Scene #5087: The Misbegotten Fruits of Psychovirology

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Henry Jekyll	Silicon Valley, 2073, Earth-504057 In the early morning, a quiet alarm goes out from the Institute of Psychovirology, a government-owned research facility nominally under the auspices of the Department of Defense. The notice goes to all of the major factions, is also passed on to the syndicate network and spread through other facilities, but is notably kept under wraps locally. The message is simple, 'An experimental and highly contagious psychic virus has escaped from the premises and is now spreading rapidly. Those affected by this dangerous psychic anomaly will behave normally until such a point that they recognize what is considered an outsider. At this point, victims will turn hostile towards this perceived outsider. Requesting aid in neutralizing this affliction before it goes out of control.' Upon arrival, or for those already in the area for their own reasons, nothing seems out of the ordinary to start with. Of course, that is entirely consistent with theclaims of the Institute of Psychovirology.
Zephyr Windstar	What can say 'outsider' more than teleporting in on a twisting magical spell seal? Zephyr materializes and swings her Device up over her shoulder, "I'm on site, everything seems quiet so far, but if the report is accurate that'll change very quickly." she says, transmitting to the Syndicate contact. It feels so wrong, since the Multiverse turned inside out and the Union fell. But she's still here, and she still has a job to do. Innocent people are in danger so. "Divine Wind, Lock Stun Mode." <YES. STUN MODE HAS BEEN LOCKED.> replies the Device with a chime. Her magic won't cause physical harm now, so she can cut a bit loose with the magic if things get out of hand.
Corona Arclite	The problem with this? It's the Multiverse. Pretty much anyone and everyone is an 'outsider' to somewhere else, especially with how vagely the Institute seems to be using the term to describe their problem. Meaning this thing could possibly go off at any moment from the slightest provocation, or even unintentionally. Even if she doesn't quite grasp what a bit nerdy word like 'psychovirology' means, Corona doesn't need to be a genius to get that this something very big and very bad. The all-terrain buggy pulls up at the area the alarm came from, but Corona keeps hunched down behind the plates and bars protecting the cockpit. Partially because she's pretty sure she's enough 'outsider' to trigger anyone that sees her, so no need to go jumping in half-cocked. The other reason being that she's going through some of her gear, making sure she's got her weapons loaded with less-than-lethal ammo. People infected by this thing are just as much victims as the people they might attack, after all.
Dorian Pavus	Had there been time, Dorian would have asked what this particular definition of 'outsider' was -- an outsider from the Institute, or an outsider from the world. If it's the latter, Dorian has a chance of blending in. Hoping it's this, Dorian's dressed in his white suit, and replaced his staff with a black cane with a silver dragon's head at the top. Of course, Dorian's pessimism is on full blast here; he's fully expecting 'I don't know you therefore I must murder you'. Which is why he's not taking any chances. Though he doesn't actually have any way to get to places except for on foot. So he'll be amongst the last to arrive, via the hush puppy limousine service. That is, walking. Looking to both Zephyr and Corona, he offers, "Ah, greetings! Come to the party?" There's a bit of a wry emphasis on the word 'party'.
Alden	And to follow on the 'outsider' line of thought, what about an odd looking lizard/dog thing, wearing a fur coat on it's back, and carrying a miniature catgirl on it's shoulder!. The pair look around, pleased to see that for now, things seemed to be in order, but very aware things might go south very, very quickly!. He tried to avoid looking more provoking than he needed, so he ended up walking on this tiny form all the way to the coordinates, not a very fast method of transportation. Here's hoping that being at least somewhat cute and not too dangerous looking might help avoiding too much trouble!, glad the location seems 'fine' so far. There is a soft yip as he spots a familiar face!, his fuzzy tail wagging slowly behind him as he approached the group, "Zephyr!", hopefully he is close enough to his old appearance he is easily recognizable. He also offers a friendly wave and a smile to the others, "Answering the reports as well?" he asks, while the Shinki (mini catgirl on his shoulder) waved..
Henry Jekyll	Initially all seems normal, and then Alden comes in and slowly but surely people start to turn their heads towards him. Not too long after, their gazes also go towards Zephyr and the other outsiders, and they all speak the same line. "All your base are belong to us." Then they rush forwards, aggressive but unarmed, they're coordinated but untrained. They're dangerous, but not overwhelmingly so, and the challenge lies more in how to get out from that mass of hostile flesh eager to drown the 'outsiders' in punches and kicks without causing excess harm than in actually defending oneself.
