Zoya Nikolova & Arcturus Hale
Location: The Framework
Skills: Emergency Surgery, Martial Arts
Skills: Computer Science, Telepathy
Personality Traits: Calm * Withdrawn * Disciplined * Guarded *
Persevering * Reserved
Personality Traits: Resilient *
Proud * Perceptive * Evasive *
Flirtatious * Selfish
Z nodded at Tinley's instruction to accompany Arc to the security room.
"Yes, of course." She simply said as the two of them made their way down the stairs. Nik was walking in front of Arc as quietly and carefully as possible, scanning the walls, ceiling and floor for anything they might have missed in their rush to get to the second floor. Nothing new or missed popped out at her and for some reason Z felt really sluggish and not all that stealthy as she was trying to be.
Did that bump on the head just now do more damage than I thought? Nik wondered as she stopped for a second to do a quick self-assessment. Everything seemed to be in working order. Though she did feel a slight discomfort in certain areas of her body. Z glanced back at Arc. Nothing!
Yeah, had he been a woman I'd be feeling way more uncomfortable right now. The twosome reached the security room unobstructed, however to Z's utter horror the door was open and there was a security guard inside, staring right at them.
Bollocks! Time seemed to slow down as Nik realized what he was about to do. And that she would be helpless to stop it. Still, her body sprang into action.
If I can't stop it I can damn well try to remedy it. Adapting to changes was kind of her thing as bombs were unpredictable and more often than not you had to think on your legs and never give up. You just had to push on because lives depended on it. Z was on the guard in a flash and had him in a choke-hold compressing slowly but steadily.
"If you want to live you'll turn it off and call out to say it was false alarm!" The guard struggled for a bit, but Z was well practiced with choke-holds and knew what she was doing. The guy wasn't going anywhere. Oh, Nik had no intention of killing him. She had him in a sleeper hold, but he didn't have to know that.
"Today, love!" Despite the ruckus from the alarms Z continued compressing calmly, unhurriedly, sure the guard would be seeing spots by now. And, indeed, just moments later he frantically tapped on Nik's arm in agreement. The man did as requested and Z unceremoniously tied him up and gagged him. She then promptly turned to Arc, but could not make herself to look the man in the eyes. The explosives engineer felt responsible for that cock up with the alarms sounding even if she'd managed to make the guard claim it was a false alarm.
I mean, who'd believe him anyway, right!?! Considering the situation. "So, um..." Z approached Arc, her eyes shifting left and right until they finally settled on a spot on the wall somewhere over Arc's left shoulder. It was funny how she never had problem talking with him and making eye contact whenever it was her, Niah and Arc together. But when it was just the two of them...
"D'you think you can get anything from this guy he might not want to volunteer." Z whispered to Arc, alluding to his telepathic powers. Her skin was flushed with the shame she felt over the failure from minutes ago, but her eyes still burned with determination.
"And if you need help with anything else in here. I'm not a complete novice with tech." "I'm sure you're not. You SciTechs always impressed me with your transferable skills," Arc reassured her with a stray glance to the guard, who had been deftly tied up in what was quite a magnificent display of combat prowess. The telepath had immediately rushed to the control panel once the alarm was called off, observing first what was on the screen: images of the different screens, including the fourth, where the hostages were held.
"That was very impressive, by the way––do you do that to all the boys?" On auto-pilot, he shot her a wicked grin (absent of any kind of heat) before he returned to inspecting what he had available to him. Then, there was no more time for little asides like that. The system was of a uniquely irritating design. High-tech, but designed without the usual frills that made it easy to take over.
After a few moments of reaching functions locked behind passwords he didn't know, he dropped his hands away from the controls and muttered a curse. He was so sure he could do it. It was
just an unfamiliar system. S.H.I.E.L.D took an interest in him in the first place
because he could operate these with ease. And he wasn't going to fail in front of another agent, that was for damn sure. If only he had more time, he could seize the intercom and all of the other trappings of the comms room the natural way.
But he didn't.
Arc turned his frustrations on the security guard, crouching down next to his bound form. In a quiet, strained voice, as if he was forcing the words out, he asked,
"How do I access the intercom?" The man did not answer. Granted, the fact that he was gagged would normally pose some problems to an interrogation, but in this case, actually voicing the information was unnecessary. Whispers in Arc's head gave way to knowledge, the image of a flipped switch and a key combination to access the universal comms that ran the length and height of the building. From there, finding a digital copy of
Uptown Girl to play and loading it into the system was comparatively easy, and with a brisk nod to Nikolova, the first notes began to play over tinny speakers.
