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path of least time - 18/01/05
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sotonrich
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Joined: 08 Nov 2005
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Location: southampton , UK

 		path of least time - 18/01/05
Quote:
Helena Frye and the Third Power
Wednesday, January 18 2006, 09:05 PM

"You'd better have a good story, Mr. McAllister. I don't know how or why a member of the CRT would join the Third Power, but I'm going to enjoy finding out."

That was what Helena Frye said to me after she was about to shoot me, and before I was hauled off to be interrogated. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Let's go back two hours.

Gillit Road isn't too far from the Academy. If you see it on a map, you only have to travel down a few roads to get there, but in the minutes that you take, the Old Town becomes even older. Sadder, more oppressive, more tired. I normally don't go in that direction, but last night I crossed the wistful glory of Taversen Square, loped down the broad thoroughfare of Taversen Gate, turned onto Star Lane and then onto the cold of Ironwell and Villier Park.

I slowed down as I turned onto Gillit Road. At 9:45pm, it's pretty deserted - most people are wise enough to be inside, or rich enough not to live there. The subway entrance was boarded up, but I was able to squeeze through by moving a few planks. It didn't seem as if anyone else had come in through this entry before me, but I knew this didn't count for much given that in the past, the citizens of Perplex City had exhibited a strange tendency to dig tunnels wherever they could - including, most likely, to somewhere near the Gillit Road subway. These tunnels are still mostly undocumented though, and I couldn't find anything that I could use, so...

I know it seems ridiculous to have gone in through the front entrance, but let me explain. Although my key is hardly military-grade, I've had a few upgrades made to it, include one that makes it particularly sensitive to low-power transmissions. In other words, it can pick up most surveillance devices. It can't do much more than that - it can't intercept them, for example - but it can tell me that they are nearby, and right then, there wasn't anything nearby.

The only other piece of particularly impressive tech I had with me was a set of active contact lenses I borrowed from a friend at the museum. I helped test them out back in July, and they've managed to iron out most of the bugs and increase the battery life. More importantly, the pair that I had allowed me to see in the dark, by picking up IR reflected by a source I was carrying. They didn't turn my vision into green streaks, like in your movies; they just turned it into shades of grey.

Apart from that, I didn't have anything else apart from my key, which was set to record everything. I certainly didn't have any weapons; I figured that that would only make things more dangerous, considering that I'm not trained.

I padded down the steps into the wide, pillared entrance hallway, looking around. The place was obviously very old - I didn't recognise any of the station logos, and many of the subway lines and stations had names I hadn't heard of. Despite the age, the entrance stairwell, the hall, the ticket booths - the entire subway - was immaculately clean. There must have been some kind of automated system still maintaining the place, which was very odd. Even robots need power and maintanence.

With fewer than fifteen minutes left to go until the meeting, I still couldn't see or hear anyone else. I decided to head straight down to the subway tracks, smiling to myself as I jumped over the ticket barrier, and then trotted down the unmoving elevators. I navigated the corridors with some difficulty, since I couldn't distinguish one colour from another, and then finally descended a short flight of steps onto the subway's platform. Still no-one.

I lowered myself onto the north track, belatedly finding out, to my relief, that the rails had some sort of plastic cladding wrapped around them. After heading east for a couple of hundred metres down the tunnel, my key chirped into my ear, informing me it had detected a passive surveillance device a few about five metres to the south, presumably on the adjacent track. It could've just been some old safety system or a cleaning robot, but it was the only interesting thing that I'd seen since I'd walked through the entrance, and I only had a few minutes before something was going to happen. If it was a surveillance device, someone clearly wanted to keep an eye on the area surrounding it.

Consigning the idea of just backtracking and walking down the other tunnel to the 'suicidally dangerous' bin, I started searching around for some sort of cross tunnel or service room or ventilation shaft that might be able to get me closer - but not too close - to the surveillance device. I had to walk another hundred metres down the tunnel before finding a service door. By this point, the eerie cleanliness of the place was disturbing me - what was the point of keeping huge stretches of tunnel spotlessly clean?

