Lost Children

GM: Conchita
Players: Conchita, Shoeshine, Naomi.
Synopsis: The Warrens are a dangerous place to grow up. Many children growing up there never reach adulthood due to the many dangers of the area. Now some children that where part of an education programm happening in the Sunrise Soup Kitchen have disappeared. The Griffon Foundation, sponsor of the Soup Kitchen, wanting to make the program a success, has set Conchita on the childrens trail to save them if possible or find out what has happened to them.
Date: Some time 2074
Starting Date: This plot will start on Mai 3rd 2014, at no predictable time yet with the first scenepost after the setting pose and character settings.
Flashpoint Queue: Lost Children (currently: Flashpoint/4)

This is a Player-run-@mail Plot, follow this link for clarifications on the concept


The Meet

Growing up in the Warrens was a risk. A risk no one would take on if they had a choice. Most of those growing up ended either as cheap labour for a local corporation or within one of the many criminal organizations that name Denver their home. To break this vicious circle for at least a small group of people, Chita has set up regularly scheduled educational classes that take place in the kitchen during times when the kitchen is not open for food, as so far the designated class room could not be finished.

As several children didn't report back to class, she investigated and had to realize that they had disappeared beyond her own reach. After some negotiations with the Foundation a small budget was set aside to hire an investigative team to find and if possible retrieve the disappeared children. Contacting some of her shadow resources and the people of the kitchen, she spreads the word to meet at the kitchen office for some paid work.
Now all she can do is to wait and see if someone would be willing to help with her problem.

How did he sneak in here? You'd think he might have been seen, but really he's in the line of business where sneaking into secure facilities is job one. A soup kitchen where people are expected is kind of a step down. The wonderation comes from how he was dressed while doing it. He's obviously a dwarf from the size of him, too short, too stocky, the hands are 'that' size. He's wearing a bulky red bodysuit with an upside-down horseshoe on it (or a 'U' if you're more literate than the kids being taught here). He's wearing a dashing cape, too, probably a reworked version of a Secure-Tech duster, hiding a slim backpack full of gear underneath it, not to mention the strange boxes on a bulky 'utility belt'. But the thing that should have made it obvious but didn't is the ears. Really. Perky, upraised dog-ears that go with a cold wet black nose at the end of a muzzle, light brown furred jowly lips. A dog's face. Once you can put it all together, the incredibly realistic face-mask, the caped costume, the utility devices; it's obvious what he is. A superhero. That's why he introduces himself with, "There's no need to fear. Underdog is here!"

Nowhere near as dramatically, Naomi walks into the kitchen wearing a much more business-like outfit, blouse, pin striped vest and skirt, and a greatcoat left open, a satchel slung over her shoulder. She's more than familiar with the layout of the building, so she simply strolls through at a casual pace, heading back into the office and greeting Conchita with a bright smile. "It's always lovely to see you, even if it is under less than ideal circumstances. So, what is it that we need to take care of?"

Chita is not sure whether to laugh or simply ignore the dwarf introduction. She wonders why anyone would mask up as a dog, but it still has her smiling, "Oh… well, I sure didn't expect a dog to show up as a rescuer to lost children, but to be honest it is … fitting." She grows a bit more serious as she is about to explain the situation. "Thing is, I fear this is far from a laughing matter. My suspicion is that those kids where taken by experienced people that want them to disappear permanently. Most likely some of the usual vultures that are active here in the Warrens. And I am not talking about simple ferral Ghouls or random gang violence. The way these kids just disappears seems to point more towards organ leggers or something of that kind, I can only hope that this is right, as it might allow at least a few kids to be still alive. As organ leggers usually keep their victims alive for a little while, so the organs are fresh when they are extracted for whatever purpose they are needed. There is also some other reason I believe someone along that line was involved, but I cannot really verify that right now, so I don't want to talk about it. I was not able to find them, as I didn't want to do a more thorough search on my own. Something you guys might as well recognize as something extremely stupid all alone. Not to mention that without the ability to at once free a child I would find that way would be potentially deadly for that child as well, in case I got found out. So I need your support to get to the kids and rescue them if we can manage. I got permission to offer 20K in cash to everyone that joins the search. The Foundation wants their new program to succeed and kids simply disappearing from it is not … helpfull."

