Log:Return of the Timekeeper, Scene 2

Return of the Timekeeper 2020/01/10 Copycat Dorian Fauna Porter Starlight Zephyr Timekeeper

2

Dorian thinks about it as he looks at the map. "The small town would indicate some kind of control center there, if I were to guess. Perhaps where he grew up? He wouldn't blow up the place...unless he had a personal grudge?"

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...."

Copycat ponders aloud, "So...will they go off because they're on a timer and he needs to be released to deactivate it, or do you think he has an accomplice waiting to see his release? Possibly himself from another point in time?"

Dorian shakes his head, "HArd to say. But based on what I was looking at, I'm not convinced he can actually move through time. Though he does seem to be able to speed it up or slow it down for an individual."

Zephyr says, "If he's been locked up for 10 years, that's a long timer."

Copycat blinks. "And he seems to think we can't get to the bombs on time. We could get the info out of him potentially. There's people here fast enough to go to those cities, but would they be able to disarm those things?"

Dorian shrugs, "We'd have to find the bombs. I don't think we'd be able to find them ourselves in that time without knowing exact locations. Sweeping a major city, like say...New York...would take time. Even with special senses. I think...we might be better served warning hero teams in the major cities....and hitting hte location in Maine.

Porter ponders. "Well... whatever we want to do, before we can do it, we need to find the bombs... " Hey! Someone else agrees with him. that he talked over. "Er. Sorry. So... we check the one place for an accomplice? clues? a way to turn off the bombs?"

"...10 years. Why wait so long?" Copycat frowns. "Maybe we should go to Tranquility?"

Fauna's blank expression shows just how little she comprehends about the situation, occupying one of the guest seating spots with her legs tucked in under herself, still attentive but utterly lost.

Starlight asks, "Where did the power come from? If the bombs need a lot of power, can that be tracked from electricty supllier records?

Copycat ponders on Dorian's suggestion. "Small town Maine? Yeah, maybe. Did Timekeeper have family there? A spouse or kid?"

Dorian says to Starlight, "I'm...not sure." He has to defer to Allison on that one, who was doing the research.

Porter blinks at Kat. "That's a good question..." Great. More to ponder. His brain's going to get tired. Then, brain spasm! He snaps his finger. "I know! He's being helped by a past self, but he went too far back! He was a kid, or a baby. So... he had to wait in Tranquility while the other him grew up!" Porter nods, suddenly seeming certain. Then pauses and frowns. "... or that was a movie I saw the other night..."

Dorian turns to Copycat, "That's my guess. But again, we dont' know. Scanning a small town for anomalies would be quick, though."

Zephyr says to CopyCat, "I was thinking that it was more likely that he had an accomplice, who took this long to build and plant the bombs." Anothe thought strikes her, "Or perhaps this date is special to him?"

Copycat nods to Dorian. "There's got to be some records on his past residences, right? Maybe his address is in his case files or part of the court record."

Copycat looks to Porter and smiles, knowing the movie. "I was thinking Timekeeper had a kid or family who needed time to learn how to set this all up." She looks to Zephyr, tilting her head at the new person. "Yeah, but why sit in jail for 10 years if you could actually time travel? That makes no sense."

Dorian shakes his head, "No past residences listed. No family or origin. And DNA doesn't match any known close relatives. He might BE from the future. Maybe. Or just have a really good hacker on staff?"

Copycat rubs at her wristwatch. "Well, we're running out of time. Maybe we should start heading for that Maine location while we think?"

Dorian nods. "Let's do that, unless someone has a better idea?"

Dorian makes a quick call to the SG higher ups to get a word out to teams in the capital cities in question, though.

Copycat shrugs. "The only other thing I could suggest is getting up to Tranquility to see if I can steal his memories and find deactivation codes, or more clues. It depends on how resilient his mind is."

Zephyr says, "So how do get get to Maine? Via TransMat?"

Getting the word around is easy: Starguard has bases in almost all the cities you suspect are targets.

Dorian smiles. "I think...Starlight could carry us there? She's faster than I am in an atmosphere."

Porter nods with Copycat's idea of getting to Maine, then shakes his head at Dorian. "Nope. Sounds like a good idea to me." Which might be enough for a NO-GO all on its own. Then there's her other idea. He isn't nodding, now and looks to her. "Er. Maybe as a last resort?" Then a hand raises. "I can take one there. Well, other than me, I mean."

Fauna chirps, standing by Dorian in something that emulates 'at attention', albeit a bit twitchy.

