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The Lands Beyond (Outer Wilds/The Land Before Time)

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Loop 1 - Part 16
  • Threadmarks
    • [X] Take the Signalscope and the grappling hook
    -[X] Then observe Mission Control for a way to get information without being seen. Maybe a discreet entrance or an abandoned sideroom?

    You wince as you consider how to carry these items without any available space on your straps. Carefully, you inflate your tentacles and remove the Signalscope from its holder, making sure not to risk damaging the sensitive electronics inside. A familiar static plays from the speaker once you turn the Signalscope on, while the display reads "NO SIGNAL DETECTED." You should test it to make sure it's working by searching for the SkyNest's beacon when it's flying above you. Next, you retrieve the grappling hook from its rest, wrapping the fingers on your other tentacle between its rope. Having retrieved these, you awkwardly prepare to carry them out of the building.

    It is when you turn towards the door that a spine-chilling noise blasts out of the Signalscope's speakers while the display reads "UNIDENTIFIED SIGNAL." Immediately, you freeze at the shock, your brain overwhelmed by what you are hearing. The sound resembles the ethereal chanting of a choir, yet somehow is something much, much more. It seems to penetrate into your psyche, calling out to something deep and primordial within you.


    You are entranced for a good few seconds before you finally snap out. With a jolt, you turn the Signalscope away, and the signal disappears. Gasping for air, you try to make sense of what just happened.

    You've heard this signal once before. About a year ago, you and a few other hatchlings were sitting by a campfire in the depth of night, gathered for a stargazing hangout organized by Mendy. You remember how she aimed the lens of the Signalscope at the thin circle of Lofted Ether, then allowed hatchlings to gaze through, one by one. When it was your turn, you put your eyes by the eyepiece and saw the rust-colored surface of Lofted Ether in full detail. The Great Ravine stretched across a small portion in its center, with a faint blue light emanating from it. This is Sauriankind's only access point to Lofted Ether's interior, and piloting a craft through it is a rite of passage for astrosaurs.

    "Say, Mendy, you want to show us the signal part of the Signalscope?" asked a hatchling.

    "I, uh... oh, I think I can," she responded before she suddenly pulled the Signalscope away from your face. Disoriented for a few seconds, you found Mendy pointing towards a faintly shining star right above you, which you noticed was slowly moving across the sky.

    "That's the SkyNest passing over us. The Signalscope should be able to pick up its beacon, give me a sec..." she explained before fiddling with the device while aiming it straight upwards. When the receiver was pointed at the SkyNest, the speakers crackled to life, playing... a Saurian whistling?


    "Where's the whistling coming from?" asked a bewildered hatchling. Mendy chuckled.

    "Oh, this is just what the tracking beacon aboard the SkyNest is broadcasting. They customize one for each Expedition. I think this one's by Parker, our resident astrosaur aboard the SkyNest."

    "That his whistling?" asked the hatchling. Mendy only shrugged her shoulders. With the other hatchlings losing interest, Mendy lowered the Signalscope... right before the speakers blared to life. An eerie wail emerged from them while the display read "UNIDENTIFIED SIGNAL." The sound caused all of you to freeze as it stirred something within your minds. Locked in a trance, you stay perfectly still for a few seconds that feel like an eternity. Suddenly, Mendy pulled the Signalscope away, and the signal ceased. You were left with only silence. It took a few moments before Mendy dared say anything.

    "Must be some kind of malfunction. Don't worry about it. I'll take a look next morning."

    You never deigned to speak of this incident again. Nothing you came up with could explain what you had encountered, and those who had experienced it preferred to forget it had ever happened. But now, with the unknown signal having blared from the Signalscope like an angry ghost, you know that you can't just ignore it like you did previously. Thus, you resolve to experiment with the Signalscope, hoping to replicate the signal.

