BODY SNATCHERS [modplot]

[letsgolegion]

Who| Rico, Tadashi, Zenyatta, Reinhardt, Joshua, Vance, Locus
What| "Body Snatchers" plot
Where| The planetary senate complex of prospective UP world Epryria, and the capitol city Mejehn.
When| The same time as "After These Messages"
Warnings/Notes| Plot has some really angsty stuff, mind control, character death. Please see ooc post.

Epryria and the UP have had contact for quite some time now, but it took new of the threat of Chronoblivion to finally push the world into joining the United Planets for safety in numbers.

The UP government has had its eye on Epryria for some time now, thanks to its thriving scientific community. The planet's advances in bioengineering even surpass that of the Coluans' in some respects. It's a large part of why why most of the population is sporting different cybernetic implants. The Legionnaires have found that to be something of a hurdle in acting as diplomats for the mission. Half of Epryrian communication takes places nonverbally, due to the sharing of words and images through implants.

Since the team is largely there as extra security and only the most experienced Legionnaires are being expected to help the UP ambassadors with actual diplomacy, Brainiac 5 and Kid Quantum were the ones that had opted to temporarily have optical and cortical implants put in.

There's one day left before the actual signing of the treaty, which is to happen in front of a crowded hall of government officials and special guests.

Comments

MORNING

[letsgolegion]

When the Legionnaires wake up that day, they'll find several things seem a little...unusual. They all wake up in the middle of surreal dreams, and when they wake up, they have ringing head aches that slowly fade as the morning goes on. Even Zenyatta experiences a strange nanosecond skip in his perceptions, and the occasional sensory glitch.

But the most glaring thing of all is the duty rosters that have been drawn up. Initially Kid Q had demanded the Legion have control over security, due to past UPgov infiltrations, betrayals, and Science Police incompetence. Their original orders had called for the team to handle the brunt of the most high-security.

But Kid Q calls them in to her temporary office in pairs and groups to give them new orders this morning. Brainy's seated next to her desk, omnicom in hand, looking as if he's perhaps helping her with tech security.

Rico, Zen, Locus

[relativityspeaking]

She's smiling an awful lot this morning. It's not really that different from usual but there's possibly just the slightest bit of tension in her jaw.

Maybe it's just the new implant at her temple? She and Brainy had been complaining of head aches from them just yesterday. Brainy especially had been complaining about the particular way it projected images on their retinas.

"Morning, gentleman, I know I originally had the three of you on the Epryrian president's personal security detail, but after discussion with the Epryrian security forces, we're making some changes. Unfortunately, I'm not getting as much control over security as they originally promised."

...Control that they all saw her fight for several days ago in the president's office. Diplomatically, sure, but ferociously.

Gone. Just like that. Apparently.

Now she hands them duty rosters that amount to little more than crowd control.

[googledox]

Brainy largely ignores them, continuing to do work on his omnicom, his eyes only occasionally darting up to look at them.

[truefaceofthelaw]

At awful as Rico is at diplomacy, when it comes to security, it's a field of expertise. Rico's face remains impassive, but under the helm visor his gaze flickers from her smile to the duty roster handed to him. He recognises that kind of smile. He's seen it on his own face more times than he can count.

Strange.

And while he can recognize that things can and do change on the whims of diplomats and administrations, that doesn't mean he's happy about it. It was a good opportunity to stretch his tactical muscles, considering he rarely gets to consult on large operations like this, and he's been sitting lazy in his hab-deck too long. Which is why he's more than a little invested in what she's saying now. Crowd control is more than good enough for him, but it's a pretty drastic change from providing personal security detail on the Epryrian president.

"Listen," Rico demands as he prods her desk with his finger. "We can't just change the plans now. It takes longer than twenty four hours to properly secure a perimeter, and those bozos barely know what they're doing. You still need to position at least a couple more rooftop snipers in the places that I marked out for you. And weren't we still negotiating placing undercover officers in the crowd? The hell happened to that? What is this?"

[orbislife]

Diplomacy is closer to Zenyatta's skill set, but he fares better with one-on-one or small group diplomacy. This is larger scale than what Zenyatta can do with any confidence. Furthermore, if Kid Q lost control over the security detail, then he won't have have a chance to change the security force's mind. Another avenue will have to be considered. They have to make due with what they can.

