Owner Pose
Donna Troy     Work has been progressing on anti-angel technology. There have been two main threads of development: entropic fiends and Project Gozer.

    Damian had been particularly enthused by the entropic field research for reasons of his own, but that has been slower going, even with the deep insights Reed has brought to the subject, based on his work with the Negative Zone. It's hard to generate a localized region of differential entropy without it very rapidly reaching thermodynamic equilibrium with the space around them. There have been solutions to this with fields that prevent thermodynamic exchange, but so far that seems to prevent any entropic shear forces developing. There are ways to continually regenerate the entropic fields that seem a better prospect, but the energy density required to keep the effect going for any length of time is huge. Working on the first option may yield something with a wide range of applications but is further away from realization. Working on the second option has the potential to create powerful single-shot devices with pumped discharge capacitors providing a short burst of energy and that might yield some kind of entropy bomb in reasonably short order, but the efficiency of this approach is questionable and it's unclear how much collateral damage this would produce when scaled up.

    Project Gozer has had a much simpler development path. The basic technology is all in place, and it has mainly been a question of programming. Peter had focused on modeling the impact of belief on the neural network and working with Kaida had come up with a structure that allows for a one-way interaction between the programmed belief and the rest of the network to ensure that isn't undermined by new data entering the network. Everyone had pitched in with the coding, and the program is now available for multiple platforms. Victor has provided a small, self-contained computing unit capable of running the code, but it can also be cloned onto other hardware as testing requires.

    The next step is the field test.

    Donna's selection of the roof of 55 Central Park West for the base of the testing operation brings a number of advantages. It has a clear view across Central Park. It's high enough but not too high, making it easy to get to the ground, even to non-fliers. There is a reasonable degree of shelter compared to some of the taller buildings around, which limits the angles from which it can be approached, reducing the chance of an ambush. It's about a mile from St Patrick's Cathedral, the base of Angel operations, as the angel flies. Flights of angelic patrols can be seen from time to time, and the occasional smaller group passes as they go about their mysterious operations in the area, but there isn't the high density of angels there would be across the other side of the park.

    There's another reason Donna picked this rooftop, but she hasn't mentioned that.

    The team is set up on the roof with a number of test platforms to try out, and an assortment of monitoring and recording equipment. A dozen drones are already in the air, following automated scouting patterns to keep the team constantly informed of angel movements in the vicinity. The T-Jet is parked close by in case a quick exit is needed.
Donna Troy     "So," Donna says when things are set up. "First things first. We're going to try to avoid a fight. Unless the angels see people interfering with what they are doing or attacking them, they aren't generally attacking first. Ideally we want to perform this test quietly and simply and then get the hell out of here without tipping the angels off as to what we're doing. If this works, we may be about to change the physical form of some angels. We should discuss for the final product what we want the Belief Engines to view angels as -- I suggested lego bricks on the basis that they are harmless so long as you are not barefoot, but suggestions are open. Just remember that whatever we pick is subject to other people's beliefs, so even if a marshmallow man sounds like a cute idea, if people fear the angels, that could interact with the belief angels and produce scary marshmallow monsters, which does not help."

    "For this test run, we should be sneaky and stealthy. Singularity should be very useful for that. I'm here in case things turn bad, but I'm not going to be interfering much beyond tactical advice. However, first step: for this test run, I suggest we pick a change that doesn't give the angels any idea we have run a test. Something innocuous that they might assume is just the way someone looking at them perceives them. We need to choose the form of the test subject. Any suggestions?"
Singularity Singularity has teleported in to position over and moving to apparate over in to next to the equipment, "I can help get away if something ba happens or you need to hide the equipment. I can take it all inside myself or any of you that need to hide." Take it all.. Inside herself? That possibly made no real sense over in a metaphorical or literal way. But there was probably at least something to it that was literal in the way that the blue girl said it as a fact.
    "You will be safe in me."
Kian     "If you want harmless, you could choose one of my people," Kian says, perhaps even seriously.  "It would leave them in a form they understand, not too different from the one they're already in... and eliminate all hostile tendencies."
    There was no mistaking the birdman's sharp intake of breath and spreading of wings when he first caught sight of an angel patrol.  Even though he did not take off, there's a look in his eyes that suggests it was a near thing.  They *look* like kinsfolk, by all the Gods!
Peter Parker Peter ponders. "How about something demonic instead? Demons are supposed to be fallen angels, so it wouldn't be that much of a strain for others to make the leap. Pick one of the angels near the fringes, at the edge of the perimeter? That would make it look like an invader..."
Kaida Connolly There's a twith that is far more prevelant in Kaida than usual. She's back to her normal size, no longer five foot tall and eating the entire tower. She's just six inches tall and eating most of the fridge. Here, now, she's twitching every time a patrol comes near and she idly rubs her left ear and grumbles. Kaida just shakes her head before looking up.

