WMAT B2 Alicia T. Harlaown vs. Staren

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WMAT B2 Alicia T. Harlaown vs. Staren
Date of Scene: 08 July 2014
Location: WMAT Arena - Devil's Hand
Synopsis: The second round match between Alicia and Staren.
Cast of Characters: 4, Staren, 359, 411


Alicia T. Harlaown (4) has posed:
Alicia moves out to her starting position on the open field. She's already wearing her Barrier Jacket this time, prepared for the coming battle. Still, as she makes her way out she gives the cheering crowd a grin and waves in their direction. They've come all this way to watch the fight, it's only fair she acknowledge them!

Stopping at the start point, Alicia glances around at the 'arena' she'll be fighting in today, "What do you think, Melody?"
The staff in Alicia's hand chimes, <Very open, low cover, low environmental exploits.>
Alicia nods, "Agreed." She looks over in the direction of the castle, "On the other hand, that looks interesting!"
Sweet Melody chimes in, <Unconfirmed reports suggest it is haunted.>
Alicia hmms quietly as she considers her plan of action. In the meantimes, she gives a friendly smile and wave in Staren's direction once he gets into position.

Staren has posed:
Staren has arrived through the warpgate a few minutes before the match. He's wearing his armor except for the helmet under one arm, as he waves to the crowd, and then to Alicia, and takes up a starting position a little ways ahead of the stands.

Staren's armor looks similar in style to Reploid armor, but a bit bulkier since it's worn rather than built in. Curved plating, consisting of white helmet, breastplate, gauntlets, codpiece, and tall boots, with slightly thinner, sea-green armor on the upper arms, upper legs, and belly to allow mobility. Five small discs on the front of the chestplate serve as forcefield emitters, and a noticeable but not quite bulky enough to interfere with movement 'backpack' unit holds the armor's power source and has clips that hold some kind of scoped rifle. A pistol and a slim cylindrical device are holstered in clips on the side of the armor. The helmet has a transparent, pale blue visor. Pointed protrusions in the helmet allow room for his ears, and his tail is covered in armored segments. There's been a slight change to the armor's style -- rectangular, flat blocky bulges have been added behind the back of the shoulders on each side of the backpack, and a pair of cylindrical bulges have been added to the sides of the right forearm near the wrist. And of course, hanging at Staren's side is his trusty messenger bag of holding -- for combat, it's inside an armored cover and secured to his side by clips on the armor.

Staren lifts the helmet, pulls it down over his head, and locks it into place. He flashes Alicia a thumbs-up, then shifts into a sort of ready stance as he decides what weapon to draw first, sizing up Alicia and waiting for her to make the first move.

In the stands, a greying-haired cat-eared man in clothes similar to Staren's sits with a similar-aged human woman whose fashion sense seems to be stuck in the 80's. They wave back when Staren waves to the audience.

Elasaid Hood (359) has posed:
Elasaid is sat in the hovering observation box, and looks over at the arriving competators. "Looks like we're about ready. Alicia steps into the arena first, wearing her battlegear and weilding her staff. She's primed and ready for action."

"Staren isn't wasting time either, entering in his armour. The coin flips, and Alicia is awarded the first move. Let the matc begin!"

Alicia T. Harlaown (4) has posed:
Alicia grips her staff a little tighter as she waits... And then the horn sounds, signalling the start of the match! Alicia is off and running, heading straight towards the nearby castle. Seems she wants to draw the fight in that direction. But she doesn't give Staren the chance to shoot her in the back, atleast not easily. As she runs, Alicia swings her staff around to aim behind her. Bolts of silver magic fire off the weapon, streaking towards Staren. A basic shooting spell, the shots are non-lethal as in common for Mages from Alicia's world. Still, they'll prove destructive to Staren's equipment!

Staren has posed:
Staren suddenly sprouts /energy wings/ -- not quit touching him, they appear behind his back like stylized insect wings that buzz and flutter as he speeds after her! He sees her turn to fire the shot, but expecting the magic to travel slower, he waits too long to dodge and the spell is right on target! That target being the translucent amber sphere of force that manifests around him. The magic leaves a whitened, opaque spot like stressed plastic. A few amber sparkles fall off in the split-second before the field fades to invisibility again. /Finally/, he's not facing someone who uses his forcefield's weakness of physical attacks. He expects Alicia will find a way to deal with it though... for now, he decides to judge her own reflexes: He quickly draws his laser pistol and takes a couple low-powered shots to test her reactions. The pistol plays a PEW PEW sound effect for the audience, but the beam itself is invisible.

