eureka_npcs

"Multi-Velocity XK Exterminator."

"Very good."

"BMFG Liquidator." Jack places said weapon back into its appropriate place in the overhead gun rack under Jo's approving -- if perenially stern -- gaze.

"Ammo size and magazine?"

"Trick question, it uses single-round chamber artillery."

"Good job, Carter -- keep this up and you're going to pass the exam."

Jack does his best not to snort. "I doubt it -- I tend to choke the exam."

"Well..." and Jack watches as Jo's gaze gets slightly less stern. "This is the exam." After a pause, "The manual didn't say anything about it having to be written, so I..." am going to stop talking now.

Jack keeps back an 'Ah' and just offers a hand to shake. "Thanks for the tutoring."

"Don't mention it," Jo replies. You know. Ever.

Until the phone rings. Jack asks, "You gonna get that?"

Jo just snorts and turns back to cleaning up the gun rack.

A laboratory recently dedicated to other projects has been reassigned, and five citizens of Eureka are positioned in a circle, each in front of a five-by-seven inch monitor.

Taggart has his eyes transfixed on a looped feed of a koala munching on leaves, whereas Jo is watching a recording of an amphibious Marine unit storming a beachfront. Both are equally misty-eyed. Spencer, Fargo and Vincent have similar images.

Carter, safely on the opposite side of the observation window, is extremely confused.

The military in Eureka, much to Sheriff Carter's consternation, usually have the fastest means of travel.

By the time he reaches Taggart's compound, it's already surrounded by black: black uniforms, black trucks, black guns.

This can't go well.

Henry sits at Spencer's desk inside the trailer. He's sorting through a stack of DVDs and disks that he had found scattered all across the desk's surface. None of them provided any hints so he set them aside.

Next he begin checking for discs still in the half dozen or so drives Spencer had linked to his machine. "No. Nope. No. Aha!" He sets his phone on the desk, "Call Carter."

While the phone dials Henry turns to the computer and loads the DVD in question, nodding as the music swelled and the title floated above a flaming background.

The rest of the day, after Section Five, had been fairly quiet.

Carter must be doing his job. Finally.

One of the typically vacant back roads in rural Oregon is a little less vacant at the moment, a lone black car moving from one undisclosed location to another.

Taggart squats in the woods, the rest of the team around him as he draws figures in the dirt with a combat knife. "And then we strike," he finishes explaining. "Hard and fast. It's a basic grab-and-go."

The team stands up and checks their weapons as Jo cautions, "He won't be alone, so watch your asses." She looks at everyone in turn, then nods.

"Move out."

A stray thought in the Congressman's mind is that it feels as though a significant portion of the Global Dynamics budget has gone to making staircases obsolete, requiring elevators to get anywhere through the use of passkeys.

Stark swipes his own passkey once the elevator clicks over Section 1 Section 2 Section 3 Section 4 Restricted, and the doors open.

The gun rack in the Eureka Sheriff's office descends quickly, and Jo is already standing on the side placing herself closest to laying her hands on the MPS Auto Assault 12 Shotgun.

She has a mission, and that mission most assuredly does not include Sheriff Carter, who waltzes in through the front door.

"There you are," he starts, sounding relieved. "I've been trying to raise you all morning."

"Doctor Stark," Congressman Farraday starts, trailing behind Nathan and Alison as the three of them step off the central elevator from Stark's office to the Global Dynamics lobby. "I'm ready to be impressed."

"You will not be disappointed, Congressman," is the counter-reply, smiling beatifically while signing a document for an approaching staffer. Maintaining the same tone of sincere nonchalance, he points to Sheriff Carter off to the right, also approaching them with some speed.

The last person who needs to have any contact with himself or the Congressman at the moment, Stark thinks. "Alison -- could you?"

Seeing Jack, "Sure -- I'll catch up."

Farraday and Stark leave toward the labs on this level, while Alison asks after Henry's assistant with the Sheriff. "He's been better. How's Fargo?"

"The last person to see Fargo was Doctor Sharrad and he missed a critical meeting with Stark. It's not like him."

"Spencer was acting odd too," Carter notes, trying to move around Alison. "I need to talk to Doctor Sharrad -- "

"It's going to have to wait; she's kind of in the middle of something important."

Carter grins. "So am I, and you called me, so -- " Some artful footwork gets Carter around Alison, trailing the Congressman and Stark down the same hallway, Alison following.

Beverly's cell phone chirps at her from her pocket as she's going through the empty rooms that have reservations for the evening, returning various copies of The Joy of Sex to their appropriate locations in the nightstand for people to find. Or not.