Anyway, for the moment I was thankful because the door opened without a squeak, and I found myself in a cramped, thin room with old carpet flooring. There were a couple of benches on the floor, and calendars on the wall. I couldn't make out the date - the text just looked like random noise to me. I walked over to the opposite side of the room and cracked open the door to find the other tunnel. My key confirmed that the surveillance device was down this way. I crept down, keeping close to the blind side of the tunnel wall, and was rewarded with a few whispered voices and the sounds of a group of people - maybe three or four - moving something large into crudely constructed side tunnel.

I dropped to the floor and crawled a few metres closer, so I could see them. It was impossible to see their faces or even whether they were men or women, but my key could enhance the audio.

"...few minutes. We have to move faster," said one.

"But he handled it, didn't he? We're supposed to-" said another.

"I know that's what he said, but things go wrong. I don't want anything to go wrong. So let's pick up the pace," replied the first.

For a minute, they were silent, and just as I was about to move away, they spoke up again.

"Okay, it's time. She'll be here by now. Let's get moving."

They clambered up into the side tunnel, muffling my audio reception, and my key was only able to pick up a final few words.

"...want to know how Frye managed to get the police involved in this. Would've thought that the third wouldn't want to risk..."

And that was it. I lay on the track, wondering whether I should follow them, when my key chirped in my ear. A second later, it chirped again. And again. I tapped it, thinking it had malfunctioned, and brought up a display on my contact lenses. It had detected about a dozen high-intensity surveillance devices - military spec - quickly moving from the vicinity of the entrance hallway down towards me. I quickly estimated that they would be here in less than a minute.

I jumped up, and decided that I had to get out - there were too many of them, and they'd easily discover me. I couldn't just run down the tunnel away from them - I had no idea where it headed or how I'd be able to get out. The only way I could get out is by the way I came. I ran back into the service room and waited, trying to stay calm. There was no reason why I couldn't just wait them out and then leave after they'd gone; if they were going to meet with the people I'd spotted early, the Third Power agents, then they'd have no reason to come this way.

I crouched against the north door, waiting. The dots on my contact lens drifted down and around, emerging into the platform and rapidly dispersing on to the south track. They hopped around each other, with two pausing at the rough location of the side tunnel, and a few more went further east down the tunnel. It seemed like they were busy checking out the entrance to the side tunnel when suddenly three of the dots started darting towards the south service door. A fraction of a second later, my key urgently beeped, alerting me of an active scan.

Bursting out of the north door, I sprinted up the north track back to the staircase - they might have discovered me, but there was still a chance I could outrun them and make it out of the station. The dots whirled around in my peripheral vision and divided, throwing off yet more devices. Three hundred metres later, I emerged into the platform and hurdled myself up onto the main waiting area. I desperately wanted to look back and see just how far away they were, but that's one thing you never do when you run. Besides, it would've been pretty dangerous to do as I ran up the steps a few seconds later, three at a time.

Then again, maybe it might have allowed me to avoid the aerial drone that slammed into my back at the top of the stairs. I flew forward, banging my shoulder roughly against the wall and landing on my side. The cat-sized drone buzzed angrily over me as I unsuccessfully tried to get up again, and then collapsed down; my muscles had become slack, and I couldn't get them to work properly. I figured the drone had shot some kind of drug into me.

The people pursuing me clattered up the steps amid blinding light; my contact lenses tried, and failed, to fully compensate, so I shielded my eyes as I heard a dozen people move into a semicircle around me, with drawn weapons. They were wearing what looked like full riot gear, with masks concealing their entire heads.

"Are you Kurt McAllister?" one of them demanded.

I nodded slowly.

"Where are the others? Where have they taken the goods?"

I looked around nervously. I had no idea what was going on now - was Frye here? If so, why were they asking me? I tried a gamble.

"Shouldn't you already know that, Helena?" I asked.

They all went quiet. I could see their heads tilting around towards each other, as if they were talking. The lights flicked off, and then one of them removed their helmet.

Helena Frye glared at me, lowering her weapon.

"I've just been told that the people we were looking for have escaped in the time we were running around after you. You'd better have a good story, Mr. McAllister. I don't know how or why a member of the CRT would join the Third Power, but I'm going to enjoy finding out."

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PostPosted: Wed Jan 18, 2006 5:03 pm
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Hituro
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 		YAYYYYYYY he's alive!!!!!

