4403/Time for an Update

Time for an Update
Date of Scene:	14 December 2020
Location:	SHIELD Operations Camp at Municipal Redevelopment Site, NYC
Synopsis:	Agent Morse gathers her troops -- in this case, Agents Carter, Croft, and Fitz -- for a situation update regarding the retrieval of Melinda May from out of the past. When Fitz delivers a time phone, things get a whole lot more interesting... and Agent May gets the present in the past.
Cast of Characters:	Bobbi Morse, Melinda May, Lara Croft, Peggy Carter, Leopold Fitz, Nick Fury
Tinyplot:	Times That Bind

---

Bobbi Morse has posed:
There's three layers to the site now. The exterior has a simple fence, but also parking for vehicles and a quinjet. Then there's the outer wall. Erected efficiently made of panels to stop from prying eyes. Then there's the inner wall, to stop even agents of shield from getting close to the anomaly if they don't have clearance.

Bobbi's command tent is set up in the middle ring of space, with table and cameras pointed at the time hole. There's also readouts on monitors from sensor equipment taking readings of the thing. A large table is set up in the main part of the tent; a room off to the side is Bobbi's office, and another room off to the other side is filled with agents on computers keeping the logistics and security running.

Bobbi stands at the head of the table and gives a brief smile to the agents before her, "Okay team, where are we at. Do we know anything new, have we confirmed anything old. The sooner we can get May home, the sooner we can all stop having fevered dreams about time paradoxes destroying all of humanity."

A holographic display of the site sits on top of the table with blue dots indicating friendly identification. Luckily right now there are no red dots. The last thing she needs is someone fool hardy enough to try and penetrate this base.

Melinda May has posed:
May is, though no one can possibly know it, actually trying to NOT create paradoxes. But, well... It's May. The Angry Ninja Ice Queen of SHIELD. Stranded 70 years in the past. In a culture that thinks women are second class citizens and 'orientals' are potential communist spies. Yeah. Think about that for a moment.

Getting her home is probably a good idea.

The anomaly has been very quiet. Readings originally taken at the scene originally suggest that there was a massive discharge of tachyons when May fell through the portal. There was also a discharge of dark matter and various types of radiation, the most significant of which were gamma and vitarays. The challenge since then is that the readings have been in a constant state of flux with no discernable pattern. And every time the anomaly has been activated by something or someone passing through, the cohesion of the forces creating it have shown remarkable stress and strain. Lately, there's been an uptick in low level discharges that suggest the cohesion is faltering.

Time may now be in short supply.

Lara Croft has posed:
One thing that Lara has done since joining SHIELD a year ago, was prove that she was an expert with personal-grade weaponry. Small arms. However you want to describe, it the field training that her now deceased Mentor had given the young woman over the course of the decade after her father's passing had steeled Lara's ability to not just wield a weapon, but take a life with it too.

This lead her to becoming a potentially valuable Agent to have on-call for guard duty of situations and sites like this. So here she is. Decked out in combat gear and ready to do as requested of her. With a number of weapons on her person, from a handgun to a rifle, to a combat bow on her back, Croft quietly stands within Agent Morse's tent and listens astutely to what the senior Agent says.

Lara's eyes dart around the table to the others here, before falling to the holographic display showcasing the blue dots, and their situation site there-in.

She just stands, silent and attentive.

Peggy Carter has posed:
When a second letter came through from the law firm, Peggy made her way directly to the site. That's where the command center of everything has been and while she did enlist a certain Stark to help, she doesn't trust him to be any more reliable than his father. Which means, the investigation carries on without a Stark mind assisting, no matter what she hoped. She's in a slightly more severe, more modern cut suit than her normal 1940s, wide legged pants or hourglass dress. Maybe it's some effort to separate her from the time mess at the site. Maybe it's her attempts to severely remind herself she is in modern day and she should quit living in the past. Either way, it looks a bit strange on her, especially with her still short trimmed curly bob, not having grown out since much was burned off a few months ago.

She flashes her SHIELD badge, even if most layers of security know that it's her, high heels taking her with clicking determination through towards the central area where Bobbi resides. She's got a letter in hand from the law firm and her expression is all business. "Morse. Had another letter from May, through the same law firm she used for the first..."

Leopold Fitz has posed:
It is pretty much a rule. Whenever a preplexing scientific quandry involves time it is going to be awesomely cool.

This particular anomaly is no different really. If not for the fact that it has swallowed up one of their own Agent Leo Fitz could happily study it for, well, as long as it stays stable more or less. That, of course is one of the problems with portals such as these. They do not tend to last terribly long for a whole host of reasons. This one has proven unusually stable to date. But for his part, he really doesn't expect that to last.

While it does however, one can pretty much count on the young scientific genius to all but be anchored here, only heading back to the Triskellion when he absolutely needs the greater resources of the on-site lab. Even once Ageny May is recovered -- and yes, he pretty much takes that for granted -- he hopes that the portal will linger long enough for further study. No matter how inconvenient it is for SHIELD to secure a site like this in the middle of a population center. The possibilities are just too great to ignore.

So for the moment he sits at a console just off to the side in the command center, his primary focus on that display that maps out all the variances in the energy readings, in the ebb and flow of gamma radiation and tachyon particals, every last bit of data being milked from the situation.

