video; un: strange (sent from the headset of Stephen Strange, set about three weeks into the event)

[doooooog]

[ The feed begins on a man sitting in the middle of the small but well appointed kitchen of a Tarrytown guest home, wearing Dr. Strange's cloak around his neck like a barber's cape. His face isn't familiar at all to any of the Orbers, though his voice might be. ]

Welp. Hey, everybody. I got into Team Torpedo's HQ. [ The man looks up briefly at, presumably, Stephen Strange and gives a thumbs up in approval. ] Oh yeah man, whatever cheese you got is fine.

[ Stephen moves into frame behind the stranger, a few eggs, tomatoes, and a block of cheese floating behind him, Disney Princess style (if Disney Princesses wore sweatpants exclusively). The Strange Omelet Bar is officially open.

In the foreground of the video feed, Jake refocuses his attention on his audience. ]

So anyway, we all know they're kidnapping Cubits. I saw what kinds they're going for; ones that are unique colors combinations, new species we didn't get in the literature Viveca and Degar briefed us on, things we don't have any idea on. They've got 'em all stacked up together in these horrible little cages in their lab, under the knife of this real piece of work: R.M. Chamise. She's a doctor a lot like Cress, only way more into cutting cute little Cubits open and finding out what makes them tick.

She's Torpedo's chief scientist, at least I think she's chief of something. She reports directly to Koga and seems to have a lot of latitude to order the grunts around. [ He holds up arm, bullet wound plainly visible. ] They shot me, but like, it's cool. I kinda trying to kidnap her, so I guess that's understandable.

Anyway, while I was there I got a pretty good look at the lab. They have a whole room with a single Cubit in a stasis beam with two guards on standby duty. There was another room locked sealed up with a keypad. The code to it uses some variation of 3, 7, 8, and 9. I was going off the idea that it's a four digit deal, but honestly... nothing I put in there worked, so maybe it's longer?

Whatever it is, it uses those numbers. I'd bet my nose on it.

[ Rubbing the back of his neck, a cast iron pan floats towards Stephen in the background. ]

There was something else R.M. Chamise mentioned: a rock. One that Koga was absolutely obsessed with. [ He shrugs meaningfully, eyebrows rising. ] You connect the dots.

[ The man sniffs the air briefly, turning fully back towards the stove (and revealing a very naked back). Hunger was taking hold. Jake's fellow Orbers only had so much of his scant attention left before they lost out to brunch. ]

But yeah, like, ask me whatever you want and I'll fill you in on whatever details I can-- Ah! Hold up-- [ He looks back fully, briefly forgetting the food. ] And if you know how to do weird stuff and don't mind getting into a little trouble, hit me up. Professor Chamise gave me a fancy new cover story that might free up your powers a little, too.

[ With a quick finger gun, the feed ends. Or seems to end. A few minutes later, the man is back online; an empty plate in front of him, crumb of egg stuck in his mustache, and a vaguely unsettled Stephen Strange looking on behind him. ]

Oh, and has anyone seen my brother? Last I saw he was getting hit with a rock and knocked out. Just... wanna make sure he's all good. Thanks.

(( ooc: to read the direct info on what jake saw in the lab, go ahead and read the full search request here! ))

Comments

Audio; un: 苣屋

[dispassioned]

[He squints a bit at the video feed, vaguely dubious.]





…Jake?

audio; un: strange

[doooooog]

[ Oblivious, stupid: ] Hey, man.

Video; un: Sabriel.Abhorsen

[bindsthedead]

That matches up with what I've heard from the local cubits. Team Torpedo is kidnapping unusual cubits, although the number of such cubits hasn't been increasing.

[Which means the orb (probably) isn't mutating the local wildlife, like it's done on other missions]

Whoever's's in that stasis beam isn't from Ankata- they miss their home, their family and friends. Can you describe what they look look like? Were they hurt?

And... What is this cover story? How much trouble can we make for Team Torpedo?

video; un: jtd

[doooooog]

Are you talkin' to the animals now, girl? [ He leans in, voice somehow both amused and genuinely interested all at once. He wouldn't put it past her. That was kind of her deal. ] You're just full of surprises, babyvamp.

Speaking of surprises, ever read about the word "chimera" in any of those books of yours?

video; un: y.mikotoba

[softshoes]

[There are SO many things to address here and he doesn't want the answer to at least 5 of them. Unfortunately, it's too late to turn off video, so Jake (????) still gets to see the two seconds of Yujin saying nothing, stunned speechless and staring.]

Right. Professor Chamise. Thank you.

[okay, NOW let's rewind to--]

You're a human, Jake?

video; un: strange

[doooooog]

Is everyone forgetting Degar's special brew? [ Jake can't help it, he's looking amused. No, not just amused. Downright delighted. Maybe this isn't the attention he's used to getting, but it's still attention. ] What, did you think he put chocolate in it or something?

What're you trying to say, you don't think I'm as handsome as a human as I am as a dog? 'Cuz that I could understand. Y'all got weird bodies.

1/2

[heroooic]

[ Who the hell was this joker, using his brother’s voice? ]

2/2 Video

[heroooic]

…Jake? Dude, what happened to you, you get cursed by a witch or something?

