[center][img]https://images-ext-1.discordapp.net/external/ObfXRuxb6cIycBndF6yb4wfoMPCaSkClHh6nJ7k7w1E/%3Fcb%3D20190315052123/https/static.wikia.nocookie.net/control6745/images/f/fe/Pyramid2.png/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/340[/img] Level 1: 0/10 Location: The Oldest House --> Al Mamoon collab with lugubrious Points Gained: 3 New EXP Balance--- Level 1: 3/10[/center] Jesse Faden was walking through the empty halls of the Panopticon. The massive, multi-floored room centered around a large tower. Stand there and one could access all of the floors and observe all of them as well. Next to her was Frederick Langston, the grey-haired Supervisor of this Department. He was...talking. Something about his cat, and his neighbor, Maria. But Jesse was having a hard time paying attention. Her mind wandered to the items in the cells to their right. Heavily fortified doors lead into a side room, and that side room lead into the main cell where the item was kept. A large window made of thick, reinforced glass made the items viewable from the outside. "Uh huh," Jesse replied distractedly, as she perused the collection of items under her care. "What about that one?" Jesse pointed to a cell. Inside floated a solitary nylon balloon with the words 'Get Well Soon' written on it. Beneath it was forming a pool of some kid of black substance. "This one's creepy. What's its deal?" "Well, Director Faden, that's item AI58-KE. A nylon balloon, as you can, uh, see. It's been in there since 2004 and it hasn't stopped floating." "Cool." "There's, uh, more, obviously." Langston cleared his throat. "Oh." Jesse smiled quietly, still looking at the goo beneath the balloon. "I think a balloon that floats forever would be worth containing on it's own. But I'm assuming that weird goo is up to no good." "No, ma'am." Langston shook his head. "Not at all. It was recovered by Rangers in the Children's Ward of a hospital. They had some dogs there to comfort the sick children. They were all noticeably attracted to the Altered Item and it's goo substance, licking it when they could. That night, the children reportedly heard the dogs parading around the halls, making strange noises. One of them described it as singing." "Ooh. That [i]is [/i]creepy." Jesse made an impressed face. "All the dogs were found dead in the morning." "Mm." Jesse grimaced and stopped making her impressed face. "That so." She cleared her throat. "So, uh. How's your cat?" [i](I can't believe I just asked him that. Worth it to deflect from my being impressed by a balloon's dog killing abilities.)[/i] "Good! Good. No more separation anxiety since, you know, the unfortunate incident with the Hiss. My neighbor Maria is such a sweetheart, even if her taste in music is somewhat disagreeable. "Mhm." "Oh, yeah." They continued on. "Have you listened to any of the free style poetry tapes I sent you? There's some really experimental in there I think you'd [i]dig. [/i]You feel me? I really let my soul out on this most recent tape. I genuinely think it will help us bond as Director and Supervisor. Like I do with the Altered Items." "Oh, uh, yeah, sure Langston." "You did listen to them?" Excitement lit up his eyes. "What did you think?" "N-no, I meant I-" "I see." Langston shut himself down. "That's perfectly alright. You're a busy woman-" "No, I will listen-" "It's just you've said that for the last two times I've asked you about them. I even sent you new copies after you 'lost in the other ones in the mail'." [i](Has it really been two weeks already?)[/i] "I did. You know how it is. It was, uh, a House Shift. Y'know. Craaazy Oldest House. Real whacky." Langston sighed. "I understand, Director. Some relationships have to be kept strictly professional. Can't let things like friendship get in the way of good old fashioned Bureau work." "Uh..." Before Jesse could articulate a response, her radio crackled. "Jesse," Came Emily Pope's sharp, composed voice, "Please report to Dimensional Research immediately. There's something here that needs your attention." [i](Thank [i][b]God.[/b][/i] Get me outta here, Emily.)