Valor Unlimited: Issue 5, A Different World

[flynnarrel]

Split Second

"Wait, rewriting genetic code? Does this thing create permanent or temporary supers?" Derek asks, alarmed. A whole bunch of permanent supers could cut in to his advertising and sponsorship contracts. If supers are more common it's much less spectacular if one is endorsing a certain product.

Erm.... and it would be... bad for ... umm... society too.

He adds just in case Mr. DNA still has a mental connection.

Then he tries to not think about the fact that he was just thinking about that in case the telepath was still 'listening'.

God, Derek hates Telepathy.


He tries to forget that too.

[Lord Fell]

Mr. DNA

Mr. DNA straightens in his chair and swivels to turn towards Justitia and listens intently. "How similar to your abilities are we talking? Could someone be synthesizing a drug from a sample of your blood, for example? Or... if you don't mind my asking, is the source of your power a natural mutation or the result of an alteration?"

"I would assume that someone dealing a drug of this sort would prefer a temporary product; even if they could synthesize something that enacts a permanent change, that doesn't keep their clients coming back for more product. I don't have to do a modeling exercise in human physiology to know that a drug of this sort could cripple the user, even after a single dose. The human body is just not prepared to deal with performing at a super human level, even for short periods of time."

"hmm..."

"My sister, Dora works for the Crime Lab in Salt Lake City. She primarily works in narcotics. I think I would like to bring her in as a consultant on this case. I will admit that my primary motivation isn't work related; when she attended the funeral with Mr. Kamikaze, he noted that Jack Flash's brother was giving her menacing looks." He opens a file on his pad, skims it and taps it again and reads from it. "Bro, I saw plenty of sad faces, but this guy had a mad face, and plans to do something about it. Dora thinks I'm over, but I'm for reals. Mr. Kamikaze's elegant words do lead me to be concerned for her. Regardless, her experience in the field might prove useful."

Mr. DNA ended the mental link when Justitia re-entered, and that was purely a Communications.

[Neo-Paladin]

Justitia

HP:3

Condition: Normal

" No problem. I'm a natural mutant. Developed my powers during puberty...but rather gently, not due to shock or anything. Well, so far we have superhuman strength and superhuman toughness. If I remember right, tougher than me - I am not bulletproof and if anyone ever tells that to my wife, I'm going to kill them - , but they do not have my ability to enhance my speed. So it could be possible that someone took my blood. So far, the effects are temporary. And when the user comes down...well, bad things can happen", Justitia says.

[flynnarrel]

Split Second

Derek noted the fact that Double-K and the Big Brain had to pass notes to communicate as passing interest more than anything else. When he 'split' the two of him were always aware of each others' thoughts, sometimes annoyingly so. It was just interesting to see how it was for anorther person.

The reminder that Justitia was in a lesbian relation was always a point of interest for Derek. She was so 'butch' you'd think it'd be hard to forget, but it usually caught Derek off guard. It was of little matter.

The idea that Nora could be coming over was reassuring. Derek was a bit out of it at the funeral but he recalls her as being quite easy on the eyes. He'd have to make sure there wasn't anything between KK and her. Derek liked his teeth.

"That reminds me. I'll have Margo drop off her resume if she'll interested in the General Manager position." He says quickly so as not to lose the thought.

"So, do we have any place to start with regards to tracking this drug, it's suppliers, or anything else?"

[Neo-Paladin]

Justitia

HP:3

Condition: Normal

" Getting a start should be quite easy. There is at least one person still in the hospital after coming off the drug. We could have a talk with him and ask where he got his stuff from", Justitita commented. Now that they were about to actually do their jobs instead of just talking about how to do them, her interest had noticably perked up.

[Kaisius]

Jackson Wright
HP 2
Cond : Normal

"I'd like to be there when we interview him.", Jackson says. "I'm a...well, I was a psychology major. I'm usually good at reading people (Mainframe notwithstanding)."

[Lord Fell]

Mr. DNA

Mr. DNA pauses with one finger poised above his data slab for a moment. "We seem to be proceeding as if we're going to take this assignment. I think it makes sense that we should, as we have manpower available to take the case, and we could use the income as well as the good will of the police and the public. For the record, is anyone opposed to taking this contract?"

"That might prove a useful skill, Jackson. Especially if I'm not their to do a Reading. I note you're wearing something new, some would even say it was a costume. Are you operating under a nom de plume, going forward?"

[Kaisius]

Jackson Wright
HP 2
Cond: normall

"I note you're wearing something new, some would even say it was a costume. Are you operating under a nom de plume, going forward?"

