Aberrant: Dead Rising - Chapter 10b: The Hooded Viper [Complete]

[Dawn OOC]

The sun rose over Sanctuary, catching the dome building that was the central part of the enclave in a pure, golden light. It was too bad that the woman watching the sunrise couldn’t appreciate it. The sun’s rays tore through the darkness, bringing light, but her mood remained dark as she stared to the northwest. A few people walked past, saw her expression, and left her be. Finally, with a heavy sigh, she turned and headed inside.

Music played somewhere deep within, a soothing tune designed to help the person inside focus on his work. The woman paused, her expression pensive; then with a toss of her green hair over a smooth shoulder, she proceeded. “Kris?” she called, her ice-blue eyes searching the corners of the laboratory and workshop. She sighed as a clang of metal drowned out her voice at the same time, but at least she knew where he was now.

Walking deeper into the room, she finally saw Kris and stopped, taking a moment to admire his handsome form and face. All too soon, her business spurred her on to break this serene moment. She waited until he was between actions and softly called his name again. “Kris.” When he looked at her, she didn’t smile, but said, “I have news.”

[Kryz'tan Antonescu]

He was busy working on one of his many projects, sense Z-day, and the transformation, he'd found his mind greatly enhanced, scientific principles and sometimes ideas came to him quickly and with ease. It was important to him now, to try to keep knowledge and science alive, and even build on it when possible.

At the moment he took another look at the engine he was working on, and frowned, as he attempted to hammer out the shape of the metal piece he needed "This one is going to take a while..."

He looked up as he was called, and suddenly there was a smile on his face, and he set the tools aside, and went to her. "Serenity, what brings you to my lab? And what news do you have that makes you so disturbed?"

[Dawn OOC]

Serenity smiled at her lover - her Kris. "I have gotten a radio message from the Lost Village Enclave," she said, looking down at her hands. "The message didn't make much sense, but I thought that there might be something to it."

"What did it say?" Kris asked.

"'The Viper is dead. Do not approach.'" Serenity frowned harder as she repeated the ominous message. "Kris, this could be a prank, but it doesn't feel like one."

[Kryz'tan Antonescu]

"The Viper is dead, do not approach? Odd that sounds like code." He frowned a moment, thinking, considering and discarding dozens of possibilities in an instant, even as he reached out to take her hands in his own. "It sounds like something that needs direct action, but I'm not entirely certain what it means. What's your analysis?"

[Dawn OOC]

"I think that it is code, and that's its meant for someone outside of the Beaver Lake community," Serenity said after a short moment. "It might be a signal to stall a strike - that's my best guess. Someone was going to hit them, but a key component of that is no longer in place. At the very least, we should warn them." Serenity sighed. "It could be dangerous. We don't know who sent this message."

[Kryz'tan Antonescu]

He considered that, in the light of his own considerable intelligence, and a sudden leap came to him. "The Viper is dead.. someone important to their mission or task was killed or eliminated. Your right, this means that we should warn whoever the target was." He put his arms around her, and kissed her lips softly. "That's why your distressed, darling, isn't it? I know you don't like violence, even when it's necessary." Meanwhile in the light of her information, dozens of mental patterns in his own head were discarded, and new one's took shape. "Do you have a suggestion of where I should look for their target?"

[Dawn OOC]

Serenity accepted the kiss with a small smile, which lifted Kris' heart. "I'd look for someone close to the leader or the head of security. They'd have to have access to the radio somehow, and that implies a certain level of power within the community." She frowned. "That makes going into there that much more dangerous."

[Kryz'tan Antonescu]

"But also necessary, and you know very well that I'm the best one for that particular task." He paused to consider the situation for a few minutes. "But not without some level of armor." He looked over his projects, non of which were quite what he was looking for.

"I guess I should start looking into building better armor, perhaps something like spidersilk armor would be possible in a few years." He frowned a moment, as his thoughts began to consider that possibility for a few moments.