[/i] "Oh, shoot." Jesse said. "We'll have to continue this conversation later, Langston. That sounds pretty serious." "Indeed. The elevator is back around on the other side of this floor. But don't worry, I have the-" Langston blinked as Jesse Faden leapt over the railing. She turned around, floating over the lethal drop. Turning her head over her shoulder, she called out. "That's- that's okay I'm good, I've...I've got it handled." Her voice grew more echoey as she drifted away, down, to the Entrance. Langston took a few steps forward and frowned, watching her go. "Okay, then! I'll just get back to the Entrance by myself. That's fine." He cleared his throat, folding his hands behind his back. Jesse reached the bottom of the Panopticon and went to the Control Point. Three radio discs in a triangle, pointed at each other and supported on tripods. On the ground a circular pattern was marked in tape. Jesse stood in the center and reached her hand out, connecting with the leylines of the Oldest House. Like following the arteries in a heart, she felt the pull of Dimensional Research. In a pulse of white light she vanished. A few seconds later she reappeared on the other end of the Oldest House, hundreds of feet up and away from the Panopticon. She jogged through a set of sliding glass doors and into the newly renovated Dimensional Research. "What're we lookin' at, Emily?" Jesse Faden asks, taking a few steps over to the snappily dressed scientist. In front of them was a massive array of monitors and buttons. To their left and right stretched a row of smart looking men and women in lab coats, operating the machine and managing the readouts. "Jesse, we've detected a massive dimensional anomaly approaching Earth." Emily reported cheerily. "From...outside the Oldest House?" "Yes! An Altered World Event that has a source other than our World, or a Threshold within the Oldest House! Fascinating, isn't it?" "I suppose." Jesse said, more than a little concerned. "Do we know what it is?" "All we know is it possesses a never before seen amount of energy. Wanna know what else?" [i](Do I?)[/i] "Yes." "According to our calculations, it's heading directly for the Oldest House!" Jesse would have done a spit-take if she was drinking something. "Wh- you mean it knows we're here?" "Seems like it." "Can we do anything to stop it?" "We're working on it, but our current hypothesis is 'definitely no.'" "What happens if it hits us?" "We don't know!" Emily smiled wondrously. "Where did it come from?" "We don't know!" "How long do we have until impact?" "About 15-20 seconds." "...Oh." Emily nodded. "It could be anything from entirely harmless to the extinction of all life on the planet. We're entirely in the dark here, Jesse. It's even worse than the Hiss, because at least that fell within accounted for parameters." "...Great. Well, I'm not getting my hopes up. Here's hoping for something less than total annihilation." "Here's hoping!" Emily pushed her clipboard forward in affirmation. "Man. Did any of the other Directors have to put up with this crap?" "I don't believe so, no." "..." Jesse coughed. "It's been twenty seconds, I think." "I suppose my calculations were off slightly." Emily tipped her head. "Maybe it won't hit us at all?" And with that, Jesse was consumed by a blinding golden light. Just her luck. --- Jesse blinked. Emily looked at her. The scientists cleared their throats and reached for coffee mugs that weren't there any more. "Okay." Jesse furrowed her brow. "What was that?" "I don't know. Let's check the readout." Emily nodded to an assistant who flicked several switches of unknowable use. "Sorry, Jesse." Emily apologised. "The readout info is there, but I can't understand it. In one eye and out the other." "I think you mean in one ear." "I'm reading it, though." "Right." Jesse nodded slowly. "How do you mean, then?" "Well, there's information there. Something just happened to us. But I don't know what it is. The information is there, I just can't understand it. And unlike with the Hiss, it seems you weren't immune to it either. And these," she knocked on the implement on her chest. "Didn't do diddly-squat." "Seriously? Are we talking about more cognitive manipulation?" Jesse squinted at the unreadable information on display. "Seems that way." Emily nodded. [i](And I'm not even special this time. Perfect. At least I know this it wasn't my fault this time, right?)