Its back,Awesome!

>>17875188

In the darkness, there is a sensation. The sensation of someone with pointy fingers poking your precious brain-case. "Hey, are you awake over there?" Yes. Of course you were. You were in no way taking a nap after your long and tedious morning. The poking continues. "Ysmingrwke." You mutter. "What was that?" asks Roxane. You open your eyes and look at her. "Yes, I am awake." Now. You stretch a little, looking around at the monorail car you're riding in, on the way to the Outskirts station. It is about 2 in the afternoon.

She stops poking you and gives you a bit of a look. "Sure. Right, well, if you are conscious, do you mind answering my question?" Uhh... "Which one?" you respond. "I asked; did you bring everything you need from your room? I'd hate to ride all the way out here only to have to go back."

>Well, what did you bring?

(Also, last thread has 404'd and wasn't archived. So if you need anything from that thread repeated, or had a question go unanswered, feel free to ask again.)

ohboyohboyohboy

>>17875265

Okay, I remember wanting to make sure you guys brought your Ghostknife, but was there any other possessions you wanted to make sure you took with you to see Johnny?

>>17875464

I don't think anything except what one usually takes with him. keys, wallet etc.

>>17875507

"Yes." You say, tapping the ghostblade knife which you have affixed to your belt. For the first time in your life, you appreciate Liberty City's Open Carry policy. Roxane shrugs her shoulders, which causes her old-fashioned leather pack full of tools to rattle. "If you say so."

After a few more minutes, the train reaches the stop you want, and you disembark. You walk to Johnny's house. Before you can even start walking to the door, he's opened it, and come outside, opening up the garage door as he comes. He's still wearing his victorian hat and gloves, and walking with his new cane. He meets you in the driveway, in front of the garage door, and introductions are made. "Alright, boss," Johnny says, you're the one planning this crazy scheme, what do you want to do now? Your stomach growls to remind you you've only had one meal and some donuts to eat today.

>Plans?
>Lunch first
>Unbox the Hammer, and see what needs done first
>Talk shop with Johnny first

>>17875616

>"Alright, boss," Johnny says, you're the one planning this crazy scheme, what do you want to do now? Your stomach growls to remind you you've only had one meal and some donuts to eat today.

Should read:

>"Alright, boss," Johnny says, "you're the one planning this crazy scheme, what do you want to do now?" Your stomach growls to remind you you've only had one meal and some donuts to eat today.

>>17875616
>>17875633
Step 1: Take the hat off of Johnny and place it onto our head.
Step 2: "Let's crack that puppy open and see how bad it is. Do you have any beers here, or should I run down to the corner market? I have had a seriously long day, and it's still just the afternoon."

lunch first,then Talk shop with Johnny first

>>17875676
should read "long and interesting day"

Fuck yeah, Metahuman Renaissance Quest!

Also here's an archive of the previous thread: http://archive.foolz.us/tg/thread/17819927/

>>17875741

I'll be sure to include that link in future threads.

>>17875741
A HERO AMONG MEN. YOU SIR. YOU.

>>17875616
Hammer.
We'll work through lunch and see what we need, eat, and then get additonal supplies and get back to work.

>>17875688
>>17875676

(2x7 on Stealth (which is also pickpocket) to steal Johnny's hat)

You deftly acquire the gentlemanly hat from Johnny and place it upon thine head. Now 20% more dapper, you say to your assembled party, "Lunch first, I think. Roxane and I haven't had any yet." Johnny glares, walks over to his front door and acquires the second hat You say to his back, "Oh, and do you have beer here? If not we need to make a run down to the Quik-E Mart." "Right," he responds. "What do you want? Diner, eat in, take out?"

>>17875838
Take out.
Roxanne will be okay with it, she'll want to see the hammer quickly.

>>17875854
That sounds about right. "Let's order some Thai, assuming nobody here has a peanut allergy or something."

>>17875931
This. Make sure we get some of dem delicious banana fritters Thailand loves so much.

>>17875944
>>17875931
>>17875854

"Take out." You respond. "I'm hungry, but we'll want to check to see if there are any mundane parts that need replacing before it gets to late." Johnny nods. "Alright, I'll order Thai. I can pick it up in the truck when its ready. I'll get beer. You two," He pokes you in the chest with his cane, which clunks off the armor you're wearing under your shirt "Can use the dolly Regis left us to move this beast into the backyard. I do NOT want the neighbors asking questions while we rebuild a suit of power armor in my parent's driveway."

You and Roxane manage to wheel the several ton crate around into Johnny's family's picturesque back-yard, and Roxane pulls out a prybar and goes at it, while you and Johnny finalize the food order. The "Hammer" as you have begun to call it is about 12 feet tall, and a little boxy, with no 'head' the cockpit hatch open wide, and the arms ending in holes filled with stray wiring. Luckily, with the engine off the joints are locked tighter than a bank vault.

Johnny leans out the back door again to call "Alright, I'm going, any requests?" Roxane wipes her brow and shoots back "Yeah, no beer for me. Just get me a soda, or something." You raise an eyebrow at her as you hear Johnny's dad's old truck fire up. "One of the many things you can't have if you're a mad scientist. Except under police observation." She goes back to popping the armored engine case off. "Get me buzzed and this thing will end up 2 stories tall and transforming into a jet plane."

she says it like it was a bad thing.......

>>17876109

Building transforming mecha inside a residential area is against city ordinance.

>>17876174
Non transforming Mecha too?
Anyway we should consider asking her to get drunk later under observation to make cool things.
Maybe when we have funds.
If she could make a mech out of a suit of Power Armour, imagine what she could make with proper supplies!

>>17876084
"Caffeine and sugar result in different but still exciting things, though, right?" I'm definitely getting the feeling that Roxy only considers SRMD a disability or a bad thing insofar as outside regulation is concerned.

>>17876084
hahaha.

spike her drink.

>>17876317
That sounds dumb. lets not... Yet

>>17876317
but..transforming!

>>17876317
Fuck no. I bet she would be furious with us. I know I would be if I was her. That retardedly disrespectful.

>>17876195
>>17876317

She did JUST say she can't have alcohol except under law enforcement supervision. Like, that is an actual restriction she has. Unless you want to like, go back down to police HQ and vouch you'll knock her unconscious or something if she gets blitzed and decides to build her own functioning nuclear reactor.

