voice;

[hanzer]

[There's very little preamble before the network gets an earful of the distinctive, raspy tones of a certain ex-cop. Guy sounds like he smokes his cigarettes and eats them too. He also doesn't sound exactly comfortable to be speaking on the network, but anyone who's met him in person in the past few days knows that that forced impassivity is kind of his thing.]

I'm looking for someone who can work with cybernetics. Some know-how with computers or engineering would probably help, but I figure some of that comes with the territory. [A pause, and then:] Discretion preferred.

[The way he says it, one kind of gets the sense that he'd gladly find a way to make even the most indiscreet person suddenly learn the meaning of patient confidentiality– but it's just as easy to believe that that's just the way he talks.

There's another longer pause and then, at length, he adds:] I'd also be interested in speaking to anyone who can talk about the crewman we've got in the hold.

[Spooky, scary, skeleton-like – you've probably heard of Ploiatos. Adam certainly has, and (being the security-minded guy he is) he'd love to know what having a literal skeleton in the closet entails.

And since Adam Jensen's never exactly been known for ending conversations gracefully, that's where he chooses to cut the message off.

Certainly, no one can say he isn't to-the-point.]

Comments

voice;

[deconstruct]

[ Spotting the name attached to this post, that'd be one of the two set to babysit skeleton man's cell with him, so if he's going to put forth the effort to share this with anyone, may as well be him. ]

Got this from Robin, the ship's historian -

[ and Jensen will have the following forwarded to him: ]

"But as far as I can tell, he used to be a crew member of this ship. One of the original crew members, not someone like us who showed up by accident. He's wearing a Moira uniform, so that seems to make sense.

Nobody says they know what caused it, but one day he changed. I don't know if he had powers before then, but he started using them all of a sudden to kill his fellow crew members. The Captain and the First Mate escaped through the Ingress to keep from getting killed themselves.

I don't know what happened to the rest of the crew, but Ploiatos got locked away in one of the rooms of the ship eventually. The old captains said that they didn't know he was there when they found the Moira - which I guess makes sense, because they didn't seem to know what to do when he got out.

Then he went around and killed some of our current crew, including one of the captains. She didn't come back, but from what I could tell she was the Captain in charge of the Ingress - probably the one who knew the most about it.

Eventually they locked him back up in another room, and it's been mostly safe in there ever since. I think Sans and Papyrus tried to get inside once (I guess they heard that Ploiatos was a skeleton monster and thought he'd be more like them) and he hurt them both really bad.

That's all I know about him. I wasn't there for the actual attacks, so I can't tell you much about his powers, but I can show you some video of it if you wanna see? It's pretty ugly, though."

[ he's leaving out the part about that coming from the two new officers, and the fact the sources aren't all that trustworthy, for the sake of covering Robin's back. but that's something he can tell Jensen in person later. ]

voice;

[hanzer]

[Adam takes more than several minutes to read the account over once, and then a second time, and then a third and final time before he replies.

Not much there– but it's something, at least. Raises a hell of a lot more questions, though. Unsurprisingly, many of them are about their new management and the crew that had come before them.

Still, one thing at a time: he'll start with the most obvious threat, which is that thing he's supposed to be watching.]

Thanks for this. [A pause, and then:] Glad to see someone else is doing their homework.

[Because you can be certain the name attached to the reply doesn't escape his notice, either. What's up, teammate?]

voice;

[deconstruct]

[ There’s more Andyr’s likely to tell him once the man’s directly in front of him, but for now, it’s this. ]

Yeah, well, it’s got everyone’s panties in a twist, so I figure I ought to know what the hell it is if it does actually spring loose.

[ Thanks to Robin, and a lot of the comments here, he has a good idea of how to handle it, now. Relatively. How to get it back in its box is another story. ]

[hanzer]

They say knowing's half the battle– but going off these accounts, I'm not sure how much that'll actually help if it ends up breaking out.

[Ploiatos had taken out some of their "strongest crew members," after all. That said, it's tough to say what "strongest" really entails without having a basis of comparison; Adam's got some realistic perceptions of his own capabilities (and he's not cocky by any means) but he can't help but wonder if some of these accounts are just overblown.

But in the end: better safe than sorry.]

How well can you handle yourself in a fight, in case it comes to that? [No judgment in his tone, no sense of presumption – his question's entirely one of practicality.]

[deconstruct]

Right. Doesn't move when we look at it though, wasn't it? So, what, we're supposed to play Red Light, Green Light with this fucker if he gets out?

[ is it really just standing there and staring at him? so long as the lights don't go out, at least. which, wouldn't that be fun, with all this dimming hallways crap going on.

the question he's given is a bit hard to answer, seeing as - ]

In a fight, great. But I don't see how that's gonna matter when it's something that I can't actually touch without having the life sucked out of me. [ so what good is punching this thing? ] Do we what guns do to it?

[hanzer]

[Adam may not have run into many problems in his life that couldn't be punched apart– but he'll grant that this one is probably a different matter.]

Guess I meant more if you can keep your head in a fight. Can't have any of us panic and forget to keep eyes on it if it escapes. [A pause and an audible exhale, as of smoke.] Haven't heard anything about bullets affecting it either, but I'm going to assume it's not for lack of trying.

Honestly, I think putting more preventative measures in place is gonna do us more good than anything else.

[He's even found himself drafting up plans in his mind when he's alone… But coming up with protocols for something like this feels like a kid asking him how to stop the boogeyman from coming out from under the bed. All you can do is keep the lights on and hope they do their job.]

