Dramatis Personae

• Derrick K. Ratnam aka Legerdemain (NPC Ally): Spin doctor and media liaison for Project VANGUARD. Twin to Bo. Tagline: “Well, actually that’s not how it happened…”
• Layla A. de Blackburn aka Nox (NPC): CIA-trained child assassin all grown up to be Daddy’s Little Monster. Maybe a little mad. Argues with her shadow often. Tagline: “No, we shouldn’t do that…should we?”
• Stainless Steel Rat aka “Sir” (NPC Ally): Bo’s best friend and assistant. A sentient drone in the shape of a stylized shiny metal rat mindlinked to Bo. Specialties are rapid repair construction and modifications. Imagine if K-9 and R2D2 made a baby and it looks a bit like a rodent. Tagline: “Repairs and upgrades in progress.”

Previously . . .

It’s been a week since the showdown with Erebus with Wirerat slowly healing up his brain damage that never seems to go away in-between sleeping and plotting to get Threshold a visit from Medevac, while also doing data modelling and threat analysis for MIA so it’d send the data to MAPs HQ while still looking like it was Wirerat doing it himself.

Aftermath After The Fact

Nyx, Threshold, Whisper, and Wirerat
Old FDNY Engine 299/Ladder 152 Building aka New Base
Saturday, May 16th, 2020, 0900 hours (EST) 
61-20 Utopia Pkwy, Fresh Meadows, NY 11365

Threshold, meanwhile, is taking care of obstinate patient that doesn’t deserve his patience, otherwise known as Wirerat, poking at the skull he got from Wan Shi Tong, still believing it to be a high-tech computer. Though Threshold has the general opinion that it’s just staring at him, as it remains silent until he asks why he was meant to have the skull and is told that he was chosen like Wan Shi Tong was chosen. It returns to being silent until Threshold calls it a computer, it replies that it’s not a computer. It is what it was is what it is. It tells Threshold that it is his time to be there. It tells Threshold that no one makes it does the things it doesn’t want to do and when he asks a question too far, he finds himself in Acapulco then halfway across the galaxy and then multiple different places all at the same time leaving pieces of himself behind and coming back to find himself literally smoking and everything suddenly hurts despite his previous inability to feel pain. The skull tells him not to misappropriate what Wan Shi Tong said again and there’s a sudden feeling of a fatherly figure having severely reprimanded him. When asking if there’s something that the skull wants done, an empty messenger bag teleports into Threshold’s lap, accepting it, he places the skull into the bag and decides it’s best to stop talking to the skull for a bit.

Whisper, having come back from her missions, when she would normally come back and get some rest, comes back and checks on Wirerat and makes sure he’s got all the food that he likes that Threshold doesn’t want him to enjoy. Also checks her e-mails to ensure her side jobs are done the way they’re supposed to be. Tapping into wireless phones and other places against Legerdemain as “good practice” to his knowledge as well. He’s not too thrilled with the idea either, but she doesn’t care as she doesn’t like that Legerdemain is rude to Wirerat. She’s also been writing down physical handwritten reports and placing them into Wirerat’s room for security in a little decorated locked chest. Reviewing side missions, paying attention to the local political situations to see who’s who, who’s been compromised, so on and so forth.

Nyx, meanwhile, has to listen to Lynch tell him that he’s been unable to find any trace of August, like he’s gone without a trace. He’d been to all the places that they used for dead drops and there’s no trace of him there or at the safe houses they’ve had priority for. The paperwork that he’d brought back from August’s safety deposit box is still laying on the table, untouched, where Nyx shakes his head, Erebus’s presence derailed that train and Nyx knows he’s not the best at dealing with it, but he’s even worse with dealing with kids without parents. Sitting down he starts slowly sorting through the paperwork and Lynch and Prodigy eventually sit down next to him to help while Gimmick goes downstairs to help Wirerat and Fridge Boy heads upstairs to help Whisper cook. There’s no sign of Nox yet after he asked her to take someone out of town until some stuff blows over.

