Twinkle Twinkle Little Star - IC

Scarlet raised an eyebrow at the tonal shift in Sha's voice. Another tad of information that was tucked away in the back of her head as she began to think what these two had been through before tonight.

She looked at Darkon as he addressed her. Even going as far as calling her a young lady. "Young? I haven't been called that in at least a decade. Still thanks for the kind words you old smoothie." She said with a half smile as she took his hand in hers waiting for him to do his thing. "Looks like my guess was spot on you are also awakened like your teammate."

She looked around. "We are visually concealed by your spirits correct?" If she received any assurance of that she reached beneath her greatcoat and rested a hand on the grip for the SMG that hung from its sling.

Gala wrote:

"Yup. Ready." She said, turning to Mississippi.
Sha'hGrim's feet lifted off the ground ever so slightly as the spell took affect. She hovered there for an imperceptible moment, not more than a 1/2 inch above the ground. But she was no longer "standing". Her posture shifted slightly, as it was no longer supporting itself with muscles. She was straighter, somehow. It was a peculiar look, as a levitating metahuman is not something seen every day. Despite being peculiar, it was perfectly appropriate to her homeostasis - it seemed right, given the new way in which she was affected by gravity.
"Ok, you ready?" She asked him, grinning. Her voice changed subtly, the tone going from defensive to offensive, somehow. It had a deeper inflection, and carried more musical intonation - somehow the voice was thicker, while not being "lower".
"You're about to be picked up and carried by a cute girl. That gunna be ok?" She asked, her grin widening. Her eyes twinkled a bit. Either this was a joke to her, or something in her outlook had just shifted. It was hard to tell though, since the group had somewhat resolved the "aggressive" posturing more than a minute ago - so this change, if it was natural, should have happened then. But it didn't. It happened now.
Sha'hGrim's feet lifted off the ground approximately 6 inches, bringing her face level with Mississippi's. She floated closer, to about arm's reach, and winked. Then floated closer still.

Mississippi is many things, but slow is not one of them. He assumes this is some sort of game. Having been the companion of a cat shaman convinced she was a witch, he knew something about regaining composure in the face of blatant flirting that had no meaning what so ever. He merely smiles at her. "Ready when you are milady. And it's hardly the first time I've been picked up by a cute girl, but it has been a while." The double meaning was obvious enough, but he keeps his tone professional and even, so she can tell he is just playing along without assuming anything.

Gala wrote:

A moment later, Sha'hGrim shook her head.
"Ugh..." Sha'hGrim said, touching down. She immediately took a step back, putting her hand to her head.
"Sorry. We've had a rough couple of days. I think my concentration is wearing a bit thin... That was the Spirit talking just a moment ago. Well, sort of. They can be a bit... Primal, for lack of a better description." She said, again lifting slightly off the ground. She looked over at Darkon, noting the look on his face. This time, Sha'hGrim really wasn't sure what had happened. But her apology had been sincere enough - and as honest as she could make it. Maybe it was the Spirit's actions showing through a bit. Her Channeling metamagic allowed her to retain direct control over her own actions while possessed, but she was still a young magician, and it wouldn't surprise her in the least if this sort of thing did occasionally break through her otherwise normal intentions.
"Umnm... Right. Despite the Spirit's influence there, I do actually need your permission to levitate you." She said, her voice retreating to it's more "timid" version of itself. To Darkon, this would sound much more like the "old" Sha'hGrim. But even to Mississippi and Scarlet, the tonal change would be obvious. If there was a "true" version of Sha'hGrim, this one was a lot closer to it than the last one.

He nods. "You have it." While he certainly noticed, he didn't make a big deal out of it. Del and Bella were both odd ducks, and this sort of oddity from an awakened runner didn't surprise him that much. A lack of it would surprise him.

Her compliment made him grin. "You are welcome. The shaman held her hand while the spell made Scarlet lose contact with the ground. "It would be quite useless to hide that fact from you. If we get into real trouble at last I would have to reveal my powers. So you better know what to expect now than lose precious seconds through confusion later." When she was floating next to him, he said: "We don't actually need to hold hands to keep you airborne, but it tends to keep people a little bit less nervous."

Holding a beautiful elf girls hand was a bonus, too.

