Log:A Collision Requiring Some Bodywork

2008/10/30 	 Spirit Ferryl Rebound Jennifer and Jessica Sydney Rollins Fiona Boone various other confused people 1

Scene: Student Quarter

It's afternoon rush hour, and the traffic's pretty awful. Courtland Way and Stardancer Boulevard, as arterial roads, were always pretty bad at this time. Add in the additional traffic that's been added by people heading to and from TransMat and it's pretty awful now. And on a cold and wet day like today it's all the more dismal. Students, many soaked to the skin, are making their way home from classes.

Alex steps off of the CBSU campus, hiding under the shelter of an umbrella. He makes his way towards the Maglev.

Jennifer is struck in the traffic just like everyone else around her. The powerful classic designed motercycle can do well over a hundred miles an hour. Not today. Look! A gap. Another twenty foot of progress. Much more of this and she'll pick the bike up and walk home.

Ferryl is stationed high above and beneath shelter, deciding to wait the rain out for now rather than traverse the city through it. In theory she would not find it uncomfortably cold, just uncomfortably wet.

Dorian is walking along the street, wearing a light trenchcoat over his normal attire. He actually catches up to where Jennifer is, and chuckles quietly. He waves, and calls out toward her with a smile, "Hey...need a ride home, or something?"

Jennifer pulls her crash helmet off to laugh in acknowledgement of Dorian's joke. "If the traffic doesn't improve I'll take you up on that."

Jennifer soon finds that, if the snail's pace weren't bad enough, the traffic queue comes completely to a halt.

Ferryl's attention turns toward Courtland Way, and she measures the distance between her current place of shelter and the next. Carefully timing it, she braves the downpour and begins making her way from above toward the intersection of Courtland and Stardancer.

Alex spots Dorian, and Jennifer by extension. He walks over. "Lovely day, eh?"

Jennifer nods to Alex, shaking her hair which is getting wet now she's removed her helmet. "Hi, Alex. Yeah, just wonderful."

Not long afterwards sirens are to be heard in the distance.

Dorian waves to Alex, "Hey there." He listens for a moment to the sirens. "Probably an accident someplace. That might be the reason for the traffic, too."

Jennifer steps off her bike and lifts it up over her head. "There might be something we can do to help if it's an accident." She points out, carrying the bike over to the kerb to park it.

Jennifer gets stared at a bit for this stunt by otherwise-bored drivers.

Alex looks off in the direction of the sirens. "Hmm. I... should probably get going." He ducks into a thrift shop, finding a changing room for the switch into his uniform.

Dorian nods. "I think I might get an aerial view. Want to come along, Jen?"

The sirens converge at Courtland & Stardancer.

Jennifer nods to Dorian as she props her bike on its kick stand at the kerb. "Yes, thanks. There's enough pedestrians to make running awkward."

Dorian changes into his Spirit form in a flash of light. He reaches out a hand toward Jennifer, and a beam of light stretches out, encircling her waist. He then takes off into the air, leaving a trail of light behind him, lifting Jennifer up with him.

Rebound makes his appearance, bouncing along the rooftops towards the scene from the direction of the CBSU campus. He mutters to himself, "I swear, next thing I'll invent is the superhero suit-warmer."

Nearing the scene from above, Ferryl pauses to get a better look.

Jennifer points down to a group of paramedics, "Dorian. There."

Ferryl grumbles about having to go into the rain and bounds down to land atop the truck to get a better understanding of what is going on.

It's clear to Ferryl that the young woman who was hit was pretty badly injured. The paramedics are getting her into the ambulance as fast as they can.

Spirit nods, and changes his vector to fly down toward the situation. As he gets close to the ground, he sets Jennifer down and lets her go, and then lands.

Rebound lands on the scene and walks over to a policeman, the one conducting the interview. "Good afternoon, officer. Is there anything we can do to help?" He glances over at Ferryl as she lands on the truck.

The policeman turns to look at Rebound, as if taken by surprise by the question. The truck driver is staring at his beefy hands. "What the hell?"

Jennifer heads straight over to where the paramedics are treating the woman. "Superhero coming through. I've got a nanotech healing gizmo. Can I help?" she asks them.

Ferryl looks on as the heroes come on-scene, feeling distinctly less like coming out into the rain was necessary. "Hi," she says to Rebound when he looks over at her.

Rebound nods to Ferryl. He turns his attention to the cop and the driver. "What's wrong?" He asks the driver in particular, "Are you hurt?"

Spirit stays back out of the way, for the moment, trying to assess the situation. The rain bounces off his body, sparking a flash of light with each hit, making him look like he's covered in blinking lights.

