Mr Zoat
Dedicated ragequitter
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28th September 2013
13:57 GMT -5
We look up at the crystal tower glinting in the sunlight, sitting in a grove of trees next to some sort of engineering workshop.
Lonnie blinks first. "That shouldn't be there."
Timothy looks at him, smiling faintly. "Are you sure? You didn't buy some beans from a mysterious travelling merchant-."
Lonnie shakes his masked head vigorously. "I admit, I was designing a machine to free people from their preconceptions-"
I raise my eyebrows. "Cool story, still mind control."
"-but it wasn't anything like finished, and it wasn't a giant crystal. I was making the projector array out of old satellite dishes. If I understand what Hunter did correctly, that should be some sort of cartoon version of… A pile of junk."
I nod. "What was your colleague's name?"
"Noel Mann."
Ring?
…
Right. Ring?
'Noel Mann' is not a known pseudonym of anyone on file.
"Can you give me a description?"
"Tall, muscular, pale skin… He has a strong jaw and purple hair."
"Dyed?"
"I didn't check. The color of his hair wasn't an important factor at the time."
Ring?
Not found.
"And he didn't give you any idea of why he was working on this technology?"
"He said that he wanted to learn how the Anti-Life transmitters worked, because he wanted to learn how to shield people. It seemed as good a reason as any. But… I didn't try to persuade him to talk more about it. Whatever his reasons were, it was enough that he was working with me on the project."
"For future reference, be a bit more careful with the mind control machine."
His golden face turns to me, frowning. "This could all be a result of Hunter's spell." He strides forwards towards the crystal tower. "I'm going to speak with him directly."
"Pots."
Lonnie jerks to a halt and Zatanna steps forwards.
"Don't be ridiculous. Even if 'Noel Mann' was honestly just trying to help -which I don't believe for a moment- this place is dangerous."
"Release me."
She widens her eyes slightly. "Oh, you don't like being controlled? Imagine that."
From the way that his eyes dip I see that he gets the point.
"Esaeler."
He tenses and relaxes his muscles, but doesn't advance again. But if he's not doing that, then the rest of us need to come up with an actual plan. Which would be easier if…
"I don't suppose you can call Yap over here, can you?"
"I can't see him. He should recognise my voice and my smell, but my dog isn't a giant dog made of crystal. I don't know how he's been changed."
"That wasn't me." Timothy shakes his head. "What I did shouldn't have affected a dog like that."
Zatanna sighs. "Hunter, you can't know that. We didn't know what Anarky was doing, and we have no idea how your… What you did to create your other half interacts with Anarky's crystals.
Hm. "Zatanna, what's the chance that shooting the crystal tower with a sonic cannon would be a problem?"
"Given that we haven't seen any people yet? Quite a lot, because if they're inside there we don't know that they can't be crushed to death or impaled by crystal shards."
Toyman pulls a pair of goggles over his eyes. "I can't see inside the crystal."
Scan. "I can't scan through it."
"S'ohw edisni." Zatanna sighs. "Me neither."
Magnify.
I narrow my eyes at I study the outer walls. "I can't see any windows, or any sign of a remote viewing spell. Zatanna?
"Si enoyna gnihctaw su?" She looks around, then shakes her head. "If he's here, he's not watching us." She shrugs helplessly. "If the spell worked properly."
I nod. "So, we can enter the tower undetected..?" She nods slowly. "And once we see what's inside, we can see about confronting Mister Mann."
"I can help." Hiro reaches into his satchel and pulls out… Some sort of optic camouflage material. "This will hide us from detection and muffle sound. It will not stop magic-."
Timothy grins. "Is that a Cloak of Invisibility?"
"No." Hiro frowns. "It will not helps if someone uses magic to detect us. It just projects a picture over us. I have not tried to build a phase shifter yet."
I nod. "I have, but it's in my other armour. Alright, under the sheet, everyone."
Hiro passes me an edge, and as the tallest person in the group I take the centre position as everyone clusters up. Unfurl it, pass that bit to Zatanna… Lonnie takes the lead. Looking out, it causes roughly the same visual distortion that the Cloak of Invisibility caused in the Harry Potter films. Abra uses something similar… But Hiro made this himself using 21st century parts and equipment.
Maybe I should introduce them to each other? Or is that not a good-?
Focus.
We start shuffling towards the tower. Slowly. There isn't much room, our legs are different lengths and the ground is uneven. I'm a little worried, but while we've got time…
"Anarky-."
"I'm not going to assume that Noel has done something wrong until I've seen it for myself."
"Alright, but that's not what I was going to ask. You haven't seen Bobo, have you?"
"Bobo?"
"When Mister Tetch attacked KordTech, Bobo vanished. Now, he's an intelligent being, he wasn't a prisoner, so if he chose to go somewhere else, that's up to him. But he's an elderly chimpanzee who's only had human-equivalent intelligence for a few years, and I'm concerned about him. Naturally, if he was forced to leave-."
"He wasn't. He's been helping us."
"Alright. Do you have a veterinarian with experience working on primates?"
"He's been managing his pain with marijuana."
I grimace. "Do you know what happens to chimpanzees who smoke marijuana?"
"Yes. But I don't think I have the right to tell him…" He steps over a rock as we approach the entrance to the crystal tower. "Alright. I will try to find someone who can help him with his condition without using drugs with side effects."
"And please let him know that I asked. I know he feels pretty isolated being surrounded by humans…"
"I will."
