Log:Return of the Timekeeper, Scene 1

Return of the Timekeeper 2020/01/03 	 Allison Ascendant Copycat Dorian Fauna Porter Starlight Timekeeper

1

Often, getting your message out there is a matter of timing. In this case, the time is well-chosen: at the exact end of the New Year's concert from Vienna, watched by millions across the Earth, the broadcast is interrupted. A costumed figure appears on the screen. "I am the Timekeeper. I have been imprisoned for many years now. That imprisonment is about to end: you will release me, or I will detonate chrono-bombs placed across the globe. What, you may wonder, is a chrono-bomb? I'm glad you asked. The image cuts to a farm scene, with sheep, cows and chickens. "Observe." There is a flash, and the in seconds the animals show signs of aging, the death. In moments, they are reduced to yellowed bones. The scene cuts back to Timemaster. "I trust your leaders will see fit to release me before I am forced to detonate these in a major popululation centre. That is all. Have a Happy New Year!" The broadcast ends.

Having been at Starguard for what amounts to a 'tech support' call, Allison was on hand when the call came in. She watched the broadcast and with a frown she wondered aloud, "So, did he escape in the future only to travel back and place these bombs? If we refuse to release him, will he never be able to do so, and thus erase these bombs?" she asks.

Jackie costumes up and heads to Starguard to see if she can help.

Kat saw the broadcast and gasped. This is job for...someone else? Usually Arthur would take this call. She grabs her PowerPixie+ and slaps it on. She may need this. And...no. She doesn't want to be Arthur at the moment. Can't be. She suits up, and arrives at Starguard quickly with some borrowed hyper speed.

Timekeeper

This man is wearing what appears at first glance to be a metallic blue bodysuit, complete with full mask, although on more careful examination it's clear there's a layer of something as well as flesh under its contours, for all that it appears to allow completely free movement. Use of his powers sometimes causes the colour to shift.

It's amazing what you can see when flipping through channels. Even when you're not trying to. Nothing like having a Happy New Year's smooch for the fiancee' interrupted by the sudden appearance of rapidly aging sheep...

Luckily for Porter, he can arrive quickly, with but a FLASHTHWUMP!

Unluckily for Porter, he can also arrive a meter or three off the ground. Still.

Luckily for Porter, Gravity is always there to give him a helpful tug back to where he should be.

Dorian's first reaction is to head over to Starguard. He had been at home, having a peaceful evening. He then starts to look up what's in the files for this 'Timekeeper'. If he's held, there's a record of where he's incarcerated...what his powers are...what he's done. All of that good stuff.

The Godflora was engaging in what he jokingly refers to as drowned meditation which involves drinking a lot of Aldorian Brandy and trying to use his vast mental powers to scan the city for trouble. The only problem is his 'Vast Mental Power' isn't exactly the same as it once was. He's still trying to get a feel for his new reforged body.

But the announcement was overheard nonetheless thanks to thin hotel room walls. So after busting through that wall to view the chronobomb on his neighbor's holo, Nohrbor is left with no choice but to lend his assistance!

He flies out the window and on to StarGuard HQ knowing that he might lend his new, immortal body to the task presented.

A less inebriated Nohrbor Nanuran Surryx flies through the door. He even opened first!

Starguard, finding heroes arriving from all sides, refers them to the newly arrived Dorian!

Spirit turns up the basic facts about Timekeeper in very short time:

Timekeeper first came to public attention on 'the Day the Earth Stood Still'. January 12, 2024, on which he stopped the Earth turning (relative to the sun) for vast amounts of ransom money, but was thwarted by heroes who assaulted his base in the Andes.

In 2058 he had a another extortion scheme: to release a tsunami that risked wiping out the eastern seaboard, then freeze that tsunami in time, so he could keep the US and other countries in a perpetual state of threat, since it would be the *removal* of his time effect that would cause disaster. This scheme was thwarted by heroes from Colonial Bay, notably Jessica Markham, who defused the tsanami-causing nuke.

