"Thorry mathter." Igor said apologetically as he hunched through the portal, followed shortly by the offended reanimated corpse. "How can I make it up to you to forgivth me? Thall I get you another rithe cake? Thomething to drink? Do you require an army of reanimated abominationth? Thall I kill thomething for you? Would you like any new parths or to be beridden of them? Ath a matter of fact, ith there abtholutely anything within a vthery broad thpan of reathoning I can do for you?"
"Blargh." The Longbow zombie said dryly. One of its eyes was drooping out of its socket.
It took a good bit of self control to right himself in mid-air, so the collision with the wall was a bit beyond his capabilities. After all, he was always on edge in this place- Destroyed buildings, always a chance of having some random Stalker come up and slice his leg off.
Experiment wasn't very happy so far- Having been flying at the highest point he could over Siren's Call, the blade that slashed along the back of his plated suit terrified him. He spun, throwing spikes every which way, causing the hidden ninja wanna-be to fall to the ground. The scare sent him downward, causing a Corrupter to start throwing balls of fire at him. This confused him further, throwing him completely out of control.
The fact that he had 'landed' a few buildings down from where the data on his PDA told him to be was blind luck.
Straightening and dusting off his armour in his usual manner, he proceeded toward the door, briskly... And sighed.
No doubt he was given the wrong directions- Last time he had been to Dr. West's labs, they looked all shiny, and awesome, and high-tech, and... Well, awesome. This run-down building was a poor excuse...
...Of course, as he saw the early group proceed in, he raised an eyebrow. Especially with the glowing blue light he spotted in the doorway.
"...Well... Uh... Hm. Maybe Dr. West was kidnapped by aliens! That would be cool... I'd be able to punch some Rikti faces!" he yelled, throwing his hand up ceremoniously, and punching the air, little sounds of energy emitting from his mouth. "Hmph! Umph! Yumph! Take that, fake-alien scum!"
...He finally walked up to the door, clearing his throat. "Hello door. I am Experiment 2.0. Is there any chance of me proceeding through your rectangular doorishness this fine day?"
Suddenly Experiment felt a rush of cold air around him.
In fact, the whole area seemed to cool, as if someone had just turned the thermostat down.
If Experiment looked, he would see the cause for the sudden temperature change. The man in the white battle suit and cape gave a somewhat dramatic wave of the arms and the temperatures returned to normal.
The man's white armor seemed to stand out against the drab greys of the destroyed battleground. His cape fluttered about like a flag in the wind.
Doctor Klaus had just arrived.
The mad German's features were that of your stereotypical mad scientist. He had the wild white hair that went everywhich way, the funny little white mustache, even the thick German accent. Then there were the funny little gogles that obscured his normally bright blue eyes.
Taking a step closer to Experiment he gave a quick look at the area around himself. "Excuzen me, but iz zis ze supergeniusez convention?"
((Considering it can take weeks for a single day to pass in these things, it's probably better if we just say the timelines were separate, then merge them. 
))
"Ph, I haven't got a clue." the Krayten's eyes rolled in their sockets, "You know that in our business, schedules don't exist, so I guess you'll just have to take your chances, heh heh. I'll see you next Sunday then. Vern out..."
--------------------
"I highly doubt Daniel's been befallen by anything of the sort." was the first thing Experiment heard from the Krayten as Vern leaped from a nearby roof in the fashion of a cat, selecting a pile of sturdy rubbish as his descent's midpoint before proceeding to the actual ground, "And no, I don't think that'd be 'cool' at all."
Folding his wings together over his back, the reptilian cast a scrutinizing eye on the portal in the door. As he'd expected - definitely not large enough. Time for plan B.
A silvery rod not half a meter in length and thin as a bone dropped from the roof of the Repliforce's building, clattering onto the ground with as much nose as one would expect. What one would not expect, however, was said rod springing to life and telescopically duplicating sections itself, forming a roughly two-meter-tall spindly semblance of an humanoid shape - or more precisely, a metal stick figure without a head.
