Roleplaying
2004 Archive
2005 Archive
Seminars
| When: | 27 April 2005 |
| Who: | Faith, Kacela, Logan, Nicodemus, Pan, Sandra, Soludarius |
| What: | A trio of angels, tipped off about the malice intended by the current demonic machinations at DuPont, engage in impromptu corporate espionage! |
Dupont Chemical
The look of Dupont Chemical is exactly that of the Chemical Plant from the first Batman Movie. The piping stretching from building to building, weaving inside the buildings, and up to the massive smoke stacks; the chemical plant is a maze of piping, vents, and corridors.
The sun is setting on the dreary Dupont compound and its work day, as a rush of day workers clear out of the plant to make way for a more dismal night shift. A range of family sized cars to beat up pick up trucks begin to flood the parking lot. Meanwhile, at the height of DuPont's administrative building, from a dimly lit corner office, Nicholas Lyman gazes down into the compound, his arms neatly crossed over his chest. Though he is only a dark silhouette to his employees below, his one hand taps against his opposing forearm impatiently, as his gaze traces over the loading area again and again. Inside the office, Dawes is present to witness the methodical tapping. "Is something the matter?" the plant manager ventures shakily. "He is late," Lyman states simply in return, preferring to brood quietly as he observes the shift change. Clearly, there is still some friction between these old business partners.
As the first of the night shift trickle in, so does Sandra. She pulls into a parking space with an unusual sense of delicacy, and piles out. She's dressed in darker clothes than her usual business attire, but still dressy enough for factory work. She gets out her bag, and smiles to her passenger. "C'mon. I'll show you my office. It's small, but I was thinking about redoing the whole thing in pink. With green polka dots."
Tucked between two warehouses across the way, Logan keeps to the shadows, dressed casually in generic jeans and runners with a plain grey hoody. Ignoring the vehicles that pull out of the main gates, he stares deep into the compound, his brown eyes narrowed as if their gaze could pierce concrete. Occasionally, Logan looks away, checking over each shoulder for any new arrivals...preferably the faces he saw at the angelic meeting the week prior.
In a testing lab somewhere in the depths of the compound, Faith Vandegraff is finishing up her workday. After cleaning up the results of the latest test run, she's signed out, checked her benches, and taken one last look around to make sure that everything is in order. And then, one last check to make sure that everything is locked. After the /incident/, Faith is taking no chances as far as security is concerned. Still wearing her lab coat and gear, and carrying her clipboard, the woman emerges from her lab, keeping an eye on her surroundings. She looks calm--mostly--though the astute observer can tell that there's an awful lot of anger boiling just below he surface. /Someone's/ in a bad mood.
The passenger is totally not Inarin. It's Pan!
Yes! Pan!
Pan is wearing 'Nice Clothes'. A longsleeved PINK dress to be accurate with DRESS SHOES on. They even have HEELS. This is a little ruined by the fact she's also wearing a Cowboy hat. She smiles cheerfully at Sandra as she pulls out, adjusting her gloves, "Gosh, really? Not purple polka dots?"
The hiss of airbrakes several blocks distant heralds the arrival of that anticipated delivery. Once the driver signs off at the chain-linked entry gate, the truck lumbers past, and then eases around the corner. The official signage indicating water/fire/health demarcations sits as it should. The compounds are rather typical, and the handling once the door is rolled up and the ramps and wheeled out on handcarts suggests items of middling danger. The one thing that will become apparent is that not only are there a large number of gas cylinders, but their markings indicate that there are many types -- perhaps ingredients to be processed into a totally different creature within these walls. The man recognizable from the earlier smoke bomb incident hops out of the passenger side of the truck's cab, hovering and clasping hands together as he fusses. Victor's insistence upon seeing the goods to their final destination is likely annoying the delivery men, but they carry on, going to their usual drop off places while giving just the minimum of notice to the demanding instructions of the elder chemist.
Kacela is, as well, on premises. Given to leisure in the afternoon, she's taken to late shifts. Restless, she steps out of one of the myriad of administrative offices, meanders past the one segment of hall overlooking the strip that serves as a Japanese rock garden. Deep brown eyes flick upwards as she regards Lyman from afar, but does disturb his viewing of the delivery. A shocker, for those acquainted with her near-obsessive delight in basking in his presence. An echoing sound from the research wing catches her attention, and she finally makes her way to spot the retreating Faith. "Well, hello there, Faith. Have things been going well with your investigations?"
Noting the activity at the delivery gate, Lyman visibly brightens, turning suddenly from the window to his desk. But, the smile that forms momentarily freezes at the sight of Dawes. "Head down to the loading docks," Lyman instructs snappishly, "I would like you to oversee the shipment personally. There is rather a lot of paper work." When the plant manager is up and gone, Lyman is more genuinely...pleasant. A hand launches to his desks phone, while the other fingers the number to Faiths lab. Lyman's voice comes over the intercom not far from the security system Faith was using moments ago..."Ms. Vandergraff. Its Mr. Lyman. If you could come see me in my office for a moment." He sounds quite chipper. Good news. Perhaps a promotion?