    When you first move the Signalscope back to the spot the signal first emerged from, which seems to be in the direction of the Great Valley, you hear only nothing. No matter how many times you wiggle the Signalscope, the signal doesn't reappear. Eventually, you give up and resolve to figure this out later. It is when you begin traveling to the Astrosaur Building's exit that the signal suddenly reappears. With a start, you accidentally jolt the Signalscope away, and the signal disappears again. This time, it was coming from somewhere upwards and to the left of the first location. However, when you turn the Signalscope to it, you are once again faced with radio silence. Frustration builds within you once again, until you finally get the idea to move the Signalscope downwards and right. Then, the signal appears for a third time... right back where you started! Is the source somehow switching between two places?

    To test, you turn the Signalscope away from the signal, then point it back. As expected, radio silence. Then, you repeat the procedure, and when you turn the Signalscope back on the location, the signal appears. So, it does appear and disappear when you don't observe it.

    Deduction Roll (Challenging): 6 + 5 + 4 (Deduction) = 15
    15 vs. 12 = Success

    There's only one other thing you've seen before that behaves like this. The "Quantum Shards" in the Museum and the Zoological Laboratory. But the Shard you are detecting seems to be moving a much greater distance than both of them. Does this mean there is a third Shard in the Valley you haven't discovered yet?

    Before you do anything else, you press the "log" button on the Signalscope, saving the quantum signal into its memory. Now, it will be able to search for similar signals from up to hundreds of kilometers away, allowing you to track down any other Quantum Shards that are lying around.

    New Frequency Added to Signalscope Memory: Quantum Fluctuations. Check the Character Sheet for a record.
    Discovery Log updated.

    Whatever is causing this, you have more pressing matters to deal with. Namely, trying to figure out what MBV is hiding. You shut down the Signalscope, then carry it and the grappling hook outside the Astrosaur Building. Mission Control lies in front of you, beckoning for you to walk right up to it. After all, you haven't seen anyone else around.

    It is when you a few seconds out of the Astrosaur Building that you see the door on Mission Control's wall in front of you slowly open. With a panic, you scramble backwards until you are back into the Astrosaur Building. With you now out of sight, you peek back through the doorway. A digger is standing outside the doorway to Mission Control, scanning their surroundings. They don't seem to be heading anywhere and you can't just let them spot you. You'd better figure out a way to avoid them if you want to get into Mission Control.

    [] Write-in actions

    Time: 7 hours/?? hours
    Health: 10/10
    Food: 100%
    Sleep: 8 hours of wakefulness remaining
    Inventory: Space Suit, Bridge Drone, (On Suit) Auto-Doc, (On Suit) Dart Shooter, (In Tentacle) Signalscope, (In Tentacle) Grappling Hook
     
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  • Threadmarks
    • [] Go around the building to search for other points of entry first.
    -[] If there isn't any other way in on the ground level, use your tentacles and the grappling hook to check the roof.

    Alternate plan:
    [] Shoot him with a dart.

    Or
    [X] Just walk up and say you have important info about the Creep and the Far Beyonders.

    Edit: and actually swapping votes to the last option. Littlefoot knows something bad is going on and is unaware of the time loop as of yet, so I can see the motivation to actually go to the professionals with this.
     
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    [X] Just walk up and say you have important info about the Creep and the Far Beyonders.
     
    [X] Go around the building to search for other points of entry first.
    -[X] If there isn't any other way in on the ground level, use your tentacles and the grappling hook to check the roof.

    We did just steal some of their equipment so walking up to them may not be the best idea.
     
    I'm sure we'll get in trouble for that, but I think that'll work to our advantage anyways. They'll have to bring us to a perso with authority in order to deal with such a serious breach. I just hope they're desperate enough about the Creep to see the value of bringing us and our drone to the Far Beyonder Creep studying facility.
     
    Due to the importance of this vote, I'll leave it open for at least until next morning, if not next evening.
     
    [X] Go around the building to search for other points of entry first.
    -[X] If there isn't any other way in on the ground level, use your tentacles and the grappling hook to check the roof.

    I think maybe we should save the go to the authorities for when we have some serious evidence, another time loop, or at least when we aren't wearing the space suit.

