Tarran Smith"Sure, whatever, I have no idea what this stuff is anyway."
Go back to James. Stand 30 feet away from him at least.
Dominique has a decent point. Aside from a single security robot, and that thing went down pretty easily when you pulled it into a straight up fight, there isn't much for your gun to do here. [Luck 2] The water here has drained away, making the ground wet and smudged with oily grime, but unfortunately free of the trail you were hot on.
You shrug and agree with Dom, turning back the way you came. You can pick the trail back up later, somehow. And all the better if you can pick it up while Taric isn't leering at you.
The bottom floor of the restaurant is mostly as you left it. The water is gone except for puddles, and Jake is now sitting awkwardly across from James, bouncing his loaner gun on his palm, but those are really the only changes. The other door is still closed, and no horrors have decided to infest the room while your back was turned. Jake jumps a little and points a gun in your general direction when you make enough noise for him to hear you, but you identify yourself quickly and he lowers the gun abashedly. Being blind in here can't be easy.
[Gather Information 4+1] You lean against one wall, keeping a watch on the room. Nothing happens except for Jake glancing at you occasionally. Sometimes he looks like he's about to speak, but he always stops, tongue held out of fear or uncertainty.
---
Dominique Wakeman"Boss, would you or Taric - if he'll stop flirting - go watch James for like two minutes while I fix this?" Dom asked, annoyed at the empath, while she traced the line back to where it came. She wasn't sure if she actually could fix it, or even get to where she needed to go to fix it, but at least attempting it was better than standing around and doing nothing.
Tarran volunteers to head back and check on James, leaving Taric to peer around the empty bay and leaving you to follow the line. Taric volunteers to stay behind and take a look around, maybe check out some of the other rooms. You don't stop him. More information is always good, and he can take care of himself well enough. Besides, his mood seems to have gone from bored but reasonably helpful to crudely joking. You might kill him if he followed you and kept that mood.
You walk out of the small bay, tracing the line as quickly as you can. You pass back in front of the broken door to the restaurant and continue past. A couple other ridges join the first, snaking in from halls. Nothing tries to kill you, and so you ignore the halls and focus on your target. You walk for more than a couple minutes, taking a couple turns that lead you generally away from the restaurant. You'd estimate that you're about halfway back up the V-split in distance, if a great deal lower.
[? Mind Bend 3 Vs Dom P.Empathetics 3] You stop, suddenly confused. You had a good reason for being here, you were doing something... Something that was important. [Will 4] You look up at the ridges in the ceiling, confused at their existence for a moment before you remember what you were doing. It isn't easy, like remembering a dream you had while drunk, but it comes back gradually. You remember something of this feeling, something that reminds you of your limited mind duels with Trol. Someone is trying to make your forget what you're trying to do. [Empathetics 2+1] The feeling, however, is too weak and unfamiliar for your to do more than that.
The door to the local power control is visible, marked by a warning with crossed lightning bolts, but another decent length of hallway separates you from it. Plenty of room for another attack against you.
You suddenly feel very alone.
---
Aaron White"Oh Come On Guys, It´s Not Omnious At All, What´s On Level 13 Anyway Eh?"
Cale and Henry shuffle in apprehension, remaining silent to your question. Paula, however, continues to be a font of useful information about everything not related to the inside of a maintenance shaft.
"Growth labs, where we clone tissue for various different things," she explains, never taking her eyes off the elevator's rising floor gauge.
"Some of the other researchers said it was bad luck to be on floor thirteen, but that was just maintenance talk." She winced suddenly, as if just realizing what she'd said.
"No offense, old habits, but the labs were all normal. We didn't have anything dangerous, not like the Hotlabs, but it was still well equipped. They even had an ORS mother, it might even still be alive. Those things can live a lot longer than they're supposed to, even without the treatment they're supposed to get." Paula continues to talk, mostly unimportant things about the level. You know she's babbling, and she probably knows she's babbling, but it's better than screaming. The elevator actually arriving at floor thirteen cuts off her monologue as if it had never been.
The doors open slowly. No grenade slips through, no hail of bullets reduces you to a bloody sponge, no shafts of burning light boil your brain in your skull. The hallway outside is empty. There are only two other elevators here, the others running out of shaft somewhere deeper. The hall splits ahead of you, laying out into three paths. According to Paula, straight ahead will bisect the entire level, with turnoffs to most parts of the labs, and will eventually take you to another set of elevators that run higher in the complex. The left half, and thus the left path, is supposed to be reserved mostly for the growth itself, and the right half is mostly for genetic engineering of the tissue. Paula does admit that she didn't spend a lot of time here.
A wallscreen catches your eye, glowing with a blue error message, but you'll be damned if it's any error message you've ever seen before.
