2202/Wakandan Aid

Wakandan Aid
Date of Scene:	24 June 2020
Location:	Wakandan Embassy
Synopsis:	A SHIELD team goes to the Wakandan embassy to ask Princess Shuri for her assistance against Brainiac's invasion force.
Cast of Characters:	Sam Wilson, Gothic Lolita, Shuri, Bobbi Morse, Maria Hill
Tinyplot:	Genosha Burns

---

Sam Wilson has posed:
It's only been a couple of days since the attack on D.C. and the disappearance of Bushwick. Brainiac's ship still looms in orbit, and the defense agencies, superheroes, and scientists of Earth are racing to come up with any way to fight the alien incursion.

Sam Wilson knows all too well that he is just a man. If he had any lingering doubts on that point, his presence at ground zero of the attack on the nation's capital certainly dispelled them. But he wasn't the only mere human present, and they weren't all as helpless against the soldiers of Brainiac as he was.

So, when the call went out within SHIELD for ideas on how to fight the abductors, he spoke up.

Thus it is that he arrives, by appointment, at the Wakandan Embassy in Manhattan, wearing a simple slate gray henley and a pair of durable black trousers. He has what appears to be a young girl in tow, but he introduces her at the reception desk as a SHIELD specialist in advanced artificial intelligence. They are given visitor's badges, and directed up the staircases to a specific meeting room. Sam holds the door open for his companion, and then enters himself.

Gothic Lolita has posed:
    Following behind Sam, her hands clasped behind her back, is a girl in black lace from head to toe. Buckled shoes, stockings, a fluffy cupcake style skirt and a black cammy style top with spagetti straps over her shoulders, a choker with a little skull on it, and her hair pulled back in pigtails on either side of her head are certainly nonstandard when it comes to SHIELD uniform. But she seems to be moving like she belongs here....and it's not like Sam hasn't had his own costume now and again. Hers...doesn't exactly look as practical, then again. The tiny top hat she's wearing certainly adds to that effect.

    Mind, officially she's still not an agent. But Hill has more or less decided she's probably not going ot go murderbot on everyone, and she really /does/ know quite a bit about artificial intelligence, abet from personal experience.

Shuri has posed:
Walking into the meeting room, Shuri seems rather chipper. She walks in with a smile and before even greeting Sam, she looks at Gothic Lolita with a discerning eye. She seems rather happy to see her and seems to be examining her much more than one might expect of a first meeting. She then finally steps back and breathes out slowly, ignoring any words from either while she is in this state.

"Amazing." She states simply enough and nods her head, "Anyway." She looks to Sam and smiles, "What can I help SHIELD with today?"

Sam Wilson has posed:
"Hello, Your H--" Sam extends a hand as Shuri enters, but very quickly realizes that she's not paying him the slightest bit of attention. He looks over at his companion, one eyebrow raised, and lets Shuri finish her inspection without interruption. When she turns to him and gets right to the point, he makes a quick decision to skip the recommended pleasantries himself.

"Well, it's about this Brainiac guy. I saw you in action in D.C. -- well, my drone did, anyway -- and it had me thinking. Would Wakanda be willing to work with SHIELD on developing a way to fight back?" His posture eases back, and he folds his arms across his chest. "I know it's a big ask. I know your country isn't eager to give away their secrets or their resources. But I thought it would be dumb of us not to at least ask."

Gothic Lolita has posed:
     Lolita seems unbothered by the intense look, watching Shuri back, then doing an idol twirl, bending a leg behind her and pinning on her toe as she does a V for victory as it continues. So she can see from multiple angles! "Why, thank you." she says politely as she settles back into her normal position, giving Shuri a smile hinting at more than a little amusement. "I like to think I'm well put together myself." She curtseys perfectly. "My name is Gothic Lolita, if you were curious. I see you've met Agent Wilson." she says, glancing over and quieting as he explains their purpose.

    "It was felt I might be of use, since I have quite a bit of knowledge about semi-autonomous artificially intelligent limited-nanofunction humanform mech constructs. Not that all of them are the same, but, as he says...a bit of assistance against the alien death machine seems apropos."

