Log:Hospital Bombs

Guilt Complex 2013/07/18     Obsidian Butterfly Mage Porter Fox Sapphire Shield 2

Student Quarter

''The student quarter is north and west of the CBSU campus, and is entirely dependent on the university for its flavor, but its flavor is different. Much of it, especially in the back streets, is cheap housing, with students being the main tenants. On the three main roads, though - Courtland Way heading east, Harrisburg lane northwest, and Stardancer Boulevard south - are one or two grander buildings, most notably the stadium on Courtland and hospital on StarDancer. Along these roads, and scattered through the district, are other services such as students attract: fast food establishments, second-hand stores, laundromats, convenience stores, doughnut shops. ''

''The average age of people on the street is markedly lower than elsewhere in the city, whether walking, cycling, hoverboarding or just hanging out. ''

Mage is on patrol following Obsidian Butterfly with Porter and Fox at a sedate, some would say leisurely, others would say snail-paced meander through the city toward the Student Quarter.

The normally placid flow of traffic through the quarter is blighted suddenly by a series of sirens, the first is a single police car to the East, probably responding to some distress signal or another, it is joined two seconds later by another to the north and quickly a third. The whining ullulations are eventually joined by the strident howls of fire trucks, not one or two, but half a dozen, all converging rapidly on the City's hospital.

"Looks like we timed that pretty well..." Porter in the wrong place at the wrong time. Who'da thunk? A belated reaction hits, and he double-checks the campus, just in case any of the cacophony are headed that way.

Fox is quick to notice the traffic change of course, the noise actually bothersome to her at a distance. Naturally the girl changes course without informing the others, pausing and returning to them, "Vire!" she says excitedly, then resumes heading for the named vire.

By happy coincidence Obsidian and her backup are out on patrol and have just reached the edge of campus when they notice the commotion. Regan picks up speed slightly as she leads the way to the hospital and begins issuing instructions. "Mage, go high and see if you can see what this might be about. Fox stay in reserve for the moment, Porter come with me." She heads toward a knot of agitated looking people clustered in the entrance.

Mage casts a spell and a mind link springs up between the quartet. .oO (This may help with communication), he sends just before putting on a burst of speed and seeing what a higher elevation can show.

Porter aims for keeping up with her, but will probably settle for not falling out of sight. Either way, he goes with Obsidian for the hospital entrance. Another belated epiphany strikes. "Wait, there's something wrong AT the hospital?" Sirens going to the hospital is a normal thing, but, that's right, those are ambulances usually. "Whoa..." Obsidian will hear his surprise at the voices in his head changing accents in stereo, most likely.

At Obsidian's approach a man in civilian clothes and a police officer come forward. "Bomb threat the policeman declares, no demands, just a delivery of ten pounds of plastic explosive and a note saying it will blow at 1 AM. We're evacuating the building." Regan takes a moment to relay that to the others by the freshly Established mind Link. Fox, and Porter, assist with the evacuation, Mage have you got anything that might help us find the bombs?"

Fox almost trips when the mental doo-hickey arrives, .oO (Holy crap what was that?!) She changes forms to be more suited to moving quickly and performing greater feats of power, getting her to arrive with less time spent in transit. .oO (This is pretty weird. Can you hear my brain?)

Mage chuckles mentally .oO (I thought you might like this, Fox. I have several tools at my disposal to help me find the bomb if they do not know where it is.)

Regan smiles.oO(not really, can you hold it a little close to the microphone? I can hear your thoughts for the moment. Thinks you can help with the evacuation Fox? I'm good at mundane searches and I have speed on my side but if you've got a way to cheat, Reynard, I would be happy to use that.)

(Oh, great. Explosives.) Even Porter's flippant thoughts are audible. (Yes, I can hear your brain, Fox. I think it's a conference call. A little heads up before the heads across would be nice.) The last was for Reynard. He looks at Fox and quirks a brow. "Ready? And ... you might want to go back to extra cute and fluffy?"

The Hospital is the focus of an inordinate number of police and fire brigade vehicles as every emergency response team in the city begins establishing a perimeter and evacuation centres that patients are beginning to trickle into.

Fox mentally replies, .oO (Evacuation I can help with. I can also help with being scary, which is probably not going to help very much in the situation. Fortunately I can also help with direction. Do you have any idea what it's like trying to express yourself and only being able to come up with two or three words before your mouth stops co-operating? Where is the explosive located? Do they know? )

The fox-girl-monster heads toward the hospital, past persons exiting with relative ease. She is tall, but she is also lanky.

Mage lands and the circular broach at his throat opens. A sixteen meter long cone of light streams from the "eye" to penetrate walls and containers, showing their contents for all to see.

Keeping the eye open is tiring, and Mage rushes to search the busiest areas first.

Mage is operating at a distinct disadvantage in that he doesn't really have more than the vaguest ide what an explosive device might look like. But he does know that potted plants should not have vases with electrical wiring in them, one, two, three. In the lobby... and another upstairs in the base of a lounge. Okay this is the busiest area, but if they're that densely packed through the building....

