To Build a Shift-Proof Gun

April 13, 2015:

Steve and Peggy consult FitzSimmons on their Shift-proof weapon, while Skye tracks the mercenary's movements to Indonesia.

The Triskelion - SHIELD R&D


NPCs: None.


Mood Music: [*\# None.]

Fade In…

Its late. FitzSimmons have been putting in lots of overtime. At the moment, Leo can be found in his lab, studying something with a set of highly advanced nano-goggles. "Oy. Simmons, this is… fascinating," he murmurs, before looking up from the goggles. "What did you say her name was?"


Looking up from her workspace, Simmons blinks a little "What's that, Fitz? Oh… yes, the nanites. Her name was Lunair." The biochemist is reviewing the report she'd submitted on one Eugene Johnson, who should still be in SHIELD medical at an offsite facility, recuperating.


After the debriefing, Cap and Agent Carter head straight towards Fitz and Simmons' lab. Earlier they were able to get that sample that the scientists said they would need to develop a weapon against Shift. Cap shows Peggy into the lab and then nods to the other two, "Agent Simmons. Agent Fitz."


Peggy Carter is right by Steve's side as they stride into the lab. There are quite a few things the scientists may be working on, but it seems as if this might take precedence over all. "Doctors," she nods at them, respect clear in her voice. "You asked for a sample and Captain Rogers was able to obtain one."

She glances over to Steve and then the scientists. "Any way to ensure we are able to stop him without killing him seems to be the problem of the hour." While she is not quite sure she completely believes Shift's sudden moment of clarity, there is enough doubt in his evil and enough belief in Steve that she will run with it.

"Can we contain him?"


"I'm going to need to keep it in stasis for a while longer," admits Fitz. "This isn't an overnight job. The biomolecular capabilities; it's gonna take both our heads, and I know Rogers is about to come bearing down our door about that—"

Fitz turns around with a tray full of techie stuff in hand when Captain Rogers and Agent Carter come in. "Uh… hey, guys."

Suddenly switching gears, he walks to a different area and retrieves a pistol. "This is a prototype. Based on the Night-Night Gun, but more efficient and with a heavier ammunition count." He looks to Simmons on her assessment of the goo-turned-black gas that Steve and Peggy has brought back from Ohio.


She was not asked to stop by R&D, but it was something she often did when she needed a break from her computer screen, and as of late her assignments have been quite time consuming and met with dead ends and stonewalls. The words you would not want to say in front of your grandmother had increase exponentially according to those who worked around her or who passed by her desk.

She has not yet set foot into the roo, therefor not knowing who was in it, and her words reflect such, "Fitz? Jemma? Tell me you're not busy right now." However, upon entering the room and seeing Fitzsimmons and two others present she pauses, murmuring more so to herself, "Well that answers that." She gives a slight smile and steps closer, "Hey. I can back."


Glancing over as Peggy and Steve enter, Simmons nods "Oh, yes… " and pulls some information up on her screen. "The sample was extremely helpful, thank you for doing that."

Looking at the modified weapon and back to her screen, the british born scientist twists her lips "I believe I've created a modified Dendrotoxin compound." Blowing out a breath, a small frown creases her brow "But it's damn difficult to manufacture. I've made enough for four bullets." Looking at Steve and Peggy again "I really hope that's enough."

Skyes entrance has Simmons looking her way "A bit, but this is probably of interest to you, come in. Agent Johnson have you met Captain Rogers and Agent Carter, yet?"


Captain America nods to Skye politely. "Four bullets has got to work, then. At this point we've got no real clue where Odame is. But we need something, that much is clear. I'm not sure he can be taken down by normal means." Steve looks to Peg when she mentions taking Shift alive; and that means a lot to him.


At Skye's entrance, Peggy smiles at the newcomer, unsure of how to react. While her history with the agency is well known, her newfound position within it is not so much. As is proper British curtesy, she nods her head in acknowledgement. "No, I don't believe we've had the pleasure. Good evening, Agent Johnson." She already made a few faux pas' in judging Fitz and Simmons' field duties, she won't attempt to assume again.

"Your advanced technology must have come with some sort of trajectory at least?" she asks Steve. "Even if it has merely an angle, we should be able to calculate a general area for his emergence."