[/i] "Okay...well, you guys get into the safe rooms. If I haven't contacted you in an hour, resume operations." Jesse said. "There might be something in the Bureau, again." She nodded to a security guard who began organizing the scientists in an orderly fashion. With a pep in her step the unflappable Emily Pope turned on her heel and speed-walked to her destination. Jesse reached another Control Point and teleported over to Central Executive. A two storey office room with an empty chamber in the middle. An inverted black pyramid dominated the rooms architecture. Standing at some fold out tables was Simon Arish. He was Head of Security. "Hey, Director Faden!" He greeted. "Er, I mean- Jesse." Jesse smiled. "Hey, Arish. Did you feel that?" "Did I feel like I just lost some time? Yeah. Clarence and Judy here felt it, too. I was hopin' you could give us some answers, boss." Hope glimmered in his eyes. "Unfortunately, no. I'm in the dark, too. I need you to get everyone into safe rooms for the next hour. There could be something in the Bureau again. We're also going back on lockdown until we've figured this out." Jesse repeated. Arish signalled for his soldiers to relay the information all around the Oldest House. "Can do. What about you?" "I'm heading outside. I'm going to see what's up with the rest of New York. Obviously that's not really our jurisdiction, but anything could have happened out there. I'll be right back. If I'm not back in an hour, resume normal operations." "You will be." Arish reassured her a smile. "I will." Jesse turned and jumped, preparing to float up to the second storey and get to the lobby. Only as she jumped, she landed right back on the ground. Since she had leaned so far forward into her flight, she stumbled on the carpet and landed on her knees. [i](What?)[/i] Arish suppressed a chuckle. "You, uh, you okay, boss?" Her feet and hands looked normal. Jesse hopped up. No flight. Jesse and Arish made eye contact. "D-...did you just lose your job?" Arish asked, not finding the situation funny anymore. A little frantically, Jesse opened up the palm of her hand. Silently, the Service Weapon apparated. Both the Director and the Head of Security let out a sigh of relief. The matte black pistol with a yellow-edged cylinder in the chamber had never looked so comforting. Jesse reached her hand out for a coffee mug, but it didn't come to her like it normally would have. [i](Something's off. Haven't felt this way in a while.)[/i] The redheaded Director examined her trusty firearm. The barrel, made of a series of floating cubes barely kept in place by an unseen gravity, twitched and shifted as she watched it. "It's like when I first got the Service Weapon. Whatever just happened, it reset me to factory settings." Jesse commented. "That sucks. Think you can get 'em back?" "Probably. I did it last time, so it should be even easier. The more I use the gun and the powers I have, the more acclimated I become. Hypothetically it's just a matter of time." There was a ringing in her ears. "Hold on. I'm gonna head down to the Hotline. Just get everyone safe, Arish." She said. He gave her a two-fingered, informal salute. "You got it, boss." He replied. The Director went directly under the inverted black pyramid where the Control Point was, and teleported away. Still in the Executive sector. Red carpet, white walls, brutalist minimalism. A portrait of herself, some potted plants. From somewhere, finnish folk music echoed. She turned down a hallway. It became stark white and led into a vast room. In it, there was a narrow, railing-less walkway that dropped off into sheer pitch darkness on either side. This walkway led to a glass, soundproof chamber. Within this chamber there was a comfortable looking leather chair, a small table, and a bright red rotary phone. It was ringing. [i]Drrrring. Drrrring. [/i] Jesse walked at her usual pace (12 miles per hour) down the walk way and into the glass-walled room. She sat down and smoothly picked up the phone. She placed the reciever against her ear. "This is the Director." In response, there was a myriad of distant, calculating voices, drowning in static. An incomprehensible cacophony that permeated her mind. Enough to drive anyone else mad, drive them to pick up the nearest gun and put a bullet in their head. There was secrets in the static. In her mind's eye she saw somewhere, the inverted black pyramid of impossible size, drifting through a white void. A space so small it becomes infinite, so vast it becomes miniscule. The Board reaches out... And Jesse, only Jesse, only ever the Director, answers. They spoke to her as follows: < A Power has Challenged/ Notified The Board > < Your Directorial Abilities/Responsibilities/Superpowers have been Unwillingly Revoked > < You have been Reset/Video Game Sequeled > < We/You will Use/Become the Service Weapon/Point and Click once more > < Become Acclimated/Gain Experience/Level Up > < Reap Rewards/Loot of new Realm/World/Server/Dream > "Wait," Jesse said. "New world? Where are we?" < NOT IN KANSAS ANY MORE > Jesse placed the receiver down on the phone with a clank. [i](What did they mean by that? Is it possible the entire Oldest House has been translocated? How? This must have something to do with the memory gap and the cognitive dissonance. I need to get to the bottom of this.)