[Ren]

--Matt--
Your fingers flew on the virtual keyboard of your commlink. You knew what you wanted to do, trying to ride along the trid broadcast, just in the other direction. The access codes on the worker’s link didn’t help this time, still, the jury-rigged method should have been a masterpiece. Despite your best tries, however, the only result yielded was that you became aware of a different broadcast coming from somewhere near, and that it was probably the source of the security instructions.

The disappointment was mixed with uncertainty. What you tried should have worked. It just didn’t. And it meant that you were either in a faraday-cage, or under the effects of some jamming.


--Miko--
You easily found a shop nearby, selling various hunting and sports equipment, including bows. The system automatically highlighted the most direct route to it: back through the maintenance door, then to the left, about 70 meters along the corridor and through a hall.


--Leroy--
Although you weren’t too practiced in this line of work – it was usually the job of CSI and the coroner’s office – the various areas of study payed out. You estimated the time of death 45-50 minutes int he past. The muscles of the man showed signs of convulsions, just as the trid interview reported. There were no signs of struggle, although the man’s nails on one hand are broken, he probably clawed at the floor. The only sign of injury is on the head but you suspect it was caused by the fall.

As you examined the head, you noticed something conspicuous. There was some residue under the man’s nose, covering his lips just in the area where he exhaled through his nose. The material must have consisted of relatively heavier particles or the force of the exhalation would have prevented accumulation. It caused a slight discoloration of the area, the skin being yellowish. You were sure, however, that it wasn’t anything you could determine the composition of, not without using a chemistry kit.

As for a possible cause, you were simply baffled. The body showed none of the signs of commonly used poisons or drugs, and this, combined with the lack of injuries, made anything just guesswork beyond this point.
[spoiler=note]Well done, replenish a point of Edge if you already used it.[/spoiler]


--Joel--
The situation in the astral seemed only to worsen. It was obvious that noone took any action to cleanse the area yet, as the presence of the almost-beings became more pronounced in the past minutes. You got the feeling of becoming dirty just by opening your eyes on that world, to look at something close by. Projecting here would prove tricky, starting with convincing yourself to do it.


--all--
The broadcast went on, this time with an enumeration of closed roads, detours, and KE asking citizens not to use vehicles in the vicinity to allow medical providers access, when later, they have to help the probably high amount of injured people waiting for them inside.

[Csjarrat]

Shit. Shit!
Matt smacked his hands down on the desk near the terminal in frustration.
I'm sorry guys, that should of worked, it really should.
Matt stared at the screen, thinking through all the possibilities of why they couldn't talk to the outside world.
He tossed up the odds of the designers building a faraday cage into a structure like this, and then considered jamming the huge area following an attack. neither seemed overly feasible but the end results were clear enough.
Matt looked around the room at the others;
Guys, I hate to say it but i think we need to write off calling in the cavalry as an option. We can't get a signal to the outside world so we're gonna need to get our own asses out of here
Nodding towards the screen;
KE look like they're more bothered about dealing with the outside world at the moment than getting in here. Perhaps the lockdown works both ways?..
Now we've got a set of tools, I'd like to try our luck at getting out via either the maintenance doors or one of the emergency exits.
What do you guys think?

[Gustovness]

"Maintenance sounds like the way to go.  We've already seen what emergency exits look like."

[spoiler]If Leroy still has his medkit with him (not sure if it was lost after the explosion or whatever) I'd like him to use some cotton and maybe a baggy of some sort from it to take a sample or two of the powder on the guy's nose.  He has a chem kit at home that he'll be able to run samples on later.

Also, I saw Miko say something about the security procedures skill.  I forgot to mention in my last post that I also have this skill if you need me to run a test of some sort.

And no, I hadn't used edge yet.  Maybe a little extra karma to buy one point in perception will do lol[/spoiler]

[Csjarrat]

Maintenance it is then. Give me a minute to get us an exit...
Matt calls up the terminal's map mode, looking for the exit to the contractors car park and any other exit routes running from the Maintenance corridor they entered from.

[farothel]

"If all else fails we can still get some power tools from one of the shops and drill our way out," Jade said to the others as she finished the soykaf and dropped the cup into the waste bin.

