Conflict

((Everywhere.))

One questin after another flowed from the mouth of the woman named Mariel. Wes had neither time nor patience to answer them. Well, Wes Smith did have patience, but Wes Smith had been replaced with Redmann; who, unlike Wes, wasted no time on twenty questions and long rambles.

He shook his head impatiently. "Okay, alright. Say no more, please."

Anytime now, a chopper would arrive to take Mariel away; along with whoever else might show up nearby. Wes straightened; eyes searching their surroundings.

Nothing. A couple bodies barely visible under a pile of charred debris. Nothing more.

Only Newton District in ruins.

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It was nearly half an hour later that saw the same man inside an office. The door was closed, but a window was left open as a light breeze gave a little life to the room. It was a fairly ornate office, trimmed with an expensive wood. Plush carpet of a maroonish colour was underfoot. A desk of fancy wood with what appeared to be a type of marble top sat near the windows. Several placards and picture frames sat on the desk. A high-backed chair of electronic origins was behind it, but pushed to one side. The man himself was busy looking through the drawers, pulling out papers and rifling through them. The devise he had been holding was attached to a connection point in the desk itself, as well as to the chair. It would beep occasionally, garnering only a mild glance from the man.
He scanned quickly through the pages, most of them nothing more than an inconvenience, until he found the data he wanted. He smiled, or rather he stopped frowning, which was the same to him, and tapped a few taps on his devise. It complied and after a pause displayed exactly what the man wanted.
After disconnecting the devise, he rearranged the papers in their order, as best as he could remember (which was almost identical to their original places), and slid the chair back into position. Next he moved over to the window and attacked a cable to a vest he wore. Then, with care, he took the window behind him, climbed out of the building, and closed the window. It was only a five story climb back to the roof, and from his current height, no one would see him from the ground. Besides, they were all worried about the bombing.
From the roof, he connected his devise to the switch box there and reactivated the security devises. He then called the elevator and waited. After that, it would be out through the service entrance in the subterranean levels, reactivate the remaining security, and back into the train tunnels. And then, he would be heading toward the shipping district.

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Joe Wright's Prayer

Maria watched the man fiddle with his device confused by it suddenly shuting off. As soon as the train arrived at the next stop she ran. When she looked down at her hand she realized that she had dropped her scribe inside the bus. She had to get back on. She ran to the ticket dispenser and pushed a few buttons. The words, "sold out," appeared on the screen.
"No, No, No!" she yelled at the dispencer hitting it with her fist.
"Shoot! Piece of junk!" she yelled.
She would be caught now! Then again, none of her personall info was on there. There were info on at least 10 indivduals of whose identities she had stolen. She huffed as she walked away, mumbling to her self.

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Remember that God loves you always
in the low moments and in the good days,
when you're buried in guilt and sin and when you are on the top of your game.
He loves you unconditionally, and no matter what you do, where you go, or what you say; His love will remain the same.

Isn't that Amazing? ~JLT

Raul paused. "What formality?" His confusion cleared, and he fumbled for words. "Um... you know, I, uh... " He coughed. How was the boss going to take this? "I tturned in my resignation today. Can you ignore it? My new job is gone."

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((( OOC: JLT, be careful not to control others' actions. I can work this into a post, but since my character invented the device, he should know in what instances it shuts off. I did not get a chance to write a response from my character to your previous post, and since this is a play-by-post game, in normal gameplay you would have waited or checked to see if I had abandoned the character before taking control. I'm not angry, just saying, I didn't get a chance to write yet. My post will be up as an edit to this statement, added in at the lower half, within a few hours. )))



Mariel shut up and laid her head down. The headache she had was killing her, and asking questions wasn't helping at all, plus the officer, who was now scanning the scene about them, had become agitated with her. The last thing she wanted to be known as was a weak, whiny brat. She closed her eyes and reopened them, her eyes looking at the sky and around at the ruins of Newton. Little spires of smoke rose from the areas where buildings had stood, and the park looked like a wasteland. She saw a constellation in the night sky. The night before, she had been out here with Sky looking at the stars above, and he had made jokes about all of the shapes in the stars. Could Sky be alive a few hundred feet away, trying to look at the stars and laugh? Mariel could only hope so. Sky was almost the only person who knew Mariel as more than an athlete. Without him, she was alone. Entirely alone.
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Fredrick scarcely believed it as he heard Raul nervously inform him of his intended resignation. He thought he was happy with his job...but he must answer. "Certainly, Raul. I'll ignore that resignation. Consider it nonexistent. But there are more important things as stake here...what of this explosion?"
Fredrick waited for a moment. "Raul? You there?" He glanced at his scribe to see that it had completely disengaged and the power was off--a thing that should not have happened. Moments later, a young woman who he had not noticed before sprinted off the of train as it stopped briefly. Lying on a little shelf next to an upholstered seat was a Scribe. Fredrick picked it up and slipped it into his bag. Another thing to toy with in the sleepless nights--if the questions regarding Newton weren't enough.

