The passage of time in this place is not easily tracked, not without a clock of some sort, anyway. The days may even begin to blend together, only occasionally interrupted by confrontations with the robot spiders or discussion with whoever is on the other end of that terminal.
It seems like things won't change any time soon. But something is off today, and some of you may notice it sooner than others.
The mind-numbing drone of the nearby builder going about its work has been with you from the very start. Located behind the terminal and far down below, it was the first sound you heard upon arriving here. It has been arranging walkways in increasingly complicated and baffling designs, extending them ever outwards into space. This much has not changed at all during your time here; the drone of the machinery moving and metal being slotted into place may even have become somewhat comforting background noise.
It is completely silent today.
The skittering of spider robots through the vents or patrolling the area is not heard either, and though the atmosphere remains as gloomy as ever, the lack of sound will undoubtedly be noticeable to some of you. Thankfully, you can still hear; it's simply that the machines have stopped their usual tasks, for whatever reason.
[The builder closest to your usual haunt is the one below you, behind the terminal and down far below. You'll have to take the stairs and/or ramps.
You make your way further down; watch your step, as the stairs and ramps leading downward here are particularly weathered and damaged. The handrails aren't faring much better, and are likely to break off should you grip them too hard.
Working your way downwards, you'll notice that the builder has indeed stopped its work - thus the silence. Its arms are resting on the ground level, where it is built into the walls and floor, with no indication that it is still active at all. Then again, there was no indicators present anywhere on it even while it was active, just that the arms kept moving, ceaselessly building.
The walkways before it lead out into space, but don't seem to go anywhere in particular. They twist and turn and loop around themselves in paths that one could follow, leading back up to the higher levels.
While usually the building is fairly well-lit, this particular section has seen far better days. The dust is thicker, the lighting on the fritz and flickering in and out (and dimmer than anywhere else). The silence is oppressive.
The only thing of interest down here seems to be the builder itself - and the fact that it is ominously still for the first time since you arrived. The builder is about what you'd expect; massively tall, spanning up into the darkness of the floors above, with two metal arms currently resting on the floor. The joints of the arms are sturdy, and as some of you may have come to realize over the past week, its weak points. Not that it's much of a threat right now, what with it being inactive and all.
In one hand it holds a massive steel beam - specifically the base of one of those walkways out in space, as if it were in the midst of constructing more of those pathways. Its other hand is empty, lying palm up on the ground. At first glance, there really isn't anything remarkable about it, aside from the fact that it's no longer moving.
But if you look closely, you'll see a flashing light coming from the base of its body, behind one of its arms. The flashes seemingly pulse at random - a soft flicker of white light that's barely bright enough to illuminate the gloom for a moment.]
[It's just like investigating old buildings on the surface. Perilous, everything's weathered and damaged, the Raptures having destroyed most everything in an attempt to overtake it. If anyone needs help down, Dorothy will gladly provide. ...Either by picking you up or just keeping you safe--
Either way, Dorothy definitely looks at that builder when they come across it, and that...light...]
What on earth...?
[Can they get closer to where that light is coming from? Well, Dorothy's going to try anyway, though she's being very careful.]
[Approaching the light means approaching those massive arms, but there's plenty of space to slip beneath them and get a better look at the light. It seems to be coming from a terminal of some sort - not the computer setup of the one you've been communicating with someone through, but rather a higher-tech screen built into the builder itself.
The light is specifically coming from a string of letters that is partially obscured - it seems time hasn't been particularly kind to this piece of technology, as it is worn-down, bearing cracks that have caused the display to warp in places.