Wait, no, it did have a head: a tiny blue lens at the top of its barely decimeter-long neck. Or at least, that's all that could be seen. of it. In contrast, the four-fingered ends of its double-jointed arms and legs showed such care and precision in their design that one might well suspect the architect had simply forgotten the head altogether.
"As I expected." the construct said with a mechanical, yet certainly not monotonous voice, its tone low and gentle, speaking with a male personality. The head turned to the Krayten behind it, inquiring, "You are sure we have the right coordinates?"
A smirking nod from the Krayten elicited something that looked much like a shrug from the spindly mechanoid, "Comme ci, comme ca..."
"If I had Force powers, vacuum or not my cape/clothes/hair would always be blowing in the Dramatic Wind." - Tenzhi
Characters
Sheldon rubbed his thumb across his chin as he pondered Igor's question.
"No... Not yet, anyway. For now, please stop calling me master... Unless you meant her..."
The two were following behind Igor and his zombie at nearly two arm-lengths (Ryat99's arms) distance. The inventor was relieved that the security system seemed to be allowing them passage, he was fairly certain the cameras were hooked into some sort of image recognition software, and that if it didn't recognize Sheldon, well, he'd be on the Red Cross Express faster than he could blink. Ryat99 must have been on a "Known Accomplices/Associates" list.
"If you meant her, well, she could certainly use some more food."
"Sir!" Ryat99 nearly shouted at him, "That was very inappropriate."
"Let it be," Sheldon replied flatly, then turned to Ms. Vanessa, "Why do you look like you're halfway to death's door?"
"I won't apologize for him," Ryat99 rumbled as he cradled his face in his big metallic hand, "I never saw the point in that... one needs to be repentant for himself. However, I can assure you, that while my creator lacks certain understandings about social etiquette, I do not. He does not mean to insult... He's just curious, and figures it's easier to avoid socio-political small-talk."
My Stories
Look at that. A full-grown woman pulling off pigtails. Her crazy is off the charts.
Further conversation was abruptly stilled as a battered Longbow body hurtled through the air inches from Doctor Klaus' head and hit the brick wall near Vern with a loud thump and assorted crackles. The unfortunate do-gooder's mediport activated, whisking him away to a long stay in a hospital, as a hulking black android lurched out from between a couple of buildings across the street.
"God damn Longbow always trying to make trouble," Combat Toy said to whoever was in earshot. "[censored] need to learn not to mess with me."
"They do need to go over threat assessment in boot camp again," replied a shorter, multi-colored and caped android as he stepped out from behind Combat Toy and patted the larger machine on the shoulder. "At least that soldier will remember not to attack an armed group of dangerous looking robots all by himself in the future."
"Yeah right," said Combat Toy sarcastically as it glared at the several other metahumans in front of it. "And look at the menangerie we've got here. Capes, lizards, and masks, oh my."
"Please let the more mature people do the talking," Toy Dispenser said to his assault bot in a disparaging tone of voice.
As Toy Dispenser approached the building where the meeting was to take place, his other bots emerged from the shadows and trailed along behind. Due to Siren's Call being a hostile zone, they were trying to keep chatter to a minimum for the time being.
"Vern, Experiment, others," Toy said with a nod toward the group. "I assume we're all here for the same reason, then?"
"This looks like it might be fun," chirped Mini Bot as it looked at the spindly robot accompanying Vern.
******************************************
"Right-o," Solid said. "I can totally restrain myself. Well, my gun at least. Maybe not my acerbic and razor-sharp wit, however. So... Are we there yet?"
Statesman said let there be heroes, and there were heroes.
Lord Recluse said let there be villains, and there were villains.
NCsoft said let there be nothing, and there was nothing.
Vanessa laughed as more and more joined the group at the laboratory.
Contrary to the disheveled look of the outer building, once through the portal things began looking much more sterile and metallic, as those who knew Dr. West were more familiar with.
"Dinna worry 'bout me, laddie." Vanessa said to Igor, waving a hand dismissively. "Ye merely gave me a start. And as for ye..."
She eyed Sheldon appraisingly from behind her glasses. "'Alfway t' death's door, eh? It's a wonder I 'aven't found it yet."