>>17876261

"Caffeine and sugar result in different but still exciting things, though, right?" You say, as she continues getting the bolts out of the engine-case. "Getting a sugar rush is a little different then alcohol, which actually impairs your brain functions. I also can't have certain kinds of over the top medication without doctoral approval. Lots of metahumans can't. Its a control issue. If you can bend girders in one hand, or shoot mind bullets, little loses of control are bad. They didn't give you any medical restrictions when you got your registration card?" Not that you recall. Roxane finishes removing the cover for the engine. "Well, add the first thing to the list. Batteries are corroded. We'll need to get a couple more, car batteries should work, or build in an alternate power source." She starts working to remove the old batteries.

>>17876261
Well she has a *benign* case of SRMD so aside from said outside regulation it probably doesn't have too much of an effect on her life.

>>17876368
I agree with this anon.

>>17876375

>over the top

Should be

>over the counter

Dammit, I am off my game today.

>>17876385
It's cool. You've had a few days to get rusty. Let's loosen you up.
>so homo
>>17876375
"Car batteries, check. What would an ideal power source be, if we had the resources, in terms of both efficiency and safety?"

>>17876375
How easily could you make a self sustaining power source of some kind?

>>17876409

"Well, if you just want to run the ICE," She taps the engine block. "Some of those new High-Capacity Capacitor batteries would be nice. I think brand new ones this size are pretty expensive, but would last 40-50 years. Or, you could get some similar sized ones from a few generations ago, which will last us like 10 years." She pauses to consider, and also to chuck the second battery into the pile. "Now, if you want to switch to electric, which I've seen some done on the internet, most efficient would be to build a microfusion plant. At this size you could build a much smaller reactor to power all this, which cuts down on the risk of critical damage to the power source. That'll require you to buy a permit though. Federal one too, since you want to take it across state lines. If you don't mind the size though, you could get a fuel cell like most people are using these days. Fuel cost is the same, hydrogen." She pops some more parts out then looks over her shoulder at you. "Here, give me a hand pulling out the engine block." You do so, and set it on one of the sides of the crate.

>>17876619

Roxy points at the now empty engine case. "Now, you can wash this out with the hose, while I check to see if there's anything obviously wrong with the engine block. We'll need to get the batteries before we can test it though." You take the hose, and wash out the rust and corroded bit of battery.

By the time you're done, Johnny has returned, exiting the backdoor with a "Grub's up!" He's brought everyone's food, and also a 12-pack of beer and a six pack of soda for Roxane. You remove your gloves so you can eat, which also reveals your glowy tron lines on your palm.

>Arbitrary decision time, /tg/. What food and drinks did everyone get?

>>17876863
The usual. Caviar, filet mignon, lobster..

>>17876863
Shit, I don't know anything about Thai food. Noodles?

>>17876894

No idea either. Apparently it involves banana fritters though.

>>17876928
Lets just go with chinese.
Soy sauce, chicken, rice, etc.

>>17876986
Glazes and plum and sesame...

>>17877001
>>17876986
>>17876894

Food order taken care of. Anyone have a preference for drinks? Fictional brands are totally okay. I live and breathe on references

>>17877067
Slurm?

>>17877067
..we have a 12 pack of beer, what other liquid sustenance is required?

>>17877067
Cold Brand Beer.

>>17877067
JH Irons' Stout

>I know nothing about beer

>>17877098

Sweet. Johnny brought Cold Brand Beer, your favorite. You two bust out the lawn chairs and drag a patio table over so everyone has a place to set their food, and sit if they want. By the time you're done, and had a little to eat and drink, Roxane has her heavy leather gloves off and is wiping her hands on a rag. She comes over and grabs one of the sodas, and starts drinking it. "K, the engine looks good. I'm going to check the hydraulics, then we can get the batteries, and see if everything still moves. I'd rather not spend all day getting the armor plates off to check every little thing. Very inefficient." You nod, for once able to follow almost all of her conversation. "The real problem is the sensor suite. I could just seal up the big hole where the little camera ball was, but then the only way to see out is that little slit in the front. Which is open. Not even bulletproof glass in it. We have a couple options for that. You might be able to find a replacement on eBay or something, but that'll be costly and take time. Optics isn't my specialty, but I can whip something up, if you can get me the resources. Or, we could just buy some cheap video equipment at an electronics store, and I'll jury rig it."

>>17877222
Let's get some cheap stuff for now, to upgrade later, once we've got some cash again.

>>17877222
"How bad would a jury-rigged suite be? We aren't planning on bringing this into a warzone soon, if ever, just use it as an industrial tool and stuff. We could upgrade it later once we have more money, right? Also, what do you think we should do with the arms? Blades from a forklift, maybe some kind of hydraulic vise?"

>>17877222
Could we combine a jury rigged suite and some a thin glass visor, in case the suite fails?

>>17877265
>>17877283

"Well, if we pool our cash, we can get a decent handheld camera, with a shitty 'nightvision' mode and decent definition. I can get the ball molded out of plastic tonight, some people in the material science dept owe me some favors. Only problem is it'll be about as reliable as its lowest bidder chinese manufacture suggests. The original parts wouldn't be for any kind of high tech use, they were made in the 60s, but they'll be much more durable if someone drops a rock on it, or something." She takes a couple bites of her meal before continuing. "As for the arms, the vice-grip I can cludge together easy, hook it up to the existing movement... if you can find me the right parts. It'll also be higher maintenance and slower install. The forklift blades we can probably scrounge at the junkyard, and I can weld them in place in a half hour. Your call, you two own the thing."

>>17877417

She can make a hardened plastic piece to fit in the gap, along with the ball mount.

>>17877445
That's basically what I imagined it looking like, actually. "What do you think, Johnny? After all, it's in your backyard."

>>17877445

Basically, Jury rigging costs no Wealth, but all you'll get is the equivalent to a moderately priced video camera, inside a plastic ball so it can rotate 180 degrees. It also doesn't have many wound boxes and no armor, if someone decides to attack it directly, or it takes damage for some environmental effect.

The eBay option does cost a point of Wealth (which you don't have) and take a couple days, and produces a camera made with the best optical technology the 60s had to offer, but it'll be armored and tougher in case of harm.

Custom assembly will require either a point of Wealth or will need some kind of plan or deal with someone to get the pieces you need, and your end result will rely on a Skill check made by Roxane for her Mind+Superscientist skill.

