2013.07.18 - Suiting Up

NOTE: This is a backscene, so it was dated for when it would have happened, not when it was RP'd out.
"I feel like I just got had the Argus land on me." Given that people /know/ that Agents Ortel and Lindstrom were summoned to and emerged (alive) from Fury's place of command, it's likely going to be common gossip, in a discreet way, that they're both being tasked with... something. Ever since he "volunteered" to go to Genosha, it's been a little hard to keep a straight face.
"So I guess we'll start with the basics," he says once matters are behind more closed doors, which is to say your work space. If there's electromagnetic interference to the extreme, I'm guessing standard communications are at best an experiment in how fast a cell phone and other comms will fry. I doubt there will be snail mail, or any electronics devices that can get out without his say so, and that's a guess. So what can we do about me getting anything out without it being stupid obvious I am what I am? And that's just the first problem."
Kristin's been around the block a time or two in this game. That's why she got this research gig. She knows field ops. And she knows the lab. She waves her people away as the pair enter the labs, leading the man to her private office and offering him a seat with a light gesture. She flicks the door closed, so they can have that much more privacy. 
"It's gonna take me some time to work out a solution to the EM challenges," the physicist admits. "The real problem lies in the fact we've only got guesses about just what all Magneto is capable of. We know he can set off EM pulses that are the equivalent of any modern, heavy-weight nuclear bomb, that he can blow up mountains, and reshape entire buildings to his own designs in extremely rapid order. That being the case, I have to work on the assumption that he's capable of just about anything and everything the EM spectrum provides. That means that anything I give you has to either mask itself against the natural magnetic white noise of the planet or be so negligible he just won't consider it."
She's done a stint in paranormal research, as much as scientific, and so considers that angle, as well. "More than that, there's the reality that we just don't know the full scope of any of the mutants working for him. We have to assume that he has telepaths, empaths, and precogs, as much as anything else. That means you're going to need to protect your thoughts and emotions somehow, as well." 
She gives the young man a direct look. "This is a huge mission, you're going on. It's going to test your resourcefulness to its limits." Not to mention hers.
She leans back in her chair and considers it, steepling her fingers and tapping her chin with them as she thinks. 
"I think we're going to need to go old school with this. World War 2 era dead drops and encryption... but tap it into spectrums other than EM."
"Which pretty much rules out everything electrically generated, which means pretty much anything 'wave' related. That's a LOT, right there. Pretty much all our tech is based on electricity, and that means it gets shot to hell the second I get there.
"As for the other, I'm all ears on how we're supposed to keep my brain from getting fried by someone like me. Hell, I know what /I/ can do to other people, and some of the lucky ones don't even have to do more than think about the target." Yeah, there's a bit of jealousy, there, but c'est la vie. "That's the part that concerns me the most, to be honest: keeping my brain from getting picked apart and exposed by someone who knows what they're doing. At the same time, if we do have countermeasures, it makes things obvious from the start that I have something to hide. I can avoid some of it, if I'm careful and/or someone gets careless and gives me the chance to work on them a bit, but with me it's pretty much a one-way street as far as this -" he taps his head "- goes: outbound.
"Other thing that came to mind: I can't really take standard arms with me, even maybe a taser would be silly. We pretty much have to plan for the possibility that if he takes notice of me, I need something to avoid magnetic responses, as you said earlier. I was thinking of something along the lines of modified rubber bullets, you know like civilian law enforcement uses?"
Kristin listens to Aaron's assessment and nods as he touches on points she can't argue. As for the weaponry, however... that makes her smile. "No. You can't take standard arms with you. That's true. However, there are ways around that. Ceramics, polymers, even some new bio-based tech we've been experimenting with." After all, if geneticists can build protein-based bionic ears on specialized 3D printers, why can SHIELD? 
"The biggest thing we need to get you," she decides, "is access to one of the new mini-fabricators we've been working on. Essentially, we're talking about a portable 3D printer that can be programmed to make all sorts of things. Too, we need to be reasonable about our assumptions. Genosha isn't without electricity or the standard amenities of anywhere else in the world. They do have computers and cell phones and radios. They're just under different scrutiny than elsewhere. Too, let's be reasonable: Magneto, as powerful as he is, very likely doesn't scrutinize every single source of EM activity on the island unless it appears significant. He'll have minions to do the leg work, in any case."
