Jakem’s Monday evening odd encounter(Esme)
Date: 2025-08-25 19:13
(Jakem’s Monday evening odd encounter(Esme):Esme)
[Mon Aug 25 2025]
On Foxglove Street/span>/spandusk/span>/span75F(23C) degrees, and there are clear skies. The mist is heaviest At Birch and Sycamore/span>/spanclaps her hands together as everyone gathers ’round. “Alright, so even though the powers out, there’s still something going on. Even without super ears if you listen close you can hear the hum.” She indicates for them to pause a moment to listen. “We’re going down into the maintenance tunnels to find the source of this humming because I’m pretty damn sure it’s at least part of the problem.”
Jakem nods as he looks down “A’right, well that begs the question; who brought flashlights?”
“Oh ew… I’m humanish,” Kai wrinkles his nose as he tilts his head, frowning, “I forgot how… drab and boring everything is like this,” he folds his arms behind his head, “I got flashlights,” he says and pulls out a couple from his backpack, underhanding one to Esme and keeps one for himself that he tugs over his head.
peeks in her bag, “I’ve got a headlamp and a flashlight too.” She muses, offering her own flashlight to Jakem as the rest get distributed. “Yeah, bein’ human fuckin’ sucks and you always forget that until you have t’ live it.”
Jakem shrugs “I guess I’ll just bum your light off yah.” He says, opening up his phone to shed a bit of light.
Sophie laughs, “I have three on me at all times. A lesson from my first few days in Withmore.” She says while producing a flashlight. A glance is given to Jakem, “Need one?”
Jakem nods to Esme “Thanks.” he looks to Sophie as Esme hands him one “Looks like we’re all set. Thanks though.”
“Alright, let’s go be fucking Ninja Turtles and go see!” There’s a positively excited look passed around the group as Sophie then asks, without much care for her inside voice, “Chances of the ticking being a bomb or something that will eat us?”
Jakem says “It was more a humming from what I heard. Bombs don’t typically hum.“
Esme leads the group down the street a short ways and over to one of the manholes. With a bit of extra effort than usual they’ll be able to lift it off enough to get down. “I’m pretty sure we won’t have t’ worry ’bout bombs. Because that’d cause more injury to humans than supers I think.” She supposes.
Once down in the tunnels she starts looking around a bit. “More like a generator maybe?” She speculates. “Ugh. It sounds like it’s coming from everywhere now…Can any of you make out which direction it might be louder in?”
Kai hmms and tilts his head like a dog, reaching out with his reduced senses.
Jakem hmmm’s and looks about “Shoulda brought my sound equipment from the Den. Course who woulda figured there’d be a musical challenge.”
Kai turns and points to the southern tunnel, “That way, I think. Don’t hold me to it though. Ugh, if I felt like this all the time I’d unalive myself,” he mutters and glances at Sophie, waggling his brows at her.
Sophie looks in the direction, “Alright, shall we?” There’s a pause, “Wait, does it matter in which order we move?”
Jakem shrugs a bit to Kai as he shoves his hands in his pockets “Weird sentiment. Barely notice myself.” He nods to Sophie “Yeah, you leading the way?”
Sophie glances around, “Nobody is allowed to fall apart on me.” She gives Jakem a glance, “Pretty boys first?”
Esme glances toward the south with her flashlight, “Works for me.” She decides, looking to Jakem and Sophie to see if they have any objections. “I guess we know to always carry sound equipment?” She half asks Jakem with a snicker.
“Order don’t matter, just all stay together and don’t run ahead.” She rolls her eyes with some amusement as she starts heading south.
“Yeah you go first, in case there’s mines or claymores or something,” Kai agrees with Sophie, gesturing Jakem to go on, a little grin sent to Esme.
Jakem nods to Kai “Yeah, probably best if I grab all the loot. You guys’d waste it on something silly like monster hunter. Mines and claymores belong in toilet pipes.” he says, heading forward.
Esme chuckles as the trio banters, walking along the winding tunnel. As they continue down the path, the humming does indeed grow louder to the mundane ears. In fact, they can almost feel the vibrations running through themselves. As they reach the cross section that indicates they’re beneath the bus stop it sounds like it’s coming from all around them again but more intensely. “Okay,” She speaks up a bit louder over the hum. “It’s gotta be really close! And fuckin’ huge by the sound of it! Which direction should we try?” From where they’re standing the options are left, right, or straight ahead.
Kai hmmms and tilts his head again as he tries to listen, he sniffs at the air lightly despite his lack of acute senses.
Jakem nods to Esme “You mentioned we should split up at every option right?” he says, gesturing to the three options. “I’ll take straight ahead. Kai and Sophie, you go the middle path, and Esme, turn right four times and head on full speed.”
