12 psychic individuals are sent into a laboratory taken over by terrorists to rescue the scientists and equipment held hostage. But secrets lie in wait, and the question of who to trust may not be as black and white as originally imagined...
The Zodiac Squadron (A Psychic quest inspired by Lost Dimension and Scarlet Nexus)
- Thread starter ScorpioSting
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A Rude Awakening
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Humanity has begun to awaken to a new ability. Psychic talent is being unleashed across the globe, and not all of humanity is adapting to this new order yet. After all, humanity is known to fear what it does not understand. Most psychics hide their talents, only using them sparingly.
The Janus Group seeks to amend that, by taking psychics under its wing for protection and research. On paper, to the rest of the world, they're a philanthropic charity group with research arms and only enough security to protect their assets as necessary, but underneath, the psychic abilities of their agents more than makeup for lesser numbers.
They help smooth over rough or messy awakenings of psionic talents, prevent needle-happy governments from trying to weaponize psychics' abilities for wars, and do their investigations into the why and how of psychic abilities. Research is opt-in and only as medical as strictly necessary, and while not a ton of progress has been made, some solid strides have happened.
Brian Grafburn, an American scientist working in the deserts of an Arizona research lab, was involved in research to find common factors in psychics-hormonal makeup, psychological conditions, genetics, anything. When he was last seen, he made a semi-delirious video log about having found 'something', and had chartered a private plane to his closest acquaintance and colleague, Dr. Masato Kirishima of Janus's Japanese branch.
What happened next is unknown to all, aside from the basic facts. The plane landed in Dr. Kirishima's lab, an aquatic base off of Hokkaido's coast, but Brian Grafburn wasn't the only occupant of it. A mercenary group known as Aesir has taken over the lab, taking the scientists hostage, with no demands of ransom, ideology, or anything like that occurring. The lab is home to cutting-edge technology that was meant to interface and enhance psionic abilities, and Aesir is confirmed to have psionics themselves inside of it.
The Janus Group has formed a crack team of psionic specialists, who are ready to infiltrate the lab, defeat Aesir, and rescue Grafburn, Kirishima, and the equipment.
You are one of them, a member of the 12-person group called Zodiac. Your codename is Rat.
And you have no idea where you are inside this research lab, or any memories of meeting your teammates or how you got inside.
--------------------------------------------
Your head pounds. Instinctively, you bring a hand to your face, giving it a slight rub.
Did you drink too much last night? Maybe. This feels like a hangover, but it also is not.
Where are you? You open your eyes and see a small dorm.
But that's sure as hell, not your room. You're on the wrong side- when you're lying in your bed, you turn your head right to see the door out to the hallway. But to your right is the wall, and the door's on the left side.
Shit. What the hell is happening to your-
The mission. SHIT. How could you forget?
You feel yourself all over. Yep, that's the combat suit they had you wearing. Utility knife. Gun. You stand up. ID card was in the front pocket of the chest. Remember, Rat, remember!
You see your face on the little card, the recognition flashing as you peruse it. The details are below. Right. Of course! You remember now.
Gender Decision
[] Male
[] Female
[] Nonbinary
There can only be one explanation. Aesir must have one hell of a telepath. They scrambled your short-term memories and knocked you out. Somehow must have disrupted the teleportation process, as well. You were supposed to end up all together, but you're alone. They didn't necessarily need to have a teleporter of their own do that, the brain scramble could have just interfered with the process, but still. Someone might have ended up in the drink outside the lab.
If you are in the lab in the first place. Your brain hurts like fucking hell. You rub your head, trying to soothe it. Your long-term memories are fine, but still, you need to ground yourself. You look at the card again. Your powers.
You glance down at the bottom first, that recent discovery that hasn't really helped you all that much.
Tertiary: Clairvoyance
Every psychic, at least so far, has three talents, in decreasing order of power. A Primary, a Secondary, a Tertiary. A first awakening of a Primary usually happens sometime in puberty, for those who are psychic. Secondaries are usually not too far behind, but it can take a few years for a Tertiary to develop.
In your case, you developed within the last month. So far, it hasn't really amounted to much. Oh, sure, you've certainly gotten flashes of the future, but they've been out of context, short, and not immediately relevant. Which, to be fair, is pretty par for the course for a Tertiary. They often are on the weak side. Even still, it's a power that certainly got Janus interested in you, given it's rare. So rare, in fact, that no person with it as a Primary or Secondary has ever shown up yet.
Still, it did let you get into Zodiac. Everyone in the group had to have manifested a Tertiary, as well as have some power with at least potential offensive applications.
For you, that isn't your Primary. Honestly, you feel like you got the codename "Rat" owing to your Primary being more sneaky and deceptive than outright offensive. Which mildly annoys you, but it's not like there's anyone you could complain to at the moment.
Primary Ability Decision
[] Illusion: You're a wiz at creating things that look real but are false. You can make yourself look like anybody you've seen or even someone who might not exist at all. You can also turn yourself invisible. You can affect other people, making others look like you, or giving your allies the appearances-or lack thereof, in the invisibility case. You can create fake copies of yourself as a distraction, as well.
[] Intangibility: You can make yourself able to pass through solid matter, letting you walk through walls or dive through floors. This lets you dodge attacks by phasing through bullets, blades, or flames as necessary. You can take allies or objects with you, though they have to be touching you, which practically limits the amount you can take with you to two at most.
Your offensive capabilities come from your Secondary, though you'd hardly call it a supremely offensive ability. It has potential, certainly, but you're absolutely not the powerhouse of this team.
Secondary Ability Decision
[] Gravikinesis: You can manipulate gravity in a few ways. For one, you can crush an enemy under increased force, dragging them to the ground, and hindering mobility. You can alter the angle of gravity of yourself, letting you walk on a wall like it's the floor. And you can decrease gravity to let yourself jump higher or farther. You're not a master of this, you can't straight-up fly like some Primaries you've heard of, but it's got its uses.
[] Photokinesis: You can create light. You can make dark areas easier to navigate, distract an enemy with a bright flash, and with a bit of focus, you can create a laser that can hurt someone. That takes a bit out of you, however, unlike some Primaries you've heard of with this ability, who are able to create sustained beams.
First order of business: Scope out the situation. You move to the door, looking it over for some way to look out. Thankfully there's a peephole, which lets you look into the hallway and see that you're alone for now. Your headache is subsiding, thankfully, now that you've got a better handle on yourself. You're still a bit hazy about the other Zodiac members, but that should clear up eventually, right?
As you exit the dorm, which, thinking back on what you can remember of the map of this laboratory, must be on one of the upper levels, you look to the left and to the right. The signs are all in Japanese, which you can't read. That would have been... ugh, who was the Overcognitive one? And at least one of the others was from the Japanese branch, too...
You flip a mental coin, then decide to head left. You check the doors on the way, but you ended up here alone.
You find a set of stairs. Up or down? Up, you think. Securing the roof of this place would be a good idea, then you could be methodical and move down the line.
Suddenly, a familiar voice reaches your ears. Or rather, your mind.
"Can anyone hear me?" A woman's voice says. "Is anyone there?"
You put a hand to your temple, focusing on responding back.
"This is Rat. Can you hear me?"
You're not a telepath yourself, but you've been around a few, and you can talk to one even without the gift yourself if you allow it. And that voice, you know.
"Rat! This is Sheep. Where are you? Everyone's all scrambled... and my head still feels off."
"Dorms. High-ish up. And I'm also kind of out of it. Brief amnesia and my short-term memory is still... kinda fuzzy."
"I'm pretty close, then! I'll try and meet up with you."
"Head to the roof. I was going to surveil things up there before moving down."
"Roger."
Sheep is a comforting presence to have. Now that you remember her, at least.
You reach the roof pretty quickly, heading up. Thankfully, you don't encounter any members of Aesir.
Eventually, Sheep arrives, her braided blonde hair waving in the breeze under an early morning sky, the sun almost but not quite having cleared the horizon. It was a little bit in the afternoon when you teleported in from America.
Her outfit's a lot like yours-slim, militarized, but sleek.
"Rat. Good to see you."
"Good to see you as well."
Sheep frowns, looking down at the metal ground. "I tried feeling for everyone, but... the wooziness made my telepathy a bit weak. I found you because you were close, but I'd need a minute to look for anyone else.
"Alright. Most of them can handle themselves, but we should try and regroup before a big Aesir operative can pick us off."
"Okay. Give me a second, I'll see who I can find." Sheep places a hand on the side of her head, focusing. You stand back and give her a moment.
After a bit, her eyes open. "I found four of them!"
"Good job! That's half the team. Where are they?"
"They're in two groups of two. Tiger with Rooster, and Snake with Dragon."
"Who's closer?"
"They're both about equally close, but we should get one before we get the other."
You don't really want to admit that you're blanking on the faces of them, and their powersets. It'd be embarrassing. Thankfully, from what you remember, Sheep's not big into prying into the memories of her allies without permission. Still, you're in the dark about who to go for.
"Can you tell where they are? Like, rooms or labs. And can you sense any Aesir operatives?"
"Not a ton in the upper levels... there are a few others with Tiger and Rooster, but not many, and I don't have any minds I can sense around Snake and Dragon."
That doesn't rule out the possibility that they could be fighting, however. There's automated security systems that could be hijacked, and some of Kirishima's research was into electrokinetic control over machinery, meaning a few robots could be around.
"One last thing. Did you... get anything from... whoever screwed with our heads, and messed with the teleporting? Emotions, memories, thoughts?"
"Nothing on my end. They probably are a Primary Telepathy, if they could do all that, I wouldn't be able to match them... They were extremely guarded with their thoughts. But I know the process, at least, and I think I could guard against it better now that I can anticipate it."
That's a relief, at least. Still, Sheep's waiting on you to make a decision on who to come to the rescue of first.
Who to touch base with?
[] Tiger and Rooster
[] Snake and Dragon
---------------------------------------------
Hello! First time doing a Quest. I hope you all enjoy.
The Janus Group seeks to amend that, by taking psychics under its wing for protection and research. On paper, to the rest of the world, they're a philanthropic charity group with research arms and only enough security to protect their assets as necessary, but underneath, the psychic abilities of their agents more than makeup for lesser numbers.
