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With This Ring (Young Justice SI) (Thread Fourteen)

American English would pronounce it as "loo-tenants." The actual correct French pronunciation would be more along the lines of "leeuh-tehn-ahn," given the nasal sounds that French represents as (vowel)n in writing.
"Eu" in French is this sound

And that's one thing I do love about languages that aren't English--they are generally much more consistent in their spelling rules, meaning that if you can see how it's spelled, you can probably pronounce it.
Sadly for those learning French, we don't do that either.
Either because it used to, but the prononciation changed in the following centuries, because some word were codified to show their ethymology instead of their prononciation, or just because some academics from a few hundred years ago thought it looked better this way (I'm looking at you "ph")...
 
Wait, which comic was that in?

Earth-51 of Countdown to Final Crisis 16

Then Superman Prime (nee Superboy Prime) fighting crazy evil Captain Atom Monarch blew the entire universe to kingdom come, save for a single plant and it's Monitor- Nix Uotan.

Nix rebuilt it, only for Karate Kid to carry the OMAC virus which led to it becoming the world of Kamandi the Last Boy on Earth.

So it was utopian, and then got two apocalypses for its trouble.
 
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Random thought: Paul in the Misfits universe? Probably would need an Indigo ring like with The Boys
 
Random thought: Paul in the Misfits universe? Probably would need an Indigo ring like with The Boys

I'd give Misfits alt.Paul a blue ring actually.

The world of Misfits could certainly use more hope, and the blue ring's artificial limitations would have this alt.Paul doing his best with what he has, which would make him fit in, I feel.

Mileage my vary of course.
 
Prep Time (part 7)
15th February 2013
17:24 GMT -5


"Trying to find an artefact called the Medusa Mask." I try using empathic vision on the intercom, but it's warded. And I imagine that it would go up in smoke if I opened it to try and study it. "Who am I talking to?"

"Father Time. I'm the head of a US government organisation called S.H.A.D.E."

I nod. I remember them from the Seven Soldiers comic series, where they somehow managed to be the only superhuman intelligence agency to function against the Sheeda. Probably because they were so small no one remembered to close them down. I think Father Time got killed by Adom during his rampage, but I don't remember anything other than that.

"And you're still you. That's quite impressive."

"I've been through worse. Why do you think that it's here?"

"Its last recorded location was S.T.A.R. Philadelphia. It's probably not still there, but this is as good a place to start looking as any."

"The Justice League is a little late on doing housekeeping. This horse bolted a month ago."

"This isn't housekeeping. This is a way to win."

"With the Medusa Mask. A device that can alter people's emotions."

"I believe there's a little more to it than that."

"Like what?"

"Like that's need to know and I'm not telling someone whose identify I can't confirm over an open microphone."

"Heh. Fair enough. I'm not exactly shy, but everything here is set up so that if it gets interfered with, it stops working."

"Okay?"

"In the case of my little hidey-hole, it stops working explosively because I couldn't take the risk of getting contaminated."

"And I assume that there isn't a window..?"

"On our budget? I'm impressed there's a door."

"Do you know anything about what happened at S.T.A.R.?"

"I had a guy on the inside. He… Should have had devices on him that would make him able to resist mind influence effects, but we couldn't test it in situations like this. I haven't heard from him since just after it happened."

"And what did he say?"

"That a bunch of guys in bulky helmets were attacking the place, and some of them were wearing uniforms of superheroes from the Alliance of the Just."

"Yes, that was just a way for Mannheim to get as many superheroes in one place as he could so he could Anti-Life them at his convenience."

"So he's probably dead, but if he isn't, he's the best placed to help you out."

"What's his name?"

"Agent Abraham Carlyle." I access their database. "He looks-."

"Quite a lot like Uncle Sam. I'll take that as a good sign. Any idea where he might be if he's not at S.T.A.R.?"

"His apartment? We're not one of those agencies that has hidden bunkers all across America just so we can go to ground."

"No?"

"We've got a list of bunkers no one else is using, and the occasional fallout shelter that we picked up cheap when no one else wanted to buy it. There's one under the Philadelphia Museum of Art and another in the Philadelphia Water Department Field Office. Nothing else in state."

