Sable Shadow

I am leaning against the wall beside the door waiting to for anyone to dare to enter and standing so that I can detect anyone stomping my way. When I feel a group heading in, I create a darkness cloud to cover the entrance. I can see, but they can't so I start bebopping around and tapping shoulders and getting them to fight each other who end up knocking the entire team out. I drop the darkness cloud, grab their tasers, drag the bodies to a corner, straighten them up a bit, and then take up my initial position waiting for the next group. When the next group arrives, I drop the cloud, and begin using the tasers in order to take them out. I toss the used tasers and continue collecting new ones as I move the knocked out bad guys to the corner. I am taking out the third group, when unbeknownst to me, a something rises up from the hole in the middle of the room. I am still fighting the guys and while I am dealing with the group, I suddenly notice that the rest of the party are gone and I can see a guy in some kind of armor. He is shooting blue rays from his hands and I duck just as one is about to hit me. My field dims unexpectedly so I decide to work on expanding my darkness to cloud Mr. Bad Guy. Then I am knocked out.   When I wake up, I am reclining inside a bubble approximately twelve foot in diameter. All of my surroundings are higher class and I quickly check my pockets which are now empty, but nothing else seems to be touched. I do truly feel some high altitude sickness with just the overall muscle exhaustion and headache instead of the flu symptoms as in the past. Touching the bubble with my bare hand feels slick like leaded crystal and I can feel a small electrical field as the hairs on that hand stand at attention. Glancing around the room, I can see nice seating (bolted to the floor) and table with lips to keep things from falling off. I can see food and drink on the tables, but I can't smell anything. I can see two individuals in overalls as the groups I was fighting earlier, but no weapons. They also seem to have jet packs, but lower powered ones. They are guarding an entrance and keeping an eye on me, but not focused. Checking the strength of the bubble and to get past this exhaustion with some exercise.   The bubble reacts wtih some brighter blue flashes and the projection area also flashes a brighter blue which might mean a power soure getting used up. I continue to perform various jumps, leaps, and kicks to see if I can make the bubble pop or the power source die. While I am practicing, I keep an eye on the guards, but they don't seem to care what I am doing or be worried about it at all. I also keep an eye on the room. There is an outside door, the door the guards are out, and a third door that I can see - might be more that are disguised. My assumption is that the guards are covering the door to the owner's sanctuary, while the third door should lead to a hub that would allow access to all decks. I notice the guards standing to attention so I keep my spinning up and when other people enter, I do a final movement to land in a tada pose. Three ladies enter from the guarded room and they turn to face the door where a man in a wheelchair follows. He is large, high probabily he is blind, bushy eyebrows, a nose broken multiple times, not entirely bald, bulky arms which taper to spindly wrists, child fingers on an adult hand., and legs that do not appear to move. The mechanized wheelchair itself has more than two wheels, not all of which are touching the floor. He is wearing a gray, collarless shirt that looks like silk with a quilted pullover vest. Then I notice there are two minions that are walking behind him. One is typing on a keyboard while the other is talking quietly into a microphone - both are probably doing livestream of visual cues.   The wheelchair turns to face the women saying something about the necessity of ensuring the consulate has been nuetralized first before tackling the main goal. He is talking in English and then realizes the women can't understand him and switches to their language. They are not impressed with the guy and since I don't like his looks much, I suggest that I would be happy to help them take out the wheelchair guy and while one of the ladies looks interested they mostly ignore me. The guy however looks towards me and we exchange a few words then music is blaring and threats ensue. He then says that he is going to take me back to his ship and a man comes forward to release the wheels from the safety clamps and when he stands up he winks at me. I take that as a sign that he has assisted me to escape so I try to do a forward aerial cartwheel to break the bubble before I am carted off. It doesn't work and I am left with the sound of being inside a crystal bell while it is ringing. Mr. Winky exudes sympathy for me, but still rolls me towards a small jet with a bubble dome that is about the size of a yacht and puts me into an elevator. Winky guy then pats my trolley and scurries off to the staff elevator. My own elveator has to have a button held entire time to work which is done by the keyboard guy. Then Winky guy is back to get me off elevator and moves me to new area of the deck.   Surprising both me and Mr. Winky, the floor sinks down until most of cart is under floor and the bottom of my bubble is resting on the carpet and then he leaves. He does disappear, but I see his shadow move down the hall. He might still be here to help or might not. Then the vehicle takes off and starts traveling away, though I am not sure which way or what our destination might be. Wheelchair man turns to me while minions sit down and buckle in. He explains his use of a nasally voice to meet expectations of the group. He is known as Mr. Vehnon and is a mutant who was happy to remove me from the clutches of Dr. Destroyer - if that is even his name. He can perceive that I am not from this world as he is not either. He is also part of an organization to mitigate a situaiton imposed on a small nation. He is a member of that nation that he has joined due to perceived benefits.   The ship lands and the first officer (who is Mr. Winky guy) gets my trolley on the elevator, and rolls me in the wake of Mr. Vehnon's group. We enter a bulding and end up in a smaller room with a desk covered with various equipment. He does some manipulations and the bubble shuts down. I cartwheel of the top of the trolley and Vehnon says I can freshen up and then I will be taken to a room for a meal. Mr. Winky disappears again and I go in to freshen up. No mirrors, but there are three polarized windows that show occassional lightening flashes. I don't feel tired anymore so I freshen up as best I can and then walk out to find a women is waiting for me dressed almost entirely in red. She uses my chin as a focul point. We talk breifly and she shares some information about various places she knows about. She does mention that the Island layer (or is it lair) is restricted. Surely I would not wish to go there as my face would be melted off and I agree that would be a bad thing to happen. She indicates where I should go to find the dining area. She is not worthy and should not show her back to me so she can direct me, but not lead me.   The room we enter was most likely a bunk room that has been turned into a nice dining room with dumbell shapped table that keeps people close to each other. He recognizes my entrance (he is told by his two minions) and compliments me on my appearance and suggests I sit. We will start with entree and then move to salad course to allow me to fortify with protein. During the meal we discuss how it is pointless to look for solutions in own reality as surely other realities have already solved the problem. Realistically, the means to use 98% of resources in the city, to stregthen its boundary walls, and protect the entrances, as well as allow better access control to areas we use for growing food, and ensure that the population gets filtered sunshine and keep away dangers that cause terminal illnesses. He is sure that several other realities have solved at least one of these problems and should be happy to share that knowledge.   When asked why work with brickers he responds that he just wanted conversations with Dr. Destroyer. He is just a thief stealing the technology that I was interested in and he wants to rule this world to suit himself. He tells me that the only way to kill him is multiple nuclear devices which will kill the entire world eventually. This has to be true because this same individual has been attacking this world for 120 years with slowly increasing success rates. He could tell them about the only solution he sees, but he doesn't want to intentinally hurt this world as he is a Gray hat. This means he wishes to do no harm to others, make no moral choices, and avoid areas that are not within his knowledge area. He did not understand when he was young, but does now that he does not know everything and is only a genuis within a limited area.   In his own reality, he did careful experiments to determine if his blindness was a payment for hisgenius. He had observed that his world of origin was on a fast decline and he was not able to slow it down. He attempted a desparate gamble and was found by Dean Sussex and gathered, along with what others he could find from my reality, and given the ability to improve his chances of survival from what my stupid gamble has cost him. He would then explain to each individual when they were capable of understanding what his goal was for his nation (giant natural bubble under the surface of a different reality) and ask them to join him in the quest to solve the problems.   His particular area of genius is energy fields connected to material science and is marvelous at scaled engineering principles. He finally understands why his body is what it is based upon the desparate gamble he took. Now he is very good at analysis of machinery and knows when he should not make assumptions and should study more. He is passable at fluid dynamics and is fascinated by historical structure though he has to take lessons in this from lesser individuals who more readily understand that aspect. In the area of reality switching technology he understands enough to be project leader. He can know when to use the technology to know or if it should be avoided. The gray hats are looking for another world walking genius to assist in getting answers for thier quest. He wants to ask me much about my travels, but I answer a few short questions and then give him a link from my necklace and a snip of my cotton shirt to run some experiments on before I insist I must go to sleep to prepare for a trip back to my companions.   I do my best to clean up, put a chair in front of the door, and set my internal alarm for five hours of sleep. Mr. Winky wakes me with a hand on my mouth and tells me that if I wait any longer I won't be going back to my companions. There is a female mastermind in control of the group who has decided that I am more valoable here than free. He sets my bed on fire, has me change back into my clothes and makes sure that I keep what I was wearing. We, after kidnapping my maid, go downstairs to pick up a trike without wheels. He puts my dressing gown and the maid's shoes in a storage component of the trike, then grabs a sidecar and puts it on the seat. He assigns me to pick up the front of the trike, the maid to the back, and he grabs the middle and we set off through the dining room and out a door into the cold. There is a gigantic glowing heat pillar which I have no clue as to its purpose. Once I get past that, I see the rails. We get the bike on the rails, he puts the maid on the seat, assigns me to the sidecar, and turns on the bike. We hear an alarm and a shield starts to cover the rail entrance, but we get through in time. He requests me to put up a darkness cloud and I do so that we are covered, but not enough that it would be noticable. He can't see, but then he blinks sevearl times and he has wolf eyes and is apparently able to see and tries to go faster. We go several miles north through the Catskills (I swear it has to be!) and then we land.   He gets into the side car to rest and tells me that I am driving now. I have no idea where we are or where we are going as Mr. Winky doesn't like to share details. I rewind my memory to see how to get the trike up and running after a few tries I manage to figure out how to drive it without breaking anything. I debate briefly about whether I should follow the river or not, but since I don't know exactly where to go or how long this will keep flying, I head up the river for speed's sake. After forty-five minutes or so, I get the hang of flying, but now it is getting it colder and there are flurries. I'm not truly clear on how fast we are going or if I am being followed.

