DEVIL ON YOUR BACK

[plus_vitae]

WHO: imPorts- and a new enemy
WHERE: Downtown Heropa
WHEN: Night of Sunday, December 6th
WHAT: The POWER SWAP plot kicks off with imPorts lured into a devastating ambush
WARNINGS: Violence and body horror

At 7:00 PM, several buildings within the same block of downtown Heropa burst into flames. It swiftly becomes clear to the authorities that the town's emergency services are overwhelmed- Heropa is small enough to not even have its own hospital. The call goes out on the Network and on police radio channels: heroes needed. All imPorts, wherever they may be, are asked to assist. People are in danger.

The call is well-intentioned, but it is also the bait in a trap whose well-prepared jaws are about to close. People are certainly in danger on this evening, but imPorts are in more danger than anyone else. By the time this night has passed, things will be very different, and fires will be the least of the heroes' worries.

Comments

Qubit

[superposition]

Fire, chaos, and confusion. Normally Qubit doesn't put too much stock in "prophecy," but it's eerie how immediate and spot-on the Clairvoyant's prediction was.

He's one of the first on the scene after the alert goes out, arriving out of thin air via teleportal, and he wastes no time getting to work. It's been a few months since he dealt with an actual emergency on this scale, but coordinating supers in a crisis was his job for years, and he hits the ground running. He starts with a quick assessment of the situation, getting a brief summary of events from the emergency services already present - as much as they know, anyway - and then begins rounding up imPorts, instructing emergency workers to direct any would-be heroes to him as they arrive. (Not a perfect system, of course, so whether or not the imPorts actually receive said direction, or choose to follow it, is kind of up in the air. But hopefully it'll get enough attention that he can start putting together an organized response to the disaster.)

It should be immediately clear from his bearing, calm and professional, that he's done this many times before. The first question he has for any imPort who approaches him: "Name and power. Go."

[glowsferatu]

Kanaya approaches quickly, with half a mind to forego Qubit entirely, dressed in a sleeveless bodysuit. People could be dying as she stands here, she doesn't want this to be a waste of time.

"Echidna. Portal generation, speed." She says it impatiently, staring at the fire as it crawls its way up 459 Liberty. Speed will be just as appreciated from his end. "Just tell me where it's most dire." Otherwise she'll just break for the office.

[superposition]

Qubit's mildly surprised at her powerset - how has the topic of portals never come up in conversation? he only works with them all the time - but takes it in stride. They can compare notes later; for now they've got work to do. And he knows just where to put her.

"Echidna, I want you on evac." Her interest in the office building doesn't go unnoticed, so he points upwards at it. "There are still people trapped in the upper floors of that one, we're not sure how many. Start at the top and work your way down."

[glowsferatu]

"Got it." As if that wasn't what she was thinking already. She starts scanning the threads coming from the building, surprisingly the lower floors are already empty. Maybe she shouldn't have wasted time on her makeup before heading to Heropa.

But while most of the people left are on the top two floors, there's just one on the fifth. Might as well grab them on the way. She makes a run for it, opening a portal to burst onto the fifth floor.

[thesmartone]

It's probably one of the first times Gwen has been out of her room in quite some time and honestly, she shouldn't be. She knows she's unregistered and that helping could get her in heaps of trouble, but right now she doesn't care. Someone has to help.

The man asking for names and powers is someone she vaguely recognizes. She thinks they might live together, but she's not really out of her room much to get to know anyone. She's too busy at the library or trying to ferret out information to get to know anyone. Even so she makes a bee-line to him. "Gwendolyn Tennyson. Just tell me what still needs to be done." Listing her abilities would take too long and, while she could have just gone into the fires and done something on her own, the organization is important so that they can spread themselves out as best as possible.

[superposition]

To be fair, Qubit's not home an awful lot, either. But he does know she lives there, he'd have had to set her up with a code so she could get in the front door. Apparently a shy sort, but that's not really any of his business.

But he also knows she's young. Really, anyone under 20 is still a child as far as he's concerned, and he's not comfortable sending children into the line of fire (quite literally, in this case) without at least some assurance they won't immediately die. And anyway, he can't strategically deploy anyone without an idea what they're capable of. Imagine if he inadvertently put someone on healing duty, only to learn later that they had fire-extinguishing powers.

"There's plenty. What can you do?" he asks.

[thesmartone]

The question brings a frown. Her eyes dart from area to area as she assesses what probably needs to be done. She's not sure what area has the least amount of help though and her abilities are so varied that she could honestly be of use anywhere. Somehow she feels like this was easier when it was just three of them trying to help rather then over half a dozen.

"Anything you need I can probably do it." Sometimes it was both a curse and a blessing to be versatile. "Trust me, listing it would take too long."