Underdog would bob his head in assent to the 20k offer, while his slightly parted jaws and hint of panting tongue indicate that money is not the object here.
"A listing of students I might ask,
So that the Matrix might help us in our task.
Video searches often discover
What criminals hide for us to uncover.
It might help us to glean
Where each child was last seen.
Magical tracking is swift and bold,
But we need a link before the trail gets cold.
I have fought these child-stealers now thrice,
In two cases, it was blood sacrifice.
Given this clear foul play,
I see no reason to delay."

Yes, yes he did just speak in rhyme. Just as fast as speaking normally. Listening to him when he gets going gives the tendency to fall into the rhythm, to anticipate the upcoming rhyme and either wince or relax when it finishes. But finish he does, and he seems to have lain out the main avenues of research beyond just going out and asking people on the street in the area when was the last time they saw the kids and if they saw anything suspicious. But then, hasn't that already been done to little avail?

Naomi does shift her perceptions to the astral for a moment, looking at Underdog and smiling at the recognition. She listens to Conchita's explaination carefully, giving a slight nod when it's finished. "You probably made the right choice. I doubt you'd have been spotted, but it would have been difficult to gather us to join you after you'd found the children. Together, we should be able to find them that much faster. On that note, do we have pictures of the missing children. Anything to go off, so we can launch our various inquiries and cover all our bases at once. Pictures, names… anything to distinguish them. Or, anyone who might have seen something around the kitchen.

She pauses there, giving Conchita a warm smile. "Obviously, I'm going to help. But the money, you can put what you would pay me towards the kitchen. Better to get the proper facilities built so this doesn't happen again."

Legwork

Chita nods to the dwarfs request and Naomi's words. She turns the display of her office computer displaying a list of five children with images and names.
The first is a boy. About 13 years old, black skin. A human. The name tag reads, "Joshua Melin".
The second is a girl, also about 13 years old. Caucasian, but an elf. The name tag reads, "Alindra Serelian", clearly she was from the elven district.
The third is an ork boy, 10 years old and still as matured as the others. His skin suggests a slight amerindian tinge. Name tag says, "Tag".
The fourth is a spaniard female human, 16 years old, named "Regina Edua".
The fifth and last is another black skinned youth. Male, dwarf. Name says "Dunin Amorad", most likely one of the few dwarven communities in the Warrens.

"I had a quick glance down the few vid feeds there are in the Warrens. All I could find out is that they never left the Warrens. Not in any visible way at least.", the latina then says with a little glance over to her cyberdeck. "We need to investigate some people to get some informations about their last whereabouts. I was too afraid to ask more seriously if I had no backout to act on gathered intelligence." She points to the screen, "I have their 'adresses' and I know where a few people can be found to ask for their whereabouts. Which would be the hints we can start with."

Naomi looks over the pictures and the names for a moment, nodding as she gets copies of them for her pocsec, for reference later. "Well," she starts, "If they are still in the Warrens, I can at least try to see if a spirit of the warrens can find them, or at least point us in the right direction. I'm going to go out back for a minute. I'll be right back." She adjusts her coat and heads out of the office, then out of the building and into a quite spot outside.

In the empty space behind the kitchen, Naomi speaks to the air in Gaelic. "Come, there are children missing and I need your assistance to find them."

It takes only a few moments for the spirit to fade into view in font of Naomi. Looking much like a ganger, it is a male figure, green hair done up in a mohawk, leather jacket, leather boots, and beat up jeans, the spirit could almost pass for human, if not for the shimmering wings sprouting from his shoulders, a double set of insect-like wings. There is a gang insignia on his coat, but it doesn't seem to match any particular gang and, when one looks away, it is a different insignia when next looked at. The spirit nods to Naomi, hands in his pockets. "Evenin', Mistress. Did you need something?"