"The spirit does not make us invisile. But it makes it a lot more difficult to notice us."

Darkon waited for Sha'hGrim and Mississippi to join them. "Have you run out of fairydust?"

Sha'hGrim smirked at Darkon's comment. It wouldn't have been visible, at least not to the eye, since her face was covered by the silk scarf, but her aura would have shown her amusement. His comment was definitely appropriate and well timed.
"Ahm... Yeah, let's go with that." She responded as Mississippi started to lift up off the ground.
"Oh, nope, guess it's not lost... Maybe it just needed to warm up a bit?" Of course, magic didn't work that way. But Sha'hGrim appreciated Darkon's humor most of the time, and his timing had been nigh on perfect.

Spellcasting Force 1 Levitate on Mississippi: 2 Hits, only 1 counts | 2Hits, no Drain

Sha'hGrim and Mississippi followed Darkon and Scarlet up toward the roof of the building, moving at approximately a walking pace. Sha'hGrim would have happily cast a higher force spell on just herself, and zipped up there at a full run, but she didn't want to risk it at the moment. It wasn't a life-threatening situation yet, so the extra force wasn't necessary for this situation. At least, as far as she could tell. Of course, there could be surprises... Sha'hGrim hoped she was prepared for that.
Chasky started to stalk the area around the outside of the building. He would be near impossible to see even without the Spirit's concealment, as this was literally his element, and with his own possessing Spirit to aid him, he was a master, even an artist, at the moment. Chasky was definitely in a good position, and Sha'hGrim was happy to have him outside, protecting her back, and her getaway. She would have preferred to have him with her, but she really didn't trust a third sustained spell at the moment - not for this.

As the team started to drift up and across the street to the roof of the warehouse they could see one lone individual starting to walk along on the sidewalk, not seeming to be paying too much attention to their surroundings. Meanwhile the drone that was paroling the perimeter of the building continued it's equally solitary spraying of the area around it with who knows what sort of chemicals as it puttered along at a moderate pace. The roof itself was fairly plain, almost featureless in fact save for a few vents, the occasional small reinforced window and a solitary door that was obviously for use by maintenance to gain rooftop access.

GM Note: Before proceeding further, everyone please make a perception (visual) check. For those of you using astral sight, please use the relevant perception roll. Keep in mind present conditions represent 'Low-Light'.

The whole time everything seemed nice and quiet. The drone merrily hummed along with the low hiissss of sprayed chemicals, the slow scuff/scrape of the individual walking down the sidewalk and even a low occasional out of tune humming they were making could all be heard. This high up the sight wasn't too bad either, most buildings in the area were fairly well lit and there were a few obvious security cameras or drones here and there mostly tending to their own assorted properties. In the end though it was obvious that most of the security in the neighbourhood was decent, but cheap. This building alone stood out just a little from all it's neighbours, as if it had tried a little too hard to be inconspicuous.

Sha'hGrim floated upward, serenely watching the world pass her by. Still focusing solely on the Astral, Sha'hGrim let her gaze wander about, taking in any possibly magical threats, or even beings in the area of interest. - I wonder what we look like from the ground...? Sha'hGrim thought idly, keeping her mind busy while studying the roof and surrounding area (but mostly the roof) for any signs of potential danger, or defensive forces laying in wait for a nice rooftop ambush. - I've been ambushed enough... She responded to herself.
"Incoming." Chasky's Spirit reported to her. "I am circling around behind him." It finished it's thought, letting Sha'hGrim know that something was up, someone was out there, and she should have been paying attention to more than just the roof. - Wait... No I shouldn't. Her mind argued. - In fact, his report is proof that we're splitting up duties appropriately. She bolstered herself a bit, and took a good look at the "incoming" person Chasky's Spirit had identified.

