Issue 1 Downtime

Rob sits in the lounge, sketching out ideas and making notes. From the looks of things it's pretty obvious he's trying to design a feasible way back home.

Ronnie knocked on the door frame lightly.

"Hey." She said very softly. "Need any help?"

"Can you actually help or are you just making an empty offer?"

"'Morning, Mr. Wizard," Daniel said, stretching his shoulder experimentally as he walked in. "Come up with a way to make science kick everything's ass yet?"

"Yes," Rob says, "Unfortunately, we're not going anywhere."

"Please tell me that there's a 'for now' or an 'unless this or that' that you aren't bothering to say out loud."

Will came in and sat down, listening.

Rob adjusts the brim of his hat, "Well, there's a chance, but I don't think anyone is going to like it."

Daniel took a seat, too. "Well, anything's better than here, right? So what's the catch?"

"We don't have the resources," Rob says, "Plain and simple."

"But there's a chance we could find the kind of tech we need," Rob continues, "All we need to do is find an area where we know there's going to be a high level of technology."

"Are you all following me?"

Daniel whistled. "So... assuming the stories we're being fed are true, we're talking a Sentinel factory," he said, sounding grim.

"Our odds would be better with a central control of some sort," Rob says.

"Probably a dumb question, but is there a chance that whatever fluke sent us here... energy flux, unstable wormhole, whatever, is still back at that building? I mean... yeah, the place has to have been stripped by now, but if there's anything lingering, the right energy manipulation might be able to pull it open again, maybe?"

"What level tech are we talking about, here?"

"You could try it, if you want to be thrown into the void of space time to randomly reemerge," Rob says, "And we're talking a pretty high level of tech. And a lot of it."

"It's a long shot but it's our best bet right now."

"I may not be 'boy genius from dimension X' but I'm not too shabby around a beaker and a soldering iron." Ronnie claimed. "So if you told me what it was you needed I'd probably know what to look for."

"Ooh... can we sneak in?" Her eyes lit up a little bit, glimmering with the first signs of hope since she'd arrived. "I'm good at sneaking."

"A high level of tech you say?" Talos mused as he entered.

"If Weaver's message is at all accurate, and she usually is, Tir na Nog may well be the place you need. Why? Because there's one place in Transia above all others that could hide a significant number of people, which just so happens to have a large amount of highly advanced technology laying around. The former laboratory of one Herbert Edgar Wyndham on Mount Wundagore."

"It's worth a shot," Rob says, "Even if we can't find what we need, we might be able to gather allies."

"I'd also like to send some people to go meet with Ms. Valentine. See what she can offer."

"She's certainly closer. And if she's able to keep hidden, she's either got some advanced tech or some magic beans, either of which could help."

"More important is securing a possible alliance with her," Rob says, "We need to be diplomatic here."

"Well, that sounds... ambitious." Veronica said. She wasn't being negative, just a bit worried considering how some people felt about Ms. Valentine.

"Well, at the very least, we don't want to piss her off," Will agreed.

"Her daughter seemed eager to tempt me into going to see her," Rob says, "So I assume she wants something. Even if she's just curious we can use that to get her on our side."

"Well, she wants to see you at the very least. That could be an ace in the hole," Will mused.

"Then I suppose we need to get ready for a field trip, eh?"

"How critical do you think time is, Rob? I really know nothing about time travel out of bad science fiction. Is this something we need to have happen ASAP or, I dunno, the timeline could...snap...or..."

he shrugged. "How critical do you think time is?"

"Oh, who can guess? The rules of time travel are more flexible then one of those freaky Chinese Olympic participants," Rob says, rolling his eyes, "I know I'd rather get home sooner rather then later."

Will nodded. "Alright. Let's get some information, and get ready to move out.

I don't think we should split the group, though--having, say, half of us go to Tir Na Nog and half go to try to find Vickie doesn't seem like a great idea."

"I'll leave the planning up to someone that gives a shit," Rob says, starting to gather up blueprints, "I have more work to do."

"We are, for the moment at least, counting on you," Will said, not ENTIRELY lying.