Blaguarro Town T2 Deepest Lab

[Chibi Pika]

The Cipher base was all cold steel and complex machinery--a stark contrast to the general indoor environments present throughout the Soja. Sterile, functional, artificial. A maze of rooms and hallways branched off from the main lobby; it seemed like most of the base was all on the same level. And yet, the group had known, from Seth's intel, that the base contained a second basement floor, accessible from the main elevator.

What would the Wayfarers find down there...?

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It was almost nostalgic, in a bitter sort of way. Infiltrating a base, sneaking into a lab to steal organization secrets. It had been a while since Jade had done this, but the instincts were still there.

The elevator ride wasn't long, but the descent dragged on longer than it should have, knowing that a fight was already raging on the floor above. Their whole operation was on a timer. So long as that distraction held, they'd be free to investigate the lower floor. Probably. There were cameras everywhere, after all. No point in trashing them when that'd advertise their presence just as much.

It wasn't like they couldn't hold their own if there was a fight... Jade just really hoped that the majority of Cipher's forces would be busy.

The elevator door opened on yet another metallic corridor. A few doors branched off on either side, but their destination was at the far end. A heavy door with another key card reader.

Was it Jade's imagination, or was it darker down here?

“Everyone ready?” she asked, turning to the others.

 

[Ambyssin]

"Actually, I think I left a quiche in the oven. You guys good here?" Nova deadpanned. Silently he prayed the other side would hold no morally dubious computer programs or AI or any of that nonsense. He had enough of that the last time he did this.

 

[Shiny Phantump]

Gladion was currently experiencing whatever the opposite of nostalgia was. Even if he hadn’t been the one to steal the keycard into this deep labs, the similarities were not lost on him. Could he even say the compulsion that had driven him down here was different from that he’d had before?

It was only now, descending into down, down, down that he wondered if he might have been a poor fit for this. Would he really be more prepared to bear whatever he would see down here for having done it before? Or was he only going to pick open old wounds? He didn’t even fully know what he’d signed up for.

“They really need some music for this elevator ride,” he remarked as if it would make him feel less tense.

It didn’t.

“Nevermind… Listen, let’s just get this over with.”

 

[Chibi Pika]

Jade halfway reached out a paw toward Gladion but then thought better of it. She settled on what hopefully passed for a reassuring smile.

"Right, uh... let's go."

With the swipe of a card key, the lab door slid open. The group filed inside a dimly lit room--it wasn't lit from above, but rather, by the dozen or so computer monitors covering the far wall. At a glance, Jade couldn't tell what was displayed on them. Test subject info, maybe...? Maybe someone else would be able to figure it out. For now, she wanted to get some idea of what all was down here, and what all they needed to sabotage.

There was a low hum in the air making it hard to concentrate. Jade wandered in its direction, past various storage shelves and strange devices sporting mechanical arms and power sensors ans who-knows-what else. She passed a service elevator (so the main staff elevator they'd used wasn't the only way down here?) and a series of conveyor belts leading out from it. Until finally...

"Oh."

There it was, on the far end of the lab, a gargantuan machine consisting of a circular core ringed by tanks filled with a dark substance. On either side of it, conveyor belts led toward hatches in the outer frame, currently shut. One entry, one exit.

It... wasn't hard to guess what this was probably for.

 

[Shiny Phantump]

"Try to call that other elevator," Gladion asked Laura, sounding terser than intended. "If every elevator is on this floor, we'll hear it if someone on another one calls it to theirs to meet us, which will give us time to prepare. Or, if it's already coming here... Well..." He trailed off. There wouldn't be any preparation at that point.

Resisting the urge to just start trying to break things, Gladion walked up to one of the monitors to take a closer look. If he was lucky, there would be something of value to glean from it. He doubted they'd follow the scientific logging practices from Aether, but there still had to be something, right?

Part of him almost wanted someone to show up. To give him a target. An outlet for the emotions the toxic atmosphere of this place wrought.

