So yeah, either the GSC gave children something that sends them into murderous rampages or they threw them into situations that induce murderous rampages.
Situations like, say, siccing a monster on them, sending soldiers after them- you know, situations that end in their prospective child-saviors dying...
This looks like a remarkably stupid way to save the world.
"Um, if I can just, if it wouldn't be too rude to interrupt what you're saying," interrupts Owen, rudely, "That's all, uh, very interesting, and I'd really like to right it down so I can, you know, listen to it all later, but. Right now. How do we get out. How do we get home."
So yeah, either the GSC gave children something that sends them into murderous rampages or they threw them into situations that induce murderous rampages.
Situations like, say, siccing a monster on them, sending soldiers after them- you know, situations that end in their prospective child-saviors dying...
This looks like a remarkably stupid way to save the world.
- She's shown a marked increase in disordered thinking - believed to be one of the [illegible] effects of the serum.
- It's possible that a large spike in [illegible] due to stress might [illegible]. Perhaps we go ahead with Geneva's roulette idea?
- I seem to be the only one who [illegible] a damn, but that would be [illegible] inhumane.
Apparently, most of the latest developments weren't planned, and are in fact Fatima's fault somehow. Either she herself created conditions for the kids to flee, or - and that looks much more likely - she has finally disclosed what she knew about Mari to Dr. Brighton, causing him to go rogue and sabotage the project.
I am not sure how long they knew Mari would have to be used, but I assume Melody's death and Jack replacing her as a Director in 2008 are a good indication of when GSC went wrong and shifted its methods and priorities.
Now the kids are running wild through the facility, and seeing how they have superpowers, are not at all easy to keep where Dr. Paris and Co. want them. It's not like it was GSC's goal to lose soldiers and resourses trying to contain them.
You don't have a LIGHT that you could use for that purpose, so instead you just stand in such a way that the AMBIENT LIGHT reflects off of the jewels on your DETECTIVE CROWN and into her eyes! That'll show her! Disappointingly, she doesn't seem to be affected by it beyond a slight squint. You inquire about the TILES.
"For what lies ahead, to have one of those will be very useful," is all she says, "But equally as dangerous. Be careful."
Technically, we have a flashlight right with us. But that'd be just cruel.
That settles it, then. If Tiles can't help Mars, but are powerful and dangerous in equal measure, we should have one. We are farthest on the road to Ascension anyway.
[X] Say goodbye to Dr. Ankara, wish her luck.
[X] Venture off into the Labyrinth.
[X] Take the SATURN TILE with you.
[X] Ask Dr. Ankara whether we can keep some of her money.
[X] Use INTERROGATION FOR IMBECILES while questioning Dr. Ankara.
[X] Oh, and take off your sunglasses before going into the labyrinth.
I would still like to have some money, just in case we decide to get the hell away from all the Soteriology stuff.
[X] Ask Dr. Ankara whether we can keep some of her money.
[X] Use INTERROGATION FOR IMBECILES while questioning Dr. Ankara.
[X] Oh, and take off your sunglasses before going into the labyrinth.
I would still like to have some money, just in case we decide to get the hell away from all the Soteriology stuff.
Incidentally, I'd also like to thank @causticAccolade for running this quest; it's been really fun! I think I'd like to run a quest like this myself if I ever get off my ass and start writing it, so thanks for that.
Not a huge fan (since it ruins the moment and all), but if we borrow it and promise to return once we leave the place... She said she'll be aiming to escape as well, so it's sort of like a promise to meet again. A bit cliched, but Lucy is a bookish girl who tends to imitate her heroes.
The CLASS MACHINATION [INTERROGATION FOR IMBECILES] has been activated!
You study Ankara's face - that kind, thoughtful, impossibly sad face. She doesn't seem like she's lying, at the very least. Not even a little. Mostly she simply seems regretful.
[X] Do you have any idea where we could find Kala? She's been following me, or maybe leading me, since I woke up here.
[X] What about any of the other children or personnel?
"Kala has been hiding since things started going wrong. When Kala wants to hide, the only way to find her is for her to find you. If you see her, tell her I'm sorry. For everything." She shakes her head, balancing on her own two feet and still looking a little weak. "It is not in your best interests to approach the other children as they currently are," she murmurs, voice tinged with bitter regret.
