>>18699563

Or, "What were we doing again?"

>Previous Threads:
http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive.html?tags=Metahuman%20Renaissance%20Quest

PREVIOUSLY, ON METAHUMAN RENAISSANCE:
While taking a nap to shrug off his aches and pains from earlier in the day, Dan has a telepsychic conversation with Dr. M about the situation, during which she is very mysterious and foreshadowing. After that, he is woken up three hours later to find that traces of Red have been found! Investigating the scene in the maintenance tunnels of the University, he finds she has come and gone, and injured Jeanne in the process. Lunch is had by the team, while Jeanne is taken to the hospital.

>>18699655

Everyone ate in silence. Nobody is really grim, or anything, just contemplative. Jeanne's injury isn't serious, or life-threatening, but its all a very good example of how things could go horribly wrong. In a sense, its a reminder of just how serious this business is, which has taken out all the usual light-hearted enjoyment of, say, breakfast this morning.

Once your meal is done, you check your watch, and find it to be about 2:30 PM. Nine and a half until zero hour. The rest of the Evokers and Naomi gather their things to go see Jeanne in the hospital, and also pick up Anya from there, since she rode along in the ambulance. Johnny and Roxane have decided to stick with you, wherever you happen to go.

Professor Blackstone said he wanted to see you when you were free, and Jeanne's about to get enough visitors as it is. However, anything Blackstone found out managed to wait three hours while you slept, so maybe you still have some time to check on Jeanne.

>wat do?

>>18699771
This close to midnight, let's not dawdle. Check in with Blackstone.

>>18699809

You decide to stick with the plan, and see Blackstone. Jeanne has enough visitors for the moment, anyway. Roxy and Johnny walk with you up to Professor Blackstone's office, but then Johnny says, "You go in, chief. We'll wait outside while you discuss wizard things." You nod at him, but Roxane shoots him a glance that clearly indicates she is not down with this plan, until Johnny kind of shrugs and says, "Let them have it. The hero meets with his mentor." You raise an eyebrow at Johnny, and he pulls out a notepad and says, "Also, I need to write another story for the school paper." You knock on the door. "Enter." says someone inside.

You open the door, and shut it behind you. Blackstone is sitting behind his desk, reading a big, leather bound book with no title. Similar books litter his desk, and a notepad is open on the desk, and is filled with random arcane scribbles. He doesn't say anything as you enter, so engrossed in whatever he's reading about, but just gestures at one of his chairs.

>What do/say?

>>18700057
Take a seat.
"You called, hoss?"

>>18700154

You sit down in the chair, and get comfortable. "You wanted to talk, boss?" He looks up over the book, nods at you, then dog-ears the page and sets the book down. You raise an eyebrow at it, and the rest of the collection strewn across his desk, but don't say anything. "Ward theories, mostly. All manner of magical defenses, alarms, and so on. Problem is, all of the most complex ones require lots of time, preparation and energy, which we just don't have right now." You nod. "Plus," Blackstone says, "Outsiders are funny when it comes to magic. Some of them are immune to it. Others actively repel it. Or worse..." You think you might press that line of thought later.

Blackstone steeples his fingers and looks up at you levelly. "First, before anything else, we need to get something straight." He pauses for a second. "What happened to Jeanne isn't your fault." You're a little surprised. This is not what you were expecting this conversation to be about. "Like I told you outside, she did it of her own free will, and knowing the risks. You can't blame yourself. And take it from someone who's lived a longer life than you, which is surprising given the crazy stuff I've done in the past, and who has spent a lot of those years blaming himself when people around him got hurt." He pauses again, then continues. "You're gonna have a hard time moving ahead if you don't learn this one quick." You nod, though your jaw feel a little tight.

>>18700547

Kind of left that one open to pick how you wanted to direct the conversation guy(s).

>>18700547
>>18700719
"Not...quite...what I was thinking in the first place, but thanks for clearing that up anyway."

If we haven't yet, tell him what the good doctor told us in our sleep.

I have no idea what the metahuman renaissance is, and I don't really want to find out.
I just want to know how Harry Dresden is involved in it.

>>18700738
Ze good doctor told us nothing in our sleep.

>>18700738

"Okay... not where I was expecting this conversation to start, but thanks for saying so." The Professor nods a couple times, and one corner of his mouth quirks up into a reassuring half-smile. "So, how did you want to start off this conversation?" He asks.

You relate to him your relatively brief chat with Dr. Moreau in your dreams, and the information you picked up from it, which wasn't a whole lot, in toto. Blackstone frowns, and rubs his chin a little. "Interesting. Especially that big about you improving Anna's mental state. Right now, it's kind of a bad thing, it means she's more cunning, less likely to do something rash and fuck up. Probably why she cut and run in the tunnels. But, it gives me hope for an rehabilitation she may need later, if we can stop her long enough to break the connection."

>>18700967
She said Red is based somewhere on campus, that she's been compromised in the experiment, and things of that sort.