 

[Sinderella]

Odette kept to her corner of the lift, drumming her fingertips against her thigh impatiently as she felt it descend, descend, descend. Everyone on the floor above them was already engaged in a fight, and they were still on a fucking lift. To make matters just slightly more maddening, the group descending with her consisted of faces she hadn't really got to know very well. Dave was probably the one she knew the best. She'd only just made up with Gladion. Jade and Laura had both said things about infiltrating at the meeting and she hadn't spoken to either of them since. She saw Nova around occasionally.

Whatever. They'd all made it this far. They'd figure it out.

The lab felt eerily familiar. Not in a "light cheery facade hiding the handiwork of a scientist gone off the deep end" type way; rather more of a "bad things definitely happen here" type way. The vat of pure fucking darkness definitely helped seal that vibe. She distantly wondered if her mother would find any of this thoroughly enthralling, or just as disgusting as she did. Probably both.

She cautiously, wordlessly, approached the large, ominous machine. On the hunt for anything in particular that would stand out...

 

[Jackie Cat]

Laura nodded at Gladion's suggestion, and went to call the service elevator. Hopefully her pass worked everywhere. She'd just spotted a psychic in a lab coat, assumed his pass had decent clearance, and nabbed it off him knowing he'd have trouble with a Dark-type like herself. It had worked, incredibly, but she still felt like she was about to feel a hand on her shoulder. Howls...

That machine was hard to pull her eyes from. Those tanks... Was that some kind of liquid Shadow energy? Her eyes followed the conveyor belts, the hatches, the obscene whole of the thing, her brain resisting making sense of it.

"Saints," she muttered. ...Apparently she'd picked up some Forlasan lingo... "Is there anyone... in that thing?"

Her pulse thumped, and she reflexively tamped down Shadow, just as she'd been doing ever since the team started manifesting the stuff. This probably wasn't the place to have a spiral...

 

[Butterfree]

It was really fucking jarring to descend into the depths of a criminal organization's lair after a couple of months in cowboy world to find computers.

Obviously Cipher must have brought them from their world; straightforward enough how that'd happened. Was no one else aware of these criminals with literal fucking future technology right under their feet? Had they ever considered just selling their mundane, commonplace tech to these people to whom it'd be pure goddamn magic, instead of setting out to abduct societal undesirables? Surely at least some of the low-level grunts would've been tempted?

He considered the giant machine with the suspicious vats surrounding it. Something that performed Shadowfication? He padded warily around it, looking for controls of some kind, or whether the hatches seemed openable. He also squinted at the monitors on the wall, hoping to make sense of what was there.

 

[Chibi Pika]

The first monitor that Gladion peered at seemed to be some kind of table with experiment data. Test subject name, ID no, input, power output, test duration, % retention after 24 hours, current status, next scheduled exposure.... The notes were all very clinical and seemed related to how well the subjects took to the exposure.

Jade flipped through various filing cabinets, not really sure what she was looking for. There was always the chance that any of it would be useful, but they couldn't exactly grab everything. Her eyes feel on what appeared to be some reports from another facility. There wasn't time to inspect it in detail, but she shoved it into her bag all the same.

Every so often, her eyes flickered toward the huge machine in the far room, and the tanks surrounding it. That sea of darkness flashed through her memory once again and she suppressed a shudder.

Laura and Dave were busy investigating the machine itself. It didn't appear to have any physical latches on the outside that would let them get at the inside. Maybe one of the control panels operated the hatches? Although, activating the machine didn't exactly seem safe...

Jade's ears flicked toward the door suddenly. A sound, just outside--the fluttering of wings.

Before she could say anything, a Murkrow wearing a yellow scarf and a strange metal visor flapped into the room, doing a quick circle overhead before jolting with alarm.

"Gah! What do you punks think you're doing in here?!" he squawked. "You're in for a world of hurt if you don't get lost!"

Crap, should've figured they'd have company eventually. Without thinking, Jade ducked behind a machine, grabbing a handful of Iron Thorns from her bag and readying to pop out and hurl them...

And then she paused, blinking. Was he... alone? There were six of them here, and he didn't look all that strong...

 

[Shiny Phantump]

Gladion looked up skeptically at the single bird.

“Are we now?”

 

[Sinderella]

"Gah! What do you punks think you're doing in here?!" he squawked. "You're in for a world of hurt if you don't get lost!"

