2025-03-26 - The Lab in Sault Sainte Marie

Theo was one of those interested in this whole thing—yes, it's a thing. He had been quiet throughout the trip. He was wearing a hot pink T-shirt, blue jeans, and black Converse. He had sunglasses on his eyes and a backpack for anything that might be needed while out there. Once they landed where they were supposed to, he continued to be quiet as he studied that sign that said private property.

Carl was a mess on the way over, if a quiet mess. The ferry always makes him a little sick, but this was something else. Dramamine (always) and ginger chews (on the recommendation of his roommate the captain) took the edge off the worst of that. No, this was mostly nerves. Carl doesn't leave the islands. Spellbound to Fable, Castle to Crescent, even Starlight once in a while where there's not much call for custodians. He's been all over the park in the little less than a year and a half since he started working there, but never back to the mainland, not once, until now.

He was the last one off the boat, visibly steeling himself before taking that last step back on to dry land. Even now as they approach the property he catches himself staring out at that big dry horizon. "It's weird, not feeling it. The magic, I mean. Like having a stuffed up nose or something."

Danny's actually broken out of his usual reclusiveness for this trip. He's even brought help, in the form of Joker the Malinois. "Joker's actually got a lot of useful training," he'd informed the others, in that low voice of his. "And he can look scary, if need be." The dog certainly didn't at the time; wearing a goofy canine grin, tail wagging, glancing between the other participants as if he's trying to figure out which of them might have the ball.

He's got a pack of his own with him, black, with MOLLE webbing. "Yeah," he agrees with Carl. "Feels weird to not be able to handle this by flying over it. I'd give a lot to be able to take that magic elsewhere. Luckily," he says, as he goes down to one knee to set the pack down and rummage in it, "Figured we might run into something like this. Brought bolt cutters."

Joker's peering hopefully at the backpack, as Danny notes, "Not now, buddy. We'll play later." The Malinois whines, before turning to Theo. "No, no one's got time right now," he adds, tone fond.

Trace is dressed in a pair of hiking boots, some faded jeans, and a long-sleeved black Henley under an olive green drab sort of jacket. He's got a small pack slung over one shoulder that has some 'exploring what is supposedly an abandoned property' stuff in it like gloves, a flashlight, water, a spare power pack -- that sort of thing. Dark sunglasses shade his eyes. He seemed comfortable enough on the ferry ride over and in the vehicle, making idle conversation with those that he knows and those he hasn't met, introducing himself as Trace to Carl and Zack.

"I totally have time right now," Trace says when Danny says they don't have time to play with the dog. "I'm happy to sacrifice myself to throw a ball around while you handle the breaking and entering." He grins broadly. "Honestly, I kind of like getting out of the park from time to time. Though, admittedly, I wouldn't mind taking some of my abilities with me."

Having heard about the expedition through roundabout means, Zack didn't take much convincing to come along. Zack, in fact, didn't take ANY convincing to come along. A past marked by a certain amount of, um, "exploring" places where he's not really meant to be displays itself both in the bag that he brings along, stuffed with his EMT first aid kit, a number of items like flashlights, glow sticks, and face masks, gloves, plus water and snacks, and in his clothing, long pants and long sleeves, dark in color without actually being black.

If anyone decides to give him charge of one of the cars on the ride over (he will ask, assuming there aren't drivers already supplied), the people in that car are going to arrive both first by a fair amount, and also at least three years older than they were when they left. A veteran of driving old junkers at triple digit speeds over mountain roads and ambulances through the congested streets of Nashville, he drives like a maniac.

If the decision is, wisely, made NOT to give the eager adrenaline junkie the keys to a car, he fidgets the entire way.

Regardless, pulling in, he's excited to be here. He's happy to meet Trace. He's happy to meet everyone.

Angelo hovers by his brother Dante looking around curious and unsettled when they cross the bubble. He doesn't go to the mainland a lot but he pauses to look at the others, "Anyone else feel weird?" pointedly he consults Danny on that as the other shapeshifter of sorts. He's wearing slacks, boots, and a button up shirt that's even mostly buttoned under his coat; miracle of miracles.

Toward the end he looks around. "Little sad there's not any automatons walking out to greet us, but if they have a vending machine at the end of the tour I'll take it." Repling back to Trace he says "You'vd be surprised at how not-flying makes one feel short suddenly.