The policeman recovers his wits and says, "Um - no I uh think we have everything in hand uh Rebound isn't it? A horrible accident but I think we can handle it." At which point the truck driver yells at the policeman, "You're me! What's going on here?!"

The paramedics allow Jennifer into the ambulance.

Spirit stares at the paramedics, and then the driver, and then the policeman. "Body jumper. I bet the culprit here is jumping bodies."

Spirit watches the policeman as he says that, watching for an obvious reaction.

Rebound blinks. o O O ( Zimm?! ) His body tenses for action and he sizes up the policeman with a head-to-toe look.

The truck driver points at the policeman, getting the idea. "It's him! He's stolen my body!"

Jennifer uses the nano device to stabilize the injured woman. "This will help but the injuries are too servere to be healed by a field unit like this. I'm sorry, this is all I can do for her. But she'll make it to the hospital now. Vitalis or Xing-Liu can do more if the doctors call on them."

Ferryl looks pretty confused, until Spirit speaks, and the truck driver concurs. "So... weirdness. I'll be above." She follows through on this statement with a leap to a sheltered high point, drawing and nocking an arrow.

Spirit nods slowly, watching the policeman intently, "I think my hunch was dead on." His hands start to glow brightly as he curls them into fists. "Don't try to bolt. This doesn't have to get ugly."

The policeman's face, changes from fear, to confusion, to fear. "What just happened?!" he says. Then, "What's wrong with my voice?!" Then he looks down at himself and screams.

Spirit shakes his head, "He just jumped again." He looks in the direction the cop had been looking. "Probably transmitted by sight."

There are maybe 8 people on the sidewalk watching the scene in that direction.

Rebound blinks and looks to Spirit. "Great... Jennifer!" He turns and calls out to Jennifer. "You have a grenade handy? Nail 'em."

Rebound points in the direction of the bystanders on the pavement.

Jennifer calls out from the ambulance, "Nail who? The paramedics in here?" She's not in the loop at the moment, too busy tending the injured woman.

Ferryl tries to pick out the one among the crowd acting like a bystander rather than naturally being so.

Spirit tries to pick out the actor among the crowd, as well.

Spirit suspects it's the female student dressed in brown. Ferryl is pretty well sure of it.

Ferryl studies her, rather than acting to do something horrible to her body.

Spirit goes with his hunch, since he thinks he might not be able to guess again if the person jumps once more. "Let's see if they have to see to do this." He raises his hand, and lets loose with a light beam to try to blind the woman.

The girl screams and covers her eyes. Some of the other students start to run! One grabs his PDA and starts taking pictures of Spirit and the girl.

Ferryl holds back, watching the results with thoughtful study.

The girl backs away from the scene blindly, trips and falls into a puddle.

Spirit calls out as loudly as he can, "Everyone freeze!" He boosts his body's light output at the same time, filling the dreary day with another major light source, in a good 400 meter radius. "No one move!"

Rebound calls over to Jennifer. "We've got a body hopping mentalist. Spirit's flashed him... I hope. I think we've got it under wraps."

Spirit impresses the crowd. For the moment, at least, no one is moving.

Jennifer calls out "Good work." She hides a cringe, once was enough.

Spirit flies over to the girl, "Folks, there's a being who can possess your body here. I think with eye contact. Be safe. Stand where you are, and don't meet anyone else's eyes. Or take pictures. You need to look though a camera to use one effectively."

The truck driver (or policeman_ is less quick on the uptake. He shouts at the policemna (or someone else), "Give me back my body!"

Ferryl once again has a look over the people for the actor, patiently holding back in order to get a better understanding of the one at fault for her rainy day.

Spirit lands near the woman he attacked, and changes back to his 'normal' appearance, sliding off his trenchcoat quickly.

Dorian then uses the coat to wrap around her upper head, covering her eyes, but letting her breathe. "Relax. I don't really want to harm you, but we have to sort this out."

The guy with the camera says to Spirit, "Get your hands off Fiona!"

Dorian glances up at the guy, "Are you an accomplice? Or are you protecting the girl whose body was snatched? Which is it?"

Dorian doesn't stop what he's doing, though...trying to make sure the disembodied spirit can't jump again.

"What's all this nonsense about bodysnatching? You attacked Fiona!"

Dorian raises a brow. "...whose body was taken over by a meta of some sort. You'll find her in that policeman over there. Go ask for yourself."

Rebound talks to the driver. "Whoever did this to you has since jumped to another body. Maybe you can explain to me what happened. And who you are right now."

"I'll do that, 'hero'." He goes to talk to the policeman.

Dorian rolls his eyes, and attends to 'Fiona'. "You're going to stay relaxed, I hope? Perhaps talk now? Like I said, this doesn't have to get ugly."

The policeman manages to get get himself together enough to answer Rebound. He points to the girl in brown (and in the puddle). "That's me. Fiona Boone."

