Shadow Wars 08:05, atop Mongoose HQ, Lemmon Ave and College Ave

<<By the eye of Thundera, I did not know that it was possible for you to grant me such sight-beyond-sight. I enjoy this plan on a personal level as well as an intellectual one. We should commence with this activity immediately.>>

It sometimes becomes apparent why BT was decommissioned from active service.

Shadow Wars 08:05, atop Mongoose HQ, Lemmon Ave and College Ave

<<I will summon us some help for the way to the arcology.>>

With this words Fitz concentrates and starts performing some mystical gestures.

Shadow Wars 08:05, Mongoose HQ, Lemmon Ave and College Ave

<<Once we're ready to head out, I'll take point. While you guys do you r thing on our HQ, I'll scout out the building for some good booby trap locations.>>

Eddie starts scanning the lower levels of the building for locations.

Shadow Wars 08:05, Mongoose HQ, Lemmon Ave and College Ave

Fitz eyes start to glow, as he ends his gestures. Then one meter in front of him the air begins to blaze, and finally a shining figure appears, that is obviously a gost. It looks like a blonde woman, that wears a spear, a shield, a helmet with wings, a grey dress and a breastplate. She has the typical transcendent appearence of a ghost, her eyes glow golden, and the spear she wields is covered in an electric charge of crackling lightnings. Her face looks strict, but lightens up, when she looks at Fitz.
Fitz adumbrates a bow and begins to speak: "Seid gegrüßt, mächtige Walküre. Ich bitte Euch meinem Team Eure mystische Kraft der Bewegung zu gewähren, und es zudem mit Eurer Kampfeskraft zu beschützen."

Seconds later subtitles appear for the Shadow Wars viewers. <<Greetings, mighty valkyrie. I ask you to grand my team your power of movement, and to guard it with your fighting abilities.>>

The valkyrie reacts with a slow gesture of her spear to every teammember of the mongooses.

"Be carefull," says Fitz, "you will be ridiculously fast now. Don't crash into the next wall."

Fitz could have done this whole conversation with the spirit over the telepatic link, without having her to materialize in front of the camera. He is obviously trying to show off. But who can blame him. There is a "Camera Hog" bonus prize out there for getting many viewers on one's ShadowView. But his efforts are almost futile. The prize will go to "Team Girl Power" and their skintight bodysuits anyway. The sad truth is: If Fitz wanted that prize, he had to summon a valkyrie with a more daring décolletage, or he had to tell her to take off her dress.

Scum Bar, Seattle, Redmond Barrens

*Bob "Zig" Collister

"Whoooaaa. If that was my ghost, I would definitly tell her to take of her clothes."

*Mike "Zag" Collister

"Switch back to Team Girl Power's view!"

*Bob "Zig" Collister

"Have you seem how the chick looked at Fitz? I bet she has a crush on him."

*Mike "Zag" Collister

"Oh, please! Are you kidding me? Just imagine how tiny his dong has to be! Now switch back to Team Girl Power!"

Shadow Wars 08:05, Mongoose HQ, Lemmon Ave and College Ave

Eddies searching of the lower levels progresses at phenomenal speed. <<I could get used to this, Fitz. Thanks!>>

Shadow Wars 08:05, Mongoose HQ, Lemmon Ave and College Ave

<<You're welcome. Oh, by the way, two of my watchers were killed. Thats no reason to panic, since watchers can be killed my very harmless things. But is has to be at least something thats present on the astral plane.>>
Fitz starts making some mystic gestures again.

Shadow Wars 08:05, Mongoose HQ, Lemmon Ave and College Ave

BT held his position on the stairs while he went over the data being fed to hm by the multiple drones. He fed the information through his Orientation system's mapping software and pulled out the AR info, ready for distribution.
<<I have managed to assemble a map of the building. It does offer some benefits as a safehouse. Mostly notably in the form of several turrets in the lobby. I do not think that they are powered up at the moment; however there is a bank of generators in the basement. In your searches, please keep watch for any terminals which might allow access by datajack. I do not expect these electronics to conform to the current standards of the wireless Matrix.>>

The group has encountered nothing of real significance in the building thus far beyond a staggering amount of dust which plumes around them with every movement. It seems very likely that they are the first living things to have set foot inside the building since it was abandoned, or at least in the last several years. They do encounter several old style matrix jackpoints, but they lack a wireless signal of any kind, and even plugging into it directly with a fiberoptic cable yields nothing, the systems quite dead and without power.

As Fitz gives orders to another watcher to try and figure out what happened to his first group of them, he senses his third vanish, followed a couple of seconds by his fourth. There is still no clue as to where they were when this happened, or what might have caused it. The fifth watcher returns several seconds later, and unsurprisingly reports that it did not find any watchers at the top of the building.

Eddie's search of the remaining levels produces only two things of any real value. The first is a small cache of soy and flavor packets, used in a soy processor to make various food like concoctions. Unfortunately the processor itself is missing, taken with most of the rest of the office supplies. The other thing of interest is a first aid box that hasn't been emptied entirely of supplies. While not the latest and greatest in DocWagon Pharmaceuticals, they will be able to provide a couple of refills to the team's medkits.

At last the group reaches the lobby. It is well lit thanks to the large panes of glass that line the level, giving it an inviting look and feel that has thus far been absent from the rest of the building as the team has seen it. The lobby looks largely undisturbed from how it likely looked when it was in use. There are statues, a couple of receptionist desks, large glass panes likely used for ads, and a dried out fountain right in the middle of it all. There is no sign of the turrets, but the UWBR reveals where they are currently recessed.

Shadow Wars 08:06, Mongoose HQ, Lemmon Ave and College Ave

<<Ok, since this building has no background count, I would prefer it as our HQ over the arcology. Do we start the generator now, and bring the security under our control, or do decamp instantly? Anyway, we might want to know, if we need to bring fuel for the generator with us from the arcology.>>
Fitz pulls his Geiger counter out of his waist bag.
"This building, and probably the whole city, seems to be left hastily. I wonder what the reason is."

Fitz looks at the display of the Geiger counter:
"Slightly over average. Might mean something, might mean nothing. Definitely not dangerous at the moment, but we should keep an eye on it"

Shadow Wars 08:06, Mongoose HQ, Lemmon Ave and College Ave

His work done mapping the area, BT continued down the stairs, this time far more carefully. He was not used to the speed of his motions yet, but the end result was still much faster than he had accomplished at his own break-neck pace earlier.
<<If your watchers were disrupted and there are no Astral anomalies in the upper floors, then it most likely occurred in the basement. It may be worthwhile to investigate. Allow me a moment to gather some drones inside. I must say, somewhere inside of me there is the vain hope that the basement is filled with mad ghouls. I know that they would have starved to death by now, but it would be very exciting to shoot them.>>

BT went to the front door to open it.

Shadow Wars 08:06, Mongoose HQ, Lemmon Ave and College Ave

Fitz giggles:
<<Hehe, BT, dude, what would be most other men's despair, is your hope! I'm really happy that you are on our side, seriously.>>

Shadow Wars 08:06, Mongoose HQ, Lemmon Ave and College Ave

As BT gathers some drones, Fast Eddie looks for the way down into the basement. The talk of ghouls encourages him to ready his pistol.

<<Hey, we could score some points with the viewers with a warmup run-in with some nasties like that. Still, I'd rather not.>>