Food for Thought

[Bjorn]

"You sure you're ready for this?"

"If the option is being forcibly recruited by a terrorist organization?  Yes.  I think I am."  Bjorn snorts softly to himself in ironic half-amusement.

[Brian]

"Okay, then.  Let's go."

Jessica leads you to the car, shivering at the cold, and begins to drive towards the lake, and from there, a ferry.  "Any other questions?" she asks while driving.

[Bjorn]

"In the much-less-important vein, what happened to your partner?"

[Brian]

"He's the one who paged me," she explains.  "He's going to stay behind and give intel to the backup coming in."

[Bjorn]

Bjorn nods.  "Would you mind telling me a  little bit more about the Workshop?  Unless you'd rather wait until things aren't quite so hectic."

[Brian]

It is now about 9:30 AM, EST.
<Brian> Bjorn: Jessica glances at you while driving down the road, and shrugs.  "It's got a lot of levels.  There's offices, there's labs, there's underground communities for the rehabilitated.  What did you want to know about specifically?"
<Bjorn> "The history, in fact.  Where did it come from?"
<Brian> "Oh.  Well, we were founded in 1948, and were originally part of a government run organization that survived into the sixties testing people for paranormal reactions to things like LSD, sensory deprivation, and the like.  Kind of gritty for a past.
<Brian> "Recently, in ... um ... 1992, we were renamed the Workshop, because the Director of Operations liked Drew Barrymore, and the movie Firestarter."
<Bjorn> "...  You're joking."
<Brian> "This from a man who just dined at 'Pho Shizzle'?"
<Brian> "But, no, we needed a name better than Paranormal Research Division Section Seventeen.  Especially since that establishment was never officially recorded, and was technically disbanded in 1981."
<Bjorn> "I see.  And so when did the switch come about?"
<Brian> "That would be ... 1973.  That was when the first meta-human was actually observed.  His name was Miles Larson, and he was a telepath.  He wasn't ... very bright, but he could project his emotions into other people's minds.  Couldn't stop doing it, actually.  But, he was able to reach another of the patients.  This was ... Erica Montague, if memory serves.
<Brian> "She was blind -- clawed her eyes out when she was four years old -- but she kept seeing things.  With Miles calming her, we found out that she could actually 'see' through walls, doors, and even back in time a few minutes."
<Bjorn> "Wow."  Bjorn pauses thoughtfully a second.  "And that led to the goal of metahuman isolation?"
<Brian> "Not quite.  Imagine the implications the world was looking at in 1974, when we realized that we had people in our hands that could do things like this.  But the director at the time felt that it wasn't right to use people like this as weapons.  Someone like Miles could be a potent force against soldiers.
<Brian> "If we depressed him enough, he'd depress everyone around them, and they'd lose their morale.  It's ... an awkward question, though, and the director thought it wouldn't be right to manipulate someone in such a manner, so, since their ties with the government were so weak, they covered up their findings until their budget was cut.
<Brian> "Of course, by then we'd managed to use some of their abilities to develop a new polymer, which led, in turn, to us starting up a company as a front.  We used that to fund our operations."
<Bjorn> "And nowadays it's a big operation, you said?"
<Brian> "Relatively," Jessica says with a shrug.  "We've got over a hundred people working for us in the field, and a good eighty at HQ."
<Bjorn> "Where is HQ?  Or is that something I can't know yet?"
<Brian> "San Fransisco," she says.  "Where we're headed."
<Bjorn> "Right."  Bjorn grunts.  "Any idea how long it will take to find out how things are going at my house?"
<Brian> "We should have a report by the time we cross the lake."
Bjorn pauses thoughtfully, and then adds, a bit wistfully, "I hope they don't blow everything up. I liked quite a bit of my art."
<Brian> "Nah, it's counter-productive for any organization that wants to remain secret to blow things up."  She pauses.  "Well, I guess that doesn't apply to the Forge, but you're not high profile, and they'd want to entice you to them, I think."
<Bjorn> "Makes sense."  Bjorn falls silent for a bit, as he tries to absorb all this information.
<Brian> Jessica nods, and you make it to the port without any real comment from her beyond that.  When you drive in, she drops your swords to the floor, and throws a blanket over them.  "You have your passport, I hope?"
<Bjorn> "Yeah."  Bjorn pulls it out of his pocket, where it has become slightly contoured.
<Brian> She nods again, and climbs out of the car to approach the borders guards.  The upper section of the Ferry is closed, and has shops and resturaunts in it.  More importantly, it's heated.
Bjorn grumbles, and removes his overcoat. Stupid temperature transitions.
<Bjorn> roll 3d6 for perception check
<Chibi-Suu> Them bones was tossed for Bjorn ... : 3d6 --> {9}
<Brian> This entire portion of the ferry is deserted.  There's not a soul around as you open the door.  Jessica is behind you, fumbling with her purse, but you catch someone pressing themselves to the wall next to the door inside before you enter.