So ... was the meet a repeat of what they did on earth? A mixed up confusion to cover what the 3P wanted to do, which is manage a handover from Helena to an agent? Certainly they knew Kurt was coming
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PostPosted: Wed Jan 18, 2006 5:11 pm
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number9dream
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 		What a disaster - sounds like there was no way Kurt was ever going to hide in the shadows and find out anything about Helena Frye without the same sort of military tech that they were using. Maybe we should have got Castille to go along too....? Confused
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PostPosted: Wed Jan 18, 2006 5:16 pm
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sotonrich
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 		ok now i've recovered from the racing heart as i saw the new entry...it seems that this was a 3P setup to distract the police while the "goods" were moved....i would imagine kurt is well known in PXC and they recgonised him straight away.

as for helena....she's either a 3P agent or she was working undercover to learn their plans?
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PostPosted: Wed Jan 18, 2006 5:18 pm
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Hituro
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 		You know, its starting to feel like anything we know as a group, and certainly anything we discuss here in public, is known by the 3P and they seem to be making a habit of using our actions as cover.

Do we have to go all secret?
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PostPosted: Wed Jan 18, 2006 5:21 pm
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GasparLewis
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 		HOT DAMN, THE GEEK WONDER LIVES!
*sticks arm out, bent, attempting to initiate a hoedown of joy*

(But, God, weren't we some heartless bastards in the interim? Suppose he might like to read a few of those limericks, eh? Twisted Evil)

Of course, detainment in such a situation at the hands of Frye (who we're now positive is/was in cahoots with 3P:PXC) could still have proved inherently messy. But, since he's typing to us, then obviously things could not have been too disastrous.

Way to go, Kurt! Worshippy

PostPosted: Wed Jan 18, 2006 5:26 pm
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cassandra
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 		so did they obtain another ionizer/precious documents/more Academy-CRR tech? The entrance to the catacombs leading to the Academy is right there.

(ahh, Receda's Revenge Laughing)

PostPosted: Wed Jan 18, 2006 5:29 pm
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Reptile
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 		i really want to know what happens next.

This is interesting, good job Kurt didn't just stand in the open and wait for the meeting. but then it is Kurt.
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PostPosted: Wed Jan 18, 2006 5:30 pm
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Hituro
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 		Yes it looks like he took some of the advice we sent him at least. I wonder what he told Frye though?
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PostPosted: Wed Jan 18, 2006 5:42 pm
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josiah
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 		D'oh.... if we'd have only thought to remind him to take his sock puppet!!

I think we've been set up again...

PostPosted: Wed Jan 18, 2006 5:48 pm
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Hituro
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 		We are just considering the opposite possibility in chat. If we assume Frye was already going to be at Gillet road doing something dodgy then what happened .... just what the Composer promiosed, Kurt had an opportunity to see her inciminate herself.

Of course she would say that he mucked it up and the 3P got away, regardless of the truth. So maybe its not a setup after all ...
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PostPosted: Wed Jan 18, 2006 5:52 pm
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Reason
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 		Well its great to hear that our Kurt is fine Very Happy I think after this episode I'm getting quite attached.

Why was the station so clean though? Obviously its significant in some way, maybe the goods that are passed through have the need to be quarentined. Reynolds Ionizers perhaps or as Cassandra says military grade equipment?
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PostPosted: Wed Jan 18, 2006 6:14 pm
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Hituro
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 		But if its an important spot they use often then why would Frye risk bringing other police?
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PostPosted: Wed Jan 18, 2006 6:18 pm
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Nightingale
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 		Thank god he's alright!

This is a bit of a turn up for the books though, eh?

If Helena is in league with the Third power maybe the other cops that she was with aren't aware of her connections and she had to pretend to be a 'good guy' or it could be a sort of Interal Affairs exercise within the Police Force to ascertain where her loyalties lie.

Or we could be wrong about Helena.

I can't wait to learn more!

Nightingale

p.s. do you think Kurt will get kicked off the CRT because of this?
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PostPosted: Wed Jan 18, 2006 6:19 pm
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Hituro
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 		Depends whether Frye can frame him up as a 3P agent
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PostPosted: Wed Jan 18, 2006 6:26 pm
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