BlazingCoconut

GM The warm water of the shower felt really good and while she was still immune from the worst effects from drinking, she could still feel some of the long forgotten joy of being buzzed. The initial issues she had at the bar were rapidly fading and it was a heavy sigh that escaped her lips as she dried off and crawled over and on to her bed. It wasn't the most comfortable thing in the world, but at the moment, it felt as good as the finest cotton nest as she fell into it. The shuffle into her pajama pants might have been comical as she didn't quite have the energy to get up and do it properly, so there was some wiggling and bucking to get the soft pants on so she could let the sweet embrace of sleep claim her. She had just closed her eyes when the worst realization hit her, the alarm was still set. Fumbling her arm out of the comfortable confines she finally grasped her phone and batted at it. Of course, the device did it's best to escape her sightless grasp which forced her to turn and actually look for it. Finding the phone was easy at that point, but that was not what blasted the last of the pleasant buzz from her mind. It was the note, written in a very elegant longhand on a plain white card folded in half lengthwise to stand as an obvious calling card to her. "2783 Oak Street, Bedlam, WI - 10:05 am There are repercussions for missing this appointment."

Zhu When Zhu's senses unscrambled enough to figure out what was going on she looked over to Lawrence, "I think you saved me... I thought it was supposed to be the other way around?" The she looked over to her best friend, making sure that she was okay. When she visibly looked well enough she turned back to Lawrence. She smiled at him as she got back to her feet, a little worried that her choice of clothes was likely not up to par for whatever place they had landed in. Which begged the question where this was, or given that Lawrence was a time controller, when. However, there were some clues. Above them was some kind of dome and the nebula suggested that they were not in the solar system. There were no easily visible nebula with the naked eye from the earth. So it was likely it was a where rather than a when. At least she took the time to store the image of the stars so she could see if there were any familiar constellations visible. "I think we need to move from here," she said. "I might be able to conceal us if we can get out of view for a bit."

"Well... I had a lot of spare time as a kid and being able to always connect to the internet let me work on problems during school or other times. So I started with simple robots and worked on making them better and smaller. Really, all I wanted was something that would help me make good movie effects. Once you get one that has self replication then the rest is easy." While she could inspect more, and frankly she could lose herself inside of Replica's processors, she was starting to worry that maybe she would upset the android, even if she didn't show it. So she gently withdrew her conscious and stepped back biting her lip. "Do you have to deal with all of the human functions? Like... menstrual cycles and upset stomachs and all of that? That would seem to be really unfair if they built that in. I didn't think it would be good to look... that's kind of private so if you don't want to talk about it, I understand."

Okay well then a bluff attempt. I'm sure it's not going to work, but hey! Bluff 1d20+1 = 5 Sigh...

Zhu didn't know how the Not people were tracking Lawrence, but it was worth seeing if it was a visual thing or not. She sent the illusary Lawrence ahead even as she quipped, "Lawrence! Get back here, leave the fake Lawrence with those two while we take care of this!" The fake Lawrence began to exhibit the same visual effects as the real one, visual distortion emanating from him, "No SFX! They're pretending to be my parents, I want to trap them here!" As he did that she was already prepping code to try and help out. They couldn't let them take him... wherever this was and whoever the master was.

Zhu tried her best to be discrete and gentle as she explored the machine, as she wondered how invasive or intimate this was for the android. Most important, she did nothing more than observe how information flowed from node to node. "That's terrible... I'm sorry to hear that. But, I can guess why he kept you a secret. People are worried about AI in general. I mean, we're kind of limited in developing people. There is kind of an evolutionary limit on how smart we can get. Machines... well there's no limit is there?" She checked some of the code and exclaimed, "wait... do you have full sensory capabilities? ...and is that a digestion routine?" She was amazed at the electronic analogues to human physiology and kept looking as she spoke.

