Starstruck

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Registration: Complete.
Problem: Identified. Lack of: Cookies.
Cheezburgers: Can I haz one of these instead?

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Hehehe!

I was hoping we'd get cookies or something...but fighting Rikti is good too.

Don't know what I'm signing up for but if the mythical people are in...I'm in.

Star Strider Forces Registry
Name: TinyTaxi
Global Contact: @Starstruck
Level of Classification: 35
Origin: Science
Super Rank & Super Group: Officer, Celestial Guardians

((Short Hiatis: Let me know when and if you'll be able to write again. I'm calling this a hiatis, because it's time for family and friends during the holidays and I don't expect you to write anytime soon. I am still jazzed about finishing this storyline though and will have a bit of vacation after Christmas, so if I'm lucky you will be able to write then. ))

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"Are we to inform Mr. Victor Jaramillo?" He threw that question out to throw them off balance.

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Rosalyn smiled despite herself, but quickly felt he gravity of her situation again.

Clarisa nodded to to Lady Gwenivere in approval. She was right about her being very compentent and a fine addition to the security team.

"Let's make it look as a realistic as possible to give the hacker room to make his/her move. I propose that we stage Rosalyn's escape from our apprehension here tonight. That way the traitor will still feel confident that framing her is working. In reality I suggest Lady Gwen be at "ground zero" and Matamoros and Agilent Rosalyn to stakeout the lab from a distance to observe the big picture. If Rosalyn is innocent and the trap is sprung, we get our traitor, if not, Rosalyn doesn't make a move without Matamoros knowing. Sounds like a win win situation to me. Agreed?

Clarisa spanned the room in a single glance to gauge their agreement. She rested her gaze on Rosalyn, who still looked concerned, but accepting. "Geez, I hope you are innocent because I'd hate to have to prosecute my best Agent." Clarisa thought to herself.

((The fact that Lady Gwen might change the parameters without anyone knowing is a good twist, that's why I placed Matamoros and Rosalyn "outside". Is this ok to play out your plan ProfessorBlues?))

((Sorry I haven't been able to write these last days because work has been very hectic. I will attempt to write tomorrow. :P))

Clarisa tried to close the splintered door but it kept swinging open. This wasn't the most secure area to discuss a sensitive subject. To maintain some security, she called up the "evidence" on her palmtop which she produced from her suit jacket pocket.

"Here." She handed the palmtop to Rosalyn. Rosalyn's confidence ebbed. Her face showed worry as she took the instrument and scrolled through the data report.

"How? Why?" was all Rosalyn could utter. For some reason her powers of deduction had left her and in its place was feeling of hopelessness. People had SEEN her at the scene of the crime. "I wasn't there, I was at the cafe." She turned to Lady Gwen and said, "You saw me exiting the building just before then, remember?"

Then she turned to Matamoros and said, "I couldn't...wouldn't do this, not with all of you participating in the investigation. I've never attempted to push Legion out of the loop, have I?"

Her eyes beckoned for someone to make sense of this.

Agent Rosalyn was startled by the abrupt entrance of her colleagues. Upon seeing the bow drawn and aimed at Matamoros's head, she took a single step to put herself in it's path.

"Will someone PLEASE tell me what evidence implicates me for the treason I am investigating. I have no desire to make enemies of allies. I don't believe Matamoros is here to execute me."

She turned to him and gave him a questioning look. "Right?"

"This display of power will only end in pain, yours or mine or both." Rosalyn stood straight and tall and held the knife on open palms offering it to Matamoros. "I will not fight an ally." She bowed her head in submission.

The sound of wood splitting could be heard at the front door. Two long cuts were made by the door handle and a stilletto heel freed the door from the lock. Clarisa burst forth.

"STOP!"

At the sight of Matamoros's combat knife, Agent Rosalyn's reflexes took over. She beckoned him forth with her right hand. "What do you know of heretics. Everything is black and white to Legion. If you would call me a heretic simply because I believe woman deserve a place in the church, then a heretic I am. Yet we believe in the same God, is that not enough for you?" She attempted to disorient Matamoros with a solid punch, but he dodged it deftly. Thus far, she wasn't fighting to harm him, just to keep him at bay until she could talk sense into him.


