shieldacademyau | [Event] If you want to get out alive...

Those that sleep will awaken to a pitch black room with nothing but the faint red glow of the emergency lighting. This glow seemed to frame the ceiling of the room and gradually pulsate between a dimmer glow to a glow almost bright enough to read by then back down again. Every electronic device in the entire academy, dorms, and general building on the SHIELD grounds would display a black DOS-like screen with bright crimson lettering that read a simple, cryptic message.

SYSTEM ERROR
LOCKDOWN MODE INITIALISED

NEW MESSAGE

Activating the new message brings up another black screen with a mostly legible message to the students of SHIELD Academy. This ominous message doesn't seem to be salvageable by even the most brilliant of computer programmers. The file is just corrupt and there is nothing that can be done for it. It's a wonder the thing opened at all, to be honest.

the ⬛yste⬛ has bee⬛ compr⬛⬛ised
time is short so make haste
you have ⬛⬛ ho⬛rs to get out ⬛efore th⬛ purge
sub⬛outine demo⬛⬛sh⬛s ⬛⬛e ⬛uil⬛⬛n⬛ to con⬛ain
the th⬛⬛⬛t 
t⬛e cent⬛al c⬛⬛pu⬛e⬛ m⬛st be rea⬛⬛⬛d and reb⬛ot⬛⬛
dea⬛ti⬛ate the l⬛cking mechanis⬛s on yo⬛r door by 
ḁ̧̼͙͑5̡̙̩͎̭͗̆ͯ̍⬛̱͈̤̦̊͂ͩͦ̓̋n͉ ҉̬g̲̹̟̘̃ͣͤͬ͢y̩͔̓ͯͩͣ͑ͭ͜⬛ 8̘͍̳̤g̴̅ͫ̂⬛̲̞̺̜͉̿ ̢̲̙̗̩̐ͣ̍͊͗̚3̑͐̓͏⬛ ȁ̹̯̘͙͓̔́ͫ̈̃̃͡d͓͇̤͕͎̦͒ͪ̂̏m̷ͥ̃̇ͯ ⬛̠̩̯ ̌̓̂̉̽͏̯1̮͇̯͉͉͚̪͜ṇ̥͐ ̖̰̖͎͙̹ͨ͟ F̷̘̮̺̥̅̀ͯ͊ͣ͆̏Ȗ̩̦̅̈́̄̌R̨͔͎͎̥̱̼̘̈́ͧ̋͗̔̚̚Y̋͞| 

Those that didn't sleep would have found the lights had suddenly gone off around 0400. Shortly following the assumed harmless power outage, the usually white glowing strips lining the edges of every room would have faded to a red that indicated a warning. The red lettering on the screens would have followed after that and finally, a good ten minutes into the disquieting silence, the blue message alert appeared. They would have found their doors locked, and the windows all barred by solid adamantium panels.

There is no riddle to be had here, no teacher seems to be present to consult. The students were alone, required to rely on eachother, their own cunning, and their unique abilities.

For those poor souls trapped in the Hazard Room, well... just don't make any sudden movements. The training protocols seem to still be active. Fortunately, they are set on moderate difficulty. You had been looking to hone your skills and blow off a little steam. Well, you just got your wish.

Mod Notes: Treat this post like a mingle-log. OOC plotting can be found here.

Targets and Weaponry: SHIELD bots come in a variety of sizes from no more than a foot in height to nearly four feet and come armed with a plethora of weapons designed to subdue and capture. Weapons designed specifically to counter the abilities of those that live here, just in case they lose control.

Small built-in turrets keep hidden behind sleek panels in the ceilings of most hallways and in the ground outside. These turrets fire wide range of power nullifying munitions as well as good old fashioned taze rounds.

Targeting sensors on all the machines and turrets use facial recognition to identify each student. Their powers and weaknesses are recorded in the main SHIELD database, which it refers to and decides the best course of action.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

There were all of five people in the entire school that Loki had taken it upon himself to spell with an alarm without their knowledge. Of those five people, Natasha was one. So when she was hit, a sharp sting to the pad of one of Loki's fingers distracted his focus as he yelped. He very nearly takes a direct shot from one of those delightful energy discharges.

"Tasha!" He takes off, leaving the drone without another thought. His goal was to get to another closet or bathroom. Somewhere that he can cast a locator spell, but as he rounds his third unsuccessful hallway, he spots the downed redhead. One of the drones was moving in to collect her. He didn't know where they'd take her, but they would have to literally go through him, first.

