CHAPTER THREE ♔ in an isolated system the entropy can only increase

[goodbyecaroline]

♬ the device has been modified - victims of science

WHO || Gold, Faye, Emma, Mars, Astrid, GLaDOS
WHAT ||  The Knights become unwitting test subjects for a psychotic AI  
WHERE || Luckman Industries computer-aided enrichment center, Germany
WHEN || May 31st/June 1st [backdated]
HOW || Actionspam. Single thread.

Why Wynn ever thinks there will be such a thing as a 'simple recon mission' we just don't know.  

Several Knights were dispatched to a small isolated town in Germany where magic was rumored to not function, only to discover that the situation was a bit more complicated.  Yes, magic didn't function when attempted - sometimes.  But other times it had bizarre and dangerous side effects, including driving townspeople insane.  

Research led the team to a company called Luckman Industries who had bought digging rights to make a large quarry beneath the town, but further investigation revealed that they had actually constructed a massive underground laboratory instead.  Some sort of strange device stood at the center of it, magical in nature, but when they attempted to leave, they found the doors locked, and were forced into trying magic despite the potential side effects.

The spell seems to have attracted the attention of something within the building itself - a disembodied voice that's offered them a (mostly) pleasant greeting - to the Luckman Industries computer-aided enrichment center.

There will be cake.

Comments

[reallywicked]

We already have a problem, you stupid bitch. [So helpful.]

[pathology]

[OH FOR FUCK'S SAKE.]

How about this? We'll only move on if you transfer Emma's body to storage until we're done testing.

[goodbyecaroline]

Now, now. There's no need to resort to name calling. [ the sinister tone doesn't change at all, but a panel opens up in the ceiling, and a very large robotic body descends, that appears to be hanging upside down from the ceiling, suspended from a cuboid-like structure above, which has a small sign on it that can be read with a spot 20+. visible are "model: GLaDOS," "code # 081-354-56," a red struck circle, and a red triangle.

she has one large yellow 'eye' and her whole 'body' swivels a bit as she surveys them, looming over them from above as she looks down at astrid. ]

From here, you don't appear to be in any position to negotiate. Although, if that's how you want to play, I suppose I can always warm up my Negotiation Facilitation Devices. They may look similar to our facility's Neurotoxin Emitters, but I assure you, that is nothing more than a coincidence.

[pathology]

[FUCK THIS SHIT ASTRID IS PULLING HER GUN BACK OUT. and not shooting yet ... but she wants to be fucking ready ok. also her spot check was 23; she knows ur name now glados.]

You can't just get mad and throw a hissy fit when an experiment doesn't go the way you want. That's like, the opposite of science. And that's my qualified opinion as a doctor. So ... there.

[reallywicked]

[Faye doesn't make that spot check, but she's sort of seeing red right now, so she's not at all concerned with the details. She clenches her jaw and glares at the newly emerged dev...ice? ro...bot? Whatever.

She realizes quickly that staying here is going to get her killed. And possibly also Astrid and Gold (int 20 total) and manages not to be stubborn for the sake of being stubborn on the matter... somehow (will 12).]

Calm down.... both of you. [She's just going to put her judgy mask back on since being a good person has gotten her exactly nowhere. With a hesitant glance at Emma's broken stone body, Faye gets up and... fails miserably at climbing back up the slanted floor (climb... 4).]

A little help?

[undealt]

Astrid. [You're the one without a limp, girl. Go do the thing. Meanwhile, he has zeroed in on her name. (spot 22) It's like names are important to him or something.

Also he totally knew it wasn't a person. Go team skeptical of science bullshit. He eyes GLaDOS warily, though he's smirking a bit. Because he's a dick.]

GLaDOS, is it? Lovely to have a name and a face to go with all the posturing and insults, my dear.

[pathology]

[she glares at gold like EXCUSE U I'M NOT FUCKING RAPUNZEL, but trounces off to ... go help. whatever. she crouches down and offers her free hand. idk how tall the wall is.] If you can reach me, I'll help pull you up. [but her str is 8 so this will probably end poorly.]

[reallywicked]

[Oh my god actual struggle bus. With their powers combined, Faye probably has a lot of bruises??? But she's with the others because GLaDOS is a bitch and won't let her stay 8( ]

Thanks. Let's get this over with.

[Onward to their ultimate demise???]

[charismapotion]

[ Oh and you though it was over, SILLY SILLY Knights!

Out of no where from below came one who was mimicking a roman god; being a statue, for a bit. Nothing big, just bursting through from below.]

Hey! Guys! [ Have a chipper tone.] Jump down!

[ And then he vanished back down into the floor, byebye.]

[goodbyecaroline]

[ above them, glados swivels in place to watch this, but not fast enough to catch it very effectively. she sounds hella outraged as she demands: ] WHAT?

Who was that? What is this?

[reallywicked]

[whAT THE FUCK???

Faye isn't sure if it's too good to be true. Or is that the word for it because if the statue thing wears off, then Emma is sure going to come back... detached.

She glances at Astrid and Gold but doesn't say a damn word, because if GLaDOS is confused, then maybe they can get an upper hand here.

So down she goes. Wee.]

[pathology]

Fucking seriously? You're going to just — oh, for fuck's sake!

[SHE RELUCTANTLY JUMPS DOWN AFTER FAYE. this girl needs jesus. or someone who knows first aid.]