The scientist laughed. "I s'pose that's nae the answer ye were lookin' for. It's a complicated story I'll nae bore ye with. Suffice t'say, I really shouldn't eat much. But anyway..."
Doing a mock curtsey, she spread her crooked grin at the group. "For those of ye who don't know me, I'm Professor Vanessa Eirene, known in the Isles as 'Ultraviolet Nessie.' Li'l Ocky put me in charge of askin' ye of the unscrupulous side o' the fence to this li'l shindig o' his. But enough o' that."
Turning her back to the group, she beckoned them farther in.
"C'mon in." she said unenthusiastically. "There's plenty o' room in th' conference 'all for everyone."
A soft thumping came from farther down the hall, and a bright array of red eyes shone as Spindle trotted towards the group.
"Hi Uncle Toy! Is Mini Bot here?" the little battle drone chirped, bouncing up and down on her chrome heels.
"It's nae a meet and greet, lassie." Nessie muttered, rolling her eyes.
-----------------------------------------------------
((And we'll advance the Doc West/Solid/Essex chunk ahead a couple days to catch up with the rest of the eager beavers. :3))
On the morning of the convention, West left his laboratory in the hands of the reploids, taking along only Essex (who insisted) and Solid. As they climbed aboard the helicopter, West slid a glance to Solid.
"Remember..." he said with a slight grin. "No shooting my guests, please."
Japancakes.
Art - Theme 005 - Seeking Solace
"Well I'd better go thet up a thmall perimeter then." Igor declared. "Nothing that'll attract attenthion, jutht a thmall ringlet of gumbo headth. I thaw a group of Arachnoth heading thith way that thould therve nicely."
There was a lightning strike in the distance as Igor and his zombie went right back through the portal.
-----
"Afthernoon." Igor said cheerfully to Jake as he passed by him as the mastermind headed for the open door.
"Blargh." The Longbow corpse said dully as its brief encounter with Jake came and went.
Klaus barely held back from freezing Toy Dispensor. Upon seeing the team of robots with him Klaus raised an eyebrow. "Ahh, a fellow inventor."
Klaus moved into the building upon the urgings of Nessie. After all, he didn't want to tick his hosts off. Klaus steered away from Igor and his pet, instead making his way over to the place where Nessie and Sheldon were standing. "I take it zou are ze Ultraviolet Nessie I have been hearing sooo much about."
"Hello Vanessa," Toy said as he held up one finger at Klaus, signalling the mad scientist to wait a moment. "I haven't seen you around the base lately. I assume your absence has been due to the topic we'll be covering today?"
"The boss is not much of an inventor," said a four-legged battle drone as it clicked up to Klaus. "We are all modifications on a standard design template that Toy Dispenser aquired at some length. His specialization lies firmly in the realm of the mind... The electronic mind, to be precise."
"Hey Spindle!" shouted Mini Bot gleefully as the drone sprang forward into a forward cartwheel that involved using it's shoulder mounted tentacles instead of it's three fingered claws for thrust. "Don't listen to the crabby lady. How've you been doing?"
********************************************
"Only if they ask for it," Solid replied in a light tone before turning to Essex and nudging her. "Try not to make too many friends, alright? I have a hard enough time not arresting people who know me through you as it is."
Statesman said let there be heroes, and there were heroes.
Lord Recluse said let there be villains, and there were villains.
NCsoft said let there be nothing, and there was nothing.
Experiment, having greeted the group members he knew in the usual way, and those he didn't with a minor joke, such as 'Dr. Icicle' or 'Miss Loch Ness' under his breath, he finally piped up. "So, just so I know, we're pretty secure down here, right? No chance of, say, a fifty-foot octopus or giant robot just kinda crashing in, right? Because, y'know, it's rather difficult to have conversations while being trampled or having ink shot in your eyes and the like."
If anybody didn't know he talked and acted like an idiot already, they'd most likely be confused as to his presence about now.
Klaus decided to ignore the other man's rudeness, instead turning his attention to the bots around him. "Ahh, I see. To tell the truth, you don't look that diffrent from one of my old Combat Drone prototypes...."
Then he heard Experiment's rather strange comment.
"What are you...paranoid?"
