Log:Wasp Venom, Scene 6

Wasp Venom 2013/08/29 	 Marathon Regan Interface Fox Porter

6

"LA and back is approximately eight thousand kilometres, in twelve minutes, gives you a speed of forty thousand kilometres an hour, which is roughly one circuit round the globe. I think the speed of sound is roughly one thousand kilometres and hour which means you travel thirty five or so times the speed of sound." She nods. "That can result in a very loud bang." Regan quickly runs the numbers. "I offer training in unarmed combat techniques and tactics if you're at all interested."

Porter walks into the gym. As usual, he brings in his own exercise equipment. Twenty-four ounce curls, care of the coffee shop across the street. A guy has to stay in shape, afterall.

"Wow...!", Marathon says, from where she stands in front of Regan's desk, behind which Regan herself stands. "It sounds, like, /really/ fast when you say it that way!" She sounds a little awe-struck at the numbers given her. "Can your holodeck thingie measure speeds that fast?", she wonders.

Regan looks to the new arrival. "Hello Porter. Have you met Marathon? Marathon this is Porter, he's the man who stopped the hospital from blowing up." Introductions completes Regan looks back to Marathon. "In short, not really, since you'll be move at speeds high enough to damage the building."

"Oh...", replies Marathon to Regan, her tone of voice sounding 'disappointed'. She turns to look at Porter, lifting a hand to waggle fingers as she says, "Hi".

Porter was just noticing the unfamiliar person at the desk. He can see the back of a helmet. Alot of snug lycra, though more backpack than back. Long legs. More snug lycra where legs and back meet. His eyes and smile perk up when Marathon turns and Porter wags his coffee in greeting. "Hi. I see you've met Regan, my PR rep."

Regan nods. "But We can do broader tests in a safer environemnt using GPS trackers and the lake Bonneville salt flats. I think that's a good environment for testing your abilities."

"Uhm... okay?", says Marathon. "How much does it cost to be a member here? I'd really like some of those fighting lessons you mentioned. I've never really been in a fight, before, and if I'm gonna superhero, I'm, like, /gonna/ get in a fight eventually, right?"

It's Fox that enters the house of athletic development, of hologram and instructors. She is following Porter, deliberately or not, though she ends up sneaking once she gets to the point where it becomes important to decide whether or not to sneak up on him. And lo, it is behind Porter and a little to the side she crouches, listening whilst the speak happens.

Regan nods slowly. "It is pretty much inevitable." She concedes. o O (More likely than not against another superhero in the first instance) "The good news is that membership is free for metahumans dedicated to the defense of the city. We are funded by a combination of materials research programs, emergency response grants and sponsorship from a conglomerate of concerned corporations, many of them insurance companies who argue it's a sound investment to prevent widespread devastation."

Porter chuckles at the abundance of energy. Then again, with the numbers they're tossing out, he guesses that's not so surprising. "I'm guessing you're good at getting up quick. That'll come in handy with her," now he points his cup at Regan. "She's a great teacher. I've learned many ways that she... or some villain... can kick my butt all over the place." If he's aware of sneaky Foxes, he's very good at pretending not to be.

It's odd, when Interface is cruising, she's quiet.. but when she maneuvers in a fight, or comes in for a landing, her thrusters are quite loud. So as she comes down to land outside the gym, the windows rattle a bit as the armor suit sets down out front. She reaches for the door and opens it with a gauntleted hand as she steps inside with those footsteps that sound all metallic and such. Her digitized voice rings out as she speaks, "Evening folks. Have I missed anything?"

The low rattle of the windows draws Regan's attention to the sidewalk out front and the sight of the gently descending suited figure. As Interface m moves inside Regan gestures to marathon. "Interface, meet Marathon, Marathon can run around the world in about an hour, Interface is one of the heroes who saved the city from a poison gas attack that would have killed tens if not hundreds of thousands. In fact I have been asked to organize a mission." She announces in answer to Interface's question.

Marathon glances over at Porter again, as the man speaks, then leans a little to one side to look past him at Fox. "Wiz-chilly!", she says, then looks about at the rattling of windows and such, her head shifting a bit so that she's looking at the door when Interface walks in. "Whoa! Cool!", she then adds, nodding her head as Regan speaks. "What kinda mission?", she asks, butting into that conversation. Of course.

"As long as you're really you," Porter chuckles as he turns towards Interface, "not really. A mission?" The last part is for Regan when his head quickly swivels back.

