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]

[Faye glances back at Emma, not really sure what to do. Finally she steps up and snaps to get Wheatley's attention.]

If anything happens to her while we're gone? I'm holding you personally responsible. I'll show you how fast each part of you melts. [not even sure if you can intimidate something like this but she's mean muggin it fo sho (intimidate 27).

And then she teleports into the next room where everyone else is already in deep conversation idk.]

It can't be that easy.

[charismapotion]

No way it's that easy, but we gotta do something. I don't want to know what will happen to Emma if she goes back to normal without her head. So we don't have much choice.

[ Sure he doesn't really know Emma, but she was on the team, and people don't get left behind. Not for long anyway.

His damned optimism.

He moved along all the same as Wheatley spoke, complete faith in Wheatley... god help them.]

[undealt]

Exactly how do you propose we reattach her head at this juncture?

[He's just saying. He doesn't want her to be dead either, okay. He needs that bitch. I mean... Poor Emma.] A mending spell might not be enough.

[pathology]

[i rolled a knowledge check for astrid just on the off-chance she might remember seeing something with her magical eidetic memory and got a fucking nat 20 (I SCREENCAPPED IT IF YOU NEED PROOF!!) so ... ] Oh! Um, I think I read about something like this once. [it's easier to think when you're life's not on the line ok.] If someone in a petrified state is broken, as long as you join the pieces together before un-petrifying them, they should come back as a whole person. The study was like, really fucked up. The guy was humpty dumpty. ANYWAY. So, as long as we ... hold on to it, I guess?

[reallywicked]

[That actually makes Faye feel slightly better except...]

Mars, you just... turned back, right? [No on undid it for him.] Hold on-

[Faye will back track and reposition statue Emma and her separated head in such a way that SHOULD SOMETHING HAPPEN while they are gone, the pieces would be touching in the right way. There. Okay Faye goes back to the group.]

Alright, so what the fuck are we doing here?

[ideamachine]

Er, actually - actually, I beLIEVE he turned back because the same wave of wild magic that turned your other friend into a statue turned him into - well - what you see there! So I mean, if you want to just go... flailing about with spells again until you hit that one, could work, could work. But could also turn the lot of you ... into stone. So there's that to keep in mind as we move ahead with our operation. [ wheatley has been hovering over that same door he indicated earlier, and he once more sort of rolls in that direction to 'point' at it ] Right here! It's a um, a shortcut. You're all going to have to pack together a bit, however, it's not really built for humans. [ behind the door is what looks like some kind of service elevator, where a large bucket-shaped cart hangs off the management rail. there are a few spare parts already inside it, if anyone looks in, and it appears to be used to transport mechanical bits from one place to another. ]

[reallywicked]

[Faye looks around at the rest of the team and sighs.]

Time to get friendly. [She will go ahead and climb into the thing? I'm assuming since it's a bucket, there is climbing involved. And if a climb check is needed, she got a 15 /covers all the bases.]

[charismapotion]

Yeah, I just turned back.

[ Mars looks a little uncertain. He's tall and doesn't like the idea of being that packed in, but fuck it. On he goes to follow Faye.]

[undealt]

[Long-suffering sigh.

And Gold joins the group. This is gr8.]

And you're absolutely certain he isn't going to drop us into the furnace, Mars?

[charismapotion]

I would say more like 75 percent, but hey, that's good enough odds for me.

[ Oh Mars shut up.]

[ideamachine]

Alright, now, you all get comfortable in there and I'll start it right up. [ wheatley hovers outside the door a ways, but they can still hear him muttering to himself out there. ] Now, let's seeeeee. Activate, activate...

[ he raises his voice slightly, as if trying to give a voice command. ] "Engage elevator!"

[ a moment passes. ] Well that... didn't work, did it. Course not. Too obvious. Hmmmm.

"Thrusters on!"

No?

"Ele... vate! ... Tor. Elevator! March! ... Go?"

Hmm, maybe it works via claps...

[undealt]

[you are fucking kidding me...]

75%, was it?

[reallywicked]

[Fuck it. Faye will clap. Just to cross that one off the list.]

[pathology]

[ASTRID FOLLOWED ALONG AND WAS TOTALLY HERE THE WHOLE TIME. here to be incredulous.] Ugh, try German? Aufzüge aktivieren!

