Backwards Pawn [IC]

[Bishop]

September 12, 2011

Things have been pretty hectic. The impending doom of the Gorgon was bringing out the worst in people. Bishop was at the club, though, taking some well-earned down-time. He was sitting in the main "living room" area in a recliner, sipping a Coke. His chair was facing the back of the room, away from the playing tables. Right behind him, a small chessboard table was set up with a game in progress, just out of his sight. Joe Cunningham, a member of the club, was sitting where he could chat with Bishop and also see and move the pieces of the board.

After much consideration, Joe moved the white queen on the board. "Queen to E3," he said to Bishop.

Bishop smiled, closed his eye, and leaned back in his chair. "Knight to H4." Joe moved the black knight and studied the board again in consternation. He was slightly behind in material, but he knew that was all it took to be left in a hopeless position. Bishop looked at his watch. "Hey, Joe, it's almost 8 o'clock. I've got to punch in. Want to pick it up later?"

Joe never took his eyes off the board, apparently hoping that in his intense concentration, he'd find a way to at least bring the game to a draw. "Sure, Don... sure..." Bishop left Joe to his calculations and went upstairs where his costume and equipment were kept in a secure closet. After suiting up he rested his left hand on the hilt of his holstered scepter and -- zzzzzut!

Bishop popped up 2,000' in the sky over Freedom City. Something looked wrong, though. There weren't as many lights in the city and there was something.... wrong... with the skyline. Bishop was too distracted by his HUD readout to give it a lot of thought.

[bg=#404040][Network Contection Lost]

[Attempting to Reestablish]

[Working...]

[Network Login Failed][/bg]

Huh. Network adaptor on the fritz? Let's try the other standard networks.

[bg=#404040]Command: Connect G4 Protocol

[Working...]

[Network Login Failed]

Command: Connect Freedom League Network

[Working...]

[Network Login Failed][/bg]

[bg=#404040][Warning! Trace Detected!]

[system Infiltration Detected!][/bg]

[bg=#404040][Countermeasures Activated]

[Connection Terminated]

[Running Diagnostic System Check]

[Working...][/bg]

What the hell!? The Freedom League denied my login and tried to hack me?! Okay, something is seriously wrong here.

Freedom Hall was about five miles away; a bit too far for an unassisted jump. As he glided along with the air currents, he put his left hand on the hilt of his scepter and... nothing! Normally, he could feel the power of his scepter strengthening his natural teleportation ability. It was something he could "reach through" and jump thousands of times farther than normal, but now? It just felt like a metal stick.

Oh, great. He teleported down to the roof of a nearby building and drew his scepter. A thin wisp of smoke seeped from a panel in its side. Okay. Total burnout. I better get this back to the League and see if they can fix this piece of junk. He decided that it was probably about time he started pouring over tech manuals and learn how this stuff actually worked so he wouldn't have to run to the league every time he had a problem.

He did a handfull of short jumps to arrive at the front doors of Freedom Hall. Or... what looked a lot like Freedom Hall. With his perfect memory, Bishop could tell that even though it looked almost identical, there were several minor differences between this building and the Freedom Hall he knew. Okay... this is definitely NOT right. What is going on here?

[bg=#404040]Command: Radio Scan > Emergency Bands

[scanning... Channel Locked In][/bg]

[bg=#404040]"Dispatch to Ambulance 4, stage at 300' distance. League activity is still reported on scene."

"Roger, dispatch. Arriving at staging area now. Please advise."

"Ambulance 4, be advised Captain Thunderbolt is in the hot zone. He is still terminating the last of the rebels. Reports are that there are currently three civilian casualties, status unknown. Do not deploy. Stand by."

"Thank you, dispatch. Standing by."[/bg]

Wait... what?! Captain ThunderBOLT?! "Terminating" rebels!?

[Supercape]

GM

Two patrolmen walked past Freedom Hall and saluted Bishop.

"Isn't that?"

"Yeah, shuddup and salute him, rookie"

The two policemen continued onward until the older one stopped suddenly, flipping out his nightstick into the stomach of his rookie. A little too hard. In fact, a lot too hard - although his junior didn't complain about the brutality.

"But hold on..." he said, turning around.

"Sir..." he asked, calling over to Bishop. "Pardon me for asking..." he continued, very cautiously.

"But...weren't your burns on the other side of your face?"

[Bishop]

Bishop was good at a lot of things. He was, hands down, one of the foremost tactical geniuses of the world. But, silver-tongued he was not. Still, he decided he'd have to fake it and hope for the best.

He folded his arms across his chest and smiled at the officer enigmatically. "You should be careful what you stick your nose in. You wouldn't want it to vanish..." And with that... he vanished.

