We Care for Your Safety

[applesaucemod]

Protecting the city from the rifties -- and the rifties from the city -- is a full time job. That's never been more true than it is today, when there are metaphorical (and sometimes physical) fires to put out all over Manhattan. It's been a rough time at ROMAC in general; most of the organization's people are unfamiliar with the specifics of the recent animal attack, but even those who don't know that a number of prisoners guests of ROMAC have gone missing in the last few days (or that the computer system is still compromised) know that something has thrown the organization into disarray.

Unfortunately for ROMAC and fortunately for certain other people, ROMAC's resources are spread thin by whatever's put the Rift in a tizzy. As large as the organization is, though, there's surely nothing to worry about from the handful of malcontents at large in the city.

Surely.


[OOC: And here's the thread for taking down ROMAC! There will be a couple of player characters on ROMAC's side (check to see whether their threads are open to all before tagging in, as they may have limited availability due to prior plans), and anyone in need of 'enemies' to tag against can request an NPC from the mods. Have at!]

Comments

[for Gabriel]

[bibliophale]

Ordinarily Aziraphale would have looked at this human-built organization causing mortals so many problems and shrugged and said That is the way sometimes, gone on about his angelic duties, thwarting, saving, illuminating where possible.

But no longer. The rules here are sufficiently distinct (or entirely devoid). The mortals here are his friends, perhaps even his family. ROMAC has caused trouble enough. They resorted to kidnapping a man's infant children to blackmail him into kidnapping another child. Enough is enough; the place must go.

Word has spread quickly, as words often do, that ROMAC's resources are spread rather thin, that certain rifties are going in and sabotaging whatever they can find, reclaiming their agency, displaced though they might be; choosing a moral high ground over freely offered comfort. It's heartening to see.

What sort of angel would he be if he did not partake?

Thusfar he has mostly been assisting the escape of those ROMAC has employed who are nonetheless not part of ROMAC's corroded machine. It's only when he ventures down lower, down to the area where Melanie had been kept, that he starts to sense more worrisome things. Little bursts of energy - not strong enough to be Lucifer, and it certainly wouldn't be Crowley, the old serpent will have gotten himself to high ground by now most likely - but someone powerful is smashing about, and he isn't sure he likes it. Could be Rashad. Rashad works for ROMAC, doesn't he - no doubt he'll be upholding their ideals to the bitter end, bloody inconvenience that he is.

He ventures down lower, down into what appears to be a wing of laboratories, puts his hands on his hips and tries to ascertain the source of the surges.

[has_a_horn]

ROMAC is falling apart and Gabriel isn't going to let it fall without having a hand in it. Iman and Rush are probably somewhere upstairs, but he's going to start where he can make the most impact. He flies into a lower level and starts working his way down. There are people being kept here and he releases them as finds them, either by forcing the doors or shorting out the electronic locks.

He doesn't ask why they're imprisoned. He just gets them out.

When he goes down another level, the cells are there, but they're empty. Some are larger, some have clearly been improved and fortified. This is definitely where they are building the new angel cages. Where a level up he'd been working methodically, here Gabriel just starts pushing through walls. His cage had had it's source of power in the wall, and he doesn't want to miss anything.

[bibliophale]

Oh, now, that is very recognizable power. Aziraphale startles a little to feel it, then drifts instinctively toward it. An archangel in wrath is never an archangel he wants to be around, but the circumstances are highly unusual, he supposes a little stretching of his comfort zone is in order.

"Gabriel," he murmurs when he discovers the shorter yet infinitely greater angel. His presence is rather worrisome, though Aziraphale knows he'd better not mention it aloud. Aziraphale is there to help those who need it. Gabriel is actively contributing to the destruction. "I didn't know you had a stake in this."

[has_a_horn]

Gabriel pushes through a wall as he becomes aware of Aziraphale on the same floor. He's more or less covered in a fine layer of plaster dust, which in place makes him look pale and worn. But while in motion he looks more like the center of a storm.

As Aziraphale arrives, he steps into the room and pushes into the next wall. In this one he finds circuitry, but not the kind he had seen before. For some other creature then? It doesn't matter. A surge of power runs through his hands as he rips it from the wall. By the time he drops it to the floor, it's a hunk of metal.