What you can read of it says: W██NI█G: A̴̧̟̪͓͕̪̫̯̝͍̗̳͋̈́͋͒N̶̨̢̞͇̘͖̣̲̗̱̺͑̅͋͛̐͛̏̇̍͜O̷͖͎̖͕̾͛̀M̷̧̜̬͛̇̋͒́̍̅̓̆̈́͌͗̕Ȃ̷̤͎͉͕̰͔͔͓̫̙̱̲̹͎̇͌̍̿͊̄̕͜͝ͅͅL̴̝̖͎͔̲͇̤̝͓͖̓̃̒̌̿̈̅͊̅̀̓̑́͜͜͝Ỹ̶̧̲̹͔̜̗͈̠̥̙̰̞̞͓͒́̂͜ͅ ̵͕̫͈̭̝͓͖͔̗̲͕̜͔̹̗̂̆̇͌̈́D̸̨͙͔̹͙̥̩̠̖͓̣̠̟̳̫̄̄̾̽̆̾͋̔̚̚͜͝͝Ȩ̶̢͖̳̎́͒̽̉̆̍̚̕ͅT̷̥̉̅͑́̂̐̇̂͑̒̅̎̀͠E̸̼̣͚̘͇̎̋̈̇̾̋̈͋͛̊́̚͜C̵̢̧̜̦͉͎̳͎̪̜͆̈́̌̍̿̏̊͊̎ͅṮ̷̛̫̤̞̙̠̳̫̈́͛̅̾̋̐͂̈̿̍́̾̀̓͋͂É̸͍͙̣̖͇̝͇̫̂̏̔͋̆̔̄͂̃̒̉͌͊͘͝D̷̨̧̡̧͓͉͎̙̜͈̫͕̒
From what little else you can see of the screen, it seems that the protocols of this particular unit have shifted. While usually the status is set to BU█LD it is now currently set to ELI█IN█TE.
[ Just gonna...hide slightly behind Lucifer...shield good. Shield very good. He also has his own weapon out, now, just in case (a baseball bat, glowing a light shade of blue). ]
[It's going to take a lot more power to even figure out how to reanimate something so large, but Bailey can certainly try!
...Only for absolutely nothing to happen.
It's akin to reaching out into the dark; you can't quite find what you need in order to latch your power to it, and attempts to reach out blindly result in... well, nothing.]
Bailey's not stupid enough to keep flailing around blindly with their power, but they're going to remember that sensation and try to pick it apart, later.]
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no subject
You make your way further down; watch your step, as the stairs and ramps leading downward here are particularly weathered and damaged. The handrails aren't faring much better, and are likely to break off should you grip them too hard.
Working your way downwards, you'll notice that the builder has indeed stopped its work - thus the silence. Its arms are resting on the ground level, where it is built into the walls and floor, with no indication that it is still active at all. Then again, there was no indicators present anywhere on it even while it was active, just that the arms kept moving, ceaselessly building.
The walkways before it lead out into space, but don't seem to go anywhere in particular. They twist and turn and loop around themselves in paths that one could follow, leading back up to the higher levels.
While usually the building is fairly well-lit, this particular section has seen far better days. The dust is thicker, the lighting on the fritz and flickering in and out (and dimmer than anywhere else). The silence is oppressive.
The only thing of interest down here seems to be the builder itself - and the fact that it is ominously still for the first time since you arrived. The builder is about what you'd expect; massively tall, spanning up into the darkness of the floors above, with two metal arms currently resting on the floor. The joints of the arms are sturdy, and as some of you may have come to realize over the past week, its weak points. Not that it's much of a threat right now, what with it being inactive and all.
In one hand it holds a massive steel beam - specifically the base of one of those walkways out in space, as if it were in the midst of constructing more of those pathways. Its other hand is empty, lying palm up on the ground. At first glance, there really isn't anything remarkable about it, aside from the fact that it's no longer moving.
But if you look closely, you'll see a flashing light coming from the base of its body, behind one of its arms. The flashes seemingly pulse at random - a soft flicker of white light that's barely bright enough to illuminate the gloom for a moment.]
no subject
Either way, Dorothy definitely looks at that builder when they come across it, and that...light...]
What on earth...?