Sandra leads the way across the parking lot and slides her shiny new keycard into the slot to allow Pan and her entrance. "Yeah! It'd look great, and I think it'd put clients at ease. Oh, here, I got this for you off the computer," she says, cheerfully. Dropping her head as she fishes for something in her purse, she whispers, "Got a tour last night, courtesy Ms. Howard. Think I spotted a couple of places worth investigating. Here's as good a floorplan as I could make. Points of interest marked with a circle. Get a chance to talk to her about bio-thingies?" She hands a folded sheet of paper over with a floorplan clearly done (inexpertly) in MS Paint.
Faith rounds a corner, taking off her goggles and putting them in the tote bag at her side. She stops just long enough to get a drink from a nearby water fountain, and then continues on her way. Maybe that'll calm her down. And she's paying more attention than the anger might lead one to believe--she hears Kacela's footsteps, scowls, but looks less angry as she notes that it's only her. "Hello," she says, in a forced conversational tone. And then, in a very hushed, very angry tone: "As soon as I find that little--"
And that's when Lyman's voice comes over the local intercom, cutting the chemist off in mid-sentence. She stops, the look of anger giving way to one of puzzlement, and mild distress. Oh snap, it's the boss. She looks over at Kacela again, camouflaging the worry with calm and self-confidence (Yes, she's getting somewhat better at acting, why do you ask?). "I'd better get down there," she states, starting to head down towards Lyman's office at a brisk walking pace. He /sounds/ happy. Of course, to someone like Faith, that doesn't mean much.
Pan mmhmms! "She'll be willing to check anything we find out, and she gave me a 'Beginner's Pamphlet on Bioweapons' and I read it and I didn't understand a thing, but I still read it! Mmhmm!", she whips it out of her pocket which shows smiley faced terrorists building Ebola and so on and so forth. Pan offers that over to Sandra while she takes the floorplan and gives it a bizarre look, "Are these lines supposed to be curving?" She eyes the building cryptically.
Logan sits tight, casually leaning against one of the warehouses for support. He seems rather calm considering the angels hand picked for the infiltration of Dupont Chemical have yet to appear. His hands do not twitch. He does not pace up and down the street, searching for any movement up and down the blocks...and yet, he may have the right to a little anxiety. Still, catching sight of Sandra through the chain link fence, Logan just acknowledges her presence with a nod to himself. There's one inside.
Victor quite happily peppers the drivers with more than they needed to, or were interested in knowing. Clapping hands together softly, looking quite giddy, he instructs, "They HAVE to be off-loaded like I said. We don't want any of them mixing just quite yet, no, no. That'd be very bad!" The deliveryman just shakes his head, and sets the canisters down as indicated, checking over each of the delivery components. "It's not like I plan on doin' the caber toss with these things or anything like that." However, at the vicious glance from Victor, the deliveryman/driver grunts, "I need a signature for these delivery confirmations," he pins Victor with a gaze, although the eventual arrival of Dawes should catch his attention. Victor doesn't sign, and just shakes his head sharply, before practically flouncing inside.
Kacela blinks some at the snarl from Faith, and coos out, "Ooh, sounds like fun, you should tell me what you have planned for him. Her. It." She appears to be on the verge of launching into another indulgent sentence when the voicemail rings out. "Mmmm," she grins wide. "This will be worth seeing." At that point, she breaks into a ground-eating stride that helps her keep pace with Faith. "Don't worry, it'll be good news. He's got plans for you." At that point, Kacela eventually emerges by Lyman's office, alongside Faith, and palms open the door and crossing the threshold without any invitation.
After placing the call to Faith, Lyman returns to the window, his eyes now cheerily following the goings on. At each canister that is off loaded, Lyman manages a happy little glow, his gaze only leaving the transport truck when Dawes appears outside the administrative building...
Dawes jogs clumsily over toward the unknown inventory. He stops between the delivery man and Victory, unsure of which of them is in charge. Rubbing his eyes sleepily before acknowledging either, Dawes says through huffs and puffs, "Alright. Paperwork. Where do I sign? " Clearly, Dawes is not quite as enthusiastic about this strange shipment as his employer. He just wants it to go away, and so he draws a pen from is coat pocket, trying to appear eager to follow any requests from the delivery team.
Back on the top floor of the administrative building, Lyman whirls around smoothly at the arriving women. "Kacela, Faith, " he greets, welcoming them in and gesturing to two seats ahead of his desk.
Sandra nods. "Good." Opening the door to her office, she waves for Pan to come inside, and peeks into the hallway for any lingering passerby before closing the door. Still in a low voice, she says, "And I'm sorry about the drawing. I have trouble with walls that don't move." She takes a deep breath. "My method of walking through walls will cause Disturbance, and I'd like to take some extra time to sing it, so you may wish to go ahead of me. And they're less likely to get both of us if we split up," she adds, nervously. "If things go bad, run for outside. There are angels out there who should be causing a distraction or something. There may be a Kyrio around, too, in here. It'll probably try to make contact if it sees us."