"I have been asked to assemble a team to travel to the Zu Nation and recover a missing corporate executive who is thought to be being held captive by a subordinate." Regan announces. "It's a matter that requires some delicacy, direct confrontation on the streets of Zu nation would most likely end badly."

It's Fox that enters the house of athletic development, of hologram and instructors. She is following Porter, deliberately or not, though she ends up sneaking once she gets to the point where it becomes important to decide whether or not to sneak up on him. And lo, it is behind Porter and a little to the side she crouches, listening whilst the speak happens.

Raising a brow within her helmet, which... really isn't detectable outside it, but her head tilts just a bit, Interface inquires, "Mission?" She waves off comments about the gas attack, but adds, "What sort of mission?"  suggests Julius inside her head. She rolls her eyes and turns her helmet towards Marathon, "I sure hope you can run more than twenty six point two miles before stopping and dying." she adds. And then with some more mental prodding, she adds, "OH, and hello."

"Well... I could get there plenty fast enough, but I don't think I'd know whatta do once I was there", Marathon says. Then, turning back to Interface, she says, "I can go from here to L.A. and back in less than fifteen minutes", a tone of pride in her voice, as she puts her hands to her hips.

Nodding slightly, Interface remarks, "Well, subtle is not exactly my forte'. That is, if I'm directly handling things and not doing it virtually. I suppose I could act as support if I could get to a terminal connected to any of the local networks." And then she turns her faceplate towards Marathon, "Seriously? Do you have any idea what sort of trail of destruction that might cause?"

"I go around cities and stuff, duh!", Marathon says, then adds, "... and I've only done it twice..."

Porter winces, or possibly more like cringes, at mention of delicacy. "Yeah... not my thing, either." Neither is attention to detail, as he seems unaware of the sneaky Fox.

"For those who are interested in going I can present a briefing. It is a matter of some delicacy..." Regan pauses to permit the exchange between Marathon and Interface. "The opponent seems to be an accomplished mentalist. and she does not seem to be working alone. There are therefore technical issues about coordinating an approach and extraction."

The sneaky Fox is doing her best to stay out of Porter's line of sight, moving left and right behind him as he turns to regard person. It's a game, one that she doesn't expect to continue excelling at with the other persons in the room. She is listening though to Regan speak about mission, ears twitching.

"Well... uhm... when exactly would this be?", Marathon asks, her tone of voice sounding as if there might be an issue with scheduling of this mission, should she be a part of it.

Regan's shoulders lift in a small shrug. "When ever would be convenient for the members of the team, I have no intention of going with the team, my face, name, background, and powers are presumably known to the opponent and I would therefore be an impediment. The team members would be shielded because the mentalist cannot target my mind."

"I don't mind going," Porter points out, "if it isn't going to ruin everything. But I'm kind of known, too."

"Uhm.. I'd hafta do it all in one night... or on the weekend", Marathon says, her tone 'sheepish', to match her body language. It seems someone has a daily schedule that's a bit problematic to escape. "... but if it's about getting somewhere and back fast, that /is/ something I can do!"

"As I said, I'd be better off in the background, as a support person to give visuals, tactical aid and the like. If Zu has like... traffic and/or surveillance cameras in a network, I can hack'em quite easily and get in to watch over everyone."

Rather than speak, Fox raises her hand, grinning. She is intrigued by the idea of going somewhere she knows nothing about to do something she thinks might help.

Regan shakes her head. "The issue is not public perception, the issue is whether or not your participation is known to members of the corporation involved, Hive Inc. Our opponent can, and has, and probably will, access the memories of her colleagues in Hive Incorporated. So as long as Hive are ignorant of your involvement, so is our opponent." She looks to Marathon. "I don't know how long the mission will take, it will depend on conditions on the ground." Then to Interface. "The mission involves retrieving the person of a senior Hive Incorporated manager from the security vault she is presumably ensconced in." then finally Fox. "Question or volunteering?"

Porter initially thinks Regan is asking him, though she's not quit looking at him. This finally cues him to turn and the sneaky Fox is spotted. Porter blinks, which seems to make room for a large smile. "Hey. I'm guessing she's volunteering, for sure."

Thought to Fox: Porter pokes gently. Sorry! How long were you there? I didn't even... Oh, you were sneaking again, weren't you?

"She's been your shadow for a lil while, already", Marathon says. Then, 'leaning around' Porter, to speak to Fox, she asks, "Is that real fur, or a costume? Whatever, it's really cool-looking!"

