[DAY 45] let your plans be dark and impenetrable as night

[batmotif]

CHARACTERS: Mynockman (batmotif), Mara Jade (snaphiss), and everyone who offered to help with the plan.
WHERE: Public Security HQ
WHEN: Day 45, nighttime.
SUMMARY: The break-in is happening. Distractions, hacking, potential information theft, and maybe even some quick getaways are all on the table.
WARNINGS: None at the moment, but will be added as necessary.

OOC: Below are the mods' description of the interior, exterior, and Ngozi's office proper! I will be making top-levels for each "team" and we can go from there, but threadhopping is highly encouraged for the sake of characters communicating effectively (or not so effectively, your choice) with one another.

Other than that, dive in and have fun! You've pretty much got free rein to make up your own NPCs in and around the building, run into your own problems (or have things go very smoothly if that's how you roll), and what have you!

EXTERIOR

Public Security Headquarters is twenty-story, older construction building located in Concordia’s DELTA BLOCK. It’s surrounded by a number of taller high rises that primarily house corporate, government and private offices. There’s very little in the way of residential housing in the blocks surrounding HQ. In general, this area of Concordia is a strong blend of old and new next to (and on top of) each other. There’s a motorpool located on the HQ’s roof with a fleet of PS hovercraft. The motorpool is manned by two PS officers at what’s nominally a ‘guard station’ who check vehicles in and out. There’s a fair amount of movement in and out of the motorpool, but it’s clearly based on shift rotation with long periods of low traffic between shift changes.

INTERIOR

From the top down (rooftop entry): There’s a security lift that leads inside, though someone will either have to follow an officer into the lift to operate it from the inside or the lift will have to be hacked to operate without the proper security clearances. Once they access the lift, the hosts can go to any level in the PS HQ. On each floor the lift opens out into a small foyer-esque chamber with glass doors leading to the main part of the floor. The glass doors have a security checkpoint, so to get through them the hosts will have to either hack their way past or have a hostage (...or whatever) willing to help them gain entry.

Floors 20 through 16 seem to be evidence storage and databases; at this hour they’re largely darkened and manned by only a few officers. Floor 15 is personnel offices, including Ngozi’s. Like much of PS HQ, Floor 15 has an air of a place that was remodelled to once be extremely state of the art and has since seen some considerably wear and tear. The tile floors have lost some of their sheen, the cubical subdivisions are peeling in places, and there are faint scuff marks on a variety of surfaces. It’s clear that this late in the day, only a few people are on duty in this particular section of the HQ. With the exception of specifically lit cubicles where PS detectives are working late, the floor is largely darkened - including Ngozi’s office.

Floors 14 through 8 are offices and administration, an armory, a series of labs etc. Use your imagination if you go there, I believe in y’all. They also have the security checkpoint glass doors. Level 7 houses the AI ADMINISTRATOR’s direct access servers. The floor is entirely taken up by servers and seems to function primarily on extremely heavy security checkpoints. There’s no way to remotely access the AI, so someone will have to physically be present if they wish to talk to it. (This doesn’t mean Pidge or Anders have to be here - it just means they have to have a strong mental link with whoever is). Level 6 through 5 are more offices and briefing rooms, though these have suffered considerably more wear. Level 4 has counseling and interrogation rooms etc. Level 3 is a security checkpoint (that you’d have to go through if you were going UP) and levels 2 through 1 are open to the general public. There are three basement levels entirely dedicated to PS’s android workforce.

In general, use common sense about how these places are populated in the middle of the night. A good rule of thumb is that the lower levels (except for the ai admin server room) will have more people while the higher levels will have less.

NGOZI’S OFFICE & FINDINGS

The door itself has heavy security protocols on it that are directly monitored by the AI Admin of the building. The list of authorized personnel is evidently extremely short, so it’s likely sweet talking the admin AI will be required to gaining access. Once inside, they’ll find Ngozi’s office is similarly weathered. There’s a big desk and a series of shelves behind it that have a number of awards and digital photographs detailing Ngozi’s personal service history as well as various accolades for PS itself since her tenure as Commissioner began. There are no notable personal belongings in the office. The desk has a built in computer port, but Ngozi’s personal attachment isn’t there. The hosts will need to find one to access her profile’s stored files. It’s possible to “borrow” one from one of the cubicles, but be aware that accessing Ngozi’s terminal with another detective’s attachment will ping the AI admin. Hopefully you’re friends with it by now or you might be looking at having to make a quick escape very soon.

