In the end, the decision you make is perfectly logical: you are here to resolve the issue with the Precogitator. You are not compensated for being here. You are supposed to resolve the issue with the machine as quickly and effectively as possible and then move on to the next project. It should, in your estimation, be possible to slow down the heating of the planet's core by a significant margin: possibly, though you are not entirely certain about this, up to 99%. Whatever is trying to breach containment down there will thus be slowed down to an extent significant enough that you will be well away from the Planet by the time it comes up with something else. Yes, it is highly intelligent, but even so it's resources and means are highly limited. By the time it becomes a problem again, it is likely to be somebody else's problem.
You explain your reasoning to Talef, and he nods. "I think it'd be interesting to see what's down there", he says, then hesitates for a millisecond. "but also possibly very lethal."
He deliberates, for a moment, and then gives a nod in assent: "I'm going to go set up the diversions to the Auxiliary Radiators."
You are already not paying attention anymore. There is work for you to do.
[Roll: Myges Talef: Cogitator Architecture: 3d6:2,4,6: Full Success]
You note the marked increase in temperature within the Fortress less than a day after you begin work, and know that it is a sign of Magos Talef succeeding. In a way, you consider, the great efficiency of the cooling system was working against the Habitability of the Fortress. The Temperature falls beneath the outright tropical of the first day rather quickly, but it is still significantly more pleasant. A good start, but not nearly enough to reduce heating to the degree necessary. It does, however, buy you time for your own work to come to fruition.
It is, quite apart from anything else, an interesting prospect. If you had more than a few days, you could, perhaps, design an entirely new species, one highly efficient at absorbing heat by using it to power the most fundamental processes of its organism.
Unfortunately, you only have three days, so you keep it extremely simple.
Of course, that still means creating an entire new ecosystem within the pipes that make up the Precogitator's cooling system, something that would normally be made impossible by the mere fact that the organisms you would need for this would take significantly longer then that to grow and procreate.
Luckily, you have the means to cheat, and this time around nobody is going to issue any complaints about aesthetics.
[Roll: Eta-Nu 35-9: Biological Engineering: 4d6: Roll: 4,3,6,1: Full Success]
The Cooler Worm is the absolute simplest organism you can create: effectively just a digestive system with holes at each end, surrounded by layers of fat that double as heat sinks. They are massive, and capable of digesting nearly every bit of organic matter that enters the grinding teeth of their maw. You enter them into the cooling system at the absolute last place that can take them, heat-wise. They are going to absorb some of the heat that passes through them, but more importantly they're going to serve as a filter for the wide variety of other organisms that you intend to introduce into the system. You go a bit wild, after that: single-cell organisms in their thousands that will grow into their billions in short order, each absorbing just a little bit of heat within the heat sinks you ensure they grow within their body, preyed upon by algae and mollusks that do the same, in turn preyed upon by mollusks and fish and crustaceans.
In essence you are creating a smaller cooling cycle within the larger, as systems of reproduction ensure that the heat sunk into their heatsinks is transported backwards by the migration of the more advanced of the organisms. Of course, this only mitigates to some extent: the heat will remain within the system and build up before being transported further downwards.
So you create a system of access and exit, and introduce a newly created species of amphibian: a species of frog acting as an apex predator, taking on a truly enormous amount of heat and then migrating towards the great outdoors, using the coldness there to clear their heat sinks before returning back to the pipes to hunt. Then you create a species of snakes absorbing heat from the Cogitators directly and preying on those frogs, just because you have a bit more time.
What you have, at the end of the three days, is a system that will, in time, reduce the amount of heat transported downwards. There are probably more efficient ways to do this, but those would not be as self-sustaining or as beautiful as this one. You are confident that the heat issue is now solved, and judging by the lack of an apocalyptic end to the Precogitator, you are right.
You still send out your message that you are going to leave the planet to all your subordinates in an encrypted manner and try sneaking away in the middle of the night, because while you are confident in your own competence you are not at all confident that it will be recognized.
You were required to use the Arvus Lighter frequently, during the process of establishing your heating system. You figure that another trip back to the Wilful Eternity should not be out of place. You left a note declaring the problem fixed, which it technically is, and that should be enough for Nuton's Folly.
Myges Talef awaits you by the Lighter, having received your message. He is accompanied by somebody you don't recognize. There is no sign of either 8-Doxa or Regicia. You decide that you can afford to wait for an hour or so longer. After that, it is basically their own fault. You did send a message. It really is not your fault that they decided to run off the moment they could.
"They're not coming", the unknown person cants at you, and whatever else one might say about Theama-Nul, he is decent enough to include an identifier mark in his binaric on this occasion. "Why's that?", you ask, and your enigmatic subordinate gives you an elaborate shrug. "8-Doxa is still busy in the bowels of the station, and Regicia knows what's about to happen through the grapevine."
"What's about to happen?", you ask, and then Ishmael walks in, a cane in one hand and a Volkite Serpenta in the other.
There is rage on his face. It is the rage of a subordinate who has just caught somebody trying to make something that isn't his problem his problem, intermingled with the vindictive satisfaction of somebody who has caught the attempt in time.
