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

[adminfury]

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.

Comments

elsa | library | ota

[wellgloved]

Oh, no, no, no.

It's already a struggle for Elsa, settling into a completely different environment, dumping herself into a crowd of strangers. They all have been nice, but she keeps her space, wanting to be alone for the sake of everyone else. Sure, Loki had assured her that this was a good place for her, but she has her reservations.

A late night read seemed apt because sleep often finds her in the wee hours of the morning anyway. It's better than tossing and turning. She had hoped to find some reading material here on what to make of her own powers, but had, instead, found herself reading on the early history of women superheroes instead.

It was then that the library went entirely into shutdown mode, confirming a worry that they wanted to confine her. It was irrational, probably, considering the principle of the school, but she feels it nonetheless. Her heart beats out of her chest and it seems there's no room for escape, that the walls seem to close in as the windows slam shut. The alarm is too much. Elsa, gloveless for once, backs into a corner and shuts her eyes, just as ice fractals spread from her fingers and toes, creeping over books and tables and tiled floors.

[mischiefandlies]

Loki had awakened when the back-up systems kicked in. The message left a bad taste in his mouth and the very first thing he did after reading it was run to Billy's room. He was gone. Just gone Out training, probably. Sheesh, the kid was really getting into this fit business.

He went to the door in the common room, making not that all the windows were shielded. Were they trying to keep something out? No, they were trying got keep them in. Locked in. What was going on?

It took him some time to get the door open, intent on finding Billy. At least, until he felt a sharp pain in his fingertip, yelping as blood dripped from the wound. It was one of his Alarms. It was Elsa. That Alarm was cast after he saw her abilities in the court yard. It was an Ice Age warning. A small locator spell lit his way to the library. By the time he made it there, he'd already dodged several built in turrets and made the mistake of fighting a drone.

Loki arrived at the door with a dart or two lodged in his shoulder and arm. They were discarded, but his Asgardian nature would help push the drugs from his system.

"Miss Elsa, can you hear me?" He couldn't teleport inside, but he also couldn't get the door open. "Miss Elsa, if you can hear me, please, keep calm. I cannot reach you yet, but I need you to breathe and focus on your anchor. Pull back the ice." He could feel it through the door; a chill that frosted event he outside of the door.

[wellgloved]

It wasn't easy to defend herself sitting down. For each row of darts came a thick wall of ice. Anything that came closer would bounce off the layer of ice she would form around her skin.

There was no snow to be found here, nothing soft or pliable. Her presence was made obvious even by the doors, with icicles of varying sizes coming down from the ceiling. Thin ice covered the knobs and the locks, in some attempt to freeze then break them down.

As she hurried through the stacks, Elsa heard a familiar voice, picking her ears. "No, just - go," she called, her voice shaking though she tried to sound strong. As far as she knew, she didn't have anchor. "You're better off not worrying about me."

[mischiefandlies]

The ice was overwhelming everything inside and out of the door. She's more than lost control, she was in a panic. There were probably drones or turrets inside trying to subdue her, but they wouldn't get to her. He knew that. He had to think of something fast.

His gaze dropped down to the doorknob, frozen over. He flexed the fingers of his right hand and wrapped it around the knob. "ᛉᛊᚱᛈ" He muttered the word, green magic dancing around the knob and over the frame, but it strained. "ᛉᛊᚱᛈ, damn you!" He urged the door, repeating the spell several more times in frustration before he finally heard the gears and pins inside the lock shatter in their brittle state.

"Good!" He tried to push the door open, but the ice was still holding it in place. "Elsa, you need to pull it back. You won't hurt me, I promise. Let me help you."

[wellgloved]

The shattering of the lock made her flinch and her gaze immediately focused on the exit.

It was the least she could do to pull back the ice further blocking anyone from entering this space. As much as she did not want Loki to be on the other side of this, she knew she needed help, at least someone in her ear to talk her down.

"Why won't it stop?" she asked almost helplessly, arms outstretched and freezing a turret in its place, the dart meant for her seemingly frozen in time, trapped in a strip of ice.

[mischiefandlies]

As soon as she started pulling back the ice from the door, the pressure Loki was applying urged it to give way until he had it open enough to slip inside and shut behind him. Just in time, as well, because one of the drones had found the Asgardian and fired one of its unique energy blasts that rendered him powerless and numb for a time. It struck the closing door instead of Loki.

"Because the Academy security system has lost its mind, so to speak. There is not a single teacher to be found, as far as I've seen, and the security system seems to be adapting to our unique abilities and physiologies." His voice was calm, even as he cast a spell in the direction of the frozen turret, shattering the stream of ice, dropping the dart harmlessly to the ground. He dared not touch the turret itself, lest he accidentally free it.

Loki crossed the room, casting a green barrier around him to deflect any other darts should another turret resurface. It would be enough so long as they didn't shift to him as the target.

"Listen to me, Elsa..." He stepped over the dangerous peaks of ice and tried to reach out to her from the other side of her ice barrier. "Clear your mind." he placed a palm flat against the ice. "Focus on just my voice. There's nothing else but my voice. You can do this. It's just me and you." Each breath he took was visible in the air, but he paid it no mind.

[wellgloved]

Her voice held a tremor. "I'd thought all of those features were meant to help us." That was what she had been told upon arrival, yet here she was, ruining the library because she can't keep her own emotions in check.

Spreading her arms as she dropped to one knee, Elsa created a dome of ice, shielding herself from the attacks, various projectiles caught in the freeze or barely cracking her protective shield. She could still hear Loki through the walls, trying to clear the anxious, rambling voices in her own mind. It wasn't for her. None of this was for her. The entire school was in lockdown mode and everyone seemed to be in battle wherever they were.

It was irrational to have thought that she had been the main target, but she couldn't help but hold onto that paranoia, even now.

But as tense and as terrified as she was, at least she could start to pull back.

[mischiefandlies]

"Usually, they are. They are here in case someone breaks in to harm us. They're also here in case someone loses control. But right now, they're malfunctioning and they seem to think we're the enemy here." He explained, trying to keep his voice level. If he could just project that emotion to her through his speech, even just a little, they'd make progress.

He watched the dome go up and worried she was closing off further. However, she began to pull back and that helped ease his mind some. "See? You're doing it. Not to worry. I'll help you clean all this up and--" In the background, one of the frozen turrets had shifted munitions. It's projectiles were frozen, but Elsa wasn't its target. It charged that energy beam, but as it discharged, the sheet of ice that kept the barrel of its weapon clogged scattered the beam in several directions. Unfortunately, some of the beam still hit Loki squarely in the back, piercing clean through his barrier of magic.

Loki pitched forward with the impact. His barrier vanished and the casual clothing he wore dispersed, leaving him in his Asgardian attire. Fortunately, since her ice had fractured the beam, it hadn't hit him with the full effect, leaving him only partially numb and still conscious. He tried to hit the drone with a telekinetic burst of magic, but his magic was gone.

He caught himself against her protective dome of ice. "...just keep focusing. Enslave your magic, don't let it enslave you." He fought to keep that calm tone to his voice.