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Millium Argent      LAST TIME

     Our intrepid explorers delved into the depths of an ancient manor, dark and full of mysteries. They were beset by odd dolls. Ball jointed robots in various themes. As if this were all some sort of grand play. But with their combined efforts, adversity was overcome, and the way forward was paved.

     Now, it's come time to return to that place.

     Millium is naturally first. And she's moved her base of operations deeper into the mansion, after the guild scoured the place and took away any intact machinery. In the basement, where shelves were cleared, and books all taken away, what replaced them was a small base of operations before the open gate that leads to the elevator. And Millium is there, seated along with an operator. A no-nonsense looking girl wearing the guild's uniform. She has a reciever on one ear, and is seated in front of a computer, typing away.

     Millium herself brings a hand to her ear and makes the call. "Ahem! Hey guys! Remember me? Crazy mansion dive? Killer dolls? Advanced elevator leading belowground? Yeah, we're going back in. Care to join me? You know where to find me! We're in the basement this time so just come on in and head down."

     And with that, it was time to wait.
Alexis Maaka     Maaka wouldn't have to travel far, warp gates or not.

    She is already en-route in her car, Nancy driving across rough terrain deftly. She stops just outside the house, security systems activating the moment Maaka exits the vehicle with a shotgun in hand. She loads the Beneli as her armor is 'equipped' with a flash of holographic light, and her helmet folds into place within moments.

    "Alright, what'd we miss while we were away?" asks Maaka, as she heads downstairs upon entry, shotgun slung on her back.
Rebecca Chambers Rebecca remembers her quite well, and despite what she saw last time being rather unnerving, she's back for more. Only this time, having a better sense of what to expect, she's a bit more calm and relaxed than she was before. Not to mention, there's something about this place that intrigues her which is why she wants to come back and check this out some more.

Arriving from not too far away, given that she's running into the area on foot, Rebecca stops to double-check the clip in her Beretta before joining the others. "All right, let's do this." She says, looking more confident than she did before.
William Pauwel     Will has actually NEVER LEFT. He's been busy doing what he could to learn from the old machines before the Guild could show up and haul them all off, and now he's put his know-how to good use helping to set up at least part of the basecamp. Even if that does mean being a terrible nuisance to the local guildies who are JUST TRYING TO DO THEIR JOBS, DAMNIT. After all, his Chaser's intuition is telling him that this place is PRETTY IMPORTANT, and that's never done him wrong before!

    It's certainly never had him sign up for a job nobody else wanted to do, get almost blown up two or three times, and saw him wander solo into the heart of a giant mental clockwork robot to give the girl at its heart a rousing heroic speech! DEFINITELY NOT.

    Regardless, he's here now, and is present to greet Maaka and the others as they arrive. "Howdy y'all! Glad t' see you could make it. I've just been, you know, doin' Will things," he says, thumbing vaguely basewards. "But that'll change soon! I've got a good feelin' about this one."
Deelel Deelel had often been busy but she's been getting back into the wider multiverse as of late and here the wanderng Basic was. She had a cloak about her which was 'stiched' woith glowing blue circuit lines as she made an approach to the manor. She took a moment to look up at itbefore she entered to catch up with everyone else.

"I was not here the last time but I did hear about it. So here I am the ID's Deelel and it's good to meet you."

She takes note of Rebecca, Will and Maaka as they arrive.

" Seems like we're dealing with puppets and traps of some sort."

She pauses for a momentand her cloak vanishes in a burst of bright light and wirelines.
Deelel Deelel had often been busy but she's been getting back into the wider multiverse as of late and here the wanderng Basic was. She had a cloak about her which was 'stiched' woith glowing blue circuit lines as she made an approach to the manor. She took a moment to look up at itbefore she entered to catch up with everyone else.

"I was not here the last time but I did hear about it. So here I am the ID's Deelel and it's good to meet you."

She takes note of Rebecca, Will and Maaka as they arrive.

" Seems like we're dealing with puppets and traps of some sort."

She pauses for a momentand her cloak vanishes in a burst of bright light and wirelines.
Millium Argent      Millium looks up from a computer and waves. "Hey! Alexis, right?" She smiles and gestures around. "You didn't miss a whole lot. The guild just came through, took away anything usable or salvagable. Then we moved base camp down here to keep watch." She stretches her arms above her head a bit, and then reclines lazily in a chair.

     "Nothing else popped out at us since then, so that's good. ...But now we've got to make the dive further in." Rebecca's arrival is met with a light laugh, recalling the events of last time. "Hi Rebecca. Let's hope we don't run into anymore laser spewing robots on stages, huh?"

     The guild operator seated by Millium raises her gaze, settling cold violet eyes on him. "Doing Will things. More like being a fucking nuisance to everyone here." Grumblgrumble. She goes back to typing without elaborating and Millium chuckles awkwardly. "C-Claire he's not THAT bad! I mean..." Pause. "...Anyway!" She stands up quickly and walks out, facing the opened gates. Deelel's arrival is noted with a wave and a smile before she starts speaking.

     "Looks like it's just us this time. Plus one new person. Hi new person!" That's for you, Deelel. "Guess everyone else already got busy elsewhere. But that's fine, we can do this!" She clenches a fist in a theatric show of determination. And then starts forward. "Let's get moving! Seeya Claire!" And off they went, into the pristine, white corridor that shortly opened out to a circular energy platform of green. After taking a test step, the blonde girl walks into it, and once the others also step on, the energy platform starts descending.