You are not alone. Tell the strangers that I'm still waiting for my book. Get to maintenance. Do not expect my help again. Thirteen fourty-seven eighty.
-N
---
James EvanSighing, James did as the shadow recommended, increasing the chemicals.
You've got two sources that are telling you to do something, at least for the increases. The cube isn't telling you to decrease anything, so you're going to leave that alone for a while. You open the first tab you ever looked through on the cube, hunting for the chemicals listed. They're there, and with only a moment of hesitation, you max them out.
Nothing seems to happen for a long, long moment. But it does happen. The black tendrils that cut the sky into ribbons slow their course, their flowing motion congealing and eventually freezing. They don't stop, but you're facing glacial drift where you once faced an avalanche. As for yourself, you feel... lighter. Buoyed and warm. Temperature never seemed to matter before, but you definitely feel hot now.
Bloodied and almost broken, the fallen waitress strikes in the moment of seeming salvation. [Acolyte Will 4+1 Vs 3+1] She seems unhindered by her injuries, or by the intervening space, as she leaps for you. [Acolyte Melee 1] [James Melee 1] The maneuver is poor and desperate, and on a better day you'd have caught her like a rambunctious kitten. But now your feet slide in the sand, slipping out from under you as her shoulder connects with your ribs. Both of you slip off the beach and roll into the water, just yards from the nearest black pillar. Something tells you it isn't going to be less dangerous, no matter how frozen its appearance.
The woman's hands reaching for your throat tell you that she has unpleasant plans for your head and that pillar.
---
Turn RecapTarran guarding
Dominique getting bent
Aaron has arrived on floor thirteen
James is wrestling in the water with a topless woman
Relevant ItemsMemory Stick (Dom)
Security Card November (Dom)
Broken Pad (Taric)
Ident Badge -Pyotr Ivanov- (Taric)
Ident Badge -Kira Masse- (Tarran)
Ident Badge -Naomi Weiss- (Tarran)
Unpowered Pad (Tarran)
L1RF Key (Tarran)
Health: 74/85
Stamina: 85/85
Carried weight: 81/180
Attire:Red Maintenance Jumpsuit, Heavily Modified Red Maintenance Suit (46/115, 45 lbs).
Inv:
Phoenix pistol (2/3) (9 lbs)
CFG bars x2 (3)
Crowbar (8lbs)
Simple Knife (2lbs)
Bone Spike (1lbs)
Fifty feet of rope (10 lbs)
Homemade grappling hook (2 lbs)
D-Grade rations x4 (4 lbs)
Status: Floor Twenty
Paula Ria
Health: 39/55
Stamina: 35/55
Description: Short, brown haired. The years she spent as a researcher at Delphi added lines to her face, the year she spent as a prisoner here added a decade and stole what weight she had from her frail body.
Personality Complication: Soft. Despite her recent hellish ordeals, Ria was a born and raised Technocrat. She's gotten conditioned to hardship, but the pain and the cold decisions that need to be made in her new life still stun her.
Skills: Mechanical 3, Intuition 1, Dodging 1
Attributes,
Strength (Str): 1
Dexterity (Dex): 3
Endurance (End): 1
Charisma (Char): 4
Intelligence (Int): 9
Willpower: (Will): 3
Equipment: Light Body Armor 36/50, Stained Labcoat, Military grade night-vision goggles. Chimera Pistol 15/15, Diagnostic pad, energy cell x2, Light Plasma Torch (60/100), Basic Medical Kit (2/5), Fifty feet of rope, Homemade grappling hook, D-Grade rations x4.
Henry Myers
Health: 13/75
Stamina: 16/75 (Light Bleeding, -3 stamina per turn)
Description: An emaciated man of average height. He's mostly bald now, thanks both due to a receding hairline and to a chemical spill that permanently injured his scalp.
Personality Complication: Maudlin. Henry has a dark streak a mile wide, and he usually shares it at every available person. He's a good man, but the tendency to vent every depressing thought that runs through his head makes him a little irritating.
Skills: Soak 2, Marksman 2, Stamina 1
Attributes,
Strength (Str): 6
Dexterity (Dex): 6
Endurance (End): 3
Charisma (Char): 1
Intelligence (Int): 3
Willpower: (Will): 4
Equipment: Maintenance Jumpsuit, Heavily Modified Maintenance Suit (23/90). Kapre Light Rifle 9/15, .30 caliber clips (15) x2, Pack of Flares, Fifty feet of rope, Homemade grappling hook, D-Grade rations x4.
Cale Levi
Health: 103/105
Stamina: 105/105
Description: A tall young man, blond and brown eyed. He's in fairly decent shape, considering his recent lifestyle.
Personality Complication: Young, and kinda Stupid. Cale is a young man, and though time has aged him quickly, he still occasionally acts on wild impulse.
