[Plot] Hello, We Must Be Going

[Will Stanton]

Will leaned back in the pocket against the part of the coat closed against Vic's chest, feeling the small (well, giant) boy's heartbeat, closing his eyes and counting the seconds between.

He then tried the comm link, because he didn't think Vic could hear his pocket pals.

"Everything OK up there, Sleight? Feels like we've hit bottom, no?"

[Victor Freud]

Victor didn't respond, at least not verbally. He just kept pushing forward. Either comms weren't working right micro-machined, or he had chosen to keep quiet.

[Narrator]

Luckily Victor didn't have to play through the pain much longer. Up on his left there was a vague light filtering into the air duct. It would mark the first potential exit he came across.

He just needed to make it another ten feet or so and the gang would be sprung!

Into where though....

[Will Stanton]

"No reply. I'm going up there," Will said, after a moment's thought.

He stretched up to grab the edge of the pocket, hoisting himself out. His hands turned all sticky to cling to the coat, to avoid being flung down at micro size.

[Victor Freud]

By the time Will got out of Victor's pocket, the boy was already nearing the vent and peeking through to look inside. The room looked empty, and if it was locked from the outside... that was a problem the could deal with later. Right now he needed OUT. In the light coming through the vent slats Will would be able to see how ashen and sweaty Victor was as he dropped to his ass and began kicking at the vent to dislodge it - not the stealthy sort of entrance he'd normally go for, but time was of the essence for more than one reason.

[Will Stanton]

Victor's violent kicking shook Will free for a moment -- it probably jostled people in the pocket just as much, but they were still in the pocket and couldn't really go anywhere. Stretching an arm out, he caught himself on the most convenient piece of Vic's clothing available and hung on for dear life.

[Narrator]

The room Victor and the Gang dumped out into was indeed empty.. too empty.

They found themselves in some sort of observation room that was definitely not on the map. Perhaps one of dead zones that the patient they'd picked up couldn't account for? The mess of the place made it look like someone came through and ransacked the room for any pertinent information in quite the mad dash. While there were what appeared to be several computer terminals, they had been gutted of their necessary components. What few physical file cabinets existed were emptied, but there were a few papers strewn about on the floor, perhaps lost or deemed unnecessary in the great exodus out of this place. Untouched tea was sitting in a mug on one of the tables.

In the middle of the room was a large contraption which likely wasn't meant to be there, judging by all the makeshift power sources that were feeding it. The contraption had an obvious crevice meant for a person to set inside.

[Will Stanton]

Will felt the air knocked out of him as everyone fell to the floor, still clinging on to Victor's outfit.

[Victor Freud]

Victor dropped from the vent in the ceiling and, well, it would be another unpleasant experience for his passengers. The sensation of falling, and a sudden decompression - but not all the way, as he "popped" back to his normal size as soon as he was clear of the ventilation system. Taking a few deep breaths the beating of his heart began to slow, and he opened the flat of his pocket, letting his passengers spill out into his hand.

"Right, if you wanna take it slow, just keep touching my hand. But if you're sick of this, you can jump ship now if you think you can do it without puking."

He didn't really have time to take in his surroundings, he was a little... preoccupied. That the room was empty of people had been good enough.

[Will Stanton]

Will leapt down from his perch clinging to Vic's waistband shortly after he 'popped' back to normal size -- now that he was at a scale his body was used to, he could bring himself back up the rest of the way.

He quickly walked his way back over to Vic and gave the mighty mite someone to lean against if necessary.

"You OK there, Sleight? I thought we were going to lose you there for a moment."

[Chase Delacroix]

Chase disembarked without ceremony, only wobbling a little on re-enlargement.

Stretching, he said, "Well, that wasn't as bad as I expected."

[Leo Eskandari]

"Uuugh, is it bad I hate him just a little?" a tiny, queasy Leo said of Chase.

He took things slow and, when finally big again, heaved dryly. "I'm okay. Just... hurk... give me a minute."

[Victor Freud]

Will leapt down from his perch clinging to Vic's waistband shortly after he 'popped' back to normal size -- now that he was at a scale his body was used to, he could bring himself back up the rest of the way.

He quickly walked his way back over to Vic and gave the mighty mite someone to lean against if necessary.

"You OK there, Sleight? I thought we were going to lose you there for a moment."

Victor nodded slowly and wiped the sweat off of his forehead before looking up at Will. "Yeah, yeah I'm good. Getting there anyway. It's... it's a lot more stressful with living things."

As the others got resituated with being full-sized again Victor took a moment to catch his breath and take in his surroundings. There was a lot to process, but one thing struck him. Using Will as a post to help himself up, he approached one of the tables and dipped his finger into the tea.

[Will Stanton]

"Alright, rest up as much as you need to; if we can't find another way out, we'll have to smuggle Basil out with you as well; that's a +1."

Will glanced at the unidentified contraption in the middle of the room. "No clue what that is. Any thoughts?"

[Chase Delacroix]

While Leo was processing the idea of another trip on the Freud express, Chase took a look at the device.