They help smooth over rough or messy awakenings of psionic talents, prevent needle-happy governments from trying to weaponize psychics' abilities for wars, and do their investigations into the why and how of psychic abilities. Research is opt-in and only as medical as strictly necessary, and while not a ton of progress has been made, some solid strides have happened.
Brian Grafburn, an American scientist working in the deserts of an Arizona research lab, was involved in research to find common factors in psychics-hormonal makeup, psychological conditions, genetics, anything. When he was last seen, he made a semi-delirious video log about having found 'something', and had chartered a private plane to his closest acquaintance and colleague, Dr. Masato Kirishima of Janus's Japanese branch.
What happened next is unknown to all, aside from the basic facts. The plane landed in Dr. Kirishima's lab, an aquatic base off of Hokkaido's coast, but Brian Grafburn wasn't the only occupant of it. A mercenary group known as Aesir has taken over the lab, taking the scientists hostage, with no demands of ransom, ideology, or anything like that occurring. The lab is home to cutting-edge technology that was meant to interface and enhance psionic abilities, and Aesir is confirmed to have psionics themselves inside of it.
The Janus Group has formed a crack team of psionic specialists, who are ready to infiltrate the lab, defeat Aesir, and rescue Grafburn, Kirishima, and the equipment.
You are one of them, a member of the 12-person group called Zodiac. Your codename is Rat.
And you have no idea where you are inside this research lab, or any memories of meeting your teammates or how you got inside.
--------------------------------------------
Your head pounds. Instinctively, you bring a hand to your face, giving it a slight rub.
Did you drink too much last night? Maybe. This feels like a hangover, but it also is not.
Where are you? You open your eyes and see a small dorm.
But that's sure as hell, not your room. You're on the wrong side- when you're lying in your bed, you turn your head right to see the door out to the hallway. But to your right is the wall, and the door's on the left side.
Shit. What the hell is happening to your-
The mission. SHIT. How could you forget?
You feel yourself all over. Yep, that's the combat suit they had you wearing. Utility knife. Gun. You stand up. ID card was in the front pocket of the chest. Remember, Rat, remember!
You see your face on the little card, the recognition flashing as you peruse it. The details are below. Right. Of course! You remember now.
Gender Decision
[] Male
[] Female
[] Nonbinary
There can only be one explanation. Aesir must have one hell of a telepath. They scrambled your short-term memories and knocked you out. Somehow must have disrupted the teleportation process, as well. You were supposed to end up all together, but you're alone. They didn't necessarily need to have a teleporter of their own do that, the brain scramble could have just interfered with the process, but still. Someone might have ended up in the drink outside the lab.
If you are in the lab in the first place. Your brain hurts like fucking hell. You rub your head, trying to soothe it. Your long-term memories are fine, but still, you need to ground yourself. You look at the card again. Your powers.
You glance down at the bottom first, that recent discovery that hasn't really helped you all that much.
Tertiary: Clairvoyance
Every psychic, at least so far, has three talents, in decreasing order of power. A Primary, a Secondary, a Tertiary. A first awakening of a Primary usually happens sometime in puberty, for those who are psychic. Secondaries are usually not too far behind, but it can take a few years for a Tertiary to develop.
In your case, you developed within the last month. So far, it hasn't really amounted to much. Oh, sure, you've certainly gotten flashes of the future, but they've been out of context, short, and not immediately relevant. Which, to be fair, is pretty par for the course for a Tertiary. They often are on the weak side. Even still, it's a power that certainly got Janus interested in you, given it's rare. So rare, in fact, that no person with it as a Primary or Secondary has ever shown up yet.
Still, it did let you get into Zodiac. Everyone in the group had to have manifested a Tertiary, as well as have some power with at least potential offensive applications.
For you, that isn't your Primary. Honestly, you feel like you got the codename "Rat" owing to your Primary being more sneaky and deceptive than outright offensive. Which mildly annoys you, but it's not like there's anyone you could complain to at the moment.
Primary Ability Decision
[] Illusion: You're a wiz at creating things that look real but are false. You can make yourself look like anybody you've seen or even someone who might not exist at all. You can also turn yourself invisible. You can affect other people, making others look like you, or giving your allies the appearances-or lack thereof, in the invisibility case. You can create fake copies of yourself as a distraction, as well.
[] Intangibility: You can make yourself able to pass through solid matter, letting you walk through walls or dive through floors. This lets you dodge attacks by phasing through bullets, blades, or flames as necessary. You can take allies or objects with you, though they have to be touching you, which practically limits the amount you can take with you to two at most.
Your offensive capabilities come from your Secondary, though you'd hardly call it a supremely offensive ability. It has potential, certainly, but you're absolutely not the powerhouse of this team.
Secondary Ability Decision
[] Gravikinesis: You can manipulate gravity in a few ways. For one, you can crush an enemy under increased force, dragging them to the ground, and hindering mobility. You can alter the angle of gravity of yourself, letting you walk on a wall like it's the floor. And you can decrease gravity to let yourself jump higher or farther. You're not a master of this, you can't straight-up fly like some Primaries you've heard of, but it's got its uses.
[] Photokinesis: You can create light. You can make dark areas easier to navigate, distract an enemy with a bright flash, and with a bit of focus, you can create a laser that can hurt someone. That takes a bit out of you, however, unlike some Primaries you've heard of with this ability, who are able to create sustained beams.
First order of business: Scope out the situation. You move to the door, looking it over for some way to look out. Thankfully there's a peephole, which lets you look into the hallway and see that you're alone for now. Your headache is subsiding, thankfully, now that you've got a better handle on yourself. You're still a bit hazy about the other Zodiac members, but that should clear up eventually, right?
As you exit the dorm, which, thinking back on what you can remember of the map of this laboratory, must be on one of the upper levels, you look to the left and to the right. The signs are all in Japanese, which you can't read. That would have been... ugh, who was the Overcognitive one? And at least one of the others was from the Japanese branch, too...
You flip a mental coin, then decide to head left. You check the doors on the way, but you ended up here alone.
You find a set of stairs. Up or down? Up, you think. Securing the roof of this place would be a good idea, then you could be methodical and move down the line.
Suddenly, a familiar voice reaches your ears. Or rather, your mind.
"Can anyone hear me?" A woman's voice says. "Is anyone there?"
You put a hand to your temple, focusing on responding back.
"This is Rat. Can you hear me?"
You're not a telepath yourself, but you've been around a few, and you can talk to one even without the gift yourself if you allow it. And that voice, you know.
"Rat! This is Sheep. Where are you? Everyone's all scrambled... and my head still feels off."
"Dorms. High-ish up. And I'm also kind of out of it. Brief amnesia and my short-term memory is still... kinda fuzzy."
"I'm pretty close, then! I'll try and meet up with you."
"Head to the roof. I was going to surveil things up there before moving down."
"Roger."
Sheep is a comforting presence to have. Now that you remember her, at least.
You reach the roof pretty quickly, heading up. Thankfully, you don't encounter any members of Aesir.
Eventually, Sheep arrives, her braided blonde hair waving in the breeze under an early morning sky, the sun almost but not quite having cleared the horizon. It was a little bit in the afternoon when you teleported in from America.
Her outfit's a lot like yours-slim, militarized, but sleek.
"Rat. Good to see you."
"Good to see you as well."
Sheep frowns, looking down at the metal ground. "I tried feeling for everyone, but... the wooziness made my telepathy a bit weak. I found you because you were close, but I'd need a minute to look for anyone else.
"Alright. Most of them can handle themselves, but we should try and regroup before a big Aesir operative can pick us off."
"Okay. Give me a second, I'll see who I can find." Sheep places a hand on the side of her head, focusing. You stand back and give her a moment.
After a bit, her eyes open. "I found four of them!"
"Good job! That's half the team. Where are they?"
"They're in two groups of two. Tiger with Rooster, and Snake with Dragon."
"Who's closer?"
"They're both about equally close, but we should get one before we get the other."
You don't really want to admit that you're blanking on the faces of them, and their powersets. It'd be embarrassing. Thankfully, from what you remember, Sheep's not big into prying into the memories of her allies without permission. Still, you're in the dark about who to go for.
"Can you tell where they are? Like, rooms or labs. And can you sense any Aesir operatives?"
"Not a ton in the upper levels... there are a few others with Tiger and Rooster, but not many, and I don't have any minds I can sense around Snake and Dragon."
That doesn't rule out the possibility that they could be fighting, however. There's automated security systems that could be hijacked, and some of Kirishima's research was into electrokinetic control over machinery, meaning a few robots could be around.
"One last thing. Did you... get anything from... whoever screwed with our heads, and messed with the teleporting? Emotions, memories, thoughts?"
"Nothing on my end. They probably are a Primary Telepathy, if they could do all that, I wouldn't be able to match them... They were extremely guarded with their thoughts. But I know the process, at least, and I think I could guard against it better now that I can anticipate it."
That's a relief, at least. Still, Sheep's waiting on you to make a decision on who to come to the rescue of first.
Who to touch base with?
[] Tiger and Rooster
[] Snake and Dragon
---------------------------------------------
Hello! First time doing a Quest. I hope you all enjoy.
Characters and their Powers
- Pronouns
- He/Him
ZODIAC
PIG
AESIR OPERATIVES
PIG
-------------------------------------------
AESIR OPERATIVES
Last edited:
Tiger Tiger, Burning Bright...
- Pronouns
- He/Him
[X] Male
[X] Intangibility
[X] Photokinesis
[X] Tiger and Rooster
[X] Intangibility
[X] Photokinesis
[X] Tiger and Rooster
-----------------------------
"I think we should go and rescue Tiger and Rooster." You say, reasonably confident in your decision.
"Right. Good idea. Tiger is the leader, after all. He should have some idea of what's happening, or at least be able to help us regroup."
You file that away mentally, though hopefully, you'll recall him when you see him.
"Can you find out where we'd need to stand to be above him? I'll take your hand and we can phase down floor by floor until we reach him."
"Oh, good idea. Just let me…" Sheep puts her left hand to her temple, and then holds out her right hand, slowly feeling around. She walks slowly over the rooftop, and you follow her until she stops. "About here will do."
"How many stories down?"
"Ten."
You've been training on your ability to use intangibility ever since you awoke and were discovered by the Janus Group. You know how quickly gravity can affect you. You do some quick mental calculations to get a rough estimate of how long you'll need to maintain intangibility until you reach that point. When you have a good estimate-which you can play by ear, after all, you'll see the stopping point with your own eyes when you reach it- you nod.