((Sorry ))

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Remember that God loves you always
in the low moments and in the good days,
when you're buried in guilt and sin and when you are on the top of your game.
He loves you unconditionally, and no matter what you do, where you go, or what you say; His love will remain the same.

Isn't that Amazing? ~JLT

((It's totally fine ))

((I'll be gone from sunday to saturday at camp. I'll post as soon as possible.))

__________________
Remember that God loves you always
in the low moments and in the good days,
when you're buried in guilt and sin and when you are on the top of your game.
He loves you unconditionally, and no matter what you do, where you go, or what you say; His love will remain the same.

Isn't that Amazing? ~JLT

Maverik hung to the bit of position he had between the train cars. It was a long walk from where he had been to the shipping district, and people usually became a bit unhappy at the sight of his rifle. So, he was reduced to holding on to a slim but sturdy foothold with a less than stable handholds. It was not how he would like to travel, but he would rather not pack up his rifle yet.
When the train reached the shipping district, Maverik stepped out from his location and onto the platform. It was between shifts, and there were too many people coming and going to notice one that was out of place, and with his rifle under his trench coat, no one noticed the barrel sticking out of the top of his collar.
He walked through the station unhindered, mostly because he walked head up, erect, and generally not looking like someone who had a deadly weapon about to do something deadly. He came out onto the streets, although they were mainly for walking and shipping vehicles. Or limousines, as some of the richer clientele would come to personally check on their investments.
It was a little warehouse that was his interest. It was as discrete as one could hope: plain outside, no marque, as regular looking as one could want a warehouse to look. However, inside was a slightly different story. Certainly, the inside was as inconspicuous as the outside, but there were a few things that were abnormal. The inspections laboratory, for one, but the contents of some of those nameless crates were the real secret.
Maverik made his way to the warehouse. He would have to find a way inside that would not arouse too much suspicion. Fortunately, there was no security detail; the idea was that the building should look like just another warehouse. Security would not help that. He suspected, though he could not confirm it, that there was no security patrol inside either, though there would be cameras and key card access. That would be no problem, he could easily shut down the cameras, and he could unlock the front door. Inside, he would have to "find" a key card, but he was pretty sure that would not be too difficult.
He did not find a circuit box, which he expected, but it never hurt to hope. He would have to do it from the regional box. With a couple of taps on his devise; he found the location of the box and could be there in minutes. He would need to wait until after the shift change so that no one would see him, so he decided to check up on the bombing situation. There was no new news, but his instincts said this was more than just a bombing.
About fifteen minutes of casual strolling led him to the circuit box. No one was in sight, and it would be easy enough to hack into the warehouse system from here. he would need to take out the cameras here, though. Fortunately, he had a universal remote for turning off electronics. With three quick shots from a silenced pistol, the cameras were no longer functional. Next, he used his universal lock pick, also the pistol, to undo the chain around the gate. He would need to move quickly; the city responded remarkably well when cameras went out. Attaching his devise to the hub, he began hacking into the warehouse security. It was relatively easy; what would be difficult would be covering his tracks to make it look like nothing had been done. The last thing he needed was the involvement of the authorities. Although, with the bombing, they might not have the man power to spare. Then again, they might anyway, making sure this would not be a repeat performance.
Fortunately, he would be doing nothing to this terminal, as he was only using it as a passage to the controls he wanted. He doubted that it would appear that anything was done, but computers were not his first study. Still, he would alter the schematics using a duplicate readout just to be safe.
It was all done in a matter of minutes, and he was packed up and headed back to the warehouse. He wanted to be nowhere nearby when and if anyone arrived. Still, he did not sprint or run; this would arouse suspicion from anyone who saw him. He walked swiftly and evenly, taking the shortest route back to the target. No one stopped him and no one bothered him.