Enzo is a frequent island deserter whenever he can manage to leave Spellbound. Or it seems that way anyway. He's even dressed like a hot shot jetsetter in his designer bright red leather jacket, too expensive black t-shirt worn beneath and his form fitted-black jeans and boots. This is his urban exploring attire, mind you. He too has a pack full of gear and those expensive sunglasses covering his eyes, shielding them from the sun.

Enzo, himself, doesn't really make introductions, but he says nothing if he's being introduced to people. To Angelo, he asides, "Trace makes everyone feel short though."

He glances over to the group, "Come on, let's check those chains out." He says of the ones at the gate.

Dante is arguably appropriately dressed for 'trespassing on private property', which is to say, a lot of mostly-sleek black -- long-sleeved t-shirt, jeans, chelsea boots, leather jacket, leather satchel over one shoulder -- but there's a fair chance that's coincidental, since the artfully ripped neck of the shirt is also accompanied by several necklaces which periodically catch the light.

"You are short," he informs his little elder brother (which is relatively, if not strictly, true), taking a thoughtful look around. He's introduced himself as Dante to those he doesn't know, though Joker's the one he seems happiest to meet. Nothing personal, just no one else here is a dog. Currently. He's seemed perfectly relaxed on the trip so far, periodically sketching or making notes in a little notebook, and with a handful of questions for their trip leader and her books of historical notes. "Do we know whose property this legally is? Do we by any chance," a glance at Estella, "have a key?"

When Theo realizes he might be a walking neon sign for what they want to do, he digs through his pack, pulls a black sweater, and puts it over his top in hopes he blends in the shadows. When Joker wants his attention, he does ruffle the top of the dog's head and tells the dog, "We can play later. Promise." He's fond of the dog. Straightening as he looks over at Danny and grins at him.

This is an adventure. Theo loves adventure. He also would introduce himself to anyone who may not know who he is. He's been a part of the park for a good bit, so he knows almost everybody.

His attention is entirely on Estella when she speaks about this property and its history—taking in a breath and letting it out slowly. He does not mind that his magic is not working right now. It gives him a break. Having Empathy magic can be challenging at times. He will follow behind Danny and Joker. Considering Danny is the one he knows best in this little group.

"Smart, though," Carl says, nodding to Danny and his boltcutters. "All I brought was a flashlight." He pats it, hanging from a ring on his belt. It's a heavy-duty number, at least. He takes one last distracted look at the dry land stretching off into forever, then takes a deep breath and centers himself as they step through the gate to the property itself. He volunteered for this, time to try and make himself useful. He hasn't got any tools for breaking and entering, or a first aid kit, or a big friendly dog, but he does have attention to detail. It says so in all his performance reviews.

His eyes scan the property as they go, drifting around the buildings in view and down at the overgrown ground. Nothing sticks out just yet, but he's keeping at eye out.

Joker apparently understands enough even without the benefit of the park's magic to orient on Trace, eyes alight. He whirls around once, does the little tippy-tappy dance. Dan chuckles, indulgently, but shakes his head. "On task, goofball," he tells the dog who does obey enough to come back to his master's side. His tail's still wagging furiously.

"All kinds of weird," he agrees with Angelo. "I've been spoiled by what I can do on the islands. Being stuck human all the damn time feels like, I dunno, not being able to change my clothes."

Waverly's explanation has him grinning, lopsidedly. "Aw, man, and here I was hoping for a little B&E. Maybe even have to kick some doors in." He pulls a couple of headlamps out of the pack, some glow sticks, and a pair of well-worn tactical gloves. The others get offered those spares and then he's straightening and reslinging the pack, settling it comfortably back in place.

The gloves are tugged on quickly, then he pats the side of his leg to call Joker to a proper heel. Joker's still got that anticipatory prance in his gait, like he thinks this'll be the start of a new performance.

The EMT (who is Zack and also is among the least likely in the group to be careful) grins and flashes a thumbs up. He shifts his bag to redistribute its weight.

"Hey, man. It's a pleasure." He hasn't met Theo yet, and flashes him a smile and offers his hand to shake even as the group starts off. His accent is thick, pronounced, and southern (or Appalachian, for anyone who can tell the difference).

He has a spring to his step as they make their way into the woods. He's attentive to the surrounding natural area, both familiar and unfamiliar to him, with a woodsman's eye.