    If nothing else we can just keep going until we fail a roll and get caught. Then we can tell them everything.
     
    [X] Go around the building to search for other points of entry first.
    -[X] If there isn't any other way in on the ground level, use your tentacles and the grappling hook to check the roof.

    Discretion is the better part of Valour, quite frankly time wasted explaining what we were doing, and why did we steal equipment if we are caught is time wasted on things like gathering information, honing our skills and reverse engineering technology.
     
    Adhoc vote count started by gutza1 on Jan 6, 2023 at 9:50 PM, finished with 9 posts and 5 votes.
    • [X] Go around the building to search for other points of entry first.
      -[X] If there isn't any other way in on the ground level, use your tentacles and the grappling hook to check the roof.
      [X] Just walk up and say you have important info about the Creep and the Far Beyonders.
    Click to expand...
     
    Loop 1 - Part 17
  • Threadmarks
    • [X] Go around the building to search for other points of entry first.
    -[X] If there isn't any other way in on the ground level, use your tentacles and the grappling hook to check the roof.

    You observe the digger closely. He scans the surroundings for a few moments, then turns towards the lift. You watch his every movement as he steps onto the lift and presses the button to descend, only daring to take your eyes off him once he has disappeared below the rim of the Great Wall. After glancing to make sure nobody else has emerged from Mission Control, you hatch a plan. Carefully, you set down the Signalscope on the wall beside you, as you'll need your tentacles free for what you're about to do. Then, you cautiously tread out of the building, keeping an eye on the door all the while.

    You have a strong feeling that many of the digger's colleagues are right behind the door he emerged from, so you resolve to head to the other side of Mission Control. Quickening your pace, you walk by the wooden frame of the building, ducking as you pass by multiple windows on your way. Once, you even deign a peek through one, only to see what appears to be some kind of rudimentary office. Is this part of Mission Control even for controlling missions, or for other things? Well, MBV's leaders need to work somewhere.

    It is when you reach the other end of the building that you spot something that'll make your job much easier: another door built into the side. After making sure the grappling hook is safe in one tentacle, you grip the door's handle with the other and pull it open. When you see that nobody is waiting for you on the other end, you move yourself through and into the building. You are faced with a short corridor with a bend to the right, after which it resumes its original course. On its walls are doors with placards besides them, indicating to whom these rooms belong to. You read the following names:
    • Malin, Director
    • Cap, Chief of Astrosaurics
    • Melly, Head Scientist
    • Zanz Jr., Chief Propulsion Engineer
    • Qiu, Chief of Crewed Vehicle Design
    At the end of the corridor is another door with the label "Planning Room" over its frame. You realize that while there may be plenty of useful information to be found here, you'll have to be careful. After all, there could be anybody sitting behind one of the doors in this corridor, and you haven't figured out how to test for their presence without alerting them to you. How shall you proceed?

    [] Write-in actions

    Time: 7 hours/?? hours
    Health: 10/10
    Food: 100%
    Sleep: 8 hours of wakefulness remaining
    Inventory: Space Suit, Bridge Drone, (On Suit) Auto-Doc, (On Suit) Dart Shooter, (In Tentacle) Grappling Hook
     
  • Threadmarks
    • [X] Shuffle up and listen by the Planning room door.
    -[X] Try to identify who's voices are audible in that room if any. Their offices would probably be empty.
    -[X] Continue eavesdropping at the Planning room if there is anything interest being spoken about, otherwise check the presumably empty offices.
    -[X] If you don't have any clues to which offices are empty, send your invisible scout out the door to take pictures through the office windows (and that have a window at least).
     
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    [X] Shuffle up and listen by the Planning room door.
    -[X] Try to identify who's voices are audible in that room if any. Their offices would probably be empty.
    -[X] Continue eavesdropping at the Planning room if there is anything interest being spoken about, otherwise check the presumably empty offices.
    -[X] If you don't have any clues to which offices are empty, send your invisible scout out the door to take pictures through the office windows (and that have a window at least).
     
