"Converting this building into an asylum might have been more cost effective," suggests Fedler.
The receptionist is too focused on the letter to follow the conversation. Once he has read all of it, he stands up from his desk and tells the party, "I will inform the director of your arrival. Please, take a seat. I should be back in less than ten minutes."
He then turns towards the door in the back, pulls out some type of card from his pocket, and brandishes it on front of a "terminal" built into the gateway. A brief beeping sound resonates into the chamber, and the door slides open, revealing a hallway that goes from left to right. The receptionist leaves the group, and goes on the left, letting the door close behind him.
"...So, should we play some cards?" Breeze proposes. "We could try out my new deck!"
Konrad leaves the door's...interface, and sits down to play with the others.
"So I found out that door is a 'Level 1' door, powered by magic, of course. There's a reactor that channels energy to it and other doors. The battery inside holds one charge. We could open or close the door just once, if we needed to. You know. In the event power shuts off. And the lights go out. Keep that ring handy, Steve."
Ever since he first laid eyes on it, the place felt like a cage. After crossing those blast doors, all the more so. Not a fan of cards to begin with, Mihai can't bring himself to pay any attention to the game. All he can think of is the moment the place will be plunged into chaos.
It begins:
Suddenly, Breeze's attention shifts elsewhere. Mihai notices the change in expression, and can guess what comes out of her lips before she ominously states "I can feel him...".
Oddly, Snicker doesn't seem to pay any attention to them, instead heading for the west wing of the first floor, right above the party. As Mihai wonders what this means, the screaming starts.
Mihai scrambles to his feet, rushing to the outside blast door and kicking it as hard as he can in order to try and warn Sonlake. It's hopeless. Soon the power goes out, and the party's only exit is the reception Lv1 door, opened by way of Konrad's woven keycard.
The smile on the female that greets them on the other side of the door is enough to put Mihai on guard. His suspicion however takes a cruel turn when the apparition turns out to be but an illusion - of Steve's long lost mother.
Unable to help his companion put himself back together from the shock, Mihai can only watch helplessly as he breaks down. It's not until Breeze projects her warmth directly into his mind that the Black Mage is able to stand again. The apparition had left, but the way the illusion manifested and dissipated made it clear Snicker was just getting warmed up.
Pressing on:
The party makes their way up the hallways, surprised by animated corpses Snicker effortlessly took hold of to harass them on their way. It's not long before they find their first survivor - a nurse named Sarah, locked up in one of the massage rooms. She points them in the right direction toward saving the people locked in the facility, but the path is by no means easy.
As they're faced with a large crowd of still living Mad patients, their smiling faces and odd behavior strikes Mihai as odd, though he can't yet figure out the reason thereof - or won't dare. They take down the patients with minimal force, though they soon start turning on each other and inflicting mortal damage - just the result Snicker would favor.
Clearing the Maddened crowd, they press on while searching the individual rooms, coming across yet another trap from Snicker in the form of a snake-like black tendril that tries to strangle Konrad. Steve's successful attempt at eliminating it nevertheless proves sub-optimal, as Konrad is severely burned in the process, but Breeze's intervention the next time around provides the perfect answer to dealing the things.
Coming across a few objects from the locker room, one of them proves able to communicate with Stephen Rodnel, currently barricaded in the engine room. The parties reach an agreement to get power restored, and proceed down the complex.
On the way to their objective, the party is brought to a halt once again, as the scenery changes to a dark dilapidated old room, with two people standing over a young boy strapped to a chair, with burn marks all over his torso. They bicker casually about what they've done to the boy, and his likely ultimate fate; the sight of which makes Mihai exhibit signs of barely restrained anger. Before it can come to a boil though, it freezes over as he catches sight of a third person walking into frame. It engages the other two in dialogue, before quickly and efficiently assassinating them. The technique thereof - as well as the man's face being unmistakable to Mihai as the person he knows as Malik.
Clearly shaken by this, Fedler's embrace nevertheless gives him back his resolve as he decides to first deal with the matters at hand.
Reunion:
Reaching the cafeteria, the sight on the other side of the doors is as ghastly as anything they've met so far. Corpses strewn all over the floor, brutally slain, with one lone figure sitting on a table in the darkness. The man rises to his feet and approaches the door, greeting the party with a twisted smile as the unnaturally red eyes of Saemon Olyr gaze at them from across the window. Delighting in it's slow torture of the party's collective sanity, it relays without a care it's plan to turn the whole word into vessels for itself, by driving Mad everyone on the planet - something it now boasts itself capable of accomplishing thanks to the Orb in Saemon's head.
Momentary respite:
After the latest apparition vanishes from sight, the party resumes course, rescuing Max, Lesnik, a mysterious cat and Audrey, the latter of which finally convinces Rodnel to turn the power back on. After securing all the survivors aside from the frantic cat, and getting some much needed supplies, the party makes their way to the second floor.
Floor 2:
Power restored, the second floor feels less threatening than the first. The notion is short-lived however, as the party soon finds itself in another of Snicker's illusions; this time directed at Konrad. The loss of his hated mark to Snicker drives the Red Mage into a bout of anger, proclaiming the old debt to now be on Snicker's head. As the party soon discovers though, the Endless is not done; this time torturing Steve once more with another apparition of his mother. The Black Mage holds his ground and keeps his resolve, and the party is soon back on their way.
The dark corridor:
Pressing on, the party soon find themselves in a row of cells plunged in darkness, with their only source of light far off in the direction of a suspicious loud noise.
Deciding against risking light without knowing about hostile presence, Mihai decides to trust to his infiltration skills and sneak ahead to the point of interest. After noticing himself clearly spotted by the inmates, Mihai still decides to continue his infiltration, nevertheless taking precautions against being ambushed. These almost fail when he is set upon first by a black Tendril, then by a Maddened female Black Mage who nearly gets the drop on him if not for Steve's timely intervention. Between his and Fedler's cover, and Mihai's own countermeasures against being boxed in, they narrowly manage to put the Mage down without any loss of life.
The subsequent rescue of the aisle's sole surviving security guard leads them to the bunker housing Counclior Nori, there on a surprise visit from the Citadel.
Dismissing his personal bodyguard for a private conversation with the party, Nori reveals to have been apprised of the group, making a request that the party hand Snicker over to him if they manage to capture it. Meeting resistance, Nori soon reveals the Government's misgivings about the Coins ever since the Waterglass incident, going so far as to make personal offers to the party in return for the prize.
Noticeably angered at being offered a bribe, Mihai is nonetheless shaken when Fedler is offered a chance to be with Yen throughout her childhood.
Putting the dilemma aside for the time being, the party decides to make their way up to the third floor. Where Snicker awaits.
Floor 3:
Fortunately, the power on the Third Floor is still on, and the party has little difficulty navigating their way through. The stop by the East Wing is tense, but was turning out to be relatively uneventful until a pack of corpses from the Morgue set themselves upon the group.
Thanks to some effective strategy, the party is able to make short work of the animated corpses, until, in a cruel twist of machinated fate, the last shambling body making their way towards Steve turns out to be none other than his mother. Mihai has no choice but to sever it's head as it lunges for his companion, but doesn't stop the gruesome display of her remains from reaching him.
As the party try to afford the body what dignity they can, one of the compartments finally opens, revealing the survivor they were looking for. Doctor Amelta is quick to rub Mihai the wrong way, but she nevertheless cedes her Lv4 Keycard, in order to allow the party to reach the highest security level of the building. As they finish sweeping the east wing, however, Snicker triggers another illusion, this time aimed once again at Konrad, forcing the party to watch as the Kraken destroys two vessels carrying crews known to the Red Mage.
As Konrad finishes discharging his anger on the nearby sanitation, the party finally makes ready to make for the West Wing, until a well-placed Scan on a crumbling part of the west wall reveals an alarming state of affairs.
From the other side:
The wall's runes were being dewoven from the other side, and would soon be rendered completely inert. Cross-checking with the floor plans reveals the cells for the most dangerous patients to be kept just on the other side. It soon becomes apparent that Snicker doesn't intend to wait at all.
Deciding to make their stand there before Snicker can have access to any more of the facility, the party sets up the terrain for the best ambush they can improvise. Freezing a section of the floor and placing themselves at opposite doorways, the party members wait in ambush for the next few minutes, doing nothing.
Suddenly, the metallic rumbling of something moving on the other side of the wall can be heard. It's faint, but definitely there. Steve tightens his grip on the woven shackles extracted earlier. Mihai readies himself to break out into a charge. Konrad keeps still, with the dose of sedative in his hand at the ready.
For the next minute or so, there is no sound. Until they hear the rumbling sound again. Breeze then indicates something, moving south along the wall until it reaches the other side of the runes. The rumbling stops, and for the next few seconds, everything is quiet.
The wall then suddenly explodes, and bricks are thrown across the hallway.
"He's here." says Breeze.
They then all hear him snicker.
Fizzling, and then silence.:
Both parties knowing better than to make the first move, the first minute is spent in patient readiness, trying to trip the other side into a mistake.
