To all my players and writing partners; Don't worry! I've not vanished or forgotten you. I've had something come up, and will be taking the rest of this week off from my RPs. See you next week!
Looking around the room, Geoffrey started identifying the guards while he still could. He made it a habit of learning names and faces, especially of security staff. Not all of them were in the building, or even in the room, so it was important to start identifying who was on duty for this ordeal.
There was David Roskins, of course. Like many of the soldiers, he was a white man of slightly above average height, and an athletic build. The man had a young son, and was desperate to spend time with him. As much as this job kept his family living comfortably, it also kept him on duty eighty hours a week. It would be easy enough to barter with the man, if the worst should happen. After all, a lost limb was far from fatal these days, and it meant paid time off to spend with his family. A much better deal than dying for money he would never see.
One of the senior officers in the room, the one who had begun to speak when Geoffrey gave his orders, was Thomas Stout. If there were a better contrast to Roskins in the room, Geoffrey had not met them. He was the only security officer who wore facial hair, with a bald head likely to blame. The doctor knew more than a few men who tried to make up for losing hair from one spot by growing more elsewhere. His appearance, though, was as normal as the man got. According to rumors, he was actually an ex-con, which would explain a number of scars clearly made by jagged-edged weapons. He was also one of the few with enhancements, in the form of a bionic left eye, capable of seeing light across the full spectrum. Going by what the other guards said, his only redeeming quality was a willingness to always be at the front of the line when things went bad, though realistically he was just the type to want the first chance to kill someone.
Looking around the room, two things became immediately apparent to Geoffrey. The first was that only the higher ranking guards had been told about this, as several were now talking with their superiors about the specifics. That meant that whatever was going on had been started some time ago, and they had been sitting on the tip until it could be confirmed. Only those in charge had been warned, because that meant it could be acted on with an organized effort if it needed to be, or dismissed without anyone finding out if it could be handled quietly. To the good Doctor, all of that meant it wasn't his contact who had been found out. Someone else was going to be making trouble that night, and Geoffrey had neither the time nor means to reach out to his contact to warn them. At least, not subtly.
The second thing made clear to him was that he needed to take charge, before someone else did. "Alright everyone," he began, his voice sounding brittle yet loud. "You heard her. Assistants and juniors are to gather your things, and exit the facility immediately. Senior staff, you're with me. We'll be shutting down all ongoing operations, per emergency protocol. That means you'll need your badges with you, to override security locks and safety seals."
Turning to the group of guards-several of who had arrived with him-he spoke to them directly. "Regardless of what Nawar says, I know for certain there are several shutdown protocols that will take more than an hour to properly perform." Holding up a hand when one of the captains started to interrupt, he continued without pause. "Among them my own experiments, which are currently agitating several toxic gases into a new, highly explosive solid fuel. Interrupting the process could flood several floors with toxic gases, and mine aren't even the most dangerous experiments going on currently."
"Then, of course, there's the overhead costs that would be accrued if we just halted some of our experiments. All the product involved would have to be written off as waste, which could cost the company, oh... Dr. Russell," he said, raising his voice and calling over to the younger woman. Her red hair made her easy to point out among the crowd, and from what he'd heard of her department, she'd be useful for the example. "I've heard you've just started a new process with some recently purchased equipment. If I'm not mistaken, some of the chemicals involved become very corrosive once they start to break down and combine. If you just turned the machine off, how much do you think your department would lose from the cost of the chemicals and the cost of getting a new machine?"
He waited for her to approach, knowing full well the stories of her speaking troubles. As she got closer, it seemed one of the guards was going to say something, but Geoffrey gave him a look that several other guards present knew better than to challenge. While he wasn't the most senior member of the staff present, Geoffrey was still the head of his own department, and had one of the highest security clearances in the company as a result. To say nothing of the rumors floating around the office about why he was classified in the security system as a 'Class A: Do Not Engage.'
Doctor Geoffrey sat down at the big lunchroom style table. Even so late at night, the building was alive with people, so the cafeteria stayed open. Which suited the doctor's needs just fine, as most of his time spent away from his lab was time spent eating meals. While it certainly did not cling to him as it did to others, he had learned in his early years that late night work powered by take-out on a regular basis was just a bad idea in general. Anymore, he much preferred a meal made with fresh ingredients, even if it cost more.
Sitting down with his tray, he looked over his choices. The night staff had prepared a southern themed menu that night, which included a variety of appetizing dishes. Upon his plate, the doctor had collected; a burrito, stuffed with red beans, rice and spiced meat; two corn-shell tacos, loaded with fresh vegetation; a serving of guacamole, with fresh-made tortilla chips; two fried chicken breasts, covered in white gravy and black pepper; three buttermilk biscuits, each smeared with apple butter; a small bowl of chili; and a slice of apple pie, for desert.