Shuri has posed:
"I bet you do." She states to Gothic and nods her head before looking back over to Sam with a smile and then she shrugs, "I can keep secrets while helping." She nods her head, "And I am very upset by what happened. It was unacceptable, even if it happened in another country. We see the United States as an ally and to think of someone attacking our ally is terrible. Not to mention all those people who are in trouble." She nods again.

She then looks back to Gothic briefly before looking back to Sam, "Given what I am seeing though, I imagine you at least know of someone who is more skilled in the field of mechanics and bio-mechanics than I am. I mean, without me spending a night or two brushing up."

Sam Wilson has posed:
Sam tilts his head, taking a second to determine whether or not he should take that 'brushing up' comment seriously. Then he hitches his shoulders ever so slightly and decides to just roll with it -- that's what he's good at, after all. "Well, from what I understand, the team that developed Lolita's technology is... not available." That's a nice way of putting it.

"Plus, it's not just about individual skills -- as a Wakandan scientist, you'd be familiar with whole fields that our best guys wouldn't even necessarily know about. When you're talking about something as out there as alien tech, the more unknowns we can eliminate, the better." He pauses, bounces on the balls of his feet for a second, then adds, "Plus, we've got tons of salvaged material from the site to pick through?" If she's anything like the techies at SHIELD, the prospect of a trove of alien technology might be pretty appealing.

Gothic Lolita has posed:
    Lolita cocks her head. "Yes. There was an incident of Brobdingnagian proportions with the facility that constructed my design, to be honest that involved all those who had that knowledge. Though I am based on parallel lines of research that previously existed. I don't know that there's anyone that I've been introduced to at SHIELD capable of replicating my design. Though Agent Johnson is an excellent software programmer." she allows, smiling faintly.

    "That said, I would think part of the issue would be overwhelming significantly advanced alien technology. That ship certainly has defenses that would be almost impossible for most conventional weapons and other devices to penetrate. Vibranium may bypass a lot of that, but how it might be used best is what you are the expert in."

Shuri has posed:
A nod and then she blinks at Sam, "You should have led with that. I am sure that whatever is there, I can decipher it quickly and figure out what we cna do. The technology that this alien is using is likely something I can get through quickly and you'd be surprised what you can do without vibranium." She nods to Sam, "I do believe you have heard of Iron Man, after all." She smirks and then she shrugs and looks down briefly, "If you have something for me to see, though, I suggest we see it. There is little point to continuing a great deal of conversation until I do."

Sam Wilson has posed:
Sam smirks, then gives a dismissive shrug when Shuri mentions Iron Man. "Yeah, I know him. He's OK, I guess," he answers casually. Someone's definitely on Team Cap.

"Sounds like the science teams would be happy to have your help," he tells her. "There's the ship, and also the matter of those soldiers we saw on the ground. I couldn't even tell whether the machines or the biological parts were in charge -- which is part of why AI research comes into play," Sam adds, inclining his head toward Lolita.

Bobbi Morse has posed:
She's been radio silent for the trip there. It has not been an easy one. The moment she got in to Manhattan she could something was... off. She was right. A trio of men were tracking her. Whether the Brainiac junk was setting off a signal they were tracking or that somehow it was known she'd be transporting these goods today. Normally Bobbi is good at being on time, but the fight took some extra time.

Arriving at the Embassy with an oversized armored briefcase, her hair messed up, small cuts in her suit and a split lip. She checks in her weapons at the front desk. Her breathing is hard, so when they ask her who she is she places her SHIELD ID down on the desk instead. "Do you have.. _gasp for air_ ..A bathroom I could duck in to.. before I join the meeting."

To the ladies bathroom with the brief case, she takes the time to try and fix her hair a little bit and wipe away some of the blood. "Hell, trying to make a good impression and goons from AIM jump me."