[deconstruct]

Don't worry about me in a fight. [ he's had plenty, and in the middle of enough horror to be able to stomach this ] Honestly, though, from what they said, I'm not seeing why "look at it and use the MID to call a lot of back up" doesn't work, if it just stops moving?

[ it can't be that easy, though, can it? how would so many have died if all you had to do was stare?

while they need to have a contingency plan in case this fails (as the captain seemed pretty damn freaked over it), adam's right in that putting more into making sure the thing just doesn't get out is the better plan. ]

Flood lights that run on batteries seems like a good idea. Put up another barrier between it and us, maybe, if they'll let us close off another hall.

Anyone say what the problem with just spacing this thing is?

[hanzer]

[He can't know for sure if it's confidence or cockiness backing up that (very definite) response – but Adam suspects the former. Good, that's all he needs to hear.

But they're starting to get into territory now that (the more cautious side of him insists) has no place being discussed on the public network– maybe not even through private messages. He holds onto those questions of Andyr's for later.]

Sounds like we've both got ideas of our own. Kinda think it'd be better if we discussed them in person.

[In other words: what up prince, where u at]

[deconstruct]

[ it's the former, but that's really something to be seen if a fight actually happens. what matters is that jensen's not being up his ass about it.

the implication in that he can see, and andyr'd frankly rather be doing this in person regardless, what with the rest of the talk he and Robin had. if they're going to be guarding this thing, they need to both know what's up with it. ]

Sure. You anywhere close to the training rooms?

[ which is where he's currently at. he might suggest that they go look at the door this thing is locked behind, but maybe that'll be saved for later. ]

[hanzer]

I can be there in five. [And then, somewhat drily:] I'll be the one with the shades.

[Can't be too many other people like him out there, in that regard. Cyberlimbs aren't a useful distinguishing factor anymore.

With that, he starts to make his way up to the sim room.]

[deconstruct]

[ A 'see you' is shot back, before Andyr drops the weights he'd been working with, heading to the door to the training room, not exactly looking excellent in gym gear and sweat, but waiting around nonetheless.

It's easier for him to spot Jensen, he thinks, that try to explain what to look for with him, so he just keeps an eye out for someone with sunglasses and a lot of cybernetics.

When he does eventually show, Andyr's giving him a shout from the doorframe he's leaning on. ] Jensen. On guard detail?

[hanzer]

[Of the crew members he's met and seen around, he'd kind of pegged a lot of them as the type to practically live in the training room; he finds it to be surprisingly empty, now that he's here. But it's a big ship, he supposes, and for how busy the Ingress has been over the past months, it's apparently still not enough to make this place feel as populated as he expects it to feel.

The shout's not needed to grab Adam's attention, but it grabs it all the same and he approaches. True to his word, he's the one in the shades – and since he's sans-uniform, both cyberarms are on full display, in black metal and matte polymer mesh. They're sleek, athletic-looking, but closer inspection might reveal the pits and scratches marring their normally smooth polycarbonate shells.

A nod, in both greeting and confirmation.] Prince, right? Didn't mean to interrupt your workout.

[He gives the guy a once-over – the darkened lenses do a good job of hiding his eyes, but Adam's gaze has a way of being felt all the same. Guy's... Younger than he'd expected. Solid, though. Enough to make him think that the talk earlier wasn't just for show.]

[deconstruct]

[ Andyr makes very little to no attempt to mask how he’s looking Adam over - particularly the cybernetics. It isn’t something unusual to him - most normal humans, without the KN gene for biological augmentation, tend to get them, though they’re generally hidden better. No one wants to look pieced together, these days, when that marks you too close to one of the Mice.

It doesn’t make a difference that Adam has them, one way or another. If anything, it’d good he’s in some way enhanced. Andyr gives a short nod, confirming, and shrugs, for the bit about his work out. ]

Don’t worry about it. Was just killing time. [ Work out or read, those are the two things he’s used to relieving boredom with. Still adjusting to having so many options, really. But he’s quick to get to the topic at hand. ]

I’m pretty sure the Captain knows more about this thing than they’re telling us, so one way or another, we’re kinda screwed. [ spoken mildly, not complaining, just stating fact. It’s good to know what ground you’re standing on. ] Might wanna talk to the people who died before from it, the ones that came back, anyway.

[hanzer]

[Straight to business, then. No complaints there.]

Been kind of getting the same feeling, myself. [Not that he has even the smallest shred of evidence to back that feeling up. It's little more than paranoia, what this is – and once, Adam would've dismissed it as baseless conjecture – but after all he's been through in the past few weeks, he's found himself far more willing to keep an open mind.]

Shouldn't be too hard to get a list of names, assuming the medbay keeps that sort of information on file. [Why have a morgue at all if people just come back? Yet another mystery. He folds his arms.] But what are we looking for here? A way to keep this thing contained, or a way to fight it?

[Or just any sort of insight, something that everyone else might've missed? Anything to uncover a piece of the bigger picture? At this point, he'll take whatever lead he can get.]

[deconstruct]

[ there’s a moment where andyr pauses, considering the options, with his head tilted, eyes on some place space on the wall. ]

Contained, first. But we need a back up for if it gets out. [ murphy’s law - if it can go wrong, it will. He doesn’t want to be blamed for a massacre on the ship just because he didn’t plan well enough for it.

But Adam had wanted to meet in person specifically, which leads one to believe there’s more to say that can’t be done over the network. ]

What were you thinking about it?