Tesserach

In The Black (A Clean-Up Crew RP)

Dr. Soraya Mansour

" We were on the tour.. Then... Then the massive guys came out..." She stopped as she took in the Acheron team. Her mind seeming to jump around with her eyes. "If its gas then why don't you have any masks?"

@Terrans

"The gas is cleared, but trichloroethylene is lipophilic. It absorbs into the blood, and lingers in fatty tissues for hours." Soraya responded immediately when she saw no one else was stepping in as she turned off the flashlight.

"They're still out there!!! We have to go!!!! We have to go!!!" She began to repeat the words like a mantra.

Sam watched in open mouthed curiosity as she watched the desperate scrabble. She motioned for Soraya and Stokes attention. Gesturing hastily at the panicking partially restrained intern. Making a sharp motion with a closed fist at head level.

Graves radio transmission, audible over Sam's handset, just caused the intern to freak out more.

@Terrans

Soraya, observing Sam's closed fist motion, rolled her eyes while the intern was still mostly blinded from the flashlight to the face, though her voice remained the same even tone as she pocketed the flashlight and pulled something else out of her bag. "Do not worry. We are here to help you. Actually, my supervisor wanted to talk about your colleagues, why don't you ask her." Soraya replied, nonchalantly, letting go of the interns arm after forcibly orienting her in Sam's direction and giving her a little nudge.

Soraya appeared nonchalant as the intern lurched towards Sam, inspecting and tapping the air out of the syringe in her hand.

The half-mad intern had nearly closed distance with Sam, unleashing a torrent of agitated, incoherently insistent statements in Sam's direction before Soraya intervened by cinching up a rear-naked choke on the woman, still holding the syringe. A moment later Soraya struggled to brace the the limp intern, propped up with one arm, while fumbling her n-95 askew on the intern's shoulder so check could remove the syringe cap with her teeth and injecting the woman with the syringe one-handed into the buttocks.

The relative ease with which Soraya managed choke out and inject a patient with one hand while bracing them upright left the distinct impression this wasn't the first time she'd done something like this. "Help move her please." Soraya said, as though this was just another day at the office. "I need to monitor her breathing."

In The Black (A Clean-Up Crew RP)

I don't mind playing things out, but that's just me.

If we do move forward: if gaslighting the intern with medical jargon about a gas that actually causes psychosis doesn't work, Soraya's just going to stick her with a needle and put her ass to sleep.

Let Sam and Imogen to figure out what to do with her later, away from here.

In The Black (A Clean-Up Crew RP)

Dr. Soraya Mansour

Soraya had to shift her footing but held Whitney firm as the intern swayed squeakily on the floor. "Easy now. We are here to help you. You are still confused. You were exposed to a gas called trichloroethylene." Soraya paused and keeping hold of Whitney with one arm, giving a sideways glance to Sam that suggested she was underwhelmed by the cover story while retrieving a flashlight from one of her pockets with her free hand. "It is like taking drugs, in extreme cases it even causes hallucinations, paranoid psychosis; even amnesia." Soraya shined the light blinding light in both Whitney's eyes, observing the dilation in her pupils. "Did you experience anything like that? You remember where you last saw your colleagues?"

A Journey Through Space - A DnD story

Lairëcúma the Bard

---

The Waystone Inn - Outside
Interactions: Edwina/Liliana @NoriWasHere, Lucky @DrDistasteful
Outfit: Tattered White Dress

---

Moments after the globe of invulnerability went up, as the group began talking about what had just occurred an elf fell from the sky. The landing struck the roof nearby at an oblique angle, with a loud THUNK!, before the figure tumbled in a spray of shattered roof tiles down onto what remained of the ring road, landing in a tattered heap atop of pile of debris. For a moment she lay face up, still and unmoving before finally, with a loud huff, she blew a plume of dust and several stray locks of dusty golden hair out of her face.

Lairëcúma groaned before tepidly testing her legs still functioned before she managed to, slowly and painfully crane her neck up to look at the group there gathered amidst what remained of the ring road. "Ah, Liliana. How lovely to see you out."

