[Yvalia] IHA Safehouse

The girl had walked into the warehouse, her pupils dilating to adjust for the sudden lack of light. Each step made a muted tap ring out against the concrete floor, with the occasional shff of boots on discarded paper. A sudden noise made her glance behind her- with a mechanical whiriring and the screeching of unoiled wheels on a metal slide, the garage door began to slide back into place. Was it keeping others out, or keeping her in?

With a normal citizen, it was unlikely that they would find anything of value here- Would this SOUL be any different?



The brown-haired girl scanned the room, looking for anything of interest.

A quick glance at the floor revealed that it was a concrete one coated with sawdust and other particles. In the areas with standing objects like racks or boxes, cobwebs could also be found. Most of the paper was torn and illegible, but one paper had printing too large to have completely faded away: Warehouse inspected, foreclosed, condemned.

Her search eventually lead her to a small cardboard box about the size of a large kleenex box. Picking it up and inspecting it revealed two dessicated insects- cockroaches- and a black-and-yellow tube, about 7.6 cm in length. The girl's eyes adjusted to be able to read its label: Rat Poison (Emetic). Oddly, the bottle seemed brand new outside of some teeth markings on the cap- further investigation would reveal that the bites did not puncture through the plastic. Inside was a scentless white powder, about 30 milliliters. Looking further around the room revealed similar bottles scattered around the room- all of them were in an unusable state, either chewed through with its contents spilt, or open and empty.

Any other containers or shelving had nothing immediately apparent- outside of what she had already found, this warehouse was apparently completely empty. That is, except for one place she had yet to check- the small office space in the back, the entrance of which was hidden by a stack of forklift pallets.

The girl stepped into the room.

Click

Sensing her presence, a light flickered on, illuminating a large mirror as wide as a person and taller than the girl and a desk made of some cheap wood. It was dirty, rickety and off-center, but the contents upon it were the true star of the show.

The first to catch the Hannah's eye was an odd looking device, a two-fingersleeved open-finger gauntlet meant for the left hand.



On the wrist was a small rectangular object- possibly a battery- which was wired and ran across the right side of the device towards a donut-like circular object that rested where the back of the hand would be. Attached to the right side of the circular device was a timer in red, which currently read 00:00. A rubber coil ran from the front of the circular object down to the side of the thumb and back towards the wrist. Where the gauntlet ended on the index fingerhole was a small metallic box bearing an insignia of a white and orange triangle. The entire gadget was varying pitches of black- although it looked like there were inactive lighting aspects to it.

The second item to catch Hannah's attention was far less complex, a black slip of paper or plastic- on it was an RSVP to an event in the Satie estate addressed to one Madame Robin Altea. Oddly, the event was only named as "The Event"- no other information was given except of the host, Eric Satie, and the invitee he was issuing it to.

There was a third item which, without the provided illumination, was so small it would have likely been missed.



A ring about 7 millimeters in diameter. Inscribed on the sides were translucent blue oblong rectangles that conformed to the curve of the ring, made of either plastic or glass. The bottom and top thirds of the ring were cut into, and the middle had tiny blue teeth almost impossible to see. On the inner top side of the ring was a small circle that protruded slightly outward, which housed a smaller plastic white circle similar to an audio jack. Based on the other objects on the table, this one was the most likely to be the earpiece.

Hannah placed the earpiece in her right ear, which fit snugly in her earlobe, out of sight. The foreign intrusion oddly did not irritate her, as if the moment she had put it in, it had ceased to exist. Indeed, looking at the mirror showed no sign of the earpiece.

"Where can I find your notes again?" The question rang out in the abandoned warehouse.

A small bit of static feedback, then a voice responded- a young male with no distinguishable accent and a professional tone.

"Confirming installation of COMM device No. 86. Patching of agent to advisor will begin shortly. Please hold."

3 seconds of silence passed before the static feedback reappeared: this time, the one speaking was a woman with a hint of an imperial (British) accent, just enough to give her speech an air of poshness.

"Good morning, Ms. Lorken. Or should I say Ms. Altea?