At the mention of how many bullets they have, she nods once. There is only so much that can be done, she realizes. "And will that work for him on every state that he is in, or should he reserve those shots for him while he is a certain one?" Not having worked with Fitz or Simmons in the professional capacity before, she also asks, "And what might these Dendrotoxin compounds do? Will they subdue him for a certain amount of time or should we reserve them for a last resort?"

As Steve looks to her, she gives him a warm and reassuring smile before turning back to the scientists. Where people can be taken alive, she will gladly do so.


Sara Pezzini has been having a rough week. And it was capped off this morning when her commute was interrupted by a skirmish between Angelus warriors and darklings coming out of the tunnels, driven by some sort of demon guarding a corrupted hellgate. Both insisting that she fight on their side, because joining forces to fight the other thing would just be silly. She has a bruise blossoming on one cheek, topped off by a scrape, and a bandaid across the bridge of her nose as she steps into the science department.

"So, is there any chance some of that portal equipment could be adapted for-" Oh look. There are other people here. "Uh, hey. Sorry. Didn't realize there was…stuff."


Another case is opened, with four modified rounds. They're empty, having yet to be loaded with Jemma's modified dendrotoxin. "These aren't armor piercing rounds. They aren't designed to break up under subcutaneous tissue, because there won't be any tissue. Not in the conventional sense." Fitz glances toward Jemma for confirmation. She's had time to evaluate the bio matter Steve collected in Cincinnati.

Skye's entrance earns a smile, but with all of the technical talk, he spares the usual niceties. "It will only work in his gaseous state. The…" He waved his fingers around. "…black smoke stuff in your report." He looks toward Steve then, frowning. "Were you able to track him? Report said the comms went down and NSA satellites were hacked…?"

A worried look is given to Jemma, about the time that Sara pokes in. Her arrival is enough to break the worry for a moment, and he waggles his fingers in greeting.


Did Simmons just say Steve Rogers and Peggy Carter? And she said it so non-chlantly, like it is not a big deal. Well it is a big deal to Skye. Captain America and Peggy Carter, one of the original SHIELD members is standing in front of her. She tries to dial it back, but she fails and her excitement is quite evident, "I'm sitting down there trying to work, while Agent Quinn's tuna sandwich is wafting to my desk and you are up here swapping air with Captain America and Agent Carter." Oh Skye, just stop. Howver, she doesn't, "It's a measure to pleet you. I mean a pleasure to meet you. Big fan Miss Carter." Her eyes then drift to Steve and she manages to stammer, "And I…I…I love America. A little excited shriek escapes her"

It is then that she realizes just how fan girlish she is acting and she tries to put on the cool act, embarassment setting in, "I'll just stand over here and stare…I mean listen. Listen and see how I can be of assistance." She smiles somewhat sheepishly and takes out her phone a moment; security blanket.

Did Fitz just say something about NSA satellites being hacked? She looks up from her phone and exclaims, "It wasn't me this time. I swear." However, she does add with a casual demeanor as if it would not take that much, "With an interal processing analysis of the moment the NSA was hacked, it is possible to trace the origin of the hacking party within a range of..a few hundred miles. It could be narrowed down further if you looked into the strength of the signal emitted during said hacking and determined what organizations had such capabilities in said area." She smiles somewhat shyly and adds, "Just sayin'."


Folding her arms loosely over her chest, Simmons rests a hip on the counter as Fitz explains, nodding when he glances at her for confirmation.

"Dendrotoxin works for about 16 hours" she explains "He should be outfor that time. The testing I did on the sample you provided indicates this is correct."

Glancing at Skye, Jemma smiles slightly "Agent Carter, Skye. And I was the same way when I first met her too." Of course that was before Simmons hooked up the devices that short down the time anomaly.

Turning to Peggy, Simmons explains "Agent Johnson is what we term a hacker, Agent Carter. She can, I believe, break into any computer system… with very few resources." She grins a little, Skye can explain how she got the job with SHIELD.

Sara's condition gets a frown from the biochemist "Agent Pezinni, have you had that looked at? I'd recommend a trip to medical if you haven't."


"You're starting to sound like one of them, Agent Carter," Steve says in response to her question. He knows what each of those words mean individually, together they don't make much sense to him.

"No," Steve says to Fitz with a shake of the head. Just then he looks over and notices the bruise on Sara's face. He's about to say something. Then he doesn't.

