4796/The Mystery of the Denali Cabin

The Mystery of the Denali Cabin
Date of Scene:	18 November 2016
Location:	Scorched Earth
Synopsis:	Eryl summons people to a hidden bunker on Denali. A peek behind the curtain of the Before Times begins.
Cast of Characters:	Eryl Fairfax, William Pauwel, 1063, 673, Kotone Yamakawa, 981

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Eryl Fairfax has posed:
    No matter how much this Earth has changed, it's still cold in Alaska.

    The mountain once known as Denali is pummelled by bitter southerlies that whip up the grimy frost underfoot. The sky overhead is slate grey, with a few snowflakes drifting down, tossed hither and yond by the winds. It's coming up to Christmas, so it must be a very eager winter this year.

    Unlike the mountain ranges near Vancouver, this mountain has held together well after whatever happened to this world. A rocky slope ascends to the cabin mentioned, with the flickering of fire visible through the dirty windows. It does really look like a run-down little hut, possible once a ranger station or shelter. But anyone with some kind of extraordinary senses would pick up on the steel the wood is built around.

    Inside is Eryl, having pulled up a worn chair next to a lit fireplace fuelled by more busted furniture. What remains has been neatly stacked on the sides so as to not obscure the opened hatch in the centre of the floor. Musty air emanates from it, and the vertical descent becomes pitch black not even 10 rungs down.

    "Thank you for coming," he says softly, hands clasped before him. "Take the time to get warm if you need it, then we'll get started. I'm not asking you to explore the whole bunker with me, I just wish to know what it is. It appears on no maps I've salvaged, and what I've seen indicates it is more than some civilian effort. Millions, perhaps billions, went into this, and I have no clue what awaits."

    Once everyone has warmed up and prepared, Eryl leads the descent. He's quite the methodical ladderman, taking each rung as it comes, which might be a little infuriating, especially considering how far down the shaft goes. But eventually, the bottom is reached, a door opening from the well into a three way intersection.

    "Well, guest's choice. Which way?"

William Pauwel has posed:
The very first thing that a visitor to Alaska discovers about Alaska: Alaska is COLD. Will took one step out of the warpgate, decided that he was woefully underdressed, and promptly moonwalked back to someplace warmer.

    He still arrives in time to meet Eryl at the cabin, though. This time, far more properly dressed! The basic outline of his gear hasn't changed substantially, but he HAS added a few scarves, extra-thick clothes and way heavier gloves. "Howdy," he says as he arrives, teeth still chattering just a little bit through the cold, "Don't mind if I take you up on that offer. This place could freeze a bonfire."

    Will presses into the cabin and huddles up near to the fireplace as the others filter in, and quickly swaps out most of his winterized gear for more mobile, less restrictive clothes. It shouldn't be nearly as cold underground, after all, and if there are ~TRAPS~ and similar dangers down there, he'll need to be able to dodge.

    As Eryl's taken the lead, Will follows along somewhere in the middle of the pack. He's got the right weapon for the job, and it means he's more likely to spot a side-passage or something hidden with a margin more subtlety than normal as he's not staring straight ahead. But before they can even begin, they come to a crossroads.

A pretty well uniform crossroads at that. Will shrugs in Eryl's general direction. "I say we go either left or right, then hug the wall in case this place is some kind of maze. Less liable to get lost that way."

Shokudaikiri (1063) has posed:
    It's times like this Shokudaikiri is glad he's more or less just a physical projection of a sword's spirit and a spirit mage's will. Because it's freaking COLD! The tool spirit is actually bundled up, though its lightly. He's wearing a thicker coat than his normal tailed military-ish blazer, but he's still got his samurai-like pauldron and half-tasset over that jacket. And of course his sword-body tuckedin his belt. Like he said on the radio, he is indeed wearing an eyepatch. The other eye is a vivid, metallic, molten gold color.

    Once he's in the cabin he offers a friendly smile and a wave to Eryl, and to the others present. "Hi there. I'm Shokudaikiri Mitsutada." There's no time for the long introduction. They have a whole 'situation' on their hands! Not that anyone knows what that 'situation' is; that's why he's here, after all. Nothing bronze will menace the group while he's here!

    ...Yeah that's not very impressive, is it?

    Either way, Shokudaikiri heads down with whoever's following Eryl when everyone descends. He doesn't complain about the methodical approach; better safe than sorry. And then? Immediate crossroads. He looks to the rest of the group. "Should we split up?" he asks. "Or stay together, since we don't have any way to know what's down here, or which way is which?"

Rory White (673) has posed:
Thankfully, as usual, Rory's synthetic nature proves useful. Even in Freeze-Your-Ass-Off cold weather she seems to need no special protective gear. However.. SNOW. REAL SNOW! She's marveling at this, seemingly joyous as a kid for the first few minutes! Given little warning, she's geared in her more social outfit. The bluenette Synth that appears almost fully human... were it not for the fact that it's simply too well-sculpted and doll-like. She's wearing form-fitting armor that features several weapon hardpoints, and a heavily modified Saucer - it features several tiny extendable arms and extra sensors and even a tiny holographic projector - hovers not far behind her.

    "If it's so well-preserved and well-prepared, there's a high chance we might encounter... descendants of survivors from before civilization collapsed. Not unlike the Vaults of Danse's world. If it's a military bunker though, there should be a command center of some sort where we'll be able to learn a great deal in one place. And those should be marked..."

    Which is why she's scanning the walls for any kinds of directions or maps. her wifi is on the prowl for any signals, even in unknown protocols that she'll have to try and reverse engineer...

