Casework

[in_extremis]

WHO: Tony, Jon, searching-for-a-jail exploration party
WHERE: The library and a strange, gated community
WHAT: It's been agreed what is to be done with Beck by committee. We'll see how well that goes.
WHEN: A little while after the community discussion
WARNINGS: idk yet.



a. Processing [for Jon]
Plenty of frustration did translate into plenty getting done, a cacophony of noise throughout the library as Tony dug up floors and sawed through walls to redirect the wiring through the workspace Jon had presented him with. How useful any of that accomplishment was felt directly proportional to how well Tony could actually focus on it. If the work was too easy, it was obvious to him that it was a monumental waste of time, a plain selfish distraction that probably wouldn't even amount to anything if he was snatched out of this place at any second, or they were collectively sent to live on another planet at the whims of their voyeurs. It didn't matter that Tony had a space to work if none of that work ever helped anyone. Then he had another lens to tune and he had to curl over it intently, letting the background noise of the network and his watchful D.A.T.A. units flood the dark corners of his attention.

It was after much too long of this banging and crashing, that did very much transform the room in the basement, that Tony realized he had not only been not helpful, but actively disruptive the entire time he was directing his energy into this work. If he was going to help the way he thought he was supposed to be now, he could at least start in his own house.

Another stretch of silence permeated the library, letting the mothcats nervously settle once again. It would be another hour before Tony came wandering through, still dusty down his front from his construction, but carrying a tray adorned with a handful of new buds pulled from the spring growth outside, and searching for Jon.

b. Probing [for ADVENTURE!]
"This is it?"

It felt like kind of a weird area for a prison. It was kind of a weird area in general, leaving Tony feeling uneasily boxed in between the building that grew a flower that tried to eat him, an unsettling cemetery, the tower looming over them dark and unblinking, and this tall fence that they were confronted with. It certainly didn't look welcoming, but that building down the road looked more like a mansion than a bunker, throwing the severe angles of this one into particular relief. It had been Echo's call, so Tony looked to him with a raised eyebrow and added, "And you've never been inside?" Maybe it wasn't the best idea to bring Echo along. He didn't exactly look his best self, and Tony wasn't even sure where his prosthetics began or the meat ended, should they run into trouble like that flower thing.

"If we're going to use it as a jail," he started to propose cautiously, swinging back a few steps away from the fence and pulling the helmet of the Iron Man back on, distorting his voice as he continued, "we should maybe consider that the fence is not there to keep us out, but to keep something in." Not that he meant to discourage anyone. Just prepare them for hungry flora. It was already well overgrown, vines climbing up the walls and snarled through the fences, dead and woody yet in the spring chill. Even with just a few intrepid green sprouts where the sun lingered the longest, there were a lot of places for a threat to hide.

Comments

[in_extremis]

Tony was accepting all proposals to get the gross thing off of him, and readily froze, arm still outstretched to keep as far away from the rest of him as possible and steadied by the other still bracing his elbow. He turned his face away, grimacing and eyes squeezed shut against the flash, then blinked one open and risk a glance at the damage.

It might have been a bit of an overreaction.

The shots had singed the floor where they had connected, and had, to be fair, disconnected the enthusiastic slime trail, leaving the bulk of it still oozing out of the drawer and now pooling slowly from where it had fallen away from the Iron Man. His glove was still fairly coated, though, dripping heavily to leave their own trails behind and slowly blob onto the ground at his feet.

"I'm not sure that was necessary," Tony admitted.

[only_an_echo]

The clone calmly returned the pistol into an upward angle, tilting his chin in Tony's direction once he made sure the division between man and slime was (mostly) clean.

"Didn't have time to pack everything I needed," came Echo's explanation. "It wasn't the best option, but it worked."

He then paused. "Think they heard that?" A joke at a time like this? And a dry one at that.

[in_extremis]

With a snort of a laugh, Tony tilted his head to try to listen for any panicked scrambling from below, not sure if he would put the bet on the pair of them worrying, or assuming that Echo and Tony were just likely to shoot something for their own education. The odds probably depended on how mundane their experience was so far in this dusty office building.

"If you had time, you would have packed your...goo extractor?" Tony pressed, not sure what common tool he was supposed to be imagining in place of Echo's gun. In the meantime, he gave his dripping hand another vain shake, trying to dislodge more of it as he glanced around the room again, more watchful for slimy surfaces. The strange behaviour of the light suddenly had some context. He indicated the window with a tilt of his head before heading toward it cautiously, watching his step for any more unpalatable substances.

[only_an_echo]

Echo snorted. "A vibroblade would've been a little more practical. And maybe a few more detonators for emergency use." Although it wouldn't be the first time he had to hold something bigger than what he already had on hand, it would still be kind of unwieldy. He also started walking again, doing much of the same to ensure neither of them would be caught off-guard by more slimy friends.

Of course, it would be easier to search for such things if the lighting wasn't so awful. "We need to restore the power to full capacity. There has to be a fuse box or a generator in here somewhere..."

[in_extremis]

Tony had to stop long enough to round on Echo and press, "A few more?" Just how many explosive Echo currently had on him sounded like valuable information. For emergency use. He swung back around to consider the room at Echo's prompting, in agreement that some lights would have been nice but pointing out, "Probably downstairs. There was a flight down as well." So far, outside of the surprise slime, it was looking like 'downstairs' might have been their last hope for anything actually interesting in this building. If there were just more desks, Tony might declare an emergency.

He had made his way close enough to the window by then to get a pretty good idea of what the circumstances were, and came to a sharp halt, not particularly interested in getting a better idea. The window was shattered, sharp glass teeth still arrayed around its edges, the hole instead filled with a translucent curtain of that stubborn goop that still coated Iron Man's glove. It pooled thickly enough onto the floor below it that it was in mounds below the window, still incrementally spreading outward across the floor. "We should check downstairs," Tony reiterated cheerfully, turning on his heel away from this problem.

[only_an_echo]

"For emergency use," Echo casually repeated, leaning away from Tony as he did so. "Heading into unknown territory, you never know what you're gonna run into." A quick glance was given toward the slimy glove. "Good thing that didn't try eating you on contact or else we'd have another problem on our hands."

But that was a good lead, downstairs. Never mind the fact he also paused to see the remains of the broken window that temporarily distracted Tony. It should have raised concern, but the man started off again, leaving Echo to stare at whatever remained before turning after him.

He shook his head, blaster aloft as he followed behind. "Lead the way."