Event - Dogged

[apocalypsehowmods]

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Dogged

The message goes out to everyone on ADI's network. It seems to be something captured live. It's Pam Ruan, head of HR who holds a prosthetic finger up to her lips before whispering, "Everyone's pushing for transparency right now, right? Figuring out where threats are coming from and sharing. I think that should come at all levels. Let's see what Nia's talking about with Mr. Zyrian Steel, hmm?"

The camera flips around as Pam clearly creeps closer to an office door. There are muffled voices, and Pam sets the phone face up before using one hand to shove the thing under the door. The video shows a sliding picture of the office's bland ceiling for a moment before coming to a stop. The voices become much clearer.

"-down in Wolf Trap," a masculine voice is saying. Presumably, Zyrian Steel. "There's just no need for that."

"Zyrian, this ain't a negotiation." Nia Lehrer's voice is familiar to most people working at ADI at this point. They've likely heard her speak in some pre-recorded training videos at the bare minimum. Nia's tone is no nonsense and clearly on the edge of snapping in frustration. "You're not hiring us. I'm sending my people down to Wolf Trap next month. We've got evidence of those signalhead things being on the march, one down that way, your kick off for New Horizons in the park, and evidence out of there about the Lullaby Girl from some of my people."

There is silence.

"You remember her? Ava? Or Amber, it seems like. She's the one you gave us those Lucidio masks to help train our people against. Frankly, I'd be surprised if you don't remember her, Mr. S." Another drawn out pause. "You ain't been straight with me for a long time. You ain't been straight with ADI since Tawnya was Warden. You tell me you need us in Buffalo, payback for helping in Wolf Pen and Cortana and the mobile med units, and not only do half the staff come back with crab claws and whiskers, but I find out you're using us for business politics." There's venom in her tone. "Or were you just going to stay quiet about Etcher's enterprises competing with your own software companies? ADI is not your personal attack dog. You are our client. And I thought my friend. But I'm about 30 seconds away from firing you from both."

Further silence, then a heavy sigh. "And I was going to offer to send you and your staff on such a nice retreat." There's the sound of a chair being pushed back. "Warden, I think you misunderstand the nature of our relationship. You are the dogs. I am the master. I hold your leash. Or have you forgotten just how much technology I've donated to ADI over the years, how many of your systems run on things I built? We've had a mutually beneficial relationship up until now- Well… you and I have. Tawnya got to be a problem before the end, too. But I made sure that was taken care of."

"You self-aggrandizing son of a-"

"You're a much more practical woman than she ever was, even with those shiny ideals you hold so dear. You'll compromise for the greater good, to protect what's yours. Such a good Warden, looking out for her charges."

"What are you talking about? And get your hands the hell off my desk."

"Haven't you ever wondered about the title? Warden. Odd name for a leader of any organization, even one like yours. But maybe not so odd when you consider your more eldritch masters." A scoff. "The Hunt always does pick out the most oblivious avatars, doesn't it? What does a Warden do?" A beat. "She controls the monsters, Nia. Sniffs them out and contains them. And she goes after the poachers coming after her prey. Tell me, have you ever noticed how you're always picking up on threats far afield with uncanny precision. It's been getting stronger, hasn't it? Tawnya was the same way. As was her predecessor, I imagine."

"That's not- I wouldn't ever…"

"Wouldn't you, though? Every time you sent your own dogs after a threat, reveled in it, you were being such a good Warden, instilling terror in the hearts of your enemies, ADI's enemies. So many cults know who and what you are and they fear it. Fear the Warden of ADI, famed avatar of the Hunt. Even now, I know you've compromised yourself. Have you considered what that's done to you? You let that Visionary kid stay alive. I rather think that might have been the start of your slide, hmm? Making exceptions, just this once.

