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]

[ his magic missile strikes, and they have to make a balance check of 10+ or fall over as the floor rumbles beneath them, moving closer to the other side of the gap. by... all of five feet. very helpful. ]

Mind the gap.

[undealt]

[Gold stumbles and FALLS OFF THE LEDGE.

SOMEONE CATCH HIM, MAYBE???]

[uncurse]

[ Emma easily stabilizes herself (balance 17) and there's a definite beat in which she ... notices Gold falling and does nothing.

If no one else does it her hero senses will kick in ok but she is definitely hesitating and thinking twice in an 'it's gonna be harder to react properly now' way if she has to. ]

[pathology]

[IT TOOK TWO ACTION POINTS but astrid survived. (balance 18) i'm pretending the action points meant she struggled a little so she's too caught up in her own life to give a shit about gold.


not that she ... normally would anyway. DAMN IT JIM SHE'S A MEDIC NOT A RESCUING PEOPLE FROM FALLING OFF LEDGES PERSON.]

[reallywicked]

[It also took Faye two action points to save her own skin with her balance of 19 (finally) and then she gets a nat 20 on her reflex save to grab Gold. Because she's suddenly selfless. This mission has done things to her. It's kinda of weird.]

Jesus fucking Christ... Everyone okay???

[undealt]

[THANK GOODNESS FOR FAYE. Gold has to take a moment to catch his breath and spends all that time GLOWERING AT EMMA.]

Of course. What's a bit of near death experience between one another, after all?

[Well. We know who the murderer is. It's you, Emma. You're the murderer.]

[pathology]

I so need Starbucks. [she crosses her arms and ... re-surveys the situation.] That's it? We're not moving any closer? Fuck.

[uncurse]

[ Emma meets his gaze like oh. shit. Yeah there's no uncertainty here. They both know what happened.

Whoops.

Welcome to Emma Swan without Henry. :')

To try and distract from it, she raises her hand to try and cast magic missile again. ]

We'll just have to keep trying. Unless you've got a better idea.

[undealt]

Try to hold onto something, Ms. Swan. We wouldn't want anymore accidents. [Gold braces himself with his cane. In case it works. And he's a bitch.]

[goodbyecaroline]

[ so this time, everyone is visible, which means they get to watch as Emma is turned... into a stone statue. :') ]

I didn't know artificial intelligence was capable of experiencing deja vu. And yet. Here we are.

[reallywicked]

NO! [Shouting won't help but it's a knee jerk reaction and Faye can't help it. She's also incredibly aware of the decision that was made the last time this happened. She turns her gaze to Gold, desperate for him to have an answer.]

We can't just- We have to fix them.

[pathology]

Not again! [ugh this shit is traumatizing. she looks over at gold.] There's nothing you can do? at all?

[undealt]

Despite the fact that she seems so self-invested?

[He glowers at Emma and then softens a bit. He looks like he'd rather fucking choke on a dick than try it, but ruthless fuck that he is and even with the fact that Emma didn't try to save him, he certainly won't give her the satisfaction of knowing he didn't try something.

He'll hold it over her head later.

So he tries to cast dispel magic on Emma's statue form. THIS IS FOR SCOTLAND.]

[goodbyecaroline]

[ the spell functions as it should... except that the spell doesn't actually help in this case and emma's as statued as ever. ]

[reallywicked]

[Faye watches, expectantly. When... nothing happens, she bites down on the inside of her lip, trying to keep emotions at bay. After a moment, she forces some words out.]

I'm not leaving her here.

[pathology]

Well, what the fuck are we supposed to do?

[undealt]

We can't do anything, but continue the tests and hope thwarting that thing sets everything to rights.

[And he tried. He wants it on record. HE TRIED TO SAVE YOUR LIFE, SWAN.

AFTER YOU NEARLY LET HIM DIE.

NEVER GONNA LET YOU FORGET IT.]

[reallywicked]

[Stubbornly, Faye shifts to put a hand on Emma's arm, trying to ignore how stone-like it feels.]

I'm not. Going. Anywhere. Not without her.

[pathology]

We can't just wait for her to better. Or lug her from room to room. Are you going to wait here with her while Gold and I keep going? Because that's ... kind of stupid. I don't like it either, but I don't know what other options we have.

[undealt]

Astrid's right, Faye. We'll need all the help we can get to make it out of here- you won't be able to do her any good if you stay behind. This is the mission now. We must finish it- for both her sake and for Mars.

[reallywicked]

[She wants to be stubborn, wants to dig her heels in and tell them both to go to hell, but she knows that they're right. And she knows that Emma would want her to keep moving forward with the mission, to get them all out of there.]

We're coming back for her, for both of them. [No, she hasn't forgotten Mars.] What do we need to do? Just keep firing at this thing? [She's not waiting for your answers though. She's just casting the spell, damnit.]

[goodbyecaroline]

[ this time the spell is successful, and again the strike causes the platform to drift five feet closer to the other side... ]

[undealt]

Unless someone else has a more efficient plan, yes.

[He fires a magic missile as well.]

[pathology]

[/silently lets jesus take the wheel]

[reallywicked]

[Immediately after Gold starts to cast, Faye is gonna just cast magic missile again. Unless rocks start falling or something. idk. WILD MAGIC.]