Open ACME Retro

[Julie Justice]

Julie listened with great interest to the conversation between @Ivy and @Kid Kidman. She was very curious to learn more about the mysterious young woman who was part of their group. Julie and Zack (@Agent Z) had tried to talk to Kidman earlier, before they left for this field trip. At first, Julie thought that perhaps Kidman was just a little shy around strangers...or in new situations, which was understandable. Julie felt that way too sometimes. Like when she first arrived at ACME. But Julie hadn't wanted to pry too much.

But as she listened to the conversation between Ivy and Kidman, she felt that it was more than just shyness, or nerves. Something must have happened to Kidman to make her so wary, and mistrustful. But Kidman seemed comfortable talking to Ivy, and that was good.

Julie still liked Kidman. She seemed like a very gentle person. Julie was starting to think that she could be happy here at ACME, and whatever her personal history had been, Julie hoped that Kidman could be happy at ACME, too.

 

[Agent Z]

"Climb up the stairs and you'll see us lil'bro, and watch your step!"

Zack followed Ivy's instructions and made his way up the stairs and across a few buildings to where the other Junior Detectives were.

"-thugs on the street."

"Thugs on the street? Sounds like a tough life you had. I just run from the neighbor's pitbull when he sees me on my skateboard."

The detectives continued on through the shortcut and found themselves in the town square, close by was the schoolhouse where they were meant to meet up with Mr. @Nace Bilby.

"Reporting for duty!" Zack greeted, seeing the firearms teacher, "What are we doing today?"

 

[Julie Justice]

Julie was glad to see her young friend Zack (@Agent Z) again. Zack was so friendly and outgoing, and had always made her feel so welcome in her short time at ACME.

But now, Julie was happy to be on the move again, and tried to enjoy the short walk to the old schoolhouse where their instructor @Nace Bilby was going to give them a lesson in various types of firearm lessons. Julie was fine with that. Back in Ohio, her one uncle and a few of her cousins liked to hunt occasionally, just for sport. But that didn't bother Julie too much. Whatever they got, the brought home, and made into various products, which they eventually ate. And Julie's mother was a park ranger and police officer, too. And Julie and her family were all very "territorial" and had no problem the idea of using a gun to defend themselves, someone else, or their property, especially after the house that she and her mother had lived in was broken into. Still, noone in her family had ever shown her how to shoot. So this formal lesson would be her first, and she was a little nervous about it.

She *thought to herself*:"No, Julie, don't do that. Don't start doubting yourself now. You've done well so far today. You can do this too."

When they reached the schoolhouse, and Zack (@Agent Z) greeted their instructor, (@Nace Bilby) Julie decided to adopt a little of Zack's confident and enthusiastic attitude.

 

[Nace Bilby]

(OOC: I'll allow some time for other students to arrive and the like.)

Nace heard Goliath start barking before @Ivy , @Agent Z , @Kid Kidman , and @Julie Justice arrived in the schoolhouse.

"Hullo everyone." Nace said, in a cordial sort of way, as he approached the four Junior Detectives, with Goliath at his heels.

"While we wait for the other students to arrive, feel free to familiarize yourselves with the displays on the tables." Nace continued, indicating the long tables in the room, each of which had several different mockups of different mines, grenades, rockets, and even a couple of artillery shells.

"What you see here are various sorts of explosive munitions." Nace said, holding up a disk shape plastic model of a landmine, about four inches in diameter, "For instance this specimen here is a PMN antipersonnel mine which is one of the more prolific mines in the world."

"While waiting feel free to look amongst the models here. If you encounter an unxploded bomb, or UXB, or a booby trap in the field attempting to disarm it should be a last resort. Contact your local bomb squad to handle these." Nace continued, "You've not encountered any of the booby trap simulators I've set up around the town, because you've not had this class yet. But be warned you'll run across them throughout your trip from this point forward."

Nace put down the demonstration mine and held up what looked like a glass ampule with liquid mercury in it, two wires ran from either end of the ampule. "This is a mercury tilt switch, I presume you know what it does? Zack? Care to enlighten your fellow junior detectives about this basic aspect of technology?"