Naomi nods to the spirit, smiling warmly. "Yes. Thank you for coming to my aid. A number of cihldren have gone missing in this area and there are few who are as in touch with the area as you are." She holds up her pocket, showing the spirit the images of the children, along with their names. "If you can feel where I would be most likely to find the information I need to rescue the most of the children, I would appreciate you telling me. Once that is done, if you could search the warrens for these children and let me know where they are, it would be of even greater help. If you can not find any trace of them, I would also appreciate knowing that."

The spirit bows to Nomi and then zooms away with the words, *I will do your bidding, Mistress.* Then it is gone. I takes a little while for the spirit to reappear while Shoeshine goes onto his phone to talk to his own contact. Returning to you a couple of hours later, the spirit will bow to Naomi again and reveal the follwoing. *There has been a dark presence passing through the Warrens. I sense magic in it. A presence with anger against someone in this place. This anger is gnawing on that presence and deepening it's darkness even more than it was before. I sensed the paths of that presence and the kids to merge. There is danger for them, but I sensed their lifeforce still intact, somewhere close and below to this place. However… that presence is waiting for that someone she is so full of hate for.*

When given access to the data, Underdog quickly transfers it to his pocsec to be sent to Jennifer Carpenter, a decker of his acquaintance who specializes in intelligence information that she feeds to Konstantin Kuryakin, Underdog's usual fixer. ""Missing children, gone this day, Where might they have gone away? Our cameras might say where they were last seen But advertisements might tell who offers the green For their bodies, their parts, their visions on screen. Or sadly, those who dispose of such things, When their deeds be done and they flee on the wing. A thousand nuyen is the offering price, For your powerful search and your speedy advice." Jennifer knows what she's getting into when she gets a request in rhyme. It generally means something seriously evil if he shows up, and that would be likely to put her in the right mood.

About half an hour after his request Jennifer contacts the dwarf with her information.

Underdog takes a moment to read and digest the data that comes back to him, putting it together with what he overhears from the spirit's speech. To Conchita he says, "The kitchen's computers are sadly insecure, And the meat gangs hit through the apeture. That's how they found the children they wanted, although their network's connection is strangely disjointed. It took them many connections to get what they needed. which just may help us reach them unimpeded. They should be near the Warzone, not too close nor far From a wireless access point with security ajar. If we search from the access point, underground I would hope that soon their lair would be found.

Chita meanwhile moves out to talk with the Los Reyes. It was taking her a while, but in the end one of them, Ramos St.Claire, had a hint on things, "Yeah, I have been seeing your kids, they where walking down south with some guys. There was no indication that they where in distress or something like that. They where calmly following along. With the guys, so I thought they where some of your people, maybe doing some kind of excursion." Chita after that returns to the kitchen to share her information with the others.

Naomi thanks her spirit, kissing his cheek and letting him be on his way before returning to the kitchen to report this information. Letting Underdog and Chita give their reports, she nods as she shares her info as well. "Someone dark and magical has a grudge against someone here. Most likely, someone with a grudge against Conchita, but there's a possibility it's someone else. Its presence is close to the children, but they are still alive, close and below this place, which I assume to mean the kitchen. And it is waiting for the person she hates, growing more dark and hateful. The Warzone is not too far from here, and all signs point to them being in that direction, so that seems like the place to start the search." She looks between the two. "If either of you has something to detect a wireless signal, that seems like it'll be a good thing to have along. And we'll clearly going underground, so we may as well grab anything we might need for that, too."

Underdog IR-beams around the general co-ordinates of the wireless signal that the interloper was hopping on. (Without having to come up with rhymes for numbers.) It's not an exact location, but pocsecs with wifi should be able to scan for it from there. And anyway, the target location isn't exactly at the wifi hub - although they might know something. Time to head on site!

Chita nods, but it is sure she is relieved to have at least a rough guideline where to find the kids. She more than easily agrees to move out and see where the hint will lead them. Both Naomi and the, admittedly a bit odd looking, dwarf get a little hug before she leaves to the outside. Moving to where possibly the kids might be.

