4491/Mudbaths

Mudbaths
Date of Scene:	31 August 2016
Location:	The Great Ruin
Synopsis:	Nothing can defeat beauty. Not even time. Not even an apocalypse. Beauty shall remain when all else is gone. WARNING: FABULOUSITY WITHIN
Cast of Characters:	William Pauwel, 1017, Reina Kinney, 673, 707

---

William Pauwel has posed:
    Tellus is a pretty big place, as one might expect from the former homeworld to an EXTRAORDINARILY ADVANCED CIVILIZATION. Former being the operating word, of course. The Ancients are long gone, their civilization reduced to dust by a tremendous and yet barely known cataclysm. Their culture has left scattered ruins all across the world- monuments to their technology, their engineering, the devastating power they once wielded, and the incredible luxury in which they lived.

Those who search out these ruins are called Chasers.

One such Chaser has put out a call for assistance out on the distant reaches of Tellus' frontier. There's a new settlement in peril, the message had said!

KILLER ROBOTS! The message had said!

HELLLLLLP, the message had said.

    The coordinates attached to the message lead to a temperate, heavily forested region cris-crossed by rivers and marked by the rise of a single enormous mountain. The mountain has what looks like a crater on top. It's steaming. The mountain is a volcano.

    A small village grows out of the foothills. They're just small log cabins now, but already the people are beginning to clear land for farms and cattle. There's nobody out right now, though. Too many are scared of the things that come out of the woods: mechanical monsters that emerge only to STEAL YOUR FACE.

Clearly this must not be allowed to continue.

And so one William Pauwel has put out the call for help, and waits at the boundary where one field turns into forest. Surely his friends will respond to his call for aid!

Rose Quartz (1017) has posed:
~She flies through the air with the greatest of ease~
~That daring Rose Quartz drifting down on the breeze~
~Her movements so graceful, all Gems she could please~
~And with light cannons blasting away~

That's sort of the impression one gets of Rose Quartz. She's a big, curvy woman with enormous curly hair that floats gently behind her as she warps into view, gently falling through the air above William. Hearing the cry for help across the channels, she's come, armed and armored to the teeth. "Well hello there," she says in a warm, motherly voice. "Has anyone been hurt yet?"

Reina Kinney has posed:
Having little to do with her free time, save for an occasional recon mission in the Gurhal system here and there, Reina is actually HAPPY to hear a distress signal come out. For all this time, she's been doing little more than sitting around watching and waiting, seeing if anything comes of what she's been instructed to do from her superiors, and usually coming back empty-handed. At least Laia isn't chewing her out for wasting time after those missions, but they really do little to ease Reina's frustrations. So when Reina arrives in the area, it's obvious she's got a full load of adrenaline going through her!

For a moment, there's just a brief flash of light, then the shape of the red-haired woman appears in that light. Finally, the shape materializes as Reina herself. Taking a moment to double-check her ponytail is tied securely enough, she looks to William and says, "Name's Reina, I'm here to help. Can you give me a situation report so far?"

Rory White (673) has posed:
A streak of light from an orbital teleporter's the only sign of Rory deploying near the gathering point. A young woman with smooth, long blue hair, dressed in elaborate white robes and carrying a pearly-colored, oddly smooth-looking rifle with some very ergonomic grips. The teleporter flares a few more times afterwards, depositing four frisbee-sized flying saucers whih quickly take off and hover around for an eye in the sky... and two things that look like... kind of like large robotic spiders. Plenty of legs, and an array of weapon barrels sprouting from the body. When they can get away with it, their feet shift into wheels. Wheels on legs. It's pretty weird.

    The Arachnoids, for now, trail behind Rory as she heads over towards the meeting point, all sensors on alert!

Xiaomu (707) has posed:
It's boredom as much as anything that brings Xiaomu out to Tellus; she's fought alongside Pauwel a couple of times before, and ancient killer robots in the middle of what's mostly a fantasy world seem like the kind of weird problem that she should be familiar with investigating. She does kind of wish she had a lightning-element weapon, but that's part of Reiji's gig and he's too busy to go haring off halfway across the Multiverse to reply to a distress call.

She'll just have to do the best she can with her normal loadout. She does have a few fire-elemental grenades, and there aren't THAT many things which are immune to big fiery explosions. Or bullet holes. Or getting encased in ice. And there's practically nothing Xiaomu has met which is immune to all three of those at once.