"Leave me alone!" shouts 'Fiona'. "This isn't my fault!"

Rebound nods to the policeman. "Don't worry. We'll get you back into your normal body." He tries to sound confident.

Dorian shakes his head, and says to 'Fiona' "I wasn't saying it was your fault. But we need to sort out what happened. And if you keep jumping bodies, it only makes things more chaotic. Especially if those people stay in those new bodies. We can't have that." He pauses for a moment, "Let's start with your name."

Jennifer warily steps out of the ambulance. In case it helps she's put on her flash goggles before doing so. "What's the situation, Rebound?" she asks a little nervously. This kind of thing does freak her a little.

Fiona nods to Rebound and starts heading toward her body. While the policeman-in-truckdriver gets out to follow.

"I'm not telling you anything! Who the hell are you anyway?" The person in Fiona's body seems not a little frightened by being blinded.

Rebound says, "It looks like Spirit's got the culprit over there, wrapped up in the trenchcoat. The mentalist seems to switch places with people, so we've got a chain of people in swapped bodies."

Rebound says, "Which begs the question: where is the original truck driver?"

Ferryl looks mildly amused, sliding the arrow back into her quiver.

Jennifer nods. "Is it Zimm again?"

Dorian shakes his head, "My name is Dorian. Spirit. And I'm one of the heroes of this city. And based on your reaction to me, you're not from here, which means perhaps getting the UEMS involved. At least until we can determine if you're terrestrial or not."

Dorian says, "If you're as innocent as you say, you'll get to go free, you know. But you need to actually be willing to talk. And to return people's minds to their own bodies."

"What the hell? I'm not an alien! I just can't see you! I know who Spirit is."

Ferryl hops down. "It's easy to fix. Just go in the reverse order if it can be controlled."

Rebound says, "It doesn't seem like his M.O., Jennifer. Zimm relied on tech to do his swaps. This person seems to be different."

Ferryl adds, "If it can't be controlled, ensure the only person seen is the next one in order."

Dorian chuckles. "A start. What's your name, then?" He nods to Ferryl in agreement, but doesn't say anything...mainly to try to keep 'Fiona' focused.

Fiona-as-policeman draw his gun and points it at her body. "You, in my body! Change us back or I swear I'll shoot you!" It could be Fiona's not exactly thinking straight.

Jennifer pops her head into the ambulance, "Do you have an ID for the injured woman?"

A paramedic nods, and checks - "Sydney Rollins."

Rebound nods to Ferryl. "That's a good idea. Whoa--!" Rebound tries to put himself between the policeman and Fiona, stretching and growing to block the cops line of fire. "Hold on, miss!"

Ferryl lets the policeFiona know, "That's your body you're threatening. If the switch happens after you shoot, I'd say you're in for some interesting times."

Jennifer turns her attention to the 'policeman'. "If you're going to shoot you need to flip off the safety catch. Here, let me show you how it's done." She;s extending her hand to the gun as she speaks, and tries to take the pistol away.

Dorian continues waiting to see if 'Fiona' speaks, but when she continues to remain silent, he says to her, "Were you the young woman hit by the truck?"

Jennifer smoothly takes the automatic from the policeman, pops the clip out, cycles the action to clear the round, flips the safety off, and hands the pistol back with one hand while catching the cycled round with her other hand, "Here you go."

Dorian also looks around for Fiona's boyfriend, watching his reactions to things.

'Fiona' nods. She's still blinking, trying to clear her eyes.

Fiona shouts at Ferryl, "You've never heard of a bluff?! You've ruined it now!

The guy with the camera goes up to Fiona-policeman and tries to get her to calm down.

Jennifer shakes her head, "You don't bluff with a loaded weapon in the midst of a crowd. Never."

Dorian nods, "Alright...see, was that so hard?" He looks back down to 'Fiona'. "Are you willing to return to your body? You're hurt, but you should survive."

"I thought - I thought he killed me! When I was thrown out of my body like that...."

Ferryl just smiles. "I ruined it years ago. I guess next time I can just go with the first instinct and make sure one way or another that you don't shoot someone in a fit of rage." She rests her bow on her shoulder.

Fiona says, "Just make her or him or whatever give me my body back!"

Dorian nods. "I understand the reaction. But you're not dead." He pauses again, "If you're willing to return to your body, the way you came through them, so minds are returned appropriately, then we can get your body to the hospital, and you'll be just fine eventually. Too much waiting is going to be a problem, though."

Dorian says, "Do you agree to do so?"

She hesitates. "I'm not sure I can - it just sort of happened.... How badly hurt am I?"

