Sept 26 - Binary's Office.

[Jayda Nightridge]

Jayda knocked on the door and waited patiently to be admitted.

[Barbara Chronopolis]

While Binary is not normally on campus on Sundays, she had some additional work to do in preparation for Monday's missions. As such, the door slides open shortly after the knock. "Come in."

[Jayda Nightridge]

Jayda enters the room and stands until given permission to do otherwise, at ease with her hands behind her back.

"Hello Ma'am, My name is Jayda Nightridge.. my team leader, Conduit, suggested I speak to you about a technical difficulty?"

[Barbara Chronopolis]

"Ah yes. Please, have a seat if you wish. Water?" She moves over to a pitcher and pours herself a glass. "What is the nature of the technical difficulty?"

[Jayda Nightridge]

Jayda sits and declines the water with a shake of her head.

"No thanks, Ma'am, I'm just fine." She pauses for a moment before continuing.

"On our last assignment we encountered a inhibitor shield around an entire building. It rendered part of my ability useless and we were hoping that there was some sort of device that we could utilise in order to break it up?"

[Barbara Chronopolis]

"I am currently working on a countermeasure to the inhibitor collars but it may not be ready for the mission start time. However, a device blanketing the entire building would require a substantial power drain. Does your current mission plan include disabling the utilities in the target?"

[Jayda Nightridge]

"No Ma'am it doesn't. Though in a standard invasive manoeuvre that would be among the first of the things to take out... having said this though, we aren't military." Jayda said chagrined.

"I should have thought to mention it, it won't happen again. I apologise."

[Barbara Chronopolis]

"Cutting power would seem to be the most logical countermeasure. I might be able to produce a counter harmonic that would interfere with the dampening field but without more time to test I cannot be certain. However, a more generalized electromagnetic pulse should knock out any such devices at least temporarily. Will that cause any additional problems with your team or mission parameters?"

[Jayda Nightridge]

"I will suggest taking out the power to Conduit at the next available opportunity, it would only take me a moment to do so by hand or one of the others with some nifty power or gadgetry to do it." Jayda nodded.

"If that doesn't work and I can find the unit responsible for shield generation will it be a straight forward matter to take it down?"

[Barbara Chronopolis]

"A centralized unit should not prove terribly robust. The required circuitry is quite delicate by most standards and difficult to harden against attack. Even if there is a distributed net, destroying a few nodes should be sufficient to destabilize the field and allow your ability to function."

[Jayda Nightridge]

"Destroy nodules and compromise shield network, got it. Thanks very much Ma'am." Jayda said with a grin.

"May I ask if there is anything else you think I need to consider in regards to this mission?"

[Barbara Chronopolis]

"Keep it simple. On individual targets, go for the weak points, joints to reduce mobility or headshots to disable or kill. If the mastermind is on site and you can control him or her, you will control the entire situation. Do not hesitate to press that advantage if you can seize it."

[Jayda Nightridge]

"Do you think that we will be able to identify the puppet master that easily?" Jayda asked seriously. She noted the reiteration of her basic training already and nodded in agreement.

[Barbara Chronopolis]

"Just about anyone who enacts plans on this scale has a titanic ego. Trust me, this I have intimate experience with." Of course, Binary has never been on an X-Team, but for the moment she does not elaborate on the source of such experience. "The mastermind may or may not be present but I would be surprised if he or she is not readily identifiable on sight. Particularly with your military background, you should be able to identify the signs of a commanding officer among the rank and file."

[Jayda Nightridge]

Jayda nodded.

"Thank you Ma'am, you have been most helpful."

[Barbara Chronopolis]

"I hope it is enough. Good hunting, Dominion."

[Barbara Chronopolis]

Later..

Binary is in her office, her normally spartan desk partially draped with a large flag. A compact device sits on the fabric, performing some sort of analysis.

[Teri Napliotis]

Close inspection of the flag will reveal that it is, for the most part, made up of strands of cocoon silk intricately woven into a fabric and stained with common dyes. In depths analysis of the strands will show them to originate from Tortrix viridana, the caterpillar of the green oak tortrix moth. Trace elements show that the flag was definately handled or carried by Teri, the tiny abrasions of chitin left on it matching the ones left behind in her cell. Fingerprint analysis of the remains shows very few prints of someone who isn't Teri.