Faith mutters something under her breath in response to Kacela's comment. Something that involves the words 'test subject' and 'the new stuff'. Uh oh. She doesn't elaborate on it any further, and keeps up the calm veneer until she gets to Lyman's office. She just nods in response to Kacela's statement--plans? Faith knows about what's going on, and she's... a little wary. She's spent quite a bit of time patching up the mess that idiot flute-player made, and thus she's been a tiny bit neglectful. But if it means that people are getting a bit more used to seeing Faith Vandegraff around, that's a good thing.
"Evening, Mr. Lyman," Faith says, entering the room after the businessman invites her in. She sits down in one of the chairs, looking rather calm despite her anger earlier. Of course, that just means it's been buried well. "You wanted to see me, sir?" Here's the moment of truth.
Pan says, "Non non, a warrior and a scholar cannot leave a lady to face danger alone. I'll bring the trouble over to you if I find anything so you can call Thor for help and beat them up.", she winks. "And it's okay, I was just teasing. Don't worry about it. See you soon, and thanks for all the gummies." Ahh, so -that- was the bribe, eh?! Well maybe not, but Pan had to say something more dramatic than 'bye'. She takes a look at the map again, and then adds, "My method's slow though, so just keep that in mind, okay?" She then walks towards the wall ... and probably -into- the wall too. It opens up for her as if it were a sliding door itself. Du de du. (Totally not Inarin)
Kacela emits a light laugh toward Faith's rancor. "Now why would you ever want to mumble about such things?" However, she doesn't pry any further as Nicodemus officially greets them, "Nicholas." She doesn't settle herself in the chair just yet, instead letting Lyman and Faith speak as needed. For now, she rests one shoulder at the edge of the windowframe, and peers down at the jittery behavior of Dawes, signatures and all. "Oh for the love of... it's just paper," she insists.
As for Pan and Sandra, the first series of halls won't be that terribly busy. However, what the pair will have to contend with once they get closer to the more sensitive areas, such as the production floor, will be security devices, such as cameras -- and security guards with cel phones.
Victor skitters up to Dawes, and bobs his head as he wrings his hands and wheedles out, "Please don't delay, I would like to get started if at all possible. We have a forty-eight hour deadline, you realize." Subconsciously, he takes a step back, perhaps used to dealing with more wrathful colleagues. "I am to have an assistant, correct? One with brains, mmmmmmmmmmm?" He squints some as he tiptoes to peer demandingly at Dawes, before he begins to meander past and down the hallways on his own, anxious to find an appropriate workspace. "I know that the canisters are here already," he calls over his shoulder, "I'll find out where all the fittings are. Everything will need to be properly handled, and NOT at the same time, so we don't lose any workers."
As for Pan and Sandra, the first series of halls won't be that terribly busy. However, what the pair will have to contend with once they get closer to the more sensitive areas, such as the production floor, will be security devices, such as cameras -- and security guards with cel phones.
Silently, Logan comes to the conclusion that this meager infiltration team will have to do. Evidently, he has the start time of this little mission down to the second as he kicks off the cement wall, marching toward the main gate and its security booth. Apparently, the time is up for the other angels. Without any hesitation, Logan knocks against the fiberglass booth and says to the guard, "Excuse me, I am attorney Logan Donohue. Imp representing the man that was injured in the spill. The crown is proceeding with a charge of negligence and has hired me to prove otherwise. Likely, Imp going to assert that safety standards here at the plant are simply not up to par. So, may I take a look around? Oh, also Ill need you to call in your whole security team...maybe, one at a time? I need to know what they saw on the day of and if they've witness any other accidents in the past ." Logan is rather obvious about what has after...has the distraction after all.
"Yes," Lyman purrs back at Faith, "Your colleague has arrived." Unsure of just how well informed the woman is, he goes on, "A Vapulan, Victor, has been working closely with me to further our mutual goals here in Austin. The shipment is ready for processing and I thought you might assist him." As for Dawes, down at the loading dock, he waves a hand at Victor, "Uh. Whatever." Swiping the paperwork from the delivery man, he yawns and walks to the nearest wall, using its surface to sign rigorously. He just wants to get out of here...and so he doesn't quite read the fine print.
"God speed your path," Sandra says after Pan's back. "And mine," she adds as she locks her office door and moves away from it. In a clear space afforded by the sparseness of her office, she begins to sing and dance, raising her hands to heaven. For a moment, even under these circumstances, she delights in singing this Song of faith triumphant, her motions joyful and smooth as she sings for a full minute, the better to carry her plea to the Symphony. She releases 4 Essence into the performance, 2 to power the Song, and 2 as a sacrifice to her seriousness in the attempt.