[Ren]

--Leroy--
You put the medkit to good use. Closing the cotton, saturated with the material taken from the dead man’s lips, in a plastic bag should protect it from deterioration for at least a few hours, possibly for days.


--Matt--
Even the partial map proved to be much help, although finding a possibly working exit wasn’t that easy. You guessed that whatever measures were used in the main areas, were probably also taken at maintenance exits, and the parking area.
[spoiler=test please]Roll a BROWSE + Computer and a LOG + Engineering (Civil) test.[/spoiler]


--all--
On the screen, some action could be seen. Two people in hazmat suits were headed towards the bodies lying outside the entrance of the building, followed by several drones.
”…and as you can see, the experts of Seattle CDC are already going in. They were only waiting for the good-to-go signal of Knight Errant command, that no probable threat of attack can be percieved. In the meantime, several APCs arrived from Fort Lewis Military Command, to help overburdened Knight Errant units to maintain perimeter guard of the closed area.
And now, we are going back to studio, with a discussion about possible perpetrators and causes for this grievous event…”

[Gustovness]

Leroy's brow furled.

"Possible perpetrators..."

He began to look around at the people in his group.  What the fuck were some of them doing with guns, anyways? At a shopping mall?

He shook his head.

No, they couldn't be in on it.  Who would set off whatever was set off and stick around to see their own handy work?  Exposing themselves to...  religious extremists maybe?  I know THEY don't give a shit about sticking around and blowing themselves up.  But none of these guys look the part... I guess they train for that too?

There's no way Kay-E would think he was in on this whole mess, right?

[spoiler]
Leroy thought back to his security procedures training:
[spoiler]Security Procedures 1 + LOG 5 - Wounded 1 = 5 (4d6.hits(5)=2)[/spoiler]

If Leroy has reason to believe that he and the group will be suspects in this attack, then he'll say the following, alerting everyone else to the possibility:
"Matt, while you're looking for a way out, try to find one leading out to a secluded area... maybe sewage access.  I'm not so sure the people outside are going to be expecting us with welcoming arms...

If Leroy doesn't have reason to suspect that he'll be suspected, he'll keep his thoughts to himself.
[/spoiler]

[Csjarrat]

[spoiler]comp + browsecomp 2, browse 6, -1 wound (7d6.hits(5)=3)
knowledge test log + engineerin (civ -1 wound (7d6.hits(5)=4) [/spoiler]

[Ren]

--Leroy--
You couldn't deny it would raise suspicion, thousands dead and you four surviving. It might even mean that you would be handled as persons of interest and asked to be available and not leave town for some time. But suspects? You were not sure they would go that far, but this feeling was based more on hope than on knowledge.

--Mat--
You looked through the map levels where there were possible exits but you were unsure whether all those you found would be open to leave through. Security areas might be worth a try but your experience coming from inspections suggested that remote or hidden areas, like engineering levels, would prove more fruitful. That was when Leroy interjected.

"Matt, while you're looking for a way out, try to find one leading out to a secluded area... maybe sewage access.  I'm not so sure the people outside are going to be expecting us with welcoming arms..."

That gave you an idea, and following through it proved to be a success. Underground level 2 had a place, far from where one would expect any customers, that led directly to the sewers. It was kind of like a secondary access hatch for maintenance reasons, in case of accidents in engineering levels. You were sure it would be closed but it probably wasn't locked down in the same way as other exits.

[farothel]

"That depends," Miko said, "we will get the full medical investigation, that's for sure.  But we might be heroes in being a few to survive a new virus and giving the meds the basis of a vaccine.  Although I've never heard of a virus that goes so fast.  Even Vitas doesn't, if I recall my history lessons correctly."

[Gustovness]

"Feel free to stick around and get prodded by the corporate needles then.  If there are any other survivors, let's see how they're treated first.  Meanwhile, I gotta get back to my pad and check out what the hell this shit is..."

Leroy held up a baggie with the sample he had taken before putting it back in the medkit.

"If I detect anything serious, then I might consider turning myself in but I'm bankin' on the fact that if we're not dead yet, we'll be fine and we won't have anything to worry 'bout."

