| Where Do Buildings Go … When No One is Watching Them? |
| Summary: | Black Lightning and Topaz hear about an odd happening, they go to investigate |
| Date: | (2014-10-21) |
| Related: | http://ageofheroesmux.wikidot.com/plot:soul-harvest |
| NPCs: | Passerby's |
| Scene Runner: | Mutual |
| Social/Plot: | Social |
| Players: |
 .. .. |
Another day that found Black Lightning and Topaz with some reason to be around each other. It was a nice cool, fall day in New York, a great day for visiting Chinatown for nothing important other than seeing Chinatown and enjoying the heritage. Not to mention his school had a fall break so he could easily be out and about midday and actually enjoy seeing the city as it was. Though, if he was with Topaz and they were simply walking, no telling how much of the city he'll actually remember, those little details lost somewhere versus the ambiance of the moment. While dressed casual, in fairness, he does have an Outsiders earpiece in just in case, as if he can't be without that lately. Though that's been quiet for a few weeks at least.
"So, there really is something to acupuncture, its not just postive mental attitude," he is responding, "I heard some of the other atheletes talking about it, but I always thought it was only because they had a good mentality and belief in that it was going to work."
Chinatown is one of Topaz's favorite part of the city. Sure its crowded at just about all hours, but all the street vendors, the dive restaurants and little old asian men and women screeching in Cantonese or Mandrin or any other variety of Asian dialect…what's not to love.
As a compromise to the colder weather she has donned her bright, multi-colored and multi-patterned coat, it swirls around her as she moves. She seems to get on quite well with the locals and has little to no trouble conversing with them no matter what language they are speaking. Many times she has stopped to ask how this persons children are doing, or about that ones elderly mother or ill wife. Not to mention to but a exotic peice of fruit or vegetable as well.
The subject of accupuncture is no surprise, not after stopping a brief moment to greet one of the local practitioners. "Oh yes. It really does work. A persons Qi, or energies are blocked when they are experiening pain." she starts to explain "Accupuncture breaks up the blockage allowing it to flow freely." she strolls along, easily dodging the other foot traffic "Of course that is the mysticism of it. There is actually scientic research that goes into detail about the hows and whys of it working.
With a grin and shake of his head, Jefferson returns, "Scientific research." As if some sort of conundrum. “Up until a month or so ago, I was confident with the scientific measures, I think you’ve rubbed off on me a little. Maybe science just has a lot of catching up to do. It now makes me curious if it would be beneficial to me.” More meaning with his meta ability and the flow of currents through his body, as it seems related, as far as he knows, to the mystical ideas of Qi that she is talking about and the use of acupuncture.
Erstwhile in town, a caper is underway. Even as they walk through Chinatown, something is being stolen in a rather unique way. It is simply gone, an entire corporate research lab, the walls, the structure, everything. Leaving a gaping hole in a building some 30-40 stories up. Done in a manner that structural integrity is left to the building itself, the room and all the research within is just gone. No clues as of yet to the how, why, or who, but the news is relaying to Outsiders Control Room and will soon be buzzing into the comsys.
"There was a time when magic and science were one in the same. Alchemy is a fine example of this. While no one has quite discovered how to transmute lead into gold, through science, they have certainly figured out how to do other things that may as well be magic." Topaz exchanges a few coins for an apple from a street vendor. She moves back into the accupuncture subject "I do not know. I do not think anyone has tried to treat metahuman abilities with accupuncture. It would be an interesting experiment." since technology seems to stop working when in contact with the woman, she is sans comminucator. She is going to have to come up with some other way for the team to contact her in an emergency.
Bridging communication would be an interesting feat, which might require a tech-free location in the house to accomodate, if not a few rooms to help with mysticel endeavors taken on by the team. Jefferson returns, "I'll be willing to try, treated as a known metahuman, if we can find someone willing to use metal on me after knowing what my nerves do." Grinning, pondering digging out coins for his own apple, it does look tasty; the fall weather might help drive that seeming necessity for an apple.