Timekeeper was defeated (largely by Fuzzt, who appeared immune to his powers) and incarcerated in Tranquility: though his powers appear all to be through equipment, not innate, he was judged too high a risk for prison on Earth. 

Kat squeaks as Porter lands nearby just outside. She offers to help him up before heading inside. "I guess you saw him, too. I think he's the same guy from when the earth stood still back in like...1920? Wait, 2020!" she chatters excitedly as she heads in.

"Ow." Porter then perks up as Kat is not only here, but helps him up. "Thanks! Er, saw him, yeah. Wait... he made the earth stand still? Wow..." He follows Kat on inside to see what folks are coming up with. He's here to help. Hopefully he can pull that off.

"The Fiend has returned these few cycles later to extort his freedom? The Fool! Does he not know this world knows the footfalls of the Godflora?" The Ascendant asks incredulously. "Surely he is mad to reattempt such treachery again when he's been thwarted by the Mortals of Urth! Still, I hope he is both mad & powerful so it might be a glorious battle!" He announces fearlessly. Not that anyone asked.

Feeling she might somehow be able to lend help, Fauna arrives to volunteer. It takes a little interpretation as she has trouble expressing herself correctly, but the timing and her eagerness together eventually sort that out.

Dorian relays all of hte information he has. "Given that he's in prison now...I suppose it means he used other agents to place bombs around, assuming he's not bluffing. Or he did it himself with some kind of time travel?"

"The real question is, how does he -arrange- for such bombs from within the prison?" asks Allison as she lets her gaze flit about the gathered folks at Starguard. She shakes her head and shrugs, "There is some way that he is transmitting orders also. We should insure that he has no ability to communicate. Then perhaps Mission Impossible him... make him think the bombs are going off when they are not."

"Those types of things can't be common to get ahold of or make," Copycat ponders.

"Surely you have some clever contraption to scan the city for such a contraption, do you not?" The Ascendant asks. "I am always entertained by the cleverness you Mortals of Urth display. I wonder- how will you surprise me today with your guile & resourcefulness?"

Copycat leans over to Porter and whispers about the Ascendant, "And I thought -you- drank too much coffee..."

"If you have samples, or schematics for any of his previous tech devices... I might be able to learn a bit about how he makes things, what his style is... and from that I might be able to come up with an estimate of where he might have placed bombs, how they are built and most importantly, how one might disable them or block signals to them?" Allison asks of the officials at Starguard.

Apparently, the remains of Timekeeper's battlesuit was brought to Starguard for investigation, and is likely still in storage somewhere! Someone with sufficient authority could requisition it.

Dorian nods, "I can certainly have his suit pulled out of storage for you." He thinks about it. "I just noticed...there's no evidence of real time travel. So, I don't think it's him...placing the bombs like that."

Porter chuckles and shrugs at Copycat. "Well, I spill alot of it, too..." He then ponders this timey-wimey stuff. "Um... do we have any idea where these things might be sitting and waiting? I mean, if we can find the where, then we only have to figure out the when..."

Porter blinks as an idea strikes him... possibly leaving a bruis.

"Wait... what about peeking ahead, seeing where and when they explode, then popping back to shut them off?" I mean, the bad guy's the one who brought the possibly excellent adventure back to the future stuff in, so...

"No evidence that we can see. That doesn't mean that it's not possible. It just means that it is improbable. Which is where metahuman powers come into play. One never knows what could be done." A pause and she looks at Porter, narrowing her eyes, "The more we screw with the timestream, the worse we could make things." she adds.

Dorian makes a quick call to get Timekeeper's armor pulled from storage.

Chi promises to get it out of mothballs ASAP.

Chi actually seems to mean that, too. It takes less than 10 minutes to get it up from the basement. "One thing," says the woman who hands the clipboard over for Dorian to sign: "This was in one of the rooms the rats got into. We can't rule out tampering."