[ideamachine]

[ the clapping, it does nothing. neither does the german, but it's nice of you guys to humor him.

he mumbles for a few more minutes, before they hear him say: ] Oh, there's a switch. Right in front of my central core all this time. [ a moment later, he apparently flips the switch, as the entire cart THUMPS into movement with a jarring jolt, and then they're sliding up the track slowly. wheatley shouts up from below: ] I'll be right behind you! Hmm, I wonder if this thing can go any faster... [ as he apparently begins flipping other switches indiscriminately, the cart suddenly reverses, and starts dropping down the track at an incredibly high velocity. better hang on to something. ]

[pathology]

[ref save ... nat 20???? ok whatever she is just really good at holding on for dear life after all this bs ok.]

[ideamachine]

[ distantly: ] Sorry about that! I've got this! I've got this! [ the cart slams to a stop that's likely to throw gold's back out, and then starts heading up again, but... just as fast. ] Better! Better!

[reallywicked]

You call that better?! [She shoots a look to Mars.]

Your taste in friends sucks.

[ideamachine]

[ as they speed up past the open doors where they first entered, wheatley yells after them: ] Er, just... keep going, I'll catch up with you ahead! Maybe I can find out how to slow this ... oh dear.

[ robot rock - daft punk

and that's the last thing they hear before it gets even faster, and suddenly they're careening up , and then out along a huge track that twists and turns and ducks and dodges through the bones of the facility. they pass storage racks of those turrets, their red eyes darkened for now, and they can see other testing rooms passing through glass windows as they fly by. a spot check of 15+ might even manage to catch the number 673 on the wall of one chamber.

the thing doesn't seem to be slowing down, which seems particularly troublesome, considering they seem to be heading for a giant wall up ahead. ]

[reallywicked]

[Faye finds it really weird that this thing would just come up against a dead end. Also she got a nat 20 spot so she saw that number. She gives not a single fuck about it, tbh.

Throwing a hand out, she tries to cast Open at the wall, hoping that it's a god damn door or something. She has... no idea what's on the other side, but it's better than getting smashed to pieces???]

[pathology]

[spot 19+ plus her insane mods i'm too tired for math; she caught it. and is glad mars and his robot friend rescued them tbh.]

YOU BETTER FIGURE IT OUT RIGHT FUCKING NOW! [she doesn't think this is like a rollercoaster where it looks like you're about to hit the wall then WHOOSH you go under it or some shit. ... is it???]

[behindcloseddoors]

[ at the last fucking second, faye's spell saves the day, as a panel slides open and their cart goes flying out into the long hallway beyond, skidding down the floor and turning like they're on the tea cup ride at disney, before it crashes to a halt against a giant sculpture that seems to be composed of the Luckman Industries logo. everyone takes 4 dmg from the collision, but is otherwise unscathed, though the cart is dented beyond belief.

they find themselves in a circular room at the end of a long hall, that's white and pristine. the words 'TOURISM CENTER' are emblazoned around the circumference of the room near the ceiling. a series of computer screens are set around the wall at intervals, which buzz to life along with the lights, apparently on motion sensors. a pleasant recorded voice, more human than glados' narrates: ]

As a young boy, George Luckman found he had a dream. A dream that would lead him into teaching himself basic engineering skills at age 8, going on to win prizes and acclaim throughout his teenage years.

[reallywicked]

And then he went on to be a massive douchebag. Where is the god damn exit?

[Actually she will look around for that. Spot 18]

[behindcloseddoors]

[ an interview flicks up on screen with a man who might be in his forties. ]

"As a species, we've worked for thousands of years to guide ourselves into an age where we control our surroundings. I think we all agree that magic, as it stands, is an exception to that rule. Something that by definition seems like a spanner in the works of what we've come to establish as our civilization. I'm not saying magic itself is a detriment - on the contrary, I think that when we can achieve the kind of control over magic that we have over, say, electricity, we will be ready to enter into a glorious new age."

[ there are a few side doors off from the rotunda, both of which faye would notice. ]

[pathology]

Blah blah blah, yawn. [astrid will climb out of the busted ass cart and join faye in looking around the room (spot 20 total)] Over there. [she points, since i'm assuming her spot would ... also notice. then she's distracted by the picture of luckman.] Ew, he's not even cute.