"Aw, alright," Trace says as though Danny had just called HIM the goofball and not the dog. To be fair, he was kind of being a goofball. Then he smirks over at Enzo and says, "And usually the one to bang my head into things," but it's good-natured and a little amused. He lets Joker get back to business but not without a whispered "Later" to the dog.

Then it is focusing time as they begin to head into the property and he starts to take a look around, hands in the pockets of his jacket as they come up on some of the buildings. He does much the same as Carl, walking along them and taking note of anything interesting that he might be able to find or pick up just from looking at them.

Looking over toward Enzo he asks, "So if you were designing a secret lab in the 1800s, where would you put it and what would you make it look like?" Yes, he knows that's not at all Enzo's area of expertise, but he asks anyway.

Angelo laughs with a broad grin to Dante "OooHH fuuuuck yooooooooou, D." He doesn't mean it or he wouldn't be laughing. His brother gets a friendly hip check for that one. "As a note Enzo I have not really done super sneaky ninja stuff since college." Which was so so long ago for him at the decrepit age of 22.

Looking to Estella he offers helpfully, "Well whatever looks like it might in in a building that's got some good space and is pretty sturdy if it's like the other one. Brick-ish building. Possible strong foundation. not a ton of glass. I dunno. It's not like they special order them for use I guess."

Enzo stands there with his hands in his pockets, watching as Estella unlocks the lock, his gaze looking to the others, before he follows the group inside and listens as she explains the history of this place. "I feel as if some of us were given mixed signals." He murmurs, "We're actually allowed in this place." They weren't trespassing at all! Not that he was dressed for sneaking around.

"Who is the caretaker again?" He's curious about the place, giving it a good look around now that they are through the gate and any fencing. In his mind, he's doing some calculations on how much a place like this would cost. He then finally asks, "And are they willing to sell?"

As those closest to him would know, the whole self-contained small city, of course, gets Enzo Castillo excited. "Oh, I can tell you a lotta stories about how they dick you around for rezoning approval." There's a pause, when he murmurs, "This place though, it looks interesting. I'm really curious to take a look at the tunnels beneath." Then Trace asks him a question and Enzo has to give the lay of the land a good, hard look now and he tries to match up the buildings that he can see above ground, "If I recall... most likely something that vents to the surface from underground. That's what we'd be looking for." In fact, that's what he starts looking for now too.

Dante flashes Angelo a quick grin at the fuck-you, and Estella gets a smile when she produces the key. "Perfect, good, thank you. Proper permission and everything." Less exciting? Possibly. But that isn't the flavour of exciting he planned to sign up for.

He tilts his head slightly at Trace's question to Enzo; he's been strolling along with the group and taking in the area, but he pauses briefly to give what buildings they can see a more thorough consideration. "Something reinforced, meant to last. Mine would be, anyway. Not one of those ones that are kinda collapsing... they look too new, anyway." He nods to Enzo, agreeing, "Bunker, that's what I was thinking. Underground, bricks and stone, that's what I'd've gone with. I mean assuming they didn't do concrete yet, anyway. And you'd definitely need those vents."

Theo has been paying attention to what is going on here. But when Zack starts to speak and introduce himself, there's a smile. His hand comes out, which he has not put a glove on yet, so it's bare. He tries for one of those slap, high-five greetings instead of the shake. "You remind me of home. I am from Asheville." If Zack does not recognize the city, he ends it with "North Carolina."

He stays close to the group, but this time, he puts himself between Danny and Zack as he walks along. He's been listening to Estella and the information she's been giving, but now he's trying to track down and see if anything can be found in what Enzo and Dante were discussing. His stroll is slow, so he doesn't miss anything. It's only when he gets to the front, where the buildings are more residential, that he pauses. "You guys, I think people lived here." He then tries to look behind those buildings and squints, lifting his sunglasses to his head as if that gives him a better look. "Anyone else sees buildings or whatnot behind them?"

"These're newer," Carl observes, looking around at the closer buildings. "For a certain value of new, anyway. Doesn't look like anybody's been it any of 'em for a while, though, except for the shed over there." He gestures over in the direction of the aforementioned structure, relatively fresh tire-ruts in the ground leading up to it. "Guess we should split up, look around? Only so many places to check. I'll poke my head in over there, holler if you find anything."

He ambles over to do like he says, pulling the flashlight off his belt and clicking it on as he steps inside and looks around. "Just tools," he calls back to whoever might hear him. He steps back out. "Been used recently, but we knew the place had a groundskeeper. Weird it's so overgrown, but I guess it's a lot for one guy to keep up."