Chasky's Assensing: 8 Hits
Chasky's Perception: 3 Hits - That's funny... It makes sense that the Spirit would see better in Astral.
Sha'hGrim's Assensing: 0 Hits, No Glitch

"Chasky Reports an incoming meta. He hasn't given me any details yet. I can't focus on the meta and the rooftop and the spell... Anyone else got a bead on the target?" Sha'hGrim reported over the comm. She was annoyed that she couldn't get a clear look at the incoming meta, but understood. She'd been under a lot of stress lately, and the sustained spell was splitting her focus.
"You could use my help." The Spirit offered from within her.
"Yes, but I don't know when the next time I will have access to the metaplanes is. And while I will gladly donate further magic to our bond, strengthening your hold on this world, I am not sure when next I will be able to. I need to save your strength here for truly important uses. Perhaps if Chasky's Spirit doesn't think to Assense the meta, I will rely on your strength and skill. Sha'hGrim responded. The idea of her running out of services before she could return home and renew them was nearly terrifying to her. The service of Spirits, and this one in particular, had made the difference between life and death too many times for her to be willing to risk losing this Spirit's help at this point. Not unless she absolutely had to.
"Yes. You are right. And I too welcome your next chance to strengthen our bond." The Spirit responded. Sometimes Sha'hGrim wasn't certain whether or not the Spirit actually enjoyed working with her. But it had been more than helpful, at times when it had not needed to. She suspected that her long-standing relationship with the Spirit was something of a boon to it, and mostly appreciated, if not entirely. One day she would make a journey to the metaplanes and learn more about Spirits. But not this day.

As Chasky stalked after the individual coming down towards the building along the sidewalk, he could see the individual was carrying a box of some sort under one arm and as he approached closer it seemed to be some sort of old shoe box. The individual, once close enough to actually properly read their aura turned out to be a slightly older mundane human male who seemed fairly content and otherwise oblivious of his surroundings. Merely someone minding their own business and passing through for one reason or another. Meanwhile as the group drifted towards the rooftop Mississippi and Scarlet noticed oddly enough there were assorted low laying poles scattered about the rooftop that appeared to be some sort of exhaust pipes.

The earth spirit travelled alongside them effortlessly. "I see nothing dangerous in that person on the street." It declared smugly. Darkon was getting the slightiest bit annoyed by its smug attitude, not even realizing at the moment how smug he could seem himself at times.

Darkon let himself and his passenger float above the roof. "Mississippi, can you check if there are pressure sensors on the roof?" He asked quietly. "You never know wether you're more paranoid than the people you're visiting." The shaman had to divide his attention between keeping them afloat and observing their surroundings, but he thought he managed not too badly, concidering that he was feeding two different weaves of mana at the same time.

"I'm less worried about pressure sensors than I am in what all those tubes are for. Those look to be exhaust tubes. If so that would be a glaring weakness in an otherwise perfect security plan, which tells me it's not a weakness at all, but a trap. Could be some sort of awakened plant security system, or they could hide something more technological in nature. Any chance one of you guys can give me a good astral look at those pipes. Either way, don't actually set us down on the roof itself just yet. Hang us above the edge while we figure out our next move. Look for some sort of walking access or path."


Magical Threats (7 dice pool=2 hits) (what could possibly be used in this situation)
Scan for hidden nodes (satellite, not wireless) again (12 dice pool=3 hits)
Perception test to see if I can see any further details about the pipes or the roof itself (including pressure sensors); includes vision enhancement 3, thermographic, and nightvision. (10 dice =5 hits)

Scarlet was nodding to herself as Mississippi spoke. At this moment what the exhaust pipes were for was anyone's guess. "Could be awakened critters or possibly it's just the exhaust from multiple heating systems. Could be anything for all we know." He hand tightened and then relaxed a bit on the grip of her SMG as she took a closer look at the roof. She activated the thermal option on her helmet to see if the exhaust was heated. If it was it could just be an exhaust from a heating system.

Perception roll for roof and vents
14d6.hits(5)=4

Intuition 5 + Perception 4 + Attention Coprocessor 3 + Vision enhancement +2

When the team started to examine the roof a little more closely what seemed to be exhaust ports didn't appear to emit enough heat to make them stand out in thermal, nor did they seem particularly interesting on the Astral. However they did seem to be placed in what first appeared to be a random pattern but upon closer examination clearly had a defined layout. From a magical perspective Mississippi couldn't see them having any particular use but more importantly several of you could finally spot spider web thin wires running between the posts and the ever so subtle rise on the roof that would potentially indicate the presence of hidden pressure pads. The obstacles were hardly impossible to pass but clearly they created something of a maze intended to catch anyone attempting entry via the roof. What Mississippi did recognize as he tried to examine the setup with anti-magic use in mind, was that it was entirely inadequate for the task where magic was concerned. At least this particular part would do little to deter most mages and shaman much less spirits and likely pose only a slight challenge to the likes of adepts.