[Can they get closer to where that light is coming from? Well, Dorothy's going to try anyway, though she's being very careful.]
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[Not Michael, he's following her down, but he's thinking of like, Ashley and Ed, people like that.]
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1/2
The light is specifically coming from a string of letters that is partially obscured - it seems time hasn't been particularly kind to this piece of technology, as it is worn-down, bearing cracks that have caused the display to warp in places.
What you can read of it says: W██NI█G: A̴̧̟̪͓͕̪̫̯̝͍̗̳͋̈́͋͒N̶̨̢̞͇̘͖̣̲̗̱̺͑̅͋͛̐͛̏̇̍͜O̷͖͎̖͕̾͛̀M̷̧̜̬͛̇̋͒́̍̅̓̆̈́͌͗̕Ȃ̷̤͎͉͕̰͔͔͓̫̙̱̲̹͎̇͌̍̿͊̄̕͜͝ͅͅL̴̝̖͎͔̲͇̤̝͓͖̓̃̒̌̿̈̅͊̅̀̓̑́͜͜͝Ỹ̶̧̲̹͔̜̗͈̠̥̙̰̞̞͓͒́̂͜ͅ ̵͕̫͈̭̝͓͖͔̗̲͕̜͔̹̗̂̆̇͌̈́D̸̨͙͔̹͙̥̩̠̖͓̣̠̟̳̫̄̄̾̽̆̾͋̔̚̚͜͝͝Ȩ̶̢͖̳̎́͒̽̉̆̍̚̕ͅT̷̥̉̅͑́̂̐̇̂͑̒̅̎̀͠E̸̼̣͚̘͇̎̋̈̇̾̋̈͋͛̊́̚͜C̵̢̧̜̦͉͎̳͎̪̜͆̈́̌̍̿̏̊͊̎ͅṮ̷̛̫̤̞̙̠̳̫̈́͛̅̾̋̐͂̈̿̍́̾̀̓͋͂É̸͍͙̣̖͇̝͇̫̂̏̔͋̆̔̄͂̃̒̉͌͊͘͝D̷̨̧̡̧͓͉͎̙̜͈̫͕̒
From what little else you can see of the screen, it seems that the protocols of this particular unit have shifted. While usually the status is set to BU█LD it is now currently set to ELI█IN█TE.
Uh oh.]
2/2
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[He's already moving to be one of those in front, given the fact that he brought up having a shield. Just in case the damn thing has a bomb on it.]
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[He'll move forward too-- Lucifer can handle the shields, he'll bring the attack power.]
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We should be ready for anything, regardless.
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[He's going to the front regardless. He's still got hand to hand skills.]
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...Don't be afraid to go to the back if this proves to be a larger foe than anticipated. I'm--
[oh that's not good]
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Be careful.
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Did it break..?
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One lone robot going down should not take the rest with it. Not unless it's a core of some kind.
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He schools his face into something less burdened.]
Right... I haven't seen any spider robots lately.
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As everyone is walking forward, though...]
Since I can reanimate things... maybe I could check if it's dead, first?
[SINCE. YOU KNOW. IT MIGHT NOT BE INACTIVE FOR REAL REAL...
They're going to try their power to see what it does, anyways!!]
no subject
...Only for absolutely nothing to happen.
It's akin to reaching out into the dark; you can't quite find what you need in order to latch your power to it, and attempts to reach out blindly result in... well, nothing.]
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Bailey's not stupid enough to keep flailing around blindly with their power, but they're going to remember that sensation and try to pick it apart, later.]
Ahh, no dice...
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So is it dead, or...?
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[ Luring them in by playing dead is the oldest trick in the book. At least they have strength in numbers though. ]
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It's a hard feeling to explain. Like, knowing there's something there but you can't find it? That's what using my power on it felt like...
[Makes sense, though. The difference between one of the spiders and a builder is, well.
Incredibly massive.]