Konrad is the first to take a hit. Steve nukes the possessed Saemon from cover. Fedler gets tired of waiting and takes her shot at Snicker, while Mihai rushes out, finally putting Waterglass to work. He goes in close against Snicker and cuts him across the torso.
The barrage is powerful, but Snicker endures, though his anger at being hurt and thwarted is blaring. Both sides spit all they've got at each other, until Fedler turns the tide with a well-placed Silencing arrow. Breeze then finally realizes the way to take the fight to Snicker itself, and on her instruction, Fedler takes her Orb into her hand before casting cure on a badly injured Mihai.
"Have another Orb, fucker." - Mihai mutters as he follows suit and punches his own Orb into Saemon's head.
The resulting effect is immediately noticeable as Snicker starts to wobble. Konrad follows suit, then Steve. Fedler finishes it with her own Orb, and Snicker immobilizes. His arms going limp at his sides.
It's a Globule:
Elsewhere, Mihai materializes back at Waterglass, just outside Fedler's house. Konrad follows, then Steve, then Fedler. As the party is getting their bearings, they soon notice a woman in her thirties who is sitting on wood logs that have been piled behind Fedler's house. She is wearing brown trousers, a dirty and used blue shirt, but no shoes. She has short raven hair, and her hairstyle is similar to Breeze's. In fact, this woman's overall appearance is similar to their fairy friend, as if she was her older sister or something.
As the party approaches, the Breeze lookalike stands up, and greets you with a nod. Her expression is serene, but there's a sadness to it. She seems almost mournful. "Hello," she says. "I take it you understand what is happening?"
"We're inside Saemon's head?"
She shrugs. "Yeah. Not for long, if Snicker has his way. I already feel him closing in on this place."
"Let him. Can we fight him here?"
"That's why you're here," she answers to Konrad. "I'll help you however I can."
Steve stares at her. "I bet you could answer my questions about fairy culture now, eh?"
"We should be taking this time to prepare."
"We don't have the time." - She looks up at the sky, towards the north side of town. "He'll be here any moment now."
"Then we'll kick him in the teeth," declares Fedler.
The woman chuckles. "Let's try." She pauses, and then looks at the whole party now. "If we're going to die here, you should know my name; it's Jasmine."
"You mean you're not a version of Breeze? Who and what are you?"
Mihai looks nostalgic for just a moment, but quickly recovers - "Was Breeze born from your desperation?"
Her expression hardens, and she lowers her head. "I guess she was. I'm dead, is what I am."
The party now hears something unnatural; like if thunder could scream.
"No time to waste," says Jasmine. "Get ready."
Mihai draws Waterglass.
The party wait in the field for Snicker to appear. "Now listen; in here, your power comes from your inner self. And to defeat Snicker, you will need to sacrifice parts of yourself." Jasmine faces the sky again. "Whenever you attack Snicker, think about one of your happiest memories. You will be made stronger, for a time. But that memory will leave you forever."
"...What about our original selves?" inquires Fedler, a little worried.
"I'm not sure." Jasmine sighs. "I don't think it will affect them. But it will affect you here. I certainly hope you have plenty of happy memories."
"A couple."
"Good thing we've made some happy ones since we all met."
The party all hear another thunderous howl. Much closer this time.
"By the way, i named my sword after this town." - Mihai says nonchalantly while staring at the sky.
"That's a much better name than the Ice Cleaver."
Mihai chuckles.
"I don't have a name for my weapon yet. I'll have to think about it."
Finally, they see it; two giant wings flapping in the air, both attached to a reptilian body. There are spikes starting from the top of its head, and continuing all the way to the end of its tail. Its eyes are red, and fixed on you.
The most intimidating form it could imagine:
Flames are visible from behind the large teeth of Snicker's maw. He dives in at the party and bombards the lanscape with a massive line of fire, cutting the party off from each other. Steve and Fedler and Konrad and Jasmine retaliate, bringing the monster crashing down to the ground, where Mihai's Waterglass can reach him.
The fairy-titled Demon Hunter charges forward in a massive swing against Snicker's exposed hide, following up with another to it's leg joint as it gets up from the ground. The memories he gives up power his swing to devastating levels, but he's left more hollow with each scream he wrenches out of the dragon.
Fedler pierces the exposed left wing with a burst of arrows, and Steve follows up with an ice barrage, putting it out of commission for good. Konrad blasts it's right leg, making the Endless very very angry. The fire begins to spread.
Snicker retaliates with a tail swipe that sends Mihai flying. Falling to the ground like a ragdoll in a sight that makes Fedler gasp, retaliating with another volley that nails Snicker in the neck, disintegrating small parts of the Dragon's body. Jasmine follows up with a wind gust that makes some of the flames die down.
Steve charges another blast, that flash-freezes Snicker's damaged leg to the point he can no longer use it. Mihai springs to his feet and spits out the blood in his mouth - "Some motherfuckers are always trying to ice skate uphill..." - he then charges at Snicker's head. The monster takes another swipe, but Mihai twists clear of it into a swing that cuts into it's head. Snicker glares at Mihai through the blood squirts obscuring it's right eye.
Konrad pulls out an oil flask and moves in, casting another Fire blast at the dragon's body. Snicker wastes no time retaliating and swipes it's claws at Mihai, striking him across the chest in a splash of blood. Mihai goes down.
Fedler screams Mihai's name in a panic, and casts Cure on him from afar. Steve blasts Snicker with another wave of frozen Magical energy, while Mihai springs back to his feet again while avoiding another swipe from the bloody-eyed snicker. He decides to finish the job, and puts his power into a thrust that pierces right into Snicker's eye, turning it into a bloody mess that freezes over instantly. The dragon roars in pain.
On the other flank, Konrad casts a dual blast at Snicker's left leg and eye, the last attack blinding him for a moment.
Snicker, now having lost an eye and blinded by the flame in his face, on top of being furious about the injuries he has sustained, decides to use something he can rely on; his breath of fire. He opens his jaw, and flames erupt from it. His head moves from left to right, so he can touch as many targets as he can.
Konrad is engulfed, but Mihai avoids just enough to stay on his feet. Fedler, in horror, can't confirm this however. Enraged, she raises a hand, and blasts Snicker with Dia. The monster roars in agony, until his body goes limp. But Fedler pays the price, as the last of the memories holding her together leave her mind. Falling to her knees, she is left broken and hollow on the field.
Snicker's body slowly disintegrates. "We did it!" clamors Jasmine. But she then frowns. "Oh no. He's trying to take us down with him!". Fire then erupts from the inside of the dragon's corpse, and rapidly expands outwards.
In a flash of adrenaline, Mihai attempts to do dodge the inferno. Thinking of Fedler as he does so, the memories power his dodge just enough out of harm's way, but he's left a broken husk as soon as he lands, with nothing but the combat high and Yen's memories keeping him on his feet. The only thing making him stir being a redheaded girl collapsed on the field, about to be engulfed by the flames.
Being closer, Konrad tries to jump his way over the flames, but collapses on the other side. Mihai rushes to try the same, but a timely intervention from Jasmine and Steve clear the fire from his path. Physically and mentally on his last leg, Mihai summons a rage to empower him on this last stretch, dragging Konrad as he makes his way to to the girl. He tires to rouse her, but his condition along with her own catatonic state do nothing to help. Mihai has no choice but to drag them both with the last bits of strength he can muster, just barely clearing them out of harm's way.
Smoulder and collapse:
Once the adrenaline thins out, he can no longer move. Once the party reaches the village, he just collapses next to the girl, hollow. Jasmine examines the state of the rest of the group, and realizes that only Steve is still on his feet, mentally sound.
"Uh, what? How do we do that? Much less get them to do it? Everyone is in bad shape."
Jasmine looks uncomfortable, and looks back at the field of fire. "We can't do anything. We'll have to rely on Breeze." Then, Konrad's body fades away like a mirage.
Steve runs over and checks the spot. "Where did he go? Did Breeze pull his orb?"
The fairy lookalike sighs in relief. "Yes, I think so."
Mihai is the next one to dissapear.
"What a relief." Steve relaxes into a sitting position. "I'm glad we made it. But what will happen to you Jasmine?"
She doesn't reply immediately, and instead, watches the field and Fedler's house burn. "I'm only a memory," she explains. "Living in all of you, because of Breeze."
Fedler fades away too.
"Thanks for your help just the same. She's a good person, if that matters to you."
The Reception Was Terrible Everyone joins Steve on the floor in the receptionist's room for a card game.
"Breeze, think you could open that door if need be?" Mihai asks.
"Hmm?" She looks up. "Door? What door?"[/color]
"That door," he points. "The one with a magical lock."
She scratches her head. "I don't know. Don't you need a key?"
"A card. Must have some code, i'm guessing. Not physical."
She shrugs, and looks back at the cards. "Call, Steve!"
Fedler frowns. "I fold."
"Ah ah!"
Mihai is so zoned out, he forgets to do either
"Pfff, whatever. You are bluffing and I call your bluff." He lays down two pair. "It's just two pair. Almost anything will beat it."[/color]
Breeze lays down two pairs... but not as good a hand as Steve. "Damn."