Roll by Sandra: (1) (4) (6)
Pan chooses to not go into the hallways that have scary things like 'guards' and 'spooky things' but rather uses the map to go to the places Sandra marked as 'Suspicious' without having to deal with security systems! Hooray for 'Walk Through Walls'! If wallpaper or whatever gets in the way, Pan searches for a way to move around it, or simply breaks through it as necessary. "God is really really neat, he is something no one else can beat, he is pretty nice, he's really good at dice, he doesn't mess around with eating mice!" She murmur-sings.
Aha. Faith nods faintly, taking this in--she knew there were others here, but she wasn't aware of this Victor guy. Here's to hoping he's one of the ones who /knows/; she hasn't encountered very many of them lately, shamefully. "The shipment," Faith murmurs, smiling faintly. She's gone from furious to calm to devious within the space of five or so minutes. "I apologize for staying out of the loop. Things came up. Things got 'misplaced'." And she /will/ have someone's head for that, she knows that much. "I'd be glad to," the Vapulan adds, still sounding darkly thoughtful.
The security guards has no response for Logan. Instead, the hefty man grumbles and turns to the phone, notifying his supervisor of an attorney that has come to snoop around. So, Logan has provided a distraction for the mundanes, something that will hopefully disrupt Dupont security if his request for a private audience with each security officer is granted. Still, a little something should be done in terms of symphonic disturbance. Logan reaches a hand out to have the guard put down the phone, "Please, a moment of your time. If I could start with you, tell me what happened..." After that question, Logan begins to hum lowly, his notes to the symphony held together in a methodical beat characteristic of Logan's calm manner.
Roll by Logan: (6) (3) (6)
Roll by Nicodemus: (6) (2) (4)
Roll by Kacela: (3) (4) (6)
Roll by Faith: (3) (6) (1)
Roll by Sandra: (5) (3) (6)
The co-worker newly assigned to Faith, Victor easily navigates the halls, and then keys in the required digits on the lock to enter one of the more technically well-endowed rooms. He practically wraps arms around one of the dispersal canisters, resting one cheek against it and giving a content sigh. It is likely that he'd still be in this very position once Faith, or anyone else, arrives. For now, he waits for the contents with which he will load each section. Several 55 gallon drums, containing the colored particulate dust used earlier in the demonstration, sit waiting as well.
Roll by Pan: (1) (2) (5)
To Faith's apology, Lyman smiles and motions with a hand for her to stop. "Understandable," he says, settling into his chair across from the women, "The important thing is that you are onboard with us now. We can finally move forward to ensure that our words have a strong foothold in this city." He shakes his head unfortunately, his lower lip curling back as he kicks back in his seat, "I understand some of your work was tampered with. Perhaps, I might be of service...pay the offending party a visit." Before Faith can respond to this dark possibility, Lyman drops the lab number which Victor will be working out of, "I am providing him with access to our resources and our facilities. In days, we should have weapons with which to strike at our enemies...the nuisance you speak of, he or she, should be handle much more easily." By the way Lyman speaks, he clearly sees good things in the future for he and his kind. But, clouds are soon cast on that vision of a highly integrated demonic society as disturbances washes against him like a coming tide. Lyman jumps to his feet, not out of fear or surprise. It is a preprogrammed response and he settles into a ready stance. As a hand clutches at his side, he shoots a look to Kacela, his features suddenly firm and unforgiving, "I suspect that we have some unwanted visitors. Two sources...one inside the compound. Downstairs." The last part is an order.
When the Song takes hold, Sandra breathes a sigh of relief. With now insubstantial flesh, she darts through the wall, towards the first place she marked on her map. She stays as much in the shadows as she can, staying half in and half out of walls to occasionally check her position. Although she's trying to avoid cameras and people, any camera's she's /not/ catching are no doubt getting a highly interesting show.
The chemist nods again, still listening intently to Lyman's words, that faint smile still on her face. If she weren't obviously paying attention to him, it would almost be as though she were dreaming. Faith makes a mental note of Victor's lab number, and her smile widens slightly at the prospect of having aid in her self-appointed quest to retrieve those notes. She'll have to think on that offer a little more.
For a moment, Faith looks like she's considering what to say--then she hears something faint. It's not a noise, but it's similar; it's like someone dropping metaphysical books some distance away. Faint, but still audible. She blinks, and looks at the others. Lyman seems to have heard the Disturbance better than her, and she nods in response to him, smile fading as she leaves the chair and stalks out of the room toward the stairwell. Who'd be making noise at this hour? Faith's work is never done, it seems.
Pan herself takes a moment to pull out of a wall herself and step into one of the areas that was marked on Sandra's map. Hopefully a different one than she herself picked which would ruin the whole 'move separately' thing. As another aspect of 'hope', hopefully Pan didn't enter an area that automatically activates alarms or isn't surrounded by guards, but Pan doesn't have the luxury of being able to see where she is going before she emerges while walking through walls. She does, however, quickly look around once she steps out so she isn't caught too unawares.