"Doubting it's a throne for the 'queen'. Could be something to enhance telepathy so the resident teep can keep track of everything."

[Samantha McManus]

"Do we have anything that isn't a guess?" Sam asks as she finishes shifting back to human.

[Will Stanton]

"Whatever it is, I vote we cut the power to it, smash it, and move on. We won't be able to stay hidden for long, and we've got to get Basil out quick."

[Chase Delacroix]

"Without a techie with us, disabling it is the best we can do," Chase agreed, already looking for how to disconnect the device.

[Leo Eskandari]

"If we're smashin it, that sounds like a job for yours truly," Leo supplied.

[Victor Freud]

"... if it's meant for the resident teep to keep track of things, couldn't our teep use it too?"

[Will Stanton]

"Or it's a device to scramble anyone's minds they put in there. We have no idea what it is, and even I'm not crazy enough to stick my head into something this undefined."

"Not while I'm working, at any rate."

[Leo Eskandari]

"Let's just smash it and go," Leo said impatiently, "We can't let it be used to hurt anyone else."

He stepped closer to it as if to make the decision for everyone.

[Narrator]

"Without a techie with us, disabling it is the best we can do," Chase agreed, already looking for how to disconnect the device.

Chase's inquiries would find multiple large cables leading in three directions, but if he were to follow any particular one he'd find more or less the same thing at the end of any of them: A very large, but basic connector into a inlet on one of the walls. It was probably previously used for the computer terminals... Or maybe even something else that had been in here. Who's to say?

As the others got resituated with being full-sized again Victor took a moment to catch his breath and take in his surroundings. There was a lot to process, but one thing struck him. Using Will as a post to help himself up, he approached one of the tables and dipped his finger into the tea.

It wasn't hot... but it also wasn't cold either. Someone had definitely been here recently, though the God awful mess meant they left in quite the hurry.

[Victor Freud]

"Guys, I don't think we have time to be smashing stuff. This tea is still warm. This room was still in use an hour ago, and they've pulled their hard drives. They're bugging out. And the fact that this thing is still in one piece?" He pointed to the chair.

"Means one of two things. Either it wasn't important enough to destroy, or they're counting on something else to destroy the evidence. Remember Star Trek three? We gotta move, now."

[Chase Delacroix]

"He's right. And we still need to find the off switch for those earrings," Chase said, moving to try the door.

[Narrator]

It wouldn't budge. Most likely because they didn't want the outsiders getting in.

[Chase Delacroix]

Time was of the essence, so he stepped back and motioned to Leo.

"You wanted to break smash something? Go for it."

[Leo Eskandari]

"I thought you'd never ask," he grinned. He took a running start and rimmed his shoulder into the door.

[Narrator]

It dented a bit under the pressure, but it was going to take another few of these to get the door out of the way.

[Leo Eskandari]

Leo grunted and moved back, rubbing his shoulder.

"Will, can you become something to ram the door with?"

[Will Stanton]

Leo grunted and moved back, rubbing his shoulder.

"Will, can you become something to ram the door with?"

Will helped Victor get his bearings, propped up next to the table.

"Just call me Peter Gabriel," he said, striding over towards Leo, with every step getting darker, more metallic, and thinner; falling the last meter or so as a sledgehammer.

[Leo Eskandari]

"Awesome," he grinned as he took up the hammer with ease. He took another running start and pivoted on one foot as he swung the hammer at the door.

[Narrator]

This proved to do the trick, the door giving after a few well placed slams.

The whole thing ripped free from it's recessed frame, scraping across the poured cement flooring with a white epoxy coating. They'd broken out into a dimly lit room, inside of which was a spiral staircase leading downward, further into the complex.

[Will Stanton]

"Wait, so this is some kind of upper tower? That makes me think that the strange contraption is some kind of antenna or amplifier; closer to the surface so it has less interference," Will said, conversationally, as the pack stomped their way down the staircase. "We'll smash it when we come back."

[Victor Freud]

"A regular cosmic computer set-up." Victor mused softly to himself as he followed the others, having gotten much of his strength back.

[Leo Eskandari]

Leo followed after the others, glad he had already proven useful. He just hoped the ceilings were this high everywhere lest he be forced to proceed on all fours.

[Narrator]

The team found another bolted door at the bottom of the staircase, the track of which was facing them. It was possible in this situation for Leo to just rip it off the wall, though lookly very closely would suggest the door was flush on the other side, with no lock mechanism or anything else to give it away for what it was.

The gang was looking at the backside of a secret entrance.

[Will Stanton]

"If we weren't on such a time crunch," Will observed, "there'd be a couple sneaky ways to get past this. As is, I'm sure we've tripped untold alarms just by entering the building so, if you would do the honors Leo?"

[Leo Eskandari]

"Sure thing," he replied. Using his claws to improve his grip, Leo grabbed ahold of the door and pulled with a small roar of effort.

[Victor Freud]

Victor couldn't agree more with Will's assessment, though he was spending his time taking in and trying to commit their surroundings to memory. He fished a strange little pencil from one of his pouch pockets in readiness.