How the hell is that nonlethal?

Ahaha! Taylor and I are on the same page here.

I hurried over to the door, and both Imp and Regent backed away to let me fire.  I pulled the trigger… nothing.

…welp. I guess it’s out of fuel or something. Or maybe Imp and/or Regent are still too close and it’s nonlethal by way of not letting you fire if it detects people in the way?

“He took the power and fuel supply from that to use for something else, put crap components in there instead!  Let it recharge!” Tattletale shouted across the room, “Almost one minute before you can shoot again!”

Ah. Well, at least it can recharge, even if it’s too slow for their current purposes.

Fuck.

Dragon would have overheard that, but she didn’t comment.

It seems she was thoroughly silenced by the Dragonslayer sting, for now.

Instead, a sprinkler system kicked into gear, misting down from the ceiling.  Though the quantity of water was low, the effect on the burning chair was immediate, and the flames disappeared with surprising quickness.  What little of the moisture soaked into my mask tasted faintly bitter.

…I suppose that was to be expected.

So is the bitterness tied to the flames disappearing so quickly? Does the PRT have a tinker chemist?

“Laser with invisible beam.  Ricochets,” she murmured.  “Doesn’t burn that hot, wouldn’t do any damage to anything or anyone.  

Ah, I see.

Still seems to fit with my speculated specialty for Kid, “manipulation of energy”. I wonder how much the rest of the equipment here will.

Wouldn’t incapacitate our opposition or get us out of here.”  She put it aside.  “Look for something better.”

Dangers aside, borrowing Kid Win’s stuff wasn’t a bad idea.  At the speed Regent and Imp were cutting through the door handle, I figured it would be minutes before they were through.  We had to get out of here before the Protectorate arrived.

Yeah, I mentioned that a small hole could be turned into a bigger hole if you had time, but the Undersiders don’t.

Even with their numbers cut by recent casualties and injuries, that would be very, very bad for us.

They’ve gotten away from the Protectorate before (minus Skitter and Imp), as I understand it, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy.

I uncovered three guns that looked like they might work.  Tattletale looked them over.  “Nonlethal flamethrower that probably didn’t pass review, some kind of forcefield barrier cannon and some kind of gun for fighting bigger foes.  Nothing too dangerous, but don’t point them at any of the rest of us until you’ve tested ’em out.”

Flames are characterized by release of energy, forcefields tend to be made of some kind of energy…

But how does a “forcefield barrier cannon” work in practice? Does it place forcefields centered on where a projectile hits?

Nodding, I lifted the one that was five feet long, needle-thin and spearlike.  I worked to get it out of Kid Win’s quarters and aimed it at the largest chair, by the computers.  I depressed the trigger, and a blue flame the length of my forearm spat out the end, consuming the chair.

Whoosh.

I dunno how he made a blue flame nonlethal. Good job on that, I suppose.

The seat bent under the heat, melted plastic pooling on the floor, an acrid smell assaulting my nostrils.  The flames that licked the remaining material cast some extra light on our surroundings.  It was pretty thorough destruction for less than two seconds of sustained fire.

Niiice.

But seriously, some pretty good manipulation of energy must be in place to make sure it doesn’t do the same thing to people.

Also was that Weld’s custom chair?

Dragon didn’t reply.  Had Tattletale found a sore spot?  I knew the Dragonslayers were mercenaries who had taken the parts of one of Dragon’s armored suits to outfit themselves as high tech mercenaries.

Everyone has sore spots, and this one is fairly well known, so you don’t even need the power of knowledge to find it.

You were saying about not being affected by Tattle’s words, Dragon?

Tattletale looked up and glanced around the room, then whispered to me, “Don’t worry about misfires.  I think my power will help us spot those.”

Ah, yeah, that’s helpful.

I wanted to believe her, but she’d been wrong before.  It would be Murphy’s law for her power to go awry here, with us blowing our faces off or something.

Hm, fair enough.

Still, I didn’t stop her from picking up a gun without a handle.  She pointed it at the wall and pulled the trigger that sort of dangled beneath the gun.  A yellow dot appeared on the wall, then started smoking.  She glanced over her shoulder, and when I turned to see what she was looking at, I saw a matching dot on the wall.  She moved the gun, and the dots both moved.

…don’t use whatever this is near any cats.

I followed Tattletale into one of the rooms at the other end of the Ward’s headquarters.  Pieces of technology littered the area.  There was a small bed in one corner so littered with pieces of junk, screws, scraps of metal and unfinished projects that I doubted the occupant had used it to sleep in a long time.