Using his celestial song of truth on the security guard, Logan finds that the once abrasive man is now quite willing to cooperate. Unfortunately, what the guard knows is not very helpful in his investigation. Still, Logan does not allow his disappointment to show. He just absorbs a rather uneventful account from the man and nods, Excellent. Thank you. Now, may I speak with somebody else? Perhaps your supervisor? With that question, Logan looks back toward the main buildings...he hopes the others are doing better.
Kacela is looking pretty bored with the proceedings between Lyman and Faith, pulling out a nail file and fussing the corners of her left thumbnail. She's on the verge of excusing herself for the night, when it strikes. The thrum of disturbance rings out, and Kacela straightens her shoulders, and turns on her heel. A faint scowl is sent to Nicodemus for stating what was to her the obvious. She spurns the elevator, and also favors the stairwell, even going so far as to peer in the exact direction of the disturbance, palming open the door to Sandra's office, and its emptiness. Kacela cruises over to the phone on the Spartan desk, and dials up the number not for Lyman's office, but his cell phone. "The Rivers's flowing. You may wish to take a look at the more sensitive areas, it wouldn't do for her to injure herself." She slaps the handset back down on the receiver, and then storms out the door, headed toward the lab where Victor is still babying his equipment.
Victor is in fact so enthralled that he's not picking up on the goings on outside. He finally extricates himself from the canisters that are lined up. The man begins picking through equipment settings, and selects a few tools to allow him to begin dumping in the dust, leaving the nastier chemical ingredients alone for now.
Following Faith out of the office and down the stairs, Lyman continues to keep his right hand tensed but ready at his side. The other hand manages the incoming call. "Kacela," he instructs, his voice strong over the footfalls that echo up from the steps, "Victor appears to be a frail man. The long hours he spends in the lab do not allow him the exercise a man of his age requires. I would hate to see any harm come to him." Poor Dawes...he never had the privilege of such a subtle manner. To Kacela's suggestion, Lyman actually laughs allowed, almost pleased with how the events are unfolding, "Excellent. You defend our little project. I...I will go hunting." The call is terminated and another number made ready thanks to speed dial. Rushing down the stairwell, Lyman gives a quick glance to Faith, "Ms. Vandegraff, how familiar are you with the art of combat?" At that question, he actually passes her in their race to the main floor. Kicking open the door, he hums somewhat idly, "If the angels are in force, we may need to relocate this particular project..." Though his words imply a steely calm, the mystery behind the door does cause that right hand to clamp down on his holstered pistol.
Sandra continues to dart her way down, towards where she hopes the labs will be. It is probably the first and only time in her existence that she might wish to be a Servitor of Stone. Alas, she has only herself, and speeds up, sticking her head in various doors, conscious of the fact that her 'clock' on the Song is ticking down with every heartbeat.
As for Dawes, he is still at the loading bay. He breathes a sigh of relief at the completed paper work and passes it back to the truck driver. "Anything else need my initials?" he asks sarcastically. Even if there was, an aid comes from the building with a cell phone..."Sir, apparently an attorney is here snooping around. What should we do? He wants to speak with security..." Dawes waves a hand this new nuisance, "Let him ask a few questions...take a few guys off duty and let them feed him a few bits and then get him out of here."
Faith is now annoyed again. And she's swiftly moving through annoyance into outright anger, which explains why she's moving down the stairs like some predator stalking its prey. For someone of her size and seeming fragility, this looks... a little out of place. She doesn't quite catch Lyman's end of the conversation, but she doesn't like that tone of voice. Faith's eyes narrow. Let's see. Intruder in the building. Sensitive research materials and--
Sensitive research materials. Faith scowls again, not eager to see a repeat performance of what happened a month ago. She catches up to Lyman as he asks his question. "Do tools count?" she says. "Left my gun behind." Right now, she's lacking even a wrench or screwdriver. /Damn/. She pauses behind Lyman as they reach the door. Relocate? That's not what she needs right now. "Not my specialty, though." Not that she's incompetent in that particular field... she's just not used to going into combat without a weapon.
Pan steps out...and finds herself in a beaker-holding facility. Pan blinks uncertainly a few times. "...Well, I guess beakers might get important..." Pan murmurs, "Ninja swipe!" She steals a few, and then sneaks back into the walls, heading towards...The Labs... DUN DUN DUN! "Hehehe... I'm so clever... I hope Sandra didn't get caught by ninjas..."
Batting her eyes a few times, Kacela absorbs the information, and then makes a faintly disgusted sound. "Puh. So I get to sit around and be babysitter and eye candy for the old fool. Great. I swear, if he so much as touches me..." The last of her invective is cut off though as she complies, mouthing off or no. She has an advantage of being able to navigate the areas without any interruptions, but it's certainly not the same as passing through doors and walls. The woman pokes her lower lip out slightly, muttering to herself about the timing. "Maybe that vacation WILL turn out to be a good thing," she smirks to herself, before moving through the positive-pressure door locks that admit her to the research floor. Three more sets of doors, and she'll be in the area where the recently delivered chemicals will be stored.