"Do you know who's in charge of the local Justified?"

"It's not me."

Tuppence snorts with amusement. "Y'all think maybe getting' stuck in a hole weren't such a great plan?"

"Sure. Just give me ten billion dollars and I'll make sure it never happens again. Who exactly is in charge now, anyway?"

"Effectively? Bruno Mannheim. Nathaniel Adams in nominally in charge of the parts of the US government that are free. The US Constitution wasn't really written with this in mind, something that I take as an insult to the country of my birth."

"Ah-heh."

"Batman and Mister Atom are splitting coordination duties, but I've only just got back to Earth. I don't know exactly how things are set up."

"More than I know."

"Do you have anything useful on hand that could help us?"

"Probably. But it all needs to be configured for the user and I'm a little short staffed right now. You're in the armoury? Help yourself, for all the good it will do."

"Y'all know who made the big laser gun?"

"If you mean the heavy plasma gun, it was made by Alva Industries. The engineer who worked on it here's a guy called Brian Thompson, but he hasn't been back since this all happened."

"See if ah kin fahnd him."

"Thank you for your help, Father Time. I'll let you know if we get anywhere."

"Not like I'm going anywhere."

Right. I send my power armour into subspace and switch over to shabby-looking street clothes. I've got lighter armour on underneath, though it's nothing that will take a serious hit. My force field generators join my armour in subspace because a random bloke on the street wouldn't have something like that. Tuppence is already ready to go.

"Okay. If anyone asks, we were here to plunder the kitchens."

She frowns. "Anyone ask, ah'm gunna punch 'em so they don't ask agin."

"That… May be situationally correct, but remember that we don't know who's in charge here. I'd rather maintain cover for as long as possible. And I don't think that you can fake being as weak as a woman of your size should be."

She grunts in acknowledgement, and I decide that that's as good as I'm going to get. Main door is that way, but I think it would make more sense to go out via the car park. Less chance of someone seeing us.

Not many cars in here. The security gate is locked down, but a few seconds with a power ring will fix-.

Tuppence has stopped.

"Tuppence?"

She's looking at a rather nice hatchback, which-.

"Ain't stealin' if it's an emergency."

"It would draw too much attention. Fuel deliveries haven't been happening and the power supply isn't regular."

She grunts in acceptance as the front gate opens and we advance into the city.
 
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I'm curious as to whether or not Father Time is lying about S.H.A.D.E. not having much in the way of funds or facilities. It could be true and a byproduct of Paul's actions, or it could be false and he's waiting for the perfect moment to make a move. I suppose we just need to wait and see.
 
I understand why that might be the case for the latter, but why the former?

Venture Bros at least should be quite survivable given it's a relatively low power setting for the most part. As for invincible, if you can grab the source of Green Ghost's Powers? It's plausibly compatible with a Green or Orang Ring and as long as you avoid direct conflict with Omni man or another pure blooded Viltrumite.
 
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15th February 2013
17:24 GMT -5


"Trying to find an artefact called the Medusa Mask." I try using empathic vision on the intercom, but it's warded. And I imagine that it would go up in smoke if I opened it to try and study it. "Who am I talking to?"

"Father Time. I'm the head of a US government organisation called S.H.A.D.E."
Ah, yes... Them. Not always on the side of good, but hardly irredeemably evil either. :confused: Besides stuff like global mind-control... Wonder if their plan involving Gonzo the Mechanical Bastard is underway here as well? Or has the bad 'bot gone over to Mannheim?

I nod. I remember them from the Seven Soldiers comic series, where they somehow managed to be the only superhuman intelligence agency to function against the Sheeda. Probably because they were so small no one remembered to close them down. I think Father Time got killed by Adom during his rampage, but I don't remember anything other than that.

"And you're still you. That's quite impressive."
Not that that really stopped Father Time. Merely delayed them until the New Year, thanks to their 'serial reincarnation' trick.

"I've been through worse. Why do you think that it's here?"