Then he drops down slightly, running with power-augmented legs in addition to the wings to try to speed up and close on her!

Elasaid Hood (359) has posed:
"And they're off! Alicia gets running, heading for the castle! She'snot making it easy, by firing off some silvery bolts of energy! They dont' seem to do too much to Staren as a barrier forms over his body, spalling some bits before it goes invisible again. He returns fire with something, I can't see it but I'm guessing it's some kind of energy weapon! I'm moving to keep up with the combatants!"

Alicia T. Harlaown (4) has posed:
As she runs, Alicia notices her magic shots impact against the barrier protecting Staren. Greaaaaat, another forcefield user, "Melody, analyze that barrier and try and figure out a way past it."
The Device chimes, but no in response to Alicia's command, <Warning!> As invisible as the laser pistol's shots might be, they're probably not undetectable and thus fail to escape the notice of Sweet Melody's highly sensitive detection suite. In response to the Device's warning, Alicia dives to the side. She manages to avoid one shot, and most of the other, getting slightly grazed on the side of her Barrier Jacket. The magical clothing is slightly scorched, but Alicia is otherwise unharmed.

Back up and running once more, Alicia is almost to the castle, but first she makes another attempt to probe Staren's defenses. Once more her staff is aimed in his direction, and once more silver bolts of magic fire off it. However, they all spread out, dancing through the air before converging on Staren from multiple directions.

Staren has posed:
They're getting too far away from the announcer? With a thought, Staren starts sending his helmet-cam vision to whoever's in charge of the feeds, because why not?

MORE BOLTS! Staren gets a little fancy trying to dodge them -- he dives, flying inches above the ground and juking to the side, but it's still timed wrong. Multiple bolts rain in from all sides, and again are stopped by the field, but this time something curious happens: When it reappears, there is a depression where the first bolt hit, and now as more impact points appear, cracks spiderweb out from them like shattered glass, and the field shatters in a cloud of amber sparkles as one of the discs on Staren's chestplate emits a POP and a small plume of smoke... wait, no, the forcefield has definate /thickness/ to it, and as the outer layer falls away it's clear that there are more. There are already some small cracks visible under the old impact points though... and then the field fades from visibility again.

Staren tries a new tactic. A few thoughts directed to his smartlink software reprogram the gun... Staren rises up slightly as he flies, levelling the gun at Alicia and pulling the trigger several times -- there's still a PEW PEW noise, but no laser... at least at first. After a random (so he won't telegraph it) number of fakeouts, and hopefully getting Alicia confused, the pistol finally fires a single, more higher-powered shot!

Elasaid Hood (359) has posed:
"Alicia takes a hit, but it just looks superficial... hey, who's sending that fe-- nevermind. Alicia is firing off more bolts, but these ones dance and track before closing in! They slam into that field, and it looks like it's cracked! Wait, no! There's another layer underneath the first, but it looks like it's taken damage too!"

"Staren returns fire with that laser, but I don't think the gun's working anymore! It's making noise, but it doesn't seem to be shooting anything."

Alicia T. Harlaown (4) has posed:
Sweet Melody wasn't actually listening for the telltale PEWs of the weapon, instead she was monitoring the energy readings from it. So the sound fakeout doesn't work, the Device once more chiming, <Warning!>} However, Alicia has just managed to reach the castle. Distracted as she is in finding an entrance she doesn't react quickly enough, the more powerful shot striking her in the side. Her Barrier Jacket protects her from serious harm, scorched as it is, but Alicia still feels some of the energy on her body and winces a little at the pain.

Alicia spins around to face the closing Staren, swinging her staff as she does. Sweet Melody chimes, <Wave Shift.> As she does, a pulsing wave of gravity flies off the staff and heads towards Staren. If not avoided, it'll both slam into him hard and send him flying backwards, giving Alicia a little more room.

After her attack, Alicia disappears into the castle, beginning to move more slowly and cautiously stalk its hallways as she prepares for Staren to follow her in.