    [X] Shuffle up and listen by the Planning room door.
    -[X] Try to identify who's voices are audible in that room if any. Their offices would probably be empty.
    -[X] Continue eavesdropping at the Planning room if there is anything interest being spoken about, otherwise check the presumably empty offices.
    -[X] If you don't have any clues to which offices are empty, send your invisible scout out the door to take pictures through the office windows (and that have a window at least).
     
    Adhoc vote count started by gutza1 on Jan 8, 2023 at 9:23 AM, finished with 3 posts and 3 votes.
    • [X] Shuffle up and listen by the Planning room door.
      -[X] Try to identify who's voices are audible in that room if any. Their offices would probably be empty.
      -[X] Continue eavesdropping at the Planning room if there is anything interest being spoken about, otherwise check the presumably empty offices.
      -[X] If you don't have any clues to which offices are empty, send your invisible scout out the door to take pictures through the office windows (and that have a window at least).
    Click to expand...
     
    Loop 1 - Part 18
  • Threadmarks
    • [X] Shuffle up and listen by the Planning room door.
    -[X] Try to identify who's voices are audible in that room if any. Their offices would probably be empty.
    -[X] Continue eavesdropping at the Planning room if there is anything interest being spoken about, otherwise check the presumably empty offices.
    -[X] If you don't have any clues to which offices are empty, send your invisible scout out the door to take pictures through the office windows (and that have a window at least).

    You sneak towards the Planning Room. Once you arrive by the ajar door, you crane your ears to pick up the sound coming through your helmet's speakers. Inside, you hear three voices, two of which you recognize as Malin and Cap. All are strained, yet another example of the worry that has permeated MBV. Malin is the first to speak.

    "...Qiu, please tell me there's another explanation for the radio silence than total loss of crew."

    The unknown voice, which you now assume to be Qiu, replies.

    "Given that Paron has not reported for the past twenty-five hours, my suspicion is that the relay dish on the Hope was damaged, perhaps by a micrometeoroid. If this was the case, then repairing it should be well within Paron's capabilities. Unfortunately, all we can do is wait."

    "I... I hope to the Traveler you are correct. I... I can't bear to think what would happen if the crew were lost. To have to... face the City and tell it that we got our astrosaurs killed once again... or worse. Why did we even approve of this mission to that Traveler-forsaken moon?" replies Malin, his voice trembling. Cap replies.

    "You know what the Mayor said. What Melly found... well, we had no choice, did we? If we don't trace the infestation back to its source, we won't have a moon left to live on."

    The room is silent for a moment before Malin speaks again.

    "Cap, the next window to contact Expedition 39 opens in fifteen minutes, right?"

    "Right," replies Cap.

    "Well, we'll send a message to them and hope for the best," replies Malin. The room is silent afterwards. You make a tally of the personnel in your head. Malin, Qiu, and Cap are accounted for, so that leaves Melly and Zanz Jr. Unfortunately, neither of their offices were facing the outside of the building and both lack windows. You can't make sure that their offices are unoccupied, so you decide to check the ones you know will be empty.

    Discovery Log updated.

    First on the list is Director Malin's. You feel somewhat guilty treading on this sacred ground, but you push on nonetheless. His interior is modestly decorated, with shelves of documents lining the walls. On his desk is a stylized model of a rocketship mounted on a stand, soaring into space. Next to it is a framed picture of Malin along with some other diggers - likely family. There are sheets of documents on his desk as well, but unlike the mess you saw at the Assembly Yard, all of them are neatly organized into stacks. You skim through them, finding that they are merely accounts of the various resources the City has allocated to MBV and its expenditures.

    Bored out of your mind, you almost give up entirely when one document draws your attention. You spot some notes relating to a meeting between Malin and Assin, the digger who serves as Mayor Opal's beleaguered deputy. You've seen him a few times, usually running around the City while responding to whatever issues pop up day to day. At times it feels like he's the one doing all the governing while the Mayor is holed up in the Observatory with her telescope. The meeting notes seems to be about growing discontent with MBV and the City's authorities in general among segments of the citizenry, with Assin mentioning the risk of "future insurrections." You know that Assin's office is carved into the side of Saurus Peak. Perhaps this is a lead you could follow on later?