Not too long later, she joins them in the room. There's not much she can do to look completely composed as she'd like, but these are desperate times. She smiles, "Hi, please excuse me I ran in to some... traffic." She bows to Shuri and places the secure briefcase on the table. It has a few dents on it and a spent bullet tumbles out of where it had embedded itself. "I'm Agent Morse from SHIELD."

Gothic Lolita has posed:
    Lolita waves cheerfully as Bobbi arrives, stepping back to let her pass with the briefcase o' stuff. "I don't think I would ever be comfortable with Mr. Stark putting his hands on me." the mecha says in a perky if dry tone."

Shuri has posed:
A look over at Sam and she smirks before she nods, "He is ok." She states simply enough before she turns her attention down to the new arrival and she smiles, "Please, we do not bow nor is it necessary." She states simply enough before she turns her gaze back to Sam, "And when can I have access to this ship and the soliders?" She nods her head, "I am eager to get started and find out what you could not." She nods her head before she blinks over at Gothic.

"Is it a common thing?" She looks then to Sam and then Bobbi, "For Mr Stark to put his hands on people?"

Sam Wilson has posed:
Sam takes a step back as well, and gives Bobbi a look of cautious concern. He hasn't got enough to go on to guess at exactly what happened to her, but there are enough little clues -- bumps and scrapes on her skin, wear and tear on her outfit -- to guess that 'traffic' is a convenient euphemism, even before he has to step forward again and, as subtly as possible, palm the spent bullet that goes rolling out of the briefcase's armor plating before it tumbles off the table.

Then Lolita chimes in, and he has to disguise his sudden snort as a polite cough. At least it gives him a bit of misdirection while he pockets the bullet. Lowering his other fist from his mouth, he blinks twice and answers the Wakandan princess, deadpan, "Not as common as he'd like."

"We have pieces of the soliders back in the Triskelion labs, and the ship..." He winces, then glances upward in the vague direction of its orbital position. "When we've got our hands on /that/, trust me -- you'll know."

Maria Hill has posed:
It isn't often the Deputy Director shows up to these sorts of 'mundane' tasks. Less so when she's late when she does. Late just isn't something the fantastically straight-arrow Hill does.

Yet here she is, boots clipping on the tile floor as she moves to join the other agents, her hand moving down from her ear. Seems she had stepped away to take a call. For the moment she simply nods in greeting to all of the SHIELD folks, and a slightly deeper one to Shuri. "Highness."

Bobbi Morse has posed:
Bobbi looks to Hill as she enters and smiles, "Deputy Director." It seems that her arrival is the signal that it's safe to proceed. Thumb print, a key card swipe, an iris scan, then a touch pad passcode. Apart from her thumb print, it's all one time use so she doesn't mind if anyone sees her typing it in. They've reached the destination. The briefcase cracks open and the coldness from inside causes a puff of air to become visible.

"This is a particularly important sample. We don't have many like it but given the unique capabilities of Wakanda ..and specifically you," she says with a look of admiration to Shuri, "we're happy to loan it out to you." She opens up the brief case as she continues to explains.

"Exterior carries a shielding charge of unknown type, the carapace itself is also of unknown composition. It is extremely resilient. A hard but flexible armor capable of carrying a personalised shielding technology is.. well, problematic. This sample contains an active and functioning computerised component of ..unknown design. I'm afraid there's a lot of unknowns with this still."

She lifts up a glass box wrapped in an elegantly designed feride cage. "It was still emitting signals and acting as an absorbing black box of sorts, to.. receiving or monitoring as well. I'll leave it to you to crack it open when you feel you're in a space that'll block its attempts to phone for backup." She carries the piece over to Shuri for her to look at.

"This is a significant cross section of Brainiac's capabilities, on a miniature scale - shielding, armoring, AI. We can expect he keeps the best stuff for himself. This is the stuff he was willing to throw at us." She clears her throat a moment and winces at one of her minor wounds.

