COMPLETED: California Dreaming

[GM Nick]

Doc ignores the warnings being screamed at him through his combat visor as the metallic hounds converge on him. He waits patiently, counting down the seconds.

"...freak me the frag out. They're like chrome hell hounds."

The canine drone leading the pack bares a set of articulated fangs and leaps in for Doc's jugular, propelled by a powerful gyroscope. The creature disappears in the darkness as a single neural command shuts down the Phalanx's functions. Doc stands fast and simultaneously releases his fingers from the detonator and ducks. A wave of pressure buffets him, causing him to instinctively release the grenade. The previously inbound predator crashes noisily on the tunnel floor behind him, looking all the while like a silver-colored, drugged animal.

[GM Nick]

The tunnel returns in grim relief as Doc's combat visor comes back on-line. He takes a glance over his shoulder at the alpha drone and thanks whatever gods are listening that it was manufactured at the beginning of the California war, before fiber optics were prevalent in combat drones.

[Drew Buddy]

Adams takes the SMG back into both hands and scans the tunnel back and forth with his restored vision enhancements, looking for any movement from the Alpha drone or its companions.

[GM Nick]

The pack of canine drones lie dormant on the floor of the tunnel, actuators and servos having been robbed of mechanical life. It takes Doc a moment to remember not to feel sorry for them. His eyes sweep over the dog-shaped assault-things as he meanders around them. No doubt they were installed during or shortly before the war and then forgotten about. Probably activated by some proximity threat detection system. He plods onward, leading with the Cobra's muzzle--and glad that they're the first to utilize the tunnels in some time.

[Stephen]

Val shakes off a slight wave of anxiety-fueled vertigo as his AR feed comes back online. For him, being completely offline is like being crippled in a sandstorm. The world is subdued, its hues dulled, and an eerie silence envelops all things in it. He wonders how anyone manages to maintain their sanity when the world seems so dead, everything in it apparently devoid of a soul. He shudders almost imperceptibly.

[GM Nick]

Doc stops at a junction in the tunnel and swats away a nest of cobwebs, his curiosity piqued by something on the concrete wall. He uses the bottom of his fist to clear the grime off of the object. It's a poster, depicting a handsome young Cal-Guard marine flexing a bicep and framed by the lettering Free Cal. The corner of Doc's lip twitches upwards in a robotic motion and he finds himself unconsciously grinning.

"Why do you bother with those things, man? No one is going to see it down here..."

[Drew Buddy]

Adams lets out a short breath of air through his nose at the memory.

Memory? It's just a propaganda poster.

A slight frown touches his lips, and he blinks. He can't resist the urge; he grabs the bottom of the poster, and with a tug, pulls it from its moorings. He hastily folds it up and slips it in his pack.

"Souvenir," he says, recovering. "Come on, it's just a little further. I think."

He turns away from the team, and continues down the hall

[GM Nick]

After traversing the length of the tunnel without incident, the team ascends a service ladder into a sort of bunker. Doc peeks out over the rim of the shaft cautiously, surveying the dilapidated corners of the long-since abandoned building. Confident that they're alone, the team's medic pulls himself out and shades his visor against an errant shaft of sunlight that peeks in through a slat in a reinforced window.

"It's empty. Why is it empty? Where are all the Nippos?"

Doc moves to the window and places his back to the wall, leaning out just enough to look through. A long street, flanked by apartment buildings, lies just beyond. A pair of young people with colorful haircuts and designer clothes walk past, laughing. Doc jerks back and then feels a little foolish.

"Anything earth-shattering?" asks Davis.

Doc shakes his head. No, not Davis. Max.

[Drew Buddy]

Adams stuff the Colt back under his suit and zips it back up, trying to shake the image of Max in Cal Guard BDUs and having only moderate success.

"Looks like we didn't alert anyone. We should have an easier time getting around from here. The 'claves are usually more concerned with keeping people out. Once you're in, they don't look quite so closely at you.

[Conway]

As Sinjin steps past the motionless metal forms of the defunct canine attack drones, he finds himself thinking of Omega, the super-android of remarkable ability they had encountered on a rescue mission some months prior. In fact, Omega had rarely left his thoughts since the confrontation that had ended ultimately, in the androids destruction.

A pity....such ability...

"Well, up and onward then?"