[/i] Rubbing her chin, The Director rose from her chair and walked briskly out of Executive and to front offices. There were still a few more hallways to go before they reached the lobby proper and thus, the outside world and any threats that may lay beyond. Before she could, she saw a squad of four Rangers. Helmets, glass visors and cloth hid their faces, and over their baggy jumpsuits and nylon belts was a Hedron Resonance Amplifier. That would, hopefully, protect them from cognitive threats. Three of them were holding LMGs with drum magazines on the top. Guns of immense fire power meant for putting down interdimensional threats. Needless to say, not your average peashooter. Rangers were highly trained, incredibly skilled guardians of the Earth. [i](Might sound a little dramatic. But they deserve a little fanfare.)[/i] The fourth was holding a hand held rocket launcher. For even bigger targets. "What are you guys doing here?" Jesse asked. "I told everyone to get into safe rooms." "Arish told us to meet you here, ma'am. Said you might want or need our help." [i](Of course he did. Well, without all my powers I'm basically just a glorified Ranger, anyway.)[/i] "Uh, okay. Sure. Follow me." She gestured with her handgun. "Right away, ma'am." The squad leader saluted. With that, they turned the corner and stepped out into the main lobby. It was a two-storey room, with a set of stair cases on the far left and right side that lead downwards. There was an empty receptionist's desk, a security office, and the floor the entire lobby turned into a wide-stepped staircase that led out into a series of double glass doors. On the other side of the glass doors was a grey, lifeless city. Devoid of life. "That's not New York." Jesse noted. "No ma'am, it isn't." "I'll go check it out. You guys stay in the lobby." The Rangers nodded. Jesse walked forward and carefully pushed on the glass. She stepped outside. The Rangers watched her go. She moved forward, onto the sidewalk and into the middle of the street. Her eyes widened and she looked up, way up, at something the Rangers couldn't see. Then she turned around as if noticing something she hadn't before. She sprinted back inside and shut the glass doors behind her. The guy with the bazooka cleared his throat. "...well?" "On a scale of one to fucked? We're a solid eight." Jesse exhaled, running a hand through her vibrant red hair. "It's- yeah. Yeah, we're in a totally different place. And we don't know how or why. And there's...scary shit out there. We're going to need to be careful." "Are we going to be sending out expeditions?" "Oh, yeah, for sure." Jesse said. There was genuine worry on her face, but a curious, excited light danced behind the Director's dark eyes. "It's a big city. I'll go out exploring and see if I can find a way out. Get the radar stuff up and running, see if we can orient ourselves." Jesse and the Rangers moved back into the interior of the Oldest House where it was more protected. [i](Okay. So. Let's work through this. There's something on the data screen that we can't really understand due to cognitive interference. Let's scan for Resonances.)[/i] "The good news is, I think we're safe in here. The Oldest House itself hasn't been compromised." Jesse said. Soon the entire operation of the Bureau was back up and running once again. Jesse reconvened with Emily in Dimensional Research. "Okay, Emily, I had an idea. Scan for Resonances. Anything that isn't the normal Earth stuff." "Right away, Jesse." She inputted a few commands into the device. Somewhere, complicated machinery whirred to life. "Mhm. Yup. There's something all around us and outside the Bureau. It's affecting everything. There's one small blip near the Foundation." "That's probably Ahti. He wasn't affected by the Hiss, either." [i](Now would be a good time for him to come back from his vacation.)