420: Revolution

[hermajestysfury]

There are two things that a revolution needs: information and weaponry. Sir Nicholas is distressingly short on both. He has been gaining information as fast as possible, from Rogers, from Gordon Freeman, from books and newspapers and files, but in the end there are still too many things that they don't know which they need to know.

The Haile building is not a terribly important building in the grand scheme of the President For Life's power. It was one of the last things that Emma Frost funded before her murder and was designed to find ways to track movements of money more securely. As a private tool she used it to keep her fortunes growing.

After her death it was confiscated by the government, who used the tools to track mutants instead of money and create files of people who might be carriers of the genes that the President For Life disapproved of. To the normal-looking, weak-willed public it is a building that carries on the task of keeping the mutant menace from disrupting them. To the rare holdouts and those who look different, even more rare since the early 21st century started, it's just another place which occasionally sends out armed soldiers to arrest people for the crime of being too strong-willed to follow the President.

In theory it is also a building which contains a directory of places where information on the dead can be found. Information on the dead, the lost, the mad, and the hiding President. He shows up on the television daily, live, to broadcast his speeches...but his physical position is heavily guarded.

The building is two stories tall, from the outside. L-shaped with a moderately sized parking lot. Two doors in, one at the crook of the L and one at the long end, and an emergency staircase up the other end, darkened windows with the blinds drawn and the occasional small light as someone has stayed to work late into the night.

Comments

[acts_of_gord]

"So," says Freeman quietly. He's dressed in severely inobtrusive clothes, to the point where he looks more like a janitor than a physicist. "This is the place, is it?"

[hermajestysfury]

"This is the place." Sir Nicholas says. He's in modern clothing, with a baseball cap low to hide the majority of his eyepatch and face. That's the problem with having a face as well known as Nick Fury's is, even now.

[acts_of_gord]

"Small," comments Gordon. Not that he's disparaging it. It's just a factual comment.

He's mostly squinting at the roof. Eventually he says, "I wonder what their HVAC system's like."

[hermajestysfury]

"There is a third floor, below." Sir Nicholas offers, "Was that not on the blueprints? I shall attempt to get a schematic of those as well."

A head shows on the roof, someone leaning against the railing having a smoke-break, it appears. The smoker turns his back to the two men on the ground and rests on the low wall for the length of a cigarette, then paces back and forth for a moment before disappearing again.

[acts_of_gord]

"It's still small. Black Mesa had a transit system all its own," Gordon offers by way of explanation. "You could've fit a whole town in there."

He watches the guard in silence, then scratches thoughtfully at one side of his jaw.

"Doesn't look too heavily guarded yet." His tone implies that he's waiting for something to pop out the moment they get too close.

[hermajestysfury]

"The cameras are very small." Sir Nicholas says quietly, "And arranged to watch each window and door any time when there is no guard on duty. Guards are on from the close of business, at six, until the open, at five in the morning."

[acts_of_gord]

Gordon nods. "I expected cameras. I was more interested in the possibility of getting shot," he says. "They don't have automated weapons on this place, do they?"

[hermajestysfury]

"Not that we have been able to discover." Sir Nicholas says, "This does not mean that they do not exist." Unfortunately.

There isn't really any cover around the building, either. Narrow, short-cut lawns without bushes or tall flowers.

[acts_of_gord]

Gordon nods, and makes a mental note not to attempt this without the HEV suit. Especially since he's going to need the sprinting, most likely.

"We'll need distractions," is all he says aloud.

[hermajestysfury]

"Rogers will be taking care of that." Sir Nicholas says, "He mentioned something about old contacts willing to cause a disturbance."

[acts_of_gord]

"Good. Even at my best it takes a while to get into the air ducts," Gordon says. "My suit has some stealth devices built into it, but they only muffle sound, not visuals. Once we're past the front door I can get through a lot of the building without being seen."

[hermajestysfury]

"Good." Sir Nicholas says, nodding firmly, "I shall be hiding with more conventional means, I am afraid, but in the case of emergency it will be easier for me to draw them off and allow you to get to the information anyway." he gestures at his face for that.

[acts_of_gord]

"How much damage do I need to do on the way out?"

[hermajestysfury]

"If we should get separated I will trust you to decide upon appropriate measures." Sir Nicholas says grimly, "Some of these people may be innocent. Most are not. We are planning to enter a building which exists to select the genetics that they do not approve of and remove them from the population."

[acts_of_gord]

Gordon was thinking more in terms of crippling the organization's infrastructure than bringing down the roof, but at the description of the place's purpose his expression goes very grim indeed. Just because you're an atheist yourself doesn't mean you get out of family associations with historical events.

[hermajestysfury]

Sir Nicholas nods, once, "I picked this revolution because it needed to happen. Collect what you can, destroy what you cannot. Better no-one has the information than that they do."

[acts_of_gord]

"Understood," says Gordon. "All right. I think I know what I need to know."

[hermajestysfury]

"Very well. When shall we enter?" Sir Nicholas' voice is calm. He's ready. He's been ready for days, but would never think to deny someone else so much as an available hour to get themselves ready.

[acts_of_gord]

"I need my suit and one or two things first," says Gordon. "Then I'm good to go."

[hermajestysfury]

"Shall we return to Milliways, then?" Sir Nicholas asks, tilting his head toward the car.

[acts_of_gord]

Gordon dips his head in acknowledgment and turns to go. The sooner this is done, the sooner he'll feel like he's actually accomplished something.