[GM Nick]

Infiltration Test (Doc)

[Infiltration (3) + AGI (9) = 5]
2 2 6 2 5 4 5 4 6 5 2 3

Doc releases a pair of bolts and shoulders the bunker door open. A shaft of sunlight fills the room, creating a dazzle display of dust motes. He takes a cautious step outside, looking both ways up and down the alley that it exits into. Confident that the coast is clear, he slips out of the bunker. A large sign is affixed to the bunker door.

Warning: CalGuard Property. Trespassers are subject to termination with extreme prejudice. These premises patrolled by drone.

[Drew Buddy]

Adams does another check of the surroundings.

Well, that could have been bad.

He brings up the address of the apartment building in the corner of his vision. Nothing is going to stop him from getting to his destination and unravelling this mystery.

"Let's keep moving, and avoid notice. If CalGuard spots us and figures out who I am, we're in for a world of hurt."

[GM Nick]

The plain, white-washed walls of the apartment buildings are both alien and familiar to Doc. He feels as though he's walking down a street that exists in his imagination. A hot breeze sweeps through the alley, clinging his hair to his forehead. The team's helmets lie hidden in the bunker, for obvious reasons. Somewhere above him, the raging tones of a Johnny Nuclear song blast from an open window. His feet land one after the other, propelling him hypnotically towards an unknown destination.

[Drew Buddy]

A nagging uncertainty tugs at the back of Adams' mind. What would they find at their destination? Did he really want to dig up this piece of a lost past?

He curses Jeng for forcing him to face- What? Goddammit, what did I get mixed up in?

[John]

Max's eyes scan the dilapidated surroundings. Uncomfortable being stripped of his weapon, the elf mumbles,

"You know, I think I'll retire here."

The elf keeps pace with Doc, and asks,

"Is this familiar to you, amigo? Any idea what we're walking into here?"

[Drew Buddy]

Adams probes his memory again.

If I actually was here once, how did I get through here last time?

[GM Nick]

The team follows Doc in silence, all plagued with their own unspoken doubts of their immediate destination or what they may find, but confident in the man's ability once they should arrive. A handful of pedestrians stop to stare at the men (sans Tyros) in their futuristic combat armor; a rare but not unheard of sight in the well-guarded enclave. At the end of a long street advertising capsule-style dormitories, Doc turns abruptly and passes through an alleyway. He pushes in the edge of a chain-link fence, answering quizzical glances from his comrades with a non-committal shrug, as if to say I don't know how I know.

"I don't like this. Too quiet. I smell an ambush."

Doc takes a few steps and turns slowly. He finds himself looking at the Fountainhead apartment building.

[Drew Buddy]

A sigh escapes Doc's chest. The desire to be anywhere but here fights against the incessant tug to probe further inward.

"This is it. Well, frag." He says.

"We don't know what's in there, but the hairs on the back of my neck are telling me that we should watch our backs. Val, keep your eye out for any suspicious node activity. Tyros, you're our man on the astral plane."

He looks over the side of the building for a fire escape, or any alternate means to enter.

I don't trust the front door. Not here.

[John]

Max steals a quick glance at Sinjin as he lights a cigarette, and says,

"Guess that makes us the knuckle draggers bringing up the rear."

[Stephen]

Val replies to Doc in a slightly offended tone.

"Already on it, 'mano. That warning sign about the patrol drones was kind of a tip off."

Val goes to check the Scan results in his AR feed, only to find that the program isn't running. Frag. Thought I had that running. Val's cheeks color slightly as he runs the program and begins periodic pulse scans of the surrounding area.

[Conway]

Sinjins mouth twitches briefly before rolling his eyes at the smug elf's banter.

"Speaking of rears, someone outta take a look around back. Clear the perimeter. I don't like the feel of this place...like something's watching us."

[Elliott]

"I've got my eyes tuned for anything magical, but something tells me this is going to be a tech job based on what we've seen so far."

Shifting his vision to the astral perspective, the troll Mage sweeps his gaze in a full circle around the group looking for anything out of the astrally ordinary.

[GM Nick]

The apartment complex seems non-threatening from a matrix and astral standpoint. The team cases the area as inconspicuously as possible. Doc locates a small gap in between concrete structures and moves determinedly through it, checking all the while for anything noteworthy that might jog his memory. He emerges in a courtyard of sorts, a central fixture that all of the apartment doors face. Each unit has a number, and a corresponding mag-lock. Immediately, Doc is able to pick scenes out of the trid. He stoops down and runs his fingers over a seam in the concrete.