With that questioning done, he moves to look towards the prisoners they’ve held in the form of Lindy McCall and Space-Cat, dropping her off at a detention center while still unconscious. Fracture is still around, free, under emergency deputization and it’s looking like they’ll get an isolation tank for her soon. Threshold finally notices the mole-like creature and investigates it as it enjoys the couch. It appears to be sentient, and possibly a hacked together clone of m0l3_tr0ll. Asking Fracture some questions, apparently one of the animals made was a mole indeed and the clones tend to deviate. Once determined that it’s not cute and loveable, there’s some comment on whether or not it should be turned over to the authorities which must be done if it’s sentient or sapient. Nyx argues the same about Space-Cat which Threshold argues against before taking the cat and asking Prodigy for help with interrogating the cat while neutralizing its powers. They eventually decide on going up on the roof to interrogate it.

Prodigy hits it with the neutralization ray after scanning its biosignature while Wirerat fits it with a collar around its neck, the same as the one he made for the dogs for Whisper. She pets it until it wakes up when it speaks with the same, but higher pitched version of Threshold’s voice. It’s aware it’s awake and it wants to destroy them, to prove them wrong. That there’s others that mock them. When pointing out they’re probably dead, it says that’s what they get for mocking him. While Threshold tries to give it a way out, it insists that it does no one’s bidding but its own. Insisting it only disintegrates those that needs it. The two are getting along way too well. Threshold offers to put it on a form of probation while saying that it’s likely if it turns it down then it might be killed instead. It accepts the deal, though it resists being petted by attempting to disintegrate Threshold only to no effect and instead jumps down.

Whisper, having noting that Threshold has left to interrogate something, keeps an eye on Wirerat and giving him food before looking for Lynch who is brought a piece of cake who eats it. She asks how he’s doing and mentions the things that he had her look into, giving him a hard copy of the reports. Noting that it’s worse than he thought and he may have to let everybody in on it eventually. Whisper says it’s a compartmentalized operation, they only need to know when they need to know, which Lynch says that they will need to know. She also hands him a tin of something with homemade candies.

Aftermath

Eventually Nox does come back, still angry but giving him a hug before slapping the hell out of him and telling him that it’s not going to happen again. Where he goes then she goes. Nyx tells Wirerat to knock off the wedding dresses that he’s superimposing over Nyx and Nox’s HUDs before telling her that he sent her off for a reason, that there’s two people that he cares about in the world and while she’s not one of them she’s definitely on the list and she was the only one that he could trust. That he knew that she’d have tracked down the other end of the account he gave her which she acknowledges with a bit of a grin. Nyx just cannot continues and starts back towards dealing with the paperwork as he tells her they still haven’t located August. She says she knows a tracker, a bit mercenary of a guy but good at his job that can help them locate August while she makes him a cup of cocoa with milk and marshmallows and cinnamon which disturbs Nyx as he slights of hands some of the cocoa out of the way while Nox also grab him a slice of cake. A quick hug later, she heads downstairs and knees Lynch in the groin in front of Whisper, before thanking him for taking care of the kids.

After Action Report (GM)

A good session. The aftermath of Erebus doesn’t seem terribly huge, but he had an impact and one that will be felt for the rest of the season. The PCs represent like 15% of the total number of long-range teleporters in NYC and even though they want to be out catching bad guys what they are doing – taking said bad guys to other prisons and detention sites – is super important. Especially as the least capable of rogue metas get caught and all that’s left are the more powerful ones. That’s when they’re going to send out the well-rested and capable Nomads.

I do think it’s rather interesting that they spent time to talk to the skull even though Threshold thinks it’s a computer and I want to shake the player until he’s got dain bramage

Other Notes

Bonus Report from Rory.

Soundtrack

“Brain Damage” by Eminem
“Conquest of Paradise” by Vangelis