Lairëcúma shifted where she lay in a collapsed heap, half covered in dust and debris as though she was about to stand up but then thought better of it, instead craning her head towards Edwina and the Lucky, her voice emerging a bit tired and strained and possibly slightly concussed. "Oh, it's you again! Good to see you're holding up; life's set me on my ass I'm afraid. And the ah... Tabaxi. I fear we weren't properly acquainted before. I'm Lairëcúma. A bard." Lairëcúma brushed some of the dust and debris from her face. "Quite the weather we're having, yes?"

In The Black (A Clean-Up Crew RP)

Dr. Soraya Mansour

Soraya took to the offered hand from Stokes to roll back up to her feet, looking angry and annoyed as she collected her glasses - which had fallen off - as well as her pistol, which she holstered. Collecting herself, the cursory nod she gave Stokes for helping her up was stilted in the fashion of someone acknowledging thanks despite being too pissed off to properly say anything.

Soraya's eyes looked from Sam, whose attempt to mow down the intern she'd noted, toward the intern herself. "You're lucky I am not the police. You threw a chair at me!" She exclaimed, the impact of said chair having apparently dialed her french accent up to eleven. Soraya promptly joined Imogen in flanking Whitney, going so far as to take control of Whitney's left arm forcibly at the elbow. "I just want to make sure you're extra safe! Now let's go." The words came through gritted teeth even as Soraya visibly took a moment to calm herself. Maybe calm was too strong a word. She was still clearly pissed, but far more composed than she had been as she started looking Whitney over, checking the intern for injuries as they started walking away. "Who's blood is this?" Soraya was still grumpy enough that the question sounded like an accusation. "Are you injured?"

As they moved Soraya gave a backwards glance over her shoulder at Stokes, saying nothing, but pleading with her eyes for him to cover them on their egress - clearly not trusting her own team for the task.

@Terrans @JFK @PatientBean

In The Black (A Clean-Up Crew RP)

And done. It may be my greatest work.

In The Black (A Clean-Up Crew RP)

Dr. Soraya Mansour

Soraya had taken the lead heading into the facility, letting Imogen linger back and requesting Sam watch her back but stopped short of the entrance. She'd heard the gunfire, but as her eyes adjusted to what remained of the interior lighting: this was slightly more carnage than she had been expecting. Observing the state of the corpses - the technozombies - she leaned to one side and set her heavy bag down and began fumbling for something in her backpack.

As they waited, she took the time to strap an N95 mask - wishing she had something more substantial on her person, and adding a set of protective goggles that went over her prescription lenses. "Safety first..." She declared before proceeding forward, her pistol now in hand. "I am sure the action team has cleared the facility very well..." She stepped over the first dead body, inspecting the face, determining the superficial injuries were - in fact - fatal. "... but let us be careful. Just in case."

They made their way through the facilities. Soraya paused not infrequently, to listen, but also to observe some of the corpses. Partly from professional interest. Partly to assure herself that none of them were moving.

Arriving at the fourth floor, she paused again consulting the IMSI terminal, that she'd left in Imogen's care, to confirm they were getting close. "Be ready." She said, looking to Imogen in particular before proceeding inside. She handled covering the front and one side of the hallway while Sam covered the other angle. It seemed there was nothing alive up here, nothing stirring.

She turned to look at Imogen and ask "Where is it now?"

The moment she did there was the unmistakable sound of sudden movement to one side. Soraya just enough time to turn so that she ate the flung piece of office furniture directly in the face. "Ah!"

Soraya's duffel bag hit the ground with the heavy thunk, her pistol landed with a clack, and then came the muffled sound as she herself was hit the floor. Well, her backpack hit the floor. Soraya was unceremoniously draped over it, her goggles, facemask and glasses all askew while she reached around and kicked with uncoordinated limbs trying to right herself like some sort of discombobulated turtle.

@Terrans @PatientBean

In The Black (A Clean-Up Crew RP)

I will attempt to get a chair related post up today.

A Journey Through Space - A DnD story

Lairëcúma the Bard

---

The Waystone Inn - Outside
Interactions: Scene Setting - Random NPCs - Anyone who'll listen really
Outfit: Tattered White Dress

---

Lairëcúma wiped a bead of sweat from her brow, her face smudged with soot from the fires now burning through the remnants of the winter town as she watched Addring, surrounded by strangers, taking up the strain of a rope holding a shattered crossbeam and the debris fallen across it while people struggled beneath it to dig out the debris.

Leaving Addring in the company of strangers left a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. She loved that animal so.

