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.
[...he's very much not a healer. he shouldn't be there. he wants to ask npc-chan if they knew about this shit. okay. he's just going to run upstairs and see if he can check in on stuff and maybe report back to everyone who's fucked up.]
[The terminal sits where it always does, green text glowing against the black background. Except for once, you're being contacted first - and hoo boy, there are a lot of messages already on the screen or incoming by the time Jasper gets there.
It seems like something's happened to the screen, though - the text occasionally blinks in and out or otherwise distorts. While the terminal has never had any issues before now, it seems like there's some sort of glitching happening now.]
Are you all okay?? There was a huge surge of power I couldn't get through to you Nothing I did was working I couldn't even open a portal So please respond back to me as soon as you can? Status on everyone, please? There's no way they found this place but I don't know what we're going to do if you guys aren't okay Is anyone there??
I do not believe that any of us are actually dead, at the very least, but we are most certainly not okay. One of the formerly peaceful builder constructs went rogue and tried to kill us, though we did manage to reprogram it. We were attacked by two other... more humanoid mechanical beings, one of which exploded upon defeat.
Okay Okay so you're all still alive, at least That's good
[There's a brief pause here before the next messages.]
I don't know what's going on or why this suddenly happened. But I don't think it's safe for you guys to be there anymore. Can you gather everyone here? Or are they too injured to move?
[ Hey Jasper, Shizuka is looking over your shoulder. ]
I'd say we can, relatively soon. We have enough uninjured or lightly injured to carry those who can't walk, and with healing powers in the fray we should get everyone in a state stable enough that a small amount of movement won't worsen their condition.
I don't know. I can't rule it out, anyway, and it would make sense if things suddenly changed there. Regardless, you guys are coming with me. Thankfully, I've managed to get things under control here, so I was trying to get in contact with you all to pick you up anyway. If you can't get him to this point, I'll have to open another portal, but I can do that with your help. Can you gather everyone else up so most of you are here?
[ Since he's not preoccupied with the whole first aid situation down there and in fact standing a bit to the side from it, Shizuka picks up on the notification sound. ]
... it looks like our guide has contacted us. Hold on.
[...Looking in the direction of the terminal. She'll finish tearing up the last of the fabric and leave them with Wolfwood, getting up to follow Shizuka.]
( ... is it colder or is it just the endless void of space?
it's mafuyu. hi. she might have overused her powers a bit trying to defend herself but she's made her way back to safety! slightly ('slightly') frosted over safety... what happened though? )
Um- I was trying to gather some extra supplies, and I thought it was fine since it was a hall I scouted before? But when I was carrying things back, I got swarmed by the spiders...
( she's so cold, even with her cardigan- but then, the wool is also frosting over, so maybe that's worse! its definitely worse actually. she'll do as told, though. )
I couldn't find anyone but I heard a lot of noise...
There was a fight, far down below the camp. One of the builders had grown aggressive.
[He'll lead Mafuyu back over to the supply point, where he makes short work of finding one of the blankets, snapping it open like a sail on the wind before draping it around her shoulders, hands moving gently against her shoulders and back to try to generate some sort of warmth, like drying off a soaked animal.]
If only I still had my fire powers -- [Tch. But no, no, let his focus stay on her.] Hang in there a little longer. Our strange host is going to get us out of here once everyone has gathered.
[ it's fine, every room feels colder when wednesday is in it-
she nods. ]
Made it through, yes. [ asking a maybe-friend if they're alright shouldn't be above her pay grade but here we are, if how she talks to enid is any indication: ] You seem to have managed as well.
( mafuyu would like to think she did very good considered she got swarmed by a flood of spiders while completely alone, since it seemed like they covered the entire hallway- )
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...?
Though it comes from quite a ways above you, the familiar ping! of the terminal you've been using to communicate echoes in the stillness. Hmm!]
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It seems like something's happened to the screen, though - the text occasionally blinks in and out or otherwise distorts. While the terminal has never had any issues before now, it seems like there's some sort of glitching happening now.]
Are you all okay??
There was a huge surge of power
I couldn't get through to you
Nothing I did was working I couldn't even open a portal
So please respond back to me as soon as you can?
Status on everyone, please?
There's no way they found this place but
I don't know what we're going to do if you guys aren't okay
Is anyone there??
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I do not believe that any of us are actually dead, at the very least, but we are most certainly not okay. One of the formerly peaceful builder constructs went rogue and tried to kill us, though we did manage to reprogram it. We were attacked by two other... more humanoid mechanical beings, one of which exploded upon defeat.
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Okay so you're all still alive, at least
That's good
[There's a brief pause here before the next messages.]
I don't know what's going on or why this suddenly happened.
But I don't think it's safe for you guys to be there anymore.
Can you gather everyone here?
Or are they too injured to move?
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In any case, I would agree that this place seems decidedly unsafe. Are you sure this could not be the work of your adversary?
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I'd say we can, relatively soon. We have enough uninjured or lightly injured to carry those who can't walk, and with healing powers in the fray we should get everyone in a state stable enough that a small amount of movement won't worsen their condition.
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I can't rule it out, anyway, and it would make sense if things suddenly changed there.
Regardless, you guys are coming with me.
Thankfully, I've managed to get things under control here, so I was trying to get in contact with you all to pick you up anyway.
If you can't get him to this point, I'll have to open another portal, but I can do that with your help.
Can you gather everyone else up so most of you are here?
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... it looks like our guide has contacted us. Hold on.
[ To the terminal he goes. ]
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For once, they also approach. ]
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it's mafuyu. hi. she might have overused her powers a bit trying to defend herself but she's made her way back to safety! slightly ('slightly') frosted over safety... what happened though? )
--You also...?
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Vakama spots her coming from Very Much Not the Direction everyone else is in and beelines over.]
Blast it all, I knew we had some faces missing... [It's muttered as he takes a knee, looking her over.]
Mafuyu, right? What happened? Are you alright?
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I, um. I think I overdid it trying to get away.
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I'd believe it. You're freezing, little one.
Come, come -- let's not leave you like this before the others arrive. There has to be something we can wrap you in.
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( she's so cold, even with her cardigan- but then, the wool is also frosting over, so maybe that's worse! its definitely worse actually. she'll do as told, though. )
I couldn't find anyone but I heard a lot of noise...
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[He'll lead Mafuyu back over to the supply point, where he makes short work of finding one of the blankets, snapping it open like a sail on the wind before draping it around her shoulders, hands moving gently against her shoulders and back to try to generate some sort of warmth, like drying off a soaked animal.]
If only I still had my fire powers -- [Tch. But no, no, let his focus stay on her.] Hang in there a little longer. Our strange host is going to get us out of here once everyone has gathered.
Are you hurt anywhere else?
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she nods. ]
Made it through, yes. [ asking a maybe-friend if they're alright shouldn't be above her pay grade but here we are, if how she talks to enid is any indication: ] You seem to have managed as well.
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( mafuyu would like to think she did very good considered she got swarmed by a flood of spiders while completely alone, since it seemed like they covered the entire hallway- )
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