Track 7:San Francisco-Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair

[VictoriaSilverwolf]

Zara,The surgeon reacts to this confession in a nonplussed fashion, sputtering wordlessly, obviously taken by surprise. Lota, on the other hand, seems to be enraged, snarling and slashing at you with her nails, which now do really seem to be claws. dex = 15[dice]0[/dice] It is fortunate that her anger causes her to strike out wildly, not coming anywhere hear you. In response, the surgeon takes a small whip from the pocket of his long white coat and brandishes it at her. "No, Lota, no! Do you wish to go back to the House of Pain?" The two men speak simultaneously, obviously words they have recited many times before. "Not to spill blood. That is the Law. Are we not Men?" Having gotten the enraged woman under control for the moment, the surgeon wipes sweat from his brow. "Dear, dear. What to do, what to do. I shall have to take you to the Doctor. He will not be pleased, not pleased at all." He seems as distressed at this possibility as you might be. You are taken out of the operating room, and directed forward, to who-knows-where.

Tony and Liz,Having elected to go the long way around, you must pass by the large four way intersection. The tracker reveals that Zara has left the room in the upper right, and is headed in the same direction. You might intercept her at the intersection itself, wait to see where she goes from there, or catch her before she reaches it, by passing through and beyond the intersection.

[jp1885]

Tony studied the map, somewhat disoriented by all the to-ing and fro-ing.

“Perhaps we should make sure the crossroads ahead of us is clear, if only to ensure we have unimpeded access to the lift. Then we can press on section by section towards Zara.”

[SunlessNick]

Zara,The surgeon reacts to this confession in a nonplussed fashion, sputtering wordlessly, obviously taken by surprise. Lota, on the other hand, seems to be enraged, snarling and slashing at you with her nails, which now do really seem to be claws. dex = 15[dice]238678:0[/dice] It is fortunate that her anger causes her to strike out wildly, not coming anywhere hear you. In response, the surgeon takes a small whip from the pocket of his long white coat and brandishes it at her. "No, Lota, no! Do you wish to go back to the House of Pain?" The two men speak simultaneously, obviously words they have recited many times before. "Not to spill blood. That is the Law. Are we not Men?" Having gotten the enraged woman under control for the moment, the surgeon wipes sweat from his brow. "Dear, dear. What to do, what to do. I shall have to take you to the Doctor. He will not be pleased, not pleased at all." He seems as distressed at this possibility as you might be. You are taken out of the operating room, and directed forward, to who-knows-where.

Vicki,I go as slowly as I can without making them drag me. If it seems like the surgon isn't considering the possibility that I'm a distraction for other intruders,I'll keep quiet and let him think what he's thinking.

[Starspawn338]

Lew will continue monitoring the radio frequency but will now occasionally check the window outside to make sure there are no further interruptions.

[Mr. Handy]

"Let's flatten ourselves against the wall so we aren't seen, then wait for them to pass the intersection so we can follow them from behind," whispers Liz.

[VictoriaSilverwolf]

Zara,The surgeon reacts to this confession in a nonplussed fashion, sputtering wordlessly, obviously taken by surprise. Lota, on the other hand, seems to be enraged, snarling and slashing at you with her nails, which now do really seem to be claws. dex = 15[dice]238678:0[/dice] It is fortunate that her anger causes her to strike out wildly, not coming anywhere hear you. In response, the surgeon takes a small whip from the pocket of his long white coat and brandishes it at her. "No, Lota, no! Do you wish to go back to the House of Pain?" The two men speak simultaneously, obviously words they have recited many times before. "Not to spill blood. That is the Law. Are we not Men?" Having gotten the enraged woman under control for the moment, the surgeon wipes sweat from his brow. "Dear, dear. What to do, what to do. I shall have to take you to the Doctor. He will not be pleased, not pleased at all." He seems as distressed at this possibility as you might be. You are taken out of the operating room, and directed forward, to who-knows-where.

Vicki,I go as slowly as I can without making them drag me. If it seems like the surgeon isn't considering the possibility that I'm a distraction for other intruders,I'll keep quiet and let him think what he's thinking.

Zara,He doesn't seem to be in any hurry himself, nor in any rush to reach his destination. But he can't delay the inevitable too much longer, so eventually you reach a four-way intersection, where there's the elevator from which you arrived. He waits a moment, then presses his hand against a large metal plate next to it. Machinery sounds emerge. Meanwhile, from the corridor opposite the elevator,a shiny metal sphere, about the size of a basketball, approaches, just floating in mid-air.

[VictoriaSilverwolf]

Tony and Liz,From concealment, you see Zara, a portly man in a surgical gown, a woman in a nurse's uniform, and a pair of rough-looking men in orderly outfits approach the four-way intersection. The big man places his hand against a metal plate next to what must be the elevator, and machinery sounds emerge. At the same time, a shiny metal sphere, about the size of a basketball, approaches from the corridor opposite the elevator, floating silently in mid-air.

[VictoriaSilverwolf]

Lew will continue monitoring the radio frequency but will now occasionally check the window outside to make sure there are no further interruptions.

All is quite outside,but you suddenly get a great deal of interference on the radio, as if some strong source of electromagnetic waves is distorting its signal.

[Mr. Handy]

"There's too many of them to try something now," whispered Liz. "We'll need to disable that sphere once they're gone - it's obviously a sentry of some sort - then follow them from out of their sight range. The tracker will allow us to that. That thing's too big to simply put your hat over, but I do have my EMP device. I'll just have to make sure it's pointed away from the tracker. Wrapping the tracker in tin foil will also shield it from the pulse. It'll act as a Faraday cage."