Starlight sighs, "Yes, I am, Dorian. No, the shuttle is not. I could fly there in a few seconds. The shuttle and passengers would be molten slag. Try TransMat? Seriously. I got briefed on their capability back when I was Director of MSAR. It's time SG knew as well."

Dorian nods slowly as he hears Starlight's response, clearly not knowing what is meant. "Alright...so we'll try TransMat, then."

Fauna looks excited at the mention of TransMat, eyes wide, chirping a few times with added excited dog bark.

Zephyr looks a bit askance at Fauna.

Copycat smiles at Fauna. "It'll be weird...but interesting." She looks at Starlight and tilts her head. "Uh. What do you know about the Transmat system that Starguard doesn't?"

Starlight adds, "What I can do is take Copycat to Transquility. Most of that journey is outside the atmosphere."

Dorian gives TransMat a call about quick transport to Maine for an SG team...

Transmat respond that they'll set up an emergency transport there immediarely. SHould be ready when the heroes arrive.

Porter shrugs. "I could take her, too. Instead. If you want." He rubs at the back of his head, next. "I don't know if I trust TransMat. I mean, with me. But I'll get there somehow."

Copycat turns into a copy of Starlight. "I can get there myself," she smiles. "But being allowed in will be tricky unless Commander Perrault called ahead."

Dorian shakes his head, "I'd like you to have backup, Copycat. Given what can happen when you take on someone else's form? Having Starlight go with you works for me."

Zephyr goggles at CopyCat's change.

Starlight looks at 'herself' Copycat version. "If you can copy my healing ability as well I want you to think about being on call for the hospital." she tells Copycat.

"Maybe," CopyStarlight agrees with Dorian. "I've been working at getting better about that, but there could still be a risk." She looks at Porter and smiles. "Yeah, you could back me up, too." She looks to Starlight and smiles awkwardly, rubbing the back of her head. "Ah, well, I probably can heal now, but...I've already got a job."

Starlight asks, "More important than giving someone their life?"

"A bit? Trying to prevent them from having to be in the hospital in the first place," CopyStarlight murmurs. "Or providing on-scene aid now, I guess."

The shorter of the two men present seems to be the one in charge, so Zephyr is ready to follow his lead.

Dorian heads with a team to TransMat after getting transport set up. "This better be right. Otherwise, we won't likely get to a second location in time."

Transmat provides the service to heroes that is still kept secret from the general public: direct transport to the isolated village, without the need of a receiving portal!

For some reason, Fauna draws some uneasy looks from a few of the TransMat employees. Not many. She seems to be something of a recognized figure among them.

Fauna's eyes go on wider than they had been before, somehow, thrilled by the sight of the low density population, the lower pollution of the air, the general quiet compared to the big city, wearing a wide grin.

Porter drops the hood of his hoodie to expose the collar around his neck (Fauna started a new trend?). He double-taps his, causing it to melt and flow to cover him in a suit and helm that looks very reminiscent of Paragon. Only shorter. Less statuesque. Clumsier.

Well, you get the idea.

"Ok, you ready?" He looks to CopyStarlight, then down for the Doohickey. "Uh... Ok, maybe you should drive? I can't read the buttons so well. And we might end up in Alpha Centauri." Which he thinks is a little too far and too the left of the moon.

The portal dumps the heroes - Dorian, Fauna, Starlight and Zephyr - in the village, if it can even be called that - it proves to be rather disperse. To be precise, into about 2 feet of snow just off the highway that runs through the place. It's suddenly notably colder, and a smell of pine fills the air. The driver of the pickup who happens to be passing on the road at the time doesn't seem too fazed by the sudden appearance of the heroes.

Dorian sighs a bit as he sees the snow. "Of course."

Starlight asks Dorian, kind of late, "Do you have a spare communicator?"

Fauna's body suddenly sprouts a coat of white leopard style fur where her skin could be seen, waving to the truck driving person in emphatic greeting and sounding chirps that can be heard within.

Zephyr shivers noticably in the cold and snow. "It's so...empty."

Dorian says to Starlight, "Not ON me, no. Back in Colonial Bay? Sure."

Empty is indeed a fairly good description. Maybe because such population as there is mostly has more sense than to be outside on a day this cold.

Dorian's eyes glow as he looks around for odd EM signatures in the town.

Starlight nods, "Okay. I should have asked earlier. Back in a couple of seconds." Then she's gone faster than the eye can see in a long ruble of thunder.