"Alright, I've got how long I'll maintain it."
Sheep nods, then slowly places her hand in yours. You focus your power inward, to that feeling of non-existence, the void that dwells within you. You need to cover yourself, and Sheep as well. You draw it out, and then, you fall.
Sheep lets out a gasp as you sink into the floor as if it were nothing. One floor. Two. Three. Four. Five.
You speed up as you approach that gravitational constant. Six. Seven. Eight. Nine!
"BRACE!" You yell as you pass between the floor between Nine and Ten, releasing the intangible field as you land. You let go of Sheep and tuck into a roll to avoid going splat, and Sheep does the same.
You quickly get up and survey the area, looking for a face you recognize, when you feel a bullet move through the air right by your face. You see a bunch of Aesir grunts in face-covering helmets with assault rifles right in front of you.
"Two more Janus operatives! Fire!" Shouts the leader of the group, but the muffling of the helmets obscures the direction somewhat.
Shit. You yell out "Flash!" in your mind as a signal for Sheep so she knows to close her eyes to avoid getting hurt as you conjure a bright blinding light that distracts the group of soldiers long enough for a quick glance at your surroundings.
It's a canteen, with a kitchen nearby, when you see a head that's a bit familiar duck up, reacting to that bright flash. You grab Sheep by the hand and run through the half-wall that you pick food up from, making a quick jump to compensate for not having solid ground to walk on while passing through the wall. You hear the bullets flying and hitting the wall as you go through it. When you're through, you go solid and look at the two men who are hiding in there.
The head you saw smirks at you, a mixture of reassurance and incredulity. "So there you are. Figures you'd arrive before Rabbit. Lazy ass."
The other head just nods, looking confident and assured that comrades are back in the fold. "Sheep. Rat. Good to have you."
The info comes flooding back with their faces now in sight.
"Sheep found you, I was just the way down."
Sheep doesn't try to peek over the top of the gap, but she looks puzzled as she focuses. "I... I can't get into their heads."
Tiger just nods. "I think it's the helmets. They block anything telepathic."
"Not... fully. I can tell where they are... roughly. That they have minds. I just can't get inside to read their thoughts or distract them."
"Well, one of them's a Suppressor. The leader."
"Didn't get a good look." You say. "Was too busy getting to cover. You used Sensing on him?"
"Nah. Not his Primary. He's a pyro. He's blocking Tiger's shields, cuz he knows it's our best defensive option. My air walls can stop things with a lot of surface area, but not bullets. Like how a balloon can handle getting smacked by a hand, but needles pop 'em. Tiger can't shield himself to go in, or shield me so I can blow them away with a big gust."
"If he's a pyrokinetic, why isn't he using his fire?" Sheep asks.
"I haven't figured out everything about Aesir's goals yet, but from what we can tell, these guys don't want to blow up the whole facility. I think he's afraid of the natural gas being stored in this kitchen. If he sets it off, it could explode, maybe start a chain reaction. He doesn't want to play recklessly." Tiger says, coolly and confidently.
"So you were stuck here under threat of suppressing fire, but them not making any moves?"
"Basically... until you arrived," Rooster says. "But now we can turn the odds."
"Well, they already know I can go intangible. I could distract them, but they might not take that bait if they knew the bullets would just go right through me. And the flash might not be as effective as the second time."
"I can't distract them with telepathy, either..." Sheep says, looking unconfident.
"All of their eyes are locked on us, right?"
Rooster puts a hand on the side of his head and closes his eyes, clearly hopping from view to view of each of their visions.
"Yep, all locked in on this kitchen."
You look around the kitchen. It's all in disarray, as a result of Aesir's chaos.
You look up and around the various open drawers and cabinets. There's some knives that look pretty sharp... that gives you a bit of an idea.
"Sheep, can you take two of those knives and just throw them at the enemies?"
Sheep nods. "I don't think it'd do much damage... and I don't think I can get an accurate shot."
"It doesn't need to actually hurt anyone, it just needs to come close enough that it disrupts the formation by forcing them to dodge. If you can get them a second or two where they're a bit unfocused, I can give a second flash that catches them off-guard, and then Rooster can get a few seconds to blow them apart, maybe disrupt the leader."
Rooster bites his lip. "I don't think it's an amazing idea... but I don't think I see anything better for now."
Tiger nods. "Alright, we'll go with that."
You fetch a pair of sharp-looking knives and hand them to Sheep, who moves off the floor, staying crouched and behind the half-wall counter. She levitates them slightly, and then, as quickly as she can, tosses them up and over the edge, in two directions.
You hear gunshots, and then scrambling sounds of footsteps on the floor outside. That's the sign you needed! You stand up and let loose another bright flash, which sends the Aesir members blocking their eyes for a moment. Rooster bursts through the actual door to the kitchen, letting loose a wide arm sweep that sends a large gust across the room. The chairs are pushed around, and several mercenaries are sent flying back into various walls or the floor.
It's enough of a breakthrough for Tiger to make his advance, drawing his sword from his back and making a dash into the room. A few of the less-affected men try to shoot him, but he moves just fast enough to avoid the bullets, as Rooster moves into smaller but more focused wind blasts against individual targets.
You and Sheep move into the rear of this impromptu formation, both drawing your pistols. You turn to the one member with the custom uniform who stayed at the very back. Their armor is red, and their helmet has flame decals.
"Not exactly subtle about your Primary ability, are you?" Rooster says, slightly cockily.
"Why would I need to be?" The voice is male, but oddly high. "We don't have anything to hide here. I'm proud of my capabilities."
"Dragon'd wipe the floor with you."
"Aww, but Dragon isn't here. Too bad." The red-garbed man opens a palm, and a fireball congeals inside of it, which he lobs into the air like a grenade, where it grows in size.
"CO2!" You quickly shout, and Rooster gets the idea, focusing his powers on pulling out the pure oxygen from the air and smothering the flame with ambient carbon dioxide, which works at making the flame ball die down. Tiger rushes in, but the figure puts his hands together and flame flickers between his gloved hands, forming into a blade. He moves in, going for a wide horizontal slash that Tiger ducks underneath.
You go for a pair of shots, aiming for the shoulder of the pyrokinetic, but he dodges out of the way. He traces a line on the ground with his sword of flame and a wall of fire flares up, forcing Tiger to step back.
"Surtr. That's my name. You're all pretty good. Let's see if you can keep up with me or my pals." He places a hand on the side of his helmet, and then, suddenly, he teleports out.
"Pyrokinesis, teleportation, and suppression? Hell of a set." Rooster says as he turns his attention to dousing the flames with his CO2 trick.
"No, I... I think he was calling for help, and someone else teleported him." Sheep counters.
"Still, this confirms that they have a teleporter on their side. So they might have interfered with Rabbit's teleport in of all of us on that front, as well as the mind scramble." Tiger says.
"Gotta be a Teleporter Primary, too. All the Secondary's I've met were only able to teleport someone else within their line of sight, not remotely like this."
"I still think he did it himself." Roosters puffs, then sighs. "All of the others are non-psychic. I knocked 'em out... mostly."
"Are you hurt at all, Tiger?" Sheep quickly asks.
"No flames touched me. I'm fine. But it's appreciated."
You holster your gun and survey the situation. All of the other mercenaries are on the ground, as Rooster said. Most are still breathing, and the few that aren't... Well, can't make an omelette and all that. You turn back to the conversation.
"We're further down. You still have a lock on Snake and Dragon, right?"
"Yeah. They're about a floor up."
Tiger nods. "I want to see what Snake thinks of this situation. And Dragon would be good, as well."
Rooster looks down. "Nah, those two can handle themselves for a bit. Snake would do that whole 'I've predicted your every action' thingy and Dragon's got three varieties of blast. They're a good team, we should look for some of the others. I'm worried about Monkey."
"I know you're friends with them and all, but Monkey's functionally a second version of whoever they're with. As long as they're with Ox or Horse, they'll be able to handle themselves. Pig too, in a pinch. No, my worry with Snake and Dragon is their personalities. They're oil and water- Dragon hates being bossed around, and Snake... isn't exactly a tactful woman."
"You say that as if Dragon likes you."
"She's... temperamental, yes, but she respects me, at least."
"Any luck with the others?" You ask Sheep. "Dog, Rabbit, Horse...?"
"Nothing yet. Sorry. There's still a bit of lingering static from the scramble. And it's a big lab..."
"Well, if all we can find right now are Snake and Dragon, we'll go to them. They're up a floor, which would place them in one of the rec areas." Tiger decides, his confidence evident.
"I'm still not getting any other mental signals in their area... but given how I thought that there were only a few soldiers down here, those telepathy-dampening helmets are fiddling my mind radar, too, so I can't be 100% certain of anything aside from us."
"Rooster, can you check on them?"
Rooster closes his eyes once again, sending his eyes up into one of the two. When he opens his eyes, he's got a dark look.
"Robots. They're attacking them!"
Rooster practically bolts out of the cafeteria, heading to the stairs.
"Shit. He's always going off on his own... I want to do some psychometric investigation to figure out what happened around here. One of you go with him, the other stay with me."
[ ] Go with Rooster to save Snake and Dragon from the robots, leaving Sheep with Tiger
[ ] Stay with Tiger to investigate the situation, leaving Sheep to help Rooster, Snake, and Dragon
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Snakes And Stairs
- Pronouns
- He/Him
[X] Go with Rooster to save Snake and Dragon from the robots, leaving Sheep with Tiger
"I'll go and help. If something happens, Sheep, let us know." You quickly say before following Rooster to the stairs. Rooster practically blasts himself up a flight with a burst of wind downward that shoots him up, while you have to take the long way up the stairs.
You follow Rooster, eventually catching up to him on the floor above as you move towards large thuds and mechanical sounds. Eventually, you find what you're looking for- in the form of what looks like a quadruped wolf robot.
Its red eye-screen looks at you and Rooster with malice, and then a speaker somewhere inside it says "INTRUDERS DETECTED."
And then something different happens. The same electronic voice, but garbled, chopped up. It's not an automated statement. It's something manually punched in.
"GET. OWNED. NOOBS."