Aw, heck. If that don't beat all." The realization that Theo is from his general neck of the woods is the cherry on top of what Zack is sure is going to be an awesome adventure. "Hamilton County, Tennessee." It's a fair bet that he's from somewhere small, poor, and rural, if he's identifying it by county rather than city.

The suggestion by Enzo and Dante that they might be looking for something below ground is enough to turn him a little more serious, though.

"Y'all got to say something if you feel your head starting to swim, ya hear?" It's an admonishment for the group at large. "And nobody off on their lonesome, right? Them closed in, underground spaces can getcha before you know somethin's wrong. It was a real bad problem when we'd explore the old coal mines, back home." And that's as much of a paramedic lecture anyone's going to get, at least right now, before it's back to the adventure: "Hey, check it, y'all think we'd have more luck getting off the paved road?" He points out a couple of dirt roads gravel paths wending their way into the trees. "Don't figure they had asphalt way back in the day, right?"

Danny snorts at Trace. "I know it wasn't actually secret, but I'm picturing that thing with the tower Tesla built way back when." He gives Enzo a look over his shoulder. "Underground?" Curious, but not disbelieving, by his tone. "And not collapsed?"

"Oh, good," he says to Estella, "I'll be honest, I hope so." He glances down at Joker. "I wish I could communicate with him here like I can on the Islands. I could make him understand what we're looking for."

He starts veering off the cracked asphalt towards a road that's more implied by the absence of trees. Carl's suggestion has him saying, as if he had every right to give orders, "No one goes off alone. We want to split up, we go in pairs at least. Just 'cause we're away from the Islands doesn't mean things won't get weird, not to mention there's perfectly mundane hazards to worry about." A beat and he says, "Theo, you're with me."

A few paces more down that road and he adds, "No paving or gravel here - might be this is an older unused part of the property."

Dante stays where he is a few more moments, considering the space, then moves onward, doing the same. "The asphalt's newest. The dirt roads are probably older than the gravel ones..." He nods to Zack and Danny, agreeing, and moves further down a dirt one, picking his way through overgrowth enough to get a decent look farther in.

"Looks kinda hilly this way. If I were building an underground lab, a hillside'd be a pretty decent place to start it." And that is, apparently, where he intends to go poke around, though it does mean poking through the growth to get there. Which he doesn't look a hundred percent thrilled about. "Gelly, you wanna come with?"

Enzo will take down the man's name anyway. He and his father's real estate development company are always interested in new land investments and this one could prove interesting, depending on what they find. So out comes his phone as they continue to walk the grounds, as he does his notetaking.

As they continue forward, he makes a mental note of the buildings' layout, what year they seem to be built, their structure and so forth. Enzo even draws a sort of map into one of his work apps, just to keep track of buildings that they've passed and make note of them.

Remembering Trace's question, he finally continues answering it, "If it were my lab, I'd put it further away from the road, residential and administration buildings. Just in case, you know? If an accident happens, you don't want to take the other structures down with it." He then looks to Danny, "Yeah, the dream showed underground tunnels and the lab was underground as well. So I figured..." Though Dante brings their attention towards a hilly area, which makes him glance back at Trace for a moment before following suit and noting this on his app.

Trace follows along with the others, taking things in, himself. He looks up into the trees, at the buildings themselves, perhaps looking for security or cameras, anything that might give them some idea if anything on the property was being monitored. "Doesn't look like anyone's super concerned about anything out here anyway. No cameras, no real sign that anything's being monitored." He seems content to follow along the dirt road. Though when Carl points out the tools he says, "Well at least we know where we can get some if we need any. Good find."

Angelo looks back to Dante, "As if I would miss watching you do heist things. So proud." Looking up to the hills he agrees, "Oldest roads have oldest buildings unless they went back to refortify things. Sounds a good plan to me." Looking to Zack he asks curious, "How long you been an EMT and doooo you do house calls in case someone might have something cautiously stupid to try later?"

Looking back to Trace he offers, "I'll take pics of ya if you are feeling disappointingly unsurveilled."

The younger man follows suit when Danny tells Theo he's with him. He does not have an issue with that. Trailing along behind. He does wink at Zack when both he and Danny say the same thing.

Walking along the dirt road to see what they come across. Letting other parts of the conversation wash over him. He does pipe up when Danny points out how there is no paving or gravel, "Yeah, that was the impression I was getting earlier."