Suddenly two previously cloaked turrets appeared outside.
"If so... velcome to ze club."
[ QUOTE ]
"Afthernoon." Igor said cheerfully to Jake as he passed by him as the mastermind headed for the open door.
"Blargh." The Longbow corpse said dully as its brief encounter with Jake came and went.
[/ QUOTE ]
Jake gave a friendly nod in Igor's direction as he greeted, however, neglected to do the same to the zombie. After waving the abomination unto nature away from him, he did a short involuntary tremor. "Ugh, damn zombies. Give me the creeps..." He muttered under his breath, giving curt nods to those he recognized as leaned against a wall outside the door. "So am I to assume, considering you all are out here, that we aren't allowed in yet?"
-----
The group of Arachnos followed shortly behind with military discipline rivaled only by... well... their rivals, Longbow. Taking a cue from their temp squad leader, they deemed Igor a non-hostile, and passed by him without so much as batting an eyelash.
When they had caught up with Jake, they stood at attention long enough for Jake to notice and casually order them to go "At ease."
Vern allowed himself a toothy smirk. He had to admit, this was pretty cool. Usually, humans tended to react to his appearance with either terror or condescension - the latter generally due to his quadrupedal nature. True, he couldn't count Toy and his entourage in this respect, but was certainly able to include a few other people there.
Be that as it may, it was certainly a welcome change of pace. And with company like this, things would probably get even more interesting.
"What a crew." Vern remarked with a greeting nod to Toy Dispenser, then proceeded through the portal, line-bot in tow - and, if warranted, a quick negative to Jake. Upon Experiment's inquiry, he returned with a, "I certainly don't think so. The structure's downtrodden appearance is mostly farce."
"And if something like that does want in," the construct beside him chuckled, "then it'll have to get through me first. My roof."
"Yes, your roof." Vern replied, turning to Ultraviolet Nessie, "Ah, you must be Miss Vanessa Eirene, the cyborg. A pleasure. However, I've got a hunch there isn't time to waste. Daniel's perturbation came through quite clearly. What's the situation...?"
"If I had Force powers, vacuum or not my cape/clothes/hair would always be blowing in the Dramatic Wind." - Tenzhi
Characters
Sheldon and Ryat99 mostly sat in the background throughout the introductions. When asked their names, they supplied them. Ryat99 asked if it was alright if he stayed near the exit.
"I'd hate to think I was intruding," the android explained, "And since this is a meeting of the minds, and I'm pretty much not given to pondering the workings of the universe, I don't see how I would contribute that much."
"You could collate data," Sheldon offered, "You know, plugging numbers, rifling through equations... I'm certain we'll be needing those kinds of services."
"Even still, I'd rather they grant me permission to enter, or at least provide me a place to remain. I don't want to leave you in any form of danger, boss. And you're right... I can almost see a causality gravity well beginning to form..."
"Heh-heh," Sheldon chuckled, "Uh... What Ryat Ninety-nine means is that since there's so many of us here, there's a chance somebody might take an interest in what we do, regardless of what precautions we've taken. I hope the security here is sufficient for even Nemesis-level intrusions."
My Stories
Look at that. A full-grown woman pulling off pigtails. Her crazy is off the charts.
OOC: *twitch* This entrance is too good for me to pass up. Thanks Grey.
BIC: "[censored] yeah I can handle Nemesis!" came a loud shout from behind Nessie.
A grey painted android stepped forward from a door set further back into the room, an assault rifle cockily leaning on one shoulder and the elongated targeting lens of his cyclopix visor winking red. Heroes and villains with some form of identification equipment on them would recognize the android as Solid Shot, one of the more powerful rifle wielding blasters in Paragon City. Although he generally managed to stay off the major news, any reports on this hero painted him as brash, annoying, loud, and altogether too good at his job. He was also known as one of the heroes that dealt in lethal force when fighting select villain groups, though no one had asked him why he does so.
"I've shot him up at least two or three times," Solid nodded as he walked toward the gathering. "Done the same to Praetorians, evil clones, and alternate Nemesis'! Only people I haven't kicked the [censored] of are the big baddies from the Rogue Isles and that's because I scared them all off!"