Fauna stands by Copycat, keeping herself quiet and concentrating on keeping up with what is said around her.

Porter blinks at the narrowing eyes. "Er. I wasn't going to touch anything..." And then someone mentions rats! "Ohno... the rats?! First laser guns and now they have timebombs??"

"Well, if he could have bombs placed, he could have had someone tamper with it himself. But thanks." says Allison. She takes the thing and begins examining it, disassembling some parts and such. It is a quick yet thorough examination. Even Julius's holographic representation appears and advises her to help out.

"So maybe these aren't actual bombs either? I mean, making that tech? There's got to be a list of the few people who can do it. Or maybe it's a person being used as a bomb."

"So maybe these aren't actual bombs either? I mean, making that tech? There's got to be a list of the few people who can do it. Or maybe it's a person being used as a bomb." Kat really has no idea. She waves to Fauna as she shows up. "Oh! What're you doing in here?"

Copycat twiddles her thumbs and looks to Porter. "It's like that time Uplift overcharged me to try and make my powers blow the city maybe? I hope it's just a device. We can disarm those at least."

Starlight talks to a Starguard tech. "Can you hurry and prep a couple of small shuttles? Spirit and I can get them to anywhere on earth pretty fast. But carrying someone else at that speed is dangerous until they are protected."

Copycat shapeshifts into Starlight. "Need any extra carrying help?" CopyStarlight offers.

Fauna shows what she approximates to be a salute to Copycat in reply, then the super serious expression that followed breaks when she changes to be someone else, still astonished despite having seen it happen before.

Starlight nods, "Might do. But unless we know WHERE to go..?"

The shuttles are prepped as requested - this is an emergency situation, after all.

Porter blinks at Kat. Or the heroine formerly known as Kat. "Overcharged your what? Blow up the city?" How'd they go from timebombs to rats to blowing up the ... oh, Ok. Nevermind, that actually makes sense. Allison looks to be looking at the suit. Fauna is waving or saluting (so Porter waves back). Porter is more than a little lost.

Seems like everything is going as it should be.

Ascendant joins Porter in that department, but he's just here to lend his might to the cause- not his keen tactical mind or his understanding of 18th Century Kurdish Baking practices. So he waits until he sees disaster- he will know when to strike.

At first, Allison seems frustrated. She tosses something aside and shakes her head, "Seriously." she mutters, "It's like someone used a cathode ray projector to build a particle beam." She pauses and inclines her head, "Well hello..." That said, she reaches for a lamp and reforms her finger into a laser cutter, slicing the power cord off of the lamp. Then she works to adapt the cord to supply power for one of the armor's systems. Of course, needing to insure the right amperage and such might cause a mild delay. "Look Julius. They have an onboard computer. Let's do this the right way..." she remarks as she reaches to touch the thing.

The Ascendant claps as he is proven right about the Mortals of Urth & their great aptitude. He leans over to Porter and Copycat and says, "This is my favorite part! Ha- you Mortals."

"Password incorrect."

CopyStarlight cranes her head over to Ascendant as she turns back into Copycat, eyebrow raised. "Ah..okay.."

Glaring at the computer, Allison shakes her head, "I feel like I'm trying to plug an atari cartridge into a MAC."

After some time, and some effort, Allison logs in to the computer. "Okay. Lets see what they've got in here, eh?" she thinks aloud, shaking her head at the effort it took. "I need more practice." she mutters.

The contents unfortunately seem to be rather dull. Operating system for the suit, basically. Lots of power management stuff. Controls for the force field, quick-ageing, slow-time, fast-moving, and similar functions.

Pulling up the menu, Allison puts it up in the air as a holo-display. That way, everyone can see the file system and menu that she is examining. "Help me out here Jules?" she asks, and the two of them begin exploring the hardware and software.

Navigation seems to be standard satnav stuff. There are communications links to several things - but only thing like the Internet link and other standards seem to be working.

