Board Thread:Non-TES Roleplaying/@comment-17114085-20171215205822/@comment-24070327-20180203170058

(This is written from Ran's point-of-view. So be aware that some of the assumptions Ran is making may not actually be true. He doesn't know about Marcus and Shizuka, so that is disrupting his logic and causing him to make mistakes.)

"Come out wherever you are. You can't hide from me." heard Ran. Because of his position within the ventilation shaft, Ran heard it more through the camera than his own ears. From the camera's footage, Ran could see Mathew walking down the hall. But he could see no one else. Making it obvious to Ran that Mathew was speaking to him.

Mathew knew Ran was here. Which meant two things. Either the hack was down and a floating smartphone had been seen one too many times or Ran's scent had given him away. Ran had not accounted for his scent, a lack of forethought that he was deeply regretting at the moment.

Fortunately, since Mathew was going down the hall rather than looking up at the ventilation shaft, that meant Ran's trick had worked. Somehow, someway, the fan had prevented Mathew from following Ran's scent to the ventilation. Ran was safe.

For now.

But this was a problem. An alarm has yet to be triggered, yet a guard was dispatched? Ran could not help but to consider that odd. Maybe, just maybe, this facility was not accustomed to assault from Stand-users. So the floating smartphone had piqued their curiosity rather than put them on edge. It was likely Mathew had been sent to investigate the strangeness rather than locate an intruder. Which meant that Ran had a chance to disarm this situation.

A plan was beginning to form in Ran's head. It was a simple plan, but a functional one.

First, control the camera's footage. He needed the camera to show Mathew searching for something but not finding anything. That way it would look as if Mathew had been sent out over on a false alarm rather than a legitimate threat.

Second, steal Mathew's radio. Ran heard Mathew's voice, so he was more than capable of using Mr. Roboto to have the radio send a signal in Mathew's voice. With the radio, he could have "Mathew" audibly confirm the fact that nothing weird was going on in the hallway. He could deceive whomever Mathew was talking to into believing that the cameras were simply buggy at the moment.

Better yet, with control of a camera and a radio, he could allow the camera to see Mathew standing in front of a floating smartphone and then have Mathew "confirm" that the smartphone was not actually there. Even better, if the person on the other side of the radio checked to see if there really was a bug in their system, he would find the hack! And that hack would make him believe that the system WAS bugged! Thus "confirming" the entire narrative.

All of the weirdness seen on the cameras were a bug. Nothing more. Nothing less. That was the narrative Ran needed to create in order to continue forward!

Of course, in order for Ran to do so, he had to get rid of Mathew.

"Step 1: Control the Camera. Already achieved," noted Ran with a deep breath as he extended a usb cord from the ventilation shaft, through the wall, down into the floor, and then towards Mathew. Though Ran could not see the usb cord, for it was under the floor thus out of his sight and the camera's sight, he could still feel it. So, as long as he used the camera's footage as a reference, Ran could easily determine where it was.

Quickly but quitely, from below the floor, the usb cord slithered towards Mathew and quickly plugged itself into Mathew's radio with as much haste as a snake that was striking at its prey. Thankfully, because the building was not a Stand, the usb cord had been able to simply phase through its ventilation shaft, wall, and floor like the ghost it was. Of course, if Ran had wanted to go that route himself, he would have had have the usb cord dig a way for him. But he didn't. Cause his range was good enough to allow him to operate from where he was.

"Step 2: Plug the Radio. Achieved," thought Ran an instant before he used a usb cord to remove the door of the ventilation shaft and cause it to begin floating in the corridor. Using the camera's footage as his viewpoint, Ran intended to beat Mathew unscious with the ventilation door. Ran wasn't sure if he could manage it, but it was worth a try before he resorted to a more assuredly lethal tactic.

"Step 3: Take Out the Guard. Commenced!"