"Tactically, he has been careful to lure away our most prominent super human individuals, hide himself from our gaze by attacking satellites, and has now stolen away our most biologically diverse neighborhood. It is apparent that despite him acting like he holds all the cards, we the people of Earth are still dangerous enough that he's playing it safe. I'd wager it is a calculated risk that we would acquire samples like this one. He'd be betting we're not smart enough to capitalise on it before his deadline hits. I'm just thankful he didn't focus his efforts on Wakanda." There's an unspoken lingering 'yet' there.

Gothic Lolita has posed:
    Lolita keeps her hands clasped behind her back for the moment as Maria arrives, letting the other SHIELD agents (and deputy director) lay out what they're looking for. She's here to assist, obviously as needed. Also just for added security, though she can't imagine who would be dumb enough to attack the Wakandan embassy to steal some alien bits and pieces. Though she supposes it's just as well Brainiac is at least focus on mutants apparently, as horrible as that is, and not just stripmining Wakanda as well. Maybe he doesn't know? He seems the arrogant type to overlook something like that, honestly. Why AIs should have a built in sense of self depreciation, she feels, it's so much easier to get along in the world when you know you're not perfect.

Shuri has posed:
A nod to Maria and then Shuri looks to Sam before saying, "Should I expect Captain America next? Who all did you invite?" She then stands up and looks over at Bobbi now that she is bringing out soemthing that is more concrete. When she hears the talk about coming after Wakanda she laughs a little, "While I am impressed by his ability to steal a portion of a city, I imagine this Brainiac would not be pleased if he come after Wakanda. No one has come away happy yet."

She then looks at what they have brought her. She glances around the case they have it in before she taps her earing and immediately a visor forms over her eyes. She then taps a set of beads on her wrist and another field of energy seems to form a computer screen. She taps something in before looking at teh case.

After a moment she hmms before she simply taps something in and there's a physical feeling of static that washes over the room before a soft humming can be heard.

"Give me a moment." She states simply enough before she pauses and looks to Bobbi, "Luring and attacking the White House are two very different things. He seems more capable of attacking in a two pronged fashion and has taken over the sentinels of old. Superior numbers does not mean superior tactics." She then looks back at the thing, "I will find out how it works fairly easily and then we can work on this Brainiac himself."

Sam Wilson has posed:
Sam Wilson doesn't really stand at attention anymore; He's retired from the Air Force. But it would be a silly lie to pretend that his posture doesn't straighten when Hill enters. Military reflex might fade, but the basic self-preservation instinct is forever.

When Bobbi pops open her case, Sam has to fight an impulse to lean forward and peer at it himself -- he might have tangled with the Brainiac soldiers in D.C., but strictly in an evasive capacity. SHIELD's recovered salvage, especially stuff this advanced, has only been accessible to the agency's dedicated lab teams. On the other hand, he's the tallest person here, so even from the back, he still has a pretty good view. His lip curls ever so slightly as he takes in the sight; the melded machine and humanoid parts were clearly designed for performance over all else -- with the comfort of the soldier itself prioritized least of all.

Shuri's question draws him out of his momentary reverie, and he answers with a quick laugh, "Nah. Steve hates meetings." With that said, he simply stands back, near Lolita, and watches the lightshow as Shuri's Wakandan tech goes to work.

Maria Hill has posed:
"I'm not fond of meetings myself," Hill says dryly to Sam. Despite the fact that it seems her life consists primarily of them these days. The negative side of rank. She watches Shuri work with no small interest, but also observes Lolita as well. Morse might suspect Hill has been chewing on a few things regarding the murder bot. She wouldnt be wrong.

Bobbi Morse has posed:
From her jacket she takes out a small storage chip and places it on the desk near Shuri too. "And here is the majority of the footage and sensor data we have managed to recover from both Washington DC and Bushwick attacks. We still had sensors set up near enough to Bushwick from that.. Bell creature.. that they picked up some anomalous signals. SHIELD and consultants are pouring over this, but any insights you pick up on we will greatly appreciate."

