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

[uncurse]

So? What are you waiting for? Try it again!

[ goddamn, gold. not everyone has dispel magic ok. ]

[undealt]

[This is why y'all gave me shit about it in Scotland BECAUSE I AM THE ONLY PERSON WHO HAS IT.

Gold sighs and... does the thing.]

[goodbyecaroline]

[ the magic

it does nothing

whomp whomp ]

[uncurse]

[ Well.

Fuck. ]

Any other bright ideas?

[pathology]

Can you ... magic him to be pocket-sized? Or weightless?

[undealt]

I'm afraid that's the only useful spell I have for this. [yep. He's out of ideas. He turns back to consider the puzzle.]

[uncurse]

I don't have anything like that.

[ She looks over. ] Faye?

[reallywicked]

I don't have a spell for this, but- [She looks between Emma and Gold, seeming conflicted and perhaps a little afraid. Her attention shifts to the ceiling, where she's been generally aiming her shouting at the stupid computer voice.]

You can manipulate the magic. [It's not a question. Something in here is twisting their spells in some fashion. Randomized or not, that means that this machine has access to the energies that create spells.] And you want us to play your game. So let's play a new game. Let's trade. If you change him back, I'll stay behind and you can do whatever you want with me. [Her gaze shifts back to Emma and Gold again. Whether any of them will say it or not, the three of them will fight for each other harder than anyone else on this mission, but Faye's not in the market to leave someone behind. She trusts that Emma and Gold will fight tooth and nail to figure out a way to get her back, harder than they'd fight for Astrid or Mars. And she has to hope that's enough.

She's never been a hero before, but this knight thing might just be sinking in. Or she's a impulsive teenager who is jumping too quick to put herself in the line of fire. Maybe somewhere in between. She fidgets, nervous as she waits for an answer. Maybe part of her is hoping that she'll receive a refusal. Okay a lot of her is hoping that, but that's just the survival instinct kicking in.]

Well?

[goodbyecaroline]

[ there's no reply for a beat, as if the machine is considering. finally it says: ]

You would sacrifice yourself for this human, knowing the same fate might simply befall him in the next testing chamber?

[undealt]

Faye.

[GIRL THERE IS A TIME AND A PLACE FOR THIS SHIT.]

[uncurse]

[ Emma grabs Faye's shoulders, as if somehow her back is to ... omnipresent GLaDOS. ]

Faye, no. We are not leaving you here. I know that you want to help, but this isn't the way. [ And most importantly, Emma can't lose you. ]

[reallywicked]

Shut up. [She says to Gold, but there's no anger in her tone. She's just... afraid that she'll lose her nerve if he tries to talk her out of it, but then Emma's got her by the shoulders.]

You'll figure it out, okay? There's a way to beat this thing. I trust you.

[She pulls back from Emma, stepping backwards away from her before turning her eyes back up to address the computer.]

Do you want to trade or what?

[goodbyecaroline]

I can't lie - it is interesting that you would so willingly sacrifice yourself for someone so obviously inferior.

But your assessment of the situation is illogical. I have no control over the LIES unit, or the magic it generates. That would be the definition of unpredictable, which I now realize may have been too large a word to introduce into our conversations.

Not to mention that your offer implies I do not already have full authority to test you in whatever way Luckman Industries deems necessary. Five test subjects remain preferable to one.

Oh. Right. Four test subjects. Silly me.

[uncurse]

[ She's trying not to look too obvious as her eyes shut and she exhales her relief. Her eyes snap back open and fix on Faye. ]

The only way to help Mars is to get through the rest of this and find a way out. I'm sure the clerics at the castle can take care of it.

[undealt]

We just have to keep moving. [he gestures to the boxes.] Now let's see what we can do about this. Ms. Mädchen?

[YOU'RE THE SMART ONE HERE.]

[goodbyecaroline]

One member of your testing unit may be in danger of dying of old age before you complete this test, at this rate.

[uncurse]

[ Emma will give an offhanded flick of her wrist to jerk down the box that had backfired on Mars so they can have all their materials, at least. Mage hand. ]

[pathology]

Huh? Oh, um, just move the boxes in front of the lasers. Clear the path.

[goodbyecaroline]

[ the final box falls down on their side of the lasers. and just to make sure we're all on the same page, i made beautiful diagrams of the room in paint. this is what they are looking at or a side view. the lasers are all stacked directly on top of each other as visible from the top down view. voila. ]

[uncurse]

[ Emma grabs two of the boxes and slides one through the bottom beam to interrupt it. The beam is effectively stopped in its tracks on its way out of the left wall. With that in mind, she stacks the other two boxes on top of it, giving them about three feet of crawl space under the top two beams to get through. ]

[undealt]

[Siiiigh. So Gold has to be Catherine Zeta-Jones after all.]

All right. You three ladies go first. [Because his old, crippled bad self will take too long. He casts a look at Mars.] Hopefully, we'll be able to come back for him.

[HE DOES NOT WANT TO EXPLAIN TO WYNN HE LOST A SQUIRE...]

[goodbyecaroline]

Abandoned test subjects will be relegated to storage, if seen as unfit for further testing, so as not to contaminate the testing chamber.

[pathology]

Gee, maybe we'll get him back at the end with all our shit that got snatched by the magnets. [huff. she is not pleased. but she will also ... be the first to be catherine zeta-jones and maneuver her way through the new crawl space.]

[uncurse]

[ willfully shutting out glados' words rn. she is crawling under the beam after astrid. ]

[reallywicked]

[Faye goes through as well, but waits just on the other side for gold. Come on dad :| She still doesn't like this thing with Mars, but she doesn't do anything about it.]