A trail of aching derrières- next time they'll be more thoughtful

[gone_byebye]

The door opens onto an expanse of asphalt, steel, and glass. Nearby a sign reads:

WELCOME TO WHITE FLINT MALL
BEST PRICES IN THE DC AREA

4708 BETHESDA AVENUE
CHEVY CHASE, MD

It's a big parking lot, with the mall itself only visible off in the distance. Ray gives it the squint-eye before turning to the others. "Okay, people," he says. "This is it. Johnny says it's underground. Egon's best estimates indicate three miles down. Are we good?"

Comments

[steadfastknight]

What Kitt did not have was room to transform. Not yet, and so he was wary. He could be shot if he didn't keep his eyes open and keep aware, though he knew where they were going. "The electrical system is centered approximately one-hundred fifty yards to the southeast, but possibly a floor or two down - my readings this far are unclear."

He spoke softly, but with perfect precision. "I want to take out everything but lighting and vital computer systems - life support, environmental controls in most areas, and the storage mainframes. We'll need what data we can glean before anyone can cue a system purge. Come on."

He led the way down a hallway. The direction was mostly correct - his memory served well - but with all of the interference from said electrical, he couldn't be precisely sure.

[gone_byebye]

The security in this part of the building was primarily of the electronic kind rather than guards, which meant, for the most part, that someone somewhere was supposed to be watching them.

Supposed to be was the operative word here. The cameras were doing their duty, but this was a big complex. There were far too many screens in the main security area to notice a few more people simply moving through just yet. It would take something outstanding to make anyone watching realize that these three people were anything other than local employees.

[md_donighal]

The man in the gray suit was saving his "outstanding" for the generator. He briefly weighed the pros and cons of remote-jiggering the cameras to ignore them, but ultimately decided that he didn't know how sensitive they might be to such interference.

For now, he was content simply to follow the car-were to their target. But that didn't mean he had to be a passive follower. "Let me see if I can narrow the search at all." He stared very intensely in the direction Kitt indicated, testing whether his aetheric vision could provide more clarity than the young car's sensors.

[masterofsoresu]

Obi-Wan raises an eyebrow. "Whatever you're doing, it'd best be done quickly. I have a bad feeling about this."

[gone_byebye]

A certain amount of clarity, perhaps. And none too soon; while Kitt's sense of direction was genuinely excellent, the hallway led to a bank of elevators and a set of fire stairs. Horizontal distance had yet to be traveled, but all indications pointed to a location two floors down.

One of the elevator lights goes 'ding!', and the doors start to open.

[steadfastknight]

Kitt nearly cursed and he silently readied himself. He was easier to hide human, but he also had that picky directive to protect human life. If there were people with guns on the other side of that elevator door, he'd have to transform and let his shell take the brunt of the bullets - that was no problem. There was also the possibility that they wouldn't be seen as anything unusual.

He missed Michael's luck.

He looked at the other two and tried to judge in a split second if they could be employees, or if there was room for the three of them to hide.

And he wished, not for the first time, that he had more thorough recon of this site. So deep underground, and them having a twenty-year boost in technology that he didn't had left him slightly uncertain.

All right, he told himself, act casual until proven differently either by elevator contents or present company, but be ready all the same.

[md_donighal]

Michael comes to the same conclusion as Kitt, or a similar one anyway: play it cool for as long as that's an option, then commence with the destruction. In his gray suit, he could probably pass for an employee as long as he doesn't do anything outstanding like conjure flames from nowhere.

[masterofsoresu]

Obi-Wan is also being calm but cautious. He reaches for his 'saber, ready to shift into an opening stance if circumstances require.

[gone_byebye]

There is a thunk, and another thunk, and when the doors are fully opened a man with black hair, a faintly beakish nose, and a very unfocused character to his gaze pokes his head out. He's wearing grungy, not-really-his size hospital scrub-type clothing. "Okay, that was a mess," he says to no one in particular. "Don't anybody try anything funny or you'll wind up the same."

The overall effect of the unconscious guards lying on the elevator floor is rather spoiled by the fact that the man proceeds to trip over one of them. He flails wildly and grabs the nearest elevator door.

"Dammit!"

[md_donighal]

"Well," says the man in the gray suit, "I'm going to watch my step around him."

[masterofsoresu]

"As am I," agrees the man in the white suit.

[gone_byebye]

"Ha, ha, very funny," says the man, who doesn't appear to be looking in the right direction. In fact, he's almost perfectly perpendicular to Michael, and he's grabbing onto the wall with both hands now. "Okay, this is ridiculous. You don't work here, do you."

[md_donighal]

"Since you don't look or act as though you work here either, I feel reasonably safe in saying 'no we don't'. I'm Michael, and my friends are Kitt and Ben." He indicates gesturally which is which. "And you are?"

[gone_byebye]

He tilts his head a little farther, frowning a little. "Which one's the Brit?" he asks. "My name's Erwin Emory. Whistler. Good to meet you. Can somebody give me a hand here? I'd like to get out before they notice I'm missing."

[masterofsoresu]

Obi-Wan doesn't know the term "Brit", but guesses that Master Emory is referring to the Coruscanti accent he picked up from his Temple upbringing. "That would be me, Ben," he says, then reaches out to take Erwin's hand. "May I be your eyes?"

[gone_byebye]

"Please do," says Erwin with a twisted little smile. "Marty's gonna kill me if I get out first, but screw him. I can't help him without my rig."

[md_donighal]

"In that case," says Michael, "we'd better find it, hadn't we?

"By the way," he adds in a whisper to Obi-Wan, "that was quite noble of you."

[masterofsoresu]

"Helping those who can't help themselves is one of my specialities. You may find it rather like falling off a... bike." He just stops himself saying "swoopbike" out loud.

[gone_byebye]

"I can hear you, you know," Erwin says sharply. "Can we get out of here before you get to congratulating each other? No offense, but there's a whole bunch of government goons coming and I only get lucky once."

[md_donighal]

"Thanks for the heads-up, and for the suitable chastisement. I think we can handle them, but in the absence of any further personal lucky breaks, you may wish to develop an intimate relationship with the floor."

[masterofsoresu]

"I may be able to talk our way out of this," Ben says enigmatically, "but if I can't... down would be a very good place for you to get."

[gone_byebye]

Erwin blinks a few times, then nods. "Gotcha," he says and eases himself down to his knees, then to the floor. He instinctively laces his hands together behind his neck as he does so.

Two other elevators go ding!

[steadfastknight]

Kitt looked over at the elevators, this time more warily. Government goons, they'd said.

Kitt stepped forward. Protect human life and all that, and there was enough room here for him to transform - just not enough for him to move once transformed.

"If we're expecting bullets, I can take care of it." He kept his voice quiet.

[md_donighal]

"As can I. Let's hope we don't have to, though. Ben, do you think your... powers of persuasion... will affect that many people at once?

[masterofsoresu]

"We won't be certain until I make the attempt, but it's not much of a stretch."