"My loyalty is to my employer. I would never betray Clarisa. What "evidence" do you have? Were any alternatives considered?" The tension in the room was high as the two attempted to gain the advantage over the other while having a "civil" discussion.

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Clarisa slammed her fists down on the mahogany desk. "That's it! I can't just stay here listening to this." Rosalyn's words struck a cord with her. She believed there was a possibility that Rosalyn was innocent although the evidence was overwhelming. Clarisa opted to forgo the elevator and jumped out the window instead. Would she arrive in time? She may have waited to long already.

A fully-bellied laugh broke the silence in the apartment.

"What? Are you joking?" Rosalyn knew he wasn't joking, but this was ridiculus. He was questioning her like she would question the suspected traitor. She quickly regained her composure and the laugh melted into a serious knot on her brow.

"First of all, I would never betray Clarisa or Physiks, what on earth would make you think that? Second of all, my religious beliefs are not in conflict with my loyalty to Physiks, quite the opposite."

In all the excitement, her necklace had freed itself from its normal position under her suit and risen to the surface. It was an odd cross upon closer inspection...it had a golden inlay in the middle ruby...a "V".

Rosalyn was deeply troubled by Matamoros's accusations but even more so by his revalation of her background. No one knew of that, how did he find out so quickly? She kept her back to door but refused to back down. "I am prepared to fight for my innocence if I must."

Her fist glowed as if to show her fury. Physiks had bestowed on her the power to harness energy in her fight for justice alongside the heroes. Who would have guessed she would be fighting for her own justice. She awaited Matamoros's next move.

((no worries...just wanted to let you know I am anxiously awaiting the replies. ))

Rosalyn swivled around in the computer chair, dropping her chinese food and chopsticks as she did so. The visitor was inside the apartment with one quick swift motion. The rain started to soak the carpet as he entered.

"To what do I owe this visit? If I had known you were coming, I would have gotten another set of chopsticks." She was caught off guard, but didn't intend to be vunerable. While she distracted him with conversation, she jumped to her feet and started backing up toward the door. She had no desire to fight, if it came to that. What could he want that Physik's hadn't already provided? ((She has no clue she's being fingered as the traitor...the innocent never do.))

She activitated a button on her lapel that would communicate their conversation to the team channel. She could only hope the others were listening and rush to help.

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The red light on Clarisa's desk phone blinked. Clarisa looked at the caller id...it was Agent Rosalyn's signal from the team channel being rerouted. She stabbed the speakerphone button and it crackled to life with the sounds of Rosalyn's apartment. She could hear rain pelting glass and the sound of a familar male voice. Normally, she would respond instantly but she didn't dare. Rosalyn could be setting a trap now that she was found to be the traitor. No, Clarisa would wait to hear what was going on before reacting.

((Just waiting for Matamoros to make his move. ))

The only sound present was the russle of the paper bag she was carrying her Chinese food dinner in. "How odd." Agent Rosalyn thought. "Where is the whistle of the wind threw my balcony door?" She had been meaning to get that fixed for months, but she was rarely at home. Basically, it was just a place to sleep and store her few belongings.

She didn't think much more on it, but in the back of her mind she was on alert. She walked over to the computer near the window expecting to do some more research while eating her Chow Mein.

The news hung in the room like a thick fog. Clarisa had asked Gwen to assist Victor, more to keep an eye on his movements than to provide actual help. Lady Gwen returned to Kashaye's lab to check in with her. Clarisa did not let Sykes leave, if it was possible, he was more nervous than before.

"Wha..." Sykes cleared his throat to lower it a few octaves, "...what else do you need Ms. Feynman."