    And she also checks around for air currents. Signs of dust or habitation... just whether the walls are clean or not can speak loads about the place!

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Rory was not alone today as Kotone was here and she was pretty glad about her mostly synthetic nature but she'd still have to be careful about the cold she's not rated for heavy winter climates long term in this body. She's wearing her stealth armour to as she often does. Kotone has a big old grin on her face .

"It's the little things, isn't it? I didn't think about it much given where I grew up I admit in regarding snow."

Kotone's own features seem a bit too perfect and there's something off about her eyes but the smile isn't fake that much is clear.

"I have a few drones along with me if wneed them and we should be ready for them to have had their culture get strange."

She looks to Shokudaikiri.

"I'm Kotone Yamakawa it's good to meet you!"

She semes chipper as she turns to William and Eryl.

"So either we pick one or we split up and I'm not fond the latter but if I have a call?I'd say Center."

Danse (981) has posed:
Earth's Alaska, where the US military's powered armor program was originally designed to operate. It wasn't a significant issue to make it here for Paladin Danse, even in the relatively modern T-60 model, but the hydraulically assisted bootsteps had actually come to a stop just outside the cabin, a respectful distance away. Moments later, what at least William Pauwell, and anyone else that had been around the Fallout universe for long, would recognize as the sound of the suit being opened can be heard, and anyone that happened to peek out into the cold would see a rare sight. There is Danse, actually out of his armor, and now walking to join the gathered group in what functions as his pilot suit. This is, honestly, probably the first time any one here would have seen him outside of it, though it's less unusual for those he hadn't met.

    "Paladin Danse, Brotherhood of Steel," he introduces himself as he steps inside, and fastens a laser weapon in a handgun form factor to his hip. He leaves any further explanation or questions for when they're actually within the belly of the beast, however. There is little particular wonder or excitement in his tone or his expression, and it'd be easily guessed that he's seen his fair share of well-preserved, pre-disaster bunkers, just as Rory had said before he'd formally joined the operation. With both boots firmly back on the ground, after traversing the ladder, he gives a brief glance around. "A methodical sweep, like Pauwell suggests, is what would be standard operations for my team. Assuming we aren't operating under a strict time limit." It also gives him the chance to give a nod of acknowledgement to Rory and Kotone.

Eryl Fairfax has posed:
    Eryl slides a chair over to Will and smiles at Sho. "A pleasure to meet you. Eryl Fairfax, diplomat for the ReGenesis Corporation." He does note the excited reactions of Rory and Kotone to snow. "It's fine if it's novel, but I had to switch to boots to navigate this place." And indeed, instead of smart leather shows, he's wearing hiking boots that clash horribly with his suit. To Danse, he nods. "You come from a post-apocalyptic world too, I'm told. Happy to have you."

    Inside the bunker, Eryl considers what everyone is saying. "I'd rather not split up. This is an unknown area, and I don't know what we might find. Better to stick together." He nods to Will. "That is a good idea. Establishing where the outer edge is makes it easier to keep track of where we are." Thus, he leads the way to the left.

    As Rory starts pinging for wireless signals... there are none. And it's not a case that they're not working either, there is literally not a single wireless device that she can ping. However, in reading the air currents, she picks up something approching.

    It comes around the corner ahead, one of the small drones that crop up so frequently. It trundles along on its single spherical wheel, which shows signs of wear and tear as if it has been following this route all this time. It swivels to regard the intruders and slowly advances on them, stun gun arm crackling weakly with electricity.

Shokudaikiri (1063) has posed:
    Shokudaikiri listens to Rory's words, and nods. "That's possible, too." He pauses as she starts looking at the walls. "Oh! You have a good idea there," he replies quietly. "What can you see?" He nods to Kotone, giving a broad, friendly smile at her introduction. "Hi there," he offers. She probably heard his name up topside, so he doesn't need to repeat it. Danse is greeted with the same friendly smile and, "Hi! Pleased to meet you all." Yes, that's to everyone.

    He nods to Eryl's words. "Probably a good idea. Splitting up might be for later, when we have at least a rough idea of what's going on down here..." The sword-spirit trails off though, as the drone appears. He blinks. No, he doesn't find it all that threatening. So he opts to back up, holding his hands up. "Whoa, whoa little buddy," he tries. "We're not here to cause trouble. We're just looking around."

William Pauwel has posed:
    Everyone is introducing themselves! Will feels like he aught to, too, even if at least a couple people here are familiar with him by now. "The name's Will Pauwel," he says to those fresh faces. "I'm a Chaser! An explorer. These kinds of places are my speciality. Glad to be workin' with y'all!"

    With all introductions completed and sensor suites projecting ahead, it seems like this little expedition is well underway! But it isn't long until something comes up to... Try to drive them away? With a little taser? Will frowns. "That doesn't sound like it's sendin' off that much charge. Looks like it's been here for a long time," and Will would know Long Times, given his particular occupation. "Probably ain't exactly aware, though. Stay sharp, drones like these ain't the type to listen to reason no matter how beat up they are."

The explorer in him is recommending caution. But the engineer in him is cooing like a parent with a distraught child. This machine needs help, it says! "'Course," he admits, "Wouldn't be bad if we could secure it, maybe do some repairs..."

Rory White (673) has posed:
The little drone rolls up and Rory realizes... "No wireless here. Which means if we're quiet disabling this drone, the others won't know we're here." She doesn't leave it to chance. With it already approaching, she decides to let loose with one of her weapons. Unholstering it takes but a moment. it's short but stocky, with a liquid canister of some sort instead of an ammo magazine... and the very wide, nozzle-like barrel is A SPRAYER!