Bobbi Morse has posed:
Bobbi says, "If we can't find a way to bring Agent May back through the time ..hole, we will have to start looking for alternate approaches. One such approach has just landed in our lap. A medallion that is supposedly part of a key to the Incan City of Gold just transported a civil war captain to our time. It's a long shot and would also require May being struck by lightning while touching it - though we know when all the lightning strikes happened and where back then.. we have good two-way communication going on so I'm going to call that Plan Incan and put that in the fallback category."

"Speaking of two-way communication," she says and accepts the letter from Peggy and opens it up. This could be some interesting reading. As her eyes skim over the contents she says, "Agent Fitz, please tell me you have some good news about our time ...hole." She squints a touch at that name. There's not been a better suggestion so far.

"Agent Croft, I'm expecting news about this anomaly has reached the ears of our enemies by now. Security will have to step it up and I want you on point, thank you for arriving promptly. Thanks to May we know that both HYDRA and a now defunct clandestine scientific arm of the Soviet Union called Leviathan were interested in the site in 1948. We can expect at least HYDRA to still be interested in it today."

Lara Croft has posed:
Lara nods softly to Bobbi. "I'm glad to be here, admittedly. Agent May is someone I have a great deal of respect for and I wish to see her safely returned as much as any of us." She quietly says in her British flavored voice.

Her eyes glance to the others in the tent, before looking back to Bobbi. "I've had my colleagues on the Medallion for awhile now, we're doing our best to uncover its secrets, but we've nothing yet to report. The Incan city it's connected to, well... there's a myriad of stories and legends all too convoluted to easily make sense of, which is a deciding factor in why the place has remained the vast mystery that it is yet still today."

There's a light nod from Croft then. "I'll happily provide my skills in the now, however, to keep this place further secure while more options are explored."

Peggy Carter has posed:
Peggy gives a slightly deeper frown, looking down to the yellowed letter in her hand. "According to the most recent letter from her, the rock that I threw thought the anomaly *did* get back to her. Nothing seems to be coming this way, these letters have all been held by the law firm over all these years. But, right now, anything we send into it seems to be returning to the same place. However, the note here says the anomaly reads as highly unstable on that side, getting less stable as things pass through. She recommends sending a few things back that way as possible, keep it only to actual solutions or emergencies." Peggy explains gently, paraphrasing the piece in her hands, but she sounds less than happy about it.

Dark eyes flicker over to Lara, studying the woman up and down for a moment, before giving a brief and respectful nod. "That's... good news, if a... strange solution. I'm hoping our science team has a few other answers. I tried to get Tony to come help but he is his father's son -- that is, impossible to pin down on a good day." She sighs, though there's a strange ache behind it. She's missing Howard, despite Stark frustrations. "And I'm willing to give back up on any security forces. I'd prefer to be assigned here full time, until this is all figured out." The responsibility Peggy feels for this all, the guilt behind her voice, is rather apparent even in her muted British expressions.

Leopold Fitz has posed:
Reluctant as he might be to turn his attention from the rift and the continuing flow of data for even a moment -- it is possible that Fitz has not slept very much the past few days and while he seems fully alert there is a certain wildness about the eyes that suggests that copious amounts of caffeine might have been consumed -- he does swing his chair about to pay closer attention to Agent Morse. At least he does so once his name is called.

"Right, yes, of course," he says, words coming just a little quicker then might normally be the case, almost tripping over one another. Yep, there is definitely caffeine at work here. Or at least that seems much more likely then more illicit alternatives. "The news is mixed I'm afraid," he says. "Rifts in space-time like this do not last, not unless they are artificially opened and maintained. At least that's the theory, since we do not have the technology to do such things at present," he offers up. Chances are there are a half dozen theories churning around in his mind about how they can rectify that. Though each are likely to be the work of a lifetime, not a quick solution to their current dilemma. "This anomaly has already been open for an unusually prolonged period. The decay rate on it is surprisingly slow. But it's there. The rift is becoming increasingly unstable. It should last at least a few more days. Beyond that... it could collapse at any time," he offers up quietly.

That would be the bad news then.

"I'm afraid I can't present a solution at this time. But I do have a potential aid that might allow us to better communicate with Agent May. And in real time," he says, his tone brightening considerably, his enthusiasm obvious. "There is a certain resonance that these tachyon particals emminating from the rift are registering. Actually, there are multiple separate resonances. These differ, depending upon what time frame they are coming from. Or more specifically, what time period the rift has become active in the space-time continuum. I believe I have found a way to... well, basically key on to those specific waves and attach electronic data to them. In theory there is the potential that we can actually transmit information back into the past, directly to Agent May's SHIELD communicator," he says with just a hint of a smile. "And with a few adjustments that we can provide her... she should be able to communicate back," he says before hastening to add. "At least in small bursts."

There's always a few limitations. Hey, it's an impressive breakthrough. Communication through time. Give him a few years to work out all the kinks.

Bobbi Morse has posed:
Bobbi nods to Lara and says, "And if we do find it in the present, we'd then have to backtrack its path to us so we could find it in 1948 and send May and.. your younger self Peggy, to get it. Presumably it's in the Glass family tree somewhere and hopefully in the USA.. but who knows. When you are off shift, put aside some time to continue the research."