Xiaomu's lightcycle zooms in from the nearest warpgate, shedding speed as she spots the group gathering, and finally braking to a halt before the sage fox dismounts, de-rezzes her cycle, and puts the 'baton' away in her carrypack. "Hey everyone," she greets the others with a casual wave. "What've I missed besides 'ancient killer robots on the loose'?"

William Pauwel has posed:
Well, these are some faces that Will's never actually seen before! A few of them, anyway. "Howdy!" The Chaser says with a grin, stepping down off of his trusty all-terrain motorbike. "Don't know some of you. If y'all haven't met me before, the name's Will Pauwel, and this here's a sleepy little town they're callin' Copper Springs." On account of the fresh spring water, and the local copper deposits, apparently.

    "Right now, there's been a few injured. One looks like his face got shoved in a woodchipper and chewed right up," Will shakes his head with a sigh. "Biggest problem with settin' up shop on the frontier, never know what you'll find. Sometimes it's robots. That's the bad news. The good news is that robots usually means there's a ruin around somewhere! I haven't found it yet, myself. But that's what I asked y'all here for! Can't just leave a nest of hostile robots be when there's honest folk tryin' to settle nearby, right?"

Rose Quartz (1017) has posed:
"Oh dear. I should see to the wounded as soon as possible," the pink-haired behemoth says, touching the gem at her belly. "I have healing powers, so I should be able to restore them if they still live. Where did these robots come from?"

Xiaomu (707) has posed:
The description of that one guy's injuries prompts a very clear wince to cross Xiaomu's face. "Sounds like we want to blow these things up at a distance and not let them get close in any state where they can keep posing a danger," she assesses. "Is there going to be some kind of central hub where we can shut them all down by remote, or are we going to have to go into the ruins, kill many robots, and hope we get 'em all the hard way?"

Ah good, there's a healer in the group! That more than anything makes Xiaomu smile again - as does the presence of familiar faces; in point of fact, Rose Quartz is the only one Xiaomu *hasn't* met before. "Name's Xiaomu, by the way," she introduces herself to the big beautiful Gem, offering a handshake. "Not quite as human as I look, but you'll get used to that being a thing in the Multiverse."

Rory White (673) has posed:
Rory FROWNS at Will's description of the casualties. Frowns hard. Although the more natural reaction is probably to cringe. The expression isn't quite natural, but it's there at least...

    "It should be criminal to build security systems that can outlive their creators." She comments sadly, without realizing the inherent flaw in that idea. It's good rhetoric at least?

    "Good evening, Mr. Pauwel! When you say nest... do we have any idea on how many, how large, what kind of armaments or tactics they use?"

    She turns back and forth. Xiaomu she recognizes, if only faintly. Rose Quartz...

    The Gem gets a very very solid staring at. And attention from some harmless but noisy scanners. Well, noisy on the electromagnetic spectrum... "A hard-light entity...?! Only seen that once before... hello! Rory White. Artificial General Intelligence, robotics engineer."

Reina Kinney has posed:
"A few injured? Are they gonna be OK? Do they need medical assistance?" Reina asks. "I can get some GUARDIANS medical assistance down here if need be." She'd offer to heal them herself, but her Resta TECHNIC drains her mentally and given how bad their injuries sound, she doesn't want to risk passing out. Then she notices Rose Quartz, who she hasn't met before, offering to heal them. "Thanks, that really helps us out a lot." She smiles a little, before turning to face William again, her smile disappearing.

"So these hostile robots are roaming around, and it's up to us to take 'em out, huh?" She doesn't arm herself just yet. "What do we know about them? Like how big are they? What are their capabilities?" She asks, wanting to get a better sense of what she's up against.

William Pauwel has posed:
    "If you want to fix them up, the town's right over there," Will says, thumbing towards the collection of log cabins up in the distance. "I'd prefer to get these robots taken care of first. Sooner we go after them, the sooner these people'll have a breather." In other words, the guy with the mangled face isn't exactly going anywhere, but who knows what those robots could get up to in the meantime!?

    "From what I've gathered, these ones don't actually have very much in the way of firepower. They've got some kind of... blinding spray, or something, and a bunch of cutting and burning tools, but no firearms to speak of. We should be able to pick 'em off from far away, unless they've got somethin' I ain't been told of yet." Will shrugs, gesturing into the woods, "As far as what direction they're coming from, you're looking at it. They've been moving into town from over here. I reckon the ruin's not far, but I ain't exactly sure where it might be."

"If we get to the ruin, we could maybe find the central computer and shut 'em off." The Chaser shrugs, figuring it could really go either way. "But sometimes you get these independent droids that don't care 'bout central command. It'll all depend, but in either case, we'd be going to the source."

