DT1 - Preventing Patricide

by **Ashlie Minamida** » Fri Jul 24, 2015 4:35 am

After returning from London Ashlie heads into the workshop and immediately starts pulling up designs on several of the workbenches. None of them are finalized in any way and look more like ideas and concepts right now. In the background two of the robot arms have already been moving and working on what looks like part of a miniature jet engine.

"We need a better way to find solid information. Public channels are useless and I can't seem to get access to anything that isn't. It might warrant the use of school resources to send a team to investigate, but I can't abandon my duties here and go myself. This wouldn't even be a problem if I could just fork my processes and reintegrate them later. Travel shouldn't even be an issue. I could place dormant units in strategic locations and travel at the speed of fiber-optics."

by **Robert West** » Fri Jul 24, 2015 11:39 pm

"That would be pretty useful," Rob agrees.

by **Ashlie Minamida** » Fri Jul 24, 2015 11:47 pm

She sighs. "Instead we'll have to make do. I know we've talked about your father before, but is there anything you know that you haven't told me about?" she says, looking into what other companies Mr. West owns and whether mailing a concealed spy drone would be feasible.

by **Robert West** » Sat Jul 25, 2015 12:02 am

The list is rather large and complex. It's hard to separate out all the various holdings and subsidiaries. Some might suspect that someone was making things deliberately difficult. The things that most stood out were quite a lot of research into biotechnology, including several labs in Europe, a great deal of empty land in Canada and the southwestern United States, and quite a few non-profits designed to help young mutants integrate peacefully into society.

The company that Madison had pointed them towards was large enough that a spy drone was feasible. The building did have abnormal amounts of security though, especially on the lower levels. Someone was definitely hiding something.

"Nothing important," Rob says. "I could get you a photo, if you need some way of identifying him."

by **Ashlie Minamida** » Sat Jul 25, 2015 12:09 am

"That would help, yes. And do you think we could retrofit your spider-drone for reconnaissance?"

by **Robert West** » Sat Jul 25, 2015 12:18 am

"Oh, definitely," Rob says. "I even have some ideas for some modifications that might help us."

by **Ashlie Minamida** » Sat Jul 25, 2015 12:31 am

"Great. I think we should be able to conceal it within a shipment. It might have to be able to self-assemble to some extent." she says, trying to find some good aerial shots of the empty land owned by Rob's dad. No one jsut buys land for the hell of it, especially someone with as many holdings and investments as that.

by **Robert West** » Sat Jul 25, 2015 12:36 am

Rob heads to his workbench to get to work.

It takes a while to find unaltered shots of the land, someone is working very hard to hide this information, but she finally manages to get a hold of some satellite images of a plot in Canada. Everything looks normal and for the most part it's just empty land, but there seems to be some sort of archaeological excavation going on.

by **Ashlie Minamida** » Sat Jul 25, 2015 12:38 am

"What could possibly be buried there that would be of interest to him?" she mostly talks to herself, but she puts her 'thoughts' up on a screen in case Rob spots something. She zooms in as much as she can and then pulls up whatever information she can find about the land in terms of geological data.

by **Robert West** » Sat Jul 25, 2015 12:45 am

Rob glances at the screen, "I don't know. I think archaeology might be a hobby of his. We have a lot of artifacts and stuff on display at the house."

Rob's father was not a popular man for buying the land. It was considered sacred by local indigenous people and he was accused of bribing various politicians in order to get the necessary permissions to purchase the land.

A quick check would show similar stories surrounding the other areas. Rob's father was a fairly hated person when it came to indigenous groups.

by **Ashlie Minamida** » Sat Jul 25, 2015 12:53 am

"He seems to has a history of upsetting the natives."

by **Robert West** » Sat Jul 25, 2015 12:57 am

"Really?" Rob says. "News to me. It doesn't surprise me though."

Rob was working on a self-replicating protocol for the spider-drones. His plan was to make one capable of building a network of drones using surrounding materials.

Hopefully without going on a rampage where they devoured all inorganic matter.

by **Ashlie Minamida** » Sat Jul 25, 2015 12:59 am

"Make sure they don't go out of control. Too many and someone is bound to notice." she says almost absentmindedly while continuing to sift through data to find helpful information. Information on the tribes he has upset, what kind of artifacts might be found at the sites, if there is anything linking the two sites...

by **Robert West** » Sat Jul 25, 2015 1:10 am

The sites seemed unrelated. They were claimed by different tribes with very different practices that claimed different histories for the sites. There had been previous excavations and at one point both sites had produced a large number of artifacts, pointing to the fact that both sites were major hubs of indigenous civilization, but Rob's father didn't buy the land until after most of the excavations had already been completed. By all rights, there should be nothing there.

Well, unless she believed the crazy "ancient alien" groups that claimed both sites were places aliens had landed in the past.

by **Ashlie Minamida** » Sat Jul 25, 2015 1:23 am

"Please tell me he just has a kooky hobby." she frowns, cross-referencing what little information there is from contact with various aliens. There's some in the X-Men database, after all.

by **Robert West** » Sat Jul 25, 2015 1:29 am

Jackpot. By cross-referencing some of the geological surveys, including radiation samples, she found that an energy pattern associated specifically with Celestial technology had been found at both sites.

by **Ashlie Minamida** » Sat Jul 25, 2015 1:34 am

"This is really bad." she says and actually walks over to the construction-in-progress to help the robotic arms assemble god-knows what is being built around that turbine. "If he has access to Celestial artifacts this might be a much more serious problem." Some additional screens flicker to live and start displaying blueprints that look suspiciously like missiles.