[/i] "Increase the range of the scan. I want to find something that isn't affected by the Resonance. If there isn't, then we'll figure something else out." "Okay! If anything changes, I'll let you know. But this Resonance seems omni-present. It's affecting all of us right now. That could mean anything. Our current reality could be an illusion. Or this is a shared dream. Or we've all been put into a different dimension. Or, all of this, including myself, is just a figment of your imagination!" Emily said cheerily. "My working theory is ‘different dimension’. The Oldest House is in a completely different spot. Something reached out from the otherside of a Threshold. This is the largest Altered World Event in the history of the planet no matter what, right?" "Definitely." Emily grinned. "Exciting times." --- Results, when they came, were less than ideal. The new, unprecedented Resonance picked up by Bureau instruments permeated the entire city, every nook and cranny, attic and alley, except the Oldest House itself. Invisible, untouchable, unstoppable. Research soon revealed the only variance to be the Resonance’s strength, which appeared to weaken by degrees the farther south it went and strengthen toward the north. After that, however, nothing could be gleaned about the anomaly from afar, so it fell to the expedition teams to brave the unknown city and find out just what lay in store for them. “Eyes peeled, men.” Sergeant Reeds said, looking up at the skyline around them. Oppressive, bleak, and neglected formed just a few of the words that described the nightmare they marched out into. Towering buildings teetered and sagged like stacks of wooden blocks assembled by children, and when the Rangers drew close to the buildings they founded them in a terrible state of disrepair. Entire sections were run-down if not collapsed, and there was such an absolute dearth of color and vigor that it seemed at first that the city was abandoned for many years. But it was not. At first even the trained Rangers did not identify the contacts, since they were so still, and their shapes weren’t quite right. When they realized thanks to the quiet croaking, they zeroed in on the unknown figures that stood motionless outside a storefront, riveted on an old black-and-white television that gurgled and sang with some ghastly program mostly lost to static. “Contact.” Corporal Penelope reported, indicating the two to their squad. “What the hell is wrong with them?” Corporal David asked. “They’re all...fucked up.” Sergeant Reeds took a few steps closer. “Sir! Ma’am! This is the police.” The two -an elderly couple judging by their proportions and stoop- did not respond to hails whatsoever, but when David drew close to tap the man on the shoulder, he spun with alarming speed. For a split second the squad received a vision of an utterly deformed face, the flesh swept and distorted into hideous folds like a smudged painting. Then it shrieked, some sort of paralyzing static flowed between it and its victim, and the Rangers lit it up. A withering torrent of gunfire tore the warped human into giblets, but the other did not so much as react until the rounds smashed through the television. At that point she gave a loud, scratchy croak and staggered toward the squad herself, only to meet the same end. Then there was silence--silence, except for the faint utterances of myriad televisions in the background, just barely audible above the light, chilling rain. Ranger David stumbled back, clutching his head. Supported to his feet by his squadmate, Penelope patted him on the shoulder. “You good?” “I think so.” He adjusted the straps of his HRA. “Think it’s viral?” He asked. Penelope studied back towards the TV that the old lady was focused on. His black visor masked his face, the glass lightly dewed by rain drops. “Could be...the eggheads’ll probably wanna get a look at this stuff. But we’re expedition, not retrieval.” “What the hell were those things, anyway? Ugly bastards.” David asked, looking down at where the two creatures used to be. Reeds rubbed his chin. “Not sure. They looked like they were people at some point. I think we gotta another Hiss situation on our hands. Maybe if you look at those TV’s for too long, you turn into one?” The veteran Ranger theorized. He was no scientist, but you pick up an instinct for this kind of thing when you’ve dealt with enough paranatural bullshit. “Seems likely. At least they still go down if you fill ‘em with lead.” David asked. “Thanks for saving my ass.” He got a reassuring slap