As Victor labors on the inert components of the canisters, the gas cylinders and the boxed-up bottles begin to be delivered to his work area (and the future one for Faith!). The labels and MSDS sheets carry with them tongue-tying names such as phosphorus oxychloride, thiodiglycol, dimethylamine, hydrogen fluoride, and even some innocuous substances -- at least for now -- such as benzilic acid, sulfur monochloride and sulfur dichloride.
The number on Lyman's cell phone is sent. It happens to be Dawes mobile. "I need security on high alert," he barks, back to his more commanding tone. Of course, Dawes, from the loading deck, mumbles something about the attorney. "Fool," Lyman snarls, "Call them back! If they see anything out of the ordinary, they report it at once! See to it immediately!" By the time, the phone is violently shut, Lyman's voice takes another turn back to a more bearable level. "I see," he replies to Faith, peering down some hallways for any signs of foul play, "Well, normally I prefer to hunt alone." These words are followed by a dissatisfied hiss, though Lyman quickly comes back to an amiable note, "But, this union here in Austin should be a showcase for our varying skill sets, as well. Perhaps you can tutor me in advanced chemistry some time." With a satisfied hum, Lyman starts off toward one of the farther labs. He means to fan out and then work back toward Kacela's position. Fantasies of battle, full out war between celestial armies, race through Lyman's mind. He hasn't felt this since Fado's.
Sandra slips out into a hallway which looks encouragingly official...and /occupied/. She grins sheepishly at the fellow gaping at her ghost act. She hesitates for just a moment. "Um. Ah," she says, quickly, "You've been working too hard, and drinking too much coffee! It's clearly bad for you. Go home, get some sleep," she says, and makes a shooing motion before running across the hallway and disappearing through the wall into a new room. A large, lab-like room. She looks around wide-eyed, and starts stalking through the shelves, looking for anything worth rematerializing to take.
By now, Logan has gathered four of the security guards together. Even without the use of a celestial song, he has managed to get some useful pieces of information out of them concerning the working conditions at Dupont. By linking the struggle of his client to their own circumstances, the guards are much more willing to talk. For some reason, they've been working double time recently. Unfortunately, Dawes rushes out to the main gate, using that awkward jog once again. Logan's interviews are put to the end and he is escorted off of the premises. Has done his part...
Pan goes downward, and then swims through the ceiling a bit... until she takes another look at the map. This place looks important! She pokes her head out from the ceiling and spots Sandra, "Oh hey! I found you again! Hi Casper!" She says, "Catch me?" She gives Sandra an imploring look as she sloops out from the ceiling a bit more so that only her foot is remaining hanging. She sways like a swing, her shirt puffing into her face. She's never gotten caught before!
The Vapulan continues to follow Lyman, well aware that she's unarmed, with God-knows-how-many hostiles present. She'll just have to change that. Faith passes by a fire extinguisher, breaks the glass, and opens the case. She quickly extracts the device from its holder--looks like she's had practice--and goes back to following the boss. "In exchange for combat training?" she suggests, although now might not be such a good time to be making that suggestion.
The sudden screams coming from some lab in the research wing catch Faith's attention. She stops in her tracks, takes a moment to pinpoint their source, and points. "/There/," she says. Maybe some idiot spilled something on himself, but those doesn't sound like panicked 'my skin is burning' screams to her. And then she heads over to the lab, peering in and spotting the pale, screaming man. A worker. Who else is here, though? She heads for the door of the next room over--Sandra's room--and swipes the lock open with her keycard. The door opens, and Faith turns on the light. Who's there?
The Snake peeks thru the ceiling of a room and drops down once the coast is clear. Beginning again it traverses downwards thru the stone walls to investigate if another level exists below this one. Each flooring takes time to traverse. Should the snake peeking through a ceiling see people it slips its head back and takes the slow way down the wall's interior.
"Resourceful" Lyman says, nodding approvingly toward Faith, "I like that." This exchange between the two is brought to an immediate halt as the scream comes from a nearby research area. Well, it seems he didn't have to look far before he got his wish. In one smooth motion, Lyman draws his 9mm berretta. For a moment, the arm remains locked at his side...but the moment Faith bursts in through the door, it is level just over the chemists shoulders.
Sandra blinks up at Pan. "I can't /touch/ you," she hisses. "Not without canceling the..." and about that time the lights come up. "Snatch and grab, I'll distract the black hats," she says quickly, and then leaps through a table or two, right into the full sight of those at the door. With a wide grin, or at least the enthusiastic baring of teeth, she says almost cheerfully, "And so the peacock enters with full retinue, the dragon of smoke and ice by his side. From whence do they come, and more importantly, where do they seek to go from here?"
Kacela saunters through the next few sets of doors. She moves past the notebook and paperwork laden office area, with its plethora of protocol sheets, including methods for mixing of substances, detailed information on what the chemicals in the room are used for, their health and safety data sheets, and any other numerous sundries that she herself could hardly give two hairs on a rat's ass about. She places hands on her hips as she visually surveys the room's layout. No visible disturbances, although the sound of screams and breaking doors filters faintly through the walls to her left. She spares the sound a moment's notice, before she enters fully into the business end of the lab.