Odette turned away from her investigation of the large machine along with Dave and Laura to eye the Murkrow--first with a start, then with suspicious doubtfulness.

"You're talking an awful lot for someone who could fit in my other mouth," she said cooly. "What, no posse?"

 

[Jackie Cat]

Kill him, thought Laura, for a sick moment. Was that Shadow, Radiance, or just her own head? This wasn't some random Cipher goon, not privy to all the fucked up shit, this was someone who helped make Shadows. The anger in her gut left her nauseated.

Was he part of the Murkrow spy network, or just an offworlder with a 'krow-like spirit...?

She kept working on figuring out the control panels, making herself small, gripping her Stealth Scarf in hopes that the squad's sassier members would keep the Murkrow's attention. Maybe she should plant a blasting charge on this thing. Wait, shit, she'd handed those to Seth. Fine. This would take as long as it took.

"Watch for more arrivals," she whispered to Jade.

 

[Ambyssin]

Nova hoped someone would guard the door as he instead made a much riskier gambit.

"You're in for a world of hurt if you don't get lost!"

"Counteroffer." Nova stepped up to one of the tanks. They were probably proofed, but were they designed with radiant energy in mind? He doubted it. So, it was time to bluff. "You get on the ground and keep your wings where I can see them or I start smashing these tanks open. And I know none of your group wants to get exposed to this stuff."

Why else was this machine seemingly automated? These people, despite now being 'mon themselves, didn't want to subject themselves to shadow energy. That was why they were trafficking locals.

Nova could seize on that. This guy wasn't in charge of squat. Surely, he feared the shadows to some extent.

 

[Chibi Pika]

The Murkrow paused, processing the response that his threat had gotten. Even if his expression wasn't visible, it wasn't exactly hard to see the gears turning in his head.

"Ngh... you're so going to regret this!" he called out before pivoting in midair and swooping back out through the door.

Jade blinked at the spot where he'd been after his immediate retreat.

"Well, uh. I don't think we are, actually," she said, rubbing behind her head. Still, part of her was definitely relieved. She wasn't entirely sure if Nova was bluffing or not and didn't want to imagine being in the room if those tanks burst.

Dampened voices echoed from the other room. They would've been hard to make out as a human, but that was one of the advantages of being a cat now--way better hearing.

"Sister Lovrina! We've got a huge problem! Intruders in the containment room!"

"Oh my godddd, Naps, are you, like, for real right now? I so don't have time for this!"

The rest of the conversation was too muffled to make out, but after that, Jade could hear footsteps, approaching the lab. Small ones? Really small ones.

A tiny, pink goblin strolled in through the door, and what on earth was she carrying, some kind of giant, oversized hammer? It--it barely fit through the door, and she was just... casually bouncing it on her shoulder like it weighed nothing.

"Oh wowwww, there really is a party in here!" she exclaimed, sliding her green-lensed goggles onto her forehead and peering at the intruders. "Did you come all this way just to see my handiwork? Well, that's too bad! You seeee, we kind of have a problem. You're like, not allowed to be in here right now. So I'm gonna have to like, punish you? What a #bummer, right?"

Her gaze locked onto Nova, who was still poised with one claw against a tank, and her expression shifted in a way that was hard to make out. "Sweetie, you might want to get down from there or I'm going to get really, really angry," she said in a sickeningly sweet voice, laced with poison.

Lovrina hefted the hammer from her shoulder and gave it a casual test swing that made it look practically weightless before leveling it at the Wayfarers. "Sorry, not sorry!"

Lovrina ate her Violent Seed!
Lovrina ate her Reflex Seed!
Lovrina used a Protect Orb!

Objective: Defeat Cipher Admin Lovrina
Objective: Neutralize the Shadow Machine

 

[Ambyssin]

"Oh, hey, the valley girl's made of metal." Nova licked his beak. "Perfect. Let's kill her quickly so I can eat her and and have her stupid machine for dessert. Tinkaton ore tastes great with a few herbs and spices."

 

[Sinderella]

The longer Odette listened to the tinkaton talk, the more annoyance started to ignite along the tips of her nerves. It burnt its way up her system, like fire over a bomb fuse, and she started to feel her fingers twitching for her gun.