Dorian waits patiently to see if there are some clues to pull from the armor. He's a physicist, not a computer person. In the meantime, he starts to use other methods. Checking known associates and the like.

Fauna seems fascinated by the holo-display, without having the slightest idea of what she is looking at. She nears it, and of course she tries to touch it.

The Ascendant closes his eyes and reopens them using his preternatural gift for languages. He is no technologist but anything in an unknown language will be translatable. He says as much, "I fear your Mortal Gadgetry is not my forte, but if there is something beyond your language capabilities- I shall lend you Israfel's boon." Porter looks up at the list, though is not a tech person at all. He doesn't even try to touch the holo display. He's pretty sure Ally would zap him if he tried, anyhow.

Dorian comes up empty with the associates, and goes to check what Allison is working on, just to see if he can lend a hand in some way.

The Godflora leans over to Porter Porter & stagewhispers (as whispering seems to be something neither Bloodlit very capable of) to the man, "When do you think she will discover the connection between the cities & the treaty of Strongholds? I hope it is very soon. Perhaps then we will find a way to this fiend."

Sometimes Nohrbor Nanuran Surryx can be incredibly prescient & sometimes Remph, Messenger of Time lends a guiding hand. Which occasion this is is unknown to Mortal & immortal alike this day, left to Raziel, Messenger of Mysteries to horde.

Hearing the Godflora's comment, Allison inclines her head. She brings up a display showing the correlations. "Not sure if it means anything to the current situation, but there you are." she states. But she goes back to trying to figure things out the best way she knows how, by analyzing the tech. I mean she might learn -how- he does things, techniques, which may or may not apply to the bombs. Hrm. Are there any distinctive patterns that can be used to -locate- the bombs? power sources?

The Ascendant claps. "Haha! You've found it! Excellent sluthing, Mortal!" He exclaims- though perhaps a bit prematurely.

Copycat stares at Nohrbor at his comment. "Umm. You...uhhh. I really don't understand you, but I can help with that," Kat grins as she turns into a copy of Nohrbor, at least to help with her sanity. It will do exactly the opposite.

Porter blinks as he's suddenly ... in on some mystery? Was he supposed to be? He looks from the Godflora to the holo and back. A couple of times. "Uh... The treaty of what? "

Dorian smiles. "The Stronghold Treaty. It allows for superpowered incarceration to largely be administered by UEMS, if I remember correctly."

"Well, as best I can determine, or rather we..." says Allison with a gesture about. "These might be to locations of various of the bombs. Not sure if we can get specific coordinates. Does anyone here have the ability to pick up energy on sensors of any sort?"

"We Godflora are meant to lead ye many Mortals into Hod's..." Nohrbor begins replying to Copycat when suddenly he's face to face with himself.

A strange thing happens when Doj'ons are within the same vicinity. This is something Nohrbor has not experienced since he and Althea were sent to train with the Mortals of the Tau Spring.

Fauna is quite entertained by the personshifting of Copycat, clapping and making chirp sounds.

"Oh!" Porter, the possibly helpful, has another thought. Second one today! "I think Kat can... er... he can do something like that?" He looks to OhMyGodAnotherFlora. "Right?"

CopyNohrbor is about to say this isn't helping her understand, but then she stops and stares at him.

Dorian nods. "I can probably pick up energy being transmitted or released."

"Huh? Sometimes..." CopyNohrbor murmurs distractedly.

Nodding her head, Allison is oblivious to all of the insanity about her. Even Porter. She is so focused on her task that she nods, "Okay. I'll get the energy signature to scan for so we might be able to detect charging or charged bombs." And she starts to do that, working as fast yet completely as she can.

Suddenly, Timekeeper's masked face is on TV again. "Oh yes. I imagine you're delaying, waiting for some pesky superheroes to find the chrono-bombs. That won't do. If I'm not released in three hours, my demonstration bomb will go off. And if I'm still not released - well, you might want to avoid major cities for a while...."

Dorian nods, "I just need to know where to look."