"Probably hair color or maybe make one look like Roma Downey." She nods her head and looks over at Donna, "One old person probably already made one look like Roma Downey at some point." She shrugs and looks down at her paperwork before she lets out a huff and grumbles some as she looks out in the direction of a flying group of angels in the distance before rubbing her ear again and shaking her head.
Victor Stone     "I mean, Lego bricks /sound/ harmless, but there's a whole series of video games about walking Lego people," Vic notes. He's fiddling with the computing unit on one of the test platforms. "Also, I think we want 'inert,' not just 'harmless.' Demonic forms or winged humanoids... those are still things people can fear, that can still turn into monsters. Demons especially--people are going to be /more/ afraid of those than they are of angels."

    He finally steps away and considers the question for a long moment. "Legos still work," he says, "but maybe something even more harmless like... flowers? We could try a couple different things."
Reed Richards Old Man Richards is still studying power consumption ratios. He looks up distracted, "Possibly we play with different interpretations and aspects of angels? The halos and white robes, the images people are most familiar with from rennaissance art. The aspect that would resonant with those who saw it reinforcing the change by expanding belief."
Donna Troy     "I don't think a single lego brick has that problem, Vic" Donna says with a grin. "You can't really make a Lego stormtrooper out of a single brick. But flowers is a decent suggestion too. Doctor Reed's approach makes a lot of sense -- change something that is within the range of the changes they normally undergo at first. Something as simple as the angle of the halo could work -- is it a floating disc or is it a starburst? Depends on who's artwork you like. But..."

    She's interrupted when one of the security systems pings an alert, and she watches a screen showing an angel patrol moving nearby, but quickly concludes they aren't coming too close and have shown no signs of being aware of the group on the roof.

    "Where was I? Oh yes. We should experiment a little beyond that though, because we need to know that we can induce a more radical change. So perhaps Kaida's approach, if the first test works. Making them look like a particular person would surely indicate we can create the kind of wholesale change this needs, rather than simply tweaking some irrelevant variables."
Singularity Singularity would go to watch over at the patrol and move to watch, pinging up and moving to teleport a little higher to get a view on the systems. The blue girl is quiet now. Shes' made the offer to teleport as needed and the others know it, so she's just watching for now as the science things start up! Oooh, new things to learn!
Kian     Kian's wings spread reflexively; it's a difficult reflex to control.  Wings overhead are, in his experience, always friendly.  "I find it so hard to believe talking to them wouldn't work," he says quietly.
    The birdman steps back against the wall, as if to force himself to stay grounded -- and though (so far as he knows) none of his companions can tell, he also makes an effort to keep his mind behind his own eyes.  "I don't like this at all."
Peter Parker Peter nods thoughtfully. "I'll monitor the output, see if there is any way to tweak the code on the fly, should the opportunity present itself. Perhaps a hack at the right place could adapt it to the current testing."

Some of the code is his, and he's hoping the "Magical Thinking" code made it in in some way.
Kaida Connolly "OK! Honestly, is anyone else feeling that? When they fly by?" She grumbles and her tail twitches as she eyes the patrol that is leaving the area before looking down and sucking in a breath.

"Ok, whatever, anyway." She walks over to the computer and leaps from key to key quickly as she looks up at the screen before pulling up a picture of Roma Downey before looking to the others, "That work for a test?" She points at the woman, "My dad used to watch an old angel show with her in it. Anyone over like forty might honestly think of her." She shrugs, "They might not notice." She then looks over to Peter and then considers something as hse glances to Richards.

"Uh, one problem." She considers and taps her chin, "How will we know?" She frowns, "When we look at the screen, would we not see them how we wish to see them? When we verify?"
Victor Stone     Vic nods thoughtfully. "Right, /this/ test. Sorry, I'm like... three steps ahead, like a dang fool. Okay. /First/ we see if we can change them without them noticing. /Then/ we turn them into Lego bricks. Or flowers. Or, ohh, Lego flowers!" He grins at himself. "Sorry, I think all the Wonderland stuff's still getting to me."

    "Alright," he says, adjusting some parameters in the program. "Roma Downey it is. Let's see if we can make a bunch of angels look like Roma Downey. Oh, Monica, if only you were here. You and Tess could surely fix this whole mess before driving off in your Eldorado."