     Down, down down...

     Eventually, light from the elevator corridor above gets less and less functional, with flickers and bouts of darkness. Looks like the power isn't quite that reliable around these parts. Something must've broken down here. But that's not all. There's something else too.

     Tick...tock...tick....tock...tick....tock...

     The sounds of clockwork are back.

     The energy platform eventually stops at the bottom of an unknown depth, revealing some sort of lobby. It's devoid of people, of course, and the lights are flickering and dim. But it definitely looks to be the sort of place where researchers worked. Millum heads down the short bit of stairs and looks around, activating her bracelets for a bit of light. "Huh... That sound's back. And we've goooot... Oh there's a map!" Indeed, there is a map. Off to the side, there's a holomap on display, hued green, but also damaged in places. It shows that they are in the center of an underground complex. North appears to be locked. South's portion is damaged, but East and West are on full display, showing a network of corridors and larger rooms. Their functions aren't indicated here, but East appears to have a locked section indicated as well after a certain point.

     "North is locked... East is locked further in... Hmmhmm... Hey, Will, you still have that card?" Millium asks, glancing at her fellow Chaser.
Alexis Maaka     "Good thing I grabbed that cleaver when I did." Maaka comments, before she leans in to whisper to Millium quietly. "Not to mention the rest of that doll thing, I still got my guy looking at it. Lot of weird shit going on with it we found so far."

    Maaka then begins to head into the corridor, eyebrow cocked behind her helmet. The energy platform is certainly an interesting sight and experience, and she waits patiently before the ride ends.

    "I got West, gonna see if I can't get us through to the other areas." She decides instantly, drawing her shotgun as she covers the corridors professionally. Sweeping and clearing, she's a trained operator at work as she keeps her shotgun in hand as she makes her way through the halls.

    If anybody wants to join her, she won't mind help or company.
Rebecca Chambers Rebecca slightly lowers an eyebrow at Millium's remark about those robots, but shrugs it off, as there's far more important things to worry about here. She nods in response and says, "Yeah, let's hope not. Truthfully, I'd rather deal with zombies than those things again!" She sighs at that, but again she dusts that off as she adds, "OK, so we're all here. Let's move out!"

Upon boarding the elevator, Rebecca watches as it descends beneath them, and notices that it's starting to get a bit darker. She quickly switches on the flashlight attached to her Beretta, bringing light to the area. If Chris were here, he might make a remark like, 'Let there be light!' but Rebecca just can't bring herself to make a line like that right now.

Once the elevator lands, Rebecca starts to ponder the best course of action when Alexis speaks up first, saying she's going to the west. Thinking quickly on her feet, Rebecca moves in behind Alexis without missing a beat. "I'll go with you. There's no telling what might be up ahead." A pause as she looks ahead as best as she can using her flashlight's beam. "I can go first if you want or I can stick behind you and cover you."
Genji Shimada     From the back of the group, a voice declares simply, "I will scout out the eastern corridor and report back."

    And in so saying, Genji Shimada smoothly steps past the group, all the lighting on his body shutting off at once.

    What, you didn't see him? He was there the whole time.
Deelel Deelels clothing was a bit strnge form fitting and generally seemed to lack seams in most places save for the oddly big zippers here and there and she saunters along with and she laughs at Millium's comment on William but doesn't make any comments herself. She follows Millium as the group moves to head deep into this place. Oddly DEelel's clothing is giving off light from the strips of whitish blue on it. Deelel gets a grin on her face at east and north, she tilts her head a bit and thinks.

"You have a key for the east, would you like to see if I can try to pop the north's lock?"
William Pauwel     "Look, just 'cause y'all don't know how to lay down a decent water system don't mean y'all get to complain!" Will huffs at Claire. Despite having accidentally sprung a couple leaks himself. At least it's all running now! Drinking water for everyone! Even if it is a little... Bostonian in design.

    But they're off soon enough. Will seems giddy. About as giddy as anyone's seen him, really, but this is how it usually is when he's in a ruin. Giddy, and careful. The not-so-distant tick-tock of clicking clockwork does little to dampen his spirit, nor does the facility's quite visible damage. That holomap's all kinds of useful!

    But... North and East are at least partly locked. Will frowns-- but nods at Millium's question. "'Course I do," he says, slipping the thing out of a handy pocket. "You thinking east or north? I'm betting whichever one is more important'll need a different keycard than what's carried around by any old robot."
Millium Argent      WEST

     Alexis and Rebecca head West for the operations sector. As they plod their way through the flickering corridors, they will find... no resistance. Just tick...tock...tick...tock... And then they step out into an open chamber. It looks like it might be some kind of lounge. There are various chairs and long seats meant for waiting and hanging out. Along with wall mounted screens, likely meant to display visual info of a kind. But they're all powered off now. On the other end, the corridor continues with a bend, but...

     ...Not everything is powered off here. Once the two step in, two infared lasers pierce throuh the darkness, pointing directly at their heads. There's a FWEEEEEEEEEM, of rathering energy over by the upper walls on the other end, and then?

     PSHEW!

     Two thin beams of energy are fired, going right for the headshots. Watch out! Security is still active!

