Event OOC - Dogged

[apocalypsehowmods]

Dogged - OOC

This is the start of our Arc 2 finale, and it's going to take a little bit of a different format. Characters will be learning some damning information about ADI and deciding the fate of the organization and its main NPCs. Whether that means completely destroying the organization, keeping it as it is in some capacity, or starting their own organization. The mods are prepared for most potential outcomes at a very broad scale, so players should feel free to press NPCs for information and discuss amongst themselves what they think the best options are. Players are highly encouraged to engage other PCs as this will ultimately go to an OOC vote and options will be based on the broad strokes the mods have foreseen as well as any specific suggestions made by PCs.

The event will have heavy mod interaction for those characters wishing to engage with and influence the course of the plot. The second half of this event (in June) will deal with an(other) apocalypse ritual taking place in Wolf Trap, Virginia, so please be aware that is coming, but will not be addressed immediately. There will be opportunities to contribute regardless of any skills, powers, or resources your character may possess. If they can walk around and/or talk to someone, they can play an important role in engaging NPCs. For folks who want to take it a little easier and/or just interact with each other, there will be more general setting prompts. Summaries and content warnings for those general setting prompts are provided below. The timeline for this event will be a bit looser than previous events to allow for players to drive how quickly things are addressed. Prompts related to mod interaction will be available at the time the IC event post goes up.

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➥ tl;dr: Characters will be learning important details about ADI that will cause an upset to the status quo. They will be deciding who lives, who dies, and what the fate of the organization is. In the second part of the event, slated to start in June, they will travel to Wolf Trap, Virginia, to thwart another apocalypse ritual.

➥ Who Let the Artifacts Out: 16 May-1 June
➥ You Ain't Nothing But a Groundskeep: 16 May-Ongoing
➥ Dirty Old Egg-Suckin' Tech: 25 May-Ongoing

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People of Note

Zyrian Steel (he/him) - Zyrian Steel was first mentioned in November 2021 as an awkward and somewhat eccentric tech giant in the world of Apocalypse How who is working on a revolutionary technology called New Horizons. He is also a known client to ADI and has provided them with a good number of high tech machines and software, maybe even things that have directly benefited individual PCs. He and his company, Copernicus, have assisted with job retraining in Wolf Pen, West Virginia, following characters' thwarting of an apocalypse ritual at the expense of the town's major industry: mining. This is not the first time that ADI has requested assistance from Steel to aid those they've helped with his financial and business prowess. Characters have also tied Steel to another avatar, Ava the Lullaby Girl who has attacked ADI headquarters the last two Octobers; although, she was killed in 2022.

Nia Lehrer (she/her) - Nia is the Warden of ADI and has spent her time largely away from the office on other missions around the country or conducting the political maneuvering necessary to keep ADI's operations going and funded. She has a direct, firm, and stoic demeanor. She does not approve of the use of magic, and while she recognizes there are gray areas, she considers herself to be morally corrupt for using some magic-users. She plans to step down as Warden once the current situation with people coming from other worlds is resolved, and surrender herself for judgment to the next leader of ADI. Since offworlders first met her in Quarter, information has come out that Nia bent the rules of ADI by allowing the Visionary to live, rather than killing them when they became an avatar, and has most recently advocated for using fear powers to restore a teen's dismembered arm.

Neil Grace (he/him) - Head of security for ADI, he’s managed patrol assignments and teams for going out to deal with threats. Neil knows the names of everyone under him and approaches most people with a smile and fatherly patience. He’s known for largely being by the book with very few exceptions and a vocal proponent for keeping the ‘civilians’ from mixing too much with the people of ADI. Although a select few know there’s some hypocrisy to be found there.

Rae Hargrave (she/her) - A former field agent, Rae facilitated characters' investigations in Wolf Pen by providing orientation and assignments, and setting up a discussion of discoveries following initial investigations. Following the Wolf Pen incident, Rae was reassigned to replace Reyes Amador as Nia Lehrer's assistant for reasons not widely disclosed. For the most part Rae has kept her head down in her work, though it's been no secret that she was the opposite of thrilled about the change. Most recently, she briefly snuck away from Gloucester to do some recon on the Cult of the Leviathan ahead of ADI's assassination of the lobster-Avatar at its heart.