Her eyes shift back to Peggy and she nods her head, "If Fitz can't crack it, you can bet Tony Stark can. Let's keep our fingers crossed on that one that he finds the time to solve our time hole problem. Alternatively, Agent Fitz, we're going to need you to assemble instructions suitable to 1948 era resources to build a cryosleep chamber. We'll have to coordinate a secure site for it too. May may just have to take the long way home."

She says, "Unstable though. So, we're not sending May Daisy's green dress after all. Peggy you have my permission to remain on the operation full time. I'm assigning you as my 2IC for this. You're close to it personally, sure, but I'd be mad to turn you down. I do require you to schedule your sleep though. No Fitzing for you," she comments on his fast talking and wide eyes. "Set an alarm on your watch if you need to."

She considers for a moment, "Immediate plan - do the modifications on a comm badge now and we'll send it through the portal to May asap." She looks at her watch, "How long will that take you, 5 minutes? let's establish two way communication with our colleague then. She should be rendezvousing at the time hole on her side any moment now, presumably with your younger self Peggy? ...also, on that note. If the time phone works, Peggy, I know you're good but do not talk to younger self. Communication to the past will go through me and me alone. We have to keep our interaction as sanitized as possible."

Melinda May has posed:
1948. Wee hours of the morning.

May walks across broken asphalt to where the heat shimmer suggests the anomaly still stands. She regards it with troubled eyes. She doesn't expect any real communication through it. In fact, she's hoping there's none unless it's a clear plan for her to come home.

The green chevy she purchased using stolen Triad funds is parked a short distance away. Her new SSR badge really does help, a lot. That... and having the assistant station chief on her side.

She shoves her hands deep into the pockets of her grey woollen coat. "Looks like it's still quiet," she says to her companion. Her sigh is silent. "We'll try again tomorrow."

She's said that in some variation for days. It almost doesn't bear repeating again.

But it's her mantra.

Lara Croft has posed:
Lara's eyes sweep over to Peggy who gets a soft and calm smile from the fellow countrywoman. "Strange solutions are the bedrock foundational principle of the WAND division, ma'am." She replies in a good humored tone.

Her eyes go to Leo then when the scientifically inclined man gives his rundown of establishing communications through the 'time hole'. She's visibly taken aback by this and even tilts her head for a moment as she eyes the man. "That's remarkable, Specialist Fitz." She tells him. "I would think that ... has a pretty impactful technological shockwave over the future of... all of this." Time travel. Oh what Lara could do, and see, with that kind of avenue at her disposal...

There-after, Lara falls back in to a quiet state as she observes, offering another simple nod toward Bobbi's continued explanations. Of course her thoughts are lingering on this time phone though...

Peggy Carter has posed:
1948. Agent Carter has been pulling double duty since Melinda May showed up or, at least, a whole lot of double shifts. Still managing her day tasks with the SSR but also showing up nightly with the woman to the Roxxon's old site, looking for any change in the anomaly, and collecting more readings to hand a so-far absent Howard. She's awake again tonight, at the late night rendevous time. It's late enough and she's tired enough that she's got a cigarette in her hand to keep her going. "These things are awful. I don't know why I let Howlett talk me into the things but... they are good for staying awake on late night watches. He was right about that." Peggy chips out quietly as she paces, staring at the very faint, tiny shimmer in the darkness.

2020. Peggy gives Bobbi a good smirk as the senior agent comments about her scheduling sleep time. "I could make a point about if Fitz gets to do it, I do too... but somehow I think I'd lose that argument and if he can get us communication with May, I'd think I want him awake until it's done. Selfishly, I'll admit." She states flatly, a smirk pulling at ever-red matte lips.

Then she's looking over to Lara, both brows arching at the news about WAND. "Yes. I...had heard so much about the WAND division, but not had any up close and personal work... Yet. A friend of mine, John Constantine, dabbles in your sort of messes. I've been doing my best to keep both matters separate." She sighs, dragging one tired hand down her face. Even if she is sleeping some, it's not been well and certainly not enough. "...nights like this, I miss Howlett's cigars."

Leopold Fitz has posed:
Oh yes, those eyes are just a little too bright. Almost glassy. Sometime in the near future it is quite likely that Fitz is going to crash, and crash hard. Fortunately, unlike his lab back at the Triskellion where he has been thwarted in his efforts to get a cot permanently located in the lab for his convenience, this is a temporary facility and the rules are a little more... flexible in the field. Cots there are, and cots he will use. Just... not quite yet. The adrenaline of SCIENCE is keeping exhaustion at bay and keeping him surprisingly sharp. For now.

The young agents does shoot Lara a brief smile. "It is a pretty nifty piece of work, if I do say so myself," he agrees. "And there is just a mountain of additional data coming in that might prove useful down the line. Perhaps quite a distance down the line," he conceeds. True scientific work tends to be incremental. While history might be filled with stories of sudden inspiration and surprise discoveries, the vast majority slowly build on one another through the years, decades, even centuries until they finally shift the way things are seen. SHIELD, of course, doesn't really have the luxury. "Of course, as impressive as the tech might be I doubt it will be of that much use. These anomalies don't exactly present themselves that often. But it's what we need in the moment," he points out with a small shrug.