The signals confirm at least that there are electrical signals here at this isn't a ghost town - well, the traffic, such as it is, too. But Dorian doesn't immediately spot anything odd.

Zephyr's eyes narrow a bit, and the temperature around the heroes rises to a more comfortable level.

Dorian nods to himself, "Nothign as of yet. I'll have to do a quick pass over town to scan more closely."

The snow around the heroes begins to turn to slush as Zephyr applies warmth.

Dorian changes form in a flash of light into Spirit. His voice sounds a little hollow. "I'm pretty sure Starlight will be able to find us when she gets back." He offers a lift to anyone who needs it, by creating a platform made out of light.

Fauna hops over to where the truck driver is, showing a genuine smile and working on her friend-making efforts. She's soon repeating this effort with anyone who happens to make themselves visible.

Zephyr spreads her wings and lifts off from the ground.

Starlight flies back to SG in Colonial Bay, gets a SG communicator, and returns to Maine.

Spirit takes off...keeping his flight fairly low as he moves over the town and surrounding environs, scanning for weird errant EM signals. There must be SOMETHING here.

Starlight gets back, and rather than search for Spirit, et al, she heads for the town doctor. She's generally pretty useless with tech. But some things she's had to learn. With access to the Xenobiology database, she'll check with the local docter if there are any DAN family matches on his patient list.

Meanwhile, on the Moon:

CopyStarlight agrees with Porter about the doohickey. "Sure, I'll get us there. You may need to hold in your lunch." She takes a hold of Porter, supporting his neck for whiplash, and then the world blurs for him before suddenly they're in a Tranquility airlock. "Here again. At least this time won't be so bad," she comments.

Security is, as one might expect, tight! IDs are checked, codewords (supplied when the visit was requested) demanded. Several check and airlocks later, the heroes are shown into the governor's office. She offers her hand. "Helen Armstrong. No, no relation."

"Maybe inspiration?" CopyStarlight grins, then returns to her own form. "I'm CopyCat. I'm here on Starguard Gamma's behalf to check on TimeKeeper and find out about the threats he's made for his release. If I can see him, or get in a cell with him, I should be able to mentally get details about the chronobombs he set up."

Porter didn't eat lunch, so hah! Also, he has a suit on, so... there was just alot of muffled squealing. Now, there's just a wave. "Hi, I'm-" the digitized voice starts before there's a digitized sigh. He triple-taps the neck of the helm to cause it to melt away. "Er. Hi. Porter. No, not THAT one."

Armstrong nods. "We were told about the purpose of your visit. Honestly, I couldn't be more surprised by today's broadcast. Timekeeper has been a model prisoner - at least, since I've been here. No hint of trouble. Between that and the fact he has no innate powers, he's been in the lowest security level. SHowed every sign of rehabilitation...."

"No hint of trouble and he hasn't left his cell to do these broadcasts, right?" Copycat smiles nervously.

Amrstrong shakes her head. "He's not confined to his cell at all times - not like the more dangerous prisoners - of course. But the signal didn't come from here - we checked, improbable as it seemed. And of course, on the broadcast he's wearing his costume - that was destroyed, I believed. Certainly it's not on Tranquility."

"So...maybe he set this all up a long time ago?" Copycat sighs. "Well, maybe we can confirm a few things by accessing his thoughts."

Armstrong frowns. "I admit, I'm uncomfortable about this. It's an emergency situation, of course, but reading someone's mind without permission - even a convicted supervillain - is a considerable violation of privacy...."

"I'm not exactly a psychic. It's just easier explained that way. I can turn into other people in more than just looks. I get their brain patterns and memories, too," Copycat explains. "It's...probably still seen as a mentalist issue in the eyes of the law." Then again, law agencies have had her use that power to go undercover in the past. "If it's not legal, then...we just have to hope the ground team can stop this."

She nods. "It's a grey are, I know. But I would urge you to ask before doing anything more questionable. I still hold to the hope he's reformed - that, as you say, this is something he set up long ago. He may feel betrayed if he is not shown the trust his good behaviour merits."

"Okay...well...we can see how he's reacting. If he's reformed and his past self did this, he could've come forward with that information. He did have 10 years."

Copycat adds, "Has he been made aware of the current situation?"

"Not yet. I consulted various people on the matter. They felt that if he's a time traveller, as many believe, then giving him as little information about his other self as possible would make it harder for them to coordinate." She shakes her head. "But I'm not convinced. All this time travel talk - people seem to think themselves into acting backwards. If you think this is the best way to stop the bombs, you have my support."

