Alright. For future reference, you're both in the Room O Mirrors in Xivilai's place, after the meeting. Margie left to get something, Togo and Rina have gone through one of the windows/mirrors/gateways, Jackie went off on her own, Sayrui is pestering Xivilai about something. [SESSION START] So, um... You speak English, Yoji? Yeah. Okay, that makes things easier. You have any ideas where to go? Er, no. Why would I? ^^;; Just making sure. Assumptions get you killed. Xivilai? You ready to send us through? Margie comes back into the room, walking her motorcycle along. It seems very out of sorts here. ...uhuh. Xivilai turns to reguard Robert while Sayuri and Margie have a chat. "Yes. Do you have a particular place in mind?" Washington DC, the Pentagon. That's the only workable idea I have. Isn't that, y'know, kinda dangerous? Yep. How are we gonna get back? (I believe each group was handed a Trump last real session.) ( Ah. ) (And if that isn't so... assume it is anyway. ^_^) "Simply concentrate on the card with my image that I gave to you." "As for this 'pentagon', picture it in your mind and I will be able to use the window to send you there. Fine with me. I don't wanna know how the tech works, just so long as it _does_ work. * Robert gets a good picture of the Pentagon in his head. * Yoji smiles a little at the mention of 'tech'. You have your bracers, Yoji? Yeah. Good, good. Xivilai clutches the side of Robert's head with one hand. * Robert shudders. * Yoji gulps a bit and watches the two of them. Xivilai lets go and turns to the window, which changes to show a picture of what remains of the Pentagon; it's missing pieces. Oh my. Eep. That can't be good. Is...does your plan still work? I don't know. I don't know where the real wartime HQ is, though. Nobody does except the pilots that fly there. Xivilai frowns. "What was so special about this place?" It's military HQ, basically. "Ah. Headquarters for whom?" The United States. If I can, I'm going to try to enlist what's left of the military. I've got no idea if it'll work, but I can certainly try. * Yoji chews on his lower lip. Xivilai nods. "If I understand the situation correctly, there wouldn't be a 'united states' anymore?" No, there wouldn't. But the military might still be there. Or pieces of it, at least. "They'd doubtless be scattered, however." She seems lost in thought for a moment, and then Sayuri interrups. Xivilai begs your pardon while she sends Sayuri and Margie on their way. Do...do you really think they'd join us, if you could find them? Maybe. (BRB) (...) ( You being forced away from computer? ) (No. Just wondering what's taking so long. ^^; ) (Back. ^6;) ( /me pops Yu's eyeball back in. ) (And I'm dealing with Demo and people in /msg. Sorry.) (Resume!) ( Kay. ) In any case, this is our first stop. Alright... If there's nothing here, we'll try hitting SAC in Omaha. After that... we'll burn that bridge when we come to it. What's that? Strategic Air Command. Is the mirror ready, Xivilai? Xivilai nods. "Picture the location in your head, as before." Oh, no, you've got it set already. We're going to try this one, first. Xivilai nods. "Very well. In that case, it is ready." Thank you. * Robert steps through the mirror, trying hard not to think about how it works. * Yoji follows Robert through the mirror, thinking about how cool it is. You appear outside of the Ruins of Pentagon. Doesn't that sound neat? ^_^ ...okay, maybe not, but anyway. *ahem* It appears to be autumn around you; the few trees still standing are loosing their leaves, which have turned color now. * Robert looks around for any movement from the surrounding area. * Yoji glances about. The area around you is pockmarked with craters of all sizes. There doesn't seem to be much in the way of life. Wow...looks like they hit this place hard. * Robert cracks his neck and then starts towards the Pentagon. * Yoji follows Robert. The front door is open, along with about two hundered feet of wall. You can just walk in if you want. Christ, this guy's got a lot of power. * Robert walks right in. * Yoji continues to follow. Wow... The air inside is dank with a smell you can't identify. ( How bright is it? ) (Not very. There is no lighting other than sunlight from outside.) I'm glad I got these goggles. Very, very glad. Wandering around the pentagon in the dark isn't my idea of a good time. * Robert puts on his low-light gogs. * Yoji puts his pair on as well. With the low-light goggles, you can see human remnants that you weren't able to notice before. There are dozens of skeletons scattered about in dark places, most of them picked completely clean. Urk. ... * Yoji goes very pale. * Robert reaches into his coat and withdraws his now-magical autopistol. I don't like this at all. * Robert proceeds deeper into the Pentagon. There's something here... Can you tell where? * Yoji follows. "No. But close. It's bad." Bad as in evil, or bad as in really, really powerful? Dunno about power. But it's horrible...maybe we should go back? A loud chittering sound rises around you, like the sound of cicadas but much louder. It seems to be coming from below you, if from any one direction at all. ... Um...let's go back. Please? * Robert puts away his pistol and pulls out Reason. Yes. I think that's best. Stay behind me. * Robert starts backing toward the entrance, swiftly tapping in the sequence to turn on Reason's sensors. * Yoji follows behind Robert, nervously looking around the corridor. Can we call Xivilai to pull us out? Speed up, Yoji. I don't think it's strictly necessary. Not yet. * Yoji does so. (Which one of you has the card, anyway?) (Robert, pretty sure. ) * Robert speeds up, backing away from the bloody insect things. * Robert pulls the card out of his pocket and holds it