Agent Carter too gets a brief smile -- sometimes sleep just has to wait -- before he turns his attention back to Agent Morse. "Actually," he begins, turning around for a moment to reach into one of those duffle bags that he seems to favor to haul around his gear, drawing out what appears to be a slightly clunky SHIELD communicator. It is closer to the size of an old-school field radio then the sleeker, more discrete current models. "I actually worked up a prototype. Just finished before the briefing," he says. It's always easier to beg for forgiveness then ask for permission. He doubts that either would be necessary here thought. "It wasn't been tested yet, but the principle is sound..." he says, holding out the device...

Bobbi Morse has posed:
Bobbi raises her eyebrows and smiles to Peggy, "Yes, you would lose that argument. Because I've been getting enough sleep to keep it going long enough that you'd crash. If you're struggling to find it, we have sleeping pills. Use them." She nods her head. It still feels odd giving orders to the former director and founder of SHIELD, but the poor woman looks like she's barely keeping it together.

"John Constantine. Why does that name keep popping up in reports. If he's that useful, may be we should bring him on as a consultant," she ponders out loud and then .. Fitz does what Fitz does best, exceed all expectations. "See this is why everybody raves about you Fitz, you're always ahead of every curve, sometimes before the curve has an integral."

She accepts the phone and then opens up her own phone and finds the prototype program. <Agent May, this is Agent Morse. We have no way to quickly find out if you're receiving this, but .. we're sending you through a custom prototype time phone. Do not allow any one from the past to get their hands on this technology> she says and looks down at it.

"This is that thing Fury was afraid of. I'm about to send a technological leap 71 years in to the past with no easy way to know for sure May will be the one who gets it. If she doesn't.. we've just broken the future." She takes from her pocket a small card and on it has three boxes. She puts a cross in the first box, "One down, two to go Director Fury," she murmurs to herself, then says to the meeting, "Meeting adjourned. I'm going to the time hole to deliver the phone."

She turns and heads through the makeshift airlock and in to the inner most room of the base. One last look at the phone, a breath, then she tosses it through. <Agent May, do you copy. This is Agent Morse. Please respond> she says in to the phone.

Lara Croft has posed:
Lara's eyes are down on the holographic map again when she hears Peggy's remarks toward her. Her stare bounces back up to the fellow Briton and she summons another soft smile. "I've met John, briefly. He assisted me with a ... situation at the Cloisters in Manhattan. He seems like a good man, I'd like to reach out to him sometime. I imagine he could help with quite a lot within WAND-- if he'd be so willing. And if you'd ever like a tour of the WAND offices, feel free to stop by, I'd be happy to show you around. It's... quite the place."

Lara's eyes dart over to Bobby then who speaks on John as well, and she summons another quick smile for her. "You've got my vote of confidence in him. He was there to help me when I was being pursued by some rather aggressive foes, this past summer."

As things settle in to the point of order for this meeting though, Lara's hands go to her hips and she shifts her weight primarily over to her right leg. Back to observer-mode for the time being, for the woman covered in weapons.

Melinda May has posed:
1948.

May has never been much of a smoker. She chuffs an abortive laugh at Peggy's comment about cigarettes. "Wait until you see the packaging in the future," she says dryly. "It's worth quitting."

She shakes her head and turns away from the anomaly. "Come on. I don't smoke, but I could stand some whiskey." She doesn't see the point in lingering.

Letting out a silent breath, she turns toward the chevy and begins to walk. Behind her, the anomaly crackles. Her head snaps around. There's a flash of light and... something clatters across the pavement.

Spinning on her heels, she jogs toward it, scooping it up swiftly. Her fingers are steady as she looks it over, turning it in her hands. "Holy shit."

Yeah, to her eyes it looks like an old school field radio. Then... there's a voice. Her eyes widen. It takes all her self-control not to grin like a school girl, but she has a reputation to protect. She thumbs the transceiver button and raises the communicator closer to her face.

<This is May,> she says dryly. <I copy.> Her brown eyes, despite the reserve on her face, are a little glassy and sparkle in the starlight. <Tell Fitz I owe him a drink.> And... her lips spread into a grin.

Then, the anomaly shimmers brightly. A writhing glob of space goo -- dark matter and other... stuff -- appears in the air, expanding to the size of a large beachball... and then imploding with a flash and bang of rushing air moving to fill a void. When the light fades... the shimmer is gone.

2020.

Approximately 60 seconds after that phone tumbles through the rift, a writhing blob that looks like a rippling twist of zero matter combined with gravitonium materializes in the midst of the anomaly's shimmer. It expands in a flash and then collapses with a bang as air rushes in to fill the void.

The monitoring equipment beep like a heart monitor failing, its patient flatlining. The energy is gone.

Peggy Carter has posed:
2020. "Fitz, you really are a miracle worker. Hell... I could kiss you." The older British woman states deadpan enough she might not be entirely joking. She studies the thing with narrowed, curious eyes, but doesn't reach for it. This is Bobbi's op.

