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.
[Dorothy is just doing her usual round of supply checking today when she notices the lack of noise in the air. It's...well, on one hand it's welcome, but on the other hand, Dorothy's hackles are definitely raised. She does not like it when the relative noise is disrupted.
It usually means there's an even bigger threat out there, which means...
...Well, of course Dorothy's going to go out and investigate. If she happens to see anyone else, she'll look to them--]
[ Oh, there's Dorothy. He feels much better with her being the one he's closest to, so he nods and starts to stretch his hands, his wrists, in case they're going to be launched into some kind of battle. This is not good. ]
[Don't worry, Dorothy's already got some water levitating in the air like one would hold a weapon ready to attack. She's more than ready, though she's definitely going to be sticking close to make sure Percy doesn't get hurt.]
I always had a feeling there were more threats down here than what we saw...
[The sudden silence is worrying actually, and he can't help but think of water receding before a tidal wave.
So whatever's happening... he heads toward where he recalls the closest builder is. Despite his better judgment, he needs tl investigate for the greater good of the group.]
[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.]
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