>>18700995

Well, Red *was* somewhere on campus. Where exactly she is now is up in the air.

>>18700994
Unfortunately, we don't have much else in the way of leads, not since the tunnels. How exactly is this supposed to end? We wait for the ritual to start, track the power source, and kick the door in? Is that really the only way we can find her at this point?

Yay, metahuman.
Doh, gotta go to sleep soon. Timezones, why u no like me?

>>18700994
"So, we still haven't really come around to the reason you called me here."

>>18701054

>track the power source

I love how you guys hit things right on the head some times. But also have no idea how such a thing will actually play out.

>>18701098
>>18701054

"We still haven't gotten to whyever you wanted to speak to me." You observe. Blackstone takes is hand off his chin and nods. "Right. I wanted to speak with you earlier about the notebook, but since you were sleeping, I decided to let you rest. Wont have so much opportunity tonight. I checked the book with Professor Ellsworth, she looked at it, and explained it as basically Dr. M's personal research notes on lots of magical subjects. However, Moreau put a lot of it in scientific or mathematical framework, only understandable for a scientist. It's not so useful for native magic users like, say, you or me, but for someone like Anna, it contains a lot of information that helps her better understand how to apply her Arcanomathematics equations to cause effects. It's basically a shortcut of understanding. According to Ellsworth, it has saved Anna years of study, and put her on a similar level of capability, though probably not understanding, as Ellsworth." You raise an eyebrow. "Well, that's dangerous." Blackstone gives a slight shake of his head. "Not so much now, since she has other, newer powers, but it does explain a lot of how she got where she is. Also, she was right, there's no way we have enough time to study and understand the information for it to be of any use."

Huh?
I missed this thread and now see it right before going to sleep.

OP, does the auto-sage hit if you fill [Subject] field in the OP? I often got on Catologue and just do a search for "quest" to see if any interesting quests are on. But that wont work for this thread.

Anyway, going to sleep. Good luck on with your thread!

>>18701369

It appears to. Or rather, I've had no problems with autosage since I switched to starting the thread this way. Good thing about the catalog is it shows you the OP image though, so if it's about quest time, you can probably just do a skim for my very recognizable image.

>>18701356
So basically, nothing changed? We still can't do anything but sit around and hope we spot her before she succeeds?

>>18701356
Is the stuff in the notebook stuff she hasn't published or is it easily available stuff just put into a more usable format for Anna?

>>18701369
>>18701408
From what I've heard the subject field doesn't make any difference.

>>18701414

You sigh, a little frustratedly. "So, we're still where we were. We wait for her to start, then stop her." "Pretty much. But, I think we have a chance of maybe cutting her off even before she starts. Everyone keeps going on about this clever plan of hers, right? Or at least how bright she is." You nod in agreement. "We still don't know where she's drawing the necessary energy to perform the ritual. And since she doesn't have the notebook, or her equations any more, only the tattoos, she can't do anything but the stuff she already has. She can't develop any new tricks." You shrug. You're not so sure about that, but the logic seems sound. "We might be able to throw a wrench in her plans if we can find what her move is before, and block her at that stage." "Cut her off *before* she can begin?" You ask. "Right. But I have no idea of what she's planning, and I've been trying to research methods of shielding the campus in various ways. I might have something to help narrow the playing field some, but I need a little more work, and a little prep-time." "So, what, you want me to maybe have a think about the energy angle?" He nods again. "Aye, kid. You're the person with the best understanding of her mind, at this point. Maybe have a bit of a think, and see if you can't at least figure out what kind of approach Anna would try and use." You nod, slowly, thinking about it, rolling the thoughts around in your head.

>Anything else to say/ask Blackstone?

>>18701636

>Is the stuff in the notebook stuff she hasn't published or is it easily available stuff just put into a more usable format for Anna?

It's stuff that hasn't been published by Moreau, at least. Dan hasn't had a chance to look at it, but from what he's heard, it seems like personal notes compiled over several years of on-again-off-again research into various occult and esoteric subjects. It just happens to be in the ideal format for a person like Anna to learn from. Which may have been part why she made a good selection candidate for the research in the first place

Wonderful, I'm eating, and my entire audience has gone to sleep.

Goddamn timezones.

>>18701717
>You're the person with the best understanding of her mind, at this point.
What? Wait, we probably do know her better than her mother at this point. Dr. M left before she went really crazy and doesn't seem to have really talked to her since. And we've never even heard mention of her having any friends. It's incredibly sad that that's true. 'Best' and 'good' are entirely different things though.

>>18701746
>Which may have been part why she made a good selection candidate for the research in the first place
>Picking guinea pigs based on which ones you think will give you the right results.
Bad Dr. M. No more cookies for you until you apologise to Science. Start picking randomly and do it fast, you need to give a couple of hundred more people superpowers if you want a decent sample size.

>>18701717
Not much else can be done until we can figure out how to hamstring Anna, so we may as well head out and check on Jeanne.

>>18701996

>Bad Dr. M. No more cookies for you until you apologise to Science. Start picking randomly and do it fast, you need to give a couple of hundred more people superpowers if you want a decent sample size.

