8057/A Cry for Help

A Cry for Help
Date of Scene:	28 September 2021
Location:	The Outsiders' Roost - Gotham
Synopsis:	Having called out to the Outsiders after her recent 'testing' by Oracle, Bluebird is brought to the Roost by Superboy. There she meets Impulse and Red Robin doesn't help her out (promise Batman!)... honestly, she's just left in their fabrication lab and given a selection of security equipment she can set up in her apartment. (Continuity Note: This is a direct follow up to the Follow White Rabbit scene.)
Cast of Characters:	Harper Row, Tim Drake, Conner Kent, Bart Allen

---

Harper Row has posed:
September 28th 2021: A sudden text message comes into the Outsiders' communication channels from Bluebird around dinner time: <<If I don't reply in 5 minutes I'm in deep trouble.>>

Minutes later a follow up message comes in: <<Dealing with this. If you don't hear from me in an hour investigate Gheno Beatruce's rival and the man himself. You'll find a box under my pillow, check out its contents.>>

Over the course of the next hour Bluebird follows the directions of a mysterious voice that turned out to be Oracle and infiltrates a mobster's building at the docks of Gotham. After retrieving the cipher keys and getting them uploaded to Oracle the novice heroine escapes the building and is dashing away from the building when she realizes she's in a part of town miles from her apartment and nary a way home in sight.

Grumbling under her breath Bluebird finds a shadowy nook to hide within as she sends yet another message to the Outsiders: <<Guys, I'm okay... need some tech looked at and... maybe a ride? Red Robin or Superboy free specifically?>> Intentionally embedded in the message is a location code for her current GPS coordinates.

Tim Drake has posed:
    When the first message comes through, Tim is sitting at his computer in the Roost. He's wearing a loose t-shirt and a pair of shorts, with a blanket drapped over his shoulders like he's cosplaying a vampire (the fact that it has a bunch of dinosaurs on it somewhat ruins the effect), and he has a cup of coffee held in a death-grip between his hands. His hair is a mess, and he looks like he's just rolled out of bed because... he's just rolled out of bed.

    Slowly, his head turns towards one of the displays, where the notification of Bluebird's message has come in, been automatically transcribed by the Roost's AI, and relevant details (her current location among them) supplied. Tim blinks once at it before he puts on his headset, hits a button on his keyboard, and replies to it with a "<<Copy, Bluebird.>>"

    Then he tabs over to another screen to peruse the team roster and a map overlaid with their locations. Local communicators will blip with a request for status. Then Tim takes several gulps from his mug and stands up, heading for the elevator.

Conner Kent has posed:
It is Conner who goes to find Harper. He flew from New York to Gotham when the first message arrived and he had been working on his laptop by the Roost roof, waiting for the call. Well, in case of a call.

<<I'll bring Blue here>>. Which means the Roost, because really, no one has told him where the Batcave is. And he thinks Harper needs a better place to do the bat-business than her apartment. Particularly if she has stumbled on dangerous tech.

Bart Allen has posed:
Bart Allen was in Gotham just getting off work, he had been called in earlier than normal. He reports in when Tim pings him. "Just finished my shift at work, grabbing food and heading in, want anything on my way in?" He asks, letting Tim make any order for food he should bring, and waits outside the zoo while he plans his own food run and waits for tim's orders.

Harper Row has posed:
Bluebird, on seeing Superboy's arrival, steps out of the shadows. She's dressed in her working outfit: bluejeans and steeltoed work boots, a blue leather jacket worn over a concealed armored vest and... tinted shooting goggles that don't do a great job at concealing her identity.

Speaking to the young Kryptonian Bluebird says, "Hey there, where ever you're taking me I need to fetch somethiing from my place?" having received his message on her comm as well. "Since you've been there before I think that'll still be okay," she observes outloud.

Tim Drake has posed:
    By the time the next message comes through, Tim is suited up. He joins Conner up on the roof to playing the waiting game, tablet in hand (as well as a thermos of coffee, because priorities) until Bluebird calls for a pickup.

    He gives Superboy a quick salute as he flies off, and Tim sits down on the edge of the roof in the meantime, doing his best to poke his nose into whatever it was Harper has gotten herself wrapped up in.