"Now," he continues, voice growing louder and footsteps starting toward the phone, "I realize this is a lot to take in, to think about. Why don't you do that self-reflection while I attend to other matters? You are doing good work, puppy. I need a dependable pet to take care of all those nasty pests who keep trying rituals. But no need to worry about the New Horizons launch, really. I'll just-" Zyrian pauses and everyone will have a view of a middle-aged caucasian man with dark, slightly graying hair and a beard. He's wearing khakis and a Hawaiian shirt, and he's looking down at Pam's phone.

"Well… fuck." He stomps a heeled shoe on it and the transmission ends abruptly.

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Re: Stop the Signal - Cortana, Steve, Winter, Yelena

[worthallthis]

Winter is another one on the climb-the-tower team, crouched on the corner nearest the signal tower, weighed down with explosives and guns, both. Not that a gun will be of much use with a hunk of metal and magic, but they make him feel better, anyway. He even has his mask on today, just for the sense of focus for a mission that it helps give him.

He has eyes on Steve and Cortana, the former with Mjolnir-- and rubber gloves, and galoshes-- and the latter with more grenades and a signal jammer, waiting for them to do their thing. It's going to be fun, he thinks.

[failedpromise]

Cortana could help with climbing the tower, but she's had a lot of work done on her arms this month and her skills are more useful on the ground.

Take as an example one thing she's especially proud of: her homemade signal jammer. Capable of broadcasting on nearly every commonly used frequency, it is capable of an absolutely staggering amount of unwanted noise. One channel is a neverending stream of audio ripped from porn videos, one repeatedly blasts an especially poorly sung version of the song that gets on everybody's nerves... you know, that sort of thing.

It's even portable! She hoists it up over her head like some kid from a time even further in the past than she is currently might do with a boombox outside someone's window.

"Hey, asshole!" Her hearing is, of course, blocked for this mission, but she's pretty sure she's loud enough to be heard... provided the signal tower can hear her.

She turns on the jammer.

[punched_hitler]

Steve, a true fashion icon in said gloves and galoshes, is currently playing backup. Admittedly, it's his least favorite thing to do, but he knows it's important. He might not be able to hear anything, but his vision's perfectly good and he's continually scanning the landscape, eyes flitting from Cortana to Winter to Yelena to the tower and back again.

The second any of his companions seem to experience any adverse effects... he's going to do something about it. The air sort of has that vague feeling you might get skittering over your skin when a thunderstorm just starts rolling in, too distant to be dangerous. Yet. He can't hit the tower once his friends are on it, though there are plenty of trees he can make examples of, if he needs to.

For now, once Cortana clearly turns the jammer on - lifting it over her head sure helps him make sure, as does watching her mouth open when she shouts - Steve watches the tower for a few seconds to make sure it doesn't, you know, do something crazy like sprout teeth or go up in otherworldly flames.

Then he pops the cap off a flare with his left hand and holds it out to the side: the signal for Winter and Yelena to get started.

[musicdied]

Fortunately, there are no sudden fangs or spontaneous combustion. The thing does buck, the hide and wires wrapping around its heavy metal frame shivering, like a horse trying to twitch away a stinging fly.

It's just that the horse, in this case, is the size of a small building.

It wheels, the ground trembling slightly as it realigns itself in Cortana's direction, and there's a subsonic shudder in the air, the sort of weird distortion that sets fillings ringing.

Yelena straightens from her crouch, and sprints towards the base of one of the creature's feet, ignoring the pulsing ache that comes with each step. Boosting herself up onto one of the struts to start the climb is a bit like taking a flying leap at a moving bus. For the moment, it's at least a slowly-moving bus - big as it is, the thing isn't built for speed.

Big as it is, it doesn't really need to be.

[worthallthis]

This kind of thing is familiar. He doesn't have the same ability to run and jump and climb that he used to, but Winter's spent the past year and then some getting used to his new limitations and learning exactly what he can still do. What he can still do is a lot.

He lands on the metal structure and clings, the plates of his metal arm ringing and vibrating, the slight metal texture on his right hand not quite on the same resonance. Good thing he's got gloves for grip, at least, though he's not sure how long the one on his left hand is going to last if the vibrating gets worse.