    He grins at Kaida. "/I/ remember the old angel show. Aunt Ruth loves the re-runs. What do you mean, feeling that?"
Reed Richards Old Man Richards smiles and nods paying passive attention as he monitors the drones in the air, reviews all the data, double checks the results. He even monitors the the angelic patrol looking for weaknesses in the formation that can br exploited for their experiments, "Can we put the facial recognition data for a well know face into the system that is of course the first hurdle? Thatcis areason why Herbie is here, we can program the same pattern recognition into his system. He doesn't have an expectation."
Donna Troy     "We can route things through the tower's facial recognition software too as a backup," Donna says to Reed. "However what I'm hoping is that we're all going to see the same thing. There seems to be some kind of averaging effect going on. If we're only changing the perception of what we're seeing, this whole thing is a bust. "

    Donna nods her head to Kaida. "What we hope to see is the Belief Engines to override the rest of the belief in the area. They are more certain of what they believe to be true than we are, and we can create multiple instances to provide an even stronger belief. Peter, maybe we can enhance this first test by doing that change on the fly you suggest -- start with Roma Downey and then switch to Danny DeVito, perhaps? We have a scouting patrol of two low-tier angels on Central Park West about six blocks up, think we can be ready to go with that by the time they pass the building?"
Singularity Singularity would float up and into the air then, going to teleport up a few times. She would go to then teleport all the way 'up' and out to get a better view of the area from a position much higher, dimming her usual glow as she would do so to try and match that of the horizon. Then a fwe seconds later go to 'pop' and teleport back on down to the rest!
Peter Parker Peter nods, then pulls the tablet out of his backpack and powers it up. "Okay...gimme a sec to pull up the overlays...and...got it. Sequence set. Ready to activate on your mark."
Damian Wayne      Robin had set up some alarms on the ground floor, giving the group enough time to flee if they needed to.

  The roof access door opened, and out stepped Damian, fully kitted out for battle. "Ground floor is taken care of, what's the status up here?" He asks, his voice was very to the point, all business.

  "Doctor Richards, Parker, Cyborg?"
Victor Stone     Vic gives everything a once-over, then nods and steps back a bit, glancing down the street toward the coming patrol. "Everything looks set here. Tracking... yeah, two cherubim, incoming. Hey, Robin, just about to run the first test of Project Gozer. On your mark, Donna?" He nods to Peter.
Reed Richards Old Man Richards raises an eyebrow pulling up a 3D representation of the angelic patrol including their most likely patrol routes and the best spaces for an ambush- field trial. The paths and percentages shidft as the angels move. He gives the instruction to two sets of drone based interdictors loaded with the belief engine and they move like a flock of polycarbonate birds, flocking organically down the tree lined avenue. They set themselves in place two overlapping fields of belief, ready for upload, there are small adjustments as the angels move closer and Reed evaluates possible targets, "I'm going to target that last person in line, least like to be noticed by the others. Unless they perceive the shifting- least like to be noticed. Once its set up, there is only to wait and watvh as the angels move and the belief drones adjust. "Peter, our best chance is if both belief circuits are active, but we're going on your mark." Reed smiles encouraging, "You've got this." Indicates the 3D image hovering low just above the roof. Then angels are moving and as they pass the drones the connections start to spring up. They are moving along the predicted path so far. The last one in line for the trap.
Terry O'Neil There is a moment when there is nothing but empty air, then a grin hovering in midair. A second later, the body fills in, and the tail comes in last. Vorpal is under contractual obligation to employ his trademark entrance at least once every scene, for the purposes of branding. We don't question it, it's just the way things are.

"I hope I'm not late. Mom detoured me at the last moment to help some people get out of Nywawk. Blowout on both tires, so Rabbit Hole it is. Have I missed much?"
Donna Troy     The Cherubim advance down the street, looking around them cautiously with their pulse-rifles at the ready, closing in on the target zone a little away from the building. On Reed's holographic display, the pair appear to be moving on the spot. The one at the rear, the one Reed has selected to target, shows no signs it is aware of the approaching drone. Once Peter gets Reed's 'mark', he taps in the belief overlay for the Roma Downey visual, and triggers the network.

    "We're starting the first test now," Donna says to Vorpal and Robin. "Simple visual test, nothing that should be out of the range of normal changes they experience." She studies the holographic display, watching for any signs of change. "There it comes..."

    Indeed it doesn't take long for the belief engine to boot into sequence, and almost immediately, the appearance of the rearmost of the angels starts to change exactly as intended. Volumetric scanning appears to suggest that the change is physical, not just visual or psychic -- the rearmost Cherub is registering a shorter height.