Rose Quartz (1017) has posed:
"These sound more like maintenance or resource-gathering robots than defense units or security systems." Rose says. "Apologies. My name is Rose Quartz, I'm the leader of the Crystal Gems." she says, dipping a curtsey to all and sundry. "It's a pleasure to meet you all, and I agree. If they are not in danger of dying, we can afford to take care of this issue first."

Reina Kinney has posed:
"That does NOT sound good!" Reina comments, before looking towards the ruins. After a moment of thought, she snaps her fingers on both hands, and in each hand an energy-bolt firing pistol appears. She looks to the others and says, "Unless someone else wants to take point, I'm gladly willing to do so!"

She pauses for now, waiting for anyone who might want to back her up as point or offer another suggestion to speak up. "I hope there's a good scrapyard around here, because we're gonna need one once we're finished here!" She says with a sneer and an evil smirk.

Xiaomu (707) has posed:
There are a few possibilities that the robots could have, at least according to Xiaomu's imagination, but she keeps her mouth shut on the subject. No point in tempting fate, right? "Sounds like they're basically forestry robots, then," she speculates. "The spray is probably some kind of herbicide or the like ... if anyone manages to get a sample without getting blinded or chemically burned by it, maybe it'd be interesting to run it back to a lab for analysis. Short of that -"

Suddenly, Xiaomu has a handgun in each hand. She twirls them briefly (and carefully - the muzzles never point at her or her allies while being twirled), catches them in a regular firing grip, and draws the slides back just enough to make sure rounds are properly chambered. Check complete, she clicks the safeties back on both Silver and Platinum before holstering them inside her vest once again, and taking her staff back up with a soft jingle of the rings hanging from its headpiece.

"Mr. Pauwel, you seem to be the most knowledgeable about where we're going and what we're doing. If you'd be so kind as to take point ... unless somebody else really wants to?"

Rory White (673) has posed:
"Agreed. That equipment's not expected of military loadouts. Which means they are either malfunctioning or in some kind of emergency patrol mode... or perhaps, since the current generation lacks all forms of identification the Ancients possessed, they see everyone as an intruder? I could make up far too many theories to list. Here's hoping we can regain control from the central location!" Rory White shows a genuinely hopeful smile!

    "The good news is those sound like close quarters weapons. If we can locate and ambush them, the advantage will be thoroughly in our favor."

William Pauwel has posed:
    "Nah, Miss Xiaomu's probably right. I've been scouting 'round here for a while, got a pretty good idea of the local lay of the land. That said, iff'n y'all've got any kind of... long-ranged scouting, that'd really make this a lot easier." After all, Will knows the general direction, but the exact location of their destination is still a little bit of a mystery.

NOT FOR LONG, HOWEVER.

    "Alright, if we're all ready to go," Will says, turning as he makes his way into the woods. "Hopefully these woodcutting robots or whatever ain't eavesdropping on us or anything. They might even have an ambush all waiting for us already." With Will's luck, the cutters're each hiding some kind of horrifying antimatter weapon, too. But that's just the way things go with Will's adventures. If it isn't a super robot, it's a horrifying coral monster.

    Unless anyone has any particular objections, Will leads the group some fair distance into the woods. The trees are immense here. There's a sense that some of these might've been around back when the Ancients still dominated the planet. Thick trunks and massive boughs make navigating the forest floor somewhat difficult, save for what looks like it might be an old, dried up riverbed. The earth is damp enough underfoot that this brook must have run dry only relatively recently.

Will creeps forward at the head of the group, hand hovering nervously over his favorite sidearm.

There's a sense... That something is watching.

Rose Quartz (1017) has posed:
Rose Quartz is a very obvious woman. She's ten feet tall, wears a brilliant white dress, and has pink hair so massive that it's got its own zip code. She does TRY to be stealthy, but from sheer size, she's got issues with that. "Please, once the fighting starts, allow me to take the vanguard. I will protect you."

Rory White (673) has posed:
"So why would robots require wood?" Rory decides to ask the question rather pointedly. "The Ancients seemed fond of metals and metamaterials over organics..." So the idea of a woodcutting robot is a bit odd. Surely they had better ways of clearing land for construction, too!

    One little mental command and two of her four Saucer drones accelerate, heading further out beyond the group. They're a bit slow, but they're high up... and are scanning the forest with infrared and other parts of the spectrum. Also listening for radio waves that might signify robots communicating with each other...

    But Rory White herself sticks with Will!

