Some Assembly Required -IC

Relinquishing his attempts at the control panel to Andrew, Jhon tries to pull himself together.
Composure Test
Charisma 3 + Willpower 3
6d6.hits(5) → [2,2,3,3,1,5] = (1 hit)

Though he is still a little freaked, he knows he must work through it and do what he can to help the group through the situation.
The immediate danger is centered on Atashi and Sparks, so he starts to head for them, but Tokko and Shu get there first and prove ineffectual despite their valiant efforts to thwart the creature's attacks.

Once the thing has faded to nothing - is it gone or simply invisible again? he wonders - Jhon manages to get enough of a grip on himself to remember his training.
Second Composure Test
6d6.hits(5) → [3,2,3,2,5,4] = (1 hit)

Taking a few deep breaths and letting the cacophony of frantic thoughts fade from his mind, he begins looking around at the 'crime scene' and letting the details come without the emotional distractions.
Observe in Detail
Perception (Visual) 5 + Intuition 3 + Active Looking 3
11d6.hits(5) → [1,1,1,3,4,5,4,2,4,2,1] = (1 hit) (whew, not a glitch)

Now Jhon lets his mind sift the information with his forensics knowledge and training, hoping to piece together what clues he may find.
Knowledge Forensics
Logic 3 + Forensics 4
7d6.hits(5) → [5,5,2,5,2,1,4] = (3 hits) (oh now I get the hits)

(not much rp now, that will come with results, if any)

Jhon knew he had to get to work. Sure, he was out of his element - hell, he might be somewhere out of his world for all he knew - but wallowing in self-pity or indulging in fear and suspicion were pointless distractions and counterproductive wastes of time.

Remembering Shu's fervent vow to face his enemy at any cost, Jhon realized it was the old man who had unknowingly gotten through to the investigator's core and, lighting it up like a spotlight, shown Jhon what his enemy was -- ignorance. There was too much about this they didn't know...or was there?

He focused on the evidence
1-They had all gone to sleep in their beds and awakened here.
1a-Why us? Could there be something significant about us; and if so, what?
1b-Who brought us here?
1c-To what purpose
2-The technology here is cutting edge -- even beyond.
2a-Who's got that kind of tech?
3-The only others we've seen are either prisoners, drones or Lab Coats So who, or what, is commanding the ones we've seen?
4-Things are responding to our actions. Telepathy? Magical spying? Or the implants Sparks talked about?
4a-We're obviously being monitored but noone's seen any AV devices.
5-We have seen scenes and creatures that only belong in nightmares and horror vids. Where do they come from? Another world? Another dimension?
6-WTF?!?!?!!?

This only leads to more questions.
1. Who has enough power to take us right out of our beds without causing holy chaos in the arcology:
1a-Aliens, but since aliens dont exist....
1b-Another Corp, but Why? And surely the extraction couldn't have been so clean.
1c-MCT....but why and MCT doesn't have this level of biotech that I know of....and a facility like this...and the experiments....
1d-Which leads back to aliens....

An idea began to form in Jhon's mind, but before he could give it the consideration needed, there was something they all, as a group, had to do -- stop running the maze like trained mice and start doing some higher intelligence thinking. They needed a brainstorming session...and quick.

Sparks, still very wobbly from the attempt to crash his node, keeps working[3d6.hits(5) → [3,6,3] = (1) one hit, so we have a grand total of 4 hits so far to stop the elevator]hands still very shaky, and a bit spacey.

Andrew continues to help with the panel as best he can.

[LOG(4) - for defaulting = 3]
[3d6.hits(5) → [3,5,4] = (1)]
http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3261466/

Ricky half sits with Meera watching the elevator doors with great concern.

Jhon feels his stomach give a slight flop as the elevator slows its ascent. He looks at Ricky and Meera staring intently at the door, then around at everyone.

"Folks, before this carnival ride from hell is over and we get to see what's behind door number X, I think we need to find a spot to do some serious brainstorming. We're scurrying around like mice in a maze, for frag's sake. Depending on where we stop, and what we find there, maybe we should compare notes before we leave this elevator car."

Sparks, tinkers some more[3d6.hits(5) → [3,4,6] = (1) for a total of six hits so far.] starting to remind Andrew of how people moved when finals came around, and most people weren't getting too much sleep.

[Come on guys only 2 more hits and i get to figure out where the door opens]

[You do realize I'm trying to stop this thing between the floors, right? That's what tripping the emergency brakes does.]

