Log:ACRO - Bits and Pieces, Scene 2

ACRO - Bits and Pieces 2008/07/16 	 Jennifer Yolanda

2

Inside the door is a spacious reception area. Directly opposite the entrance is a wide full length window of thick armor glass providing a gallery view into the workout area. To the east is a desk where gym staff check membership cards, schedule sessions and give out information. Next to the desk are vending machines selling snacks and chilled drinks and a jukebox. The west side of the reception area has a pair of old fashioned pinball machines and a holographic Hogan's Alley combat shooting game. Photographs, a framed Plaque, and the Gym Rules are hung on the walls.

The central area of the reception has a half dozen tables and chairs for members who are waiting for their booked session or discussing the outcome. A short flight of stairs leads down to the massive stainless steel door of the workout room as well as doors to the restrooms and changing rooms that are equipped with showers for freshening up after an exhausting practice.

"Oh, I've been bad this week... for the past couple weeks, really." Yolanda says. "I've decided that I needed to put my foot down and finally come back to the gym." In the silence after ehr words, she thinks out loud to Jennifer. o O ( Sorry, but I think I'm going to need to be a little cloak and dagger, right now... )

Jennifer says, "We can sort that out. The closeness of Lisa's coffee and cookie shop has me fighting the pounds and inches at my waist too. If you want to get changed and warm up in the main Gym for a few minutes that will let the group in the workout room finish their seesion. I'll join you in there when it's free. Does that sound good to you?"

Dr. Simmons nods. "That sounds fine. I'll see you in a few, alright?"

Jennifer nods and quickly sorts out the current pile of invoices. "Jaq, can you come and take over the desk for a while. Jess and I will be engaged in a personal fitness evaluation session in the workout room when it comes free."

Dr. Simmons heads through the door and walks towards the women's locker room. She moves carefully, while she focuses on something else. Her presence remains with Jennifer, and she thinks. o O ( Right now, Telepathy is the only means of communicating that I feel is safe enough... )

Jennifer thinks. o O (I re-transmit anything I hear or see, or sense in any way. I don't know how many people could overhear that. My father could always do so. If this issue demands that level of secrecy you may need to think about that.)

Dr. Simmons thinks. o O ( The connection to your 'sister'...? Don't worry; I think that's safe from him. I've gotten myself mixed up in something, and I'm not sure how to get out of it. )w

Jennifer thinks. o O (Instead of the workout room, which offers conventional security, would the food court of the Mega-Mall be a better meeting place. Father always said the eavesdropping on mental conversation was made more difficult if there were many other minds about.)

Dr. Simmons thinks. o O ( Your father is right, but thankfully, the person I'm hiding from isn't a mentalist. Jennifer, I hate to involve you in this because I consider you to be a friend and I also feel responsible for your well-being... But, I think I need your help. )

Inside the door is a spacious reception area. Directly opposite the entrance is a wide full length window of thick armor glass providing a gallery view into the workout area. To the east is a desk where gym staff check membership cards, schedule sessions and give out information. Next to the desk are vending machines selling snacks and chilled drinks and a jukebox. The west side of the reception area has a pair of old fashioned pinball machines and a holographic Hogan's Alley combat shooting game. Photographs, a framed Plaque, and the Gym Rules are hung on the walls.

The central area of the reception has a half dozen tables and chairs for members who are waiting for their booked session or discussing the outcome. A short flight of stairs leads down to the massive stainless steel door of the workout room as well as doors to the restrooms and changing rooms that are equipped with showers for freshening up after an exhausting practice.

Jennifer thinks. o O (Thank you . I like to think we are friends. But responsible for my well-being you are not. I can look after myself. Not that I turn down help from friends but you're not /responsible/ for you.)

Dr. Simmons thinks back. o O ( Thank you... I hope that you'll understand why I might have shied away from mentioning this before. Really, it's been overwhelming... are you familiar with the group ACRO? )

Jennifer thinks. o O (High-Tech weapon suppliers. Sell to anyone with the cash. Governments, mercenaries, criminals, metavillains, don't matter who. They have their own meta types for security. I've heard they have hired from B.A.D. and finance a couple of the gangs in Colonial Bay. Assuming they don't finance gangs in every city, which seems a silly idea, that implies they are either based in this city or have a major facility here. When I was still with SGG we had a couple of incidents involving ACRO. I was only on the fringe but if I recall correctly there was a hostile AI working with ACRO. Random got some techo-mage in to beef up SG's computer security because of that.)

Dr. Simmons thinks. o O ( My...That's a big 'yes', then. Well, this answers some of my questions. The ACRO artificial intelligence, Deus Ex Machina... He's managed to place a mind control chip in the brain of the President. )

Jennifer thinks. o O (It's what..?! In the President?  ... So the President's brain isn't missing. It's just under control?)

Dr. Simmons thinks. o O ( Yes. That's right. What's more, Deus Ex found out that I've been looking into the matter. He promised that if I didn't stop, he would free a number of dangerous criminals from prison... that's what's had me so upset recently. )

Jennifer thinks. o O (Well there's a sensible way to handle this and a fun way. Not that having the President under electronic mental control by ACRO is all that much worse than him not being under mental control. He's a politician after all. You could tip of the Secret Service. Or M.I.A. They're both pretty effective in they own fashion. Alternatively we kidnap the President and take the chip out of his head.)