The Warrens

The trio heads out into the Warrens after checking up the coordinates Underdog received from Jennifer with a map of the area in question. Nothing fancy, just a matrix map.
The way out of Los Reyes territory is not a problem, Chita as well as Naomi are on good terms with the gang after all. Slowly and carefully wandering out after that, avoiding other gangs or disputes on the way they will be trying to locate the node matching the signature they got from the decker.
Finally, as predicted close to the Warzone they pick up the signal with one of the pocsecs they used as a scanner.

Looking around the block they soon find some sewer entrance that looks like it sees some regular use. Chita speaks out what probably most of them are thinking, "Well, looks like we found our entrance. So, how do we do this?" The question is directed at the other, as she looks at the narrow hole, covered by y metal and concrete lid.

Underdog glances back towards his light machinegun, pondering whether or not they'll need rock-and-roll power. After some consideration, he decides against it. Underground is not the best place for something like that. He hops out of the car, adjusting his gear hanging from his 'utility belt' - two pistols, some sort of larger, ungainly pistol, and various tools. "Slow and stealthy it goes at first, to remove sentries, traps, and the coerced. Then speed of lightning, roar of thunder, fighting all who'd rob or plunder." Underdog demonstratively holds up some tools and taps the side of his head, cocking an ear. Perhaps he's indicating his various super-senses that will allow him to see in the dark, hear a long distance, and even detect ultrasound devices.

Naomi slips her sunglasses on, tapping a button on the side to show her thermographic reading in front of her. "Sounds like a good plan. For all we know, there are just other people down there as well, unrelated to any of this. If need be, we can manage some invisibility as well, but let's save that until we suspect people are around. It may be a distraction when I need to keep a clear mind." She has a satchel over her shoulder, so as to carry her medkit and a few other things. Guns holstered, both under her jacket but ready to be grabbed as needed. The collapsed spear is at her side, similarly ready to be grabbed, though quite a bit more obvious than her gun. With the comm in her ear and the mic taped to her throat, she's ready to go down and see what how quickly they can find some clue as to what exactly is going on.

Chita nods, "Hmmm… I'll allow you guys the advance entry. Your senses are much more acute than my mere human eyesight. Even though I have a bit more than that. It's still less acurate than your senses are most likely compared to mine. And I am still lacking the sufficient ways to help out with my magic." She ponders, clearly adding some things to her future to have list, she looks down on her Taccom Happy that she bought the thing, jacking it into her datajack, establishing cybernetic communication with her transducer. She always forgets about how important these things can be as she is doing so much legal stuffs all the time.

Underground

Underdog is quick to find a cave-in, which he checks for stability as dwarves are wont to do; and casts about from there. He determines, "It blocks the sewage so none may flow. Keeps it clean for our quarry to go." He promptly shows the small trail revealed to him by his lowlight with eye lights, that leads down into what seemed to be the remains of abandoned dried up sewers.

Naomi lets Shoeshine take point, since he seems to be best suited for it. Slipping into the sewers behind him, she adjusts her glasses for the dim light and pulls her flashlight out of her pocket, just in case it's needed. She keeps alert, looking around as she follows Shoeshine through the tunnels, trusting him to follow the signals and clues towards anything suspicious. Or, at least say something if he wasn't sure. Probably in rhyme.

Chita is the last to enter. She relies on her magical utrasound mostly down here, but she sure is glad for Naomi's flashlight. It allows her to act a bit more freely. Other than the flashlight and the little beam of light comming down from the manhole, the place is pitch black. Chita is drawing her gun, her prime weapon after all. Then gestures the other to go ahead.

Underdog reaches into his 'utility belt' and takes out a slim pencil-like device - with a stroke, he extends it to a little over three feet. It's a pointer just like an old-school professor would use to point at a blackboard if he didn't have a laser pointer. On the end is a tiny mirror he uses to look around corners, and from it he dangles a white thread - if he walks forwards with the thread dangling down, it will be disturbed by tripwires so that he can disarm them instead of running into them. (It doesn't help against electric eyes, but he should be able to detect those other ways.)

