melodiesoflife | Event || Revelations

Jack grins widely at Mary's reaction. "And just think. This is Wales. Imagine what the rest of the world looks like."

But the question of timing is an interesting one. "Whatever Palitutu's trying to gain from our worlds, she picked the right time to come. Things have a tendency to get...." oh, what is the word Jack wants to use here? "...chaotic. Around Christmas."

Although the streets are filled with people, no one is looking at the group twice, despite their incredibly odd dress, or the fact that K'pandolu is...K'pandolu.

"But she said that we've got a chance, that the answer to improving the Soul Divider, and maybe actually stopping this mess might lie in our worlds. Come on. I've got an idea."

They walk down the side of the dock, the Tourist Information Center is directly on the bay, itself. It's only when they're right there that Jack thinks maybe going here isn't the best idea, but too late to turn back. He picks a newspaper out of a stand by the door. "December 23, 2009." Jack pauses, looks at the newspaper for a long moment, and then brightens. "Oh ho yes. Lights are on, but nobody's home..."

He seems to know exactly where the center keeps their hidden key, and unlocks the door. It's little more than a single room with a counter and pamphlets stacked high about all the things to see in the Cardiff area. What in the world would Jack want with this place?

The smile on Jack's face gets even more knowing, and even more excited, as he steps behind the counter, and opens a hidden keypad. He hits a few buttons, and a secret door in the wall slides open. He steps aside and makes a sweeping gesture for his companions to go first.

"We don't have to worry about running into anyone. Well, except for the bird brain. Company policy to give everybody Christmas off. Technically, I've crossed over my own timeline here, but I know where I am right now." Jack explains as they go down a long staircase, and the air gets gradually more humid. They aren't quite under the bay, but this close to it, they can feel it in the air.

At the very end of the staircase, the entire wall rotates out of place, revealing itself to be a cog door, thick as a bank vault. And what's on the other side of the door? Candy land. At least for the techies. Computer banks, a fully functional med area and autopsy bay, and one large machine dominating the room that looks familiar to anyone who has visited Jack's lab in the Crystal Research Center. Oh, and a pet pterodactyl that flies very far overhead as if to say hello to them all.

"Welcome to Torchwood."

"Wow."

It sounds like an underwhelming response to anyone who doesn't know Chiaki, but from the way she's got her fists balled up and is leaning forward to get a better look at everything, it's clear she's pretty excited. She waits for Jack to go in first, but she follows after him very quickly, walking immediately toward the computer terminals.

"Is this where you work, Jack?"

She's seen that other building that appeared back in April, but K'pandolu still lets out a whistle, turning to take it all in as she moves inside as well.

"This is what it's supposed to be like?" she asks, and startles when she spots the pterodactyl. "…We're not here for that, are we?"

Jack got the pleasure of seeing that look on Kidd's face again as they descended into the base. It wasn't that it was a hidden lab or strewn with technical bits. The irony was this wasn't the first thing of that sort she'd seen. The mood here however was completely different than Palitutu's lab or the magitek research facility. She could feel it in her bones. This felt like home.

"Assassin's by any other name..." she muttered to herself.

((ooc: Looking for a pterodactyl strap, catte?))

That is a pterodactyl. By itself, Duster wouldn't feel intimidated by the strange animal if it were tame and in the wild, but surrounded by machinery reminiscent of the Pigmask's sprawling laboratories, an air of trepidation falls around him.

"What are they working on...?" He knows he can trust Jack, but a room full of computers and unknown technology doesn't bring good things to mind.

Jack smiles at Chiaki, not the bragging excited smile from before, but something genuinely happy. "It's home. This is where Torchwood works out of, yeah. 2009, so it's just me and Gwen and-" a very quick edit of what Jack was about to say, "It's just the three of us." Squak? "And Myfanwy," Jack corrects. "But I think we're leaving her behind."

Duster needs the quick explanation. "Well. This portal isn't the first time an opening in time and space has happened here. There's a permanent one, we call it the Rift, and we try to limit its activity, but sometimes things just bleed through from other times and spaces." Jack gestures to a whole table of odds and ends from alien technology, things that haven't been categorized yet. Even with one of the most organized people in all of time working at the hub, he can only keep up with the mess for so long.