Staren has posed:
The force slams into Staren, putting a few more cracks in the forcefield -- and then the gravity slows him down and drops him to ground, tumbling and rolling. He stops his roll and stands again with flight, then runs up to the castle, peering cautiously inside. Oh damn it, which way did she go? Staren is /not/ being the mouse in a game of cat and mouse! He deploys drones: Little insect-sized bots fly out of his bag and down each hallway, looking for Alicia.

But Staren's not going to /just/ wait. No, he pulls that rifle off his back. He glances through the scope, then raises the weapon a bit, as the drones map the castle and he sees a sort of wireframe overlay on his vision. Hopefully they'll find her... and when they do...

Staren flips the rifle to burst mode and fires, with no sound tell this time. He cylinders attached near his right wrist prove to be particle beam cannons. Over the course of several milliseconds, one fires, then the other, blasting holes in the walls, and then the rifle fires one, two, three pulses in rapid succession, and hopefully at least /one/ of them reaches Alicia!

Elasaid Hood (359) has posed:
"Looks like it did work after all! Alicia gets struck in the side again, her armour scorching and peeling away now. She fires back with some kind of pulse wave, it seems to have slowed Staren down a little at least."

"Looks like the castle won't protect Alicia! Staren's bringing out the big guns in the shape of a rifle! And he's thrown a bunch of little seeker drones out into the halls! I wonder why he isn't follo-- HE'S SHOOTING THROUGH THE WALLS!"

Alicia T. Harlaown (4) has posed:
Alicia ducks behind a wall, then says quietly, "Scan overlay." The Device in her hand chimes in response. Alicia quickly follows up with, "Wide Area Search." The Device chimes softly once more, several orbs of silver appearing in the air around Alicia. They all dart off in different directions, beginning to map the structure and search for Staren.

The sound of walls breaking catches Alicia's attention and she's off and running again. Not fast enough though as the shots strike her, causing her to stumble a bit before dropping to one knee. Her outfit is still smoking a bit after the energy impacts when Sweet Melody chimes, <Target detected.>

Still down on one knee, Alicia brings her staff around to aim in the direction that her Device indicated. Although she can't see Staren to aim, she trusts in Melody's detection ability and that she'll place the spell properly. To that end, Sweet Melody chimes, <Detonate.>

A silver spell circle appears on the ceiling above Staren's position. After just a moment the ceiling explodes downwards in a blast of stoney debris.

Staren has posed:
Staren's feeling pretty clever as he blows through the walls and gets a clean burst shot on Alicia! But then suddenly, the ceiling explodes, stone pelting and cracking his forcefield -- another layer collapses into sparkles, another projector disc overloads, and the stone pretty badly bangs up the third layer of forcefield too, it's covered in a network of spiderwebbing cracks. Staren decides not to stick around to see who can explode the castle better -- he books it on the shortest path to reach her, leaping through the holes he blew. He's not going to let the chance of Alicia being knocked down get away though -- As he runs forward through the ruins, he carries the rifle by the foregrip in his left hand and points his right arm at her, firing a beam from one of the particle cannons!

Elasaid Hood (359) has posed:
"I can't see what's happening, someone get a camera drone in there! I can hear shots being fired, I think Staren got Alicia, but she's still standing." Elasaid recoils as part of the roof caves in. "WHOA! Looks like Alicia's really bringing the house down! Part of the roof just collapsed, right where Staren was last seen!"

"There he is, looks like his shield's taking a beating, but it's still active! He's off running, and I've lost sight again, but I think he's firing again, those are some weird sounds coming from inside the castle! Ah, I've got a camera feed, yes, they're engaged right close!"

Alicia T. Harlaown (4) has posed:
He's running towards her? The readings from Sweet Melody seem to indicate as much. And sure enough, Alicia can spot Staren coming towards her. She doesn't stay still and give him a clear shot. She jumps to her feet, the shot from Staren impacting her right shoulder and causing her to stumble for just a moment while wincing in pain, but then she's running again. In her left hand Sweet Melody chimes, <Storm Mode.>

The staff begins to transform, ring vanishing to be replaced by heavier coverings the mostly hide the crystal head. A large ornate blade of silver magic flickers to life from those coverings as the Device turns into a poleaxe. As Alicia reaches Staren she jumps, swinging the poleaxe up over her head and down towards him.