Once he arrived, he tried the employee entrance, and it opened without any resistance. This was good; it meant the cameras would still be off as well. Once inside, he blended into the shadows. There were rows and rows of shelves and shelves of boxes and boxes, all inconspicuous and generally unlabeled except for a serial code. He moved without being seen until he found what he wanted: the science lab. There were probably only three or four men on duty, and he soon found one of them. Slowly he stalked the white coat until he knew the man was alone and unwatched. The scientist was looking for something in one of the smaller wares. Maverik stepped out of his hiding spot and walked slowly and silently over to the scientist. He struck him at the base of the skull with the butt of his pistol. This knocked the scientist cold and Maverik caught the body before it hit the ground. He stripped off the white coat and placed the body between two crates. He placed a single bullet between the scientist's eyes.
Donning the frock, he walked to the lab and scanned himself in. Once inside, he quickly dispatched two of the three remaining scientists. The third was too terrified to scream, which helped Maverik. Maverik spoke, "What do you know about cargo DΩ47789 dash 34777X?"
"I don't know, I don't know!" the scientist said rapidly, "I can't recognize our projects by serial number!"
"Then look, please," Maverik said, his pistol level at the scientist and his expression grim and unchanging.
The scientist nodded rapidly and checked a few papers. "Here it is," he began, "It, uh, it says it came in today. We're supposed to examine the contents, but it doesn't say what's in it."
"When were you going to examine it?"
He looked again and said, "Whenever we wanted, I guess. It says 'high priority,' though, so I guess soon."
"Call for it."
The scientist nodded rapidly again. He pressed a button on what appeared to be an intercom and said, "Please bring item DΩ47789 dash 34777X to the examination bay."
It was a tense fifteen minutes before a green light appeared over one of the doors. Maverik motioned for the scientist to proceed.
"There's no one in there," he said, "We don't see the stock workers except when we come or go."
"I know," Maverik said coldly, which was actually his regular tone, "But I insist."
The two entered the room, and true enough, there was no one there. There was, however, a vast number of technical instruments and scientific equipment. These, Maverik assumed correctly, were for examining the various projects that came through the warehouse. Maverik would need very little of these. A crate, about the size of a large dog, sat on the floor in the center of the room.
"Open it," Maverik commanded.
The scientist did so, and the lid came off easily. They looked into the crate.
"Do you know what that is?" Maverik asked coldly.
"No," the scientist said in amazement, "It looks like a giant, robotic forearm
"It is a very deadly weapon." Maverik then shot the scientist in the head. He frowned deeply, loaded another magazine into his pistol, and pressed a finger to the hollow of his ear.
"Headquarters," he said, and waited a moment, "I found a part of Project Perfect Weapon. ... No, it is the projected gravitational field generator. ... No, they did not know what it was. I suspect it was just filtered down the chain. ... Probably make sure it works. ... What do you want to do with it? ... Containment team, understood. I will leave it here in the science bay. Do we know anything about the explosion? ... I do not know, I just have a feeling that it has something to do with Project Perfect Weapon. ... No, I was always paranoid enough. ... Very well, I will await further orders. Maverik out."
Maverik deftly exited the warehouse, changing his frock for his trench coat first. Once he was outside, he found a quiet place to dismantle his rifle, which would be stored in his coat. He could have dismantled it before the train, but one never knows. He had nothing to do but wait now. Maybe he would see if his actions made any part of the news. After finishing with his dismantling, he made his way back to the train station, then to the apartment where his sister waited.

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Joe Wright's Prayer

The sound of a chopper reached his ears. Debris began to rise and swirl around him as the wind picked up. Wes shielded his eyes as he looked to the descending Medicopter. He stepped over to stand next to Mariel, making sure the helicopter didn't land too close to her.

Four blue suited paramedics hopped from the open doors. Two carried a stretcher, one a medical kit, and the last, a blonde haired man who approached Wes and azddressed him.

"You sent for us, officer?"

Wes nodded. "Yes. Thank you." He pointed to Mariel on the ground. "Take her."

"Okay. Any others?"

"None yet."

The paramedic nodded. As they got to work on the girl, Wes turned and headed off.

It wasn't long before his hidden earpiece came to life.

"Hey, Wes. You copy?"

He kept walking. "Filo. What now?"

"We need you back here, man." the male voice said. "Something's up."

Wes frowned. What could it be? "I'm on my way."

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