"Turns out, this was a last gift from Jack. He ordered it a couple of days before he...well,before. His thinking was wearing a costume on the job might let me have some anonymity off of it. I haven't thought much about a codename, yet."

[CaptainChaos]

Nova

"It looks good on you." she said with a slight smile.

Returning to the topic at hand,

"If we can get a blood sample from the survivor, there may still be traces of the drug in their system. We might be able to analyze it to get some clues as to the drug's composition. From there, we might be able to gain enough information to create an antidote of sorts. Something that could be used at range would be very useful, especially for the police."

[Hound]

Mainframe
HP: 3

“An excellent suggestion, Nova. In the mean time I have a few locations that need reconnaissance.” Mainframe entered the room with long strides, wearing his new armor. He spoke without missing a beat, obviously Aya had been relaying the conversation to him. He held in his hands several tablet like devices. He slid them on the table to each member. They were similar to tablets one could by in the store, except these were far more durable, and the operating system was different than any had seen before.

In the top corner of the screen, “AYA” in bold white font could easily be seen. “The moment I heard about this curious case I dug up an old program and made some quick modifications.”

The screen suddenly displayed dozens of charts, pie graphs, grid maps, and an absurd amount of data.

“The kind of equipment required to produce this meta-drug in vast quantities is rare and expensive. The equipment is not ‘controlled’ but the companies that produce it are limited. More often than not, the units are custom made. It’s fairly easy to hack into their customer database and retrieve a list of people who have made any large purchases of equipment or chemicals in the area. Then systematically eliminate buyers.”

“Hospitals, well established research centers, and other prominente businesses with history of similar purchases are placed lower on the list, while first time buyers are placed higher… I did a thorough background check to search out any dummy corporations. Then I cross referenced the location of the businesses with every drug report, arrest, or related crime from all Law enforcement offices.”

“I then cross referenced the results with power consumptions for any irregularities, and recent meta human activity, crimes or other wise.”

“The result is six promising locations. All are first time buyers, close to peak crime areas, abnormally high power consumption, and have reports of new meta’s operating in the area. It would be logical to search these six.”

[Lord Fell]

Mr. DNA

After picking up the pad, and rapidly skimming through the data, Mr. DNA sets it down and nods. "This looks like solid work. We'll probably want to pursue a non-predictive investigation system as well, just to be thorough. There may be other factors to consider such as equipment that was stolen or important from outside the country."

Mr. DNA pauses to look across the table at Justitia. "We're not on the payroll yet for this case, although I can anticipate we'll accept the contract. You'll understand, Mainframe, that we need to insist you get a night's sleep before seeing field duty. You need to get adequate downtime... I would recommend you get at least 4 hours, at least 6 of 7 days. It's possible sleep might be an evolutionary throwback, but we still need it."

[Hound]

Mainframe
HP: 3

"I suggest 4 teams. Team 1, Mr. DNA, obtains blood samples from the hospital. Teams 2 and 3 will be comprised of Nova, Jackson, Justita, and Split Second. They can choose who pairs up with who. They each take three addresses, and check them for leads. Do not engage. Only recon. Once we have an antidote and information we can strike as a team."

"Oh... and Team 4 will be me... sleeping."

[flynnarrel]

Split Second

"Oh, I can go with Nova." Derek says quickly. "We made a great pair against the crazy doctor."

[RedBstrd]

GM Post:

Split Second's declaration that he could accompany Nova provokes a quick exchange of glances between Jackson and the heroine, but neither has a chance to object before the time controller hurries his new partner out the door. Jackson is paired - by process of elimination - with Justitia, who for her part would rather be checking in on her little brother. Lacking any meaningful object to Mainframe's plan, Mr. DNA heads to the hospital alone.

After speaking with nurses, guards, and doctors, he finally reaches the outside of the patient's door. The doctor attending the patient (whose name is Jerry Stairs), warns Mr. DNA that he can't disclose any of the patient's information. A phone call from one of the detectives on the case awarded the hero access to the patient for polite questioning but Dr. McCallister doesn't seem entirely pleased with having a so-called "superhero" who isn't a relative of the patient or a member of the police disturbing the prescribed rest of Mr. Stairs.

Mainframe gets a Hero Point for the complication of having to go and get rest, effectively keeping him out of the action.

[Hound]

Mainframe
HP: 4

"Aya, run a complete diagnostics on the armor, monitor the commlinks of the team for any sign of distress, and continue analyzing the world wide search for leads." The young man said with a yawn as he crawled into bed. His armor laid spread out on his work table as a small droid hovered over it performing standard maintenance.

"Sleep well, Conner." The female voice replied, before dimming the lights in the room.