When the announcement played, the Doctor was crunching on tortilla chips, dripping with chili and guacamole. Naturally, that meant he had not gotten the message. Everyone else in the room had stood up and left, though, which he did take note of. Even the kitchen staff, he noticed, as he continued to eat. With no one else in the room, he shrugged his shoulders and started on his chicken. Certainly, this warranted investigation, but the lack of screaming and explosions made it difficult to consider it an urgent matter.
"Doc," came a familiar voice from behind him, one of the security team. He was approaching, and sounded concerned. "Didn't you notice-Woah... Damn, miss a few meals, Doc? Spread like that, I get why you didn't hear it. Hey, let me help you pack this up, we'll drop it in your lab on the way. Big meeting going on, and everyone has to come."
It took a moment to place the voice. More than a few of the security team had become familiar with him, and many of those had similar accents. By the time he'd swallowed his mouthful of chicken, though, he knew. The man was civil enough, but he really would shoot if someone refused an order from his superiors.
"Roskins!" He began, hands dropping the chicken to wipe them free of grease. "So kind of you to offer. How's Jessica, and your little boy, uhm... Richard? Did he like going with you, to the game?" As he spoke, he stood. The two exchange pleasantries, talking about the young man's wife and child. They did as was suggested, and stopped by the lab to drop off the food, before leaving to the meeting. Several other guards joined them on the way, each joining in the small talk. By the time they got to the room, the Doctor had gathered an escort of twelve armed men, and they were all smiling when they entered.
Name: Thomas Geoffrey Alias/Callsign: Dr. Geo Age: 92 Powers:
In general terms, Thomas has absolute control over substances that would be classified as 'dirt' or 'rocks' in the common nomenclature. Likewise, he has the ability to bend, shape, and modify both metal and wooden objects at will. When he first began his career as a hero, he was known for things like firing balls of gravel at villains, shielding himself with thick slabs of stone, and 'flying' through the air by riding a clump of dirt he was levitating. He still uses many of these methods, especially if he engages in combat, though his techniques have been somewhat refined by experience.
Over time, and through extensive study, he was able to develop more complex techniques to use through fine manipulation of his power. This includes things such as heating the metal or earth up to molten temperatures, taking advantage of his understanding of physics to create high-power static discharges, and even healing people by carefully reshaping the solid components of their body. Each of these takes time to perform, time which makes them impractical during active combat, or in the case of healing even just during a mission in general.
These are not the limits of his abilities, though; Simply things he can do on a time scale that's practical. He has attempted, with varying degrees of success, many very elaborate applications of his power. This was often with the help of others, including everything from lab assistants helping him with the mathematics, to other supers combining their ability with his to ever greater effect. However, while these experiments often yielded incredible results, most required weeks or even months to plan, and up to multiple days to actually execute.
Though he wouldn't describe it as such, the incident which gave him his powers resulted from his entire being-both physical and spiritual-fusing with a massive source of raw earth magic. As a result, in addition to his geokinesis, his natural physiology was altered in a number of ways.
Vision: Thomas's sight no longer functions on the traditional light spectrum. Instead, he now sees things in the infrared. While his mind shows him these things as the different colors of the world as he knew them before, that's not actually what he's seeing, and he knows it. While this does mean that he is essentially colorblind, any source of heat now acts as a form of light for him. His sense of depth was not altered, so he can still see contrasts of 3D shapes quite fine. He is also still capable of reading traditional books-the ink in the book holds heat differently than the paper around it, so he can just press his hand to the letters and they appear to him-but he is not able to read computer screens, which also means he can't drive.
Powerful build: Despite his appearance, Thomas is actually quite strong. He's also naturally more resilient to damage than the average person. While these levels aren't extreme, they are slightly higher than any human has naturally reached. His own research has yielded results showing a capacity to produce, optimally, 10% more force than any other human on record, and a bone and muscle density that is able to handle approximately 15% more than a healthy, non-augmented human male of his-physical-age.
Bodily requirements: While he exceeds other humans physically, he needs disproportionate amounts of food and sleep to sustain himself. In general terms, he has found that he needs much less sleep than the average person, but has much higher nutritional requirements. Specifically, he can stay awake for eight days before suffering fatigue typical of a person staying away for sixteen hours, and can stay awake for as much as a month while suffering an approximately equal scaling of fatigue. This does require additional sleep, often leaving him in an almost comatose state for up to forty-eight hours. For food, his caloric and nutritional needs are roughly twice that of someone with his height and build. As a result, he is almost constantly eating, his body fully capable of digesting and metabolizing the food as quickly as he consumes it.
