Log:Perfect Dark, Scene 1

Perfect Dark 2018/03/12 	 Amelia Defender Kaminski Mechanica Night Marshal Yamin Zero 1

It's a Thursday night in Colonial Bay and a number of Colonial Bay's glitterati have assembled for an art opening at the CoBaMoCA museum. There was a red carpet, photo ops, but by now, most of the people have gone inside for the main event of the evening: the unveiling of a new exhibition by the reclusive artist Kaminski. That was maybe half an hour ago. At some point of the evening, there's a scream for help, and 911 calls go out from inside the museum.

Amelia frets in the rear seat of the limo. She decided to arrive conventionally for this event. But her plans have gone awry with the hired car getting a flat tire. So she's late and likely to be later.

Carpenter had just finished his shift working cases for the CBPD a couple of hours prior, and was in the process of starting his 'night job' as the Night Marshal when the call came in. Thankfully, he wasn't too far away from the museum. He quickly dons the rest of his gear, and hurries in that direction, running the few blocks. He mutters to himself about mobility issues on the way.

Amelia gets a call from her sister, Julia, asking if Amelia is all right because a 911 call has been received from the Museum and Julia knew Amelia was intending to attent. "I didn't get there, Julia. Sounds like I might be helpful. Call you later." She hangs up and ports to the location of the Museum.

Mechanica doesn't like the glitz and glam of the red carpet. But there's a number of persons of interest at this event that she'd like to get to know so she can use leverage against them in the future. She is just arriving in a stretch limo with the other Furies as the alarms to HeroNet alert all of them. She sighs and looks down at her holographic red glittering evening gown.

"I was hoping we'd have a chance to get in close to some potential contacts, but...que haces?" Mechanica sweeps a hand down, her hologram vanishing and revealing her suit underneath. She kicks at the floorboard and a secret compartment opens up with Yamin and Zero's gear as she presses the privacy window between the driver and them. She trusts the driver, but still...women need to get geared up. "Suit up, ladies."

The cool Bay night finds Defender standing silhouetted upon the roof of a glass-sided modern high rise, the blue light of his arc lance throwing his shadow out tall and mysterious behind him. Up until now the evening has been quiet, with nothing coming over the comms that couldn't be handled by the police. A few domestic disputes, some noise complaints, traffic accidents too far away to beat the first responders there. The usual.

That is, until the police band erupts with a flurry of responses to a call for help. An emergency at the CoBaMoCA museum. Not far from where the stalwart knight is perched.

Through the windows on the ground floor it's possible to see an number of people trying to escape the building, running for the lives from a handful of dark clouds of energy.

Yamin can dress for many occassions. This includes formal, despite her typical attire falling purely under the categories of either business or tactical. This fact remains unknown to the modern world at large, however, as fate intervenes. Cocktail dress and heels are promptly exchanged for cargo pants, combat boots, and keffiyeh.

Amelia calls out, "There's strong magic somewhere close to the middle of the museum. It might be a casting or ritual."

Norah really thought this was going to be a girls night out. One that she pestered Elia into. "I didn't think this was going to turn into work," she teases her sister-in-arms as she does a limo quick-change into her suit.

Mechanica waits for the ladies to get ready, activating her radar systems. "I'll go check it out and radio back what I see." She's already starting to shimmer and glitch in place as her probability drive makes her intangible. And soon, her cloaking system activates. She slips out of the limo without even needing to open the door. She may as well be a digital ghost as she runs through the crowd and doors.

Amelia curses her choice of dress as she runs as fast as she can to the glass panels on the museum, and runs her fingers over a four meter span of glass. Where her fingers touch the glass shatters into a million fragments opening a direct exit for the people inside who are fleeing the dark clouds.

Night Marshal runs forward, getting to the door of the museum. He pauses only briefly as he notes the strange cloud of...whatever it is through the windows. . o O (Oh. Good.)

For those people inside the museum, trance music plays over the PA system. A man's voice narrates. "What is darkness?" he asks.

She sighs, unholstering her linegun and going for the roof, in hopes of circumventing the rush of the fleeing crowd and of course, to come up behind whatever it is causing the ruckus & ruining her 'Girls' Night Out'.

"I'm going for the roof-", she radios to the other Furies.

Yamin exits the limousine in a more standard fashion, a.k. uses the door. The shattering of glass draws her attention. Regardless of source, it is a convenient point of entry, towards which she moves. The rather rhetorical question from within is also noted, but she declines an immediate reflexive response.

The shadowy clouds descend upon the fleeing people. One of them zips towards Yamin. The air crystallizes in their wake, threatening to encase their marks in solid darkness.

Three of the fleeing civilians are frozen in their tracks, stuck inside shapes of black energy.

Yamin briefly intermingles with the fleeing patrons as she works to ingress amidst their egress. The incoming shadowy forms are noted. "Get do-" Her warning is cut short as several of those around her, as well as herself, are ensconced in solid shadow.

"Is darkness just the absence of light? That's what we've always been told..." the voice continues.