"And as for personnel... this facility is on lockdown. I cannot tell you exactly where my colleagues are, but I can guess. The elevator at the end of the Labyrinth will take you to the main part of the facility, the east wing, specifically. That's the medical wing. I think, in the case of an emergency, Dr. Geneva would have stayed there. Whatever he tells, you, it is imperative that you do not trust him. He will adhere to his Hippocratic Oath at all costs if you are injured, but in every other respect he is not to be trusted." She looks at you all with a serious gaze to make sure you've understood before she continues.
"In the west wing, you may meet other staff members trying to escape: Klaus Helsinki, perhaps. If you see him... tell him I said he's an idiot, and that I'll meet him when I can. He'll help you. If she was anywhere, Kyoto would be there too, the bull-headed woman that she is, still trying to do her job amidst all of this chaos. Paris, that horrible assistant of hers, and your father," she gestures at Mari, "Should all be on the above-ground levels."
"The Consortium does not believe in searching for saviors we don't already have. In this place, children, we created saviors. Well. That was the intention, at any rate."
"I disagreed with Dr. Paris on certain ethical matters. I was able to quell these for... longer than I'd be able to admit without showing me in the cruel, harsh light that would reveal the sort of person I truly am. Eventually, I could bear it no longer, and took action. This... perhaps it did not work. Perhaps I have only done something foolish and terrible. But I am a selfish woman, I am afraid, and all that mattered to me was that I'd be able to say, I did something. The security system of the Labyrinth in particular is... well, a Labyrinth must have a monster, mustn't it? It's really something very fearsome, but I helped to design it. It's meant to frighten and distress, but I know how it works, and that makes it easier to deal with."
"Months. One of you" she's addressing you and Owen here, Mari clearly being a special case, "May remember more or less than the other, but the both of you should remember little of it. Stolen time. I am sorry."
Feeling a little AWKWARD, you hand Dr. Ankara back her MOBILE PHONE, WALLET, and NOTEBOOK. She smiles warmly and thanks you, with an earnestness that you've only ever felt from the sort of grown-up who takes you seriously - the sort of grown-up who knows that you're a person, who realizes that you have thoughts and feelings of your own, and cares. All of a sudden, you feel a little sad that she will soon be in danger.
When you attempt to hand her her KEYCARD, she hands it right back to you. "I can use the biometric systems. The computer systems aren't functioning well enough for Jack or Paris to have revoked my privileges, and if they could, then that card would be useless too." She pauses. "Plus, you'll get 30% off on the cafeteria food."
"Speaking of discounts..." you say, quietly. "Do you think we could borrow some money? Just a little, so that once we leave we can take a taxi, or something. I promise I'll return it! Even if it means I have to track you down across the world!"
Ankara smiles sadly, and hands you twenty dollars. That's as many as two tens, and four times as much as was stolen in your previous case, the Adventure Of The Grand Lunch Money Larceny.
As Ankara is about to open the door, you see something remarkable, and you almost feel the urge to squint to make sure you're not seeing it wrong, because Mari takes a step forwards and throws her arms around Dr. Ankara, sniffling a little. "Thank you, doctor," she mumbles. "Don't be stupid and let anything happen to you, understood? My father and I would be very unhappy." Both you and Owen share a glance that communicates 'this is slightly awkward, so we'll just avoid looking at them and each other until Mari has stopped being emotional.' What an unusually communicative glance! Dr. Ankara lightly pats Mari on the head, and after a few seconds she pulls away and gives both you and Owen both a 'what the hell are you looking at' glare.
Stepping up, you give the politest little bow you can and hold out a hand for Dr. Ankara to shake. "Goodbye, Dr. Ankara. Perhaps I will meet you again on my adventures," you say, because you feel it's the sort of DIGNIFIED and MEANINGFUL thing that Sherlock Holmes would say in this situation. Finally, Owen, feeling like something is expected of him, offers a thumbs up, his usual sheepish grin, and a hurried exclamation of:
"Good luck!"
"Be safe, children. And once more," Dr. Ankara says over her shoulder as she turns to vanish into the darkness of the Labyrinth, "I'm sorry."