"What I really need, is someone to work with on the biological side of matters..." He drifted off a moment, before pulling himself back to the matter at hand. "I should see my sister off then, get some of the Kevlar armor, and a few pistols, and go see what I can find out, as we both know we need allies, in the long term."

[Dawn OOC]

"Just be careful," Serenity pleaded, even as she knew he would. She smiled at her own need to state what didn't need to be said, then added, "But you are right. We do need allies. I'll spend today with that topographical map we found to work out the best places for an enclave to survive and flourish in the more outlying areas. I hope to have a list of possibles by the time you return.” She leaned forward and gave him a longer kiss. “Be safe.” She was smiling again at her own silly psychological needs.

[Kryz'tan Antonescu]

"I will." He returned the kiss, and then with a smile and wink, he left to go see to the other things that he needed. First he stopped to talk to Andrea, his little sister, after all, she would be concerned, and he had promised her that he would let her know whenever he left.

So, he found her playing with some of the other children in the enclave, with Tanya watching them. The young woman looked up as Kris approached and then smiled at him.

"Hello Tanya, I've got to talk to Andrea a moment, but I'm going to be gone for a bit, so I need you to keep an eye on my various projects, do what you can with them in the meantime, and make any observations that are needed with the active ones." She might not have his genus, but she was a capable and relible lab assistant.

He then turned to the children, as he called her, Andrea came over, and he knelt down to hug her. "I'm leaving for a bit, Sis, I need you to look after Serenity and Tanya while I'm gone, can I count on you?"

[Dawn OOC]

"Of course!" Andrea chirped as she hugged him. "I'll keep an eye on them. Where are you going, and why?" The zombie invasion hadn't destroyed his sister's natural curiosity, which he was grateful for. It would have killed something in him had she not bounced back somewhat from the horrors they had seen. He was proud that he'd given her a place where she could continue to be a child.

[Kryz'tan Antonescu]

He smiled and reached out to ruffle her hair a bit, even as he lifted her up in his arms. He treated her question seriously, as though she was an adult asking the question. "We have to make contact with any other groups we can, it's very important to the survival of humanity that we do what we can. And, if I can save anyone else from the zombies, it's worth doing."

He set her back down, and then gave her a wink. "Now, I'll be in and out a bit over the next week, so your in charge." His tone was somewhat teasing, though perhaps, in a number of years, when she grew up, it might be a true statement.

Once he was done there, he went down to the armory, to get better armor, in this case, a simple Kevlar vest, and a revolver, and a rife. Once he had those, he nodded to the guard at the armory, and signed them out.

Heading down to the gate, he paused to make a quick check to make sure nothing was interrupting the flow of electricity into Sanctuary, talk to a few of the guards at the gates, and then he was ready to go.

Walking down to the final of the three gates into the complex, there was a flash of green fire that surrounded him for a moment, and then he was gone, having teleported to his destination, Lost Bridge Village.

[Dawn OOC]

A relationship with the refuge had taught him that they were nervous about people just appearing - apparently, they had run into trouble from other super-powered humans in the past. Kris popped into the agreed upon point, one of the upper armory rooms that you had to pass through to get into the main complex.

There was a friendly face there, after everyone had gotten over his arrival and lowered their weapons. "Hey," Murray said, standing and offering his hand to Kris. "What's up man?" The gray hair man was just as scrawny as Kris remembered, and he didn't see any signs of tension or fear in his face or body. Murray seemed to be the same old guy.

[Kryz'tan Antonescu]

He looked over the various faces present, considering a moment, his mind coming up with and discarding more then a dozen possible approaches or responses before he even opened his mouth. "I'm investigating something of import, who or what is the viper, and why are they dead? Also, what was it you were approaching?" As he spoke, he reached out and shook Murray's hand, as it was offered.