    "<<I'm good, thanks,>>" is the response Bart gets to his food offer, and Tim takes a slurping sip of coffee as he sorts through the various crime reports that have popped up via the emergency hotline or social media in the last hour or so. Though he pauses that search to tab over into the Roost's system and send out a general notification to the Outsiders that non-private areas of the Roost are likely to be mask-required for the rest of the night.

Bart Allen has posed:
Bart Allen nods and will just hit a couple big belly burgers, on the way home, calling in orders to a dozen places at once so they are all being made at the same time, so it takes him just moments, to get one right after the other. He comes back to the roost, and looks about seeing what's going on, seeing Robin in costume, he heads down and is back in costume on the roof beside the other young man. He is eating his burger, his hair damp from the super speed shower he took to get rid of zoo smells.

Conner Kent has posed:
Conner gives Harper a once-over and frowns. "That is not the best work outfit, Blue," he comments with a frown. "I am taking you to... well, it is Robin's place, you'll see. I think at the very least you can get some good gear from there. And okay, we can check by your apartment on the way."

He lets Tim and Bart know about the detour. Then takes Harper's hand and takes off. Tactile telekinesis makes this way of carrying passengers much more comfortable than it should; he is not really pulling from her hand!

Harper Row has posed:
The trip from downtown Gotham to the Narrow is extremly short via flight and the pair alight on the fireescape outside Harper's window. Slipping into her room, Bluebird retrieves a package from under her pillow and calls out, "Cullen, I'm... going to be busy still tonight, talk to you in the morning thought!" and after her brother acknowledges she slips back out the window to where Superboy was waiting.

"Okay, I'm ready to go," she says as she tucks the package into the small pack strapped to her back. Then, as she suddenly realizes she's not sure how this works, she asks, "Do you need to blindfold me or something like that now?"

Tim Drake has posed:
    Tim waits for a while longer on top of the roof, legs handing over the edge, but his thermos empties rapidly. His caffeine addiction prompts him to head back inside for a refill from the off-the-shelf Mr. Coffee machine that Phoebe replaced the old machine with after it mysteriously broke. Probably due to the ghost dog.

    Long story. Don't ask.

    He stands in front of the fridge for a while after, having opened it to get the milk, which has somehow been emptied since the last time he made himself a cup of coffee. "There were like two gallons in here still," Tim says to himself, mystified. "I don't--how?"

    Eventually he "settles" on heavy cream (good for his taste buds, bad for his waistline) and makes the return trip up to the roof to resume his watch.

Bart Allen has posed:
Bart Allen has finishes his burgers, but he had a dozen or so sodas, no milk there, He keeps that for his 5 bowls of cereal in the morning. Looking over to Tim when he gets back up to the roof "So, what's going on? "He asks his friend. "I mean you watching from roof tops and such, is normal, but normally taller buildings, and more brooding looking than here."

Conner Kent has posed:
"Blindfolds? Don't be silly," Conner waits until they are up in the air for the punchline, "we use brainwashing nowadays for this kind of thing," beat, "joking! Although there was this time with Miss Martian... oh look, we have arrived."

Too late, Bart ate all the burgers. This actually happens pretty often. At least Tim will probably shared the coffee with Harper.

Harper Row has posed:
Are we sure that Conner's not a telepath also? No, it was Harper's grumbling stomach that brought his focus to the missing burgers.

"Brainwashing... funny," she comments after a moment to catch her breath from the joy of flying with Superboy. Then, glancing around the roof, she says, "Hey there Red Robin!" to the protege of the Bat and then, seeing Bart in costume, she asks, "Oh! And that's Kid Flash, right?"

Tim Drake has posed:
    Tim looks over the rim of his thermos when Bart arrives. "Bluebird incoming," he says, and then gestures skyward with his coffee. Not at anything in particular, just the sky in general. "I just woke up, I'm not scheduled for my daily brooding for another," and then he mimes looking at a watch--which admittedly he does usually wear, just not while in costume--before finishing with a, "Two hours."

    And then, look! Up in the sky! Tim's head tilts back and he sets his tablet down on one of the air conditioning units as he rises to his feet.