The fox-girl stands to favor Porter with a quick hug, a kind of greeting that isn't making use of spoken word. Her favored medium of showing and not telling. She nods at Porter's deduction, only speaking when Marathon asks. "Is... genuine."

"I get that alot.." Porter responds to Marathon as he returns Fox's hug. It's apparent that he doesn't mind neither the shadowing nor the hugging.

"Well, I'm game." offers Interface's disguised voice. "But still, within the limits of what I could do without arousing attention." She grins and shrugs, "Grav-propelled slugs tend to get a lot of attention."

Thought to Fox: Maybe one day I'll get good enough to try the sneak-up-on-Fox game.

Suddenly, there's a chirping sound from Marathon's direction... and it makes Marathon herself jump into the air, startled. Then, from the waist up, she's a blur of motion... and then she's holding her backpack in one hand, a cellphone in the other, clearly reading a text from its screen. "Uh-oh!", she says. "I gotta go!" There's another blur of motion, and when it ends, the cellphone's gone and the backpack's back on her back. She starts edging towards the door. "Uhm... I'll drop by again, later, okay?", she says... then there's a whoosh of displaced air, a moment of Marathon pulling open the door... then another whoosh as the girl is gone, a momentary blur as she exits and is just /gone/.

Regan nods. "I can give a brief overview of the mission if you would like." She extracts a datacard from the counter top in front of her. "I've been preparing the materials I have available ..." She pauses for Marathon's exit, which isn't so long an interruption as to irretrievably throw off her rhythm. "I can present it in the holo-room if people would like."

Porter lifts his hand again when he turns back to Regan. "I'm in." It's only after that that he realizes that Marathon ran off.

Fox nods, attention moving to the datacard momentarily but seeming to focus more on the Regan that holds it aloft. She continues to unspeak, happy to remain unheard for the moment.

Eyes flickering to the datacard, Interface asks, "Do you want me to...?" as she gestures to it. "Or shall I just watch it like everyone else?" The smile on her voice can be heard easily enough.

Regan hands the data card over to Interface. "This is delicate information and was given to me on condition of absolute discretion, it is not to be disseminated beyond the occupants of this room without my express consent. Is that acceptable?"

"Absolutely. If you gave your word, then I am -not- going to break it on your behalf." There's a minute pause as she communicates with Julius. <<Jules. Ignore SOP on this one. No automatic download or backup of the datacard. Understood?" She asks before she takes the card and inserts it into an arm slot on her armor, the hand-mounted holo projector warming up and displaying the first, initial screen of whatever display Regan wanted played.

Porter shrugs. "I'm not going to be telling anyone." He sips a swallow from his coffee and turns his attention on the display. He wasn't asked directly, but it was implied.

An attractive mulatto woman with honey-coloured eyes appears on the screen.

"This is Bee's Johannesburg counterpart Kagisa Adamini. Miss Adamini is an accomplished telepath and over recent time has displayed a certain disregard for Hive protocols, demonstrating a material ambition that was thought to prejudice her ability to operate as a corporate representative. In response to increasing concerns a new supervisor was dispatched from Tokyo within the last month. The supervisor has subsequently disappeared and dropped contact with Hive headquarters in Tokyo. It is believed that Miss Adamini is responsible for this."

"Somebody didn't like the new boss..." Porter states the obvious, but he's good at that.

"Do we have a visual of the victim?" asks Allison from within her helmet. "And any lieutenants of this... Adamini?" She inclines her head, "Facial Recognition could come in very handy you know."

The next image os of a Japanese woman in elegant corporate attire. "ths missing supervisor is Sato Katsumi, those of you who have seen Bee are aware that senior Hive personnel have pronounced physiognomic changes. These will be even more severe for Miss Sato. This picture will be useful for facial structure however."

The graphic following is a picture of a ten-story building in downtown Johannesburg. "These are Hive's corporate offices in Johannesburg. They occupy a portion of the fourth floor."

Almost instantly Regan moves on to a schematic representation of what looks like office space. "The marked area is designate "vault, the vault in question having been shipped as a whole unit from Japan. It's worth noting that the vault is conveniently located close to the building's plumbing with access to ware and waste disposal facilities. I conjecture that Miss Sato has very specific needs that are supplied by the vault. It does not seem likely that Miss Adamini will move Sato from this facility."