    "I suggest before we move to the next step, we test this out a little bit more. Singularity, how about you go over to the park and look at them from there, so you can confirm that it appears the same when you're separated from the rest of us. And maybe we send Kian down to say hi to them. So long as he's not coming across as a threat, they shouldn't be violent, and it will be interesting to see whether proximity of someone who believes some... different things about how winged beings are, impacts them. You up for that Kian? If so, Terry... get ready with a rabbit hole just in case."
Singularity Singularity would go to move to 'plink' out and blue once more, appearing far up and in the sky to get a view of the cherubim. She would then plink back into the group, move to grab a small portable camera, plink back to the Cherubim advancing down the street and record for a few seconds, then blue right back with the admittedly somewhat shakier footage than the scurity cameras they had up.
Peter Parker Peter actually smiled a little at Reed's words. If the smartest guy you know believes in you, then maybe you're on the right track.
Even as the thought entered his mind, he applied Theorem Two of the Belief System and checked it.
Yeah...it held up under testing. That raised his confidence even further.

When the order comes, he taps the tablet screen and the overlay slides into place. It's almost as if the cherub had gone shapeshifter. 1.2 seconds, and the overlay was in place.

"...It's always the little things that make it worth it. The grace notes."
Victor Stone     "Booyah," Vic murmurs as he watches the angel change. "Gentlemen, can I just say this is some /fine/ work that's gotten done in such a short time? Not to jinx it, but even if this is all that works... it's impressive." He grins, then looks over at Kian.

    "You wanted to try talking to them. Maybe it /would/ help, a little. Just, y'know. Saying hi."
Damian Wayne      "Donna's mark, Parker's mark, who has the mark?" Robin chimes in before stepping up to the console. "Doctor Richards, do not lose the shot."

  Robin's eyelets move from the console to Peter, then back to the console. He watched the pair of cherubim on the display and the last one change appearances. "I concur. Once confirmed, I want us to keep moving forward, we are out in the open out here."

  Once Singularity comes back with the footage, he reaches out to her. Taking a look at the footage, he confirms it. "Footage matches what we see here." The Boy Wonder hands the camera to whomever wants to confirm as well. "Suggest we commence Phase Two." He looks to Doctor Richards to begin preparations.
Kian     "I can do that."  If nothing else, Kian is confident in his own identity as an Akiar, and his own insistence on his lack of divinity, no matter what the hierarchy on his world says.  "If those are energy weapons, I don't think they can hurt me.  If not... Terry, can you make your Rabbit Holes invisible?  One in front of me aimed somewhere harmless in case they throw something my way will give me all the time I need to safely get out of there, if I have to."  Someone's thinking with portals.  "If not... I think I can outfly them."
    Before he has a chance to talk himself out of it, he flits over the edge of the far side of the building, so as to not draw attention to where everyone else is.  Coming around the side of the building in a wide, slow swoop, and absent any threatening actions on their part, Kian drops to his feet a good ten meters away.  He's made no effort to be stealthy about his approach.
    Predictably, there's a brief bow, and a "/Kie/."
Reed Richards Old Man Richards monitors the angels and the drones, keeping the target angels in the belief circle of drones while moving the drones so they are not noticed, the drones basic flight and detection avoidance systems seem to be working easily. Reed nods confirming upload. He smiles at Peter and gives him an affirming nod. He notes Damian's arrival. Reed pulls a bat with cosmic rings just above the hand grip and a dial on the pommel. He hands it to Damian, "Not your usual weapon of choice but when you need to hit out of your weight class." He winks. "I am not throwing away my shot." Reed starts to reconfigure things getting ready for the stage when we try a more drastic change, he glances at the monitor as it is passed around, "Doesn't look a thing like Della Reese. So, it's working." He brings up a third flight of drones more spread out but equally concealed to continue the belief circle as the patril continues to move.
Terry O'Neil The Cheshire cat grins as Singularity does her thing, "I like her style... Teleporters are the best." Bias much? He gives Doctor Richards and Parker a nod. Richards is known by reputation alone, and his assistant gets a quick glance and a grin- and then his eyes flicker for a second.

Had he seen this guy before? He can't seem to place him but there is something incredibly /familiar/ about him. Not that you can ask 'say, old chap, have we met before? Could you pass the Grey Poupon?' in the middle of an experiment dealing with screwing with angels.

But suddenly there is a task to be done, and that takes his attention away from Parker for now. "You kidding me? I can make /anything/ invisible. Except Raven's total and complete disdain for me. I have your back, Kian."

And then a /quick/ glance at Robin, "Not a word, you," with a smirk, cutting off any sassy remarks before he proceeds to create the invisible Rabbit Hole as requested, and he perches on the edge of the roof on standby, invisible himself.

Good thing he found out during the fight that angels fall for illusions.

