can try to out their security surveillance which should shut down and terminate the security footage for the day, or I can try and power surge the entire building which may fry many critical systems, but the results will be random and not guaranteed to work..."
========================================================================
There is, in fact, a maintenance hatch on the elevator, it seems you've stumbled on a security oversight. If you could get the elevator to the fourth floor and breach the elevator's top hatch, you'll probably have a much easier time accessing the fifth floor than breaking through the most likely heavily reinforced floor or ceiling. The largest threat currently is the guard, but that threat is decreasing as you're zip-tying him up.
"No emergency stairwell." The guard says through gritted teeth. "Security isn't even allowed on that floor. They have their own emergency measures."
As soon as she sees the drop-box, a pit opens up in Bronwyn's stomach. I was hoping there'd be a gentler way to do this.
Sorry.
What combat training and practice Bronwyn had had was mainly focused on escape and avoidance, and a lot of the rest started from a simple philosophy of not holding anything back once a fight was inevitable.
It had worked against the shadowy beast, but she couldn't bring herself to do the same to a guy whose biggest crime, as far as she knew, was being a tool.
So she went for the wristlock, but didn't follow up with anything more damaging.
I just need to get the spear. He's just an intern. He'll run to safety.
The dangerous stuff is still coming.
Whippoorwill's anxiousness had intensified in the last few minutes. She hated not being in the field, where she possessed the best information and could do the most good. Still, she was in the coach's chair at this point, and had to make the calls. She didn't deliberate long. "Cut the surveillance. If by some miracle this doesn't turn into a major incident, wiping their footage will save us a lot of grief. After that, keep a light touch in their system until it appears that we need to go nuclear."
And speaking of the nuclear option... she thinks while she goes through her pre-fight routine of all her gadgets and weapons. Her powerful wings take a few flaps. She'd been grounded and hiding for too long for her liking. If that weapon using Shayera's voice was in there, she needed to be ready to intervene -- protocols be damned. She sent the kids in there, she would make sure they all came out.
As the elevator slides to a stop and the doors open, Skuld follows Brett through, and watches as he starts to move towards the box, only to be put into a wrist-lock by Bronwyn, which subconsciously makes Skuld blush.
Shaking away the cobwebs, Skuld will bash Brett in the head in an attempt to knock him unconscious.
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As the elevator doors close, Apex waves patronizingly at his former captive. Turning to Flux once they have the impression of privacy, Apex says "Look, we need to talk. I'm sorry, this is my fault, I didn't plan well enough, I thought we were better prepared. If you want out, now's the time, you can get off on another floor and book it to an emergency exit or something."
Taking a quick breath, he continues before Flux can answer. "But if you keep going with me you have to understand, we can't surrender. This isn't some muggers in an alley who might just leave us broken and beaten, this is a corporation. If they catch us, they won't call the cops. I might get lucky, they'll probably just kill me and hide the body. But you? They'll put you in a glass tube and experiment until they find out what makes you tick. And then they'll make you tick. They'll use your powers to make monsters, to do all the things you wear those gloves to prevent... When we get to the 4th floor, I'm going through that hatch and I'm going to do everything in my power to bring their crimes to light, and if you're going to do it with me, I need you to do it with your eyes open."
Apex gently reaches a hand out and rests it comfortingly on his friend's shoulder while he awaits a response.
Brett stops, his hand mid-motion to tossing Bronwyn's magic spear into the containment box. A quizzical look on his face.
"What?" he asks, impatiently. It seems the idea he could claim partial credit for discovering a powerful artifact has him riled up.
"Whippoorwill, I've managed to dodge the system scans. But any more interference from us will immediately place them on high alert. I can scrub our identifying information from this last attempt, but it will set off the alert and lock me out afterward."
I've practiced this hold a lot more as a counter than as an initial grab. I just hope I won't have to hurt him.
Once his momentum was stalled out, Bronwyn quickly put Brett in a wristlock, hand held low, trying to give Skuld as much time as possible to get the shackles off before anyone noticed what was going on.
"Brett, I'm real sorry about this, but I need you to stay calm and stay quiet. Ok? This is just a sore wrist, and no one here wants anything else to happen."
While Bronwyn has him disabled, Skuld removes her shackles and then rips the top off the containment box, looking to see what else is inside.
|
Flux slowly looks to his friend/companion. "Well, if we've gone this far," he says slowly. He turns and looks up to the top.
"Let's get this hatch open, shall we?"
He quickly begins moving the hatch out of the way, and struggles to the top of the elevator.
"You didn't think you would get rid of me that easily, did you?" he says, smiling.
The look on Brett's face is one of surprise and then pain as Bronwyn forces him into a wristlock.
