A Team in the Making

Logan ventures over to the door. Becoming tangible again, she gropes around for a switch and turns on the light to have a glance at the layout of the room.

[Spirit d8: 2, Wild d6: 4 = 4]

"I guess we should just check if there's a public record for the truck? It's our last lead for the bank, as far as I remember." Nadia pulls up a web browser and Googles a VIN finder to see if there's a sale record available. "Then we can screw around with the whole situation room or whatever this is supposed to be."

Well, it's our last lead other than, like, having Fear break into the jail to interrogate Fistpuncher and the others. I'm not gonna be the one to suggest that, though...

Shade nods, popping the earpiece out and handing it over. "I don't have much to go on with the missing capes issue either. I'd appreciate if everyone kept their ear to the ground on it though." He inspects the new communicators, and watches Nadia go to work on the computers.

Logan feels around the wall near the door and finds a light switch. Flipping it on she finds herself in a fairly boring room. The floor is concrete with a slight slope leading to a drain set in a corner farthest from the door near a large washer and dryer. They seem to be of an industrial quality like the kind you'd find in a laundromat but otherwise aren't anything special. To the left of the door is a water heater and some kind of HVAC system both seem to be equally heavy duty. It would have to be for a building of this size. along the wall to the right of the door is a rectangular wooden table with a wire shelf mounted to the wall above it. Both are empty, likely there for storage or laundry folding. The lights in the room is another row of fluorescent tube lights like the bedrooms above.

---

Googling the VIN number Nadia is faced with several websites that all proclaim they are the best/only way to get information on a vehicles VIN all for one low monthly rate. The best she comes across is a site that breaks down the information coded in a VIN which gives her the make, model, and year of the truck. It looks like the only way to find the owner would be paying someone for the information or taking the information through less than legal methods.

---

Shade powers up his communicator and turns it over inspecting it. Both the ear piece and the handset are sleek looking tech. They have a little bit of heft to them that makes you feel like they won't break the first time the bump against something. The handset is pretty intuitive and basic enough it's hard to get lost in any menus. You can fiddle with the brightness and change color, font, and language preferences. There is a contacts menu that lists the rest of the team as well as Beacon and Doctor Weird, those who have made their identities public are listed by their real names with their hero alias in parenthesis. The list of contacts is short enough it's easy to spot an entry that seems out of place. At first it looks like it's a contact titled with the number zero but the contacts are sorted alphabetically. Based on it's placement between Nadia and Shades own name, Raphael, there seems to be a contact listed simply as O.

While Shade inspects his communicator Archangel puts the earpiece back in it's case and continues talking. "How did you get turned on to the missing capes? Just a hunch or a source? maybe we can check up on that once we have the details Beacon said he would send over."

Shade looks up at Archangel distractedly. "Remember the sandwich board guy I hit up for info on our robbers? He seemed convinced it was happening, made me want to start at least asking questions. I'm not sure he's got too much more on it, but it might be worth asking if Beacon doesn't have anything more solid. He checks the contact again, before holding up the comm and addressing the group. "Anyone know who 'O' is?"

Logan smiles contentedly to herself and exits the laundry room, turning the light off and closing the door behind her, quietly and carefully. She hops up the stairs to rejoin the group.

Unsurprised at the results, Nadia takes a minute to change the user name and password to something she can remember for the admin account and logs off. Guess it's back to plan A--wait for something to happen, she muses. With all this stuff, though, we'll actually be prepared for whatever the 'something' is.

She starts a mental checklist of information they would want to access from the command center as she heads upstairs to look for the rest of the group in the living room.

Fear watches Nadia look up the VIN number silently. Hmm, I could probably dig something up... as Nadia gets up and leaves, Fear sits down and sets up his own admin account, attempting to access some databases and retrieve some information. Nadia's smart, but I know my way around a computer, maybe this will help my credibility.

[Computers (Access VIN data): d10: (10, 3; 6, 5) = 13]
[Computers (Covering trail [in case you want a second roll for this]): d10: (4; 1) = 4]

Archangel shrugs and peers at Shades communicator. Having left hers in the box until then she retrieves it and turns it on to see if hers has it as well.

Nadia and Logan meet up on the way back up the stairs and Shade repeats his question to them as they round the corner. Trevor fiddling with the A/V system takes notice as more people get involved in the mystery.