    The next office on the list is Cap's. This one is somewhat messier than Malin's, and the desk lacks any decorations at all. The main documents of interest you find on his desk are a roster of active astrosaurs as well as the results of evaluations conducted on active and prospective astrosaurs. To your shock, you find that both Edmon and Head Scientist Melly have been evaluated for spaceflight in the past few months. You could have sworn that Edmon had retired years ago, and you wonder why Melly would risk traveling to the Mysterious Beyond herself given her position.

    Discovery Log updated.

    ...Well, you can already think of at least one reason why. That does beg the question: is Melly currently in the Mysterious Beyond, and not at the Astrodrome? You'll have to investigate later.

    The last office is Qiu's. This one is as neatly organized as Malin's, but lacks decorations on its desk. The desk's documents are mainly diagrams of various crewed vehicles or habitats. You see a diagram of an MBV mothership named the "Forlorn Hope," with a whopping eight jettisonable propellant tanks and the LCAV-01 you saw schematics for earlier docked to it. Is this the vessel used for Expedition 39? Another diagram of interest is that of an moderately-sized habitation module designated as a "Shrouded Ember Forward Base." You struggle to see how anyone could live in that for extended periods of time. In addition, you spot a diagram of what appears to be an oceangoing vessel with landing engines and multiple modules attached to it, including a Gale's Abyss Ascent Vehicle.

    You are about to move on when you spot another document of interest on the desk. It appears to be a "development log" of something called "CORS 2.0," which, from your limited understanding, seems to be some kind of computer program used by astrosaurs to navigate in space. The functions listed in the development log include "Ascent," "Rendezvous," "Interlunar Transfers," and "Landing," and all of them had been tested by three months ago. It seems bizarre. You could have sworn that only a Saurian could pilot a spacecraft, so how could a computer do an astrosaur's job?

    Part of you wishes it is true. If CORS 2.0 could do the things an astrosaur could, does that mean it could take you into the Mysterious Beyond as well? Of course, you immediately scoff at the notion. It would take a miracle for you to be able to leave Wild Nest.

    You know there's more to explore here, but you wonder how you're going to get into the last two offices without getting caught.

    [] Write-in actions

    Time: 7 hours/?? hours
    Health: 10/10
    Food: 100%
    Sleep: 8 hours of wakefulness remaining
    Inventory: Space Suit, Bridge Drone, (On Suit) Auto-Doc, (On Suit) Dart Shooter, (In Tentacle) Grappling Hook
     
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  • Threadmarks
    • [X] Use the bridge drone's cloaking ability and carefully investigate the last two offices.
    -[x] Find somewhere close by to hide while still stating within range of the Drone.

    Honestly this may be our best option, we are not geared for Metal Gear stealth tactics, the Drone has the ability to be unseen and we can remotely operate it.
     
    The drone can't really open doors though. We'd have to open the office doors ourselves, and if someone is in there then we're already caught.

    So here's my alternative:
    [X] Hide outside of the building and send your drone to knock against the doors you haven't checked yet. If there is no answer from in the room after a few bonks, go into that office.
    -[X] If you get caught, tell them you have important information about the Creep (The fact that you can access Far Beyonder records and there is a Far Beyonder Creep research facility 100km north.)
     
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    As a heads up, I'm going to close the vote and write the update tomorrow evening EST, as tomorrow is the first day of my university semester.
     
    [X] Hide outside of the building and send your drone to knock against the doors you haven't checked yet. If there is no answer from in the room after a few bonks, go into that office.
    -[X] If you get caught, tell them you have important information about the Creep (The fact that you can access Far Beyonder records and there is a Far Beyonder Creep research facility 100km north.)
     