Naomi continues to follow along behind Underdog, moving her flashlight about to scan the area as they walk. She's moving carefully, something about sewers making her think about traps, her free hand ready to grab for whatever might be the appropriate tool for the job, should something unexpected occur. In the astral, Primrose sits on the elf's shoulder, looking for anything unusual to report to Naomi.

Chita keeps following her team mates. Not too far down the tunnel the team comes to a crossing. In this case the tracks are no real help, as they pass both ways. There is nothing to be seen around the corners, even with that clever mirror trick. It's simply a dark, abandoned tunnel so far. But will it stay this way?

Underdog peers from left to right, crinking his nose, appearing to sniff. A tilt of the head, a careful scan - nothing discerns left from right here. Confidently, he directs the group right. No special reason, it's just that no time need be wasted on an even-odds choice, and no spilt milk either way. The only critical issue is that we might now be taken from behind.

Naomi has no problem with Underdog's choice, but she slips her pocsec out as they walk, starting to take notes regarding the directions that we could go and the directions we take, in case it becomes necessary to retrace our path.

Chita simply takes the rear and now, not knowing what to expect from that second way they could have gone makes sure to keep an 'eye' out for the groups back. Luckily her natural ultrasound is quite suited to a place as this, though Underdog with his wonderfull sensor array might maybe wonder where those ultrasound screeches come from that she emits. There sure has been no sign of bats this closeby.

First trap

After not too long however those bat-cries suddenly cease to be heard. Both Naomi and Underdog also both notice that the familiar tap of the latinas feet, silent as it is, is missing.

Naomi hears the quiet behind her and puts her pocsec back in her pocket as he turns, looking behind her before turning her light to scan over where Conchita should be.

Underdog will charge to Conchita's aid, or at least, to go against what he sees there. Perhaps he'll figure out more along the way.

Chita surprisingly stands there her gaze blissfully looking at something that looks like a huge kraken but without the water. The beast is hilighted by the light of Naomi's flashlight, behind the latinas body, but for some reason the latina is quite happy to see it. The arms of the mouse shaman are open wide, like she was about to welcome someone familiar. She ran towards the beast, embracing it as if she had unexpectedly found someone precious to her again, and unwittingly covered it from any good shooting angle and also giving it hard cover for spells, while those tentacles started to slide around her.

Underdog cries out, "It's not what you see! Hug it for me!" Of course, he does this as he charges in to battle on his stumpy little legs. Aren't dwarves supposed to be slow? Ah, but dangerous over short distances. that's it. Heedless of fear, Underdog charges in amongst the coils to unleash devastating short-range punches, or so he hopes. He's pretty sure Conchita is mind-controlled or something, but if he's lucky, he can split the kraken's attention. Mostly, he has to steel his will and rip with hands as well as mind and soul if he finds out it's a spirit.

Naomi pauses for just a moment as she sees the tentacle beast, calling out as her hand goes to her spear. "Chita, whatever you see, it isn't real! Back away from it!" Already, she's starting to focus her mind to cast a spell at the beast, even as her spear extends in her hand, ready to do whatever is necessary.

The onslaught of both spirit and shaman was pure overkill, but chita, hugging the beast seemed to be a bit too close. Luckily her mental barriers where strong enough to get no more than a little fatigue out of the stunspells pumped into the critter. She moaned up in pain as the beast suddenly shaped up before her eyes, or more precisely, it's illusion faded away without it sustaining it. As the facts came to her mind she yelled out and did a quick jump back, colliding with the dwarf that was about to help her in a more mundane way.

Underdog catches Conchita from any falling difficulty, then makes sure she's all right before checking out the strange… thing. He has no idea what they look like when they're unconscious, so he's sure to get a good look. To Naomi he asks, "I saw it as a tentacled beast. But you defeated it in a moment at least. Do wizards need parts from such a creature? It's ability might have lured the children as a feature.