on the shoulder from the fourth, quieter Ranger. “Let’s keep moving. We’re due to rendezvous with the Director’s squad in an hour.” The squad leader said. The others nodded, hefted their machine guns with smoking barrels, and pushed on. “This place is fucked.” David murmured quietly. They took a formation, guns ready to be aimed at any moment, postures low. The squad scanned the environment and moved with methodical precision. Now they weren’t going to take any chances on rescuing or contacting civvies. As they made their way across the town, their decision only grew more and more wise. Wherever televisions could be found, the Viewers inevitably lurked nearby, as close as they could possibly get. None that the Rangers saw slept, or ate, or did anything but watch, as if the broadcast streaming through those ancient screens was all they needed. The creatures themselves, however, varied. A sizeable portion of them appeared to be humans with bigger heads and shorter limbs than one might expect, facial deformation notwithstanding, but others spanned the whole spectrum of normalcy. There were ordinary-shaped humans, bipedal animals, normal animals, monsters, and more than a few figures that were downright alien. Naturally, the Rangers didn’t get close enough to make out specific details, but they got a good dose of just how many creatures had fallen under the city’s spell when they reached a wide-open area. “Jesus Christ.” Corporal David said quietly. First, they saw the Viewers. There was a crowd of them, hundred if not thousands strong, all staring upward at an impossibly massive television set, jammed as if by some titanic hand into a building five stories up from ground level. Just as the others, it displayed nothing more than waves of static, only the barest suggestions of figures visible through the salt-and-pepper haze. The throng of distorted beings before it came in all shapes and sizes, some of them so distinct in appearance -if not for those accursed faces- that they couldn’t possibly just be generic nobodies. As the Rangers scoped out the area, however, they realized that the gathered Viewers represented only the tip of the iceberg. All around the square, from every angle, eager faces were watching. They stared at the tv set from every window, balcony, and rooftop, and with every one of them letting out low, croaking murmurs, there existed in the area a low roar of sound with a profoundly haunting quality. “This is the worst I’ve ever seen.” Penelope said. “It’s some regular Poltergeist shit.” David nodded in agreement. “They aren’t focusing on us, at least. Let’s keep moving. I” Reeds said. With no need for a chill deeper-reaching than the rain, the squad moved on quickly. No creatures bothered them whatsoever, for they were wholly entertained. Despite its size, the television could not be the source of the anomaly--merely an unusually large outlet. And as they moved farther north in the shadows of monolithic buildings, the Resonance grew stronger still. They knew it because they could [i]feel[/i] it. If not for the HRAs strapped onto their bodies they knew they would not have been able to ignore the beckoning allure of the television sets, the wonderful colors, sounds and shapes, dancing before their eyes. “Don’t look at the TVs for too long. Just in case.” Reeds advised. “Yeah, David.” Penelope said. “What’s that supposed to mean?” “We all know you have an addictive personality.” She smiled. “Funny. Yeah, I’m not getting hooked on this creepy snow bullshit.” On the way, no enemies jumped out at them, but fear found them nonetheless. The entire squad jumped when the first body hit the ground out of nowhere, killed instantly on impact and left sprawled out like a ragdoll. “Wuh!” Penelope startled, pointing her gun at the Viewer. She’d been infront of David, so she didn’t seem him jump, either. “Go on, P, waste him.” David indicated the dead thing. Penelope chuckled darkly. “This is grim. They just don’t even care, huh?” “Watch the windows. Don’t get crushed by a jumper.” Reeds advised. Viewers continued to fall at odd intervals from the nearby buildings, and when the squad looked upward they found equidistant rows of the things standing on the rooftops, all staring listlessly...and in the same direction. After a time the Rangers saw light ahead, enough to signify a main street, and made for the openness it promised. They were not ready for what they saw. When they walked out into