    A foam sprayer, in fact. It comes out as a spray of GOO that, on contact with air, quickly expands and hardens into a tough, cement-like foam. Thankfully, it's air-porous and thus doesn't asphyxiate anyone whose fully engulfed in it. Not that this should bother a drone.

    "Agreed, Will! We should probably follow the drone back the way it came, actually. If that route is worth patrolling, it must be important."

Danse (981) has posed:
"A slow, economy-fueled collapse, decades of warfare, then in a few hours, everything was erased," Danse offers a dry and abridged history of his own world's final moments. But, that was over 200 years ago, and he seems distanced to it, even if he lives with the consequences. At least, unlike the people of Eryl's world, he at least knows what happened, even if who actually pushed the button is still a matter of debate. "I'm happy to be of assistance, Fairfax. It's regretful that I couldn't have brought Scribe Haylen, but despite White, Pauwell and Yamakawa's assistance, it remains a tense situation."

    The friendly Shokudaikiri gets a glance, as well. That uniform, in particular - enough time hasn't elapsed that he didn't recognize it from his own world's books, even if it's embelished, to say the least. Still, while keeping his distance, he gives a respectful nod of his head. Any horrible assumptions he might have subsequently spoken aloud are thankfully quelled as Danse becomes alert. Something is approaching, his hand immediately and reflexively going to his hip, where the laser pistol is located, while his head swivels in the direction of the approaching drone. He's not going to fire on it immediately; in these kinds of settings, that might cause a cascade that alerts the rest of it, but it's still troublesome.

    "...a stun weapon," Danse muses at the weaker arcing than he'd expect from the average Tesla-type projector. "A courtesy that wouldn't often be afforded by security systems where I'm from. Just what sort of intruders were they expecting?" Still, he knows from personal experience that Will has a strange knack for getting along with robot-staffed defense patrols, and he doesn't hold him back from approaching, should he do so. "It looks like it's been wandering the bunker for some time. It might have built up an internal map we can use, but be careful if you actually meddle with it. It could be rigged to explode." Yeah, he just can't trust it even that much.

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa did get boots at Eryl's suggestion and now in the unbker she's making ready and she'll hook up tacnet to Rory the momnt she'll let here to share data s they get going. She seems to be ready with a lowered weapon and she looks at the old drone for a moment. She doesn't know Shokudaikiri but he seems friendly and she doubts he'd been hired if he didn't know what he was doing so she has no concerns about him. She looks to the drone and doesn't feel like it's threat but she does back off trying to htink of how to to diarm it for a moment.

"We could possibly try to get it working for us or tap it for data it doesn't seem to be a heavy threat."

She should be able to play keep away, she knows Rory would be better at this than she would be.

"Rory? Got an idea?"

Will also seems to be on it too. The drone could have information that they can use on it.

Eryl Fairfax has posed:
    Eryl listens to the chatter between everyone, but he himself remains quiet and alert. This is his life's purpose, and it's the first time he's had people with him as he does it. It's a weird feeling, and the weight of it all doesn't do much to make the conversation flow.

    As the drone approaches, Eryl is happy to let people have their way in how to approach. It's a single droid at the moment, no huge threat. When 'salvage' seems to be the word of the day, he nods and dodges the telescoping stun gun before walking up, planting his foot on its chest, and pushing it down onto it's back. It struggles to get back up, but he keeps it pinned down.

    "Go right ahead," he says.

Shokudaikiri (1063) has posed:
    Shokudaikiri nods to William. "Doesn't look like hugely dangerous. If it's been down here long enough, maybe it's got a spirit I can talk to." He's not sure though. Not all worlds work like his -- tool spirits might not even be a thing here. Even if they are, there's nothing saying this thing has one. Rory's foam sprayer gets a wide-eyed look. "What's that?" he asks. Seeing it in action, though? "Oh hey, that seems handy."

    Now, Danse? The sword spirit doesn't actually recognize. Which makes a lot of sense, because no apocalypse has happened in Shokudaikiri's world. YET. It might if they don't stop Daraku, but that's neither here nor there. Danse's account of his world gets a sympthetic frown. "Wow. I'm sorry to hear that," Shokudaikiri offers honestly, his voice soft. "Hopefully your world can come back." He gives an optimistic smile. Clearly he asn't been through an apocalypse or he wouldn't say that so easily.

    Kotone's words of the drone get a nod. "Hey, that's a good idea too," he remarks. "We might be able to use it to navigate this place. Make it lead us through. Or report back to us with the layout and defenses of the place." He is, of course, unaware that Rory can probably do all of that remotely.

    Eryl walks up and basically pins it down with a foot and Shokudaikiri goes to assist, seeking to pin the appendage holding the stungun so it poses no threat in case of a wild flail connecting. "Better safe than sorry, right?" he offers. He's leaving the salvaging to those who know what they're doing. He's not tech-illiterate, but he certainly doesn't know anything about supertech!

William Pauwel has posed:
    "Don't worry," Will answers Danse over the sounds of a couple of robots manhandling another robot, presumably for the crime of being far less advanced than they are. Roboelitism in action. "Ain't my first salvage job," he says, approaching with a screwdriver and a good, sharp wrench. "Though if this thing starts ticking, y'all better get ready to run.

    And with that, Will starts with the drone, first disconnecting the stun gun and any mobile limbs before going to try and find some kind of interface or connecty-bit. "Rory," he says over his shoulder, "Y'all are able to jack into some of these, right? Might need y'all to do the code-y bits if it don't have a built-in thing."

Engineers make sense sometimes. Sometimes.