He laughs. "A bit closer than I thought it would be but a win is a win. Your shuffle Fedler."
Mihai absentmindedly sets down his unplayed hand. It's a straight flush. He never even looked at it.
Fedler takes the cards. "Good thing we're not betting real money on this."
"We should bet some real money one day!" Breeze exclaims.
"A maximum of 10 gold. Just for fun!"
"That would be fun. We could do it when Zelk is in town. She may not look like it but she loves games."
"You could teach Fedler how to be a better player, Steve. In return for teaching you how to sing."
"I'm a perfectly good player," Fedler retorts.
"She's not bad. She's just got a few tells is all."
"Well, the rest of us won't be able to keep up with the three of you. Definitely not the little one."
Breeze has stopped moving for a few seconds now. Her eyes widen, and she says, "I can feel him."
Knowing full well who she means, Konrad tries to find a way to rebuff Snicker's interest. "Come on, let's play another game."
Mihai freezes for a second, than immediately plays his hand on the table, "Call." He looks at everyone in order as in act normal.
Steve looks carefully at his cards before tossing them into the middle. "Fold." He lazily nods at Mihai. "Good call."
"Call."
Breeze looks up at the ceiling. "He's not watching us," she says. "He's... somewhere on the upper floors." She points with her index to his exact position.
"Should we tattle?"
"We should warn Sonlake if we can."
"The doors are closed," Fedler reminds everyone.
"They must have a way to communicate with the mages at the gate."
Suddenly, they hear the muffled sound of people screaming.
Mihai gets up, and knocks on the outer door by kicking it as hard as he can.
Konrad gets up, discarding his hand on the table face-down, and draws his sword. "Deals are being made."
"Great. And the day was going so well."
An alarm goes off. It is most certainly resonating through the whole facility.
Steve checks the desk for anything useful.
Konrad goes back to the terminal to see if it can be fooled.
Mihai kicks on the outer door real hard and only succeeds in hurting himself.
Steve finds mostly various files and papers on the desk. There's also something interesting; a memo from the director which tells the receptionist that an adjunct will come get patient 179 soon.
At the terminal, Konrad finds out that the outer door is now on lockdown.
Mihai gives up and focuses on the inner door instead
"The outer door is on lockdown. We need to go get Saemon."
The screams are easier to hear now. Some are frightened. Others are full of rage. Breeze and Fedler are silent, and very uncomfortable. The ranger has readied her bow.
"Further inside it is." Konrad runs over to the terminal he preferred, to go further into the facility, to try and fool that terminal.
"Breeze, can you open it?"
Breeze's eyes widen. "What? No. I thought we needed a key." Steve stands on the other side of the desk so he can use it as cover if he needs to, and readies his staff.
"I'll make one."
"If that doesn't work, we'll have to force it."
"Wait, make one?" asks Fedler.
"Wow, I thought Weaving took a long time. I'll be super impressed if this works."
Konrad begins Weaving. "Someone wanne help me out? Breeze?"
"Sorry, Konrad. I'm hopeless at Weaving."
"Yeah, me too," Breeze says, completely honest.
For the next few minutes, Konrad is weaving. The screams have died down. Suddenly, power cuts off, and you're plunged into darkness. There's no more sound of alarm, or anything.
"Ah, shit," curses Steve. "Keep going, Konrad. If we restore power it might still be useful."
"Someone must still be alive. Light that ring, Steve."
White light comes off Steve's ring, and provides enough visibility for the party to look around.
Mihai moves to the door, and tries to force it open
Konrad finishes weaving the card, and having used his AP, doesn't need to spend mana.
He doesn't know if it'll work though.
Konrad shoves the card at the interface.
The door slides open, and the power depleted, stays like it.
Hugging his neck, Breeze and Mihai work out a system to help Breeze communicate quietly when Snicker is around, and where he is.
Mihai gives his matches to Fedler.
Once the door is opened, you all see a woman standing on the other side, smiling at you. She must be the same age as Konrad, and she is wearing mage robes.
Mihai whispers to Breeze, "Make an Orb." He draws Waterglass and steps forward.
The smile catches Konrad off guard, but reasons that this person must be behind what happened (and is also possessed.) "Who are you? Where's the rest of the staff?"
"Steve, what are you doing?" says the woman, now giggling.
"Uh, what?" says the black mage confused
The woman stays silent for a moment, and her gaze follows something that none of you can see, and it is approaching her. She is now looking down. "Oh, what is it? Did you make this for me?"
"Are you talking to the black thing?"
"She's not going to help us."
She is ignoring all of you, and continues to talk alone. "You drew us?" She extends her hand, and takes something, which now materializes as a drawing. "So that's me, and that's your father here?"
A horrified Steve whispers, "Mom."
Mihai's eyes go wide, and his grip on his weapon tightens.
"When did you last see her, Steve?" The red mage is in business mode, all personal thoughts and reactions masked for the time being, unallowed to shape his mannerisms.
The woman keeps listening to her invisible interlocutor.
Steve backs away in horror. He'll only stop when he hits the door with his back. "No, no, no, no, no..." His eyes are wide and unseeing.
"Steve!" Mihai calls from the front. "Focus!"
Konrad shakes his head and abandons all pretense. "Breeze, we may not have much time."
"Not much time for what?" she asks. But she is answered by Steve's mother.
"Keep drawing then. And we'll make sure your father sees this, okay?" She leans down to caress the head of her son, and then puts her arm around his shoulder before walking off with him towards the left. Her silhouettte then fades away into nothingness. Fedler holds Steve's hand in hers, worried for him.
"To weave her a love globule, Breeze. She wanted to see her son again. She might be possessed right now."
Mihai sheathes his sword , and approaches Steve. "Steve, we have to move now."
Breeze starts to work on making a love globule, too shocked to have done so previously. Steve isn't focused on Mihai. Tears are pouring down his face as he shakes his head no, as if the act will deny something. "No, no, no, no..." he repeats over and over again.
Mihai kneels down to eye level with him, and puts his hand on his shoulder. "Steve. I know. You can't think right now. But you have to. You have to move. Too many people depend on us. Saemon depends on us."
"I'm sorry, Steve."
Once Breeze has woven the orb, she flies over to Steve, and hugs his neck. There is no reaction from Steve to anything.
Konrad walks up and clamps a hand on Steve's shoulder. "Are you just going to stay here and cry?"
This doesn't seem to get the reaction he wants, if anything. Fedler shakes her head. "I don't think that's gonna work Konrad."
"Great. Just bring him with us then. We can't leave him like this."
"Wait," says Breeze. The fairy puts her hands on Steve's forehead, and closes her eyes.
Mihai turns away and guards the rest of the group from any threats while they try to bring their friend back from the dark place he's in.
The young mage suddenly feels a wave of warmth and love enter his mind. It is hers. Mentally, Steve grabs onto her like a drowning man grabs onto a lifeguard. But he's consumed by fear and thrashing about. It threatens to pull her in. Breeze starts frowning, and she is momentarily at a lost on what to do. But she calms herself, and reaches out into Steve's memory. She then shows him something recent; when he and Zelk were eating the chocolate he bought for her. It's working. He noticeably calms. Breeze knows she's on the right track. Feeling encouraged, she brings out another memory; this is when Fedler taught him for the first time how to play with his new guitar. His breathing is getting steadier.
"Steve?" She shows him the pranks they pulled off together.
He closes his eyes and his breathing is even steadier. "I'm Steve. That's me."
"Where are you, Steve?"
"We are in the Asylum. We are here to get Saemon and take him back to his sister." He opens his eyes. "And to put an end to Snicker, one way or another."
Mihai lowers his sword, and approaches Steve. "Might as well tell you now. I was the one that screwed up your underwear." he tells it so deadpan, it's hard to believe he's trying to lift his mood.
Steve blinks. Then he laughs. Great big belly laughs. "I knew it!" He points at Mihai for emphasis. Fedler is relieved to see Steve back in control again.
"We can share a laugh over that later. Right now, we need to find Saemon."
"Steve. It'll get worse." Mihai urges. "If the bastard was showing you things you're not ready to see, it was just getting warmed up."
"I'll be ready. I hope."
"Let's move."
"Right."
Konrad hands Mihai his keycard, Level 1 access, and they all head left, entering the Therapy ward.
The first dead body they come across stands up rapidly and tries to bite Mihai, but is quickly struck down with a blow to the head. The doors have windows, and through the one to the showers they see a body being dug into by. They ask Breeze where Snicker is, and they find out that he is above them, and is following them.
They find the relaxation room, filled with insane living patients who all immediately run straight toward them, trying to force their way through the steel door. It doesn't budge. The nurses inside are dead. In the showers opposite that room is a dead nurse being eaten at by a patient, who looks at them and smiles. Snicker leers at them.
They subdue some living patients, tying them up and laying them inside one of the massage rooms, when they discover a nurse hiding in one of the rooms. Mihai and Steve are at the door, and with some hesitation, she comes to the door after they knock and shine their light.
Salvation in Isolation:
She has been crying, judging by her looks. "Who... who are you?" she asks, her voice muffled through the door.
