Open ACME Retro

[Ennai]

Ennai had packed up her supplies into the GMC cargo truck she had driven out of LA and into the desert. It was bulky and less agile than she would have liked, but its tan color mollified its conspicuousness, and it had enough space for all of her supplies. She drove the vehicle back to the medium size building she had slept in the previous night. She had chosen it not simply because it was on the edge of the town, but largely because it had a convenient, open garage attached to it. It was dilapidated and rudimentary, but it had clearly been meant for professional use, and inside the building lay a treasure chest of tools that made much of what she had brought redundant.

Ennai could sense that most of what was in there had been untouched for years. Yet there were signs that someone had disturbed the place relatively recently. There were wear marks on the floor where the minimalist settee designed out of the eighties had been moved. There were anachronistic parts strewn here and there.

She had been sleeping upstairs, not on the slightly musty bed, but on a sleeping bag under the window to the fire escape. Grabbing her black duffle out of the back of her truck she went back inside through the side door she had lock-picked upon arrival. She didn't bother going upstairs and changed into a fitted T-shirt and cotton uniform practice pants. Putting her boots back on she started walking towards the schoolhouse.

She had messaged Sophie, and they were set to rendezvous on their way to Nace's lesson. Approaching the building from it's left, she slowed seeing Conrad and Devineaux closing in on its front. Ennai's eyes flitted between the two. She looked down, a grin lighting her face. Looking back up, she raised her arm, hailing her partner-in-crime down. This was going to be a fun trip.

 

[Lee]

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

Lee looked up from all the gadgets and cracked a joke, "Yeah, when do we get our Batarangs, Mr. B?"

In reality, Lee Jordan was most interested in the pressurised triggers. He was always into toys that do the most impact in the least space possible, and he wondered what other things could be added to the trap.

"I mean, how much pressure is needed for those?" He changed his question.

At the corner of his visual, he could see @Chase Devineaux arriving with the Survival instructor (@Sophie) and another instructor not far behind (@Not-Applicable). His jaw dropped open a little trying to listen in on their conversation.

 

[Sophie]

The amusement of stolen dolls aside, an inkling that the consignment belied its true value began to form in the thoughts of Sophie Conrad—Why would anyone steal a shipment of Kokeshi? It did not seem the sort of particularly lucrative venture normally sought by thieves.

Withal, before she could speak further of her doubts to the Head Instructor beside her, a movement from the far wall of the schoolhouse caught her attention. Acknowledging the sun-kissed brunette with a mirroring wave, Sophie smiled at Ennai, a fellow instructor she had met only briefly before embarking on this exercise. Nevertheless, they had found common ground in certain discussions and had agreed to partner for parts of their lessons.

Taking a moment to glance at Chase Devineaux, Sophie then joined in-step with Ennai as greetings were exchanged and they entered the hallways of the schoolhouse. Away from direct sunshine, the temperature felt far lower in the shadow of ceilings and walls. Together, the trio headed towards where Nace Bilby was conducting his lesson...

 

[Agent Z]

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."

Zack chuckled a bit as he remembered the poor ACME vending machine Ivy put a dent in. Out of all her skills in combat Zack thought her kick was most lethal. A few criminal baddies might even prefer being at the end of one of these explosives than his sister's heel.

"Right, does anyone have any questions at all?"

"I'm ready to go, Mr. Bilby" Zack replied, eager to get onto the field.

He hadn't noticed the other instructors arriving yet, being too revved to get on with training. Though Julie Justice and Lee Jordan asked valid questions and Zack awaited their instructor's answer.

 

[Nace Bilby]

"Yeah, when do we get our Batarangs, Mr. B?"

"I'm afraid such implements aren't issued here, Mr. Jordan." Nace replied, calmly before he set off the pressure plate switch.

"I mean, how much pressure is needed for those?"

"Honestly, it depends. In the case of the hollow balsa wood rectangles, not very much. A light footstep could've set this off. And actually that's how mines and or booby traps can be selective." Nace replied, "By adjusting how much weight can trigger the explosion, one can target for instance heavier military vehicles versus lighter civilian cars. "

Nace noticed Zack's reply to his query on questions, shortly after fielding both of @Lee 's remarks.

"I'm ready to go, Mr. Bilby" Zack replied, eager to get onto the field.

The South African had noted that @Sophie , Ennai, and @Chase were in the area and as soon as he noticed they were heading into the school room he started to type on his communicator to let them know not to go up the stairs.

The students didn't know it, but they had set off a delayed action booby trap of sorts when heading into the classroom. Under one of the loose boards of the staircase Nace had concealed a pressure switch. This had closed an electrical circuit. The circuit was connected to an infrared laser beam at ankle level that was part of a motion sensor system.

Connected to the motion sensor were a pair of mockups of RPG-18 light anti-tank rockets aimed down the staircase, tied to one of the ceiling joists and concealed in the shadows above. If anything broke the beam it would trigger the two rocket mockups.

Instead of firing rockets the two tubes would simply flash brightly with the strobe light in the front and trigger a loud siren. And it was the sound of said siren and the flash just outside the doorway of the classroom that told Nace, and everyone else, that his particular warning hadn't quite arrived in as timely a manner as he hoped.

"Oh bollocks..." the South African grumbled as Goliath started barking in tune with the siren.

"Now that, ladies and gentlemen, is an example of a delayed action booby trap. One of you lot triggered the first part of the trap while coming up the stairs. And evidently others triggered the other half of the trap." Nace said before heading over to the doorway and pulling a wire loose.