Loki didn't slow as he rushed towards her, casting a shield between her and the bot. As soon as the drone locks onto him, its munitions change but Loki doesn't stop as it charges the beam. He slides to her side and as soon as he's close enough, he grabs her arm tugs her into his, lifting her with ease. He's back up and running by the time it fires, taking the discharge to the shoulder as he rounds a corner with a vehement curse in a tongue very much not of the All-Speak. There's another hallway to go before he tumbles into one of the classrooms and shoves a desk up against the door. He gently sets her on the floor, kneeling next to her, his right arm hanging numbly at his side.

"Come on, Tasha..."

She groans when he sets her down on the floor, not quite conscious yet. Her head is pounding and she's sore all over. Whatever had been in that last blast had been a doozy and she's having trouble shaking it off. Some part of her recognizes his voice and she struggles against the pull o blackness below her to flutter her eyes open, trying to get her bearings.

"...ouch."

When her eyes flutter open, he realises he's holding his breath. When she actually utters that word, even if it is of pain, he lets out the breath and slouches back a bit, leaning his back against the leg of a desk. The arm that isn't completely useless moves to brush a few lovely red curls out of her face with a fingertip.

"I'll bet." He replies, trying to smile. "You gave me quite a scare." Loki admits so quietly that if they'd been another few inches apart, she wouldn't have probably heard him. He has her head resting against his legs in place of a pillow that he didn't have. "We are going to have to have a talk about you allowing weaponised soup cans to hit back."

She groans again, the sound almost a whimper as she lets her eyes slide closed again. His fingers feel good against her brow and everything is still spinning so he'll have to forgive her for not bouncing back quite so quickly as she normally might. she nuzzles into the touch, though, feeling a little relief in that.

Stupid. She'd been too slow.

"Stupid toaster," she muttered, the words still a little slurred as she kept her eyes closed. "All I wanted was a bagel. I didn't think it was that big a deal."

Her quips made him smile. At least, he hoped they were quips and not the result of brain damage. They seemed like her usual quirky sense of humour. He let his hand rest gently in her hair.

"Apparently the toaster wasn't giving up the bagel without a fight." Either way, it seems to him that that drone did a serious number on her. "I know no spell to alleviate your discomfort..." That was Loki's way of apologising for being unable to help with her pain. "However, we should be safe to rest here for as long as you need." Or so he hoped, because neither of them were fit to fight. His barriers could protect them from the projectiles, but that beam that disabled him was able to cut right through his magic. He was moderate at tower defence games, but they usually didn't involve actual impending death.

"It's fine," she answered, twitching her fingers at him, because that was as close as she was going to get to waving off his concern. Things were still numb and tingling and not working quite right just yet. "It'll wear off soon." Probably. It had to, right?

"Do you have any idea what's going on? And shit, no one else saw that, did they? I'm never gonna live this one down."

"I'll tell not a soul." He tries to reassure her. "The whole place has gone nuts. That's about all I've got. Something about the main computer needing a reboot? But I don't even know how to get there and if I did, I'd have done it already." He seems more put off by the fact that he didn't know how to help than he normally would be. "Sif and Kaplan are trapped in the Hazard Room with some others." He waves the hand in her hair flippantly, because the unnamed others were not his concern. That should come as no surprise to anyone.

"Kaplan seemed well, but he was under attack when I spoke with him. There's no way in or out of that room but the reinforced doors. And out here's only a little better. I can't tell if the Academy's trying to exterminate us or capture us. It could've killed you while you were down."

"It could have also killed me from behind," she points out with a cough, then groans as she rolls over on her side, still using his leg as a pillow. She curls into a tight little ball, her body still aching from the jolt the shot had given her. "It's still on neutralize. Thank goodness. At least I'm alive to whine at you still. Aren't you lucky."

He's quiet for a bit, just trying to be as soothing as he can to her as he brushes her curls back again after the position change. He's not good at this sort of thing.

"I think you're right. I am the lucky one." Lucky he hadn't lost a friend this day. Though, there were still hours left as the day just began. He tries to move the fingers of his other hand but they didn't so much as twitch. 'Neutralise' was right. There is no way he's bringing up that they have a weapon that neutralises his magic and mobility. So he just let his good hand rest in her hair. "Your whining bothers me not." He smirked down at her. For once, he wasn't squirming in his skin at the physical contact. In fact, it was almost welcome. Almost. But definitely more than just tolerated.

"How did it catch you off guard?"

[Event] If you want to get out alive...

Oops | Because I totally need another thread.

you totally do! :D

Well, so long as you agree... XD

I doooo. loki your soft spot is showing

He has no idea what you're talking about!

its okay she'll keep his secret

>.> Good. But he still denies it exists at all.

she knows better :D

Nope. She has an overactive imagination.