Apr 29th, 2021

## Machine Learning

While Ghost Dance raced through the bar to rescue his downed comrade Hardback, the newly-arrived robots set to trying to destroy the force-bubble that contained their target. Cameo overheard the robots quizzing the poor duo trapped inside the sphere about their identity, indicating that they were an outside force not aligned with the Destroyer.

Despite Cameo's initial reservations, the team decided that ultimately it was not in anyone's best interests to allow the machines to complete their mission. While Hardback and Justicar attacked the larger robots that posed the greatest threat to the forcefield, the smaller robots fought back with deadly claws and laser rifles. The machines' leader conjured force-cages to trap the heroes, but Ghost Dance deftly whisked the team to the Spirit Realm and back, allowing them to escape.

The robots attacked relentlessly, using adaptive algorithms to exploit the weaknesses in their foes' fighting styles. The head robot attacked with a wide variety of deadly weapons, chosen to overcome the heroes' impressive defenses. Justicar was hit with armor-piercing blasts, while Cameo fell victim to a wrenching mental assault. The heroes struck back with their mighty attacks, and Justicar unleashed a never-before-seen level of holy firepower.

The fight seemed almost in a deadlock, when an unexpected ally joined the fray: Cryptic, who had been racing to the scene since the robots' explosive appearance, immediately jammed the robots' cameras with a barrage of chaff grenades. Although the effect was temporary, it allowed the Contenders to regroup and tend to their fallen.

Still, the battle wasn't quite over. The robots fought tenaciously, but as they slowly began to fall one by one, it finally became clear to their leader that the mission was failed. The robots then fled in a second explosive teleportation, which the heroes deftly evaded.

## The Geek Squad

In a post-battle conference, the heroes shared what information they have. The Contenders told Cryptic about the tip-off they'd received from John Wolf, and in turn Cryptic told them that the gauntlet had originated in an UNTIL research facility in Canada. He shared stolen security footage that showed an enormous, brutish man smashing his way out of the facility, making a detour to steal the gauntlet before breaking through all defenses and charging off the facility grounds. The man's identity was unknown, as was the reason for his stealing and then abandoning the gauntlet, but the team said they would make inquiries.

Cryptic took his leave before the Champions showed up, having no interest in revealing his presence to them. The Champs were represented by Dr. Nano and Ramshackle, who set to work developing a jury-rigged device to safely drain the bubble's energy and release the poor souls trapped within. After sharing some carefully selected information with Nano, the doctor agreed to take up the matter with Defender, whose UNTIL security clearance was much higher than any of the other heroes'. With any luck, he would be able to find more information on the escaped brute and determine his intentions.

## Table Talk

"Are you in love with your character, or are you in love with the story? Let's get in there!"

"I'm an ignorant bum-fuck from another dimension. I don't know what any of this is."

- Will and Joe

"You really pissed up this one, Cameo."

- Joe

"Can I be blamed for the fact you noticed what I was doing?"

- Eric

"I regret very little."

- Cameo (unconscious)