"Its last recorded location was S.T.A.R. Philadelphia. It's probably not still there, but this is as good a place to start looking as any."
And this is a more deniable drop point than a secure facility that is known to be compromised.

"The Justice League is a little late on doing housekeeping. This horse bolted a month ago."

"This isn't housekeeping. This is a way to win."
Whoa, careful there, OL. Operational security, man!

"With the Medusa Mask. A device that can alter people's emotions."

"I believe there's a little more to it than that."
I mean, it's not an unreasonable option. Especially combined with something like the Spear of Destiny to amp up all of Humanity's emotional state...

"Like what?"

"Like that's need to know and I'm not telling someone whose identify I can't confirm over an open microphone."
I worry you may have said too much already. Even if he did ask nicely, you don't even know if he is who he claims to be..

"Heh. Fair enough. I'm not exactly shy, but everything here is set up so that if it gets interfered with, it stops working."

"Okay?"
Yes, OL found that out with your security camera. Hardly news.

"In the case of my little hidey-hole, it stops working explosively because I couldn't take the risk of getting contaminated."

"And I assume that there isn't a window..?"
Because there's no guarantee his respawn wouldn't be cleansed of whatever mental contamination caused his death, eh?

"On our budget? I'm impressed there's a door."

"Do you know anything about what happened at S.T.A.R.?"
I suspect he's got his eyes and ears on every superhuman-related site he can.

"I had a guy on the inside. He… Should have had devices on him that would make him able to resist mind influence effects, but we couldn't test it in situations like this. I haven't heard from him since just after it happened."

"And what did he say?"
Let's hope he didn't turn chatty about his secret boss.

"That a bunch of guys in bulky helmets were attacking the place, and some of them were wearing uniforms of superheroes from the Alliance of the Just."

"Yes, that was just a way for Mannheim to get as many superheroes in one place as he could so he could Anti-Life them at his convenience."
And honestly, with hindsight, you should have been just a little more suspicious, OL.

"So he's probably dead, but if he isn't, he's the best placed to help you out."

"What's his name?"
Unless he's running around in a 'bulky helmet'...

"Agent Abraham Carlyle." I access their database. "He looks-."

"Quite a lot like Uncle Sam. I'll take that as a good sign. Any idea where he might be if he's not at S.T.A.R.?"
...Eh, Only tangentially. And why am I not surprised they had their hooks in someone like him?

"His apartment? We're not one of those agencies that has hidden bunkers all across America just so we can go to ground."

"No?"
At least one version had a micronised flying base the size of a baseball. Sadly, it was the New 52 version...

"We've got a list of bunkers no one else is using, and the occasional fallout shelter that we picked up cheap when no one else wanted to buy it. There's one under the Philadelphia Museum of Art and another in the Philadelphia Water Department Field Office. Nothing else in state."

"Do you know who's in charge of the local Justified?"
Well, at least they've got a couple of possible leads now.

"It's not me."

Tuppence snorts with amusement. "Y'all think maybe getting' stuck in a hole weren't such a great plan?"
Little hard to plan ahead for something like Anti-Life.

"Sure. Just give me ten billion dollars and I'll make sure it never happens again. Who exactly is in charge now, anyway?"

"Effectively? Bruno Mannheim. Nathaniel Adams in nominally in charge of the parts of the US government that are free. The US Constitution wasn't really written with this in mind, something that I take as an insult to the country of my birth."
I doubt England is doing much better, really.

"Ah-heh."

"Batman and Mister Atom are splitting coordination duties, but I've only just got back to Earth. I don't know exactly how things are set up."
In other words, if you want to lend a hand, talk to them. If you're not allergic to capes. :rolleyes:

"More than I know."

"Do you have anything useful on hand that could help us?"
Just in case, eh, OL? Though I suspect any SHADE operatives out there are already compromised.

"Probably. But it all needs to be configured for the user and I'm a little short staffed right now. You're in the armoury? Help yourself, for all the good it will do."

"Y'all know who made the big laser gun?"
Eh? Why do you want to know that, Tuppence?

"If you mean the heavy plasma gun, it was made by Alva Industries. The engineer who worked on it here's a guy called Brian Thompson, but he hasn't been back since this all happened."

