1st Team Meeting

[makeadragonwannaretire]

WHO: Azula and any vault dwellers who show up.
WHERE: The Rec Room
WHEN: Three hours after her annoucement.
WHAT: Azula's "War Council" to disseminate information and introductions...also snacks.
WARNINGS: Possible discussions of violence and/or dark backstories.

Azula had attended a number of war meetings growing up as well as social affairs for meeting with important members of the public or military. This was different for a number of reasons, the largest being that this was a place no one seemed to have any respect for her title.

But she could handle that. It had taken her half a month to come to terms with it but here the title "Princess" was only as important as she made it.

Unfortunately that meant having to play "Nice" having to bite her tongue and not get frustrated when she wasn't catered to. That would have been harder for her two years ago, and impossible a year ago.

But here we were, with her waiting patiently near the entrance to the Rec Room to greet people as they came in. Oh how far she'd fallen.

"Come in, help yourself to some snacks. We'll get started soon."

Comments

Current Events

[makeadragonwannaretire]

(( While information has been coming in short bursts there has been plenty uncovered to talk about. After introductions are finished the floor is open for anyone to bring up something they've learned that the others should know about.))

Reading the Terminal for Test Room 3

[justoutrunyou]

As people start talking about what they've been learning Sandy raises her hand again.

"So after I got bit by the mole-rat I went back into that area we just opened up and started looking around. that's where I found the Batons and helmets." She starts before lifting up her Pip-Boy and scrolling through the texts.

"I found a computer password and used it on the computer in that room. I think we can use it to unlock the door if no one else has done that already? And there was this file. I don't really understand all of it so lemme just read what I copied."

" Subject 004-02. Modified FEV injection appears promising. In contrast to previous attempts, subject has maintained ambulation and some coherence two weeks following exposure. Preliminary data support my previous theory this mutant strain may benefit from continued radiation exposure following acclimation to host. I have requested permission for maintained high radiation levels in testing chamber. Louis remains unconvinced cognition will survive such measures, but I'm certain the overseer will understand the merit of this modified protocol. As he so often likes to say, humanity depends on us."

After she finishes reading it she offers to show the screen to anyone who wants to read it again.

"So I think like...it sounds like they were trying to cure whatever's in that chamber? And Louis had something to do with it?" She glances around for the robot curiously.

"What do you guys think?"

[cicadashell]

"Sounds to me like they were experimenting on whoever was in there, not trying to cure them. Acclimation to host."

Jiro doesn't understand some of those words in the write-up, and he's not very smart, but that phrase doesn't sound benign to him. Nor does referring to whatever it was as a 'subject'.

"And they did it to others first if they're comparing it with previous attempts. We're fucking lab rats, that's what happening here."

[justoutrunyou]

"Oh..." Sandy looks at her screen again re-reading it.

"See I was going off the part where it said he was still coherent. I don't know what ambulation means though." She shrugged.

"I saw some other computers back that way, we could go see if they have anything useful on them. Maybe Saya can help..." She mused already thinking she wouldn't get lucky enough to find two passwords let alone three the same way.

"But why would they want to turn us into...whatever that thing is?"

[cicadashell]

"Ambulation means walking or something."

Moving? It's close enough. He nods at the suggestion of Saya, she's apparently been designated the computer person and he has no problem with that. They need someone who can pull information out of the system since that's where they've been keeping records, it looks like.

"Probably to survive outside. Gradual radiation exposure so they wouldn't die in the new atmosphere up there?"

Fuck. If they even get out of here, they might not be able to survive anywhere but the vault anyway.

[justoutrunyou]

Sandy hadn't even considered that the world outside might be too irradiated to survive in. She suddenly found herself wishing she'd found more Radaway.

"I'll take a look at the suits they used to fix the power. Maybe we can make them better at keeping out radiation somehow. I don't wanna have to glow in the dark to survive outside of here."

[wildguardian]

"Can I see that?" Yunlan leans over, scanning through the text with the expression on his face slowly smoothing into neutrality. "Hm. That's... maybe so. It depends on what whatever was in that chamber looked like before they got that injection."

