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

[goodbyecaroline]

[ success! an invisible weight presses down the button and the platform begins to rise, with mars on it. GLaDOS makes a HRMM noise that sounds less than pleased with their progress. ]

I bet you're feeling really clever right about now.

[undealt]

Isn't that the point of these tests?

[Don't sound so smug, Gold...]

[uncurse]

Sounds like someone's bitter about her results.

[charismapotion]

[ Mars stepped off the platform before flipping Glados off, glad to be invisable.]

Thank you, guys. Okay, I'm off.

[reallywicked]

Don't mention it. [No really. All of you stop gloating.]

Lets just get on with the next piece of bullshit.

[Invisi-Faye will be headed for the next room now thx.]

[goodbyecaroline]

[ the next chamber - 04 - is another long rectangular room, on the other side of which the door lies. about thirty feet in the air on either side of the hallway are narrow two foot platforms jutting out from the walls. on them rest three oddly decorated cubes, far out of reach. ]

My sensors indicate a decline in general party morale. As a result, we will be introducing enthusiasm augmentation beams into the next phase of testing.

[ as soon as she says this, five red beams of light slice out from the left hand wall, out of five round small lenses. the beams horizontally cut across the hall in front of them, in five parallel bands. the first is relatively low to the ground, and each one is spaced about a foot above the last. the door seals behind them. ]

As safety is paramount to operations here at the Luckman Industries enrichment center, I am obligated to warn you that while the enthusiasm augmentation beam has been shown to cause a dramatic increase in test participation, direct exposure to the beam may result in third degree burns, memory loss, and in some cases, utter vaporization. Thank you for helping us maintain this test environment as a safety-first zone.

[undealt]

[Gold has clearly never played Portal, so this just feels like someone is being really racist against people with disabilities.]

I would hope we're not meant to crawl around those.

[CATHERINE ZETA-JONES IS NOT ON THIS MISSION. WE CANNOT REMAKE ENTRAPMENT.]

[pathology]

Do you have some laser-stopping spell up your ass? Because, otherwise ...

[uncurse]

[ She hovers in the doorway, brow furrowing as she squints at the obstacle. ]

Lasers are just light. Mist or fog should refract them. [ Guess who doesn't have that spell. She shakes her head. ] Or maybe mirrors?

[undealt]

[Gold rolled a 21 spot, so apparently in his strong desire to not get lasered, he noticed the boxes and with a 15 wis figures out what they could be used for.

And casually casts another mage hand to see if he can get one down from there.]

[goodbyecaroline]

[ who said wild magic was all bad??? gold now has a moment of prescience stored up to use, for the next 20 hours. he may apply it whenever he feels like it, for a +20 to any roll listed there.

but yeah, box doesn't fucking budge. ]

[reallywicked]

[Gold, maybe share with the class what you are doing so we can help you out. Fear not. A creepy nat 20 wis check makes Faye instantly aware of his train of thought.]

You think those boxes can help?

[Eh fuck it. She'll try to mage hand herself one since his magic seems to be on the fritz. Again. This place sucks.]

[goodbyecaroline]

[ the box falls down! 8D yaaaaaaay one box secured. ]

[undealt]

I'm not sure. [his wis score wasn't THAT high.] But they had to be up there for a reason.

[uncurse]

Only one way to find out.

[ emma will contribute now. mage hand~ ]

[goodbyecaroline]

[ BOX TWO ACQUIRED look how easy this is ]

[charismapotion]

[ Mars just didn't like things being off balance, two boxes moved and one left. Why the fuck not? he cast Mage Hand as well. Just to get rid of the third box if he could.]

[goodbyecaroline]

[ a listen check of 15+ catches the distant whir of that machine in the other room activating, and the box... does not move.

but everything is still invisible so they can't tell what did happen. ]

[uncurse]

[ 18 before mods so I'm too lazy to add them. ]

... What the hell is that? [ NONONONONONO. ]

[goodbyecaroline]

Probably just the sound of your inevitable failure.

[undealt]

It's that machine again. [(listen 19 with a bonus wis 21)] Mars, are you all right?

[Is something happening. DID YOU DIE??]

[goodbyecaroline]

[ there is


no response ]

[uncurse]

Shit.

[ She doubles back and stares down the shaft of the platform room, like ok can we realistically go back to the first room to get a look at the machine. The answer is no. It's possible, but definitely not the answer rn.

You know what's more reasonable? Shouting at GLaDOS. ]

What the hell did you do?!

[goodbyecaroline]

[ well, that, and the doors behind them have sealed. ]

The Luckman Industries enrichment center reminds you that the effects of the LIES unit are unpredictable, and brought on solely in reaction to magic cast in its vicinity.

In other words, I think it's more appropriate to ask what you did.

[reallywicked]

No. It doesn't work like that. You need to bring him back here right fucking now. You want to test us? Fine. You want to study our magic? Fine. But we do it together and we need to fucking see each other. [idk why she thinks she can make demands right now...]