“Oh my gods, I want her dead,” she said to nobody in particular. She hadn’t even meant to say it out loud, but the “hashtag bummer” sent her right over the fucking edge. Jawile was twitching violently against her stem, and for once, Odette wasn’t in disagreement. She had the chains off in no time flat.

“̷O̷h̵!̷ ̴O̶h̵!̴ ̴I̴ ̵c̶a̴n̵ ̶p̵l̸a̷y̵ ̴t̷h̶i̸s̵ ̷g̶a̸m̵e̸!̸G̴o̷ ̴a̸h̵e̸a̴d̸ ̴a̵n̵d̶ ̷b̴o̸o̴k̴m̸a̴r̵k̵ ̵t̴h̷i̸s̶ ̸o̵n̷e̷ ̶f̵o̵r̴ ̵y̶o̸u̵r̸ ̸I̸n̷s̵t̸a̸,̸ ̴b̶e̴s̸t̶i̷e̸.̴” Jawile said. They cleared their throat, before a wicked gash of a grin split them in two again.

“̵H̵a̷s̵h̴t̷a̴g̵ ̸y̶o̴u̸r̷,̷ ̶h̵a̷s̵h̴t̶a̷g̷ ̴h̸a̷m̶m̶e̴r̶,̷ ̴h̷a̸s̴h̷t̸a̸g̴ ̴l̷o̶o̶k̶s̷,̴ ̸h̸a̸s̷h̷t̴a̵g̴ ̷l̷i̶k̶e̶,̵ ̸h̷a̸s̸h̷t̶a̷g̸ ̷a̷n̶ ̶a̸n̵a̵l̷ ̸p̴r̸o̵b̶e̴.̴ ̴H̴a̸s̶h̶t̷a̴g̷ ̵s̷o̶r̷r̵y̸ ̸t̷o̷ ̸b̷r̷e̸a̵k̸ ̷i̷t̸ ̸t̴o̷ ̴y̸o̸u̴,̵ ̶b̷e̸s̷t̶i̶e̵ ̷b̴u̶t̵ ̷i̴t̴’̸s̶ ̸b̷e̵s̵t̴ ̶y̷o̵u̸ ̷h̴e̴a̶r̴ ̴i̷t̵ ̸f̷r̸o̷m̴ ̵a̵n̷o̶t̵h̶e̵r̴ ̴s̸t̸e̵e̶l̸/̶f̵a̷i̷r̵y̸.̸ ̷S̸o̷r̷r̵y̵y̵y̶y̷y̷y̷y̶y̸.̴”̷

Spoiler: Odette AUX Turn 1

Brawler Strike @ Lorvina (Steel)

 

[Shiny Phantump]

Gladion pulled the monitor off the wall, digging his talons through the material, and threw it at Lovrina’s head.

“I’m surprised you’re even here. I’d have expected someone like you to have died of internet withdrawal by now. How’d you build all this without the ability to form a sane sentence, are your design docs annotated with emoji? Or does the machine secretly just work by just trapping victims down here until having to listen to you talk breaks their soul?”

Spoiler: Gladion Turn 1

Gladion (114 STM, 5 TMP, +0 SPD, +0 ACC, 0 SHD, 0 RAD)
- **Act:** Item (Cacnea Spike) @ [Lovrina]
- Protect (-18 STM, +2 TMP)
- Taunt @ [Lovrina] (-20 STM, +2 TMP)
- Tri Attack @ Lovrina (-29 STM, effect, -8 TMP, +2 TMP)
Net change: -67 STM, -2 TMP, +0 SHD, +0 RAD
Net totals: 47 STM (75 after regen), 3 TMP, 0 SHD, 0 RAD
(TAKE COVER)

 

[Butterfree]

[Flavor TBA]

Spoiler: Turn 1

Dave (122 STM, 5 TMP, +0 SPD, +0 ACC, 0 SHD, 0 RAD)
- Receive (Helping Hand)
- Hone Claws (-18 STM, +2 TMP)
- **Act:** SHADOW Focus (+5 TMP)
- STRONG SHADOW Assurance @ Lovrina (-22.5 STM, +5 TMP, +15 SHD)
- Activate ability (Pickpocket) @ Lovrina's +Atk
- Rock Smash @ Lovrina (-11 STM, effect, -5 TMP, +3 TMP)
Net change: -52 STM, +10 TMP, +15 SHD, +0 RAD
Net totals: 70 STM (100 after regen), 15 TMP, 15 SHD, 0 RAD
(TAKE COVER)

 

[Ambyssin]

"Right then." Nova took a few deep breaths. It was time for the bluff to be... less of a bluff. Time to see if Nova could do just a twinge with this new energy. And learn exactly how it could interact with shadows.