At Kacela's arrival, Victor recoils from his dissection of the canister, and whines out, "You're not here for an inspection, are you? I just got started! Don't come closer! You could bring dirt into this space..."
Kacela rolls her eyes, and rests one hip against the countertop. Some subconscious part of her mind suggests that she should guard the scientist without frightening him, if at all possible. "I'll stay here. Do you really read all those papers, by the way?" She jerks her head over her shoulder back to the office, before saying, "I bet you're really proud of your work, though. Could probably do it in your sleep. Tell me about it some more, maybe?" She spares a plastic smile, internally cringing when the older man's eyes drink in her form.
Pan can't get caught :(. And as such she falls on a bunch of chemicals, which mutate her into....THE FLASH!!!!!
Actually, she just falls towards the ground, crouches as she touches down to disperse the force, and then starts grabbing random vials and even pours things into her vials if such things become necessary. Pan is typically pretty dirty. Oops! "You're pretty poetic, Sandra," Pan marvels. She spots important looking MSDS sheets. Lucia said something vague about some of those symbols on there. Actually, it wasn't vague at all, but Pan hadn't really paid attention so she starts pilfering from there as well, humming under her breath.
Faith stalks into the lab, pausing just as she enters the room proper. She's dimly aware that Lyman is behind her, and steps out of his way, so as not to provoke some ugly friendly fire incident. The chemist moves one hand to the pin of the extinguisher, ready to pull and fire. That's an ABC powder extinguisher, judging by the black band, and while it probably won't hurt the intruder (unless she's got some allergy to ammonium sulfate), it should distract her. "Hi," Faith says, her voice low and angry. "Who are you, and what are you doing here?"
Actually, she just falls towards the ground, crouches as she touches down to disperse the force, and then starts grabbing random vials and even pours things into her vials if such things become necessary. Pan is typically pretty dirty. Oops! "You're pretty poetic, Sandra," Pan marvels. She spots...a back room! She walks over to the backroom and opens it... and peeks inside!
At the sight of Sandra and Pan, Lyman's lips hold to a forced smile. It is not an expression of frozen surprise, what one might expect from an employer who found a ghost like vision of an employee snooping through a restricted area...but cruel sarcasm. "Well, Ms. Rivers, you do know that this lab is off limits for one with your security clearance?" Lyman playfully scolds, "I may just have to write you up...or worse, suspend you without pay." He follows this up by shaking a head in Pans direction, "And you know that this is no place for a child? The safety concerns... " Then, with one imposing step forward, so that he is filling the doorway with the raised firearm, Lyman rumbles coldly, his words much heavier now, "Better yet, you're fired." Those words cue the fireworks, two shots being sent in the direction of each angel. Fortunately for Sandra, she is insubstantial and Pan is into the other room just in the nick of time. Still, Donald Trump couldn't have hoped for such a dramatic termination.
Sandra blinks owlishly at Faith. "Well, those are complicated questions, ma'am. Do you mean who I am now, or in a more existential sense? We change moment by moment and..." She stops talking, thankfully, and takes on a plainly false expression of hurt as Nicholas arrives and, well, shoots her. "You wound me, peacock. Well, actually, you don't, but it was a very nice try. Betcha can't do that again." With that, and a cheery wave, she runs and dives through the wall to the right, away from Pan's explorations.
Kacela shifts weight to swing legs in the air, and chats with Victor about this and that while he continues with fiddling about with the nozzles and plungers. It is very likely that her clarion alto can be heard by those squaring off in the room around the corner. "So, Friday, huh? That doesn't give you much time. Although it just means that you have to /carefully/ fill several containers. Doesn't sound TOO difficult. We've been up to our ears in keeping people to leave you alone, you know. That public demonstration raised a lot of suspicions. I think we did a little bit TOO well, Victor. You know, we had a guy start yelling about how we had tested West Nile infected mosquitoes on human vaccine recipients, and that they got out. Released or escaped, I can't remember." She shrugs, before shaking her head and breaking into another smile. "Can you imagine that?"
Victor looks entranced. "No biologics here, though. It's a good idea, though," he says raptly.
At that point, Kacela clutches the edges the counter, some part of her railing against the lack of attention, blame, or credit, take your pick. "No. It's not going to happen. No need for it." she insists emphatically, just in time to be cut off by the sounds of gunfire. She hrns to herself, and moves back towards the office area where the noise came from, seeking a pincher maneuver on Sandra and Pan, fixing a glower on the spot of the wall where Sandra disappeared and the Disturbance emerged.
Victor yelps and clutches at the fourth kaolin-based dust container, "No, don't let them mess this up!!"
This is not going well. As Victor starts shrieking about something she only assumes is an experiment of some sort, Faith is torn. Only for a minute, though. She heads through the door, chasing after Pan--she's still got the extinguisher, and by now she looks /pissed/. Get the one that's in danger of ruining things first. "Playing security again," she hisses, nodding to Victor as she searches the lab. Hopefully Lyman thought to tell him that she was on their side. She'll have to discuss things with him later. Now, she's got a brat to catch. Where's the kid hiding...?