Makeshift and I manage to purloin some of the reflective foil they have been putting on the windows and we walk back out to see if we can find either Psypher or Shadow. As we exit the building, we find them just outside where they had come to find us. I would say great minds and all, but. The Shadow immediately says, "Let's go!" and expects us to just fall in line. Sadly, the other two guys with me just fall in line. I try to ask questions and I get major attitude about if I don't have a plan I should just follow along. I try to provide some questions that should be answered so that we can all work towards a common goal. They are not interested.   Suddenly there is that guard that had been so friendly and he explains a little bit about the plan which includes getting onto a hovercraft and disabling it in any way. This supposedly will make the bad guy stop his attack and go back home to investigate. Seems he thinks he is so superior that there is no way that anyone on this world would be able to even dare to attack him or his things. Once I agree that this is at least a plausible idea the guard snaps his fingers and we are on the hovercraft in a warehouse looking room - with a group of guys on a smoke break!   I immediately pull a shadow to make the edges of the room move to cover us and grab Makeshift's hand. I whisper a quick question to find out if anyone can see and only the Shadow has the ability to see dimly. I lead them quietly to the next room and release the shadow once I can tell that there is no one here. Inside this room are a lot of crates with all types of scrap metal filling them. There are also cables and power conduits in the walls according to Makeshift. He finds some valves that he determines will do what we need to do and get Marco to assist him with turning three valves. Once they complete that task, a klaxon goes off. I am watching the door to be ready and when two smokers from the other room enter, I throw a cloud of darkness and begin to sneak around and whisper into their ears: "Watch out!" "Did you see him try to hit you?" "Where is he now?" "What is happening?" They finally manage to run into each other and knock themselves out. Once that happens, I release the shadow and the other file in from their various places so we are all together again.   The klaxons are still noisy so we can't really hear each other, but I hear enough to know that they used some grenades below. I suggest we get off the ship in sign language and The Shadow agrees that we should continue into the ship and the others follow - again!          

