Ex Machina; Infiltration

[animusmods]

Characters: Riki and the infiltration team
Setting: administrative levels
Format: any
Summary: Riki's efforts must be sabotaged. Stealth is the name of the game and time is of the essence.
Warnings: psychological horror

Though the chipped unit does not follow, he sees to it that the team advances the rest of the way. At the end of the lit corridor is a set of double doors, heavy-duty polished metal with small windows set into each one.

Through the windows, a massive machine is visible, connected to thousands of holographic screens that are hard to make out at the speed at which they're being manipulated. The machine sits in the center of the room and is networked to four elaborate terminals stationed along the walls via a complex tangle of panels, wires, and towers. Each of these terminals controls its own set of floating screens; the sheer amount of holographic monitors in the room is disorienting, and really, it's hard to tell what's connected to what.

In the chair in the middle of the enormous set-up is Riki, maneuvering all of the screens with the same ease with which most people breathe. His back is to the doors that lead into the room, and for the moment, he is utterly engrossed in his work.

Comments

ARRIVAL

[animusmods]

This is the team's last chance to finalize their plan before they open the doors and enter the room proper.

[megazero_to_superhero]

[Guess who hadn't attended the sleepover. But he's been in the hideout a lot, studying and figuring out what information is available from Reno's notes to try and figure out how to go about this.]

[David has some ideas, though. He turns and looks back at some of the other assembled members of the infiltration team, engaging his powered armor suit's flight systems—kicking him upward into the air by a good foot or so.]

Arright, who else has stealth powers? Or invisibility?

[stitchedupbodyguard]

[Veronica glances over at the armoured man, less surprised than she should be by the fact it could fly.]

I don't think anyone here has powers like that. I was trained to sneak really well though.

[ninjainviolet]

[Sheena had been scouting the group, searching for any familiar faces when she hears a now familiar voice. Turning, she nods to him before heading over.]

I don't exactly have stealth powers, but I am a ninja. I was trained for something like this.

[evokingfool]

[Decked out in his usual gear, Minato paused and looked over at where he heard David's voice.]

...No powers like those. Just some standard sneaking in quietly ones.

[no_longer_a_king]

I apologize, but no.

[And she looks David up and down.]

Are you sure you can go unnoticed flying so?

[stitchedupbodyguard]

[Sneaking was one of Veronica's specialties, and she had come to the infiltration more than prepared. In the dark of the administrative levels, Veronica's cloak blended in, hopefully making her less likely to be spotted. Unlike the other times she was usually required to sneak around, she wasn't planning on killing anyone. Though she would if she had to.]

Okay. [She whispered to the rest of the group. Can't be too careful.] We should probably go in teams. Each one go to a different terminal if we can.

[slightlyoblivious]

Agreed. I think splitting up is the best option. I'm not great with computers, but I can at least poke at it and see what happens.

...and if it comes down to it and someone needs it, my magic's mostly back. I can heal, if we need it.

[warriorscribe]

I'm willing to distract Riki. He might even...not be surprised that I would talk to him, I think.

*There's one more thing he wants to say anyway. One more shot. Because the tower's restoration isn't out of the question for them either.*

Would anyone be willing to do so with me? And if so, how could we go about this without drawing his attention to the others?

[sageprincess]

You wait until we are done with the terminals.

[Zelda sounds extremely stern, even with whispering.]

We cannot afford to fail here. Riki looks already well absorbed in whatever he is doing. He does not need to be distracted until we have to draw him out of the room.

[midgarhorizon]

Yeah, I can help with distraction when we need to get him out.

[Reno's unusually serious, even for a mission. This is down to the wire with a meteor hanging over their heads... he knows they can't screw it up.]

We got a score to settle with him about September. 'Intellectually interesting to restore the worlds' my ass.

[As for plans...]

Best method I can think of is outright attacking him or create some kind of disturbance he'd have to go investigate. Any way we do it, last thing we want to do is look like a distraction.

