Board Thread:Non-TES Roleplaying/@comment-17114085-20171215205822/@comment-24070327-20180203075639

(This is a long post. I do not plan to make a post this big again. This is only so big in order to thoroughly explain some things. Most of it details Ran getting into and sneaking around the facility. Nothing about it is relevant to the other characters until the end.)

(Short version is: Ran went through a different gate than the Jojo team. Used Mr. Roboto to deal with the guard and then used Mr. Roboto to temporarily hide himself from all of the cameras. But the trick he used will only work until the mainframe undergoes its periodic refresh. So he is trying to quickly find the camera room in order to take direct control of the cameras. He notices a guard (Mathew) with Mr. Roboto and hides inside of a ventilation shaft. He uses a nearby camera to spy on the guard (Mathew) and realizes the guard (Mathew) is sniffing for someone. Thinking the guard (Mathew) is sniffing for him, he turns the fan on cause he believes it might help to keep his scent inside of the ventilation shaft rather than the hallway where the guard is sniffing. Whether it worked or not is the decision of whoever controls the guard (Mathew).)

{Long version is below:)

"This sucks," murmured Ran to himself as he observed an entrance to the Rho Facility. Amidst the thorny bushes and towring trees of the thickest — and first — forest that Ran had ever seen, there was a fence. An electric fence. Wreathed in barb wire. And ingrained into the earth. Like the roots of the tallest of trees.

There was no going over the fence. Ran could not fly. Though he could use Mr. Roboto to swing from a branch. But that would be stupid. The fence was tall. Too tall. Even if Ran did manage to find a branch that was both just the right distance from the fence to allow Ran to swing over the fence and strong enough to support Ran's weight, it would not matter. Because after Ran swung over the fence, he would fall. And the fall would kill him. That was not a fear. It was a fact. The fence was that high. There was no going over the fence.

There was no going through the fence. It was carbon steel. And wreathed in barb wire. And, most importantly, electrical. Normal steel was much stronger than anything Ran could so much as hope to break. Much less carbon steel. And Mr. Roboto was weaker than Ran. So there was no way Mr. Roboto was going to break the fence. Besides, even if Ran or Mr. Roboto could break carbon steel, they wouldn't be able to do so while it was wreathed in barb wire. They'd just cut themselves up and bleed to death. And even if Ran or Mr. Roboto managed to avoid getting lacerated by the barb wire, the fence was electrical! Just getting close to it could get Ran electrocuted. Much less touching it in a futile attempt to break it. Or touching it long enough to manage breaking it without cutting himself on any of the barbed wire. Yeah. There was no going through the fence.

There was no going under the fence. It was ingrained into the earth. Deeply ingrained into the earth. Under normal circumstances, that wouldn't be a problem. No matter how deeply ingrained a fence was, with Mr. Roboto, Ran could dig under the fence. Unfortunately, this was not a normal circumstances. Because he was confident that he could dig under the fence, Ran had considered doing so. Until he realized that, in spite of the fact that there had been no rain as of late, the soil was moist. Too moist. Ran had a bad feeling that, beneath the fence, the soil was just as moist. Or moreso. And if it was, attempting to dig under the fence would get him electrocuted. Possibly fatally. Ran didn't know for sure if moist soil could conduct electricity. But he also didn't know that it couldn't. So he wasn't going to take the chance. So there was no going under the fence.

"I going to have to go through the checkpoint," sighed Ran from behind a tree that was quite a ways from the checkpoint. Said checkpoint was a gatehouse with naught but two rooms. A foyer that lead to the interior of the Rho Facility and a guardhouse. Because of the immensity of the checkpoint's windows, Ran was able to see that the foyer was empty.

He was also able to see that the guardhouse wasn't quite as empty as the foyer.

Unfortunately for Ran, the guardhouse was manned with an armed guard. And not a lightly armed one either. The guard was carrying what looked to be an assault rifle. And there was pair of night vision goggles situated atop of the guard's head. Ready to be pulled over the guard's eyes in a moment's notice. Even with the cover provided by darkness and foliage of the forest, a direct assault was not advisable.

Besides, even if the guard had been carrying a less powerful firearm and or devoid of night vision goggles, Ran still wouldn't be able to afford a direct assault. Without a shadow of a doubt, before the guard engaged Ran, the guard would sound an alarm. Or, more likely than not, Ran would be seen by a camera. The guard would be reinforced by other guards. And the Rho Facility would be put on lockdown. If there was one thing that Ran had to prevent more than anything else, it was a lockdown. If his father's killer really was in the Rho Facility, Ran did not want to give the killer any chance to escape. None whatsoever. A lockdown would alert the killer and thereby give the killer a chance to escape. And Ran could not have that. Ran would not have that. No matter what. No matter what!