The thing lying there looks like a giant kraken, consisting mostly of a bunch of wriggling tentacles, even as it lies there unconcious. One of it's suckers is still connected to Conchita and the girl has to fight quite a bit before it finally lets go of her, releasing her with a sickening pop. The latina frowns at the sucker mark visible on her skin and shakes madly as she watches the predator lying there. "Where the hek did that thing come from?", she mutters, realizing that the things she just has seen must have been an illusion of sorts. Her gaze is full of sorrow and distress as she realizes how well it had been not to get down here alone. She leans against the wall of the tunnel as Naomi checks for connection with her cellphone.

Naomi brings her camera up, shining the light on the weird octopus thing, trying to get its face and all identifying features in frame. She sends the picture to Aiden with a message, "We have this thing, alive. Is it useful to you?" Once the message is through, she finds the best spot and tries to get a call through to him.

The line connects and is relatively clear, even though there is some background noise audible from the speakers. "Aiden speaking!", can be heard. Naomi smiles as she hears his voice. "Aiden, hey. We've got this thing alive. If you want it, it's yours, but if not, do you want part of it for anything? It seems to have mind control power or something."

The man seems to study that photo for a little bit, "Clearly not a well lit place you are at… Well, it's an Incubus. Might be worth a pretty penny if you could keep it alive. I'd suggest to lock it in a place it cannot easily get itself out of. Cause even beatten up as it is, it might get you into troubles as you might already have noticed while catching this thing. If it's still loose. Word of warning. It definitely is a predator who has meta-humans of all kinds on it's diet. And it's tentacles allow it to do some pretty nifty and dexterous acts. I have heard about these babies breaking into some quite secure places. Well, if you still have it in possession within the next 12 hours, I'll have assembled a team to take it. I really don't want to transport this thing without proper precautions."

Underdog holds up a tranq patch, offering it to Naomi. "This would put a man safely to sleep for six hours. On him? I don't know if it's safe, or his powers."

Naomi nods to Underdog. "Go ahead and hit it with that. Maybe it's bad for it, but we can't have it waking up and getting away. I'll set a guard while finish exploring." She speaks into the phone. "I'm going to keep it at the same coordinates, unless I contact you with other information. We're going to sedate it now. If something if something unexpected happens, I'll let you know, but the sooner you can pick it up, the better. I need to get going, but call me if you have any other questions."

The call finished, Naomi takes in a deep breath and starts to speak in Gaelic, talking for the assistance of spirits. A figure fades into view, about a meter and a half tall and humanoid but hunched over and wearing a ragged robe, his eyes very big for his head, fingers showing a hint of claws. He blinks, then looks to Naomi, bowing deeply. "What do you wish of me, Mistress?"

Naomi smiles to the figure. "I just need you to watch this creature and make sure it doesn't go anywhere. If it wakes up and tries to leave, incapacitate it. Take whatever measures you need to." The figure nods and replies, "I shall make sure it doesn't leave, mistress." It turns and sits down, watching the tentacles beast as it fades out of sight.

Naomi nods, the creature drugged and guarded. "I think this is the best we'll do here. Let's keep going. Care to take point again, Underdog? I think you've been leading us the right way so far."

Chita watches the proceedings, horror showing on her face as she realizes how close she was to death and how bad this might have ended had she really tried to tackle this on her own. A quite thankfull gaze is sent to Naomi, though it is obvious that she is once again feeling a bit foolish for having fallen for the beast.

After Shoe has patched the thing up, nothing seems to change, the tentacles simply writhing on a very low level as before. Nothing that seems to indicate any concious activity.

Underdog bobs his head, then cocks it to the side as if listening for something with an upraised ear. Then he's off again, leading the way. Now that he's convinced he's getting close, he takes out his two silenced pistols. Just in case. Quicker than having to draw them, and he can drop them if it's punching time. Still, since there are two directions to go, there might be kids to rescue both ways, so it's best to be sneaky and careful and use all the senses he paid so much more.