>>17877628
Custom assembly seems like it'll be the best honestly, but we don't have the wealth.
What ways can we earn back wealth?

>>17877628
Let's jury rig one now, and look for parts for the custom job while looting.
Also, forklift arms.

>>17877628
We're going on an expedition, if successful, we can make bank...we should see if we can get a loan and make this a workhorse.

>>17877638

A few ways. The three of you could put out word or look around for an odd job to do, for a little cash. This might take some time, though.

Also, you could go down to the nearest police station, and check wanted posters for criminals who have rewards for their capture. Since you're metahuman, if you don't mind doing your own investigating and possibly getting into the thick of things, you could earn some bucks this way.

Or, you could ask somebody for a loan. You get the Wealth now, but you'll have to pay them back later.

Alternatively, you could get the resources you need informally, for a kind of "favor for a favor" deal. This might require finding the right people, but circumvents the need for you to actually give hard cash.

>>17877699
I'm thinking either the favor for favor thing OR just jury-rigging. We're not bloody vigilantes, bounty hunters, or private detectives - well, Johnny might be, but he's a baller. As for the loan thing, I don't think finding a cache is a sure enough thing that we want to go in debt over it. I don't think "Javelin" has enough publicity yet, in the less-than-24-hours the identity's existed for us to use that to our advantage. (It will, though; even for metahumans, the shit at the club and, more importantly, the cellphone-cammed stuff at the cafe were stylish and awesome)

>>17877748
>>17877646

"Alright, we'll get the parts when we go get the battery. Which we should do now, so we can see if this tub still moves."

>>17877748

If you're going to look for a favor, you need to consider the following options. Do you want:

>Mundane Materials
>Advanced Materials
>Exotic Materials

And the favor you'll do in return is;

>Physical Favor (Going somewhere, doing something, physical work)
>Metal Favor (Looking something up, solving a problem, helping with something mental)
>Social Favor (Talking to somebody, finding out something)
>Technical Favor (Using some manner of skill, making or fixing something, assisting someone with skilled work)

>>17877892
Advanced but not exotic, and probably a mental favor. Tracking someone down or something. Maybe physical, if that falls into that category.

>>17877907
I would say mental or social, either one. After all, that's where our talents really lie. Let's try for exotic first, see if we're willing to find someone asking for a favor for that and, if so, if we thing we're willing and able to do a favor like that. I doubt we will, though, so advanced will work, failing that. Go big or don't go.

I think mundane materials would probably suffice for now, though we'll look into the other option. Social or mental favor I guess.

>>17878015
>>17877927
>>17877907

3-way tie, huh? Anyone want to change/throw in another vote?

I will tell you that getting better materials will require a larger, or harder favor. It also governs what possible abilities the sensor suite may have. Mundane may have modern components like thermal, and functions like radar or sonar. Advanced will have more complex and modern components, edging into superscience, like Lidar, X-ray/T-ray emitters, and passive radiation and particle sensors. Exotic skips straight into Metasciences, Magitech or Alien technology.

>>17878135
We don't want to overreach and get into something we can't finish. Not yet, while we're setting up.
So Mundane or Advanced.

>>17878135
Then I'll change my vote from this:
>>17877927
To this:
>>17877907

Changing my vote for mundane:
>>17878015
to advanced then.

>>17878163
>>17878157

After you return from Radio Shack, you ponder your options. "Alright," you say. "Johnny, you take the truck to the junkyard. You can find the forklift blades and the tow hitch we want. Roxane will stay here and finish putting the engine back in, and making sure the Hammer still moves." "The hammer?" She interrupts. You look at her until silence continues. "As I was saying, I'll head back to Campus, and see if I can't find someone to do me a solid and get some parts we need to build the sensor suite in. We can just skip the jury rig, then, or use the components for other improvements." Everyone nods, and breaks. Johnny runs you to the Monorail station in his dad's truck to save time.

You get back to your dorm room, and receive a text from Roxane. Apparently the hammer moves, if a bit sluggishly. She needs to lubricate the joints, but that can be done with the tools she has. Now, you need to find somebody who needs something, preferably something you can do with just your brain. You've had enough of legwork for today.

>>17878411

>Options:
>Roommate Dave's Girlfriend Cheryl is in Engineering, studying Metamaterials and Nanofabrication. You know her and some of her fellow students have some Cyrean literature on these and similar subjects they need translated. If you offer to help, they can probably get you some raw materials or "test made" stuff to work on. This will not require a lot of work (just some skill rolls) but will take a long time.
>The Students going for PhDs or other higher level educational work always need some help. Just find somebody doing post-grad work in the field you need, who needs some help with something, preferably within you areas of knowledge, or just someone to pull books from the library to bring them, and you can trade for any spare resources they might have on hand.
>You can talk to a Professor. Either directly, or through one of your own. Find someone in Engineering or Materials who needs an assistant for an afternoon, and who can spot you the components you need. They might even get you some really good stuff if they know about Roxane, just so they can see what she does with it

>>17878420
Professor, and mention its for a Roxanne project.
Consider Cyrean translation later though, as a more permanent income source.

>>17878411
Heh. I'm picturing the staredown not as intense or anything like that, just as an empty, long, hollow-eyed glance her way, as if he couldn't even understand what was happening.
>>17878420
Go for the professors, namedrop Roxy, try to leverage our Cyrean knowledge or sensory abilities if possible. After all, they might find that useful. If nothing else, we're wicked smart and we could proofread stuff or soemthing.

>>17878444
Second.

>>17878467
>>17878444

You decide to cut out the middlemen, and go straight to the source. Kind of. Just as you reach this conclusion, Cheryl leaves Dave's room, with her back pack. Looks like she's heading back to her own dorm for the day. You strike a pose, planting a foot on your coffee table, which wobbles ominously. "Hold it!" You say, and point directly at her. She jumps, and stares at you. "What?" she says, more with surprise than anything else. You explain your need to find a Professor willing to trade work for stuff, leaning on a side of Cyrean expertise. When asked what you need the raw material for, you simply push your blue-tinted glasses up your face and say "That's on a need to know basis."