While we are listening to Skyburner a guard walks in and whispers to the translator. Marco interrupts us to share that a lockdown will be starting in just a few minutes. We can either step outside to confer and then return to complete our hour of interview time OR we can leave before the lockdown starts. We step into the hallway to determine what we want to do. Three of us vote to leave and come back later so that we will not be stuck here too long as there are other things we need to do. Psypher would prefer to stay as he has been looking with great covetousness at the computers, but he is outvoted.   We walk outside and see that the bridge has been dismantled and there is a forefield over the city across the river. Marco is more than a little surprised and goes over to an armed guard that is now stationed at the corner. He comes back to tell us that an enemy of this city appears to be making an attack run though it is not folllowing their standard methods. He very much wants to go get the Praetor and get back to the consulate. Apparently the Praetor is talking to an informant. I give him permission and he rushes off and I turn to our group and question why a Praetor of all people would have an information in this municipal building. That seems to be very odd to me as I would assume there would be several layers of protection between him and anyone the could be classified as an informant. Maybe I am bringing too many assumptions with me and it is innocent, but it does make me both curious and nervous.   Seven other longhouses can be seen. Three of them are close to us with the other four at the compass point edges of the island. The prison has five soldiers guarding it while scanning the sky for the incoming attack. The Shadow goes over to entertain the smiling guard who was watching us to make sure we didn't go back in maybe. Psypher goes over to check out one of hte   signs bright colors advertising lots of food/drinks. The first floor and upstairs is a what appears to be the home of the ones who either own this building or work here. I type in Latin to ask Where am I and it responds with Verdun - short term merchant residences. It asks for my contract number which I do not have. I ask if a number is required to ask questions and it starts a loading screen. While waiting, I look around to get a sense of the space. This is certainly a discount store with people from many different areas (North and South America mostly). Everyone is working fast to pack up and store all the material and being wary of fire. Jewelry, tires, tamales, bulk cereal, beautiful glass jars with dead fish inside them. The help screen pops up with icosn to help me find: Directions, Embassy, Administrator, Safety Protocol for current event, Video.   I click on the video and we get a full color hologram in traditional Iriquios garb of a lovely grandmotherly figure who speaks to children about what is happening and how to handle it. She calls the bad guy Dr. Destructo, mentions that the henchmen have tentacles, but Dr. Destructo is covered in metal. We, as children, are supposed to go into a small shelter to stay until our parents come get us. Free to take a toy and book, but will have to wait until our parents come get us to go to the bathroom and while it might feel like we will be there for a long time, it won't actually be all that long. The hologram speaks in Latin (well a version of it), I translate for Makeshift as she talks. Once the video goes off, we look at each other and go "tentacles!"   I click the Safety Protocol next to see the adult version. It says that during a lock down which can occur between three and then times during our stay each adult has three requirements. 1. duty stations - verify that all materials are protected from the fire threat 2 - assist house leader in securing the contents and any exterior weaknesses, and 3 - shelter in an interior hallway with no outside windows that is slightly underground. The children will be on 2nd floor to give them higher oxygen levels as there is a chance that fire will occur and there will be a need to remove smoke from the building by something (not my version of latin!). It goes on to say that there are automatons flying, but they have to stay in a clear path . By staying in a certain level they can get signals from their control ship and avoid interference from atmosphere and what defenses that this site can offer. There is also a note that if you have any medical needs then let house leader know now before event happens.   We check our time and see that we need to head back to meet the others. We go back to the meeting place and no one is there. Makeshift teleports up to see what he can see. He comes back down and lets me know that there was an arrow marked out on the ground in the snow and he follows it visually and sees Psypher on a ship in the river. No sign on the Shadow or the guard nor is there anyone in the hover car. He also says that there is a flying ship firing on the consulate buildling. I suggest that retreat is the better part of valor and we go inside the building where a guard directs us to get under a desk. I comply gladly.