With Ankara gone, you turn around to face Owen and Mari, who look nervous and irritable, respectively. You take a deep breath. "We're going to get out of here," you say, with only the confidence that a JUNIOR SLEUTH can have, "Come on."
Clutching the SATURN TILE in your hand, you lead the way, pushing your COOL SHADES up so that you can see even in the DEEP DARKNESS of the LABYRINTH. After getting everything in order and making sure that everyone has what they need, you leave through the DOOR that you didn't enter by, confident, somehow, whether it be by intuition or deduction or perhaps some deep, unfathomable part of you that can see the strings of destiny and is determined to tightrope-walk across them in the most dangerous way possible no matter how many people tell it that the tightrope doesn't mean health and safety standards. Perhaps it is this same daring, assured, purposeful part of you that knows, in what flickering, faulty light you're allowed, to follow the arrows drawn in red marker.
You feel a connection to this person, as you wander, Marinette and Owen in tow, through the dark corridors, sometimes clambering over debris, sometimes treading carefully around suspicious-looking puddles. You feel lost in this Labyrinth, drawn through it by only arrows and the occasional silver thread you find has been set up for you to follow in the dark. You think that the one who writes in the red marker feels lost, too, but lost in the world. It's an easy way to feel, lost in the world. A world where billions and billions of people have never heard your name or seen your face, a world where there are billions of people to whom your own existence doesn't matter - is a nothing. Perhaps, you reflect, everyone is lost. Perhaps people like Marinette and Dr. Ankara who seem so sure of themselves are simply better at hiding it than you are.
Perhaps-
What's that sound? You have just turned at a crossroads, and you hear a terrible creaking, a screeching sort of noise, and with a start you realize that the floor is shaking beneath you. When you look down, you realize that the floor is cracking like ice, screaming with concrete straining against metal like the sound of some unholy beast, chained up and tortured. This is a structural instability, and it only takes you one, two, three seconds to realize that if you don't run then the floor will fall out from beneath your feet, like the feeling you get when you think everything's been completely figured out and then you're suddenly proved entirely wrong except this feeling will be deadly. With the ground already giving way beneath and in front of you, you run.
The CLASS MACHINATION [ANALYSIS FOR AMATEURS] has been activated!
You run, and somehow managing to keep your eyes on everything at once - struts, grates, pipes, and all of it collapsing around you - you see calculations flash before you, working out the mathematics in your head in what must be fractions of a second. Trajectory, angles, velocity, inertia, all of these things are factored in with every step, with every tiny shift in weight or posture. You feel like you're dancing, except your partner is not another person but the forces of gravity and air resistance and whatever primal destructive thing is causing what seems like the very world to collapse around you. You have no trouble breathing, strangely enough. You are perfectly, flawlessly, efficiently calm in a way that would terrify anyone who happened to look at you to the very core.
Besides you, you are aware of (but are too focused on yourself and the world around you to acknowledge) Owen, and you can see how he dances, too, how the trajectories and vectors start to fall away around him, twisting and bending like a straw in a glass of water when they get too near him. He's not truly dancing, not taking the thought to move every moment like you are, but nonetheless he is in the right place at the right time, and if the numbers on the right place are off then they blur and bend in ways that make your head hurt if you try and consider them in any more detail than a casual glance from your peripheral vision until he's safe. It's not surprising at all, with what you see, when the ground is finally stable again, you hear Owen leaping from one last part of crumbling infrastructure to land with a painful-sounding thump by you.
Mari. Where is she? In an instant, the calm has faded and a dull panic is building up, a panic that starts out small and grows and grows until it seems to take up so much room in your head that it forces you yourself out. "Mari!" you shriek at the darkness behind you, at the yawning chasm that has opened up as if following you on a pleasant stroll. "Marinette! Mari! Mari!" you shriek, until you're red in the face and your throat hurts and you want to curl up into a ball and give up.
She can't be gone, you tell yourself, (but she is), she can't have fallen, you continue, (but she did), she can't be gone. (But is she?)
She can't.
Flashes.