Naomi takes a moment to step in close to Conchita, pulling her into a warm embrace and holding her close, seeming to be relieved to see her safe, now that everything is said and done. After a few moments, she releases her and moves to follow after Underdog. Her spear is again at her belt, flashlight in hand and moving forward cautiously and quietly as well, keeping an ear for any sound behind her from Conchita, but focusing her eyes forward, still trusting her to cover the rear.

Takes up the rear, as before, she was not so confident right now. She had failed already once. But she had no choice but to go on, the lifes of some kids where at stake and from what she knew it might be because someone had taken a dislike to her or maybe Naomi. Or both. So she clearly had a responsibility to help. SHe was still glad to have Naomi and the dwarf with her, comical as he might be in his costume and his rhyming behaviour.

Second Trap

In the end things would have to slow down, as they ended at a large 'pool', the way seemingly leading across on a small ledge. The water clearly was quite deep. As the light of the flashlight was not giving a look at the bottom, despite being unusally clean for this area. There was no muck or oily residues swimming in it, not even algae, not really that unexpected with the lack of light down here.

Underdog peers carefully through the darkness. "Obviously a trap, but what kind? Let's see what they have on their mind." First he gets low and scans that ledge to see if anything is out of place, like pressure plates or something set to collapse and trundle the target into the water. He checks for ultrasound and various electric or laser eyes, and finally; the silly string test, spraying it out over the ledge so it gracefully falls to reveal tripwires and monofilaments that would be near invisible in the darkness. Of course none of that will help if what's really coming lurches out of the water, or if we actually have to swim down to a tunnel from here. But if it all checks out, then he'll holster his pistols, pull his Shiawase Blazer around (he imagines lake dwellers dislike high-efficiency napalm) and tread forth ready.

Naomi looks around as Shoeshine does his checks. She shifts her perceptions to the astral, looking into the darkness of the area, and then the water itself for any signs of life or anything out of the ordinary in the tainted astral of the warrens sewers.

"It is possible it's just a holding pool," Naomi posits, "And that it makes a good point to slow anyone approaching. But, caution is for the best, certainly."

Chita is not really aware of what is going on ahead. The other two before her, her making up the rear. She is merely noting that there is something that keeps her teammates busy. And those words from Naomi. Her focus, after her last failure to the back, making sure she is not once again missing something that would try to creep at them from behind.

Underdog sees that the water is moving too much, but there's really nothing he can do about it from here; only prepare. He puts away his pistols, puts on his shock gloves, and readies his Shiawase Blaser - figuring that electricity would work well against something all wet; and it's unlikely to have ever experienced fire so sticky napalm might be just the thing. With that done, he moves to cross the ledge with all due care, trusting to his activated reflexes to give him an edge against whatever is about to lurch out against him. That, and attacking him should free up the others. That's the job of a superhero; deployable decoy!

Naomi puts one hand on her pistol, continuing to watch the area astrally for any sign of life, especially something larger in the water. "Be careful. Someone is putting food in this pool, one way or another. It's too alive for where we are. I'll cover you, just in case." She is preparing for… something to happen. What might happen, who knows, but she keeps aware and ready.

The dwarf was luckily quite attentive and even more luckily his reflexes where fast. Underdog was barely more than a few steps on that ledge when something erupted from below in a splash of water and snapped at him with the almost metalic sounding snap of chitinous armored shears. You would have sworn this was some kind of crab or lobster, but as fast as it had shot up, as fast it went down again, drawn back into the water by the pull of gravity.
The water seemed boiling now, as another set of shears attempted to snap at the dwarf only miliseconds later, from the other side of the ledge. Foam was starting to form as a third set almost caught his 'important parts', only saved by a quick step back from the ledge.