That is when the call comes in to Jefferson, he touches his ear, she might realize what's happening. Smiling more, friendly, it pauses a little. Then he relays what he's been told. "An entire suite of medical facilities have been taken from a building. They don't know how, but I think I'm gonna need to go look, would you come with?" Both to keep company, and she's trusted, knowing other things going on in New York.
"Nothing a rubber tipped needle would not prevent." Topaz offers after chewing a bite of the crisp apple. As he relays the news "Taken?" her brows arch upward "As in totally disappeared?" her apple is forgotten in her hand for the moment as the ramfications of that settle in "The people that worked there? Patients?"
Relaying the questions back through the comsys, verbatum as Topaz offers it, Jefferson nods in response. "All gone, its medical research, no indication there were patients in the facilities, but all personnel are missing. Five, five individuals. Head of development, two associates, a research fellow and a visiting intern." As if getting that and giving it over Verbatum. Looking around then to get the location of the buildings, "Its a few blocks south of here over in Financial District, police are inbound, about five minutes on response as they have to wait on a fire truck before entering the location." A protocol thing, Jefferson seems to suggest he'd like to get there first though.
This is a perplexing development. A whole research facitility vanishing "It would have taken someone with immense technology to be able to transport an entire building an all its contents." Topaz has to assume it was tech. She probably would have felt the ripples of magic if it were done in that manner "I can get us to the general location." she tightens her arm around his and after the usual gesture and guttural word they disappear, much to the shock and suprise on those on the street to reappear in the Financial District much to the same reaction.
Jefferson has travelled this way before, but was less out of it, not sure if he's up to it again. Perhaps some people feel that way when he flies them at high speeds. He's uncertain but quickly recovering to look around, and then he is pointing. A large suite, nearly 1/4 of a building, on the 35th floor, within a dozen of the top of the building itself is missing. Some wires and pipes dangling and, oddly, some of the pillars still there. Knowing she can fly, Jefferson is slower out of her arm than necessary, trailing fingers at her arm as he moves to fly, not holding her up, but to fly with her towards that building. "I'm curious about that tech, half as much as why the lab was taken in the first place. With the taken though, do you think you can trace some of it through whatever means it was teleported, or would a tech-port limit the scope of your abilities?"
A snap of fingers has her flying upwards to the open area where the floors housing the facilities were housed "My magic and technology don't mix. Tracking that would be impossible for me." she lands lightly on what is left of the floor, or rather the ceiling of the offices below. "The people that worked in the facility though is a different story. I would just need some personal belonging of theirs. The more personal the better.
Even as they get there, seeing the floor and ceiling peices gone, while the structure seems mostly to remain entact. They can move around lightly using more of the structure, or to simply float around. There is a security guard at the portions that remain, trying to keep others from moving to the scene while they wait for police and fire crews to try and figure out what to do next. "I'll go ask our friend what he may have," knowing enough that there should be a personal effects in another location to provide them a lead.
Even if Topaz searches about know, she'll may sense that while the teleprotation was more technologically oriented, there seems to be hints of trace magic. Not used during the incident but prior too it. Closer to the remaining structural supports, that a slightly deeper mystical probe would reveal some illusions have been left in place from a recent casting in the vicinity.
Topaz uses the floating method. The building may be evacuated of the the process of it but she still doesn't want to end up in someones office because she placed a foot wrong. Opening her magical senses to thier fullest the scans the area. She doesn't expect to find anything, but the increase of hearing and sight is beneficial. What she does find is puzzling. She moves toward one of the pillars where the magic is strongest. She studies the spell a moment, following the weave and flow of the energies, "I found something." she says loud enough to reach BL's ears.
Having talked with the guard a moment, the guard is radioing to get some personal effects of the medical personnel. BL turns and flies towards her the same, sticking to his own hovering most likely for the exact same reason Topaz uses her hover method. "He'll get us something to trace, what'd you find."
That pillar and other simalar pillars that look damaged or simply less clean like the entire teleportation actually seems to cover clean cuts. As if someone had been in prior, with access to the lab or surrounding rooms, and made cuts to key parts to free up the teleported portions from the rest of the building. Someone with structural engineering knowledge and technical expertise to get into the building and access the innards. A curious combination of magic and tech once more.