"A direct assault is a no-go. Which is fine. More than fine really. I actually prefer an indirect assault. It's what I'm best at" spoke Ran in an insidious chuckle as he withdrew his smartphone from his pocket. Immediately afterward, a usb cord shot out of the index finger of Ran's right hand and into the smartphone. As soon as the usb cord plugged itself into the smartphone, the smartphone immediately switched from off to on. Subsequently, the usb cord lifted the smartphone into the air above the forest's canopy and then tilted the smartphone so that the smartphone's camera was facing the forest.

"Do it, Mr. Roboto!" thought Ran. Not to himself. But to his Stand. Mr. Roboto! Immediately afterward, everything that was "visible" to the smartphone's camera became visible to Ran. As a result, Ran came into possession of a bird's eye view of the checkpoint and its immediate surroundings. With that bird's eye view, and the camera's ability to zoom in and out, Ran slowly but surely managed to locate all of the cameras that were monitoring the checkpoint and its surroundings.

Much to Ran's surprise, there were as many as eight cameras. Eight different cameras! Eight! For naught but one checkpoint. Two cameras would have sufficed. Four would have been cautious. Six would have been paranoid. While eight was just excessive.

Ran snorted at the excessiveness and then wasted no time in getting to work. Using the camera on his smartphone as a visual reference, for he could not see with Mr. Roboto's usb cords and thus needed a visual reference to properly guide them toward a destination or target, Ran plugged a usb cord into each of the cameras and thereby seized control of them. With this, Ran had 9 of his 13 usb cords in use and thereby had naught but 4 of his 13 usb cords to use against the guard.

Unfortunately for the guard, 4 usb cords was more than enough. As a matter of fact, half as many usb cords would have been more than enough. Considering the fact that Ran only needed one of them!

"I know that I could probably just strangle him..." began Ran as he manipulated a usb cord into digging through the ground, passing through one of the holes of the underground portion of the electrical fence, and then digging out of the ground that was directly in front of the guardhouse. Ran then cracked a smile as the had the usb cord slither up the guardhouse with as much hush and silence as any snake. Ran knew that none but a Stand-user was able to see a Stand. But Ran did not know if the the guard was a Stand-user or not. And he wasn't one to gamble. So, instead of betting on the fact that the guard wasn't a Stand-user and just rushing the guard with the usb cord, Ran decided to play it safe and have the usb cord sneak up on the guard.

"...but this funnier," finished Ran as, with a yawn, the guard rolled his chair over to the hole in the guardhouse's window. The hole that would normally be used to hand IDs over to him for clearance. But this time was used as an entrance for Ran's usb cord. Even if the guard had been a Stand-user, he would not have seen the usb cord coming. For the usb cord did not strike until the the guard looked up to inspect the screens that displayed the visuals of the eight cameras. Like the snake it was imitating, the usb's strike was precise and swift. In an instant, it thrust into the guard. Because of its weakness, it did so much as bruise the guard. Unfortunately for the guard, the usb cord was currently going through one of the holes in the electrical fence. Consequently, as soon as the usb cord touched the guard, the usb cord conducted electricity from the electric fence and into the guard.

The electrocution was instantaneous. For naught but an instant, the guard shone like a lightbulb. And then he dropped to the ground like an anchor tossed into shallow waters.

As soon as the guard fell, Ran rose from his position and sprinted towards the guardhouse. With his control over the cameras, Ran prevented himself from being included in the cameras' footage. Just in case. Though the guard at the gatehouse may have been downed, all of the other guards in the Rho Facility were not. And it was possible that the cameras' footage could be seen by more than just the guard in the gatehouse. So Ran kept himself hidden. Just in case. Because of his harsh upbrining as a bastard and so-called foreigner, caution was second nature to Ran. It would have been harder for him to not take precautions than to do so.

"Last part of the first stage," murmured as he slinked to the side of the gatehouse's door and then sent a usb cord inside. Because Ran could not see from his usb cords, even with one of his usb cords inside of the gatehouse, Ran could not see if there was a camera inside of the gatehouse. So, instead of simply through the gatehouse's front door as if he owned the place, Ran pressed himself into the wall next to the gatehouse's door and then sent a usb cord into the gatehouse.

11 usb cords were now in use. Only 2 left in stock.

"Shit," cursed Ran as the usb cord he sent into the gatehouse found a camera. While Ran could not see with the usb cords, he could feel with the usb cords. So it was completely possible for him to simply feel around for a camera. Notably, Ran could have sent his smartphone into the gatehouse and visually looked for a camera. But doing so would have risked the chance of there being a floating phone on film. A risk that Ran was not willing to take. Of course, by this point in time, there was the risk that there was an electrocuted man on film. But that was a risk that Ran had to take. So Ran did.

Either way, as soon as Ran found the camera with the usb cord, Ran plugged the usb cord into the camera and then reviewed the camera's footage. Much to Ran's relief, the camera could not see into the guardhouse. Instead, its view was limited to the foyer. It was a good thing Ran had not simply walked in. He definitely would have been caught on camera.