Suckers.
Donna Troy     The two cherubs -- the lead one a strange combination of muscled form and childlike face, the rear one looking distinctly Downey-esque, stop their progress when Kian approaches, both pointing their rifles at him, but simply watching as he approaches. When he's down on the ground, they give no immediate response to his greeting, but after a few moments they lower their rifles simultaneously. <<GREETINGS MORTAL>>, the lead angel says to him. <<YOU HAVE NOTHING TO FEAR. PLEASE DO NOT APPROACH US.>> With that they start walking again, at the same pace, keeping a wary eye on the bird-man. There seems to be no need to jump into Vorpal's invisible rabbit hole just yet, but on the other hand Kian's not exactly getting them to be communicative.

    Singularity pops in and out of existence, and as she moves about she sees no apparent change to the form of the angels. The footage she takes coincides with what everyone else is seeing -- but would people who weren't expecting to see on the recording what they're seeing see the image the same?

    Reed's maneuvering of the drones keeps them carefully positioned for the rear angel, and with the added distraction of Kian, he's able to do a little experimentation with range. So far, altering range seems to have no effect -- as long as the drones are close enough to sense the angels and the AI system respond to it with its magical thinking routines, the effect appears to be stable. This fits the theory well, though there's a lack of other people in the area, and those who are able to perceive these particular angels are now all expecting to see them this way

    When Damian and Reed are content with the readings and suggest moving to phase two, Peter triggers Theorem Two, and as expected, the rearmost Cherub slowly morphs into the appearance of Danny Devito. So far everything seems to be working as hoped.

    Donna nods her head in agreement with Victor as the flood of data comes over the screens confirming the first test appears to be succesful. "Yeah," she says. "/Really/ good work here. We ready for the next step? Suggestions on a physical change we can induce that will impact how they can act, but still isn't so drastic they know something's up?"
Peter Parker Peter spoke up. "If we are talking about objects in the environment...how about something like a phone booth? Something that might have been relevant once, but out-of-place now?"
Kaida Connolly Wincing, Kaida has been quiet for a long time before she finally whines and glares at Terry before she shakes her head. She isn't clear why she's glaring at him and when he disappears again, but she still glares where he is before whining.

"You all can't hear that?!" She then shakes her head and goes to look at the feedback from the machines and shakes her head as she rubs her ears again. Her tail twitching wiht her annoyance as she sits and starts using a tiny piece of pencil lead to writing on a tiny piece of paper about what she is seeing and sighs.
Victor Stone     Vic's been making notes on his internal computer, but several people are doing that, so he turns away for a minute to focus on the mouse girl. "Hey, Kaida, seriously... what's wrong? There's nothing... I mean, besides the angel's voices, I guess?"

    He glances to Peter. "Might be an idea. Or maybe... a four-legged form of some kind? Change how they move, but still something someone might see them as?"
Kian     Well, Kian hasn't been blown into his own shadow, that's a good thing.  "The Gods give you safe flights and clear skies.  What are you doing, wing-brothers?"  It's an honest question, meant to engage -- and perhaps to confuse.  So far as he knows they've never been addressed that way before, and they're almost certainly unfamiliar with one of the old traditional greetings that are only used in formal circumstances.  And they might find the alternate theology confusing, too.
    He's not going anywhere near 'mortal'.  He doesn't want to give them a reason to test that.
    And when one of them turns into... well, he really doesn't know who that is, but when the rear one changes appearance, he manages to limit his reaction to a couple blinks.
Reed Richards Old Man Richards begins to pack up, "If we are planning a big change we want to be ready to leave quickly when the other angel notices." Herbie gathers the items and floats away over the roofs towards midtown. Reed nods, "Legos, flowers, phone booths, even puppies are all as viable as the next bit, if it works at all it will be noticed."
Terry O'Neil "Angel food cakes, for example. Or Angela Lansbury," Terry mentions, keeping his eyes on the angel menagerie.

"So far so good. They're not trying to vaporize Kian. If they do try, though, I might be tempted to have them answer David Bowie and find out if there /is/ life on Mars..."
Donna Troy     Down on the ground, the angels continue walking, passing the point where Kian stands. <<YOUR COOPERATION WITH THE HOST OF HEAVEN HAS BEEN NOTED, MORTAL. HAVE FAITH, ALL WILL BE WELL.>> It's not exactly the answer that he might have hoped for. They seem entirely uninterested in the fact that he looks rather like them, though in the case of one of them, distinctly less Danny DeVito-ish.