     NORTH

     "I'll go with you!" Millium decides, hopping off after Will. "Let's hit North, Swordguy and What'shername can take East!" Pause. "...Wait, huh?" She doubletakes at Genji, only JUST realizing that he was even actually here. HOW DID SHE MISS HIM? Damn those ninjas. Ugh. Okay, nevermind, he was here. And so the two Chasers are off North! They head through a minor corridor of a few turns, before finally coming up to a level one security gate. It's got a keycard slider off to the side, and once Will does his thing...

     The gate opens, which leads deeper into the dark, flickering depths. The sound of clockwork continues on, which only unnerves Millium. But she keeps her wits about her, holding out an arm to help light the way. What they eventually start coming upon, however, are... "What the...?" There's a long, wide chamber, and off to one side are stasis tubes. All filled with perfectly preserved bodies submerged in some kind of liquid. A handful of humans, dressed in bodysuits, definitely not conscious. There are lit up HUDS on the pods, displaying their status. Something to the effects of 'Subject Number X, STATUS: Transferred.'

     But transferred to what? Millium frowns. "Huh? Something isn't adding up here... don't you think?"

     Note that the OTHER side of the chamber is completely dark. But one can make out vague shapes and cables through the edge of the dark... Hm.

     EAST

     The eastern area is... much more straightforward. As Deelel and Genji make their way in, they soon come out to a very large, open area, which looks like it used to be a massive testing bay, along with loading and storage. Many different sorts of machines can be seen, abandoned and inoperable. Along with many sorts of similar doll based robots that have powered down. ....But there's also a THUMK. WHIRRRRR. THUNK. WHIIIIRRRR...THUNK. About the area.

     From around a pillar, is one gigantic sentry. It's big, bulky, and loaded with weapons. Standing at about five meters tall. It looked like a veritable mechanical death machine. And it was patrolling the area, infared eyes sweeping the area periodically with scans before moving on.

     It stands between them, and the other end.

     What now?
Alexis Maaka     "GET DOWN!" Maaka realizes at the last moment what the laser beams are supposed to be, grabbing Rebecca. She ducks, pulling Rebecca down with her before the lasers actually try and shoot them.

    She also draws her sidearm in the chaos, her shotgun hanging from a single point sling, to take a shot at one of the laser emitters. "Fire on the other!" She barks quickly, knowing she and Becky only get a single chance before the lasers take aim and fire again.
Rebecca Chambers Before Rebecca can even react, she finds herself going down by Alexis's assistance. She yelps out a little but goes along with it, eventually hitting the ground. At least it's not as hard as it could've been. But once she's down on the ground, she spins around and draws her Beretta again, firing on the other as instructed by Alexis. "I got this!"
William Pauwel Will ACTUALLY HAS COMPANY. What a miraculous world we all live in.

    "Oh, uh," the chaser fidgets a bit, "Sure! That'll be great. Don't worry, y'all watch my back, I'll watch yours, we'll be fine!" Probably. Will seems confident enough, he's done this kind of thing before, after all. Sure, things inevitably take a turn for the worse, but part of being a good Chaser is recovering from apparently unrecoverable circumstances.

    "You'll get used to folks appearin' out of nowhere pretty quick," he says to Millium as they approach the keycard reader. "These multiversal types are full of surprises. I know a sheriff who can throw things around with her brain, it's crazy!" Will swipes his card across the reader turns a series of red lights green. The door produces a couple of electronic clicks and then slides away to admit their entry. "Alright! We're good to go. Stay sharp, though. Might run into security.

Or...

...People in tubes?

    Will stares at the bodies. Perfectly preserved, completely intact Ancients. People from the Old Time, but... Here. Alive? Or... "Transferred," Will murmurs at the readings on the tubes. "But... To what? They're here, ain't they?" His lips draw into a tight line. The Solano's comforting light pours into the room as he draws it from its holster. "Let's take a look around. Maybe we'll be able to figure out what's going on."

For instance, that dark corner looks promising, and Will's got a convenient light source right here!
Deelel Deelel has no issue going with Genji she'd knows enough of him to know he's a reliable ally but as she goes she's moving ahead and pauses at the Sentry she looks up for a moment at it and moves to summon her keyblade. The Duel Disc materilizes in her her right hand and she looks to Genji for a moment.

"So fight or talk? I don't think this thing's friendly it's likely running on what ever it's last orders were."

the edge of the keyblade's disc lights upwith a faint humm and white glow as she starts to shift a bit away from Genji so they don't both draw fire...
Genji Shimada     "Given our experiences the last time we were here..." Genji replies, trailing off.

    He considers the possibilities for a few seconds... and then goes running off to one side, cat-footed and quiet, diving in among the abandoned machines. Using them to cover a quiet approach, allowing him to get close to that pillar - so that he can scamper straight up it, and then take a high-flying leap off, and come straight down at the giant sentry bot from above.

    With his short-blade leading the way.
Millium Argent      WEST

     Thankfully no one gets their heads punctured. Very good. Kind of hard to operate with a hole in yer brain, yeah? But those security turrets line up their sights again and charge up another round of shots. They're not complicated things. They don't take evasive manuevers. They're wall mounted! And so the return fire from both Alexis and Rebecca punch through the things, and cause them to power down.

     The laser sights disappear, leaving them free to proceed. And when they do, turning the corner and continuing on, they'll find themelves entering a wide operations room. There are a plethora of computers here, all lined up in neat rows as workstations, with a huge screen on the wall at the back. A few still have power, but most of the computers in here are shut down, with the flickering power above, and the clockwork being the only constant reminders.