[ It was one part joke, one part wishful thinking; one whole avoidance of just how confused and uncomfortable Finn was right now, trying to reconcile the person in the video with the person who was speaking and quite honestly…failing. ]

voice; un: romanoff

[deaddrop]

You know, not what I would have pictured but it makes sense.

voice; un: jtd

[doooooog]

Oh yeah? [ His grin is audible. Screw the orb, attention is this dog's drug of choice. ] Which part?

audio; un: naruhodo

[locumstudentesquire]

[After getting all the alarmed and weirded out reactions out of the way off-screen:]

...Is that actually a real moustache?

audio; un: jtd

[doooooog]

You... you think I put on a fake mustache? [ Jake blinks, feeling it. Did it look especially fake? ] Like, to what end, bro?

[ To what end??? ]

text; un: clarke

[romancekiller]

[clarke doesn't even know where to begin with this. she has so many questions but at least a few of them have already been answered by the time she does respond to get all that initial confusion out of the way first as she makes a mental note of the information he's sharing.

she sticks to text for the time to avoid any questions about her own change in appearance and to not alert any team torpedo of her plans given she's got a cover story to stick with here in her efforts to infiltrate their headquarters]

You got shot?

Seems like I need to be even more careful getting inside if they're armed with weapons. Are you okay?

text; un: jtd

[doooooog]

oh yeah, don't you worry about me. it takes more than a bullet to get this pup down.

but uh, what's that again? please don't tell me you're using the front door, hon.

🔒 text; un: knives

[eyeronically]

( it takes lillium a while before he finally decides to respond to this, his anger simmering over innocent beings getting cut open out of curiosity... well, let's just say it hits way too close to home.

his paranoia about anything that may come out of him makes him private the communication. )

what sort of weird things?

🔒 text; un: jtd

[doooooog]

[ He'll find himself in good company there, not that the private message from the new boy doesn't prompt Jake's eyebrows to raise. ]

i dunno, kid. what kind of weird things can you do? hypothetically, of course.

video ; un: mccoy

[homeostatic]

Stop reopening it, my God. Lord knows what kind of infection you could pick up around here.

( who had quietly listened before popping in? this guy. fussing over, he continues. )

Did Chamise mention anything else about this rock?

[doooooog]

[ To that, Jake just sticks out his tongue. Unfortunately for all involved, being human didn't seem to make Jake any more inclined to act his age. ]

Just that Koga was obsessed with it. [ He shrugs, taking a sip of coffee. ] I was in the process of uh, learning more, but thing went sideways.

Still, that's something, right? Enough to at least know they have it for sure.

Video | UN: d.johnson

[morethan084]

[Well. That was a lot.

Daisy takes a moment to absorb all of that before responding.]

What kind of weird stuff are you thinking?

[Trouble might as well be her middle name.]

video; un: jtd

[doooooog]

[ His is technically 'The', but hey! Two Ts! ]

Anything Cubity, homegirl. I don't think it's gotta be magic or superpowered or whatever -- they've got Fighting types -- but the special-er your abilities, the easier it'll be to sell the story. And that story is...

[ Jake raps on the table for emphasis. Dramatic tension (and drumrolls) are important when Planning. ]

Cubit chimeras. Like, human-cubit hybrids, basically. R.M. gave me the idea herself and, as of right now, she thinks there's a whole gang of us.

[Voice, un: alwayswright]

[servesyouwright]

[ Clearly there was a lot of stuff going on there but Phoenix can't help but feel like this summary is focusing on the completely wrong things. ]

Could you describe that Cubit in a stasis beam a bit more? Was it larger than other Cubits?

video; un: jtd

[doooooog]

[ Tell him how you really feel, Phoenix! ]

Alas my dude, t'was in a cubitle. [ Jake makes a square with his fingers, which then stretches into a fleshy approximation of the cube floating up and down. ] I figure whatever they got in there is pretty powerful if they need to lock it up even when it's in its cube, yeah?

audio | un; cal

[hindsights]

[ well, he knows that voice at least now. ] What kind of trouble are you talking about, Jake?

Are you okay? [ why do you... look like that??? ]

audio; un: jt

[doooooog]

[ Were Jake a different kind of adult (or dog, or... man, presently), he might've cut that line of thinking off right then. No, he might've said, it could get dangerous, they had guns, you should sit this one out kiddo.

But Jake was not that kind of adult. Jake was the kind of adult that was very down to give a loaded gun to a kid, provided the kid seemed confident in themselves. ]

Oh yeah, man, I'm fine. Just a little flesh wound. [ And flesh... everything else. ] As for that other thing, the kind of trouble that frees you up to use all your little touchy powers no questions asked.

[ He pauses. ]

--Okay, maybe not no questions asked. More like, I've got an answer for when the questions start rolling in.

[rootlessly]

[Okay, this is a lot to take in, but first things first:]

I'm glad you're alright!

[He was a little worried, coming back to his post after whole incident with the fire and seeing those messages he missed.]

Koga's computer also needed a 4-digit passcode. I wonder if it's the same numbers?

[doooooog]

[ The good tidings are taken with a quick wave. One of those performative psh, I'm very brave suffering through the pain like a real hero waves that was probably as sincere as it was fascetious. ]

Hm, maybe. [ He rubs his chin with his good arm, thinking it through. ] That'd be pretty dumb on their part, but honestly? Kinda seems like most of 'em aren't playing with a full deck. I never got into it, though.