Fire: While no more flammable than the average human-according to his tests, he's actually slightly less so-being in the presence of a lit fire weakens his powers. The larger the fire, and the closer it is to him, the greater the loss in strength. In general, this means he can not exert his power on anything that is actively burning, and he has difficulty using his powers when near open flames. Open flames, being an intense source of heat, can also be as blinding to him as the sun is to most average people.
Obsidian: Naturally created, large shards of volcanic glass have effects on his powers similar to open flames. Despite their composition, his powers have no effect on obsidian shards larger than the average jewelry-quality gemstone. Likewise, being around such shards hinder his powers, having the greatest effect when physically touching him. A shard roughly the size of a baseball, placed on his chest, is enough to completely disable his geokinesis. *It's important to note that manufactured-mechanically or magically-shards, as well as shards small enough to be considered sand, do not have this effect on him. In fact, his powers function as well with such material as it does with raw earth.
Weight: Thomas is a good deal heavier than he should be. At nearly four hundred pounds, even with the most modern of tools, he has been unable to identify scientifically exactly why he is so heavy. Denser bones and muscle tissue, fat cells that prioritize the storage of minerals, as well as a naturally very toned physique; All of these things play into why he would be heavier than a man of his height and build. However, none of them, together or separately, adequately explain his incredible weight.
Leyline Beacon: Thomas's powers are entirely arcane in nature, and come from a powerful connection between himself and the raw elemental magics that exist within the world. Anyone practiced in the arcane arts can easily find him if they know to look for him, and many have without even knowing he was what they were detecting. As such, many of his old villains used magic in some way, and tried to use him to power elaborate arcane rituals or constructs. Likewise, magical creatures that are attracted to arcane energy are naturally attracted to him, most often as a food source.
Appearance:
Thomas looks a great deal younger than he really is. That's not to say that he looks young, so much as he is simply very old. Ostensibly, he appears to be in his mid fifties, though this is due to an active attempt on his part to make himself appear older. His hair is naturally white, but his beard blooms a very healthy brown which makes him appear younger. As such, he keeps himself clean shaven. He also appears to walk somewhat hunched over, to hide his posture and his very healthy physical build. Standing at his full height, he's just over six feet tall. In general, his purposefully poor posture makes him look three to four inches shorter. Finally, he wears very thick clothing, often including his lab coat over a dress shirt and sweater vest. Underneath it all, though, he is extremely toned and muscular. This is partly due to exercise, which he believes is important to maintain quality of life, and partly due to his altered anatomy.
Equipment: 1.) Five 1-pound bags of fine grain sand 2.) Three 2-inch diameter tungsten carbide orbs 3.) One 5-pound of misc. candy 4.) Palm-sized, multi-tool measurement and atmospheric readings device, voice activated and set for text-to-speech response.
Origin:
In his youth, Thomas was a bright boy with a promising future ahead of him. His great grandfather had served as a general in the military near the end of the first world war, starting just before the USA entered the war fully. This began a family lineage of servicemen, with his grand father serving during the second world war, and his father serving in the Korean war. His great grandfather and his grandfather had both come home happy to have served, treated as heroes, to begin a family life with many happy children. His own father was not so lucky. Though he did come home to a loving wife, his family had trouble understanding his mental trauma. Despite this, when they heard he'd had his first child, they happily offered whatever help they could to see the child reach his full potential. While many of them assumed this would mean a life in the military, Thomas's father encouraged him instead to follow his own goals. Instead of military training, Thomas was the first member of his family to receive a degree. Not all of them were happy about it, but they were at least proud he had what it took to receive a full doctorate in his field; Applied physics.