"See if ah kin fahnd him."
Ah, feeling like she owes them one for the 'loan' of their gun?

"Thank you for your help, Father Time. I'll let you know if we get anywhere."

"Not like I'm going anywhere."
I'm sure you're scheming for when this is dealt with.

Right. I send my power armour into subspace and switch over to shabby-looking street clothes. I've got lighter armour on underneath, though it's nothing that will take a serious hit. My force field generators join my armour in subspace because a random bloke on the street wouldn't have something like that. Tuppence is already ready to go.

"Okay. If anyone asks, we were here to plunder the kitchens."
I suppose any canned goods would have fared well enough.

She frowns. "Anyone ask, ah'm gunna punch 'em so they don't ask agin."

"That… May be situationally correct, but remember that we don't know who's in charge here. I'd rather maintain cover for as long as possible. And I don't think that you can fake being as weak as a woman of your size should be."
She's not really the covert sort, after all.

She grunts in acknowledgement, and I decide that that's as good as I'm going to get. Main door is that way, but I think it would make more sense to go out via the car park. Less chance of someone seeing us.

Not many cars in here. The security gate is locked down, but a few seconds with a power ring will fix-.
And about the last chance he'll have to use the Ring openly for a little while.

Tuppence has stopped.

"Tuppence?"
Oh, now what...

She's looking at a rather nice hatchback, which-.

"Ain't stealin' if it's an emergency."
If it's an emergency, you can run faster than any car.

"It would draw too much attention. Fuel deliveries haven't been happening and the power supply isn't regular."

She grunts in acceptance as the front gate opens and we advance into the city.
And does she even have a driver's license anyway?

Well, OL taking a lot on trust here from Father Time. Still, any lead he can get is a good lead, and he's well equipped to fight his way out of any traps... Unless Mannheim deploys another clone loaded up with a different vector of Anti-Life. Unfortunately, there aren't really any better options for tracking down the Mask. So needs must, even if it gets him into more trouble...
 
Well, OL taking a lot on trust here from Father Time. Still, any lead he can get is a good lead, and he's well equipped to fight his way out of any traps... Unless Mannheim deploys another clone loaded up with a different vector of Anti-Life. Unfortunately, there aren't really any better options for tracking down the Mask. So needs must, even if it gets him into more trouble...
At this point I have to wonder why he doesn't switch to plan B and hunt down the Life Equation.
 
The fight with mister twister was just painful to read. He's just slack jawed waiting for something to happen. He can't think for himself and just waits for someone to give him an order. Most powerful weapon my ass. Can't even stop a second rate villain. He knows it's not actually alive, just destroy the stupid thing. How hard can it be for someone with a power ring? It reads like he's being nerfed to have the same thinking capacity as his teenage teammates aside from correcting their failed logic.
 
The fight with mister twister was just painful to read. He's just slack jawed waiting for something to happen. He can't think for himself and just waits for someone to give him an order. Most powerful weapon my ass. Can't even stop a second rate villain. He knows it's not actually alive, just destroy the stupid thing. How hard can it be for someone with a power ring? It reads like he's being nerfed to have the same thinking capacity as his teenage teammates aside from correcting their failed logic.
Now that's a blast from the past. Also, that was Paul's first time in a combat situation, so it's not unreasonable that he'd want some clear instructions from his more experienced new teammates.
 
Now that's a blast from the past. Also, that was Paul's first time in a combat situation, so it's not unreasonable that he'd want some clear instructions from his more experienced new teammates.
It's like he never played videogames. The enemy has VERY OBVIOUS TUBES, maybe attack those? Pretty sure lasers are faster than the enemy.
 
It's like he never played videogames. The enemy has VERY OBVIOUS TUBES, maybe attack those? Pretty sure lasers are faster than the enemy.

I would suggest that few gamers have ever been in an actual fight where the risks are critical injuries or death. Or even situational awareness. Those 'very obvious tubes'? What if they contain something nasty and attacking them sprays the area with highly radioactive liquid/gas or something highly flammable?
 