He stops when they get closer to those hills, and he steps forward. A hand goes to trace the door. "I am not a pro at breaking and entering, but is this where we do something like that?" In other words, he did not bring bolt cutters even if they had permission to be there.

Carl nods in agreement when Danny and Zack urge caution, trying and mostly succeeding at not looking too surprised at that coming from the daredevil EMT. He falls in with the rest of the group when they settle on a destination, keeping his eyes largely on the ground ahead, mindful now of any ventilation shafts, now that he knows to be worried about falling down one. He stares at the big door when they get to it. "Well," he says, "if I was a secret underground lab, that's probably where I'd be. Wish I'd brought the WD40. Might be some in the shed, or something else to get that open. I can go take a look?" He jerks his thumb back in that direction, ready to start marching in nobody's got a smarter idea.

For some reason, that makes Danny shudder as if at a sudden chill. "Cool," he says, clearly unenthused about the prospect. "Well, least we got plenty of light sources."

"Look at you, planning ahead," he teases Angelo.

Then "Speaking of planning ahead.....one sec." Out of his pack comes something that looks like a crowbar and a war hammer had a baby. "So, Mr. EMT," he says, hefting it. "You ever used one of these?"

Joker's eyeing it like it's the best toy he's ever seen.

"'Bout five years now, give or take, and I surely do." Zack is already taking his phone out of his pocket as he answers Angelo. "You want my number?" He doesn't look that old, which means that probably college didn't figure into things, if he's been an EMT for any stretch of time at all. "Say, that looks promising."

He surveys the tool that Danny offers him.

"Shoot, that's real fancy. Cain't say that I have, but I think I can fake it." It looks... crowbar adjacent, at least. Half of it does, anyway." He flips it around, jams it into the door, and heaves. "... Give me a hand on this? This door's real stuck."

He doesn't look like THAT big of a guy, but there must be something they're putting into the water in Tennessee. The door comes open with a CLONG and a shower of rust and dust and probably asbestos or something.

"That's real handy." He offers it back to Danny. "Coulda used it, back in the day. Where you get a thing like that, anyway?"

Trace chuckles at Angelo and says, "No, I'm really pretty good with not being watched, thanks." He stands back while Danny and Zack pull out the crowbar-adjacent looking device and put it to the door. There's a little bit of nervous energy, just waiting to see what's going to happen and whether it's going to open or not. When it does, with that fantastic CLONG, he can't help but look over his shoulder -- not that there's anyone there to hear them and their banging around in the middle of the woods on this old abandoned property.

"Wow," he says. "That was impressive." He digs around in his bag to get out his gloves and a mask. The mask goes on first, over his nose and mouth, then the gloves go on over his hands as he prepared to go in, fishing out a flashlight that won't eat away at the batteries on his phone.

At Danny's words Angelo preens like a happy little seagull there. "Yup. I know right? It's like learning occurred one of the many times I've smacked myself into the bar." Looking around he waits and watches pulling out his phone at Zack's offer. "Bet. You know I do man. There's never a time a gymnast does NOT want med on speed dial. Plus we know where the good food is at at 4am. Super bonus."

Looking back to Trace he emphasizes looking at him with wide wide eyes breaking into a snicker unable to hold that face for too long. "Okay we looking for evidence like the place in the dream or a round doo-dad with bolts on it old manuals, anything like that yeah? Super cool weirdass door maybe?"

No, Enzo was not touching this door. Even if he had some ideas on how to approach the situation, he'll leave it to the 'experts' to deal with. So with Danny and his pack o' tools and Zack and his EMT... super powers or something, Enzo just observes as they practically barge their way in.

And just like Trace, he dons his mask and gloves and finally removes those sunglasses to tuck away into his jacket pocket. "Looks like we are in. Good job, boys." As to Angelo's question, he thinks, "Anything that might be of use to us?"

"Remind me to learn how to pick locks," Dante remarks aside to Angelo. Not that it would've helped here, but inspiration arrives when and where it arrives. His brows go up slightly watching the breaching, and he nods once when the guys have the door opened. "Nice." Which may be his version of wow-that-was-impressive.