...And reappeared high in the sky. From there he picked out a comfortable-looking skyscraper roof-top and teleported there. He had some heavy thinking to do. He had to assume the worst about his attempt to intimidate the officer and that he would be hunted for soon.

He sat down hopefully out of sight of any possible observers and pondered his situation. From experimentation and study of his powers, he knew that it worked by shifting dimensionally. He also knew of the existence of parallel universes, one of which he was clearly in right now. His only course of action was to collect information and, with a bit of luck, find someone who could get him back home.

Using his equipment, he began seeking out an active computer in the building below him -- one connected to the internet that he could use to find general information about where he was. I wonder if they have Google...

[Supercape]

GM

The skyscraper below him: The Hawthorne Tower, was clean, shiny, and new. It looked perfect for a search for a computer, and it did not dissapoint in reality. On the top of the skyscraoer a small Technical drawing / Image department was based, presumably doing freelance work for all the media and industrial agencies around the city (or even country or world).

Quite how much freedom of press there was here was another matter alltogether, of course.

Nonetheless, it had a perfectly servicible set of computers - good calibre in fact, although optimised for the job at hand - graphical manipulation (and quite possibly some unscrupulous manipulation of photographs for propoganda purposes....)

[Bishop]

Bishop knew some of the experts in dimentional technology on his Earth. It was a reasonable assumption that the same scientists were experts here, and, in seconds, he was reading the C.V. of a Dr. Julius Wilhelm. He was, apparently, just as much an expert on this world as on "real" Earth, and "real" Earth's Dr. Wilhelm's research was fundamental to the design of Bishop's scepter. Bishop slowly smiled as a plan began to form in his mind.

He disconnected from the network and, to continue to evade potential capture, teleported to a random spot in the sky where he floated for a few minutes, choosing new potential places to duck out of sight.

At about 7:30 the next morning, Dr. Wilhelm was driving to the university, taking his usual route. As he came to a stop in traffic, he turned his head to look to his passenger seat as a strange sound drew his attention there. He nearly jumped out of his skin at the sudden appearance of the chess master sitting in the seat next to him.

"Good morning, Doctor!" Bishop said warmly. "I'm sorry, but you are going to need to change your plans today. I have a bit of a problem, and I need your help..."

[Supercape]

GM

"Good morning, Doctor!" Bishop said warmly. "I'm sorry, but you are going to need to change your plans today. I have a bit of a problem, and I need your help..."

"What are you doing here?" he answered in a measured tone. "More...work...for me, I guess. That Sceptre I built you not working to specifications? I did my best. "

He raised an eyebrow.

"Or is it something else?"

He raised another eyebrow.

"Gods!" he exclaimed. "What happened to your face?" he blurted out, staring straight into Bishop's eye.

"How did that happen?"

[Bishop]

"Let's take the next exit, Doctor. Then we can talk. I think we have much to talk about." Once they were comfortably parked in a parking lot of a convenience store just off the highway, Bishop continued.

"Jules, I am Donovan Cross, but not the one you know. And, you are right, I do need help with my scepter." He drew the damaged device from its holster and showed it to the doctor. "I'm from an alternate Earth, Jules. One where you and I are pretty good friends, actually. One where the super-powered beings of our version of the Syndicate work to help people. ...In other words, a much nicer place to live than here. ...and I'd very much like to get back to it.

"Look, I am sorry to drag you into this. Helping me could be dangerous for you and so, say the word, and I'm out of here. I'll try to find another way home, though, frankly I don't have other ideas at the moment. But, I meant it when I said I was friends with.. the other you. I'd hate anything bad to happen to any of... you."

Bishop rubbed his chin thoughtfully for a moment. "...and, I don't know for sure, but we might not have a lot of time. Word of my arrival here may have already reached... your Donovan. And, assuming he thinks about like I do... he might be checking up on you soon looking for me."

[Supercape]

GM

" "...and, I don't know for sure, but we might not have a lot of time. Word of my arrival here may have already reached... your Donovan. And, assuming he thinks about like I do... he might be checking up on you soon looking for me."

"Normally I would call that a tall story" replied the scientist, tapping the wheel of his car. "But, I do happen to be an expert in the field of alternative and parallel universes. And with that face of your's flipped through a mirror, it's sure possible".

He put his fingers to his eyes and pressed, weighing things up.

"I don't know if I can believe you of course. That's just the kind of stunt you would pull to test my loyalty. But hey, if loyalty means doing what you say, then I can't but help you, trick or not."

Convinced of his own logic, he turned to face Bishop directly.

"So...how can I help?"

