Log:Kibin's Folly, Scene 1

Kibin's Folly 2008/09/10 	 Ss'lisk Jade Jolt Mystique Rakshasa Sable Detective Carpenter 1

The walls of this large circular room have been painted in a mural of sea-life which might be found around Colonial Bay. While the domed ceiling is a pitch black, with small dots of lights, representing the stars of a clear night sky. A large globe hangs at the peak of the dome, which has been created in the likeness of the moon. In the center of the room is a circular desk, the sides of which are coral-like and the surface appears to be made of moon rocks. A sign hanging over it reads "Information".

Two doorways are set at the sides of the room. One leads down into an aquarium, and sea-life displays, while the other leads up into displays showcasing the universe beyond our atmosphere. A stairwell runs along one wall, which leads to an IMAX theater, and further up into the observatory which is located at the top of the building. Two other sets of stairs lead to doors over the aquarium, which opens onto a large patio, where visitors can look out over the water, while enjoying a meal r coffee at the small cafe there. Directly across from the entrance, sets a gift shop, where visitors can purchase astronomical charts, posters, postcards, and other memorabilia from their visit.

Sable leaps from rooftop to rooftop, arcing swiftly through the sky above Colonial Bay as she streaks toward the oceanarium, finally landing in acrouch near the congregation of police. "What's the situation."

Jolt enters from Sandy Bottoms Island.

Rakshasa appears in a flash of light and strikes a triumphant pose, "Have fear, for Rakshasa is here!"

The police have the outside of the building cordoned off. Police cars and tape line the area. Several officers mill about, restricting access to the building. The man in charge appears to be a detective, dressed in a trenchcoat. (See Detective Carpenter) He's the one who presumably put the call out over HeroNet for assistance.

Mystique sighs. "All she wanted to was visit the Aquarium. So on her day off she walks into a police situation. Of course her guardian binding won't let her just walk away. Oh, no, that would be too easy.

Jolt arrives on the scene and hovers nearby. She's interested in whats going on after all.

Carpenter notices the heroes arriving, nodding to himself. He leaves the cordoned area, and walks over to meet them. "Glad some of you folks could make it."

Sable straightens and moves toward the detective, her gaze sweeping back and forth across the area.

Jolt says, "yeah well what can I say... Boredom is a great excuse for helping out"

Carpenter scratches at the back of his neck. "We have a situation inside that I thought might warrant some meta involvement. No fighting, I'd hope. Just your knowledge." He looks from face to face, "If you'll all follow me? I'll show you what I'm talking about."

Jade pages: "Who-told-you-not-to what's-this-all-about-anyway? I-don't-see-it-does-anybody-any-good-if-we're-trapped-in-here unless-we're-hostages-of-course if-it-were-something-dangerous-they'd=have-evacuated-us-right?"

Mystique chuckles, "So which of us aren't you glad about?" She asks with cruel amusement as she pokes at his phasing."

Rakshasa smirks, "That would be me!"

Sable says, "I'm the one with the criminal record." She smiles to Rakshasa.l"

Rakshasa floats along casually, like a somewhat demented balloon

Mystique smirks back, "Isn't telling the truth against your credo or something?" She asks Rakshasa.

Rakshasa says, "Bah. Only because mine is past the statute of limitations"

Jolt sighs and was hoping to get a chance to try out some of her new tricks. Alas that is not to be but she'll help out anyways "Sure, whatever you say detective"

Jade pages: "What-for was-something-dangerous-released what-was-it?"

Rakshasa grins at Mystique, "Sometimes the truth is the best lie."

Mystique laughs.

Jolt says, "I dunno... Anyone know the statute of limitations on grand theft auto?"

Carpenter shakes his head as he walks, ducking under the police tape. "I said no such thing." He looks...grim. "This is beyond what I know. I figured bringing in other expertise might be warranted." He leads the group inside. "We have two groups of people shut in rooms here." He points to the left. "That one has the people who appear to be unaffected." He then points to the one on the right. "That one, though..."

Xing-Liu has arrived...

Mystique walks over to the door on the right, "Beyond here?"

Jade pages: "Oh-weird-how? I-might-be-able-to-help-though-I-can't-do-much-if-I'm-stuck-in-here-darn."