Zhu smiled at the Tigress as they met, "no really, the pleasure is mine. I mean... I know this is going to sound bad, but it's really exciting to meet you. We did a study on the arms deal at HyperMegaCorp that you did with Terrifica so it's really awesome to meet you in the flesh." Then she nodded and followed the two heroines, determined not to make a mess of anything that happened tonight.

Zhu nodded, sitting comfortably now on the couch sipping at her Coco. They talked for a little while longer until both had finished their drinks. The night was getting long and it was probably close for Zhu to get back to Claremont. Tomorrow was going to be a busy enough day that she still wanted to review some of the material. Besides, she had promised Rev that they could go over some math and didn't want to disappoint her friend. "Thank you Giang..." she said with a warm smile. "...this is been really good. I think I needed it and it's nice to hear from someone who came from a similar place as I did. I promise that I'll work on the things you said for me. There's a park nearby that I can use which should offer some privacy to work on the exercises."

What the thugs hadn't realized was that Aliya had training and the will to use it. So when one of the thugs dropped, and it didn't matter from what, she sprung into action! Jumping and rolling between the two with blades she popped up from the ground, her fist crackling with electricity as she struck the thug with the Molotov in the gut. She was light on her landing and feet, but he shifted at the last moment and she didn't strike him as hard as she would have liked. Unfortunately, she needed this one out of action as she couldn't risk fire with the girls in back!

SFX Zhu nodded taking the helmet off and stowed it on the cycle. She nodded to her mentor and flashed a smile. She wore nothing more than a skin tight bodysuit, but with the power of her tech, an illusion of her costume wove itself around her body making it look like the younger girl was wearing a thigh length outfit that flowed and reacted to the environment as a real costume would. Her face was subtly altered from her normal looks, but it was similar enough to retain it's youthful Chinese features. The illusionary thigh high boots with detailed clasps made up the remainder of her virtual costume. The ride over here had been exhilarating, with Giang expertly guiding the machine through the city streets. She had clutched onto her mentor for fear of her life at first, but after a bit, she finally began to get the hang of the balance and shifts the bike would take and soon was rather enjoying herself. "I like your motorcycle," she said, "if I ever get a drivers license I am going to have to build one. I bet Rev would love to help with that!" She followed Giang a few feet before adding, "thank's for letting me come along today!"

As Jessica hit send, there was no indication that Zhu received the text other than her stride faltered for a moment. She had been starting to point out different herbs, and it took her a moment to continue. Her phone was still in her pocket yet Jessica received an immediate reply. As they moved all the way into the greenhouse, Jessica could feel a faint discomfort from the far end. It was likely that Zhu's parents used it as a makeshift shrine in whatever religion they practiced. "No," she said, "we don't have a set list. My mother is funny about how she prices things and it depends on what your need is. That one is a moonbloom and it's hard to cultivate. I think it would be expensive if you want the whole thing. But if you just need a cutting, then I think it won't be very bad." Walking back over to Jessica, and looking at the delicate plant, she hesitated and then asked, "what are you going to do with it. I can't find any recepie's for it online."

Okay... here we go. Whichever thug has the molotov. She goes for him. Standard: Electric Discharge, take 10 to hit. 19, not sure if it hits or not. Move: Acrobatics, flipping over/around the intervening thugs 1d20+18=32 Free: None If the Thug is hit, DC20 attack

"Nothing!" Zhu whispered back. "I haven't heard anything and we prevented the accident. So we did it. But someone messed up the signals and wanted to cause an accident. I think let's mark the vehicle and leave the area. We can keep an eye on them especially if they have to fix their car." She started to walk back towards her friend, praying that the men in the car would leave them be. She had already memorized the plates and tried to see if there was anything special about this train or this junction that they had missed. There was something that they had missed, but she wasn't seeing what it was, or why it mattered that this particular car had to be stopped.