[Csjarrat]

Matt looked up from the terminal, notating the salient points of the route and saving it in a to-do list; pegged in his helmet's AR feed.
Leroy, I hear ya. Guys, I've got us an exit, should be low profile enough. {pointing at the screen and showing Leroy} There's a sewerage exit here, on level 2. It's not too far from us, it'll probably be shut but it's not likely to be locked down to the same degree as it up here.
Matt looks at Miko, thinking her point through, scanning back to the trid feed. I just...I just don't know if i can trust those guys. everything common sense tells me to stick around and wait for the authorities to sort us out, but something in my gut just says this isn't right, that this is something we shouldn't get mixed up in. I'd quite like to just bust out of here with my skin in-tact and live my life in peace, not being known as "the survivor" and treated as some freak.
I'm up for making a break for it. Hell if we do get busted on the way out, its not like we'll get arrested for trying to save our own hoops is it?
Matt re-draws his taser, checking the darts are loaded correctly, testing the tightness of the tool belt and itemising it's contents; mentally preparing for what might lie ahead.
Looking up at Leroy;
What the hell is that?. Did that come out of that corpse?
Look I just wanna apologise about before Leroy, I think I was a bit shaken back then {holds hand out for a handshake} I've got the utmost respect for you boys in the emergency services, I didn't mean any offence.
Before we head off, is there any chance you could give me the once over with that medkit mate? I'm feeling pretty punched up..

[MaxKojote]

"All of us should try to get patched up a bit  before we try to get out of here." Joel added quietly. "As for being the sole survivors... There is a fair chance we could be treated as scapegoats if nothing else."

He shrugged. "If they do find us, it's not too hard to believe that we were desperate to find any way out of a biohazard.  Let's first get to the exit, get patched up, then get out of here." He ground his teeth as he felt the feeling of death pressing against him. "I really don't want to stick around here too much longer either way. Whether we leave by sewers, or by the CDC."

[farothel]

"As long as that sewer's big enough for me," Jade said.  This would be a new experience for her.  She had been in many places, but no sewers yet.  Back when she was doing escort work, some rooms that could qualify for sewer status, but no actual sewers as of now.

[Ren]

As you were discussing how to get out and started to get to an agreement, your attention was drawn to the upper screen once again. It showed the studio where they were discussing terrorist groups and motives.

//announcer 1// …Earlier today, Alamos 20.000 assumed responsibility for what they said was punishment of the owners for employing metahuman workforce during construction and after opening. Parallel to that, Sons of Sauron also assumed responsibility, for similar reasons but from a different viewpoint, stating that orks and trolls were refused key positions during construction, and there are none of those two metatypes in middle or upper management in the Rider, therefore the owners are, by their account, to be punished.
//announcer 2// Our experts say, however, that this is a publicity stunt on both organization’s account, and even if media takes these assumptions seriously, in a few days there will be statements, that the previous statement came from splinter groups within the organization. If the events truly occurred due to a terrorist attack, both organizations might lose more supporters than win new. There were too much people present whose interest they allegedly protect.
//announcer 1// Yes, and the information we got a few minutes before this, seems to support that none of those organizations could be responsible. On screen, in seconds you will see a group of people Knight Errant currently wants for questioning about the events in the Rider. Seeing this is a group of mixed metatypes, it is highly unlikely either Alamos 20.000 or Sons of Sauron would employ them.
//announcer 2// Knight Errant seems to be working with amazing speed on this one…

The voice of the announcers went dead flat in your ears. It almost lost importance, as the pictures came up ont he screen. They were almost like mugshots, showing six people, one picture each, from shoulders up. And four of those, you each knew. One was what you saw each morning, in the mirror. Three you got to know recently. A dwarf male, of African American descent, staring in the camera with a sour expression. A human male, Caucasian, with greying hair and short-trimmed beard. A troll female, of Far Eastern origins, with unusually clear and silky skin, and well-groomed horns. Another human male, Caucasian, hair tied in a ponytail, facial hair covering his upper lips and jaw. The other two were unimportant.

The following seconds passed in shocked silence, lasting an eternity. Then time caught up to itself, and the full impact of what you saw hit you head on.
[spoiler=test please]Roll a Composure (2) test.[/spoiler]