     A glance at an active workstation will reveal that this is indeed where administration was made to the other sectors, as well as to the outside world perhaps. Pertinent controls are here, like managing security drones, opening locks, some sort of email system, and so on, so forth...

     Unfortunately, evverything seems to require it's own passcode. Including all three levels of security in the facility. Hmmm, what to do?

     NORTH

     Will and Willium seem to have stumbled upon some kind of Ancient...experimentation bay. Of a sort. She nods at Will at his comment regarding Multiversals and shrugs. "Well, they seem like nice people... Well, except for that one jerk who trampled on that one boy's dreams a while back..." Poor, Poor Shirou. You are now Archer.

     That aside, they looked over the pods, and Millium frowned. "People? ...They're still preserved too! How did they...? Wait huh?" She peers at the HUD. "This means...moved or transferred, right? ...Um." She turns around and has a look about. "....." Her eyes settle on a far corner in the light, where a desk is. On it are loads of papers strewn about carelessly, written in ancient language. But there are also tablets and other devices set up.

     Millium steps over, and picks up a small cell phone looking device, pressing a button curiouly. Oh! It powers on. There's a lock screen, but a swipe to the side reveals that it's not passworded. It opens out to an email or something. The font is ancient language, but there are several numbers interspersed. "This reads...Guard...? Plateau...? Three? ....4928502? Hm." That was a crude, crude reading, but it was a start!

     There's not much more time to ponder it however, as Will shines Solano's light on the other end of the chamber, which reveals... Dolls. Or robots. Doll jointed robots. Connected to power cables and mounted to the wall. They were all unique in that they possessed defining features, such as masks, artificial hair, limb designs, and other such things to differentiate them.

     Different hues of energy seem to pulse through the tubes, funneling into those machines. And off to the side is a console, which is in a low power state.

     Someone didn't get to finish doing what they were doing here most likely.
Millium Argent      EAST

     Deelel and Genji make their decision. Looks like they're going to strike! The sentry doesn't seem to notice them, and by the time it turns in their direction, scanners racing across the floor, Genji has already run off. Up a pillar, and then soaring above the passing machine. And finally, he crashes down atop it, blade aimed right for it's head.

     He strikes, weapon cleaving into it, and immediately destroying those infared sensors. ... But it's not going to go down just like that. The bulky thing switches to secondary visual indicators on it's chest, and then several armor plates open up. WHOOSH! Several clusters of micro missiles stream out, aiming to home in on Genji and blow him away. Deelel isn't noticed just yet.

     Perhaps she may be able to make use of that.
Alexis Maaka     The lasers punch at body armor and shield generators, causing Maaka to wince in pain. Thankfully nine millimeter rounds prove their worth, as the turrets are taken out. "Phew."

    "Too fucking close. You okay, Becky?" Maaka says, standing to her feet and offering her hand to Rebecca. She holsters her Glock 17, swapping back to her shotgun as she begins to lead once more. She turns the corner, sweeping and clearing with her auto shotgun, before entering the ops room.

    She lowers her weapon as she begins to go over the work station. "Hmmmm...lemme see..." She works on trying to synch up with the computer, intending to crack the pass codes to all three sections methodically. She's not Kaz, but Maaka knows her scripts pretty decently.

    To Rebecca, this might just look like Maaka's intently staring at the screen expecting it to work. In other words, this looks pretty damn silly.
Rebecca Chambers Rebecca's body armor somehow protects her against the lasers, although one of them does burn through just far enough to leave a blister on her. "Oww!" She hisses, firing again, until the lasers are taken care of. She looks to Alexis and nods. "Nothing major. I've had a LOT worse before!" She accepts the hand up, and then looks around the general area. Not making much progress on her own, she looks to see Alexis staring intently at the screen. She's about to ask what she's doing, but then she realizes that there might be more happening than meets the eye.

So Rebecca spins around and attempts to keep an eye on Alexis's rear flank, just in case something happens. She also sweeps the general room, trying to see if there's anything they might have missed at first.
Genji Shimada     As always, the true limiting factor in Genji's body is his own reaction times. He may be superhumanly agile, the cybernetics may keep him at peak reaction times, and his shinobi training may ensure that his alertness and reflexes are as finely-honed as possible... but even then, there's only so much he can do. A pair of micro missiles clip his body point-blank before he can leap off, his armor blasted off to show artificial muscle and circuitry underneath. It's not nearly as bad as it could have been for anyone else, but it's still going to be trouble if that keeps up.

    On the other hand, it's still spamming micro missiles. At Genji Shimada.

    "Is that it?"

    Backflipping through the air, Genji's body lights up, and he turns himself such that he's facing directly at the missiles. No further attempt to evade is on tap. Instead, he shifts his grip on his shortblade just slightly... and then his arm suddenly blurs into impossibly fast motion. Flickers of green, inhuman precision, a blade flickering back and forth over and over to not just /parry/ each and every remaining missile, but /turn them around/. Send them back. He's reflecting the sentry bot's own missile swarm right back at it in mid-air.

    He lands with no more sound than a whisper, dropping into a low crouch, with his sword at the ready.
William Pauwel     ...Dolls. There are dolls here, tucked away in the corner. Will frowns as he looks them over-- inactive, at least for now. There are cables leading from them, he takes them in his free hand and follows their lead to... the capsules. A thought forms in his head, his brow furrows in that way that suggests that he's got an idea sprouting between his ears. "Millium, y'all said those people in there were... transferred, right?"