Twin guns pop out of the wolf's back, and Rooster quickly makes his move, blasting the wolf with wind that shifts it back, throwing off its aim. You draw your pistol and shoot at it, but the armor deflects it.
"L. M. A. O."
"Shut up." Rooster moves his hand in a sweeping motion, blowing a gust that knocks the robot against the wall. It throws it off balance again, and you move in, drawing a knife and aiming for a crack in the armor to sever wires and stop it.
The wolf's guns pivot towards you, but you focus on your inner void, turning your torso, arms, head, and knife intangible. The bullets go right through your upper body and embed themselves in the wall. The robot seems to pause at that.
"CHEATER."
It attempts to turn its attention back at Rooster, but at that point you've gotten close enough that you turn back and stick the knife in the gap between the head and neck, making a slice.
You hear short-circuiting, and the eye-screen goes dark as the head flops forward, but the rest of it's still active. You pull out your knife and make another stab in the back in a gap, and more of it shuts off. You repeat this a few more times, until eventually, enough wires are severed that it's practically turned off.
You breathe a sigh of relief and turn to see Rooster. He nods and moves through another door, looking around. He sees nothing, so he closes his eyes to Sightcast again. Once he's got a lock, he starts heading in a direction, and you follow him.
You hear a crackling noise, like a live wire, which brings a memory or two bubbling to the surface, just barely not breaking the water and reminding you of either of these two. You turn a corner and see a brunette woman older than you, holding lightning in her hands with ease, as she lets it release across the room with pinpoint accuracy into another wolflike robot, where it overloads the system and short-circuits it.
"Snake! We're here." Rooster says. "You and Dragon alright?"
Snake's face remains a cool mask. "We're not hurt. Dragon is working on some of the other robots. We split up to divert their attention. They regard her as a bigger threat."
"So they're not fireproof?"
"They are not. At the very least, she is having fun melting them into slag." She looks to the side. "That she does not have to hold back is undoubtedly a relief for her."
You decide to speak up. "We've connected with Sheep and Tiger. They're a floor down, doing some investigation."
You quickly run down what you've done so far since you've woken up. Reconnecting with Sheep, deciding to check on Tiger and Rooster first, your fight with Surtr. Snake stays quiet as you fill her in. Rooster adds his two cents, but it's not much-he woke up close to Tiger, they helped each other get out of the brain fog, and Surtr moved in on them and pinned them in the kitchen. When you're done, she nods.
"Alright. Good to know that their… tacky theming holds true."
Rooster looks confused, and Snake just moves to a table in the rec room she was in, where a medium-sized tablet is laid down. She picks it up and turns it on. "This was left discarded. I hoped that I could gather some information, and perhaps relay something back to our superiors. She then turns it to you and Rooster.
On the screen, however, access has been denied. Tenfold. The laptop has been assaulted with pop-ups, each reading the same thing.
"A good attempt, but you will not be able to overcome us that easily. I hope to see you. We will see whose spark shines brightest.
-Thor
P.S. lame. not even a prime. me n teach'll own you. get wrecked.
-Fenrir"
Well, at the very least, that explains the robots.
"So there's two electrokinetics, and one's the apprentice of the other?" Rooster asks.
"That would be the logical explanation. I think Thor's expertise is more with using electricity to manipulate data, hacking and cybersecurity, while Fenrir is better with mechanical objects like the robots. They're covering different areas of the lab."
"But the mythological Fenrir wasn't connected to storms or thunder. Thor makes sense for an electrokinetic, but not so much a wolf." You float.
"Well, the robots are wolves."
"They were supposed to be dogs, but there's a close enough overlap," Snake says. "But yes, between this and the pyrokinetic named Surtr, Aesir seems to love on-the-nose codenames."
"Well, it's not like we've got any leg to stand on with theme naming. Our pyrokinetic is named Dragon."
Snake, briefly, smiles at this. "We should retrieve her." She turns off the tablet and places it back on the table, and the now trio moves to the sound of burning.
When they find the source, a woman with short black hair and a mean look in her eye is holding flames in her hand as she burns a pair of robot wolves, melting the metal and scorching the glass and plastic that holds it together. She then suppresses the flames, and then covers the smoldering, molten slag in a layer of frost, to prevent the flames from spreading.
"Dragon!" Rooster says, and she turns around, smiling a bit.
"Good to see you, Airhead." She says.
"We're here as well." You say. She frowns a little at you.
"Well, at least you're all right. Did you do your thing, Snake?" Dragon says.
"Sadly, my attempts at gathering information were foiled by this group's hacker. An electrokinetic, much like myself."
Dragon makes a 'tch' sound, clearly annoyed. "Figures."
"Rat and Rooster are not the only ones that have been found. Tiger and Sheep are a floor below, investigating on their own."
Dragon looks a little glad at that. "Good to hear that."
Rooster looks around. "Is that all the robot dogs?"
"At least the ones on this level. Might be more down below." Dragon says. "But, yeah, I melted 'em all."
"Good. Rooster, lead Dragon back down to Tiger and Sheep. Rat and I will be right behind you."
Rooster nods, and Dragon goes to the stairs with him. At first, you start to head that way, but then Snake says something.
"Rat. Who do you think is responsible for the psychic scrambling that scattered us across the building?"
It seems like an odd question. "Surtr teleported away, so at bare minimum, they have someone with a Teleportation Primary. And it would make sense for them to have a telepath as well, it's a great tactical asset."
Snake nods at that. "Yes, that would track. But… I have an alternative theory."
You narrow your eyes a little.
"I think we have a mole. Someone leaked information to Aesir. We got scrambled from the inside."
It's a shocking statement. You step back, thinking for a moment.
"You do not have to speak on it. I would like for the rest of the group to reconvene before I say anything. But you have neither telepathic nor teleportation abilities, nor any history of clashing with Janus's decisions. So I felt like you were… safe."
That's… mildly reassuring. Snake moves to follow the group downstairs.
It takes a few minutes, but eventually, Dragon, Rooster, Sheep, and Tiger are found together in a small lounge area off of a hallway.
"Snake! Good to see you again." Tiger smiles and goes in for a handshake.
"Likewise."
"How's your investigation been going?" You ask.
Tiger frowns a bit. "I've been trying to get a feel for any strong memories of the takeover, but so far, not much. The soldier's weapons and armor didn't reveal much. They're… I hesitate to use the word 'off the rack' in this context but that's basically what they are. Simple, everyday assault rifles, common with mercenary groups."
Sheep steps forward. "I did make some progress! I found the other six. They're a bit further down, where the labs actually start existing instead of the living areas."
Snake nods. "Go on."
"They're in two groups of three. Ox is with Rabbit and Monkey. Horse, Pig, and Dog are in the other group."
She then bites her lip. "Also… Rabbit is asleep. I can tell that much. He still hasn't woken up. Ox and Monkey are agitated, and trying to defend him. Horse, Pig, and Dog are also on high alert, and they're in a fight."
Snake moves her hand to her chin, looking around. "We'll split into two groups of three. Rat, your group will use your intangibility to quickly reach them and assist them. The other group will move on to the other one. Once Rabbit is awake, his teleportation will help us regroup and reconvene."
"I'll lead one group. Snake, you take the other. Any preferences, people?"
As you go to say which group you'd like to be a part of, you also reflect on what Snake said earlier about the possibility of a traitor. Do you believe in her?
Do you think there is a traitor?
[ ] Yes. It would make logical sense, even if Sheep would be a suspect for the brain scramble.
[ ] No! You trust everyone here, and the scrambling must be from an Aesir operative.
[ ] You need more evidence. There's certainly a possibility, even if you don't like it, but you'd need proof.
Plan vote: Team Distribution
Distribute the six members (Rat, Sheep, Tiger, Rooster, Snake, Dragon) into two teams of three. Tiger and Snake must be on separate teams. Also specify which team will be going to rescue Ox, Monkey, and Rabbit, and which group is going to help Horse, Pig, and Dog.
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Split Decision
- Pronouns
- He/Him
"I think I should go with the group that's going to help Rabbit. I can get to them faster, and then when Rabbit is awake, we can teleport and get the whole group together."
Snake nods at your analysis. "In that case, I will go with you."
Tiger nods. "Alright. You said that there's a big fight near Horse, Pig, and Dog, right?" He says, turning to Sheep.
"There are more… or a bigger… set of minds around them than around the Rabbit group."
"In that case, they need more support, and they need more firepower. I think you two-" Tiger indicates to Dragon and Sheep, "should help them."
"Which means you're going with them, and I'm going with Snake," Rooster adds.
"Are we all in agreement?" Snake says.
"Sure, fine with me." Dragon quickly says.
"Alright, Sheep, can you get us above Rabbit, Ox, and Monkey?"
Sheep nods and leads the group to a bathroom.
"5 floors down." She says.
"8 seconds. I'll count." Snake says herself, clearly having calculated the time in her head.
"Good luck," Tiger says, and you nod as you take Rooster and Snake's hands.
It takes a little more time, but then, that empty feeling spreads over you and your two teammates, and you sink through the floor. You close your eyes and let Snake's counting carry you.
"Release!" She says, and you do so, landing on the ground with a mild thud as you drop to your knees. Rooster and Snake land similarly, in another bathroom much like the one you started in.
A room with three occupants, one with his back to the door that is the only entrance, and the other two, one lying on the floor, the other sitting next to them.
"Snake. Rat. Rooster. Good to finally have you here." Ox quickly flips to hold his hands against the door, focuses, and then walks away, though something is trying to go through. The door just... holds itself in place, through Ox's will.
You look down at Monkey, who's caring for an unconscious Rabbit.
"Has Rabbit been like this since you found him?" Snake says, moving in to feel for a pulse on his neck.
"Yes. He's breathing, his pulse is fine, he's just unconscious, but nothing's waking him up, not cold water, nothing." Monkey is calm. "I would assume this has something to do with the memory scrambling me and Ox were subject to."
"That's my working theory, as well. Some extremely strong telepaths can affect specific brain parts like the hypothalamus, which means they can put someone to sleep."
Monkey nods. "So they took out our teleporter to keep us unable to regroup."
You look down at Rabbit yourself. He looks... peaceful. Like he's just drifted away for a little nap. He doesn't look in anguish or pain in the slightest.
"At least I'm able to speed up our ability to reconvene. Tiger, Sheep, and Dragon are fine, and they're working on reinforcing Horse, Dog, and Pig. They're in a bigger fight, Sheep sensed more minds by them."