    Vote closed:
    Adhoc vote count started by gutza1 on Jan 9, 2023 at 10:26 PM, finished with 4 posts and 3 votes.
    • [X] Hide outside of the building and send your drone to knock against the doors you haven't checked yet. If there is no answer from in the room after a few bonks, go into that office.
      -[X] If you get caught, tell them you have important information about the Creep (The fact that you can access Far Beyonder records and there is a Far Beyonder Creep research facility 100km north.)
      [X] Use the bridge drone's cloaking ability and carefully investigate the last two offices.
      -[x] Find somewhere close by to hide while still stating within range of the Drone.
    Click to expand...
     
    Loop 1 - Part 19
  • Threadmarks
    • [X] Hide outside of the building and send your drone to knock against the doors you haven't checked yet. If there is no answer from in the room after a few bonks, go into that office.
    -[X] If you get caught, tell them you have important information about the Creep (The fact that you can access Far Beyonder records and there is a Far Beyonder Creep research facility 100km north.)

    Realizing that you are safer outside than in the middle of MBV's workspace, you quickly head back outside the door. Hugging the walls of Mission Control, you order your Bridge Drone to cloak itself and follow a path right into Melly's office door. You wince as you hear a faint bump in the hallway. However, the drone doesn't record any sound on the other end. Relieved, you quickly reenter the hallway and open the door to Melly's office.

    The interior is, as you expected, neatly organized. Pinned on the wall behind Melly's desk are various pictures of the biological research you assume Melly has conducted, including images of cell clusters underneath a microscope and field observations of the lifeforms discovered on Lofted Ether and Gale's Abyss. However, on the desk, you find a scattered array of photos depicting what you assume is Creep. You see a faded image of a valley covered in Creep growth, with strange tree-sized, pustule-covered stalks emerging from the ground. From the looks of it, this must be a place on Wild Nest. Creep Valley, perhaps? You spot another image taken from the air of a vast landscape of Creep, dotted by what you suspect are even larger tendrils than the ones from Creep Valley. The next pictures are on different moons entirely. You spot a network of Creep vines tying together multiple small skybergs on Lofted Ether, an underwater kelp forest on Gale's Abyss having been overtaken by Creep, and finally, a haunting picture of Creep growth as far as the eye can see beneath a sickly yellow sky, punctuated by enormous and hideous-looking tendrils.

    Yet, it is not this that terrifies you the most, for among the pictures you spot what can only be a map of Wild Nest itself. A comparatively tiny portion of its surface is colored in yellow, yet surrounding those zones are branching yellow lines that were sketched by somebody. Taken together, these lines cover a significant portion of the moon's surface, with the map's legend providing a disturbing label: "Growth Zones."

    Has the Creep truly been spreading beneath the notice of Saurians? How long has this been going on for? And more importantly, how fast is it spreading now?

    Discovery Log updated.

    The implications of Melly's research are not ones you feel like considering right now. With only one office to go, you feel like you can risk hiding out in this one. Once again, you order your Bridge Drone to cloak itself and bang on the door of Zanz Jr. However, to your dismay, you hear a noise come from inside it. A few seconds later, you hear the door open and spot, through a crack in Melly's door, Zanz Jr. poking her head out and scanning the hallway for a few moments before retreating back into her office. It appears this one is going to be trickier. You could just try to wait until she leaves her office on her own... but perhaps you have something on hand that could get her away, or otherwise render her not an obstacle?

    [] Write-in actions

    Time: 7 hours/?? hours
    Health: 10/10
    Food: 100%
    Sleep: 8 hours of wakefulness remaining
    Inventory: Space Suit, Bridge Drone, (On Suit) Auto-Doc, (On Suit) Dart Shooter, (In Tentacle) Grappling Hook
     
  • Threadmarks
    • Well obviously we could use the Dart Shooter, but I don't know if I want to resort to doing that to someone innocent just to get into their office. Especially since Littlefoot doesn't know about the loops yet and thus would be doing so with the (supposed) knowledge that there could be consequences.

    So I'm just going to vote to leave, we can come back later in the night if we want to try this office again.

    [X] Abandon this for now. Go use the Signalscope to search for that Quantum Shard.
     
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