Pam Ruan (she/her) - HR lady extraordinaire and the most unlucky holiday party-planner in existence. Pam is responsible for managing things for new arrivals, getting them fake documentation, housing, and setting them up so that they can generally function in modern society and at ADI. She is the network admin and was targeted by a Corruption avatar to bring the Hermy the Wormy virus onto ADI's network. As a result, she lost her left hand, but was outfitted with a high-tech prosthetic made by Copernicus. Pam has attempted and failed to throw Halloween parties for the last two years running. Missed out on Christmases due to an unexpected amputation recovery and Eye cult intrusions. Her Thanksgiving party was co-opted by horrific things last year, and she accidentally introduced cursed chocolates around Valentine's day. Pam is a very unlucky woman, but those who have met her know that she tries desperately hard to keep an upbeat attitude and has always been an advocate for helping the offworlders who have turned up at ADI.

Benny Holt (he/him) - The ADI housing groundskeeper. Benny has not appeared directly in any events, but he is a perpetual presence around ADI housing, providing handyman services and keeping everything looking nice. He is a grumpy snitch when it comes to things like curfew and power usage (if he can catch you), and clearly has a grudge against non-native members of ADI.

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Events/Information of Note

• October 2021 - Ava, the Lullaby Girl, attacks ADI. In her parting message, she references a 'Mr. S' who said attacking the organization would be fun.
  
  
• November 2021 - Zyrian Steel announces the launch of the New Horizons project, a software/hardware package that will revolutionize data storage capacity and transfer. Steel promises instantaneous wireless data transfer regardless of location.
  
  
• April 2022 - Zyrian Steel appears on Saturday Night Live and has all the charisma and comedic-timing of a bog leech.
  
  
• June 2022 - FYRE, a major mining company collapses, after ADI foiled the apocalypse ritual attempt by FYRE's leader. "All across Appalachia, the mines close, people are sent home, and the future is a frightening and uncertain thing, too vast to fully wrap the arms around. [...] There's a tomorrow coming, thanks to ADI's efforts, but whether it's a bright one? Well… the rain comes and it goes. And there's always a storm brewing on the horizon if you look out far enough."
  
  
• August 2022 - Tech company Copernicus steps in to help with decommissioning the existing active mine in Wolf Pen and is pouring money into retraining those in the town in a variety of technology and renewable energy sector jobs.
  
  
• September 2022 - Zyrian Steel's flagship company, Copernicus, is noted to be assisting in the rebuilding and retraining efforts in Wolf Pen, WV. In addition, ADI sought financial assistance from a benefactor to help with creating a new body for one of the non-native members of ADI to aid in breaking her from her connection to the Eye.
  
  
• October 2022 - Copernicus provided ADI with Lucidio Eye Masks and training on how to use them to aid in lucid dreaming and the fight against Ava, the Lullaby Girl. Some PCs began investigating Ava after her death and discovered that her real name is Amber and she is from the Wolf Trap, VA, area (NOTE: Wolf Trap, VA, is NOT Wolf Pen, WV). She disappeared from that area and the foster care system some 10 years ago.
  
  
• December 2022 - PCs discovered that Ava/Amber, the Lullaby Girl, had a Quicksilver radio, which was designed to provide therapeutic music while sleeping… lullabies. Zyrian Steel was involved in the development of this technology and Ava/Amber seems to have been extremely interested in technology along the lines that Zyrian Steel created later in his career.
  
  
• March 2023 - ADI sent a contingent of agents to Buffalo, NY, to investigate a strange science and art exhibit. The investigation was at the behest of 'a former client.' In her message to all staff, Nia Lehrer referenced the fact that people should travel in groups for safety and that ADI is not a place for lone wolves.
  
  
• April 2023 - PCs discovered that very strange occurrences are happening in Wolf Pen, WV, related to the people being retrained by Copernicus and maybe even signalhead creatures turning up in Wolf Pen.