- from one last part of any more detail than he's not dancing, the very core no trouble breathing primal destructive thing you feel like you're dancing fractions of a second collapsing around you you run you run this feeling will be the floor will fall structural instability sound of some unholy like ice when you look screeching sort of noise turned a crossroads -
{{ SOTERIOLOGY GAMBIT: [REWIND & RE-REVERSE] }}
The SATURN TILE burns in your hand like you're touching a hot stove and you can't let go. Owen and Mari are looking at you strangely, and eventually Owen speaks up. "So, uh. Aren't we going to. Take this turn, then. At the crossroad. Or, uh, is that, a thing which, is going to be a thing which we're not doing."
You respond with what you think is an eloquent and reasoned argument as to why that turn leads to a structurally unsafe area that could very well collapse underneath the weight of the three of you, but is actually more along the lines of an incoherent groan. The tile in your hand burns like an exploding star has been concentrated into a pinprick.
When Mari raises an eyebrow in concern, you cleverly add the conclusive point that brings your argument together by passing out on the floor.
Yay, plot developments! Of a sort, anyway. This is the end of Questionably Soteriological's Chapter 2, and a post beginning Chapter 3 will be on its way to you by the end of this weekend. In the meantime, if one of you could be ever so kind and remind me of what exactly you'd all planned to do with inventory items and the distribution of such, I would appreciate it dearly. By the by, I'm awfully sorry if my prose is too esoteric or self-indulgent. There's a point where having a signature style turns into being incomprehensible, heh.
The CLASS MACHINATION [INTERROGATION FOR IMBECILES] has been activated!
You study Ankara's face - that kind, thoughtful, impossibly sad face. She doesn't seem like she's lying, at the very least. Not even a little. Mostly she simply seems regretful.
"Kala has been hiding since things started going wrong. When Kala wants to hide, the only way to find her is for her to find you. If you see her, tell her I'm sorry. For everything." She shakes her head, balancing on her own two feet and still looking a little weak. "It is not in your best interests to approach the other children as they currently are," she murmurs, voice tinged with bitter regret.
"And as for personnel... this facility is on lockdown. I cannot tell you exactly where my colleagues are, but I can guess. The elevator at the end of the Labyrinth will take you to the main part of the facility, the east wing, specifically. That's the medical wing. I think, in the case of an emergency, Dr. Geneva would have stayed there. Whatever he tells, you, it is imperative that you do not trust him. He will adhere to his Hippocratic Oath at all costs if you are injured, but in every other respect he is not to be trusted." She looks at you all with a serious gaze to make sure you've understood before she continues.
"In the west wing, you may meet other staff members trying to escape: Klaus Helsinki, perhaps. If you see him... tell him I said he's an idiot, and that I'll meet him when I can. He'll help you. If she was anywhere, Kyoto would be there too, the bull-headed woman that she is, still trying to do her job amidst all of this chaos. Paris, that horrible assistant of hers, and your father," she gestures at Mari, "Should all be on the above-ground levels."
"The Consortium does not believe in searching for saviors we don't already have. In this place, children, we created saviors. Well. That was the intention, at any rate."
"I disagreed with Dr. Paris on certain ethical matters. I was able to quell these for... longer than I'd be able to admit without showing me in the cruel, harsh light that would reveal the sort of person I truly am. Eventually, I could bear it no longer, and took action. This... perhaps it did not work. Perhaps I have only done something foolish and terrible. But I am a selfish woman, I am afraid, and all that mattered to me was that I'd be able to say, I did something. The security system of the Labyrinth in particular is... well, a Labyrinth must have a monster, mustn't it? It's really something very fearsome, but I helped to design it. It's meant to frighten and distress, but I know how it works, and that makes it easier to deal with."
"Months. One of you" she's addressing you and Owen here, Mari clearly being a special case, "May remember more or less than the other, but the both of you should remember little of it. Stolen time. I am sorry."
Feeling a little AWKWARD, you hand Dr. Ankara back her MOBILE PHONE, WALLET, and NOTEBOOK. She smiles warmly and thanks you, with an earnestness that you've only ever felt from the sort of grown-up who takes you seriously - the sort of grown-up who knows that you're a person, who realizes that you have thoughts and feelings of your own, and cares. All of a sudden, you feel a little sad that she will soon be in danger.
When you attempt to hand her her KEYCARD, she hands it right back to you. "I can use the biometric systems. The computer systems aren't functioning well enough for Jack or Paris to have revoked my privileges, and if they could, then that card would be useless too." She pauses. "Plus, you'll get 30% off on the cafeteria food."