Ox sighs. "She might have done that, but that doesn't mean they're in any more danger than us."
Snake looks at Ox with concerned eyes. "…what do you mean?"
"I don't know what's happening or what ability this is. It might be an unknown power that isn't on record. But… We're dealing with animated corpses."
That sends a shock through Rooster and Snake, and you feel a little nauseous.
"People have already been… killed?" You say.
"A few Aesir members, the non-psychic ones got killed by security in the crossfire when they first invaded. Security got thoroughly demolished, so all of them are dead, too. And a few of the scientists tried to play hero and got shot for it. It's not full Romero out there, but we've got a lot of dead puppets." Ox is no-nonsense and matter-of-fact as he says this. "I had to carry Rabbit, which limited my ability to fight back. Monkey's useful, but their Linking can only go so far. We've been barreled up in here."
"Well, at least we can turn the tables," Rooster says. "Snake! What's the plan?"
"Dead eyes can't be seen through, so your Sightcasting is out as a means of surveillance. Which leaves… Rat using his Intangibility to go solo and draw them away. If one person is behind all of these- assuming Aesir's tacky codenames hold, it's probably 'Hel'- then they should have to split their attention, which means that their strength should weaken owing to trying to do two things at once."
You nod. Rooster steps up, as well. "I can create some breathing room by blowing away all the close ones when the door's opened. Ox can keep carrying Rabbit, like he did before."
"I'll Link your Aerokinesis, and assist with that. A few copies of myself can also run interference." Monkey adds, stepping forward. Ox is already levitating Rabbit off the floor, and Snake is hanging back.
"If the bodies are dead, then my Electrokinesis won't work, because they don't feel pain. Neither would gunfire. So I'm going to stay close to Ox."
A broad group plan having worked itself out, you take a few steps back, start running, and leap through the bathroom wall into a lab hallway that is filled with people.
People with gunshot wounds festering in their chests, dried blood over their clothing, glassy eyes, and open mouths. Some are in lab coats, and others are in military gear. You quickly enter "the bottom of my feet are solid so I can walk on the floor, but everything else is untouchable" mode and start running.
Indeed, a few of the puppets follow after you, as you navigate corridors. Behind you, you hear a blast of wind, as Rooster and Monkey clear the way for the group.
You need to make some minor distance and force whoever's watching to split their attention across a larger gap. You run down a hallway and reach a split. The signs are in Japanese, which despite your memories coming back more and more, still haven't spit out any lessons on kanji, just katakana.
You need to make a split decision based on just the sign's images. One has a brain. The other has a bullseye target.
Time to make a quick decision, Rat.
You head to the...
[ ] Left, with the brain sign.
[ ] Right, with the bullseye sign.
Snake nods at your analysis. "In that case, I will go with you."
Tiger nods. "Alright. You said that there's a big fight near Horse, Pig, and Dog, right?" He says, turning to Sheep.
"There are more… or a bigger… set of minds around them than around the Rabbit group."
"In that case, they need more support, and they need more firepower. I think you two-" Tiger indicates to Dragon and Sheep, "should help them."
"Which means you're going with them, and I'm going with Snake," Rooster adds.
"Are we all in agreement?" Snake says.
"Sure, fine with me." Dragon quickly says.
"Alright, Sheep, can you get us above Rabbit, Ox, and Monkey?"
Sheep nods and leads the group to a bathroom.
"5 floors down." She says.
"8 seconds. I'll count." Snake says herself, clearly having calculated the time in her head.
"Good luck," Tiger says, and you nod as you take Rooster and Snake's hands.
It takes a little more time, but then, that empty feeling spreads over you and your two teammates, and you sink through the floor. You close your eyes and let Snake's counting carry you.
"Release!" She says, and you do so, landing on the ground with a mild thud as you drop to your knees. Rooster and Snake land similarly, in another bathroom much like the one you started in.
A room with three occupants, one with his back to the door that is the only entrance, and the other two, one lying on the floor, the other sitting next to them.
"Snake. Rat. Rooster. Good to finally have you here." Ox quickly flips to hold his hands against the door, focuses, and then walks away, though something is trying to go through. The door just... holds itself in place, through Ox's will.
You look down at Monkey, who's caring for an unconscious Rabbit.
"Has Rabbit been like this since you found him?" Snake says, moving in to feel for a pulse on his neck.
"Yes. He's breathing, his pulse is fine, he's just unconscious, but nothing's waking him up, not cold water, nothing." Monkey is calm. "I would assume this has something to do with the memory scrambling me and Ox were subject to."
"That's my working theory, as well. Some extremely strong telepaths can affect specific brain parts like the hypothalamus, which means they can put someone to sleep."
Monkey nods. "So they took out our teleporter to keep us unable to regroup."
You look down at Rabbit yourself. He looks... peaceful. Like he's just drifted away for a little nap. He doesn't look in anguish or pain in the slightest.
"At least I'm able to speed up our ability to reconvene. Tiger, Sheep, and Dragon are fine, and they're working on reinforcing Horse, Dog, and Pig. They're in a bigger fight, Sheep sensed more minds by them."
Ox sighs. "She might have done that, but that doesn't mean they're in any more danger than us."
Snake looks at Ox with concerned eyes. "…what do you mean?"
"I don't know what's happening or what ability this is. It might be an unknown power that isn't on record. But… We're dealing with animated corpses."
That sends a shock through Rooster and Snake, and you feel a little nauseous.
"People have already been… killed?" You say.
"A few Aesir members, the non-psychic ones got killed by security in the crossfire when they first invaded. Security got thoroughly demolished, so all of them are dead, too. And a few of the scientists tried to play hero and got shot for it. It's not full Romero out there, but we've got a lot of dead puppets." Ox is no-nonsense and matter-of-fact as he says this. "I had to carry Rabbit, which limited my ability to fight back. Monkey's useful, but their Linking can only go so far. We've been barreled up in here."
"Well, at least we can turn the tables," Rooster says. "Snake! What's the plan?"
"Dead eyes can't be seen through, so your Sightcasting is out as a means of surveillance. Which leaves… Rat using his Intangibility to go solo and draw them away. If one person is behind all of these- assuming Aesir's tacky codenames hold, it's probably 'Hel'- then they should have to split their attention, which means that their strength should weaken owing to trying to do two things at once."
You nod. Rooster steps up, as well. "I can create some breathing room by blowing away all the close ones when the door's opened. Ox can keep carrying Rabbit, like he did before."
"I'll Link your Aerokinesis, and assist with that. A few copies of myself can also run interference." Monkey adds, stepping forward. Ox is already levitating Rabbit off the floor, and Snake is hanging back.
"If the bodies are dead, then my Electrokinesis won't work, because they don't feel pain. Neither would gunfire. So I'm going to stay close to Ox."
A broad group plan having worked itself out, you take a few steps back, start running, and leap through the bathroom wall into a lab hallway that is filled with people.
People with gunshot wounds festering in their chests, dried blood over their clothing, glassy eyes, and open mouths. Some are in lab coats, and others are in military gear. You quickly enter "the bottom of my feet are solid so I can walk on the floor, but everything else is untouchable" mode and start running.
Indeed, a few of the puppets follow after you, as you navigate corridors. Behind you, you hear a blast of wind, as Rooster and Monkey clear the way for the group.
You need to make some minor distance and force whoever's watching to split their attention across a larger gap. You run down a hallway and reach a split. The signs are in Japanese, which despite your memories coming back more and more, still haven't spit out any lessons on kanji, just katakana.
You need to make a split decision based on just the sign's images. One has a brain. The other has a bullseye target.
Time to make a quick decision, Rat.
You head to the...
[ ] Left, with the brain sign.
[ ] Right, with the bullseye sign.
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A Bit Of Information
- Pronouns
- He/Him
[X] Right, with the bullseye sign.
You quickly move to the right, hearing the puppet corpses behind you approach. As you make your way down the hallways, you start hearing a voice out loud, unfamiliar ones. You've got a decent lead on the corpses, so you slow your pace and move more quietly as you approach them.
After a bit of searching, you find the source, a pair of helmetless Aesir goons in custom uniforms. They're in what looks like a target practice room, probably for testing people with psychic ability's range and accuracy. And also mundane weapons handling for the security types in the facility.
The one that first catches your eye is the older of the two. He's muscular as hell, and older than Tiger. The early 40s, from a glance. The other one is a younger man, only slightly older than yourself, and blonde. The two appear to be taking turns throwing knives at the targets, and their accuracy is impeccable, though the older one is slightly better.
"So, has your enormous brain come to any insights into our mysterious benefactor's true identity?" The younger one says. There had been a lull in the conversation as you were approaching earlier, so he must be changing the topic. You move under a table behind some chairs quietly to observe this conversation quietly.
"Nothing major. I understand the faith you place in Overcognition, but even my deductive reasoning needs evidence to go off of. And so far, all we have are the communique of the benefactor."
"Well, yeah, but couldn't you like... analyze the tone of the messages and cross-reference it with the language the scientists are using, find one of them?"
"That presupposes that the patron is within the hostages, which is an assumption. You do that too often, you assume. An assumption cuts off other theories from the possibility." The older man's tone is chiding, but not harsh. He's correcting, but he isn't punishing.
"I... guess that's fair. But I've got a gut feeling is all. A hunch. And when psychics are in play, hunches have a tendency to play out."
"Trust me, I am quite aware of your psychic intuition. But I will not make a call based on nothing but intuition, when logic will suffice."
"Alright, Odin, don't get your panties in a twist." The blonde younger man, who has been twirling a knife in his hand, suddenly throws one out, and it lands right in the center of the bullseye. He nods, and then holds out his hand, yanking it back into his palm.
Odin's an Overcognitive like Snake, and this blonde's a Telekinetic.
"Baldr, What do you think of the newest recruits?" Odin asks, swapping the subject again.
"They're all strong as hell, but man, their attitudes leave something to be desired." This time, the blonde man turns around, looks over his shoulder, then faces forward and throws it over his shoulder, where it corrects in mid-air to land dead center. "Internet troll. Goth chick. Chuniibyou. And complete cipher. Surtr's fine, but he's also older than all of them and knows better. At least he's a damn good wrangler of 'em."