Nace hadn't meant anything malicious by calling on Zack to discuss the mercury tilt switch, but he knew the lad had quite the talent for technology as well as languages, and wanted to see for himself.

 

[Sophie]

As the majority of Junior Detectives acquired their bearings and acquainted themselves with the environment, Sophie took time to print the details of the excursion onto a weathered log: the individuals present on site and the estimated span of buildings they were to ply. It was an antiquated process but one that gave her the opportunity to watch the group as they busied with various objectives. When she was done and had keyed in a set of commands into the surveillance software of the training arena, she turned down the ventilation systems and exited the refitted storage facility, securing it behind her.

The steps that led back down onto the desert floor were steep and glaring white in the sunlight. Heat transferred from the painted steel alloy onto her hands and she squinted out into the distance, surveying the landscape from her elevated point-of-view before jumping free of the final three treads to land with a soft thump.

Slipping her sunglasses back on, she turned to the awaiting figure, lightly tossing him a bottle of distilled water before dusting her hands.

“You’re late.”

She began to walk, brushing away hair that clung to the perspiration at the side of her face.

“Ennai is set and the Juniors are heading to Nace Bilby...”




[fieldset=Approved Character Mention:][with]1[/with][/fieldset]

 

[Agent Z]

"This is a mercury tilt switch, I presume you know what it does? Zack? Care to enlighten your fellow junior detectives about this basic aspect of technology?"

Zachery Monaghan took a moment to look at the small object in Nace Bilby's hands. He had never seen one before, but had read about them online. A Farsi website he found while researching Deepnet channels talked about how they were volatile for car bombs and that an additional safety mechanism like a timer should be used.

"Mercury tilt switches are used as a sort of trigger mechanism. It's gravity driven, so when the drop of mercury inside that glass ample reaches touches end of the wire it sets off the device. The design makes it extremely stable when in a sentient object. There are no exterior sparks to set it off or interfere with flammable gasses nearby and it's resistant to corrosion... but it would probably stink if it was in an item that moved or shook like a vehicle. I guess that's what makes it right for landmines."

While Zack wasn't sure why Nace asked him out of all of his classmates, Zack was secretly hoping it was because he was already doing really well in class.

"Will the booby traps we encounter be based on PMN mines?"

 

[Julie Justice]

Julie was very intrigued by the items on the the tables. After Nace had set the PMN antipersonnel mine down, she went over and looked at it more closely. Then she walked around a little and looked at some of the mock mines, grenades, rocket launchers, and artillery shells.

She would almost have said that she was enjoying herself. Then she heard their instructor @Nace Bilby's comment, warning all of them that there were different types of booby traps set up around town that they just hadn't encountered yet, but they would from now on. And she had to admit that made her a bit nervous. But she tried not to show it.

Julie was reassured when Zack (@Agent Z) knew the answer about mercury tilt switches being a kind of trigger mechanism. Not that she was surprised that he knew that. Zack was one of those super-smart people that seemed like he knew everything about everything sometimes. Surely that is why Nace asked him that question.

That is why they were all there, after all: to learn information that they hoped they would never have to use, that they might need to know someday.

And Julie was ready to learn this information like everyone else, and believed that she could.

 

[Nace Bilby]

"Mercury tilt switches are used as a sort of trigger mechanism. It's gravity driven, so when the drop of mercury inside that glass ample reaches touches end of the wire it sets off the device. The design makes it extremely stable when in a sentient object. There are no exterior sparks to set it off or interfere with flammable gasses nearby and it's resistant to corrosion... but it would probably stink if it was in an item that moved or shook like a vehicle. I guess that's what makes it right for landmines."

Nace smiled faintly, and said, "That is mostly accurate. Typically this sort of device is used to kill bomb disposal types."

Nace pointed to a fuse well of a larger anti-tank mine. "Placing a mercury tilt switch into the fuse well of this mine would booby trap it, forming what is called an anti-handling device."

He added, "And you are right, regarding mercury tilt switches, shaking or moving tends to trigger them and generally triggers the explosive. A far more specific example would be @Ivy and her propensity to kick, and or shake vending machines rather violently. A booby trap based around that would entail connecting a mercury tilt switch to an explosive charge, and then when she shook said hapless vending machine it would explode."