backwards toward Yoji. Get ready to get us out of here. * Yoji takes the card. * Robert goes back to his white-knuckled grip on Reason. * Yoji starts concentrating on the image. The noise stays with you for as long as you remain inside the building ruins. You ready, Yoji? Yeah. Let's get out of here. * Yoji focusses on the image of Xivilai on the card. The air shimmers to your right, and then coalesces into an image of the room of windows. C'mon, Robert. Go. I'll be right behind you. * Yoji steps through. You suddenly hear the noise of claws scratching on the floor beneath you. * Robert jumps through. Close it, quick. Xivilai nods, and the window becomes a mirror. * Robert sets reason down gently and slumps to the floor. Xivilai frowns. "Did something go wrong?" * Yoji lets out a big sigh of relief. "That was SCARY!" To quote an old, old movie... "They're coming out of the walls!" Though in this case, it was more the floor. Xivilai nods. "Interesting. Is 'they' that odd noise I heard?" He let some sort of creatures into the place. They ate everyone. Yes, it was. * Yoji shudders. They were insectoid, and ranged in size from wee to frickin' huge. You saw them? Reason's got good sensors. * Yoji nods. "I could FEEL them there. They're...horrible." If I had the firepower, I'd have sterilized the building. Xivilai nods. "No doubt these are the beasts that were used to supplement the army that took over your world." Okay... one more try, and then I'm out of immediate ideas. * Robert stands up and walks over to Xivilai. * Robert pictures strongly the image of Offut Air Force Base, in Omaha, Nebraska. Xivilai raises an eyebrow, and grabs Robert's head again. * Robert shudders again, no less strongly. Xivilai lets go, and shows an image of another partially ruined building; this one isn't so bad, tho. The door isn't even torn off. Let's go. * Robert picks up Reason and steps through the mirror. * Yoji follows him through. You stup out on one of the service roads for the facility. Nearby is a low-lying office complex for the base, with a single car parked outside it; an old Cadillac El Dorado convertible. It looks to be in excellent condition. * Robert checks the sensors to make sure they're still on and then starts toward the base. * Yoji walks after Robert. The glass double doors to the office center are closed, but don't seem to be locked. The hangars are open and, from where you stand, they seem to all be empty. Open the doors, please. And get out of the way as soon as you can. Reason is a little... inaccurate, and I don't want to accidentally perforate you. * Yoji opens the door, then gets the heck out of the way. * Robert steps through the doors. * Yoji goes through after Robert. You hear the sound of footsteps on a tile floor; they appear to be coming your way. * Robert checks the sensors. Whoever is coming, he she or it is big. * Yoji puts up his shield. The footsteps grow nearer, and eventually someone rounds the corner. It's Richard. He doesn't seem to be watching where he's going, but is instead scribbling on a small notepad as he goes. Richard? You're not dead? Richard! What are you doing here? Richard stumbles, breaks his pencil on accident and looks at the both of you. "Huh? ...Yoji? Robert? What the hell are *you* doing here? ...wait, if you're here, you're not dead! That's great! Unless I'm hallucinating. That would be less great." If you're hallucinating, that means I'm dead. If I'm dead, you're screwed. So how about we both agree we're not hallucinating? "Sounds good to me. Who else is here?" * Yoji scratches the back of his head. Well, theoretically, everybody is alive. The only person whose whereabouts are unknown is the old guy. At least, of our little group. Right now, we're scattered all over the world, trying to rally some resistance. "Old guy? Oh, grampa. I left him with some friends. He's safe." Richard nods. "Good to hear. I'd been at pretty much the same thing, but it's been slow going. Where've you guys been?" I don't know, we're all out right now. "I mean, where have you been this past month?" Time differences. Xivilai scattered us all over the multiverse. "Oh. Same here, I guess; woke up in a tobacco field in South Carolina." He shakes his head. "Anyway, nobody's home, here. From the lack of excessive property damage and eaten corpses, I'd guess they surrendered after the Pentagon fell, or something. Certainly doesn't seem there was much of a fight." I don't suppose you know where NORAD is? * Yoji shivers a bit at the mention of the Pentagon. "Other than 'in a mountain'? Nope. Although that's a good idea, really. In fact, the computers here seem to all be intact, so maybe I can get something off of them." Let's try. I don't have any real skill with them, how about you, Yoji? No, not really. (::eyes the time:: Alright. Question time.) ( I can keep going indefinitely. I've got coffee and hot chocolate. ) ( Whatever. ) (I can't. I have a headache and less sleep than I'd like to.) ( Well, fuck. ) ( Hence the question, about what to do if/when you find NORAD. You can either go to it right now, and I'll keep running as long as it takes, or you can decide to go there with everyone else tomorrow in the regular session.) ( Okay, in the interests of Yoji and Robert not getting their fool asses killed because Yu is frustrated, tired, and in pain, I say we get the others. Yon? ) ( Sure. ) (Alright. I'll summarise, then; Richard manages to find the location of NORAD thanks to a list of passwords he got from the 'friends' he left his grandfather with. You decide to take everyone with you, for whatever reason, and head back to Xivilai's place after Richard stashes his car somewhere safe.) (Sorry about this, guys.) ( Just relax and everything will work out. ) [SEMISORTASESSION END.]