Porter scribbles some mental notes on the woman's features and the important point Regan makes. "So at least we have a good place to look. What about any known not nice friends of Adamini? Maybe we can get an idea who to watch for, too."

Fox resumes crouching by Porter, observing the persons shown in hologram detail. While questions are asked, she contemplates potential things she could do without knowing the layout. Scouting the layout for example.

"There is limited data on Miss Adamini's potential associates but we do have an image of one of her known accomplices." The next figure is a hand-drawn graphic of a masked man holding a helmet apparently emerging through a wall. "The helmet depicted here is of the sort to restrain mentalist prisoners, the man seems to have gained access to Miss Sato's vault by turning incorporeal. We can infer that if she has one accomplice she may have others. The mask here is particularly interesting as it implies that the people likely to view this image would recognize the individual would recognize him without the mask. Or he wears on from habit."

Another schematic of the building and office suite appears, this one with different annotations and areas shaded in different colour schemes. "These are the specifications of the security system in the offices themselves as far as Hive are concerned, of course Adamini may have implemented upgrades." A similar diagram appears, this time for the building as a whole. "Here is a similar schematic for the building in which the offices are located. Again, Miss Adamini may have commissioned upgrades in the interim."

Since knowing electronic schematics wouldn't help him, Porter lingers his attention on the people. A masked man isn't so surprising. A big heart on the forehead? Ok, that's a little different. "I don't know if that's supposed to be cute or just plain creepy..." A full second later, he blinks. Right after, he immediatly scowls. "Creep. THE Creep. I've heard of this guy..."

"The mission objective is to secure Miss Sato's liberty. Since she doesn't seem to be very mobile this will involve making the vault she is contained in independent of Miss Adamini's control. The most convenient way of doing this is by securing the person of Miss Adamini, but various options may present themselves as we acquire more data. The mission outline in brief is, infiltrate Johannesburg, gather intelligence on Miss Sato's and Miss Adamini's status, formulate a more detailed plan to release Miss Sato and, in all probability, capture Miss Adamini or for at least force her to retreat. And those of any colleagues..." She trails off at Porter's announcement. "Please edify us."

Porter takes a breath and holds it a second while he glances to the others. He then lets it out in a sigh. All without losing his scowl. If anything, it gets worse. "There's a reason people call him The Creep. He thinks he's Don Juan Romeo and he doesn't seem to take no for an answer. The kind of guy that gives the other creeps a bad name. The guy nobody wants to be able to go through walls, doors, probably clothes... and he can." Porter finally stops the breathe and points at the image. "If she's stuck in there, with him around... We should get her out sooner and not later."

Regan nods slowly. "Does he usually work alone? Does he normally offer his services on a mercenary basis? In return for money or other considerations? Do we know what his preferred method of offense is?"

"He's a wrestler, and pretty strong," Porter racks his brain for important things beyond the creepy parts. "I think he can use his going through things on other people, too. Sink them into the ground, punch right through armor, things like that." He shrugs. "I don't know why he's helping her out, unless it's just for kicks. Like I said, The Creep likes picking on women." Finally, his scowl breaks to let a small smirk through. "I'll be happy to hold him down while the ladies take turns kicking him. Alot."

"Much as I would relish the opportunity I shan't be accompanying the team. I will offer what guidance and support I can but I think I would greatly compromise the team's safety if I were present." Regan comments. "But this reaffirms my conviction that the team should include a mentalist."

Porter's smirk grows a little more. "I'll make sure I get one in for you, then." Then he sighs. "Sorry I don't know more about Adamini or anyone else she might have around."

Regan shakes her head. "That information is already quite valuable, you've nothing to apologise for. As I see it, with Fox's abilities with gates, Interfaces control over the security system, and your flexibility it shouldn't be too hard to get the information we need to develop a more detailed plan.

"So we've got a plan," Porter nods, "and part of that's getting a better plan when we get more. Good. All I need to know is when. When it's time." No need to set that up too far in advance.

Regan nods. "It sounds lame I know but if we try formulating anything too detailed without intelligence from on the ground so to speak we risk allowing preconceived notions and expectations blinding us to dangers or opportunities we had not appreciated."

Porter can't argue with that. "Or we get a big plan too early and somebody's brain gets read." He can handle going in with only half a plan. That's almost half a plan more than he usually has.

Regan nods. "There's a risk of that too." she concurs. "You're beginning to have sneaky and devious thoughts, your training is beginning to pay dividends." She smiles.

"I had a good teacher," Porter smirks. "Glad you're organizing things."