Steve gives Skye a polite nod at her comment about loving America. He gets this sort of thing every day, and doesn't have the heart to tell the young lady. She means no harm, after all.


The response from Skye is given a raised eyebrow. Peggy is starting to get used to the idea that people know who she is and whatshe did for SHIELD, but it will never stop being strange for people to appreciate her. That's just not what she's used to. "I…appreciate it," she tells the woman, trying to remain as professional as she can.

As Sara enters, she nods at the Agent she recognizes from Battery Park, both acknowledging her while attempting to keep involved in the conversation she is in. "So, we can only use these bullets in his smoke phase," she confirms, already attempting to formulate plans for how that will work.

Steve's comment is given a wry grin, "And is that such a bad thing, Captain Rogers?" It's a familiarly teasing tone. "Wouldn't you think it best to find the limitations of your equipment? I may not know what it all exactly means, but knowing when to use it is important."


"It'll be fine," Sara waves a hand to Simmons. "Just took a…I'm pretty sure it was a wingtip to the face before I got armored up," she says ruefully, brushing a hand carefully over the mark. "Which was why I came to visit you guys, actually. It looks like we've got some new information on what HYDRA's doing with some of the hell gates. Sort of. Sounds like you've got more other issues, though."

Smoke phase seems to kick in, and she quirks a brow back at Steve. "The African making more trouble?" She nods to Peggy, but she doesn't engage the other woman directly. Important business, right?


Leo smirks a bit at the exchange between Steve and Peggy. Agent Carter did have a reputation for being quite adept in the SSR, it wasn't a surprise that she was adapting to 2015 well. He's also clever enough to catch that look from Steve to Sara. He scratches his head, awkwardly, but stays out of it.

To Peggy, he clarifies. "It should force him to go into his smoke phase, just like any other bullet. So, as long as he's, you know, flesh and blood and not some kind of super-solid, it should work." Operative word, should.

Skye, however, draws his attention the most. "Wait, Skye… what if… if the NSA sats were hacked, is it possible that the signals weren't blocked, but rather, re-routed? I mean, satellites are always feeding data downstream, wouldn't it be easier to just divert all of that data?" He glances toward Simmons, then back to Skye. "Means the info is stored somewhere, waiting to be snatched up."

Something Sara says seems to register in his overly-active and semi-attentive brain. Hell gates… hell gates. He looks to the former NYPD Detective, squinting his eyes. "Didn't Agent Manning shut one of those down? Just the other day? Had some help, of course." Because Paul had not borrowed one of his Portal Busters, last he checked.


Simmons is given a look by the young hacker. Way to set her up. Let one of the founding members of SHIELD know that the reason you are part of SHEILD is because you hacked it. A polite smile is given to Peggy, "It's an interesting story really. Perhaps when all this is said and done I can fill you in." She softly mouths to Simmons, "Thanks Jemma."

As Fitz begins to speak, her attention is fully given to him, and when he is done speaking she nods slowly in agreement, "Wow Fitz. We need to stop hanging out so much. It is more than likely possible Fitz. One could access the subnet re-routing encryption and backtrack. That should pinpoint more accurately and then it is just a matter of dowloading the data." She pauses a moment and thinks, "You would want to do it with a complete satellite masking tho, or you would be traced back. It's an open gateway. So you would want to do it super fast. If the masking was disabled they would have full knowledge of who was getting said data." She shrugs, "It would work tho..and I think I could do it depending on the file size in 2 minutes."

Skye Johnson adds, "That's from connect to disconnect. In and out. I am not worried about detection on the backtrack on the re-route encryption. It's when you break into said encryption that my hands get sweaty.


Jemma smiles at Skye and nods You're Welcome. She hadn't said a thing about Skye hacking SHIELD, just that the woman could hack anything, as she just proved… As to the hacking, Simmons raises an eyebrow at Fitz "Sound plausible, Fitz. And not the least concerning."

"If you're sure, Agent Pezinni" Jemma eyes the womans bruise with a practiced eye. "Agent Carter, I'm not sure if you and Agent Pezinni have met" Simmons blithely introduces the two women. "Yes, Agent Pezinni, we're discussing Odame… and how to contain him."