    "Not sure what y'all mean by spirit," Will says to Shou as he works. "But machines all have some kind of knack to 'em. When someone designs somethin' like this, they leave a bit of themselves in their work, y'know?" A shrug. "Dunno if that's what y'all mean, or if it's even somethin' you can talk to. Still, this li'l guy might got more to him than he looks!"

Rory White (673) has posed:
"Certainly! Though I wouldn't expect instant results. Reverse engineering foreign technology can take... hours. Weeks. But we might get lucky... if there's something simple about it that we can use to spoof authorization and not be recognized as trespassers, for instance... or if I can rip out map data..." All of that COULD be useful.

    With Will ripping it apart, Rory extends one of her armored hands. A single finger seems to COME APART AT THE SEAMS, unfolding into a myriad of tiny appendages that snake in and through openings and seek out electronics to interface with. If this thing's built on any principles shared with her world's history, she should be able to dump its memory banks and begin ripping apart the coding for useful information in short order. Encryption, however, will make that sticky...

Danse (981) has posed:
Another nod, a seemingly common gesture of his, is given in appreciation of the simplicity but effectiveness of Eryl's action to oppress the drone, in order for others to more safely approach it. Sometimes the classics are best, and the old fashioned bootheel gets the point across. "While they're doing that," he pointedly looks to the seemingly, unendingly optimistic Shokudaikiri, "Why don't you join me on scouting a bit further ahead? We need to be aware if there's anything deadlier waiting on us." It's not quite splitting up, however, as his eyes next pivot to Eryl, "I'll be in contact on the local comm, and won't go far."

    With that, assuming he isn't held back, he begins stepping further into the next logical hallways or branches in which this direction was going to lead. Even if the light is adequate, he still withdraws a handheld flashlight to more carefully examine anything of interest with his off hand, while he keeps his laser at the read in his dominant one. "It is strange, however," he speaks just within earshot. "Perhaps it's part of a staged threat system. That sort of weapon, though, would almost be more for internal policing." He's on expert on what Eryl's pre-ruination society might have been like, however; perhaps that was actually quite common.

    Not even a thought is given to the concept of tool spirits, much less a robot having one. He's not much of a person for superstition, plus he's not comfortable with the concept of his power armor or minigun being able to second guess him. What would be next, a pre-war submarine coming alive?

Eryl Fairfax has posed:
    The droid actually comes apart fairly easily. That telltale tightness of machine-manufacturing is not felt in the bolts and screws securing its arm to its torso, so Will's tools remove the stun gun arm that Sho is holding down with little difficulty. Meanwhile, Rory starts probing at it digitally with weird AGI technology... but there's an enormous amount of security contained in there, far more than one would expect from a basic droid. At best, she can pull some simple diagnostics without going into some intensive cracking, but that alone turns up a lot.

    ... it's been how many days since it returned to its charging station? It exceeds the time ReGenesis estimated when the disaster happened. And it's been going this long?

    Danse moves on ahead, and soon comes across an automatic door at the end of a corridor. It slides open for him, revealing an office. The remains of a potted plant rot quietly in the corner as books more dust that paper rest on crumbling shelves. On the desk is a computer, but it looks positively ancient. A type that Danse might be more familiar with, all black screens with green symbols.

    But the curious thing is that it sits inside a clear cube that bars access to the keyboard one would use to input commands. There is a keypad on the cube exterior, apparently meant to release it. But every side of the cube, and the keypad, is wired to what appears to be some kind of explosive on the back of the computer.

    The intent is clear. Enter the right code the first time, or the computer is utterly destroyed, ruining everything that's on it.

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
The drone seems to be easy enough to deal with, Eryl has it handled. Then comes Rory with the foam and she grins at Sho's reaction for a moment.

"Freezer foam is pretty good for dealuing with people or things you don't want to seriously hurt."

She also looks to Rory and will for a moment. She doesn't say more and pauyses for a moment. She does wait to hear whart Rory has found.

"Whatcha got on it Rory?"

Danse (981) has posed:
Whatever power supply the drone is using, it must also extend to the computer system this place has, considering what Danse encounters next. He gives a glance back at the opening door to the trailing Shokudaikiri, as though to suggest that it's probably closer to his turf, and to let him have a look-in first. When his eyes adjust, and the beam of his flash light sweeps around, it looks vaguely familiar, but also...well, let's get a second set of eyes on this. The Paladin waves his counterpart inside, with the warning, "Don't touch anything with a wire attached. The drone before might not have been rigged to explode, but the data store definitely is."

    With that, he steps all the more lightly around the room, to avoid accidentally tripping any relay switches that might be nearly corroded together by time and neglect. The computer system is something else for Rory and Kotone to even guess how that might be approached, so he focuses on what he can. An office like this might still have a few clues scattered around the shelves and filing cabinets about what sort of business was conducted here. Documents where sensitive information managed to slip through on hard copies. Mementos of the former resident's life that might help any potential codebreakers. His scavver background kicks into high gear as he scans the seemingly coincidental furniture. It's a scene he's lived more than once.

    Meanwhile, he radios back, "We found an office. There's a locked down terminal, looks almost like a RobCo standard, and it's boobytrapped. Looks like you folks have your work cut out for you."

Shokudaikiri (1063) has posed:
    "Sort of," Shokudaikiri replies to William's words. "That's what I am, a tool spirit. In my world, when things are over a hundred years old, sometimes they gain a soul. The spirit can be benevolent or malicious, depending on how the item was used, or misused." Pause. "Though... this isn't my world, and I haven't really seen another where tool spirits exist..." He trails off then, just as much from being finished with the statement as from whatever Rory is doing. His remaining eye goes wide again as her finger literally splits. He refrains from the urge to channel Neo, but only just barely.