"We try to get to them first, keep them from falling into the wrong hands, keep them from doing any damage here. Or, in the case of sentient beings, we try to send them on their way. Protect the Earth, prepare for the technological changes of the 21st Century, make sure Earth is ready for it." Jack heaves a slight sigh, but he hopes that explanation is enough for Duster.

"Problem being. I'm a little bit wrapped around my own timeline. So, we can't just take this thing and cart it off," Jack reaches up and taps the side of the largest machine in the room, the Rift Manipulator. Anyone who has seen Jack's lab in the Crystal Laboratories will be able to tell that this is what Jack is trying to reconstruct.

"But." Jack excitedly moves across the room, to the most advanced work station, three computer brains hooked up to six monitors (although the bottom right monitor never seems to work.) "The software that runs the Rift Manipulator? That we can take."

"Anything else, have at it. If it starts beeping when you pick it up, I'd recommend leaving it behind. We never know what might turn out to be useful."

There are piles of alien tech, an entire med bay with both normal medical technology and advanced things. (The med bay looks oddly untouched, as if someone has left it alone while waiting for someone to return.) Weapons would be locked up, and would need Jack's authorization (or a quick programmer bypass) to get to. The very secure vaults for destructive tech need Jack's retina scan to open. (But, whatever a 'Resurrection Gauntlet' is, maybe it should be left alone?)

Lydia, as curious as she is, knows better than to poke at too much strange stuff. The minute Betel-Po tries to touch, she is grabbing him and holding him tightly too. "Awwww..." The moogle murmurs, before trailing off and his eyes widening as he notices the Pterodactyl. He is no longer quite so eager to poke around, and happy for Lydia to hold him.

As it is, her eyes are wide as she's examining everything she can. Not touching, but definitely looking at everything that is visible. Computer monitors, the medical bay, any type of tech. Somewhat paying attention to what Jack explained, but waiting for the others to get their questions answered first.

"So we can make copies of the programs running on the computer and bring them back, right?" Chiaki asks, poking around the area to look for some disposable media to use for just that purpose.

"Is there anything else you can think of that would help us back in Crystallis? What's that stuff on the table?"

"Sounds like we shoulda come with luggage to carry all this stuff back. This place is like a million years ahead 'a Crystallis."

Sparks is probably more familiar with alien tech than anyone besides Jack in the room, but that doesn't mean he ever paid that much attention to it. He fiddles with things lying around, but figures the medical tech is what they should be looking at, considering recent circumstances. He doesn't know what most of it does, but does that matter?

"So we really can just, like, take any of this stuff?"

That doesn't put Duster at enough ease. Even if they're used to protect Jack's world, Duster can't shake off those memories of walking through rooms of computers, jars holding people, imposing machines. He hopes this tech will do them some good, but he's not going to walk around freely.

"...How about we take the medical things first? Since we're not turning back into crystal anymore, we have to keep ourselves safer." He doesn't look at Sparks Nevada as he gives out the suggestion from the end of the room. Sparks...probably doesn't want to remember that.

"That sounds like a good idea," K'pandolu agrees. "And- perhaps there's something that will allow up to carry it all, too." She's not absolutely sure of what that might look like, but something like that'd be too useful to leave alone if something like it had been found.

Kidd moved around the room, reluctant to touch anything too advanced. She was reminded a bit of the Heran research facility and the artifacts and devices held there. Briefly she thought about the Pieces of Eden back in her own world. They knew so little about those artifacts as well. Did they have origins similar to these? How far did the dominion of the Precursors go exactly?

Brushing aside a worn and battered gas mask her gaze was drawn to a small green penlike device. She picked it up and turned it over in her hands curiously, and perhaps against better judgement pressed a small button she found on the side. The end lit up with a soft blue light and a faint whirring noise, though not as loud as the one Jack would be keen to listen for. "...interesting."