In this moment, it is more terrifying to you than the rage on the face of a Primarch could be.
Of course it helps that he is accompanied by a squad of Space Marines of the Court of the Hollow Idol.
You begin to speak, but Ishmael simply raises his finger to silence you, and you are not inclined to disagree with somebody pointing a weapon that can turn your organic components into burning liquid at you.
Your Vox System crackles. "Magos", Ludmilla Kapriosa talks in your ear, calm in a manner that seems somewhat forced, "I am sorry to inform you that we have, uh, unexpected guests. Friends of yours, I think?"
Ishmael smiles at you, and there isn't even a little bit of mirth in the gesture. "Magos Eta Nu 9 35", he begins, "it is my great pleasure to inform you that you have successfully managed to mitigate the problems facing the Precogitator to a truly magnificent degree. It does not, at the present point in time, cut off prediction six days into the future."
The man's smile widens, and you are reminded of the threat behavior of certain primates as he bars his teeth at you. "It will interest you to know that the cut off is now instead three weeks in the future."
He holds up his hand, waving the note. "Now, I think there has been some misunderstanding in our initial communication. I think you may have been under the impression that the timeline accelerated with your arrival. It did not. We have made requests to Nuton's Folly to fix the problem for close to a decade now."
He waves his hand, and a Space Marine steps forward, the molecular bonding studs of his Heresy-Pattern Armor remodeled into spikes. "This is Icoros Zhan. He will remain by your side throughout your stay on this planet. His task is to ensure that you will not leave the planet until the problem is resolved."
Ishmael gives you a wave with his Serpenta, and then turns around to walk away, cane tapping across the floor. "Oh", he says, not turning around as he does so, "but I do appreciate the fact you're finally properly heating the fortress."
You remain behind, your new minder at your side and somewhat speechless.
"We did just fix a machine that lets them predict the future for them", Myges Talef points out to you, and it is all you can do not to shoot him.
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You have genuinely managed to surprise me, and I am kind of kicking myself for not thinking of including the 'just leave after fixing the Heat Issue' Option as an option on my own. I hope this outcome is still to your satisfaction even if it isn't leaving: it is, I think, in line with the information provided to you, and makes for an interesting story.
Still, it turns out that the Court of the Hollow Idol can and will put a gun to your head until they are satisfied with the outcome of your work, and so you are back to square one.
This leaves you with two options:
[] Try to shoot your way out
-this will require you to slip the leash of your handler, recapture your Lighter or acquire a different form of transportation, make your way back to the Wilful Eternity, defeat whatever boarding element remains aboard it, and then leave the system. The Court of the Hollow Idol has guns that can shoot at you the entire way. This is…very unlikely to be a good idea, but it is an option, if you're stubborn about wanting to leave.
Alternatively, you can delve into the dark:
[Allies]
[] Biological Monstrosity
-Your effort in fixing the heat issue has granted you some reprieve. Still, three weeks isn't a lot. You are utterly confident, however, that it is enough time for you to cook up something large, monstrous, cold-resistant, and utterly lethal. It'll be under your control too, more or less.
[] Court of the Hollow Idol
-Taal Voyos does not like you, and has not made a secret of that dislike, but he does wish for you to succeed in fixing the Precogitator. Going into hostile environments and shooting whatever nasty lurks there is what the Space Marines were created for, but of course they could get slightly weird about whatever Xenos or Dark Age Technology is found down there, and it is likely to be a rather convenient place to discard a bunch of Tech Priests that have outlived their usefulness. Trying to leave is not likely to have helped.
[] The rest of your Subordinates
-Regicia Ko-Bea is not likely to be much use in a fight, but 8-Doxa Krananima absolutely is, and while you can't be entirely certain about Theama-Nul you are fairly certain someone has gotten angry enough at him to try and shoot him in the past, and he is still alive. The main asset remains 8-Doxa.
You just have to find him.
[Combination]
[Write-in] Which two solutions do you try to make work together
[Route]
[] Bore
-There is some digging equipment around: of this, you are absolutely certain. Rigging some of it up to simply bore straight down in parallel to the hole that has already been driven into the ground should not be much of a problem. Your enemy will likely hear you coming, and if you run into something important along the way you are likely to break it, but you're also going to be down there fast enough that any loss in the element of surprise is likely to be quickly compensated by your speed
[] Navigate
-Magos Gwo has to have discovered whatever he is drawing power from somehow, and you have a fairly direct orientation aid in the form of the borehole. You can't move down the borehole directly, of course, on account of all the pipes and cables in your way, but you can move down into the basement of the fortress and then into the bedrock of the planet using paths that surround it, and hopefully reach wherever it goes. This is likely to take time, of course, and there is no telling what additional dangers may lurk beneath the ice.
[] Direct Route
-of course, the option always remains to simply enter the pipes and descend through them. Yes, they are filled with scalding hot water, but you have the capabilities to stand up to that, at least mostly. Yes, getting out of them is going to require you to break through the pipes, but you can do that too. It's fast, it's subtle, and it only has a relatively small chance to cook you.
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Please vote by Plan.