---

Fear settles in with his new credentials and tries out the system. Its not what he's used to but he can appreciate the quality even if its not custom built. Figuring it's probably safer to go after one of the more reputable looking places offering VIN info instead of heading straight for the DVS/DMV Fear finds a likely candidate and gets to work. Within a few minutes he's able to get access to their records and pulls up those relating to the VIN they found. He copies down the info getting a name, Charles Gunderson, and an address local to Rookfall.

Nadia blinks at Shade's question. "O? Uh... ORACLE? Obelisk? No, wait, that guy kicked it. Omni something? Maybe Beacon, et al have a contact there and put him in anonymously or something?" She pulls out her own communicator and looks at the entry, checking to see if the phone number is listed with a local area code.

Logan turns on her communicator and pokes gingerly at the touch screen to text. She sends O a short typed message:

Good afternoon.

Tremor finally looks up from the back of the TV, having decided all it really needs is a surround sound system. "I'd hope they'd be smart enough to let us know about something like that - it'd be a little embarrassing if their secret inside contact got caught because we call them like 'yo new phone, who is this'."

"Looking around the place, it seems like we've got most of what we'll need for a good while. There are some upgrades we could make depending on their budget, plus whatever I kick in for rent, but I don't think there's any one thing that we need right away unless you guys want like motion sensors and laser security or whatever."

<OOG: We have 2 free points on the HQ, plus 2 more when Tremor moves in. We can spend 3 on upgrading from "Average" to "Good" quality, giving us a +1 bonus on basically any rolls we use the base for - Healing checks in the medical center, Investigation in the computer lab, stuff like that. If we end up with another point (like if someone else moves in) we can spend 5 points and get the place up to "Advanced" for a +2 bonus. It'd be better to do it now than later - upgrading the quality requires the full cost, not the difference between the two. There are also options for defenses, secure access, holding cells, etc. I don't know if anyone else has looked into it yet.>

Nadia and Archangel as well as anyone else who checks finds the same "O" contact as Shade. The contact holds no other information and unlike cellphones there isn't a phone number for the contacts in the device, no area code to determine location. While there is a field for other information (phone numbers, email, address, etc.) the contacts in their communicators don't have any of those filled out. However the devices know to reach each other it doesn't seem to be based on traditional phone lines. Possibly more of a private internet messaging type service.

Logan sends off her message and receives a response almost instantly, Good afternoon, comes the reply.

Logan blinks at the immediate response. Cool.

Have we met?

Just like the first the next response to Logans message comes eerily fast, This is our first interaction.

O for Omniscient, Logan thinks.

Will our second interaction be in-person?

"I guess we can just ask Beacon next time we see him, then. It would be weird to just call someone that you don't know who it is," Nadia tells Trevor, unaware of what Logan is up to. "Anyway, we probably don't need lasers but some kind of nominal security would be nice. The computers are pretty nice, and the network connection is surprisingly high-quality. And we have a rack of servers, which makes me wonder if we're sharing it with the rest of the organization or whatever. Do you think Doctor Weird is going to remotely access anything we put up, because a line like that is super expensive--" Intending to address the question to Fear, she looks behind her and realizes he didn't immediately follow her into the living room. "Um... Ok then. It's probably fine."

Logan tilts her head briefly as a sort of private little shrug. She can respect the answer from a few different angles.

I see. What is your role?

I am available to answer questions and provide data about topics primarily involving individuals known as "Capes" or "Supers". I am also knowledgeable on many other general topics and can provide situational analysis. the answer comes after the briefest of pauses.

Wow. A flicker of excitement crosses Logan's face, then it faliters as she thinks for a moment.

She looks for any obvious way to forward O's message to the others, then writes a new question.

Cool.
What do you know about me?

The communication seems to be more like texting or instant messaging rather than email. Logan finds she can copy and past text from the conversation but it doesn't seem to be possible to "forward" like an email.

The message she receives in response to her newest question is a tad unsettling. Name, age, gender, approximate (but unnervingly accurate) height and weight, current occupation, current address, and Abilities: Unknown.

Without an easy way to forward, Logan decides to wait. She'll share the message somehow, later on.

Logan is starting to wonder if O is some kind of computer. While awkward, she realizes that everything O knows about her is public information. It’s all written on her licence and press pass.

A+
Do you know about any missing Capes?

I'm afraid that request is to vague for me to provide meaningful data.

---

"I don't think Doctor Weird is really the computer Whiz type but I wouldn't put it past Beacon." Archangel comments to Nadia. "I'm down with whatever you guys think is best for this place."

Logan purses her lips. She isn't sure how to rephrase her question. She'll come back to it later.

Nevermind. Are you a cape?
If not, what are you?