[superposition]

Qubit sighs, not bothering to hide his annoyance - he's not asking for a dissertation, kid, just the ten-words-or-less version so he can narrow things down. Is that really so hard? But there really isn't time to argue the point.

"Fine. Fine." Please don't make him regret taking your word for it. "How durable are you, at least?"

[thesmartone]

Her power wheel is a dissertation; it's actually pretty scary. She resists rolling her eyes at his annoyance. She knows she'd probably feel the same way if she was dealing with someone like her.

"This is pretty much exactly what I've been doing for the past eight years in my world, so very." That's not exactly true. There were more aliens involved and probably a bit more of 'the world' at stake, but that's just splitting hairs.

[superposition]

Good lord. So that means she started even younger than Max... Seriously, powered or not, expecting children to save the world is utterly unconscionable. But even putting that aside, that technically doesn't answer his question. 'I've been on fire a lot' isn't equivalent to 'I'm physically immune to fire.' Experience is better than nothing, but he'd still feel better not sending her in alone...

Oh, wait, he may not have to. Here comes somebody else. "All right, hold that thought," he says, holding up one finger and turning to the young man. "You. Name and power?"

((ooc: continuing below!))

[timeshares]

When the fires started, he hadn't really planned on any heroic actions. But the situation wasn't exactly one, once he saw, he could walk away from. The operation control had directed his inquiry this way, and he jogged over shortly after.

"Luke, I can get in anywhere you need me. Teleporting." He glances around at the EMTs laying out stretchers, oxygen tanks and bandages for the people starting to be dragged out of the engulfed buildings. "I'm no healer, but I'm handy with first aid, too."

[superposition]

The teleporters are really coming out of the woodwork today, aren't they? Qubit nods and turns to the red-haired girl beside him, gesturing briefly between them. "Gwendolyn, go with Luke here. Safety in numbers." Then, addressing them both- "The two of you, work evac on the west side of the block. Prioritize the wounded, and anyone trapped where firefighters can't reach them. Any questions?"

[timeshares]

There's a moment of recognition on Luke's face at the Gwendolyn. No real time to catch up, nor any objections likely to come from him at the age of his soon to be partner, he gives her a nod before addressing Qubit. "None here. Think we can manage this."

Then to Gwendolyn, "Got any tricks for the search part of the rescue?"

[thesmartone]

Well, at least he's pairing her up with someone who seems marginally useful rather then someone who might have no idea what they're doing. Honestly, she's glad it's someone that she knows and trusts enough to possibly not have to teach the ropes to.

At Luke's question she nods, frowning. She should be able to use her mana detection as a locator for people or pets in any building. "I think I've got something. How much energy does your teleportation use?"

[timeshares]

"A lot." Bravado would be frankly deadly in this situation.

He half turns towards the west block, starting towards them quickly. With the fire pushing through the building, they could talk and move. There were already people pouring out of the buildings without assistance, being checked by the civilian rescue personnel... but some of the upper floors, where the fire was spreading roof to roof... "I'll be good for a four or five jumps, though."

[thesmartone]

She opts to keep a low profile and not use her half Anodite form. Instead she closes her eyes and concentrates on the upper half of the building. Dots of fuchsia start to blanket the mental image she'd made of the building. After a few moments she pointed to one part of the building.

"The biggest concentration of life is there."

[timeshares]

He follows her gaze, doing a quick assessment. The structure didn't seem compromised yet, so if they moved fast... There wasn't water to spare to douse his clothes, but he takes only a brief moment to borrow a megamover from one of the EMTs.

"Coming in or doing ground support?" Darkness beings to gather around him, making the air waver.

[thesmartone]

"Coming in. There were a lot of people." They were going to need all the hands they could get. Her own teleport wasn't fast, she she hoped she wouldn't need to use it in addition to his. Still, she could contain them from any major structural damage if need be.

SORRY ABOUT THE SLOW, it's been a hell of a week.

[timeshares]

At that, whatever power he was gathering dissipates. If they split up now, the chances of finding each other if they needed to were low. He borrows two walkie talkies and offers the other to her.

"Lets go then."

No worries. It's been one of those for me too.

[thesmartone]

She takes the walkie talkie and clips it onto her pocket. She honestly doubts she'll have to use it, but it's a good plan in case they get separated. Once he's teleported them in she points ahead.

"They should be in the next room. About a dozen; give or take." If the building had live plants that could have screwed up her count.

[timeshares]

"Got it." Needing to move fast didn't need to be said out loud.

The fire hasn't broken through the ceiling tiles yet, but the deafening roar above, the dark haze of smoke pressing down and the skin chapping heat radiating all around says that it's not far off.

Luke doesn't waste any time now that they're up there, taking off at a run towards the office door. The doorknob was warm, but not scalding, but the door only opened an inch before slamming into something hard and heavy.

From the other side, the fire sounded just a bit louder. Voices raised suddenly, hearing and seeing some hope of rescue.