"He's Boring." Chasky's Spirit told Sha'hGrim as he turned away from the man on the side walk and returned to prowling the grounds looking for threats. Chasky's Spirit was convinced that the man on the side walk was no threat, and now worth worrying about. And while he was probably right, Sha'hGrim had a nagging suspicion that there was a good reason to keep an eye on him, though she didn't have enough services at the moment to require that.
"Ok. Thanks for the update." She said, muttering an internal prayer that if the sidewalk guy turned out to be dangerous, Chasky would happen to be close at the time, and in position to do something about it. Sha'hGrim knew all too well that there were Adepts who could turn off their enhancements and appear normal. Magicians who had some minor 'Ware, and would appear entirely mundane until they started raining down fiery death! And she knew that she couldn't afford the service right now to order Chasky's Spirit to keep an eye on the guy.

"I got nothing on the guy on the sidewalk." Sha'hGrim reported to the group over the commlink. She didn't really know what else to say. At the moment, with her attention split between two weaves, she was mostly occupied with her spells, and only had the barest amount of attention left over for danger management.
"I'm getting that "ominous" feeling from you." Her Spirit noticed.
"Yeah. I don't have any specific reason for it, but I'm feeling very uncomfortable at the moment. I'm considering putting myself down on the edge of the building, and continuing Mississippi's flight across the rooftop as a single spell. At least that way I'll have some focus left over for defense. I mean, I'm feeling vulnerable, and I don't like it. My house..." She stopped short of listing all the reasons why she was feeling vulnerable. But certainly having had her "sanctuary" breached would impinge on her feeling of safety in general. It would likely look all done, cleaned up, and perhaps even refurnished before she returned. Insurance would take care of all of that. But there was a good chance she would need to go back on the grid within a day or two, just to keep her place from being deed-transferred.
"Stop It!" The Spirit sternly ordered, taking her to task for letting her thoughts wander so dramatically.
"Stay focused!"
"You're right. Thank you." She responded, being honest with her thanks. This Spirit had seen her through many hairy situations, and it's influence, skill, and knowledge had been invaluable to her survival. This was yet another example of why her trust was well placed.
"He seems utterly mundane, in every way. Other than it being strange for someone to be out here at this time of night, I can't think of another reason to pay any attention to him." She said over the commlink, finishing her thought.

"So, what now? Do you guys see any defenses up here?" Sha'hGrim asked over the team channel as she, Mississippi, Darkon, and Scarlet all floated quietly up over the lip of the roof. She looked down at what appeared to her to be an undefended, forgettably boring roof. And her internal alarms went off as she noticed that the roof appeared otherwise boring. - Nothing is ever "boring" when on a 'run. It just doesn't happen. And when it looks that way, it just means that the "fun stuff" is hiding! She told herself, trying to look harder at the roof.
"Sorry to say, I'm too focused on the spells to see much. Roof looks undefended to me. Probably means there's some goodies hiding there, and I just can't see 'em right now." She admitted over the team channel. She was doing her part, so it didn't bother her to not see whatever defenses were obviously there. Otherwise she would be pissed.
"Yeah, I agree. There's never any such thing as an undefended roof. If it looks like it, then look harder." The Spirit concurred with her.
"Ugh, I know. Remember that time when..." She began what turned in to a fairly well-detailed recollection of a not-so-distant near-miss she and her Spirit had survived.
"Do you suppose there is some monowire here, then, attached to some sort of spell trigger? Like that time?" The Spirit asked, after helping Sha'hGrim recall the whole scenario.
"Well, geez... I guess there could be!" Sha'hGrim replied, shuddering at the memory. Fortunately the spell had been physical. If it had been a mana spell, she and the Spirit may not have survived - and they knew it! It's crazy how many times a 'run can turn in to merely the lucky, and the dead... Sha'hGrim waited for the rest of the team to respond before offering up some of what the Spirit had helped her remember as potential dangers on an otherwise "boring" roof like this one.