    Danse's suggestion gets a nod. "Oh, good idea," he notes. "Last thing we need is something bigger and nastier stumbling on them while they're getting info." Once the drone's weapon arm is disconnected, he moves to support Danse on the left -- this puts Danse in his blind spot. But it also faces his good side out. He doesn't draw his sword yet. He's in earshot of Danse to hear it, and nods. "I was thinking that too. You wouldn't use a subdual weapon unless you're actively trying to be less than lethal, would you?" he returns, just as quietly. "Or unless that's all you have, either one."

    He's not quite sure what Danse has stumbled across, but he's not gonna touch it. Not with the obvious explosive over there. "So uh. Any idea how to shut that off without us having a blast in all the wrong ways?" he asks. He nods at the warning. "Good idea." He too is careful as he walks into the room with Danse, trying not to trip anything accidentally. He notes that Danse is lookig around the room and does so as well, still being careful about touching things with wires. "What are we looking for?"

William Pauwel has posed:
    "Huh," Will mutters, prying off bits of robot for MAD SCI- er, future experimentation. And repairs, of course. "This thing reminds me of the ones back home. How're they still goin' after all this time, though? Maybe some kind of... Crazy battery system? Or..." Or there's something else afoot. Did someone come by and re-engineer these things since this place exploded? Or maybe it's... Somehow self-aware, and carrying on through sheer force of will alone!?

...

Naaaah.

    Will shakes his head as he finishes his work. Ain't nothing more he can do here, unless he wants to start trying to figure out how this thing's power supply works. And it sounds like Danse has found something further down. But then it turns out that that SOMETHING is also A BOMB mounted to a BOOBY TRAP. Will frowns severely at what he's hearing over the radio and looks to Rory with a shrug. "Well. I think we may as well try one of the other branches at this point. Might find somethin' that'll get us in there without killing us all."

    Then, Sho again. Though they're technically far enough that Will is actually responding to him over the radio. "Well, these things DEFINITELY look over a hundred, so they probably meet that requirement," he mutters. "I hear sometimes they go for so long that the bugs in their code give them... Personalities, sort of. Inclinations, I guess is the best word for it."

Rory White (673) has posed:
Rory withdraws her Fractal Digits, the finger reassembling itself - or rather, the armor she was wearing reassembles over her synthetic flesh. She's dumped a deal of information, but... "This isn't right. That power source exceeds even Transhuman tech but the area doesn't have wireless? Something strange is happening here. And who would devote so much security to a tiny guard drone? We should step very carefully around here, I don't feel like we have the upper hand."

Eryl Fairfax has posed:
    Eryl's face remains as impassive as ever as reports come in of the drone's seemingly bottomless power source, but he feels a deep mixture of concern... and excitement. "Mister Pauwel," he says. "Would you mind taking apart the chassis? I have a suspicion as to what this drone is running on."

    Meanwhile, in the office, Danse's careful approach is kind of him, but no such wires or booby traps exist. It seems that the cube and bomb is more a security measure than a trap. Whatever is on that computer must be important! Or the owner with immensely paranoid.

    But, as he peruses the shelves, he finds one book left out, one that looks well-thumbed. 'Geography of Alaskan Islands' is the title, and upon being picked up, it falls right open to the most frequently-examined page. It's a map of Yunaska Island, one of the many on Alaska's 'tail.' Folded in there is a sketched map matching the one on the page, but with the addition of some massive facility drawn on it. Plans for construction?

    Eryl nods as everyone's assessments come in. "I concur. Stay wary everyone. If you have no ideas on getting to the computer, leave it be for now and continue exploring."

William Pauwel has posed:
    Well, looks like he has his answer. "Gladly," Will says to Eryl's request. In all honesty, he's pretty damn curious about it, himself. Is it at all similar to how the Ancients have kept their machines running for so long? Who knows. Nobody's quite sure how those things work. But this might give him some critical clues.

    And so Will goes to work on the drone, slowly prying away its armor, loosening the bits that hold its chassis together, all to get at its delicious, energized center. "Is this a good kind of suspicion," he asks over his shoulder, "Or the kind that y'all should warn a guy about 'fore he loses a finger?"

Or his lunch.

Depending on the circumstances, it could be either or both.

Danse (981) has posed:
"Not the faintest clue," Danse freely admits to Shokudaikiri, in response to the earlier question about figuring out how to disarm it. "When I was young, I made my living recovering scrap from places like this to sell. After a few close scrapes, I eventually learned better risk management. This is better left to the experts." That leads him into the second point of the line of questioning, however, as he begins filing through the non-trapped part of the room's furnishings, still being mindful of any electromechanical switches as he goes. His own hands' dexterity being better than a suit of power armor's is useful, here. "I also learned that you can tell a lot of a person's story from what they owned and how they can arrange things. I'm not a detective, but people leave those kinds of traces, whether they intend to or not."

    Such as...reference tomes that are clearly more well worn than the others, and to particular pages. One such book in particular calls to his attention. It's not so unusual that this particular one, going by the title, would be of interest to someone whose bunker is in, well, Alaska, but it's the only thing that really rises above the noise. The geography of Alaska is quite familiar to Danse, so when the sketch itself, a curious artifact in its own right, doesn't quite match up by way of having something enormous superimposed. Danse beckons Shokudaikiri over to have a second set of eyes on it, carefully handing over both the book and the sketch with the precision of someone handling museum antiquities. It seemed solid enough, but better to be safe. "It might not get us anywhere on the computer, but this looks like it might be of interest to Fairfax."