Thomas was in his late twenties when he received his powers. At that point, supers were all but unheard of. Certainly, people knew about them, but most of them were barely more than people in costumes who used money or talent to fight criminals. A rare few had some strange gift, but none of them were bullet proof. Of course, even the idea of magic was completely absurd to scientific minds, and hyper advanced computers were a dream in the minds of the most imaginative. Despite all that, Thomas was among the few who believed there was more to the world than beakers and barometers could measure. It took time, but after a year, he finally found a practicing physicist who agreed. Thomas needed someone to take him on as an assistant, to start his career, and this man was the only one who agreed to his view of the world; Not only did he agree, but his own ideas were even more ridiculous than Thomas's theories. It was not long before Thomas found out why. The man had discovered what Thomas would later learn was called a 'leyline.' Geographically, they were not especially important, simply places where tectonic plates far below the earth's surface pressed against each other. However, those practiced in magic knew that such places held vast reserves of elemental mana. Few could draw on that power, as the places actually close enough to the line were incredibly hazardous; Near the sea floor, inside volcanoes, even at the bottom of fissures created by massive earthquakes. At the time, though, the two physicists knew only that there was a volcano that had recently opened to the surface, and the ash coming from its smoke was very lightly radioactive. The plan was to find the source of this radiation, and harness it to create electricity. By their earliest calculations, it would be enough to keep half the world lit for decades to come. Of course, as such things always do, it failed. Thomas fell, slipping off of a steep ledge while the crew was trying to escape. The device they had brought with them to harness the power at the volcano's core had somehow triggered an eruption. When he fell, Thomas landed on the machine, breaking it open and exposing wires, which used him as part of the circuit. Days later, after the volcanic activity seemed to have ceased in the area, they returned to find him encased in a thick layer of raw tungsten. Despite how entirely impossible it should have been, he survived, breaking free of the metal cocoon right before their eyes. It wasn't long until he discovered he had the power to control earth and stone, to shape wood and steel. He took on the title 'Dr. Geo,' and became one of the first the world labeled as 'Truly Super Heroes!' He spent decades as a hero, saving people whenever he found them in trouble. Through the entire process, he managed to maintain his work as a physicist. The partner who'd originally taken him into the volcano paid him to help perform research, knowing that his powers would be a huge boon to whatever company employed them.
In the year 2015, a group approached him. They were fanatics, the very beginning of a movement of radicalism that wanted to change the world. Their leaders believed what they were trying to achieve was for the good of all mankind. The group came to him, asking Dr. Geo to use his powers to aid them in their quest for what they called 'good.' At the time, he was a man very open to ideas, and the group was at its friendliest. He heard them out, let them take him to their leaders, and listened to what they wanted him to do. Though he had been hopeful, the group proved to be just another cult, terrorists touting themselves as saviors, the heroes the earth really needed. In the end, there was nothing he could do but refuse them. While the group was certainly extremist when it came to their ideals, all they had actually done was a great deal of research. Their plan was to upset existing fault lines, to use earthquakes to destroy key cities across the world, until every country submitted to them in fear. Apart from Dr. Geo, there was no one else in the world-that he, or they, knew of-who could actually do what they were asking him to do. So, he just left. Less than a year later, they kidnapped his only daughter. The group had gained some influence since their first meeting, and had used all of it to try and force him to work for them. Thomas called in every favor he could, but they gave him only enough time to successfully do what they wanted. When the last minute had passed, and San Francisco was still standing, they shot his daughter. Warning that his wife would be next, they then went silent. It took him less than a week to track them down. Their main base of operations was the same place they had brought him, a year ago. Of course, they had set up defenses, using what technology and engineering techniques existed at the time to make their base invulnerable to his powers. That was their intent, anyway. What ended up happening was all the resistance led to a massive collapse when he finally let loose and forced it all down. The resulting crater spanned eight city blocks, and brought down dozens of buildings. After that, he went into hiding. Like his father, he suffered intense mental trauma from what he'd seen. In the aftermath of what he'd done, he stayed to help. It was like cleaning up after the worst natural disaster he'd ever seen, only without any warning. Countless people died, hundreds screaming for help, while his powers made him feel each and every one of them pass away. He saw horrors that day, visceral images that were forever burned into his mind. It took only a few weeks for them to connect him to what had happened, but by then he was-quite literally-too far underground for anyone to find. In hiding, he assured himself he ran for the safety of others. He had become dangerous, lashing out from flashbacks like his father had suffered from. The idea of those memories from his childhood, that monster he had seen unleashed, with his power to use... He convinced himself, he was hiding to protect everyone else. Really, though, it was just a convenient excuse. Deep down, he knew he was hiding so he wouldn't have to face all the people whose lives he'd destroyed.
Personality: Thomas Geoffrey is a man who carries a lot of weight on his shoulders, so others won't have to. He keeps a smile on his face whenever he can, and will listen to people tell him their troubles for as long as they care to. Being around him for even a short time, it quickly becomes evident he is a man of intellect. Despite this, he does not discourage others for what they do not know. Instead, he acts as the world's teacher, helping people better themselves whenever and however he can.
Misc Facts: A note on time: During his time, Thomas Geoffrey was considered one of the most powerful supers on the planet. Even when compared to modern supers, those who worked with him still hold this opinion. This is not because of what he can bring to a fight, but because of what he has been known to accomplish when given adequate time and resources. As a super, he exemplifies the key difference between being powerful, and being dangerous.
