Poughkeepsie Attacks!!!: Team Big Blue

[gone_byebye]

The IBM Supercomputer Benchmarking Plant in Poughkeepsie lies at the center of an enormous corporate campus on the northern side of town. As far as Ray can tell, that's where the really hairy readings were coming from, although he could of course be wrong.

He's about to find out. Ecto pulls to a stop just outside the main entrance to the IBM property. "Are we good?" Ray asks.

Comments

[wellthrownstone.livejournal.com]

He nods.

"I'll take my cues from you, Ray. I've heard and seen enough not to gape at most things, but I don't think we have the time for you to explain every little thing to me. Like I said, point me in the right direction and tell me what you need."

[gone_byebye]

"I'll explain about it later as far as I can," Ray says. "Thank you, Garion."

He frowns a little at Ecto's display and says, "Kiddo, can you jam any communications frequencies he might have going?"

"Not without messing up our own radios, Daddy. I'm gonna work on decrypting his signals if that's okay."

"You do that," Ray says. Then he looks at Garion. "I don't suppose there's any chance that you can sense a major concentration of power from an artifact belonging to a god not of your world?"

[wellthrownstone.livejournal.com]

He smiles.

"Of course. Energy is energy and all of it makes--"

He decides that while it does sound a little odd, he might as well use the same analogy his grandfather had used with him.

"Noise, for lack of a better word."

[gone_byebye]

"Terrific," says Ray. "Because I can't use the PKE meter. The poor thing would overload, this close. I'm hoping that this area-" He taps Ecto's mystery EM source. "-is where he's got the Ark, but he could have any number of traps out there being laid. From what people were saying over the radio, we caught him by surprise- he was getting ready for a confrontation tomorrow."

[wellthrownstone.livejournal.com]

"That's the best way to do it," he says with a small grin. A not-particularly-nice grin.

Then he nods out the window.

"Unpacking now?"

He means himself.

[gone_byebye]

"No time like the present," Ray says. "Gonna need a hand getting out?"

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He shakes his head.

"Though I might travel as a wolf next time in here," he says as he pops the door open. "If you don't mind a little bit of fur."

[gone_byebye]

"Fur's easier to clean up than slime," Ray says. "I'm good with it."

He eases himself out of the car and slides a radio earphone on over one ear to stay in contact with Ecto. Then he points in the direction of the EM interference source.

[wellthrownstone.livejournal.com]

Garion nods and rolls a shoulder before cracking his neck and flexing his legs.

Then he walks up beside Ray.

[gone_byebye]

Ray has the saber out- not on, but out. That's the trouble with the lightsaber. It gives your position away. "As soon as we find him," he says quietly, "I'm going to have Ecto signal the others. I don't want to take any chances with this guy."

[wellthrownstone.livejournal.com]

"Certainly," he agrees. "I'm pretty good, but I'm not a God. Everyone misses something."

[gone_byebye]

"All things considered I'd rather have you along than most of the gods I've ever met," Ray says. "At least I know where I stand with you."

Then he nods to one of the passageways between buildings. "That way," he says. "It's kind of an awkward route,b ut it's the shortest one we've got."

[wellthrownstone.livejournal.com]

He nods to that before reaching over his shoulder and pulling out the Sword that hung there. The Orb is relatively pleased with him of late, so it deesn't ignite at his request.

It does, however, give a sort of hungry, amused gleam from the pommel.

[gone_byebye]

Ray eyes the Sword and says, very carefully, "The police around here get really twitchy about dead bodies. Try not to kill anybody unless they try to shoot you first, okay? I'm mostly planning on using the saber for blocking incoming gunfire, if I use it at all."

What he wouldn't give for the use of the Force right now.

[wellthrownstone.livejournal.com]

"As you prefer," he says, putting the sword back into it's sheath on his back. "I'll keep it to sorcery and my fists. It should keep things relatively non-lethal."

...though as Garion's grandfather would tell you, those fists can do enough damage.

[gone_byebye]

"That's all anybody can ask," Ray says. "Thank you."

He's a little distracted. Then again, so are the two ex-football players coming around the corner up ahead, muttering under their breath about Peck being more trouble than he's worth.

[wellthrownstone.livejournal.com]

Garion gives an almost imperceptible tilt of his head towards the ex-football players.

"Shall I?"

[gone_byebye]

"By all means," says Ray.

He'll jump in if he has to,b ut somehow he doesn't think he's going to have to.

[wellthrownstone.livejournal.com]

It's over relatively quickly. The first one gets a knock to the head that sends him straight to the floor. The second one actually swings.

Not that it does a great deal of good.

[gone_byebye]

Even knowing what these guys are and what they're doing, Ray still can't help but make the face in the icon. That had to hurt.

[wellthrownstone.livejournal.com]

The knock the second one gets is a little rougher, just because he had swung.

When he falls on top of his partner, Garion gives a satisfied little grunt before gesturing onward.

[gone_byebye]

"One day I'm gonna have to study boxing," Ray says. "Just on principle."

But he ducks forward hurriedly and duct-tapes their ankles together, just in case.

Yes, he has duct tape on him. SOMETHING has to take up all the extra pockets in his cargo pants.

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"I've never studied fisticuffs," he admits. "It's just a matter of hitting them hard and fast before they hit you. Most of fighting is like that."

He did watch Ray with the duct tape.

"That's another one of those things that have to get to my world, isn't it?"

[gone_byebye]

"Yeah, but I can't even throw a proper punch unless the other person is standing still," Ray says. "Having a form to work from is probably a good place to start."

There's been all of two people in his life that he's punched. One was Mike Draverhaven,a fter the second time the man tried to kill him. The other was Walter Peck, at Foliage Census.

"Yeah, it is. It's called duct tape. I'll tell you about it la- is that someone moving on the next rooftop over?"

[wellthrownstone.livejournal.com]

Garion nodded.

"Not much I can do with him," he admits. "Since I can't see him. It might be deadly otherwise."