london ♔ stand across the wire

[spellfile]

Technologic [fool remix] - Daftpunk

WHO ||  Lila, Astrid, Faye, Topher, Zero, One, GLaDOS
WHAT || Lila and Zero go to confront the technomage One, with a little help from their friends...
WHERE || Downtown London, CalTech building
WHEN || Late March, 2015 [backdated]
HOW || Actionspam

It's been a couple of months since the hacker who goes by the moniker "One" assisted in the attack on the Knights' castle, with the inside assistance of the Artificial Intelligence-turned-human GLaDOS.  Zero has good reason to believe, however, that One hasn't left - that he's waiting for him to come face him, and that the stage he's set for the showdown is the CalTech building in the city, whose employees are off for the week.  Realizing it's likely a trap, Zero's stacked his chips on setting a counter-trap - uploading a virus designed by himself and Topher Brink into the now-cyborg Faye Chamberlain's brain, assuming that he is going to try to hack into her and turn her against them.  

They arrive at the building as the sun is going down, staring up at the building that has a light show of digital streams coursing down the front of it, drawing a snort from Zero.  

"Theatrical jackass."

Comments

[spellfile]

[ guys, topher brink is having moral qualms so that tells you something ] Guess we're gonna get our exercise in. [ for real though it's a long trek to the top. FORTITUDE SAVES ]

[reallywicked]

[Well, Faye sure crit failed... She's not used to exercise okay...]

[bittersweeter]

[ it just means topher is a pussy!! lila also romantically crit failed with faye. for solidarity. ]

[pathology]

[well astrid came through with a ... 13. i mean, she tried, okay. fueled solely by bitterness and spite.]

[andblockbuster]

[topher got a 14, so at least he's a nerd who does his cardio.]

[spellfile]

[ zero... also crit failed. i'm cracking up. as astrid and topher truck on ahead, zero, faye, and lila are like straggling way behind, huffing and puffing and all now fatigued like true heroes. ] I knew it. He's trying to kill us with aerobics.

[bittersweeter]

[ it's fine, guys, it's fine. ]

I hate your boyfriend.

[pathology]

[concerned but also impatient, she stops and turns around.] Do you guys need to stop and catch your breath? Drink water? Eat a cracker?

[andblockbuster]

[topher stops along with Astrid.] No offense, but you guys are off my zombie apocalypse team.

[bittersweeter]

I will literally shoot you.

[reallywicked]

And I'll char the body beyond all recognition. [She adds while smiling sweetly. To Astrid, tho:]

We're good. [No ur not Faye] Let's just get this bullshit over with.

[spellfile]

[ they finally reach the top, and push the door open...

and the entire floor of the building stretches out in front of them... a vast white emptiness. this is some matrix shit.

wtf. ]

... Oh, that's reassuring.

[andblockbuster]

...Definitely getting an unpleasant TRON-y vibe from this.

[he runs a hand down his face.] Nerd supervillains. Why didn't I expect this? I'd do this! ...Well, not the pre-game cardio workout. That's just stupid.

[bittersweeter]

Cute. [ lila frowns into the room. ] Come on, Irving. You'll killin' me here. I'm officially bored.

I expected better from you.

[goodbyecaroline]

[ the white suddenly all phases out around them, until they're standing on what appears to be a pedestal in a tall cylindrical chamber. lines of code trace up and down the walls towards the darkness both above and below. there's no railing on the pedestal, the floor beneath their feet traced with what appear to be lines of circuitry.

a familiar voice rings out, from all around them. ]

I'm afraid Irving can't come to the phone right now.

Not that he's much of a conversationalist anyway.

[bittersweeter]

Suck my dick, Deus Ex Machina, let's get this over with. [ no chill. but she is going to cast detect thoughts to see if one is actually there in this crazy town. (dc 15) ]

[reallywicked]

[Faye glances to Zero and Lila.]

I don't know if she'll pull the same shit as Germany, but back there, magic got all fucked up. Be careful before you cast anything.

[Said too late for Lila's spell but oh well. She tried.]

[pathology]

[SO FIVE THOUSAND PERCENT DONE ONCE SHE HEARS GLADOS'S DULCET TONES]

She got him, too! This is fucking ridiculous.

1/2

[spellfile]

[ lila comes back empty, either because there's no one there, or because they successfully resisted her or... who knows what. ]

The hell did you do to him?

[goodbyecaroline]

If I were you - which, thankfully, is impossible - I would be a little more concerned about what I'm going to do to you.

We had a deal, you know. You humans seem to enjoy making them. Your little Knighthood was going to help get me back into a superior body again, and in return, I wouldn't kill all of you.

Was that really so hard?

[andblockbuster]

[topher chuckles awkwardly.] Hey in their defense, one of the few people who can do that like it's no big is me, and I didn't work for them yet. You got impatient, like, a month too soon. And I would've taken requests! I'm sure... There's some addition you've always wanted... Scary computer lady.

[reallywicked]

[Despite Faye just mentioning that this bitch fucked with their magic last time, she's going to reach for Lila and cast telepathic bond on herself, Lila, Astrid, and Zero.

No hard feelings Topher. She just can only do three people and she knows and likes you the least. This shit last 110 mins.]

I don't like giving this crazy bitch any sort of upper hand. So I'm thinking we don't say a damn word for her to know what we're doing.

...what are we doing anyway? We barely made it out alive last time and that's because that other one showed up.

[spellfile]

She's gotta be housed in something. We find it, we can shut it down.

[pathology]

Do you really think it's going to be that easy? Like, I get that you're a super genius and everything, but, uh ... no.

[bittersweeter]

Yeah, Topher, give into the psychotic AI, that never ends well. [ she rolls her eyes at him, before focusing on the silent planning session. ]

How do you suggest we find it, Zero? We're kind of stuck here. [ a beat. ] Everyone close your eyes.

[ keeping in mind that they had to get on the pedestal somehow, lila tips her head up and blows on her palm, casting glitterdust directly overhead in order to catch the entire pedestal in it's spread, hoping to illuminate some kind of walkway or stairs along the edge of the pedestal.

topher gets no warning. ]