He opens one of the pockets on his satchel and pulls out a small clump of one-use gloves, two of which he hands to Angelo and two of which he starts to put on himself. They're also black. The masks aren't, though. He sighs, pulling them out, but Trace has reminded him and it's probably the smart choice. Angelo gets one of those too. There may be more of either or both if others want them, but apparently only On Request. He does have a flashlight on his keychain, which makes a decent light, but looks to his brother and adds, "Also remind me to get a bigger flashlight sometime. And stop smacking into bars." He's advised Angelo that a million times and does not expect this to be the time it somehow gets obeyed.

Carl laughs in mild disbelief when the doorbuster comes out. "That works too," he says, eyeing Danny. "You overnight that just for this, or you been keeping that on your bedside just for a rainy day?" When the door says goodnight he claps his hands, then claps Zack on the shoulder. "Good job, kid. You too, dog guy."

As folks mask up, he dips into his jacket for his own. Masks and gloves are one thing it's pretty easy for a custodian to come by. He even brought extras, though it seems like everyone's pretty well set. "Kind of wishing I'd got a respirator, but those are tougher to sneak out of the supply room. Should we tie him up outside?" He points to Joker. "If we don't wanna breathe it, he probably shouldn't."

Either way, flashlight on, phone out, into the mystery hole. He sticks close to Zack, either because that's the guy he kind of knows, or because that's the guy who can maybe put him back together if something goes wrong. Not too long into the descent he stops, whistling for attention and angling his flashlight up when they reach a four way junction. He shines the light onto a set of tiles set over each branching tunnel: N E S W, each with an accompanying pair of numbers. "Room numbers?" he guesses, snapping off some pictures on his phone.

Theo will stay with the group he has made of Danny and Zack. He gave a low whistle when they could open that door. "Wow." Theo is not a muscle guy; that is how he took what the two did—pulling out his mask since he was already wearing gloves. His sunglasses get put in his pack for safety as he pulls out one of those small flashlights. It is not heavy-duty, but it will give off some light. At the talk of documenting, Theo pulls out his phone to do just that.

His eyes widen as he tries to observe what will be found here. He's careful in his stepping. He must have paid attention when Estella told them not to enter shark water. This is serious business! When he gets to the grate that is when he starts to take pictures with his phone. Because it looks interesting to him, for one, and maybe they will find answers in that aspect. Take note of the light that seems to come from above the grate. "I think we are okay breathing-wise." He's not a medic, and he's just making a guess when he says that behind his mask. "I'm just unsure how well things will look once we reach our final destination."

Phones with cameras? Enzo has an actual video recorder, one that he uses on the job. No, not at the Park, but his real job as a real estate developer. Though when Estella mentions that this is where the device was to be brought, Enzo's gaze lifts from the recorder to look on the woman, looking thoughtful.

At some point, he will, with gloved hands, feel the structure of the walls and the interior of this place. "Thus far, the brickwork and stonemasonry look to be solid and secure." He may be speaking to the group or having this information be part of the recording, or both. "So far, so good when it comes to the structural integrity of this tunnel. There have been no issues to be noted."

However, once they reach a point where there's a four way junction, all that Enzo has to say is, "This feels almost familiar." Along with, "At least there's no bio-mechanical dogs chasing us this time around."

Zack makes sure that Angelo has his number (especially now that he knows that Angelo is his ticket to the best food at 4am), before pulling out a pack of surgical masks from his bag that he absolutely definitely without question didn't pilfer from the clinic while his supervisor wasn't paying attention because of COURSE he would never do something like that no really, does this face look dishonest to you? He offers the masks around to anyone who wants one. Then out comes his sturdy maglite, the only flashlight that doubles as a club. Or a hammer.

"Yeah, the air in here don't smell too bad," he agrees with Theo, while clicking the flashlight on and shining the beam around, casting its light through the dusty interior. "Least this main area's probably got airflow. Might be different deeper down."

He doesn't have anything intelligent to add to Carl's observation of the labels on the passages. His contributions might be limited to opening stuck things and putting people back together. He doesn't even have a phone new enough to handle taking decent pictures in bad lighting.

"Nice work, sir, nice work indeed," Danny says, at that first blow. Then he steps up to help. The door never had a chance. Accepting it back from Zack, he says, "You ever get the urge to play with one of those on the regular, Uncle Sam is always hiring."

Stowing it away again, he comes up with a black bandana that gets wrapped around his head, pirate stylle. Dust mask, safety glasses, and headlamp all follow. Joker has his own safety gear, including booties and clear goggles of his own, like he's about to spend an afternoon snowboarding.

"I know you mean, like, gymnast's bars but I have to say I'm imagining him smacking into a bar's glass doors like a moth against a lightbulb," he says.