"They were going to build more angel cages. We both have a stake."

[bibliophale]

Aziraphale blinks, baffled at the thought. Cages, to hold them? For what purpose? What damage have they done? He looks Gabriel up and down, stunned by his appearance, by the ruthless destruction - he's seen angelic destruction aplenty, doled out some of his very own, but never quite like this.

"Are you sure they weren't meant for Lucifer?" he ventures uncertainly. Crowley might be included in that, and perhaps Rashad - well, only one of those he'd take issue with, but that he's confident he can handle.

[has_a_horn]

Trapped in a cage with his brother. He'd never hear the end of it about the irony.

But there's clearly some information that Aziraphale is missing here. Gabriel pauses in his destruction long enough to throw a withering gaze in Aziraphale's direction. Could he really be so clueless? "They're meant for me. I broke out of the last one, so they had to put together a better mousetrap."

[bibliophale]

"Wh-" He sputters for a few solid moments before drawing closer. "But why? Didn't they understand what you-" He waves a hand to make up for his difficulty articulating, and it's as though he can hear Crowley huffing in exasperation, probably with a roll of his eyes behind those shades.

Of course they understood. Gabriel frightened them, and they took action. He's never been cautious about who knew what he was, but now he sees firsthand the true danger he could have been putting himself in, the darker edge of human fear and curiosity. That they could contain one so great as Gabriel-

It's horrifying to imagine.

He sets his jaw a little firmer. "How can I help?"

[has_a_horn]

"Go help people out. I can finish down-" At that moment, an enormous thump shakes the building, followed by a tremendous roar. Gabriel looks up, as if he's worried that the concrete above them might crumble. When it doesn't, he looks back to Aziraphale. "Same plan. I emptied cells a floor up, but I bet people are going to need more help to get out. I'll go find out what that was."

[bibliophale]

Aziraphale looks up when Gabriel does, equally startled. He's a little nervous to leave Gabriel at the mercy of whatever that was, but, well, he can take care of himself after all. And helping people is rather more his speed.

"Don't hesitate to call if you need me for anything," he says, and whisks himself up to where the liberated prisoners are.

[omnomnom_feels]

He must feed. Though he did not suffer much direct damage, Rashad's scuffle with the tiger-bird-dinosaur drained a good deal of his energy. After sealing the door to the basement level on which he left her, noting the regrettable thumping and tearing he can still hear on the other side, he finally lets his fires die out and considers his next move. The panic he can distantly sense in the building above him is not ideal, as he would prefer to remain combat-effective, but in the absence of other options it will have to do. If he is very fortunate, perhaps he will find anger he can take instead when he gets there.

Even as he turns from the door, however, he senses something else closer by that commands his attention. Rashad hesitates, head cocked as he listens/feels/tastes for something beyond human senses.

"Who is there?" he calls.

[has_a_horn]

Gabriel turns the corner to find what he might ambiguously call a man, but feels considerably different. He stands braced for an attack if it should come, because even if this man is a rifty there's no knowing for sure whose side he's on.

"What are you doing here?"

[omnomnom_feels]

What turns the corner is certainly not human, though it wears a human body. The incongruity of something celestial taking a host rather than manifesting itself directly confuses Rashad's senses momentarily; he would expect this behavior of a devil, but this does not feel like a devil.

"...You are an angel," observes Rashad, his flat tone devoid of the surprise that should come with the statement. "Why are you in that man?"

[has_a_horn]

"We were very close," Gabriel answers deadpan. He's not really in the mood to be playing twenty questions with some strange celestial force, and he really doesn't like how his own question was ignored.

This whole place makes him feel edgy and on-guard. Tearing it down feels amazing, but it doesn't negate the fear and anger that he associates with this place. If this thing is here to do anything but help people, he needs him out of the building. He tries again. "What are you doing here?"

[omnomnom_feels]

It is not an answer, but even Rashad is able to understand the hint that there are more important matters to be addressed. He does not know who this angel is, what kind of pantheon he is actually from or what his intentions are, but he sees no reason to be dishonest. It may even transpire that this angel is an authority figure to whom he can give his services, though it is by no means safe to assume this is so in a city where certain other angels keep company with demons.

"I am defending this place," he replies. "There is little enough order in this city. Assist me."