    ... And trips. Multiple times. Roots, sticks, and unexpected rocks all get her stumbling and flailing. At one point she slams her head right into a tree... but doesn't even cry out in pain despite the awkward position. Just straightens herself out and shakes her head a bit to recalibrate...

    At least, by the time it matters, she's figured out how to follow without making a racket... carrying her rifle at the ready.

Xiaomu (707) has posed:
"I wouldn't put much of a bet on being able to take control of them," Xiaomu asides to Rory as they set off. "We'll be lucky if their programming code is legible enough to figure out what alphabet they were using, never mind sorting out what the code is supposed to do versus what it actually does.

Also, her best option for long-range scouting is a pair of binoculars ... which she didn't bring.

Hey, this was a rescue mission, not a survey trip.

Xiaomu keeps her staff's rings quiet as the group advances into the forest; she's also being extra-careful of her footing - she doesn't want to lose a sandal in the mud or something, although that may be partly because she doesn't want to get her feet muddy if she doesn't have to. Skirting around tree trunks, and ducking under (or climbing over) branches or roots, don't seem to be as much of an issue for her. She keeps her ears perked, literally, to help warn her (and by proxy, the group) if there are any sounds of movement that might be robots.

Reina Kinney has posed:
Following not too far behind William, Reina says, "Yeah, you best go first. I don't like the look of this, to be honest." She's got pistols in each hand, yet she knows anything can go wrong at any time in any way. Just look at the clusterfalz that was Oregon-313 recently? When she was dispatched to a bank holdup and-- Oh, not now. Ask her about it later!

The red-head's boots barely make a sound as she takes each step slowly and deliberately. She looks around from side to side, almost as if she's expecting something to happen. Usually in a situation like this, she might make a joke or one-liner to lighten the mood, but Reina's got a bad feeling about this...

William Pauwel has posed:
"You've got it," Will says to Rose's offer to TAKE THE LEAD once things actually start getting heated.

    "Maybe they used wood as some kind of... Raw material or something?" Will answers to Rory. "I mean, I've got no idea what this black stuff is actually made of, so maybe they figured out how to use wood to make it?" The metamaterial DID seem to be comprised of significant amounts of carbon. Maybe they were literally just burning wood for the charcoal?

Or maybe...

Maybe these aren't wood-cutters at all?

Maybe these are... ASSASSIN DROIDS!?

    The woods are quiet. Too quiet, almost. Except for the lilting sounds of songbirds chirping high up above and the quiet crinkling of dead leaves underfoot, everything is almost... idyllic.

And then things start rolling out of the bushes.

    Rory would likely notice them activating first. The machines come alive as the group draws near, proximity sensors detecting their approach and flooding photoelectronic systems with power. The machines are... approximately five and a half feet in height, and covered in what appears to be an immacculate shell of pastel-colored plastic. Each has a single strip of blue light towards the top, and bristle with...

...Scissors, and razors, and what appear to be curling irons.

"WARNING, WARNING," they beep in unison. "CRIMES AGAINST FASHION DETECTED. YOU MUST LET US FIX YOU, DARLING. BEEP." They beep. "BOOP." They boop.

Will kind of gives Rory a deeply perplexed look.

    And then one lunges at him with what appears to be a can of some sort of compressed air, and he jumps back with a yelp as he gets a faceful of... Something that smells distinctly like hairspray. Will coughs, wheezes, and then shoots the little can with a bolt of plasma. It explodes. Everything smells like hairspray. The robots are not deterred.

Rose Quartz (1017) has posed:
Rose simply stares. She's UNFASHIONABLE?! How dare they! She banishes her weapons and smoothes out her dress. Fluffing her hair out... She dances. And she's VERY good at it. A little swish, a little sway. And she's off in her own little world, light sparkling around her as the forest comes alive, dancing with her, flower petals drifting on a breeze... She's not just fashionable, she's GLORIOUS.

Rory White (673) has posed:
When Rory White makes genuine expressions, those that come without thought or sense... they're very rarely too normal. In this case her whole face scrunches up bizarrely and mouth parts unevenly in the FREAKIEST look of lopsided, puzzled, THIS DOES NOT COMPUTE this planet has probably seen in millenia.

    "WERE THESE PROGRAMMED BY ROBCO?!" She simply blurts, bringing her rifle up, FULL of alarm and a sickened sensation to be sure.

    But she doesn't just STAND THERE, she leaps back behind a log and takes aim... then starts firing. Ballistic shells at least, not energy. The adaptive rounds will hit with crazy force as they shape on impact and alter their density for MAXIMUM damaging power...