Once you’re plugged in, you’ll need to paw through Ngozi’s files. There are two partitions to Ngozi’s terminal. One is the GENERAL PUBLIC SECURITY DATABASE which has average security protection - any detective will know the password, or the AI can get you access if it’s feeling friendly. There’s a wealth of information on the general database regarding the bombings and a slew of suspects. Most of them seem to be small time arrests made in Subspace. Most of the suspects have priors, though none of them seem terribly sophisticated. In general there’s a lot of raw data and very little being done with it. The earlier warehouse bombing has a considerable amount of information stored, whereas the royal parlor bombing seems to have been less adamantly investigated. That said, there’s been a general increase in the number of filed reports since the parlor bombing - most of them simply have nothing to do with the bombing investigation. They’re all criminal cases, ranging from minor to major (though most are digital-crime related) and a large proportion of them are associated with notable corporations or have some ties to the Concordian elite. Notable corporations and individuals include:

I&D INC.

Fabribank

Manufacturing Progressive Insurance

Moreno Technics

Roberson Industrial Products

Aug Tech

Richards Soft

Kusuma Ming

Swarna Haydn

Loren Tristin

Aytac Devin

Kulap Aquila

Aviv Alaban


The second partition of Ngozi’s terminal can ONLY be accessed with the AI admin’s help. This partition is CURRENTLY A MYSTERY and will be revealed if characters get chummy enough with the AI admin.

(For reference: some OOC info and an IC post.)

Comments

PRE-MISSION

[batmotif]

[It’s finally time for the real thing; hope you’re confident in the plans laid out before you, and in the people you’ll be working with. If you have any last questions, or need to make a few last minute preparations, now is the time to do so. Or maybe you just want to reach out to your fellow hosts, to borrow confidence or to test the waters for any underlying anxiety?

Either way, best to get your thoughts sorted soon, one way or another.]

[batmotif]

[No one should be surprised to hear Bruce's voice permeate their heads on this day. It's a thread extended to everyone who's volunteered their help, his own rather straightforward way of reaching out to see if everything and everyone is in their proper place.]

(Any last minute concerns?)

[Ideally, all his responses will be a confident, resounding "no". But when was the last time anything was ever truly ideal?]

[narcissithstic]

(I won't be going in with you.)

[He imagines Bruce knows this already, given their previous conversation: proximity isn't a concern for Ren - he can act as freely as he could in person from a distance. And the less attention they draw, the better.

One of the towers beside the Public Security Headquarters should do just fine.]

(I'll take up a position next door and keep watch over your team from there. Anyone that interferes with you can be dealt with - without a hand laid on them.)

[Rey is, after all, still brutishly untrained. Her skills might fail her at a crucial moment, and he'd rather be present, waiting there as a buffer against that possibility.]

[sensitively]

[ Rey is anxious to get this show on the road, which probably manifests itself by her punctuality in gathering her uniform and any necessary items she'll need before the operation.

Nevertheless, it's always good to get a bit more dialogue in, first. ]

( I probably should have asked this earlier, but — do we have a backup plan to extract ourselves quickly, if everything goes wrong? )

INFILTRATION

[batmotif]

[Decked out in your cleaning crew disguises? Confident in your stealth capabilities, your innate and/or symbiote prowess? Good, because you’re about to go traipsing through Public Security like you belong there — that, or clinging to the shadows like you don’t.

You’ll have to keep open communication with the rest of your fellow hosts; they’re your only eyes and ears directed towards what’s happening outside of the building. That, and you may be relying heavily on your hacking team, so make sure you can give them enough time to work their magic while avoiding any guard patrols along the way.

First thing’s first, though: start at the roof.]

about to fly! | for Sam Wilson, and ota!

[sensitively]

[ Rey carries very little on her in the way of equipment; she needs only the most rudimentary tools to potentially help her navigate her way out of enclosed spaces that might need hot-wiring. The rest will either be covered by the hackers/covert ops of the team, or she'll make do with the help of her symbiote.

Dressed in her appropriated cleaning uniform, she's ready for Sam Wilson to launch them on to the roof. There's something thrilling about being suddenly lifted twenty stories up — it will remind her of scaling the interiors of the Ravager and the Inflictor, like repelling in reverse. She looks up at him expectantly, something like eagerness in her gaze. ]

( I'm ready. )

take bruce and rey with you, birb sam

[batmotif]

[Bruce is only as equipped as he needs to be. His own cleaning uniform would be distracting (so very unlike anything he's ever worn in Gotham) if not for how overwhelming his focus is manifesting itself to be. His grappling gun hangs at his hip, and when he cranes his neck up at the building looming above him, he doesn't feel particularly apprehensive. How many times has he careened upwards towards the roof of a building, of a skyscraper? This was old hat.