"Uhhhhh," Copycat considers that. She's run into this problem herself. "Maybe I should consult with Commander Perrault," she suggests.

Copycat steps out of Armstrong's office and uses her Torus-imbued smartwatch to radio SGG's bands. "Commander Perrault, we've hit a snag. Legally they are frowning on me copying Timekeeper. They'd rather I talk to him, but they worry talking to him may give away the details and help him with this caper if he's time traveling."

Spirit gets the message, and responds back. < Understood. Well, it wouldn't be a good idea to infringe on his rights. Talk to him. See what you can find out. And have the folks there scan for any signals getting in or out while you chat with him, if possible. >

It's not the EM signal that catches Spirit's attention, but rather a hill, a fence, a field on a farm out of town. They looks familiar somehow....

Starlight contacts Spirit. "I've spoken to the local doctor. He recognizes the name Timekeeper used and has told me of a probably property belonging to him. Sending address... I'm heading there."

Spirit swoops in toward the hill in question, trying to figure out where the broadcast was recorded based on the angle of what was seen. And he checks the nearby farm's address to see if it matches Starlights address that was given.

It's an isolated little farm - likely sheltered from the worst of the weather by surrounding hills. And sheltered from prying eyes, likewise....

And the addresses match.

Spirit nods to himself nad says over the radio band, < Found the address. The terrain matches the broadcasts. We found the place. >

Noticing the movement of those she accompanied, Fauna follows in the general direction, taking flight by her arms changing to bat-like wings.

And Starlight arrives. "Good. Let's be about it then."

Copycat replies <>

The house looks abandoned. Maybe for in the range of ten years.

Spirit sends the same message to CopyCat, < We found hte location where the broadcasts were being made from. Question Timekeeper anyway. I don't want all of our eggs in one basket, so to speak. >

Spirit waits for the others to get to where he is.

<< You've got it, Commander>> Copycat replies chipperly. As she stops broadcasting, she facepalms. "What was with that tone? This is life or death, Kat!" she scolds herself for being so chipper over the comms out of nervous habit.

Shortly the heroes are gathered outside the farmhouse.

Spirit looks to the others, "All set? The place is drawing power. I think it's a safe bet we have the right location. Any way to see inside? Or do we have to just head in and answer questions later if we have the wrong place?" He chuckles quietly.

Fauna's arms shift back upon landing, though the white fur on them has darkened considerably. She chirps to Spirit and bounds for the front door to knock.

Zephyr says, "See inside? Maybe a window?"

Spirit shakes his head as Fauna heads to knock, "No. He could set off a bomb with a switch, potentially." He nods, "Sneak a glance in through a window. I can get us in the door as needed."

Zephyr finds a window and tries to sneak a peek.

It's hard to see into the dark interior, but it doesn't look like the height of modern living in there. Very rustic. There's even a wood stove (as well as a more modern one)! Again, it looks disused, dust covering the furniture.

Without answer from the door knocking, Fauna peers into windows, curiously looking over all of the visible things, a smile coming over her at what little she can make out that seems familiar to her.

Zephyr says, "I don't see anyone. Everything is dusty, even the stoves."

Starlight suggests, "Check for underground areas?"

Spirit nods. "A good idea. Though probably connected through a basement? Let me open teh door, and then we can search."

Spirit goes to phase through the door...and then open it from the inside.

This goes without a hitch. It's cold in the house - but not as cold as it should be. Spirit can sense almost immediately that the power use is below him.

Fauna is all too eager to look inside, silently now, moving in after Spirit causes the door to be removed as obstruction, looking over many things without disturbing them.

Spirit looks around. "Definitely downstairs. I can feel the energy below us. I could phase down there, but we should find the entrance."

Fauna suddenly grows very large digging style claws, chirping with a smile, but does not begin immediately. As strangely inexperienced as she is, she is not impulsive about acting. She's watching Spirit, since he seems to be taking charge of things.

It's not hard. The basement stairs run directly under the stairs up which are evident as soon as you come in the door.

The basement door is also locked.

Spirit nods. "I'll tyr the same thing again. If you hear me yowl in pain or something...burst in." He chuckles quietly.

Spirit checks the door for any obvious power to it, but he then phases through it and tries to open the door from the inside again.

Zephyr nods and half-spreads her wings.

Fauna waits by the basement door, listening and leaning in toward it from beside the door frame.