    "Welcome to the Roost." No one can see him side-eye Bart when Harper refers to him as Kid Flash, but there's no hiding the little snort Tim gives at it. "What kind of trouble have you been getting up to?" he asks.

Bart Allen has posed:
Bart Allen looks over to Robin at the smirk, and says "Hey just cause you never were Bat Boy." He tells his friend, but looks over to Blue Bird, and Conner "Only used that name for a short bit left it open for another." He offers his hand and a smile "Impulse, some say it is a more fitting name anyways." He will help by adding in "Most of the flashes are primary red with some yellow, I went with the primary white with some red."

Conner Kent has posed:
Conner manages a smooth landing on the rooftop, letting Harper go and grabbing his laptop along the way. "He's Imp," mentions Conner. "And we three were the original terrible trio, but nowadays there is a small army of young super coming and going. Most of them are Gothamites. I think Red should have brought you here before, but the Bat has rules."

Harper Row has posed:
While it's possibly obvious that she was looking forward to talking to Red Robin, Harper's attention turns first to Impulse. "Hey, cool. I'm called Bluebird," she says with no seeming hesitation at the code name (getting used to that apparently at least) before adding, "Although someone commented that my fashion sense for this life we've chosen leaves something to desire," with an obvious sideglance towards Superboy that is followed after a moment by a no-hard-feelings-here grin as she nods knowingly and says, "And then some!"

Turning her attention on Red Robin, Bluebird says, "I feel like I need to talk to him about what happened tonight but since I have no way to contact the big guy I am turning to you." She pauses and says, "Wow, totally didn't mean to imply you're a second choice, just..." She looks between the three super friends and asks, "How much can I discuss about operational aspects of Gotham and... a certain prophetic DCMA violation?" Its obvious that she's trying to be cute and cryptic but is she being overly obscure...? Even Harper's not sure if it'll be obvious or if she should feel free to name Oracle in present company.

Tim Drake has posed:
    "The id, ego, and super ego," Tim says, gesturing to himself, Conner, and Bart as a group without actually identifying which is which. He seems very amused at the reference, though, and tips his head to the side. "She's been poking around in the Bat business lately and I'm supposed to stay hands-off--since I wasn't willing to actively discourage her."

    He shrugs. "So that's what I'm going to do. But I of course have the utmost trust in the judgment of two long-standing members of the Outsiders, especially given one is a field leader."

    For a moment, Tim looks at Conner, and then Bart, and then he turns to head towards the roof access door. "Second choice isn't bad for me," he says as he opens the door and then props it open with his hip. "Stick to codenames and we're good." He waves his hand to indicate Harper should continue, though it's loose enough that it could easily be *misconstrued* as an invitation into the Roost.

Bart Allen has posed:
Bart Allen looks over the girl, and does a zoom around her, as if taking a moment to study her and then back in front of her "Well, if she is going to be doing the hero thing, she could probably use a better costume, unless your bulletproof, I mean with the vest I doubt your bullet proof, but it could be a fashion choice. Like an ear ring or something." He grins over to Conner at least not teasing about the jacket. "I mean if your working in Gotham, should have all the help ya can get, but then again, I don't work in Gotham, well, I do, but I only hero in Gotham when I am really really needed, and then try to make sure no one knows I was there."

Conner Kent has posed:
"Oh hell, I wonder where is Red Tornado nowadays," replies Conner. They sure gave him a hard time. Fortunately the android was nearly unfazeable. "Yeah, second choice is not bad, since there are like fifteen Robins and ex-Robins."

He shouldn't talk. Now there are two Superboys. And more might be coming.

"Anyway, Blue brought something for the labs," he notes, "we better head down before some sees us up here. Eyes in the sky and all that."

Harper Row has posed:
"I am not bullet proof," Harper says to answer the implied question before she taps her vest and says, "But the vest beneath my jacket is to... certain calibers of bullets at least," with a smile to Impulse, turning her head to try to keep up with him before just giving up and asking Superboy and Red Robin, "I guess its better to not try to track him so as to avoid whiplash, right?

"Code names... right, so they must already know about Oracle." Harper starts to pull the package she retrieved from her apartment out of her bag but stops at Conner's comment about the labs. That seems to have caught her attention.