He cracked a half-ironic smile at his own joke before fielding @Agent Z 's other question:

"Will the booby traps we encounter be based on PMN mines?"

"That would be what you Yanks would refer to as 'metagaming'." Nace replied, "Booby traps are limited only by the creativity of their inventors."

He held up what appeared to be a cylindrical landmine on top of a stake. "This is a POMZ-2 type landmine, generally triggered by tripwires. However simply pulling one of these out of the ground could be hazardous to your health if it has a grenade with a pin pulled out planted directly underneath the stake."

Then he indicated a pair of thin metal plates on a nearby table, held apart only by thin hollow squares of balsa. Each of the plates had a wire attached to them, and one wire was connected to a battery and the other to one of the mock artillery shells.

He struck the topmost plate with his fist, causing the two plates to close together, closing the circuit. A loud siren sounded from inside the hollowed out mock artillery shell. Nace separated the plates and said, "That is an example of a pressure plate, a common trigger of what are called victim operated IEDs. Generally these are triggered by someone stepping on them or driving over the top of them."

She would almost have said that she was enjoying herself. Then she heard their instructor @Nace Bilby's comment, warning all of them that there were different types of booby traps set up around town that they just hadn't encountered yet, but they would from now on. And she had to admit that made her a bit nervous. But she tried not to show it.

Nace noticed @Julie Justice seemed a bit nervous, but kept that at the back of his mind.

He also noticed @Lee among the students looking through his various mockup munitions.

"Right, does anyone have any questions at all?" Nace replied.

 

[Julie Justice]

"So, all these "booby traps" that you've set up for us will be examples of everything we've learned about today, right? There aren't any more surprises for us are there?" Julie asked asked.

Yes, Julie had been a bit nervous earlier, but she now she was determined to succeed.

 

[Chase]

[fieldset=Written With:][with]11[/with][/fieldset]

Slipping her sunglasses back on, she turned to the awaiting figure, lightly tossing him a bottle of distilled water before dusting her hands.

“You’re late.”

She began to walk, brushing away hair that clung to the perspiration at the side of her face.

“Ennai is set and the Juniors are heading to Nace Bilby...”

Baking, intolerable desert heat in the summer months was one of those things Chase Devineaux enjoyed. It tested a level of tolerance to the elements that he missed now that he was no longer a field agent. That said, ice-cold water was always welcomed.

With his shirt, Chase wiped perspiration from the bottle for better grip. He popped open the cap, and drank before considering his next words.

“Are the Juniors having fun?”

“They're warming up.”

Stretching in the glare, Sophie Conrad watched the swaying motion of the bottled water as it disappeared, “When did you arrive?”

“I landed about fifteen minutes ago,” he answered, “Long meeting, did I miss much?”

“You missed some,” brief amusement flitted across her features as she recalled how Lee Jordan had announced his successful set-up of a camera and how Ivy Monaghan had found a shortcut through boarded windows, “They have been doing well.”

“That's good to hear.”

Holding the bottle by its neck, Devineaux slowed his pace as they neared the schoolhouse, “And you?”

“It's nice to be out of the city for a bit, even in these conditions.”

“Your communicator is dark,” she observed with a small nod in his direction, tapping in gesture, somewhat absently, at the angular device hanging from her neck.

“Ah, right,” taking out his communicator, he looked at the settings, “Made it untraceable while I was travelling.” With that, he switched between screens to view the map and chuckled as he counted the dots. “I see you have yours on tracking.”

“Yes,” the affirmation was amiable, “It assures the rest I'm still around, even when they cannot see me…” Then, she laughed, the sound low and short, “...like a baby monitor.”

He considered her reference with raised brows, “You have children?”

She stopped then, all at once mortified by his question, “No.”

The denial had come out a little too enthusiastic and she took a breath to moderate her following words: “Do you?” Yet, it seemed a silly question to return.

Unsure why he asked, Chase continued awkwardly, “No, I…” There was a pause, and then he attempted to correct himself, “I assumed... 'baby monitor'... others might have used... something else...”

Unsuccessful, he searched his mind for another topic but she had sensed his discomfort, recovering with an easy smile.