Bjorn hangs back, taps Jessica on the shoulder to get her attention, and then points at where he saw the person.
<Brian> She blinks, then narrows her eyes and nods.  She reaches under her skirt and pulls out a pistol -- the design is odd.  It looks like it's blockier than a pistol should be, but she also produces a collapsable baton, which she hands to you, then nods her head, mouthing, "On three."
Bjorn shakes out the baton, hefts it a bit to settle the feel into his hands, and nods back.
<Brian> We will enter combat time here.  You are a speed 2 and act on phases 6, and 12.  It is phase zero (everyone gets an action, unless it is held).  You have first action.
<Bjorn> I am going to step wide and fast through the door, wheel around, and come at the guy so his back's to the wall.
<Brian> Will you be using a martial manuever?
<Bjorn> I'm going to prepare for a parry and counterattack, until I can see what's going on.
<Bjorn> So Defensive Strike. >.<
<Brian> You have 2 levels of MA skill, will you apply them to your OCV, your DCV, or one to each?
<Bjorn> Both to DCV, until I know for sure what I'm up against.
<Brian> Your OCV is 4, your DCV is 8.
<Brian> Please roll 3d6 to attack.
<Bjorn> roll 3d6
<Chibi-Suu> Them bones was tossed for Bjorn ... : 3d6 --> {14}
<Brian> Your goal is 11, but your OCV lowers this roll by five, so you have 9 (you hit against DCV 3).  Your target is at 1/2 DCV (surprised) so you hit.
<Brian> Please roll 5#1d6 for Normal damage.
<Bjorn> roll 5#1d6
<Chibi-Suu> Them bones was tossed for Bjorn ... : 5#1d6 --> {2}, {6}, {3}, {2}, {4}
<Brian> That is 6 Body and 17 Stun, normal.  Your oponent falls to the ground.
<Brian> Jessica moves through the door beside you, and whirls to face someone on your right.
<Brian> roll 3d6
<Chibi-Suu> Them bones was tossed for Brian ... : 3d6 --> {10}
<Brian> roll 1d6
<Chibi-Suu> Them bones was tossed for Brian ... : 1d6 --> {3}
<Brian> roll 1d6
<Chibi-Suu> Them bones was tossed for Brian ... : 1d6 --> {6}
<Brian> There's a 'thwip' sound, and you hear someone groan before a muffled thump.  However, you realize that it was not a pair of men, it was five men.  Two more are in front of you, and another is squaring off against Jessica.
<Brian> In combat time, we now proceed to phase 3 (speed 4).
<Brian> One of the men rushes you with a knife.  You do not have a held action, but you may abort your next action to dodge.
<Bjorn> Okay.  I'm not going to dodge.
<Brian> roll 3d6
<Chibi-Suu> Them bones was tossed for Brian ... : 3d6 --> [ 3d6=10 ]{10}
<Brian> You sidestep his clumsy attack easily.
<Brian> It's now phase 4, speed 3s act.
<Brian> The other man rushes you with a baseball bat.
<Brian> Are you going to abort to dodge, or stand your ground?
<Bjorn> Stand my ground.
<Brian> roll 3d6
<Chibi-Suu> Them bones was tossed for Brian ... : 3d6 --> [ 3d6=13 ]{13}
<Brian> His swing is even clumsier than the knife wielder's.
<Brian> roll 3d6
<Chibi-Suu> Them bones was tossed for Brian ... : 3d6 --> [ 3d6=12 ]{12}
<Brian> roll 7d6 normal damage
<Brian> roll 7#1d6 normal energy damage
<Chibi-Suu> Them bones was tossed for Brian ... : 7#1d6 normal damage --> {6}, {1}, {3}, {5}, {1}, {5}, {3}
<Brian> That's 6 body and 24 stun (energy, normal) to Jessica.  She whimpers as the crackle of a tazer sounds, and drops to the floor.
<Brian> It's now phase 6.  Speed 2, and 4 act, in dex order.
<Brian> The knife wielder goes first.
<Brian> roll 3d6
<Chibi-Suu> Them bones was tossed for Brian ... : 3d6 --> [ 3d6=11 ]{11}
<Brian> He misses ... barely.
<Brian> It is now your turn.
Bjorn focuses himself, stops thinking about what's going on, and concentrates everything on... the knife wielder.
<Bjorn> Martial Strike.
<Brian> Please roll 3d6 to attack.  You are at 3 OCV (+1 for staves) and +2 DCV.
<Bjorn> roll 3d6
<Chibi-Suu> Them bones was tossed for Bjorn ... : 3d6 --> [ 3d6=12 ]{12}
<Brian> You hit, barely.
<Brian> Please roll 7#1d6 normal damage
<Bjorn> roll 7#1d6
<Chibi-Suu> Them bones was tossed for Bjorn ... : 7#1d6 --> {6}, {2}, {3}, {1}, {1}, {5}, {1}
<Brian> The knife wielder takes 5 body and 21 stun.
<Brian> He drops.
<Brian> It's now phase 8, speed 3 act.
<Brian> It's the baseball bat wielder's turn.
<Brian> roll 3d6
<Chibi-Suu> Them bones was tossed for Brian ... : 3d6 -->{10}
<Brian> Luckily, your strike at the knife weilder carried you just past the arc of his swing.
<Brian> The tazer-wielder behind you rushes.
<Brian> roll 3d6
<Chibi-Suu> Them bones was tossed for Brian ... : 3d6 --> [ 3d6=8 ]{8}
<Brian> roll 7#1d6 normal energy damage
<Chibi-Suu> Them bones was tossed for Brian ... : 7#1d6 normal energy damage --> {4}, {2}, {5}, {5}, {2}, {4}, {1}
<Brian> You will take 6 body, 23 stun.  Apply your ED.
<Brian> (Which is 3)
<Brian> So you take 3 body, after defenses, and 20 stun.
<Brian> Er.  3 body.
<Bjorn> Okay.
<Brian> 20 stun is greater than your CON, so you are dazed.
<Brian> Phase 12, everyone but speed 1 gets to act.
<Brian> Dex order....
<Brian> You feel the cold metal of the tazer pressed against the back of your neck as you start to recover your senses ... then everything goes dark.