"Laying it on a bit thick, aren't you?" said Toy Dispenser as he crossed his arms and stared at Solid.
Solid hefted his rifle off his shoulder and aimed it at Toy one handed. "That includes you, Color Blind Bot. You ever want to have a good, old fashioned throw down, come rob a bank near my apartment and I'll show you a good one."
"So says the robot who still looks like he came off the assembly line," Toy shot back, his tone of voice making up for a lack of visible eyes to roll. "And I assure you, again, that if we did fight they'd still be picking pieces of you out of the stratosphere."
"Anyway!" Solid said even louder as he shouldered his rifle once again. "You jabberwockies wanna move your intellectual [censored] into the room made for talking? You keep crowding up the entrance and even Azuria could find this place due to the pile-up."
OOC: This is now a Solid Shot thread. 
Statesman said let there be heroes, and there were heroes.
Lord Recluse said let there be villains, and there were villains.
NCsoft said let there be nothing, and there was nothing.
"Interesting," Ryat99 muttered, "I suddenly feel less out of place."
"That was definitely unexpected," Sheldon agreed, "Do you figure there's... bad oil... between them?"
"You're not funny. I'm sorry if I ever gave you the impression you were."
The big android started plodding into the direction the loud android indicated.
"Reminds me of Kip in his better days," Sheldon sighed, "Loud and demanding... Abrasive, even."
"I never knew him then," Ryat99 rumbled, "Sounds like someone I wouldn't like."
"He's not much different now. Just not as loud. He's lost some enthusiasm. Still fights like a rabid dog, but he's definitely lost some of his spark of life."
"And what does his soul have to say about the matter."
"Like it always says... That they'll deal with it."
My Stories
Look at that. A full-grown woman pulling off pigtails. Her crazy is off the charts.
Experiment's grin went off the map with each word from Solid Shot.
"Sarcastic, intelligent, gun-wielding and awesome in one silver and black package?" he said, his eyes almost sparkling as he put his clasped hands under his chin. "Why... I think I'm in love!"
However, he then frowned. "You know, man-love. Since, y'know, you're, like, male. I think. Are you? Male sounding, at least... Uh... Hm." He stood for about ten seconds, simply thinking. "...Awesome-pie. Anyway, I agree with Vern- What exactly IS the reason for the meeting?"
Proceeding to hit a button on his PDA, his blue and red cape retracted into the full red-paneled suit as he proceeded the way Solid had gestured, "I mean, like... Uh... Like that guy said, we are all in this place at the same time, a possible target due to all, or most, of us being very intelligent. Dr. West is a pretty smart guy- A's on all HIS tests I bet- Why would he want even MORE geniuses?"
Nessie chuckled, ducking her head to Vern in acknowledgement, and then raising her voice to the rest of the crowd.
"Listen!" she barked. "T'allay all o' yer security concerns --"
A calm, male voice cut her off.
"That's enough Vanessa, I'll take it from here."
Dr. Daniel West himself strode through the portal after Solid, after taking a moment to beckon the conference-goers outside back in.
As he walked down the hallway, it began to illuminate with every step he took, becoming less dim as he made progress.
"This laboratory is not actually beneath Siren's Call; the entrance is merely here. The location of the laboratory itself is a spacial pocket, the location of which continues to change. The coordinates of the portal are stable, while the pocket is variable, thus making it damned hard to find for those who do not have access to the doorway."
Making his way up to the podium, he leaned forward slightly, a little excited about his brainchild.
"You see..." he continued, "Every time it changes locations, the potential landing point is scanned for any disruptions at all, be it a tiny fossil or a massive basement. If nothing is found, then the earth of that location is checked by the function for chemical composition. Then, the substance of this laboratory is traded with the substance of the empty ground. Of course, in order to keep soil consistency and not disrupt any ecosystems, the shell of the former 'pocket' remains there as a mitigating factor, slowly changing the composition of the new soil by slowly introducing native elements, and --"
"Ahem." Vanessa called up to the podium, slouching in a seat in the front row. "BLOODY GET ON WITH IT!" she cheered.
