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

[ideamachine]

[ wheatley lets out a groan as he THUNKS to the ground with a loud clang. he rolls in place a bit, before blinking a few times and saying: ] I'm alright! I'm ok! Whew, that was -- that was bracing, wasn't it?

Anyway, someone pick me up, plug me in, hurry!

[reallywicked]

[Still looking slightly disgusted by the whole thing, Faye goes to pick up Wheatley and plugs him in. Unless it's more complicated than that and involves rolls. I have no idea.]

[ideamachine]

[ she hooks wheatley up to the LIES machine, and he twirls a bit back and forth as he interfaces with the unit, which lights up further. ] And now we're getting somewhere! Alright, now you just need to buy me a moment here to figure out exactly how to do this whole 'switching off' thing.

Wow, this is ... this is really something! Let me tell you. I've seen some fascinating devices in my time, but this one definitely takes the cake. But please don't take that literally, as there is not, actually, any cake.

[pathology]

[astrid just stares at wheatley like HOW ARE YOU EVEN REAL?????????? wht the fucking fuck.]

[reallywicked]

I don't want cake. I want you to do your god damned job.

[undealt]

You're asking a lot of it, Faye.

[Dryly.]

[ideamachine]

I'm doing it, I'm doing it! Alright - I think I may have got it! So why doesn't someone go on and cast a spell - just a little spell - and we can give it a test.

[reallywicked]

Fine. [She will just do her little prestidigitation fire trick. Fingers crossed???]

[ideamachine]

[ everyone present feels a very strange current course through them as faye wiggles her fingers...

and they all find all of their spells for the day restored. which they're somehow aware of as they feel the energy fill them back up that they've already expended. ]

Did it work?! Did I-- oh bother, that wasn't right at all now, was it.

[charismapotion]

No, it feels right.

[ So much faith in Wheatley. He even grins a bit, fuck yes almost home free! ]

[reallywicked]

Shut up, Mars. No- I wasn't trying to... I don't even think that's something I can do.

[ideamachine]

Hold on, let me just-- ah! There! One more go! Come on then, hit us with a spell, any spell.

[charismapotion]

[ Shutting up, possibly sulking.]

[reallywicked]

[Prestidigitation remains the spell that is least likely to have negative effects if it actually works (unlike something like a real fire spell. She is thoughtful, okay. Casting it again. SHE JUST WANTS TO TURN HER FINGER INTO A LIGHTER. IS THAT SO MUCH TO ASK.]

[ideamachine]

[ again, her finger doesn't light up at all, but the machine before them whirs as it activates, and wheatley's blue eyeball pulses along with the light as he spins in place a bit. he sounds kind of excited as he starts talking: ] WOW. That is a bit of a rush, isn't it? Do you know what just happened? I'm in its brain now, I can tell what it's doing. Instead of your spell, that thing created a temporal disturbance. Just now! A huge area, probably this whole facility. Maybe even the entire town! That's genius, that is. This machine just bent time. Bloody brilliant!

[reallywicked]

I'm gonna bend you if you don't shut it off. [DO YOUR JOB, WHEATLEY]

[undealt]

[JESUS TAKE THE WHEEL.]

[pathology]

What if we just ... unplug it?

[ideamachine]

[ the panel that wheatley is attached to starts to glide up to the top of the machine as the little robot studies the inside ] Can't! Power supply is entirely self-contained! It's... it's really amazing is what it is, come to think of it. You know, I really think... I think it might be kind of a shame really, turning this thing off. Wouldn't it? I mean, think of the possibilities. I can feel it, you know, pulsing away in there. Do you know what that is? Randomness! Pure, utter randomness! It's... it's... [ he starts chuckling about it, but the chuckle starts sounding... a little crazy about half way through ] POWERFUL, that's what it is. All sense and logic, all those things she loves so much? Useless! Who needs 'em, really? Why, with this pumping through my nodes, I could be--

No, no 'could be' about it, is there? I AM.

[ ♬ the 2nd law: unsustainable - muse

he swivels around, poised at the top of the machine, where he locks into place, glowering down at them with a sinister half-lidded 'eye', as the rest of the lights on what is now effectively his body glow red. ] Your new. GOD. OF CHAOS!

[charismapotion]

[ Mars pales a little and looks to Gold.] 10 Percent...

[undealt]

Faye, you may set him on fire now.

[And Gold will even try for the first shot. BURNING ARC... for 24 damage if it works.]

[pathology]

[it works!! that girl wheatley is on FIYYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

what if astrid shot at dumb ol' wheatley??? IT COULDN'T FUCKING HURT. except for him. (ranged atk 21; 6 dmg if it hits.)]

[reallywicked]

[Following Gold's lead, Faye shifts to cast Flaming Sphere to run right into the thing Wheatley is plugged into. Reflex save of 16 negates damage but otherwise 8 damage. And that sucker will be around for four more rounds. All presuming the spell works, of course.]

[ideamachine]

[ wow, all that shit works, y'all are heartless bastards. HE HASN'T EVEN DONE ANYTHING YET EXCEPT MAKE RIDICULOUS DECLARATIONS and sort of bail out on saving your asses ok fine. wheatley starts on fire from gold's burning arc, but he manages to swivel the entire body of the machine now that he's controlling it, so that faye's sphere misses it. so neener neener neener. he does, however, get shot in the face, and his eye cracks as he cries out: ] Ow! That bloody hurt! What is wrong with you people?! I risk my neck to help you, and this is the thanks I get?? Is this any way to treat a god?! You know, I've had it up to here with you ungrateful. SMELLY. HUMANS! [ guess what he can do? he can evaporate faye's continuous spell after its initial attack! and the surge of magic that comes as a result causes faye's mere presence to cause objects to become lost. so i hope none of y'all have anything you need in your pockets. which i guess you don't because glados stole it all. great move, wheatley. a++++ ]

[undealt]

I will say this- she had you beat on quips.

[BURNING ARC. And I lost that fucking spell, so whatever. Gold just gets to make a one-liner AND DO NOTHING.]