Her eyes trailed off down the streets lined with shattered buildings and broken bodies. Two hundred years she'd wandered the lands of Faerun. Lairëcúma had seen this sight before. If she closed her eyes it was like travelling back in time through centuries, only it had been another person then, another her. There were a thousand things she'd wished she'd known then, yet still finding herself here once again, she felt the familiar helplessness returning.

She knew exactly what needed to be done.

And she knew she couldn't do it all, and even if she did, it still wouldn't be enough. She was only one person, with one set of hands, and one voice and she knew from experience this would only grow worse over the coming days.

She knew this, and forced herself to smile as her eyes and attention returned to the matter at hand. One thing at a time. That was the only way through - come what may. And with that thought Lairëcúma forced herself to smile.

"I'm going to show you something now children!" She fixed the little ones that had arrived with their brother, or uncle, or whoever she'd sent to go help pull that buried man from the rubble. "We're going to be needing bandages for people who are hurt. Very many of them. So we're going to be tearing them from whatever cloth we can find: like this!"

Lairëcúma made a show of kicking up her left heel, and tearing away a strip of cloth from the hem of her white dress now that she'd doffed her riding cloak and tied it about her waist. She bent and tore away large strips of her skirts and the sleeves of her dress to leave the children something to get started with. "Long, and thin, just like I'm showing you." She showed them, holding it up for them to see. "I'll have people bring whatever cloth we can spare. You just keep tearing up strips. Yes that's wonderful!"

Lairëcúma's smile brightened as the children nodded up at her, but faded immediately as she turned away from them heading back towards the entrance of the inn, leaning against the doorframe as she leaned inside. "We could use some help gathering whatever supplies can be recovered. And whatever strong spirits is left, we'll need it for the wounded. There's not nearly enough healing magic to go around."

In The Black (A Clean-Up Crew RP)

Dr. Soraya Mansour

Soraya paused briefly to check over her shoulder as she approached the van, the sound of sporadic gunfire now well established in the background. She was more concerned that Sam and Imogen were still with her. In training her team members had invariably been other operatives, or members of special forces. In the years since, most of the work she did had been under the guise of being a doctor. The few times she'd done surveillance operations she'd always done so alone.

It was different here. Samantha was the more senior, and clearly joined operations before but still looked uncertain. Imogen, Soraya felt, looked much like one out of her element; but young and eager. That was all good.

"Do you think maybe they'll run to the gunfire because they prefer some kind of protection over whatever our guy's are shooting at?" The distant report of a sniper rifle rolling over the desert sands. The sniper, Redecker, saying something about a guy not having a press pass.

The sound of a cell phone ring tone coming from the van. Inside the back; muffled by the door but distinct as one. Sam's gaze swiveled to the door; hands reaching for the dangling MP5K but stopping.

"How do you want to do this?"

@Terrans

"I would hope that they shelter in place..." Soraya's voice cut out at the sound of the cellphone in the van. Soraya's movements until now were brisk. There was an efficiency to the way she moved without ever seeming hurried. Now she hurried though, rushing almost immediately to Imogene "The briefcase. Open! Open!" Once the briefcase was open and set down, she was immediately kneeling over it, turning on the big electronics box, the terminal, hastily trying working the device.

Only belatedly was she able to pause and try and explain what she was doing: using the device to overpower the signal from the nearest cell tower. Making both phones think IT was the tower. Not only that, on the terminal screen she was able to bring up both of them on a map of the area. One dot almost on top of the indicated terminal location. The other, the one calling, was displayed inside the facility.

The ringing ceased, but the device continued tracking both phones regardless - in addition to showing several others inside the facility.

"This will lead us to them." Soraya looked up at both Imogen and Samantha, a hint of a smile on her lips. "I do not know who else would be calling from inside the facility. I think we go in. Offer help: we can think of a story as we search, yes?"

Imogen could probably come up with something for them, Soraya reasoned. In the meantime she set to explaining to both women how to operate the keyFOB hacking terminal in the entry kit. It was actually quite simple: just search the make and model of the van and hit 'go'. The device itself, she explained, was preloaded with virtually every backdoor exploit several lettered agencies had managed - by hook or by crook - to extract from the world's vehicle manufacturers.

A few seconds of work and the van unlocked itself.

@Terrans @PatientBean