[Tecumseh]

Mr. Nately may be trim and fit but he's in no position to defend himself from a highly-trained cybernetically-enhanced corporate super-solider. Ace plants his feet and uses the hydraulic jacks in his Ares Instigator™  βSynthetic legs to leap across the room in an instant. Before Mr. Nately can even widen his eyes to register surprise, Ace is pumping him full of 1,200 volts at about 19 pulses per second. The old man's muscles lock up, his eyes roll back in his head, and he slumps unconscious as his limbs jiggle. Ace takes care to keep him from falling out of the chair and crashing to the ground, but the old man's arm does knock a book off the chair-side table.

Ace checks his pulse. Luckily the man is in good shape for his age. The electricity does not seem to have triggered a heart attack or anything more serious than the sudden fit of unconsciousness.

[Malevolence]

After entering the house, Ohanzee had taken in the ambiance. The natural materials were well worn, but well cared for. Mana flowed freely here, unimpeded by the synthetic materials that covered every surface of every building he had ever remembered entering, and likely every one he couldn't remember entering. Only with an effort of will had he managed to pull away from his amazement to review the highlights of the file Doc had sent. Things hadn't added up, and Ohanzee was halfway through composing a caution to Ace to hold off until they had some more pieces to the puzzle when he realized Ace was acting. Already the old man was unconscious on the chair and Ace was halfway to the kitchen.


>> @Ace [Ohanzee] Maybe a little heads up first next time?


But there was nothing else to do but support the inhumanly fast human speeding towards the last known location of the woman. It hadn't really registered with Ohanzee that Ace was almost all machine - he'd assensed him before and had noticed that he had a LOT of metal and plastic bits, but he'd always been intent on something else and hadn't just let that fact sink in. But watching him move - very nearly a blur - it was finally hitting home. Along with that realization came the realization that Ohanzee was mostly here for the ride - this was all Ace's show.


So he hunkered down - he found a nice defensible position and situated himself so that he could cover as many avenues of attack as possible. But this was almost second nature, and as he positioned himself, he opened up his third eye and scanned the area for the woman, then kept it open - just in case. After what Doc had sent, he was expecting more trouble and while it would most likely appear in the form of mundane - or even technological - security, he felt Ace had that in hand, so he took up astral overwatch.


He never saw the woman - she was apparently still in the kitchen hidden behind a wooden wall, but he could hear Ace engage her. Again, he seemed to have things well in hand against the aged couple, so Ohanzee decided that perhaps his best course of action might be to make sure the rest of the house was clear.

[Tecumseh]

Ace eases Mr. Nately to the ground so that he doesn't knock over any more books. Wondering if Mrs. Nately heard the book fall, Ace takes off at a sprint. Two long strides have him to the entryway, then another two sprinting steps to the corner where he saw her, then an impossible nimble pivot to the right with almost no momentum lost. He sees her directly ahead in the kitchen. Her back is turned to him and she appears to be on a call with a relative.

"Always remember that you are a Nately. You are not a Knight, whose fortunes are based on selling armaments, or a Yakamura, whose family is in league with unscrupulous foreigners, or a Dankwalther, whose fortune rests on a bequest from a sentient lizard; and you are certainly not a Cline, whose family, I believe, still appears in moving pictures. You are a Nately, and the Natelys have never done anything for their money."

Ace slaps his left hand over her mouth to muffle her cries while his right hand discharges against her stomach. Her back arches violently as she spasms. The charge relents and she slumps forward in Ace's arms. He sets her down on the floor gently, knowing that the abrupt end to the conversation may cause alarm on the other end of the line.

He looks around the kitchen. A Renraku Manservant is busy dusting immaculately clean counter tops. The droid pays Ace no mind. Ace does, however, hear something large approaching from a nearby room. It speaks aloud in a robotoic monotone:

"Ma'am, you have suffered a seizure. You are unconscious. Please remain stationary."

A Shiawase Caduceus "CAD" 7 drone enters the kitchen. It's a medium-sized anthroform equipped with a full range of autodoc capabilities.

