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It was not supposed to happen. Archangel knew that the statistical probability had been almost nonexistent that all the bombs could be stopped but she had hoped that the smaller probability would come to pass. She had not known that she had been so attached to that wishful thinking until the bombs began to go off. She did not know what to make of her thoughts, she did not normally feel emotion so poignantly it was normally half a simulation. But at that moment for a few fractions of a millisecond Archangel felt it.

She would have to respond now. The terrorists had officially committed an overt act. It took only another few milliseconds for her subroutines to pinpoint the exact locations of the devices that had already activated. Another few milliseconds compared the relative positions for each city and determined hypothetical locations for the bombs in other cities all across the United States. Now that she knew where to look it took only a few more milliseconds to pinpoint the location of dozens more as her satellite feeds and surveillance confirmed the presence of the devices.

The next step took longer. It took Archangel almost a full second to confirm all the targeting data and arm the weapons systems. She could have cut the time away almost entirely had she not needed to check several hundred times over to make sure she would not be killing anyone with her strikes.

The news announcement had just finished as she spent an uncharacteristically long time in thought. She wanted to save them, she wanted to help them, but this went against something deep inside her. It was strange, like a ghost within her memories, a ghost that whispered showing so much now was a bad idea. But she had to act, she could not stand by and watch as a madman ruined the lives of millions.

“Excuse me for a moment Chris.” She spoke through the television screen she had commandeered before changing the feed to show a blank slate.

For a long several seconds Archangel hesitated. It was the second longest she had hesitated that she could remember. And then the ghost in the machines took action.

[b][OOC: This is what the news in the room would be after Archangel briefly blanked her screen][/b]

Only a moment after Archangel's screen went dark another panicked announcement briefly sounded from the news.

Anchor 1: “This just in. We are receiving reports of lights from the sky striking buildings in cities across the country. Reports from Chicago, Los Angeles, Atlanta, and Seattle all confirm strikes on the buildings generating the fields.”

Anchor 2: Visibly shaken. “Is this another attack? What did we….”

The screen dissolved into multicolored hash for a second before a new image appeared in place of the newscasters. It was Archangel, but not the woman that Chris and others had spoken too. This feed was of Archangel as she was in her suits, hidden behind the advanced technology.

“People of the United States of America. I am Archangel. Do not be alarmed. I have launched surgical strikes against the terrorist devices. Please remain calm. Other Heroes will be moving into action and the Host of Heaven suits have been dispatched. I repeat, remain calm. We are working as quickly as possible to neutralize the threat.”

Then after Archangel had finished speaking the feed cut out again before switching back to the newscasters who seemed stunned and surprised.

[b][OOC Back to Archangel now.][/b]

A few second after her broadcast ended Archangel reopened the interface with the others. She could have switched instantly but it might seem too suspicious. As she appeared again on the screen she made sure to act as if she was typing quickly. “Over 70% of the devices have now been neutralized. My satellites are not in position to neutralize the others. I have dispatched the Host of Heaven to other cities. But there is still a 86.989834329% chance that others will go off before the Host suits can reach them.”

The sound of simulated typing continued as Archangel widened the interface, commandeering more screens as she projected a map of the United States. There were still over a dozen red icons on the map, representing the locations of devices that she had been unable to target and that could go off at any time. “Icon, Lady Liberty, Thunderbolt, Boom, are all faster than the Host suits, they need to hurry. The readings from the fields currently active indicate very strong mutagenic potential. Even minimal exposure has a 2.3808% chance of causing possibly debilitating mutation.”

Then Archangel spoke one more time. “We need to find the people behind this. They must be stopped.” She simulated appropriate levels of disgust and horror at what was happening but like always stayed professional.