"Just take the whole boxes," Jack answers to Chiaki. "I want to make sure we've got the hardware to run this thing." As he speaks, Jack is reaching over for a pen and paper and scribbles something quickly.

"Dear me,
You'll understand later.
Love, Jack."

Jack smiles and waves up at a certain point towards the ceiling that probably has a video camera, as he tapes the note to that bottom-right monitor on Tosh's desk that never works right.

"Grab what ya like, Marshall, the really could-end-the-world stuff is in lockdown."

Chiaki's search for data discs yields something far more interesting: a remote hacking tool. Much like a bug for a phone, it can create a direct link to a system...if it is physically placed on one of the computers that makes up a part of it.

Searching the med bay yields piles of labeled medications, and very advanced surgical tools. A combination laser scalpel and dermal binder, to cut somebody apart and put them back together without leaving a mark (useful for sneaking parasites out of people). Sprayable IVIG, human clotting factor. Delicate stuff, but direct application can mean the difference between somebody bleeding out or not (the closest the 21st century's got to a speed-heal).

When one of the people stays upon an innocuous bottle marked 'retcon,' Jack speaks up. "I'd- leave that. That stuff's trouble."

Although, a moment after he says that, he beats a retreat up a set of stairs towards what looks like an office. "I'll be right back, I think I've got stuff to carry this all..."

Chiaki's had enough experience with Hacker to recognize the device for what it is, and quickly stashes it away. This kind of thing should come in handy later, for places like the Lunar Gate and the Moon Base. Not to mention allowing her to work on projects at Palitutu's Lab remotely.

"I'll work on copying as much as I can over to some blank storage media."

And that's what she's going to do next. She might not be armed with the best Jobs for it, but she knows her way around systems well enough to copy what looks important.

Sparks isn't sure what all of this medical equipment does. While most of it looks ancient to him, it looks light years beyond a lot of Crystallis's tech, so he'll take it all.

"Good thing we stumbled across this place. Considerin', um, y'know, recent circumstances."

They were going to need everything they could for fast healing now that magic didn't work as well as it used to.

That innocuous retcon bottle is getting shoved into a pocket when Jack is turned away. You can't say things like that to someone and expect them to not be curious.

Duster has no idea what any of this does. There are pills, so he assumes they're medical. Scalpels? Common doctor's tools. He wonders if he would be of any use in this world.

"Anything I can carry?" He turns around to show the pitiful amount of supplies he recognized and picked up.

Given their recently regained mortality, and not knowing about Jack's circumstances in this world, Mary casually followed after Jack as he ran up the stairs. She wasn't suspicious of him or this place, but she wasn't inclined to let him run off on his own either.

She turned the penlike device over in her hand as she went, trying to get some idea of what its purpose was. She called out to him before entering the office, giving him some warning, "Jack. I found this. Can you tell me what it does?"

Duster has grabbed quite a few piles of medications, not all of which originated on Earth. Anything that turned out to be allergic to humans was disposed of, but Owen Harper kept around a few things that were actually useful. The bottle that is only labeled with a series of numbers is a very effective pain killer. But, Owen never figured out how to make it stop turning the subjects' skin green for about 24 hours after administration. The antibiotic that's mixed in with the amoxicillin sometimes has a hallucinogenic effect (depends on the subjects body mass). And the bottle labeled 'for Dr. Owen Harper's personal use' is an instant hangover cure.

Chiaki will find a lot of interesting files mixed in with the rift manipulator programs that Jack wants. A lot of archive files: video files of Jack explaining some of the various alien races and pieces of technology that Torchwood encountered. Also a curious audio file marked 'IN CASE OF CYBERMAN INVASION.' Listening to it does not seem to produce any audible sound however.

K'pandolu discovers that someone has been naughty. There is a hidden holster underneath one of the desks that holds a gun that looks unlike anything from Eorza or Crystallis. It's definitely a pistol. But where do you put the ammunition? (As an energy pistol, some of the abilities of Archer or Gunner that require physical ammunition will not work. However, The gun's base damage is a lot higher.)