Carl gets a wink. "Fell off the back of a truck a while ago, had it rattling around in my pickup ever since. I'm Danny Kimball. Furball here is Joker. Nah, Joker's well-trained. He'll be good."

So it seems. Silly-looking gear aside, Joker sticks right by Danny. They come to the intersection and he's peering down each way in turn. It's West he settles on. "Looks like there's something down this way. Glass door or panel, maybe." Then he's heading down it at a deliberate pace.

Angelo takes the N95 mask from his brother with a "Thank yooooooou" and pops that on and starts making Darth Vader sounds because that's what people do when you get to wear a mask and maturity is not required. Still in the Darth Cashew voice he turns to Danny, "Depends on how many drinks there were it might happen from the inside. We can find out." He's still up for some science later.

Looking to Zack to make sure he's not being left behind Angelo addresses Enzo, "I'd say it looks different than any of the tunnels in any of the dreams I been in but it's not like a video game where it's like oh here's the lab level map assets. Don't suppose they have a weird lab architect guy. Enzo, we may have found your calling. When we get land you can build one for Dante."

Trace just has the camera on his phone, but he takes some recordings of what the others don't seem to be, a photo here, a photo there as they descend and make their way further in. He can't help glance over toward Angelo and Enzo when they mention the tunnels. "At least these aren't those tunnels. Those were all stone, older than this, lots of plants growing in them, moss. Was definitely like an abandoned sewer tunnel. This is.. definitely different. Which hopefully means no weird biomechanical guard critters." Of course, then he gets the feeling he just jinxed them with that.

Further on they go, and when Danny points out something at the end of the western hall, he pulls away from the one he'd been shining his light down to follow. It's something different, at least.

Dante probably makes a mental note of the concrete just in case the question ever comes up in future. He definitely makes a note of what catches his eye as he first enters, sharing the observation aloud: "Oh, there's a plaque. US Army Corps of Engineers, 1868. Timing sounds," he considers for half a beat and decides, "reasonable." A picture is duly taken, and he continues inward and onward, along with the rest of the group."...nice masonry in here," he remarks to no one in particular as they head down the tunnel, taking a couple shots of that as well, just on principle.

"Who couldn't use a nice underground lair? But I'm designing the interior myself. We can collab." He glances toward Enzo with a brief half-smile, then back to the built area around them.

At Offices:
Theo is just going to continue to shadow Danny. When he reaches the office with Danny and Enzo, he stops to get a feel for the office they stopped in general. He does take a picture of the name sign that says Alistair Waverly. He deems that important, and he wants proof of it in pictures. He's going for the blueprints and plans.

"Hey guys, look at this!" Pointing out what he saw. These are important. I'm gonna take them!" Other things catch his eye, and he takes one of the gadgets because maybe a gadget was used in the real world that was used in the dream world. He was a part of the dream that involved a lab, so he invested in it.

At Library:
"Library," Carl says immediately, as soon as his flashlight lights on that part of the map. He only pauses long enough to make sure he's reading the map properly, barely looking over his shoulder to make sure somebody's decided to follow. Wandering off into the dark going deeper underground doesn't seem to bother him a bit. He spends plenty of time in tunnels and half his job is chasing ghosts, so with proper motivation this is nothing.

"Careful with the old books," he says to Zack, once they reach the place, "they like to fall apart." That's the extent of advice; he figures anyone fixes people up for a living must have pretty good hands, and he's already absorbed in the stacks of old paper sitting in front of him, a kid in the candy store look on his face. Every time they find something in good enough shape to carry out he lights up, and every time they find a crumbling pile of lost knowledge he seems genuinely put out - though he takes pictures of those, even, just in case, and he's careful not to disturb them too much. You never know.

At Library:
Zack is cavalier enough with his own health that he doesn't seem fussed about not having any high end PPE; the mask he puts on is a simple cloth number. If he was really wandering around through old coal mines as a kid, the damage is probably already done.

"I got room in my bag for books," he says to Carl, while following along after him, his flashlight slicing through the dark ahead of him. "If we find any you think we should keep."

A library is clearly not his natural environs. But he does see one thing that catches his eye!

"Man, I always wanted to use one of these!" It's one of those library ladders on tracks and wheels. He gets a running start to try and get it to roll once he hops onto it, only to damned near go flying right off when he discovers that it is not, in fact, still all that functional. Rust has done its thing. But the height gives him a better vantage point, at least. "Hey, is that rolled up paper important?"