Nobody, nobody can ever predict how someone will react to being in combat for the first time in their life. And no, I'm not talking about "schoolyard scuffle fist fight" when I say combat, I mean combat. Real, honest-to-god, life-or-death fights where someone is genuinely trying to kill you. If it was possible to predict that, then militaries worldwide would have a lot more badasses and a lot fewer casualties in combat. Efforts are made to try and induce similar levels of stress in training to both identify those who can handle themselves in combat, and to acclimate those who can't instinctively handle it to similar situations in hopes of making them less likely to freeze up, but unless you're ruthless enough to go ahead and legitimately try to kill the trainees (which tends to be kind of bad for recruiting and getting a significant number of useful troops at the end of the training period, plus it's hard on the instructors), there's no way to actually simulate it.

Freezing up and not knowing what the hell to do is an exceedingly common response to that level of stress, as much as we'd all like to think that, if thrown into that situation, we'd go all John McClane on the bad guys' asses. The whole point of military training being so rote and repetitive is to try and make it so that when the rookie soldier's mind goes blank and he starts to freeze up on the battlefield, a combination of muscle memory and conditioned response will kick in so that he can be semi-useful and not get killed.

There's a reason why the infant-mortality theory does a great job of predicting human combat performance; if you can survive those first few battles, you'll adapt to the stress of combat and gain the experience needed to stay alive for a long time. This is why militaries prefer to have "seasoned" forces (i.e., ones that have been through a battle or two in the past and are still mostly veterans of said battles) as the "tip of the spear" on offensives, as opposed to "green" units that have either never seen battle, or have so many rookies in them as casualty replacements that the remaining experienced troops aren't able to outweigh the rookies.

In other words, in that fight, Paul was basically a rookie who'd never been in a real fight before, and he "went stupid" and didn't know what to do. Since he didn't have the sort of intensive, repetitive combat training that soldiers get to fall back on, he had two basic options. A) He could just go instinctive, possibly using gamer knowledge to help guide his actions, and either get himself killed or kill the opponent they were trying to capture alive, or 2) he could look to his teammates--who, despite their ages, are all seasoned heroes who have been doing this for a while and thus know what to do in a fight--for guidance and advice, so he doesn't either die or risk charges of excessive-force manslaughter.

And luckily for all involved, he was able to keep enough of his wits about him to go for option 2, rather than just trying to go "beast mode" on an experienced, intelligent opponent who had a vested interest in not letting him rip his head off.
 

There should be a local equivalent to Green K for them.

Edit: Klaxus plants poison them so much they become basically human when it comes to taking damage, sonic weapons fucks their sense of balance, they can be be killed or hurt from inside their bodies, and dunk them into the hot plasma of a star if everything else fails.
 
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There should be a local equivalent to Green K for them.

Edit: Klaxus plants poison them so much they become basically human when it comes to taking damage, sonic weapons fucks their sense of balance, they can be be killed or hurt from inside their bodies, and dunk them into the hot plasma of a star if everything else fails.
None of which matters because they practice speed blitzing and you're already dead.
 
(like the particle "wa" not being written with the "wa" hiragana, but rather with the "ha" hiragana, as an artifact of... something).
There are three particles that behave that way:
* "wa" is written with "ha"
* "we" is pronounced "e" and written with "he" (it's used to mark direction; non-native students will learn "ni" for that purpose first)
* "wo" is pronounced "o"
It's an artifact of a series of pronunciation and orthography shifts, one where -h- lost its fricative when not occurring at the beginning of a word, one where almost all instances of w blended into the following vowel, and one where sounds shifted between p, f, and h. For example, "kawa" (meaning river) used to be "kaha" and the way it was written shifted to match, but the particles didn't change as much as the rest of the language because of how fundamental they are to the grammar.

Example: Is the word "deleterious" four syllables, or five? I would tend towards five, but I've heard others use four...
Depends on how you define a syllable. That's not an English thing, that's just a general linguistics thing -- strings of vowels like that are very fluid, and different speakers will insert enunciation or blend them together in MOST languages.
 