My name is Elizabeth Crawford. I'll be your advisor for the course of the mission. My job is quite self-explanatory: I point, you shoot. I will also update you on any further circumstances as they appear during the mission and act as a second pair of eyes in case anything goes awry.

While I'd love to chat, time is a precious commodity. So, if you have no urgent questions presently, please locate and equip the other device so that I may instruct you on how to use it."

"Ah, wonderful. Someone with tact." Elizabeth's voice had a hint of slight relief, as if she had been holding her breath and had let it out after Hannah's response.

"Now-" The sound of the shuffling of paper- "-Look at the holograph generator at the center of the device. At this moment, it should be lighting up- ah, there it goes."

The chrome ring glowing with a dim light teal color in a striped pattern on the top and simultaneously creating what appeared to be a pane of solid light at the bottom center. Hannah could feel the slight hum of activity ingrained into the back of her palm.

Without warning, the light from the bottom of the ring shot upwards, encasing Hannah's left hand, her arm, her shoulder- eventually it passed her eyes and continued outside of Hannah's field of vision, fully encasing her body. Then, it slowly receded, returning to the bottom of the ring, and after a few seconds, the light completely faded.

Hannah Lorken: -29 Prana

"Good. It's working as intended. Ms. Lorken, may I direct your attention to the mirror to your left."

Hannah Lorken was the same as always, brown hair, brown eyes- except for one thing: her ensemble had been completely changed. In lieu of the diamond-holed grey tunic and maroon cloak that she normally wore was a black pinstriped tuxedo with a white button-up undershirt and a dark blue tie that fell to her navel. Oddly, looking down at herself, Hannah only saw her regular clothes- but when she looked up she only saw herself in a business suit staring back.

"Look at you, all dressed up to kill.

The device you have just equipped is the CG-14. It functions as an automatic disguise kit for the user, using light refraction to allow them to mimic the apparel of any persons of your choosing. For example, disguising yourself as a gardener will not only mimic their uniform but the dirt they might have accumulated on their person. Unfortunately the device does not perfectly disguise you as the person- facial reconstruction is hard to accomplish without reaching the uncanny valley.

There are three restrictions to this ability. One, the person you wish to mimic must be immobile and in contact with the device for at least 15 seconds. For this issue, I recommend rendering the person immobile through various means. We'd prefer this to be through unconsciousness- We'd prefer avoiding unnecessary casualties, but if you deem them necessary to the success of the mission they are still within the realm of possibility. Furthermore, should you wish to return to your business suit disguise at any point during the mission, you need only to put your finger on the device and keep still for 15 seconds. Make sure you do this away from prying eyes, as instantly changing clothes is generally seen as a suspicious activity.

Two- well, rather, two and three- there is a cost and cooldown to using the device. The exact cost seems to vary from person to person, but as a SOUL, you should be able to gauge about how much it costed. The cooldown is there to ensure the device does not overheat: once you've taken a disguise, it will last for 15 minutes.

And finally, a bit of personal advice. While it is true that clothes make the woman, note that you will likely need to sell your part to others to truly blend in. Act like you belong, and others will not see anything wrong with you being there."

Elizabeth went silent. If Hannah did not respond at all, this silence would last for a good minute before the advisor spoke again, in a lowered and more urgent tone.

"Allow me to be frank with you, Ms. Lorken. For you, this mission's primary directive is to deal with Mr. Leone and recover the government files. For Trinity Inc, it is to test CG-14 in the field. However, if the field test goes wrong, there is another device they are field testing. The small box on your index finger- you may have seen it already? That is IG-28, a self-immolation device meant to erase all traces of an agent if they've been compromised. I would not suggest touching it even if you are a SOUL- if it doesn't immediately incinerate you, it's likely highly painful.

IG-28's existence was supposed to be kept secret from you and it is a huge breach of contract for me to inform you. If you deem the device to dangerous for your own good to equip, I will not blame you. You may then leave the device here. That said, note that you and only you have control over IG-28 and can choose to activate it on your own terms. The device only responds to the wielder's touch, and cannot be activated invasively by any known means."

Elizabeth took a deep breath that could be heard over the earpiece, obviously winded from the long speech she had just taken.

"That is all Ms. Lorken. I will answer any questions and brief you further on the situation en-route."