[puppy_lancer]

[Lancer nods.]

I'd help. Playing with computers really isn't my specialty anyways.

[keybearer]

I'll do what I can. Just gotta know what you'll need me to do first.

[He hums, bringing his hand below his chin.]

I've got time spells that can freeze people, but I don't know how effective they'd be on Riki. I could offer offensive power, but I feel like if a fight breaks out, it could ruin everything.

[imperialsun]

Once we've figured out what the terminals do...I don't mind throwing a Persona or two as a distraction.

[Nothing says NAKED DEMON GUY to make someone look the other way...right?]

[attheclocktower]

[Xion's nervous, and it's written all over her face. But, even knowing the plan, there's still... she's selfish for considering this but... it's important. Not just to her.]

As well as shutting down the terminals... we should try as much as we can to figure out what he's trying to do. And... and if possible, how we can replicate it or something like it ourselves. If we need to.

[She's doesn't know how conditions have begun to deteriorate upstairs, and she's still convinced this might be about restoring the Tower. Finding out how to restore it isn't making a decision on what she should do. So it was safe. Safer, at least.

Even though she can tell, just looking at all the monitors through the window, that her suggestion is going to be a daunting task, at best.]

[notayoungkitten]

[She doesn't know enough about the technology that Riki uses to even attempt to hack into the terminals. If this was technology from the 60s, she had been taught enough to be able to do basic codebreaking, but as things were...

Well.]

We won't know what he's doing until we go to look ourselves. If we stand around and wait, Ruana will awaken and then we'll be in trouble regardless of his intentions.

[They have so little time left. Just barely over a month. She should try to be comforting, but she can't bring herself to be.]

We must figure out his intentions.

[midgarhorizon]

You leave that to me and the others, and focus on getting those computers shut down. If you see something on the screens we can use, memorize it. We'll figure it out.

[Reno's stern tone is... unusual.]

[megazero_to_superhero]

So wait, how many people are goin' after da terminals?

[David just heard a lot of people volunteer to distract Riki or fight him. It seemed like a good majority of the people gathered here, at least among those who have spoken up already.]

[keybearer]

Just to be sure, nobody's actually planning on killing Riki, right?

[A deep frown cuts across Riku's face, and he pulls his arms over his chest.]

I feel like, no matter what happens, we should be careful about what we do with him. I think we'd face better odds trying to sort out what he's planning before we do anything rash. Not that I trust the guy, but time's running short, and Riki is the guy with the most technical know-how.

[warriorscribe]

I hope not. If they do, I'll do all in my power to stop them. Not only is all you've said true, we can't risk Ruana becoming more powerful than she already is.

*Zo needs every bit of power he has over her, he suspects. She's powerful, immensely so. They need every advantage they can give him.*

[stitchedupbodyguard]

I'm not planning too, but if he ends up trying something on us we'll have to defend ourselves.

[For once, she's hoping it won't come to that.]

[slightlyoblivious]

I'm certainly not. We need information, and he's our best source, if a shady one. I don't trust him, but it would be shooting ourselves in the foot if we did anything rash.

[notachickenhawk]

[Tobias reaches out to talk to everyone in the group at once. Thought-speak is so useful. Sorry about sudden telepathy, people he doesn't know.]

<Technology's not my thing, but I can run distraction. Just let me know what kind we'll need and I can pick a morph.]

[morphballin]

If things go south and talking fails, I will do my best to cover those who need to get out. I don't have all my firepower, but I'm pretty light on my feet and can hopefully make him pay attention to me long enough for priority people to get clear.

[Samus folds her arms, and looks quite determined to throw herself into the line of fire if necessary.]

[ninjainviolet]

I can help with either the computers or the distraction--wherever anyone needs me to be.

[There's a hint of steel in her voice because she's not too happy about being lied to by Riki all those weeks ago. And she really wants answers--everyone who participated deserves that much.]