Reina Kinney has posed:
"Crimes against fashion?!" Reina snaps. "I'll have you know that, well..." Reina frowns as she thinks of something to say, before blurting out, "This hair of mine? It ain't dyed, I'll have you know! It's been natural since the day I was born!" She says nothing about her uniform, since it's less about fashion and more about functionality and things like that. "Enough of that... HAVE AT YOU!"

Diving to the side, Reina fires her pistols, shooting off several energy shots at them. After a few shots, she tries to take cover behind a tree while letting her pistols recharge.

Xiaomu (707) has posed:
Okay, so they're not forestry robots. Nobody would make forestry robots that .... pastel. But the way they're armed - equipped, rather - is the real clincher. And Xiaomu didn't hear them until 'too late' because they were powered down, offline, whatever.

When the machines DO power up, though, there's basically no missing them - and Xiaomu stares in horror. "Fashion robots? SERIOUSLY?!"

She's still staring in horror when Will blows up the can of hairspray. Whether the explosion is forceful enough to knock Xiaomu off her feet or not, the sage fox still goes flying - pushing off from where she was standing with a combination of her legs and her staff - and ...

Explodes into gold-colored smoke?

A moment later, though, the smoke clears and Xiaomu's new form is revealed - still noticeably foxy, particularly with the ears and tails 'hiding' as her hair, but her qipao and vest have been replaced by a very professional-looking pantsuit, plus she's got a pair of wire-rimmed spectacles balanced on her nose. "Who are you to talk about crimes against fashion?" she chides the 'bots. "You've been underground for centuries, you have no *idea* what's currently fashionable! Here, let me give you a quick refresher ..."

Another poof of gold smoke, which clears to reveal Xiaomu in a very flattering school uniform - not a sailor fuku, but one with a white blouse, a gray sweater vest with some school(?)'s badge over the left breast, and a pleated plaid skirt in a few shades of gray. "I mean, every girl likes to look her best, from the classroom -"

*Poof!* "- to the beach," Xiaomu continues, now in an extremely flattering one-piece competition swimsuit, navy blue with white trim along the edges.

*Poof!* "Going shopping ..." She's now wearing a light green T-shirt with 'I <3 Money' silk-screened on the front in silver and gold and darker green, plus jeans rolled up at the knees and sneakers on her feet. This is probably her worst (deliberate) fashion offense.

*Poof!* "... or going to the opera," Xiaomu finishes, posing in a black velvet evening gown with a plunging neckline, the skirt slit up to her right thigh (not QUITE to her hip) and exposing most of her leg, including a black leather pump visible on one foot (and presumably, hidden under the skirt on her other foot). "But all things considered, my *favorite* outfits are -"

*Poof!* "The ones I can wear -" shouts a now-miko-vested Xiaomu, leaping at the robots and drawing Suiren to slash at the first.

*Poof!* "- while I'm kicking -" continues the nurse-uniformed sage fox, completing her slash with a powerful surge of ice magic.

*Poof!* "- your cheap, plastic-coated -" Xiaomu is now wearing a sailor fuku, as she slashes at the next-closest fashionbot. You HAVE to have seen that one coming.

*Poof* "- malfunctioning asses!" finishes Xiaomu, now strongly resembling a magical girl with frills, ruffles, ribbons, and sparkles a-plenty, throwing one last surge of ice magic before she lands on a hopefully-frozen fashionbot and *pushing off* as hard as she can. With a little luck, that'll send her target sliding across the forest floor to shatter against a tree, but if nothing else, it'll give her a boost into an arching backflipping leap before she lands on a convenient branch. By the time she lands, she's back in her qipao and vest - and keeping a wary eye out for additional robots while she digs in her carrypack. "Honestly," she grumbles, "*fashion robots*, whose idea was that ... ?"

An attentive ear might catch something about 'fried tofu' while she's rummaging.

William Pauwel has posed:
THESE ARE NO ROBCO BOTS, NO ROBCO.

    It might make a little bit of sense, though; until now, the only robots that Xiaomu and Rory've likely encountered in this particular world have been military machines. Each of those designs were built for war- they were utilitarian, intimidating, and menacing with incredible weaponry. These are...

Not.

    Reina and Rory stick to the usual method of dealing with rogue robots. TONS OF GUNS. To their credit, the machines are actually made out of some pretty sturdy material, like bakelite, except vastly more durable. It actually stands up to a couple of Rory's adaptive shots before shattering, leaving the robots with nothing to protect them from Reina's pistols. Several go down in quick succession.

