Genosha: For Free Trade: A Break For It

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JP and Artie make a break for it.



The concrete box that they had been teleported into disappeared behind them in a blur, leaving both their friends and the unknown soldiers behind. Neither knew precisely what had just happened; one moment they had been at the rally in New York, shaken by the loud explosions and black smoke from beside the embassy. The next, they had been enveloped in a blue glow, and then the disorienting blackness had pulled them down, up to the moment that consciousness had sunk back in and they found themselves naked and under the guns of unknown soldiers, with no time to do anything but react on instinct.

After grabbing Artie, Jean-Paul ran. It was the only thing he could do in unfamiliar surroundings without risking injuring the boy, who wasn't physically adapted to travel at high speeds. And so he ran as fast as he dared until the sounds of fighting and shouting faded.
Artie held on as the room they'd appeared in (the room they'd appeared in! What the hell?) vanished behind them as Mr Baubier pulled them out. When they eventually slowed he struggled free, abruptly aware of the fact that he was being hauled naked around who knows where. "What the hell, man? Where the fuck are we and where the fuck are my clothes?" he asked, signing furiously, not caring if the other man could understand.

"Arrêter," Jean-Paul muttered, waving a hand at Artie to make him stop signing. The Quebecois couldn't understand him, anyway. "Stop. Marde." He, too, had no clothing, which could make things awkward, if he let them. "One thing only is important, do you understand?" He turned to look at the younger man, catching his eyes and holding them. "One thing only - we must get escape. All else, it is unimportant. We get out, then we worry about other things, oui? There will be clothing we can steal, if necessary, but we need to escape this complex."

"If we find clothes on the way out, can we steal them?" Artie asked, projecting the image against his hand. "I think... if we get some clothes, I can make us look like the guards we saw when we... But I don't think I can pull off two sets of fake clothes and the ID and and and..."
What they needed was a window. Nudity be damned - they'd be no use to anyone if they were simply recaptured. Jean-Paul took a slow breath, though, and nodded. He could see the sense of the boy's suggestion, at least so far as disguises were concerned, and so he said, "Stay here, I will return momentarily." With that, he was gone, moving far more quickly than he'd dared when he'd been carrying Artie.

The Quebecois kept careful track of the turns he took, stopped only long enough to take advantage of two guards whose backs were turned. Breaking their necks much the way he had the one in the room where they'd first appeared, he pulled them aside, out of the main corridor, and stripped them of their uniforms. Donning one, he then folded the other over one arm and locked the door behind himself as he closed it. There were likely cameras somewhere here, more than likely, really. That was a chance he would have to take, though, as he moved back to where he'd left Artie and offered the younger man the clothing, badges still slipped to the collar. "Will this do?"

Artie nodded, tugging the uniform on and then taking a look at the ID tags. He motioned for Jean-Paul to stand still and began to carefully wrap layers of illusions around the man's head before disguising his own face. "can we get out of here now?" he asked, keeping the words up only long enough to be read.

Praying to a God he didn't believe in, Jean-Paul inhaled slowly, nodded to Artie, and then began walking down the hallway with what he hoped was adequately feigned authority. People moved freely through the corridors and Jean-Paul tried to stay out of their way more than anything else, leading the boy and hoping no one stopped them.

A map on the wall at an intersection of four hallways gave him a general idea of where they were and where they needed to go, which had the Quebecois thanking central governments everywhere for standardized fire safety protocols. With the exception of the checkpoints, most of the complex was reasonably easy to move around. They'd passed two on their search for a window, Artie terrified that he'd drop the illusions or just fail to keep them decently lined up with their faces. He left everything else to Jean-Paul and just concentrated on holding it all together as one of the guards on the third checkpoint scanned their ID, matching it to their faces while the other checked a readout on a computer before waving them through. Three steps to clear the corner and, at the end of the hall, a window. Artie really hoped Jean-Paul wouldn't drop him when they flew away. He broke into a run toward it.

Sooraya uses her sandform to escape.



The chaotic whirlwind of sand was almost as fragmented as Sooraya's thoughts as she left the room behind. Behind her, the sounds of combat were already apparent, although fortunately there was no gunfire. The prospect of being surrounded by armed soldiers from seemingly out of no where was enough to force reaction before thought; getting clear long enough to determine just what had transpired to take her from the rally in New York to this unknown, unfamiliar and hostile place.

She had fought for a moment, but all to soon it was clear that it was no use. Staying there and be subdued along with her friends would not have helped things. For the outside she might be able to figure out why they had been transport to this place, find some help or even be able to help someone by herself. So she had dived into the ventilation system and was now trying to find her way outside the strange building they were in.