And then we enter the tower.
13:57 GMT -5
We look up at the crystal tower glinting in the sunlight, sitting in a grove of trees next to some sort of engineering workshop.
Lonnie blinks first. "That shouldn't be there."
Timothy looks at him, smiling faintly. "Are you sure? You didn't buy some beans from a mysterious travelling merchant-."
Lonnie shakes his masked head vigorously. "I admit, I was designing a machine to free people from their preconceptions-"
I raise my eyebrows. "Cool story, still mind control."
"-but it wasn't anything like finished, and it wasn't a giant crystal. I was making the projector array out of old satellite dishes. If I understand what Hunter did correctly, that should be some sort of cartoon version of… A pile of junk."
I nod. "What was your colleague's name?"
"Noel Mann."
Ring?
…
Right. Ring?
'Noel Mann' is not a known pseudonym of anyone on file.
"Can you give me a description?"
"Tall, muscular, pale skin… He has a strong jaw and purple hair."
"Dyed?"
"I didn't check. The color of his hair wasn't an important factor at the time."
Ring?
Not found.
"And he didn't give you any idea of why he was working on this technology?"
"He said that he wanted to learn how the Anti-Life transmitters worked, because he wanted to learn how to shield people. It seemed as good a reason as any. But… I didn't try to persuade him to talk more about it. Whatever his reasons were, it was enough that he was working with me on the project."
"For future reference, be a bit more careful with the mind control machine."
His golden face turns to me, frowning. "This could all be a result of Hunter's spell." He strides forwards towards the crystal tower. "I'm going to speak with him directly."
"Pots."
Lonnie jerks to a halt and Zatanna steps forwards.
"Don't be ridiculous. Even if 'Noel Mann' was honestly just trying to help -which I don't believe for a moment- this place is dangerous."
"Release me."
She widens her eyes slightly. "Oh, you don't like being controlled? Imagine that."
From the way that his eyes dip I see that he gets the point.
"Esaeler."
He tenses and relaxes his muscles, but doesn't advance again. But if he's not doing that, then the rest of us need to come up with an actual plan. Which would be easier if…
"I don't suppose you can call Yap over here, can you?"
"I can't see him. He should recognise my voice and my smell, but my dog isn't a giant dog made of crystal. I don't know how he's been changed."
"That wasn't me." Timothy shakes his head. "What I did shouldn't have affected a dog like that."
Zatanna sighs. "Hunter, you can't know that. We didn't know what Anarky was doing, and we have no idea how your… What you did to create your other half interacts with Anarky's crystals.
Hm. "Zatanna, what's the chance that shooting the crystal tower with a sonic cannon would be a problem?"
"Given that we haven't seen any people yet? Quite a lot, because if they're inside there we don't know that they can't be crushed to death or impaled by crystal shards."
Toyman pulls a pair of goggles over his eyes. "I can't see inside the crystal."
Scan. "I can't scan through it."
"S'ohw edisni." Zatanna sighs. "Me neither."
Magnify.
I narrow my eyes at I study the outer walls. "I can't see any windows, or any sign of a remote viewing spell. Zatanna?
"Si enoyna gnihctaw su?" She looks around, then shakes her head. "If he's here, he's not watching us." She shrugs helplessly. "If the spell worked properly."
I nod. "So, we can enter the tower undetected..?" She nods slowly. "And once we see what's inside, we can see about confronting Mister Mann."
"I can help." Hiro reaches into his satchel and pulls out… Some sort of optic camouflage material. "This will hide us from detection and muffle sound. It will not stop magic-."
Timothy grins. "Is that a Cloak of Invisibility?"
"No." Hiro frowns. "It will not helps if someone uses magic to detect us. It just projects a picture over us. I have not tried to build a phase shifter yet."
I nod. "I have, but it's in my other armour. Alright, under the sheet, everyone."
Hiro passes me an edge, and as the tallest person in the group I take the centre position as everyone clusters up. Unfurl it, pass that bit to Zatanna… Lonnie takes the lead. Looking out, it causes roughly the same visual distortion that the Cloak of Invisibility caused in the Harry Potter films. Abra uses something similar… But Hiro made this himself using 21st century parts and equipment.
Maybe I should introduce them to each other? Or is that not a good-?
Focus.
We start shuffling towards the tower. Slowly. There isn't much room, our legs are different lengths and the ground is uneven. I'm a little worried, but while we've got time…
"Anarky-."
"I'm not going to assume that Noel has done something wrong until I've seen it for myself."
"Alright, but that's not what I was going to ask. You haven't seen Bobo, have you?"
"Bobo?"
"When Mister Tetch attacked KordTech, Bobo vanished. Now, he's an intelligent being, he wasn't a prisoner, so if he chose to go somewhere else, that's up to him. But he's an elderly chimpanzee who's only had human-equivalent intelligence for a few years, and I'm concerned about him. Naturally, if he was forced to leave-."
"He wasn't. He's been helping us."
"Alright. Do you have a veterinarian with experience working on primates?"
"He's been managing his pain with marijuana."
I grimace. "Do you know what happens to chimpanzees who smoke marijuana?"
"Yes. But I don't think I have the right to tell him…" He steps over a rock as we approach the entrance to the crystal tower. "Alright. I will try to find someone who can help him with his condition without using drugs with side effects."
"And please let him know that I asked. I know he feels pretty isolated being surrounded by humans…"
"I will."
And then we enter the tower.
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