Scene 1:
Red is standing in Void’s Sanctuary, with the red gem in her hand, and a determined look on her face. She puts the gem into the medical scanner: “It’s the only scanner in here. Maybe it’s biological”. The scanner unexpectedly prints a message on a slip of paper. “Non biological. Use scanner B4”. Void has no idea what scanner B4 is, but the sanctuary is full of things Void doesnt understand yet. The team search the lair for something, and find a thing that looks like a top loading washing machine, labelled B4. Its never done anything before, but now – there are lights on. They put the gem in the machine, and it spins up, and down again.. then produces a a printout that seems to be a molecular composition.
Scene 2:
Albert, the Shadow Walker, arrives at the bookshop. He’s a very mild-mannered young man with glasses. He thanks the team for letting his shadow go, and explains that if his shadow dies without returning to him, he doesn’t remember what it did.
The team ask him about the raid on Jacqueline’s apartment, why was he after the kid? Albert says he doesnt remember what happened, but that Zuko said that if a child that young was a mutant, then the parents probably were too. He was to try and provoke the mother into revealing her powers. The team debate if its true that powers inherit like that – Void says that its probably true of her and her sister. But they’d need to ask an expert.
Albert explains that he’s told Zuko the jewellers had already been robbed when he got there. His family are still threatened by Zuko – so he can’t break free. He’s meeting Zuko tomorrow, and will let the team know when and where.
Later, he calls back. Zuko doesnt want to meet at his shop, he’s had recent “mutant related security issues”, so wants to meet somewhere public. In aa quiet space right in the middle of the meat market at 8am, so he can secure it, but mutants can’t interfere out of the public eye.
Scene 3:
The team decide to go visit Dr Anthony Pauling. They still have his notebook, he’s an expert on the mutagen in some sense, and they need more info on the “space ruby”. Plus he might know more about whether powers are inherited.
While they are on the way to see the professor, the news shows a powered escape from Midtown Prison. From the damage, it looks like someone just ran through the prison wall, leaving a person shaped hole. Red and Void decide to go and investigate, while Nightfox and Joule go see the professor.
Scene 4:
Joule and Nightfox arrange to meet the professor on the roof of the biological sciences building at SCU. They return his notebook, and it turns outhe’s quite a fan of Joule, who he see’s as a real hero. He offers to do experiments on her powers.
Dr Pauling explains the notebook a bit- he was investigating environmental contamination of mutagen in the river. He’d found that the levels of mutagen present were very low, but considering how expensive and controlled the mutagen is, and how much volume is in the river, he thinks it must be a deliberate contamination rather than a leak.
He had found traces quite far up the river within city limits, but when he applied for more budget to look into this, his existing budget was cancelled, the university told him to stop his project, and those “agents” came after him.
Looking at the analysis printout on the “space ruby”, Dr Pauling hadn’t seen anything like this before – neither the analysis method, nor the substance it described. His opinion is that it is a complex crystelline compound, definitely not something like a ruby or naturally occuring gem. Some of the symbols in the analysis do not correspond to known elements, so he’s not sure what their analyser means – but the structure does relate to substances found alongside the mutagen. His guess would be that this would somehow either suppress, or amplify energies related to powers – if energised it might form a “laser” type beam. Further experiments would be needed – and he doesnt have the equipment, or budget.
Scene 5:
Looking at the hole in the wall on TV as they head towards the prison, Red and Void conclude that running through a thick, reinforced wall like that would require super strength, speed and invulnerability. Red and Void can’t think of any villain who could do that. The only mutant they can think of who could do that would be Seraph. But Seraph could have just flown over the wall.
They manage to find some signs of damage to buildings near the prison that suggest someone super-strong, running very fast, brushed against walls. They are slowly tracking the route, but the escapee is moving much faster than they are.
Overhead, a Midtown Police helicopter instructs locals to move inside their buildings and stay away from the windows. T
hen agents show up – men who seem to be very similar height and build, and in way of moving. They’re wearing advanced military gear. Red and Void hide in a doorway, behind a false door construct that Void creates, but the agents seem to have tracked them to the alley they are hiding in. Red pulls off an amazing bounced arrow shot to make noise that sounds like they are running across rooftops, and the agents move away.
Scene 6:
The team scout out the meat market before it closes. Its a stone building, open at either end, with a steel frame inside the building. The central part is open space, with stalls scattered around, and they can see one stall in the centre with clear space around it, probably the meeting space. The market opens at 6am – by 8am it’ll be busy, presumably what Zuko wants.
The team plan to get in place early, before Zuko does the same.