[Dawn OOC]

Murray blinked. "What? I'm... not sure what you mean. Care to tell me more?" The man didn't seem angry or upset, just confused. "I'd love to help, but I have no idea what you're talkin' about."

[Kryz'tan Antonescu]

"Ok, Serenity caught a message from this location over the radio, it was 'the viper is dead, do not approach'" He paused a moment, then waved for Murray to take a seat. "She analyzed it, and based on the nature of the call, from where it was, and the tone of voice, something about it indicated something was going on. How many other complexes or groups out here are you all aware of?"

[Dawn OOC]

"Well, there's that group rumored to be somewhere in Oklahoma, and the folks who were infecting children and sending them into enclaves," Murray said. "That's all I know about." He waved at Kris and started to walk deeper into the complex. "Let's ask the boss if he knows."

[Kryz'tan Antonescu]

"Hmm, sounds like a good idea, let's go." Even as he walked with Murray, his mind continued to move though a dozen different possibilities and options. Ever sense his change, that had been constant, even his dreams were filled with possibilities and potentials. He found himself looking over the complex and considering here and there how to make the place more secure, or better protected.

"We need to try and maintain contact between various complexes, the zombies may have cut us off, but what remains of humanity, it's important for us to try and maintain what level of civilization we can."

[Dawn OOC]

"Well, you can talk to Dick, but he wasn't really open to communicating with some of them," Murray said, tilting his head to talk to Kris. "There was that one that had people come and nearly kill our head of security."

He shook his head. "You can talk to Dick, but he's pretty pissed about it."

[Kryz'tan Antonescu]

"It's not about making nice with folks because we want to, it's because we need too. An optimal gee pool for any species runs much higher then 100, 2000 is usually the absolute minimum, otherwise the species is going to die out due to certain factors, unless it's a very unusual species." He responded, as he walked with Murry. "We must establish connections, and even cordial relations as much as possible, if we are to have any sort of future, even should we manage to deal with the zombie problem."

[Dawn OOC]

Murray grinned. "We have about two thousand. Dick's already planning to chart everyone's genetics so that we can track any potential inbreeding." He paused, and his tone was admiring as he said, "That Dick. Always thinking of everything. I don't know what we'd have done without him.

"Oh, and thanks for the help on the water filter," Murray added. "It's a relief to know we'll have drinkable water. Now, if you could look at our hydroponics, it'd be great. The seeds aren't sprouting, and they should be. We have to be doing something wrong, but damned if we know what."

[Kryz'tan Antonescu]

"2000 is the safest minimum, for a species survival, to remain healthy more are needed, otherwise, undesirable genetic flaws are likely to become a problem for the genepool." He responded, then sighed, the fellow wasn't exactly listening, but then, few folks could afford to take the long view in this new and changed world.

"Your welcome, I'll take a look at the hydroponics, but I'm not as capable of a biologist as I am a scientist. Another reason to keep trying to make contact and maintain contact with folks, because sometimes folks can help one another. Of course, I would also like to look at this other outpost, because if they hurting folks, best to find out why and put a stop to it."

[Dawn OOC]

"They're from Oklahoma, somewhere," Murray said. "Might be that same group I hear rumors about, run by some military guy. Name's Felix or something. Anyway, haven't seen them since, though one was trying to radio us for a while. We told him to get lost and he finally did."

They turned a corner into a main hallway, and there were more people around. Once, they had to press themselves against a wall to let a group carrying a dresser past. Krys was familiar with their destination having visited Dick's office before, but he couldn't keep track of the route through the caves. He suspected that he brought a different way each time, and he'd been doubled back at least once.

Dick was happy to see him. The man could be hard-assed, but he was also generally friendly. "Krys! Welcome to Lost Village. What can we do with you today?" All of this was said with Dick expansive voice and an offered hand.

[Kryz'tan Antonescu]

He shook his hand, being friendly was never a bad idea, and he wondered, if they were so antagonistic toward this other outpost, what would be the best way to mention his reason for being here.