The redhead picks up the phone without a greeting, moving to the window facing the front of her property. "Yeah, he's just pulling in now," she confirms.

"Good," Stark's voice replies through the phone, adding, "Beverly, I am not asking you to do anything inappropriate."

Continuing to watch as the Congressman enters through the front gate, "Of course not, I'll just...keep my eyes and ears open like you said."

"He has a tremendous amount of say over our funding. It's all in the town's best interests."

"I completely understand." Click.

Time for Beverly to play hostess.

"Something's happened to Spencer."

Spencer's trailer is easy enough to find -- there's only so many roads that lead out of Eureka, and the only area with enough wooded areas for Spencer's paranoia to settle down and yet enough open space to work on his car and construct his own free-standing satellite dish is a grand total of ten minutes north of Tesla High School.

Jack drove Jo out to the trailer, Henry following in his tow truck. None of them are speaking as they pile out and begin to look around.

Fargo is not a happy scientist nerd man. Fargo is a frustrated and just a little nervous scientist nerd man. Congressman Farraday is here. To look at this particular test and now it's...broken? Fargo storms into the lab.

"What's wrong with the monkeys?"

The monkeys in question are in the testing room, gathered around a series of screens. They appear to be completely normal. Clearly, this is a PROBLEM.

"They should be at each others' throats, but they look fine."

His fellow scientist doesn't even glance at him. Typical.

"They are fine. The device isn't."

Oh bad. Oh bad bad bad bad bad. Why, gods of science? It's...it's her fault. She did something. She...

"Are you trying to sabotage me? Stark's on his way right now with the Congressman!"

"I'm running diagnostics, but..."

Diagnostics! Diagnostics? Congressman Farraday wants results, not diagnostics! What's gonna happen? It's HER FAULT.

"No buts! If you can't get the job done, Dr. Sharad, I'll find someone who can."

Hah. Take that evil sabotaging woman!

"You realize I don't work for you, right? In fact, you work for...everyone else..."

She mocks. She mocks while the world is at stake!

"Now I have to tell Stark we have nothing to show Farraday..."

Nothing to show Farraday means no funding and everyone goes out in the snow. Especially the little scientist nerd men...

"If I go down for this, I'm taking you with me!"

His voice gets higher, louder, more insistent.

"Fargo, I think you're overreacting a little..."

His hands go to his head. She doesn't understand. She's fiddling while Rome is burning. ROME IS BURNING!!!

"Stop! Making this about me."

He turns to stalk out again. In a final heinous insult (she planned it, didn't she?) the door closes as he reaches it and he has to spend a few humiliating seconds waving at the sensor before it will let him out. This? Is NOT GOOD.

"Sabotage..."

Dr. Sharad stays, staring at the perfectly normal monkeys, while Fargo takes off down the corridor, raging and scared. He does that which he does not wish to do and contacts Stark.

"Dr. Stark, I'm afraid there's been a delay..."

Stark's voice is impatient. Angry.

"My office in fifteen minutes. I want a complete explanation, Fargo, and it better be good."

Oh. Shit.

It's a typical start to the day, for Department of Defense agent Alison Blake, government liaison to Global Dynamics in Eureka, Oregon, population: thousands of people far too smart for their own good.

5:00 am: Wake up, half hour treadmill run, fifteen minutes tai-chi, shower.
6:00 am: Wake up Brian, get him dressed for tutors and make breakfast.
6:45 am: Drop Brian off, drive to the office.

Right on schedule.

Jack never liked school. He was good enough at it to work his way up to US Marshal, of course, but the bonus of that was in between law memorization and the bizarrely mandatory higher mathematics courses, there was weapons training.

It balanced out.

What wasn't balancing out at the moment was Jack's attention on the far-too-ominous stack of stapled paper.

A paper test. About guns. Life was not fair.

With a huff, Jack caps his standard-issue ballpoint to place it down on his standard-issue desk, and he handed it to his deputy across the police station office to grade.

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Entries tagged with alienated

Back at the office.

Global Dynamics

Taggart's Compound.

Spencer's trailer.

Carjacking.

A rescue.

Section 5.

Jo-Jack-Henry-Butt of a gun.

PX319 Test.

Barlowe's Bed and Breakfast.

Something's happened to Spencer.

Fargo and Doctor Sharad - Testing Not as Planned...

Nathan-Alison-Henry-Jack

Advanced Weaponry Test (with bonus satellite features).

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December 2008

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