It sounds a lot more like unethical human experimentation to him, but without more information, he can't be sure the scientists deserve to be condemned. If Simmons was telling the truth, after all, they'd rebelled over orders that went too far.

And if they were already willing to infect people with mutant viruses that destroyed their minds and bodies, what the hell was 'too far'?

[justoutrunyou]

"That's...something yeah." Sandy hadn't wanted to think that they were stuck in the kind of nightmare that might turn her into one of those noseless zombie things but the evidence was starting to build in that direction.

"If it's glowing that much though I don't know if even Charlotte could fix it's radiation."

[wildguardian]

"Sounds to me like the radiation might be good for it -- especially if it's still alive and walking."

Alive was dubious, considering how much it looked like a desiccated glowing corpse, but it was moving, so he'd count it.

"There's no way to tell unless it can communicate with us, though." He shook his head. "And the mutated thing in chamber two sure wasn't interested in communication."

Or not capable. He hoped it wasn't capable; he hated to think that they'd had to bludgeon to death something that had still had a mind. After that long trapped alone in a featureless room, even if its intelligence survived the radiation damage, it might have gone feral regardless -- but, he supposed, he'd never know for sure.

[justoutrunyou]

"I mean...we don't HAVE to let it out right? If there's nothing in there we need and it doesn't seem friendly why even let it out?" Then no one would have to try and kill a scary glowy zombie thing before the radiation killed them right back.

[torsion]

"Unfortunately this sort of text is familiar to me." She says, mulling it over in her mind. 'Mutant' isn't a word that's used, but it sounds similar. "Injections aren't uncommon in experimenting on organic material where I'm from, although radiation isn't often used as a catalyst."

A testing chamber. Does that mean there's one here? Is the text relevant to this particular vault that they're trapped in? Jill is silent for a moment while she considers her next move.

"I'm not sure I'd say it's a cure. I've heard language like that, about the advancement of humankind and evolution, when it's just going to mutate and kill millions if it were in the wrong hands. Though it mentions injections, there's a chance it could still be airborne."

[justoutrunyou]

Sandy looks concerned at the idea that Jill is not only familiar with this sort of thing, but that she might be right.

"So...why would they be testing something so dangerous here if they wanted us to...survive and flourish or whatever?" The video had told them they were suppose to live and survive after all and having glowing monsters in the closet seemed like a big hindrance to that.

"You don't think they were gonna do that stuff to us do you?"

[torsion]

"It might be their definition of survival or flourishing is different. Or, they might be lying. I'm not saying that it's likely but from what we've seen... it's best to err on the side of caution and stick together just in case."

Jill isn't sure what to say about this. Would they do this to them? Was there even a 'they,' any more?

"I suspect this place might be abandoned based on the condition it is in. I'd expect something like either the medical area or a medical area to be more taken care of and clean. I haven't found anywhere so far that seems like it's been kept up." Were they dead? Had too much time passed? Did they simple give up? "But we're also here. Someone brought us here and seems to be doing things, right? So we should be cautious."

[justoutrunyou]

Sandy can't argue with that. Staying in groups for safety was one of her main survival techniques back home. Easier to run away if the rest of the group is left behind.

"If somebody is watching us or like...experimenting on us they're doing a really sloppy job at it. I mean science wasn't like my best subject in school but it feels like we've got too much freedom to be a serious experiment doesn't it?"

At least that's what she was hoping. The more she thought about it the more she convinced herself that there was no way her getting bitten by Mole-rats or the girls getting poisoned by radiation could be part of an experiment. What was it trying to prove?

'Captain Simmons' and the Overseer's Office

[wildguardian]

Yunlan waves a hand from his perch on the table. "So! Saya and I broke into the Overseer's office after the reactor got up and running. There's a robot in there that looks a lot like our three handybots, only with some kind of blaster weapon that it tried to use to blow our heads right off.

"We managed to talk it down, and, long story short, it goes by Captain Simmons and claims it's now the Overseer by chain of command. Supposedly the scientists and civilians out here led a mutiny over some kind of order they didn't want to follow, and the fight that followed killed 'em all. As far as it knows we're all nice, docile civilians willing to follow orders... and I think we ought to keep it thinking that until we talk it into giving out access to the secure systems and telling us how to unlock the sealed doors. It claims it'll authorize expeditions outside as soon as the rest of the Vault's up to code."