Peggy then smirks a bit deeper to Lara as the woman comments on John. "I don't know if 'good' is the world I'd use for him. Interesting... effective. An utter asshole. All those things combined. But good isn't in there. Still, I'll stop by the office when this is all over..." And then Bobbi is going in. She's tossing that piece back, the experimental miracle that Fitz has put together far too quickly. "Even if May isn't there... it's me. I have control of the site. I... wouldn't let anyone go near something that risks the future. I know that. We'll be fine as long as it's not Howard watching the damn thing... we really will be." If she says it enough, she'll finally believe it. Because, otherwise, a mistake she made in 1946 might be about to destroy the entire world.

1948. Peggy gives a little laugh, "Suppose I can always fit in a bit of whiskey at the end of the day. It'll help us sleep. Come on, it'll be here tomorrow and we'll be back then..." It's like her words are just about to curse them. She'll regret them in am oment. Just as she turns on the ball of her foot to walk away, that sound comes. She turns back, eyes going wider as she sees a piece of technology small enough that she truly doesn't comprehend what it might be. "Be careful...it could be a bug. I don't think enemy agents got ahold of..." Well, then that voice comes and it quells Peggy's worries. She stares in open shock and awe as she listens to a voice that is nominally from the future. "...Colleague of yours, I take it?" She asks, voice rather too dry. Trying to keep all the excitement and curiosity out of it.

And then the thing just... collapses. It's happening so fast that Peggy can barely get out the sensor in time to get some final readings, though she jerks back, one arm out to put May behind her, as it nearly looks like zero matter and that's something she wants neither of them near. "...Oh hell..." She utters, as the clicking on her sensor is now entirely dead.

Leopold Fitz has posed:
Fitz is unlikely to ever be the best field agent -- though he has already come a long way. He can be a little awkward socially. Approache the wrong way he can be downright grumpy and anti-social. But when it comes to technology, engineering and physics he is absolutely gangbusters. The young man simply inclines his head ever so slightly at Agent Morse's praise. He does practically blush at Agent Carter's praise though, looking entirely discomforted. But then again, she is a legend. And properly British, so bonus marks there. The only way her pedestal could be any higher is if she was Scottish. But no one's perfect.

And then, like the rest of them he waits. It's really all they can do.

Despite himself the science expert almost holds his breath as the TIME PHONE is put into use for the first time. It's a prototype, the first of it's kind and certainly the technology and theory behind it is cutting esge. Thoroughly practical of cours. But entirely theoretical. And until something is tested and proved it just serves as the basis for a nice discussion amongst collegues.

But this is not a time or place for discussion amongst collegues. This calls for real solutions. Lives are at stake.. So he watches and waits as that message is recorded, as a piece of technology from present day is sent back to the 1940s.

And he holds his breath. Holds his breath and watches. And listens. And there it is... an actual voice from the past. Not some recording that echoes down from time. But an actual voice to be communicated with, to speak with. The grin on the young agent's face is as tight as it is unusual and he releases his grip on the arm rests of his chair, a grip he didn't even realize he was maintaining.

But any celebration is abruptly cutoff as the display monitoring the rift behind him suddenly goes crazy. In a flash he is whirling around, spinning in his seat as his eyes dart furiously over the display, taking in what he's seeing. "No, it should have lasted at least a couple more days..." he says, disbelief tinting his words. But the evidence is clear, both in the readings, in the visual scans of the room that show the rapidly diminishing energy readings in the dozen or so different spectrums they are monitoring. And in that tone, that quiet beeping that becomes that flat, constant, undeniable note. "It's gone..."

Bobbi Morse has posed:
Bobbi catches that converse opinion of John and cants her head thoughtfully at it. So not all sunshine and roses there.. but useful and interesting. Well, now she'll just have to meet him. She gives a decisive nod to Peggy as she details how she thinks.. remembers? how she handled that site back then. She shows crossed fingers that Howard doesn't get his hands on it. That would surely spell disaster.

<Agent May, do y~~> she says as she hears the response back. She sucks in a breath and releases her finger off the trigger and lets out a laugh of relief. A tear rolls down her cheek, <May it's so good to hear your voice. Every one here has been on edge since you disappeared> She gives the team a fist pump, a silent 'hell yeah'. Direct communication with May. She sounds alright too.

Then the anomaly starts doing its thing and she stares at it in confusion. "Fitz, talk to me..." and then it is gone, and he confirms that. She stands staring at the nothingness for a few moments longer. "Fitz..." she says not quite sure what to do. Perhaps the three 'dumb things' Fury granted her was three too many. <May, do you still read me? the timehole has closed> she says with urgency in her voice. Her throat feels dry. A few brief moments of contact and they may have lost their best chance of getting her back,...

Lara Croft has posed:
The other's words on John's character causes Lara to show a slight grin. They seem to know him better than she does, so she differs to their opinions on the wayward sorcerer. Now quietly observing, Lara watches the communications as they get established, and like the others she shows an expression of amused amazement at the very existence of such a technology working... it's chilling, for a number of reasons, with some likely not even thought of yet too.

But at the sudden turn of emotions when the Rift's stability tanks, almost as if on queue, Lara looks up and lowers her hands from her hips. Such a thing is out of her expertise, however, so all she can do is stand-by, watch and wait to see what unfolds.

Melinda May has posed:
1948.

As that rift collapses, May looks swiftly at Peggy as she pulls out that sensor they've been using. That geiger counter sound the sensor device usually makes just stops. And she watches Peggy click the sensor uselessly.

