There was a [i]giant death robot[/i] in the warehouse. The emergency-services perimeter was still being assembled, and from the frantic sound of voices crossing through radios, there would be at least a few more minutes before anyone made a concerted effort to approach the warehouse. After all, the place had exploded, and might explode again - that plume of smoke was impressive, and who knows what else might be stored here? The professionals, with all due haste but also all due good sense, would probably not be hurrying to send people in. These happy thoughts flickered through Indira's mind when she stepped over what had once been the warehouse's door frame and into the gloomy, smoke-blackened interior. After that, the [i]giant death robot[/i] had her rather preoccupied. Although the machine bristled with weapons and its armored carapace seemed all but untouched by the blast, dangling hydraulic hoses and one leg missing from the shin down suggested that though it was impressive, it also wasn't finished. The missing leg, in fact, lay across several worktables to one side, leaving the whole machine to be supported by massive chains leading to support beams high overhead. With an effort, Indy pulled her attention away and took in the rest of the building, her eyes adjusting slowly to the semi-darkness. She made her way into the building with careful steps, both to keep quiet and to avoid disturbing anything that looked like it might become evidence. She took a step further into the place, and the lights went out. There weren't that many left intact after the explosion to begin with, but she hadn't expected the sudden drop into near-total darkness. Another step and her foot brushed against something while she dug in her jacket for her penlight, and she knelt to take a closer look. A moment later, she stuck the light between her teeth and reached down, suddenly unconcerned about fingerprints. "What the hell...?" Indy muttered to herself. She scooped up a rounded, three-lobed object a little smaller than her palm, each lobe connected to a central body. She turned it upside down and ran a finger across the underside of each protrusion, face setting into an expression of deep concern. Rustling and the sound of footsteps disturbed the quiet behind her. Indy sprang back to her feet and spun toward the noise, spring-coiled muscles pivoting and setting her weight in the skin of a second. She brought her free hand up into a ready position, fingers curled. Power surged in her body, and a cupped barrier field formed in the air half a meter in front of her. An instant later it flared into brilliance, a sudden spotlight lancing out where she thought the sound had come from. ------------------- No one. Jake couldn’t tell if there was a single person inside this building as the whole room was dark except for a few stray lights. That wasn’t the strangest thing though. Large and odd machinery lay strewn across the entire building. He had no idea what any of it could be for but the inclusion of weaponry was fairly unsettling. Slowly Jake made his way to what seemed to be the direction of the blast. Quietly he followed scorch marks eventually locating what he thought was some computer-esque object, but with the low lighting and the device being mostly destroyed he couldn’t really tell whether it was an accident or not. The young cop wanna be couldn’t investigate any further as the lights decided to go out completely. [color=darkorange]”Well, that’s just great.”[/color] Jake began digging though his backpack for some sort of light when he heard a very faint noise. Not really thinking, Jake began heading in the direction not concerned about keeping quiet. However, before he could reach his destination a bright light shone upon him causing Jake to reel back from the sudden glow. ------------------ Indira relaxed her hand, the light vanishing and leaving only her penlight on. She reached up and pulled it from between her teeth, keeping it pointed at the young man, but not directly. "Right," she said, "Which one are you, then?" Jake looked at the woman in front of him uncertain of what to say. He knew that New York had a lot of ‘supers’ but he hadn’t really planned on encountering one. Not knowing what to say he picked a random thing on the top of his mind to call himself for now, [color=darkorange] I don’t really have a name to give you. Just call me Rhoman, I guess. What am I to call you?”