Amber’s Monday afternoon odd encounter(Lillian)
Date: 2025-08-25 14:33
(Amber’s Monday afternoon odd encounter(Lillian):Lillian)
[Mon Aug 25 2025]
At Market and Darkwater/span>/spanafternoon, about 83F(28C) degrees, and there are a few thin white clouds in the sky. The mist is heaviest At Birch and Prospect/span>/spanLillian takes a deep breath once she is gathered with Amber and Meridith. “Okay, so we have a communications blackout in All Saints that is utilizing a roving EMP emitter to scramble nearby electronics on the move and consistently refresh it.” She looks down either street of the intersection, then back to the other two. “We’re going to frustrate ourselves trying to find it blind, so we should first work on triangulating the pulses to find the source. Amber, is that something you think you might be capable of doing? If you get us a location, Meridith and I can work on physically spotting the thing.”
“Well, partly depends on whether my charm works on this kind of thing,” Amber admits, pulling out her phone in hopes an EMP hasn’t gone off too close too recently, “But we’ll give it a go. Might be harder if I can’t even connect to a neighboring tower.”
“Yeah…” Meridith agrees, reviewing her notes. And then glances around. “Finding it blind isn’t too tricky. This stuff isn’t like…tiny, yanno?” She turns over to Amber and then nods to her as well. “Hopefully.”
Lillian nods at Amber. “Yeah, go ahead and give that a try.” She then turns to Meridith. “Well, it could be a small device strapped onto an animal or something, or it could be something hidden in the trunk of a vehicle making laps, or so on. There’s a chance it could be obvious, but I’d rather we at least know the area it’s traveling first.” Lillian then turns back to Amber. “Finding anything, Amber?”
“Okay,” Amber frowns, looking down at her phone, catching a weak signal and powered by her charm, “I can see the route from where the grid is being disrupted… should give us a good guess for what it’s tied to.” Amber turns her phone around to show the others what she found…
Meridith shakes her head. “You can’t EMP a whole damn city on a squirrel mounted device!” She complains.
The map on Amber’s phone shows that the signal is currently heading in the group’s direction. However, the area affected is wide. While it appears to be centered on their current street, it could realistically be traveling on any of the streets within a block of their location. “Okay…” Lillian murmurs, squinting at it. “Well, Meridith, think you can find it for us? It doesn’t appear to be moving all that quickly, so it’s probably not traveling in a car. Maybe it’s traveling along a sidewalk? Or it is a squirrel and running atop fences.” She smiles a bit at her own joke. “Give it a shot?”
Amber wiggles her phone at Meridith, “You’re the fastest of us, I think.”
Meridith nods to Amber, then to Lillian. “I’ll shout if I find it.” She sprints off down the street. She moves quick but not so much so as to spook the driver, a clever blend of her speed, agility, and stealth.
The vehicle in question appears to be an ice cream truck with a regular route through the borough, one street to the north. And the device, as far as Meridith can tell, has been jammed in between the speakers atop the truck. Perhaps the design of this plot was for the sound waves of the ice cream truck’s music to amplify the signal, or perhaps sounds waves and signals simply don’t work like that. Whatever is the case, the truck has come to a stop outside of a few houses, where some kids have gathered to buy some ice cream. There’s a line of three children waiting to buy ice cream, so Meridith has maybe five minutes to do something about it before the truck drives off again.
Meridith fires off a text, or signals with a wave, or whatever else she might do, but well. Gosh. She cares a lot less about spooking kids than someone might hope. She simply approaches from the back of the ice cream trucks blind spots, and, jabs her sword into the tires opposite of the children. Of course. well…
She waits until they get their ice cream.
Amber probably doesn’t get the text, with the EMP. The wave might get noticed or might not, what with the sun in her eyes sensitive, nocturnal eyes. But keen ears do hear the tires blow out for certain. “That’s gotta be it, right?” she offers to Lillian, starting to jog that way at a much slower pace.
The truck isn’t going anywhere with flat tires. Poor ice cream guy; he probably doesn’t even realize his truck is being used for an EMP device. He attempts to drive again, unaware of his flats, and only gets a few feet before abruptly stopping. He hops out of truck and walks around to inspect all of his tires. Meanwhile, Lillian sees the wave with much more certainty and hears those tires blow. “Yeah, that’s what it seems like. And sounds like she has maybe bought us some time? Do you think you could turn the thing off or disable it in some way when we get there?”
Meridith is there with smiles and hands on hips. “Looks like you got a flat, gosh, that’s rough…” She mumbles, stalling with chatter, and seeing if he has any inkling about what he’s doing here or why
“If you two play distraction, should be a cakewalk,” Amber agrees to Lillian. She’s definitely the slowest of the group, though, arriving last by a fair margin.