    He moves back towards the machines- to the console at their side, and swipes a hand across the holographic display. Now, the chances that Will's actually going to be able to read through any complicated Ancient script is somewhere between zero and none, but hell, a Chaser makes his own luck! And he's been around the block enough times to at least recognize the basics.

And in the worst case, he can always phone a certain friend, but...

Well, given who's ALSO on the radio right now, that's something he kind of doesn't want to... do. Just yet. "Okay, now let's see. What were y'all DOING down here?"
Deelel Deelel watches Genji go with a smirk on her face.

"Very well and it seems you have Game, human."

With that Deelel starts with the high agility movement. She leaps anf flips into the air throwing her weapon at it. It spins about like a tommahawk and might just hit the guardian and it will then end up blinking out of existance and reappear back in Deelel's hand as she keeps moving.

"I'll try to make use of what your doing to Genji! Let's try to overload how many things it needs to focus on."
Millium Argent      NORTH

     Will starts up the console, and immediately he's met with a bunch of ancient text, and a prompt. It roughly reads:

     'New Humanity Project'
     Status: On Hold.
     Proceed? Yes/No.

     Millium looks over Will's shoulder and blinks. "Another...People...Activity?" Really, Milly? Really? "Yeah, it said they were transferred, I think... But uh, my IMPECCABLE intuition tells me that maaaaaaybe we shouldn't mess with this!" She looks off at the pods, frowning as Will remarked that the cables connected to them. "...Those people though... You don't think that they're...uh...Well y'know...?" She gestures to the dollbots vaguely uncomfortably.

     WHAT TO DO ABOUT THIS? There were healthy people in pods down here. That was rather amazing, but... Do they want to mess with ancient machinery!?

     WEST

     Alexis enters the code in, and... Bam. Level Three Security is unlocked. However, that ALSO has the side effect of causing a wall off to the side to slide aside, revealing a ten foot tall sentry bot that lumbers in with a THUNK WHIRRR THUNK WHIIRRRR. This damn thing has two miniguns attached to it's arms. It's laser sight locks onto the two intruders.

     "......"

% It's silent for a moment, and then, it determines that the two of them are not lab personnel. It's turrets start to spin slowly, getting faster and faster... Oh crap! Soon enough, streams of energy fire are let loose in a twin barrage at the two!

     EAST

     Genji and Deelel get to work on the sentry, with the ninja deflecting the majority of it's micromissiles back at it. The explosions resulting damage the internal missile pods, but the damn thing is resilient. It remains functional and from it's arms, two large motes of crimson energy erupt, forming into twin laser armblades that it starts swinging outward, cleaving into the floor and trying to get at the agile Genji.

     Deelel's keyblade strikes it in the back, denting armor, but also drawing it's attention. It doesn't turn towards her, but a shoulder mounted energy cannon turns in her direction and charges up, before firing a burst of red plasma towards her position. Oops.

     However, right then, there's a loud BEEP further in and around the corner of the opposing corridor. The security door was unlocked. Fight still? Or make a break for it?
Alexis Maaka     Maaka gets Level 3 unlocked, thankfully. But sadly there's something ELSE at hand. She disconnects hurriedly the moment she hears the wall open up, and she turns around to see the robot arrive. "Oh shit." she says very quietly, before suddenly pushing Rebecca out of the way of the robot's line of sight.

    Then she goes to -tackle- the security bot, driving her shoulder against it before it can actually hit either her or Rebecca with gunfire.

    Her gauntlets spark with electric arcs, and she begins dishing kidney punches, or at least something similar, onto the robot.
Rebecca Chambers Once again, Rebecca is nearly caught off-guard, but then she's pushed to the ground again, landing on her side with a slight grunt since she really wasn't expecting that. "Dammit, gotta be more focused!" She blurts out as she tries to get back up. When she sees that Alexis is attacking the robot, she's inclined to assist as she grabs her stun baton and, with a yell, attempts to drive it into the security bot.
Genji Shimada     Well, it looks like the thing wised up. No more ranged attacks - at least not at him. Genji goes on the evasive immediately, but a corner of his mind silently applauds its ability to learn. And for that matter, its armament.

    Left and back, right and up, the cyborg ninja leaps and rolls, evading the sentry bot's attacks and occasionally flinging out a trio of shuriken; but before he can set himself up for a larger attack, the security door unlocks. The shinobi glances in that general direction, then yells. "Go for the door! I will keep it distracted until you're through."

    And that's exactly what Genji does, staying evasive, and attacking only just enough to keep himself on the thing's radar. Once Deelel's through, however, he'll join her with a fast, glowing-green dash.
William Pauwel     While Maaka and Genji and the others are busy dealing with killer robots, William Pauwel is engaged in a terrible moral quandry. A dilemma of fantastic proportions. The lives of a dozen human beings are in his hands. His poorly equipped, kind of scared-shitless-about-killing-people hands. He's faced with the decision to continue the New Humanity Project, or to terminate the process.

    If he hits yes, then the robots will almost certainly boot up, but... What if these people were here against their will? Certainly, the personalized machines suggest otherwise, but... It's not a sure thing. And if they do activate, who's to say that they haven't been modified to see UN-ROBOTIC humans as a threat? MAYBE HITTING YES WILL TRIGGER AN ASSIMILIATION PROTOCOL!?