He's busy going over the plan in his head for the nth time tonight, though Rey's voice in his head makes him glance over at her, then to Sam as well.]

(Ready.)

[Old hat or not, Sam's way of getting to the top was going to be stealthier and faster. He'd be the first to admit that much.]

on the roof | ota

[sensitively]

[ Once they've made it up and are safely tucked out of sight for the moment, there are the two Public Security officers guarding the motorpool near the lift to contend with.

To the group, her thought comes in over the symbiote: ] ( If I can get near enough to touch one of them, I can mindtrick them to let us into the lift. )

[cognitived]

[ So far, the mission is going off without a hitch. That said, they've been on the roof for about five seconds, and OPs turn. But Rey reaches out, and Clint responds, nodding, a soft impression of acknowledgement. ]

( I can draw one off for you. )

ota ota ota

[snaphiss]

[Mara has her hair pinned back, mostly hidden under a cap, and she's wearing the maintenance uniforms provided to them. Head down, she's holding a broom and pail as she walks the hallways. If you didn't know her, your eye would slide right over her.]

[But you do know her.]

( Follow me in five minutes, no less. )

[And she rounds a corner, down a hallway, through a door.]

[batmotif]

[There's a mental whisper of an "affirmative", or at least the notion of such. Bruce doesn't even look in her direction as Mara disappears around a corner; he patiently waits for the five minutes to pass, doing his best to fit it as one of the maintenance crew.

And then, nearly exactly to the second, Bruce moves to follow her. Down the hall, through a door. He reaches out mentally, mid-stride.]

(Did you find something?)

DISTRACTIONS/SUPPORT

[batmotif]

[A few perfectly timed explosions in the nighttime sky is just what the doctor ordered when it comes to Big Distractions, but that doesn’t mean smaller street-level ones aren’t welcome, too.

Barring that, any eyes on the ground will help those slinking through the offices above have an idea of how much time they have, and can provide warning if anyone seems to be growing suspicious.

Make sure you keep a mental link open with the rest of your hosts, because communication is going to be key.]

[headinjuries]

[ Sam had headed out a while ahead of most of the teams - because he planned on starting from farther away, and because leaving his earpiece behind to stay off the grid meant he was getting there the old-fashioned way. No pings that would link to his ID, no weird energy signatures caused by his powers suspiciously starting or ending at the Bearings. If they had anything that could read him as human at all, it shouldn't be able to put an identity to him, and more than likely, he'd just look like some kind of really weird blip on the scanners that showed up nowhere near where they were staying.

So he leaves early. And waits around for the appointed time. And tries not to project too much enthusiasm for getting this shit done across the mental link, but he's been stuck on the ground for over a month and that's just totally awful, ugh.

When the moment rolls around, he cracks his knuckles, pulls his helmet out of his bag, and wastes no time in putting it on and taking to the skies.

Sorry for that loud AWWWWW YEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAH you may have just gotten over the mental link, everybody. ]

[adamance]

[If they think Lexa is here because she doesn't trust this operation to go well, they are absolutely correct. It's not that she doesn't trust her own warriors when they're needed. The problem is that when it comes to this particular group of "warriors," she feels as if she's been given little reason to trust them. They don't work well together. They have a lot of interpersonal conflict. And there are those who are too petulant to be trusted to not be out for themselves when it's least needed.

But she's here. She is here.

Lexa is less a part of the distractions and more someone hidden, crouched into shadows with her mind open to those around her so that they know where she is. She has already tracked several paths to where she needs to be if necessary, and she's prepared to do actual harm if it comes down to it.

But as it is, she sits patiently, even as Sam is ... abruptly much too loud in her mind.

Damnit, Sam.]

[sizeofyourbaggage]

[ And that exclamation is followed almost immediately by the warmth of something like a mental chuckle. Hell if that doesn't remind him of himself and Riley, years ago. ]

( You having fun, Jayhawk? )

[batmotif]

[Sam's doing his part, that's for sure. And more than just punctual -- eager, too.

At this point they're too focused on not getting caught to really look out any windows to see the show Sam's putting on, but that yelling through their mental link? That comes in loud and clear.

Geez some of us are trying to focus here!]