She shakes her head. "We have some breathing room. We just need to be smart about it. We'll send you with the compounds and designs you'll need to feed into the fabricator. That should allow you to print out weapons and non-ferrous ammo as required -- though you'll ultimately be limited in quantity, so don't get gun-happy on me. We're working on a recycling mod for the thing, but it's still in development. If we get a decent prototype we can send with you before you leave, I'll make sure you get it. Otherwise? Ration."
"The fabricator can also be used to print out other small devices that may be useful. So, we should look at just what will be most helpful in that regard."
"That's amazing, marry me." Beat. "Platonically speaking, of course. I think the Director's going to want me out there last week, so I think we should run with the notion that it won't be ready. If it is, great, but plan for the other, in short. Wish I could take my personal hardware with me, but I with this coming down, I haven't even come close to finishing the refactor on the spider yet - more on that if I'm alive after this - but I think our standard array of cracking software should be enough for now. Actually..." Ortel pauses for a second, thinking, frowning, staring at nothing for a second. "Remind me when I come by for the fabricator as to if I downgraded some of that so any security breaches don't look sophisticated enough to come from us. I'd rather they think I'm some amateur hacker with a little backing than anything else; I can always play the 'messed with their heads' card at worst there, I think.
"Oh. What about tagging someone for tracking later on? I was thinking of myself, for starters, in the event you're able to break through the scrambling, for lack of a better word. I'm not too worried about cover story; I can think of a partial one there, but I'll have to go dig up something well loved I bet."
Kristin considers it. "Chemical," she suggests. "We can use chemical tracking. There are DNA fogs out there that are used in state-of-the-art anti-theft systems for high-end vaults and display units. We've been working on different delivery methods for the markers -- including slow-release hard capsules that can be planted in much the same way as an RF bug. Then, all you need is some way to track the chemical trail itself."
She leans back, tapping her desk lightly with her fingers. "We can work up something similar for you. It's not perfect, since it doesn't allow for satellite tracking, but since we can't get a good satellite fix there, anyway?" She shrugs. "Hope you like spray deodorant..."
"Spray, gel, stick, as long as it works like it's supposed to," he replies with a hint of a grin, absently bringing his hands up to slick his hair back out of his face. There he goes silent, looking off to the side and a fist coming up to his mouth, not quite gnawing on a knuckle in thought but close.
"You know. Just in case, I'm thinking I should take the basics anyway, cells and whatnot. Like you said, he probably can't or won't track every single thing that goes on there unless it stands out somehow. We should still assume he can, but we can hope I'm able to find a form of landline if only to send something like a text message out.
"I should be able to subvert someone into giving me outside access, if I can't get it on my own. How's our hardware for recordings and other video and pictures? I'm thinking we should go the polaroid version for at least the second; not sure how we can manage recording. Better yet, if we can bake it all into these -" he taps his eyewear "- it gives me an excuse to spy without anyone even knowing how. Especially if I demonstrate on someone's ass, some creepy pyro or whatever," he adds with a waggle of his brows.
Kit chuckles at that. "Baking things into your eyewear is child's play," she says. "Google Glass is years behind the times. Trust me." She nods however. "But, yes. Go in with everything a traveller might be expected to carry. We'll just add the rest in discrete pieces you can assemble later."
She smiles. "I think we can get a variation on the Enigma machines from World War 2 and a shortwave crystal set that you can use to transmit across to the mainland to one of our operatives there. Hell, for that matter, we can probably create a series of focussing lenses you can use to send simple light signals across the strait. It may not be elegant or timely, but it would do in a pinch."
"Not smoke signals?" Ortel asks with a hint of a grin, even making the motion for flapping the cloth over the fire. "I hope we've got something for mindreaders, though, because I've got absolutely nothing there, and I /am/ one. Some of R&D tried to figure me out - how I work - when I was brought on board. I don't remember if you were there or not during those experiments.