Jack, meanwhile, walked up to his own office and he paused in the doorway. From Jack's perspective this whole place was destroyed. Maybe he could-

Before he can talk himself out of it, Jack moves to one of the desk drawers. What's the most important thing in here for him? Pictures. Toshiko, Owen. Gwen, and one of Gwen and Rhys from the wedding that no one remembers. And Ianto. It's his favorite of him and Ianto, A still shot that Toshiko had pulled from the overhead security cameras. Jack's hand rests on Ianto's shoulder, who has his head tilted into it in an affectionate gesture. A second of intimacy that they didn't usually allow themselves around the rest of the team.

There are two more underneath that stack. A black haired woman with a young blonde boy that is obviously her son. And an incriminating one of Jack that is far older than it should be standing next to a woman in a wedding dress. Taking these, it's a comfort but it's also a message.

Jack doesn't look up from the photos when Mary follows him up. His fingers are still gently resting on the face of the one of the woman and the boy. He looks up as if she pulled him from his thoughts. "Sonic screwdriver," his tone is light almost to distracted. "The most basic of Time Lord technology from the Doctor and we've spent a century trying to duplicate it and that was the closest we got. Open any locks, it works a lot better on metal doors or electronic locks. Wood," Jack shakes his head and laughs an unhappy laugh. "Never quite got the hang of manipulating that."

Jack has been wearing the tie that he received for Christmas around his arm like a knight's favor. It was Ianto's. But it's seen some battle damage now. The edges are frayed badly and now there is a charred spot in the middle from that Ultima spell. Jack unties it from around his arm and leaves it in the drawer right where the photos were. He closes the drawer and pauses again. To anyone else it would look like he's just staring off into the distance. But his fingers idly tap on top of the desk. Four times. Five times. Then six.

It's impulsive and rash and terrible and goes against absolutely everything that Jack has been trained for. But when he looks back up at Mary, he finds that he doesn't care.

"That- friend that you said I reminded you of. My idea of impulsivity was close to his. If you had a chance to go back to keep him from dooming himself? If that was what was through one of these portals? Would you take the chance?"

Edited (Shut UP, Jack) 2016-08-25 16:42 (UTC)

Maybe the same kind of place Machinist ammo goes? Although she's not really the person to ask about that. Still, the pistol could come in handy. Hopefully no one here will miss it too much, as she takes it, and turns to the others. "Are any of you much hand with these?" If anyone wants to take it, she'll poke around the desks a little more to see what else is looking interesting there.

That gun catches Sparks's eye, and he walks over to look it over. It's different than the kind of energy pistols he's used to, but it's close enough. He actually breaks out into a grin while inspecting it.

"Huh. Never saw this model before. Looks antiquated, even. But it's still way better than anythin' that shoots bullets."

He spins it around on his finger in a blur to show off a little.

If Duster knew about the hallucinogenic side effect, he would have dropped that container without regard to where it would roll off the table. Instead, the rules of adventuring take over: take every interesting item you come across and store it. One can never know when it will come in handy.

This is how Duster came to have five bottles of pain killer.

"I have some medicine here in case we run into danger.

Mary took note of what Jack was looking through. Photographs were another thing beyond her time, and while she'd been made familiar with future developments by other Heroes and by different things across Crystallis, she didn't really have the connection to make. She could tell they were important to him though, and that's what mattered.

"Sonic...Seems like a useful tool. You're sure it's alright if I take it?" It'd certainly be of use. Especially when she didn't have her Thief job equipped. Her voice remained light but she watched the way he moved around the room, the care he took with the tie, the tapping on the desk. She'd ask him about this, but not until later. His every movement in this room felt almost too...sacred to interrupt.

She was silent for a moment as she considered his question, her eyes going to the photographs, the desk drawer. He'd lost someone he cared about, someone who was still alive at this point. That's what she could read from this. Spinning the sonic screwdriver in her fingers she slowly paced around the perimeter of the office.

"I might. The temptation is there. To be honest I didn't think much of him when we met. The man was impulsive and greedy and put other people's lives on the line for his own sense of profit. Seemed he was trying to find a way to get rich and prove himself to his wife's father, but the longer he spent at sea the further he drifted from her and the grander the treasure he found himself seeking to bridge the gap. All he really needed to do was go home, I expect."

