2020-10-15: The Facility: I Don't Want to Go Alone
| I Don't Want to Go Alone | |
|---|---|
| Katie asks Vic to come over for breakfast and discusses her history and desire to help rescue other experimental victims such as herself | |
| IC Date | October 15, 2020 |
| IC Time | morning |
| Players | Katie and Vic Rasmussen |
| Location | Rufus' place |
| Prp/Tp | The Facility |
| Spheres | Mage |
Early, early, early on the 14th of October at a time when Vic still thought of it as Wednesday the 13th as she hasn't slept (around 12:45am), her phone chirped with an incoming message...
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Vic then went to bed and slept for about four and a half hours. She woke up around 5:30am, refreshed with a cold shower and a simple Mind rote and went for a jog. About an hour later, as she headed out towards Rufus' on a rental scooter, she texted Katie to let her know that she was on her way.
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After picking up the rental scooter, Vic putters along the streets of Prospect and then out along the desert highway towards... Hotel California? ... no, Rufus' bunker. Once there she secures the scooter as well as possible for a little vehicle that weighs little more than herself and lets herself in as if she totally belonged there. She doesn't call out, unsure if anyone's still sleeping, and remains next to the ladder rather than proceeding in - she is a guest after all.
There's life inside the bunker, Katie is at the kitchen counter jumping from spot to spot happily as can be, swishing beans, flipping sausages and bacon, checking on eggs, the toast leaps up to make an extravagant greeting as they finish too. Two cats, one large, one tiny, are eating from bowls near the cooker, while music plays over the speakers; it sounds like an industrial dance style, which doesn't match up to what she used to listen to.
Noticing the new arrival, Katie looks over with a smile, "Oh! You're here! I hope you're hungry, I made /so/ much.".
Vic steps into the bunker's living room and drops her borrowed helmet and bag on the couch. She also then removes the shower cap she wore to protect her hair from said rental helmet and tucks it into a plastic bag extracted from her messenger bag and then returned to the same pocket.
"It smells delicious, KT," she says as she walks into the kitchen to join her younger friend. "Did you sleep well?" she asks.
There's a little grin at the sight of the cap, but Katie doesn't mentioned, instead turning back to the kitchen to start placing the food onto separate plates, three in all, even though Rufus isn't awake yet. "Like, /so/ well. Did I tell you I didn't need to sleep when I was psychic?", she asks, glancing back over her shoulder briefly, "I trained myself how to do it, accelerating the rest my body needed.".
"When I awoke, I couldn't do that any more, so it's like my body was super tired! But I think I've caught up now..", she smiles, brushing some strands of strawberry blond from her gaze as she finishes setting up all the plates. "There!", she smiles, a tilt of her head, a hint of pride at the breakfast she's made.
"Sooo, what have you been doing?", she asks, gathering up a plate and some cutlery for herself, motioning to a few things as she steps away, "Knives and forks, salt and pepper..", the rest is obvious, taking the plate across to the couch to sit down with, placing it in her lap. "Rufus has been teaching me /so/ much. It's been /really/ good here.", she smiles, taking her first bite.
Vic grabs her own plate and joins Katie on the couch. Before speaking she tastes the eggs and mmms to express her enjoyment of it. "Tastes as good as it was smelling," she states to express her opinion more clearly and then begins to address the question. "Research and investigation, making new friends and..." she pauses dramatically then says, "I got a legal-seeming driver's licence also!" referencing her not often discussed status as an illegal alien.
"Oh!" Katie's large blue eyes widen even more upon hearing that, seeming to realize your status as similar to her own, "I know someone, he can get you like a /whole/ new identity, like seriously, I've even got a bank account!", she chuckles. "I can introduce you to him if you like.", she smiles, glancing to you briefly. "I've been learning about computers, programming, numbers, like, cryptography, cybernetics. I made one of my own!", brushing her hair back behind an ear, where a small metallic circle sits against her skin, its purpose unknown.
Explaining her quick learning, she simply tells you, "Mind magick.", a little grin and a roll of her eyes, as if it might be classed cheating, though she does it all the same. "Did anything I tell you about Mind help?", she asks, "I know I'm like the worst teacher, but I hope it did something.".
"Well, that's the thing, I got a false identity already but if you think your guy can strengthen it or get me something else even better we can discuss that," Vic says. "The main problem was that I wasn't certain what organizations and databases to make a run at to attempt this myself or I would have." She takes a bite of the sausage and mmms again. Then, regarding Mind, she says, "I've developed some Mind tricks myself," and then asks, "But what type of rote are you discussing, KT?"
"He's really good." Katie admits about her contact, "And really hard to find unless you can read minds..", she chuckles, revealing how she found him in the first place. Her cutlery cuts into her food and she munches some sausage that's been dunked into the egg yolk, which breaks about three rules of etiquette, but she doesn't break her stride. "Um..", she says, after her mouth is clear, ".. I've heard people call it empowerment? Rick used to use it a lot when he was studying, his eyes would be all over, like one of those lizards, where they look in different directions.", she chuckles, "So disgusting. He'd be reading three books while talking to me at the same time."
