<em>"Fire in server room three!"<br/><br/>"Get a team on it!" Jin called across the room.<br/><br/>"We're out of fire extinguishers, sir!"<br/><br/>Alicia let out a short </em>Nnnh<em> of frustration, pressing a hand against one of her temples. Jin glanced her way--she'd arrived about an hour ago--before responding to the technician. "Then activate the fire suppression system!"<br/><br/>"Yes, sir!... Fire suppression system failed to activate!"<br/><br/>"It's interlocked," Alicia spoke up; she reached into her pants pocket and pulled out the damp piece of cloth she'd been using since her arrival and used it to wipe the sweat from her brow. "This place was built back in the fifties, the ventilation system can't be partitioned. The fire suppression system requires it to be isolated completely, and the air sensors are registering the atmosphere as toxic." Jin had had to silence the alarm himself, about... a glance at his watch confirmed it was only ten minutes ago; it felt like an hour. "Ventilation can't be secured until that alarm clears, and overriding would require..." she closed her eyes and drew in a deep breath. "...It's not feasible, not under current conditions. On the bright side," the undertone of biting sarcasm was impossible to miss, "The ventilation should keep the place from filling with smoke."<br/><br/>Jin didn't have time to answer before another technician was shouting for him.<br/><br/>"Director Kuzunoha, the self-defense program is starting up!"<br/><br/>"It's doing </em>what<em>? That doesn't make sense, why?"<br/><br/>"Were I to hazard an educated guess..." Alicia's voice, despite being strained, was still, ultimately, calm; Jin had no idea how she did it. "We're well outside any established parameters. The self-defense program's threat analysis suite probably assumes that means security's been compromised. Or it could just be a false start, which wouldn't surprise me with what we're putting the systems through. Either way, it shouldn't be an issue, even in the worst case..."<br/><br/>She stopped dead mid-sentence. "...Jin, we need to shut the Engine down, immediately."<br/><br/>"What changed?"<br/><br/>"The self-defense program's IFF runs out of server room three."<br/><br/>"IFF?"<br/><br/>"Identify friend foe, it's--alright, keeping it simple, it's what makes sure </em>we<em> aren't targets. We need to do this </em>now<em>, Jin, before the program has time to start up."<br/><br/>"...Right." There was no time to argue. "Cut the power!" he ordered.<br/><br/>"Yes, sir!" Barked back a seated technician. And, seconds later, "Opening main line power breakers in three, two, one. Power secured."<br/><br/>Nothing happened. A silence fell slowly over the room, but the lights remained on, the consoles active.<br/><br/>"...What's going on?" Alicia had approached the electrician, and was peering at his panel from behind his seat. "Why hasn't power been cut?"<br/><br/>"I... I don't know, ma'am. Everything's still energized, but there's no path for electricity from the outside, the facility's been isolated."<br/><br/>"Obviously <em>not</em>, seeing as there's no other source of energy."<br/><br/>Jin had begun to grasp what must have happened; the realization settled in his stomach like a rock. "...Yes. Yes, there is."<br/><br/>That got Crowley's attention. "What are you talking about?"<br/><br/>"We just cut the electrical power, but the Engine also runs on spiritual energy, and <em>that</em> comes from..."<br/><br/>Again, silence fell over the room. And, again, Alicia Crowley was the one to break it.<br/><br/>"...You have got to be kidding me."</em><br/><br/><hr/><br/><strong>Time:</strong>12:32 PM<br/><strong>Tokyo</strong><br/><br/>Across the city, nearly half the population's cell phones buzz, beep, chime, or vibrate. Those who checked their phones would all find a similar message displayed on their screens:<br/><br/><em>Over the air update in progress. Please do not power off your device.</em><br/><br/>Some people might find that odd; there had been no choice to accept or deny the update. Many would just be irritated at the inconvenience. Only a few would be realize it was unusual; phones of different models and on different carriers receiving updates at the same time, while other, seemingly identical devices didn't.<br/><br/>Not just phones, either--anything that could get a wireless connection and was advanced enough to function as a miniature computer was in the process of updating itself.<br/><br/><hr/><br/><em>"Go on ahead, I'll catch up!"<br/><br/>"Damn it, Yoshiya, </em>no!<em>" Jin bodily pulled the man away from the shimmering glass panel and spun him around; Director Hotsuin was a mess, hair plastered to his face by the same sweat that was dripping from him. Jin Kuzunoha imagined he didn't look much better himself.<br/><br/>"I can't leave! Not while there's still a chance to--"<br/><br/>"There isn't! The self-defense program's gone haywire, there will be demons </em>literally<em> standing where we are in five minutes at most! Alicia should be done distributing the Program by now, so we need to get out of--"<br/><br/>The wall behind Yoshiya burst outwards, letting in a deafening roar.<br/><br/>Five minutes had apparently been more like five seconds.<br/><br/>"Run!" Jin wasted no time in grabbing Yoshiya by the collar and bolting, the ten-foot-tall, hunched monster barrelling after them.</em><br/><br/><hr/><br/><strong>Time:</strong>1:37 PM<br/><strong>Location:</strong>Tokyo<br/><strong>Tagged:</strong>All<br/><br/>Some people had already heart about the brownouts in Chiyoda; most, however, were going about their daily lives unaware or simply indifferent. Brownouts in Chiyoda, while unusual, were nothing to be worried about. A few buildings had lost power entirely (including, of all places, the imperial palace), but crews were already working on restoring the grid.<br/><br/>On a much more personal level, a significant portion of Tokyo's population would be relieved to find their phones restarting. Those who actually pulled them out would be greeted with a somewhat... different, startup screen.<br/><br/>Be it phones, PDAs, or other handhelds, regardless of their normal operating system, they'd all display a black screen with two lines of text in dark red:<br/><br/><em>Demon Summoning Program v0.2<br/>Installation complete.</em><br/><br/>And indeed, their home screen or equivalent would have a new application, labeled "DSP," with a rather unusual icon (http://www.whatthefun.net/din/visuals/cosplay/m-jack.jpg) associated with it.