"I want a secure perimeter here. Motion sensors on all doorways."

Doc turns, orients himself to face the direction his doppelganger was looking in the recording. He notes where the exposed apartments would have been. A feeling of overwhelming deja vu strikes him, followed by a quick on-set cotton mouth sensation.

[GM Nick]

A feeling of intense frustration wells up in Doc--frustration at his inability to remember, frustration at the phantom guilt that he feels for actions he can't recall, and frustration at the man or men who are trying to bring up the past (which he has so diligently kept buried) to burn him with. He spins on his heels, ready to bellow out his angst.

On the third story, reclining against the railing and smoking a cigarette, a man catches his gaze. The stranger is slightly older than Doc, half Caucasian, half Japanese. One of his eyes is an obvious cybernetic replacement--old tech--perhaps one of the first models available. The two men hold the gaze for perhaps twenty seconds before the stranger drops his cigarette, grinds it underneath his heel, jams his hands in his trouser pockets and begins to meander away.

Recognition hits Doc like a heavyweight sucker punch. He doesn't know how, but he knows the man.

[Drew Buddy]

"Drek!" Adams hisses.

Without further word, he darts toward the stairway leading up the building. A feeling of panic grabs him as his one brief lifeline to the unknown past disappears into the building. He takes the steps two at a time, blindly rushing toward the third floor.

[John]

Max ventures a confused, hasty glance at the rest of the team, confused by Doc's sudden dash away from the group, and gives quick chase after him.

[GM Nick]

By the time Doc reaches the third floor, the man has transitioned into a dead run and disappears into the fire escape.

[Drew Buddy]

Adams dashes after the man, blind to anything else.

[Elliott]

Tyros pumps his first quickly (centering) and launches himself into the air, bypassing climbing fire escapes and rooftops (levitage, f5). Flying after Doc's target, Tyros waits until he has a clean line of sight on the man to launch some mental subversion to slow him down (control thoughts, f2, simply ordering him to stop and wait for everyone to catch up).

[GM Nick]

The fleeing man pushes over a stack of building materials as he runs by, clearing attempting to thwart Doc's pursuit.

Gymnastics Test (2) (Doc)

[Defaulting (-1 ) + AGI (9) = 2]
5 4 3 2 5 4 2 4

Doc falters, but leaps clear of the rolling tubes at the last moment and continues chasing.

[GM Nick]

The stranger takes a running leap from the end of the fire escape.

Climbing Test (2) (Stranger)

[Climbing (3) + STR (4) = 3]
3 5 3 4 3 6 5

He lands heavily against the side of a neighboring building, but gets a firm grip on the edge of the roof. Pulling himself up, he continues to give chase across the roof top.

[Drew Buddy]

Adams curses under his breath, building speed with each pounding footfall.

"Stop!"

It's almost as much of a plea as it is a command. His right foot hits the ground, and he compresses his leg like a coiled spring, pushing everything he has into leap. The mysterious man had lost significant ground in his fumble. If he can do this right, Adams would almost be on top of him.

(( I'd like to use one point of edge for four extra dice (as upgraded in my character file) ))

[John]

Max follows after Doc in pursuit of the unknown target. The clamor of four sets of boots pounding through the hallways is fantastic, though evidently not anything too out of the ordinary since no residents appear to be concerned about it. The nimble elf dodges around the felled crates, his chase only limited by the heaving in his chest. 'Been smoking too fraggin' much...' the elf thinks as he pushes himself onward, reaching the gap between buildings and lunging forward without any hesitation.

[GM Nick]

Doc loads up his climbing activesoft as his quarry scrambles up the edge of the roof. A brief tingling sensation precedes a moment of clarity, where his eyes are sweeping across the concrete and picking out adequate handholds. He's in flight for a brief moment, arms and legs windmilling in an instinctive gesture.

Climbing (2) Test (Doc)

[Climbing (2) + STR (3) + EDG (4) = 4]
6 6 1 6 2 2 4 6 2

He lands easily on the concrete, clawed fingers finding purchase near the edge. With a single motion, he heaves himself over the edge and plods on.

[Drew Buddy]

Adams is running at full speed almost the moment he reaches the top of the roof. His pulse pounds in his head, getting quicker as he nears his quarry.