XP Teams - X-Men, X-Force, X-Factor, and others

Hey team -

Just a reminder that we've got a full system diagnostic scheduled for the Chapel (including the wormhole monitoring equipment) this coming Saturday night into Sunday. We're ready to go so far as redundancies for potential power outages (and switch overs) are concerned (backup emergency power as well as a duplicate system just in case), so it should go smoothly.

That said, if you're on the schedule for those shifts (Sat PM and Sun AM), please focus on the wormhole. Scott and Doug will be there to assist with potential issues and Molly's gonna have my back on hardware, just like always.

Unrelated: Has anybody else been getting exclusively prawn-flavored snacks from the vending machine? Because I like them as much as the next guy, but it's been three weeks.

Alrighty, in the interest of saving everybody time, we're changing the staff meeting tomorrow into an email for today!

THE PORTAL:
- Three anomalies of significant proportion counted this week, two self-resolved, last one being monitored in case intervention is required, drones dispatched this morning.
- Four anomalous reading of middling proportions noted, we're keeping an eye on them but two already seem to be fading out.
- Twenty-six blips counted throughout the week, lasting for between four seconds and seven minutes.

GENERAL MAINTANENCE:
- Time to double check our suits and possibly upgrade our body armor as well as install the prototype integrated imagine inducer (see Megan for more details).
- Got a ping from the MedLab staff about everybody scheduling their physicals and bloodwork for 2024. They specified within the next two weeks, so try and get in early.
- Probably a good idea to stay away from the snack machine's latest fruit option, at least while on shift, as it contains some hard hitting hallucinogenic properties (tested it after I ate one at the end of my Sunday shift and woke up in a suite not my own - still clothed, before anybody makes that joke - with only the memory of following a sunny, platinum blond person through a field of alien flowers to tell me what I'd been up to).
- Regular snacks have been restocked and so have the meal bars/shakes in the main floor kitchen (thank Meggan for the Costco run, because I honestly did not want to).
- Advanced Safety Measures of Dummies (Portal Safety 301) will be happening at the beginning of March, I'll make sure the other teams are aware, but I still need a couple volunteers to help run it.

Atlantean Record Update:

0320: Breakthrough? Tried electromagnetic generator routed through reverse circuitry and amplified wavelength frequency on Record despite previous failure (see: Atlantean Trident), blew out the generator. Feedback loop? Too powerful? Wrong wavelength? Need higher frequency? Increase amplification? Repairing generator.

0513: Generator repaired. Varying wavelength and frequency caused no perceptible difference in outcome. Still suspect feedback loop. Positive current, obvs. Buying new EMG.

0601: 24hr Walmart convenient. Installed new permanent EMG. Switched to silver/aluminum wiring.

0612: Shut down power to lab to stop feedback loop with EMG. Saved EMG. Eating breakfast.

0645: Breakthrough? Microwaves? Swear Record reacted when microwave turned on. Taking nap. Will attempt to reproduce results after nap.

1017: Microwaves. When appliance active (on other side of lab outside operational zone, per safety protocol), faint visible fluctuation. Molly didn't see fluctuation.

1053: Atlantean device, requires water?

11:02: No.

11:15: Eating lunch. Molly still in lab.

Okay, so the good news is that, while Molly got eaten by an alligator, it threw her back up on command and, while eXcal's mangrove swamp-front picnic was ruined, we did find the ruins of an Atlantean settlement down in the FL Keys. Namor pulled something out of the ruins, he says it's some kind of recording device.

Bad news is a) Namor's never allowed back in FL again and the record (which is made up of some kind of crystalline structure) appears to be broken. Also, it needs a power source, but Team Science hasn't actually figured out how to power Atlantean tech yet, so.

What we're looking at now is trying to get the power source figured out - so anybody with any kind of technical or magical know-how is invited down to the Chapel starting tomorrow. We'll be trying to integrate some theories I've got with Molly's experience with Asgardian tech and maybe hopefully something magic to make it all stick together, so it'll be fun. Please note, that is very specifically beginning tomorrow. Updates'll follow as needed.

For now, eXcal wants to thank Kyle, Sooraya, and Alison for picking us up outta the middle of bumfuck nowhere, FL. Lifesavers, all three of you.

Oh, also, Molly's okay. She and America slept for most of the drive to the Blackbird. Didn't seem to be any ill effects from the alligator thing.

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Realized I didn't actually put the reporting stuff in this report, so here we go.

( Actual report... )

Alright, guys, with my return to the world from quarantine, I can official say that the Chapel's reno is complete. Reality H0018 is, obviously given its numerical ID, habitable but not pleasantly so. Too much slime. Potential medicinal properties of said slime not worth decon and quarantine. (The decon was invasive and obviously very thorough, so let's all try really hard not to get contaminated in the future. That said, it did exactly what it was supposed to, so... go team?)

Feel free to start moving your things back into your spaces - or a completely new space. I'm taking my lab downstairs back, since it's me and Molly specific for when we're collabing, but besides the major things (portal room with new fancy security, observation room with its own fancy security, adjacent med station in case things get dicey, decon, quarantine, and our burgeoning collection of books related to various theories surrounding alternate universes and realities... everything's kinda free-range at the moment. My office is still upstairs.

The tech integration went really well, so our new monitors and various upgrades look sleek as hell and we can officially put the OG monitoring system in a storage room in case of emergency. (And it'd have to be an emergency of epic proportions because it's all a closed system down there. Have I mentioned I love the new setup?) Doug helped me integrate a system to more easily keep track of who's covering which shifts. Don't worry, we're not switching to AI or anything. Nobody's gonna get irritating text message alerts/reminders about the times they're scheduled to work. Promise.

Additionally, there's space for a couple bunks, in case people forget to go back to the mansion and their actual rooms/suites. No, this does not mean any of us can take up permanent residence down there, we are not actually science gremlins. Sunlight and grass will not hurt us (this is mostly a reminder to myself, to be honest, not because I fear sunlight or grass, but because I know I had a habit of conking out in my lab back in the day and that's something I'm very specifically not going to do anymore).

Anyway, if you have any questions or comments, let me know. I'm also available to assist in transporting stuff from the mansion back to the Chapel. Oh, almost forgot - all the old safeties in the labs are intact, so if you're in there... try really hard not to fuck something up, since the button to flood and seal off the labs still works. Also, the new biohazard alert will auto-seal the labs, too, but obviously no flooding.

Hey, guys - anybody know any details about the stuff in Seattle with the warehouse explosion that's not been in the news? I'm getting real tired of seeing the same footage on loop while the talking heads start spinning in circles talking about how it's potentially an example of rising mutant aggression.

I know this definitely not within the scope of eXcalibur's mission, but man. Man. It's no surprise FOX news is running the crazy train, but even like CBS and the other local channels are starting to spout some of that rhetoric.