But what truly devastates them is... The power of FASHION.

    Rose's dance and Xiaomu's RAPID COSPLAY SESSION seems to make the robots pause. As ACTUAL DANCE SPARKLES start flowing, one of them begins to spark and sputter, before its optical unit explodes out of its 'face.' The rest of the droid collapses shortly thereafter. "WARNING, WARNING," one says as Xiaomu unveils a black dress that would almost certainly make her partner EXTREMELY UNCOMFORTABLE (in the best possible way), "FASHION OVERLOAD."

    "TARGETS TOO FABULOUS. CANNOT COMPUTE. CANNOT COMPU--" A wave of ice swallows the bot up. Then the one next to it. Both are sent careening into a nearby tree trunk, where they fall apart into so many itty bitty shards.

There's one left, but it's... Running away. It's obviously overcome by FABULOUSITY.

"H-hey!" Will calls, pointing over at the fleeing droid, "After it! It might lead us to where they're comin' from!"

Rose Quartz (1017) has posed:
Rose isn't going to stop! She's just too fabulously wonderful! But she'll slow her dance, eventually coming to a big finish by simply leaping through the air after the fleeing robot. She'll get a birds eye view as she sails through the trees, keepin an eye on it. "That was quite a fight." she says to Xiaomu as she lands from one of her many leaps. "You aren't a gem, perchance, are you?"

Xiaomu (707) has posed:
More rummaging, followed by a crinkle of plastic getting torn open, and Xiaomu finally manages to recharge a bit. Ah, delicious fried tofu, truly it is sacred manna from on high.

*nomf munch chomp*

"Little too much transformation at once," Xiaomu explains as she zips the carry-pack closed again. "Now where's that straggler going ..." The terrain is too uneven for her lightcycle, plus Xiaomu's energy reserves are still shaky right now; she settles for leaping from one branch to the next. It's not quite flying like Rose Quartz seems to be doing, but it's good enough in these conditions.

"Sage fox," she answers Rose Quartz. "Not sure what you mean by 'gem' - doesn't sound like it's just a compliment ...." She pauses, an ear quirking as she puts a couple of pieces together. Like the big lady's name, and Rory mentioned hard light projection ...

"'Gem' is literally what you are, though, it sounds like?"

Reina Kinney has posed:
"Don't have to tell me twice!" Reina says as she takes off running after the droid. No longer caring about keeping a low profile, Reina runs as fast as she can manage, grateful her boots are made for all-terrain operations like this. "Don't try anything funny or you're really gonna get a shocking surprise!" She calls out to the droid as she chases after it.

Rory White (673) has posed:
Well, Xiaomu's display does nothing to help Rory's bewildered expression. She stands up from cover though as the group gets the upper hand and their prey goes running off. "This is the most ridiculous scenario..." One she did NOT see coming whatsoever.

    Oooooooh well. Still looking BEYOND confused, she trudges after the others through the forest...

    But also asks Xiaomu idly, "How did you DO that?!"

William Pauwel has posed:
    It's about then that Rory's forward scouts report that they've located what looks like man-made structures off in the distance. Coincidentally, they're all in the same direction as the fleeing droid. Surely it's going off to some kind of terrible Ancient CLOTHES FACTORY, with fashions as out of date as these robots are old! "Keep an eye on 'em," Will yells to the pursuers up above. He has to mostly make do with just his two feet... And the pair of POWERED SKATES strapped to them.

Maybe they were right.

Maybe Will IS the crime against fashion.

    The pursuit continues regardless! Soon the trees seem to clear ever so slightly, the gaps between them growing wider, though the path ahead is almost all uphill. As soon as they crest it, though, the group finds itself passing through a gap in a very manmade wall, and overlooking what appears to be a... garden. One that's surprisingly well-maintained. The hedges and trellises are all aflush with blooming, fragrant flowers. Artfully organized stone arrangements ring lily-covered ponds.

    Behind it all, there's a rustic structure not unlike how one might imagine a forest inn might look like; the architecture is almost a blend of Celtic and Japanese. And behind -THAT- is another enclosure that appears to be... steaming. The little pastel robot scoots back into the building as fast as its hoverdrive can take it.

"Uh," Will says, staring at the building in front of them. "This is kind of... A first for me."

Rory White (673) has posed:
"Not certain what we have come across... the one thing it does resemble couldn't be found out here." Rory exclaims, still rather puzzled at the barrage of insane things that keep happening.

    Really, could this place really be one of those? She looks to Xiaomu... maybe she recognizes the setup...

    "THIS couldn't have lasted since the Ancients' fell..."