Sophie touches her ear, “Not a reassuring sound at all.” She winces and does her best to look around but it’s hard to feel what’s an echo versus not.
“Yeah cause splittin’ the party in ah scary dark maintenance tunnel makes every bit of sense.” Esme grins to Jakem. She shakes her head, taking a step to the right just to peer down a little further.
“Okay it’s left, pretty sure, if I’m wrong, we’ll send Jakem to scout while we chill,” Kai tells the group, grinning a little.
Sophie glances to the left, “I don’t think splitting up is wise if we don’t know what’s down here. It may just mean a bit more walking or back tracking.”
Jakem shrugs, turns left and starts on down “Don’t forget your directions, eveyone split up and follow me.” he calls as he heads forward.
“Not so fast! I have tiny legs!” Sophie says as she follows Jakem, her voice louder than usual due to the humming.
Esme turns from her exploration and looks toward the left when Kai speaks up. “Onward!” She agrees, taking up the rear of the group now as Jakem gets in the lead. It won’t take long for them to come upon what can only be called a technical monstrosity. It looks like some cross between a generator and a computer from the days when they were 16 tons and took up an entire wall. Wires are going absolutely everywhere, hooked together in a tangle of ways all ultimately spliced in to four key points – one of them being an interruption to part of the boroughs power supply, likely siphoning from it.
Sophie beholds the machine and glances around, “Please tell me one of you has an engineering or computer nerd degree hiding somewhere.”
Jakem hmms at the monstrous device “Well these Temple folks sure know how to waste energy. What the crap needs this much power in a single device?” he says as he approaches, pulling up his receptionless phone and begining to tap at it. “Let’s open her up and see what we’re looking at?”
“Hmmm… I don’t know shit about this kinda stuff unfortunately,” Kai tells the group, but it looks like Jakem and Sophie have it, especially Jakem, he hmms and peers over their shoulders to try to see if he can pick up anything from whatthey’re doing.
Sophie sighs and shakes her head, “It’s beyond me.” She gives Kai a glance, “Think we can just shoot it?”
Esme hangs back with Kai, this -also- is not her area of expertise. “I’m sure he’s got it.” She nods confidently about Jakem. “Though this does remind me ah the time he almost blew up a computer room…” She muses to Kai and Sophie as she watches him.
Jakem pokes around with the machine “You can shoot anything. Dunno if it’ll do anything to something this size, but I’m sure the richochet won’t be too bad.”
Jakem says “Oh yeah, you were only there for one of those times weren’t you? We should hang out more.“
Sophie lifts a brow, “I wanna hear more about that story for sure.” She glances around the room, “Ricochet might hit one of us..maybe.”
Sophie says “Does it have..a power cable?“
Jakem nods to Sophie “Yeah, goes into the Other, or some sorta border place. Which I guess there are other border places besides Haven? Who’da thunk.” he comments as he pokes at it.
Jakem shrugs “Anyways…” he says as he starts to pull things out of his duffel bag “Let’s get the C4 planted and vamoose.” he comments idly. “That or we could look for an off switch I guess. What are we under right now you wager?”
Sophie glances around, “Anyone see a big red off button?” She watches Jakem, “You just walk around with C4…”
Jakem nods to Sophie “Cristal doesn’t want me leaving a spare key under the welcome mat, she said people could break in.”
“I dunno if we actually wanna blow this up…” Esme peers, “It looks kinda unstable.” But that also could just be the machine itself being such a hodge podge. “Uhh let’s see. We walked there, then here… “I think underneath Atlantic Ave? But we might be near some brownstones.” She hums in thought.
Sophie walks over to the machine and eyes a panel with a big red button, “Hey..guys!’
Jakem nods over to Sophie “Well we could either press the big obviously fake button that sets off the auto defense system, or collapse some appartment buildings onto the thing. I’m good with either.” he says, shrugging.
“I mean… if we don’t blow it up they could just turn the thing back on,” Kai points out, probably just so he can see an explosion.
Jakem eyes the roof of the maintenance area “Actually, I guess my housekey level explosive probably aren’t enough to bring down an appartment building. We might have to go with the button, unless you have time for me to head back and get my costco pack of C4.”
“Okay well. Maybe you have a point about that.” Esme agrees about the thing getting blown up. “But like. Maybe we can come back with some heavy hammers and shit and like. Beat it up? After we shut it down?” She wonders. “Do we -need- a housekey level of explosives for this?” She scratches at her jaw lightly, looking to see what Sophie thinks.
“Beat it up so they can’t turn it on?” Sophie says with nod.