Clarisa who had been pacing around the room thinking, zero'd in on him and walked to within two feet of him (well within claws reach). "I want to know every move Agent Rosalyn has made in the last three months....". She paused and glanced down at he bracelet which had been a birthday gift from Rosalyn. "...but I don't want you to share the information with anyone. Got that? The data is to come to me and me only. If anyone else requests this information, they need to get approval from me. Even Victor Jaramillo. Is that clear?".

"Clear as crystal!" Sykes said without stuttering. He shot up from the chair, laptop under arm and took the cue to leave the room and start immediately on this new task.

Clarisa was alone with her thoughts.

"I suppose it's likely that a trusted employee would rebel, but what would be Rosalyn's modivation? Why her?" The two had met when Rosalyn saved her life in the field on her first day amongst the heroes. There was more to being a hero than just flying around the city looking for muggers. Your heart had to be in it. Rosalyn's heart WAS in it. She kept her private life to herself, but Clarisa had done her homework on all her employees and knew that Rosalyn was from a long line of protectors. Her mother was a member of a secret society that Clarisa didn't have details on, suffice that it had Christian roots and was matriarchal. She bonded with Rosalyn on the very first day and knew it was because of the strong aura of female proweress they both possessed. Although, she never confronted Rosalyn about her beliefs, she was proud to have her fight for her cause and knew she could be trusted. Could Clarisa have been so wrong?

Back in the cafe across the street, Agent Rosalyn sipped some English Tea. The tea always soothed her. She felt a bit nervous today for some unknown reason. They would soon find the traitor with Legion's help. She just had to make sure they didn't also find any trace of the fact that she had given documents to a fellow hero regarding the "Carbon Copy" project. It was only fair, Dione had been experimented on without her knowledge, cloned. But that was a few months ago. Not for some time had she tampered with the Physiks datastore. If she could just find this traitor, then she could be a hero in Clarisa's eyes and finally tell her about the data she copied. Clarisa would understand and protect her, she was sure of it.

Unconsciously, Rosalyn pulled the golden necklace with a small ruby-studded cross from her suit shirt and sent a short prayer skyward. Somehow she felt she would need divine guidance.

"Good, everyone is here." Sykes jumped up from his chair closing his laptop in one swift motion. He tried not to stammer as he addressed this small group of extremely capable individuals. "Um, I called you all here because this is the safest, bugless room in the building."

"Sykes, just cut to the bottomline please. We are all waiting to hear what you have found." Clarisa said impatiently.

"Ok ok..." Sykes loosen the top buttom on his short sleeved oxford shirt. "Here's the deal. I kept looking for traces of the hacker in the places he or she broke into, then it hit me..." He hit his forehead with his palm. "Who logged into the workstation itself. Duh."

Long pause. "Ok, now before I tell you...I'm really sorry about this...I double checked this a million ways till Sunday, thinking it was a stolen login or something, but people saw this person walking away from the cubicle at the time of the break-in." Sykes could see Clarisa rolling her fingers in the air to indicate it was time to wrap it up.

He looked at the beautiful Lady Gwen for strength to say what he needed to say and avoided looking at Victor who scared the crap out of him.

"The login belonged to ...Agent Rosalyn. We since placed her account in a quarentine, so that she can still use it, but we are recording everything she is doing. So far, she's just logged in once to get email and sent documents to Legion. Nothing suspicious." Sykes slumped back in the chair and sighed heavily. Then, he looked up to see how the others we taking the news.

Agent Rosalyn had already started working with Legion's task force and was giving orders to place them discretely in key locations throughout all the Physik's offices. Her strategy was not to handle this in a miltaristic way -- quite the opposite since this was a crime of technology -- but to have them be ready to apprehend the perpatrators immediately. Once the traitor was identified, they would need to strike quick!

Lady Gwenivere had just entered the lobby of Physiks's headquarters when she received another call.

"Miss Gwen, this is Sykes in IT again. Um, I have something disturbing to show you."

"Well, that's a fine way to start a conversation Sykes, what are talking about?" Gwen asked.

"We've traced one of the codes and think it belongs to a specific employee." Sykes said nervously.