The ice cream man seems to appreciate the friendly face, even if he doesn’t appreciate the flat tires. “Did you see what happened? It has been months since I last aired them up, but… in thirty years of doing this job I’ve never had tires go out that suddenly. Maybe I ran over some nails?” At Amber’s suggestion, Lillian runs over, too, and immediately asks what happened. So he repeats what he just said. So far, so good. At this point in the conversation, he’s given no indication that he knows what’s up.
Meridith hmms. “Heat’s been off and on, can mess with the rubber. Gosh. Not even your truck is it?”
Amber gets out of the guy’s line of sight, trying awkwardly to heft her way up the truck to where the device is located.
“It is my truck,” the ice cream man responds, looking a little confused at the question. “You think someone might have sabotaged it to make your tires go down then?” Lillian steps in to ask. The ice cream man begins to shake his head, but he stops almost as soon as he starts, realization crossing his face. “Oh, you know what? I heard some clattering out on the curb where I park it last night. I just thought it was some raccoons, but maybe someone put nails in my tires. You might be right!” He turns to Meridith and nods at her. “And with the heat, too… yeah. Must’ve been what happened. Shucks.”
As for Amber, she manages to clumsily, but miraculously quietly, get on top of the ice cream truck. There’s a kid licking her Sonic the Hedgehog popsicle while watching Amber through the window, but she doesn’t look ready to squeal. She just seems fascinated by the crazy lady on the ice cream truck.
Meridith blinks at the man. “Oh I’m sorry to hear that,” she offers. Then to Lillian she blinks and nods twice. “Well, I’m sure you can get it fixed in a moment. For now just, catch your breath and relax…”
Amber does play a mean crazy lady. She playfully sticks her tongue out at the kid and makes devil horns with her hand before going to actually do her job.
“Sure. I’ll just call a tow truck and relax, yeah,” the ice cream man says after a brief moment of foggy staring at Meridith. He pulls his phone out of his pocket and leans against the truck to call a tow. Between Amber’s skill, the time Meridith and Lillian has bought her, and the now enthusiastic cheering of the kid with the Sonic popsicle, delighted as she was by the devil horns and tongue, Amber is able to disable the device and pocket it. The driver is too distracted with the tow company to notice the group as Lillian helps Amber down from the truck, and so the three are able to leave without incident and return to their vehicles and steed.
checks her phone for data scrolling through, the results of research flooding her eyes. Eventually, she nods, pointing off towards the mountain – that oh so climbable mountain that literally everyone wants to see. “We’re gonna have to head to Mount Varnis,” she declares, immediately mounting her shit-ass Vespa, its bright yellow at odds with its awful exhaust and terrible internals. “Folks are getting their houses broken into, and it gets worse the closer they are to the volcano. So, that’s gonna be the epicenter of what we need. Meet you guys there.”
Alice checks her phone for data scrolling through, the results of research flooding her eyes. Eventually, she nods, pointing off towards the mountain – that oh so climbable mountain that literally everyone wants to see. “We’re gonna have to head to Mount Varnis,” she declares, immediately mounting her shit-ass Vespa, its bright yellow at odds with its awful exhaust and terrible internals. “Folks are getting their houses broken into, and it gets worse the closer they are to the volcano. So, that’s gonna be the epicenter of what we need. Meet you guys there.”
“Yessss,” Stelle replies, clambering onto her French Trotter without delay. “I wish to climb it,” she declares, settling in and preparing to flick the reins.
“Alriighty!” Annabelle says in a short drawl from the midwest, kicking herself into the stirrup and grunting in effort to get atop her horse. On her pedestal, she bothers not with directions, just looks north and west at the volcano and makes onward.
An arrival at the mountain fulfills the spirit and satiates the mind: even bigger up close, Mount Varnis is a truly gargantuan specimen, and being this close to an active volcano is a treat even at the least of times. Smoke billows from its caldera, and several citizens seem to be making the hike up the side of the mountain. Where the trail is easiest, some enterprising entrepeneurs have set up little booths to sell water bottles for six bucks a pop, and hats that say ‘VARNIS’, and t-shirts that say ‘VOLCANO? I HARDLY KNOW HER’.
It is with a heavy heart, however, that Alice points the way a little further west, skirting the easy trails and heading a little ways up the mountain. She’s not really set up for hiking, having to stop and have Stelle help her through some difficult spots every now and then, but eventually the little group comes upon what they’re seeking: a cave. A beautiful, dank, dark cave, perhaps a fourth of the way up the volcano. “Here,” Alice reports. “This is what we’re looking for.”