[Bishop]

"Well... you're the expert here, so I'll defer to you on this. Assume for the sake of argument, then, that I am telling the truth and that I came from another dimension. How would you figure out which one? Then, how would you travel to that dimension? I would suspect a clue might be in the kind of damage the equipment you- that is, the other you... built." He indicated a point on the scepter. "Smoke was coming out of that side panel near the handle when I first popped up here. It wouldn't work after that. Maybe even differences in design would tell you something. I have no idea. That's your bailiwick. I'm just a guy who plays a lot of chess.

"Also... I know you don't want to risk my -- that is.. your me's, wrath but, assume that that me wanted to track you down. How would he do it, and how could you dodge his scrutiny? I'd start with taking the battery out of your cell phone, so he can't trace the GPS signal. That's how I'd start looking for you. If I had your GPS location, I could be right on top of you in three seconds. Then, I'd start combing surveillance camera feeds and such. If I were especially paranoid and protective of a valuable resource like you, I'd have a tracer on you or near you somewhere. I'm going to want to teleport you away from this car, since it might be tagged. But, did he ever give you anything? Something you keep with you at all times?"

He took a deep breath and signed. "Sorry if I seem paranoid, Jules. People tell me I'm my own worst enemy, but in this case, it could be quite literally true."

[Supercape]

GM

"Sorry if I seem paranoid, Jules. People tell me I'm my own worst enemy, but in this case, it could be quite literally true."

The Scientist took a deep breath in and out.

"If what you say is true, then you are quite right..." he concluded. "But don't mistake you as your only enemy. The fact is, your face is...well, the wrong way round. It should be the other side that has all that..." he waved his hand politely over Bishops's face "...stuff in it. And the police here like smacking the unrighteous a bit harder than is strictly necessary, if you catch my drift..."

He stretched his shoulders and crinked his neck, getting the cracks and creases out of it. The man was tense.

"I would love to repair that Sceptre of yours and get it working again, because I would like to get out of this dimension. I want you to take me with you!" he demanded, thumping his car emphatically.

[Bishop]

Bishop smiled. "I will take you with me, Jules. You have my word. Frankly, I'm afraid it would be too dangerous for you to leave you behind, so it is something of a relief to take you somewhere safer.

"Oh, and believe me, I know this whole world is dangerous for me. I'm fixated on my 'local-self' only because, by my calculations, he is the most likely to track me down. He knows how I think and what I am likely to want.

"But, first things first... let's get out of here." Bishop sat back in the passenger seat and slouched down, resting his head on his hand to help conceal as much of his face as he casually could. "And as you drive, I'll see what I can do to cover our tracks."

[Supercape]

GM

Dr Wilheim nodded, slowly. And turned to the wheel of his car. "Best not rush..." he mumbled, half to himself. Te man looked pretty anxious. "Last thing we want is to be pulled over by a cop for speeding. I'm not sure I have enough bribe money..."

He rolled his head from side to side, his neck cracking a few times, and places his sweaty palms to the steering wheel.

"Let's go".

He drove slightly slowly, but carefully, heading out of the City Centre.

"Best keep out of the City if we can..." he explained. "Where too?"

[Bishop]

[bg=#404040][Files Overwritten]

[Connection Terminated][/bg]

Bishop closed the HUD window floating in his vision. Having erased any sign of their time at or around the convenience store, he pondered momentarily. "First thing I need to know is: what do you need to be able to do what you need to do? Are we talking a few portable tools and machines or fixed equipment that can't be moved easily? I'm hoping the former. As we drive, tell me exactly what you will need: what tools, what equipment, any other materials. Then, for anything... unusual.. I'll need to know exactly where it is and what it looks like. I will then set out to... 'acquire' what you will need.

"Second thing I need to know: how long do you think it will take to open up a way back to my home? Hours? Days? Weeks? It will make a big difference in how we proceed. Assuming it won't take terribly long, my idea is to find a vacant house or other space: warehouse, shop, strip mall, what have you. We set up there and I bring the stuff you need to you. We'd abandon the car and teleport in so as not to leave any sign of our being there.

"With any luck, we can be in my home dimension before anyone catches up to us." Bishop grinned mischievously as plans began to formulate. "I have a feeling I'm about to find out what being a super-criminal is like."

[Supercape]

GM

"The principle is easy enough..." came the reply. "I can stitch together something functional from the prototypes and equipment at my engineering department. That is, provided we are uninterrupted. "

He shook his head.

"But no, that isn't the problem. For this to work...at least, for my rig to work, we need power. Serious power. We would have to jack in directly to the cities power grid, or some massive generator like the nuclear power station. Something like that. Take your pick, but the energy needed for the portal equipment - at least the stuff I have - well, its huge. I'm sure there are more efficient ways of doing it. In fact, I know there are, but that equipment is heavily regulated - in other words, confiscated. "