"Speaking of discounts..." you say, quietly. "Do you think we could borrow some money? Just a little, so that once we leave we can take a taxi, or something. I promise I'll return it! Even if it means I have to track you down across the world!"
Ankara smiles sadly, and hands you twenty dollars. That's as many as two tens, and four times as much as was stolen in your previous case, the Adventure Of The Grand Lunch Money Larceny.
As Ankara is about to open the door, you see something remarkable, and you almost feel the urge to squint to make sure you're not seeing it wrong, because Mari takes a step forwards and throws her arms around Dr. Ankara, sniffling a little. "Thank you, doctor," she mumbles. "Don't be stupid and let anything happen to you, understood? My father and I would be very unhappy." Both you and Owen share a glance that communicates 'this is slightly awkward, so we'll just avoid looking at them and each other until Mari has stopped being emotional.' What an unusually communicative glance! Dr. Ankara lightly pats Mari on the head, and after a few seconds she pulls away and gives both you and Owen both a 'what the hell are you looking at' glare.
Stepping up, you give the politest little bow you can and hold out a hand for Dr. Ankara to shake. "Goodbye, Dr. Ankara. Perhaps I will meet you again on my adventures," you say, because you feel it's the sort of DIGNIFIED and MEANINGFUL thing that Sherlock Holmes would say in this situation. Finally, Owen, feeling like something is expected of him, offers a thumbs up, his usual sheepish grin, and a hurried exclamation of:
"Good luck!"
"Be safe, children. And once more," Dr. Ankara says over her shoulder as she turns to vanish into the darkness of the Labyrinth, "I'm sorry."
With Ankara gone, you turn around to face Owen and Mari, who look nervous and irritable, respectively. You take a deep breath. "We're going to get out of here," you say, with only the confidence that a JUNIOR SLEUTH can have, "Come on."
Clutching the SATURN TILE in your hand, you lead the way, pushing your COOL SHADES up so that you can see even in the DEEP DARKNESS of the LABYRINTH. After getting everything in order and making sure that everyone has what they need, you leave through the DOOR that you didn't enter by, confident, somehow, whether it be by intuition or deduction or perhaps some deep, unfathomable part of you that can see the strings of destiny and is determined to tightrope-walk across them in the most dangerous way possible no matter how many people tell it that the tightrope doesn't mean health and safety standards. Perhaps it is this same daring, assured, purposeful part of you that knows, in what flickering, faulty light you're allowed, to follow the arrows drawn in red marker.
You feel a connection to this person, as you wander, Marinette and Owen in tow, through the dark corridors, sometimes clambering over debris, sometimes treading carefully around suspicious-looking puddles. You feel lost in this Labyrinth, drawn through it by only arrows and the occasional silver thread you find has been set up for you to follow in the dark. You think that the one who writes in the red marker feels lost, too, but lost in the world. It's an easy way to feel, lost in the world. A world where billions and billions of people have never heard your name or seen your face, a world where there are billions of people to whom your own existence doesn't matter - is a nothing. Perhaps, you reflect, everyone is lost. Perhaps people like Marinette and Dr. Ankara who seem so sure of themselves are simply better at hiding it than you are.
Perhaps-
What's that sound? You have just turned at a crossroads, and you hear a terrible creaking, a screeching sort of noise, and with a start you realize that the floor is shaking beneath you. When you look down, you realize that the floor is cracking like ice, screaming with concrete straining against metal like the sound of some unholy beast, chained up and tortured. This is a structural instability, and it only takes you one, two, three seconds to realize that if you don't run then the floor will fall out from beneath your feet, like the feeling you get when you think everything's been completely figured out and then you're suddenly proved entirely wrong except this feeling will be deadly. With the ground already giving way beneath and in front of you, you run.
The CLASS MACHINATION [ANALYSIS FOR AMATEURS] has been activated!
You run, and somehow managing to keep your eyes on everything at once - struts, grates, pipes, and all of it collapsing around you - you see calculations flash before you, working out the mathematics in your head in what must be fractions of a second. Trajectory, angles, velocity, inertia, all of these things are factored in with every step, with every tiny shift in weight or posture. You feel like you're dancing, except your partner is not another person but the forces of gravity and air resistance and whatever primal destructive thing is causing what seems like the very world to collapse around you. You have no trouble breathing, strangely enough. You are perfectly, flawlessly, efficiently calm in a way that would terrify anyone who happened to look at you to the very core.