Dr. Simmons think. o O ( The problem is that the Secret Service already knows. They're either complicit or powerless to act. Who are the M.I.A.? To me, kidnapping the President is right out. I did have another idea -- to expose the President. If he's embroiled in a large enough controversy he may be powerless to do any real harm. )

Jennifer thinks. o O (M.I.A. is the Meta Intelligence Agency. They're like a special force for handling meta threats to the US. How sure are you of your facts, Doctor?. The Secret Service are a loyal bunch of people. I can't imagine they would let this slide under any circumstances if they knew it was happening. Plus the President also has regular medical checks. A chip ought to be detected. And I'd put hard cash on there being at least one or two mentalists on the Presidental detail watching out for attempts to control him mentally. It doesn't seem feasible for any length of time.)

Dr. Simmons thinks. o O ( I wasn't entirely certain until Deus Ex threatened me. After the attack on the President here in Colonial Bay, I did some consulting for the Secret Service... I can't really go into the details of the report that I submitted to them, other than to say that my findings were consistent with the mind control story. Then I was contacted by The Senator -- the leader of the group behind the attack. He's a powerful mentallist and told me the motive behind the attack was to expose the President's state of mind. I suppose there's a remote possibility that the Senator is putting me on, but I don't believe it. ))

Jennifer thinks. o O (Doctor, you're telling me the President of the US is mind controlled by an AI working for ACRO. Under those circumstances being unwilling to reveal at least the major points of whatever you consulted with the Secret Service on to me seems a little picky. Unless it has no connection with the President's condition. But if that was the case you wouldn't have mentioned it. In any case exposing the President's condition may be what this Senator wants, especially if the Senator is a political rival. That would ruin the man though. I wouldn't feel at all happy about ruining the life and career of an otherwise innocent victim of ACRO's scheme.)

Dr. Simmons thinks. o O (  The research that I did was for a confidential report that now on file with Men Sanus and the Secret Service. I'm under contract to not reveal what I found... However, I can tell you that one of my strengths is Postcognition. I can look at events in the past to see what happened, even down to the details of what mental powers were used and what some of the effects were. )

Jennifer thinks. o O (Are /you/ sure enough that there really is a chip in the President's brain, Doctor?)

Dr. Simmons thinks. o O ( I'm certain that there's /something/ in the President's brain. I'll admit tht the first I heard the idea of the microchip from The Senator. But, I'm also certain that Deus Ex told me that he was controlling the President. )

Jennifer thinks. o O (If you are convinced that's good enough for me. So as I see it the options are as follows. One: to inform somebody who is in a position to deal with this. That would be in legal terms either the Secret Service, who already know and are doing nothing you tell me. Or UE as the US is a member. Two: Kill the President. Three: Expose him. Frankly I'd say that's near the same as option two for a man who's spent most of a lifetime scheming his way into the White House. Four: Take the chip out of his brain ourselves. Probably any kidnapping him. Have I missed any other possible solutions?)

Dr. Simmons thinks. o O ( I haven't told you about Dr. Jacobs yet... he's a former ACRO researcher working for Starguard. Right now he's working on a device to track ACRO's island base. Option Five would be to go there. Maybe it's possible to disrupt the control from it's source. )

Jennifer thinks. o O (Yes, that's a possible solution. So option 1 has been tired. Whatever else, that needs looking into. If the Secret Service are subverted it can happen again even if we can solve the current situation. Option two is out for me. Option three I'd be unhappy with. Option four would be an interesting professional challenge. I suspect I'm a little biased. Nut it would be fun. Option five is worth doing in itself whether or not it solves the Presidential problem.)

Dr. Simmons thinks. o O ( *nod* Also, it will be hard to do anything without Deus Ex finding out. Who was the cyber-mage who security Starguard? Can you arrange a meeting with her for me? Maybe at Buckingham Park at a given time and tell her I'll get into telepathic contact. We'll need to alert the authorities about the possibility of a breakout. )

Jennifer thinks. o O (The mage was that author who's on the Tri-Vee a lot. Not a patch on real novelists like Hemingway and Mayers, or any of the authors that Augustin introduced me to. Popular easy reading with no serious content.)

Jennifer thinks. o O (I've never met her muself.)

Dr. Simmons thinks. o O ( Hemingway...? I think I can understand why you'd like him. I think the next step that I will take is to alert Starguard about Deus's threat and a possible prison escape. Starguard seems to be shielded from Deus Ex... If Dr. Jacobs has completed the tracking device, we may need to gather a group of heroes... I don't like the idea of trying to confront him on his own territory. )

Jennifer thinks. o O (You're going to be confiding in Starguard? No offense Doctor but just now that doesn't seem too bright an idea. Horatio is okay but he's purely on the Admin side. And I wouldn't trust Roger with organizing a picnic.)

Jennifer thinks. o O (You're right about being difficult to deal with this AI on it's home territory. The records were classified, and I certainly don't have access to them now, but I seem to remember rumors that the hero team that tried got pretty badly mauled.)

Dr. Simmons thinks. o O ( Believe me, Jennifer: if there were another way, I would suggest it. We can't be everywhere at once, and the threat is very large... I'll try to create a workup of Deus Ex. Maybe theres another way to deal with him. )

Dr. Simmons sits quietly in the locker room, concentrating on her telepathic connection to Jennifer.