[jp1885]

Tony nods in agreement.

[SunlessNick]

Zara,He doesn't seem to be in any hurry himself, nor in any rush to reach his destination. But he can't delay the inevitable too much longer, so eventually you reach a four-way intersection, where there's the elevator from which you arrived. He waits a moment, then presses his hand against a large metal plate next to it. Machinery sounds emerge. Meanwhile, from the corridor opposite the elevator,a shiny metal sphere, about the size of a basketball, approaches, just floating in mid-air.

Vicki,I ask the surgeon where we're going. [ooc]If the others catch up to me and there's a fight with the big hairy guys, I'll remember the lines about not spilling blood being the law, and are they not men, and call it out to them.[/ooc]

[jp1885]

OOC:   Now I have a spare minute to post, I’ll elaborate.

“I think disabling that thing is a good idea- if it’s anything like the sphere we found earlier, it’ll be Faux Manchu’s eyes and ears. Perhaps we should even the odds a little too- perhaps those goons are the same animal men that kidnapped the family.”

Tony carefully tosses a piece of drugged meat somewhere near the group, before ducking back out of sight.

[Starspawn338]

Lew recoils at the static on the radio. He feels helpless up here while they are most probably in danger down below. But at his age, he's just not suited to this type of action. The others were right. Every team needs a lookout and he did manage to take care of the nosy cop. Still there's a voice in his head telling him to do something. A voice which he ignores.

[VictoriaSilverwolf]

“I think disabling that thing is a good idea- if it’s anything like the sphere we found earlier, it’ll be Faux Manchu’s eyes and ears. Perhaps we should even the odds a little too- perhaps those goons are the same animal men that kidnapped the family.”

Tony carefully tosses a piece of drugged meat somewhere near the group, before ducking back out of sight.

Spoiler:

to see if the two men take the bait. INT each = 6[dice]0[/dice]

Tony's ploy pays off richly. The two bestial men leap at the meat and begin to devour it greedily. The portly surgeon is alarmed, and waves a small whip at the pair, to no avail.

Spoiler:

con = 9 for the two[dice]1[/dice]

There must be something unusual about these men, as the drug placed in the meat does not have any effect on them.

"No! No!" he shouts. "Do you wish to go back to the House of Pain?" Despite his threats, he does not actually attack the distracted pair. Meanwhile, the nurse grabs Zara and places her long, sharp nails at her throat.

"Do not harm her, Lota," the surgeon continues. "The Doctor will not be pleased."

"You have a gift for understatement," comes a familiar voice from the floating sphere. "I am not pleased at all. Wait there. I will come to you." With that the sphere disappears down a corridor at high speed.

The whirring of the elevator is heard.

By this time, the static on Lew's radio has ended, so he is able to hear what's going on, and deduce what the scene underground must look like. Perhaps this has something to do with the floating sphere that flies into the abandoned tavern from deep below, from which the same voice speaks.

"Do. Not. Move."

[jp1885]

Seeing that Zara is under threat, Tony tenses, ready for action.

“Give them a blast of high frequency Liz, we need to get out before old Foo arrives!” he hisses.

[SunlessNick]

Zara's not sure if that meat means Tony and Liz are nearby, but either way she freezes when she feels Lota's nails against her throat. "Please, what's happening?" she says, continuing to play dumb.

[Mr. Handy]

"It should be effective," whispers Liz. "I reversed the polarity." She activates the modified radio.

[Starspawn338]

Lew looks quizzically at the flying sphere but does not move.
"Are you talking through this thing then?" He asks.

[VictoriaSilverwolf]

Zara's not sure if that meat means Tony and Liz are nearby, but either way she freezes when she feels Lota's nails against her throat. "Please, what's happening?" she says, continuing to play dumb.

Zara,In a low whisper only you can hear, Lota says, in a vaguely Polynesian accent and a voice full of hate, "You think you better than Lota because you born woman? The House of Pain for you!"

[VictoriaSilverwolf]

The piercing shriek of the high-frequency whine fills the corridors of this underground labyrinth, echoing off the metal walls, producing a sound something like a jet airplane taking off nearby.

Spoiler:

CON rolls for everybody to avoid the effects of the noise. The two orderlies have con = 15, the surgeon and the nurse have con = 9, Liz = 13, Zara = 8, Tony = 9. Lew is not near enough to be effected. In that order,[dice]0[/dice]Pretty unlucky rolls, so I'll allow Liz and Tony to escape the worse effects of the noise because they were expecting it.

Perhaps because they are nearest to the source of the sound, even though they were prepared for it, Liz and Tony are briefly shaken up by the high-pitched howling. The surgeon is also briefly disoriented, falling to his hands and knees, but the orderlies and the nurse seem to be unaffected. No doubt because she's already in a state of emotional shock, the sound causes Zara to go limp, remaining standing only because the nurse keeps a none-too-gentle grip on her.

After whispering something to Zara that only she can hear, the nurse shouts to the two orderlies.

"The Giver of the Law goes on all fours! The Law-Giver has broken the Law! The Law is no more!"

Spoiler:

Int = 6 for the two orderlies[dice]1[/dice]

One of the two orderlies confronts the nurse, reciting what are obviously words committed to memory.

"I am the Sayer of the Law! Not to go on all fours! That is the Law! Are we not Men?"

The other, whose visage reveals a more primitive mind than his fellow, screams bestially and launches himself at Liz and Tony.

Spoiler:

1 = Liz 2 = Tony[dice]2[/dice]dex = 15[dice]3[/dice]

As luck would have it, the angry fellow just barely misses smashing its fists into Tony's body.