11965/Intruder Alert... Or So the Spyderbots Say

Intruder Alert... Or So the Spyderbots Say
Date of Scene:	10 July 2022
Location:	Penthouse - Historic Clocktower
Synopsis:	No description
Cast of Characters:	Jinny Hex, Barbara Gordon, Carrie Kelley, Helena Bertinelli

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Jinny Hex has posed:
    A light Summer rain falls over Gotham, washing the garbage down along the gutters and adding an uncomfortable humidity to the late evening. The lights of the city illuminate the streets, casting reflections in the lightly rippling puddles as they grow. An old red truck trundles up to the exterior of the clock tower and idles for a long moment.

    Jinny furrows her brow as she glances down at the photograph left to her on that cliffside by the odd asian girl, and then up at the tower's sillhouette against the rain and skyline. She sighs and leans back before fishing out a pack of Marlboro's and an old zippo. She lights up and steps from the truck, slamming the door. The back of the truck is covered in a tarp, concealing the large truck of oddities beneath it.

    She brushes her flannel back to check the holstered laser gun on her hip. It looks like something out of a pulp comic book, complete with bright colors and little atomic rings and everything. Finding it in place, she adjusts her stetson and takes a drag from her smoke, starting towards the tower to try and investigate.

Barbara Gordon has posed:
Barbara is not in the tower at the time. But she is on her way back to it...

In the air, the gliding Batgirl sails through the darkness. She's got her guidance system up, her eyes covered by her Heads Up Display showing the wide variety of information that her high tech cowl provides her. She's been on patrol this evening, investigating some of the leads on the 'Wolf People'... It's been quite a thing so far.

"I'm almost back." Babs reports over the team comms, her flight path leading her in from the north west toward the balcony that surrounds the peak of the clocktower itself...

Carrie Kelley has posed:
Barbara is really the only one who knows what the Spyderbots running around the tower actually do. Sure they are known for playing music and dancing, adorable little metal critters no larger than a silver dollar (Tooney for Canadian individuals), but there is great deal more to what they do. Even if the tower is already one of the most secure places in Gotham, they add a new level of 'watching the world' to security, usually from hidden locations inside and outside, but never in private spaces.

Carrie on the other hand knows it all because she built them, programmed them, reprogrammed them, fixed that one malfunction that had them all hanging from the ceiling, and finally they were in perfect working condition... and reporting an 'unknown' approaching the tower.

The current project in Carrie's hand is set down on her workbench as she taps a few buttons on her wrist computer. Up pops a picture of the woman in a stetson with a cigarette, which is instantly sent to Barbara.

< "I'm headed downstairs now," Carrie says into the comm. "Images already sent, got one of a hat and then her face." > Then she puts into action what she just said and heads for the elevator.

Helena Bertinelli has posed:
Helena Bertinelli is in the gym, several levels below. Dressed in yoga pants and a sports bra, she is halfway through her current set of 900 situps. No one can say she isn't obsessively dedicated. But her abs show off the efforts.

"Still in the gym. If it's all hands I'll be right there. Otherwise you probably want me to shower first." Just saying.

Jinny Hex has posed:
    The redhead has no idea she's being watched by little buggy bots. She plucks her cigarette from her lips as she reaches one of the windows on the first floor and peers into it. She pulls a little utility flashlight from her belt and shines it inside, before she drops the butt of her cigarette into the wet gutter at the edge of the street. She then makes her way over towards the main door, and decides to take a further look around.

Barbara Gordon has posed:
The peak in to the window shows the front lobby of the building. On 'paper' this tower is listed as an upper class apartment complex, so that lobby looks quite nice through the window, with a handful of lights on... though it is completely devoid of any people within it at the moment.

"She appears to be armed... but it almost looks like a toy." Batgirl says over the comms after getting the image from Carrie. "Be careful, and Huntress... be ready, shower not necessary. Yet." Babs adds that last word with a hint of humor.