the mainstreet and looked northward, they beheld an avenue around which the buildings curled like the sides of a tunnel, leading upward and onward. Miles away, higher than any other structure, beneath a circling vortex of clouds, stood a tower. A sheer rectangular prism, black as night, it pierced the heavens, and from its peak reached a pillar topped with a piercing light. It shone across the clouds, the sky, the [i]city[/i], and even without a receiver the Rangers could both hear and feel its Transmission, as clear as day. [center][youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZYWxTGeyXk[/youtube][/center] Though they could not stop their skin crawling, the trained soldiers steeled themselves to tear their eyes away from the beacon. When their gaze fell back on the streets, however they beheld something else. A twisted, bulbous bulk, wreathed in cables and twisted metal, suspended on spindly, hairy spider legs. Its mass dangled there, an affront against nature, as the glassy eyes of its distended head fixated in the Signal Tower before it. “It’s…” Penelope trailed off. David swore in awe. The fourth ranger stood in the back, mouth open. “That.” Reeds levelled a finger at the distant monument to suffering. “Is the Source of the Resonance. Gotta be. And that...” The index finger pointed at the bulbous creature. “Is not our problem. Let’s get back to the Oldest House. We’ve found the source of the Resonance, so we’re good to go.” The Veteran turned and indicated his recruits to travel. The three backed up a few steps before shaking their heads rapidly and turning a cold shoulder to the Signal Tower. There was nothing more to say about it. [hr] Bright, floral, a little acidic...vaguely reminiscent of cherry. A light and clear arrangement of complex flavor notes, with a light body and pleasantly warm despite the heat outside. Jesse took a deep sip of her coffee and set it down, holding her head in her hands. Just a few feet away from the welcoming, shady shelter of the little cafe, the late morning sun shone down upon the chessboard tiles, golden bells, and shining turquoise of a splendid city, but by now its wonders did little to quell her unease. Its citizens went about their daily tasks with a stifling mudanity. It was too normal here, and she was well out of her element. Then again, she couldn’t have possibly stayed in it. That damn Resonance was why she was here. For weeks the Bureau had worked to stabilize its position in the city that for all intents and purposes had no name. Jesse’s organization banged its collective head against the pervasive, indefatigable anomaly they’d taken to calling the Transmission, but for all their efforts they had achieved no progress. No deciphered secrets, no method of counteraction, nothing. The televisions were merely symptoms, and destroying them meant triggering the Viewers. Since the Viewers in any given location invariably numbered higher than appearances might suggest, and more than a few seemed to harbor unusual abilities, a clean sweep had quickly been deemed out of the question. However, the Viewers were the least of the Bureau’s problems. The Rangers weren’t the only ones able to move in the city, as fleeting glimpses of elusive shadows too recurrent to be imagination suggested. Though never under attack, the Bureau was overwhelmed; there seemed to be nothing they could do but hold tight onto what they had, and keep the Transmission out. Eventually, Jesse decided to look elsewhere. Her journey took her south, out of the nameless city and away from its repugnant Transmission, until that wretched acropolis was just a pale stain on the northern tip of the continent. She traveled a long way, meeting people and creatures of all shapes and sizes. She’d gone through a city much bigger than this, so modern, metropolitan, and painfully [i]normal[/i] as to have its own political landscape complete with corporate and ecological underpinning. She found no answers there, and the launch of some kind of feverish election spurred her on her way. And now, after a long and uncomfortable helicopter ride, she was here. Al Mamoon was hot, rather crowded, more than a little foreign to her, and lacking in a few quality of life improvements that city -or rather, modern- life left her taking for granted. But hey, it had good coffee. And its own problems. As if she didn’t have enough headaches to deal with, a fresh anomaly had revealed itself. A string of