Mutants & Masterminds Mutants & Masterminds: The Unlikely Prophets - Thomas Froit – Jammed

[Charlotte]

If we have learned one thing from the history of invention and discovery, it is that, in the long run - and often in the short one - the most daring prophecies seem laughably conservative.

- Arthur C. Clarke

It was a new day.

Someone transported from the late 20th century to the Silicon Valley of the 2040s would scarcely recognize the area. All but a handful of the companies were gone, and those that remained were all divisions of Order Manufacturing and Design, independent in name only. Each company had one shareholder, and that shareholder was a man made of lightning who lived in the sky.

Thomas awoke to his alarm clock, his eyes bleary from sleep. His mind took a little bit of time to cycle up, reminding him that he worked today. His job at De-PX involved designing the configuration of computer systems for ground and air traffic control. It was good enough work. Hard work.

He never could shake the feeling that it was harder than it needed to be.

[Thomas Froit]

Thomas groaned, before shaking off the weariness of sleep. After sorting out his personal needs and selecting some work-appropriate clothing separate from his casual section, he went downstairs from his room and into the kitchen to brew some coffee.

The room he had left was his room from first cradle, but he had his reasons for staying with his parents. They needed the money. Marriane and Stephen Froit had jobs, but the good son that he was, Thomas did not want them stuck in the lower-class lifestyle that he had experienced for a great period of time when the were blacklisted from the area's corporations.

So he stuck with them, ignoring the jokes at work and ribbing, and focusing on the job. That reminded him, of the unpalatable fact that there was a major meeting on the budget cuts that were coming.

The letter R in R&D was a misnomer now, and development went from minute optimizations for 'utter efficiency' to even more minute optimizations.

Which rankled Thomas, as human history's largest point of focus was the steady advancement from stone to electronics. It made the void in his mind that settled in place of any innovation cognitive processes all the worse.

He let out a constantly used sigh and drank the coffee, departing for work.

[Charlotte]

The trip to work was mildly eventful - there was a car accident that they were rerouting traffic around. Thomas saw two Knights next to a cruiser with flashing lights on top.

Thomas arrived at work. He spent some warmup time around the water cooler with his friends. They were talking about reality television and sports teams, same as yesterday. And the day before.

His immediate superior caught his eye, and she waved him over. Joanna Spencer waited for him to arrive, and then she spoke.

"Thomas, we have a jam."

Thomas felt a tingle in his scalp. A jam was when they faced an engineering problem they couldn't solve. Not yet.

Possibly not ever.

[Thomas Froit]

"Okay," Thomas replied, feeling as cold as the water he was sipping right now. Funny how it was, he'd been thinking about the benefits of actual innovation, and yet another presented himself. But he kept his mouth shut on that naturally.

"You have no sense of humor, hence it's not a joke." Then something clicked in his head. "Let me guess. My work's jammed, what is it?"

If his project was jammed, for some kind of reason? That would be great, a difficult project now an incomplete project.

[Charlotte]

"It's not your work, it's Henry's. He's been trying to get the efficiency down on the computers running the air traffic systems all up and down the coast. He's hit a wall. They don't want to find space for more computers. The head of the company said they wouldn't have to. Since he's hit a wall, we're turning to you. Maybe, I don't know. Maybe fresh eyes will solve it."

She didn't sound too convinced. Thomas had seen this before. A doomed project passed around like a live grenade until someone showed up asking why the impossible hadn't happened, and whoever was holding the grenade at that time got to see it go off. It had just landed it his lap.

[Thomas Froit]

Thomas knew he had to avoid this. He was not going to be another victim of this corporation like his father and mother. Therefore, he resorted to one of the manifold excuses one used when one wanted to dump off a project on someone else.

"Not with the progress I'm trying to make on mine. It's crunch time, and if I take on another project, neither will make deadline, especially if there are issues on Henry's. Point is, I'm afraid I don't have the time right now. Otherwise, I'd be willing."

A stupid lie as they come, the last part, but truth be told, he was at a critical stage in his project, his words calculated to remind Joanna of that and give him an excuse to duck.

[Charlotte]

"Your project can wait. Or you can shuttle it over to Henry. We need our top guy on this and that's you. You do this and you get promoted."