It's a dilemma. A problem. A moral quagmire. It's got him in a pale, cold sweat. His heart feels like it's trying to burrow its way into his belly. EVERYTHING IS TERRIBLE.

SHINY RED BUTTON, CANDY RED BUTTON, WHAT WILL YOU DO!?

    Will aims to find out. The Chaser's eyes sharpen slightly and his fingers start dancing across the keys. He can take machines apart, tinker with devices and technology developed hundreds, if not thousands of years ago. He can find some goddamn documentation about what will happen if he hits that button!

And if he can't... Well, coinflips.
Millium Argent      WEST

     Rebecca and Alexis GET OUT OF THE WAY, and then? No, they don't run away. Nah, they run AT the security bot, under and around it's gunfire, and right into melee range! Whoa. And it proves to be PRETTY EFFECTIVE. Unlike the massive sentry drone out in the East, this one isn't decked out with loads of weapons. Just the two miniguns. So when the ranged is closed, it takes blows to the lower torso as eletrical currents run through it from both intruders.

     The drone jerks and jitters, beeping and booping violently before it falls over to one side and spasming almost comically. And then it powers down with a pathetic whimper. ....Oh. Well. It seems like there's not much more left to do here. Unless Alexis and Rebecca want to wait around and see if another security drone steps out after them?

     Yeah, no. Genji could probably use help though!

     NORTH

     WILL IS LOCKED IN A BATTLE OF MORAL CONUNDRUMS.

     CLAIRE IS KIND OF AN ASSHOLE.

     MILLIUM SWEATS AND WATCHES.

     EVERYONE ELSE IS FIGHTING ROBOTS.

     WHAT DO?

     Will decides to postpone the decision and browse the console for information. And it turns out... It's actually pretty bare. It's got nothing but OS information and program protocols for running the project's algorithms on the computer. However... Milly heads back to the side table, pushing through the piles of papers, frantically looking over the nigh unreadable ancient text in mild frustration. "There's got to be something!" She grouses, looking from sheet to sheet, and finding no characters she can really read. "...This looks like subject information... Uh..um... Sample.... collect....activate? Ugh! I can barely even read this!" She tosses the sheet aside and picks up another. "Um... survive....resilient....body... transfer...?" She rubs her forehead and shakes her head. "Will, I can't make heads or tails of this!"
Deelel Deelel is loving Genji's tyle already as he calls out for het to go. "Understood!" With that Deelel will break into a run the moment Genji makes to distract the guardian. he sprints quickly trying to keep her self focused on the door so Genji can hopefully quickly follow her right after she gets through.
Millium Argent      EAST

     Genji keeps the security drone busy while Deelel sprints off ahead. And once she turns the corner, she finds that the gate that was indicated as locked on the map is now open wide. And thankfully, it's not big enough for their gigantic friend to go following them. So that's one thing off their backs.

     The ninja does a very good job of avoiding those whirling blade arms. Rolling this way, dashing that way, tossing out shuriken to interrupt the flow of swings. And then, once Deelel is gone, the drone finds it's target slipping around it and away into the corridor and around the corner. With a THUNK WHIRRRR THUNK WHIRRRR, it follows, only to the beginning of the gate, unable to proceed further in. ...Welp.

     It turns around and returns to the eastern sector.

     Inside, past the gate, what Genji and Deelel find is...well, the tick tock tick tock tat's been going on for a while now gets loudr and louder...before finally, they arrive in front of a giant computer mainframe. It's like a pillar that extends upwards into the ceiling and beyond. With holo screens orbiting all about it. And in the back, countless gears and cogs turn in the wall. With varying sizes. Just tick....tock....tick...tock...

     This is the big, amazing thing that was hidden away behind level 3 security?

     One of the screens lights up, and a digitized voice of what might be an elderly man speaks. "...Visitors. Interesting. It has been quite some time since I have seen living beings. ...Who are you? And why are you here?"
Alexis Maaka     Maaka decides the emails aren't worth it just yet, so instead she draws her pistol and runs to the east, just down the hallway. No time to ask for her shotgun back, instead she and Rebecca are gonna have to book it. "You can give the shotty back later, c'mon!" She tells the medic.

    No use letting the robot be, instead Maaka takes aim at the security bot just for the sake of being careful on the way out. She fires repeatedly at the damaged mech, aiming for joints and weaknesses she can exploit with well aimed 9mm Luger rounds.
Genji Shimada     Genji moves at a full run until they get further into the room, where he finally slow down to a walk and looks around. With the robot no longer following them, he's more willing to relax a bit. The new voice might have him tensing up for a moment, but... no, it doesn't seem to be a threat. "We are explorers," Genji replies to the voice, returning his weapon to its sheath with a flourish. "And we're here because our curiosity exceeds our sense of self-preservation."

    Crossing his arms, the ninja explains more properly, "The two we're here to help, make a living exploring the ruins of the previous civilization of this world. We were investigating the mansion above, when we found the elevator down to this facility. I am glad," he adds, "That you choose the word 'visitor' and not 'intruder'."
Rebecca Chambers Rebecca runs after Alexis, her heart racing just as fast as her legs are. "We've got this!" She says to Alexis, not bothering to shoot at the security robot since Alexis already has that handled. Instead, she takes point this time, heading back to the east. "Hurry! Go!" Although her comment seems to be more like it's being blurted out due to stress than an actual command.
Deelel Genji has done a pretty amazing job at keeping the guardian off her back and she's soon past the gate she skids to a halt for a moment as she looks at the massicve machine. She then looks t the computer.