Rose Quartz (1017) has posed:
"Of course!" she says, touching the gem at her core. "This, is me... Everything else is just a projected body of sorts. It gets a little complicated to explain to most people, but think of it like a... Like those giant robots in your Ah Knee May cartoons. The gem is the pilot, and the body is the giant robotic man with rockets for bones."

Xiaomu (707) has posed:
"Shapeshifter," is Xiaomu's one-word answer to Rory's question. Then she focuses on trying to catch up with the outdated fashionbot - not an easy task to begin with, and complicated by which way the terrain is tilting.

Well, she also pays some attention to Rose Quartz's answer, and she nods. "Awesome! Gotta talk to you later, I think."

Shortly thereafter, they reach the - okay, it's not a clothing factory. Nor is it the kind of place you'd expect robots to be built, stored, or maintained. More than anything, it looks to Xiaomu's experienced eye like a ryokan with a hot spring in back.

And with curiosity superceding caution, Xiaomu jumps from her last branch-perch to the main gate, trying to knock some mud and/or bark off the soles of her sandals before she sets foot in the grounds, forging ahead to take a look around. "Even *smells* like a hot spring," she comments, loudly enough for her allies to hear.

Reina Kinney has posed:
"So you wanna play hide and seek?" Reina asks as the droid disappears inside whatever this place is. "Well, ready or not, here we come!" She slowly approaches the entrance, stopping only as Xiaomu jumps ahead and wipes her sandals off, before letting her go ahead. "A hot spring? What the Falz would a droid be doing in a hot spring? Wouldn't it short circuit or something?" A pause, then Reina mentally slaps herself as she adds, "Unless it's not a droid, but something else?"

William Pauwel has posed:
    It sure does look like a hotspring resort. Like an idyllic little slice of heaven out in the middle of the wilderness. But if this is an Ancient structure, then it must be thousands of years old. "This don't make any sense," Will mutters as he forges ahead into the grounds. "What's all this doing in one piece? Don't look too durable; the places I've been've been half wrecked, even underground, but this..."

Looks... almost untouched.

    If the group proceeds inside, they'd catch sight of the droid zooming off into a nearby hallway. The lobby is... Not exactly spotless. It's worn. Beat-up in places, but there looks to have been fresh repairs to the facility lately. Several desks look almost brand new. A robot, about two feet tall, scoots by and slides a wicker chair behind the front desk. Another droid, like a hovering sphere with a half-dozen tendril-like arms, sweeps in and rises up to replace a plank of rotted wood in the ceiling.

    A third robot hover-scoots into the room and pauses as it seems to notice the group. Its optics flicker as it scans over each member of the group, pausing only after it passes Will. "WARNING. CUSTOMERS DETECTED," it says suddenly, "ENGAGE HOSPITALITY MODE."

    Immediately, the other two robots zoom out of the room, and the sphere alights over the front desk. "Welcome, guests," it says in a much less OBVIOUSLY ROBOTIC voice. "Unfortunately, our facilities have not yet completed necessary maintenance, and our spa is missing--" Bzzt. "--TWENTY-FIVE OUT OF THIRTY--" Bzzt. "--Members of our automated beautification staff. As such, we are not yet ready to open. Is there any way this unit can be of assistance?"

Xiaomu (707) has posed:
"We don't need the beautification staff," Xiaomu replies casually to the robo-ceptionist. "Mostly we're just looking around, but things look pretty promising ... would you give us a chance to consult? And if you've got an estimate on when the maintenance will be complete - apart from the beautification staff, that is - I'm sure we'd be happy to book a visit for sometime in the future."

Really, it DOES seem like a promising place to visit for a vacation getaway ... but given the way-too-aggressive approach of the 'beautification' staff, she's also just as happy not to deal with any more of those. Worst-case scenario, the last five members of that staff might have to also go missing before Xiaomu can really relax around here.

But she's going to at least *try* to give a conditional 'yes' rather than an outright 'no'; the way things are going, it's not likely they'd take 'no' for an answer.

Rory White (673) has posed:
"Hot springs resort... I thought it was like something out of a vid or XP... being synthetic, I don't quite understand the appeal..." She faces the robot that's being so vocal and bows slightly. "If I might ask, when was the establishment founded to begin with? The surroundings appear to have overgrown most of the available clientele..."

Reina Kinney has posed:
"Is this a joke?" Reina asks, with a scowl forming on her face. She's about to ask another question, but she lets the others speak, not wanting to risk saying the wrong thing at a time like this. She snaps her fingers causing her pistols to de-materialize, to show that she's not a hostile threat of any kind.