"Well, I'm going to take a look at the hydroponics, but my main reason for being here is due to a message overheard." He paused a moment. "One that sounded like it was in code, and regarding other outposts. Serenity and I believe that we need to forge some measure of contact with the different groups, or humanity is ultimately doomed."

[Dawn OOC]

"We seem to already be doomed," Murray said, his voice surprisingly good-natured. "I mean, so many of us are dead, and no one's having kids anymore. We seem to be on the way out. But it's ok, all creatures have their time. I mean, we weren't here nearly as long as the dinosaurs, but we did so much more. Something to be proud of, as a species."

Dick's office was undersized, constructed of wooden walls that partitioned the larger limestone cavern into a smaller area. Dick unfolded himself from behind his desk and rose to sit on the corner, smiling at Krys. "Mysterious codes? Sounds dreadfully exciting. Before we go talk to the radio operators, I was wondering if you'd tell me about any new inventions of yours." That was hardly surprising - Dick loved to talk about what Krys was creating or had already created.

[Kryz'tan Antonescu]

"I don't believe we are on the way out, at least, not yet, we may yet be able to save ourselves. As to achievements, I'd say your correct, Murray." He responded to the man before turning his fully attention to Dick.

"I'm presently trying to work on several projects, but some of them are more doubtful then others. I've competed a water purification system, so we have plenty of safe to drink water at Refuge now. I imagine you'd like for me to build one for your group here, and I'd be willing, but it could take me a while, a day or two I think.

I'm working on an armor system for someone to be able to enter a zombie covered area, it needs to be locked from the inside, at the moment, I am still trying to refine it, needs some computer circuitry to be really useful.

I think I may be able to increase crop yet, with a growth serum for plants, but I need a botanist for some of the more intricate ideas I have. I'm also trying to work on a anti-zombie serum, but again, I need a biologist, I'm a physicist myself.

I'm trying to see about some alternate fuel sources, even to the point of looking at cold fusion, that could be helpful in some ways.

Oh, and I'm trying to build an improved helicopter, a gunship of sorts, but that's going to take a while, thats it's one of my side projects."

[Dawn OOC]

"Fascinating," Dick said. "We can certainly use water purification. We're using well water right now. We should discuss a trade, my boy." Pushing away from his desk, he headed for the door. "So what do you mean by an improved helicopter..."

The geek talk kept them busy as they climbed several stairs, leaving the caves, into a building. The access point was in the basement, and there were clear signs that much effort had been put into making his building secure. Metal panels had been welded over the windows, and the door out of the basement was made of metal and locked from either side. When Dick knocked on this door, he was granted access to the next level.

This floor and the one above it where deserted; they were heavily fortified against the outside. The third floor had some life; two men in a locked room listening on radios.

"What's the news today?" Dick asked, rubbing his hands together.

"Caught Fox's signal again," one man said. "They're still taking people."

"I'm sure they are," Dick replied. "Anything of interest?"

"There was some chatter a while ago, I only caught a bit of it. But it was definitely an unknown, and I think some sort of military," the other man told him.

"Excellent," Dick said softly. "See if you can catch more. In the meantime, this is Krys. Krys, this is Riley and Johnny. Feel free to ask your questions."

[Kryz'tan Antonescu]

He discussed the Helicopter a bit with Dick, basically he was working on creating a moble gunship of sort, that could be used to take out zombies and rescue folks, but also fight raiders. If he did manage it, it would put Sanctuary on the map as one of the more powerful enclaves, in terms of military power. Of course, Kris wasn't quite willing to tell Dick everything he had in mind, after all, even if they were friends now, that could change in the future, for any number of reasons.

"Fox? Who's that? Oh, and on another note, who is the Viper?" He asked, curious as to what they could or even would tell him. It wasn't that he thought they would lie to him, it was simply a matter of self-interest in his view. People were usually concerned about their own problems first, even before the Zombies. If they had issues with Fox, whatever they told him, or were willing to tell him might be a mix of truths and falsehoods.