    Still, that's all that he personally saw that he could do much with in the office. He radios that back, accordingly, and then announces to his fellow office resident, "Let's keep looking. We'll come back if and when we find something more solid." With that, he moves to continue looking around what's left of this wing of the bunker.

Shokudaikiri (1063) has posed:
    As the sword spirit searches the room, he replies to William, "I guess that makes sense. I'm talking about awareness, though. I remember the day I became aware. Not when Lady Iroha brought me back. I was aware before that. Kind of." So he was a weapon, in someone's hand, aware he was being wielded to take lives...?

    ...Creeped out yet, Danse? :D

    Speaking of Danse, Shokudaikiri approaches Danse to see what he's found. He nods to the words of risk management. "Yeah, I think you have a point." He eyes the computer and its explosive payload, but stays well away from it.

    He looks at the things Danse has found, tilting his head. To the map, he asks, "We're not in the place this is showing, are we?" He doesn't think so, but he doesn't know the geography of a non-destroyed Alaska, let alone a destroyed one. He looks at the map while Danse asks Eryl about it over the radio. He's definitely going to commit it to memory.

    He nods, though, when Danse moves to leave the room. He moves back into the position behind Danse and to his left, so Danse can cover his blind spot.

Rory White (673) has posed:
Rory White decides to frown, then turn her head quickly to William's endeavor. If Eryl's suspicions are raised, well, so are hers...

    What could be powering that thing?

    "It's gone so long without maintenance, I wonder if anyone even exists here to speak with? Well, what are we finding, Mr. pauwel?"

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa is keeping with Rory to watch her work and she's doign what she can to help her she tilts her head. "EIther they were more advanced, someone had a black projec tor someone else from another world has been here before us Rory." She looks concerned at her friend's results.

Eryl Fairfax has posed:
    Eryl chuckles. "Just take care and there should be no problems. It's nothing radioactive if I'm correct." Taking apart the droid silences its wiggling, a hard-baked failsafe in its programming to ensure operator safety in an emergency. Opening it up reveals the power core.

    It's a wide cylinder, lit from within by... something. It's hard to tell with the constant white glow emanating from within. The flat faces are capped with some kind of machinery that hooks it up to the drone. Eryl lets out a shuddering sigh and announces something over the radio.

    "The drone is powered by a KOAN Core. The same thing that I use. Should you encounter any more, take extreme care. We have no records as to what happens when a KOAN Core is breached while active. Salvage has immediately become a high priority."

    He lifts his foot from the droid now that it's frozen. "Next, we tackle the other branches." He immediately strides off, leading the way.

Danse (981) has posed:
There are enough soldiers in the Brotherhood of Steel that have lost an eye through injury or disease that Danse is at least aware of Shokudaikiri's choice of positioning. It doesn't bother him, even in the odd chance the swordperson did happen to have Chinese communist sympathies; for the moment, they're on the job, and Danse is a professional first and foremost. "We definitely aren't," he agrees. "This is close to the highest peak in North America, and well inland. This local reference book calls it Denali, but that's absurd. Every redblooded American, even after the war, knows it's Mount McKinley." Hah, well then...

    As Danse paces further along this branch with Shokudaikiri, he hears something over the radio. While he doesn't recognize the term KOAN Core, he more than recognizes the tone of voice used when speaking about it. "We'll report anything suspicious. I'm not sure if the two of us will find anything more interesting than the office, however." His notions of the layout of these kinds of places tells him that this was probably some kind of administration wing, so at best they might find another office, a storage closet, and maybe even a bedroom going by the hermit's cave feel of the place. He's not really expecting anything threatening, though, or even something of significant utility like the main generator. But then, he also wasn't expecting to find that somewhat familiar-looking computer.

    To fill the dead air between communications over the radio, he wonders to his companion, "Do those 100 year old objects spontaneously spring to life, or does someone have to...perform some kind of ritual?" He's oddly serious about his line of questioning, for someone that doesn't care much for the concept of magic. "I need to know if I should be worried an Elite is going to begin waking up parts of my world that are better left asleep."

William Pauwel has posed:
    Well that's a... A thing. A thing is certainly what that is. Though Will has absolutely zero idea what this thing is. A KOAN Core, apparently, whatever that is. But he can tell it's important- that it's something that should be held with great reverence. "A... KOAN Core? I'm sorry Eryl, y'all saying you have one of these things inside of you, too? Is it... Uh, dangerous?" Not radioactive, certainly, but...

Not To Be Breached.

Will frowns and slings his backpack over his shoulder. He removes all kinds of jangly things: A toolbox, tins of travelling rations. Stuff like that. He leaves IN all the softer bits, like his blanket and spare clothes, and gingerly wraps the core up in all of it. That should keep it safe. The rest, he fastens by rope and carabiner to straps hanging from his pack.

(He'll try to sack-carry the robot, too, provided it's not too bulky! More robobuddies for the farm.)

    "Let's go," Will says, following the others towards one of the other branches. While he walks, he answers Sho. "That's pretty uh. Pretty interesting. What were y'all again, specifically? I don't think I caught. Before y'all woke up, that is."

Shokudaikiri (1063) has posed:
    Shokudaikiri blinks. Being the newcomer here, he doesn't know Eryl well enough to know what he uses for a power source. In fact he didn't know Eryl needed a power source, or was anything but a human. That tells him Eryl isn't. But it's not like knowing that is a bad thing. Regardless, he nods, responding, "I take it that's not supposed to happen." He's missing a lot of context. But at the moment he's acting as muscle, so that's okay.