His tone is casually sarcastic, but his foot is swinging back and forth at a tempo that suggests he's not too calm about the blaster robot.

[cicadashell]

"Fuck that! Dismantle the pile of junk and get the data for access codes from the microchips and shit!"

That's how robots and computers work. Yeah. Jiro looks like he wants to go down to that office right now and tear the robot apart. This is all military experimental bullshit and he's not stepping in line with it.

[wildguardian]

"Dial it back," Yunlan snaps, sitting up straight and glaring. "Taking it down is going to mean doing it plenty of damage, and I'm not about to risk losing whatever information we can shake out of it."

Not unless leaving it operational starts to look like a bigger threat. For now, it seems happy to hang out in its little office and throw orders around, and Yunlan's happy to give it the mushroom treatment as long as it keeps bearing fruit.

(Keep it in the dark and feed it on bullshit-- now that's the bureaucratic way.)

[cicadashell]

Jiro cares less about information and potential destruction, and more about freedom.

"Shake it out fast."

It sounds like a threat and it is. He will go straight into the office and start a beatdown on Captain Simmons if given half a chance, or if playing along takes too long.

[wildguardian]

"Don't go get yourself shot for stupid reasons. We might need something heavy moved."

Yunlan's eyes narrow, and he meets Jiro's gaze levelly, resting his hands on the tabletop behind him.

"I'll tell you when we're done shaking it out."

[makeadragonwannaretire]

Puffed up military types she could deal with.

Robotic military types with high tech weapons? That would be more difficult.

"No sense in rocking the boat until we have the upper hand. For all we know he's lying to us...can machines lie?"

Her experience with robots is lacking.

"But if his goals involve us getting out of here to see what the world is like outside then it's beneficial to all of us."

[wildguardian]

"I'd normally say, only if they were programmed to lie! But the robots around here are a lot more flexible than the kind I'm used to." He tosses a grin her way and spreads his hands. "Seems like the best plan is to assume they can lie just as easily as a human can."

He's in agreement with her about the eventual goals, though, and he nods along as she continues.

"I'd rather play nice for as long as we want the same thing. It's paranoid, though, so careful what you say to it."

[makeadragonwannaretire]

"Oh I will." I always try to be. She thought quietly.

"It's good that he recognizes a chain of command to some degree. That lets us know where we stand. Depending on how he feels we could offer her rank to him and see if that earns us some good graces."

By "Her" she meant Jill Valentine whom she gestured to across the room.

"In my own country I was Commanding Officer to a number of task forces but never given an official ranking because well...Princess seemed high enough."

[pride_outbreak]

"It wasn't pleasant, but in the end it was the best course of action and it opens up a lot more posibilities for what we can do and what we can learn from the previous denizens."

Saya bows her head slightly at Yun, "Thanks for going with me... I admit, I would have been at a loss on what to do for a while. I got used to dealing with Zombies in my apocalypse." She tried to joke about it but it made her feel a pang of guilt wondering what happened to everyone... If she was here, where's the rest?

[wildguardian]

The glance he tosses her is sympathetic. He recognizes that tone: sometimes it's easier to joke about your past because thinking about it beyond a joke, when there's no going back and they've all died of old age at best--

-- that hurts.

"From what I spotted in that third lab, zombie hunting experience might be something we need too!" he laughs, letting the glance of sympathy go unspoken. Talking about it can't help, so as far as he's concerned, it'll just make things harder to deal with.

"But you're welcome. I'm just glad we did manage to talk Simmons down before anyone got shot."

[pride_outbreak]

"Us in particular. Last I'd want is to be back in the infirmirary again so quickly, further dimishing our supplies..." A pause.

"Assuming I would have survived getting hit by a futuristic energy weapon... I do kind of want to see what it is though... Maybe we can find more of them."

"The weapons, not more of those particular model of robot I mean." No one needs more of them around.