Finding the button on the sonic again she gave it a tap, nodding at the little whirring noise it made.

"Hunting the Observatory became his obsession. I tried to encourage him to work with the rest of the Brotherhood, that our goals were aligned even if different. I expect the Sage I was chasing was the one who wound up landing him in prison. And Edward wouldn't have even escaped if it wasn't for the rescue that was mounted for my own sake." She sighed, remembering the look in his eyes in those last moments.

"I don't know what he did from there, but I don't think I could do any more than I have to try to save him. I suppose the real temptation would be to find a way to remain in that world and then replace myself when the time came, but that would mean turning my back on all of you and the situation on Crystallis. I couldn't count myself as an Assassin any longer if I did that." She bit her lip. She drifted a bit from his question, but she had an answer for him.

"When we wound up in Aqures Tosf, you warned us to take care of doing anything that might alter the future. That trying to intercede in historical events might change things for the worse." She recalled a few Heroes being frozen in crystal when they tried as well.

"The Creed states that 'Everything is Permitted.' When Kenway first heard it he laughed. Called it an invitation to do whatever he pleased. But that's not what it means. It's a call to be wise. In life we may make any decision we choose, but that doesn't mean it's without consequence. Just because you can do something doesn't always mean you should. The freedom to do something is entwined with the responsibility of understanding and accepting the consequences."

Slipping the screwdriver into her pocket she looked him in the eye, "If you do what you're thinking, no matter how happy it makes you, can you live with the consequences of it? Can your friend live with it? Can everyone you know live with it?"

Jack listens very carefully to Mary's story, her tone pries his eyes away from the photographs to get his full attention. Situation wasn't quite what Jack had thought, but he can all too clearly see a man drifting further and further away from his goal by doing what he thought would lead him closer to it.

Everything is permitted? "There's no- rule set for how we do things at Torchwood. I have been making this up as I go along for the last century and a half." And in that moment Jack gets a faraway look in his eye that makes him seem very old.

He puts a hand to his own chest. "Either way, I don't get to reap the benefits of this. This isn't to make me happy. I still have to live with what I did. One wrong choices that lead to an even more wrong choice. Because I didn't know the cost."

Jack looks back down at the photos that he holds in his hand. "Maybe that's what I actually wanted. If I knew the cost, would I still make the same decision? Maybe all I'm doing is giving myself the chance to make the same mistake all over again. I can live with it. I always live with it."

"But he can't live without the consequences."

So, it's wrong, it's terrible, it goes against everything that Jack has ever done before. But he is still going to do it. He shuts the desk drawer and very carefully tucks the photos into the inner pocket of his coat.

"Keep the screwdriver." Jack smirks. "You'll get more use out of it than I ever did."

Jack finds the crates that he had come up here for, and after a moment of thought, he opens a panel behind his desk. There are a few pieces of tech that required his handprint in order to be able to unlock, which he sweeps into the bottom of one of the crates. Muttering something about an idea.

He gives one last smile to Mary, as if to try to convince her that he's okay. Really. "Thank you."

Jack emerges from his office, too distracted to notice where some of his compatriots have hidden pilfered items. He holds up the packing crates that Duster asked for, "This should help us transport everything back."

Lydia and Betel-po, on the other hand, have found one last discovery. It looks like a data drive, something so insignificant that Chiaki passed it over, but for some reason it's calling to Lydia. If she ever explores what's on it, she'll find a backup of the legacy of Toshiko Sato, including her final message to the team, one that she knew would be delivered after her death.

Jack plunks the crates down on the top of a table. "Maybe we should go check the...." And then he trails off, staring at one of the monitors on Gwen's desk, the one that is showing the CCTV of what is happening above on the Plas. His entire face lights up, and he whispers a single word.

"Doctor......"

With no other explanation, Jack takes off running the way they entered, charging up the stairs at full speed.

Edited (.) 2016-09-04 22:18 (UTC)

Event || Revelations

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