William Pauwel has posed:
    Not provoking the strange floating tentacle orb is probably a wise decision. But given that the other possible path is one that'll go unexplored (at least for now), it's impossible to really know for sure! "Of course! Please, take a brochure," the orb beeps, boops, and splits in two to reveal a small printer. It produces a brochure for Xiaomu's use. "Maintenance has been underway for TWO. MONTHS. And will be complete in another THREE. WEEKS. Once we have repaired the second floor amenities, we will be ready to reopen for business!"

    Rory is on the receiving end of the droid's attention next. It beeps twice. "Confirmed. Customer is synthetic. Welcome, fellow artificial entity. The Sapphire Vista Resort and Spa was founded in the year fifty-zero-two of the Harmonic Era. We were temporarily closed due to-- ERROR, MISSING DATA-- and reopened only recently upon THE ACTIVATION OF PROXIMITY PROTOCOL ALPHA."

"In other words, we noticed new customers in the region, and resumed maintenance operations!"

William Pauwel has posed:
The orb-droid swivels toward Reina and seems to blink its optical sensors. "No. This is not a joke. Welcome to the Sapphire Vista Resort and Spa!"

Xiaomu (707) has posed:
Xiaomu takes the brochure with a polite, "Thank you!" and peruses it briefly. "I think I have a guess about what happened to some of your, er, beautification staff as well ... I doubt you're going to get all of them back, so you might need to recalibrate on the spa side of things. At least until you can update the beautification database about current fashion trends and the like. We can probably help find a local expert for you to overhaul the databanks, make sure the customer-satisfaction code is up to scratch, stuff like that."

No, Xiaomu does not know how to reprogram ancient computers. She's hoping that she can come up with somebody who *does* in the near future - and the brochure may provide some clues. Meanwhile, she leans over to whisper to William, "How long did the Harmonic Era run for, and how long has it been since that ended?"

Reina Kinney has posed:
Meanwhile Reina can only turn and shake her head in disbelief. "This was all because of some kind of malfunction or other?" She sighs angrily. "I hope Laia doesn't chew me out for this one. I don't even know what I'm gonna tell her when I get back!"

Rory White (673) has posed:
"Long enough for a date variable value to overflow." Rory exclaims with a hint of a sigh in her voice. She's pretty good at taking that tone, anyways. But she bows her head nevertheless. "I cannot help but be impressed with your tenacity and durability. To fill you in on the state of things, it has been well over two thousand years since the establishment was founded. The new customers are the very distant descendants of the ones who had the knowledge to make this place and have forgotten everything. Please be very rigorous with your self-diagnostics. I hope you're capable of adapting to this information."

    Though after getting out all of those boring and dry words, she does show a bit of a smile and glances over at Xiaomu, engaging a bit more casually. "Miss Xiaomu? Does your kind enjoy bathing in these kinds of places?"

    The questions AGIs can ask...

Xiaomu (707) has posed:
"Sure, but not just 'my kind' unless you mean 'organics,'" Xiaomu replies to Rory with a grin. "Reiji's kept meaning to take some of us to a hot spring resort back in our home world ..." She sighs, "I need to poke him about that.

William Pauwel has posed:
"What makes you think I know?" Will stage-whispers to Xiaomu. "Far as I know, HA came before the war. Latest date I've seen was maybe five-five-hundred or so? That's about all I've got on it." And it isn't exactly definitive. For all they know, the era could have gone on for much longer, and nobody's found proof.

    The robotic concierge beeps twice at Xiaomu's suggestion. "We endeavor to accomodate all our guests' needs! If our services our lacking, we must do our utmost to improve upon them! PLEASE FILL OUT ALL NECESSARY FORMS FOR CONSULTATION APPLICATION." The machine splits again, and produces yet another paper. It's... definitely an application form.

    The brochure is actually pretty informative! It lists all kinds of neat services, from a beauty salon to a specialty tailor, to a gym, hot spring and wine cellar! The wine is... Probably not wine anymore. Unless the Ancients were really good at preserving their booze.

It's certainly possible!

The droid beeps at Rory, then. "Confirmed. This facility's automated staffing suite was constructed by ESTRELLA ROBOTICS, a subsidiary of ESTRELLA INCORPORATED. We pride ourselves in our reliability and consistency of design!" Another series of beeps, then a boop. "Confirmed! The marketing department has been informed. We will begin advertising our grand reopening soon! Please inform DISTANT DESCENDANTS that we are here to serve."