"This is not quite wqhat I expected."

She pauses for a moment at the screen, lowers her keyblade and banishes it from view as ehe looks up.

"Greetings I am Deelel a Multi Media Program. We came to contiune looking into the she strange goings on in this locations."

She also totally owes Genji one too.
William Pauwel     Damnit, this thing's not helpful at all! Even if Will could somehow suss out Ancient machine language, the teraflop processing power of this particular terminal is completely irrelevant to what he actually needs to do in this situation! Fortunately, the documents that Milly's uncovered... Aren't.

    Not that they tell him much. Will's grasp of the Ancient tongue mostly extends to horribly nerdy things like how much processing power a computer has or how many horsepower this cool new engine's got. "Resilient... Body? So they were trying to put themselves in new bodies because they needed to be stronger?" Will frowns, picking up one of the castoff sheets. "Collected samples... Collected? Where'd they collect these people from? But... Something about 'civilians?' Nng. But why'd they STOP, and why'd they never let these people out?"

    He huffs, staring again at the console. "Well. There's only one way to find out, ain't there?" Will sighs, stroking his chin like some kind of aged sage. "Hey Mill, what about this? What if they got these people transferred to these bodies, but... Something went wrong, like there was an issue with the transferrence, or with the bodies, and so they couldn't figure out if they should flip the switch, or what would happen if they didn't? So, what I'm saying is, I guess, what if hundreds of years ago, there was a guy just like me, staring at this console just like this, and pulling his hair out 'cause he couldn't figure out which was the best thing to do?"

"'Cause," Will says, "That sounds pretty likely to me."
Millium Argent      EAST

     Alexis and Rebecca make their way out, heading eastward after making sure that fallen security bot wasn't going to stand up and give chase, and eventually arrive in the loading bay where that damaged drone had returned, continuing to patrol the area again... It takes heavy steps, scanning the area with secondary infared sensors like before, and hasn't yet spotted the two. Maybe there isn't even an actual need to fight the thing.

     PILLAR

     The various holo screens whirr at Genji and Deelel's responses, and then the voice speaks in turn. "Of course. The active security is a final means to safeguard this place. However you are the first to have made it here despite the trials. I must commend you all." And to Deelel, the AI greets. "I am CYGNUS. I was once a biological being, however, I transferred into this mainframe as part of a long defunct project." That must be the New Humanity Project. It seems like there WAS something wrong with the project that caused it's cancellation. ...Now, what to ask?

     NORTH

     MEANWHILE, Will and Millium continue to grouse over the decision to do something with the very same project here. They pore over documents, and eventually come to a rough conclusion... "I really really don't want to make a decision on this..." She says, brows furrowing and her head shaking. "If they didn't go through with it, there's got to be a reason, but uh..." They don't know if pressing no would go well either!

     Thankfully the others inform them that THERE IS AN AI HERE. Millium perks right up, and goes "WHAT? There is!? Oh jeez! I... I have to talk to it!" She's hopping up and down like she's really got to get going, but this whole situation here...! UGH. Bringing a hand to her ear, she speaks into the tacband. "We're going to hold on making a decision. Can you ask it what Will said? And also... ...Can you ask it about the whereabouts of the Fallen Azure Star?"

     Fallen Azure Star?
Alexis Maaka     Maaka immediately activates her cloaking device, motioning for Rebecca to remain low and quiet. "Shhh."

    She holsters her Glock as she begins to creep low and slow, intending to slip right past the machine. One wonders if STARS training involved stealth tactics, but today's the day we find out if Rebecca's up to the challenge regardless of past experience.
Genji Shimada     "The 'New Humanity Project'," Genji replies, "If I were to guess." He uncrosses his arms, instead planting his fists on his hips, akimbo. "I have a question, CYGNUS, if I may. One of my companions in another part of the facility is dealing with what appears to be an upload of human minds into artificial bodies, that was either interrupted, or never started, I'm not certain. How should he proceed? Is there a way to safely return them to their human bodies for now?"

    He cants his head, then adds, "Another wishes to know if you have any information on the whereabouts of a 'Fallen Azure Star'."
Deelel The AI does not seem to be hostile so far and Deelel will be polite to them thusly.

"Curious I admit CYGNUS." Genji is quick to bring up the imporant issues they would need to ask CYGNUS about first. She looks to the display screen for a moment. "I admit I'm curious ablut the project but that should wait untill more pressing issues at hand are handled. Do you know any way we can help those people?"
Rebecca Chambers Rebecca has had some training in stealth tactics, albeit more of on the spur of the moment rather than actual training in S.T.A.R.S. for stealth. Nevertheless, she understands the gesture and nods a little, albeit as little as possible to avoid being noticed. She crouches down and attempts to move as slowly as possible while making herself as small of a target as possible. She doesn't know as much as some might, but she knows what she does, and is hoping she can sneak by without being detected.
Millium Argent      EAST/PILLAR

     Alexis and Rebecca enter stealth mode, and move to sneak by the sentry as quietly as possible...

     And they succeed. The robot's scanners miss them, passing over where they were moments ago and then moving along. And they are free to head out the corridor to the clockwork room with the pillars. Just in time to join Genji and Deelel as CYGNUS speaks up.