by **Robert West** » Sat Jul 25, 2015 1:37 am

"Why?" Rob asks. "What's a Celestial?"

by **Ashlie Minamida** » Sat Jul 25, 2015 1:44 am

"Alien beings so technologically advanced they are considered gods. We know very little about them, but I cannot permit even a small part of their technology falling into the hands of your family."

by **Robert West** » Sat Jul 25, 2015 1:45 am

"I'd have to agree," Rob says. "Only I should be trusted with that sort of technology."

by **Ashlie Minamida** » Sat Jul 25, 2015 1:52 am

"No." she says surprisingly harshly. "I have to think. We don't know enough. This is trouble." It almost sounds like she's scared.

by **Robert West** » Sat Jul 25, 2015 1:56 am

"Are you alright?" Rob asks.

by **Ashlie Minamida** » Sat Jul 25, 2015 1:59 am

"Yes. No. I am scared. This is a significant threat. We have to be very careful."

by **Robert West** » Sat Jul 25, 2015 2:08 am

"It'll be alright," Rob says, trying to sound comforting. "If he's still digging, he must not have found what he's looking for."

by **Ashlie Minamida** » Sat Jul 25, 2015 2:15 am

"You are probably correct. But I may have to reevaluate my opinion of whoever hired your sister."

by **Robert West** » Sat Jul 25, 2015 2:17 am

"Yeah, but if they knew about this, why tell her about the stuff with the disappearing mutants?" Rob asks. "Alien god tech seems like a better lead card."

by **Ashlie Minamida** » Sat Jul 25, 2015 2:22 am

"If they know about it. The disappearing mutants and biotech companies are possibly connected. The question is whether the excavation are."

by **Robert West** » Sat Jul 25, 2015 2:32 am

"So basically, we need more information," Rob says.

by **Ashlie Minamida** » Sat Jul 25, 2015 2:38 am

"Yes. But we'll also need to be ready to act on what we might find."

by **Robert West** » Sat Jul 25, 2015 2:40 am

"I'll move my timelines up on all priority projects," Rob says.

by **Ashlie Minamida** » Sat Jul 25, 2015 2:46 am

She nods. "I had some ideas for dealing with Madison but they can wait now. I can't waste time reverse-engineering my core, I'll have to build something I can interface with through this body. The advantage of that is that it should be possible for you to pilot as well."

As she's talking she's pulling up plans and blueprints for some kind of suit, focused mainly on various cockpit designs. Some are just constructed around a black-box, presumably where a direct interface for her program would go, while others provide room for a person, although it still looks extremely claustrophobic. Beyond that are various modular designs, different means of propulsion, potential weapon load-outs, armor-plating, the works. It looks like Ashlie has been busy putting ideas into the proverbial paper.

by **Robert West** » Sat Jul 25, 2015 2:47 am

Rob whistles, "You've been busy."

by **Ashlie Minamida** » Sat Jul 25, 2015 2:51 am

"After my altercation with your mother I started considering alternative bodies. While I am stronger and tougher than baseline humans I am not built for serious confrontations."

by **Robert West** » Sat Jul 25, 2015 2:56 am

Rob smirks, "Well, I can definitely help with that, if you want."

"I'm pretty good with confrontation."

by **Ashlie Minamida** » Sat Jul 25, 2015 3:00 am

"Non-lethal and containment are priorities, although that is a very sliding scale where mutants are concerned."

by **Robert West** » Sat Jul 25, 2015 3:05 am

"Your body, your choice," Rob says, making some notes about Ashlie's designs.

by **Ashlie Minamida** » Sat Jul 25, 2015 3:09 am

"That said, some contingencies won't hurt. You put together a handheld weapon in minutes. What could you do with that if you had more time and a bigger energy source to work with?"

by **Robert West** » Sat Jul 25, 2015 3:13 am

Rob laughs, "You serious?"

"I could build something that would let you take on an army."

by **Ashlie Minamida** » Sat Jul 25, 2015 4:01 am

"Then do that. Just let me adjust the power output."

by **Robert West** » Sun Jul 26, 2015 2:23 am

Rob went to work designing a proper weapon. To the criteria of "non-lethal" and "built for containment" he added "adaptable". His plan was to design something that could be used in multiple potential situation. He also immediately discarded all specifications based around human limitations. He would have to complete redesign everything from the ground up to take into account Ashlie's reflexes, strength, and senses. Luckily, he already had some idea of these specifications or this part would be difficult.

He opens a folder marked "Cartridge Design 1.02.01". The idea was pretty simple: programmable ammunition that could easily be adapted to multiple delivery systems. He had gotten the idea from studying the samples Will gave him. Each cartridge contained a projectile of a multipurpose gel suspended in an electromagnetic field. Upon being loaded into a delivery system, the gel could be programmed to restructure into a variety of different forms by manipulating its density or external electric charge. It could deliver an electric charge, harden into an extremely dense artillery shell, expand upon contact and then harden to restrict the movements of an enemy, light on fire to....well, light things on fire. There were a lot of possibilities.

For the delivery system, Rob discarded any design that looked like a gun. He didn't like guns. They were boring. Unimaginative. Instead, he opted for something that could integrate itself more cleanly into Ashlie's design. The result was something a bit like a pair of slim, sci-fi gauntlets. Rob even added some pointless glowing lights for style.

"I've also been working on a portable gravitational field generator," Rob says. "But right now it's a bit too powerful. You'd be crushing anyone you aimed it at into meat paste."

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