[Dawn OOC]

"Fox's Refuge is another enclave somewhere in Oklahoma," Riley said. Johnny nodded but kept his focus on the sounds coming over his headphones.

"They seem to take in thugs, murderers and nosy idiots," Dick said haughtily. "I would avoid them if I were you." At Krys' questioning expression, he added, "We had some people show up here. One of them was infected with the virus but changed somehow. When my head of security attempted to bring her before me for charges of trying to murder my enclave, he was attacked and nearly killed. They fled, but one later returned, said he was from Fox's and tried to fix our dam." There was a low laugh in the room. "Even if he could fix it, we'd never be able to maintain the power lines from here to there. Useless idiot."

"As for the Viper, I don't know who you mean," Riley added. "We get some odd chatter sometimes, and we usually can't resolve it. Once, we got someone groaning 'Hunger,' into the radio for two hours straight before the signal faded and we lost them. Some sick fucks out there, as if this weren't bad enough."

[Kryz'tan Antonescu]

"Hmm, I don't know then, I know that some transmission from around here came down to the following 'The Viper is dead. Do not approach.' Serenity analyzed it, and I took a look myself, its not random chatter, someone deliberately sent that transmission.. the question is who and why." The rest of the information that he was given he considered in several veins for a moment. It sounded like there were a lot of emotions involved. He didn't like the sound of someone trying to infect another complex, but strangely changed sounded like himself. "Did the person you tried to bring on on charges of murder ever explain why they tried to attack you folks, then change their minds and try to help you? Cause that sounds really strange to me."

[Dawn OOC]

Dick sighed. "I have no idea. The girl was barely conscious when I first saw her and just thought she was sick. Then, her friends stabbed my security and escaped before I question her. We had conflicting accounts about her glowing or something." Dick waved his hand as if he couldn't be bothered with the details.

"Your message is a code, I think," Riley said. "I doubt anyone is dead; it likely means something else. Kinda like how they' have the 'duck walks at midnight' in spy movies? Like that. Someone's passing info out."

"Info about us?" Dick asked, suddenly serious.

"Likely," Riley said.

"I'll string them up!" Dick cried, thrusting a finger into the air. Krys and the radio techs were used to these kind of theatrics and didn't blink an eye. "We have to find them!"

[Kryz'tan Antonescu]

He nodded as Riley spoke up, that was part of what he thought himself, if it didn't originate here, then it was passing information from here. "Or someone was acting as a relay, and you have a spy, or a few spies in your complex." He frowned. "But who? And why?"

He looked over the other radio operators. "Is this place always maned? And is it the only radio in the complex you know about? Could there be any others without your knowledge?" He looked between them.

At the same time, he was considering the information about the girl, if she was almost unconscious, it might not have been her choice. He would have to investigate the matter more, and with less prejudice then those involved.

[Dawn OOC]

"We probably do have spies," Riley said, frowning. "We have enough people that we can't know them all personally." He shrugged. "Marco will find them."

"Yes, he will!" Dick cried, as fervently as if he were slipping the dogs of war personally.

"Who and why will have to wait until we catch them," Riley added.

Johnny turned in his chair and tapped him, and Riley put on his headphones and gave his attention to the radio while Johnny turned around and nodded at them. Standing, he stretched and said, "We man it twenty-four-seven, but I'm willing to bet others have radios."

"They were supposed to turn those in!" Dick exclaimed.

Johnny snorted. "Yeah, I'm sure everyone is a good little puppy."

[Kryz'tan Antonescu]

"Supposed to, and did are two very different things. Besides, you have a very good complex here, well protected, and mostly safe from zombies, I imagine anyone well organized enough might want to know what your capabilities might be." His brow furrowed slightly as he thought the matter over. "Might even involve some ex-military or ex-goverment types, they are the ones most likely I think, though I suppose some criminal types might use code words like that."