Vic nods and laughs in response. "So, I've recently done a similar rote in the D-Web," she explains. "I multitasked where I actually was in two places digitally at the same time... this is in addition to my body sitting in the computer lab in the Nexus also of course. So... yeah, this was Mind and Data of course but..."
The scent isn't working, Katie glances at Rufus' bedroom door, then back to the food still sitting on the counter. "I'll be right back.", she smiles, placing her food aside to hop up and gather up the plate, taking it into Rufus' room. He can heard grumbling about it being too early, but she leaves him breakfast anyway and returns to the living area. "That sounds neat.", she smiles, "I've never tried being in two places at once before. Like, I've moved my senses somewhere else, but not me. How do you even..", she ponders to herself as she sits back down, gathering up her plate again.
"So, the reason for asking you over.", she starts, slicing into the food and taking a few bites, munching when she can inbetween the ongoing conversation. "Did I tell you I used to be in a facility? Like, a prisoner, where they used to do tests on me all the time? I can't even remember.", she chuckles.
While Katie is away Vic focuses on her breakfast, finishing the sausage and making a significant headway though the eggs. When her friend returns she nods about the multi-location question and seems to be preparing to answer when the question is interrupted by the asker followed by a quick subject change.
Vic's fork stops midway towards her mouth as Katie describes her never previously described history. She lowers the fork and egg back to the plate as she shakes her head. "No, you never told me about that, KT, that... it sounds horrific," she states.
"I didn't?" Katie blinkblinks her large blue eyes, gazing off into space thoughtfully for a moment before turning slightly on the couch to face you. "So, it's like this place far north from here, a military base with an underground. I was there since I was a little girl, like, that age where you don't even remember being that age?", a gentle shrug of her shoulders, "I never saw the world until I managed to escape, in like.. December?", not sure on the exact date, but she could certainly find out. ".. all I knew was four walls. I wasn't on my own, there were kids there with other abilities. Like, pyrokinesis, telepathy, clairvoyance, all sorts of things. When I escaped I /promised/ I'd come back for them. Soooo.. that's what I want to do.", she nods. A rub of her nose and she goes back to eating.
Vic takes a few bites of her eggs while Katie describes this part of her past and then, while pondering these facts, she continues to eat and ends up finishing breakfast before she says anything else. "What are your plans for doing this?" she asks as her response to the information provided by her friend.
Finishing her own breakfast, Katie hops to her feet and takes the plate from you, carrying them both over to drop into the sink. "I don't know.", she replies softly, "It took me years to plan an escape and I needed another of the psychics to do it. Maddy, maybe you'll meet her one day.", she smiles. "I've been studying the site though..", a hop-step bringing her closer, holding her hand out to you to take, ".. come and see!", she smiles.
Vic sets her plate down and starts to stand. Glancing at her bag, with her computer in it naturally, she asks, "Do I need to grab my bag?"
When Katie shrugs and says, "Sure!" Vic then grabs the bag and slings it over her shoulder adjusting it to settle against the small of her back. She then takes her friend's hand and says, "Alright," and asks, "Where are we going?"
Taking Vic's hand, Katie twirls on the spot and leads you over to the Recc Room, "It's only in here..", she smiles, pushing open the double doors and resting her back against one to keep it open for you. Once inside, there's a certain tingle in the air, a different feeling to the outside areas, as if this section of the bunker has been tuned or focused in some way.
"I keep this running all the time..", she explains, focusing on the roleplaying section she's created and the table which seems to have little model soldiers walking around. Moving over to the table, she looks down at it.
It's a geeks dream, a fully active roleplaying table, miniature soldiers walk a path, vehicles bump silently between the buildings, pulling up at one where more miniature soldiers hop out and head inside. Even the tiny doors on the buildings open to welcome them. While watching, a stealth bomber appears from nowhere and comes into landing on the long strip of runway, personnel rushing out to meet it and lead it into the nearby hangar. The center point of the display is the facility, a hillside stretches up along one edge of the table and a building is built into the side of it. Large steel doors on the front bar entrance, a smaller steel door on the side for those on foot.
"Sooo, this is the facility. Like, the outside of it, I don't dare look at the underground because one of the kids might sense me. Like, one wrong word and it could all be ruined!", shaking her head at that thought.
The roleplaying table image is a live feed of this facility.
"Oh, that's cool, KT," Vic says as she looks over the magical gaming table representation of a military base. "So, this represents the place you grew up at, huh?" She circles the table, examining the place, running her hand though the images of trucks and troops. "Do you know what branch it was?" she asks, "`cause that could affect the exact nature of technology they're using."
"It is the place I grew up at." Katie replies with a chuckle, "Like, a smaller one, but it's the same place. It's a live.. um.. feed? I made the illusion almost permanent, but it's what they're doing right now.", she nods. "I've been studying it when I can, like in about ten minutes, these three will go off duty..", she motions to a small group of soldiers traveling together, ".. and others will replace them.".