Darkon asked the spirit: "Galathea. Can you get us inside the building safely? For example by removing that monowire? It is extremely sharp, so be careful please."

It answered: "I will take a careful look."

He floated over the roof, the attractive Scarlett right next to him. "Unless one of you can cut monowire?" He thought for a moment. "I'd prefer not to touch it, pun well intended. Even more so that they could be attached to triggers, hand grenades or simply alarms... But I am not sure if I could snake my way around the wire to the door." He never had been the fittest or nimblest. Though he was in much better shape than fifty years ago. "One way or the other, we need to get in there. Preferably without being noticed. And even more preferably... in one piece."

Mississippi answered Darkon. "Give me a moment. I think I can open the door without affecting the mono-wire, but there are going to be alarms. Scarlet or I will deal with the physical security, can one of you send a scout in to tell us what is on the other side of the door? I'd rather not open to a turret or guard in my face. I'm certain Scarlet would feel the same way."

Perception 10 dice (to find the wiring or switch or sensor that would trigger the alert if the door was opened) - 2 hits

"Monowire?" Sha'hGrim asked, not really surprised. As she had suspected, the seemingly undefended roof was hiding some goodies.
"There, that's some fun! Now what kind of anchored spell do you suppose is hiding at the end of each strand?" The Spirit piped in, amused by the accuracy of it's suggestions to Sha'hGrim.
"Yeah, let's hope that this particular trap is just mechanical. That will be enough fun all by itself!" Sha'hGrim responded. Monowire was a serious hazard, and she didn't have the tools to take care of it herself.
"You could just blast it..." The Spirit offered, likely already knowing that Sha'hGrim would prefer, if at all possible, not to go that route. Besides which, she was already sufficiently burdened with her currently sustained spells that casting another one was perhaps more than she really wanted to extend herself at the moment.
"Yeah. I could. Thanks for that." She responded, her mental voice dripping with sarcasm. The spirit's amusement was immediately heightened. She could tell that her response was precisely what the Spirit had had in mind when it made the comment.
"Umm... Yeah, we can get eyes inside. But it's a lot easier if the door is open just a crack. Pushing in through the door takes a lot more work than slipping through the cracks." Sha'hGrim responded to Mississippi's question. She had a few ways to deal with looking around inside. But the first hurdle to cross was whether she or Darkon would have to press through the door, or if they could merely send a spirit or watcher through the crack after the door was opened.

Scarlet smiled at Mississippi's words and then listened as Sha spoke about opening it up a bit to make it easier. she keyed her sub-vocal mic. "Getting the door open shouldn't be much of a problem. Probably easier than traversing the mono-wire they have laid out for any would be unwanted types." She paused for a second and smiled. "Like us for instance."

She looked at area of the door and the "pathway" that the mono-wire provided. Looking for any tell-tail sign of an alarm system or pressure pads on the walkway that might be in place. "As for what's on the other side I agree with Mississippi nothing would be preferred. If there's a guard or drone of some sort this little jaunt is already a failure. Eyes inside is the best bet."

On a note about the discussion over opening the door, the lot of you know that the real trick at this point isn't getting the door opened so much as it is opening the door without potentially setting off any alarms or other things on the other side of it (or potentially triggered by forcing it open etc). Still it at least appears to be a standard maglock door so theoretically shouldn't be any harder to trick etc.

"If I weren't keeping the lady and myself above the monowire, I could probably go take a look inside. Even at the risk of entering a manavoid. As the situation is, I first need to set us down in a place with enough room for me to slump."

Darkon peered over the roof for such a spot. "And such a place should preferably be out of any sensors range." He grinned. "Oh yes I know. I am an optimist."

The spirit took that moment to comment: "I can look inside. And I can remove this thin wire. Although it might hurt a bit."

Darkon replied: "I know you can look inside. But can you do that without releasing our concealment? And the wire might be attached to sensors themself.

Galathea nodded. "Of course I can." It said proud. "You need to get inside somehow, right? Unless you want to float out here all night." It smirked, being sure of its own intelectual superiority over the shaman.