"Alright," she says, after considering you for a moment (you haven't given Johnny his hat back yet), I know three or four people who could help you. Professor Grobel is trying to start a class on Alien materials for next semester, and she is most interested in the Cyrean's crystaline armor. If you can find her an accurate translation of some of their Craft caste's texts, or god-forbid, a sample of the stuff, I'm sure she'll trade all kinds of not-alien junk. Professor Boucher's grad student came down with... uh, something." She seems remarkably shifty on this point. "So he just needs a gopher for today. He works physics more than engineering, but I'm sure he has some cool monitoring equipment you can cannibalize." She pauses for a second, "Oh! You probably can't help, but since you're looking for that kind of favor, I overheard Professor Richards talking to my faculty advisor the other day. She's looking into some people to help her with some psychoreactive materials studies. She's the deputy head of the Metascience department, you know, so if you CAN help her, she can probably snag whatever you need from where ever."

You thank Cheryl, and consider your options.

>>17878801
>Cyrean armor
NO. CANNOT HAS.
>psychopathic materials
Does ghostblade count?

>>17878801
We could probably get a sample from our armour, or the ghostknife, if we took a shard of something non vital. Handle or a bit of shoulder or something.
That or the physics guy would probably be the best. Psychoreactive materials don't seem that useful for what we're doing.

>>17878801
We have a newly-ingrained psychic sensitivity, it seems, and our powers are psychotechnological in nature, it seems. Let's start with Professor Richards. We can actually probably help quite a bit - both in terms of having a psyche capable of providing stimuli to reactive materials and, perhaps, in the form of Cyrean crystal tech. Let's go see her with our ghostknife and breastplate. We'll explain our whole situation completely and honestly, including namedropping Roxy, and say that what we want to be paid in (rather than cash from the research stipend) is spare parts which could be used in refurbishing and maybe upgrading some Mk I armor. Let's leave the hat here at the dorm, though, and dress in something presentable.

>>17878852
She's studying psychoreactive materials, but she is the deputy head of the Metascience department. She has access to EVERYTHING - likely being able to pay us with things entirely unrelated to the field she's currently studying. Plus, we might come out of this with the knowledge/skill needed to deal with psychoreactive technologies and materials in our future endeavors.

>>17878884
This reasoning is sound. Seconded.

>>17878912
>>17878884

You decide to go to the top. Kind of. But Doctor Wayland goes on research trips for months at a time, so nobody hardly ever sees him. Last time he was actually AT the university, he was running tests on railgun systems for the Navy. By shooting old satellites out of orbit from one of the quads.

You go back in your room to dress nicer, having not changed since the coffee shop. You smell like ozone, and there are bits of glass still stuck in your pants and shoes. You also take off your breastplate, and put it in a bag, so you can take it. The knife presents a problem, though. You don't have a CCW, and even if you did, its more of a gentleman's agreement that you don't go waving it around in campus buildings. Knives aren't allowed in the buildings normally. You could leave it here, drop it with security at the door, or maybe get it peace-bonded, or take it in some kind of case.

>>17879041
Let's bring it with us (we have a sheath, right?) but carry it instead of wearing it. As we go in, let's make sure we stop at security and make sure they know we have this, so they don't get startled or something. We'll tell them that we're taking it to the professor to have a look at it. That should be reasonable enough, right? Especially with our charm. We'll really lay it on thick if need be.

>>17879089
Suave it up to 11, second.
We have a sheath for a reason, anyway.

>>17879107
>>17879089

You know who you are? You're Daniel Motherfucking Fortesque. You slip the knife into a pocket, removing it from the clip on your belt, and head over to the metascience building. On the way, you get a text from Roxane saying she's mounted the tow hitch. She's going to move on to the forklift blades if you don't mind.

You enter the metascience building. It is extremely shiny, with pictures of famous scientists and their "bases of operation" on the lobby walls. Near the front is Professor Richard, standing at Amaze co. Labs, with her mentor and former boss, Dr. Amazement, a number of years ago. Doctor Wayland also has his picture up, in front of this building right after they built it.

(2x3 on Lie check, but the security guards get 2x10 on Empathy)

You walk up to the security desk, make sure to show your student ID and registry card, and ask if they can point you to Professor Richards' office, lab, whatever. While doing this, you also casually mention she has you bringing in a ghostknife, and do they need to check it, or something? Despite being at your smoothest, they stick to their guns. "That's all well and good, but we can't have unsecured weapons in this building. You'll need to leave it here, or get it peacebonded." "I'd recommend leaving it at the desk," the other guard interjects. "If the professor needs it that bad, she can either drop by and sign a waiver, or call one of us up to her lab with the knife and paperwork to sign it in."

Well. Shit. The guards in the buildings you normally frequent aren't half as sharp or insightful.

>>17879256
Whoa, I didn't mean to lie and say that she asked for it to bring in, I meant to say that you were deciding to bring it to her, to see what she could tell you about it. The charminess was to make the guards convinced that you weren't some school... stabber... by getting it security checked first. I guess I'm just shit at explaining myself. Oh well, what's done is done. What's peacebonding? And I actually have no problem with leaving it at the desk. We honestly brought it to have her take a look at it, not for self defense. If she doesn't want to see it, we can just pick it up on the way out.

>>17879315

Could have rolled it as persuasion, I guess. Same number of dice, though, and they got 2 10s.

As for peace-bonding, it means they'll tie a bright orange zip-tie around the knife so you can't draw it. It's common at conventions where some people bring in real weapons or realistic ones as props.

>>17879346
Can we assume we failed at persuasion instead? Anyway, let's just leave the knife here with them. No hard feelings, not trying to smuggle a weapon in or anything, we're cool with this. Can they point us to the lab or whatever, now?

>>17879394

(Lie, persuasion. Doesn't matter now. Failed is failed.)

You decide to leave the knife at the desk. If Professor Richards really wants to see it, she can call down here for it. Realizing you never did get directions, you ask again. "Oh, you'll like this." The first guard says. He comes around from the desk, and interacts with one of those little directory nodes that are placed all around campus. "Just look up Professor Richards in the database here, and..." He taps the screen. One of a series of translucent conduits or wires in the wall you hadn't noticed until till now lights up, lime green. "Student for; Professor, Richards. Please follow the. Green. Line" says a stilted, computer voice. "Neat." you observe, and head out.

You follow the line right up to a lab labeled "Richards, M." somewhere deep in the heart of the building. You casually open the door and look inside. You've seen bigger lab rooms, filled with random equipment, but this one seems to make up for it. Along the far wall is a table, set up with a computer, and a number of normal instruments, like a microscope. A couple of illuminated examining tables are set up, scattered with a couple items of various designs. In a back corner is some more sophisticated equipment, and there is a large 60 inch flatscreen monitor set in one wall.