[Sara McDohl]

The bookworm sighed, making her way into Binary's office. "You wanted to see me, ma'am?" She asked softly.

[Barbara Chronopolis]

"Ah, Ms McDohl, please come in and have a seat," she gestures to a chair facing the desk and Teri's flag. "I hope you did not have any trouble finding my office."

[Sara McDohl]

"No, ma'am." She said blankly, the girl sat down quietly, looking at the flag quizically

[Barbara Chronopolis]

"Quite curious, isn't it? I was hoping you would tell me more about it. Water?"

[Sara McDohl]

"No, thank you, ma'am." She told her. "Honestly, I do not know much about it."

[Barbara Chronopolis]

Her dark gaze travels up from the flag and bores into Sara's eyes. "I will settle for everything that you do know."

[Sara McDohl]

The girl kept her composure pretty well under the pressure of her instructor. "I do not remember much, but I remember meeting someone...then drawing a blank." She told her without missing a beat.

[Barbara Chronopolis]

"Please do not insult my intelligence. I asked you in here so we could have a civilized conversation. It would have been more expedient to simply have Cassiel strip your memories for any useful information, but I would prefer not to go that route unless collaborative efforts prove fruitless."

[Sara McDohl]

"I am not insulting anything. I, honestly, do not remember much after meeting this girl. I recall her having a greek accent.." She continued.

[Barbara Chronopolis]

"Elaborate."

[Sara McDohl]

"I was taking a stroll in Hyde park, and as I approached a rather large tree, she spoke to me."

[Barbara Chronopolis]

She nods and listens, pouring herself a glass of water as the girl gradually gets into the details.

[Sara McDohl]

The girl looks like she struggles for a moment.. "That is all I can remember... everything else is a blank.. wait! No...there is something else....a parcel..."

[Barbara Chronopolis]

She sighs faintly and rubs the bridge of her nose. "Please dispense with the theatrics. I do not believe that you have suffered memory loss, and even if you have, there is no evidence that it is the result of an exterior agent. At this point in time, I am simply interested in facts, not persecution."

[Sara McDohl]

"Ya'know, obviously you know more about what this means then I do, I have only arrived within the last few weeks, this seems like something that has been a problem. So why not just cut to the chase, and tell me what is going on? I've barely gotten to know maybe ten people here." She told the teacher sternly.

[Barbara Chronopolis]

"Your status is tenuous one at best, and you are certainly not in a position to make demands. I suggest you continue elaborating on the circumstances around this flag, it's origin, and how it came to be flying on campus."

[Sara McDohl]

She sighs and continues.. "I met with Teri the Swarm Queen" she mocked before continuing. "She wanted to give me a challange of some sort to place this parcel on the flagpole. I have no idea what it is supposed to mean, or anything of that sort. I just followed what I was told to do. I was being pulled away from my control. I could feel myself being taken away from my body." She spoke, a bit nervous.

[Barbara Chronopolis]

True to her statement, she simply nods as more facts are forthcoming; no gloating, no victory, just an implacable presence. "I appreciate your candor. What has Teri spoken of thus far, beyond the flag itself?"

[Sara McDohl]

"Something about her return. She wanted to make it clear to the campus."

[Barbara Chronopolis]

"What arrangements have you made to follow up on this little incident?" she gestures to the flag for clarification.

[Sara McDohl]

"Nothing, I get to keep myself. I don't want any part of this nonsense."

[Barbara Chronopolis]

Her lips twitch faintly and she lapses into silence for a moment.

"Allow me to fill in some of the gaps." A holographic display lights up, showing images of Teri, including an international warrant for her arrest. "Teri is a former student who is guilty of raping another mutant on campus. As you have astutely observed, she is Greek, and the victim was another foreign national, while the crime happened on our campus. This makes the case very much of primary interest to the X-Team program."

"You have been reprimanded once for abusing your power on a fellow student here, and have been documented using your power on another unwilling student after that incident in which you aided and abetted an international criminal. I am willing to accept that you were not fully aware of Teri's nature, but that does not mitigate the fact that you continue to abuse your power on campus. Expulsion and deportation would be light punishments under the circumstances."

"Do you understand these facts?"