She sweeps in above the tower, landing on the balcony with little fanfare. Like a shadow slipping in amongst other shadows.

Carrie Kelley has posed:
The elevator stops on the second floor so that Carrie can use the stairs to come down to the first. Since the doors would open right into the lobby, it made sense to use the stairs that were a little further back and around a corner.

< "Launching Fi and Fo in stealth mode," she offers over the comms as she tosses two flying drones toward the ceiling. Instantly they 'stealth', disappearing from sight entirely then head for the vent to get outside. Silent, stealthy, but very much not deadly... she still needed to find a way to make them actually effective in that area. Self destruct was a fire cracker effect, not at all helpful.

< "Running facial recognition,"> she then adds, staying out of sight on the first floor for now. <"Once the drones are outside, will do a scan of the weapon to determine lethality.">

Helena Bertinelli has posed:
Helena Bertinelli sits, er.. up. Wiping her face off, she stands. "Acknowledged, BG. I'm making my way down to back up Carrie." She steps out into the fire stairs and begins to lightly bound her way down the steps. "Be here in thirty seconds." The sound of her sneakers on the concrete stairs can be heard softly echoing their way down.

Jinny Hex has posed:
    Jinny is really out of her element here. She has no idea when the drones fly out and start scanning her and her gun. The information fed back from the facial scan is as follows:

    Name: Virginia Hex
Age: 20
Last known address: 1304, Hot Springs Trailer Park, Dripping Springs, Texas
Known arrests: A drunk and disorderly, and an assault later deemed self-defense.

    Nothing big, really. And nothing that explains what she's doing on the other side of the country. The weird laser gun thing, though? It's real. It's real and does not seem to use any technology that exists in this current era. It's run on some kind of battery that is based on physicas that have not been discovered yet, even. It is very real, and likely very dangerous!

    Finally, she opens the door to the lobby and makes her way in.

Barbara Gordon has posed:
Barbara stands in front of her computer terminals within the penthouse of the Clocktower. Her cowl still on, her green eyes are scanning the screens. She can see Helena bounding down the stairs in one of the displays, Carrie doing what Carrie does with the drones in another, and then the feed of Jinny's info as it streams in to her main screen.

"Looks like a real gun, as odd as it is in appearance. So proceed with caution. She seems to have experience with firearms, so she may have a itchy trigger finger." Babs says from her position at the peak of the tower.

"Not seeing anything that would suggest why she's snooping around here though. She may be under the impression we're a open apartment complex though... We can't be cynical about everyone who comes across our turf, after all..."

Carrie Kelley has posed:
The doors opening sends Carrie into the corner near the elevators, opposite side from the entrance. The stairs were right there, and any minute Helena would likely come right out that door. Fire arms... not something Carrie has protection against at the moment, so the corner was her friend and text messages to voice were now her way of communication.

<"With a gun like that?"> The computer voice states on the comms, it almost sounds human... no, no it does not. <"That isn't any tech I've seen before, and...">

There is a pause here, because she is telling the drones to follow, get in closer and get a REALLY good look at that gun. Technology, did anyone really believe that Carrie wouldn't want to get an eye full of whatever kind of gun that was?

<"... we shouldn't assume looking for an apartment. She has a picture of this place after all."> She finally finishes.

Helena Bertinelli has posed:
Helena Bertinelli slows her bounding down the stairs when she reaches the lower flight to the second floor. Now moving quietly, she catches up with Carrie. She's got a crossbow in hand. Where had she been keeping that? (in her duffel in the gym is the correct answer).

Jinny Hex has posed:
    She closes the door to the lobby behind herself and clears her throat. The sound echoes across the seemingly empty room. She chews on her lip a little bit and shifts her weight from one foot to the other before she begins to explore the room itself. Normally lobbys like this have an attendant, or a set of mailboxes with names or...something. Anything to try and help her find out why she was sent this way.