>>17879577

Two people are standing in the middle of the room, talking. One is clearly Professor Richards. She is a tall, thin woman in her late 30s, with sharp features, dark eyes and hair, except for a single streak of white in one of her bangs, which is swept up out of the way of her face. The other one turns to face you as you enter. He is impecably dressed, with white gloves, the gold chain to a pocketwatch leading from his pocket, and a fucking cravat. His hair is either a very pale blond, or he's prematurely silver. He sneers down his nose at you. Which is hard, because you're of a height. "What do you want?" He says, with a refined upper-class British accent. Sounds like an Oxford, or Cambridge man. You fight the urge to cave his face in. "Quiet, Ashwood." Richards' says, and you feel infinitely less like punching Alexander Ashwood, son of Minerva Ashwood (MI6 Director), grandson of the Lady Ashwood (Who once had a biplane duel with a Nazi necromancer who's plane was fueled by ghosts). Richards turns to you. "Do you need something, student?"

>>17879590
Hmmm, this is a tough one. Either we give a politely truncated version of our story and why we want to help or we say we're here to talk about psychoreactive materials but can wait, let them finish, and head back to the hallway until they're done. What do you guys think?

Wait in the hallway

>Lady Ashwood
>once had a biplane duel with a Nazi necromancer who's plane was fueled by ghosts
I love how Daniel thought of this before Founding Member of the League of Justice. Greatest claim to fame EVER.

>>17879661
Yeah, okay. Let's say we're here to talk about psychoreactive materials, but it isn't at all urgent, and that we don't mean to interrupt. Then go wait, so they don't think we're eavesdropping. Then roll Sense to see if we tragically can't help but hear what they're talking about. Not our fault.
>cough

>>17879590
"Well, Professor, I was working on a Robotics project with Roxane (forgot her last name), but we're in need of a sensor suite. I heard you could use some assistance with some psychoreactive materials, and wondered if it would be possible to assist you in your study in exchange for your assistance in procuring our needed materials."

Persuasion, HO!

>>17879798
>>17879791
Combine these. Use charm to make a solid first impression or command to show you're confident and calm, one of the two.

>>17879630
>>17879661

Confronted by one member of the Aristocracy, and two total people with ties to surviving members of the League Of Justice, you decide to make a tactical withdrawl. "I'll...uh, I'll just wait in the hall." "Perhaps you'd better." Says Ashwood in his snidest tone of voice, folding his arms. You get the door halfway closed as you attempt to back out, when Richards speaks again. "Ashwood," she says, all the time keeping her eyes affixed to you "I need the Stroud volume on Marco Polo. Would you mind going up to my office and fetching it for me?" He looks at her, astonished. "Ma'am?" Now she spares a glance for him. "Do you not know where it is? It's in the locked shelf, second row. You have the key." Ashwood colors a bit, stutters some, then says "Yes, ma'am." and walks hastily out the door, brushing past you, oozing disdain. "I apologize for Alexander." The Professor continues, beckoning you to come in. "He's intelligent enough, but spent to much time among blue bloods. He'll never be a proper man of science with that attitude."

>>17879816
>>17879798

"Well, Professor, I was working on a Robotics project with Roxane Murdock, but we're in need of a sensor suite. I heard you could use some assistance with some psychoreactive materials, and wondered if it would be possible to assist you in your study in exchange for your assistance in procuring our needed materials." She looks at you, pointedly. "Murdock, huh? She's already finished her robotics program, so it must be a hobby project. But you don't look like some one who 'rolls' in her hobby circles." You shrug your shoulders. "She helped me with some stuff, I'm returning the favor." The professor nods sagely. "Sure you are, young man. Has nothing to do with Murdock being a fox, in terms of cunning, attractiveness and hair color." Wow, she's good. And she's not even metahuman. "I do need some help, to be sure. But I need people with exposure to Psi. Aren't a lot of Psychics on campus. Most of them go to UC, to try and work with Nevarro. And if I'm going to get you materials, I need to know what you want them for."

>>17879992
I see no reason to not tell the scientist the truth.

"I'm part-Cyrean, ma'am. I can manifest Psybolts, and sense auras. The robotics project is for a containment mech for a companion. We're planning a retrieval mission into the (Abandoned New England Cyrean area), hoping to find a cache, to help with our student loans, and to further explore my new Cyrean heritage."

We should just tell her the parts are for a power armor sensor suite, but not what we'll use the armor for

>>17880054
>>17880045

By way of explanation, you simply lift your glasses up a bit, making the glowing Cyrean symbols etched into your irises plainly visible. Professor Richards whistles. "Well, well, I may be able to make use of you." "That's what I thought, too," you respond "Else I wouldn't have come here. As for the suite, Roxane is helping me restore an old suit of Mark I Power Armor I acquired recently." She gives you a knowing look. "Regis finally sold that old hunk of junk, huh?" Does everybody know everybody around here? Its almost like there's some kind of exclusive community you haven't been a part of until now. Oh, wait.

Let's see if you can help me. She walks over to a desk set along one wall, and pulls out a bottle of bluish-green ink, and quill pen. She dips the pen in the ink, and finds a bit of similarly colored poster board. She starts writing something on the board, the ink and the color of it almost seamlessly blending, making it impossible to make out what she's doing at this distance.

"There's a remote monastery in Tibet, who focus on meditative training of latent psychic ability. They used to be quite reclusive, until the PRC started welcoming all manner of metahumans with open arms. But I digress. Part of the completion of an initiate's training at the temple is a ritual process where they use their psychic abilities to grow and harvest crystals from a vein which is buried in their mountain. To them, it is a sign of mastery, of fine control. But, the crystals have a side effect of becoming psychoreactive. They give off a faint trace to those with psychic senses." That would explain the tingle in the back of you brain when she pulled the ink out. She finishes writing, and holds the board up, facing toward you. "The ink is made from a powder based on those crystals. If you have the abilities I need, you should be able to read what I've written on this board."

>>17880187
Take off our glasses, use our nifty Sense power, see if we can read it.