At Fitz's statement, Peggy nods. "While in Cincinnati he was able to change into a super condensed material. Bullets would not affect him. Were he in that state again, would these bullets be deflected?" She adds, "He, also, knew my name without knowing who I was before, though I imagine that is not quite a scientific question."

While Peggy may not know any history between Steve and Sara, she certainly knows body language and the reactions to those around her. There is certainly something uncomfortable happening here. While she is one to jump to conclusions, she's also not one to bring those conclusions to light. "I don't believe we met formally, though I do remember you from Battery Park. I attempted to take over your scene, for which I apologize." Attempting to extend the olive branch, she puts out her hand. "Peggy Carter," she introduces. It's one of the first times she's actually done so: as many already know her name.




Skye's instructions are met with nothing like a passable understanding. "So, you are able to track him?" is all she can garner from what she's said.


"Sara Pezzini," Sara replies with a small, tight smile as she reaches out to take the offered hand in a firm grip. "And, to be fair, it wasn't exactly my scene, either. Ten years NYPD, but only recently transferred here to SHIELD. And yeah," she adds, turning back to Fitz. "I heard he worked on one. But apparently they're all over the place, and HYDRA's got their eyes on all of it. Serious stuff, though." But back on topic. Clearing her throat, she leans against a table. "Anyone consider combusting him when he goes gaseous?" she asks, looking around. "I doubt we'd be lucky enough to actually put him down, but we might force him into something we can actually hit. Same with electricity, maybe."


Tracking Odame seems right up Fitz's alley. "What's stopping you?" he asks. "SHIELD has full access to NSA sat-feeds. It's not like you're hacking NSA. You're hacking the people who hacked NSA. Long as they don't track it back here…" Then again, he, Simmons, and Skye all have the same security clearance, and it's possible that Rogers doesn't have enough to make that call. He glances from Skye to Peggy, then lands on Simmons. "Should I give Senior Agent May a call?"

Sara's recommendation has him patting his prototype pistol, a very obvious evolution of the Night-Night Gun. "We've made special bullets," he explains. "To deliver a dendrotoxin to his gaseous state." He glances to Simmons, then back to Sara with a proud look. "We're clever scientists."


Curiosity. Skye said she would be able to do it. She was just anxious to see if it was possible from her phone. As the others were discussing variousmatters about guns and trying to appear cordial to scorned lovers, Skye was actually on her phone, tapping into the NSA. No sooner has Fitz finished telling her what to do then she turns her phone around and shows him the screen, "NSA keeps careful records of all security breaches. The one we speak of being no exception. Walnut Hills Cincinatti…to.. eastern Asia. Which means Hanoi has the system we want." Just a minute. She turns her phone around and nibbles her lower lip, "Damn Vietnamese. Just a second. They always double back on all their encryption algorithms." She peers down and raises a brow, "Indonesia?" There is a slight pause and she looks up from her phone to those gathered, "I know this signature." She turns her phone arond for all to see, "No suprise here. On the screen is this:


"Yes, I think Agent May…. Oh good job." Simmons stops talking as Skye just does it anyway. Looking at Peggy, Jemma nods "Yes Agent Carter, we can track where the data went and possibly then Odame." At Fitz's comment to Sara, Simmons smiles a little "That we are Fitz."


"Yes, but, what of his other states?" Agent Carter may be impressed with their ability to take down his gaseous form, but she and Steve saw something quite different in Ohio. "My bullets wouldn't penetrate him while in his super condensed form, so I will assume these will not, either. He also was able to turn into ravenous bugs when we first saw him." She glances to Skye and Sara before back to Simmons and Fitz. "I assume there is no way to combat those phases?"

"Pleasure," she tells Sara with a curious smile. There is clearly something happening here to which she is not privy to, but that is something for another day. Work comes first.

As for what Skye has picked up, Peggy frowns. The image that she shows is one familiar to her, though the delivery system is new. "So it seems as if Hydra is there."


"I'm not sure one hundred percent," Sara says slowly, "But the Witchblade took a chunk out of a Kryptonian. I might be able to put a dent in his solid state, if need be." A smile quirks at Fitz's comment, and she nods to the engineer. "Very clever scientists," she agrees with a chuckle. "I haven't tested it, though. I could see about clearing my schedule for some experimentation," she adds to the science squad.