"We came by to pick up a friend of ours. Saemon Olyr." "We are from the Coins. My name is Steve." "Mihai." She looks back and forth between them, uneasy. "Is-Is it over?" "Not yet. The building's on lockdown. We have someone on the outside who should have been able to call for help, but it'll be a while." "We are working to secure the rest of the Asylum. It's pandemonium out here."
She starts crying again, but this time in relief. "I really thought this was it... but-" She realizes something. "No, they won't be able to come in!"
"What's your name?"
"It's Sarah." She seems afraid now, still thinking about the help waiting outside. "Sarah, we can open this door if you want. But you're probably safer in there for now until we take care of things."
"Okay, okay..." She gulps down, and speaks again. "Listen, you can't get anywhere without the cards."
"There's more than one?"
"Sure. The kind of card you have depends on your level of clearance," Konrad whispers.
"Yes," she confirms. She wipes away her tears, and decides it would be more useful to explain things to these rescuers. "There are five levels of clearance. And you can't get the front door open without the level 5 card; not when it's on lockdown." She breathes more rapidly. "You also need to bring the reactor back online."
"Ok, where do we find the reactor?"
"It's below- I mean, it's underground. You see the door at the end of the hallway? To your right."
"Yes, ma'am."
"About our friend, he was recovered and cleared to return home. We were coming to pick him up. Patient 179, Saemon Olyr. Do you know where he might be?"
"Saemon?" she repeats. "I don't know that name... but patient number 179? That must means he's on the third floor. Right above us."
Breeze lets out a gasp. as do Mihai and Steve.
Mihai clenches his fist, then calms down. "Sarah, listen. There's something in here with us that can speak inside your head. No matter what it says to you, don't listen to it. So long as you ignore it, it can't hurt you."
"A... a voice?"
"Yes."
"Is that... what caused all of this?"
"Very likely, yeah."
Konrad cuts through the dialogue, whispering. "Don't tell her anything," he whispers. "She just needs to trust us."
Mihai whispers back - "And to not become Snicker's pawn."
"Just whatever she needs to know, and nothing else."
"She needs to know this."
"Guys," Fedler interrupts. She motions to the door at the end of the hallway. "That's a Level 2 door. That's where we're supposed to go, no?"
"Right." Then to Sarah, "Sarah, we're bringing the Reactor back online. Just stay low, and we'll be back for you."
"...That's a level 2 door," Fedler repeats.
"Ugh... right. Sarah, any idea where we can get a lv2 card?" "Uh?" She is taken aback by this request. "Oh. Uh." She thinks for a second. "One of the nurses in this area should have one... if they haven't all run away." She holds herself. "Look into the infirmary?"
"Got it. We'll do that."
On the way to the infirmary, the gang notice a dead nurse inside a massage room, whose death looks odd. It's just her in there with no one else, but she looks like she repeatedly smashed her head into a wall and collapsed. They decide not to enter, and move on. The gang head to the infirmary and upon entering, Konrad is caught and starts getting choked out by a black, snake-like tendril. Steve throws Fire at it, which it absorbs and then combusts, burning Konrad's neck to the 3rd degree. Konrad refuses healing, and instead waters his cloak where the hood touches the neck, and wears his cloak with the hood on to soak his wound, and drinks the water from his second waterskin, and Steve applies a bandage. It does nothing, but everyone gets the sense that it could have been worse.
Inside the infirmary, they find a few things: a Level 2 access card, medical paraphernalia, and a diary. Konrad ives Mihai the keycard. Outside, they progress and have to fight more mental patients, who begin killing each other as their fellows are taken out without being killed. It seems Snicker can sense their intent not to permanently harm innocent people and turns that against them, but they manage to save a few of them, and tie them up like they did with the others.
They come across another black snake-like tendril and when Mihai has it subdued in his hand, Konrad Scans it and learns some interesting things about it.
”snake scan”:
Konrad scans the black tendril, and discovers that this is not magical in nature. Not as he understands it anyway. It seems to feed on ambient or raw magic, at an extremely slow rate, and processes/digests it by a strange method. A good analogy would be photosynthesis.
Breeze comments that it feels to her much the same as Snicker does. Konrad attempts to kill the creature, which he hitherto refers to as a "mana snake", and finds that his sword has no effect on it. When prompted, Breeze merely points at it and causes it to evaporate.
It’s Basically a Radio:
Past the mana snake, they probe a locker room and find an advanced magical communication device which they call a communicator. when Konrad begins to fiddle with. Steve finds a rubics cube with blank faces save for runes on each one. He keeps it. Konrad switches from channel to channel to find someone. Steve also takes a shopping list.
Befuddled, Konrad asks, "What are you planning to do with someone else's shopping list?"
"I like to read when I use the bathroom."
Konrad blinks at him a couple times and get back to checking the radio. Eventually hears a man on the other end of channel 7. Someone has to hold down the activation button to talk, and release it if they want to hear a response.
"Who is this?"
"My name is Konrad. Who are you?"
"Who am I? I work here. And you sure as hell don't."
"No, I don't. Who's Evan?"
"Who's Evan? Who are you?"
"Let me talk to him."
"Look buddy, I told you already my name is Konrad. I'm with the 113th Adjunct and we're stuck in here same as you. Now we can help each other out or we can go our separate ways, but I wager you're in no position to turn down help when it comes knocking on your door."
"Look smartass, I don't know why you're here, but you're not inspiring trust over here. The whole building goes crazy in a matter of minutes, and I'm just supposed to trust a voice on the other end of this radio?"
Neither are being very patient with the other. Mihai holds out his hand. "Give me that."
"Fine. I'll hand your lifeline over to someone more inspiring." He presents the communictor to Mihai. "Here. We could smash it. We'll meet the guy eventually." The atmosphere is completely devoid of good temper, and the communicator is now in Mihai's possession.
"Nah. Even if this doesn't go anywhere it might come in handy later."
Mihai takes the communicator. "Hello? My name is Mihai. Excuse my associate; none of us can afford a pissing contest right now. We're from the Coins. We came by to pick up a friend of ours who had made a recovery: patient 179, Saemon Olyr. We found a nurse named Sarah hiding in one of the massage rooms on the ground floor; she said he should be on the third floor. The patients are prowling the hallways, making things difficult - we're taking them down with minimal force, but they are turning on each other too. We're on our way right now to try and get the reactor back online."
"Sarah?" There's a pause. "I want to speak to her."
"I'll try, but she's on the other side of a door. Right now it's safest for her to stay there; it's not a good idea to be out on the hallways right now." Everyone falls back to the massage room Sarah is hiding in. Mihai knocks, and Sarah approaches the door and peeks outside.
"Got someone here to talk to you." He says to Rodnel on the other end, "May be hard to hear her, but go ahead."
Sarah is surprised to hear that Rodnel is still alive, and she assures him that the party members did risk their lives to help her. Once their conversation is over, Rodnel then says to Mihai, "Well, I guess you guys aren't responsible for this mess. We came in just as it all went to hell."
"My name is Rodnel, if you hadn't already caught that. I'm the one in charge of the reactor."
"Are you in the reactor room right now?"
"I'm in the passageway. You do not want to be in the reactor. Cause you don't want to be mad like those poor folks."
"They don't know what causes it."
"Well, something needs to be done. We need power back if we're to lift the lockdown. We have somoeone on the outside who should have called for help, but they won't be able to get past those doors. If any alarm even sounded outside."
"Oh, it sounded outside, that's for sure. Standard lockdown protocol. Not the shut-down of the reactor though. That was the Director's order."
"To try to contain the Madness?"
"Is there anyone else we can contact?"
Rodnel doesn't hear Steve, and responds to Mihai. "No way. Mages have reinforced the exterior walls with runes. It also cuts out transmission with the outside."
"So, is there no way to bring power back online?"
"Sure, I could just turn it back online. The switch is right over there."
"What would happen if you did?"
"There would be power. You could open and close the doors as much you want, and the elevators too."
"I'm hearing a big 'but...' there."
"Rodnel, did the Director order the power cut before or after it all went to hell?"
"After the alarm went off. Something.... something went wrong on the third floor."
"That's all he said?"
"What? No! He shouted at me to turn the power off. And I'm not in the habit of saying no when your boss tells you to do something when everything is going to shit."
"Sounds like emergency containment."
"Alright look, i should contact the Director and figure out what's what before we decide on what to do. Do you know where i can find him?"
"Third floor."
"Ask him how long ago they talked was."
"How long ago was it that you talked to him?"
"He's dead. We can be certain of that." "Right after he told me to shut off the reactor."
"Alright Rodnel, we're gonna try and see what headway we can make without power. Stay on the line in case we really can't do without it."
"What, you think I'll just turn on the power for you?"
"What's your alternative?"
"I wait it out here until help arrives."
"We are the help." Steve mutters to himself.
"The building is locked down, Rodnel. If we could wait it out, believe me we would. Those are blast doors out there, it'll take days to break through them, minimum." "Look, I'm not going to just let you tell me what to do; not unless I get something in return."
"What do you want?"