GM It didn't take them long to find the house, a reasonably small house in a pocket of relative poverty in the normally well off suburb. All of the buildings were pressed in, seeming huddled together as if they needed mutual support from the larger more expensive homes a few blocks away. While the house showed the wealth of its owners, the small yard was well kept and the building was decently maintained. If it had more than a couple of bedrooms, the pair would have been surprised. A knock and a few moments later and the duo was faced with a very formidable looking woman who glared at the suspiciously and spoke before the pair could even introduce themselves, "nuh uh, I am not going to buy anything you are selling. So you can take your little heiny and walk it back to wherever you came from." Behind the woman and her apron, was a very small family room where a boy about 14 years old, sat on a faded couch playing a video game system. The walls were covered with aged wallpaper and family photos and the few tables scattered around held newspapers and knick nacks.

"Is no need for this. Gym is for little girls and boys. No need for examples," she said with a hopefully disarming smile. However, she was tensing and preparing to react to them before any of the girls could be endangered. She would do anything that she could to keep them safe. However, she made the decision that tipping her hat that they were there would be a bad idea with this crew.

Yes, that's fine and init incoming. 1d20+6 = 19

Well to her immense relief, she hadn't disappeared, nor did she seem to be a different person. So that was good. Another thing that seemed to be working in their favor was that they could see the not people with Lawrence ahead of them. That was good too. That there was some kind of disturbance which might be caused by Lawrence seemed even more positive. So she followed her friend and began creating a series of code that might come in handy. Rev was always good with banter in a fight, and she let her take the lead in that. However, she couldn't resist adding, "we promised to keep him safe! That's what we're going to do!" It wasn't as cool as what Rev said, but it seemed appropriate.

Zhu wasn't really used to people touching her, while she didn't have space issues, it just wasn't something that had been common in her childhood so far. It was a nice really, and surprisingly did relax her. Which considering what she had seen was quick a revelation. So while Jessica was drinking her milk, Zhu managed to get her head off the counter and straighten out her top. She watched Jessica drink her beverage, even making that look somehow sensual and attractive. There was something completely unfair about that, but since she seemed to have forgive the intrusion, Zhu wasn't about to feel petty in any way. Standing up she locked the register with her mind, not touching the keyboard as the drawer slid shut and the screen flashed to a login screen. She nodded to Jessica, "yes, it's back this way. Follow me." The greenhouse was situated behind the stockroom as the wove their way through the narrow paths made by crates and cases of the stores good. She paused at the door to the greenhouse before opening the door to the small family room sized greenhouse. Inside was a collection of plants and other aromatic herbs. The room had a pleasant mix of scents from the herbs and the rich dark soil that housed them. "mom and dad brought a lot of these over from China, it was really important too them. I know that a lot of them are pretty rare."

Whatever energy was being used to sustain the portal is was causing havoc with the sensors in the tiny machines. She couldn't even count the number of errors that were popping up in her mind. Everything about it screamed wrong on so many levels. Yet, that is where the couple had taken Lawrence as Rev explained that it was a timey thing. She would have laughed if the concept of stepping through it didn't terrify her so much. She had a pretty firm grasp on some of the more scientific concepts of portals and 4th dimensional modeling. She'd read about everything from Quantum Entanglement to the philosophical mussing of the continuity of existence after being transported anywhere. There was no real proof that whoever stepped out of the hole in front of them would be the same as who went in. "I'm right behind you!" she shouted as much for herself as for her friend. Which was one of the reasons she loved her so much. Rev never worried about things she just acted. She didn't consider things like Chernekov Radiation's ability to achieve super luminary speeds. She didn't worry about the neurological continuity of self. She did what was needed and acted. While Zhu might have been paralyzed by analysis, she dove after her friend, stepping through the portal with her illusion of Lawrence in tow.