Jakem nods a bit as he pulls out his truncheon and… Presses the button. “Alright, I struck the first blow.”
Kai hangs back while the violence commences, hmming a bit, “Maybe we should also just cut the cable to the Other?
//OOC Ignore those calltries for the moment!
Jakem wasn’t really being violent, he was just kinda poking the button with the baton in case it was electrified.
“We definitely gotta cut the cables I think. I just don’t know if we wanna cut ’em while it’s on.” Esme points out. “But then again, chances are there could be an explosion of some variety either way?” She shrugs. The button that Jakem presses only beeps once but otherwise appears to do nothing just being pressed on its own.
Sophie asks Jakem, “Can we do a..little explosion?”
Jakem nods to Sophie “I guess, seems a waste to bust up some cabals. Doesn’t Kai have like a sword or something?”
Esme looks toward Kai, “You take one side, I take the other?” She wonders, since there’s five cables in total.
Kai sighs and pulls his katana from its sheath, “I’m definitely going to get fried,” he mutters and moves around to the other side, nodding to Esme.
Sophie pulls out a knife and looks to the group, “I’ve got a little backup if needed.” She looks at Kai, “Positive attitude my dude.”
“If you get fried, I’m getting friend too.” Esme points out and nods to Sophie. “Let’s do this.”
Jakem shrugs to Kai “Don’t you have a rubber grip? All my wire cutters have rubber grips.”
Kai lifts his sword and gets ready to cut at the the cables.
Esme moves in starts hacking as the thick cables on her said. Her machete is having some issues getting a good carve into them efficiently though. “Hey, Soph, help me out.” She says over her shoulder as she gets partway through one. “Just start on that other one.”
Kai glances at the others with a ‘cool’ expression on his face, his eyelids squinted a little like Clint Eastwood. He goes to sheath his katana and misses though. Twice… three times. He finally pulls the sheath forward and looks back to carefully guide the blade back into its sheath, “Bleh.”
as everyone works on the capables, Jakem periodically presses the button again just to check if it does anything yet.
*Cut* *Press* *Cut* *Press*
Sophie even though hers is smaller, she finds success helping tackle the cables with Esme as her blade makes its way through the various layers. All that without being maimed or zapped, which is an additional plus. She gives Esme a proud little smile as she slips her knife back into its sheath.
By the time the third wire is cut – All on Kai’s side – the button stays locked in after Jakem presses it. There’s a reduction in the humming, it’s more like a whirring now. Esme and Sophie quickly finish getting the other cables cut and the former gives the latter a thumbs up as she steps back, putting her own machete away.
With all the lines cut there’s an abrupt silence that settles over the group. Esme is about to say something when the machine rumbles. And it’s not a good rumble either. Likely something to do with the experimental nature of it and the somewhat abrupt stop of power flow. There may be some kind of explosion happening whether they want it or not. “Ooh shit, uhh everyone run back the way we came!
Jakem nods a bit “Yup, on it.” he calls “Everyone follow me. Or don’t, I’m not your dad.” he calls as he bolts.
Sophie follows without hesitation, “Maybe we will get that explosive ending after all! Wait up dad!” She calls as she follows Jakem.
Kai turns and gets ready to rub, though he hangs back to usher Sophie ahead of him, “Let’s get out of here!” he says and runs along.
“Not your daaaaaddddd” comes a voice ahead in the darkness of the tunnel. Maybe Jakem’s voice, who’s to say?
ooc// Having some technical difficulties, possibly due to the crash. Everyone follow on me again just in case? I’m going to run the syntax to start it again
//OOC Well! It says it’s been thwarted…so either somethin bugged in our favor or someone else was thwarting it the same time we were. Either way I’ll bring us down!
The group re-emerges from the tunnels with the heat of a (thankfully not devastating) tunnel explosion on their heels. To those already above ground when it happened it felt more like an oddly placed earthquake. But that’s not their problem now! “Whew, fuck. Good job everyone.” She laughs, raking a hand through her hair.
Sophie offers a high five to the little group, “No dyin, no explosions and we turned off the big bad thing. I’d say that’s a win on all counts.”
Jakem nods as he looks out over the street behind him “You can hardly tell anything collapsed into the earth, or how badly travelling these roads are gonna be for the next few months.” he says with satisfaction.
“Good job guys… I’m gonna go back to my apartment and nap,” Kai tells the group, waving to the group as he heads for his BMW.
Sophie waves as Kai leaves, “Have a good nap!”
Jakem waves to Kai “Sleep well. Enjoy the power.”
Esme says “I’m gonna head off too. See ya’ll later. Text me if ya need me.“