Defender touches ground with a heavy crunch, jump jets smoldering and silver helmet gleaming in the lamplight. Focusing the faintly glowing slit of his visor toward the front wall of the museum, he tags the civilians inside, as well as the writhing mass of darkness behind them. He has only a second to react, but it seems there are already other heroes on the scene, most of which are faster than he. That is good. With luck they should be able to contain this without a single civilian getting hurt.

With luck...

Ahead of him, a woman in a far too expensive dress bolts toward the museum and somehow causes the front wall to explode, creating a glass-covered path out of the building. As other heroes begin bolting to and through the opening, at least one swinging up and over the museum to the roof, Defender ignites his jump jets and follows, pointing his lance forward as he hurtles over the head of the dress-wearing magician and through her newly made opening, trailing an arc of fire.

They aren't lucky enough.

Defender can only watch as three of the civilians and one of the heroes are set upon by the swirling masses of darkness, his guts tightening into a knot of tension. If only he had been faster! But no, there is no time for that now.

Taking up his lance in both hands, Defender rockets out of the air and impacts the museum floor in a crouch, floor vibrating as the full weight of his suit crashes down amidst the civilians. In a flash, the head of his weapon transforms from an arc of humming electricity to a long, blazing blade of brilliant white lightning, and he sweeps the weapon around in three twirling strikes, the long shaft and his height making it relatively easy to pass over the heads of the crowd and bring the lance cleaving down toward the bonds that encase the three trapped civilians.

The hero can surely fend for herself.

The voice says: "That might be true of shadows, of nighttime... Perfect Darkness is something much more than that..."

With each swooping slice of Defender's weapon, the darkness is driven back, carved away from the trapped civilians by the blazing blade of pure white energy.

"MOVE!" Defender bellows electronically toward the crowd once the last person is freed, lifting the head of his weapon up and away to give them a free path toward the exit.

Most of the people are able to run, getting out through the opening that Amelia has made in the glass windows. Four of them stumble and fall on the way out -- fashionable attire doesn't make for running away in a hurry.

Yamin may be aware of the civilians freed. If so, that is encouraging, but she has her own darkness to contend with. She focuses on a point before her, and atempts to strike beyond it.

Yamin's will and generated motion to strike beyond that point exceeds the resistance of the hardened shadows, causing the latter to shatter. As her vision clears, Yamin notes the lingering ..thing and extends her reach further, in attempt to graps it. If it can ensconce on contact, better that it not do so to more innocents.

Mechanica decloaks and becomes solid as she runs towards the center of the museum to find the source that was mentioned. She fires off a swing line on the roof. Her gauntlet reels in the line to pull her above the crowd. She turns on her way, dangling from the swing line, and a shoulder-mounted blaster pops up. It auto-locks onto some nearby geists.

Yamin grasps hold of the thing with mild surprise: it is more solid than it appears. Though far more resilient, as her hold does not seem to injure it. Still, inconvenience is enough, for the moment. "You can remain here, Shade."

The blasts hit the Geist, but their mist-like shapes part around the beams instead of getting blasted back.

Mechanica radios to the other Furies. < she asks, puzzled.

Amelia moves into the museum casting as she moves. The final word of her incantation is a shout and an area becomes brilliantly illuminated by dozens of floating candles. The area of illumination includes the fleeing people but excludes the clouds of darkness, so they will have to enter it if they pursue the fleeing persons.

The Geist begin to sizzle and crackle under the additional lighting provided by Amelia's illusory candles.

Amelia chuckles, "Bonus feature." she comments in surprise.

Night Marshal continues inside. Clouds of whatever that stuff is...is not likely to be his strong suit. But the source...taht might be something he can deal with. He runs up the stairs, taking two at a time, trying to get upstairs as quickly as possible.

The Geist that Yamin has grappled simple disappears from her grasp.

The other Geists try to swarm Amelia.

Zero lands on the roof, rolling off her excess momentum before popping to her feet and running for the rooftop. She can hear the mayhem below which prompts her to open her comms again. <<"Why do I get the dreadful feeling I went the wrong way? Are you girls alright?" She says as she heads for the roof access door, already holstering her linegun with one hand & unlatching her lockpick case from her utility belt with the other.

The cool metal device feels good in her hands. She looks for a faster entrance into the building than the rooftop exit- like an air duct she can move through the whole building with. Mechanica's question tells her she needs to press on. If Mechanica's gadgets didn't work & Yamin's decidedly superior combat skills, then there has to be a third option. She sets to finding it, making it her primary goal unless the girls get into trouble they can't handle alone.

She closes her eyes, hoping to get a jump start on things- relying on her ESP exclusively to tell her what's happening around her while she sneaks around.

Amelia sees the Geists coming at her and takes a split second to look toward the stairs leading up to the upper floors of the museum. Then she's trapped and held in darkness.

Defender stands with his feet planted shoulder width apart, blazing lance held up and across his body in a pose that practically screams 'You Shall Not Pass.' All around him, civilians scramble to escape, over half of them managing to scamper out through the hole in the front of the museum. Unfortunately, 4 of the party goers stumble over their ridiculously fashionable costumes, taking a tumble onto the glass-covered ground. Still, better that than trapped in eternal darkness, forced to listen to the obnoxious droning of a mad artist.