Zhu didn't pick her head up, feeling chastised and embarrassed all the way around, "um... yes. Sometimes when I look I see things I don't want too, but it's like a train wreck, you just can't stop yourself. I don't even mess things up, that would be really wrong and I don't like hurting people..." She sighed and finally peeked up as Jessica walked back to get a milk, it would come out of Zhu's pocket, but at this point, that didn't really matter. She still had fleeting visions of herself in jail with a large lady named Sal. Thankfully, it seemed that Jessica wasn't that upset and didn't seem like she was going to press charges. As the vision of her cellmate faded from her head, she nodded and quietly said, "yes, we have a small greenhouse around the back, there is a lot of medicinal herbs that my mother brought from China. She's very good with them." But there was also something that was nagging her in the back of her mind, while she hadn't dwelled on the photo's in Jessica's phone too long, her heightened mind had sifted through all of them in a split second and a series that stood out was the beautiful red skinned woman kissing her friend Jack! Valentines had been coming up and a part of her had hoped that he would have asked her to a dance or for coffee or something, but it appeared he had other plans indeed! It was fine, they had just been friends and she had never said anything so she wasn't mad, but looking at the sensuous woman who was just opening her milk, she wondered how anything in life was fair. Maybe she would ask her about it... or maybe she would keep her mouth closed and try not to call attention to the fact she was snooping.

One second they were in the basement and Zhu was expecting to have a very very bad day, the next second... gone. Yet that wasn't what sent a chill down her spine, it was the the comment of what they were doing that scared her the most. "Oh no..." Zhu said as Rev burst into the room, "I hit them with a wall... the whole wall and they disappeared after saying they were taking Lawrence! What happened to him?" As she was talking, she was already letting the botnet spread out from her, searching the house to see where their charge was and if she could find either of the Not!People. As she let them do their work she worked on what she hoped would be a suitable distraction, creating a very convincing replica of Lawrence and sent it running ahead of her as she turned to the door with Rev and ran to hopefully get to the child before the very weird simulacrums. She hoped the little bots would give her enough information that she didn't have to waste time finding wherever they needed to go. "Thingy field? You mean they're time travelers too?!"

Free Action: Change Create Object Array to Sensory Power Move Action: Move! Standard Action: Illusion of Robert Search (if needed): 1d20+12=15

Zhu's face turned the color of the milk that had just been cleansed from the floor, she was busted and she knew it. She sighed and covered her face with her hands before lightly bumping her head onto the counter, looking down at it. Of course she knew that browsing the content of people's phones was TECHNICALLY wrong. She never did anything malicious and she was good at keeping secrets. However, it had become quite a tempting habit for her, kind of like being able to share a little secret with people that she bumped into. Yes, there was the occasional embarrassing conversation or picture, but she never shared or copied or anything other than read. Somehow she had made the mistake of actually using the girls phone to text herself. Her only guess was that in seeing some of the very risque photos and reading some of the more lurid messages, that she had goofed badly. It hadn't helped that she had seen Jack on her phone being kissed no less! Her voice was subdued as she muttered through her hands and against the counter that her head still laid on, "I can hack electronics with my mind... and I like reading people's phones. It's kind of a hobby like watching soap operas. Um... I think yours shocked me... I didn't mean to change anything on your phone if that helps..." It probably didn't and she was likely going to go to jail for this.

Zhu shivered not knowing what had hit her and not liking it one bit. She did have some of the botnet tasked to logging events and when she had time, she wanted to go back and see what they had recorded. As Not!Robert teleported out of her makeshift prison she mentally berated herself. Of course they teleported! She knew that from when they suddenly appeared. That meant that it was time to get far more creative and perhaps destructive. Taking the wall that she had created, she executed a code that she had never thought to need. COMMAND> ex_dest (M: 48d, D:10m) Go The destruction command ripped the wall out of place and hurled it at the duo as she tried to make an improvised flyswatter. With the debris and smoke she was rather pleased with herself and even gave a little quip, "no, what would be better if if you scheduled time with his real parents to talk it over!" She was about to turn and meet up with Rev when the botnet, in it's ever so helpful fashion, informed her that perhaps it wasn't quite time to gloat! Both of the pseudo parents were not only on their feet, but they didn't look happy!

Right, well in her mind that's what happened! At least it will be in her journal. Full: Move Created Wall to smash them like a bug against the other wall! DC24 AOE. Free: None Move: None