Makeshift and I wake, freshen up as much as possible and then teleport back to the throne area to be 'found' and escorted to meet the rest of the team. We are taken inside for a brief tour and then are asked to remove our weapons. HHHMMMM, I might be able to find a nail file. The Shadow comes over, takes off his pistols and hangs them up, and they look expectantly at us. Makeshift finds a weapon to give them to show we mean no harm and then we enter the dining area. There is a lovely buffet, and we get some food and sit down to eat. There are a lot of spices in the meal which matches the Roman empire of our Earth. There is an abundance of cinnamon - even more than you would expect in a show of wealth. The bacon and sausage may or may not be pork based, but that is a minor point. They only have wooden trenchers instead of the porcelain that might be expected based upon the way she chose to prepare tea. Or even clay from our own Earthen traditions. We all eat slowly, watch what happens, and wait for the praetor to arrive.   The twins come in first, they make apologies, grab some food, and then sit down to talk .Then the praetor arrives and brings an interpretor. Based upon his clothing, speech patterns, and phraseology he appears to be from the Mediterrean area - not Rome, but close and certainly not from this continent. He claims his name is an Iroquis word that would have been the place name for this area on our earth. After we have had time to finish our meals, the praetor wants to know our goals for the day. The twins do a quick recap of what they have been learning based upon the information our team gave them yesterday. They think that this one earth is trying to put everything back to the way it originally was - but what does that mean? They continue to share knowledge with The Shadow and devise a plan to have the praetor to check with the local trade leaders to determine if there will be a potential theft opportunity coming soon. Also might be able to find someone who can fix our throne room.   Senja Jikonsase is the cook and she attempts to answer queestions and show us things in the consulant between baking and getting meals ready. However, she is not interested in sharing details of the praetor's life even though she has been with him for a long time. She knows a smattering of various languages, but no one has been able to figure out her native tongue yet, though we all try various European languages on her. She does tend to rant about synthetic ice - whatever that is. The people working here all seem to be either Euroasian or from equatorial lands and no one from the local area. To prvent spies? To maintain a distance from the local populace?   The praetor returns and informs us that we can have one hour with the prisoners from the last attempt to steal metal. Before we leave the translator gives us some rules for suriving the encouter and not upsetting the locals. We then head out to the chariot - sadly not a real chariot, just a hover car. We arrive at the prison and enter to see where the prisoners are kept. It looks like a racquectball court! There are two people there - a man and a woman. The woman is sulking, but the man goes to the visitor area ready for us. I force The Shadow to sit down and talk with him.   We all get a chance to chat, but I chose to just observe him and the woman. He is mercenary like and seems to be trying to do the best he can in this situation, but my feeling is that he is either lying or not telling the whole truth. Not really possible to determine much from her since she is pouting and not interested in talking with us. The room itself appears to be something that had to be modified to become a prison. There is also a lot of furniture inside the space - maybe to give them an illusion of choice and making the space their own, maybe because it was stuff that no one else one wanted.   We did not really seem to get any important information, but there are so many clues!

Makeshift indicates the coast is clear and we head into the kitchen to grab some food. He makes sure that we just get a little bit of everything and get it all cleaned up and we run back into her room. I can actually hear her walking back into the kitchen as we silently shut the door to begin our feast. I am nervous about being caught, but Makeshift seems to take it all in stride - like he might have done something similar before. That certainly gives me food for thought as well as for my stomach. Because I am worried about the maid walking in on us, I check to see if we can maybe teleport to somewhere else in the house. He checks around to see how many are in the house and ignoring the two we are traveling with, the three entertaining them, and the maid there appear to be two others in the library area. He suggests that we move to the ballroom to have some abilty to still hide, but can look around some. I know that I am curious as to agendas of this realm.   The ballroom has carpet on the floors, ceilings, and walls. This does seem to be reminiscent of the Roman era design. There is a lovely mix of local design elements being used in European methods to winterize the home. What is truly odd is that I find peach wood in the room. That is not locally grown! I notice lots of small discrepancies in the items in the room and that leads me to extrapolate that the local Consul is here due to one of three reasons. 1. He is an idiot and this is the best place to put him to keep him from wreaking havoc, but still show favor to his family or him for the skeletons found. 2. He is owed a favor, but gained this in a way that made him an embarrassment so he was stationed in this out of the way spot to make it plain to him and others that he is not to be listened to. 3. He has already been promoted, but did something that needed him out of public sight until there is time for the people involved to die. There is no real way to figure out which one is true, but knowing that would help to understand the agenda.   Makeshift and I discuss options. The language barrier is a problem. Paperwork would be useful - if we can read it. People can be observed and listened to - if we can understand them. Then I remember he mentioned the two people in the library area. I suggest we teleport to a place to try and listen to their conversation. He suggests under the stairs so we can listen and hope to learn about this realm. We can tell they are obviously looking for something, but the language is not English. Italianesque. Most of it appears to be about the job of searching, but it appears to be about walking trails, trends of people groups? Might be about hunting for truffles? I know I heard that word. Then a door opens and cold air pours over us. And then we are once again in the dark.   Makeshift is intent on watching events unfold outside of the room we are hiding and tells me briefly about the guards patrolling the hallway and the fact that all of the beds are now all filled. He suggests that we get bedding from the storage closet and I suggest that we go to their room to sleep at least hafl the night in a bed. I request a bathroom break and a chance to freshen up a bit and get ready for the night. Then once we are all in the same room, we begin to share what knowledge we have gained. Tomorrow Makeshift and I will have to teleport out of the room prior to sunrise and then head back to the chairs to become new vistors to help with the problem. I do worry that this is a trap, but I can enjoy saying "I told you so" later. Then Makeshift leaves to go find Kitsune and bring him back to the team.  