Bobbi has spent plenty of time around Tony Stark that the visor appearing doesn't phase her, though she is delighted to see the enthusiasm suddenly switch on. It reminds her of her time working with Hank Pym, except in Wakandan form. She smiles and takes a step back, straight back, hands behind her back. "I am eager to ruin this Brainiac's day next time he attacks us," she says what many have been thinking. Winning the day will be 90% science, 10% punching. Of course, there are those magic types.. best not to dwell on that, they're very weird.

"The biological samples we have are still at the Triskelion. You're invited to come and look at them. I'd be happy to walk you through it if Agent Simmons isn't available." Biology, something she actually knows.. not alien AIs and shields, "Though by all accounts this Brainiac is all about the technology. Like some sort of ghoulish hijacker." A small shrug, "The borg perhaps, from Star Trek?"

Gothic Lolita has posed:
    If Lolita is aware Maria is observing, she doesn't really react to it, keeping her attention on....well, everyone's backs at this point pretty much, before she steps forward carefully and edges to the side so she can see past everyone as to what's being shown off. "It does seem one of the main things to figure out is how to restore the neighborhood that was taken. Not to mention whether Brainiac has repurposed the Sentinel design or if they are merely Sentinel shells with Brainiac parts? The former would be easier to deal with thant he latter."

Shuri has posed:
A look over at Sam and she nods briefly but she continues to look at the device even as she gets feedback from the various scans. She looks up briefly at Bobbi and nods, "I will need to see that as well." She then looks back down at the device before finally she shifts a little in her spot and then stands up, "My lab will be the only place that will work but I am worried about bringing it that close to that much vibranium." She states simply enough, "If it has any way to activate or act autonomously even in this state." She considers the device a moment longer.

She then nods and looks to the others, "I would like to look at it with my equipment in your labs. Less for it to see or steal if it has that ability." She then looks from Maria to Gothic and back again before hmming a little and then looking back at the device, "I will study it further here before i bring it along with a way to keep it from acting outside of my wishes."

Maria Hill has posed:
Hill considers. "Morse, get Princess Shuri a temporary clearance for the labs. Fitzsimmons will just have to share for awhile. I will sign off. Wilson, I'm assigning you to escort her when she arrives." Try not to screw it up is unspoken, but as always with Hill, appended to every command. She looks to Gothic Lolita. "Assist her, please. I will be upgrading your clearance as well. And stop by my office tomorrow morning at," Hill cocks her head, "mm, 0900."

Sam Wilson has posed:
Sam raises an eyebrow, then smiles at Hill's disavowal of meetings. If she's being serious, which he has no reason to doubt, she /really/ seems to have picked the wrong job. Fury certainly hates meetings, and demonstrably has no qualms whatsoever about using his deputy as a human shield to get out of them.

He nods along with Agent Morse, then angles off of her words to add, "I'd love to ruin his day, sure, but I'd settle for getting our people back and him and his ship the hell away from our planet. As for tech, I got the feeling he sees our genes as just another technology he can strip mine to fuel his" -- He waves a hand vaguely, brow furrowing -- "whatever he's trying to do."

He glances at Lolita, nodding again. "Just like the sentinels we built. Just like the people he abducted." He takes a deep breath. "It's messed up."

With a shake of his head, he refocuses on the here and now. "I'm sure we'd appreciate that, Princess. Along with any help you can give us."

Bobbi Morse has posed:
Bobbi nods her head to Shuri and places it back in to the case. She then says as Maria gives out order, "Yes Ma'am." She's quick with it. She locks the case back up, new code, new card. "I don't want to be right, but I bet he's going to put a chip on our people and send them at us as his own army. I for one do not want to shoot at our own citizens, so.. if we can remotely disable his technology..." She picks up the brief case and smiles. "Thank you for meeting with us. I look forward to seeing you at the Triskelion."

Gothic Lolita has posed:
    The mecha looks surprised, a delicate brow quirking slightly, though there's definitely a faint smile that curves her lips as she nods to Maria. "It would be my pleasure, and I will be precisely on time." she assures the deputy director. She cocks her head at Bobbi. "At least a chip is hopefully simpler to remove than actual cybernetic implants or modifications."