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➥ Who Let the Artifacts Out?
(cw: existential despair; memory alteration; blood, violence, supernaturally-induced rage; supernatural compulsion; gaslighting)

Someone has unleashed the contents of ADI's artifact storage on ADI HQ, housing, and even Bonnie's Flophouse. These are the items that ADI is still working to try to destroy, rather than anything they've been keeping for a particular reason, so their effects range from mildly annoying to extremely dangerous. They cannot be destroyed by mundane means, but characters are welcome to get creative in how they deal with them. Three generalized effects characters may be subject to are:

1. Mirrors that play out scenes where something happened that a character regrets (whatever that means for them). These can be accurate memories or they can be twisted versions of events or even just imagined scenarios. Scenes will play out with sound in characters' minds. Others looking at the mirror will be able to see and hear other people's scenes of regret and even interact with them.

2. Blood-stained amulets that cause a sense of outraged betrayal. Characters smelling the blood from the amulets will feel compelled to attack anyone nearby in their quest for vengeance against a wrong they don't really understand.

3. Music boxes that, when playing, whisper seeming truths to characters about the people around them. These are actually lies, but the characters will hear the whispers in a trusted voice and feel compelled to believe them. They will also have a very hard time stopping the music boxes. You want to hear these 'truths.'

To request a personalized Artifact effect, respond BELOW with an object and a preferred Entity association.

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➥ You Ain't Nothing But a Groundskeep
(cw: prejudice and discrimination; disruption of home life)

Benny Holt, groundskeeper for the ADI apartments where many characters arrive, abruptly leaves Gloucester, leaving a trail of petty destruction in his wake. On May 16, characters will find they've been locked out of the apartment buildings when they get home from headquarters, that water, power, and internet to the buildings have all been cut, and that there's quite a bit of hateful but not particularly clever graffiti in the buildings' common areas. While turning the water back on will be a simple matter once characters gain access to the locked maintenance areas, Benny's approach to cutting the electricity and internet was quite literal. The needed repairs may be straightforward, but with ADI in chaos, help isn't coming for the foreseeable future.

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➥ Dirty Old Egg-Suckin' Tech
(cw: blood; potential character or civilian death; metal screech noise in the link)

All technology that could be considered high tech turns off without warning including the network and soon after, the final Signal creature left in town emits a horrible noise that causes physical damage and eventual death with prolonged exposure. Characters must band together without being able to hear each other to stop the transmission and save lives by any means necessary, including fighting the source itself.

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A Handy Plotting Form

<p><table style="max-width:600px;width:100%"> <div align="left"><span style="font-family:helvetica;font-variant:small-caps;font-weight:bold;font-size:18pt;">➥ CHARACTER NAME</span></div><div style="border: dashed 2px #572f86; width: 600px;"></div><tbody><tr><td width="600px" align="left"><div align=justify> → <b>Canon</b>: → <b>What ADI Department(s) Does the Character Work In?</b>: → <b>Permissions</b>: <a href="URL">HERE</a> → <b>WHO LET THE ARTIFACTS OUT?</b>: → <b>YOU AIN'T NOTHING BUT A GROUNDSKEEP</b>: → <b>DIRTY OLD EGG-SUCKING TECHNOLOGY</b>: </center> </table></center>

Comments

QUESTIONS

[apocalypsehowmods]

[shurajodo]

sorry i'm unclear, is bonnie's going to be hit by the power/internet/etc cutting or is it just ADI housing that was hit?

Re: QUESTIONS

[hellojon]

Could Elias use his creepy Eye powers to see who let all the artifacts in Artifact Storage loose in the first place? He wouldn't tell anybody who did it, but he would absolutely just like, slip a twenty to whoever released the artifacts and tell them who's room might be a good idea to put certain artifacts in.

[failedpromise]

Soooo... with the reveal of the whole thing with Zyrian Steel, will Cortana be suffering any ill effects specific to her due to being a robot and the help that was given for her construction?

If she had some tech savvy friends take a look at the more advanced stuff in her body, would they find anything wrong?

Re: QUESTIONS

[musicdied]

So, does ADI stock or have access to explosives, and would they authorize them for use on the signal tower monster?

Also, is it only Copernicus-derived tech that's shut down? Or is it a complete high-tech blackout for the entire city again?

utilities outage

[semilethal]

before i make any plans or step on any toes inadvertedly, can donnie work to restore the utilites to ADI housing? canonically he gets his family situated in the sewers with power, water, wifi, etc. even accounting for some leeway given that his particular canon iteration is a little fantastical, donnies are usually doing that in most iterations and can repair sabotaged utilities no problem

would that be okay?