A shrill high pitched voice was heard next, laughing in a mad way, "Ahahahahahahahahaaaa…", it sounded from an unsean speaker, somewhere at the other side of the ledge, "Now, now … you seem to be quite fast little dwarven boy.", the shrill sounding voice then says. "It might seem I have to raise my ante to challenge you. Remember that you will not be fighting only for your own lifes from now on, but for the ones you want to save as well." Lights go on, seemingly mounted seamlessly into the walls, somewhere in the middle of the basin framed ledge. In it's light you can see a trap door open and drop a child, securely fastened to a rope. At first things look mostly okay, but you at once notice the lobsters moving to that spot, clearly used to be fed from that spot. Some jump high up, but at this height seem unable to reach their intended victim. However… you might notice that the rope is slowly descending…

Naomi looks up to the child being lowered and quickly incants as she calls forth her magic, trying to pull clean mana from the filthy astral here. Her spell starts to take shape around the child, but then simply falls apart. "Frag, the kid is shielded. I'll try something else."

Shoeshine wades into fighting the lobsters so he can get under the child. He's not an expert, but usually when someone is shielded, the person doing the shielding is like, right there, so he is sure to look with his ultrasound for some wizardy witch person. But. Fighting and danger! After he shoots up the lobsters some to prep the battlefield, Underdog says, "The child may be shielded, but I am not. Send me in through the air; I'll take the shot." Obviously, he could be swooped in under the child to perform the sailing rescue.

There is a flurry of activity as one of the lobsters is literally exploding in a small hail of bullets directed it's way. This surely deviates a few others, clearly the beasts are not above feeding on a deceased fellow lobster. The boy is still slowly descending, but for a few seconds the beasts are clearly more busy with the dead meat beside them.

Chita's totem shows on her face as she lifts up the dwarf, lifting him up and over to the descending boy. Her spell is not too fast, but it should get him there in time. At least that's to be hoped. She just decided to do her slower spell instead of waiting for Naomi to recast her spell which would cost time as well.

The same shrill voice laughs in that mad way again. It sounds like it was comming from a loudspeaker close to the boy, as Shoeshine/Underdog can hear now as he approaches. "Well, let's see how you bring your precious cargo to safety!", the voice says, then the speaker is going silent and a loud bang, followed by a little rumbling noise is happening in the tunnels behind Naomie and Chita. Chita concentrates on keeping Shoeshine up, keeping him in sight.

Naomi steps closer to the water and kneels down to touch the surface, speaking softly in gaelic once again. "Come, I call for your assistance," she says while looking at the water, and after a moment, the translucent head of a sickly green-skinned young man surfaces, followed by his bare shoulders. Under the surface, it's clear that his lower body melds into something more serpentine, moving as though natural in the water. "How may I assist, mistress?"

Underdog will wrap the kid up in a burly arm, getting some of his stiffened cloak (a repurposed Lined Coat) around him for warmth and protection. With his other hand, he'll draw and cut the rope with his utility knife. And then look to see what the heck is coming.

Nothing is comming. Other than a strong waft of stale air that is dragging dust and the smell of detonated explosives with it. Chita eeps a bit as small gravel rolls to her feet, "Uh … I guess we cannot go back /that/ way…", she mutters, trying her best to concentrate on keeping Underdog and the kid lifted up. The lobsters are still busy with the dead beast, but the fight there is getting less by the second. Already it might seem some of the less successfull beasts are starting to eye the 'flying meat'.

With the child in his arms (and a cursory check to make sure it's not, say, an illusion of a child that's actually high explosive) Underdog will cut the rope and await further flight to a position of standing. "The only way on is through, We're here Underdog will wrap the kid up in a burly arm, getting some of his stiffened cloak (a repurposed Lined Coat) around him for warmth and protection. With his other hand, he'll draw and cut the rope with his utility knife. And then look to see what the heck is coming. to do what we have to do," he says. After all, there's still plenty of kids to rescue.

Hopefully, as Underdog is floated to some position of feet-upon-the-ground he will pull away some of the tattered clothes on the kid, revealing some rough stitching as if someone has done some elective surgery on the child. Specifically, in the belly area. "Quickly, if you can, take a look inside. He's been cut open, maybe something to hide."

Resuming plot the slow way after some RL now.

// Work in Progress //

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