There's a short pause. "There's a girl that works on the first floor. Audrey. I think she's wearing a red ribbon in her hair today. You find out what happened to her, and I'll turn on the generator."
"Deal. But there's one other thing i have to warn you about. The same thing i told Sarah."
"What? Beside the crazy patients running around."
"There's something else in here with us. I can't confirm, but it's an entity that can speak inside your head. It if makes contact with you, don't heed it. It's very manipulative, and once it has your trust, it'll do whatever it wants with you."
There's a long pause. "Well, shit."
"Yeah. Like i said, just ignore it if it talks to you. No matter what it says."
“Yeah, okay."
When they move on, stepping into the next hallway, their surroundings change. Snicker is visiting another illusion on them.
Mihai’s...Something:
"Shit." - Mihai draws Waterglass
"Relax. This is just an illusion."
"No shit."
Steve looks around nervously after the last illusion.
"Steve. You ok?"
"I think so. I'm dreading what this one will be though. The last one was bad enough."
"It'll be bad. We just have to weather it."
You find yourselves into a small and dark warehouse. It must be night outside. Many wooden crates are kept here, and the only source of light is coming from a few torches that hang against the walls, and one brazier. In the middle of the building are three people; two adults, and one child who can't be older than 12 years old. The adults are wearing typical scoundrel outfits, and one of them is holding a poker, its end red with heat. The kid's chest is covered with burns. He is uncounscious.
".........."
"When are you going to ask him questions?"[/color] "What, I thought that was your job!" replies the man with the poker. The other man shrugs. "Whatever. It's not that important."
"...Nope. Not a familiar scene. What about you guys?"
Steve and Konrad should recognize the scars. Mihai takes a step toward the three Step after step. three steps.
"Mihai, what is this place? Why are they doing that to you?"
"......"
Fedler is shocked by the scene, and can't say a word. Neither can Breeze.
"Is he unconscious?" asks the man with the poker. "I don't know. I think he is." "Check." The man just sighs and does as he is told. "Yeah, he's out."
"Let's just wait for this to be over."
"Okay. Not sure how long we're supposed to keep doing this." "I think we've done enough really. Think he's gonna kill the kid?" "Nah."
Mihai is the one closest to the scene, with his back to the others.
The man with the poker lets his instrument fall into the brazier, and as he turns around, his eyes fall on a third man who just entered the warehouse. "Hey there," he greets the newcomer. "We've been waiting for you Malik. Think the kid is in a bad enough shape for you?" The third man is wearing a leather armor under a blue cloak, and must be around thirty years old. "Can he hear us?" he replies. "Nah, don't worry. Fred just checked; he's out."
Mihai's body shudders. Waterglass drops from his hand. If anyone looks closely, they notice he's trembling.
"Good," replies Malik. "Yeah, you've done enough. I'll take it from here." "I think it's time we leave this city then," says the poker man. "You ready Fred?" "Sure am," answers his companion. "Here's your money," says Malik, pulling out a bag full of coins out of his cloak. Just as the poker man reaches out for his pay, Malik suddenly stabs him in the throat. He then lunges at the torturer's companion, and kills him too
Steve's jaw drops.
Once the slaughter is over, Malik cuts the ropes holding Mihai on the chair he is sitting, and carries him out of the warehouse.
"Tsk. No honor, this one."
The illusion ends.
Mihai stands frozen in place. Fedler slowly walks up to Mihai's side, and puts her hand on his arm. Mihai's body shivers as if he'd just been pulled from a nightmare. He looks at Fedler, eyes still wide. Steve will walk over and pick up Waterglass, but he'll stand aside respectfully while Fedler comforts Mihai. She puts her arms around his shoulders, and says nothing. It's nearly half a minute before Mihai can react. He embraces her back, then finally regains himself.
"We have to keep going. It's not about to get any easier."
"Sorry this happened to you, Mihai. Some people have no code at all. They just eat each other and hurt everyone in between."
Mihai looks about to say something to that, but decides against it. "Our problems are here and now. Let's move." He takes back Waterglass.
"Right." Steve hands Waterglass to Mihai.
"Took the words from my mouth."
They check some bathrooms, and find a cat in the men's, which scratches up Mihai badly, and Breeze has to heal him. In the women's, they can hear breathing in one of the stalls. Rory calls the bluff, and a young man named Max peeks his head out. They learn from Rodnel that he's an intern. They explain the situation to Max, and Max chooses to stay inside, and Konrad closes the door for him by expending a drop of mana.
They decide to go back and check on the dead nurse in a massage room, and enter this time. There are signs of a struggle. She is definitely dead, and Konrad makes sure she doesn't get up. They return to the infirmary where Konrad reads the diary. Late entries mention a Stephen, whom she had began flirting with. He tells Breeze to read the whole thing, but the author never names themselves. He decides to take the diary and go talk to Sarah. He gets her account of events that happened, asks about Stephen from the diary, which happens to be Mr. Rodnel's first name. He asks if she knew if Aneta kept a diary, to which she seems to be telling the truth when she says she doesn't think so. This was completely necessary.
They make their way to a cafeteria. There are a few bodies on the ground, all of them being nurses, except two that are patients. They are all dead, heads bashed in, gashes in the neck of some, and even worse. At the end of the room is the counter where people come to be served; the shutters are now closed, as well as the door leading to the kitchen. The whole room is dark, and sitting on one of the table is one man. He looks at them, and smiles. He is wearing a jackets meant to restrain the mentally ill, but he somehow managed to rip apart the sleeves. He stands up, and takes a few steps towards you, and stops.
Snicker in the Basket (Case):
You all recognize the man standing before you, but his eyes are unnaturally red. "Hello," Saemon says with his eerie smile. "I have been waiting."
"Looks like someone's possessed."
"Breeze?"
"I... sense nothing there," replies Breeze, disconcerted. "I don't think he's really here..."
"Saemon?"
He snickers.
"What did you deal him for?"
"Deal?" he repeats. "That's the wondrous thing about the mad people here Mihai; there is no need to make any kind of deal."
"Saemon had recovered."
"Saemon died in Waterglass. His memories were broken, and his mind was deteriorating. That orb did something interesting to his mind, but..." He shrugs, and keeps smiling. "Whoever is in here now isn't the Saemon you've known."
"Oh yeah? And where is the orb now?"
"And he just invited you in, did he?"
“The orb is right here," he says, pointing to his temple. "And no, there is no need for invitations anymore. No deals. No promises. All because of the madness." He snickers again. "I can just slip in into their minds... because there's nothing there to resist me."
"So you've been in his mind all this time, pretending he had recovered. All to lure us in here."
"Then we'll kill them all," Konrad intones coldly. "Everyone who's gone mad. They're just living in a limbo, anyway. Then you'll have to start making deals again."
"Oh, no no no..." He eyes Konrad. "I am getting out of here. And then, then I will make everyone go mad. Every single person in this city. Every person in the Feathers. And, eventually, the world; shouldn't take too long, considering how small it is."
Mihai can't help but chuckle. "That's it? After all the scheming and bullshit, that's your big plan?"
"Really, how are you going to accomplish that?"
"That orb is doing wonderful things for me," he says. Breeze's eyes widen.
"Gimme that keycard. I'm going to make you pay in blood for what you did, demon."
"Cool it."
"Don't. He isn't there. It's probably full of crazy people in the kitchen."
Konrad whispers back, "Yes, but we need Saemon alive."
He turns back to the window. "Tell me something, Snicker. This right here, how do you think it's gonna end?"
"This sounds like a rhetorical question Mihai," he replies, amused.
"Yeah. For once, i can read your mind. Don't even need powers. You're just that flat."
"Are we just going to talk at each other through a door all day?"
"No. I'm done here." - he walks off
"Fine. I guess there's nothing in there that we want."
Snicker tilts his head, briefly eyes Steve, and tells him, "Looks like we're done here. Say hello to your mother for me." He evaporates away.
"That guy is a huge dick and I'm going to kick him in the balls until he cries."
"It doesn't have any."
"I'd still pay to see it."
"We'll see."
"Just don't hurt Saemon. We have one way to get Snicker out of him, and we don't know what part of him is alive or not."
"Yes, we can still make orbs. Asylums are going to have to beef up their security. And employ fairies too, it seems. Fairies everywhere. Fairies for everyone."
"So you don't believe him about Saemon then?"
"It's possible. Either way, we can't afford to lose Saemon now if we're to understand any of what the Orb did."
"Did... did my orb help him?" wonders Breeze, her head down.
"Facehugger, you did the right thing. And i told Sonlake about it months ago; if he'd wanted to pull it out, he could have done something."
"Of course it did. He said so himself. You're nothing but helpful, Blue."
"...Yeah." She nods, not sure of herself.
"Let's just focus on the now," says Fedler. "We'll take care of Snicker later."
They look into the washer room and see a living patient and a dead one eating a dead nurse. Before they can react, the living one smiles at them and shows no reaction as the dead patient rips into its neck.
They decide to turn around and enter the cafeteria to get to the kitchen. The door to the kitchen is shut and all other means of entry, such as the counter, are closed by shutters. They make sure the people inside are dead before making sure they can't be turned into zombies. Then they knock on the kitchen door.