An entirely unladylike expletive escapes her lips before her expression takes on that pinched, angry look many of her colleagues in the future would recognize as The Calvary's game face. Her jaw works silently as she inhales a deep, steadying breath. Strangely, her body even seems to relax, but it's the purposeful relaxation of a neutral fight stance, not the relaxation of relief.

Her hand falls to her side, the time phone still gripped in her fist. Silently, she turns towards the car... until the phone crackles to life again. <May, do you still read-->

Genuine surprise blooms on her features. Again, she raises the device. <Morse? Morse, do you copy? This is May. I read you. How am I reading you? We just lost the anomaly here, too.>

She looks at Peggy, incredulous. "Didn't we?"

2020.

The anomaly is gone. There's no doubt of that. At least... it's gone in *this* place. But the time phone still works. Which means somewhere on the planet, tachyons must be firing on the right sequence and some sort of SHIELD uplink somewhere must be close enough to them to facilitate the transmission.

Right?

Peggy Carter has posed:
All of Peggy is a tense line as the portal collapses. She's trying not to let the guilt and quiet panic flood her face, but the exact thing May warned against in the last letter just happened. One more thing through and the instability was too much. "Shit... shit shit..." Peggy's already bracing for this to be the worst case scenario. A few moments of May's voice and everything's dead. But then the other agent's tone comes through and she lets out a breath of pure relief. "Oh thank goodness... Alright. That's... a step in the right direction, at lesat. It can give us some hope... I don't even know the right questions to ask, but you're still connected. We can get the questions through."

In 1948, Peggy's reacitons are, hilariously, near identical. She's cursing beneath her breath and starting to pace even more as the barely restrained guilt and panic dance across her face. She then hears the voices continuing and her shoulder slouch in a moment of near-drunk relief. "...we really are going to need that whiskey after all this." She mutters. But she's keeping the sensor probe up, even if it's not really picking up anything at all. "You can tell them I still have some Stark technology. We can... keep getting readings, at least. Unless they can hear me." Peggy's not certain if her voice, an identical echo of the woman in the future, is carrying over the comm or not.

Leopold Fitz has posed:
Well isn't that a kick in the teeth.

Of course there is so much data already recorded and stored away on the not insignificant portable servers that have been setup in this temporary facility. Going through it all will take weeks. At least. And even then there is nothing that guarantees they will be able to reopen the portal. As Fitz mentioned -- these types of portals are extremely rare, at least in the naturally occurring variety and they do not presently have the technology to initiate let alone maintain one. This particular example seems to have been an accident. And even duplicating that accident is no guarantee of the same results.

There might be a whole lot more long days ahead in Fitz's immediate future afterall.

As the transmissions continue to flow through the receiver set up here in the Command Center -- as Agent May's voice continues to sound -- and more oddly, Agent Carter's as well -- Fitz lets out a long, slow breath, pushing back from the console for a moment, once more glancing towards the rest of those gathered. "Well... that's a relief. I couldn't prove it, but I was fairly certain the theory was sound. It's why I choose to attatch the transmissions to tachyon partical waves instead of trying some sort of direct transmission through the rift. So long as you have the proper resonance, the transmissions should hold. Those waves do not specifically need the portal to be open to function, unlike with all the other energy signatures coming through," he offers up. "SO long as there are tachyons somewhere in the vicinity" -- which he leaves undefined for the moment -- "then the transmissions will continue to go through. The issue will be the drift. The resonance will slowly shift as we move away from these two points in Space-Time. I can try to compensate, to calculate just what those new resonances will be but..." he says, trailing off with a shrug. "Without actual examples coming through the rift there is the danger of signal degredation over time," he admits.

Again, TIME PHONE. The quirks of new and untested technology. Fitz had better break out his abacus. There is a lot of math in his immediate future if he's going to keep these transmissions going.

Bobbi Morse has posed:
Bobbi is no physicist, nor time traveler, but even she's pretty sure you need a timehole to have time phone conversations. <I don't know. We're working on it. Just in case we lose you, all field gear is classified 7-0-3 until otherwise advised>. There, she did the thing Fury wanted her to do. Make preparations to destroy all the equipment in case of the worst case scenario such as being taken captive. Leaving future technology - armor, ICERs, comms, now a time phone.. in 1948 would be a disaster.

She turns back to the group and tries her level best to take in what Fitz is saying. "So, there's a tachyon field we're still attuned to.. somewhere. Just not here. Which makes this entire base now pointless. Secondary objective - make the site safe, complete. Money people will be happy."

She presses her lips together in thought and asks, "The obvious question is then.. where is the field now? Can we use the signal strength to narrow down where it went. We don't want people throwing car keys and other fun things through a hole in time and risk having it jump somewhere else."

Her eyes shift to Lara, "Looks like your job description just expanded. We're going to need to lock down where-ever the tachyon field is emanating from now... or next if things continue to get worse." She takes a deep breath and peers at Peggy, "And now I need to figure out how to tell Directory Fury that I lost the timehole."