Darkons eyebrows narrowed. "I will have the spirit cut the wires around the door so we can land. We have to get in one way or the other. Unless anyone of you can tell me there are sensors attached to them. Then I will take a look inside astrally. And then we can proceed." He looked at the others inquisitive. "Or do you have a better idea?"

"And I was just starting to get to like the idea of floating out here all night!" Sha'hGrim responded sarcastically. While not all situations are the "right place and time" for some humor, this one hadn't progressed to that extreme. At least not yet. And Sha'hGrim was perfectly comfortable attempting her humor as long as there was no active combat to make that a terrible idea.
"But if you insist..." She finished with a dramatic sigh. She may be distracted by her spells, but she still had enough brainpower left over to laugh at herself. She kept it on the subvocal level though - laughing lightly over the team comm channel.
"We could have broken that monowire." The Spirit suggested to Sha'hGrim.
"No doubt you are correct. But there's no good reason for me to tempt fate before I must. If Darkon's companion can take care of this for us, saving us the chance of getting unlucky, then we'll let his companion take care of this." She responded.
"Mmmm... Indeed. But it would have been fun to show that Spirit a thing or two." The Spirit responded, with more humor than pride in it's voice.
"Ha! Yes, well, let's survive the mission first, and we can go for a grudge match afterward, ok?" She retorted, giving in to the Spirit's humor. She could tell that her sentiment was appropriate, and appreciated. The Spirit responded with a similar level of amusement.

"Give me a minute and I'll check for pressure plate triggers with the wire." With that he uses the vision magnification at his disposal and scans the mono-wire and pressure plates for where it might hook to an alarm trigger (3 hits). It wasn't a wireless based trigger, as he'd have already discovered that.

Mike's search turns up little direct sign of there being an alarm, though he feels he can't quite positively rule out the possibility that one could still be hard wired in. Certainly he can see the pressure plates all seem to have thin optical cables leading towards the various tubes that are nearby as well as to each other, forming a sort of redundancy if one line was cut. Not impossible to bypass, simply more time consuming. Still the pressure pads were more sparsely placed about than the wire though there seemed to be several near the door itself. None the less, careful steps could still reach the door and avoid directly stepping on, and thus triggering them.

As Scarlet gets the lock, Mississippi extends the briefcase into it's SMG format and checks that its magazine is inserted correctly. He then mentally charges the bolt with the Smartlink and gets ready to mow down anyone on the other side. The stick and shock may not be lethal, but they will do the job he needs them to.

He nods to the others. "Ready."

Having finally released the levitate spell to let Mississippi conduct his search, Sha'hGrim took the moment afforded by his and Scarlet's work to take a breather and re-collect her head.
"That spell affected you more than it should have." The Spirit offered, perhaps as a consolation of sorts.
"Yeah, I think it did. Magic is pretty predictable; but there are times when it sneaks up on me. Even now, after all these years of practice. I've had amazing success where I expected nothing of the sort. And I've had an important and strong spell fizzle when I had every expectation of the opposite. While it generally behaves as I plan, and expect it to, I am still surprised by it. As I am still surprised by Chasky and Jenny from time to time." Sha'hGrim responded, smiling at the thought of her two closest friends and allies. She had survived as many scrapes because of Jenny and Chasky as she had because of the Spirit she was working with. And she did the best she could to let them know.
"Indeed. Now be ready." The Spirit responded, reminding Sha'hGrim not to allow her attention to wander for long.
Sha'hGrim settled in to a crouch, trusting that the roof tile Mississippi had indicated as "safe" would actually be that. She readied herself and her magic for whatever she would need to respond to on the other side of the door ahead.
"Now is one of those times that I wish I had a deflection spell..." Sha'hGrim offered a bit of potentially pre-combat humor for the team as the final preparations were being made to open the door.

The wait draws out a while as Scarlet gets to work. Initially she has some trouble getting the maglock's casing open so she can attach the sequencer and finds she's further delayed by having to deal with sophisticated anti-tamper devices in the process. However after about a minute she has everything in place and the sequencer gets to work. Moments later there is a 'beep' and the lock status light flashes green and the door latch opens. Cautiously Scarlet opens the door, revealing a stairway that leads to the floor below and has another door at the bottom, though this one doesn't appear to be locked from the inside.

Perception Visual tests are appropriate at this time.