    "What's that, Kaida?" Donna asks. "You mean that kind of... low level buzzing, like just below the threshhold of hearing? That kinda grates." If there is such a low-level buzzing, it's not something people are generally noticing. "Agreed, Doctor Reed. I would suggest something that's not quite as overt as a telephone booth. That's going to raise questions, but anything we do that's going to have the desired effect of changing what they are physically capable of is going to at least make them nervous. Nervous angels are likely to attack. The four legs thing is going to be odd, but less obviously an attack, I suggest we go with Vic's idea. But we don't want to just do this and run, it would be a good idea to see how they react. It would be nice if we could test this out on more than one type of angel too. Might be an idea to disperse a little so we're not making on obvious target."
Peter Parker Peter nods and plugs in something he'd been following lately in a couple of 3-D forums.

"Okay...got a Great Dane, a horse, zebra, or unicorn. Give the word, that they shall be heeled."
Kaida Connolly A look at Victor and she eyes him a moment before sahking her head, "Nothing, I guess." She sighs and frowns as she idly leap types something on to the screen and then looks in the direction of Kian and his interactions before she looks to Terry again, frowning. Whether at his words or something else is unclear. Then Donna speaks and Kaida looks at her.

"Yes!" she then looks back at the computer, "Though it goes through my whole body!" She grinds her teeth a little and sighs, "At least someone else can feel it." She looks over at the angels again and then finally looks to Donna.

"If we wanna go full test, we might as well do the Lego trick but if we want to go less noticable, I say something like a toy or a teddy bear." She nods her head, "They can move but might write it off as a child seeing them."
Victor Stone     Vic frowns between Donna and Kaida. "You can /both/ hear it... but we can't? This warrants looking into. But later, later." He waves a hand. He's curious, but they've got to get this taken care of.

    He shifts his stance a little. "Well, whatever we're doing, we'd better prepare for incoming. I'm gonna vote... either dog or unicorn, since those are comforting and also unicorns are 'unreal' in the way angels are."
Kian     For a brief moment, Kian toys with the idea of trying to convince himself that these could be fellow Akiar... but the total lack of anything mental to be 'heard' rules that out.
    He can't, however, let the 'host of heaven' comment pass.  "The Gods give you peace, especially in the name of my Lady Kiare."
    There are traditional blessings that, as /Rhytak t'Kiare/, he could use... but he just can't bring himself to.  Without realizing he's doing it, he grips his pendant in his right hand, ready to flick into the air at the slightest sign something unpleasant's going to happen.
Reed Richards Old Man Richards says, "Valeria developed a love of paper dolls, they could be very life like... " He works the controls. Reed activates a tertiary and quantenary flight of drones and send them on an exploratory flight into the park looking for more targets. "Noted, Peter, try this." Reed send the teddy bear file over the wireless link to his tablet. "Can we recommend Kian return?"
Terry O'Neil Vorpal frowns, "... I can't hear anything, Kaida... what's going on?"

But then Doctor Richard makes a recommendation, and when a mad scientist recommends something, you had better do it- on the double.

<<Fly back, Kian. If they try to do anything, I'll airlock them. Just keep your cool>>

The invisible Rabbit Hole is there if Kian wants it. If the angels try to attack him, though, he is prepared to do something /nasty/ with it instead.

He went to Catholic school, after all. He has had enough of angels to last him a lifetime.
Donna Troy     Reciting the name of Kaire provokes absolutely no reaction from the angels. They are still paying some small amount of attention to Kian, but only in so far as he exists in their vicinity. There's certainly no sense that they might share Kian's deference to the Goddess. If he takes flight as Terry advises him, they will not impede his going either.

    "Mice and Amazons both probably hear a bit better than the rest of you is all," Donna suggests to Vic with a shrug. "But we've got some audio recordings, you can try doing some frequency isolating when we get back."

    Reed's drones register a little more angel activity in the vicinity, but nothing untowards and nothing that seems likely to head this way in the immediate future. He sends the teddy bear data file over to Peter, who starts training the magic thinking routine with it, and by the time the two angels have got another block down the road, the program is ready. Peter hits send.

    To the observers who can see them directly, Kian close by and Singularity popping in and out of existence to monitor the situation, to the camera drones overhead, and on the holographic projection Reed has rigged up on the rooftop, the image of the second angel starts changing again. Getting shorter, and even more stocky than Danny Devito. In the space of a few seconds, its motion forwards slows to a fraction of its previous pace as short teddy bear legs struggle to propel it forwards. Limp teddy bear arms fail and the pulse rifle falls to the ground.

    Both angels come to a sudden halt, the lead angel turning to stare at the teddy bear angel.

    Donna moves to the edge of the roof, crouching behind the surrounding wall and peering over it. "I think we can expect them to be calling for help at this point. Vorp, get a rabbit hole inside the t-jet and start evacuating, but let's keep on site for now and see what happens. If something bigger turns up, it would be a good idea to see what we can do to them too."