Annabelle looks at her five dollar bill and laments with great sorrow her inability to stay hydrated. She casually dies up the process of getting through the volcano trek, a matted stain of sweat has become her, the leather soaking her into a sponge of salt and regret. Panting, she stops at the mouth, resting both hands on her knees. “S’that.. S’that right? WOW.. Uggh… Dossit.. Feel hotter to you?”
Annabelle takes out her phone and turns on the muted little flashlight.
“It is a little bit hotter, no?” Stelle replies. She’s sweating, kind of, but she doesn’t really seem that out of breath courtesy of her day job which is nearly entire hiking and rock climbing. Her eyes settle on a t-shirt but her wallet remains zipped, money safe at home in her pocket. “This is… Euh… A cave. There are a lot of caves Alice,” Stelle comments with a raised eyebrow.
“This isn’t just a cave,” Alice declares to Stelle. “This is THE CAVE.” She’s insistent, pointing at her phone screen. “They said a cave on the southwest side, and… look!” The cave itself is not so easy to encounter – the Hand wouldn’t leave so little security, after all. No, they’ve set up metal grating embedded into the cave mouth, creating an entrance that would be terribly easy to use if it were unlocked. Alice, bright and shining example of intelligence that she is, tries to open the swinging door in the center of the grate, and finds that it is locked. “It’s locked,” she declares helpfully, looking back at the other two. “Any ideas?”
“Is this even the southwest side?” Stelle asks, though she doesn’t seem commited to the question and moves towards the grate instead, testing it with a not so gentle tug. She has tools, but she doesn’t really feel the need to use them just yet, “You euh… know my history with doors, no?”
The black helmet visits the lock with its empty gaze, then turns to inspect the structure itself. A foot paws at the rock, seeing if its more malleable than it indicates. “Well. People tend to come if you knock. Let me..” Annabelle takes a casual gander for cameras or other bugged devices that may be on watch.
And muscles.
“I don’t know your history with doors.” Annabelle offers helpfully, more helpfully than perhaps her inability to follow any wires. “I don’t think the rocks are watching us, but maybe they are.”
Stelle yanks hard on the grate, though the explosiveness of its exit from what it guards is up to the grate itself. “I hrrk… Tend to break through them,” Stelle explains, muscles tensing but obscured beneath clothing.
A tug – a tug – and a third tug. To any human, this would be damn near all their strength. To Stelle, it is Monday. With an exertion of force, she causes the doorjam of the grate to snap, causing the thing to swing slightly out… then the hinges snap. Turns out it was one of those doors that opens inward, and Stelle has convinced it to open outwardly, instead. The way inside is dark; there are lights, but no visible way to turn them on. Perhaps if the crew had badged in correctly, the lights might have turned on automatically, and a sultry robot voice might have welcomed them to their secret lair. Alas.
Alice fishes out a flashlight, flicking it on and peeking her head through the grate, then gently leading the way further into the cave; the cave itself is dark. Dank. HOT. It’s hot, hot, hot, and stuffy. Once they get far enough in, a smart-looking pre-fab structure sits plainly in the center of a large clearing, with a small stream of lava flowing behind it. Odd, geothermal power technology rests on the back of the structure, feeding from the heat of the lava flow, and powering some lights inside the building. “Oh, wow,” Alice mentions, gingerly approaching, but not too close. “What the hell is this?”
“Control center.” Annabelle answers, wiping the back of her hand across her helmet like she was clearing sweat. Instead she just smears her chalk-written name. “In retrospect, for like a hundred dollars an hour, I guess I could’ve jammed this.” She looks left and right before crossing the street, and briskly, attempts to make her way over to the space in the middle.
Stelle coughs a bit, dropping the grate to the ground with a suspicious side-eye and enters behind the other two, humming quietly as whatever it is certianly doesn’t seem familiar to Stelle. “Control center? For what?” Stelle asks, though the answer seems kind of obvious.
“Hey guys. My gut says I’m gonna get shot.” Annabelle announces, rubbing her stomach about fifteen feet away. “Is someone else more efficient in clearing the distance? Or, could like, throw me?”
Alice nods at Annabelle, stepping forward to rise to the challenge. Well… not really. She reaches into her mothman backpack, her entire arm going down its gullet, and pulls out the one, the only Rocinante: a toy knight on a cute plush horse. She mutters some words of power to him, then tosses him on the ground. It takes a moment, but he animates, making a mock salute with his lance, then charges across the field towards the pre-fab.
BEEPBEEPBEEPBEEPBEEPBEEPBEEPBEEPBEEP. An orchestra of beeping traps and mines punctuates Rocinante’s brave charge, as little anti-personnel shrapnel mines start to explode one after another, each one just a moment too late to hurt him… until the last, which damn near vaporizes the toy. To shreds. That being said, his gallant charge seems to have cleared a path over to the fab, and Alice follows in his wake, bravely stepping into what was a minefield just moments ago.
