Roll 80Amatin, impressed with the level of precision he had acquired since graduating. Since he knew his powers could be repeated safely, he told everyone to wait a bit, then walked back out into the cavern and set his hammer down on the ground. He backed away, then, recalling his memories of the schematics of the device, attempted to cut away the loose parts.
[2] He heard a sizzling sound. After picking up his hammer, the bottom slipped out and spilled some glowing slag onto the rock. Amatin picked up the metal bar that fell and kept it in his storage for when he better understood how the hammer should work.
...
After Amatin reentered the elevator, Zakroff pressed the lower button on the console. Nothing happened--no sounds, no response.
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Jaffar ignored the door and, looking around just one more time to make sure nobody was listening, whispered into the comms.
It's an electronic lock. It's designed to trip people into trying to pick it manually, so the shape of the pick doesn't matter.
Wait a minute... They usually have a security device to try and detect lockpickers. There's a small packet of red fluid in there. Do you see anything?
Kayle looked at the lock.
[4] If there's anything punctured in there I can't see it.
Good. Make sure not to torque it too hard. You will have to run current through it and hope you can trigger the unlocking mechanism. If the knob is metal, then it's easy to do.
It's stainless steel.
Okay, touch one end of the pipe cleaner to an energy cell's electrodes, and poke the other end into the lock gently. Hopefully you can get a current in the right place.
Kayle did so. She thought that perhaps the lock would be designed to prevent this sort of thing, since Jaffar seemed to know it so well. Then again, perhaps due to the slow transfer of information today, only some companies are aware and keep it as a trade secret. Hopefully this lock wasn't one of those.
[3] After fiddling around with the lock and almost shorting the circuit (on an energy cell, that would be bad!) Kayle managed to find the right position. She heard the click and turned the now-darkened knob. This would indicate that she had been here... but she tried not to remind herself about it because she didn't have any metal polishing gear on hand.
Kayle proceeded to the staircase, narrowly evaded the leaving soldiers, then came to the door to the upper floor area. She pushed the door open slowly so that she could look through it with one eye, using her life-vision to determine the idea angle to view the conversation without opening the door too wide. She could also tell which one was Winfield, since he had a blue-green tint the last time she saw him.
...
"Hello Mr. Vice President, it is good to meet you here.""I appreciate your manners, but I'm waiting for an explanation as to why the Centauri are late. Also, you said Admiral Wilheim was with you?""Yes... well, two things. First, we ran into a group of Iron Crown soldiers. They are a Vigilante group with an anti-government agenda. I suspect that they were merely exploring the area, but were planning an attack, so I would recommend that you recall the troops you sent to hunt wildlife and instead keep them stationed here.""I take it that Wilheim was k--""We don't know that. Are you familiar with the Madunai Fungus?""Yes, I am familiar with the microbiology of the fungus as I was a scientist before my political career. You don't mean that he was infected, do you...""He was.""Hmm, I'd love to know what the effects are on humans.""I did not witness it, Mr. Vice President. However, according to the Ross who was with me--whom I tasked to defend the Admiral, Wilheim 'went absolutely insane' and started 'mopping the ground' with the Iron Crown troops. It sounded like quite a spectacle.""All according to our predictions...""Oh really? Your administration must have a lot of information about it. I suppose that if our research teams worked together we could find a cure. It seems to be a growing problem, and we almost had an infestation in the Capital."Kayle could feel some animosity in the Vice President's reply.
"It would certainly be a shame if it went out of control."Winfield frowned.
"Pardon my manners, Mr. Vice President, but you are no different from the scientists responsible for the outbreak on Marsarq. A lot of Centauri and Ross were lost that day, and we still can't find them. Our teams have been searching for their whereabouts since, and I regret to inform you that we have so far found no trace. Madunai Fungus does not get out-competed in nature, it'll find a way to survive.""I suppose an apology is due. However, I will see to it that no word gets out about this. You, however, will be responsible for keeping your own men quiet.""Don't worry, I will. By the way, could I have access to the cave beneath here? I have some curiosities about the fungus and I happen to have a sample with me. If you could allow me to borrow an aquarium as well I could do some science. There's no harm in seeing it myself, is there?"The Vice President stared.
"Okay... we can do that. We have a distinct lack of information on the Fungus' interactions with water, so I suppose I'll come watch as well."Winfield paused for as bit, then shouted.
"No!"Then, he calmed down.
"I... prefer to experiment alone. Other people distract me."...
Caplus awaited Jog's answer. Jog continued to inspect the weapon, saying nothing.
"Acid burns all over. Some of the casing is eaten away too. I really don't think I can fix this, I don't have life magic or anything."Aduin grabbed a couple of Ravager Smoothies from the table. He was a little suspicious--and opened up the lid on one to make sure it didn't actually smell like Ravager poison... sure enough, it didn't.
He asked the bartender to make sure the drinks got to the Ross soldiers...
(Just a question. Is it your intent to get them to speak with you or...?)