<May we have theories and no answers. So here's operation details. We're still looking at ways to get you directly back to us, but barring that we will need you to construct a cryogenic chamber. You'll have to take the long way back. We're pursuing other angles too including an Incan medallion. It's a long story and I'm not sure how much time we have right now. No one here is going to stop until we get you home> she says through the time-phone and then her eyes slide over Peggy once more <Out of curiosity, is that Peggy Carter we can hear in the background?>

Lara Croft has posed:
Lara stands ready for whatever may come next out of this rather science-fiction experience she's beholding here in the security tent. She looks from Fitz-- and his rather technologically impressive hypothesis back to Agent Carter and then to Morse herself.

Lara lightly nods her head onces to Bobbi. "I'm here to help, wherever it takes me next. My schedule has been cleared for this, so yeah..." She glances off toward the exit. "If a portal is about to open somewhere else, let us all pray that it does it somewhere not populated."

Images of people falling through their living room floor in to a time hole now bounce around within Croft's mind.

Melinda May has posed:
1948.

<Understood,> May says in response to the 7-0-3 directive. She's not surprised by it. Hell, she's already been planning for it. She glances briefly at the younger Peggy Carter standing near her. "Yeah, they heard you," she says, a wry smile touching her lips. "Dollars to donuts, you're on the other end listening, too."

How's that for weird?

Then, she hears the rest of Bobbi's instructions. <Say again. Did you say cryo chamber?> Seriously?! Her brows crease and clear concern settles on her features. Yeah. There's no way that could go wrong over the course of 70 years. She inhales that slow breath and lets it out again in a calming fashion. No sense arguing with the eggheads. Especially if it's coming from Fitz-Simmons. <If you come up with a faster plan, I'm all ears. I'd prefer not to have a cold nap, if I don't have to.>

She barks a quick laugh at the curious inquiry, however. <Affirmative,> she replies. <But, since I'm 98% sure she's listening, would you please tell *your* Peggy Carter I'm fine and she can afford a couple of sleep shifts?> She eyes the woman standing in the flesh beside her and then gives a shrug. <I know a bottle of Haig we can open when I get home that'll knock us both out.>

Peggy Carter has posed:
Hearing one's own voice from too many decades in the past is unnerving, to say the least. Peggy doesn't show it by panicking or focusing on the sound. No, she's the exact opposite. Completely shut down, emotionless and calm. She gives a single blink and a very slight tilt of her head, but nothing more. She can hear the very faint changes in her voice, mainly that her British accent is a bit more blunt in those days, but not by much. She hasn't really changed in decades. A faint line comes to her lips, pressing red together as she swallows any other feelings. "...I strongly suspect it is, Agent Morse. I... dimly remember the other end of this conversation. Or maybe I am forming the memories... in both places, as we go. Or I always did but things get lost in 8 decades..." Whatever the truth is, it's all strange. "And I'd also like to downvote the cryochamber, considering one nearly killed me just earlier this year..."

In the past, she can hear clips of her own voice over the strange time phone. It's even more unnerving. While she believed everything May said about the time travel, that was the one part that she thought MAYBE May was making up to get her empathy or support. She simply couldn't believe she was still alive. But there it is. Peggy blinks very quietly, trying to conceal the array of raw emotions that comes in response. She finally clips out, "...Yes, Agent Morse. This is currently an SSR controlled scene and... I should be able to trace taychons. I'll need Mr. Stark to recalibrate his sensor system but... hopefully we can give you all that much." She gives May a look that says she absolutely will need to drink tonight. There is also a strange line of faint sadness behind it.

Leopold Fitz has posed:
"Correct Agent Morse," Fitz says, just a little slumped in his chair. It's the mixture of highs and lows -- success of his theories on tachyon partical waves and the disappointment of losing access to the active portal here. Still, he is British afterall. Stiff upper lip and all that. It won't really be that much effort for him to carry on. And beside, the fact that the communication device is still working is testement enough to the fact that all hope is hardly lost.

"We have a great deal of information on the specifics of the energy signatures coming from this anomaly. There must be another one opened somewhere nearby. Almost certainly on Earth," he offers up. Fitz, apparently, has a very broad notion of what constitutes nearby. It might be a little more inconvenient if the anomaly is out in space somewhere in the solar system. Or on the moon. Or Mars. Or any of the other planetary bodies in the system. But from a certain point of view -- Fitz's for instance -- that is apparently nearby.

"With your permission I'll retask some of the SHIELD satelittes and put them to work narrowing down the search. With luck it shouldn't take more then a few hours," he offers up hopefully. Assuming again that he is accurate in his assumptions. It might take him a few hours longer if the new anomaly is on Pluto, for instance.

Though he wouldn't mind seeing Pluto get its due. Not a planet his British backside.

Bobbi Morse has posed:
Bobbi lets out a small sigh and replies first to Peggy in the room, "Cryostasis technology in 2020 is significantly better than when you were in one. It's the only sure way to get her home. We have to be pragmatic. We also know seismologically stable places to store it too, and places no one will look, two more things they didn't know for you. And please, Agent Carter, lower your voice. Don't discuss things that could affect the past more than is necessary. Imagine if your past self ...heard this."

<Thank you Agent Carter the SSRs assistance is appreciated. Agent May remember the Prime Directive> she says since there is literally zero codes in the SHIELD handbook for this scenario. <Also acquire a sample of Agent Carter's DNA, vacu-seal it and store it with your law firm> she says, a sly little smile on her lips as she realises the potential benefits to 2020s Peggy Carter.