Rakshasa becomes translucent as she floats through the wall to take a look.

Carpenter continues, "The people in that second room, have been...altered. I think at a genetic level. Hence, beyond my level of expertise. It's kind of a pseudo-quarantine."

Sable follows quietly, her expression somber, gloved hands loosely clasped in front of her.

Mystique turns to mist and tries to pass through the door

Mystique gets past the door without problems, going underneath.

Fist's presence is soon known, her form coming into view behind the rearmost person with a wave. She looks curious as to the goings-on, eye-covers wide.

The police let Fist through the cordon without problems. The group of heroes is with Detective Carpenter in the main room of the Oceanarium.

A policeman walks over to the other door (The one with the unaffected people), and heads inside.

Jade looks up brightly as the policeman enters. "At-last-can-we-come-out-now?"

Carpenter opens the door to the 'affected people' room, and lets in the other heroes.

Mystique remains in mist form as she exits the room. "Detective, it is not magical in nature."

Jade pages: Jade will have looked about the room for people showing any symptoms of anything.

Fist's quizzical expression is relentless, and soon pointed toward Sable.

Jade pages: "The-woman-over-there-doesn't-look-good-she-may-be-ill-too...."

One of the affected staffers speaks to Rakshasa, "Are you here to help us?" It's a young woman. She'd have been quite pretty looking, if she didn't look part reptilian now.

Jolt hrms "Well I'm no biologist..." she admits but looks around to see what's going on.

Carpenter nods to Jolt, "I had hoped some of you might have dealt with something like this before. I know there's a lizard meta in town. Perhaps three or four."

Rakshasa hmms and places her index finger on her chin, "I'm really not that helpful, but there are other heroes here who might have more of a clue."

Jade pages: Oh, I can add KS: Metas on 17-, if reptilian metas may be relevant to this.

Mystique stands still as mist begins flowing from her in an expanding circle across the floor and spreading out through doors and windows and even the tinest of openings.

Carpenter nods, "I've also checked the security cameras. They turned up something odd."

Jade slips out the door, since it was left open.

Carpenter pulls out his PDA, and shows it to those heroes here. "This is what was spotted on the cameras. A dinosaur, maybe?"

Ss'lisk(#1370TOn)

A reptilian looking creature....about 12 feet long. On two powerful legs. It's arms are huge, with claws, it has very sharp teeth, and slitted predatory looking eyes.The oddest thing is that it appears to be wearing...tattered clothing. The remains of a shirt, and a bandolier that appears to be empty.

The picture of Ss'lisk is grainy, but it's distinct enough to make out what he is.

Mystique continues to extrude mist from her robes as the mist spreads further and further outwards.

Fist looks over the image, quizzically. She shakes her head, tapping the shirt remains.

The walls of this large circular room have been painted in a mural of sea-life which might be found around Colonial Bay. While the domed ceiling is a pitch black, with small dots of lights, representing the stars of a clear night sky. A large globe hangs at the peak of the dome, which has been created in the likeness of the moon. In the center of the room is a circular desk, the sides of which are coral-like and the surface appears to be made of moon rocks. A sign hanging over it reads "Information".

Two doorways are set at the sides of the room. One leads down into an aquarium, and sea-life displays, while the other leads up into displays showcasing the universe beyond our atmosphere. A stairwell runs along one wall, which leads to an IMAX theater, and further up into the observatory which is located at the top of the building. Two other sets of stairs lead to doors over the aquarium, which opens onto a large patio, where visitors can look out over the water, while enjoying a meal r coffee at the small cafe there. Directly across from the entrance, sets a gift shop, where visitors can purchase astronomical charts, posters, postcards, and other memorabilia from their visit.

This is a doorway leading to Sandy Bottoms Island.

Jade says, behind the backs of the people looking at the pciture, "He's carrying a cannister, can you see?"

Mystique says, "There are others affected. In the room with the globe hanging from the ceiling."

Sable's brow furrows as she gazes at the screen. She smiles to Xing-Liu. "Someone has infeat Fist. "Hey."

Sable blinks and leans in to look closer at the screen. "Really, Did he take it away with him?"