impossible crimes all perpetrated by a single individual, with an appearance described in contradictory terms by various witnesses, who could all allude to just a single unifying characteristic: a gun capable of miraculous things. In the course of his felonies he seemed to be able to attach balloons, wheels, and thrusters, adhere things together, lift and rotate heavy objects, pass through solid walls, alter targets’ size and weight, make copies, set things on fire forever, and mess with lights. An Altered Object of such power couldn’t be ignored, but so far the perpetrator had slipped through her fingers on two occasions. With a sigh, Jesse took another sip of coffee. Of all her worries, at least that one would change today. [i](I remember when I could do cool, supernatural stuff.)[/i] Jesse thought to herself, staring at the nearly empty bottom of her coffee cup. At least her aim had improved in the interim. One last sip, and that was all the energy she needed to get her through the morning. If she could just catch this guy and contain that Object of Power, that would get her unstuck from this rut. This AWE was full of so much downtime. She’d been spoiled by the Oldest House. At the very least, this world was full of interesting characters. Like this guy. A 5’2 humanoid bunny man wearing green pants and absolutely strapped with muscle. He was relaxing with one leg crossed over the other, his black eyes staring into his cup. “You’ve been looking at me.” He said. Jesse tried not to startle. [i](He talks. Hm. Had to order his coffee somehow, I guess.)[/i] “Oh. Was I? Sorry.” Jesse averted her eyes, but realised they were in a conversation now so it was probably best to make eye contact. “I’ve just never seen anyone like you before.” Jesse said. “I don’t mean to, uh, stare. My name’s Jesse.” She said. The rabbit man seemed to consider her, his right ear twitching. “Turner.” He replied. “You drink coffee often, Turner?” Jesse asked. “No. This is my first time. The coffee is... alright. Too many flavors.” He held his cup up between his articulate paws. “Of all the places my travels have taken me too, this is by far the strangest. I’d never seen anyone that looked like you before, either, until suddenly I was surrounded by them.” “Oh?” [i](So he’s like...from Zootopia.)[/i] “Well. We’re called humans, if you don’t know. There’s kind of a lot of us. What is, uh…[i]your[/i] kind, called?” “I’m a rabbit.” He replied. “Right.” Jesse lightly slapped her palm on the coffee table. “Shoulda guessed.” “How would you have guessed that?” Turner asked. “Oh. We have rabbits in our world.” “You literally just said you’d never seen anyone that looked like me before.” “Oh, uh, well, on my world, the rabbits aren’t people. They’re animals. Like pets.” “Excuse me?” Turner asked, voice sharp. “Uh, y’know, I should- I should probably go. I’ve got somewhere to be, in like, 15 minutes.” She set the coffee cup down on the table. “Probably.” Turner said, eyeing her. Clearing her throat, the Director rose and scooted her chair back under the table. She gave a little wave to Turner and quickly walked out of the out door seating area of the coffee shop. [i](Nice one, Jesse. That was super racist.)[/i] She’d just have to try and move on. Her next plan of action was to wait for the Paracriminal to reveal himself and ambush. Given the attention-seeking, low damage nature of the crimes, she figured he would go after something flashy and well known. But not too populated. He’d already hit two targets of that description. One of the last places in town that fit his MO was some art museum that looked like it was plucked right out of her world. The Paracriminal was probably going to steal some fancy painting or artifact, or whatever they kept in normal museums. Once there, she approached the fence. An uneven barrier of red-tinged pillars stood before a building that defied all common sense and logic, a garish, ostentatious structure of swirled gold interspersed with bright blue windows. She couldn’t read the giant symbols before it, but she knew they were Japanese. Placing her hand against the wall she tensed up her muscles and held her breath. No luck. Still no flying. “Ugh.” Jesse turned and crossed her arms, leaning up against the fence. Hopefully he showed up soon. She was getting tired of all this waiting around. [center][img]https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Jrjx6Bj6Qrc/maxresdefault.jpg[/img][/center]