 

[Julie Justice]

Most sirens didn't really scare Julie, but this really took her by surprise. She was so close to it. She took a few deep, slow, breaths to calm herself down again. She looked around the room, at her fellow students, and saw that most of them had a similar reaction to hers.

From where she was sitting, she tried to see what was going on in the hallway, on the stairs. But she decided to stay where she was. She was also trying to remember if she was one of the last students to walk up the stairs.

Julie had really enjoyed this class today, and she really saw the value of what their instructor @Nace Bilby was trying to teach them about various explosive munitions they might unexpectedly encounter. And she certainly appreciated his attempt to be creative in trying to teach his students. It certainly had made this lecture more interesting!!

But had he really forgotten that these important instructors were coming to his class today? Or had he expected this class to be finished by now? Julie just hoped that these instructors weren't too upset by this experience.

Julie had to *smile* a little. Goliath might still be just a puppy, but that little dog still had a big bark!!

 

[Lee]

"Honestly, it depends. In the case of the hollow balsa wood rectangles, not very much. A light footstep could've set this off. And actually that's how mines and or booby traps can be selective." Nace replied, "By adjusting how much weight can trigger the explosion, one can target for instance heavier military vehicles versus lighter civilian cars. "

Lee took notes in his head. Just before his head was wrecked by the sound of the siren. He saw the other instructors coming in, but didn't think there were traps upstairs.

Still scratching his ears, he recovered and could barely hear what @Nace Bilby was saying. He only saw the instructor's mouth move then he went to pull out a wire or something.

 

[Sophie]

In hindsight, she had almost heard the metallic click that signalled the closing of the circuit—only a split second before lights flashed and a shrill siren sounded. Of course, Sophie sighed in resigned amusement, wincing slightly at the pitch of the high note emitted by the alarm. Why had she not remembered this as part of the lesson plan Nace submitted?

Looking back briefly to check on Chase and Ennai, she gave them a reassuring albeit asymmetrical smile as the lights and noise stopped. “It seems we have been discovered,” her tone was low and wry, almost fatalistic in jest, before she restarted her climb up the stairs, rounding into the corridor.

With a light step into the adjacent classroom, its door ajar, she arched an eyebrow at the instructor already present:

“Well, Mr. Bilby,” Sophie greeted the soldier with good humour before turning to the gathered Junior Detectives, “that was quite the welcome, thank you.”

 

[Jason West]

Jason climbed the metal steps that led to the building that had been fitted with all the surveillance equipment. After unlocking the thick steel security door, he entered and pulled his sunglasses up onto the top of his head. He quickly turned the ventilation system up and reached into the cooler that was below one of the tables and removed a bottle of water from it.

Upon sitting down in the chair, Jason drank the bottle of water in one quick gulp. He reached down and pulled out his bag that he had packed earlier that morning. "I hope @Eugene understands why I'm running late." Jason muttered to himself. Jason was running late because although he knew his mother loved him, she always had an uncanny ability to find the most inopportune time to call him and want to chat. He quickly pulled the bag open to inspect the contents before slinging the bag over his shoulder and heading to the door.

After stepping outside, Jason quickly nodded his sunglasses back down and with a quick, fluid motion, he pushed them back into position. He quickly locked the door and headed off to meet Eugene at the plane to gather the rest of the weapons for the shooting portion of the trip.

 

[Nace Bilby]

“Well, Mr. Bilby,” Sophie greeted the soldier with good humour before turning to the gathered Junior Detectives, “that was quite the welcome, thank you.”

Nace noticed @Sophie as she walked into the room, "Oh I'm terribly sorry about that. I should've reminded you sooner about the trap coming into the schoolhouse."

"Now," Nace turned to the students, "This latest trap was designed with the lesson in mind to always be on your guard. Just because you entered an area and nothing exploded doesn't mean that there wasn't some sort of delayed action device waiting for you to come out the way you came in."

Then he turned back to the three instructors, after calming his barking puppy, "I'm terribly sorry about that, I should've sent the warning sooner about the booby trapped front entrance. Is there something pressing you want of us?"

 

[Julie Justice]

"Now," Nace turned to the students, "This latest trap was designed with the lesson in mind to always be on your guard. Just because you entered an area and nothing exploded doesn't mean that there wasn't some sort of delayed action device waiting for you to come out the way you came in."

Julie nodded at their instructor's last statement. Julie had always prided herself on being very observant, but then, until now she hadn't imagined that she might have to be looking for hidden explosive devices. But she was here to learn, and that was what she was going to do. Maybe Nace would show her how he did it, if she asked him very nicely.

 

[Ivy]

When the blaring alarm had ceased, Ivy noticed that everyone was gathered together. Nace Bilby seemed to apologize twice for having not warned Sophie Conrad and the others of the alarm, which made Ivy consider his personality. She had not learned much about the South African in the week, but he did seem to have moments of humility, and she saw it as strong need to avoid conflict. Quite different from some other military trained instructors she could name.

"At least we know what it sounds like if we mess up," she spoke to the other Junior Detectives.

“Well, Mr. Bilby,” Sophie greeted the soldier with good humour before turning to the gathered Junior Detectives, “that was quite the welcome, thank you.”

Is there something pressing you want of us?"

There was never a set itinerary for the day, but the students knew that they were being monitored and possibly graded on everything they did, making a surprise appearance of instructors in the middle of a class slightly daunting.