We enter the room and it is very loud. Now that we have had time to look around more I am noticing that there is a lot of things missing: no storage places, no cleaning equipment, no bathrooms. No where are the platters that carried the food. The only one that ate the food was the ninja and he appears to be fine, though he claimed the food was only so-so and claims he is a better chef. I kinda give them a brief synopsis of our past experiences in this room, but they all stare at me like I am crazy - including Makeshift!! I huff and stand back to let them do what they want to do - though I do warn the Shadow again about the floor disappearing.   I watch the guys wander around and the Shadow pull out a gun and threaten one of the crystals. I get bored and go sit in one of the chairs. The ninja walks over and accuses me of being under mind control and pulls out a knife. I offer to get up, but before I can do that the gold sparkles start swirling around the four of us and an apparently empty spot in the room. Chef gets called over to the Shadow to see if that will change the way the sparkles interact with us. It does not. I then stand up to see if that will stop the sparkles. it does not. Shadow asks Psypher to put away his knife to see if that will stop the sparkles. It does not and then we are assaulted as the room starts to turn on. The sparkles give up on us and join in the dance of energy as the floor disappears and the sphere rises.   The thrones look like they might be sinking into the floor and it is now so loud that we cannot hear each other - even standing side-by-side. Then suddenly the room darkens, the sphere drops and locks into place, the floor reappears, and you can hear a pin drop. The ream react differently and then the Shadow pulls the crystal that he had played with earlier. We decide that we should take the crystal back to our stash where we have been keeping all of the clues. We all - except Kitsune - head out. We all stealthily walk out of the chamber and head up. We quietly unlatch the door and feel a brisk breeze and look out on Canada. The southern shore of the St. Laurence river and we can see the four thrones ahead with four people dressed in Roman armor. The flag has a maple leaf, but not the design we are used to. They have not noticed us yet and instead seem to be focused on the road leading to not Montreal. Shadow walks out and heads to the road.   He is 'caught' and the soldiers convince him to go see the Praetor. Psypher also goes out to the soldiers and talks to them. He also follows Shadow to the north. Makeshift and I sneak behind the others and follow them to a building that is a weird mixture of steam power and futuristic repulser lift technology. There is a lot of art around and Makeshift sneaks a peak in a window and then we teleport into the warmth. Then after we watch the other two being escorted further into the building, we begin to sneak around to look for different hiding places. The doors are noisy, and the exit is limited to the one entrance so Makeshift's x-ray vision and we find a nice little hideaway behind the kitchen so we can get something to eat while waiting for events.   While Makeshift is busy watching for danger, I take the opportunity to see what I can observe about the culture from this room. I can tell that they value clean lines and smooth edges. This culture is not about a conglomeration of individuals, but a seamless whole. They have a lot of nylon, extruded plastics, items that are both sturdy and light weight which made it easier to be shipped from overseas that doesn't show wear-n-tear. Not all of the items have been shipped because there is a significant amount of local items that are easily identifiable and the local influencing can be seen. For example, the blanket on the bed is deer skin with beaded work and would not have been cheap. It probably costs more than the rest of the items in this room put together - or it would be in our world. Looking through her closet I see that while there is no uniform, the clothing choices are still uniform in appearance. What I find surprising is that there is no English gallic influences visible, but Mediterranean is obvious. Now I really want to go shopping to see what I can discover about this culture because you can learn so much from what is available. One thing that is clear about this culture is that it values everyone to have one rock steady trait which might vary between individuals, but does not allow for perceived weakness from anyone.

Several of the team follow the strangers into the building. I chose at this time to not contaminate my aura with the hideousness that is the decor for this building that is claiming to be an eatery. There is a table outside close to a window so I can keep an eye on almost everyone inside as well as watching for danger from outside. Makeshift disappears to the rooftop to check for danger. I watch for danger and also keep an eye on the discussion inside which seems to be fairly intense. Then the group breaks up and the strangers leave splitting into two groups. I decide to hang back a bit and verify that no one else is following them and then follow them myself to see where they go.   They end up back at the original shed that Makeshift and I teleported inside and found the thrones. This would be how they are crossing dimensions. I don't get too close as I don't want to be noticed, but I am close enough to hear them unlock and then relock the door. Well, that is unfortunate. Then I remember that there are the other two who should be coming back soonish. I look around and then decide that my best option would be to climb the huge tree in the yard to keep a lookout. They enter the sculpture garden more quickly than I anticipated. They go over to the shed and the guy starts to knock. Eventually they are let in and I let myself out of the tree.   I get down from the tree and walk to the door. I assume that other members of the team also followed them so I quietly call out to Makeshift - and he pops in!! Not funny. We discuss about whether to enter and he pulls up his video footage and we see them enter the throne room empty handed and I hypothosize that there is a room off the hallway that is either hidden or we just haven't found yet where they left the platters of food. We see them enter the throne room and decide to head that way - just in time to see the final glow as they teleport.      

I peer into the next backyard and can dimly see tress to the west, east, and a younger tree further north. The darkness surrounding me is actually impairing my ability to see to the edges of my area of control. Normally I can see easily, but now it feels as though I am in a fog - a dry fog that limits my ability to see. AHA! Now I know how people probably feel when I use my power. No wonder that car couldn't react in time.   ANYWAY, I crouch quietly on the top of the wall and peer intently towards the direction I assume danger will come from. I see shapes that are vaguely humanoid in shape. There are five of them. Two are almost identical in form and are wearing combat boots. One actually wears high heels - in January! The last of the five to come over the wall almost seems fragile. That one is much shorter and is being taken care of to a certain degree. As the shapes come over the wall, they also seem to be handing food platters or something similar in shape over the wall. One large platter and three smaller ones. They walk across the yard and almost directly towards me. I decide to disperse my ability and then move very slowly back to allow them to move unimpeded.   They get to the wall I am standing on and it is higher than they are by enough to really want a ladder. They all look at each other and some type of silent communication and then the two that are similar in shape bend over to provide a lift to a third member. That is when I notice the green glowing eyes. They are the only two with the eyes and I immediately start thinking about androids and cyclons and other impossibilities. They carefully pick up the fragile one and put her down then then hand over the platters which she - assumption, but I feel safe thinking that - carefully places on the ground. Then the last guy takes a running jump to grab hands and move over the wall.   They move to the door and say something about bringing food to meet the neighbors. They then go inside the room we were in and come out very disappointed about what they found. The fragile one says they can go back home as failures or look for - us? After they look around for a while and determine that the pile of debris in the backyard is actually from the transmission room. They are not sure how the material was removed from the room, but they are as sure that asking for assistance from management will be a bad idea.   One of the team suggest that they go and check the other emitters. Before they leave they decide to leave a note. While they are writing it and continuing to look for clues as to where we have gone, there is a discussion about dropping the darkness. At that point, I have to decide if I am going to pull my darkness back around me or drop over the wall into the backyard next to the one where they are. The fragile one - obviously the leader - asks for suggestions as to where to leave the note with the final decision being to leave it within the pile of debris.   They are about to leave and as the darkness drops the laugher of the Shadow fills the area. A conversation ensues and it is obvious that while the Shadow knows - they do not know the Shadow.  