Staren has posed:
Staren charges in, his left hand slipping the rifle onto his back (magnets hold it in place) and his right hand drawing the slim cylinder off his belt. He charges right in-- only for Alicia to jump at him! He tries to slow down, but can't stop in time to keep the now-poleaxe device from coming down on his head -- again, the forcefield appears, the axe slamming into the already cracked layer and causing more cracks to spread as it strains against the force and then with a pop and a crashing sound, another disc overloads and another layer falls off in a shower of sparkles, but this time, the force of the axe against it keeps it from fading out, and starts spreading cracks over the fourth layer, as one of the two remaining discs arcs electricity from the strain... Staren doesn't stick around to wait for her to break yet another layer though -- his left hand reaches for the object in his right and suddenly there's two, and each turns out to be the hilt for a 'sword' of purple energy, superheated plasma held in some kind of rod-shaped containment field -- and he LUNGES, trying to stab Alicia's barrier jacket with both swords! They're pretty unlikely to impale her unless her protection is really fragile, though, since when the plasma hits the target it discharges all its energy and more has to be heated up by the device in the hilt for the sword to 'regrow' -- which can happen pretty quickly, but Staren's not sticking around -- he leaps away as soon as he can, wings briefly flashing into existance to allow him to arrest his momentum and change direction quickly.

Elasaid Hood (359) has posed:
"Alright folks, I've got a good view now. Alicia takes a shot to the shoulder, her armour looks real battered and broken now, but she's not droppin' yet! Her magic staff does some transforming, and becomes a poleaxe which she puts to good use, slashing down at the armoured tech-user!"

"He's got a Lightsaber! Wait it's two! And he's using them to good efect, that's a double stab into Alicia's armour, I just hope it can hold! Staren backs away, as his shields seem to be running out, looks like he's only got two layers left!"

Alicia T. Harlaown (4) has posed:
Alicia stumbles back from the blow, the energy sword strike leaving behind scorch marks and even some burnt skin beneath the Mage's slowly failing defensive magics. Seeing Staren jump back, Alicia does the same. She briefly takes stock of the situation... She DOES seem to be wearing down his forcefield, but likewise her Barrier Jacket is taking damage. Estimating their strengths, Alicia is pretty sure her defense is failing faster than his. Not good!

Alicia raises her Device to point at Staren and Sweet Melody chimes, <Crushing Beat.> A silver spell circle appears beneath Staren and several pulses of gravity centred on his location pound him from all direction, creating a crushing effect. The spell is further enhanced by all the castle debris from their fight, which is pulled in to assault Staren's shield too.

Staren has posed:
Crushing Beat? What the heck does THAT m-- oh crap, pressure warnings start going off on his armor, this could be bad! So he activates his wings and kicks off the ground... which still isn't enough as he feels himself being pulled back, so he activates the rocket boots too, the additional thrust finally breaking him free! He plows through a bit of debris, but gets away before the worst of it his him. The forcefield is slightly more cracked. "Nice gravity magic..." finally he speaks. "Maybe if you pull the right trick with it you can finish me..." As he starts to fly around her, he brings the Forearm Integrated Weapon System to bear again, firing the twin particle beams before he flies around her, looking for a better opening. "So I'll just have to defeat you before you figure it out!"

Elasaid Hood (359) has posed:
"Alicia's taking a beating, her armour looks like its failing faster than she can wear down Staren's shield... But she throws out another gravity based attack, trying to catch Staren in the middle of a debris shower!"

"Staren figures out the trick and gets clear, and fires more of those particle beams at Alicia. This looks like it's about over Folks... I'm not sure how much more Alicia can take!"

Staren has posed:
"Hey! Hey, hey! It's not over 'till it's over!" Staren shouts at the announcement. "Show me what you can do, Alicia, it's not over yet!"

Twilight Sparkle (411) has posed:
Twilight is a little late to the fight! ...okay, a lot late, but she's here! She comes galloping into the stands, her little purple and green dragon assistant atop her back. Both Twilight Sparkle and Spike glue their eyes to the viewing screen as soon as they find seats. Twilight has a bit of trouble sitting in human chairs, but Spike is right at home. "Woohoo! Go Staren!" Twilight cheers as loudly as she can once she is seated. Then winces when she sees that last attack by Staren. "Um...but perhaps not quite as hard." she says more softly. Spike, on the other hand, is standing in his seat. "Yeah! Take 'er out, Staren!!" the little dragon exclaims as he hops up and down and pounds a claw into his open palm.