“They are children,” she began to walk again, looking back to wait for him, “They need to feel secure.”

Devineaux nodded agreeably, “But they're growing up, and International Crimes might need our help.”

“International Crimes?” a frown formed across her brow, “Was that why you were delayed?”

“Yes,” he smiled, “A low-level crime and possible suspects on the run. Sounds like a good morale boost for the Junior Detectives, don't you think?”

“Hm,” noncommittal, she took a long moment to contemplate a response before asking: “What is the crime?”

For certainty, he turned back to check the information on his communicator, “A... stolen shipment of Japanese Kokeshi dolls."

At that, Sophie laughed, “ACME really does see an assortment of misdeeds.”

 

[Ivy]

A far more specific example would be @Ivy and her propensity to kick, and or shake vending machines rather violently.

"I--," Ivy paused as the instructor went on. Between the thought of defending her hatred of the abominations that were ACME's vending machines and feeling somewhat discomposed, she decided to stay quiet, letting off only a soft indignant huff. She didn't want to miss anything important in the lesson, and so listened on. Nace Bilby continued to describe the other objects, and when he triggered the siren it seemed to be a warning to all of the detectives to stay on their toes.

"So, all these "booby traps" that you've set up for us will be examples of everything we've learned about today, right? There aren't any more surprises for us are there?"

Sensing building confidence from Julie Justice, Ivy had to smile. Julie was the eldest of the Junior Detectives, and she seemed to be a perfectionist in many aspects. If she was alert, there would be few field tests that could stump her. It was a quality Ivy hoped she shared.

Unfortunately the redhead was more than a little distracted at the moment. While Nace's lesson went on, she noticed Chase Devineaux and Sophie Conrad approaching. They spoke in a friendly tone as instructors did, though they stood nearer to one another than what would be considered usual. The director held a cold water bottle to his neck, and said something which seemed to amuse the Survival Skills Instructor. In the back of her mind, Ivy knew it really wasn't any of her business. As a Junior Detective, matters concerning her superior's personal lives were off limits. Especially when she was supposed to be paying attention in a lecture. Right.

She cleared her throat, hoping her inattentiveness went unnoticed.

[fieldset=Approved Character Mentions:][with]11[/with][with]1[/with][/fieldset]

 

[Julie Justice]

Julie was very focused on listening to the lecture, and learning everything she could from it. When something was important to her, she could have a "one-track-mind" sometimes. Sometimes, it seemed to be only way she really learned things, depending on what the subject was.

So Julie was *startled* when the siren *went off* like everyone else, but she wouldn't say that she was scared by it. Sirens, she knew. Sirens, understood. Every Wednesday morning, back in Ohio, in the northern part of the small town she lived in, they tested the emergency sirens at the nuclear power plant that provided power for many of the towns and cities in the county her small town was in. She lived in a different part of town, but was still close enough to hear the sirens.

In the brief moment after the siren went off, Julie glanced over @Ivy. Perhaps Ivy was a bit annoyed by their instructor @Nace Bilby's earlier comment about Ivy's temper toward vending machines, and how that kind of "shaking" might trigger certain explosives. Julie could tell that Nace was just trying to be both instructive and humorous. But clearly, Ivy didn't like being singled out in that way, and Julie understood. There is a very thin line between choosing to ignore the small things that someone may say or do, to show that you have reached a certain level of maturity, and standing up for yourself, and insisting that people treat you with respect. And Julie was "walking that line" all the time with Lee Jordan, especially since they arrived here on this field trip.

But it seemed like Ivy was distracted by something else, too. Julie glanced out the window, and saw their Survival Skills instructor, @Sophie. Julie had talked to Sophie a few times before they left on this trip and liked her very much. Sophie was walking and talking with the same man she had been talking to in The Lobby earlier this morning before they left. Julie hadn't met him yet, but she didn't have to meet him to have the distinct impression that he was in charge. As she watched them, she could see a certain "energy" between them, as she had seen earlier. But she wasn't going to say anything about it.

Julie couldn't help but wonder why these two "important" people were showing up here together. She hoped it was good news.

Julie turned her attention back to the lecture.