Shadow explains the butterfly effect of time travel.   Then we enter the utility shed to see a simple phonograph that looks to be a relic of the early 19oo's. The room itself is immaculately clean and more quiet than a normal city room. Psypher talks about the various security devices that were in place and how easy it was to actually get into the room. Theories are that either it was intentional to mask the importance of this room OR that any additional input might disturb the anchoring effect that this room plays in the cosmic circle. The Shadow asks Makeshift and Kitsune to look for power sources while Psypher is sent to look outside the room for what shouldn't be there. While those three are doing the investigations asked we talk about how we can impact the device in such a way to deviate it, but not have a negative impact to ourselves. We finally settle on dropping a few particles of dirt on the tabletop as there is such a huge lack of dirt in this room.   Psypher returns and tells the Shadow about the camera and the potential forcefield effect. The Shadow walks out, stands directly in front of the moved camera and then slowly walks back to the room, picking up some mulch on the way, and then enters the room to put the mulch on the tabletop. We are waiting to see what effect that will have when Makeshift walks over to tell us that the throne room is being activated. We continue to monitor the contraption waiting to see if the changes we made have an impact on either the 1930's or on the incoming visitor. While I am watching, I see the mulch slowly move off the table and towards the door. It is almost like it is being vacuumed. The Shadow notices and takes his phone and puts it facedown on the tabletop to see if that will be impacted by the field that moved the mulch.   A snarled ball of blue-white energy with a cacophony of sounds tied up in it from private and public channels - including the Watchmen's private channel. This is not the golden strings we had followed before and I think it might be more sound, more conversations, more private snatches that it would normally have based upon our current understanding. While the glow inside the horn has gone back to the expected level, the horn itself is still glowing more brightly than when we entered the room. The group discusses and makes the decision to remove the device from the room. The Shadow had resources that can investigate it, but first is how to get it detached from the floor. I suggest Makeshift teleport the entire contraption to save a lot of time and trouble. He warns everyone to leave the room without going to the backyard so he can move it.   The room moves and looks very sad with the emptiness. The last echo is the glowing ball of energy that the horn contained until it winks out as tit is left behind. We work together to devise a plan to carry this device for investigation and settle on a plan to keep watch as the surroundings get very dark. I look around and notice that the dark is very complete and there is no way this is natural. I turn in a slow circle to see if I can determine the source. It appears to be coming from the north - the same direction that Makeshift and I used to come here. I cast my own darkness and start walking that way to see if I can find the source. I can only see blobs around me - enough that I can avoid obstacles, but not really see them. I get to the back wall and I am able to determine that the darkness has become stable so I move to get on the top of the wall as an observation post.

We set up the camera to watch over the throne area to check for activity. We have it sending live feeds to Makeshift's phone so we can watch to see what happens. While we are waiting, he mentions that he had been talking to a guy in a local diner. I perk up at the mention of food and use that to motivate him to go and get some time to refresh. It has been an afternoon. This is the Mex Carroll Diner - Mexican American food so I have a hot Philly cheesesteak with fries. Food is good and we both just listen to the conversation going on around us. Close by are some city engineers talking about an issue with the stop lights at the corner north of us. We are just about to have to either buy dessert or leave when sparkles re-appear and all of the people around us react to them! I wonder if it has to do with the time of day - maybe the sun's refraction has to be at a certain angle for them to be seen by most people? Some people think it is the fault of AIM. Others mention that they have been appearing for a few months now - well since the middle of August when a Watchmen event in the harbor seemed to start it all. The city investigated as do Star Labs, but no answers have been shared and it does appear that no one actually has an answer. One person even mentions that he didn't understand until now why his union provided a clause for pay due to super villain activity.   One thing is clear it is only the harbor district that is being impacted and that no one has any answers. Star Labs did say to call them if the sparkles become more frequent, but most people seem to take it in stride or ignore it. It is even possible to place bets with bookies as to when the sparkles will stop! I lean over to ask why no one follows the sparkles to see where they go and they look at me like I am crazy. After all, the sparkles go through walls and into the ground! A few more questions and the fact that no sparkles are seen over the water or coming from the direction of the harbor. Makeshift and I decide to head west and check out the harbor to see whether or not sparkles appear at all or if no one is seeing them. We get there and look around. He thinks the best place to start is under the pier. UNDER the pier where it is wet and cold. I stay on top to keep a lookout while he goes below. After several minutes, he comes back up and tells me that he found a hollow support beam with a room.   This room has two chairs - which we both agree we will NOT sit in - and technology from pre-WWI. We teleport in as there is no other way to get there without letting the water in. Inside are two workstations. One has what appears to be a seismograph, tracking, and communication equipment. Also some sealed MREs and what looks like an emergency oxygen supply which I will not be checking to see if it still works as this equipment is older and even if the oxygen tanks are still there, who knows if they are full. Makeshift uses what he calls X-Ray vision and looks closely at the other station. It appears that there are some modifications that are either collecting or using the sparkles. It is also based upon concentric rings with something in the center that is either based on or created to look like part of the floor design in the throne room. While he is using his supersuit, I look around the box to glean what information I can.   During the 1910's or 20"s there was a masked man of history known as "The Black Eagle" who disappeared during WWI. He was thought to have come from a wealthy NE family which explains the use of what was experimental and cutting edge technology of the time inside this box. I would also say that this structure was built during the same time as the Brooklyn Bridge as it would have taken the same equipment and these piers support the traffic that would have been needed once the bridge was active. The "Black Eagle" lived on a private estate on Long Island which would also seem to point to this being either a secret lair or an information gathering location. Likely there were two people per shift working in tandem to watch for danger and that makes it very likely a ladder is set into wall to hide and puling it out might open some hatch so I decide that looking for a ladder now would not be a great idea. It aslo appears that the support pillar does not actually support the pier but is just for this contraption and it has air flow going through the pillar. I do think there should be a periscope to make sure the coast is clear and then a freighter could dock above to cover shift changes. I would bet that a submarine would dock below to handle equipment replacements using that same technique to keep out water as I have seen during my pearl dive expeditions. This was probably abandoned when he died as none of the technology has been updated since - well except for what Makeshift is finding in the other workstation.   We theorized that there would be other structures in an even circle at the same distance from the throne room. As we started a clockwise circle, we found that the distance was not even, but it was close. The installations were inside maintenance sheds, outbuildings, or even a storefront that had enough of a presence to hide the true purpose. As we are approaching one of the buildings, we see three others entering the building that we are investigating next. They are staring at us so we stare back!