Scanning his visor from left to right, the futuristic knight watches as a nearby hero busts free of her dark prison and grabs hold of one of the monsters, while another appears out of seemingly nowhere and grapples her way across the ceiling, spinning to fire a barrage of shots into the beings. Not a second after that the area is suddenly filled with flickering candles, their light surprisingly warm in contrast to the harsh bluish white of Defender's lance.

Helmet half turned through the second sweep of his scan, he takes note as the shadow caught in Yamin's grip suddenly vanishes. Shifting his spear, he snaps his head around in that direction, having a split second to react as the shadows begin to swarm in from all directions.

Rocket boosters igniting in a plume of flames, Defender hurls himself into an angled dive between Yamin and the fallen civilians, crashing down to one armored knee as the butt of his spear drops, striking the floor with a resounding THUD!

All at once, the noise and chaos of the outside world is washed away as a glowing dome of whitish blue energy flashes out from the tip of Defender's lance, completely englobing himself, Yamin, and the civilians. All that can be seen is the glow of the smooth bluish white floor and the domed room around them, all that can be heard is the soft thrum of energy and the panting breaths of the rescued.

"Your shadow was going to ambush you." Defender informs Yamin, voice a deep, distorted crackle, "The barrier will drop in a second. Be on guard."

Yamin acknowledges Defender with a nod. "I am always on guard." She readies herself, nonetheless.

Zero sees all from her rooftop roost. With the standard entrances blocked she's grateful for coming up with an alternative entrance, all the while keeping her third eye on the lone man who seems free to move about how he pleases. Everyone else below is locked in dreadful shade.

With the rooftop access door unlocked, she slips inside- sneaking her way towards the man and the 5 obelisks.

She radios the other Furies before heading down the stairs to the 4th floor exhibit where the man and the obelisks lie.

<<"I've got our man. Lone perp, wandering about. I've also spotted 5 strange obelisks. One big one,s urround by 4 smaller ones. I'm going for a closer look, and hopefully I sneak up on Mister Man." //Full move. Maintain sneaking. Try to understand what's happening- so keep an eye on the man's actions while doing so.

Zero sees all from her rooftop roost. With the standard entrances blocked she's grateful for coming up with an alternative entrance, all the while keeping her third eye on the lone man who seems free to move about how he pleases. Everyone else below is locked in dreadful shade.

With the rooftop access door unlocked, she slips inside- sneaking her way towards the man and the 5 obelisks.

She radios the other Furies before heading down the stairs to the 4th floor exhibit where the man and the obelisks lie.

<<"I've got our man. Lone perp, wandering about. I've also spotted 5 strange obelisks. One big one,s urround by 4 smaller ones. I'm going for a closer look, and hopefully I sneak up on Mister Man."

Kaminski is up on the fourth floor exhibit space. He seems to be hard at work arranging the immobilized bodies of the art show antendees.

Kaminski(#2921TOnp)

Kaminski is a man in his forties with a shaggy mop of dark hair and a gaunt built. He stands about five and a half feet tall, and he's dress simply in a black t-shirt, jeans, and sneakers. His arms are heavily tattooed in ink that's impossibly black. He occasionally brushes the hair from his face. His eyes are matte, black, vacant pools.

The voice says, "We associate light with life... but darkness is alive too. It lives... it hungers, it speaks..."

Mechanica strides into the 4th floor exhibit hall as the voice narrates the exhibition. There's already some details learned from the heroes upon entering. "Las sombras estan peligrosas," she warns as she holds up a hand. Her holo-projectors power up and flood the area with bright light. "I think your show's about to end early."

Amelia recalls her last sight image, and apports to the foot of the main stairs, leaving the entangling darkness behind.

Night Marshal is fortunate in that the shadow things seem to be ignoring him, so he breaks into a full run to get to the fourth floor. He continues taking the stairs quickly, and gets up to the landing of the fourth floor in short order.

All five of the geists try to swarm Amelia again.

Amelia teleports six feet up the stairs just as she did to escape the first set of entangles.

Defender levers himself to his feet with the clank of metal boot striking forcefield, keeping his spear propped upright at his side. Yamin does indeed appear ready to bust out and fight, so the knight instead casts a visored glance back toward the civilians.

"When I lower the barrier, leave. Exit outside and wait for the police. Paramedics should arrive shortly to tend to your cuts. I'm going to deal with these shadows."

orders given, Defender grips his lance in both hands and draws in one final crackling breath.

Deactivating the barrier, the hulking knight sweeps the tip of his lance up and forward, turning on the spot as he scans the changed environment around them. Spotting a mass of swarming black swirling around the stairs, he levels the glowing tip of his weapon at the ball of shadows and releases a brilliant pulse of crackling lightning from the tip of his weapon, exiting as a tightly controlled beam that attempts to carve a smoking path through the nearest monster.

Defender's blast grazes one of the cloudy creatures, barely damaging it.