"There is magic at work here. Not the teleporting of the building, but in hiding something." Topaz keeps her eyes on the spell for the moment "One minute and I will have it unraveled." she finds the bit of spell and pulls it with magical fingers, absorbing the magic into herself and shunting it through the leylines where it belongs "And done. Crude but effective.
"Brilliant," says Black Lightning as she works, not just her work at revealing the truth, but the way she works all the same. The clean cuts show high levels of being technological savant enough to separate the portions for teleporting, as if measured for matter - volume - weight. "I think we'll have to look in who's had access to this building, that might help us find out who's behind this."
The guard does call out then from the safe section of the building he's standing on, "Here, we couldn't open all the personnel effects, on account of the police." Protocol for the situation, "But the Intern, left a lunch in the fridge, does it count as personal enough for what you need." Black Lightning of course has to defer to Topaz for the legality of that as far as the mystical is concerned (not in taking it so much as enough of personal property to try and follow any mystical trials).
Engineering and stuctural integrity isn't Topaz's strong suit either so she isn't quite sure what she is looking at in that department, but she knows it isn't all that good. "At least these were the top floors so there wasn't a collapse when the support was taken away." the bringing of the lunch has her laughing a bit
Engineering and stuctural integrity isn't Topaz's strong suit either so she isn't quite sure what she is looking at in that department, but she knows it isn't all that good. "At least these were the top floors so there wasn't a collapse when the support was taken away." the bringing of the lunch has her laughing a bit "Not quite as personal as I hoped but I will have a look." she takes the lunch box and opens it as she goes from floating to sitting on an i-beam. A sandwich is pulled out and removed from its wrappings "Tuna salad on rye." she smells it, "Heavy on the pepper." everything is examined throughly the sandwich, small container of pasta salad, the pudding cup has her laughing. The wrappers too, the one for the sandwich in particular "Ah, here we are." she holds up a hair, long and blonde, but dark at the roots "This will work. I can trace the intern with this…if she is still alive. I will need to go back to the lounge though. I don't have the necessary supplies on me.
Convenient too as the police and firemen are starting to come up the building. "Good Luck," offers the guard, glad something useful was found from the lunch itself. Black Lightning smiles only because of the way Topaz laughs at the attempt that was made, sort of catching that mirth she found in it. He can't argue the logistics and luck of where the lab was taken from, half suspecting all part of the plan by whoever orchestrated this heist. "Anything you need that we can provide, even if its only to work together with the Pluto business, I like to think you're one of us all the same." The Outsiders that is. He comes to join her in sitting, in case she wants to pull him to the Lounge. Knowing he can fly quickly enough, her means of transportation are far better, certainly more accurate at getting ack to the lounce.
Removing a small vial from her pocket, Topaz puts the hair in it and corks it back up. "You have a strange way of repeating things." she tells BL with an amused smile "As if you have a hard time beleiving what is right under your nose." like her willingness to work with him and the others. She's been working in this Pluto business for awhile now, why he seems to thing she would suddenly stop..well it isn't beyond her, that magic is real is a new concept and he is trying to fit that into his world view, she gets that. Still amusing though.
That and he might be pushing gently to it her work with Outsiders being more than Pluto business. Grinning when she smiles amusedly at him, he nods, "Yes, I do, some things are worth repeating though. Half the time I see you, I still can't believe you'd enjoy going out for a walk with me, how amazing that company is all the same Topaz." Then a shrug, "I could stop, but its worth saying. The only thing missing is direct communication, but if we can get you some tech-free space at our place, maybe there's some way we can establish just that?"
"You mean an instant form of communication, like your earpieces?" Topaz really doesn't have to ask, but it's how conversation works. It would be rude to answer the questions before they are asked, sort of thing. "That really won't be necessary." she pockets the vial and reaches up to place fingers on his forehead. She is doing something, else her eyes wouldn't be doing that golden glow thing that signals her magical mental abilities kicking in. What it is though is questionable, she is subtle and skilled when it comes to there things.