This was discussed way earlier. Doctor M is a Mad Scientist. She's capable of extrapolating Data from smaller sample sizes than normal. Plus, she's crazy.

Also, the point is to give people superpowers. To hand them the ability for auto-evolution, basically. The point is moot if she gave someone, say, the notebook, and they can't use it. Then they would not be metahuman.

Are there any objects that she would have an emoptional connection to? She may want to go for the irony of using something she hates as a power source.

>>18702099
>She's capable of extrapolating the whole of humanity from 3 people.
She's hyper-intelligent, not magic.
...is she magic?
>The point is moot if she gave someone, say, the notebook, and they can't use it.
She didn't have to use the notebook at all, there are other superpowers. Wait, does this meant that she actually tracked us down because she wanted to use the cyrean modules she bought and didn't just randomly bump into us in a club and ask us what power we wanted? Fucking mad scientists, I don't even know what's going on any more.

>>18702312

Five, actually. And she might be magic, she has Mind 10. Hyperintelligent and all that. You also need to remember the crazy part. Just because she's been at this long enough to fake being stable to your face doesn't mean she's right in the head.

(Also other stuff, but that would be a spoiler for the ultimate climax of this story)

And you're right, she has the ability to implant with a large swath of superpowers. But some tricks are easier than others. Anna's selection was a confluence of factors, including that she was actively seeking to study in a field Dr. M had ready access to help her with, and she was willing to take shortcuts.

As far as you know Dan was somehow scoped out before the club, where the casual meeting and discussion was aimed to get a final check on if Dan would make a good subject. The fact that he also had some powers in mind just made it easier. You guys could have said "No, I don't want powers" and she would have just made you batman.

>>18702444
Man, wished we'd know that was an option.
Then we could go for magic and be magic batman.

Anyway if she's thinking more clearly looks like she's not going to come after us then.
I guess we need to start scoping out places with a clear view of the sky?

>>18702233

Well, there's you, there's her mom, and there's Dr. M. Only people she doesn't like specifically, as opposed to generally.

I'm not 100% sure, but I think I said a human sacrifice was still insufficient energy.

>>18702592

Well, the first question she asked was "Ever wanted to be more than human?" and /tg/'s immediate response was "FUCK YEAH WE HAVE".

>>18702592
>Man, wished we'd know that was an option.
>wanting our awesome parents to be dead
You horrible man.

>I guess we need to start scoping out places with a clear view of the sky?
Psst, ParkourAnon, that's your cue.

>>18702592
>>18702640

Weather forecast is clear tonight, so just about any place will do. She just needs to position the Black Rock Box under the sky, apply power, use the right sequence, and COSMIC POWER.

But if you guys want to spend a couple hours running up and down the city hunting for a spot for her to do this from, I am totally okay with that. Less hours before this day is over.

>>18702732
Eh, why not. We can test out our new 'glide' laces as well.

>>18702732
Our chances are still best if we disrupt the ritual before she turns it on, right?

Then we should work on tracking the power source somehow. No idea how to do that though, unless we can get up high and use our magic-vision to look for power signatures or unusual readings?

>>18702807

>Our chances are still best if we disrupt the ritual before she turns it on, right?

Dan know that his best opportunity to stop Anna is to interrupt her in setting it up, yes.

>unless we can get up high and use our magic-vision to look for power signatures or unusual readings?

Err, probably a bad idea. In a city of Millions, you'd get a lot of background noise that way. It would not be pleasant, not would it be very educational, unless Anna has something so huge and unusual you can do the magical equivalent of seeing it from space. But you probably could passively detect that if you were near it anyhow.

>>18702865
Well, we know she's still on the campus. If we wander about, using our magic sense whenever we see something odd, we might be able to find where she's setting up.

If the power source would be detectable just by being near it, even better.

>>18703072

Waste an hour patrolling campus and not find anything, gotcha.

Are we all okay with this plan.

>>18703097
I personally think we should wait for someone else to be reading this.

>>18703154

Today has been a slow day. Probably because I started later than normal, and, y'know, the actual time of next thread wasn't known.

But I still have time to do this so if I can get some hours in the "final" afternoon burned up before I have to call it, I want to. This has dragged out too long, but I do not have a lot of opportunities to time skip.

>>18703210
Basically, my understanding the the situation is that she's avoiding us right now but probably not enacting the ritual or setting it up. She's going to start doing that closer to midnight.
I don't think we're going to find her this early.
So maybe just take some time, research possible power sources to get some idea of what we're looking for, and then start looking for the ritual site maybe 3 hours to midnight?

>>18703283

I am down with the research plan. I can burn up several hours in one post of exposition.

But not a whole lot of people would be around to appreciate that, so I think we're going to end tonight's session early.

I'll archive this, and keep the thread up and running. If its still here tomorrow afternoon, I'll just continue from here. If not, new thread. As usual, open for questions since I'm not using the thread for main story any more.