He climbs as quickly as he can to the first placement point, holding tight as the structure shifts under him, and resisting the urge to look for Yelena. He's going to trust she can do her part without him checking on her.

[failedpromise]

"Shit!"

As satisfying as it is to see that thing buck and turn how do you like being hit with interference, asshole?, that sonic distortion nearly has her dropping her jammer. Her bones are metal, and she can feel them ringing.

She switches to a more secure way of gripping the machine and begins to move away. Her movement is slow and awkward, but so is her pursuer and does she really need to be fast to be an effective distraction? Come on buddy, keep paying attention to her, the easy, slow moving, incredibly obnoxious prey.

The barrage of horrible signal jamming noise continues unabated, albeit only audible to machines tuned into the affected channels.

[punched_hitler]

Steve admittedly tenses, almost moves when the whole structure bucks - like he's still got the manpower to do anything about it. He catches himself quickly enough, fingers tightening around Mjolnir's handle and teeth clenching - which only makes them hurt more, because he can definitely feel whatever the tower's trying to do. It feels like it's trying to turn him into a human tuning fork. It feels like Mjolnir's... fighting it, maybe? Or maybe it's fighting him. Or itself. There's something simmering under the surface, there, even as he watches Winter and Yelena start to move.

But then Cortana jerks a little and Steve's pivoting to check on her. "Cortana?" he yells, even though of course it probably doesn't do any good. He does, though, finally actually move, not exactly putting himself between her and the tower - she is partly bait, he knows that - but getting a little closer. Technically, he's bait, too. Maybe they should try splitting its attention.

Or maybe he's a little impatient. Either way, that pre-thunderstorm feeling in the air increases, and there's a flash of lightning - just across the sky. Like a warning shot. His skin tingles, like a low-level burn, but it's not nearly as bad as actually hitting something with a bolt.

He knows he can't hit the damn thing with Winter and Yelena on it. Maybe the tower isn't smart enough to know that.

[musicdied]

The creature doesn't, for the moment, seem to register the lightning. Maybe it doesn't realize it's conjured and not natural, maybe it doesn't fear meteorological disturbances, or maybe the worst the internet has to offer is just that annoying. Whatever the case, it lumbers after Cortana, heedless of snapping branches that get caught up in its limbs.

Yelena curses, unheard even by herself, at the jostling as she scrambles up the frame, towards the first of the structural weakpoints they'd mapped out before embarking on this venture.

It had certainly seemed like a much easier play back at headquarters.

[worthallthis]

So long as it's focused on Cortana and Steve, and not the people (or almost-people as the case might be) climbing its wires and metal bones. Not that different from riding a speeding car, really.

Okay, it's actually very different, but he can do it anyway. There's a shit-ton of handholds. If only his arm would stop vibrating.

Winter swings around to his first charge point, holding on with his legs while he wraps tape and wire deftly around the explosive and the join of metal to hold it in place. Then it's scrambling up to the next point, teeth gritted against his aching shoulder. Two explosive to lay in, each, then they bail.

[failedpromise]

Well, if there's one thing that Cortana's good at, it's getting attention, at least.

She's not doing good at much else, right now. She can't really run--not that she was going to, but it might be apparent that her stumbling and lurching isn't just an act to lure the damned thing closer--and it's all she can manage to keep her grip on her jammer as the tower begins to gain on her.

She's not scared though. She's dealt with worse.

"Come on asshole... what's the matter, can't even catch one little robot?"

[punched_hitler]

Steve's only got visual information to rely on here, and it's telling him that Cortana's stumbling isn't just for show. He scans the tower, trying to find Yelena and Winter, check how they're doing - still climbing, still holding on - and then he decides there's a better way to split the thing's attention.

This time, the crack of lightning splits a nearby tree down the middle, not far from one of the tower's struts. If it were a living thing, it might flinch or reel, but Steve's sprinting toward Cortana rather than waiting to see how or if it reacts, reaching out to tap her arm and then turning, crouching down a little. Hopefully she'll get the idea: Get on. He can carry her, and she can keep holding the jammer.