Alicia T. Harlaown (4) has posed:
Alicia tries to keep track of Staren's movement, defensive spell in mind and ready for whatever he might throw at her. She recognises him aiming at her with his arm weapon, bringing her hand up in an attempt to block... But she can't bring up the barrier in time. The twin particles beams strike her dead on in the chest, vaporizing that part of her Barrier Jacket and leaving a pair of holes (though she remains decent!). The pain this time is considerable and Alicia collapses down to her knees...

... But the stubbornly optimistic Mage doesn't give up. Nor does she give Staren the chance to take advantage of her weakened state. From her position on the ground beside Alicia, Sweet Melody chimes, <Gravity Bind.> Rings of silver appear around Staren's limbs, quickly shrinking and binding him in their hold. They then pull him from the air and down onto the ground with a SMACK! Staren will no longer be airborne and unable to move his limbs. If he struggles enough, they may break, but whether or not that's before Alicia can strike...

Speaking of which, Alicia slowly gets to her feet again. She's a little wobbly, but has a determined look on her face when she says to him, "Right trick, huh?" The blade of Alicia's poleaxe begins to glow brightly as mana gathers within it. Alicia slowly shifts the weapon around behind her in preparation of her attack. It takes her several more moments to gather the necessary energy before finally she swings and Sweet Melody chimes, <Crescent Rise.> The gathered magic launches off the weapon as Alicia swings, streaking out across the entire room as a crescent of light which... Passes right over Staren.

The magic crescent fades away near the other end of the room, leaving Staren untouched. Cooling gasses vent from Sweet Melody's exhaust ports after the attack. Alicia settles the long weapon behind her again and turns, quickly walking out of the room... What's happening?

CRACK!

A large fissure forms in the room's ceiling... As if it can no longer hold up under its own weight... As if the stone pillars holding it up aren't doing the job... Those stone pillars that now have large cuts in them from Alicia's attack...

CRACK CRACK!

The fissure grows wider, small pieces of the roof beginning to fall to the floor. If Staren doesn't struggle harder to free himself from those binds, he might just find himself- With a load roar of falling debris, the entire ceiling collapses in on itself. Alicia shields herself from the rush of air and dust in the nearby hallway.

Staren has posed:
The right trick, indeed. Could that have been it? Staren is grabbed in place, an 'oh shit' expression on his face as he tries to struggle, pulling with wings and rocket boots to no avail as he's slammed down. There's a loud CRACK as his leg armor starts to buckle and break slightly. Unable to move, he just stares at Alicia as she prepares her finishing crescent attack...

And then the long, boxy additions on either side of the power pack rotate up to horizontal, and their front pannels open to reveal three missile launch ports each. As the crescent washes over him to no effect, the mini-missiles pop out of their launch ports, though they don't need to fly very far unless Alicia flees, in which case they /will/ chase after... either way, when they get close they explode in great blasts of plasma, superheating the air so much that molecules break into charged particles and possibly melting or at least scorching nearby stone.

The stones, meanwhile, land on Staren's forcefield with a loud crash. Cracking and shattering sounds and the POPs of overloaded electronics can be heard from the pile of stone, followed by the sound of heavy stone hitting and slightly crushing metal and an "OOF!" from Staren.

He still can't move. Ugh. He starts charging the teleporter. If Alicia's still up after his desperation attack and can break through the stone, though, he'll continue to be a sitting duck for a few seconds...

Elasaid Hood (359) has posed:
"Alicia's down... she's do-- SHE'S BACK UP! And she's grabbed Staren with some kind of binding, dropping him to th'ground! I've ne'er seen ought like it before... and now she's bringin' the house down again, aiming to smash him with a big lump of stone!"

"Staren isn't entirely helpless! he's launched more missled than I c'n count, and they're all after Alicia! Looks like it's cost 'im though, that must've hurt!"

Alicia T. Harlaown (4) has posed:
Alicia is still reeling from Staren's previous attack, trying to ignore the pain she's feeling. Combined with wanting to get out of the soon collapsing room as quickly as possible, she didn't actually notice the missiles. Thankfully her Device comes to her rescue as Sweet Melody chimes, <Defenser.> The silver dome appears around Alicia who looks surprised. The missiles explode against the barrier, some having little to no effect, others breaking through the weakness in the defensive field created by the earlier ones. At the end of it, Alicia's Barrier Jacket is looking rather battered and she knows it won't last much longer. But still she won't give up!