Prep Time (part 8)
15th February 2013
17:48 GMT -5


The roof of the Philadelphia Museum of Art provides excellent views of the city. And the sight is…

Interesting.

The roads have been cleared, and there are lorries driving around on the city's roads. I can also see buses parked up next to warehouses and parks which are being converted into farmland, presumably to transport workers to and fro at the start and end of the working day. Over on the other side of the river the area around the Anti-Life broadcaster has been fortified with concrete bunkers and sniper nests, all of which are manned. I can see several helmeted Justifiers there, though I don't know if they're there in a leadership capacity or serving as elite fighters.

We're not far from Washington, here. This place is wired in to Mannheim's infrastructure.

"We gunna take that down?"

"No. That would attract too much attention."

Her face twitches, and she looks for another target for her aggravation.

"I'm sorry, but this really is a sneaking around sort of mission. If we need something broken, things have gone badly wrong."

"Fahn."

No one hanging about on the street, unlike Gotham. I suppose that's what happens when there's a broadcaster this close. There are guards wherever there are people, but the people being guarded don't look up or around.

A little slice of Apokolips.

The question is, how do we find someone to get basic information from? No one stopped us on the way over here, but the lowlies wouldn't stop someone and the guards… Not sure. Maybe they assume that we're going to get Anti-Lifed if they just leave us alone?

We need to either make contact with someone or find Agent Carlyle.

De-helmeting one of the Justifiers might work, but it would almost certainly alert all of the others. And… We're here now.

Alternately, we could go to S.T.A.R. and try and get their surveillance records. That would tell us who looted the place, and that might lead to where they're being held. But S.T.A.R. is at the other end of the city and I don't really want to try teleporting point to point.

Although…

"Okay, so we're looking for the Medusa Mask." I lead the way back to the roof access and inside the building. "How would you go about it?"

"Fahnd someone fancy-lookin', break bones 'till he squeals."

"What if he doesn't know?"

She shrugs moodily. "Fahnd someone else when yer done."

"And if he screams and all his friends come running?"

"Saves tahm."

We walk down through the public areas, heading towards the storage rooms in the basement. No effort has been made to loot or defile the place, and no effort has been made to preserve it either. It's mostly in reasonable shape, but there's a wet patch where a window has been propped open and rain has gotten in.

"Not really practical."

"I dunno. Why you askin' me?"

"Because someday, Tuppence, you're going to be in a position where you have to work out how to do something like this, and I won't be there to do it for you."

"Ain't mah thang."

"Well, we can have a deep and personal conversation instead if you like. You know, last I heard, your mother was three months sober, and-."

"Ahh! We could-. Blend in real good in those farms? Geht a Justifier helmet and take out the Anti-Life stuff, wear it around and ask who the local bowss is?"

"Good ideas, except that if the guards are awake they'll see that we're not under Anti-Life control. And I'm reasonably confident that the Justifiers can do the same."

"Y'all got that Anti-Life thing in yer rings, raht? Could that work?"

Hm. "I honestly don't know. It might, but it would be a risk that we couldn't assess in advance."

"Huh?"

"I'd have to put myself in that mindset, walk up to them and hope that they couldn't tell the difference. And that it wouldn't start working for real."

"Geht someone who can read their mahns?"

"Reading the minds of the workers could work. Anyone higher than that and you'd risk the telepath getting Anti-Lifed."

I generate a key card construct to get us into the staff area, swiping it through the card reader and pulling the door open.

"Cameras? They gaht cameras, raht? Watch 'em, follow where they go."

"That's a good idea. It wouldn't risk exposing us, my rings can analyse the pictures faster than someone reviewing them manually and it could give us an idea what else was going on in the area."

Staff entrance is that way, preservation work that way, staff canteen… Long term storage, that's what we want.

"Agent Carlyle, if you're in here, we're friendly!"

"Y'all already thawt a'that. Ain't that raht?"

"Yes, but I've been doing this a bit longer than you."

"If it's so smart, how come we ain't doin' it?"

"This was closer. And we do need to find him."

The entrance to long term storage-.

"Notice anything odd?"

Tuppence blinks at the forklift truck, the large workspace and the roller shutter door which would grant the forklift access. Then she notices what I noticed.