Kid Win’s room, it seems.

Kid Win’s room, had to be.

“Gear up,” Tattletale said.

“What?”

Oh damn. The Undersiders with Kid Win’s tinkertech guns… sounds like a fun time.

“Taking a tinker’s stuff to keep is a bad idea, what with GPS signals and tracking and all that, but at the very least, we can use this to get out.”  She swept her arm over the room, where stuff lay on every surface.

Ah, right, they can’t keep it. Still, though, fun time while they’re still around here!

Dragon’s voice echoed through the chamber, “I can hear you, Tattletale.  Do not use a tinker’s devices.  Power supplies can overload, weapons and equipment can misfire.  Only the tinker who made it can verify the devices as safe and operate them properly.”

You say as if the Protectorate wasn’t using Bakuda’s bombs against Leviathan and isn’t constantly providing plenty of PRT soldiers and capes with equipment made by tinkers other than themselves.

“Right, sure,” Tattletale called out with a note of sarcasm in her voice.  “Because it’s not like there’s any high profile mercenaries out there who’ve made a career off of using a tinker’s stuff.”

Ahaha yeah, that too. Getting personal here, bringing up the Dragonslayers… nice.

“You tried to steal official data, and you put a virus on my system.  Epeios’ work, I believe.

Shit, I fell into the “can’t it be motherfucking both things” trap…

So, Epeios? Mundane virus programmer, or one who is parahumanly good at that?

…would that make them a tinker?

I’m more insulted by the fact that you went to that hack than I am about the virus.”

Pfft.

“Had to slow you guys down somehow,” Tattletale called out.

So does that mean the virus is the only reason Dragon didn’t interrupt this until the end of the transfer?

She motioned to me, and I hurried toward her.  Imp let go of the axe to rub and shake her hand.  Regent grabbed the weapon to take over the job of hacking at the door.

Hm, whatcha want with Taylor?

“So few think they will,” Tattletale said with a grin.  “So.  I guess you’ve locked us in here, huh?”

Hehe.

“Yes.  You’ll get out, perhaps, but not before reinforcements arrive.”

“We’ll see,” Tattletale answered.  She began moving toward the Wards’ quarters.

I mean, it’s not a bad plan. I imagine there’s more Dragon could do if she felt the need to, but she evidently doesn’t right now.

She looked from one security camera to the next, as if trying to figure out if she was being watched.  I did have my bugs covering the lenses of the cameras I’d been able to find, but that wasn’t to say that they could have something more concealed.

(I assume that’s supposed to say “couldn’t”)

Yeah, considering how common it is to disable any apparent security cameras, it makes total sense to install some hidden ones too, and the PRT probably has access to a hidden sensor tinker somewhere who can make some damn well-hidden cameras.

It was kind of creepy, that the kids here were observed constantly like that.

Eh. Dunno, seems reasonable to me. I mean, if there’s security cams in the bathrooms, that’s a whole other matter, but this room is essentially their workplace. I don’t find it any more creepy than security cameras in a shop watching over the employees.

In the dim light the monitors shed, I could see Imp trying the door by the stairs.  It didn’t open.  I gave it a try and verified it had sealed shut.

You are currently in a building where Dragon presumably has remote control over just about everything. You’re gonna have a hard time getting out of here if she’s intent on keeping you trapped.

I wasn’t entirely sure why I’d expected a different result.  Maybe I’d been hoping Imp had been making a horribly timed joke?  It wouldn’t be beyond her.

Heh, fair.

“We were, but we’re done now, so we’ll be on our way,” Tattletale called out, her voice raised to be picked up by whatever microphones Dragon was using to listen in on us.  I could see her pulling the USB drives from the computer.

Ahaha! Have I made it clear enough how much I love Tattletale’s frankness yet? 😛

Dragon informed us,  “I’m reading the files and notes we have on you as we speak.  Tattletale, it seems you have a penchant for needling your opponents.  Rest assured, if you intend to try it, I won’t rise to the bait.”

Good luck with that. This girl is good.

Imp hefted her fire axe and struck just beside the handle of the door.  The door itself was hollow, but it was made of something like fiberglass, and the axe only made a small hole, a half inch across and less than two inches long.  She struck again, slightly higher.

A small hole is better than nothing, I suppose. It means it’s possible to make a bigger hole if you’ve got time and stamina.

krixwell-liveblogs:

Janine might be another good name for Piggot.

Ooh, or for the ironies, Director Joy(ce) Piggot.

I wasn’t kidding when I said there are a lot of good J names.