Alicia can't see Staren as he seems to still be buried within the collapsed room. But that doesn't matter. With a bit of a struggle she asks, "Do you... Have a target, Melody?" The Device chimes an affirmative, then says, <Device Mode.> Sweet Melody transforms back into staff form and Alicia aims her in the direction of the collapsed room.

Three spell circles appear beyond the crystal head of the staff, each progressively smaller. Silver magic begins to gather within the crystal, which glows brighter over time. Finally Sweet Melody announces, <Narrow Expanse.> A large blast of magic launches from the staff and strikes the first spell circle. As it does so, it is compressed into a smaller stream. It then strikes the second, where the same occurs. The magic leaves the final spell circle as a concetrated beam of light that streaks towards the covered Staren. Designed as it is to penetrate magical barriers, it has no problem piercing through the stone debris to reach its target.

Staren has posed:
"Gah! What the hell was--" comes Staren's voice from the rock pile, and then it stops.

Staren reappears on the next floor. His armor is dented and scratched all over. His right leg armor's plating is cracked and missing some pieces, and his chestplate where the magic beam hit is nearly eaten through, the hole surrounded by warped and cracked plating from the energy the armor had to absorb to protect him. A damage alarm flashes in the corner of Staren's vision, indicating overall integrity of 51.8%. Alicia started off a bit slow but she's started inflicting an astounding amount of damage. If this keeps up, he won't last long.

Which is why he tries to finish it. Drawing his beam saber and flying over the floor, he flies around in a wide circle, cutting partway through the stone. Then he flies off the the side and holds out his arms. Tiny missile launch ports open in his armor, and six micromissiles, the size of maybe magic markers, pop out and then fly to evenly-spread points above the groove and explode.

Alicia's not the only one who can bring the house down!

Alicia T. Harlaown (4) has posed:
Alicia can't really do much at this point beyond watch, wait, and try to block whatever it is that Staren sends her way. So when he sends a whole lot of stone debris her way, she raises her hand. A round shield deploys just as the stone begins to fall on her. Each one batters at the shield, forcing Alicia down until finally she's covered in them, hidden from view. Things go silent for several seconds...

Until Alicia calls out from within the pile, "I'm okay! I'm okay... I yield." She can't go on, her Barrier Jacket as weak as it is, plus with her injuries... She calls out again, "Uh, I could use some help getting out of here!"

Elasaid Hood (359) has posed:
"Alicia's suffering from that missile barrage, but she pulls out a beam attack! Looks like to got Staren good through that rock... but it's not enough! Staren gets up, and flies around, bringing the rest of the house down on top of Alicia! I don't think she's getting up from this one, Someone get the medical teams out there! This fight's over, Staren Wins!"

Twilight Sparkle (411) has posed:
Twilight Sparkle, still up in the stands the whole time, starts cheering loudly! "Staaaren! You did it! Oh my goodness! I'm not even sure what to say except congratulations!!" Spike is cheering just as loudly. "Yahoo! Way to go, Staren! Ya really got her with that last attack! Woo!!"

Staren has posed:
Upon hearing the words 'I yield', Staren immediately puts away his beam saber and lands next to her, using the armor's strength to help move the rubble. The armor isn't exactly car-throwingly strong, but it does put Staren up around the level of a strongman. Once Alicia's free, he holds out a hand to help her up. His visor retracts to show his smiling face. "Good game! That gravity magic and binding spell... I didn't know what I was gonna do for awhile there." Then he looks a bit more concerned. "Um, are you alright? I hope I didn't hurt you..." He doesn't know the finer details of how exactly barrier jackets work.

Alicia T. Harlaown (4) has posed:
Alicia accepts the hand, getting to her feet, if a little wobbly. She smiles and nods to Staren, "I'm glad it worked, even if I didn't win the match in the end." As the enquiry she waves a hand, "I'll be alright. Mostly superficial stuff. I'll be as good as new in no time! Anyway, thanks for the fight and good luck in the next round!" With that Alicia begins to wobble off in search of the medical team she heard about.