Obsidian nods, clicking her lips. "Stand here and show the bomb squad supervisor when he gets here." .oO Porter, Fox there seem to be a lot of bombs. How are we doing on getting people moving?

Fox mentally asks, .oO ( Should I just pick them up and go somewhere they won't hurt anyone? ) She is using her considerable force of persona to get people moving in an orderly fashion, seeking out anyone who is hiding all the while. Verbal communication is not her strength, but forceful glares are easy.

Porter may have an easy time of getting people out with Fox on his team. If the threaten of exploding isn't enough, the (false) threat of claws and teeth might work? (Great. So do we start uprooting every one we see?) Oh, good, no one's sending him to play with explosives. (We're working on it!) "Hey! Everybody! Keep moving!" The ambulatory are probably the ones most out, so he starts pushing any unattended in wheelchairs or gurneys to get them out.

Mage has worked in a hospital and does some quick calculations. They will not get everyone else out in the half hour before the scheduled explosion. As soon as her comes to that realization, the rest of his quartet knows it as well. He hides nothing and his mind is both more arrogant and less charming with the genteel layers stripped away. Leaving the plants, he searches for the one person with the skill he lacks: knowledge of bombs.

Obsidian's lips purse. .oO(I'm not certain if moving the bombs is safe, if they have anti-tampering, or if they might be set off by interrupting radio transmission or if interfering with one might set them all off) crossing to a flowerpot she begins to investigate for signs of anti-tampering.

Fox mentally checks, .oO (Should I make openings in the walls? I can probably do that.)

Mage .oO (Fox, find the rest of the plants. We need to know how many bombs we are dealing with.)

Mage gets to the entrance where he runs into a man in early middle age who is easing into a jacket with BOMB SQUAD written on it in blocky white letters. Subtle but effective.

(Crap.) Porter was wondering about the number of people and the timeline. (We've got to do something. Does the bomb squad have enough people to even work on all the ones we now about in time?) He doesn't stop ushering people out, though. Fringe benefit of the mental link; he doesn't have to stop to talk.

Abandoning her present evacuation plans, Fox starts moving through the hospital trying to find additional plants and explosions that have not yet happened. .oO (This might take longer than it can possibly help with. Are you sure I shouldn't just open a wall or two?)

Mage strides up to the bomb squad man and says. "We have several bombs in potted plants. I have as associate looking at a bomb right now and two others in different parts of the building. I can give you at least eight eyes and eight hands, right now, but I need your skills to aide hers. Open your mind to me."

Obsidian nods as she starts tearing the plant apart,her movements brisk but careful.oO(Open a portal from the top floor to the car park across the street where they're setting up the evac centre. We may not get everyone we have to get as many as we can, if they can walk two metres to safety rather than a hundred that will help a lot and it will ease pressure on stairs and elevators. What the hell is that?)

Mage sends .oO (I cannot maintain our link and a portal at the same time)

Fox mentally smacks herself. .oO (Oh, duh. Portal. I can totally do that.) She opens one from her area, smashing through a window to create an opening in the street below to effect faster evacuation. .oO (I like her plan better.)

Porter, do think you might be able to maintain a portal if your gadget malfunctioned? Mage bring the bomb guy here.) Obsidian abruptly stops working on her explosive and leans back on her knees, hands in her lap.

Porter walks back in from pushing out a little old lady who apparently adores cats. He's half way to grabbing a gurney when a lightbulb goes off. Maybe the others can even see it. (Wait. There's got to be less bombs than people. If we can portal people out somewhere safe.. can't we just dump the bombs somewhere safe? Middle of the bay or something? I can grab more plants quicker than people.)

Mage pulls the bomb squad into the link and sends .oO (We are on our way, but he has joined our link. Open your mind Butterfly and let us see what you saw.)

Regan is looking at one of the bombs Mage spotted earlier, with the potted plant disguise it seems to be about 10 litres of some sort of plastic explosive with a timer and no anti-tampering device the bomb squad guy can recognise but a strange symbol painted on it in some rust coloured paint.

Porter almost didn't see Obsidian or her wonderment in the dim light of his bulb. The inside of his head suddenly gets bright to reveal two things. First, he really needs to cacuum and mop. Second, a picture falls off of the top of the fridge that is one conceptualization of a mental recess. (Hey, I've seen something like that bef-Don't touch it! It's set off the bomb! Maybe all of them!)

Fox .oO (I opened a gate from my floor. People are going through that much easier than the elevator or stairs. I can open them on each floor as they clear.) She resumes the evacuation plan. .oO (Tell them to keep the gate clear if they aren't already.)

Mage sends .oO (That is a basic trigger sigil. Consider it an antitampering device of the magical kind. I believe our bomber is attempting to combine magic and technology. A dicey combination, at best.)

Grateful patients and staff move through the gate opened by fox, vanishing from view to reappear instantly across the street. The pace of the evacuation seems to increase significantly.

Obsidian's lips compress. "Ok, tech we can fool, magic is more finicky, anyone have any clevernesses?"