Zephyr Windstar	Zephyr frowns. Great, it's a sea of bodies. Zephyr has an advantage. She can fly. She kicks up off the ground to hover above the sea of flesh. "Can we Bind them?" <Too many targets for a Bind Spell, Master. We could lock them inside of a Barrier, however this would present the problem of not being able to access them in a controlled environment.> "Great... we might be able to shoot them down with stun shots, but there's so many, and the others are in danger."
Corona Arclite	That went downhill about as quickly as expected. "No time fer lengthy hellos now, mister wizard," Corona replies to Dorian as she stands up, putting the heel of one boot on the rollbar of the buggy to brace herself. "Yer 'party' is 'bout to start. But don't worry, Ah got this." To which she pulls out... a handheld grenade launcher?! What happened to the less-than-lethal she was muttering about? See, that IS the less-than-lethal. Because what she fires towards the crowd doesn't explode in the big boom and shrapnel sense. It bursts midair over the horde to spray down a sticky, oily substance akin to tar. Which shouldn't hurt anyone but will hopefully make it difficult for them to move in on the gathering resistance quickly.
Dorian Pavus	Dorian turns to regard Alden, and offers a polite smile of greeting to both he and his tiny robo-catgirl companion. "Hello there. Quite the motley group, aren't we?" he asks. He avoids the obvious musical group joke, if only barely. And then suddenly all hell breaks loose. "''Kaffas'', I hate it when I'm right," Dorian mutters, more to himself than anyone else. Then he nods at Corona's statment. "I think you're right," he replies, wryly. "Pity, I hadn't even gotten the entertainment ready." Of course he's going to snark. Zephyr kicks up into the air, so that's one person out of range. But Corona and Alden are still in the line of fire, as far as he knows. So his first order of business is to aim at a location on the ground that hopefully includes himself, Corona, and Alden, and cast a Barrier spell at that particular area. It's only a very little bit of protection, and if either Corona or Alden moved out of the spell's effect range beforehand, they might have been missed.
Alden	Alden ruins everything, yay!. The petite digimon lets out a chirp, "Pleased to meet you..." he then follows that with a panicked yip as a mob forms and begins rushing at him (and the others), spouting bizarre rambling!. He looks around for a way out and notices Zephyr to handle it rther quickly, and then sees Corona helpfully trying to contain the people safely!. He looks at Katze and points up, which gets a nod, "Think there is no point trying to avoid freaking out everyone now." He moves quickly, reaching into a card holder and handing Katze one. There is a bright flash of light, before the little wolfish digimon is replaced with a fairly larger robotic bipedal wolf, one of his arms replaced by a large minigun. "I think I can give you two a lift, But one of you might need have to hold onto the gun arm." he says, before looking up at Zephyr, "I admit to lack practice carrying weight, but I can at least carry them for a couple minutes, if we can find a better place to land." He waits for the other two to decide, before he takes off to the air, seeming to struggle a bit. "Need to train more."
Henry Jekyll	Dorian gives everyone a few precious moments to get our of harm's way, and Alden helps those who cannot fly to safety. Then, Corona temporarily subdues the crowd with crowd control grenades, and there is some respite. Unfortunately, the crowd on the ground isn't all the victims, the disease is spreading, and over local radio comes an announcement, an announcement that comes with a powerful psychic message attached like a battering ram. "Ceiling cat is watching you." Then the source comes into view, a squadron of fighter jets that unleash a barrage of missiles, and these are very, very much aimed to kill. That might be why this problem originates from a research institute owned by the department of defense.
Zephyr Windstar	<MASTER! EVADE!> "Falka!" The Mage jukes the missiles, leading them away from the others by flaring out her magic to make her a much larger target for the guidance. She turns, and burns away. "I'll keep these guys occupied, figure this out, fast." she says, having shut off her local radio, just using her magic to boost her voice to the others. The Mage is as much a Fighter Jet as the technological things are, and she's going to give them a run for their money. She can't shoot them down, but she should be able to keep them occupied trying to get a lock on her. She's more maneuverable than most modern aircraft, after all.