And Odette spewing her usual insults at that stupid human was a good enough excuse. Nova focused on that spark that Luz had passed to him. He drew from the warmth... and pushed it into blast seed he'd produced from his satchel.

Nova scanned the machine for whatever looked the most sensitive... and hurled the now-radiant blast seed at the machine.

"Oops." Tone stoic, he immediately channeled that same energy that got the goons to go for him back in the Oasis. "My claws slipped."

He didn't break eye contact with this lady. Because cool guys don't look at explosions.

Spoiler: O Lord, bless this thy hand grenade, that with it thou mayst blow thine enemies to tiny bits, in thy mercy (Turn 1)

Nova (100 STM, 5 TMP, +0 SPD, +0 ACC, 0 SHD, 0 RAD)
- **Act:** RADIANT Focus (+5 TMP)
- Interact @ Small Blast Seed: Infuse with radiance (-3 TMP, +? RAD)
- **Act:** Item (Small Blast Seed) @ Shadow Machine (-2 TMP)
- Iron Defense (-13.5 STM, +2 TMP)
- Follow Me (-16 STM, +2 TMP)
- Follow Me (-12 STM, +2 TMP)
Net change: -42 STM, +0 TMP, +0 SHD, +0 RAD
Net totals: 58 STM (83 after regen), 11 TMP, 0 SHD, ? RAD

Messages:

Nova's Radiant Small Blast Seed deals 20 damage to the Shadow Machine!
Nova's Follow Me draws enemy attention!

 

[Jackie Cat]

Laura looked up from the control panel, tail thrashing and ears flattened. Howls afar, Nova and Odette sounded fucking murderous out loud. Radiance, Shadow, or neither? Maybe it was just an attempt to intimidate the new arrival. Whatever, the rest of the squad could scrap with the Cipher scientist, Laura would keep a cool head one way or the other.

Stay calm. Think of it like a Gym challenge. What's the win condition? Not elimination, not necessarily. They were here for the machine. But the priority was still KOing the Tinkaton, or they'd fold to her offense. Fine.

"Gladion's up first – Dave, follow through! Assurance! Roll with the hammer if you get hit; put her off balance when you strike!"

She snapped her digits, and felt the lurch of connection as Dave received catalysing energy from her. This was how she fought. Her eyes narrowed, catching a hard reflection near Lovrina's body – better shatter that. She reached for the nearest weighty object – a coffee mug.

my people skills are fine!
IT'S MY TOLERANCE TO IDIOTS THAT NEEDS WORK​

Yep – this was an expendable projectile.

Laura launched the mug at Lovrina, winced as something bright and unearthly detonated nearby, and ducked back behind the control panel to continue trying to figure the fucking thing out.

Spoiler: Laura Turn 1

Laura (117 STM, 5 TMP, +0 SPD, +0 ACC, 0 SHD, 0 RAD)
- **Act:** Focus (+5 TMP, -20 SHD, -20 RAD)
- AGILE Coaching @ Dave (-27 STM, +2 TMP)
- Coaching @ Dave (-18 STM, +2 TMP)
- Helping Hand @ Dave (-8 STM, +2 TMP)
- **Act:** Item (Cacnea Spike) @ Lovrina
- Interact @ Control Panel (-3 TMP)
- Activate ability (Moody) +2 Eva -1 Atk
Net change: -53 STM, +8 TMP, +0 SHD, +0 RAD
Net totals: 64 STM (93 after regen), 13 TMP, 0 SHD, 0 RAD
(TAKE COVER)

Spoiler: Turn 1 Order

Laura
Gladion
Dave
Odette
Nova
Jade