[Dawn OOC]

"Yeah, who knows," Johnny said mirthlessly. "I mean, if we do a search of the entire place, then we might find them."

"Perhaps, it's provencial that Kris is visiting," Dick said suddenly, turning to their guest. "Kris, do you think you could find the radio broadcasting? I am sure you have some skill that would be of use here." He said it with absolute certainity, looking at Kris as if he would deliver at any moment.

[Kryz'tan Antonescu]

He didn't sigh openly, but inwardly he did sigh to himself, not entirely happy to be looked at as the answer to everything. Of course, it wasn't entirely fair for him to feel that way, after all, it was people like him, with unusual abilities who were the one advantage folks had in this strange new world.

"There's very little I don't know about science or engineering, a radio doing that sort of broadcasting, would require a power source of some kind, we might be able to find it that way." He replied thoughtfully. "What sort of power do you have available, and how many places can someone tap into it?"

[Dawn OOC]

"We have generators," Johnny offered. "There are places throughout the complex to hook up... but those would be guarded. The only way around that... well, I guess they could hardwire themselves into one of the lines where they aren't monitored."

"How would we find that?" Dick asked.

"Look for places where the plastic coating has been pulled back and the wires exposed. They would have had to strip the power cord on the CB, so that'll be easy to spot - the plug that goes into the socket will have been removed," Johnny said.

"We can find that," Dick said, nodding. He glanced at Krys. "Would you like to help - maybe even whip up a tool to help?"

[Kryz'tan Antonescu]

"There might be a way I can help more directly, I can see the electromagnetic spectrum if I try to. If that doesn't work, I suppose I could start working on creating some sort of scanning device." He responded to Dicks question.

He then as he shifted his vision into the electromagnetic and began to help the folks hunt for any particular location where someone might have tapped into the power lines. He was vastly more perceptive then he used to be, catching things that normally he would have missed these days. His deductive reasoning brought him back to the moment he changed as the source of that capability.

Tracing all of the power lines was a time consuming process, but perhaps not as much as it would have been in the days when humans were not hiding from zombies.

Click to reveal..

Wit + Awareness roll, with Electromagnetic Vision active

(15:22:33) ChatBot: (Kris) rolls 10d10 and gets 9,5,5,1,3,10,9,10,2,6.

4 successes

Rolling for the intuitive quality, the 2 tens

(15:27:44) ChatBot: (Kris) rolls 2d10 and gets 5,6.

0 successes

Plus Mega-Perception

(15:22:49) ChatBot: (Kris) rolls 1d10 and gets 8.

2 successes

Total: 6 Successes

[Dawn OOC]

There was a lot of walking. The enclave was made up of long halls, carved out of the natural limestone that lined Beaver Lake. While the enclave wasn't large, it was byzantine. Only Krys’ enhanced mind ensured he wouldn’t be totally lost if he had to find his own way out.

He almost missed it, but down one of the tunnels he found a heat signature on the cool stone. There shouldn’t be a heat signature there, and he steered himself right at it. It was half-hidden behind boxes, but that didn’t stop him from finding it – the wire had been completely stripped and left bare. It would be easy for someone to wrap wires around it.

They’d been joined in the search by Dick’s head of security, Ricardo. The Hispanic man wasn’t large, but he wasn’t someone Krys would want to tangle with, regardless of his status as a non-super. He had a mean look to him that suggested he’d be tough to take down. “You found somethin’?”

[Kryz'tan Antonescu]

"Yes.. how long has it been sense someone checked this part of the wiring?" He touched the wire where it was still insulated, and lifted it up somewhat so that Ricardo could see that it had been stripped back to the wire. "Cause it appears you have some rats who have been through here." He thought that Ricardo was an excellent choice for head of security, considering this particular enclave.