"Initial diagnosis -"

[rednblack]

As Ace eases Mrs. Nately to the floor, a text message appears in the lower right-hand corner of his vision.

>> @Ace [Ohanzee] Maybe a little heads up first next time?

Ace can't help but feel guilty: the corp years entrenched firmly in his neural pathways.  You have displeased your direct supervisor.  Do you think this is how you're going to move up in the world, soldier?  The mix of corp and military verbiage gives him pause for a brief moment, but then a drone rolls its way into the kitchen.

"Ma'am, you have suffered a seizure. You are unconscious. Please remain stationary."

Fraggin' hell.  Ace steps gingerly over the fallen body of Mrs. Nately and approaches the drone.  A diagnostic arm extends, which Ace knocks away with his left hand and firmly plants his right under where he believes the battery housing is.

"Initial diagnosis -"

The machine powers down with a few light jolts.  Ace goes back to Mrs. Nately and picks her up in a fireman's carry.  Heading back to the living room, he messages Ohanzee.

<<@Ohanzee [Ace] I thought this was the plan?  In other news, there was a robo-doc in the kitchen, and Mrs. Nately was on the phone.  I took out the drone, but we may be on a tight timetable on 2 fronts now.>>

Ace sets down his quarry on the long couch in the living room, and grabs the comms from Mr. and Mrs. Nately.  "Shall we see if this'll get us in the  RV before we try the old fashioned way?" he asks Ohanzee.  As he waits for Ohanzee to reply, Ace sends out another text.

<<@Team [Ace] House is clear, though I encountered a robo-doc who was about to try resuscitate Mrs. Nately.  Doc, we could sure use your help over here.>>

[Malevolence]

>> @Ace [Ohanzee] Sure, give the comms a shot. If that fails, sweep the house and look for anything we can use. Credsticks would be nice, but he has a lot of natural - and thus unlikely matrix connected and traceable - items that might fetch a good price. I'll see what I can do about the caller.


>> @Team [Ohanzee] We might have triggered an emergency response when the Nately's were disabled. Doc, we need you over here to have the biomonitors report everything as OK and see if a call went out. We also need you to lock down the security here - delete any evidence of us, make sure no one is watching remotely, the usual. And if we can't get the comms to work, you might have to get us into the RV.


>> If we want to take the skimobile, Chino will have to drive it. We can use the RV's pilot to get through town. We can then load the skimobile once we're out of town and out of sight. We can probably secure it to the roof. We'll pull the RV up to the Moran house to load up. If you have any plans for erasing our tracks between the houses, let's go with them. Maybe some magic hands to create some artificial snowfall?


Ohanzee takes Mrs. Nately's commlink from Ace, summons up his focus and brings forth an image of the Natelys standing beside each other and smiling pleasantly. The force of the spellcasting visibly drains him, but he soldiers on. He makes sure that he, Ace, and the bodies aren't in view of the camera and makes note of the last number the phone communicated with. Before dialing it, he consults with Doc to see what information he can glean about the owner of the commcode - daughter? Son? He might be able to get away with just calling them "Dear", but it couldn't hurt to have a little more information to help sell the illusion.

[rednblack]

Seeing that Mr. Nately's comm is locked, Ace waits for Ohanzee to work his mojo before taking Mrs. Nately's Transys Avalon and using it to start the RV.  He's back inside before Doc has made his way over, and regards Ohanzee, who looks as though his last illusion is really draining him.  "You ok? Ace asks, skirting around the illusory Nately family.  "RV's running.  I can start a run-through of the house.  I'll grab some clothes for the Natelys.  They may be out for a bit, and there's no reason to keep them in soiled threads.  Let me know what else you'd like me to grab."  And with that, Ace is off again.

In their bedroom, Ace grabs a nice set matching monogrammed luggage and fills it with spare clothes for the Natelys.  He is intimately familiar with the havoc that electricity can run on one's system, and figures it would be even worse for the elderly.  Also into the bag goes Mrs. Nately's jewelry collection, as well as a few figurines and knickknacks that Ace could only guess the age or purpose of.  He loads up the RV and is back in the living room to await Ohanzee's next task.