[rainestorms]

Since Nia brought up Reyes, I want to make sure I've got my facts straight about them before I reply to her.

Eda has told Raine about Reyes. Raine knows they're an offworlder close to Bonnie, used to work under Nia and was mysteriously demoted. They also have been told some other web-related things by Eda because of Reyes, but they don't know that Eda knows them because of Reyes.

I wanted to make sure I understood what the overall attitude around the ADI would be towards them in the time that the thread with Nia takes place, and if I'm missing anything else that Raine would know.

Re: QUESTIONS

[musicdied]

Would signal jammers have any effect on the signal creature? (Including just annoying it, for distraction purposes.)

PERSONALIZED ARTIFACT REQUEST

[apocalypsehowmods]

Please ensure you have your Artifact requests in by 25 May.

→ <b>Character Name</b>: What is your character's name? → <b>Object</b>: Give us an object that will be cursed. This can be anything provided it's not something enormous in size. → <b>Entity Association</b>: Which Entity would you like the object to be associated with? → <b>Preferred Effects</b>: Are there any effects that you're interested in? These can be very general or as specific as you want to get. → <b>Requested Content Warnings/Hard Line No's</b>: The mods will add cw's that we think are appropriate, but if you have any specific cw's you need, please link your permissions or cw list. Additionally, are there any effects you just do not want your character to experience at all with this Artifact? Things like memory loss, limb loss, blinding, anything really!

[failedpromise]

→ Character Name: Cortana
→ Object: A flash drive, a battery, a charger, or something else tech related. Even better if it's something she could mistake for her own and end up using.
→ Entity Association: Corruption
→ Preferred Effects: Body horror or computer virus stuff?
→ Requested Content Warnings/Hard Line No's: Lol you would have a hard time squicking me.

[shurajodo]

→ Character Name: Gara Ukai
→ Object: Something like bones or taxidermied/preserved things; paper lanterns or a naruko associated with yosakoi. Tattoo guns and old hand-tapping tattoo method tools are cool too.
→ Entity Association: The Buried
→ Preferred Effects: A few ideas! Paranoia, delusions of grandeur, hallucinations of some sort. We're out here projecting. Emotional fluctuations and influence is an idea as well.
→ Requested Content Warnings/Hard Line No's: Nothing that'll come up, but something that I'd like to stay away from is paralysis/being fully aware and awake while in one's immobile body.

[ferriswheelsandfootball]

→ Character Name: Indy
→ Object: A wristband, a pen, perfectly ordinary quarter, or if it can be edible, a power bar
→ Entity Association: the Hunt, the Web, or the Desolation
→ Preferred Effects: Cosmic horror and body horror are fun! Anything to make John’s Hunt avatarness worse is also fun. He’s been haunted by the Web for some time so spider-related shenanigans are also particularly welcome. His biggest fear still remains himself and what he can do, and is afraid of hurting those he loves or failing them in some way.
→ Requested Content Warnings/Hard Line No's: Nope, anything goes! rip

[hellojon]

→ Character Name: Elias Bouchard
→ Object: A basic boring office supply or recording apparatus of your choice. Maybe a statement itself?
→ Entity Association: The Eye, the Stranger, the End
→ Preferred Effects: The knowledge that you are going to die back home, the Watcher becoming the watched, blindness, powerlessness, anything that plays with the fact that this man is puppeting a stolen body, anything that vibes with the idea of the Not-Them.
→ Requested Content Warnings/Hard Line No's: nothing comes to mind! wreck this jackass

[ruevealing]

→ Character Name: Rue
→ Object: A feathery quill or any kind of jewelry
→ Entity Association: The Stranger
→ Preferred Effects: hello i love body horror and loss of self very much. whether that loss of self comes in relation to their glamour or their sapience, since rue being seen as a beast is such a deep-seated fear of theirs. anything that can tie back into the stranger is a hard yes from me. i happily trust your judgment :>
→ Requested Content Warnings/Hard Line No's: Nothing. I am a terrible person so go as hard as you like!