Corona Arclite	Corona Arclite blows non-existant smoke from the barrel of the grenade launcher and twirls it around her finger while the crowd is mucking around in the tar, effectively restraining them. "And that as they say is tha--" Cue the roar of jet engines, which makes the vixen's ears flop back in disappointment. "--Oh come on!" And jets mean airstrikes. Corona drops back into the buggy's driver seat, kicking it out of park as she does so. One foot stomps on the throttle while she grabs a lever and yanks it back. As the buggy roars back to life, tires squealing as it shifts hard into reverse as missiles come raining down. There's a big cloud of smoke and fire, which whiffs tendrils away from the mass as the buggy come speeding backwards out of it. There's several blast marks in it's exterior plates, but the tail end of Dorian's barrier may of caught some of that and for it we are very glad. "Sorry pardners, but Ah reckon they just took non-lethal off the table," Corona murmurs as she reachs for a different control and pulls it. Steam hydraulics hiss and gears whine together as the minigun mounted over the back of the buggy starts spinning to speed, angling up and peppering fire into the air. Maybe she can catch a couple of the jets while they're busy trying to lock onto the fast moving Air Mage. Not that she really likes shooting them down, but hey, it's them or her allies, and right now not all her allies are going to be very apt at dealing with advance aircraft, so they gotta go.
Dorian Pavus	Dorian is not about to test himself, or his Barriers, against missiles. He has a completely normal human body and he doesn't want to chance that his Barriers aren't enough to handle the job. And sadly, an Altus mage with no technology -- or a spare dragon to send out -- just isn't a match for a squadron of fighter jets. And he still has no idea what the hell any of these people are talking about! Ultimately there isn't much he can do except get out of the area the missiles are aimed at. So he does that, with magic of course. His form almost seems to dissipate into a cold, blue-white, viscious-looking cloud, and then he seems to blur out of the area, leaving a trail of blue-white smoke behind him. This may be a little more than he can handle, since he really has no idea how to free any of these people from whatever affliction has a hold on them.
Alden	Alden growls as he barely has time to gather relax, when they get attacked again!, this time by military weaponry!. He sees the others declined he offer for help, so he focus on the incoming attack. Thankfully he is good at ranged combat, targetting the missiles and answering the barrage with one of his own, firing his missiles, and his shoulder mounted beam gun to try to shoot down as many of the approaching missiles as he can!, while raising to the air swiftly, away from the mob, and potential collateral damage. The message makes him grunt, shaking his head, "Where is that coming from?".
Henry Jekyll	<< Lead them south, we have an inhibitor almost set up >> The same voice as in the original message alerts the gathered outsiders, trying to help them help him. Zephyr flies circles around the surprisingly agile aircraft, which are still no match for a Midchildan mage. Around then, Corona Arclite starts taking out some of the chasing jets. Fortunately, whatever is going on leaves the pilots with enough wits to direct their crashing planes somewhere mostly harmless before ejecting to safety. Alden contributes by shooting down missiles and moving to distract. The same kind of beating psychic assault comes with the next message, "Resistance is futile. You will be assimilated." If this onslaught goes past the mind's defenses, the very psychic worm that is behind this will try to embed itself in the minds of the listener.
Zephyr Windstar	<Master. Message. Relaying with filter.> Zephyr nods. "South, got it. Keep blocking transmissions." she flies a bit lower, "You guys get that? Lead 'em south!" she shouts, before peeling away and turning. She saw the pilots eject and set their planes on a crash course away from vital areas... so now she can let loose a bit. "Alright, lets see how they like this!" <DEVICE SET COMPLETE. MISTRAL STORM TO SHOOTING FORMATION.> The circling Bits, which until now had only been a passive emitter set for shields against shrapnel, shift to a more aggressive stance, energy charging in the center of the spinning turbine blades. <IMPULSE CASCADE, CYCLONE SHIFT!> Zephyr performs a tight loop, comes in behind one of the jets, and opens fire with a volley of partly homing magic projectiles, aiming to cripple engines and force it down. The Bits seek other jets nearby, and open fire in a multi-angle fuscillade.
Corona Arclite	"South? Got it." Corona retracts the minigun, and makes a fishtailing turn with the buggy to turn it around. Then reachs over to pat the dash of the vehicle with one hand briefly. "Hope ya don't mind bein' a target fer a bit longer, it's the best way to get stuff t'follow us." With that said she regrips the steering wheel and revs the throttle a few times. Then sticks her head out. "Yo, Dorian. S'pose head south." Just in case the mage didn't hear. The lead foots the gas once more and kicks up a shower of grit behind the buggy as it takes off for the indicated direction.