"Who the hell are you two?" he whispers in pain. His eyes go wide as Thor girl removes her manacles and proceeds to try and rip off the containment box. With the power of a god it should have been simple, but when magic containment fields are involved things get tricky. It feels as if its partially sapping your strength, but Thor Girl just funnels more in as rapidly as she can so she can have enough strength to rip off the top of the box.
The effect seems unstable at best, and you watch as the rest of the soft blue lights of the containment fields for this office begin to dim one by one. Whispers can softly be heard now, nonsense, but each rambling word fills your soul with dread. Inside the box you find a what looks like a silver dagger, a porcelain doll, and a tiara with blood red rubies embedded into them.
Brett looks much more nervous as he see's the protective fields start to fail. He's trying to pull away, and soon a soft alarm can be heard, growing louder and louder.
EVACUATE.EVACUATE.EVACUATE.EVACUATE.EVACUATE.
Meanwhile, The elevator reaches the fourth floor as Apex and Flux steady themselves on the elevator's top section. From here, its a small climb to reach the 5th-floor elevator opening, but the soft red glow of the maintenance lights helps you to see.
Then you hear the warning siren go off.
Apex scrambles up the shaft like it's the climbing wall in a gym. Eyeing the door mechanisms as he crawls over them, he grimaces. "Flux! I might be able to disable this, but it sounds like we need to go with the brute force method. You're stronger than me, can you force this open?"
Bronwyn quickly jams her key into her own manacles. Ten, nine, eight...
Ignoring Brett's question, she gives him a quick shove, letting go of his wrist before it breaks, "Brett, get out of here. But when you get home, think about everything you've seen them work on here.
Make. Better. Choices.
Turning state's witness would be a good start."
Six... Well at least they let their employees evacuate in case an Eldritch Abomination breaks the glass. Five...
Need to get these shackles off so I can figure out what those things do!
"Skuld, cover me for a moment so I can get Bran and get out of here!"
Skuld wasn't sure what these particular items were, or why the box was a difficult to open as it was, but she knew that the people who had Shayera should not have such things. Looking about for a container, she settles for just pulling the box off the wall.
She hadn't even registered Brett's question, but as Bronywn began to speak, she said "Go, find a place to summon him. I will make sure that he makes his way out safely."
Turning to Brett, Skuld finally realized what he had said. In answer to his question, she said simply "No one that you should want to be involved in. Lady Bronwyn is correct; you should go home and rethink your life choices, lest your life's thread be cut short." She then turned her back on him as if dismissing him, and began to look for more of these "collection points".
The Man in the White Coat studies the progress bar closely while glancing periodically over to the bio-readouts. Everything appeared optimal. Even the reports of a communication blackout on the roof that rendered the security team sent to deal with whatever tripped the alarm did not concern him. Scythe would be ready for deployment in a matter of moments, and his side project would be ready before their other operations could be disrupted.
He allowed himself a slight smile. Heroes were nothing, if not predictable.
Suddenly, another alert sounded. "Sir! We have a containment breach in the occult research wing!"
That briefest of smiles on the Man in the White Coat turns quickly into a snarl. "The godlings. Have Phase Three deployed to Level Four at all possible speed. Oh, and broaden the containment field to the entire area. Scythe may be looking for a rematch, but I would rather it be over quickly," he calmly orders.
Bronwyn winces at Skuld's words, Death threats aren't really what I was going for - And could she NOT use my real name?!
Our relatives don't all live in Viking heaven!
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And could she NOT use my real name?!
"Skuld, cover me for a moment so I can get Bran and get out of here!"
Bracing himself against a wall, Apex assists his friend in prying the doorway open, eager to find the truth behind Reaver Technologies.
Bronwyn, you realize that if something has a containment field around it, it's most likely very dangerous to handle. You could take cover in one of the many abandoned lab stations to transform as most folks are evacuating the building. And you also realize that the person in the most danger right now is Skuld, the containment field on the box she' holding failing as it flashes off and on intermittently.
Skuld, you look around, but it seems this is the only collection box of sorts. You find plenty of mail, files, and computers, and even some weird contraptions of all shapes and sizes, but this seems to be the only major "containment" concern on this level.
Brett, eager to not lose his life for an internship, immediately starts booking it to the exit when you let him go.
The door is heavily reinforced, arguably the most reinforced section of the company building. It would take some godlike strength for your body to open up something this heavily reinforced.
Setting down the box near the reinforced door, Skuld will try and open it.
Thor girl rips the sides of the doors open revealing an empty elevator. Looking inside you find that someone has set the elevator to emergency stop mode and the ceiling hatch is open.
Skuld looks from the elevator shaft to the location where Bronwyn disappeared. Even a mind reader could tell that she was excited to explore the new clue, but was making herself wait until Bronwyn returned with Bran.