[...... in that case.... ok guys only one more hit... and i get to find out which floors you stop between]

Sparks finally shouts in triumph[3d6.hits(5) → [5,1,5] = (2) That's one above what was needed, so let's keep those doors closed at the moment] then finds a nice, quiet corner of the elevator to sleep his migraine off.

sleep and rest be a good idea for most of you.... its been an emotionally exhausting day if nothing else. not to mention you have no idea the tme any of you have eaten or drank anything....

(Jhon sits slumped against one wall of the elevator. His stomach rumbles noisily as he peers around at the others' sleeping forms.
'How long since I ate?' he silently wonders.
He figures the actual elapsed time cannot be very long, but the extreme stress of the situation and the increased levels of adrenaline in his system have combined to burn an unbelievable amount of calories. He is famished.

His stomach growls more insistently.

His gaze falls on Ricky and Meera lying together near the door. He notices that Meera's jumpsuit leg has pulled up in her sleep enough to expose a fair length of her calf. Saliva suddenly floods Jhon's mouth and he swallows reflexively to avoid drooling in his lap.

'What am I thinking?!' his mind cries out, but a deeper, darker part of him imagines his teeth sinking into the girl's tender flesh.

He glances around surrepticiously at the group, making sure no one looks like waking soon, then cautiously begins to move toward the sleeping girl.

Kneeling beside Meera, he lowers his face close to the exposed calf and inhales deeply through his nose. The aroma is intoxicating. More saliva coats his mouth and a thin line drips from his lower lip and hangs for a moment before falling to the floor.

Jhon's resistance snaps and he lunges his head forward, teeth tearing into Meera's leg.

'NO!' his mind screams as a soft, meaty chunk of flesh is torn off and he begins to chew-)

Jhon startles out of the dream, his head thumping the wall as he flails back from the nightmare image, his teeth banging together to hold back the scream of revulsion and horror boiling up in his throat. Sweat beads on his forehead and he raises a trembling hand to his mouth, feeling for blood.
Finding none, he looks quickly at the shapes of Ricky and Meera - at Meera's bare calf. The girl's flesh is undamaged.

Heaving a sigh of relief, Jhon shakes his head, dispelling the last vestiges of the nightmare, and, leaning his head back against the wall, slowly descends again into restless slumber.

Ricky's sleep is a bit fitful, but quiet. He is exhausted and a deep sleeper. He holds onto Meera lightly, protrective even in his sleep.

Atashi stays seated along the wall wince she moved to upon regaining control of herself. she didn't go to sleep but was running through everything mentally with what happened during the day. she replayed some of the key moments again, watching as everything unfolded before her. she searched her link to see if it recorded anything of what happened when she got inside of the creatures head. and what she remembered of it trying to figure it out.

Memory tests Logic + Will (10d6.hits(5)=4)

Atashi: As you are checking your 'link do find that all the data that Spark's upload to it is gone. Your programs remain. And as best as you can tell from the 'links records, you never went anywhere. I shows you fighting the specter and then suddenly the specter was gone, according to the internal clock no time passed between one moment to the next the you are sure you must have been in the other place for 10 minutes or so.

Sparks rolls over in his sleep, his leg kicking out at something as he mutters something, then subsides.

(LOL @ Faust!)

Jagger wrote:

(LOL @ Faust!)

[Hey, you finally got it right!]

His random bouts of fitfulness in his sleep eventually end him up over by Atashi, with his head in her lap. It seems the addition of something to cushion his head helps him, as he stop occasionally kicking in his sleep.

(Yeah, sorry about that. I'll make it up to all those whose names I've wrecked by changing my name to Mzpelt, ok?)

Shu takes a deep sigh before sitting against a corner of the elevator, putting his legs into the meditative stance of the upward lotus. It has been a long day, and he is both physically and mentally exhausted. He is tempted to take the dose of Psyche hiding in his tooth, but he decides to hold off. I just need some sleep now. He performs a few thaumaturgical equations in his head before drifting off to sleep.

As Atashi comes back to her sences and from contemplating the events of the day she realises that theres more weight on her lap than previously. she looks down and sees Sparks. she furrows her brow closing her eyes and swings down on his head with her fist as hard as she can. then gets up and moves to the oposite end of the lift to go to sleep.

Sparks goes back to his occasional fitfulness when Atashi moves, not even waking up when she hits him. It looks like he was already hurting worse than she could do to him when he laid down.