Carpenter glances over at Jade, not recognizing her. But then he looks at the picture, and nods, "Looks like you're right." He then looks to Mystique. "The Planetarium? I'll have a couple of officers check it out." He motions to the officer nearby, and that man then signals another, and the two officers head off.

Carpenter shakes his head, "Looks like he was bringing it inside."

Jade says, "When's-the-security-footage-from-and-which-camera-was-it"

Mystique blinks in surprise and then goes very still.

Carpenter points to a camera in the corner. "That one. It's the only camera that caught anything, I'm afraid."

Fist looks puzzled at Sable, then nods slightly before turning attention to the screen again. Her eyes shift to view Detective Carpenter, watching the officers depart.

Jade starts working out what route the creature might have taken taken to have avoided all other cameras, taking the frame rate of the camera into account.

Carpenter shrugs a little bit. "I'm not sure how he got back out without being picked up by the cameras again. Unless...he swam out?"

Mystique(#55PeACcF)

Mystique is a harsh featured Witch seemingly in her mid to late thirties. She wears witches' robes but definitely without the silly pointed hat. Her hair is dark chestnut in hue, hanging in curls down to shoulder length and glistening as if freshly washed. It is constantly moving as if being caressed by a mild breeze. Mystique's complexion is very pale, almost watery, and her skin and flesh has an odd translucence to it. Unless she concentrates there's a continuous extrusion of misty vapors coming from her feet and spreading a few feet out around her location before dissipating.

Sable(#1021PenACcF?)

The young woman before you is of moderate height, about mid-way between five and six feet tall. Her movements carry the easy, fluid assurance of a natural athlete, an impression that is reinforced by her powerfully compact frame and the quiet poise with which she carries herself. Lustrous black hair curls softly to bounce against her cheeks, it's color so dark it gleams a soft royal blue. A dark-tinted visor covers the majority of her features, leaving only the firm line of her chin and a pair of mobile, expressive lips visible.

She wears a bodysuit that flows smoothly over the clean, crisp lines of her figure, the fabric a flat matt black with a slightly metallic finish that works light and shadow into a subtly shifting tapestry as she moves. Occasional straps and buckles hold it tight against her, carefully tailored to follow the stark athleticism of her form. The neckline is high and tightly clasped about her throat, a matching pair of calf-high, low-heeled boots and wrist-length gloves finishing the ensemble.

Fist(#1368PeACcF?)

Covered beneath a cloak-like cape and a hood, this figure's details are impossible to make out beyond that she is female, and she is a bit short, standing around five feet tall; her build is a bit on the thin side. She's chosen to conceal everything about herself with a black cloth mask beneath her hood which has a pair of eye-shapes that seem to change and shift to probably show a limited version of her facial expressions.

Blue and black are favored, most of the suit she wears is black, with a navy blue band around the waist, navy blue gloves, boots, and the cape as well. The eye-shapes on the cloth covering her face are dark red.

Jade says, "Look-you-can't-see-the-foot-in-the-picture-it-may-be-camouflaged-or-invisible!"

Jade(#1140PenACcF?)

Jade stands 5'2" tall and looks if anything younger than her 16 years; if not for the curves proportionate to her slight, delicate-looking frame she would look younger still. Her big green eyes are set in a cute, pixieish face, and the shortish cut of her brown hair adds to the image.

But most striking is just how hyperactive and bouncy she is: she bubbles with energy, and seems barely able to sit still. She seems not to have an attention span to speak of either, often getting rapidly bored of a conversation and looking around the room.

When she speaks, she gushes a hard-to-grasp stream of words in a rather childlike voice.

She dresses, typically, in T-shirt, jeans and running shoes; for jewellery she generally wears only a necklace with a pendant.

Carpenter squints, looking at the picture again, "Are you sure? How can you even tell?

Jade says, "Can't-you? Can-we-see-a-few-frames-backward-and-forward-I-want-to-see-if-there-'s any-hint-of-it-at-all!"

Mystique shakes herself loose from her intense cogitation. "Mm..." She mutters, and then goes over to where Jade and the detective are talking. "There is no evidence of the creature being within half a mile of this place now."

Jade meanwhile looks about the room, looking for any hint of a shadow wit6h nothing casting it or any other such giveaway of imperfect "invisibility" that might be missed.