"So let's see: communications we've got options, hardware check, but mental classification is going to be a bitch. It's not like I don't know if someone is trying to rummage around, but having /my/ brain messed with isn't something I've generally been exposed to, you know? I work with the eyes, a number of them don't. Do we have anything for scrambling brain waves? I know that sounds silly, but it's all I've got."
Kristin chuckles. "I considered it," she admits as to the smoke signals. Hey. Sometimes, the old stuff works best. Though, that's too cheesy even for her.
She gives a mild shrug. "There's a cocktail we can give you that will potentially make it harder for telepaths to scan you, but, frankly, I'm leary about giving it to you, given your abilities. It works well enough as a mild suppressor in humans without the x-gene, but it hasn't been extensively tested on humans with the x-gene." Notice that to her, x-gene or not, they're all humans. "Nor has it been tested extensively on humans with metagenes. So..." again that shrug. "Use at your own risk. I don't have a tinfoil hat that I think will be effective. And, even if I did, I'm hesitant to give you anything that smacks of that sort of technology, in case Magneto's people detect it. Your best bet is to learn to keep your surface thoughts as innocuous as possible. Don't think about what you're really there to do except when you absolutely have to."
A beat. She smiles. "Ever see the sci-fi show Babylon 5?"
To Babylon 5, you got a silent shake of the head. To the bit about tinfoil hat, it was a white-tooth grin that quickly faded, as you went on to the more serious implications. "I'm not so worried about my surface thoughts - they'll probably be something along the lines of 'oh good grief' half the time," he replies a bit dryly. Annnnd a bit anxiously, it should be noted, though the most that last manifests as is a change in how he's sitting near you. "And probably 'ooh what's that', which should be normal for anyone. But here's the thing about being psychic, and I'd rather not have to explain with a demonstration to get the point across: we don't just work off the surface. When I saw Inception for the first time, my response to it was basically: 'holy shit, I could probably do that!'. Just from someone looking at me for a few seconds. Over time, you better damn well believe I can plant an idea so firmly it'll look like I grew a chia pet in their subconscious. That's why I'm not worried /too/ much about being caught subverting a few contacts. One of the few advantages I get over other psychics, is that I'm forced to be subtle. But my point still stands: they can go deep if they need to, and that's where the issue lies. You'd think we'd all be immune to each other."
Kristin, certainly, doesn't have firsthand knowledge of how psionics work. But, she's read the research and worked with a few in her time that have given her insight. "Well, even if you haven't seen it, the best I can suggest is what the non-teeps on B5 do to protect themselves from deep scans: Find a ditty you can repeat ad nauseum and without having to really think hard to remember it, and use it as a white noise screen." 
She gives hima wry smile. "I'm sorry I don't have anything better. There's talk of an x-gene inhibitor out there, but I haven't seen it. It's not something we've been developing. And I don't think it would actually endear you to your soon-to-be hosts."
"Right," he replies, agreeing with that last point. "Then again, they might actually have one there, because if there's one thing that I've been wondering about, it's how it hasn't blown /itself/ up yet. Nevermind that bit with the mountain, I'm talking just the diversity in powers that are likely there. That's as much something I'm curious about as anything else.
"Thanks for the tip, though. It's not something I normally think about, ironically. You'd think I of all people would know how to handle my own kind but..." He concludes that sentence with a tap to the eyes, and: "Not quite the same. I guess we're as ready as can be," he adds, standing up. "You get the goods ready, I'll be by to pick them up."
Kristin chuckles, now. "Well, hey. You're going to have the chance to find out," she says as to his curiosity. Nevertheless, she nods. "I'll have 'em ready by the time you're ready to ship out," she promises. She rises now, and offers him her hand. "Good luck, Agent," she tells him. "I'd go with you, if I could."
"Yeah, well, no offense, Agent Lindstrom, but I wasn't kidding when I told Fury it'd be suicide for someone not... like me to be there. If that guy's willing to blow a mountain to show he's serious, we can't afford to take chances more likely to get someone killed or 'made an example of', if you know what I mean.
"Thanks. I mean it. Let me know if you want to do a test drive with things before I deploy. I've got a lot of reading to do and no time for it."
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