We are unable to really discover who or what has been using this area, nor have we been able to decipher any of the written materials or the computer console. We decide the best plan is to create a device to let us know when people arrive via the thrones and/or use the door to this place. I agree to run over to the nearby Port Authority to grab a few things that Makeshift needs to create the device for the thrones. I go over the nearby fence and head straight to the dock's restricted personnel section to get the equipment. I do pass by some guy ripping up paper for some reason. I leave him alone as I don't have the moral high ground and continue on. I enter the office and attempt to charm the lady at the desk in order to get the items. I pull the 'don't anger the boss man' routine and she goes to get what I need. Now I just have to find a form to copy while she is away from her desk so she is satisfied with her efforts - and mine.   I walk away with some type of doohickey and charging cable, a box of tack, and a couple of radios. She completes the form and I walk out. I head back towards the shed and notice that it is getting a bit drafty out. I see there is a clean-up crew handling that guy who was destroying paper. I get back the shed and Makeshift tells me that he had visitors - a cleaning crew apparently that left everything as it was, but dusted. He quicky takes what I borrowed and creates the devices to track anyone coming or going, but he really wants a camera. We head towards a nearby pawnshop to get the camera.

Ice. Cold. Empty.   This is not an inviting place to be. I wonder around trying to determine where we are, how we got there, and how to get back. We are in a playground obviously, but there are some very odd things and it has obviously been abandoned for a while. That could be because it is winter, but since it has what looks like a school, I am guessing it has been abandoned for a different reason. That could be due to the metal content here. I say that because most of the metal here has either been replaced or it has actually rotted - metal rot! I turn my attention to the device that would probably be our best bet for getting home. I find my companion also checking out the device and he wants to run some experiments. He feels that investigating the town or the ice wall would not be the best use of our time or energy. Since I am hoping he is my best option to not die, I agree. I do take a few minutes to look at the city. My intention is to see if anyone is interested, but I get distracted by the fact that while the city looks modern, but none of the boats do. They actually have sails - real live 1800 sails. No steam power is in evidence or metal hulls. Some beautiful and well loved fiberglass hulls, but no metal ones.   I drag my attention back to the experiment that my companion wants to do and I help by grabbing two rocks from the playground area. He leaves the playground and gets both dead and live branches. We then place one set of the materials into seat two and another set into seat four (or what we have decided to call two and four!). The device begins to spin and it is in constant motion - not fast, but steady - for eight full minutes. When it finally stops all momentum, the rocks and dead branches are still there, but the live evergreen branches are gone! From this first experiment, it appears that a successful transfer requires mass and living tissue. Makeshift heads out to the nearby forest area to see if he can find some animals to use for the next experiment. I do my best to keep watch and stay warm.   He comes back with a small squirrel - only one. We duct tape it into chair number two and give the device a spin. It spins and stops and nothing changes. This makes us think that we need living material in two of the chairs. He heads out to find another squirrel, but comes back with a dog - which is not a squirrel. We get the dog to sit in chair number four and give it a spin. There is a flash of light and poof - dog and squirrel are gone. We look at each other and shrug, then remove the rocks and branches and sit down. The device starts spinning as soon as we set foot on it and we barely get settled when there is a flash of light and we are no longer outside the city of Boston. Instead we appear to be in Toronto, but not a Toronto that I have visited. Instead it has walls around it and the city design makes it very obvious that it is a ROMAN city. Which conclusion is proven by the two centurions that turn around from petting a dog to look at us. Makeshift at I look at each other and quickly scramble back into the chairs we just vacated. Flash of light and we are back in - BROOKLYN?   We teleport outside to see if the statue garden is the same, but we pop out and there is a person just standing in front of us. He drops a smoke bomb and jumps twenty feet up into a tree. Once the smoke clears we can see him, but he does not talk. We check around the area and the statues are the same colors and in the same placement which leaves us confident that we are back to where we started. We share a few theories as to where we went and why those places in particular. How much impact does the chairs themselves have? Do those three cities form a pyramid? Does the elevation of the cities have any impact? What about those light swirls? Where they designed to lead us to be test subjects or are they a side effect of the device itself. I go back to the consoles to check them out, but I cannot read them at all. Makeshift thinks that perhaps it is related to a computer language so he pulls down some of the books and begins to see if he can come up with a translation program. I wander over to the pile of tools and discover that none of them have metal. I didn't take time in 'Toronto", but metal does not appear to be a good thing around these devices. The only exceptions I can see are the four towers in the corners. These have lightning arcing and metal rings around the outside.   I can deduce from the state of the tools and the workspace that there has been a person who has been working who does not care about his tools at all. Even if there was an urgency to what he was working on (and yes, I use that pronoun on purpose) or perhaps he is used to having someone to clean up after him. BUT, I am fairly confident that this is a normal size humanoid. It could be that they are from the Boston area as that could not have metal and therefore the no metal tools would make sense, but perhaps that is just part of all of the worlds connected to these devices. I give up that line of inquiry and move towards the redish tower. As I get closer, I can feel the heat rise and I share that with Sahara to see if he can fix that first once he can translate the consoles. Then I get closer and notice that there is a lot of notations on the metal band. Based upon what I can deduce from the writing, it appears that a small group of people were working on some mathematical solution and each person was working on a different section.   So much going on and yet nothing that can be really known. Frustration!