Besides you, you are aware of (but are too focused on yourself and the world around you to acknowledge) Owen, and you can see how he dances, too, how the trajectories and vectors start to fall away around him, twisting and bending like a straw in a glass of water when they get too near him. He's not truly dancing, not taking the thought to move every moment like you are, but nonetheless he is in the right place at the right time, and if the numbers on the right place are off then they blur and bend in ways that make your head hurt if you try and consider them in any more detail than a casual glance from your peripheral vision until he's safe. It's not surprising at all, with what you see, when the ground is finally stable again, you hear Owen leaping from one last part of crumbling infrastructure to land with a painful-sounding thump by you.
Mari. Where is she? In an instant, the calm has faded and a dull panic is building up, a panic that starts out small and grows and grows until it seems to take up so much room in your head that it forces you yourself out. "Mari!" you shriek at the darkness behind you, at the yawning chasm that has opened up as if following you on a pleasant stroll. "Marinette! Mari! Mari!" you shriek, until you're red in the face and your throat hurts and you want to curl up into a ball and give up.
She can't be gone, you tell yourself, (but she is), she can't have fallen, you continue, (but she did), she can't be gone. (But is she?)
She can't.
Flashes.
- from one last part of any more detail than he's not dancing, the very core no trouble breathing primal destructive thing you feel like you're dancing fractions of a second collapsing around you you run you run this feeling will be the floor will fall structural instability sound of some unholy like ice when you look screeching sort of noise turned a crossroads -
{{ SOTERIOLOGY GAMBIT: [REWIND & RE-REVERSE] }}
The SATURN TILE burns in your hand like you're touching a hot stove and you can't let go. Owen and Mari are looking at you strangely, and eventually Owen speaks up. "So, uh. Aren't we going to. Take this turn, then. At the crossroad. Or, uh, is that, a thing which, is going to be a thing which we're not doing."
You respond with what you think is an eloquent and reasoned argument as to why that turn leads to a structurally unsafe area that could very well collapse underneath the weight of the three of you, but is actually more along the lines of an incoherent groan. The tile in your hand burns like an exploding star has been concentrated into a pinprick.
When Mari raises an eyebrow in concern, you cleverly add the conclusive point that brings your argument together by passing out on the floor.
Yay, plot developments! Of a sort, anyway. This is the end of Questionably Soteriological's Chapter 2, and a post beginning Chapter 3 will be on its way to you by the end of this weekend. In the meantime, if one of you could be ever so kind and remind me of what exactly you'd all planned to do with inventory items and the distribution of such, I would appreciate it dearly. By the by, I'm awfully sorry if my prose is too esoteric or self-indulgent. There's a point where having a signature style turns into being incomprehensible, heh.
Did... did we just manipulate time!? Or are our mental faculties so powerful that we accurately simulated and predicted the future? Either way, I think @The Laurent said what we're all thinking: Holy shit.
Dammit. I'd figured as much once the corridor started to collapse, since "makes stuff" isn't exactly the most relevant of powers here, but that didn't stop me from freaking out when I read this...
I see. There's the connection between Time and super-analysis powers - it's not time, it's destiny, working kind of Exalted-ish in the sense that the most basic destinies are due to simple physics and mundane causal relationships. The final result is similar but the process is different.
So our portfolio is pretty wide, then. Huh. Cool. And definitely appropriate for a "savior".
The time-bending powers weren't that surprising, the Entity has all but hinted at it. When the word itself started to be written in bright blue, there were no doubts left. Owen's powers were similarly expected, even though I didn't know his and ours are 'incompatible'. We predict and calculate the reality, he bends it. For a few moments I wondered if Mari's talents are human or alien - she didn't exhibit supernatural traits until she touched her Tile, and she is an exception compared to other patients/subjects in that she has only been that way for a day... but then she was recognized by the blood testing machine. I guess they infused her with a serum long ago - she's been around for long enough that it wouldn't have been a problem for Dr. Paris.
What kind of power is Electricity, though?