Mihai looks at Breeze and gestures, whispering, "Mind?"
She whispers back, "I can't tell through the door. No Snicker here though."
"We're with the Coins. We're here to help."
"Name's Mihai."
“The Coins?" There's a pause, and the man starts to speak with someone else.
They're whispering. "You're the ones who were supposed to pick up patient 179 right?" "We were. Saemon. Just before it all went to hell."
"Who's in there with you?"
Mihai sighs.
“Oh, that's Audrey. She's a nurse here. I'm Leslek; security. Has the floor been secured?"
"We've been sweeping all the way from the entrace. Haven't checked the west wing yet, though. Power is still out; building is still on Lockdown. No one can get out without a Level 5 card. Also, Relaxation room is full of crazed patients. Best not go there."
"Wait, you didn't check the west wing?"
"Not yet. Why?"
"'Cause the relaxation room is in the west wing."
"I meant past the level 2 doors. This is my first time here."
"Oh, I see. Those lead to a hallway, and the stairs."
"So far, we've found Sarah and Max. And a cat. And we've been in contact with Stephen."
"Aye, Stephen. He's only willing to cooperate with us once we find Audrey."
A few more whispers. "I'm here," Audrey says. "He... he really said that?"
"Was adamant about it. I can put him on."
"Yup. By-the-by, do you know who's in charge of the infirmary?"
"Don't man."
"Don't what?" He whispers.
"You know what. Just drop it."
"What he said." Mihai activates the comm. "Rodnel? Got someone for you here. Through a shutter, so listen close. Audrey, say something."
"You could open the shutter, just a little."
"They're safer in there."
"They are, and they will stay in there."
"Opening the shutter just a little shouldn't be a problem," says Leslek. A few seconds pass, and the shutter of iron lifts a little, and you see Audrey peek out.
"Stephen?" she calls out.
"Yeah, I'm here. How are you? You okay?"
"I think so. I'm with Leslek right now." She sounds relieved.
"Okay, good. You just stay right there then. Everything will be fine."
Audrey nods at you guys. "Thank you."
"You're welcome."
"Is that good enough for you, Stephen?"
There is no response.
"Rodnel?" A few more seconds pass with no response.
"Rodnel, are you there?"
"...I really hope he's fine," says Fedler. This is making her uneasy.
"That delay had better be necessary."
A few more seconds pass, and suddenly, the light affixed to the ceiling come alive. In fact, the whole facility seems to have been powered on.
"Just as I promised," announces Rodnel through the communicator.
"Are you alright?"
"Me? I'm fine. Restarting the reactor takes some time. Come see me, and I'll have something for you. You've got mages with you, right?"
"Yeah."
"How do we reach you?"
Then he asks Leslek, "These doors can still only be operated with a keycard, right?"
"Just come to the engine room," replies Stephen. "It's right by the janitor closet."
"Door is level 3."
"You can read."
"Sounds like he's going to open it for us on his side. Let's go."
"We'll take Audrey and Leslek to you. Then we should go back and get Sarah and Max. They're not safe."
To Mihai, Leslek says, "Yeah. We used to keep some doors open for ease of access."
On their way back for Max and Sarah, they find the cat, and Konrad puts the diary back where he found it. They close doors with the keycards whenever they open them, and make sure that the door to the massage room containing patients they had subdued earlier is closed.
The door to the engine room opens, and a man around Steve's age is there to greet you. He wears a yellow armband. "Hey there everyone," Stephen says.
"Hello. It's nice to put a face to the voice. I'm Steve."
Rodnel's eyes narrow down on the black mage. "Steve? Is that you?"
"Are you a mage too? Did we go to school together?"
"I was two years ahead of you. But everyone knows the Devil of the CItadel." The nurses and the security guard give Steve a weird look.
"Devil, huh?"
"Yup! By the end the teachers were secretly following me around to make sure I wouldn't prank graduation." He laughs.
Stephen sighs. "Let's just get everyone in." Everyone is more than happy to do so.
"Right. Wish we could have met again under better circumstances."
"Well, I'm sure you remember me. Anyway, I'm just going to get straight into this. Aneta is dead. There was a struggle in the massage room, and she didn't have a keycard on her when we found her, and we didn't find anyone else in the room. The door was closed when we got there. We don't know what this means. This could have happened before or just prior to the lockdown, in which case it might have been one of the patients. If not... well, there's a killer on the loose inside the building."
Stephen tilts his head. "We've got a few dozens of killers on the loose."
"Alright. Sure. 'Murderer' then, if you wanna get technical."
Mihai sighs.
"From what we could see the crazed patients were acting more like animals than anything. This was different."
"So one of us could be a murderer," the yellow mage surmises. "I could use Scan to make sure, but I'd prefer not to leave this room."
Mihai shrugs. "If it'll put this to rest, sure."
"Absolutely. Start with whoever you want."
"What do you need first?"
Stephen eyes Konrad. "Can you cast Scan?" The nurses and security guard have already entered the engine room and sat down.
"Yes. The other type I know how to cast can also come in handy..."
"Well, I suggest you go back to where Aneta was and use Scan. I'll give you something before you go. I need to check on the others first."
"Fine. It might be worth considering that while the power is on, anyone with a keycard can open or close the doors whenever they want, as much as they want."
There are two big monitoring stations in the room, full of instruments that serve to monitor the reactor. The nurses have decided to sit down against these stations, while Leslek keeps standing up, holding nervously his baton in his hand. Rodnel takes a few minutes to get everyone settled in, and then faces the party again.
"Like I said," begins Stephen, "I've got something to help you. We have to go downstairs first."
"Lead the way."
Rodnel guides the group down the stairs, and it takes at least a full minute before you reach the basement.
"There's the reactor right there," points out Stephen, before turning to the Level 5 doors. "We use this entrance to bring our supplies of raw magic in this facility. Which is something I think you two could use."
He walks off towards one of the level 2 doors, waves his keycard in front of it, and disappears into the room for a moment. He comes back with two balls of raw magic in his hands, the size of an apple.
"This should allow you to cast more spells than you usually can. I can't give you anymore than that however; it would be too dangerous." He hands them over. You're basically holding a weightless mirror in the shape of a sphere
"Can we come back for spares if need be?"
"No," replies Stephen. "If you stay in the presence of too much raw magic, it might prove to be dangerous."
"Thank you. This should help us with doors."
”Steve Knowledge”:
Steve gets the distinct impression that this basement, and the reactor, are designed around the concept of minimizing the risks of going mad.
"This place is designed to minimize it, right Stephen?"
He looks over at Steve, and nods. "There are only six spheres by chamber, all of them spread out on separate sockles. The reactor can function with approximately one sphere per day. I'm usually the only one allowed here."
"Speaking of which should I be here?"
"Absolutely not," he replies, deadpan.
"I meant because I'm Cursed, smart guy." His smile indicates he didn't take offense.
"Just get out of here before you explode or something."
Konrad chuckles. "Yes, let's head out. Those survivors aren't going to find themselves."
"Uh, okay."
"Sure."
Fedler then asks for one sphere herself, telling Stephen she can also casts white spells. The yellow mage is hesitant, but agrees to give her one too.
"Good, now you can heal my horrible burns. They still burn, by the way. Really smarts."
"Yeah, sorry about that Konrad."
"Oh it's not your fault. At least we killed it. Stephen, do you know anything about the black snake-like creatures we've been encountering? Are they supposed to be here?"
Rodnel is taken aback by this. "First time I've heard of this."
"I've Scanned one already. They latch onto whoever crosses their path, and I think they try to absorb mana from the victim, but it takes a long time. Normal weapons don't seem to hurt them. We'll be fine, Breeze can take care of them."
"I sure can!" replies Breeze
"If you hit them with an attack spell they absorb the element and explode."
"It was choking me at the time."
He is intrigued by the description of this creature, and tells the party he will be in his guard
"FFedler! Could you please heal my burning neck that is still burning?"
"I don't know," Fedler answers. "It suits your other scar." She nevertheless gets to work.
"I'm sure it matches, but I'd rather not even it out on the other side," he says while she works.
"I noticed there aren't any other security guards on this floor. Is that normal?"
"There are usually two on each floor," replies Leslek. "But Evan called in sick today of all day." He seems disappointed not to have done this himself.
"Anywhere his gear would be stored? I could really do with something less deadly to take down those patients."
Leslek sighs. "It should be in his locker, if he hasn't brought him home again. If you really need one though, I can let you have my baton."
"Thanks. I'll check the locker again. If not there, I'll borrow yours."
Leslek and Rodnel make an outline of the whole level for them. Leslek also informs them that there is a Councilman in the building. As in, one of the eleven people who sit on the Citadel's Council, and more specifically, the representative of the Highwind region. He was here for a surprise inspection visit.
They leave and Konrad Scans Aneta to know how she died. It was an insane patient who was getting a massage, who got up and attacked her. She never had a chance.
”Murder Scan”:
Konrad learns that Aneta was getting ready to massage the patient that was brought into the room, but he suddenly got up from the table, grabbed her by her hair, and bashed her head in against the wall. Once she was dead, the patient left the room before the door lockdown was engaged.