The ductwork was a twisted maze of passageways, often terminating in sinister looking units. It quickly became clear that she was in a huge complex, and if she was unlucky, she could spend days wondering these vents lost and directionless. The hallways meant danger, but at least they had to lead somewhere.

Finally she has come across a vent that seemed to lead to a hallway that was used quite a lot. It was well lit, the floor was scrubbed tile and often people passed by, often busily talking and gesturing. That seemed like a good choice. The problem was though that if she entered the hallways in her sand form she would be found out immediately. Option two was finding some clothes so she could resume human form and try to blend in.

After some tries she managed to locate a supply room that held cleaning supplies and sets of clean uniform like the ones she had seen on the janitors that were pushing carts around. Sand poured from the grate and Sooraya quickly resumed her human form. A coverall was pulled on quickly enough and some rummaging managed to find her something to tie her hair back with and some kind of kerchief to hide it and her features further. Completing her disguise with some cleaning supplies in her hand, she set out.

Even janitors in high security areas had identification tags, and her lack made it doubly important to try and sidestep any checkpoints. Fortunately, it appeared that her mad rush through the ducts had gotten her out of the more secure sections, seeing nothing but smaller offices and relatively junior uniformed personnel moving in the hallway. As she reached a lobby, one of the Magistrates stopped her with a motion of his hand.

"Hey. You're not supposed to take your break through here when there's a general alert. This is the third time we've posted notifications."

Sooraya thought furiously. "I am sorry, sir. This is only my second day and I have never seen a notification." She kept her face lowered and her voice meek and humble, just like she had addressed her owners once. "And I am not on break, but my supervisor send me... There was a leakage in the guard office at the entrance and her ordered me to go and clean up." Sooraya held up the pilfered cleaning supplies. "I got lost though. Could you point me in the right direction, sir?"

The magistrate looked at her for a long moment, and then spoke quietly into his headset. "Does the alert overlap Sector 19?" After another moment, he waved her towards a door. "Down that way, follow the signs. When you're done, you'll need to get one of the guards on duty to notify us to get back in if the alert is still active."

"Thank you very much, sir. I'll leave this area as soon as possible." Sooraya gave him a grateful nod, her eyes still lowered mostly to the floor. Once she was out of sight of the Magistrate, she quickened her step. Okay, that had been dangerous, but at least it had gotten her in the right direction. She followed the blue signs and paused for a moment at the guard station. She had expected maybe one or guards on duty...

She had not expected the six or seven guards she was looking at now, complete with something that looking like those body scanner on airports and an X-ray machine to scan peoples bags.

The checkpoint moved quickly, but thoroughly. Unfortunately for her, the alert had put the guards on their professional toes, making sure that they weren't caught up in anything that might compound whatever the alert situation was.

"Your identification." The guard barked at her.

Sooraya awkwardly patted her pockets. "I am so sorry, but I think it's still in the break room, sir. But I don't have to leave. There was an alert of a leakage that needed to be cleaned up?" The ruse had worked once... She didn't think it would work again, but it never hurt to try. And she was so close... She could see the sky from where she was standing.

"Wait here." He said, and reached for his comm. "This is Sector 19 front. Dispatch, I need an update on the maintenance log for this area."

As soon as the man reached for his com, Sooraya almost sure the ruse was over. She didn't react visibly, but her eyes quickly took in the check-post, hoping to spot some way she could out quickly...

There was a buzz and the man nodded. "Alright, there hasn't been any spill logged. You'd better come with me, Miss." He said, and reached for her arm.

Fear and trepidation shot through Sooraya as the man reached for her arm. She would not be captured again! "I am truly sorry, sir..." Here her voice firmed up, "...but I don't think so!" With those words she dissolved into sand and rushed downwards, falling back to what had become one of her basic tricks in her arsenal. She forced herself under his shoes and the guard suddenly found himself experiencing the carpetless equivalent of having the rug pulled out under him.

There were shouts as she shifted, and toppled the guard to the ground. Panic rushed through the station, unsure just what the threat was yet.

Sooraya didn't give them the chance to figure out what was going on or to react any further. She simply rushed past them, disappearing on to the grounds...

The grounds didn't mean she was safe yet though. There was fairly little wind, which usually would have made a possible camouflage for a moving sand cloud. Instead she headed into the sparse shrubbery, staying low and among the branches as much as possible so she wouldn't noticed.

It took time but slowly she made her way towards the edge of the grounds, where she was faced with a fence and guards once more. Remaining in sand form this time she used moved low to the ground and slipped under the fence. The guards, thought obviously alert, didn't notice a thing. Sticking close to the houses and low to the ground she hurried until she disappeared in a small alley, the complex fading behind her...