She takes a breath and says, <Instructions on how to construct the Cryochamber will be assembled.. if we exhaust all other options. Prepare yourself mentally that it may be the best way to get you home>

"Go ahead Fitz. May be use Henrietta, it's only a month in orbit. The sensor suite on it should be much better," she says. She slumps a little at the notion that they can find it. She takes out her card though and ticks off the second box. Grabbing Peggy's pristine DNA from the past like this? definitely qualifies as a dumb idea.

Lara Croft has posed:
Lara hadn't entirely put two and two together here, that the British voice heard in the background of the time-phone call was the same voice coming from the countrywoman with her here in the 2020 ops tent. Once the realization does sink in though, the British Archaeologist is more inclined to watch Peggy-- their Peggy of course --and just... look at her reaction to dealing with another version of herself being 'there' through the connected realities. It's rather intriguing, after all. She doesn't want to /gawk/ at the woman though, so she does pick up the tablet computer she'd brought with her filled with her notes, and rests her half-gloved hand on its edge in front of her at the side of the table. Lara averts her eyes back down to the hologram, while she just listens.

Melinda May has posed:
<Acknowledged,> May says. Prime directive? Right. <Picard maneuver. Got it.> She grimaces at the rest, but she understands it. And then there's the comment about DNA. Her brows rise. She side eyes the woman beside her, looking clearly surprised by the suggestion. But understanding dawns -- even if she can't share it with her new friend. <Vacusealed DNA sample. That... Copy that.>

Best not to elaborate. Except maybe later, over a bottle of whiskey. Maybe.

<Be advised,> she says after another moment, <I recommend we establish standard hostile field communication protocol. The site here is secure but I cannot guarantee I will always be in a secure location for random transmissions. I'll check in every 12 hours. In case of emergency... call 9-1-1.> In other words, use a digital pattern -- or, you know... a ring tone -- to confirm she's there and listening before speaking.

She presses her lips together. <I'll await further instruction. Expect my next contact at... 09:00 my time. I don't know what time it is for you.> She checks her new old-fashioned watch. <But, that's roughly 7.5 hours from now.> There's a beat. She smiles faintly. <It's good to hear from you. Talk to you soon. May out.>

She turns to look at her young friend. "Come on," she tells her. "Howard doesn't know it, but there's a bottle of whiskey at home with our names on it."

Peggy Carter has posed:
"It...sounds like we've got a good plan. I'm going to try reaching out to Tony again, and press home that we are running out of time. Cryofreeze... is a last resort." Peggy might be extra against such things for rather personal reasons, but even an agent like herself can let the personal slip professional on occasion. Considering her voice over the comm and the site of this accident? This entire mission is the definite of the personal bleeding into the professional. With that, she waits for momentary dismissal and then turns on the ball of her foot, heading out to try and talk to Tony Stark.

The DNA commentary gets a little tilt of her head, but the younger Carter doesn't press further. "We'll keep her safe, Agents, until we can get Agent May back home. Thank you for all your hard work." Peggy echoes over the comms, before things are cut off and she looks to Melinda. The comment about whiskey gets a little huff of breath and a quiet nod. "His stock will survive. Come on... there are beds with our names on it and a whole host of problems to think through in the morning." With that, they head out, Peggy still slightly lost in her own thoughts of the future.

Leopold Fitz has posed:
Apparently there are times where it's better to ask permission first, rather then beg for forgiveness. In fairness, Bobbi happened to be right here, on scene so it really just makes sense. And SHIELD sometimes takes offense when their agents simply abscond with multi-million dollar assets. No matter how important the mission.

"Copy that," he agrees at once, calling up the access code for that particular sataelittle system, fingers practically a blur on the keyboard as he pulls up the necessary programs and begins to enter in the required authorization codes. In short order the satelittle is retasked and programmed to seek out tachyon signatures -- on Earth for now -- while Agent Fitz leans back to watch. Already a half dozen hopeful signs show up where abnormally strong tachyon readings suggest that there may be an open anomaly present. The one in Las Angeles looks particularly hopeful, but Fitz is always diligent. He doesn't guess. At worst he hypothesizes. With a little patience neither of those things should be necessary though. They'll have their answer free and clear.

At least their failsafe is on much more secure footing. Ever since the night that Fitz and the others were forced to bring Peggy Carter out of her particular brand of cyrostasis he has been fiddling around with the theory, crafting designs for fun. He leads a peculiar life, at least compared to some. He didn't really expect there would be any imminent need for such musings, but here they are. And because of the events that inspired them, he even has a version specifically designed to take into account the more limited technological framework of the past -- more of a self-imposed challenge. Pulling them up on his tabelt, he eyes the designs one last time and then discretely forwards them on to Agent Morse.

Backup plan addressed. Here's hoping they don't need it.

Bobbi Morse has posed:
Fifteen minutes later...

"Don't you 'Sir' me Agent Morse. I give you command of an entire operations site and you lose the damn ...what were you calling it, time hole. It's an anomaly Morse. An anomaly. Find the damn anomaly," Director Fury says and hangs up.

Bobbi sitting at her desk in the make shift tent office, lowers the phone from her ear. "He took that better than I thought he would," she muses to herself quietly.