They go to the second floor. They don't get further than halfway down the first hallway when they are invaded by yet another illusion.
”Stealing a Kill”:
You now find yourselves on the deck of a large ship. The sun is slowly setting below the horizon, and in the distance, you can make the shape of the Dome. The crew is ignoring you, and some of them even walk through you. There is no and to be seen. "Come on!" barks a raspy voice. "Put some more ardor into it!"
The man shouting the orders is standing beside the wheel. The sun has not only tanned his skin, but almost burned it. His left leg has been replaced by a prosthesis, probably woven to make it easier to walk. Only one person in your party recognizes this man, and some of the crew.
Mihai moves close to Fedler.
"I wonder who they are?" Steve looks at Konrad. "Anyone you know?"
"Unless this is something else Snicker wants to rub in."
Konrad face darkens. "Corliss Ward. Used to have a fancy wooden leg that bent when it walked. Where'd that go, eh?"
Breeze turns to face Konrad. "...Is he a friend?"
"Not if I have anything to say about it."
". . . . ."
Konrad shakes his head. "Is this it? Yeah, I hate him. Don't see how this is supposed to get to me."
"Captain!" Another man calls out to Corliss Ward, and walks up to him. The way he is acting, this must be the First Mate. "We should reach Verstohl by tomorrow morning if the weather keeps being this nice to us."
"Good," replies the captain. "Anything else?"
"Just one thing."
The First Mate pulls out a dagger out of his pocket, and stabs Ward in the head. Once the crew notices what has happened, their captain's body has already fallen to the ground.
". . . ."
Steve is stunned by this turn of events.
The First Mate immediately pulls out a bottle of his pocket, and throws it at the party. It passes through Steve's chest and once it touches the deck, flames erupt from it. The whole deck will go up in flames in less than a minute.
"No! What is this? Where is this!?"
". . . ."
Konrad doesn't recognize the man's face. But he recognizes the way he snickers.
"He was mine, you Endless stream of shite! Mine!" He tries to grab the guy's coat.
His hand goes through the man's body, and the only thing he touches his the door leading closer to the holding area of the asylum. The illusion is over.
Steel is better than stone. Konrad punches the door in rage."The debt carries over, demon. The debt carries over."
". . . ."
Konrad takes a moment to breathe. "I'll tell you everything. Let's just get out of here in one piece first."
Breeze decides not to ask anything once Konrad says this. Fedler however raises an eyebrow, curious as to what this was all about, but stays silent.
"Opening the door. Get ready."
They're on their way to the holding cells as they sweep the floor when they reach the security post and find another illusion of Steve's mother, who starts talking to the real Steve.
”Bittersweet Closure for the Accursed:
There is the counter which Leslek described to you earlier, where there should be a guard at all times. It seems there is one right now, but the uniform is wrong. It seems to be a woman who wears the Citadel's mage robes.
"Breeze."
Her expression is serene. "Yeah?" replies Breeze.
Mihai gestures, her mind?
"Oh!" She faces the security counter, and squints her eyes. They slowly widen in shock.
The lighting is all different, but you now all recognize the woman as Steve's mother, albeit much younger. She seems to be in her late teens. Steve recognizes the uniform as the one being worn by the students more specifically. Mihai frowns at the implications.
"Is this another illusion?"
"Breeze?"
"Yes..." confirms the fairy.
Konrad goes around the counter to see what's behind it.
Steve is silently watching her. He finally says, "Had no idea she was a mage."
"I take it this was before you were born."
"I don't know. Probably."
"Then Snicker didn't pull this one from your head. Unless it doesn't work like we think it does."
"Doesn't matter. It was real, once upon a time. Why would he settle for anything less than the real thing?" Konrad asks bitterly, still searching behind the counter.
Once Steve is in range, the younger vision of his mother turns towards him, and says, "Steve?"
"Yeah?"
"Steve, please don't encourage him."
The expression on her face is confused at the sight of her son. "Why are you here?" She seems worried.
". . . ."
"A demon is attacking the Asylum. It's a real shit head and I don't know why that is. I'd say it was sad if it wasn't so pathetic. Are you going to explode into a bucket of blood now? Or something equally horrible?"
"Am I?" She isn't sure. "I don't know. I think I already did. Am I still in the asylum? Have you finally come to visit me?"
She seems hopeful. Mihai suppresses a gasp.
"Maybe. I didn't know you were here. I've been too scared to find out about you. I'm sorry."
"You... you didn't know?" This seems to hurt her, and her voice breaks a little. "Don't you remember the last time we were together? What I did for you?"
"No, I'm afraid I don't. It was too traumatic mom."
She falls silent, looking crestfallen. But her face softens a bit, and a gentle smile slowly appears. "That's okay. I'm just happy you're fine. Be good to Velstar, okay?"
"I will."
She nods, and her silhouette evaporates.
"Bye mom." He wipes away tears with the back of his right hand.
"That's who it pulled the memory from."
Konrad is still for a second. "That doesn't sound like an illusion Snicker would create. It was different from the first one."
"We may find her here for real. It'll be tough going if she's a Mage, but we should be able to take her down nonlethal."
"Breeze, is there anyone else here?"
"I can't feel people through doors," explains Breeze. "So I don't know."
"I meant besides Snicker."
"Uh? No. He's still on the third floor."
"Nevermind. It was just a thought."
Mihai turns to Steve. "Are you ready, if it comes to it?"
Fedler approaches Steve and puts a hand on his shoulder. "You'll be okay?"
"I'll do my best, like I always do. Let's go."
"So will I."
The paperwork Konrad finds behind the counter is mostly irrelevant; reports on the status of the patients, how much medical supplies there are, etc. There is however an interesting find; the records of who has entered the holding area, and went out.
Before everything went to hell, it seems that the Councilman (Meneo Nori) and his bodyguard visited the holding area for 15 minutes. Then, they left a little before chaos spread everywhere. Once they came out, one of the security guards went in. That's the last entry.
Next, the gang open the medicine supply room. In there, they each fill three syringes with a potent dose of a sedative and take them with them.
As they enter the holding area, they notice a drenched in water lying face down in it, dead. Shey has a level 3 keycard, which they take. Mihai makes sure she stays dead. As they explore the holding area, they get into a scuffle with a woman capable of using a water cantrip to attack. In the fight, Mihai very nearly becomes trapped inside a cell with her, were it not for the dead body he put in the doorway. Breeze nearly drowned from her use of the water cantrip, but they managed to knock her out and put her in a cell. They also found a guard locked inside another cell in the far hallway.
"I'm sure glad you're finally here," says the guard. "Is the asylum back under control?"
"Not exactly. It's just us."
Steve looks confused.
"We're with the Coins. We were visiting when everything went to hell."
"We've almost secured the building. We still have the outer hallway of the first floor to check, and we're looking for an outgoing patient. We believed he would be on this floor.”
"Oh, and there's the bunker of course."
"We're looking for Saemon Olyr."
The man furrows when the party members explain the situation. "Sorry, I don't really bother to learn the names of the patients here. Most of them can't even remember it, you know?" He thinks for a moment. "So the rescue team isn't here yet..."
"We're doing as much of a rescue as we can. Secured the survivors on the first floor engine room.”
"They could probably get in now, since the power's on, if someone outside had a level 5 keycard. The patient we're looking for is 179."
To Konrad, the guard says, "He should be on the third floor; I think."
He activates the comm. "Rodnel, we found a security guard in the second floor holding area. He's..." he breaks to ask the guard. "What's your name?"
"Malcom," replies the imprisoned guard.
"Malcom," he finishes into the Comm. "The rest of the staff didn't make it. I'm sorry."
"How'd you get in there, Malcom?"
"I..." Malcom hesitates. "I left my post at the counter when I heard the screams and came to check on Trevor and Violet." He points at the cell where the crazed woman is. "She almost killed me, so I ran in here."
He does look bruised.
Stephen replies, "Thanks for the status report."
Mihai hands Konrad the new baton (was on Trevor's body). "Malcom, can you get out of that cell? I got a card, but it's cracked."
"Yeah, I've got a card, but..." He eyes the party. "What happened to the other floors?"
"First floor is secured. You can ask Rodnel if you want. Third floor, we haven't been to yet."
He frowns. "You seem to know more than Rodnel right now. What happened? I only had time to sound the alarm before I came here and was forced into this cell."
"We were in the reception room when the alarm sounded. Managed to get out of there, and started sweeping our way in. Took down the patients with minimal force, but they started turning on each other; we couldn't save them all."
"Wait, they what?" He is shocked.
"From what we gather, they all went berserk at the same time. There's something in here with us, influencing them. It can try and do the same to us, but all it can do is talk, provided we don't start trusting it. Mad patients just can't resist it, though."
Malcom needs a few moments to process this information, but once he does, he says, "That would explain why the power went out."
"What do you mean?"
"I'm guessing the Director ordered to turn off the reactor to minimize collateral damage."
"So it would seem."
"Well, we had no choice but to restore it. We need it if we're going to clean up this mess."