"Exactly like that," nods Black Lightning, not that he'd mind the question being answered before it came out, at least not by Topaz. It not being necessary raises some curiousity in him but seeing her eyes starting to turn golden and glow leaves him with the idea to be quiet a moment longer to let her do what she is doing. Questionable, certainly, but he respects her for as skilled as she is to when it comes to the mystical realm that he affords that silence as he watches her to see what the outcomes might be.
After a few moments her hand drops and the eye glowing stops "I have set up a passive telepathic link. It can only be activated from your end, so do not worry about eavesdropping or accidently though leakage. You just have to concentrate on the link and then think at me. I will hear you no matter where I am in the tri-state area.
Not overly familiar with the realm of telepathy, she has opened such links before, as when they snuck into that factory. Yet, for Black Lightning, this is a bigger link by the way she makes it sounds, more permanent at least. Not that he was worried about her listning in or picking up his thoughts so much, but rather, "I'm honored, that you'd trust me, thank you." Honored, amazed, all in the same even. More trust him in not abusing it by opening the link all the time to think of her so she can simply hear him. "Before it comes to my mind though, now I'm curious, what does Azeez mean?" Not familiar with many other languages himself, he focused solely on English in college. Sure they can be getting to the lounge to check on that hair, and probably will be, but that came to him as she opened that link and made him curious.
"Aziz?" Topaz doesn't use the word frequently but when she does it's with someone she has some connection to "It is Arabic. It means something differeent depending on context. It can mean, powerful, respected, beloved or dear." when she uses it probably means the last one, a term of affection for those close to her.
This young woman is a rare, exotic beauty. The type of beauty that men go to war over. Just ask Helen of Troy.
She is obviously of Indian heritage. Her skin is a rich hazelnut, her eyes a deep brown and her long wavy hair a rich black. She is petite, standing no more than 5'3". Her figure is quite slender with minimal muscle mass, and sufficient curves so there is no mistaking her for a teenager. She is mid '20's at most, and that could be slightly generous.
Her clothing his simple, but colorful and distinctly bohemian in style. She wears a mainly orange embroidered choli top, that is decorated with small Indian bells along the bottom. The top isn't of modest cut and leaves her flat belly and navel exposed. With this she wears a multi-colored bohemian skirt, there isn't a color in the rainbow that isn't represented in some fashion in the skirt. If she isn't currently barefoot, she is wearing gladiator style sandals. Her outfit is accessorized with metal and chain bracelets around each wrist and small dangling bells hang from her ears. She can't move without chiming musically.
As if he couldn't feel more honored, or maybe its more a sign of how much he respects Topaz, or the intrigue he continually finds in her coupled with the respect, Black Lightning loses some of his grin in that honor. Her hazelnut skin could identify her with an Arabian country as easily as her Indian heritage, it could be a shared language, or something she picked up just the same and yet having some idea she is far more mature than he might fathom at least, its accepted with the same level of respect. "Aziz," he says repeating it, taking in the meaning more now letting it drift about his mind. "I'm fascinated on a whole other level now. All a wonder, a great wonder." Topaz that is, his smile coming back as he says that. "Someday we might make that dance even."
Well if thier trip through Chinatown was any indication Topaz does seem to be omnilingual "I am fluent in many languages, some living, some dead so long that no human tongue has ever spoken them." that's an odd phrasing, if she is fluent than some human must have spoken them… or else she isn't human or she learned it from someone non-human "I am a fascinating creture, this is true.
Considering that a moment, even if somehow she was older than most humans, Black Lightning finds it curious and yet, as the mystical world opens to him, he's not surprised. Whether from mystical tomes or directly from those predating humans, he's not so concerned as simply impressed. "Aziz," he says then, more to show that he is impressed, and that she is respected. The trip through Chintown did show her familiarity with languages on a level he wasn't aware of, "You've opened my world, I admit. Is it so wrong to want to know more now?"
"Enough about how fasincating I am." Topaz gestures around "We have a research facility to find." she takes ahold of his arm and between one moment and the next they go from a nearly ruined building inthe Financial District to the Voodoo Lounge.
Fade to research