[narcissithstic]

[Were he as straight-laced as Hux, he would be asking for permission before monitoring— and adjusting— the minds of those workers that are only briefly touched by distraction. In this case, he opts not to: from his perch on a nearby office balcony (amazing what the right connections will do, even for a minorly recognized athlete) he reaches out to keep focus on work, on selfish trains of thought, on Sam's brilliant display. A minor touch here, a quick press there.

Only after a moment does he notice something sharper— a pinprick thought, waters stirring somewhere else in the building.

He abandons his prior efforts to reach out towards Bruce's thoughts (and everyone else's by proxy).]

( You're being noticed. Personal security. )

[It isn't asking permission as much as it is waiting for a signal to proceed.]

[sensitively]

[ The operation goes smoothly, to a point; their entrance through the roof's lift doesn't go detected, their hacking efforts at the security checkpoints go without a hitch, and while a couple members remain on floor 15 to go through Ngozi's personal office, Rey - with encouragement - investigates the floor below it. Once she's through the security checkpoint for the floor she realizes it's an armory, weapons stockpiling, and she takes mental inventory of what she finds.

At least, until she feels Ren's consciousness nudging against hers, which suddenly fills her with dread. ]

( Bruce is in Ngozi's office. Where is the source of the detection? ) [ perhaps if she can get to it, she might be able to provide her own form of distraction...even if her abilities are only temporary. ]

HACKING

[batmotif]

[Getting through security — especially those watched over by an AI — is going to be much easier with a competent crew that can aid the infiltration team by hacking past it. This team is located off-site, but that doesn’t mean they can’t be nearby if they deem it necessary. Regardless, try not to set off any red flags, and if you do, make sure you give everyone a mental shout so they can act accordingly.

But, you know, hopefully it doesn’t have to come to that...]

[greentech]

[ Pidge still doesn't like the fact that she has to be sitting far away from the action. It's not what she'd choose to do, but under the combined will of Bruce and Mara, she'd folded with a bit of grumbling. She has her computer set up in front of her, along with the more local computing device. She cracks her knuckles and sends a quick, mental message to everyone involved. A heads-up.

( I'm going to try and probe it from the outside. Let me know if you need me to focus on anything in specific! )

[ She starts. Everything here is wired together, so following the data pathways back to the building is the easy part. She very cautiously starts to probe, sending a packet here and there, searching for a way in or a backdoor. Something that will let her start getting control without drawing too much attention... ]

[batmotif]

[Keeping in touch with Pidge and Sam is going to be prevalent in the back of his mind, given the importance of getting past security. He'll keep a mental pathway open for them specifically, because of it.]

(Let me know if you run into any trouble.) [That almost goes without saying, naturally.]

(We'll be entering from the rooftop, so we may be contacting you sooner rather than later.)

TRANSPORTATION

[batmotif]

[Getting in is one thing, getting out is another. Ideally, a quick exit for anyone who needs it will be both stealthy and unnoticed. Worst case scenario, be prepared to go blazing out of there with your hosts in tow if things go pear-shaped.

It’s not all twiddling your thumbs, though. You’re another pair of eyes on the street, so let everyone know if you see anything that requires the attention of the others.]

get in losers | aka ota

[shiro2hero]

[Prepared to go out in a blaze of engines and glory? Maybe. If need be. At least he'd made sure the car (space car) could run. It had four of the allotted five days to find the thing -- someone looking to trade their vehicle for cash. No questions. Sure, he'd checked the thing out for explosives, but found none. The last day, he'd worked on it. Made sure it would run long enough to get them all clear.]

[For now, though, he's parked in an unobtrusive location. Just down the block. Pretending to doze with a hat pulled down enough to hide the fact his eyes aren't completely closed.]

[Eyes on the street, indeed.]

(Still clear down here.)

[tropism]

[ giorno is full of tense, nervous energy. it's not really visible considering how relaxed he seems to look at the back seat, keeping an eye on their surroundings and pretending to listen to something with his headphones as he scans the surroundings, his arm propped against the window as he looks out, chin on his palm. but one can feel how stiffly he's conducted himself at the back seat. he is used to being the last resort, so he has no complaints about his role in the mission, but either way, waiting is always hard work. he's rather be on site and moving.

but. first things first, to shiro - ]

( Good work finding a car. )

[ only slightly disappointed. if only because he didn't get to steal one, that would've been cool. ]

medical - ota - etc.

[tropism]

[ if you have any specific injury-related shenanigans you wanna play out with giorno, hit me up here! ]