    "Ugh, you coulda at least told me why you left the damn photo," she grunts. Her voice is a bit rough, but pretty in its own, tomboyish way. Her Texan accent is as thick as molasses.

Barbara Gordon has posed:
The lobby looks like it used to be something else, because it did. It used to be the main Police HQ in Gotham City. It has that 'Noir feeling to its decor, even though most of it is also modernized in so far as to say its kept up to date, and looks very clean, sharp even.

"Oh, come now, Carrie." Babs says over the comms. "Maybe she got that picture out of a travel guide. 'Best Gotham Apartments'. You never know..." Babs speaks all of this quietly, kind of dryly as she watches the scene unfold.

"A Texan with a space gun is hardly our scariest villain we've come up against anyway."

Could be a Werewolf though? That certainly might change things, and Babs is watching the outside perimeter to see if any more movement hits come across the sensors.

Carrie Kelley has posed:
< "Speak for yourself, BG,"> the computerized voice says for Carrie. Helena can see her tapping away on the computer on her wrist because again, speaking would be bad.

As the woman in the hat speaks, Carrie really wants to go, 'See, told you! Someone gave her the picture!' but she doesn't, that would require for too many exclamation points, and probably a few emojis the computer couldn't translate. Instead she types, < "Picture was given to her, she's here for a reason."> for the computer to translate, but it just doesn't have the same umph as dancing around doing the 'told ya so!' song would.

Helena Bertinelli has posed:
Helena Bertinelli murmurs softly, "I've got this." She moves to Carrie and hands her crossbow, mouthing, <<Hold this.>> That does not mean use it, given the look Carrie is shot.

Helena gestures for Carrie to move out of sight from the door to the lobby. After a breath, she begins to jog in place for a momment. "..here... we.... go."

She pushes the door open and bounds out like a runner who just came down the stairs. Which she totally is and totally did.
As the fire door is allowed to close behind her, she pauses and blinks. "Oh.. hi?"

She still has the towel around her neck too.

Jinny Hex has posed:
    She hears the sounds of the approach and turns towards it. One hand hesitates near that weird-ass ray gun, but not on it. Just nearby, like a gunslinger acting casual. She blinks when she sees Helena, though, and then looks a bit gulity. She laughs, even, and moves her hand to her belt. At that point the outfit can be seen a bit better up close. Is that...it looks a LOT like an X-Men jumpsuit, though the colors are a bit off, and the specific belt design is one not used in this specific timeline.

    "Oh, uh! Hey! So...weird question, alright? Is there an asian girl who lives here? Wow, okay...that sounded racisrt, I guess. I mean...kinda quiet? Really good climber?" She shrugs to herself.

Barbara Gordon has posed:
Snap hiss.

Batgirl raises a Nuka-Cherry cola up to her lips and takes a sip of it. Yep. She's still in her full armor, standing in front of a bunch of brightly glowing terminals, and she's drinking a cold soda. Hey. It was hot out there, and she'd been in this armor for awhile!

"Fair play." Babs replies to Carrie before she sees Helena going in for the approach. "Work it." Babs encourages in a dry bit of playful humor.

Sip. "Mmm." She quietly reviews the Cherry soda.

After hearing what Jinny replies with though, she speaks up again. "Uh oh. Who has Cass upset now..."

Helena Bertinelli has posed:
Helena Bertinelli regards Jinny curiously "Hi there." She kind of jogs in place as they talk. "Lives, no? There's no apartment in the tower." Not a lie. It's a whole penthouse suite. Potato. Potatoe.

"Did someone ask you to meet them here or something?" She seems to be doing well playing clueless jogger girl. She thinks.

Carrie Kelley has posed:
Carrie is handed the, dun, dun, dun... cross bow. What she does is stand there holding it with the hand on the wrist computer is on, pretending she is not touching it at all, while typing away.