    It's all right, Danse. Shokudaikiri hasn't mentioned a word about 'mother China', or however that goes. He hasn't really even hinted that he'd rather not be here. And he hasn't started asking about other people's loyalties. He does follow Danse prety easily, but that whole 'military' thing is there, and Danse clearly knows more about this than Shokudaikiri does.

    But he does register that question. And in fact answers it. "I think it depends on the world," the sword-spirit replies. "Lady Iroha, my spirit mage, can't give form to a tool spirit unless it already has a soul. So it's not so much 'bringing it to life' as it is giving the life that's already there the ability to interact with the world," he assures Danse. "If your world doesn't have tool spirits -- and trust me, you'd know if it did --- then you probably don't have anything to worry about."

    William's got a question too! "Me?" he asks, this time over the radio. "A sword. The one I'm carrying, actually." He does have a katana tucked in his belt. So apparently he now wields... himself in battle?

Rory White (673) has posed:
"KOAN Core?" Rory White leans in to get a VERY close look at the thing. Such an awe-inspiring glow... "If it could be reverse engineered... a nearly endless source of energy?! Self-contained?! The possibilities are endless!" Never, ever, dangle such tantalizing possibilities in front of an engineer.

    EVER.

    She's having a hard time taking her eyes OFF of the thing even as William puts it in his sack...

Eryl Fairfax has posed:
    It's back to the fork, and this time Eryl leads everyone straight from the ladder. This is quite a short journey, leading to a bigger, more industrial door. This opens into an immense power plant. Columns stretch from the floor to the high ceiling, each one loaded up with even more KOAN Cores.

    "This is ridiculous..." Eryl mutters, rubbing his chin. "This many in one place have only been observed on the Moon colony, and the number here exceeds even that... what are they powering?"

    He leads them from that room again, moving at a brisk clip now, to go down the final path. This leads... to another ladder, one that goes deeper, possibly even under the mountain. But eventually, they arrive at a grand chamber.

    One that contains what appears to be a gigantic particle accelerator. Eryl is speechless.

Danse (981) has posed:
With this particular branch seemingly secure, Danse figures, they're free to rejoin the others. That locked down computer remains tantalizingly close, but it's just not worth it, until they can get someone else in there. "Let's head back," he asides to Shokudaikiri, also sounding somewhat relieved that the Commonwealth isn't soon likely to have Mini-Nukes carrying themselves into battle. That would be really unfortunate for everyone involved. "There doesn't seem to be much else in this particular area." His bootsteps can be heard pacing back to rejoin the main body of the team, as he emerges from further down that branch of the bunker. This time, they're taking the central route, and accordingly this one seems to be where most of the magic really happens.

    If Danse didn't know what a KOAN Core was before now, he certainly does after this. It's not hard to guess what their properties might be, even without the particulars. "I haven't seen many facilities like this one," he notes, though he doesn't step close enough to any of the active cores to interfere with any of them, yet. "Back in the outskirts of DC, I saw a pre-war breeder reactor, but that was for producing enriched nuclear products. I doubt that is necessary to create...these." At the least, he isn't feeling any of the tell-tale signs of radiation sickness, which is this was that kind of facility, he would expect. Nonetheless, the cyclotron further within definitely isn't helping those impressions, either, so what the hell is going on, anyway?

    "Scribe Haylen really is going to regret not being able to see this," he ponders. "White, she'll probably expect you to have some photographic records to pour over."

William Pauwel has posed:
"...Sword?" Will blinks. "...Do you... Do you wield yerself? How does /that/ work?" Isn't it a bit awkward!? THIS IS KIND OF WEIRD.

MAGIC, HOW DOES IT WORK.

    Will has no idea what to make of... Of any of this. The room full of KOAN Cores, what KOAN Cores even DO, and why it's so important that they've found so many of them. He follows, of course, and carefully keeps the KOAN core in his rucksack safe from any thieving fingers and/or robots. RORY WHITE.

But then they get to the paticle accelerator.

    And Will becomes simultaneously more lost than he's ever been, and also more fascinated than he's been in a very long time. "Oh." He mouths at the massive machine. "Oh. Oh wow! I. Uh." Fingers twitch, just a little. "I kind of want to... To see what's inside."

His eyes are sparkling.

T-this is probably when someone wants to hold him back.

Danse (981) has posed:
Perhaps sensing that kid in candy store feeling, and knowing that look in Will's eyes well enough from various large scale mechanics facilities, such as the Weston treatment plant pump room, Danse reaches out a hand to his shoulder. It's not a strong enough grip to actually become a restraint, but should the Brotherhood Paladin be glanced back at, Will would still see the 'don't do anything drastic' firm expression affixed on Danse's face, and a subtle shake of the head.

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa says "Loan core?" She has no idea about it but she looks at the thing with as much awe as Rory but there's also a but of fear. "...I fer what some applications of something like this could be. She doesn't voi e them right now however. Once everyone has rhooked back up she's still looking at the Koan Core still she's floored for a moment.

"I can give them that Danse, I can upload anything I experiance."

She now stares at machinery that Eryl is and she just ... stares.

"Is this what I THINK IT IS?!"

Shokudaikiri (1063) has posed:
    Shokudaikiri nods to Danse's suggestion to head back. "Sounds like they're done with the drone anyway." And again, placing himself at Danse's left. The mention of the breeder reactor gets a raise of eyebrow over Shokidaikiri's remaining eye. The explanation helps it though. "Enriched nuclear products? Do you eat them?" Yes, of course, he had to ask that question!

    William has a question too, and the sword-spirit answers it. "Yeah." He seems like this is a completely normal thing to do. For him, at least. It doesn't really strike hima s weird at all. He further offers, "It's a little like you throwing a punch. Your arm's part of your body."