At Offices:
Enzo has a difficult choice to make, but he'll accompany Danny and Theo to the Waverly's office while the others head to the main lab in the basement. He doubts that they'll run into any trouble down there, but this place /is/ old and who knows what sorts of things were set up in here, so he can't help but glance over towards Trace and the Kerekes brothers as they make their way there.

Once inside of the labs, however, rather than rifling through everything, it seems that a lot of these items were just there for the taking. So after peeking into some of the boxes and finding the most important ones, he sets them aside and... well, Theo goes for the blueprints and he just arches a brow at the kid, "And what were you going to do with those? I'm the actual architect here." And with that said, he'll go to collect any other construction paraphernalia, in the case that he actually does purchase this place, for whatever reasons. And he is planning to take those blueprints from Theo either way at some point."

A lot of these things, he stuffs into his pack, but there's items that he can also fold up and put into the boxes that were in Waverly's offices that he would carry out.

At Lab:
Angelo follows along with Trace and Dante looking like he is really into this field trip. While he is the least technical member of this team (though he can now swing a hammer with efficacy thanks to Trace) he's really there to point out the pretty obvious things. It's a good thing he majored in being pretty and being obvious- it's not what is important in life, but it gets him by.

As they enter the lab Angelo goes to get nosy and goes to the lump of tarp in the middle. "Pleaaaaaase be a mechanical bull. I have always wanted to see one up close." Peeking under the tarp he mutters, "Booo." Flipping it back though revealing the Looking Glass mounting he asks "Uhhhh guys, this looks important. Is it important?"

At Offices:
The magical pack of many things has a set of shopping bags in it, the kind that fold up into little pouches. Enzo and Theo both get some, all the better to help with the thievery. Danny and Joker duck into some of the others - more plans for Enzo. Just in case.

"Well, I think we've got as much as we can carry," he says, sounding cheerful about it. Only one bag, himself - determined to keep a hand free. Joker's looking up at him, hopefully. Is it playtime yet?

At Lab:
Trace is a scientist and a technician, but he's a chemist and a pyrotechnician, not an engineer. Still, he is fascinated by the device that Angelo reveals when he pulls off the drop cloth and moves closer to examine it. He looks over to Dante as well and asks, "What do you think? This looks like what the plans over there call the Looking Glass." He then goes over to grab the plans and start comparing the device in front of them to the drawing after blowing some dust off of it and instantly regretting lifting his mask to do so as he gets that dust blown back in his face. Whups.

"I think.. the thing we found in the wreck is supposed to go down here." He taps the spot underneath and points at the strange symbols. "Those look like the symbols on it, right? And the ones from the dreams?"

Setting down the plans, he starts to look around at the niches. Unfortunately, he has no idea what they're supposed to do, so he starts taking pictures. "Do you think we should try to take it with us?" he asks, looking back at The Looking Glass. It's a lot of glass and brass and looks heavy. It would definitely take a couple of them to carry it, or put it into a crate to get it out. The entire assembly from plinth to the top of the glass is about 6 feet in height and probably three feet in diameter with its various armatures.

At Lab:
"Bean. Does this look like a Country bar to you?" Dante is good enough at noticing the obvious for that one. It's the details he's having a little more trouble with right now, briefly overcome by the overall mess that mid-construction is, with too many things to potentially look at at once and nothing quite winning over the rest. Angelo solves that by focusing on that center thing, though, and he goes to join him, studying the thing. "Well. That looks like a 'The Looking Glass' to me..."

He nods to Trace; they are in agreement on this, clearly. "They do look like the pictures I saw. And that space does look about the size, I think." He hasn't gotten to see it in person, and the dreams have skipped him. The images will have to do. He looks over the plans some more. Pictures are taken. Then the plans are taken. Angelo gets subtly followed, since once of them has the knack for noticing stuff in here today and it isn't Dante. "It's going to be a pain in the ass to move. Think there's a dolly around here somewhere? And maybe whatever crate they brought it in is still here somewhere... If we want to consider trying to do whatever they were trying to do, though, yeah, we probably should try. Building another one ourselves'd take some doing." He considers. "If we do take it we're gonna need a truck, though. That's not gonna fit in the trunk."

Whatever looks useful and/or interesting and will fit in his satchel ends up there. The rest... well, they're going to have a lot of photos.