     "The New Humanity Project? Yes, this project was meant to allow people to transfer their minds into bodies of steel. In order to survive into the future." He pauses. "However, the project met with unforeseen peculiarities. The first few text subjects lost control of their synthetic bodies, and attacked their fellow man. A sort of natural virus resulting from the inability of the mind to reconcile with the body. Nine times out of ten, it took root."

     Another pause. "That is why the project was canceled. As for your friend... Inform them not to go through with it. I am unsure why the scientists did not do so themselves, but doing so will return those in stasis to their bodies." Well, if that's what he says, that must be it!

     "Now, Fallen Azure Star, you say?" A low chuckle follows. "Heheheh... The Azure Star project was not something I was deeply apprised of, however..." A map of all of Tellus is brought up, but it looks...different. Like there's additional land where thre shouldn't be. It scrolls over to some unknown land where a blip appears, with coordinates on screen. "The facility here is where the Azure Star Project was being developed." The map vanishes after a few moments, and then silence follows.

     "Hmmm... My power cells are running low. It appears that I will shut down in approximately five minutes." He doesn't sound broken up over it though. "Do you have anything else to ask of me?"

     The cogs turning in the back grow slower and slower meanwhile, indicating a loss of power.
Alexis Maaka     SNEAK SNEAK. Good thing Maaka's a commando and Becky's really good at being smol.

    As she decloaks, the cyborg opens up her helmet to reveal blood red hair, yellow eyes, and Euro-Asian features as she gives Rebecca a fistbump. She does the same to Genji and Deelel too upon greeting the two.

    "Hey guys. And Mr...CYGNUS? Hi." Maaka gives a wary if polite nod to the AI, wherever the voice is coming from anyway, before flagging the medic over.

    "Can I get my shotgun back? I'm kind of partial to that Benelli, y'know." She asks Rebecca, clapping her on the shoulder gently.

    Oh right. AI. Maaka glances to the AI, before she thinks for a moment.

    "So is there anything we could do about the power situation?" She asks at last, some concern in her words for CYGNUS.
Deelel Deelel makes note of the map she can pull it up later. She also gets the people need to go into stasis so something can be done for them. She looks to Cygnus for a moment looking sad. "Is there anything we can do for you? If your so low on power do you wish to go into low power mode or sleep mode until we can find a way to restore your energy levels?" This is hitting damn dclose to home given Deelel is a program after all.
Genji Shimada     Genji quietly makes a record of the map being shown, filing it away to give to Millium later.

    "My question would be similar to hers. You are a voice of wisdom from millenia gone by," the ninja observes. "You could be a great boon to the people still alive today." Once again, however, he tilts his head, listening to the radio. "But once again my allies raise a good question. What was the calamity you were preparing for?"
Rebecca Chambers Rebecca hands back the shotgun to Alexis and smiles a little as she gives it a fistbump back, before her smile fades and she stares at CYGNUS. She is in a bit of disbelief at the explanation that CYGNUS is giving about this whole thing. Unlike the others who might have questions for CYGNUS, Rebecca has no idea what is truly going on here.
William Pauwel WELL, THERE'S THE ANSWER. MORAL QUANDRY SOLVED.

Will pushes the 'No' button as fast as his arm can move, but...

    "Hey, Milly! Y'all probably want to get those Guild guys to prepare some medical facilities!" Will says, scrambling back out of the back alcove. His hat nearly falls off his head when he does, but only because he trips over a pile of papers like SOME KIND OF NERD. Fortunately, he doesn't fall flat on his face. He's more coordinated than that."

    "B-but besides that, can you imagine? Actual ancients!" Well. Ones that AREN'T either a combat cyborg who knows only battle and duty, or an organism apparently designed strictly for snarkiness and cybernetic engineering. That would be nice. "I can't even begin to imagine what they'll be able to tell us. Hahaha!" HE'S GIDDY. OH NO.
Millium Argent      PILLAR

     Important questions are asked. CYGNUS provides more answers. "A loss of power does not equal a loss of myself. My data can be removed and placed in another unit." He says calmly, a screen lighting up and indicating a section near the bottom of the mainframe, behind some plating.

     "As for what calamity you are referring to..." CYGNUS falls silent. "That information is classified by order of the O and V units. Know however, that it was the only method left in which to save the world." A few moments pass, and then the AI speaks one last time. "I am going to enter Sleep Mode. If you wish to remove my memory and transfer me to another system, you are free to do so." Then, just like that, the holo screens all flicker out, and the tick tocking of the gears cease completely.

     That's it.

     NORTH

     MEANWHILE, Will and Milly are busy letting out sighs of relief over NOT having to make an unknown decision. "A-Alright! Hey Claire! Get the guild on standby, we're gonna wake up ACTUAL ANCIENTS!" Oh man, has this ever been done before? Probably. Maybe. Who knows what goes on in the dark corners of Tellus, BUT THIS IS THEIR TIME LET THEM HAVE IT.

     "I...I think we've gotten everything done here. We'll call the guild in, have them secure the place, and... that's it!"
Alexis Maaka     Maaka without missing a beat goes to make a backup of CYGNUS's files. At the very least, this AI won't be wasted permanently. "This is gonna feel weird, but..." She begins extraction after some fiddling to get a feel for the code, then carries out the act itself. She'll be holding onto the drives until Claire can pick them up.

    Sorry Alia, but Maaka prefers cold hard credits up front as far as rewards go. She slings her shotgun before she cheerfully heads on out.