"Yes, integrating their... quirks is certainly going to take some effort."
"Still, the gear they've got here is absolutely stellar. Those pills are going to make so many jobs so much easier going forward."
Ability-enhancing drugs? That was something Kirishima was working on, you recall from the briefings.
"Yes, but we do not have the means to replicate them ourselves. Unless you plan on becoming a scientist yourself."
"You could do it. Your brain's big enough."
"Just because I have Overcognition does not make me omniscient. It would still take time to understand the notes, the equipment, and chemicals they use to create them."
"Thor could automate the process."
"He has better things to be doing than babysitting a centrifuge."
"You're no fun, boss."
Suddenly, cutting through things, Odin seems to hear something. He places a finger to his temple like he's receiving a telepathic message.
"The enemy with Intangiblity ran this way. Look for him."
Shit! Your hiding spot was meant to be temporary, and you planned to walk out quietly behind their backs once you felt like you had gathered enough info! They'll see you in a second?
You have five seconds!
[ ] Go intangible and go down a floor. You'll be separated from Snake and co, down a floor, but you'll be safe.
[ ] Make a bright flash and run for it, through walls to confuse them and make them unaware of where you are.
[ ] Make the first move, open with your Photokinetic laser. Aim at Baldr.
[ ] Make the first move, open with your Photokinetic laser. Aim at Odin.
[ ] Try negotiation? Or at least stalling. Talk. Interrogate. Say something to get them to pause, buy you some time.
Past and Future
- Pronouns
- He/Him
[X] Go intangible and go down a floor. You'll be separated from Snake and co, down a floor, but you'll be safe.
In an instant, you pull the void inside you over you and drop through the floor. As soon as you're through and in air, you pull it back inside and land, unflatteringly, in a flop on the floor.
You slowly get up, nursing your stomach and chest a little because of the belly flop you made onto tile. That is never fun.
You flash back to the training you received in your Intangibility. At first, you learned to reach through a solid barrier and grab what was on the other side, then pull it back through. As you got better with it, you learned to jump through a whole wall.
The first time that happened, your clothes didn't carry with you. You had to learn to apply your intangibility to more and more objects at once. Now, bringing them along with you is a matter of course.
Going down took learning timing, and studying parkour and freerunning videos to learn how to tuck and roll after a long fall. Eventually, you got better at recovering, as well as able to handle larger falls. You also had plenty of stamina and speed training from having to climb back up stairs to try again.
Why are you recalling this? You need to focus on the present.
Looking around at the room you find yourself in, you see that it's a server room. That's not suprising, there is a lot of sensitive equipment and data that would need to be stored and handled, as well as basic communication with the outside world. If Snake were here, she might be able to get some more information out of this situation, but at this point, you'll have to do.
You quickly examine the room. There's nobody here. One of those little hatches with a laptop is plugged in.
...if Thor shut down that one tablet because he knew that Snake would try to use her Electrokinesis to manipulate it for hacking purposes... maybe he's keeping an eye on her specifically, and thus, not paying attention to you?
You press the power button and turn it on, then move a finger over the trackpad to wake the computer.
As it opens, you are stopped by a Username and Password check. Dangit. You knew it was too good to be true. You turn to head for the door-
And then, suddenly, you hear a ping.
You look back. Something has popped up in front of the log-in. A text window.
...Thor wants to talk? Or Fenrir?
You put your hands over the keyboard. This might be a trap. But it could also be an opportunity for information.
The first text bubble appears.
Loki: You are Rat, correct?
You slowly start typing in your response into the message window.
You: How can I trust you aren't working for the enemy? After all, your name matches their aesthetic.
Loki: Cautious. A good quality. Perhaps I should be a bit more forthright. I know you are Rat. Your Primary is Intangibility. Your Secondary is Photokinesis. Your Tertiary is Clairvoyance.
You: Well-informed. Did some of your friends scramble our brains and our teleportation?
Loki: That would be Freya's work. What she can do to a mind is scary.
You: Are you with Aesir, or with us?
Loki: Let's just say I have my own interests at heart, and either you or they could be the key to fulfilling them.
You: At least you're up front about manipulating me. I appreciate the honesty. Are you a Scryer? That's how you see me?
Loki: I cannot divulge my own abilities, but rest assured I am psychic as well. I am going to leave you with two pieces of information. The first will be a document you can peruse at your own leisure. The second is something I'll directly say:
Loki: Freya is keeping Rabbit asleep. But even a Primary Telepath has limits. Borrowing one of those telepathy-blocking helmets will lighten the effects and help him wake up. As for a more permantent solution, Kirishima's enhancement drug prototypes are in the labs somewhere. Give one to Sheep, and she might be able to block it for the remainder of the mission.
Loki: Good luck. I wish you well. The document will be in the printer.
The window closes, and you hear a printing sound coming from a corner. You approach the printer, stored on a table, as it slowly works through the pages.
You have a few moments. You try to reach out to Sheep, but she must be busy. Healing? Using her telepathy to distact and annoy to set things up for Dragon and Tiger?
Annoyed, you grab what pages of the document are printed out, when suddenly-
You reach for the wall, taking deep breaths.
That was the longest Clairvoyant vision you've gotten so far in your life. One of the most detailed, too. Is it the adrenaline? The stress? Something in the air?
Still, in the broad strokes, it's still quite a lot like what you'd expect. Some bits were in focus, clear images. One even had someone speaking. Some were just contextless blurs of words and feelings.
You'll have to sort out what that all meant later. Right now, you have a pressing need. You have to reunite with the rest of the group, deal with the zombies, get a helmet to put on Rabbit's head, find some power-enhancing drug, and get them to Sheep.
That's a lot on the docket. One step at a time!
You grab the rest of the document out of the printer and stow it, folded, inside your uniform's pocket. Then, you make your way out of the server room and into a hallway, holding your pistol as you search for the stairs.
Eventually, you find them and head up. This floor is strangely empty. As you go back up to your previous floor, almost instantly after you exit the door, you find some more of the puppet corpses.
You shoot one, to draw attention and make noise, and then continue moving throughout the floor, trying to reconvene with the group.
Who do you run into first?
[ ] Ox, carrying Rabbit, and Rooster, taking a break to rest and recuperate. You can tell them about the helmet idea.
[ ] Monkey and Snake, arguing over something. They might have insight on the document you have.
Pressure Cooker
- Pronouns
- He/Him
[X] Monkey and Snake, arguing over something. They might have insight on the document you have.
You hear the shout down the hallway before you see either of them. It's Monkey's voice.
"I understand that your large brain makes you think you know best, but I do think that there is more to this than money."
"They are mercenaries. They must have been hired."
"Well, yes, obviously, but I doubt that it is a coincidence that a group of psychic mercenaries would attack a lab full of cutting-edge psychic equipment."
"You are reading too much into things. It would make sense if they were hired to acquire this equipment, certainly, but I doubt that they invaded just to steal the equipment. This is not Die Hard."
"There must be an ideological dimension, because if it was purely about money, they would have offered a ransom by now."
You enter the room, a small break room where the two seem to have stopped to have their arguments about Aesir's motives.
"...is this a bad time?"
The two look at you, and then sigh.
"We are fine. Our argument was purely logical." Monkey says and then turns to you.
...you would beg to differ, personally, but now's not the time.
"I have some information of my own that I gathered in the process of all of this." Snake and Monkey perk up at this, and you proceed to recap what happened.
"While attempting to split the... zombie master, for lack of a better word... their attention, I ran into a pair of men inside a chamber for testing accuracy. There was an older one, who the other called Odin, and the younger one was a man named Baldr."
Snake leans forward as you continue. "The way Baldr spoke towards him was fairly casual, but the word 'boss' was used. I think I might have seen the face of Aesir's leader. Baldr manipulated a knife with Telekinesis, and mentioned a psychic intuition he had, but that could be Clairvoyance, Precognition, or even just a personal hunch. Odin, meanwhile, was apparently an Overcognitive."
Nodding. You continue.
"And they have a Telepath on their side, too. Odin received some sort of message from someone, that they sensed me moving into the area. I fled down a floor before they could see me, but they knew I was there, briefly."
Monkey's face pales slightly. "...the leader and one of his subordinates would be on this floor, then?"
"I did not see where they went. If they were receiving a signal in real-time, they would have heard from this ally that I had gone down a floor then came back up. And I have not run into them since. I think that this Telepathy, probably a Primary, is responsible for Rabbit's sleep, and our memory scrambling, and maintaining communications and tracking."
Snake nods. "A Primary Telepathy would be strong, certainly, but that is a lot to juggle. Especially all at once. They might... lapse. Or only focus on things that get close to their superior."
Monkey seems to agree. You nod and continue. "I also heard talk about... psychic ability enhancing drugs that are here."
"Dr. Kirishima was researching that, yes."
"And specifically, how useful it could be in the future."
"They've already acquired some?" Monkey says, shocked and a little scared.
"They are aware of them, and they want to use them in the future, but I didn't hear anything confirming or denying access to them now."
Snake, meanwhile, is lost in thought, ruminating on something. She seems to set it aside as you motion to pull the document out.
"I also found this document a floor below. I figured you should take a look at it with me."
Monkey and Snake take the document and start reading. You look over at it yourself, trying to parse it.
The first two pages are diagrams, set aside. Data sets. The bulk of the active report takes up the rest of it.
Monkey and Snake examine the sheets in detail for a moment, before storing it away.
"It is certainly interesting. It's rather informal for a scientific document, however."
"Yeah, it's definitely not a thesis statement, that's for sure. It reads more as an internal memo with attached data." Monkey says, scratching their chin.
"Still it... may be relevant for both us and them." You quickly add. "If merely simulated drills and training fights can accelerate psychic abilities, then, actual conflict..."
Monkey actually pauses for a moment. "Maybe that's the... no, they're mercenaries, they would already... would they know?" They wave their hand. "Disregard that."
As Snake moves to store the paper, you decide now's as good as a time as any to mention Loki's plan.
"So, back when we were rescuing Rooster and Tiger, Sheep couldn't get inside some of the mercenary's heads because of a helmet they were wearing. What if we took one of those helmets and put it on Rabbit? Then, whoever is trying to put him to sleep will have to work harder for it. Might block it entirely, might make whoever is doing this turn their attention elsewhere."