Perhaps the power to alter the flow of time was multiplied by the Tile we took. Not sure about the costs we have to pay to use it - and there probably is a cost. I wouldn't take this rollback for granted.
- from one last part of any more detail than he's not dancing, the very core no trouble breathing primal destructive thing you feel like you're dancing fractions of a second collapsing around you you run you run this feeling will be the floor will fall structural instability sound of some unholy like ice when you look screeching sort of noise turned a crossroads -
---
So, Dr. Geneva is an actual doctor that takes his Hippocratic Oath seriously? That's a twist. Considering all the stuff we suspect him doing and Mari's drawings, I thought he experiments on living people or something. I am not sure if what Ankara said makes him less or more creepy.
And Klaus looks like the only person we can trust not to put us in a cage. Though through his notes he comes off as extremely weak-willed and vulnerable to peer pressure. If Dr. Paris gets stern with him, he'll probably sell us out on the spot. But at least he can be approached.
Damn it, I was hoping to find more party members. But Ankara says it would be dangerous to run into other kids. Mars certainly does not seem safe, Venus is captured/subdued, Gaia is secured... who's left? Luna and Sol? Perhaps it's really just the four of us who are still sane.
In the meantime, if one of you could be ever so kind and remind me of what exactly you'd all planned to do with inventory items and the distribution of such, I would appreciate it dearly.
Updated the character sheet. Number of keys, our ELAN, Poseidon Crown stats (now gives +9 Moxie) and the like. Not that it matters because new chapter comes with new level-ups.
One thing I am not certain of is how Owen's ability works. It looks at th rest of the party, figures out the lowest average (is it with modifiers, or without - i.e. does our Crown make Nimbleness our lowest stat for the purposes of this?), and then adds... how much? It says the number of Party Members * 3, but is Owen included here, i.e. is the bonus from machination +10 or +15? The current sheet implies the former.
Does Kala qualify for another kid we've met, or we didn't 'meet' her properly yet?
CHARACTER SHEETS
LUCY
NAME: Lucy Calloway GENDER: Female AGE: 11 tender years APPEARANCE: A slightly tall lanky child with brown eyes and a black bobbed haircut. CLASS: JUNIOR SLEUTH LVL: 3 STATUS:
VITALITY: 200/200 ÉLAN: 157/250 [+25] ????:???/??? LOST: OVERLY CONFUSED: DECIDEDLY WORRIED: EXTREMELY
MARI
NAME: Marinette Brighton GENDER: Female AGE: 12 APPEARANCE: A pale girl with red hair tied up in blue ribbons. CLASS: DAREDEVIL DAEDALUS LVL: 3 STATUS: VITALITY: 425/450 ÉLAN: 286/350 ????:???/??? LOST: RATHER CONFUSED: SLIGHTLY WORRIED: QUIETLY
OWEN
NAME: Owen Juan Martinez GENDER: Male AGE: 11 APPEARANCE: A tall, skinny boy with messy blond hair that goes all over the place. CLASS: JACK-OF-QUITE-A-FEW-TRADES LVL: 3 STATUS:
VITALITY: 230/250 ÉLAN: 225/225 ????:???/???
LOST: PERMANENTLY CONFUSED: BUT ACCEPTING WORRIED: CHANNELLED INTO IRRITATION
LUCY
SLOT 1: [FLASHLIGHT] SLOT 2: [PEN & NOTEPAD] SLOT 3: [GREEN MARKER] SLOT 4: [PURSE (CONTAINS MAKEUP, TISSUES, CRAYONS, LIST OF CAMERA BLINDSPOTS, DRAWING OF AN EYE, TWENTY DOLLARS)] SLOT 5: [BOOK] EQUIPPED ITEM: VIOLIN CASE EQUIPPED WEAPON: TRIDENT [+10% FISTICUFFS, 10% CRIT CHANCE, X2 REACH] EQUIPPED GARB: INSTITUTE GOWN EQUIPPED HEADGEAR: CROWN OF POSEIDON [+9 MOXIE, -5 NIMBLENESS] EQUIPPED EYEWEAR: HELSINKI STYLE [+5 MOXIE, POOR LOW-LIGHT VISION, ????] EQUIPPED FINERY: VERY SOFT CAT [+25 ÉLAN] EQUIPPED FOOTWEAR: NONE
[DEDUCTION FOR DUMMIES] You've read every Sherlock Holmes book at least once, and are making a start on Agatha Christie while you're at it. This CLASS MACHINATION allows you to gain additional information about ITEMS when they are in your INVENTORY.
