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Post by skybright on Jul 30, 2006 23:42:03 GMT -5
Daws grinned and pulled the front door open. "Well, so it is. Glad you could join us, Major -- we're just sittin' down to tea and crumpets."
She stepped aside and gestured the older man through the door, leading the way to the inner office. "Major," she announced, as she opened the door, "May I present James Marcus Cole -- my fellow fly on Tiernan's wall."
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Post by Jordanna on Jul 30, 2006 23:57:04 GMT -5
Major Vance looked Cole up and down, judging the man to be pretty much what he had expected on various levels. Finally he tossed off a small military salute which may or may not have been somewhat facetious.
"Major Jerod Vance. Glad to meet you, Mister Cole."
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Post by skybright on Jul 31, 2006 0:05:41 GMT -5
Cole nodded politely. "The same here, Major Vance." He frowned, looking somewhat puzzled. "I'm sorry, do you . . ." He broke off and shook his head with a faint laugh, glancing at Daws.
"You keep company with very interesting thinkers, Miss Dawson." He remarked. "Your friend Mister Rosenstein thinks nearly as loudly as you do -- while you, Major," He looked back at the older man, "I can barely 'hear' you at all."
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Post by Jordanna on Jul 31, 2006 0:25:08 GMT -5
Vance inclined his head slightly. "I sorta wondered about that. You might as well know I've got just a fraction of psi myself--too little to even control consciously, but there it is. I'm not doing a thing to try to keep you out, but..." He smiled crookedly. "It's just as well if I have a natural barrier. Too many dark thoughts and evil plans in my head."
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Post by skybright on Jul 31, 2006 0:30:37 GMT -5
Cole smiled somewhat uncertainly and glanced at Daws. "He is joking, isn't he?"
Daws laughed brightly. "With Major Vance, it's hard to say. Just be glad you're on our side and not Tiernan's -- you should be safe." She grinned wickedly and added "Safe enough, anyhow."
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Post by Jordanna on Jul 31, 2006 0:42:29 GMT -5
"I'm harmless as long as you play square--which leads me to the question of what game exactly you're playing." Vance looked over at Daws. "You explain the vote to Mister Cole?"
"We did," Alex piped up. "It seems like everybody's agreed on what's safest."
"That's good." Vance flopped down on a chair, looking more comfortable on the hard wood than anyone should have, and glanced back to Cole. "Because what I'm really interested in here is what you know about this Gray Lab."
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Post by skybright on Jul 31, 2006 0:54:58 GMT -5
Cole nodded. "That's fair enough."
He crossed his arms and leaned back against Daws' desk; the detective herself took a seat in her battered swivel chair and watched the politician keenly.
Cole cleared his throat. "The Gray Lab is where Tiernan keeps some of his most sensitive scientific projects. Six scientists work at the lab -- all of them mutants, naturally, and completely dedicated to Tiernan's work. I believe Miss Dawson already outlined a bit about the schedule of guards.
"The lab itself is located in one of the warehouse districts of Manhattan, close to the waterfront. It's an apparently-abandoned warehouse located off Morrison Avenue. The surrounding buildings are mostly empty warehouses -- although there are a few nearby that belong to Tiernan himself."
Cole smiled grimly. "Of all his laboratories, Tiernan is the most confident in the security of the Gray Lab. He is under the impression that nobody -- save only the scientists and guards who work there -- are aware of its existence."
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Post by Jordanna on Jul 31, 2006 17:28:52 GMT -5
"Fine." Vance gave Daws a slight smile. "We've finally got ourselves something to do that Tiernan won't know you know about. I'm starting to like this plan better."
He turned back to Cole. "Sounds like the lab is nice and isolated. If it's an old warehouse, I'm guessing it must be a pretty big place. That right?"
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Post by skybright on Jul 31, 2006 18:15:10 GMT -5
"Not as large as you'd think." Cole smiled slightly. "In fact, that's one reason Tiernan is so convinced of the lab's concealment. The Gray Lab itself is made up of several rooms constructed within the warehouse -- a building within a building, so to speak. The majority of the warehouse is merely empty space -- which presents one of the unique difficulties of infiltrating the lab. None of the warehouse's outer walls are in direct contact with the inner walls of the actual lab."
"So getting into the lab means gettin' into the warehouse and then crossing the empty space around the lab, right?" Daws asked.
"Precisely." Cole nodded. "And needless to say, without attracting the attention of the guards -- most of whom are stationed at the outer walls of the warehouse."
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Post by Jordanna on Jul 31, 2006 18:38:01 GMT -5
"I'm sure it'd be a challenge for norms," Vance remarked somewhat cynically, "but not for the right SWAT team of mutants. It's just a question of picking guys with the right powers to counteract whatever Tiernan's guards can do--if we can, that is. And even if we can't do that, we can outnumber them."
He chuckled. "Heck, if we wanted to, we could just take out the whole building at one smash."
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Post by skybright on Jul 31, 2006 18:55:59 GMT -5
Daws rolled her eyes and chuckled dryly. "That must be the peace-an'-quiet-loving side talking, huh Major?"
She glanced at Cole. "So Tiernan's new guards are gonna rotate in at the start of this coming week, is that right?"
Cole nodded. "Tiernan is doubling the number of guards who work during each shift -- from three to six -- and changing the times of day when their eight-hour shifts begin and end."
"Coupled with an all-new guard staff, that'll more or less amount to a total overhaul of the way the security works." Daws leaned forward, resting her elbows on the edge of her desk. "Way I see it, it'll have more shock value if we take these guys out stealthy -- it'll show we had intel and planned for their specific routine, instead of just relyin' on a quick, hard strike to do the job."