"Ah...yes." Daniel said, faltering a bit and clearing his throat. "Well, then, everyone take a seat. I take it you all have had a chance to get to know one another? Do introduce yourselves if not; I like to know my colleagues."
Japancakes.
Art - Theme 005 - Seeking Solace
"Do not be so sure." the line-like mechanoid warned Dr. West ominously, "As a general rule, the more one tries to hide, the easier it is to make a mistake."
"Thank you for that deep philosophical insight, Mr. I Have An Opinion About Everything.' Vern's eyes rolled as he scrutinized the chairs suspiciously, telling Dr. West, "Yeah, I think I'm going to keep standing. These things just don't work for me."
"Oh, pish-pash." the mechanoid's hands whipped about in the air with a dismissive gesture as the machine sat down, "You're just being too sensitive about your surroundings again. In any case, yes, introductions: you may call me M. I am an Ecialist. And I do apologize for not appearing in person, but I'd more likely than not break something. Hm...I just became a hypocrite, didn't I?"
"My name is Sabre Vern." the quadrupted introduced himself as it came to be his turn, lazily shifting his wings into a more relaxed position, "Cosmoengineer and hyperphysicist..."
"If I had Force powers, vacuum or not my cape/clothes/hair would always be blowing in the Dramatic Wind." - Tenzhi
Characters
Igor walked out of the corner of the room when nobody was looking.
"For all who care, I am Igor."
-----
A small batallion of glum looking reanimated Arachnos troops now stood right outside the door.
"The hell is an Ecialist?" Solid asked as he started pacing back and forth at the rear of the room.
Toy Dispenser, having left his bots out in the hallway, sat down in the middle of the second and looked around at everyone else.
"In case you missed me earlier, I am Toy Dispenser, major undeclared," Toy said with a wry grin in his voice.
***********************************************
"This is gonna be as boring as all hell," Combat Toy muttered to the general agreement of the rest of its fellows. Mini Bot was far too busy talking with Spindle to even acknowledge Combat Toy's glum declaration.
Statesman said let there be heroes, and there were heroes.
Lord Recluse said let there be villains, and there were villains.
NCsoft said let there be nothing, and there was nothing.
Grinning, Experiment moved to a chair he deemed lucky, and then bowed to the group, those he knew and didn't know alike, and began his signature introduction.
"I am Experiment 2.0, technological extraordinaire and completer of Halo 3 on Legendary."
With that he took a seat, his grin seemingly imprinted upon his face.
"Co-op or solo?" Solid asked Experiment.
Statesman said let there be heroes, and there were heroes.
Lord Recluse said let there be villains, and there were villains.
NCsoft said let there be nothing, and there was nothing.
West hesitated a bit. "Interesting choice of words, Solid." he remarked somewhat flatly, continuing to type away. "A valid point, nonetheless. I suppose we could use the extra security. Just make sure things don't get any more out of hand than one would expect."
-----------------------------------
Essex giggled. "Well, you know Ms. Rosalind." she said conspiratorially. "She always seems to be after someone or another...I sometimes wonder if she forgets about everything except what's in front of her, until she's reminded and then she goes nuts all over again."
Glancing over her shoulder, she shook her head. "But I shouldn't gossip. I need to help get ready. I'm forwarding you the coordinates; let us know who's going to be coming. Papa says that some folks may try to get there early, so he sent Ms. Vanessa ahead."
--------------------------------------------------
And ahead Ms. Vanessa was. After the retinal scan retracted back into the panel, the open doorway was soon coated by a thin layer of glittering blue film. It seemed to be a portal...
Upon entering the portal, the first thing the group would see was a scrawny brunette woman, thick cokebottle glasses resting on her small nose. She looked unhealthily emaciated, and wore a tattered labcoat, as well as thin pants and a somewhat intellectual looking blouse. Upon the entrance of several of the attendees, she doubled back for a second in surprise, flinging the rice cake she was holding a good eight feet back into the chrome hallway.
"Bloody hell!" Vanessa muttered in a thick brogue. "Ye scared the livin' daylights outta me!"
Japancakes.
Art - Theme 005 - Seeking Solace