Participants:
| Scene Title | Kick Out The Jams |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | Cardinal and Warren have a civil conversation for once, with no arguments, just plans. It's time to kick out the jams. |
| Date | October 13, 2010 |
Redbird Security: Main Lobby
There's a sharp, professional feel to the main lobby of the building. The carpet is a deep maroon underfoot, the walls an off-white cream that doesn't glare too brightly beneath the recessed lighting in the ceiling. Half a dozen chairs upholstered in a sandy light brown sit against one wall beneath a painting, a print of a Thomas Brill that shows the ruins of Midtown covered in vines and greenery as seen from the rooftop of the Deveaux building. The receptionist's station takes up almost an entire wall on the right side of the lobby, guarding the hallway that leads back into the building's offices. Behind and above the desk, the logo for Redbird Security Solutions hangs on the wall in glossy black.
The central hall continues the same carpet and wall colors to a number of doors. There are four offices, a restroom done in shades of blue and pale sand tones, and a comfortable employee lounge with attached kitchenette. An open doorway in the main lobby reveals a flight of upward stairs, and there's a locked door at he end of the central hall that guards the basement steps.
After a brief call to inform of his impending arrival, Warren walks through the doors of Redbird Security at around 6:30 PM. WIth a casual nod to the usually terrified secretary, he heads into Cardinal's office, leaning against the wall next to the door. "So, I spoke to Rebel. He doesn't feel too confident about his future, but he thinks you're the right person to talk about radio jammers with."
"I heard that he'd finally noticed that he was being manipulated…" A wry comment from Cardinal as he leans back in his chair, hands folding over his chest as he regards Edward's son with a brow's raise, "…jammers, though, we definately need. I take it he told you about the broadcast?"
"He didn't give me much information, but he said some sort of broadcast would be responsible for November 8th. Strangest thing, though, since he told me that, I really thought about it. I know for sure I had a vision, but I can't remember what my vision was." Warren shakes his head, finally pushing from the wall so he can go sit in the seat in front of Cardinal's desk. "He said build a jammer powerful enough to cover a few blocks, but I have a far better idea. I've visited a few radio stations, read up a bit, and I think that if I work with a technopath, we can come up with a way to use already existing radio stations to cover the entire city with a jamming signal. It's just a theory right now, but I think this could work. Use one signal to jam another, then that signal jams another one, and so on."
"Do it. Do whatever you need to, Warren, and if you need money or supplies… the Insitute's given you plenty of those, though, right?" A tight half-smile, Cardinal admitting, "My technopath is out of town, but she'll be back before then. Start working on the mechanical aspects of your plan, and I'll get her together with you as soon as she's back from assignment. That takes care of the radio, then, but there's still television… that's mostly hardlined, isn't it?"
"Television is still mostly hardlined, but it's also mostly digital now. I don't work well with digital technology, it's all programming, modern televisions may as well be computers. But…" Warren looks up at the ceiling briefly, mirror-like liquid flooding from the whites of his eyes as they shift from blue to silvery. "If I can get some sort of signal jammer attached to the major cable stations, and wait until D-day to activate them, it'd be a good week before they figure out what's going on. The radio signal jammers should keep the old unused television signals from working, but I'll have to double check on that. So, our main problem would be satellite dishes. We'd need a way to block the satellite signal from reaching the dishes."
"That's easy," Cardinal states simply, "We have atmokinetics. I'll just make arrangements for a very large storm that day… to interfere with satellite reception. It's spotty at the best of times anyway, from what I understand."
"Alright, then I think we have our bases covered, that should take out the satellite radio stations too. And you're right, the Institute does give me a lot of resources to work with, I should be getting a new arm soon once I'm done reverse engineering something from Hector Steel's technology." Warren raises his white gloved left hand, opening and closing it. "What I'm lacking are people to help me do my work. I mean, I'm building with one human hand, and a mechanical hand that's spotty at best when it comes to delicate work. If you can get me two people, not counting the technopath, this will go much faster. If they don't know how to read blueprints, I can teach them."
"I'll get you two people," says Cardinal without hesitation, "This is an absolute priority. If we let that broadcast through… there'll be blood in the streets. It'll be a disaster of literally biblical proportions. Some of the shit that people've seen on that day…" He grimaces tightly, "It's shit from horror movies."
"I'll look through Hector Steel's machines, they could have some advanced radio technology that I don't know about yet, which could be useful for the jamming. But let me know, as soon as your technopath comes back." Warren starts to stand, but stops himself midway through, leaning with his hands on the edge of the desk. "Oh, and this isn't very important right now, but I've been thinking about some of the things you've said. When you have time, I could really use someone who doesn't work for the Institute, to look through my head. I just… want to make absolutely sure I won't go crazy again."
"I'll… see what I can do." Cardinal regards the other man thoughtfully, and then he nods slightly, "Telepaths're at a bit of a demand, but I'll see what I can do. The jamming system's our primary goal, though, right now. And we don't even have a full month."
"I'll get right on it, I'll map the major radio towers tonight." Warren stands up fully, then pushes the chair in. "We'll be fine, Cardinal, I won't let this happen. Send those workers as soon as possible." Then, he's heading for the door, running fingers through his hair.
"I'll get them to you soon," affirms Cardinal, leaning back with a sigh of breath, "Let's just hope we can pull this off… I've got enough death on my conscience."