I'm going to have to find a way to make an arrangement with Bran to allow me to court his priestess. thought Skuld to herself.
Bronwyn quickly hustles over into one of the lab stations, catching her shackles as they detach.
Ducking beneath a lab bench into a blind spot, she takes hold of the spear that dangles from her wrist, smiling slightly as its enchantments glimmer once more to her sight.
We're coming.
What emerges from the lab is clearly not a creature of science.
Bran the Blessed is a towering warrior. His head doesn't quite scrape the ceiling as he rushes through the halls towards Skuld and the elevator, but it is a near thing.
His normally lovingly polished armor, however, has clearly seen better days. A large section of his hauberk has a solid plate hooked onto some stray links as an obvious patch, his left eye is entirely visible through a long slice in his helm, and one gauntlet is still blackened and flaking from the dreadful heat of Skuld's powers.
But despite his battlescarred appearance, he moves with energy and purpose as he boards the groaning elevator.
"Greetings cousin," he rumbles, "it is an honor to fight once more at-" his exposed eye glitters as it alights upon a surprise lurking in the shaft above.
"Hold. We are not alone."
Skuld looks at Bran, then the open elevator door, then back at him before rising up and ripping open a wider hole by curling up the sides. Once she has a hole that is big enough, she'll offer Bran her hand and then use her wind to rise up quickly through the tunnel.
At the sound of wrenching metal, Apex looks down into their elevator car. Recognizing the two young heroes from the news and various cape-watching sites, a wave of relief rushes through him. I did not want to fight with whoever did that.
"I thought you guys were disbanded. Never mind no time for that now. I'm assuming you don't work for Reaver, so you're probably here for the same reason we are. I'm Apex, this is Flux and I'm pretty sure whatever they're hiding is on the fifth floor. Is Hashtag here? We could really use someone on the other side of this door."
Without waiting for a response to his rapid fire introduction, Apex turns back to the security door looking for any kind of weakness he could exploit.
Bran gives a slightly perplexed blink at Apex's barrage of information.
What are the odds that we would all choose this same day to strike? Could they be with Reaver?
Placed here as some strange deception?
No, there are a thousand better ways to guard their secrets.
Accept this as serendipity, for now.
"Greetings. A time will come when deeper explanations are required, but for now," his fierce grin is hidden by his helm as he looks over to Skuld, "Hashtag is not the only way through a door."
Skuld glances confused at the newcomers, then after hearing Apex speak, says "What is happening on the 5th floor?"
Looking back and forth between Thor Girl and the security door, Apex slowly says "We're not sure... But it's the only floor the security team we met on the roof couldn't get to so it's probably important. So far we haven't been able to get through this though."
Gesturing to the door, he continues "Would you care to do the honors?"
"That matches how their security rose in tandem with a floor's more literal height.
Come Skuld, she awaits us."
"On it."
With her mighty...might, Skuld grasps both doors and pulls them open forcefully. The wrenching of the compression locks groan as everyone climbs inside the mysterious fifth floor, and Skuld herself releases the heavy burden as she rolls inside.
There are machines here that could have only come from the inside of a science fiction movie, and the hum and beeping of the machines is a stark contrast to the chaos reigning below. Something tells you that the whole building could collapse, but this large entire story room would survive with nothing inside even reacting to the fall to earth should the rest of the building collapse.
You see screens with readouts in languages you can't understand, you see tanks with something alien growing inside them, machines pulsing with intense but odd light.
But something is wrong here. Something dangerous is nearby...
"She's here."
"You, who would hide behind the face of your better, come out!" bellows Skuld in a challenge.
Apex intentionally slows his breathing, running a slightly unfocused gaze over the contents of the room. Allowing the incomprehensible information on the readouts to wash over him, he relies on his photographic memory to retain the information while his subconscious picks out the relevant details.
Without coming out of his trance, he whispers, "Who's here? Bran, what have we walked into?
A scrape of metal.
A tinny, mechanical-sounding yet feminine laugh.
A blur of movement.
A sudden, screeching scream of pierced and rent steel.
As the lights go out, a chuckle echoes in the inky blackness. "This... this is going to be fun."
Bran circles to the side, trying to keep himself between Scythe and the new mortals "A soul who believes she is already lost.
One who lurks in shadows so that she need not look upon herself."
With a rap of his spear against the ground, he sets the runes of his spear aglow with power stolen from collapsing wards, but the power is too diffuse to illuminate the room, doing little more than setting his armor glimmering in the dull red light.
"All will be well, Flux, do not flee. Scythe is a deadly huntress to those who turn their backs, but together we can withstand her."
"Stay on the ground." says Skuld to the others. "I am going to attempt to force her down."