[Zweiblumen]

Doc disengages from the desk, grabs his few things and puts his coat back on.  Heading out side he shivers, this is the first time he's left the warmth of the house since they got there.  Turning up the collar on his coat, he hikes up the street to the neighbors as casually as he can.  Walking up the steps to the front door, he's greeted at the door by Ohanzee.  He looks around and shakes his head.
"That's a tall order omae, I'll see what I can do."

[Tecumseh]

Katsina is up and in motion as soon as she gets word that the RV is unlocked. She finishes her preparation, pockets it, then casts a new Physical Mask spell so that she doesn't look like a masked bandit pilfering the house. Which she is.

After resuming her appearance as Ivana, she grabs her bags from the entryway. She doesn't wait for the RV to be backed up. Instead, she starts dragging her bags out the front door, carefully navigating them down the snowy front steps. She scampers across the driveway to the RV next door, lifting her bags into the back of the vehicle. She then makes a return trip, pulling the cooler full of frozen food and bags of blood. She wonders where Sam and Chino are. This would be much easier for them. She gets the cooler to the RV, then inside with a lurch (lift with your legs, not your back), then pushes it next to the refrigerator.

The interior of the RV is nice, in an old-person sort of way. There's wood paneling that's probably real, along with plenty of comfortable seating. There's a small kitchenette toward the front and a bedroom and bathroom toward the rear.



She skips out of the RV then up the front steps into the Nately's home. She sees the stress that Ohanzee is under from his spellcasting.

"Téch... what happened to you?" She checks to see if the beer is having an adverse effect on his system. She sees the sustained spell on the astral; no use cleaning it up until he's dropped it though. "Leave a bit of juice for the crate. We can't get it without you."

[Malevolence]

As Doc approaches the house, Mr. Nately calls to him and waves him in to the house with a "Thank you for making the trip. Come on in out of the cold." As the perimeter of the illusion enters the house, Mrs. Nately reappears, busying herself in the main room. The effect is a little disturbing as the unconscious bodies of the real Natelys lay prone on the furniture of the living room.


Once both fake Natelys are together, Ohanzee directs Doc to the bodies so that he can work on the biomonitors. "Try to keep the noise down for a minute - I have to make a phone call."


He positions the Nately illusion and Mrs. Nately's commlink so that the bodies and any signs of the intruders are out of frame, then redials Edward J. Nately III. When he answers, Mrs. Nately speaks.


"I'm sorry about that, dear. Our Manservant hit me with a bit of a jolt - static electricity, I'm sure - and the medical drone over-reacted. Your father has scheduled it for maintenance, but it gave me a bit of a scare. Can I take a rain check on our conversation? I think some fresh air might do your father and I some good about now."

[Tecumseh]

The voice on the young Nately is pinched and patrician. It bears all the marks of overbearing parenting and pampered youth. The lad is likely no older than 19 or 20.

"Mother? Mother dearest? Is that you? Are you quite well? I know how you suffer from episodes, especially after lunch. Are you quite certain that you are alright?

"Mother? Your voice is deathly ill. And ... are you fading? Mother, something is terribly wrong I can tell. This is all highly unusual. I insist that you call for help. I will not take 'no' for an answer. Here, I shall do it myself."

[Malevolence]

"I don't know why it's so difficult to get you to listen to your father and I, but you do what you must. I'm going to go lie down while your father finishes getting the Buffalo ready." Mrs. Nately's doppelgänger puts on her best look of maternal frustration, then Ohanzee terminates the call.


>> @Team [Ohanzee] Time to go. We'll have some medical techs here in a few minutes and I'd rather not be here to greet them if I can avoid it.


"Let's get the Natelys in the RV and get it to the Moran house." he says to Ace and Doc. Ohanzee uses the illusion to cover their trip to the Buffalo, making it appear as if the 5 of them were walking together and having a friendly conversation.