>>17880241
Second.
>prep some pop corn for nifty Sudden Reveal visual effects

>>17880297
>>17880241

(3x10 on Psychic Senses)

You focus, flexing your metaphysical muscles, and open your psychic senses. The words suddenly become luminously bright, glowing with a sharp, ice blue light, which matches the professor's aura. It says simply "If you can read this, you don't need glasses." You burst out laughing. When you regain your composure, you've shut off your senses, and the Professor has put back the board, and is smiling. "Well, that clinches it. I've had a couple of fakers in already, and none of them had the right reaction. Even the one who could read what I wrote with a little trying. Alright, you passed my lame test. You have the sensing abilities I need. Basically, I have some confirmed, or suspected psychoreactive artifacts. So, what I need you to do, is interact with them, while I monitor you with my instruments. None of them are dangerous, or else Parapsychology wouldn't have let me check them out of the vault. So, you game?"

>>17880440
"Game and Curious."
I wonder what kind of objects they'd need to check but aren't dangerous? They'd certainly eb a step up over everything else thats happened in the last 30 hours or so.

(Also, if you do this, the testing and results will probably be last thing for tonight, after we resolve resources and other rewards)

>>17880561
Second

>>17880440
So game it hurts.


But WAIT. What about our end of the deal? Let's make a demand first. She's seen enough to know we're worth it.

>>17880635
(That can all be handled after this is done. She's good for it, trust me.)

>>17880621
>>17880561

"Game and Curious." you respond. She clasps her hands together and grins. "Eeeeexcellent." You are reminded how how, while not a SRMD sufferer herself, bother people considered her mentors were. She seems to have picked up some mannerisms. Ashwood comes back in through the door, carrying a sizable book, which looks very collegiate. "Professor?" he asks, a bit surprised. "Ah, Ashwood, just in time. Put that down over there," she gestures to a desk. "And get the equipment ready. Our new friend here turned out to be useful after all." She then goes to the far side of the room, and gets a wheeled trolly, loaded with some items, and starts wheeling them over. "Ah," Alexander says. "So you are metahuman? My apologies for my earlier rudeness." Huh, maybe he's no so bad. He continues. "So many people come by only to latch on to persons of mine or the Professor's caliber." Nope, still an asshole.

The professor lays out some objects onto one of her examination tables. "Hurry up, Ashwood. Get the instruments ready." You wander over to the table. It is stocked with four items which look vaguely artifact-y. There is a stone tablet, with a greenish hue, a long sword made of an oddly darkish metal, a glass jar containing some white crystaline dust, and a bright blue marble, maybe the size of your eye.

>>17880802

Pick which one you do first. You'll have to interact with all of them to complete the favor, but once you get started, you can knock 'em out pretty quick.

Longsword

Clearly the longsword is comparable in certain respects to our penis. This is what we should choose

>>17880944
yeah, why not.

>>17880973
>>17880963
>>17880944

You stare pointedly at the sword. I mean, seriously, its a sword. Why would you not want to try it first. "Oh, right, that." Says professor Richards. "Borrowed that from Doctor Smith over in Parapsychology. Late medieval period, northern Italy. Belonged to a powerful member of the Roman Catholic church. Supposedly the sword aided him in doing battle with demons and witches, in addition to men." Alexander pulls out a leatherbound note book, and flips through some pages. "Ah, right. It's on the list because certain notations about the smithing and the alloy, which is related to certain secrets the Huns brought with them, which were stolen by the church. We suspect it may have latent psychoreactive properties." "So," Professor Richards continues, "We want you to pick it up, and see if it does anything. If it does, we'll try and measure it, both during and after contact."

You take off your gloves, and pick up the sword. Nothing happens. You take this time to examine it, finding something etched into the blade, probably in Latin. "What does this say?" Alexander leans over your shoulder, and replies "May the enemies of man burn in hell." Cheery. You trace your hand over the engraving, trying to follow it. As you do, the words suddenly light up, and the blade bursts into blue-white flames!

(3x1 on Stability to not freak the fuck out)

You jerk, but manage to hold on to the blade. "Fascinating." Says Alexander. Richards hovers a hand near it. "Hrm, doesn't feel hot. Alexander, get the thermal camera over here." He goes off to do so. While he does, the professor takes the pen tucked behind her ear, and raps the tip on the blade of the sword. There is a sizzle, and a puff of smoke, and the Professor is examining a scorched hollow tube which used to be a pen. "Huh." Is her only response. "Guess this one's going in the 'dangerous' part of the vault."

Pick up the marble next

>>17881085
Try very hard not to look like you think the flaming sword is totally awesome, then move on to the marble.

>>17881085

They run some tests, while you hold it, coming to the conclusion that A) The sword isn't hot unless it touches something, and B) When it does, it releases a burst of energy about as hot as thermite. But only to that which touches it. In the pen's case, it vaporized the nib and the ink tube instantly. Professor Richards theorizes that the blade also will cut easier through barriers, magical or psychic, due to the energy reaction.

Then the pulls a fucking anvil covered in Norse runes from under the trolly and sets it on the table. You and Alexander both stare at her. "What?" She says. "I got it from Professor Smith. He said its the only way to test magic swords." She tells you to cleave the anvil. You raise the sword in both hands over your head, and swing down. It passes through the anvil like it wasn't there, the runes flashing bright red for a second as it does. Then the blade passes through the examining table. And bites into the floor before you finish the arc. "Oops." Says Richards. "Well, we needed the floors redone in here anyway." You put the sword aside, and Alexander move the anvil halves.

>>17881164
>>17881148

You decide to try something non threatening this time. You pick up the marble. "Okay, this is a confirmed object." Says professor Richards. "Its a kind of psychic battery, from an ancient Mediterranean civilization, predating the Greeks. You can pour psychic energy into it to store later." As you palm the object, you can feel it tugging at you a little. Or so it feels like.

>You'll need to expend Willpower to charge this object. How many do you invest in the battery?

3? 3 sounds safe

>>17881190
Three is a good number I think. Hopefully we can pull it back out when we're done with the test.

3? That's a lot to use on something we won't be able to keep.

>>17881233
Consider it the cost of the parts we need then.

Swallow the marble. Its a well proven fact that this leads to unlimited power.

>>17881246
Which we would then have to pay for out the ass. PERHAPS LITERALLY.

No thanks.

>>17881233
>>17881229

(Three willpower spent!)