Jade says, "Not-even-if-it's-camouflaged-or-invisible?"

Carpenter moves the picture forward a bit. It becomes clearer that the scales of the creature appear to have a chameleon-like quality to them. It's hard to say if it's a 'natural' effect or not. Carpenter looks up to Mystique, "Spot anything else interesting? The canister, maybe?"

Mystique says, "Sorry, no."

Jade was wondering about the canister, too. "What=about-the-victims what-links-the-people-who-were-transormed?"

Carpenter nods to Mystique, "Thanks for looking." He looks back to Jade, "Not sure. They're all staff. So they were here early. I'm thinking the water, maybe?"

Jade says, "Is-there-a-staff-kitchen-or-lounge? that-seems-likely-then Hm-I-wonder-why-the-creature-picked-the-oceanarium."

Carpenter shakes his head, "A lounge, but no kitchen."

Jade says, "It's-a-good-place-to-look though-it-might-be-the-time-rather-than=the=place-that-matters were-all-the affected-staff-here-before-opening were-any-staff-not-here-by-opening were-they-affected?"

Carpenter nods, "They were all here before opening. Well, most were. A couple of people afterward, but that's it. We were called in shortly thereafter."

Mystique asks to see the recording again.

Jade says, "Were-any-of-the=people-here-at-that-time-not-affected?"

The detective shows the recording to Mystique again. It shows Ss'lisk moving swiftly through the main room, and his foot does indeed seem to 'disappear'.

Carpenter shakes his head. "Nope, all of the early staff were affected."

Mystique walks over to where she thinks the creature was at the point the leg seemed to vanish. "Is this the spot?"

Jade says, "Time-seems-to-be-the-key-element-then the-transformative-agent-may-have-been-released-into-the-air-not-a-drink."

Jade says, "More-like-here."

Jade points to the exact spot.

Mystique extrudes more mist but this time only over a small area, waiting for the mist to settle onto the floor.

Carpenter nods, "It's around in that area, yeah. Perhaps between the two of you."

Mystique manages to pick out the scratches. Following them, they appear to head to the maintenance room.

Jade heads to the maintenance room once it's clear the scratches are going that way!

Mystique says, "There goes another elegant theory, beaten by the blunt hammer of reality."

The filter for the air conditioning system has been removed, opening it up to the regular air. And since you're both so eagle-eyed...you also notice a dent in the vent proper, where perhaps the canister was dropped against it, and the contents dumped inside.

Mystique says, "That's how. Doesn't explain the why."

Jade says, "Delivered-through-the-air-like-I-thought no-it-doesn't."

Jade looks about this room for further clues. A shed scale would be very nice, if a bit much to hope for!

There doesn't appear to be anything further of use. No scales to speak of, either.

Jade says, "The-creature-was-very-clean-I-don't-think-we'll find-much-without-equipment."

Mystique says, "If the contents of a canister was placed into the air why did some people avoid being effected?"

Correction...there's a small piece of cloth, caught on the door. You both notice it about the same time. It looks like it's from the lizard man's clothing, perhaps.

Jade says, "Only=the=people-who=were-here-early-were-affected-and-they-all-were."

Jade says, "Oh-not-so-careful-after-all how-did-I-miss-that?"

Jade says, "Good-thing-it-didn't stay-active-long-hm-still-the-air-here-ought-to-be-analyzed-also-any-dust the-agent-may-have-been-suspended-in-the-air-not-gaseous."

Mystique looks around and sighs, "In my time this could only be done by magic and the priests could easily reverse the effect."

Jade says, "Can-you-tell-it's-not-magic?"

Carpenter comes down the hall, and finds you two. "It looks like the people are recovering. They're changing back to normal. It makes me wonder about the motives of the lizard."

Mystique says, "Yes I can. It is definitely not magical."

Mystique looks at the detective, "Changing back? Then it was a test."

Jade says, "It-could-have-been-an-experiment-of-course then-again-it-could-have-been-a-demonstration-of-power."

Carpenter nods slowly, "A test?"

Jade says, "Then-again-you'd-better-have-the-people-tested-to-make-sure-they're-back-as-they-should-be-fully!"

Carpenter nods, "Of course."