[ANALYSIS FOR AMATEURS] You're a smart kid with a keen eye, and you can make detailed observations in real time. Your reaction times might not be the best, but you're great at predicting the places where things will end up being and not being in those places. This CLASS MACHINATION allows you to use ACUMEN to DODGE ATTACKS or HAZARDS instead of NIMBLENESS.
[INTERROGATION FOR IMBECILES] Your sharp eye and deep empathy mean that you're a wizard when it comes to reading people. Although you can't rely on it to be 100% ACCURATE, this CLASS MACHINATION makes it easier to tell when someone is LYING or HIDING THEIR TRUE FEELINGS.
MARI
[HOW IT WORKS] You've watched no end of documentaries on manufacture and are the sort of person who reads industrial blueprints recreationally. You can DISCERN THE FUNCTION of MACHINES and identify HIDDEN MECHANISMS just by giving them a CURSORY EXAMINATION.
[I MUST NOT FEAR] If the circumstances are right, you can overcome even the strongest terrors with your bravery. Most scary things are never as scary as they seem. You can REROLL any FAILED VIGOR CHECKS against FEAR a maximum of ONCE.
[HOLD MY JUICE BOX] You're an unusually reckless child, prone to doing incredibly dangerous things, either ignorant or, more worryingly, with complete and utter awareness of the peril involved. This CLASS MACHINATION halves the ÉLAN DAMAGE taken from being in DANGEROUS SITUATIONS.
OWEN
[UP ALL NIGHT TO GET LUCKY] You just seem to have much better luck than the average person. You can- oh, look, a dollar! This CLASS MACHINATION allows you REROLL any checks failed by a SMALL MARGIN a maximum of ONCE.
[OH, NO, NOT AGAIN] Despite being somewhat accident prone, your childhood has been one long, long series of accidents that you escaped from miraculously unscathed. This CLASS MACHINATION halves all VITALITY DAMAGE taken from ENVIRONMENTAL SOURCES.
[EVERYTHING YOU CAN'T DO I CAN DO BETTER] You might not really be good at anything, but you're also not really bad at anything. You naturally tend to make up for other's weaknesses. This CLASS MACHINATION, when in a PARTY, allows you to gain a BONUS to the LOWEST AVERAGE STAT of the rest of the party equal to (5 x NUMBER OF PARTY MEMBERS.)
CLASS PROGRESSION
Every time that you gain a LEVEL, you can progress one RANK in your chosen CLASS. Every RANK you gain will increase one of your STATS, as well as grant you a new CLASS MACHINATION.
Levels are gained by finding ARTIFACTS, reaching MILESTONES, and occasionally SOLVING PUZZLES. Every RANK has its own UNIQUE AND VERY SILLY NAME.
Members of your PARTY will all LEVEL at the SAME TIME AS YOU. You can choose which of their STATS is increased, as well as choose which new CLASS MACHINATION they gain.
CLASS MACHINATIONS are abilities that you gain with each RANK in a CLASS. Higher RANKS give you more powerful machinations. You can suggest the use of a CLASS MACHINATION at any time, by voting:
[X] Use [NAME OF CLASS MACHINATION].
There is no limit to the use of CLASS MACHINATIONS, although some of them might have certain prerequisite circumstances for use: If so, the prerequisites will be explained in the machination's description.
To use a party member's CLASS MACHINATION, you must include their name in the command, formatting in the following manner:
[X] Mari: Use [NAME OF CLASS MACHINATION].
So... what's our next goal? The major objective seems to be reaching the surface level and finding Dr. Brighton, but in the meantime? Do we go search for Klaus in the west wing? Looks like the best bet to get out.
So, I know I said I'd have the Chapter 3 start post by the end of last weekend, but I didn't count with being saddled with two essays on Augustus, two on Spartan government, and yet another one on tragic drama for good measure, all due in this week. While I'm hesitant to promise anything given my track record of a complete and utter lack of punctuality, I should have plenty of time for writing after I've run the veritable gauntlet of a week this is shaping up to be.