Snake and Monkey look between each other, a mutual look of 'oh, wow, we did not think of that'. Sometimes, you forget that while Snake is an Overcognitive, her focus is on mathematics and science, and not logic.
"Alright. Sounds good. Let's start looking to get back to Ox and Rooster, while keeping an eye open for any puppet with a helmet." Snake draws her gun and starts to move. Monkey draws a knife as well, and you pull out your gun as you join them.
----------------------------
It takes a few minutes, but eventually the groups reunite though none of the puppets you encounter are helmeted. Ox and Rooster agree that it seems like a solid course of action, and the group spends the next few minutes searching around, but puppets with helmets seem to be in short supply. And not for lack of corpses of Aesir members, either, there are quite a few of those around, but they don't seem to be wearing their helmets at all.
"...I think our plan might have been leaked." Snake says quietly.
Ox cocks an eyebrow, and Snake continues. "I'd said this before to Rat, but... I still think the possibility exists that there could be a traitor among our group."
Instantly, upon hearing that, Ox turns his attention to Monkey, grabbing them by the shirt and slamming them against the wall.
It's the same scene from your vision a few minutes ago.
"It's you, isn't it? You have the means. You could Link Sheep's Telepathy or Rabbit's Teleportation, and screw everything up. You're leaking info to Aesir. You've always been critical of Janus, ever since you were scouted."
Rooster takes a step forward and holds up a placating hand. "Whoa, don't jump to conclusions. I think Snake's on the wrong track. Aesir's smart and has a lot of people. I think they got some intelligence from the scientists, did their own homework, and maybe used more mundane spying tricks. Like, Snake, that Thor guy is probably on the cameras, right? And we know they have a Telepathy who's actively keeping Rabbit KO'd. They're probably just using those to keep tabs on us. Bugs, too."
"It's... not me... I promise that..." Monkey says, still gripped tightly by Ox.
Things are tense. You need to break it somehow.
How do you get Ox to calm down?
[ ] If Monkey could Link the abilities of Sheep or Rabbit to do this, they could also be suspects. You don't have enough information to nail them.
[ ] Reveal the existence of Loki and discuss what they said. You have a mole of your own! ...At least, you think.
[ ] We don't have time to be doing this. We can re-evaluate the traitor idea when everyone's together.
[ ] Odin's an Overcognitive, and Snake can predict the future to a degree with her Overcognition. Maybe he's just an expert chessmaster, predicting what we do before we do it.
Monkey Climbing The Tree, Serpent Ensnaring The Foe
- Pronouns
- He/Him
[X] We don't have time to be doing this. We can re-evaluate the traitor idea when everyone's together.
"HEY!"
You shout out to get everyone's attention, and Ox's grip on Monkey loosens.
"Listen. There may or may not be a traitor. But until we have all the data, this is a waste of time. We haven't touched base with Horse, Pig, and Dog yet. We need all twelve of us in the room before we can make informed decisions about this."
You usually tended to fade into the background a little. You were one of the stealthier members of the group. Even though you couldn't go invisible like Rabbit could.
So when you spoke up, you had to make it count.
Ox seems to, if somewhat reluctantly, agree with your line of questioning, and he lets Monkey go. "Fine."
Monkey takes a moment to right themselves and breathe for a moment, and Rooster is right there supporting them. Snake, meanwhile, seems briefly lost in thought for a moment.
Once Monkey's alright, they speak up. "The reason why I can't just Link Rabbit's Teleportation and bring us back to the other group is because I don't have a solid anchor or geographic information. Even with the 70% limit, the distance isn't the problem, it's making sure that I don't put us inside a wall or the floor."
Everyone seems to nod, and then Monkey continues.
"Rooster. Sightcast Tiger's location. See if he, or Sheep, or Dragon, or the other three are on a specific floor number. If every floor is the same height, I think we can go one floor at a time. Hallways are uniform, height of a floor is uniform, so as long as we go slowly, a bit at a time, we should be safe."
That's Monkey, alright. A clever, improvized solution that most of you wish you had thought of.
Rooster closes his eyes and focuses, pulling his eyes into Tiger's. "Uhhh... no number, no number... Jesus, that's a lot of guys in that fight... Dragon, no... Horse is in the fray, she's not getting anything... Pig's also up close in the action... Dog, c'mon, give me something buddy... Sheep? C'mon, girl, what floor-FIFTEEN! Floor Fifteen!" Rooster practically bolts when he sees it. He dashes off, and then realizes that he needs to be close to the group, so he comes back.
"Sorry. Got excited."
The group quickly relocates to the hallway, and Monkey holds out his hand close to the floating Rabbit as they Link with him.
"Alright, got his Teleportation. Form a circle. Ox, make Rabbit a part of it."
Snake takes Monkey's left hand. The floating Rabbit is placed right next to her, and she takes his uncoscious hand into her own. Ox takes the other one, then Rooster takes his, leaving you holding Monkey and Rooster's hands.
You're on floor 19. In four short hops, you're on 15.
You hear the chaos first. Roaring flames. Shouting. Gunfire. It's not directly near you, but it's close enough.
"You said Tiger, Pig, Dragon and Horse were in the thick of things, right?" Monkey says first, clearly asking Rooster. "And it's safe to assume Dog and Sheep were hanging a bit back, playing supporting roles?"
"Yeah, though Sheep and Dog were still contributing to the fighting. Lot of enemies. Horse and Tiger had to get close up to use their powers, Dragon and Pig were mid-range, playing ranged roles, and Sheep and Dog were the rearguard."
"I'm going to take Rabbit to Sheep. She and Dog can help him overcome that." Ox starts.
"Yes, that would be good. It would also bolster their rear guard with a proper fighter." Snake adds.
"What about the rest of us?"
"I think we should initiate a pincer. Ox will reinforce their back line, taking out any groups trying to sneak up on them preemptively. Rooster and I can take the brunt of the offense, with Monkey and Rat playing supporting roles."
"I'm good with that, but... give me a moment... to recover my energy." One of the downsides of Monkey's Linking is that using other's psychic abilities is not only harder than the original, it takes more energy. Rabbit would be able to make those jumps no sweat, but Monkey needs a moment. All psychic abilities are taxing, but Linking is especially energy-intensive, owing to how versatile it is. It's no wonder that Monkey tends to rely on Linking only in dire situations, for short bursts, or when they have time to rest.
The group takes a brief moment to recover, as Ox could also use a moment from lifting Rabbit all this way around while keeping him safe, and having to destroy some corpse puppets here and there as well. Rabbit is carefully laid down in a chair in a nearby small kitchette/break room as Monkey leans against the wall, sitting on the floor. Ox sits down next to Rabbit, resting himself. Snake sits at a table, closing her eyes to think, and Rooster is examining the various fridges and drawers for something to give Monkey to eat or drink.
You decide to talk a little. You need to make some plans, or get some second opinions.
Question Vote
[ ] Write in. You get 3 brief chats with any of Snake, Rooster, Ox or Monkey. Specific who you're talking with, and what you're talking about. This is a tense situation, and you're about to start another fight, so casual small talk isn't going to fly. You could discuss strategy, get a second opinion on some of the members of Aesir you've met or the technology you've seen, make theories, or possibly breach the subject of Loki.
Plan Of Attack Vote
[ ] You will join Snake in her half of the pincer, leaving Monkey with Rooster.
[ ] You will join Rooster in his half of the pincer, leaving Monkey with Snake.
------------------------------------------------------
Briefly, during the break, you take a moment to use a close nearby restroom.
As you finish up, you look in the mirror, seeing your face- your active face, not the photo on your ID- for the first time since you arrived in the base. You were American, you knew that even with your memories scrambled. But still, you hadn't looked at your face in so long.
Race Vote
[ ] Caucasian
[ ] Black
[ ] Hispanic
[ ] Asian-American
[ ] Native American
You look back at it again, staring at your real name, not your codename. It's been a while since someone called you that, back in your training. You knew everyone else's names, they're on their cards, but while the mission was ongoing, the decision was made to stick to codenames for the safety of your families and friends, so they couldn't be used as bargaining chips by Aesir.
Name Vote
[ ] Write-in. First and last name.
Fury and Frost
- Pronouns
- He/Him
[X] Asian-American
[X] Derek Huynh
[X] You will join Snake in her half of the pincer, leaving Monkey with Rooster.
[X] Questions
-[X] Ask Rooster if they could discern anything useful about the enemy combatants.
-[X] Make a battle plan with [insert agent here] for your half of the pincer.
-[X] Tell Snake about Loki.
[X] Derek Huynh
[X] You will join Snake in her half of the pincer, leaving Monkey with Rooster.
[X] Questions
-[X] Ask Rooster if they could discern anything useful about the enemy combatants.
-[X] Make a battle plan with [insert agent here] for your half of the pincer.
-[X] Tell Snake about Loki.
Your first order of business once you leave the restroom is to talk with Rooster.
"What did you see when you looked through everyone's eyes? What's their situation like? What did the enemies look like?"
"Well, they weren't like those puppets we had. They were definitely alive. They were fighting pretty dang well together."
"Psychic or not?"
"Most of them aren't, but I think I saw another fancy type with a custom uniform, like Surtr. Maybe two? Or maybe they had Duplication like Monkey and saw them twice. Or maybe it was just blurry, I dunno."
Rooster is usually fairly confident, but even he has his limits. After all, Sightcasting doesn't give him control over other people's eyes, just looking through them.
You sigh, and then turn to Snake.
"I'm going to come with you, if that's alright. Leaving Monkey with Rooster."
"I have no objections to that. I assume you'd like to discuss strategy beforehand?"
"Yeah, but… can we go elsewhere? There's… more than just the tactics I want to talk to you about." You put a little emphasis on the word 'more' in the hopes that she'll catch what you mean, and Snake nods.
"We'll reconvene just before we go and pincer." She says to the rest of the group, who nod.
You and Snake head a few doors down, to what looks like a small office.
"Back when I had gone down one floor, someone contacted me through a computer. Called themselves Loki. They gave me the idea for the helmet tactic, and they also said that Sheep might be able to block the attack if we got her an enhancement drug."
"…and you trusted them?"
"They sent me that document, and they revealed that the Telepathy user who scrambled us was named Freya. And by their own admission, they're using both us and Aesir."
