open log » ❝ The VR Program ❞

[initiatesnpc]

Date & Time: August 5th, mid morning.
Location: Anywhere characters happen to be/the VR.
Characters: Everyone.
Summary: From August 5th to August 8th, characters are plunged involuntarily into the VR Program.
Warnings: Potential violence within the threads.

When the chance arises, she's quick to take it. The programming is incomplete, she knows; the simulation isn't ready — but she's not likely to get another shot at it. And so she moves, slipping through security codes to input the command. The machines hum to life with nothing but a flicker of a green light in a dark room, and it takes only seconds to establish connections. The signal is sent out; the weapons respond.

In a single pulse, reality drops away.

There will be darkness at first as the mind realigns itself to the signals being sent it. Slowly, the darkness fades, forms take shape. People take shape. The setting is terribly familiar, plucked from the user's own mind. It might feel like a dream at first, with events playing out as if predestined, the would-be dreamer moving through a familiar and unalterable route in them. But as things begin to feel more and more realistic, as more senses more fully connect to the simulation, awareness will change. This is not a dream. This is more than a memory.

Welcome to the VR.

Only 20 minutes later, in some underground quarters, Doctor Sponde is roused from an undignified sprawl. He's hastily briefed and shuttled toward the command center, looking grim. He knows the problem demands an immediate fix, but… well, this is some complex machinery. It could take some time. It could take days. He gets to work.

Comments

[healplz]

[ It's not a run as much as a controlled and purposeful stroll that brings him into Emma's world. One second it's empty air, and the next there's a priest in elegant robes striding in. He glances around, taking in the woman— apparently made of diamond— and the others arrayed against her. There's no question whose memory this is, then.

He backs toward her, eying the others, with his bone staff raised and readied between himself and the danger. ]

Please forgive my intrusion. [ Always with the manners first. ] Are you well, ma'am? I can heal you.

[myownbestfriend]

[Accustomed as Emma is to "hearing" new people telepathically, her psychic deafness in diamond form means Ashraf takes her by surprise. When she whips around to look at him, Namor yells something about her inevitable demise, and lands another hit that sends her hurtling through a bank of computers.

Emma stands up, brushing glass shards from her hair, and promptly hurls an office chair at Namor, which he dodges handily. She'd really only meant to signal her displeasure, anyway.]

Bloody Atlantean.

And who might you be, hmm?

[That last is addressed to Ashraf.]

[healplz]

[ Well, apparently being made of diamond means she's as strong as diamond as well. That's impressive, and Ashraf drops all thoughts of healing her. ]

Ashraf Salib, a priest. [ And because he's been through a few of these by now, he adds: ] This is no true memory, and your friends are no longer your friends. [ Not that she seems to have any trouble fighting them, as some have...

He lifts a hand toward her, casting a few helpful spells. The first is a blessing, to improve her strength and endurance. Then a spell of agility, to raise her speed and reflexes. He's about to add a shield, but that's about when a man that seems to have a speed enhancement of his own rushes forward to land an uppercut. Ashraf, predictably, goes flying. ]

[myownbestfriend]

Yes, I'd noticed.

[The unemotional diamond form makes her usual dry humor practically Saharan, and she watches Ashraf get knocked on his ass with nothing more than a raised eyebrow.]

Hmm. He appears to be pulling his punches. That should have at least broken your jaw.

[Emma drums her fingers on her thigh, thinking.]

Keep him distracted for a moment, will you?

[She just asked the healer to hold aggro. Don't invite Emma along on your raid party.]

[healplz]

[ Oh, man, that is so not his role. But he only nods, looking grim and rubbing his jaw as Pierce lurks. ]

I would appreciate your keeping it a very brief moment.

[ First things first, as he pushes himself to his feet, he casts a fresh shield over himself, and then a quick heal. His spell of holy light is in progress even as the man launches himself forward for another attack, and his blow lands against the shield at about the same time Ashraf's spell lands against him. His skin blackens under the searing light, but... not much. It would take a very long time to kill him with this spell, but it's all Ashraf has. He renews the shield while it's still holding, and begins casting holy light again.

Not a very fun use of time, but at least he looks used to it. ]

[myownbestfriend]

[With Pierce distracted and, presumably, on a lower difficulty setting now that he's attacking someone less tough than she is, Emma sneaks up--well, strides up, her heels clicking on the warehouse floor--behind the cyborg, clamps his head between both hands, and drops out of diamond form.

The pink flash of Emma using her powers without delicacy or restraint glows bright around her head and Pierce's both, and he instantly crumples, bleeding from nose and ears.]

Shield against that, you horrid little bigot.

[She immediately resumes diamond form rather than risk Namor or Shaw doing something she'll regret.]

Thank you, that was quite effective.

[healplz]

[ ...Well. Ashraf eyes the crumbled, bleeding man with a little unease, but, well, it's effective. He relaxes just a little and moves closer to the woman, eying the two remaining opponents. ]

Is that magic? [ he's totally got a spell to help with that if it is.

And in the meantime, he waves a hand toward the men, once for each. There's a brief beam of light, the faint sound of swords clashing, and nothing else. But the next blow landed on them, physical, magic, or otherwise, will deal twice the damage. ]

[myownbestfriend]

Probably not as you understand it.

[She's not sure how much she wants to reveal to a stranger about being a telepath. People get ever so mistrustful--not that it's a bad idea when dealing with Emma, but she doesn't like making her own life harder than it has to be.]

My name is Emma Frost. Watch out for Namor. He's faster than Shaw.

[She nods her head at the party in question, who's hovering about three feet off the ground with his arms folded, like a video game boss during a gap in his pattern.]

[healplz]

[ Well, that's good to know. With a glance at Emma to see who she's talking about, he waves another agility spell out, but this time a decrease, and the target is Namor. It should drag his movements down to about half speed. He squares himself, staff gripped firmly in both hands. ]

I might distract the both of them, if you think your trick would work twice.

[myownbestfriend]

I'd rather at least one of them stay on his feet. I suspect that is the second wave.

[She points at the Sentinels, standing arrayed around the edge of the warehouse, eyes glowing ominously from the gloom.]