"There should be a card reader thang. It's gawn."

I look at the small rectangular hole in the wall next to the regular door.

"Yes indeed. Two obvious possibilities. They were having maintenance done and it didn't get finished-."

"Someone broke in. No dust 'round the door."

I smile at her, and she nearly smiles back.

"'No dust' means that they came in and out a lot. Otherwise there would be discrete footprints. Now, remember, if he's in here, he's probably going to be jumpy and certainly isn't expecting company." I extend filaments into the hole and trigger the mechanism to open the door. "So don't take it personally if he shoots us."

She shrugs as I pull the door open and-.

Oh dear.
 
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15th February 2013
17:48 GMT -5


The roof of the Philadelphia Museum of Art provides excellent views of the city. And the sight is…

Interesting.
Not necessarily pretty, but that's a given considering the circumstances. Still, unless there's a skyscraper handy, this is probably one of the taller buildings around and I doubt anyone's watching it, culture not being a concern of the Justified.

The roads have been cleared, and there are lorries driving around on the city's roads. I can also seen buses parked up next to warehouses and parks which are being converted into farmland, presumably to transport workers to and fro and the start and end of the working day. Over on the other side of the river the area around the Anti-Life broadcaster has been fortified with concrete bunkers and sniper nests, all of which are manned. I can see several helmeted Justifiers there, though I don't know if they're there in a leadership capacity or serving as elite fighters.
Why not both, OL? The 'lowlies' are probably so submissive, they'll follow the orders they're given by their 'betters', after all.

We're not far from Washington, here. This place is wired in to Mannheim's infrastructure.

"We gunna take that down?"
Not if you want to be able to use it as part of the broadcast of the White Light. And I'm sorry, Tuppence, but tough as you are, I don't think you've got enough muscle to force your way in anyway..

"No. That would attract too much attention."

Her face twitches, and she looks for another target for her aggravation.
Ah. All this 'slow shit' getting in the way of her desire to punch things till they start making sense.

"I'm sorry, but this really is a sneaking around sort of mission. If we need something broken, things have gone badly wrong."

"Fahn."
On the upside, when things inevitably do go tits-up, you're in the perfect place to work out some issues.

No one hanging about on the street, unlike Gotham. I suppose that's what happens when there's a broadcaster this close. There are guards wherever there are people, but the people being guarded don't look up or around.

A little slice of Apokolips.
And if Mannheim is allowed to get his way, all of Earth will look like this. A perfect copy of his master's works.

The question is, how do we find someone to get basic information from? No one stopped us on the way over here, but the lowlies wouldn't stop someone and the guards… Not sure. Maybe they assume that we're going to get Anti-Lifed if they just leave us alone?

We need to either make contact with someone or find Agent Carlyle.
Preferably someone who won't immediately call in the 'authorities'. And I doubt there are many people like that left.

De-helmeting one of the Justifiers might work, but it would almost certainly alert all of the others. And… We're here now.

Alternately, we could go to S.T.A.R. and try and get their surveillance records. That would tell us who looted the place, and that might lead to where they're being held. But S.T.A.R. is at the other end of the city and I don't really want to try teleporting point to point.
And Transitions are right out, because those would be a big 'Lantern Here!' sign in bright flashing neon orange.

Although…

"Okay, so we're looking for the Medusa Mask." I lead the way back to the roof access and inside the building. "How would you go about it?"
Preferably without setting off every alarm between here and Antarctica.

"Fahnd someone fancy-lookin', break bones 'till he squeals."

"What if he doesn't know?"
And if they're Anti-Lifed enough, pain won't be a useful tool.

She shrugs moodily. "Fahnd someone else when yer done."

"And if he screams and all his friends come running?"

"Saves tahm."
Sadly, I don't think Tuppence cares too much for subtlety, which is a little more important here than being quick.

We walk down through the public areas, heading towards the storage rooms in the basement. No effort has been made to loot or defile the place, and no effort has been made to preserve it either. It's mostly in reasonable shape, but there's a wet patch where a window was been propped open and rain has gotten in.