Joanna looked serious. She also looked haggard, as if someone had been yelling on the phone to her for a long span of time. "I'm serious. I can make it happen. There have to be something Henry's overlooked. You can find it. I know it."

[Thomas Froit]

Thomas stared straight for several moments before acknowledging there was no way out of this. Clearly there were higher powers at work. Crap. He groaned then nodded. "Fine then, pass my project on to Henry and have him do vice versa. I'll get going as soon as possible."

His expression did not match Joanna's possible belief in him. He looked resigned to ending up like dear Mom and Dad. He nodded to Joanna again, then left for his cubicle workspace.

[Charlotte]

A few minutes later, Thomas got his first look at the project and he knew that this was going to be the end of him.

He knew there had to be a better way to lay this thing out, as he looked at the schematic of the microprocessor in front of him, soft rock from the office radio drifting gently in from the corner. He could see it, out of the corner of his mind. Tiny, maddening glimpses of something different. Something new he could accomplish. But he couldn't focus on it.

No one had been able to come up with anything truly new for longer than he'd been alive. So he didn't know what the sensation of invention felt like. He could imagine, though. He could imagine a heavy lead sheet thrown over his mind. No one knew who'd put it there.

The story went that invention stopped because of something so terrible, the whole world had to forget it. That's what he'd heard. It seemed plausible. Most days.

Today...

Today he still didn't know where the lead blanket came from. He just knew it was smothering him. He wasn't as good at office politics as he could be and today it was going to bite his head right off -

Then the signal on the radio seemed to scramble, as if the signal was interrupted. There was silence. With a start, Thomas realized that it wasn't just silence on the radio. There was silence all around the office. And no one else seemed to notice.

Attempts to speak didn't seem to work. Thomas felt a tightness in his throat. And then, a new voice - the voice of the Order's economic and sociological engine, the Mathemagician - spoke.

who are you?

Then there was a song.

To call this song 'haunting' did no justice. It seemed to stop the whole world. Nothing was frozen - the wind blew, the sun shone - but the whole planet seemed to take a collective breath. No one around Thomas noticed the song, just as no one around him seemed to notice the voice of the Mathemagician either.

The song lasted a few seconds. It also lasted forever. Time lost all meaning in its embrace. The song crescendoed, and built, and crashed to its climax, moving mountains with notes. It faded away, leaving him feeling different. Like everything in the living room of his soul was moved six inches out of place.

why are you here?

The Mathemagician's final words hung in the air. The world started up again.

And Thomas felt the lead blanket lift, like evaporating rain.

[Thomas Froit]

Who am I? The sudden input from the Mathemagician, top of the Order no less, surprised Thomas. Taking a deep breath to steady himself, he thought about it. Someone whose ass was about to be grass- wait.

The power leakage needed to go down and processing power up. Memristors could save data in the charge, and the chip could work as it was after all with no change. Memristors would need some work, but Thomas' mind crunched all the requirements down and the process for creation, which was well within easy production with amazing simplicity.

Then it hit him. How the hell did this happen? No one could... But given his situation, this was a golden opportunity. And he could easily afford to flex his mental muscles in secret... he giddily thought. The ability to use his secret freedom was too attractive.

Two hours later...

The firm had a separate workshop for the technically proficient engineers to handle the creation and maintaining of prototypes for testing. Thomas had slipped off to the workshop, and free to work unwatched, had found assortments of parts and materials to use for his wishes.

The test memristor memory chip took only 20 minutes to build and verify, to Thomas' happiness. Sheer inventor's will took over, and following his urge, he began to work absorbed.

By the time he had stopped, the chip was in a grounded case, surrounded by the completed devices Thomas had around him. A functional visor with sensor technology. A hand-held device that could interface with computers as if one was on the computer.

And so far, his prize development, a sort of force shield that could protect the wearer. Thomas at the moment had it clipped on himself, but he removed it and placed everything inside a work container for transport.

He doubted anyone would understand the principles behind them, but they worked quite well mind you. He smiled for a moment. It was good to get a break like this. Maybe he could get a promotion after all.

[Charlotte]

Thomas was so absorbed in his work that he didn't even see them come in.