"Well, that's that," he offered, smoothing down the front of his shirt and running a hand through his hair to right it.
"Let's hope that works, for the hostages' sake. Now we need to secure an exit––for the others too, of course––and we don't have much time left. All we've got to go on are these cameras, though, and I think only he can change what angles we can see." Arc jerked a thumb then rubbed absently at the scrape on his forearm, which was beginning to scab, lost on what to do. Try and raid his mind again? No, it was likely surprise that allowed him the answer in the first place. Force him by physical means to do their bidding?
He shot an unsubtle, assessing gaze on Nikolova. That could work. It
did work, in fact, to get him to shut off the alarm.
Z chuckled a bit nervously.
"Yeah... that's us engineers. Jack of all trades." She shrugged observing Arc trying to penetrate the security system of the building. He seemed to not be having the best of luck.
God, what is it with this place?! Nothing we do seems to make a dent in this sim! Arc's next words made her snap her eyes off the screens and settle them onto his profile. She stared at him for what felt like an eternity.
How do I react? What do I say to something like that? Feeling somewhat put on the spot Z glanced at the guard, than back at Arc.
Eh, what the bloody hell! Things are all at sixes and sevens anyways. She cleared her throat.
"Boys would not be my first choice. But they do make for good practice!" Z returned in what she hoped was a brazen attitude she usually couldn't pull off.
Nik couldn't help but feel a bit apprehensive at her words just now. She wasn't particularly worried she'd basically outed herself to Arc. She wasn't really hiding her preferences. She didn't necessarily broadcast them either. But that brazen attitude she'd tried for wasn't her thing and now she felt self-conscious.
When Arc stood up from the chair suddenly Z snapped back into full attention and watched her teammate crouch down in front of the guard demanding to know how to activate the intercom. The man remained silent. Though, had he wanted to answer, his bound mouth would have prevented it. But all the same Arc stood up and went to the console again, manipulating some switches and buttons. And before Z knew it
'Uptown Girl' was sounding over the intercom.
Guess he got his answer anyways. Nik thought as she watched Arc smooth down his clothes and hair and listened to him suggest ideas for escape route for both teams.
Z pinched the bridge of her nose. She was tired. They had all just survived a grueling ordeal. They had hardly had any time to recover from the experiment before they were stuffed into a barely tested, recently vandalized virtual reality system, that had to be recoded over night. None of them had a good grasp on how to control their powers or how to work as a team. Z felt a familiar surge within her. As the rage filled her Nik closed her eyes and called to the familiar calmness. When she opened her eyes again they were burning with something that would make any sane person take a step back. Z approached the guard slowly, stalkingly.
"Be a good lad and show us the lower levels of the building on those monitors." The explosives engineer urged with an even voice that sounded so cold and yet somehow filled with a burning rage so wild and hot, that it could scare all the hairs off the guard's body.
The man could not comply more hastily!
Arc smiled weakly as the guard set about changing the on-screen cameras after some 'prompting' from Nikolova, which gave him a few seconds to collect his thoughts. He'd never been this exhausted before, not even during the worst of the S.H.I.E.L.D's gruelling courses––but at least the scenario would soon be finished, no matter the conclusion. Observing the new angles of the building, he saw Reed's team closing in on the lab.
And he saw the lab itself, filled with faces he recognised from his academy's training. While two of them took a few heartbeats to identify, the mere sight of the others drained all colour from his face.
"Not good. That's what Reed's group are about to walk into. I need to try and reach them––" AGENT REED, he thought, before cringing away from the loudness of it and aborting the attempt. Even though they were distant, he had a feeling that he didn't need to perform the mental equivalent of yelling to reach them. So he tried once more, praying that his telepathy could bridge the gap of several floors and managed to catch all of his fellow agents in its net.
Agent Reed and others––we have taken the security room. There's many hostiles in the lab ahead of you: Magneto, Scarlet Witch, Toad. Plasma's prepping the virus right now. I'd say be careful, but there's no time. When it was over, Arc rubbed at his forehead in an ineffective attempt to quiet the voices.
"It's done. God, I need a stiff drink after this one."