You let the nibbling sensation in the marble go, and kind of will energy into the tiny orb. Your arm gets all pins and needles, and you can see the lines and symbols under your skin flare. The orb glows electric blue, a light about as bright as a flashlight sitting in your hand. You put the marble back on the table, and it sits there, glowing. The Professor examines it with some equipment. Then she looks up at you. "We'd like to keep this under observation for a period. Come back in a month, and you can have your psychic energy back."

>>17881254
Consider it the cost of our services.

BTW OP, is this Dr. Moreau?

>>17881262
>>17881233
And that
>>"We'd like to keep this under observation for a period. Come back in a month, and you can have your psychic energy back."

Solves that I guess. Crystal jar next?

>>17881289

Could be. She's creepy and sciencey enough. Though I did describe Dr. Moreau as blond.

We'd regen the willpower in a month anyway, on to the crystal jar.

>>17881309
You did? Damn, somehow I missed that and imagined her with black hair.

>>17881321
Oh, dem womens and their hair dye'in

>>17881315
>>17881300

You pick up the jar of crystal powder, and shake it a little, giving it the ole' fashioned eyeball. "Right." Says Alexander, as the professor is sticking the marble into someplace safe to be monitored for a month. "This is another suspected. Professor Nevarro as UC San Fransisco sent us this. She got it from some Native Americans who claimed it was something their shamans or medicine men made," Clearly Anthropology isn't something Ashwood does. "They said it would react psychicly." Professor Richards walks back up, takes the glass jar from you and undoes the top, dumping it into a handy bowl. "No Idea why Olivia sent me this, other than I was researching stuff like it. She could have tested it on her own."

You stare at the bowl of dust. For about a minute. "Okay, what do I do with it?" You ask. Richards shrugs. "Not sure. It apparently reacts to psychic phenomena, and is used to form ritual symbols to resonate with. I'd take a handful and try and shape it into something." You take a scoop out.

>Shape?

>>17881357
Yes, that explains it. Going blonde was part disguise, part catering to Dan's subconscious tastes.

>>17881364
Uhh, well it's from Native Americans, so let's go with something familiar to them and their rituals. Something natural, maybe a feather? Or go one step further and do a whole bird?

>>17881364
hmmm...Well, it's native american, maybe a bird, or another animal. or if we're felling narcissistic, a JAVELIN perhaps?

>>17881383
>>17881384
Native american bird mind

Are we shaping this with our mind, or the less exciting, mundane approach?

>>17881393
>>17881384
>>17881383

You hold the scoop of crystal dust, and think about a bird, it only seems natural, some kind of thunderbird maybe- holy shit! The dust has reformed into a tiny statue of a bird, something like an eagle. You poke it with your off hand. It is now solid, like it is one piece of crystal. You focus on the idea of it being dust again, and it looses shape instantly, collapsing back to formlessness. "Interesting." Muses the professor. "Looks like this crystal harmonizes when exposed to asynchronous waves. I wonder what else it does..."

>Continue playing with the dust, or go for the tablet?

How about we use our Anthropology Major to try and get a better idea of what this thing is supposed to be and how it was used?

>>17881450
Keep playing with it of course.
Try the following:
-perfect sphere
-double helix
-moving parts
-liquid
-physically impossible shape

try to make it look like us.

>>17881499
Seconded.

>>17881499
>>17881464

(2x9 and 2x6 on Anthro)

While you're not familiar with the history of psions in Native Americans, nor with the rituals specific to whatever tribe created the dust, you guess it has a purpose similar to the Tibetan crystals the Professor mentioned earlier. If one of them had psi talents, the creation of this dust would be a sign of mastery, much as shaping it would. Or so you assume. Also, it has a purpose in rituals, since you're pretty sure if you dumped it all out on the table and touched part of it, and told it to draw a symbol, it would draw itself.

>>17881499

>perfect sphere
Simple enough, you just imagine the marble you held a couple minutes ago, and the dust springs to take its shape. It seems to adjust its density to reach the size you want it to.

>perfect sphere
Also easy. In fact, you envision DNA when you do this test, and it forms the little balls and the ladder-like connections you see in your mind.

>moving parts
To your surprise, this works. However, the instant you stop focusing on the image of movement, to study the dust, it stops moving. Looks like it only shapes while you're focused on it.

>liquid
You try and imagine the dust as liquid, but all you get is a smooth surface, like it was liquid.

>physically impossible shape
You try and image something mindboggling, like a hypercube or a tesseract. The powder slowly moves to make the shape, seeming almost sluggish. But as you try to hold the "impossible shape" idea in your head, it becomes harder and harder. You try and focus and clear the image, but you get a sharp sudden pain in your head and the dust collapsed back to its neutral state.

>>17881568
Cooool. Okay, put that down and start fiddling with something else now.

Lets do the bird again, this time animated.

Just the stone tablet left now.

Go for the tablet

>>17881607
>>17881584

You command the dust back into the jar, and seal it up. "Alright, just the tablet left. This is a confirmed object, supposedly Atlantean in origin." You can't help but roll your eyes. Metascience, Esoterics and Parapsychology never shut up about how all those lost civilizations we thought were legends existed, but were concealed via paranormal means. Okay, so some artifacts and objects can't be attributed to the normal archaeological record, but that doesn't AUTOMATICALLY make it Atlantis. "The tablet is used for automatic writing. Like the dust, you think about something, and it appears written on the tablet. "
Okay, well, that's simple enough. You pick it up. What do you ask it to say? Well, that's easy enough. The tablet announces "Hello World" in luminous green script.

>>17881568
This is some cool stuff. We should totally see if we can get some to take with us.

>>17881703
No, we get one favor as a result of this test. We should use it on what we came for, not the new shiny.

>>17881709
Well, yes. I'm just saying it's neat, really. And we should try to get some, but not at the expense of the robut bits.

Jesus, I delete a post to fix a typo and it won't let me repost.

>>17881746
In that case, I concur.

Alright, I had something else to cover tonight, but It's really late and I'm wiped. It can wait until next thread. Suffice it to say, the favor is done, and you can get the components together to build that sensor suite. And some other stuff, but more on that later.

And yes, the psychic artifacts may come up later, maybe you can borrow or take them in exchange for later favors, once you've built up some cash or reputation.

As usual, feel free to ask questions in this thread until the new one goes up tomorrow. And, if you want, I can tell you the mechanical powers of any of the artifacts seen tonight. Also, if you want to request specific stuff as part of the sensor components you get, you can do that now.