"Who is it?" Gwen was not in the mood for games.

"That's the thing Miss, we can't talk about this over the phone. I ....I have to tell you in person. I've already contacted Mr. Jaramillo and Ms. Feynman and asked them to join us in Ms. Feynman's office. Please do not contact anyone else but come straight here." Sykes' voice had a tremble to it. "I don't dare spend anymore time on the phone concerning this matter, the jammer is running out of random frequencies.

"Fine, I'll be right there." Lady Gwen headed up the elevator. She passed Agent Rosalyn who was just getting off the elevator.

"Where are you headed Lady Gwenivere, care to join me for some lunch, it's been a busy morning and I'm famished." Agent Rosalyn patted her stomach lightly.

Lady Gwen had a puzzled look on her face, surprised that Agent Rosalyn wasn't headed upstairs as well. "No thanks, I have a few more things to attend to. Enjoy your lunch." Agent Rosalyn nodded and headed out the revolving door to the street.

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Clarisa was waiting nervously in her office. She paced back in forth in her high-heeled boots. Victor and Lady Gwen had not yet arrived and Sykes refused to say anything definitive until they arrived. He looked pale and fidgety waiting in a high backed chair facing the door. He continued to hammer on his laptop keyboard and only glanced up with Clarisa passed close while pacing.

Back at Physiks Technologies...

People moved to a fro in the office and all seemed to be back to normal. The sounds of phones ringing, pleasant secretaries answering, staff conversing about the companies latest achievements, scientists milling about working on their latest innovations, all indicated that it was back business as usual.

One particular employee approached an unassigned cubicle tucked away in the north end of the building and decided it was time for another data extraction. The employee casually turned on the computer and set a small wireless device about 3x5x1 inches down next to it. The necessary clearance and access codes were at hand and ready when prompted by the programs. After several minutes of typing, the data transfer was done. The individual glanced up at the security camera cleverly hidden inside a light fixture and smiled before sending a disruptive electromagnetic pulse thru the wire. Surely that would ruin the last day's worth of recording on THAT camera. The employee picked up the small box, tucked it in a pocket and walked out of the cubicle as if nothing was out of the ordinary. People said hello and smiled as they passed in the hall.

It's back to business as usual alright...if you are stealing from Physiks!

Clarisa was up early and walking around her spartan appartment with the cell phone hand-free headset strapped to her ear.

"....Yes, that is fine, please make sure everything on Ms. Parkers list is attended to ASAP." <pause> "...No, I don't care if it will cost more. I can validate the expense." <pause> "...That will be fine, thank you." She disconnected the call and dialed again while fixing herself a protein shake.

She was dialing Ms. Parker to see if she was would mind a visit today. Clarisa was eager to see the lab fully restored. Even though it was only the first day after the chaos, she felt that she could move things along quickly. Also, Agent Rosalyn should be reporting in soon. She would have to discuss increased security with Kashaye.

Ring Ring Ring

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Victor pulled several official looking documents from a desk drawer. "I will place the intelligence units I currently have assigned to this operation under your command for now." He quickly wrote several things on the documents, mainly signatures. "I will call up my expert teams for this operation as well, but they're currently tied up with something at the moment, so they'll need some time."

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"Tied up with what, I wonder?" Agent Rosalyn thought...she had a curious nature. It served her well and helped her notice details others overlooked. She nodded and said out loud, "I will add more surveillance cameras to every spot possible and introduce myself to your intelligence units under my command."

Then she turned to Lady Gwenivere, "Is this satisfactory or can you think of any additional items for security? Ms. Feynman values your input and would like your approval before I proceed with these plans."

((PS: I've got a number of typos in my last message, sorry but it's too late to edit them...I shouldn't try to write late at night. ))

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"Tell me, agent...I'm sorry, I don't believe I got your name...what information on the traitor do you have so far? Does Physiks have any general idea on who or what this person may be working for? Once you find out who it is," Victor stood and walked over to the wall and pulled a rapier from a displayed scabbard, "we at Legion have ways of extracting further information," he said, drawing his fingers down the blade.