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Post by Jordanna on Jul 31, 2006 19:15:46 GMT -5
"Looks like we've got our signals crossed," Vance remarked with a wry smile. "Kind of an oxymoron, talkin' about getting more psychological bang out of a stealth job than a blowout. Well, you might have a point, but that'll put our people in a lot more risk. The pyrotechnic route would be quicker and have a minimum chance for losses on our side."
Before Daws could answer, he shrugged. "But if we wanna collect any little toys for your pal Ollivard, we'll have to go in, so I was sorta used to the idea anyway. We just need as much intel as we can possibly get. I wanna know where every single guard and scientist in the place is going to be at the moment we hit it."
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Post by skybright on Jul 31, 2006 19:38:18 GMT -5
Cole hesitated. "I can give you the layout of the lab, and the names and abilities of the scientists who work there." He said. "But that isn't the same thing as being able to tell you exactly where everyone will be. Tiernan's focus on the Gray Lab was momentary -- I gained what I could, but he didn't have any specific thoughts concerning the precise placement of guards in the new rotations. None that I could read, anyway."
Daws cleared her throat. "I'd as soon have some firsthand recon of the place before we go in, anyhow." She said. "I'd suggest we go in and scope the place out on the first night of the new rotation -- then hit it the second night. Give us a chance to see how things'll work."
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Post by Jordanna on Jul 31, 2006 19:53:19 GMT -5
Vance cracked a smile. "I can help there. You know one of my boys can phase through walls, and I've got another one with a little talent for invisibility. Of course that won't be much help if any of the guards can smell him or sense him somehow, but it's one more advantage on our side."
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Post by skybright on Aug 1, 2006 1:39:03 GMT -5
Daws nodded. "Sounds good to me." She raised an eyebrow at Cole and reached for a pen and scratch pad. "So, what's the scoop on these scientists?"
Cole cleared his throat and closed his eyes briefly, as if trying to recall someone's face -- which, for all Daws knew, he may have been. "First there's Doctor Richard Caulder -- about forty-five, dark-haired, with a large dark beard. A pyrokene -- firestarter -- but of only mild ability.
"Doctors Elisabeth and Mary Dawkins -- sisters, and research partners. Both red-haired women in their thirties, one a shapeshifter and the other a teleporter.
"David Delarocco -- a self-taught amateur, sort of a Doctor Frankenstein type as I understand it. His only mutation is a physical one -- his skin is a sort of rocky gray.
"Doctor Judith Amberson is perhaps the most dangerous." Cole frowned. "She can shoot jets of organic acid from glands at her wrists -- potentially deadly, if she has the chance to use them.
"And Doctor Martin Cordova -- he has teeth and claws, and heightened agility." Cole sighed. "That's all of them. None of them are trained combatants -- but when cornered, for the sake of their work, any or all of them may become violent."
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Post by Jordanna on Aug 1, 2006 20:09:53 GMT -5
"That's why we're gonna try not to give 'em a chance," replied Vance. "You didn't mention if any of 'em have heightened senses. Does that mean they don't, or just not that you know of?"
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Post by skybright on Aug 1, 2006 22:13:26 GMT -5
Cole shook his head. "None of the scientists do -- or rather, if they do, then even Tiernan isn't aware of it. I couldn't say about the guards -- when we met, Tiernan hadn't yet chosen the people he'd be assigning to that duty." He looked sober. "One thing you can be assured of, however -- Tiernan was planning on choosing his best for the job."
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Post by Jordanna on Aug 1, 2006 22:39:04 GMT -5
"Well, if that's as much as we can know, we'll just have to plan carefully." Vance rubbed the back of his neck thoughtfully. "All the same, I'll get word to my mole at Tiernan Enterprises--see if he can turn up a stray duty roster or something. It's a long shot, but worth trying."
"Do you know anything about what's being worked on at the lab?" Miriam asked Cole.
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Post by skybright on Aug 1, 2006 22:54:05 GMT -5
Cole frowned thoughtfully. "There are a variety of projects -- some in the early stages of development, others which Tiernan is hoping to have refined. One or two of them are things that would benefit the mutant population -- but the rest . . ." he shuddered.
"This is a lab with a single guiding purpose -- eliminating normal humanity by any means possible. Some projects are aimed at forcibly triggering the X-Gene -- including one that's essentially complete, but difficult and expensive to produce."
"We've had a run-in with that one." Daws interjected.
Cole nodded. "Doctor Delarocco is trying to streamline the development of that particular drug. The Dawkins sisters are attempting to go about the same task by a different means.
"But other projects are much more malicious." Cole's brow furrowed. "Cordova's pet project is a genetically engineered retrovirus -- one that would infect anyone not carrying the active X-Gene, and essentially strip them of immune functions. If he were ever to move beyond the theoretical . . ." He broke off with a shudder. "At any rate, there are a variety of different projects based at the lab. It's hard to say what might turn up."
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Post by Jordanna on Aug 1, 2006 23:05:00 GMT -5
Sid scowled. "It figures Tiernan's playin' the same ball game as Huber was. We gotta put a stop to that."
"We couldn't... you know... accidentally let something loose in there if things got messy, could we?" Alex asked anxiously.
Miriam frowned. "I think I should go when you take the lab." At this both Alex and Sid began to protest, but she raised a hand. "I know I'm not much use in a fight, but I do know something about clinical procedure and biohazards."
"So do some of my people," Vance replied, but he shrugged. "If you think you can handle whatever happens... Well, I've got no objections."
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