Eyes almost visibly sparkling behind the tinted goggles she says, "Are these tech labs?" with a soft excitement.

Tim Drake has posed:
    There's no way to actually see Tim's eyes as they look Harper over with a critical gaze, but the faint down and then up of his chin suggests it. He doesn't have anything outright to say about Bluebird's makeshift costume, or at least he has chosen to hold them for now. As he stands there at the door, he folds his arms over his chest.

    At least until Harper name-drops Oracle.

    Tim bites the inside of his cheek and looks down at the control panel in his left gauntlet, which he taps at briefly. "Oracle?" he asks, feigning confusion well enough that it's probably only because Bart and Conner know him so well that they'll be able to tell he's totally fibbing.

    "Yes, among other things. Are you attempting to bring unverified tech into our secure base?" he asks. More tapping, and then he holds out his hand for whatever it is Harper was about to pull out of her bag.

Bart Allen has posed:
Bart Allen nods a bit and says "We have an ok, tech lab, Rob here, is the man with a plan when it comes to making new and cool things. " He says of his friend a brow raised at Tim's feigned ignorance, but then again Bart knows things the other don't but thats cause some of it is history to him. "It's always best if you find some new gizmo or gadget to have him or one of the other techie type folks check it out, don't won't someone sneaking mico-bots or even micro people into things. I mean a decent amount of us know about here, but it is all hero types who we trust." Or mostly trust he adds to himself.

Harper Row has posed:
"Me? Not at all, he's the one talking about going to a lab," Harper says indicating Superboy. "I intended to show it to you here."

Conner Kent has posed:
"There are labs and..." uh, right. Unsecure tech. Which she had in her apartment. Conner shrugs, folding his laptop. "There are labs and fabricators. And Rob is the guy that uses them. Unless Hope is building a new laser gun. But she is not around much lately."

He heads down, using the stairs. "There is also a movie theatre. We use that much more often," he has to add.

Harper Row has posed:
Bluebird pulls a package of of her pack and a transparent ear piece from one of her ears. The one she was wearing goes into the package along with a note that simply reads "Wear me". There's writing on the outside also (her address and a bogus return address). Addressing Impulse she says, "Please don't read the address on that package. I feel like... actually definately Batman would say you're not cleared for that information," as she hands the package to Red Robin.

As Bluebird is lead into the base she explains, "This was delivered to my home, anonymously. A disguised voice told me to suit up and take a ride to where Superboy picked me up where I infiltraited a server room and extracted information for said voice. I deduced it to being Oracle... and you're a bad liar or Batman keeps you deeper in the dark than I'd've expected as I /was/ able to dig up information tying him to this Oracle figure, maybe they work for him?"

Tim Drake has posed:
    The conversation continues, and the tapping Red Robin is doing (now without actually looking at the panel in his gauntlet) does as well. "I have a fabrication lab as well. There's a lot you can do with additive manufacturing these days." He takes the package and stares down at the earpieces within for a brief moment, before he nods.

    "They're deactivated," he reports, and closes the package up--hand over Harper's address, helpfully, as he waits for everyone to head inside.

    He's at the back of the pack as they take the stairs. "Sublevel one," he calls out, still typing. "Oracle is, as far as I know, just a myth. A retelling of the Pythia and their practices at the Temple of Apollo at Delphi. And of course, we try our best to maintain information sharing on a need-to-know basis."

    There's plenty of implication in his voice when he says need-to-know. In terms of who all here needs to know... things. Things that Tim does not elaborate on.

Bart Allen has posed:
Bart Allen looks over and stops a moment, and looks at Blue Bird, as she assumes what he is cleared to know and not. He crosses his arms and seems about to say something but will look between Robin and Superboy, and sighs a moment, letting the new kid assume things but for once keeps quiet.

Conner Kent has posed:
Conner is not going to get there. The Gotham batclan has layers and layers of secrets, it seems. And he does his best not to pry despite his enhanced senses telling him much more than what he need to know.

"Well, I don't know much about Greek mythos. That is more Wonder Girl's area," he notes with a smirk. "But it looks like -someone- else did want to get to know Blue here. I guess that is good."