Magic: Thomas recognizes the existence of magic users, and understands that they perform strange rituals to manipulate energy much like that he draws upon to use his own abilities. He refuses to admit that there is not a scientifically quantifiable way to understand how the energy works, and believes adequate study could pull away the 'mystery' behind why it responds to such arcane stimulus.
Crystals: Though he hates admitting it, or even really talking about it, he has discovered that the presence of specific kinds of naturally occurring crystals can modify and amplify his powers. Even more frustratingly to him, they all affect his abilities with ways that coincide with their 'traditional' usages in mythology.
Michael kept smiling while she talked. He nursed his drink and let her have her turn. Though he kept his eyes on her, his peripheral vision was trained to keep on the look out for other things. The threat didn't send her friends into worry, nor did they try to calm her. She had jumped when he appeared, but people generally would; Her cop friend had done the same.
Once she was done, he'd already finished his drink. Turning to face Patrick, he raised an eyebrow and spoke. "Quite the little firecracker, isn't she?" If Patrick wasn't considering killing him before, Michael could see it in his eyes now. However, the older man knew the look his asset was giving him. Michael had a point to make, and Patrick knew it was better to let him make it while they were both present.
His face kept the smile, but his eyes became blank. "Madam," he began, voice calm and clear, maybe even a little bored. "If all it takes to rile you up quite so much as this is a free drink and an offer to jump in bed, then you're going to get cat-called into catching a bullet with your head before we get into the building."
Instead of being scared-or showing any real emotion from the threat at all, really-he practically ignored it. "Let there be no mistake, if we are to do this, you will be walking into a world you have clearly never been in. You supers all think that you're impressive, because you're used to playing the hero against the big villain. Dangerous work, to be sure, but it is a far cry from the depths we are set to delve down."
"We are not going to fight some lunatic with a power fantasy. No one will be wearing spandex to loudly declare themselves targets. When we get to our target, there will be humans there. Plane, ordinary humans, just doing their job. A lot of them will be mercenaries, men and women receiving a pay check for guarding someone else's property. More over, each one will, without doubt, be trained to kill people like you and me with zero hesitations or remorse, quickly and through whatever means possible. This will extend to non-combat individuals as well, who will attack us not because they are paid to guard the facility, but out of a belief that we might otherwise take their lives."
"This is because, when we go in, we won't be heroes. We'll be criminals. People there to take what is not ours. We will be met by human beings, earning a living through legal means, equipped with weapons and tools not only fully capable, but literally designed to kill us. Not just technologically, either. When dealing with the big six, magical means are not only possible, but to be expected. Very likely, we will come across people who have been given balls of paper they need only throw at us to do anything from detonate an EMP more powerful than a bolt of lightning, to completely desiccate our entire bodies, turning us into mummies before we even realize they're just another guard dressed as a pencil pusher."
"So," he said, taking a minute to let all that sink in while he ate his olive and his eyes returned to their cheery disposition, "would you rather go into an office building by yourself and determine if the woman behind the reception desk; the one with glasses, fussy hair, and a picture of her daughter riding her shoulders on her desk."
"Would you be able to kill her when she reaches for what is either a sign in sheet, or a bomb made of ink and paper, out of her desk? Or would you rather someone walk in ahead of you, who can incapacitate such threats before they even know the paper is needed? Because, I promise you; Unlike you heroes, who have been off doing god knows what this entire time, I've spent the past years doing exactly this. The big six, to a one, go out of their way to put this exact situation in your path at every possible opportunity, specifically to deter people like you. So, by all means... Kill me, and see how many more, completely innocent, men and women have to die by your hand because you couldn't take a man flirting with you."
@Skwint Would you have preferred we spent effort and time investment into this venture, then found out the DM is a child?
I offered to leave. In what context does a single player, actively offering to bow out, make anyone besides a toddler decide, "Fuck it, I'm taking my ball and going home!"?
No, I'll count my blessings and call it luck that I found out this was a train wreck waiting to happen before I invested time and effort into it. Thank you.
I said what I thought appropriate to get my point across. If I'd just said 'Vindicares too OP' you wouldn't have taken me seriously, thought I was being a troll, and/or ignored the comment because it's groundless.
I admit, I can be long-winded; However, if I'm not allowed to discuss 40k lore in so far as it's relevant to the conversation, how am I going to give context to any statement I make on the topic?
I understand, and to an extent, agree with you that people arguing about the lore can ruin a good RP. However, if you're trying to inform me that I won't be allowed to talk about 40k lore in a 40k roleplay, to any extent, then I'm afraid I won't be participating.
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