The basement stairs look just as primitive as the the rest of the house. But the lock is a good-quality late 2050s one. And not openable without some sort of electronic key.

Spirit tilts his head, and phases back out to where hte others are. "Hi tech lock inside. I wont' be able to open it easily. We'll have to likely bust it down, unless someone is good with locks?"

Zephyr shakes her head, "Not me."

Fauna demonstrates she is good with locks, or at ignoring locks, opening a way through it without effort.

The door is no match for the digging claws of Fauna! She creates a large enough opening for anyone not overgrown to pass through with ease.

Spirit nods to Fauna, "Nicely done."

Warmth drifts up the stairs.

Zephyr basks

Fauna then moves ahead, nodding with certainty, not very heedful of safety precautions but not barreling through either. She's taking it at a pace that seems reasonable enough, completely unsure of what it is that is being searched for.

At the bottom of the stairs, one is no longer in an abandoned rustic house, but in a mad scientist's lab of the late 2050s! All sorts of weird looking equipment about. Also - a round object, about basketball sized, with a power lead running to it. And a meter indicating 100% charge. And a timer counting down.

Spirit follows afterward, preparing to potentially help protect Fauna as needed. He takes a look at the object, trying to see if he can figure out what it is, exactly.

Zephyr says, "Is that the bomb?"

The girl of bestial style is overwhelmed by all the new things, only some of them familiar in a sense of being related to thing she knows. Still, she touches nothing, soon at Spirit's general location and trying to fathom what she is looking at without success.

Starlight heads dowm as well.

Zephyr tries to stay out of Spirit's field of vision, so as not to distract him.

Spirit nods slowly. "I can work on reducing the power level on this. Not sure how long it would take, though. I think it's the bomb. Or one of htem. It might be better to try to find a control mechanism, though." He looks around. "Is our culprit around?"

Zephyr looks around for any signs of another person.

Or of a transmitter.

Fauna then unscrews her recorder and pulls from it a number of paper slips each with a tiny image and some text, the top one depicting a dinner plate with utensils and text that reads 'Will eat anything, dislikes chocolate, no known allergies'. She sifts through them until she finds one with what looks like a monster's head and separates that from the rest, sets them back into the recorder and offers the recorder over to Starlight with a chirp sound,

No one is moving down here. Though, now you look, that thing in the corner does look like a general-function (read: improbably humanoid) robot.

Starlight glances at Fauna, takes the recorder and presses the 'play' button.

Starlight glances at Fauna, takes the recorder and looks at it in puzzlement.

Spirit sends a message to Copycat, < Found one bomb. My guess is...it's been powering slowly for almost a decade. He'll likely know about it. >

Spirit then heads over to take a look at the robot to see if it's likely been active recently.

<> Copycat replies.

Fauna first rests her hands upon Starlight's when she accepts the Recorder, then draws her hands back, stepping from Starlight with a simple, single nod. The recorder itself is plastic, generally found in a large quantity box meant for school kids to practice with and get introduced to music.

The robot (it turns out it's sitting in it's charging port) looks up suddenly. "Facial recognition failed. Intruder presumed. Give password or face emergency action."

Spirit blinks...and then tries something. He's seen a DNA result from Timekeeper..and knows what he looks like. He shifts his form to try to match the Timekeeper himself.

Zephyr says, "Anyone know a fancy word for 'time'?"

Dorian-Timekeeper says, "No...there's no intrusion."

Fauna then unclasps her necklace, setting that upon the recorder holding hand, and shows Starlight the slip of paper she drew away from the stack. 'If I make elephant sound please clear area, about to grow to 100ft tall'. She watches for Starlight's reaction.

It seems shapeshifting in from of its facial recognition doesn't work. "Error. Give password or face emergency action."

Zephyr ventures a guess, "Chronometer"

"Give password or face emergency action."

Starlight tries something more.. uh.. direct. She attempts to prempt the robot and take it up through the ceiling of the basement high into the air.

Zephyr says, "Swordfish?"

Spirit guesses. "Qwerty." Even as Starlight goes to hit it.

Confused again, Fauna tries to show the paper to Spirit, though his attention may be distinctly upon a certain flying Starlight and robot. She tries anyway, offering a bark noise to get attention.

The robot disintegrates, a fraction of a second before signalling heaven knows what else in the room.

A thunderous sound and cloud of dust. As the dust settles there's a hole in the basement ceiling, and matching holes in the first flooe ceiling and roof. Parts of the robot are scattered over the basement, first floor room, and heading up into the open air.