[sneakery]

→ Character Name: K.P. Hob
→ Object: An antique medal from an unspecified war, a brass figurine, a tin soldier, or an old flip-lighter with a stranger's name and rank etched on it.
→ Entity Association: The Slaughter
→ Preferred Effects: I'm always down for psychological effects, body horror, loss of self, paranoia, unreality, that style of thing :>
→ Requested Content Warnings/Hard Line No's: I'd like to give memory loss a pass, but everything else is a go!

[edalyn]

→ Character Name: Edalyn Clawthorne
→ Object: Any sort of little shiny/interesting object she'd want to pick up for her nest
→ Entity Association: The Hunt or the Web, or possibly the Lonely.
→ Preferred Effects: An obvious route would be anything to do with getting more bestial/dangerous. Body horror, loss of self (either in a new way or a something that leaves the owlbeast in charge of the body way), etc.

Another good option/aspect: something related to a more general lack of control/agency/freedom, especially if there's somehow an angle of this is for your own good involved.

Something related to her fear of losing her friends/partner/the connections she's made here could also be fun!
→ Requested Content Warnings/Hard Line No's: Eye trauma and blindness is a bad time for me personally, so preferably none/warned. I'd also prefer to avoid (permanent, temporary is fine) memory loss, or permanent major injury. Especially limb loss, since I'm already planning to have her lose an arm sooner or later.

[clavesregni]

→ Character Name: Caitlyn Kiramman
→ Object: A firearm or something related, like bullets or bullet casings.
→ Entity Association: The Hunt
→ Preferred Effects: loss of self, intellect and empathy being subsumed by the need to pursue a goal at all costs, becoming a faceless mindless pursuer, something along those lines
→ Requested Content Warnings/Hard Line No's: Anything is good with me!

[ployboy]

→ Character Name: Tim Drake
→ Object: an easily concealable weapon: brass knuckles, knife, stun gun, gun gun, smol bomb grenade thing idfk
→ Entity Association: let's go wild with the options here: Desolation, Hunt, Spiral, Web, and ofc Eye all seem enticing
→ Preferred Effects: he's easy: obsession, control issues either of self or others, loss of inhibitions, have fun!
→ Requested Content Warnings/Hard Line No's: we've done limb loss so let him BREATHE on that front, otherwise all is good here!

[rainestorms]

→ Character Name: Raine Whispers
→ Object: A Maquette, a figurine, a statue or statuette. Something that could resemble or twist into a person. Alternatively, something reminiscent of their time as a Coven Head- instruments, crystal balls, medallions, cloaks, a drinking horn that looks suspiciously like Terra's.
→ Entity Association: The Eye, Web, or Lonely
→ Preferred Effects: A few ideas— Paranoia, anxiety, hallucination, a general return to their lack of agency and feeling/being controlled/watched. Could also play on the fear that their presence puts friends/loved ones at risk of harm. If you can figure it out, feel free to mess with their coven sigil. They've already been magically cocooned once!
→ Requested Content Warnings/Hard Line No's: I'd prefer nothing that would cause permanent loss of limb, sense, or memory. Otherwise, you're free to cause my bard an assortment of trauma!

Re: PERSONALIZED ARTIFACT REQUEST

[gammasystem]

→ Character Name: Bruce Banner
→ Object: Give us an object that will be cursed. This can be anything provided it's not something enormous in size.
→ Entity Association: Flesh, maybe Hunt
→ Preferred Effects: Body Horror themes, Dysmorphia, paranoia, persecution, lack of autonomy and control
→ Requested Content Warnings/Hard Line No's: Permissions

[worthallthis]

→ Character Name: Winter (Bucky)
→ Object: One of the guns in the range or armory, where he'd practice and/or load up for the day. Or one of the coffee mugs in the cafeteria, if they use reuseable mugs. Or maybe a big ole coin he can find on the ground and think is neat? I dunno I'm bad at this.
→ Entity Association: Stranger or Web would be fun given both of them have their hooks in him these days
→ Preferred Effects: Surprise me
→ Requested Content Warnings/Hard Line No's: No mind control of magical emotional manipulation please. Anything else is fine.