When one of them coughed behind him, he whipped around, and stared. It was the CEO of the company, Peter Brisc. He was wearing a suit that cost more than what Thomas pulled down in a month. A man in much better shape than Brisc stood next to him, and Thomas recognized him, even though he didn't know the name. He usually walked the halls with a cord running out of his suit and into an earpiece.

"Sorry to startle you like this, Mister Froit! Can I call you Thomas?" Peter smiled as he held out his hand. "We caught wind of what you were doing here. Incredible stuff. Amazing. Is that the - the whatever it is?" He pointed to the workbench.

Thomas realized, with a tightening feeling in his stomach, that the little black globes in the ceiling had caught his every move.

[Thomas Froit]

Thomas was of two minds here, as he turned to Mr. Brisc and tried a weak smile. *Why so scared?* A voice whispered in his head, *After all, you have the opportunity you want.* Because people couldn't innovate for a reason, good or bad, deemed necessary by the Order, and being noticed, particularly for that type of thing, might be perilous.

"Well, I- I..." He took a deep breath. Try to sell this for all it is worth, Thomas. "Ah. You know how there's a lead blanket in your head stopping people from thinking? Of new things that is? I felt odd siting in my cube, and.... it went away."

He went to open the container and strapped on a static strap, and displayed the memristor. "See, this is a memristor. They save the charge going through them. Faster data processing then RAM, can save the charge, and thus the data even when a system is off, mass-producible with my design... The jammed project I picked up from Henry is officially unjammed."

Peter smiled more, and gestured to the other items, peering them over. "And these?"

Thomas flushed. "I had the idea for these... gizmos, and I had spare time. They work. Even the just finished, uh, blaster over there." He pointed to the just tested, but un-stored weapon.

Thomas looked over at the other man with the earpiece. "Fan of incredible developments sir?"

[Charlotte]

"Blaster, you say." The impassive man looked at Thomas disapprovingly.

Peter nodded. "Well, they look fantastic. How about we put them into transport and figure out how they tick? This schematic... jeez..." Peter rubbed his temple, looking ill. "I was building computers when I was nine and I can't figure out how this is even supposed to work..."

He shook his head, trying to clear it. "Anyways, yeah. Incredible leap forward. Let's box them up and then we can set you up with a meeting with the Magistrate. Something like this is huge. A lot of people are going to notice. Very highly place people."

[Thomas Froit]

Thomas nodded, making sure everything was safely packed into the container- then stopped as he handled the blaster, anxiously frozen. Everything looked great, he was moving up for sure. Why was he still worried? His mom and dad--

His mother and father had had their lives wrecked by the Order, and now here he was, about to pass off devices and new technology to them, advanced enough to be used quite effectively for very distasteful application and reasons.

Could he let that happen? Somehow, his voice was speaking quietly again. "This isn't right. The Order shouldn't get any of this."

[Charlotte]

"Thomas? Something wrong, son?"

Thomas heard Peter take a step towards him. The other man didn't say a word, but he didn't have to. Even with his back turned, Thomas could feel a tenseness in the air. He found himself wondering if he'd spotted any suspicious bulk in the man's coat.

[Thomas Froit]

Thomas found himself wondering if he could find a peaceful way out of this. Whether or not he did, he wanted protection, and he knew the force shield would keep him safe from a gun. So he opted to both take the middle ground and stall at the same time.

"What I'm saying, sir..." he took back out the force shield projector and glanced at if as if still absorbed in thought, "is that everything here, bar the memristor, is too dangerous to be used by people for the wrong reasons, like the Order would. Let's pretend the only thing that I made was the memristor, and I'm sure it's still Magistrate-worthy right?"

He turned his head around to Peter Brisc, and cautiously thumbed the activation button.

[Charlotte]

Peter's smile vanished. "So - let me get this straight. You build weapons, using our manufacturing plant - that is a 'blaster,' right? You build them and you want to 'hang onto them,' because you don't trust the Order? You know how deep in the shit you could get for any one of those things? Uh-uh. Here's how it is. You come with us, they look over everything you've got and if you come quietly you might have a nice future ahead of you. Don't come quietly, and, well..."

Peter nodded to the other man, who tensed slightly, one hand reaching behind his back. "Well, you know. You should come quietly."