Zenyatta looks at his duties quietly. Crowd control. It's nearly a complete reversal what he came in expecting. Perhaps he can still fulfill the original mission, protecting the president. His ability to sense harmony and discord may prove useful. He runs a quick diagnostics on his systems again. Something odd happened earlier... However, his scans return with nothing he doesn't already know from past scans. Could the abundance of cybernetic implants be causing some interference? A frequency that his body is accidentally catching?

Rico's voice brings Zenyatta's focus back outward. His posture tightens when Rico mentions positioning more rooftop snipers. The physical reaction is slight, but the reaction is there. A sniper killed Mondatta in front of a crowd during a public event such as this. They need to keep eyes out for something similar.

"This opens the potential for gaps in security. Were our previous preparations exposed in some way?"

Tadashi and Reinhardt

[relativityspeaking]

She's smiling an awful lot this morning. It's not really that different from usual but there's possibly just the slightest bit of tension in her jaw.

Maybe it's just the new implant at her temple? She and Brainy had been complaining of head aches from them just yesterday. Brainy especially had been complaining about the particular way it projected images on their retinas.

"Morning, gentleman, I know I originally had the two of you defending the maintenance underlevel, but after discussion with the Epryrian security forces, we're making some changes. Unfortunately, I'm not getting as much control over security as they originally promised."

...Control that they all saw her fight for several days ago in the president's office. Diplomatically, sure, but ferociously.

Gone. Just like that. Apparently.

Now she hands them duty rosters that amount to little more than crowd control.

"They said they don't want any non-Epryrian security forces in any of the underlevels."

[googledox]

Brainy largely ignores them, continuing to do work on his omnicom, his eyes only occasionally darting up to look at them.

[the_civilian]

"Well, you know I'm always happy to go where you think I'm most useful," Tadashi says, glancing between his new assignment and Kid Quantum. "How's your head? Feeling better?"

[justicecrusader]

Crowd control wasn't a problem for Reinhardt. The man was so massive, it was impossible for him to not be good at crowd control. He stood out like a tree indoors, and he had the kind of presence that people responded to. So if this was what Kid Q truly wanted from him, then he would be content with it.

But he couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong. That something about this didn't add up, even if he couldn't figure out what. He trusted his gut instinct, even if he couldn't figure out the problem. His brow furrowing a bit, as he glanced up at Kid Q.

"If I may, is there a problem with the underlevels?"

Vance and Joshua

[relativityspeaking]

She's smiling an awful lot this morning. It's not really that different from usual but there's possibly just the slightest bit of tension in her jaw.

Maybe it's just the new implant at her temple? She and Brainy had been complaining of head aches from them just yesterday. Brainy especially had been complaining about the particular way it projected images on their retinas.

"Morning, gentleman, I know I originally had the two of you defending theroof, but after discussion with the Epryrian security forces, we're making some changes. Unfortunately, I'm not getting as much control over security as they originally promised."

...Control that they all saw her fight for several days ago in the president's office. Diplomatically, sure, but ferociously.

Gone. Just like that. Apparently.

Now she hands them duty rosters that amount to little more than crowd control.

"They said they don't want any non-Epryrian security forces on the roof or underlevels."

[googledox]

Brainy largely ignores them, continuing to do work on his omnicom, his eyes only occasionally darting up to look at them.

[whereabout]

Joshua frowns as his eyes flick across the duty roster, considering.

He'd questioned his own placement on such an important mission, given his status as one of the newest members of the team, but it was his relevant experience that made him a natural choice, or so he'd been told. And a lot of effort had gone into refining and rewriting those plans - every change Rico had pushed for speaking from his experience as security, Joshua had considered and made suggestions based on his own lifetime of breaking and evading security. It was the entire point of having this group on board.

Or so he'd thought, but now that was apparently out the window. Odd.

Being suspicious was a skill he'd cultivated in his days as the Black Fang as much as sneaking and killing had been, and some habits died hard.

"Is there a reason they waited until this late in the game to put their proverbial foot down? If they didn't want us in crucial positions to begin with, they let us go to an awful lot of wasted effort."

[sir_vancelot]

"Possibly bureaucracy at work."

Not that Vance entirely believes it. It's a good reason and probably the one that they'll be given, but something's feeling off. He hadn't had a lot to say when it came to security changes, though he'd had more to say about where to deploy the various Legionaries. What powers would work best where and who might work best with the others, though that came down to Kid Q's choices in the end.

He looks over the roster, frowning slightly. "Not that that doesn't make it a massive pain in the keister."

Afternoon

[legionnpcs]

There are strange delays going on in the setup of the treaty agreements. The Legion keeps insisting to the delegations that they have things under control, but something seems to be making the Epryrians hesistant to cooperate.