[conning]

→ Character Name: Neal Caffrey
→ Object: Something innocuous and associated with dressing well or good personal hygiene - a tie pin, cologne, cursed shampoo…
→ Entity Association: The Lonely or the Stranger
→ Preferred Effects: WEREWEASEL. Whether it’s a cyclical/environmental transformation caused by time of month/day/what the weather is like or if it’s based on his emotional state or some other factor, I leave to you. Neal's specific fears and paranoia after his Neasel adventure are centered on loss of self/self-awareness to animal instincts, or the idea that he would be self-aware but unable to communicate his humanity to others. I'm game for such effects to trade off in terms of his experience. ...Also the idea of him hoarding things in some drawer like a wayward ferret because he Just Can't Help Himself makes me snicker. (
→ Requested Content Warnings/Hard Line No's: only hard no’s for me are symptoms too similar to dementia.

[shurajodo]

➥ Gara Ukai

→ Canon: Handead Anthem → What ADI Department(s) Does the Character Work In?: N/A, new arrival → Permissions: HERE → WHO LET THE ARTIFACTS OUT?: gara's first experience here let's goooo. i aske for an artifact just for him so we'll see how that pans out but i guess we're jumping right into it. i'd like to play with others on this, whether they have an artifact thrust upon them or not → YOU AIN'T NOTHING BUT A GROUNDSKEEP: i don't have much for this because gara's housed outside of ADI but it might be funny for someone to think he was the one doing the graffiti because of shenaningans. wrong place wrong time kinda stuff. idk fuck me up → DIRTY OLD EGG-SUCKING TECHNOLOGY: gara is a very sound oriented person and musical and just kind of noisy in his own way so this'll be ... fun for him. he's never had to communicate like this and will likely get pretty frustrated pretty fast. desperate, after a time, to save his own skin. let's goooo i don't really have many ideas for this tho haha

[hellojon]

➥ Elias Bouchard

→ Canon: The Magnus Archives → What ADI Department(s) Does the Character Work In?: Administrations → Permissions: HERE. Please check it out! Elias is an infomodding creep! → WHO LET THE ARTIFACTS OUT?: Elias has a vested interest in getting as many people marked by as varied Powers as possible. So he'll be causing problems! And by that I mean trying to get certain people to 'accidentally' pick up certain artifacts so that they can get 'accidentally' marked by a Power. This is going to bite him slightly in the ass when he gets his cursed sticky notes + music box. If you want to have a cursed artifact slipped into your room by Elias or want to confront him about the fact that hey, that pencil you let me borrow gave me horrific nightmares, then let's plot! → YOU AIN'T NOTHING BUT A GROUNDSKEEP: The Eye attracts nosy bitches. Elias will help with the clean-up, even if it's obvious that his strengths don't exactly lie in the elbow grease category. But he'll also be poking around, trying to learn more about Benny himself because again, nosy bitch. → DIRTY OLD EGG-SUCKING TECHNOLOGY: remember to save receipts on any doctors visits caused by the Signal monster! He's pretty sure he can swing those under workman's comp. (aka Elias isn't gonna fight the thing but will happily be useless from the sidelines).

[edalyn]

➥ Edalyn Clawthorne

→ Canon: The Owl House → What ADI Department(s) Does the Character Work In?: Investigation + Research → Permissions: HERE → WHO LET THE ARTIFACTS OUT?: For the general ones, I might come up with some scenes of things for her to see in the mirrors (if there's anything specific from her canon you'd like someone to find out, hit me up! I'll probably make attacking her father one, not sure what else.) And if there’s anything specific you'd like her to see, that could be cool too. I have nothing specific for the others, but if you want her for amulet or music box ideas, go for it. For her custom artifact, she's going to be… uncharacteristically helpful. Possibly to the degree of uncomfortably self-sacrificing. If you want to run into her being kind of weird, or struggling to make decisions without inexplicably consulting a magic 8-ball, that would be great. I'll probably have her hang onto it for roughly a week in universe. → YOU AIN'T NOTHING BUT A GROUNDSKEEP: Eda's actually pretty handy; she'll probably help with fixing things and restoring power, although she's glad she's living at Bonnie's. → DIRTY OLD EGG-SUCKING TECHNOLOGY: Depending on where things stand with the ADI at that point, Eda will probably point out this isn't the time to be strict on no powers for the fight; if you can have someone who can fly help take down the 40 foot monster, you might not want to turn that down. People are dying, let her go drop some grenades on the damn thing.