"Let's finish up stage one," said Ran as he brought his smartphone into the guardhouse through the slot in its window. With his newfound view of the guardhouse, Ran was able to plug his 12th usb cord into the gatehouse controls and thereby seize control of all of the cameras inside and outside of the gatehouse. Immediately afterward, Ran dismissed all of the usb cords that were connected to cameras — as they were unncessary now — and then used the gatehouse controls to open the gatehouse's door for him. With a pose and a yawn, Ran walked into the gatehouse and then grimaced at the sight of the electrocuted guard.

The guard was burned to a crisp. Fortunately, the guard was still breathing. But for how long? Ran did not know. And unfortunately, in spite of the fact that he did not want to care, Ran cared. He cared a lot. The guard was his enemy. Yet Ran did not want the guard to die. Ran did not want to leave the guard as he was. Cause, if the guard was not immeideately provided with medical attention, there was a good chance that the guard would die. For a second, just a second, Ran considered abandoning his mission. He considered taking his leave and sounding the alarm as he did so, ensuring that the guard would be found and given the treatment that he desperately needed. But then he remembered. Ran remembered. His father. The man who sired him. The man he had dreamed of. The man he had always hoped to meet.

The man who was dead.

"That was for my father," whispered Ran. More to himself than to the guard. Subsequently, Ran returned his smartphone to his pocket and then dismissed the usb cord that he had plugged into it. He dismissed the usb cord that had electrocuted the guard and then focused on the guardhouse controls. With Mr. Roboto's power over it, Ran analyzed the guardhouse controls' and thereby discovered that the recordings of the guardhouse's cameras were always saved onto a mainframe of sorts. Probably to prevent the guard from being able to permanently delete footage.

With a crooked smile on his face, Ran used the guardhouse controls' ability to save data into the mainframe as a means of adding data into the mainframe. Ran hacked a code into the mainframe which would cause all of the cameras that recorded him to overwrite his image with empty space. As a result, until the mainframe underwent its periodic refresh, Ran was safe from being recorded.

With that done, Ran used the guardhouse controls to open the door to the Rho Facility and then walked into the Rho Facility's courtyard with his guard up. There were cameras everywhere. Especially around the central building. But, strangely, there were no guards. With a gulp, Ran dismissed the usb cord that was plugged into the guardhouse controls and then sighed in relief after a minute of no alarms or guards. The hack was a success. He was hidden. For now. But for how long? Ran knew that it was unlikely that every camera was connected to the mainframe that he had access. More likely than not, the cameras in more sensitive areas would be connected to a different mainframe. And, of course, there were sure to be guards around. Sooner or later. So Ran kept his guard up. He did not simply frolic about. He did his best to keep out of sight of cameras and used his usb cords to control those cameras that he could not keep out of sight of. He did not trust the hack to stay up for long. So he decided to act as if it did not exist.

It wasn't long before Ran came upon a scanner. Fortunately, a simple touch of Mr. Roboto was all he needed to get pass it and move into the hallway. As soon as he got into the hallway, Ran took out his smartphone out again and then once again attached a usb cord to his smartphone. He then began to use his smartphone as a scout. Keeping it ahead of him. Using it to peek around corners and see what was coming before he got to it or it got to him. In addition, as he made his way through the halls, he made sure to seize control of any camera that he spotted with his smartphone. Though the hack was probably still up, he still deleted the cameras' footage of his floating smartphone.

Just in case.

"So far there are no alarms, but I will take no risks!" stated Ran as he used the camera inside of a room as a means of searching the room without entering the room. Upon seeing that the room was naught but a storage of some sort, Ran unplugged his usb from the room's camera and then continued onward.

The hack would not last long. Ran knew that. Using the smartphone to scout and erasing the footage of it was a flawed method of travel. Even if the guards could not rewind the footage to check to see what they saw was true or not, if the guards saw the floating camera enough times, they would be alarmed. Both of Ran's methods of travel were flawed. So he needed a better one. Ran needed to find the camera control room and seize control of it. Then he could travel without worry.

"Shit," cursed Ran as he caught sight of an approaching guard with his smartphone. Without hesitation or pause, Ran used a usb cord to open a ventilation shaft and then used that usb cord to lift himself into the ventilation shaft. Immediately afterward, after he returned his smartphone to him, Ran closed the ventilation shaft behind him and then plugged the usb cord into one of the cameras in the hall in order to watch the approaching guard.

Not long after, much to Ran's confusion, a number of weird things began to happen. First of all, the doors began to disappear. One at a time. For no reason that Ran could discern. Second, the guard Ran had seen with his smartphone stopped at the camera he was controlling and began to sniff the air. As if he was a dog or something. Fearing the guard was trying to sniff him out, Ran quickly used his smartphone to find the nearest fan in the ventilation shaft. He then plugged a usb cord into the fan and thereby caused the fan to start blowing his scent through the ventilation. Ran hoped that doing so would prevent his scent from descending to where it could be smelled by the guard. But, to be honest, he didn't know if it would work. He just hoped it would.

He just hoped it would.