With Sandra departing, Lyman decides to answer Faiths questions. He manages this with one word, the edges of his mouth tugged down into a vile sneer, "Angels". Pushing onward, he storms after his hunting partner into the back room. If Sandra is unwilling to be the next body sent back to Tyrr, then the child will have to do. As Lyman's gaze scans, it is also accompanied by the aim of the pistol...
Sandra dances out of the way of a table before she can crash into it, her expression suddenly sad as she feels the corporeal plane reassert its grip on her vessel. She shudders with the weight of it, then closes her eyes for a moment, searching out the strands of the Symphony that will guide her to the nearest exit.
Roll by Sandra: (3) (2) (3)
Pan looks forward into the room with Kacela and Victor in it. She sees Kacela and Victor, and then charges inside! She has to get in there before they decide to close the doors in her face or something, "Crap, crap crap crap crap crap....", she'll slam the door shut behind her if she can, just to buy a second of time. She makes a quick grab for the sheets, since she'll probably be shot at in a minute and she doesn't have much more time to 'hang about'.
Lyman whirls smoothly toward the next door as it slams shut, his weapon leveled until it is clear there is no shot. Whether the door is locked or not, Lyman charges toward the obstacle, kicking it open violently as if the lab were not part of his facility. Well, to destroy the vessel of an angel you need to splinter a few doors...right?
Roll by Nicodemus: (4) (2) (3)
Sandra beats feet, dashing the way the Symphony tells her to go, having to trust that Pan can find her own way out. Unless something or someone gets in her way, she's heading the fastest path way out, running as fast as she can.
A snake head appears on the 3rd floors ceiling. Looking about it seeks any humans within the area. Sounds of the symphony having given it direction to celestial interactions, it begins slithering down to see if there is a 4th level. Going the same distance as before it climbs thru the stone to discover what its investigations thru the stones might uncover.
The patter of feet darting past catches Kacela's attention as a blur heads for the door, followed by the more methodical pursuit of Lyman. Fixing Victor with a steely glare, she says, "Don't get shot. A canister would be too large for them make off with ANYWAY." Slipping off the counter, she pauses to regard the flex of Lyman's torso through his suit, perhaps pausing to admire him, or just hanging far back enough to stay the hell out of the way. Kacela fixes Faith's protective indignations with an approving nod. Victor mumbles something about bloodthirsty Baalites, before going back to tinkering with the pressure gauges on the propellant reservoir of the one unit he's been doting on this entire time.
Pan cringes, "Worse than when someone tried to blow a building up on me...Uh..ciao!", and with her relatively -random- findings, she falls into the ground she's standing on, twists so that she can have the ground cover her whole body, and then goes through this method of escape for the rest of the journey until she's out. Hopefully they won't track her by the pounding of her chest telling her to stop doing crazy things.
At this point, Faith is about ready to shoot anything that moves. Well, anything that moves, and isn't obviously friendly--such as 'friendly' is, with co-workers like these. Suffice it to say, she is not a happy camper at the moment, and she becomes much less happy after Pan decides to slam a door in her face. Angels. /Hah/. Cursing herself for her weakness--why didn't she see this one coming?--she scrambles after Pan, managing a "Stop!".
She follows Lyman through the busted-in door, and catches sight of the kid as she... falls through the floor. Just great. That makes /two/ angels they went and lost, and either one could've gotten away with valuable materials. Faith sets the extinguisher down on a nearby workbench and lets out a breath. It's obvious that she's angry, and not having anyone to take it out on is even worse. If the Baalites are bloodthirsty, then the other Technologist is, too. "Escaped," Faith snarls. "Both of them." She's not bothering to cover up the anger now. "This..." She pauses a moment; she knows that yelling at her superior isn't going to do her a lick of good. "What now?"
Lyman steps through the door. Not in the way that Pan and Sandra have been phasing through walls, but in the way that his foot comes crashing down and through the structure. What is left of the frame simply falls flat on the ground. Instantly, Lyman's firearm begins its search anew...it is delayed, however, by a few words to the lab beyond Pan, "Kacela, in here...I have one..." But, that statement of accomplishment is quickly cut short and the child falls through the ground. No, shots follow the escape. Lyman has already caught the shocked looks of Victor. He paces away, a low growl and a fist sent toward the nearest wall, "What now? We continue with our plan. Keep our security...a heavy mundane presence...here at the lab. Then, Friday...we strike."
Kacela cruises in the door, and scowls deeply as she scans the scattered mess about the counter and notebooks. "Let's at least figure out what she took..." She purses her lips, although it is likely that they will hear, in great length, whether they want to or not, the exact nature of every sheet that was grabbed. A good number of them were protocols for mixing the individual ingredients together into much, much more deadly concoctions, and among it... a timetable of events. Friday indeed.
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