There is a collection of very eclectic statues behind the house as I continue to follow the sparkles. While there are a few others around, they don't seem to really notice the sparkles - either because they are involved in their own lives. I step into the art garden and try to see if the sparkles might be a part of the art in the garden. It is interesting enough that it might be possible. I see the sparkles turn between the buildings and I follow into the bushes, so I head that way also. As I am trying to move quietly, I turn slightly to get past a bush that really needs to be trimmed and see a man wearing a professional jacket with a logo. He is south of me by a fair piece and I must have rustled too loudly as he turns and sees me.   I freeze and hope that he decides he didn't see anything which seems to be the case as he moves on when another guy joins him. They move to the wall and seem to be investigating something there - even had some fancy equipment. I move very slowly and quietly and eventually get closer to where the sparkles are going into the ground. They are entering from 360* within an very large area, but do seem to be avoiding anything man made. I look around to see if I can find maybe a shovel or something that would allow me to dig down a bit. The gardener's shed seems to be my best bet and for some reason it has four locks AND a stainless-steel rod system. Oh well, let's see what it will take to help myself to some tools. I take breaks from picking locks to check my surroundings.   I do one of my freeze and check my surroundings and there is a guy in armor just standing there! I pretend to check the lock like I am the owner and was just making sure that it was solid before I am leaving. I ask where he came from and he starts talking about the sparkles so he can see them too! I show him where they are going into the ground and ask if he thinks we should dig. Turns out he can look through the dirt! He tells me that there is a fairly large and very bright light below the surface. I again mention digging, and he says he can just pop into the shed and grab one for me. This guy has some amazing abilities. He then disappears. Time passes and he does not return. Assuming he is inside the shed, I walk over the knock on the door and then I hear the locks being opened. I pick the bicycle lock on the door and raise it as Makeshift unlocks the door from the other side. I enter and pull the door closed behind me so that no one will notice it has been entered - taking the chain and bicycle lock with me.   Inside is a mad scientist lair! There are tools, books, tables, a hopefully glass floor, and along one wall there are four official looking thrones. I start wandering around and looking at things. None of the tools are metal, but there are lots of various types made out of various substances. The one thing that keeps drawing my eye is the thrones on the other end. Makeshift is more interested in the books so I walk over to investigate them with him. He discovers that several are probably braille and checks to see if that is one of my many languages. Sadly, it is not. I then convince him to check out the thrones with me and I ask him to sit in one first - since he has armor. Nothing happens. I then sit in a different one and the grid disappears! We can hear a high-pitched chiming sound and I ask Makeshift to stand up to see what happens. The grid reappears. I can't let the experiment end there though.   I ask him to sit in the next seat and I pick in the last seat. Suddenly there is a hard wind pushing us back into our chairs and we can see a city inside the ball of energy that rises from the floor. Then we are outside the city of Boston - but not the Boston we know. This one has a huge ice wall around it extending into the harbor. We are still sitting in the thrones, but the thrones are now in a playground outside of the city. So many questions! 1. Is the wall to keep things out or things in? 2. If it is to keep things out - what type of things? 3. Where are the kids? 4. Why a playground? 5. Are we about to be arrested for disturbing a sacred site?

I have done several searches in library databases, police precincts, and city hall to discover all that I could about this building that my current tour group wants to see. I needed to discover as many facts (and rumors) before I brought them so I could answer their questions and they do have a lot of questions. I have done multiple searches trying to find buildings that meet their very specific criteria:  

physical structures in the greater Hudson Bay area --

that predate Joseph von Fraunhofer's 1814 invention of the spectroscope --

which continue to stand in their original site --

and consist mostly or completely of the original materials.

Then they add an address in the 130 block of Degraw street in Brooklyn of all places. This building is maybe 1820's or 1830's which is later than their requirements. I decide that I need to actually look at this building. I arrive and scan it from the street. I see nothing special - except the For Sale sign. However, with a lawsuit in progress that was an expected aberration. I walk up to the front door and knock, but there is no answer and neither the front door, nor the side windows offer the ability to look inside.   I decide that I really need to see inside so I climb on top of the railing, brace myself, and get to the top of the porch roof. I peer into the 2nd story window and, while there are window blinds, there is a gap and I can see into the room. It is dim, but it looks like there are construction tools and a too tired to recycle recliner. I can see a glimpse of sunlight in the hallway, but no people. I start looking for a way to get over to another window. I see that at the other end of the porch is a window that has some anti-theft or maybe window guards to keep anyone from accidentally falling out. But that guarding is only on the bottom of the window and there is a lovely gap where a talented (and amateur!!) thief could jimmy open the lock, lower the top half of the window and enter the premises. I do so and then carefully close the window to minimize the chance of anyone noticing a change in the street view.   I take a moment to sense the environment. Ambient noises and the sounds of a foreign language I have heard in the past, but not often or recently. Cool inside and the light is bluish which makes it look like the windows might have some kind of treatment. There also seems to be what was a floating floor, but it has degraded since installation in the 90's. There is also a lot of evidence of multiple attempts at interior design, but nothing that was a good idea. I walk over to the hallway and I see another larger, longer stream of a cubic sparkle that seems to be going downward in a northly direction and once it leaves the building - the language abruptly stops!   I start following the sparkles