"Honestly, a chaos-causing third party scares me more than Aesir themselves. I'm glad you told me this, this does at least give me a little more to go on… even if some of it might be lies."
Suddenly, there's a ringing sound. Like a phone. You look around and see the office's landline phone ringing.
Snake, in a quick motion, presses the speakerphone button and kicks the door closed.
"Loki, I would presume." She says, calmly.
"Guilty as charged." Loki's voice is filtered, stripping out any information to be gleaned from their voice. Age, gender, accent, all stripped away by a digital distortion. "Snake. Primary: Overcognition, Secondary: Electrokinesis, Tertiary: Hypnosis."
"You're quite well informed. I would assume one of your powers lets you spy on us? Or the traitor is keeping you appraised."
"Think what you like. I don't need you to trust me for you to accomplish what I can use you for. If we form a deeper relationship upon me revealing further information, then splendid, but if you'd prefer to keep things distant, logical, and professional, that also works fine with me."
"Did you contact us because you overheard me mentioning you?" You ask.
"Yes. I figured that if you trusted her enough to mention me, than I should, at the very least, make sure you do not seem like a liar."
"Do you have anything else to say?"
"As a matter of fact, I have more information for you to pass on. The printer will have it."
Right on cue, the printer in the office whirs to life, printing out another document.
"…one of the electrokinetics is on your side. And that's how you're able to remotely manipulate the phones and printers and so forth." Snake posits.
"I have allies, and one of them is capable of manipulating machinery remotely through their power, yes." Loki confirms.
Snake puts her hand to her chin. "What does giving us this information get you?"
"…who I side with and stand with will depend on the correct decisions being made by certain people. I am giving you information to help you understand the situation, and survive it. Even if I end up siding with Aesir, I do not want them to exterminate you."
"A very cryptic non-answer. Can you confirm Dr. Kirishima and Dr. Grafburn's safety?"
"Yes. They're both safe, being held in the deepest parts of the labs."
"And who is leading the team that has our other six allies pinned down?"
"Two psychics, Aesir's aerokinetic Hresvelgr, and their cryokinetic, Fimbulvetr."
"…alright. If your information is faulty, we will blame you. But… tenatively, I will make use of this."
"Good luck, Rat, Snake. And the document will assist with the awakening of Rabbit."
The phone line goes dead, and Snake goes to pick up the finished paper in the printer, looking over it.
It's split into two pieces, a formal typed document, and then what looks like scanned handwritten notes, reprinted.
The first part starts off with longwinded chemistry and biology discussion, with several paragraphs involving artificial hormones, brain chemistry, what affects using psychic abilities has on the brain, and the like.
The final paragraphs, at least, distill it all into "for dummies" mode, thankfully.
"The synthesis of ability-enhancing drugs cannot be made into an all-in-one package. Instead, individual drugs of increasing potency must be made.
The name for this drug group, on the whole, is "Neurodunamis", or "ND" for short. Each individual drug will have a prefix that designates what part of a psychic's ability it enhances. Therefore, "Trineurodunamis", or "TND" enhances Tertiary abilities. "Bineurodunamis" or "BND" enhances Secondary abilities. And the still-theoretical "Mononeurodunamis" or "MND" enhances Primary abilities.
TND production is relatively straightforward. BND is a little harder, but within reach-a month or two and we should be able to make it. MND, however, is still a ways away.
Still, the ability to put someone's Tertiary on par with a Secondary, and a Secondary on par with a Primary, should not be understated, and will make psychics much more well-rounded."
The hand-written notes are messy, and in Japanese, but thankfully your memories of that are starting to come back. Luckily, Snake fills in the gaps and reads it out for you.
"Electrokinetic enhancement possibilities
-Technomancy through electrokinesis already proven possible. Advanced capabilities need testing
-Brain made up of electrical signals (telepathy and empathy links? illusion, possibly)?
-Electricity in nerves, stimulation soothing pain, paralysis to freeze person in place (heart and lungs for lethal vector?)
-EMP possible. Magnetism vector, emulating telekinesis?
-Data is just electricity. Storing database information in the body, copying it and then expelling it?
-Radio wave long-range communication?
-Microwave as attack"
Once you've looked it over, Snake looks puzzled but also excited.
"I… I think this is Dr. Kirishima's notes. He was researching electrokinesis's applications, and most of these do line up with what I was aware of his work."
"It sounds like electrokinesis is a lot more versatile than I give it credit for."
"Well, yes, but I think most of this is beyond me. A Primary might be able to do some of it, but…"
"…given what it was bundled with, it sounds like a Primary might need this 'MND' to do some of these."
"Not necessarily all of it, but a good chunk of it. I would… have to do some testing myself."
Snake sounds invigorated.
"Anyway, I have a plan for our angle of attack."
"You hang back and fire lightning bolts while I get in close and use my intangibility to cause confusion and fight in melee?"
"That is… a broadly correct statement."
"Alright, I can do that."
You and Snake head back to the others, and confirm the plan's details. Rooster will be using his aerokinesis to give Monkey distance, while Monkey throws knives and duplicates them, occasionally using a clone to double-team a guy.
Ox, naturally, will be by himself and just using his telekinesis and Overdrive to power through and reach Sheep and Dog.
Rooster and Monkey will be taking a way liable to lead the fight's middle to reinforce Dragon and Pig's position, which leaves you and Snake helping Tiger and Horse.
With the plan solidified, everyone heads their seperate ways, and you gird yourself for a fight.
After a bit of walking, you see three Aesir members who hold up their guns at you. You rush in head-first, turning intangibile except for your feet.
They fire on you, but the bullets pass through, and Snake is standing further away, able to move to the side in time as she focuses her power and lets loose a bolt that flies right through you, hitting the soldier in the centre of the three.
You jump up, pulling your intangibility over your feet as you leap through the soldier (closing your eyes so you don't get a view of the inside of his body for a second), before turning yourself solid while you're all the way through and kicking backwards as his flinch and guarding stance is in front of him while you attack his back. The third member turns to you, training his gun, but Snake's second bolt strikes him down.
You continue on this tact as you move further in. Snake uses her electricity to attack from range, you get in close and attack from unexpected angles by moving through people and the environment, occasionally assisted by a flash of light.
Within a few minutes, you find the eye of the storm, so to speak, and the two teammates who are thriving in it.
Tiger is a whirlwind of strikes. He uses his celerity effortlessly, moving with speed and panache with the military sword he prefers over guns. All of the military knowledge and tactics he's read and absorbed through his psychometry come through clear. He's fast and agile certainly, but his real talent is in skill, not power.
Which puts him in direct contrast with Horse.
Tiger's primary layer of defense is evasion, with shields as a back-up. After all, his celerity is much less draining than his shields, so why use a flashy shield when you can just dodge? But Horse takes hits on the chin with apblomb, fists and bullets like they're mosquito bites, or minor itches. They're both fast, but Tiger's is a speed with control, and Horse is like a runaway train.
"Tiger! Horse!" You shout out as you move in towards them in the fray.
"Rat! Good to see you again!" Horse proclaims as she keeps smiling. Horse likes testing herself and overcoming obstacles, and she's relentlessly positive.
"Did you rendevous with the others?" Tiger asks, more stoic and determined as he focuses on the enemies.
"Yes. Ox is taking Rabbit to Sheep and Dog. Snake's with me-"
A loud zapping noise cuts you off as Snake throws more electricity around, clearing a path for herself and moving in.
"I assume you were talking about me." Snake holds up her hands, ready to fry enemies as you form a circle.
"Rooster and Monkey are cutting in elsewhere to try and help Dragon and Pig." You finish.
"Alright. We're all reasonably close together, let's close that distance a bit more." Tiger hold his sword up and then starts to move in the direction that was formerly behind him when you were approaching.
"I'll clear the way!" Horse adds as he moves in as well.
Snake holds the rear, focusing before blasting electricity that arcs between several Aesir soldiers. You draw your gun and start shooting a few of the other ones, as Tiger moves swiftly to attack with his sword, and Horse readies her stance for punching a way forward.
The two are an effective combo, and you manage to keep pace, dealing with those who attack from the sides and back with Snake as you make your way back to the central position that Dragon and Pig would be holding.
It's as you approach that you can feel the air physically chill.
"Fimbulvetr." Snake says, and you agree.
"Their names are really quite on the nose. Dragon went to deal with him, and Pig joined her for back-up while we handled small fry, given our powers are more… physical."
"Psh. I could have helped. Ice can't hold me."
"Still, let's be cautious."
You keep moving even as the air gets colder and colder, and soon, you can start seeing your breath, and the floor is slick with ice in spots.
Suddenly, you hear a crackling noise, like an iceberg splitting and falling into pieces, and you move quickly when you see what looks like a hand of ice rising up from behind you, turning intangible and jumping up to let it phase through you as it crashes into the floor.
There is, however, a terrible second where it's shattered, and your now-tangible foot lands on a chunk of ice that slides away, leaving you slipping before Horse catches you.
"Good play. I forgot you could do that."
An icy, masculine voice rings out from the area, and soon, another higher-tier Aesir member appears, with light blue armor and one of those helmets.
"Fimbulvetr."
"I told Odin those code names gave away our abilities too easily." Fimbulvetr holds out his hand, and ice forms into a blade in his hand.
"Surtr did that too. Turning his Primary into a blade. You guys are old fashioned."
"I could say the same about yourself." Fimbulvetr points lazily at Tiger's drawn sword.
"…turnabout's fair play." Tiger launches himself at Fimbulvetr in a sudden movement, and the cryokinetic Aesir operative raises his free right hand up, raising a wall of frost across the four-way junction you found him in's diagonals.
Horse moves forward, and punches the wall with all her might, shattering it in the center and letting Tiger move through. But as he passes through the threshold, the ice wall starts to re-form.
Snake pulls out her gun, looks at the ceiling for a split second, then fires, and the bullet ricohets behind the wall, before hitting Fimbulvetr, presumably, which stops the crack from filling, letting Tiger and Horse through.
You, meanwhile, focus on the void inside you and jump intangibly through the ice wall, ending up right by Fimbulvetr, who sure enough, is nursing a wound on his arm.
You catch him off guard with a kick to chest, knocking him to the floor.
Tiger and Horse hold him down, and Snake arrives just in time to stare into his eyes and give a hypnotic command.
"Tell the truth."
You've got one question. Make it a good one.
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