[Thomas Froit]

It was instinctive and quick, but Thomas snatched up the work container with the remaining items under an arm, and pressed the button for the force shield again, harder.

Blue energy crackled and formed in a protective spherical barrier around him, and Thomas turned around to face the two, eyes and mouth set defiantly with the blaster pointed towards the floor in his left hand. "I'm not sacrificing my conscience. I suppose it's time to really see if this shield is fantastic is it?"

Click to reveal..

Activating Forcefield 7 (Impervious)

Initiative: 12

Move action to take up the gun.

[Charlotte]

"What the hell...?" The guard looked agog for a moment, then brought his weapon to bear. It was a stun-gun.

Click to reveal..

Attack roll for stun-gun. If it hits, Fortitude save DC15 or be stunned. (1d20+2=22)

Hit, but minions cannot score critical hits.

Glitch's Fortitude save vs. the Stun Gun (1d20+2=13)

Failed by 2; Glitch is stunned. Sorry, Glitch, but I did warn you about low Fort saves. If you want to hero-point, let me know and I'll rewrite this post.

EDIT: Hero Point spent. New roll is 16, so a success.

The darts from the stun gun impacted on the force field, penetrating just enough to deliver several thousand volts into Thomas' body. His muscles went mad. But through sheer force of will, through a determination he never knew he had, he stayed standing.

The guard lowered the stun gun, realizing he was in trouble. "Mister Brisc, get out of here!"

Mister Brisc obliged, beelining for the door.

[Thomas Froit]

Thomas gasped, before his muscles released and he could act normally. Though he hated what he was about to do, the same determination urged him to fire back, since the shield might not stop the stun darts.

Raising the gun, he fired a shot at the guard, gun thankfully set on low power.

Click to reveal..

Shooting back with the Blaster

http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/2571387/

9+8 = 17

Damage DC 24, Penetrating 9

Nonlethal damage

[Charlotte]

The guard was lifted off of his feet, and sent flying back. He collided with the wall, and slumped to the ground, out cold.

Peter Brisc ran out the door, and slammed his hand into an alarm. Sirens began to blare throughout the complex.

Click to reveal..

He's acted - Glitch may go again.

[Thomas Froit]

Thomas tucked away the blaster, but quickly strapped up the force shield as he began to follow Brisc. The sight and sound of the alarm took chances of getting away to nearly nil. Unless...

Immediately, he yanked out his Wireless Computer Interface, as he had deemed it, and pressed buttons quickly, tapping into the alarm and attached system in an attempt to shut down the sirens.

It going off fast might be passed off as an error long enough to make a getaway.

Click to reveal..

Using Wireless Interface's Datalink power to shut off the alarms. 21+16=37

[Charlotte]

Thomas successfully managed to cut the alarms short. Peter tapped the alarm button over and over, to no avail.

Peter turned towards Thomas. "Look - just - just put the gun away, Thomas. We can still talk about this. We over-reacted. I get that. We had no choice..."

[Thomas Froit]

Thomas didn't look appeased by this suggestion, the court of decision in his mind having already come to the verdict. "What's set in motion can't be stopped." Thomas replied. Besides, it's set on low power. I'm not killing anyone yet."

These words were scant comfort to Brisc as the blaster shortly discharged its energy, and the CEO crumpled out cold to the floor.

Click to reveal..

Taking 10, Mike's letting me speed this up here and confirm Brisc is out.

Thomas shut off the force shield, then took stock of the situation, while concealing the arm-strapped force shield projector with his long shirt sleeve, and putting the devices back into the container.

Strangely, he felt the craving to go to the nearby deli. Food? It was not yet usual lunchtime. But Thomas decided he could stop there before departing and figuring out how to deal with this turn of events.

Using the thankfully nearby emergency exit- with his back as the force opening the door as so to not leave fingerprints- Thomas exited the building. The alarms sounded again, but this time Thomas knew that this would be a help versus a hindrance.

The fire alarms and procedure should buy him sometime. Sneaking around the sides of the building was slightly harder, as security was alert, no doubt thanks to Brisc.

Thomas evaded them, but it took some nerve wracking moments to get around the few guards he spotted on his way. Work container under his arm, he was soon clear of the premises and heading towards the deli.

[Charlotte]

... in Issue #3: History Is a Bomb