Porter wonders alouder (Will the portal trick work on the bombs? Or is that going to set them off?) It can't hurt to mention it again. (Most of the magic I've seen was exploding. Not really a good example for this...) After his one idea, his brain frantically works to try and come up with Plans B through F. His body goes back to wheeling people out.

Fox continues clearing people out. .oO (We don't think moving the bombs is a good idea. If they explode, they explode through the portals I can set up.)

Mage sends .oO (I have a spell that can fool minds, even machine minds, but I fear this sigil is too simple: a bit like trying to use computer programming on a pit trap.)

The Hospital is a hive of activity, milling emergency services busily hustling people out of the building in response to a report of a large number of explosives distributed through it, each apparently protected by a magical anti-tampering sigil of all things.

Mage relays the bomb squad man's assessment: the bombs themselves are simple but effective. It is the sigil that worries him.

Obsidian sits looking nonplussed at a magically protected bomb, one of at least three Mage has located in the foyer alone. Fox is on the top floor guiding people through the portal she constructed to the evacuation centre. Porter helping guide people out on the ground floor .oO(Dr Reynard open a portal to the floor below Fox, drop the mindlink, Porter come here."

(What the - On my way!) Porter finishes pushing out the invalid in hand and runs his way to Obsidian. "What's the plan?" Whatever it is, he's sure it's better than what he came up with, and he couldn't get past A.

Bombs, in the hospital. Vicki was up on orbit where she was helping realign one of Starguard's satelites. She got the message up there and growled. She finished the alignment and said, "On my way down. Keep me updated on events. Evacuation is proceeding, check. I assume bomb specialists are on site. Can you connect me to any personnel present at the hospital?" There's a pause, and then she adds, "Sapphire Shield here, on my way down from high altitude..." and she is too, she's a re-entry streak of blue arrowing towards said hospital, coming in fast. "What can I do to support anyone on site already?"

Vicki receives a radio broadcast, bomb disposal teams are on site but there's some sort of problem with anti-tampering Obsidian Butterfly, Porter, Fox, and some guy in a cape are on site assisting." Obsidian looks to Porter. "So what these geniuses have done is place wet paint on the detonator. Isn't that risky?"

Fox is busily herding people through a hole she made, in the wall, as she had suggested she do earlier but without breaking the hospital in more ways than a window. Already she misses the mental link, which was her favorite thing to have happen to her in days.

Porter frowns and nods. "Yeah... but everything about explosives is risky." He looks at the bomb a second, then back at Regan. Then back and forth again. "Wait, you're not thinking what I think you're thinking, are you?" If he's still listening, maybe he's asking just to be sure. She won't need the link to read his mix or frustration and terror, though. It's all over his face. "Regan, there's too many people here. Yeah, it was stupid of them. Could short them all out or something, and they'd all be duds..." There are a couple of big 'or's to that that he leaves unspoken.

Obsidian looks to Porter. "But you can't set the bomb off because you won't be messing with it, it's the person who put the paint on who messed with it." Her brows lift "And what happens on a misfire? You get paint on you." She shrugs. "Or am I misreading something?"

As sapphire approaches she sees emergency teams on the roof wheeling gurneys with intensive care patients into medivac helijets, just a small part of the frenetic activity all around as people race against the clock.

Landing on the roof, Sapphire gestures inside, "How many more do we have inside?" she asks. Over the radio, she remarks, "I'm no demolitions expert, but I -can- transport people or explosives elsewhere. I can also try to contain explosions if time is limited." Her plan is to start evacuating folks as fast as she can, assuming that's what is required. Blue gurnies begin appearing around her as she aims for the door inside.

With the floor evacuated where she is, Fox moves on to the next one on her list, which is the one with the people in it. She opens up a new portal from the inside leading to the same one she made outside earlier on in the evacuation process. .oO (Oh, link of mind, I am going to miss you. Such wonders I can present, such pitfalls of stupid I can avoid seeming like I have.)

Mage chuckles .oO (You do realize we can all still hear you, Fox? My portals don't work like yours. I cannot do what you do. Likewise, although I can englobe the bombs maintaining too many globes will also exhaust me. At the moment, I am going to maintain the link which is not tiring and try to locate the remaining bombs)

The people on the roof top guide Vicki inside to where she can help. As she moves down the stairs into the uppermost floor she is met by complete stilness, this floor it seems is completely empty though there is plenty of movement on the floors below from the sound of it. One curious thing is that one of the storage rooms seems to have been broken into.

Mage opens the eye again and once again its light penetrates walls and floors with equal ease. Knowing that keeping the eye open is exhausting, Liam sacrifices even more endurance to fly, hoping that knowing what he is looking for will be enough to make up for thoroughness.

(I'm glad everyone else is having fun and laughing it up...) Porter is sweating as he looks at the bomb again. Pretty soon, .50 BMG rounds will be popping out of his pores. (Ok. Any sign these things are all connected together somehow? And anybody got something to cover this in case a little pop turns into a big boom?) Yes, he's considering something drastic, with help, but they are running out of time.