[/color] One dark eyebrow rose over an eye, taking a second to look the young man over. "Mmn. I admit that I don't recall hearing that name. New in town? That’s not important, I suppose." She waved the hand with the penlight, dismissing the thought. "My name is Indira. Or Miss Bhatia, if you like. If you call me Tensor to my face, I may get irritated." The last came with the ghost of a smirk, "We don't all make good decisions under pressure." She looked up and down the warehouse and sighed, "We aren't going to have much time, I think. Once the smoke clears, they'll start sending someone in to take a look around, and I’m certain I'd rather not have to explain myself to the bomb squad while standing in the middle of an explosion. But take a look at this-" She held the device she'd picked up off the ground up, flashing the penlight over it. "I [i]designed[/i] this. Well," she said hurriedly, "Not..this exactly. But these repulsor pads, this arrangement - what I built was supposed to be a camera drone for..." her voice trailed off, "...a client. This looks like my drone, but I'm pretty sure this center area here, you see? That looks like something explosive." She bobbled the thing in her hands, the repulsor pads clicking against the central body. "I don't know what's going on here, but..." Noises came from outside, the sound of diesel power coming closer, "What have you seen in here? Where did you come in from, anyway?" [color=darkorange]”Well, I walked through the walls. The only thing I’ve seen is the obvious machinery and I did locate a possible source of the blast. It was some sort of computer like device. I can’t be too sure though as the whole thing was mostly reduced to ash.”[/color] From where he stood, Jake did a quick glance over the rest of the building as well as he could. Nothing that seemed to stick out. [color=darkorange]”Do you have an idea of where this client could be right now? If we could find them then we might be able to figure out how that got here. I don’t think exiting through the door would be a good idea. I can phase you though the wall if you need me to.”[/color] "Through the walls, hm?" Indy said, “That will be new.” She regarded the drone in her hand, "Mmn. I don't usually keep track of my clients once I've finished something for them. Then again, I also try not to design flying, explosive, autonomous grenades." Indy opened her mouth to say something else, but at the same moment, her jacket chirped. She tossed the penlight out of her hand and a pair of gently-glowing rings appeared, suspending the light midair. With her newly free hand, she reached into her jacket and pulled out her phone, taking a look at the screen. Her eyes widened. "Someone just attacked the Mayor's fundraiser," she said, speaking quickly, her eyes flicking over her screen, "Soldiers with artificial enhancements, advanced weapons..." She lowered the phone and looked around. "Start taking pictures," Indy said, "We have to get this documented." She snatched the penlight out of the air, then kept her arm raised, fingers curling. Another brilliant light appeared a couple of meters overhead and bathed the warehouse in bright, even illumination. In the light, Indy saw another set of worktables, and even through the soot, she could see careful rows of transparent cases holding artificial limbs, eyes, and what looked suspiciously like some kind of neural interface equipment. "That's...not good," she said. Her phone, wrapped in its own field, hung in the air to her side. It slowly spun in place, taking in a panorama, the interface cheerful and bright with helpful tips. Indira's eyes flicked around the warehouse, her posture growing tense. Outside, there was the sound of tires on gravel, followed by the sound of muffled and distant voices. "We should get...out...of..." Indy's voice trailed off at the sound of a heavy [i]thunk[/i] and the sound of something slowly rising through pitches, like a turbine starting up. She turned and looked behind her. The hulking machine, once dormant, now had bright illuminated accents, each glowing a baleful scarlet. While she watched, the thing came to life and balanced itself on its intact leg, the chains above going slack. It made a noise like a ship's horn in Hell, and parts of it began to articulate, exposing what could only be weapons, including something with a barrel the size of an oil drum that glowed with burning crimson light. Which, naturally, it turned to point at the warehouse's only other occupants. Indira swallowed, but there really wasn't a choice here. Super-science, exploding drones, and killer robots weren't what the authorities were equipped to handle. If she left, there would be normal people paying that price. Not that she actually knew how to fight something that looked like it belonged in a science fiction movie, but if there was one thing the superhero life had shown her it was that there really was a first time for everything. She dropped the drone she'd been holding, grabbed her phone out of the air, and flicked at it with her thumb. Li should know what was going on. [i]About to fight a giant death robot[/i], she thumbed, [i]Stay safe. Love you.[/i] Indy tucked the phone into her jacket again, straightened her spine and squared her shoulders. "Hey," she said, looking at the young man. A grin spread across her face, fierce and wide, "Feel like fighting bad guys?"