Dorian Pavus	Dorian understands the words themselves, obviously; that's never been a problem in the Multiverse. But he has no understanding of what any of the words represent, as he's not grown up with the memes. So there really isn't much of a way for that little worm to embed itself in Dorian's mind. Or, it might get in there, but there's nothing for it to 'attach' to, since he doesn't understand the memes. Nonetheless, he very much does feel the psychic assault, and can't help but wince. He can feel the throbbing headache starting in already. See, Dorian's powers come from a usually-open mental connection to the Fade, which means he's a little more 'open' to this sort of attack. So even if it's not turning him into a living zombie berzerker, it '''hurts'''! Probably will for a while, too. The not meme-laden message from somewhere else is a welcome addition in all this. South. Right. He raises a hand to aim a thumbs-up in Zephyr's direction, showing that he's indeed heard as well, and then after a moment to get his bearings, starts out south. He's about to hit the turbo again with Fade Step when Corona calls in his direction. He nods. "Right!" he calls out quickly, to make sure it's clear. He pauses, and then looks up at Alden's direction. There wasn't time to jump on with the missiles heading their way, but now, since they probably should all go the same way? He whistles sharply to Alden, to get his attention. "A lift would be appreciated!" he calls up.
Alden	Alden perks his ears, "South?, ok." he says. He is a bit affraid to attack the planes, besides the others seem to got that under control, instead focusing on intercept any potential projectiles. He hears the whistling and rushes down to give Dorian a pickup, "Of course!, climb on." he says, somehow managing to grin despite the metallic looks of his face, holding Dorian in his one arm, making sure the human was secure, before taking off, following the lead of the others.
Henry Jekyll	The journey south is relatively brief, and the crowd that follows hostile, but kept in check by the efforts of Zephyr along with earlier work. A pulsing wave of soothing energy bursts from the target site, combined with the words "Sleep is for the week" and the affected people start to collapse to this, slowly but surely, until they rest like babies. One man in a white coat wearing some kind of headseat approaches and thumbs up towards the outside aid. "Thanks for coming by, I think we have it all contained before it could spread out of control. The vaccine is almost done, we'll keep them asleep until it's ready." He pauses, then adds, "If you want a reward, contact outsourcing for payment. They have a budget."
Corona Arclite	Corona Arclite leans out of the buggy to peer back at the collapsing horde behind them. "Now wouldya lookit that. Sleepin' as sound as calfpints after a cattle drive." Turns and gives the clearly scientist looking guy a brief salute. "Happy to oblige ya with... whatever the hay hooey that was." She didn't understand most of the context either.
Alden	The digimon lands near Corona, helping Dorian make his way to the ground, "Huh, hope none of htem was driving a car or something." he says with a smile. He has to nod at Corona's comment, "Same, glad that we would help." he says, letting out a sigh of relief, waiting to see everything was clear, before he glows brightly and suddenly 'shrinks' back to his previous shape, tiny, and kinda cute. "Good, I was worried I might have to attack some of them."
Dorian Pavus	Dorian hangs onto Alden with one arm, keeping his right arm -- the hand he's holding that staff with -- just in case he has to zap someone. If the herd strays too far -- for this is truly like herding cats -- Dorian may attempt to raise a wall of fire. Not to burn anyone, but to 'gently persuade' them to head in the direction they're required to go in. He's not going to relax until that horde of psychozombies collapses though. Once he's sure it's safe, he'll look to Alden. "I think it's safe to land now," he notes. Presumably Alden will assist Dorian in getting to ground level again. Once he's on the ground again, he nods to the man in the white coat. "If you're sure everything's been taken care of." As for a reward? Dorian smirks, the expression more than a little pained. "Right now my idea of a 'reward' is a nice, dark, quiet room with a place to lie down for an hour or two," he notes wryly.
Zephyr Windstar	<Memes... why did it have to be memes?> asks Divine Wind, as Zephyr lands near the others. "Outsourcing huh, sure, I'll have Dee liase with them. Mostly in it to protect innocent lives, y'know?" she shrugs, then looks around the others. "Can't say the same for the rest, but, eh, mercenaries."