>>17881752
All I got is curiosity about the crystal sand.

>>17881752
well, Since we're intending to use it for excavation and stuff, maybe, night vision and I dont know, X ray or something?

Submitting to yon archive, just to be sure it's done.

>>17881752
I think this is a good time to ask the Professor about Cyrean crystal tech. After all, we know a little about it, but not enough. Like, is it psychoreactive, or just really cool-looking? Mention we've got a breastplate and that we checked a ghostblade knife with security. We would really like to learn more about this stuff if she has the time.

Also, mention that we would be happy to help her with more stuff like this if need be. I think this is more Dan's cup of tea than super-heroics (though I expect those sorts of events to land in his lap whether he likes it or not).

What skill is it to do tricky things with psychoreactive technology and materials? Do we get a +1 in that skill for trying something as stupid as making a tesseract with that dust?

>>17884130

Well, there are multiple archetypes for heroes. You guys have definitely pushed Dan more toward the "Gentleman Adventurer" type, than him being and out-and-out vigilante. As shown when I gave you the opportunity to make money by finding and/or fighting low-level metahumans.

Normally, in WT, psi or anything else supernatural is covered by Miracles (i.e. powers), but for a raw skill check to do something with psychoreactive stuff, such as if you're trying something hard or doing so in a combat situation, I'd use Mind+Stability (Which is unusually because its usually Command+Stability. Not that it matters to Dan, same number of dice). He has been passing a lot of Stability checks lately, I might tack on a third point in that skill.

>>17884855
Gotcha, makes sense to me. Does the Professor have anything to say about future collaborations or Cyrean crystal tech?

>>17884877

Cyrean armor isn't inherently psychoreactive, but they did include a kind of psychic ID-tag in them, to identify name and rank that Cyreans could ping with their perceptions. You haven't tried that with your armor.

Some of them also did have some integrated psychic tech, but you know your breastplate doesn't, since its just the chest piece, and a small one at that. Probably made for a young adult working near the fronts. But if you find any armor at the Exclusion Zone, she IS interested in that, and will trade you cash or more favors for it.

>>17884971
Fantastic. Let's get a better look at our knife and armor as we head back to the dorm with our new repair parts. I hope she contacts us again in the future if she needs help with anything like this.

>>17884981
Let's just generally use our psychic sight the entire way back to our room - see if we see anything neat. After all, we should know what all our home and the area around it holds.

Awesome thread.

>>17885058
No shit, bro. Metahuman Renaissance Quest is my current favourite active quest.

>>17885075
Same here.

Does the Prof have any advice for us regarding Roxane?

>>17885163
>>17885075
>>17885058

Your words fill me with joy.

>>17885181
Motherfucker, I wasn't trying to make you happy, I was stating my opinion. Calm your ass down.

>>17885180
This.
She's worked with several people who have the condition, and seems to know Roxane as well, if only as an acquaintance. She could probably provide some insight we don't have access to at the moment.

>>17885325
I'm mostly just interested in the legal issues. I don't really see SRMD as as disorder, disease, or condition. I think it's part of who Roxy is and part of what makes her wonderful.

>>17885347
I would agree, but only insofar as the benign version is concerned.

>>17885347

For a little bit of background, Psychologists were working on the theory of "Mastermind Disease" (The original name for MSRMD) for a good 10-15 years before they realized Mr. Science had basically the same thing, without the psychotic, destructive tendencies, thus SRMD and it's benign/malign distinction.

And by strictest definition, it is a disorder, due to there actually being differences in brain chemistry and structure from an average human. Whether the B/M versions are nature or nurture is still debated though.

As for actual questions addressed to the professor, I'll save those for when I fire up the new thread in a couple hours.

>>17885469
I thought the entire nature/nuture debate had been resolved into an answer of "Both" with a more descriptive answer being "Genetics determines likelihood, environment determines specifics."

So nature gives you a specific range of possibilities that aren't realized until nurture picks one.

That's what I was taught anyway.

>>17885469
Actually, strictly speaking, a 'disorder' is only a disorder if its presence causes a decrease in quality of life to the person with it or those around them. By the sound of it, SRMD is simple a condition, with MSRMD being the disorder-level version of it. Maybe psychological terminology works different in this universe, though, what with Mad Psychologists likely being about.
>>17885525
Nature shows predisposition only. Most of the time, anyway. Certain things, like some types of schizoid personality disorder, are caused by chemical imbalances or neurological disorders which are entirely biological in nature. Others, like post-traumatic stress, are almost entirely nurture.

...I'm a cognitive psychologist.

>>17885469
>>17885525
Oh, and based on what I can here, SRMD sounds like it has elements in nature and nurture. The nature part would be the initial chemical differences. The nurture part would be twofold. First, if a person with a spark doesn't pursue it, I expect the chemical difference remain minor; someone like Roxy, who goes out of her way to study, experiment, and learn, probably has much more extreme chemical differences. Second, it seems availability of stimuli in extreme cases affects whether or not a person develops a personality disorder, which people with this disorder seem predisposed towards. Psychology is fun.

>>17885574
>what I can SEE here
I may be a psychologist, but it seems that I cannot into typing.

>>17885547
>>17885525

Okay, so maybe I should stop trying to talk about psychological things when the most education on the subject I've had is five weeks into my Intro to Psych class. I'll defer to your greater judgements.

Which is actually something I should bring up. If I'm ever just flat out fucking wrong about something, feel free to point it out, and I will try and fix it if it still works. If it doesn't work, well, guess this universe is just different.

(I'm still going with it being name SRMD because they found the evil version first)

>>17885611
The tl;dr of my spiel, though, is that SRMD actually sounds like something that could exist. It would probably be Science-Related Memetic Condition, or something even broader, like High-Functioning Memetic Syndrome, but that's a phrasing issue, and everything else looks fine. I have to say, it's pretty much my favourite explanation ever for comic book-style super scientists.

>>17885547
Well that explains it. I only took a Psych 101 course in college because I thought it might help my writing.

I thought it would be more about why people do things. It wound up being more about the anatomy of the brain.

>>17885636

I will happily admit I stole it from the book "Soon I Will Be Invincible". Though the name is stolen from TV Tropes. The book is where I first ran into the idea, and I've liked it ever since.

>>17885663
Baller.

New Thread
>>17887197