Looking up at you at the question of what branch, she naturally looks confused, "Branch?", not having any real military knowledge, "Like, are they special forces or.. something like that? I don't know.", she shrugs.
Vic nods at the unnecessary correction. "That's what I mean. Its where you grew up, represented though a magical scrying effect," she says, "Its a good way to prepare for your rescue... I assume that's what you are setting up for." She then explains, "I'm thinking Air Force most likely, what with the runway here," she runs her hand across the illusionary representation of that part of the base. "Most research like this would be Air Force or Navy but if it was a Naval base you'd expect it to have water access of course..." She's going based on assumptions and general knowledge but obviously she /thinks/ she has some military knowledge to work with.
"Oh, sorry.." Katie replies, looking a little sheepish, then quickly nods at the idea of it being preparation. "I think I'm close enough to be able to do it, but I don't want to go alone. Not unless I have to. Rufus said he'd help, it would be real nice if you wanted to help too.", she smiles, a sparkle of hope in her large blue eyes. "What do you think?", she asks softly, sitting down on a seat next to the table, watching for a moment as the personnel wheel the last of the aircraft into the hangar.
"Absolutely," Vic replies unhesitatingly. "Give me some heads up however as I'll want to do some preparation. Gotta see where I'm at in my training at the gym and maybe hypercram something useful... or just bump up physical evasion skills if you think we'll be shot at." She says these things like its an every day statement and as if she's totally unaware that these things are not normal for discussions.
That brings a smile to Katie, hopping up from the seat to move around and give you a quick and friendly hug. "Thank you!", a happy sigh as she steps back, looking at the display. "We'll have you all safe soon.", she says to it, as if the kids could hear her. Looking back to you, she explains about what happens afterwards, "Before Rick vanished, he arranged for the kids to go to like.. a special university. They'll be well taken care of.", she smiles.
Vic nods. "Good to hear," she says before asking, "Does your simulation here extend to the internals of the buildings or... will Arr and me be going in semi-blind?"
"I can draw what I remember, but I don't want to look inside." Katie replies, "The kids are aware, like, if they sense me looking and then say the wrong thing in front of the scientists or guards..", pausing on that, thinking over the options of what could happen in that case, ".. like, not good.", she shakes her head.
"If it helps, I remember the guards inside are not like these..", a motion toward the miniature guards walking outside the buildings, ".. they don't have guns that big, or as much armor. They used tasers and those like.. electric prods.", wrinkling her nose as she remembers those, "They really sting.".
Katie's drawing represents this (or part of it depending on how its been updated).
Vic nods. "May need to brush up on Forces then," she says and then asks, "So when are you thinking of heading in?"
"When everyone is ready." Katie replies, moving from the roleplay section to her mad scientist area, taking a pen and pad to start drawing a basic design of what she can remember from her time underground. "So, like, we had shared showers here..", glancing over, ".. at least they didn't make us shower with the boys.", wrinkling her nose at that idea, "I was in cell eleven, Maddy was in three..", she points out a long corridor that separates the two, "There was a guard on duty here, it was /so/ scary trying to sneak past.", she chuckles. "It was easier with Maddy, she could see the future and was clairvoyant too.", she smiles.
"We went through the communal room, avoided more guards up here, then up to the main exit where we had to creep under the guard in the access room.", she grins. "I should train as a ninja, not aikido!", she laughs. The sketch complete, she brings it back to show you. "I don't know where the other doors went.".
"Well, I do have some experience with infiltration," Vic says thinking about her trip into the hospital two weeks ago, "But in that case it wasn't an armed military base so odds are it was tons easier than this is going to be. But with Arr's potential predictive ability and the three of us working together we should be able to get things done."
"I think getting in will be really easy." Katie admits, "Like, we can make them not see us. But trying to get back out with ten children is going to be like..", she puffs out her cheeks, widens her eyes, blows out a breath. "I don't even know!". She scratches the side of her head briefly, pondering the problem. "Like, /maybe/ we could teleport them, but that's going to be really hard, the universe isn't going to like that at all.". With a shrug, she gives you a smile, it'll all work out, she has that optimistic side that makes it feel like it will at least. "We should wait until Rufus is awake to decide how to do it, he might have ideas we don't.", she nods.
"Definitely want Arr's input if he's going to be involved, KT," Vic agrees and then says, "We may be able to deal with this without any Doxing at all even." She examines both the picture and the illusion for a bit more and then pulls out her smartphone and focuses her Mind to transfer the images she is seeing into Data stored as a pair of distinct and highly detailed image files and a video of her experience watching the video on the phone.
"I've got a copy of these now I can study, maybe it'll help me come up with some other ideas while we're waiting to discuss it all together also," Vic says.
Taking a small step closer, Katie peeks over at the phone to watch what you're doing, a soft curling of her lips into an 'oooh' shape. With a smile she steps back when you're done. "I can't wait! I've been wanting to do this since I escaped, I've never stopped thinking about it..", she smiles. With a motion toward the door, she starts heading that way, a decidedly more cheerful hop in her step. "Let's wait for sleepy head..", she chuckles, ".. coffee or tea?", she asks.