    Sure enough, the perimeter cameras soon pick up a flight of angels making haste to arrive, and they come in to land close by the two Cherubs. Those who have studied the reports on the types of angels will recognize that this group consists of two Powers and a Dominion. Not the true big guns, but serious foes, with magical capabilities. The sound that has been bothering Kaida is distinctly louder now, and she gets a particularly strong sense of unease from the tall Dominion, a slender and somewhat angular figure with bony features, nearly ten feet in height that towers over the rest.

    <<EXPLAIN>> the Dominion demands. There's something in its voice that cuts through to the very soul, that tells you /this is a being of power/.

    <<WE DO NOT KNOW>> the teddy bear replies. <<WE HAVE NOT ENCOUNTERED THIS BEFORE. ORDERS?>>
Kaida Connolly A groan comes from Kaida as she rubs her head and sighs as she looks at the angels. She looks to Victor and then Donna before shaking her head and setting this aside for another time. Instead she looks at the screen and hits send on a quick email before writing something else down, leaping up and over the laptop before casually leaping tackling it closed. She glances over at the others.

"I think this is our cue to leave. I'm tiny again. I can only take one of those big angels at a time instead of two now."
Victor Stone     "I say we try turning them all into teddy bears and then book it. We can decide the final form to hand over to the Resistance back at the Tower," Vic says, peering down at the situation below. "Not that I'm against fighting ang--no, you know what? I find it a little weird, the idea of /fighting angels/, okay? Just a little. I can /hear/ Aunt Ruth screaming at me about getting my Black ass back in a church pew where it belongs."

    But he adjusts the sonic cannon anyway. You know, just in case.
Kian     Kian bows again -- always polite -- and flits back into the air.  As before, he takes an indirect route so as to not indicate where his friends are.
    Fortunately, he's gotten around a corner before the Dominion arrives, and grabs a quick perch on a flagpole to close his mind down tight after getting just a taste of its presence.  Once he has his equilibrium back, he heads around and up to the rooftop, alighting next to Terry.  "I didn't see what just arrived, but I felt it," he says, rubbing his temple.  "The first two, they seemed to be only barely there.  I'm really not sure how much of an independent existence they have.  Maybe none at all since your experiment worked."
    He cautiously takes a look over the parapet at what else is down there now, and then returns to Terry's side.  "And I am not a host of heaven," he adds, a little sourly.  He felt that needed to be clarified.  "But they seemed to accept me as at least not a threat.  Maybe we can make use of that."
Reed Richards Old Man Richards brings the other flights of belief drones in and pulls the reserves off roofs a couple of buildings down. The seven flights of drones surround the newcomers as they land and the algorithm seeks ways to isolate them, to surround and maximize the field. The drones drop the belief field on the first angel affected as Reed intone, "We have third party confirmation, total success confirmed." This all adds to the confusion if he reverts to normal and the drones move slowly to surround the newcomers using their environment and small size to hide while moving into position. Once the entire group is surrounded, Reed re-engages the belief field with the magical thinking algorithm in place. He remains at the console as the others begin to bug out. Hardly the first time he's risked his life for data, and hopefully not the last. "Go, I'll keep it up as long as I can." He's even reshaped his ears, hunting for the frequency and doing on the fly analysis.
Terry O'Neil Relocating the Rabbit Hole to the T-Jet, Vorpal says "Alright, escape route open. So I take it we're not kicking ass and instead retreating?" he sounds a little disappointed, as the Rabbit Hole opens up by the gathered team, ready for evac.
Donna Troy     

    Reed reconfigures the drone array to bring all the angels into range, and Peter triggers the teddy bear program into the extra drones. Again the impact is almost instantaneous. The second cherub changes first, and the two Powers are not far behind. They mill around, tiny legs swaying as they attempt to coordinate their motion without bones to support them. The effect on the Dominion is not as straightforward, but it too is taking on teddy bear form.

    "Okay, Damian you're flying. Vic, take the cargo door and cover the retreat with your sonic canon. Terry, get rabbit holing everyone into the jet. Kaida, you show our guests how to strap into the crash harnesses. " Yep, Donna is doing the security detail thing, and she's taking no nonsense. "Doctor Reed, it's not safe. Get on board the jet for evac. I can outfly angels on my own, I'm the one who stays so you get your last minute data, okay? Everyone get moving, NOW."

    The Dominion seems to be trying to fight the effect, and after a few moments it starts to grow again, reasserting its original form. It looks around, scanning the street, the park and the buildings around, and again it starts shrinking and taking on teddy bear form. A third change happens when it stops looking and stands still, stretching up into that angular, ten foot figure, and it stands there in silence a few moments before slowly shrinking down into teddy bear form again.