[rednblack]

The only way Ace can function to keep his vision narrow, though he still finds himself walking around the illusory Mr. and Mrs. Nately.  After loading them into the RV, Ace drives the Buffalo to Mr. Moran's house, where the rest of the team can load their gear, and he grabs his own duffel bag, along with anything else that needs lifting.  When all the loading is done, Ace checks that the house is ready to burn.  Satisfied, he comms the team.

<<@Team [Ace] Alright, that should be it.  Anything else we need to do here, or can we light and go?

[Malevolence]

Once the RV stops near the house where the team had made its base of operations for most of the last day, Ohanzee hops out and heads inside to the crate holding the obelisk. He mentally checks in with Wolf to make sure the area is still clear of potential threats, then gets to levitating the crate. Without the mental bandwidth to conceal it with an invisibility spell, he must settle in trying to mask it with the illusion.


With a grunt, the crate slowly lifts from the ground. The spell barely supports the weight of the crate, and Ohanzee visibly shows the strain of sustaining the spells on top of the exhaustion from his prior spell casting. But, it should serve to help sell the illusion. When the dwarf exits the house, he is pushing a a large suitcase on wheels, with the handle extended to form a dolly. Furrows in the snow are left behind as it moves toward the motor home, and the observant would note that the furrows fade and then vanish as Ohanzee pushes forward, the illusory luggage leading the 36 foot diameter of the spell's effect.


Once situated in the RV, he drops the levitate spell, but keeps up the illusion. He finds a place to sit near the back that affords him an actual window to look through, and sits. Wolf remains un-materialized, but takes up a position toward the front of the vehicle, occasionally peeking out from the roof to get a good look outside the RV. The Nately's, the illusory ones, wander the RV, being sure to pass in front of open windows and doors frequently so that any passers by can be sure they are alive and well. The road is deserted, and no traffic seems to pass as the team makes its final preparations, but you can't be too cautious. Should the paramedics show, the display would go a long way to assuage their concerns, and hopefully let the RV continue on its way unmolested.


>> @Team [Ohanzee] I'm all set.


Checking that his body isn't going to fall off his chair, Ohanzee slips out of it and glides through the astral, cleaning up any signatures left behind at both of the houses. Satisfied that they have left as little evidence as they could considering the timetable for their departure, he returns to his body and relaxes as much as possible without dropping the illusion of the Natelys.

[Zweiblumen]

Looking around, Doc decides doing this from the comfort of the RV seems like the best idea.  He helps Ace move the Nately's into the spacious mobile palace.  He whistles appreciatively once inside.  Setting the couple up in the bedroom seems the easiest thing to do.
Figuring they are going to need some access to the Buffalo anyway, he uses that as his in.  Connected directly to the RV, he drops quickly into VR and gets to work.  First things first, get Mrs. Nately's monitor to say that she's okay.  His persona pulls on a surgical mask and starts using his scalple to inscribe marks on the Buffalo, the biomonitor and after a second attempt Mr. Nately's personal commlink.  With that done, he quickly moves on to ordering the biomonitor to report that Mrs. Nately is in good health and resting.  With that done, he enters the Host for the house, locates the video files, and does attempts to wipe traces of the team from the recordings.  Flustered by all of the activity, he simply cuts out from 5 minutes before Ace and Ohanzee knocked on the door until the RV has moved down the street and replaces it with a section of equal time from an hour earlier.  Careful examination will show that something wonky happened there, but they won't get their faces.
<<<@Ohanzee [Doc] I've got access to Mr. Nately's comm, want me to send a message to their son reassuring them?  If so, gimme some good lines to use there, and I'll get it off.  I don't think I can bluff as well as you can.>>>

Looking at the BabyMonitor running in the corner of his vision, he starts to get a bit nervous.  He reboots as soon as he sends off the message.

[Malevolence]

>> @Doc [Ohanzee] If you can find an entry in either comm for a doctor nearby, send the following to the son "I'm taking your mother to see Dr. blah as it wouldn't do to have a bunch of yahoos stomp their muddy boots all over our cabin. You can meet up with us there if you like, but I assure you she is quite fine." Otherwise, use the same message with just the nearby hospital name. I think it's a lost cause, but it can't hurt and may just buy us a little extra time before they start looking for the RV in earnest.