"If I try to make them do that, either they will switch with someone else and further complicate matters by adding steps to the process of reversal or your body will end up very injured." Ferryl looks at FionaCop. "Simmer down and maybe we can work this out without violence happening."

Dorian smiles, saying to Sydney, "I'm not sure. I've been dealing with you here. We'll do everything we can to help, though. I'll even fly you to the hospital myself." He pauses again, "I'd like you to try to undo the mind swaps, though. It might be a panic reflex on your part to jump like that. We'll need to to focus on remaining relaxed as you try to jump. Can you do that for me?"

Jennifer answers, "I won't lie to you. You were badly injured. You'll need hospital treatment. Your condition is stable. You will not die. Vitalis would have you up and fully healed by this evening. If he doesn't I'll track down Xing-Liu, or get a base nano-healer unit and fix you up as good as new myself."

"I can try." Sydney seems to have her (or more accurately, Fiona's) sight back now, and hasn't made a bid to escape, anyway.

Dorian nods, and removes the trenchcoat from Sydney, "The policeman first, then."

Sydney nods, and looks at the policeman. The frowns, and then suddenly the expressions of Fiona's body and the policeman's change.

Dorian nods, watching, "Then the truck driver." He nods toward the driver.

"I did it!" says Sydney-in-policeman, and then tries concentrating on the truck driver. It's quicker this time. Soon the policeman joins with Fiona in celebrating his return to his body.

Curiously, Ferryl watches the policeman's expression when he returns to his own body without apparently having been someone else.

The policeman seems to be greatly pleased to have his body back. And his gun too, from the way he checks it.

Ferryl inquires of the officer, "What do you remember about the last few minutes?"

Jennifer hands the policeman the clip and loose bullet back.

Dorian smiles, looking to Sydney-in-truck-driver. He then looks grave. "Last hop. This will be the hardest, since you'll have to look at your own body and make the jump. Take several deep breaths, and steel yourself before you try it. Otherwise, you might balk.

The policeman says, "What do you mean? I remember everything."

Ferryl nods. "I got that. Just wondering from what perspective."

The ambulance indeed is about to leave.

Dorian heads to the ambulance, poking his head in, "We need to see the victim briefly. Minds got swapped. I know...weird. Just let the driver here look in her eyes for a moment."

Syndey nods, and takes a breath, and steels herself as she looks at herself. The says, "I don't think I can do it!"

Dorian nods, and says, "Focus on the eyes. Don't let yourself dwell on the state of your body. Just focus on your eyes, and being yourself again."

"No, I mean... I feel like I need to rest...." She looks away from her body again.

Ferryl figures it out. "Oh right. From the driver's. This is pretty confusing." She hops back up to her place above, to avoid being a secondary choice of Sydney's leaping.

"Yeah, from that guy's," says the policeman, jerking his thumb at the driver. He hadn't followed the question.

Dorian nods, "Alright. Rest for a bit, then. But the sooner we get you to the hospital, the better. Don't rest too long."

Jennifer rests a hand on 'Syndey's' shoulder, "You're doing good. Take a moment to get your breath. You're doing fine. It's not as bad as it looks either. Wounds look worse then they are mostly. I've seen worse."

Jennifer thinks. o O (Mind you most of these didn't make it.)

Fiona nods. She takes a while to catch her breath, then tries again. With the immediate effect of the truck driver falling to the ground before his mind quite wakes up, with much swearing.

Rebound tries to catch the driver. "Easy, now."

Dorian smiles slightly, if a bit sadly. "Good job. Now we get you to safety." He motions to the ambulance folks. "All set. Thanks for waiting."

"What the hell happened I swerved to avoid that car and that crazy goddamn girl walked out in front of me...?"

The ambulance takes Fiona off to the hospital.

Jennifer jumps into the ambulance, "I'll go with you, just in case the nanotech can be useful." She tells the paramedics. . o O(She's one of us. Okay, we should protect and help every person, but being willing to jump back into the body makes her someone pretty special in my book.)

Rebound eyes the truck driver. "You mean that girl?" There's an edge of annoyance in his voice. He nods to the departing ambulance. "Which car was the one that caused collision?"

He indicates one where the police, indeed, are questioning the driver. "That one, came skidding across onto the wrong side of the road... Crazy old-fashioned cars, shouldn't be allowed to drive wheeled vehicles in the rain..."

Dorian looks at the truck driver quietly, pondering. . o O (Is it wrong for me to wonder why I protect 'normals', when they act like that? I can't help feeling like one of 'our own' was hurt by thoughtlessness.) He then looks over and Fiona and her beau, and sighs quietly.

Fiona and her beau, at least, are looking happy, if thoroughly soaked.

Ferryl moves to near Jennifer, still avoiding the brunt of the rainfall. "Hiya, bosslady."

Traffic slowly begins to move again.