    <<WE ARE BEING AFFLICTED BY INSANE PERCEPTIONS>> the teddy-dominion concludes. I SENSE THE PRESENCE OF THE CHAOTIC HERETIC. DESTROY HIM. The two teddy-cherubs fumble for their guns, but are unable to pick them up. The two teddy-powers immediately turn towards the roof where the heroes are hiding, and raise their hands to fire bolts of yellow energy -- but they are unable to elevate their soft arms much above the horizontal, and the bolts crash into a lower floor, destroying windows and furnishings within, but little else.

    "Go! Now!" Donna hisses.
Kaida Connolly "Really? Me? The person who just clings to..." She sshakes her head, "Ok, nevermind, whatever." She then races over and points to the rabbit hole that Terry opened up, rubbing her head a little and sighing before pointing to it.

"Ok, Pete! Mr. Richards, through the hole in reality!" ANd she races through soon after and starts making sure people get properly secured.
Victor Stone     Vic is moving the moment Donna starts giving orders. He lifts the sonic cannon and trains it toward the angels, keeping it trained that way even as he moves through a Rabbit Hole onto his location on the cargo door of the T-jet.

    "They think this is /Terry's/ doing?! Terry, what'd you /do/ to them?"
Kian     Kian does not /immediately/ evacuate to the T-Jet -- he sticks around long enough to try to get a sense of their weapons, what kind of energies they use, and whether he can counteract them.
    But he doesn't stick around very long at all before he makes for the T-Jet, making a grab at Terry to get him to come along now too, please.
Reed Richards Old Man Richards watches the readings noting especially as the Dominion shifts from form to form. He notes the shifting belief fields doing the math, quantifying belief, "Fascinating." He pulls on his workspace and the whole unit collapses into a satchel. He waits for the roof to clear, then nods to Donna, he has had people watching over him in dangerous situations since his teens. Usually it's Ben. Few people understand quite how evasive and resilient Mr. Fantastic is but today is not that day. "Terry, today is not that day. They will not leave without you, staying endangers your friends and endangers the data we have collected. It's only useful if we get it back." Reed activates the self destruct and with a quiet set of pops every drone involved in the operation dissolves into black dust which blows away. He steps through the portal.
Terry O'Neil The Cheshire cat smirks. "Rest assured, Doctor Richards, I have /no/ intention of getting involved in a lengthy fight." He says, waving people through until it's just him and Donna. And then-

"Oh /what/ did that ratchet bitch /call me/?"

He turns on his heels and looks at the angels and teddies down on the street with the kind of look that Joan Crawford would have reserved for Bette Davis. When he speaks, he does so with a thundering voice that is amplified by his illusion magic. "Next time you address me, you are to refer to me as The Handsome Cheshire King, Great Sage Equal To Heaven!" he says- tapping into a well-known story, "you fucking plebes."

And he opens a Rabbit Hole- destination? Outer space. It's far enough away from the angels that it won't suck them into the void, but it will pull them back somewhat fierce, all the better to keep them from catching up to them.

"<<What did I do to them?>> He says innocently into his T-Comm, <<Why, nothing, Vic. That's why I had to /corrrect/ that. I have a reputation to uphold, after all.>>

And with that, he re-opens the Rabbit Hole into the T-Jet and waves at Donna, "Get your ass on board, too, Donna. Don't think you're going to be rid of me by getting captured by the heavenly hosts," he grins.
Donna Troy     Damian is already gunning the VTOL engines of the T-Jet as the rest get on board -- a real advantage of Rabbit Holes is the pilot can start taking off when you're still boarding.

    As soon as Reed sets the drones to self destruct, the angels revert to their original form, and the cherubs go for their pulse-rifles. They have just enough time to pick them up before Terry's Rabbit hole generates a powerful gale at ground level, and it's all they can do to stand their ground rather than hurtling backwards. The Powers however have an easy answer to this and summon energy shields to protect themselves from the onrushing wind, and start to pepper the top of the building with energy bolts.

    "Go, Terry!" Donna says, pushing him through the rabbit hole. "I'm deflecting any energy beams before they get to the jet."

    As soon as Terry's on board, Damian guns the V-TOL engines into a steep climb that's enough to pin the barely-prepared chaos cat to the deck before hitting forward thrust with an enthusiasm you couldn't normally employ over Manhattan, and within a few seconds the shockwave of a sonic boom crashes over the almost-empty city, and the T-Jet is out over water, slowing down to subsonic only when it has passed the Statue of Liberty and the shores of Staten Island and Brookyln close in on either side at the Verrazzano narrows. Out over the waters of the lower bay, Donna catches up with the Jet, flying alongside.

    <<I think we can call that mission succesful>> Donna's voice crackles over the comm. <<Great work everyone. Now let's look into manufacturing as many of these things as we can!>>