"Not really practical."
Which suggests someone's been using it for an entrance and exit.

"I dunno. Why you askin' me?"

"Because someday, Tuppence, you're going to be in a position where you have to work out how to do something like this, and I won't be there to do it for you."
Especially if she does end up in a special ops team or something.

"Ain't mah thang."

"Well, we can have a deep and personal conversation instead if you like. You know, last I heard, your mother was three months sober, and-."
Oof. Low blow, OL. Especially if her mother isn't doing well otherwise.

"Ahh! We could-. Blend in real good in those farms? Geht a Justifier helmet and take out the Anti-Life stuff, wear it around and ask who the local bowss is?"

"Good ideas, except that if the guards are awake they'll see that we're not under Anti-Life control. And I'm reasonably confident that the Justifiers can do the same."
One of the smart options for face-concealing helmets: User IFF that makes it easier to identify trojan horse attempts. Height, weight or gender doesn't match? Red Alert!

"Y'all got that Anti-Life thing in yer rings, raht? Could that work?"

Hm. "I honestly don't know. It might, but it would be a risk that we couldn't assess in advance."
And this isn't really something you want to be playing around with like that.

"Huh?"

"I'd have to put myself in that mindset, walk up to them and hope that they couldn't tell the difference. And that it wouldn't start working for real."
And you do remember how he was when it first hit him, right? You want a repeat performance of that?

"Geht someone who can read their mahns?"

"Reading the minds of the workers could work. Anyone higher than that and you'd risk the telepath getting Anti-Lifed."
The joy of viral memetic threats.

I generate a key card construct to get us into the staff area, swiping it through the card reader and pulling the door open.

"Cameras? They gaht cameras, raht? Watch 'em, follow where they go."
Assuming any still have power around here, given the general breakdown in infrastructure.

"That's a good idea. It wouldn't risk exposing us, my rings can analyse the pictures faster than someone reviewing them manually and it could give us an idea what else was going on in the area."

Staff entrance is that way, preservation work that way, staff canteen… Long term storage, that's what we want.
Most secure place in the building, no doubt. Easily defensible with limited entries.

"Agent Carlyle, if you're in here, we're friendly!"

"Y'all already thawt a'that. Ain't that raht?"
Almost certainly. But it's good that you thought of it, and recognised that. You're learning.

"Yes, but I've been doing this a bit longer than you."

"If it's so smart, how come we ain't doin' it?"
What if someone else is already using the cameras? OL poking his Ring in might be noticeable.

"This was closer. And we do need to find him."

The entrance to long term storage-.
If only to learn more about SHADE in this reality. Given OL's sparse recollections of it.

"Notice anything odd?"

Tuppence blinks at the forklift trick, the large workspace and the roller shutter door which would grant the forklift access. Then she notices what I noticed.
Look closer, hun'. It's not necessarily obvious, but you'll know it when you see it.

"There should be a card reader thang. It's gawn."

I look at the small rectangular hole in the wall next to the regular door.
Little indiscreet. Kind of leaves a big sign saying 'Someone's been here.'

"Yes indeed. Two obvious possibilities. They were having maintenance done and it didn't get finished-."

"Someone broke in. No dust 'round the door."
Good. But what else?

I smile at her, and she nearly smiles back.

"'No dust' means that they came in and out a lot. Otherwise there would be discrete footprints. Now, remember, if he's in here, he's probably going to be jumpy and certainly isn't expecting company." I extend filaments into the hole and trigger the mechanism to open the door. "So don't take it personally if he shoots us."
...Footprints like the ones you two may have been leaving upstairs? Then again, the public areas would be cleaner to start with.

She shrugs as I pull the door open and-.

Oh dear.
Ah. How messy is it? Is there at least a corpse to look over, or are they going to have to clean up with a mop?

So, that last line leaves little doubt that either Carlyle is sitting there with a very large gun, or what's left of him is currently winning the room temperature challenge. Either possibility leaves a lot to be desired. Still, good to see Tuppence having to use a muscle that the Danner Formula couldn't enhance. If she can keep learning to think before she acts, she'll have a brought future,
 

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