    And Shokudaikiri asks another question too. This one of Eryl. "So... basically this is a giant battery? Or, well. A bunch of batteries? Haven't noticed much security in here, though. It must have been a relatively low-priority installation." Pause. And immediately his brain goes wild with 'what ifs'. Not enough to enter 'worrywart' territory though. "A couple of possibilities occur to me. One of them sad, one of them worrying." He doesn't go into detail immediately though.

    And he snickers at Danse pulling William back. "I get you. There are places I do that in," he admits.

William Pauwel has posed:
It's right there. Right in front of him! He can just reach out and start undoing bits and pieces and--

Oop, that is a very strong grip.

Will looks up at the hand on his shoulder and follows it all the way to Danse's firm stare. His lip quivers a bit. B-but.

But it's right THERE.

...

Will sighs, his shoulders sag. Fiiiine.

Rory White (673) has posed:
"This appears to be a particle accelerator." Rory exclaims excitedly after the group passes through an area that has her simply GIDDY WITH EXCITEMENT. "Which has little purpose, so far as I'm aware, beyond scientific experiments in particle and quantum physics. But why would such a powerful particle accelerator be completely hidden?! These are normally very large and public affairs... there should be records of one here if it was important!"

    So Rory White turns to look at Eryl, hoping he has answers. Her gaze also passes Danse's way, and she folds her hands quickly and nods vehemently. "Full XP Logs, as always! This is amazing! Hopefully the method behind KOAN manufacture will be found here."

Eryl Fairfax has posed:
    Eryl merely shakes his head. None of this is on any plans, none of it is registered with the government. How it's here, he has no clue. But, he has been slack on his explanations. To Sho, he says, "A KOAN Core is a device that can recycle waste energy, such as heat, back into usable power. You must understand, this violates the laws of theromdynamics as we understand them, and we have no clue how they work." He looks to the accelerator and sighs, shaking his head. "I don't know why this is here either. This bunker is not on any maps... I suspect under-the-table deals with the national government."

    He places his hands on his hips and sighs. "I think this is all that is here. Thank you for coming everyone. Mister Pauwel, leave the core if you would."

Danse (981) has posed:
The irony, trace amounts of Fe-55 to be exact, of Shokudaikiri's question is that many in the Commonwealth do eat radioisotopes every day. Just not intentionally, except for the strangeness that is Nuka-Cola. As he looks back from being satisfied that Will won't immediately go running off into something that's over his head, with a still-encouraging pat on the previously gripped shoulder, he leaves it a far simpler answer, "Not willingly. They were used to create energy, and weapons, two-hundred years ago." He's uncertain whether KOAN Cores themselves were ever weaponized, but they certainly powered that security drone, and the still-mysterious-to-Danse Eryl Fairfax.

    "I'm guessing it was security by obfuscation," he further figures to Shokudaikiri. "If no one knows you're there, you have less to worry about or interfere." As Rory also begins putting together a few of the pieces, he thinks back to that map from before. "It makes sense, if this were related to their original creation. If I were creating some revolutionary power source, the less people snooping around, the better. As for that -- accelerators work slowly on our scales, but maybe a few particles were all they needed." After a few moments of allowing himself all of that, he does quickly follow it up with, "Complete speculation, of course. Don't mind me. I appreciate the consideration, White."

    The tone takes a turn from that of discovery to that of...well, the tone of someone that's just had a whole pile of unexpected troubles dropped on their lap. Eryl is glanced to for a moment, but it really isn't any of his business if things are being cut short here. This is what they came here to do, after all. Making certain that the sketched map from before finds its way to the cyborg's hands, he seems willing to accept it. "Make contact via radio if there is anything further."

William Pauwel has posed:
"A-aw," Will wilts even further. HOW CAN YOU BREAK A YOUNG MAN'S HEART, ERYL FAIRFAX? He extracts the core from his rucksack and reluctantly offers it up. Very reluctantly. Why does he never get to keep the mysterious, shiny, power source?

...

"Can I keep the drone though?"

Rory White (673) has posed:
JUST LEAVE THE KOAN CORE? Even with tons of them about?

    Rory White turns about to fix Eryl with a pretty intense stare. It's blank, but that usually means her emotions are so intense that she's not sure how to express them and is clamping down on acting on them, whatever they are.

    STARE. /STARE./

    She probably doesn't like being told 'everyone pack up and leave, there's nothing to see here.'

Eryl Fairfax has posed:
    "If you like," Eryl says to Will. To be honest, he would rather keep the drone. Being hand-made, it might have clues. But the boy deserves something for coming along. As Rory stares, Eryl meets her gaze cooly. "ReGenesis has been alerted, they will commence salvage operations soon. I don't want to take the Core with me in case it gets damaged. And I do not have authority to hand them out, they are too valuable." His tone is very firm, this is not a point he will budge on.

Shokudaikiri (1063) has posed:
    Shokudaikiri nods to the explanation of the KOAN core. He understands it basically. But then... magic. He's rather used to telling the laws of physics to do physically impossible things! Though he is indeed aware that when SCIENCE does physically impossible things, it's a little more incredible. "Oh, I see. Sort of like a black box, then?"

    Danse's explanation gets his attention then, and he nods again. Nuclear power's not entirely safe, so he kind of understands part of what happened in Danse's world. He tilts his head to the mention of security. "I'd hoped so. Better than there being something nastier to deal with than a drone." And he also agrees with Danse's offer of help, "Yeah. If you need help, let me know."

    He snickers at William's words of keeping the drone. He doesn't speak up though, he just reaches over with intent to pat William on the back.