(( This is the statue of Santiago Matamoros (St. James the Moor Slayer) that stands in his office. ))

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((Very nice and imposing statue! ))

"Forgive my manners, I neglected to identify myself properly." She straighted her suit with both hands, stood straighter and extended her hand in what promised to be a firm handshake. "I am Agent Rosalyn. I am assigned to the Heroism is Good Business Project under Ms. Clarisa Feynman. My daily duties are usually to combat crime on the streets of Paragon City, but occassionally, I do special assignments like this one. Being detached from the corporate base can be an asset." One corner of her mouth lifted in a half smile.

The half smile disolved and she brushed the piece of short, coiffed hair from her eyes. She picked up one of the manilla folders and opened it to show evidence. "Since being notified a few days agoabout this transgression, this is what I've found. Someone has been taking electronic data and physical files from the vaults. Not just any data either. We have discerned a relationship between the data taken, but we do know that other, more valuable and accessible files were left alone." She pointed at the printout of the violated data files. There is very little footprint to follow here. No pictures of the perpetrators, no security breeches recorded, no profiles of angry employees. There are no leads and we do not have good cause to interogate employees and business partners further without risking relationships with them."

She pulled back from the folders and rested her hands behind her back in an "at ease" position. "What assistance do you recommend?"

((Below, I have interlaced pictures. I took them while in London earlier this year. Some are from the British Museum that has collected various pieces of architectural historical items. The weapons are from the Tower of London, which has vast collection of weapons. Matamoros, I hope you don't mind this interpretation...if anything doesn't fit with your vision...just explain the deviation so we can get a better mental picture.))

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He noticed Rosalyn was taking an interest in her surroundings, although she was obviously resisting any urge to say anything. "Feel free to look around. Seeing as we are allies now, I have nothing to hide from you." He gestured to the surrounding walls where display cases of various historical artifacts stood. Several bookcases where old books tattered from age were also against the walls. Several sets of medieval armor also decorated the room. "As you can see, I have the development of human weaponry through history surrounding me. I find it quite fitting, considering what we do here at Legion." He smirked slightly. Perhaps he would enjoy working with this newly introduced Physiks employee.


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Agent Rosalyn took that as a directive to gather potentially valuable information on Legion, as an ally of course. Ms. Feynman would want a fully report in case any details would be of use later.

She strode about the room. Unconsciously, her footfalls were light and evenly distributing her weight as if she were walking about an ancient church. The ceilings were beautifully ornate. . Along one large section of the East wall was the weapons display. Weapons of every style and time period were carefully catalogued museum-style ( weapons pic 1 , pic 2, pic 3 pic 4). After she spent several minutes peering into the cases, fascinated by the rare pieces, she turned north to the door . It was a heavy, hardword door engraved extravagently. Last, she examined one of the statues .

"Truly amazing, Mr. Jaramillo." She turned back to face him. "Wouldn't you agree Lady Gwenivere?"

Agent Rosalyn did not notice Victor's tremors. She was a bit overwhelmed by the opulance of this office. Normally, she could take it all in stride and behave like the soldier she was. ((She's an Invul/Energy Tanker))

"I've been instructed to assist you as much as I can Mr. Jaramillo." Agent Rosalyn shifted her eyes forward, and lowered her head slightly to show respect. She stood at attention and would do so until told to be at ease. She didn't have military training per se, but in her line of work, she learned...when in Rome, do as the Roman do.

"We appreciate your allowing us access to this office for the purpose of a visit. I would be most interested in working with other Legion agents to follow up leads on the traitor. The atmosphere here is condusive to contemplating mysteries, is it not Lady Gwenivere?". She turned to Lady Gwen and nodded.

She resisted the urge to explore this vast, dark space Victor called his office.

((Funny background on Agent Rosalyn...I named her for the Roseline...if you have read the DaVinci Code, some of her nature will be known up front.))