[undealt]

[Gold gives GLaDOS the smuggest fucking look.]

The spanner in your works, I imagine.

[That would... be a great one-liner if he were not wondering what the best way to approach this jump. SIGH.

(jump... 4) That was... fucking graceful. Next level- invest in feather fall.]

[goodbyecaroline]

[ monster:murder:kill - combichrist

something that sounds distinctly like disdainful horror floods the robot's voice abruptly, as she seems to have a moment of traumatic realization. ] No. No, it can't be.

[ as gold goes to jump down, a pipe comes crashing through the wall above, ready to pump neurotoxins into the room moments too late. the jarring motion of the room sends the emma statue rolling after him, and it too plummets below to... the final thread on this post.

:) ]

The Part Where....

[ideamachine]

[ as astrid, faye, gold, and emma's statue plummet into the unknown below...

they suddenly see a mass of bright blue below them, coming up where the ground should be. they strike it, and instead of dying, or breaking all their bones, they immediately bounce back upward, statue included. the angle makes them each bounce off to the side slightly, where they land light as a feather on the actual ground, next to a grinning mars. they find themselves in a dark, dingy room that looks like it's falling apart, an abandoned basement cell of some kind where various testing parts are scattered around the room - large red buttons, darkened turrets, and a bunch of rubble here and there. the door barely looks like a door, and high above, there's a huge hole in the ceiling. a pipe has been shoved through the wall here as well, and there's a little bit of that blue stuff left dripping off the end, indicating that's where it came from, landing on the platform suspended a little bit in the air above, that they bounced off.

most noticeable, however, is that there's another robot in here, attached to a rail that runs the length of the ceiling and goes out either direction through small access panels. it's a small orb, with a single blue blinking eye, and it looks, for lack of a better word, positively exuberant as it twirls around the rail and shouts in a chipper english accent: ] Ha! You did it! It worked! I. Am. Absolutely a genius, if I do say so myself. I mean, you did well too. Of course. Teamwork, that's what we have here. A right proper team. And a headless statue. That's... well, that's a little disturbing, not going to lie. The things people consider art these days.

[undealt]

[well, thank god for that blue stuff. Gold has to hold onto the wall to get back on his feet, but once he's up, he turns to Mars.]

So this whole time, you've been with... [he stares at the roboball...] ...that?

[pathology]

meanwhile, astrid will address the robot.] It's not art, it's our teammate. ... You're not trying to kill us?

[reallywicked]

[While the others question Mars and the new robot, Faye goes over to check on Emma, looking to see if the stone was further damaged by the fall.]

[ideamachine]

Kill you? [ his 'eye' widens comically, looking between them all with an expression remarkably like shock ] This is a rescue! Someone has to stop her. I've seen how this goes, with the ... the testing and the thermal discouragement beams and the potato batteries... Just-- just trust me on this one. Bad news, all of it. [ his eye scans towards emma, who is remarkably intact... body-wise, at least. ] Not that I probably... have to point that out. But, I did, and I can't take it back, so we'll just have to press on! Won't we? [ this remark is punctuated by his vanishing out one of the panels in the wall along his rail. moments later, the ramshackle hot mess of a floor panel starts moving jankily back and forth, before suddenly discharging upwards and outwards and smashing the doors open wide enough to squeeze through. ]

[charismapotion]

Well, not the whole time i don't think. I just came too a few minutes ago. Wheatley's pretty cool.

[ he spoke before noticing what Wheatley said and the girls speak.]

Oh shit, is that Emma?

[ He spoke as he moved over, to Faye's side kneeling down trying to think if he knew any spells to fix broken objects.]

Has anyone tried to heal her? Healings not in my skillset, but like this shouldn't we be able to at least put her head back on? [ He didn't want to see her get left behind and possibly die if she came too.]

[pathology]

[damn it jim] I'm a medic, not a cleric. And no one else here has healing spells in their wheelhouse. Even if they did, what's the chance they'd work properly, right? [she glances towards the path that wheatley cleared for them, but doesn't move yet.]

[ideamachine]

[ wheatley glides back in and comes to a screeching halt, chiming in chipperly: ] As good a reason as any for us to shut that machine down, don't you think? You like that? That would be my master plan for those following along at home.

Now, what are you waiting for? Right through the doors, there, just a bit further.

[reallywicked]

Wait. How do we know we can trust you?

[SQUINTING AT THAT DOOR TBH. and at the robo ball (sense motive 21)]

[undealt]

Well, I'm certainly not opposed to that.

[Turning off the machine that is. He leans down to confide in Faye, going off her suspicion.] And if it turns out as bad as the other one, I'm sure it will be as easily dealt with as the little ones.

[It's small. And it's stuck on that rail. Totally easy to light on fire.]

[ideamachine]

Trust me? [ he sounds almost a little hurt by the implication. and she really doesn't sense anything malicious at all from the little robot, particularly in contrast to the sinister nature of the one they just dealt with. ] Well, it's not as you've many alternatives at the moment, is it? But if you really don't want to escape, I suppose I can leave you here until she finds you all and sticks you right back where we found you. And you can just keep testing for the ressst of your lives, or until you're all statues. And then... not statues anymore. But ...then... statues again! Just when you thought the whole turned into a statue thing had had its run, lookit that! Marble as ... cake.

Or - alternative option - we can all not do that, and go out this very convenient door that I have provided for you. Your choice. I'll just be waiting... right here.