< "Now I want a soda," > is what is translated first, having heard Babs open a can.

< "She said someone /gave/ her the picture, so if it was Cass, then it's not pissed off, it's more send this person here." > is then typed and translates, all the while watching Helena play the part of a dumb jogger through the many eyes of drones watching.

Jinny Hex has posed:
    The redhead's gaze dips curiously Helena and she takes a small step back towards the door. Just cautious. This is Gotham, after all.

    "Yeah, actually. There was this whole...thing...near the Asylum? Some guy fell into the ocean and I jumped in after him. This asian girl helped pull us both out. Then she...well..." She pulls out the photo.

    "She gave me this and was gone like some frickin' ninja."

Helena Bertinelli has posed:
Helena Bertinelli doesn't advance on Jinny. Her hands are empty and in sight. A slow nod, "Bodies falling into the harbor are kind of common in Gotham." It wasn't a body, but a man. Still. She stands by her reply.

Curiously, she looks at the photo. "So the girl gave you a picture of the clocktower." She is repeating things but also using that to relay to Carrie and Barbara. "You say she didn't talk much but could climb well.." she seems to be thinking. Maybe stalling for replies on comms. "Seems kind of out of the ordinary, just handing out a photo.."

A curious glance to the weapons Jinny seems to be carrying. "Well, I'm Helena. And the girl you're talking about sounds a lot like a friend, Cass."

Carrie Kelley has posed:
Carrie still watches through the eyes of the invisible drones hovering in the lobby area, and her first thought to Jinny's comment was, 'That's because she is a fricken ninja' but of course she didn't say that.

< "Sounds like Cass alright," is translated by the computer. "Maybe she saw something in this woman? Also, does Cass just carry around pictures of the tower to hand out?"> The last part of that was more to herself, but she typed it anyway.

She was trying to decide how long to let the 'bimbo jogger' routine continue, though she did finally slip out of the stairwell to conceal herself in the space by the elevator. Helena was good at this, Carrie on the other hand was too blunt and would just start asking all the questions, probably even some that had nothing to do with the woman being there.

Jinny Hex has posed:
    She catches the glance to the ray gun, and she offers a small, lopsided grin. "Oh, uh. Gotham's a dangerous town, y'know? Nice to stay safe. Cass, huh? Well...I'm Jinny. Jinny Hex. She around? Or..."

    She trails off and shrugs. She followed the picture here and now seems at a loss as to what she should do next.

Helena Bertinelli has posed:
Helena Bertinelli says, "Gotham s a pretty dangerous place, sure. Haven't seen many laserguns though." She looks to the redhead, "Jinny Hex. Helena Bertinelli." She hopes that Carrie can pull a further background check in three seconds flat and give her the all clear to talk to the redhead openly. "It's pretty rare for anyone who works out at the gym here to give, well, referrals. But when it happens, it's usually for a good reason.'"

Carrie Kelley has posed:
Three second wasn't all that long really, but a lot was cut and paste from what Babs had found. <"Virginia Hex, age 20, last resistance was in Texas... as if the accent didn't give that away. No real criminal record, just one drunk and disorderly, and a self defense assault. Clearly Cass had something in mind here, so with no red flags coming up.... your call, but I'm coming out now.">

Closing down the computer on her wrist, the thing now looking like a plain wide band bracelet, she hides the cross bow in a planet (really she leans it against the plant's pot) then walks out from around the elevator and heads toward Helena, a grin on her face.

"Hello there," she offers with a wave, perhaps too eager of a wave. Adjusting her glasses, a pair of wide brim geek glasses in black, she continues to watch the heads-up they offer as the search for any information on this woman, her family, where she hangs her hat, etc. to come up.

Carrie Kelley has posed:
The moment the bow is set down, numerous little spyderbots crawl out of the vent and take up positions around it. It might not seem like a very threatening thing, but someone who tries to take the bow will find out just how effective this tactic can be.