Skills: Mechanical 1, Melee 2, Dodge 1
Attributes,
Strength (Str): 3
Dexterity (Dex): 6
Endurance (End): 6
Charisma (Char): 4
Intelligence (Int): 3
Willpower: (Will): 1
Equipment: Maintenance Jumpsuit, Heavily Modified Maintenance Suit (78/90). Sleipnir SMG (5/30 | 35/60), .223 clips (30) x2, Energy cell x2, Crude Combat Blade, Neuroflash grenade x2, Fifty feet of rope, Homemade grappling hook, D-Grade rations x4.
Health: 61/70
Stamina: 70/70
Carried Weight: 138/140 (-25%)
Attire: Technocrat Commander Dress uniform [11lbs] Standard Body armor, 66/100. [35lbs]
Inv:
Energy Cell x6 (3 lbs)
Taric's Frankenstein Versatility Rifle (A30, E65, 31lbs, in hand,) (Can't use laser)
.220 gauss clip x3
Basilisk pulse rifle 4/5 (13 lbs)
Piru Gauss Rifle (4/5 4/5 16lbs)
.45 Gauss slugs x2 (5)
Disruptor Pistol (4/4 4lbs)
Saun's Helmet (Quarter full of ants, enclosed.) (3lbs)
Box of terrible scrap components (20lbs)
Short Range Radio, (Off)
Memory Foam centerfold
colonist rations x5 (5lbs)
Tripwire emitter
Status: Restaurant, back rooms.
Health: 75/75
Stamina: 75/75
Carried Weight: 146/150 (-25%)
Attire: High-prelate Uniform [8lbs] Standard Body Armor 48/100. [35lbs]
Inv:
Tarran's Ichneumon Anti-Armor Rifle -Scope- (1/1, 20lbs, 1 rounds in speed loader)
1' sabot packs x1 (2)
Combat Knife (1lb)
Sleipnir SMG (A0, E25 9lbs,)
Sleipnir SMG (A0, E25 9lbs,)
Energy cells x4
8 .220 gauss clips (35)
Basic First Aid Kit 3/5 (5lbs)
1 .220 gauss clip (25)
Jormungandr Assault Rifle (A4, E39), 16lbs. In hand,
Artemis Railgun (E 3/3, A 3/3, 18lbs)
.50 Rail Clip (3)
Credit Chit (Unknown)
Status: Unknown Restaurant, back rooms.
Health: 111/135
Stamina: 115/115
Carried Weight: 135/210 (-25%)
Attire: Arbiter dress Uniform, pristine [10lbs] Standard Body Armor, 20/100. [35lbs]
Inv:
Dominique's Abassy Heavy pistol -laser sight- [6, 8lbs]
Stun club (50/50 11lbs)
Fuath Riot suppression carbine [6, 13lbs, Caustic load]
.50 caliber pistol clips x7 (7, 2lbs)
Full Bottle of Wine x1 (1lb, sealed)
Jormungandr Assault Rifle (A35, E70, 16lbs. In hand)
LR Jormungandr Battle Rifle (13/35 A, 8/15 E, Damaged, 17lbs)
Artemis Railgun (E 3/3, A 3/3, 18lbs)
.220 gauss slugs x1 (35)
.220 gauss slugs x1 (30)
Smoke Grenades x1 (neg)
Energy cells x3
Energy cell (90%) x1
.50 Rail Clip (3) x1
Field rations x1
Phoenix Pistol [2, 9lbs]
Basic medical kit (1/5) (5lbs)
Data storage drive [Romance novels]
Unknown Chemical Hypo x3 (Neg)
Partially sorted (1/3) stack of Technocrat stamped papers (Bad novel)
Status: Unknown Restaurant, back rooms.
Health: 31/75 (Dreamspace HP 78/200)
Stamina: 75/75
Carried weight: 105/240 (-25%)
Attire: Exarch Dress uniform [8lbs] James' Light Body armor 47/50 (50/50) [25lbs]
Inv:
(Dreamspace: Satyr Light pistol 9/18)
(Dreamspace: Eldjötnar shotgun (A 4/4 | E 12/12))
(Dreamspace: ORS 3/3)
Renfield SMG (10, 10lbs, in hand)
Riot shield (10lbs 30/30)
Piru Gauss Rifle (E5/5 A5/5 16lbs)
.45 Gauss slug clip (5)
Simone's Song (6lbs 4/7 -Frangible Rounds-)
.50 caliber Frangible pistol clips (7) x1
Dybbuk Flechette Canister Rifle (1/2 35 lbs)
20 mm flechette canisters (x2, 1 lb)
Status: Unknown Restaurant. Incredibly Smelly.
Author
Topic: Deviation-22. The End of All Things. (Read 526918 times)