It leaves the different Legionnaires with not much to do other than keep watch over the people who are willing to show up and settle in.

That's when everything starts to go off the rails.

Rico, Zen, Locus

[legionnpcs]

They get a text from some outside source. It's not over the Legion's secure network - the outsider can't access that. But they omnicoms do have options for communicating with people on other networks.

The sender's username is just a meaningless scramble of Interlac symbols.

The message comes to all three of them.

Say nothing out loud when you read this. And don't bother asking who I am. I'm just a friend, giving you an important message: You're being watched. Heat signature.

[truefaceofthelaw]

Rico checks his omnicon and his face doesn't betray a single twitch when he reads the message, deleting it as soon as he's done.

Then he casually activates his helmet infrared vision, disguised as scratching his jaw. There's no sudden tension in his shoulders or any other clumsy giveaways as his gaze flickers behind his tinted visor, searching.

And then he texts Locus and Zenyatta, keeping it vague.

Any activity?

[orbislife]

Zenyatta makes the motions like he's using his communicator to browse the network when in actuality he's looking at their surroundings without moving too much. Omnics have an advantage for hiding where they are actually looking. He's also channeling his omnic energy to get a "feel" of the area.

Nothing yet. The positive energy of the crowd is wonderful. Perhaps I could get used to being a part of a much larger group more often.

He hopes that is enough of a hint to let his teammates that he's using his power to sense threats.

[agnominal]

It's a little too vague for Locus, but there's not much they can do without giving away the fact that they've been tipped. He's had a feeling for some time now that something wasn't quite right.

Sometimes, the paranoia wins.

No unusual movement.

That he can see. But if they have eyes on them, then they have to be somewhere. High ground, perhaps? He's been checking regularly out of habit.

Tadashi and Reinhardt

[legionnpcs]

They get a text from some outside source. It's not over the Legion's secure network - the outsider can't access that. But they omnicoms do have options for communicating with people on other networks.

The sender's username is just a meaningless scramble of Interlac symbols.

The message comes to both of them.

Say nothing out loud when you read this. And don't bother asking who I am. I'm just a friend, giving you an important message: Your teammates are being watched. The group with the robot. They're about to find out and when they do it's going to get messy. They'll need you.

[the_civilian]

Tadashi's eyes widen and he looks to Reinhardt.

"We need to move."

[justicecrusader]

Thankfully, Reinhardt's helmet did a good job of hiding his expression. Because it was impossible for him to hide the way his eyes widened, that gut feeling he'd been having before only getting worse.

This must've been how Jack felt, he couldn't help but think.

"... Yes. Let's." He said simply, the usual humor in his voice gone. The large wall of muscle immediately starting to move, not wasting any time being subtle or silent.

[googledox]

Someone moves to intervene. Someone they're probably not expecting.

Brainy, up where he'd been working on a balcony, discussing some security measures with some of the security forces, sees them start moving, down out of the corner of his eye.

His eyes go wide and his jaw clenches as he sends out a message over the implant network.

But he wipes the resigned expression off his face as he drops down in front of the two.

"You both seem startled. What's wrong?" he asks them both. "Have you noticed something amiss?"

He makes it sound as if he's simply reacting to the way they're acting, as if he thinks they've noticed some kind of security breach. His voice is its usual calm. Helpful.

But in asking that question, he's revealed something very important: He didn't get the same message.

Joshua and Vance

[legionnpcs]

They get a text from some outside source. It's not over the Legion's secure network - the outsider can't access that. But they omnicoms do have options for communicating with people on other networks.

The sender's username is just a meaningless scramble of Interlac symbols.

The message comes to both of them.

Say nothing out loud when you read this. And don't bother asking who I am. I'm just a friend, giving you an important message: Your teammates are being watched. The group with the robot. They're about to find out and when they do it's going to get messy. They'll need you.

[whereabout]

Joshua's expression doesn't change; the game face has been on since about the first five seconds after this mission began.

But he glances towards Vance, catching his eye and tilting his head slightly in the direction away from their assigned beat - over towards where Zenyatta's group was posted.

[sir_vancelot]

He may not have had a lot of experience with this sort of thing, but Vance knows how to be circumspect when necessary. And it IS necessary right now. So when he reads over the message, he takes another few moments before he glances over to Joshua. Nothing that would be taken as out of the ordinary.

He inclines his head in agreement, putting away his comm as though bored. But anybody watching his face would find his eyes sharper, taking in everything as they moved.