Harper Row has posed:
While she may have been slow on the uptake, it finally clicks and Bluebird says, "Okay, so this mysterious voice claimed to be tied to the name... playing on the false information I found I guess."

"But look... you know what getting something at my home intails guys, right?" she asks highly concerned of Red Robin and Superboy, apparently she's addressing something that she /knows/ that Impulse isn't aware of. Probably tied to that 'not cleard to know' bit she mentioned before. (Obviously this is the fact that someone knows where her /brother/ lives.)

Tim Drake has posed:
    "At the very least, it sounds like they were evaluating your skillset. Which means it was a test." Red Robin tucks the package against his side as he starts taking the stairs two at a time to make it to the head of the pack. The door access to sublevel one opens up as he approaches--it's very Star Trek in that way, though without the whole swshhhhh noise--and he steps inside the garage.

    Which is impressively kitted out. There's currently a car raised up on a lift in one of the bays, and a souped-up bike on a custom chassis parked nearby. Red Robin's usual ride. Probably some other vehicles too, depending on who all is at the Roost at the moment.

    Tim passes straight through it towards the fabrication lab. "We're maintaining a presence in the Narrows. If one of the Outsiders can't respond immediately to a request for help, the computer will route it through to a wider audience." He pauses, in fact he stops moving entirely and turns to look at Harper. "I'll pull some security equipment out that you can take with you when you leave, though," he offers.

Bart Allen has posed:
Bart Allen looks over to the others and then holds his hand to the side of his head "You guys got this? I am needed in central City, seems I am the speester on speed dial right now." He looks to the three of them, and nods once and is off. Seems he has some things he needs to do.

Conner Kent has posed:
"That sounds creepy, Rob," notes Conner, "why don't we just set up a safehouse..." and Bart gets something. "Do you need help?" He asks, but by the time he finishes the sentence Impulse is already outside of the building. Maybe outside of the city. <Give us a call if it looks you need help, man> he says, switching to the comms.

"Typical Impulse," he states, looking at Harper. "I think the last time I managed to finish a conversation with him was around the summer of 2018."

Harper Row has posed:
"That sounds wonderful, Red Robin, but... it'll be fairly discrete also I hope? I'd like to avoid the questions from my brother of course," Harper says in the aftermath of Impulse's departure. She then looks at Conner as he mentions the safe house and then chuckles a bit at the conversation comments. She's clearly holding other questions back but isn't pushing them as she is a guest in the Roost.

Tim Drake has posed:
    "I can have one set up if you'd prefer that, too, but yes. All of the equipment I use is discrete." Tim makes a mental note to pull out some tech for Harper to take home with her. He opens his mouth to say goodbye to Bart, but predictably, he's too slow. All Tim does is shrug at Conner.

    And then he beckons Harper into the next room.

    The fabrications lab rivals the best work shop of any manufacturing company along with the additive manufacturing capabilities of a cutting edge tech startup. There is a lathe and drill press, a milling machine, a CNC machine, a huge storage area with a variety of raw materials to work with plus a suite of 3D printers that print in a great deal more than plastics and resins. Between it and the garage, there is just about every tool that someone would like to have in hand, and it is of course all top of the line stuff.

    "Most of the equipment here can be controlled via computer," he says as he nods towards a computer setup in the corner. Then, since Bart isn't here and he can make the joke again, Tim mimes looking at a watch on his wrist. "Oh, look at that, it's time for a totally unscheduled emergency that's going to pull us away for... let's say a solid nine hours."

    Tim taps Superboy's shoulder as he walks away. "Who knows what an industrious techie could get up to if she were to stick around here unsupervised for that whole time! Not me. Anyway, bye."

    And then Red Robin is marching over to the elevator with a swirl of his cape, leaving Harper behind.

Conner Kent has posed:
Oh, the playground. Conner has actually used the 3D printers a couple times for... probably not genuine reasons. But it was fun. And besides, he really needed to learn to use them in the case at some point he really needed to -use- them.

Which reminds him, "I better disable the passwords for the next nine hours, too." Beat, "also, I'll have the robo-cook send you some sandwiches. Or coffee. Probably both. Have fun."