Stelle would have goone first but Rocinante’s intervention was timely. She ducks a bit when the mines pop, eyes wide as the explosions case her pause but then she follow close behind someone, ready to bullet shield for the redhead or Annabelle both.
Stelle would have goone first but Rocinante’s intervention was timely. She ducks a bit when the mines pop, eyes wide as the explosions case her pause but then she follow close behind Alice, ready to bullet shield for the redhead or Annabelle both.
No one can see the horror on Annabelle’s face, so it’s not there.
Though, the more attentive of ear might hear it in the panic of Annabelle’s gasp, and the following labored breaths as she flinches at the sight of what a different outcome in decision making might’ve led her. Following the rule of cool, however, she doesn’t say anything. She keeps her peace and thanks the forces that be.
“A control center.” Annabelle elaborates when she’s ready to speak, “-from what I can discern by just like.. Looking at where it is, I assume to whatever beeps I’m hearing. Whatever’s projecting the signal. You might have one for looking at all of the cameras in a gas station, but in this case, I think it’s just a station that’s umm… What’s the best way to put it.”
The prefab door, protected as it is by a grate and then a literal deadly minefield, is not locked. It slides aside, a little flimsy, actually, as Alice mutters a prayer of thanks to Rocinante, who gave his life for the cause. Inside, however, is a suite of equipment which is utterly and completely out of Alice’s depth. A vast array of screens, radio equipment, monitoring equipment, signals intelligence interception devices… and the screens are showing the houses of Redstone citizens, spycams and microphones set up all over. Little snippets of conversation drift atop one another. “… get her into that private school…” “… finally got that promotion…” “… hiking again? Stop trying to climb that damn…” “I think dogs should vote…” and more, all overlapping and interweaving.
Alice, wide-eyed, looks to Annabelle, asking plaintively, “Do you, uh, do you know anything about tech stuff?” She gestures vaguely to all the aforementioned tech stuff. “I- this is crazy. I mean, do we just like, start smashing?”
Annabelle pushes her tongue to her cheek and looks around the volcanic studio, looking from screen to screen, and then down. “Lemme just- frick around real quick.”
“I just want to see…” Annabelle says as she sets herself on the console like a keyboard predator: Hands crooked, back bent. “If this is automated here or is just receiving something from somewhere else. I think breaking it will solve most of the problems, if it’s the source. If it’s not, then it’s probably ferrying something from one place to another-”
“Sick.” Annabelle says nasally, politely standing up from her computer as her visor bobs (and she sweats to death in her clothes). She gives a thumbs up. “Break the crap out of it. Push it in the lava, whatever.”
Alice looks to Stelle expectantly, jerking her chin towards the sensitive electronic equipment.
Stelle looks at the whatever the fuck it is and tenses up. “Push it into lava?” Stelle asks, apparently instead deciding to just start ripping things out of walls and throwing them awround the room. She’s a tornado.
Alice helps, too! She mostly lays her hand on sensitive electronics and heats it until it starts to warp, occasionally yanking some cables out or gently unplugging things.
Andrew W.K. would be proud if his music played over this scene: three Orderites bashing the absolute MESS out of a whole room full of sensitive, expensive electronics. At one point, Alice, possessed by some horrible rage demon, yanks one of the lighter pieces of equipment and throws it through the back window out into the lava flow, where it sinks and sparks and burbles and fills the air with the awful acrid smell of melting silica and burning electronics. “Raaahhhhh!” comes her girly war cry, breathing heavy and sweating amidst all the heat.
When the whirlwind subsides, there’s naught but damaged and destroyed electronics in their wake. Alice slowly regains her composure, no longer seeing red in this rage room of a pre-fab, and wonders, “Oh. We… probably should have figured out where all their bugs were. Now we’re gonna have to send the scouts door to door…” She gulps, but steps out of the prefab, breathing in that sweet cave air.
Once her one thing is done, Annabelle gives a mild applause to Stelle and Alice from the sidelines, taking off her helmet and willing the world to shoot her if it must, for she is a curl matte of sweat that must escape into the world. “Wow.. Y-you’re great, both of you, uhhkk… I’m totally gonna skate down the side of this thing to.. To feel the wind.”
Annabelle uses a translucent lime-green water pistol: 57The trigger yields with a sigh, and an arc of water sails toward its unsuspecting victim.
Annabelle shoots herself casually.
beams happily, leading the way out of the cave – and as she trots down the mountain, a little more energetic on the way down, she calls out, “Okay! I’ll see you guys at the memorial!”
Alice beams happily, leading the way out of the cave – and as she trots down the mountain, a little more energetic on the way down, she calls out, “Okay! I’ll see you guys at the memorial!”
Stelle/b>/span