"Would you like us to take you to the engine room?"
"No, someone should stay on this floor. I also have to check on the Councilman." He kneels down, and pushes a level C keycard below the door. "Here, you can let me out with this."
Mihai picks it up, and opens the cell door
"Thank you," he says.
"No problem!" replies Breeze.
"Hmm, fairy uh? Nice to see you."
The fairy smiles.
"Do any fairies work here?"
"Fairies? Oh no. Aren't they more like pets anyway?"
"Hey!" Breeze exclaims unhappily.
"I'm joking," he replies, amused.
"No, they are not." Steve isn't amused.
"I think we're her pets, actually."
"Sounds about right," adds Fedler.
It's a matter of perspective, really. Konrad grins.
Malcom takes the lead, and guides the party back towards the security counter. On their way, he notices the patients' behavior, and is creeped out by it. He also finds the switches in the darkness to turn on the lights, and makes his way to the entrance of the holding area. He winces at the sight of the doctor's corpse, but he quickly turns away and opens the door with a level 3 keycard and closes it behind the party. You also notice an alarm switch with a broken seal on the wall.
Okay. Malcom reaches the bunker door, and knocks heavily on it. "Mr. Nori," he says loudly. "Can you hear me? It's safe now; more or less."
There's a long pause before the door to the bunker finally opens. You are greeted by a man in armor who is pointing a sword at you, and a short and well-dressed man in his fifties standing behind him. The guard lowers his weapon, but doesn't put it away just yet.
"We're with the Coins. Were visiting when the Alarm went off. The staff we could rescue are safe in the engine room. We've been able to save some of the patients too, but some turned on each other, so there have been casualties."
The Councilman examines each and everyone of the party members, and then turns to his bodyguard. "Finlay, can you leave us? I have to speak to these people alone."
"Sir?"
"I'll close the door behind you. It won't be long."
The bodyguard isn't pleased by this order, but he steps outside the room to stand beside a bewildered Malcom.
"Please, join me," Mr. Nori says.
He waits for you to enter the room.
"Breeze, anything off here?"
The fairy faces Steve, and a little taken aback by his question, she says, "Uh, I don't think so? His clothes look weird though."
"Weird how?"
The Councilman laughs. "That doesn't look comfortable at all," She says. Fedler chuckles. Fedler and Breeze also enter the room, and Meneo Nori pushes a button affixed on the wall. The door closes on you, and the man turns to face you. "I have heard much about the five of you," he begins.
Mihai raises an eyebrow.
"Did you know we'd be here, councilor?"
"Of course. We weren't going to release Saemon Olyr without having a person on the Council to see him off. Can I ask how bad the situation is?"
"A supernatural entity has seized control of the patients, and is trying to break out of here in possession of one of the them. First floor is secure. Second floor seems to be as well. Third floor is unknown."
"You know who I am, councilor. I'm trying to remember if I've seen worse." The Councilman takes the news in stride. "Is the entity calling itself Snicker?"
"Yes."
"So, you know."
"Yes. I've read the report on your mission regarding Kira Paddle. " He ponders the news for a second or two. "So we're basically dealing with an entity who can control mad patients. In your opinion, will it be required that we execute the patients?"
Fedler and Breeze are taken aback by this question.
"Ideally, no. Killing them would just allow Snicker to reanimate the bodies. Lethal force will just force us to kill them twice. Also, we have one countermeasure against Snicker itself."
Konrad offers a begrudging nod in solidarity. "After this incident, the nations will have to be more guarded when caring for the clinically insane. As you know, only fairies can tell whether or not a person is possessed."
"Nonlethal force seems to have been working so far, provided precautions are taken. Besides, it would establish a grim precedent in dealing with this sort of situation."
Mr. Nori considers the party members' words carefully. "Hmm, what kind of countermeasure do you have at your disposition?"
"Our Fairy has been able to injure it before, when it was in possession of someone. It's a risky maneuver, now that Snicker is aware of it, and we'll need to protect her throughout. But anything other than that will just be a minor hindrance to it."
"So far, nonlethal magic has worked for incapacitating the patients. We've been tying them up to be sure."
Breeze is visibly uncomfortable. "Can you really oppose this entity?" he asks her.
"Hum..." She hesitates for a second. "Yeah, I've been told I can."
"Will it kill it?"
"...I'm still not sure myself."
"Hmm." The Councilman doesn't appear particularly alarmed. "I would ask all of you, if you manage to capture Snicker, please bring it to me."
Never.
"May i ask why?"
"So the mages at the Citadel can study it and finds its weaknesses," the short man answers. "I wouldn't be surprised if your employers asked you to turn this entity over to them instead, and ordered you to stay quiet about it. Unfortunately for them, I am now aware of the cause for this whole incident. And this is a national issue, not a private one." He pauses. "I understand you might feel uncomfortable about this, but I assure you, your employers wouldn't be able to reprimand you if you do as I suggest."
Mihai considers... "Actually, this is a World issue. Snicker doesn't account for political borders. Too many people depend on us to be worried about what faction gets to protect us against this threat. My primary concern is who gets to do a better job of it."
Arms crossed, Konrad taps his arm in contemplation. "You make a convincing argument. But why ask us grunts? This is just the job we've been hired to do. If you want, you could order the Coins to turn him over per your point."
"My associate has a point there."
The Councilman carefully studies the faces of the party members. He then answers the question with a calm tone that is well practiced. "Since the Waterglass incident, we suspect the Coins leadership of pursuing an unknown agenda. And considering the nature of their organization, we simply cannot trust them with an entity such as Snicker; in the event that you do manage to capture it." He joins his hands behind his back. "However, if you do not trust me and the government I represent to work towards the greater good, I assume that I could offer you each of you a personalized reward."
Mihai's face indicates he's none too pleased at being offered a bribe on this
The politician notices that, and then turns to Fedler. "Your niece has been confined to the Citadel since she was cursed, correct? How about getting a chance to raise her?"
Fedler's eyes widen.
Mihai's fist clenches.
An interesting proposition... "That does sound...appealing, councilor."
No.
"Konrad Granger I assume? You are still serving a sentence of at least 15 years. We could cut it short, permanently."
He then faces Steve. "Hmm, the most I could offer you, considering your status as cursed, is the permanent removal of the supervision the Citadel, and now the Coins, must perform on you."
"Pass."
"I had a feeling."
"That's certainly a lot to consider..." A thousand times no. I want the demon dead, and I will kill it myself.
"At the very least, I would ask that you think about it."
"We certainly will... Thank you, Nori. In the meantime, we have a patient to track down."
"Yes. We have work to do." Mihai is none too keen on keeping this up any longer, and for once just wants to get back into the horror.
"Whatever you decide, I wish you good luck."
And they leave the bunker.
The bodyguard goes back into the bunker, and Malcom stays outside. "You guys had fun?"
"Buckets," Steve answers with the cold shoulder.
A little. He was a funny, puny politician. "Sort of," he answers serenely. "Want to hole up in the bunker?"
"I shouldn't," says Malcom. "Someone needs to keep an eye on this door." He points to the one sealing the holding area.
"Okay then. Stay safe."
Mihai is to upset to speak. "I'm scouting ahead. Fedler, cover me."
"Yeah, sure," replies Fedler.
While Mihai and Fedler go on ahead, Malcom says to the remaining three, "You all headed to the third floor?"
"Of course. You drop something up there?"
"Uh.... no?"
"Oh. It just seems like you want me to get something for you."
Despite this grim situation, it manages to make him smile. "No. I was just going to say, if you want access to the west wing on the third floor, you'll need to find Dr. Amelter in the east wing. She has a level 4 keycard."
"Thanks for the heads-up."
He pulls out a communicator out of his pocket. "If you need to contact me, I'll be on channel 2."
"Got it." Konrad catches up with the rest of the group.
"Just thought you should all know...That guy was on channel 2. He didn't respond when I called him on the communicator."
"Guy's a jerk. He probably wanted someone else to take care of it."
"He's not that bad," says Fedler. She shrugs it off however.
"He sure doesn't seem so, but I'm going to hold on tight to my suspicion."
”Found Among Their Number”:
The group then climbs up to the third floor, closing doors as they go. As they enter the holding area, the patients inside the cells start thrashign at the doors and screaming at him, shattering their stealth and the silence. They find another Oldturn, age 15, who looks nothing like Steve.
Must be a common last name... "Do you have any other relatives besides your parents?"
"I have no idea, Konrad. As far as I'm concerned you met my family when you met Velstar back in Waterglass."
"Strange. No one ever told you about your relatives?"
"Never asked."
Breeze gives Steve's neck a hug.
"Hmm...honestly I probably wouldn't have either."
Further in, they enter a Consultation room which houses woven shackles for the mental patients. Mihai makes a comment about the art deco of the hallway outside.
"...What the hell is art deco?" Fedler mutters to herself.
"It's a reference about ghost hunters," Breeze explains to Fedler.
"Something like that. I'll take you to see the play someday."
"asked the reclusive ranger."
Fedler bites back at Konrad. "You can do better than that." He chuckles. "Do I have your permission?" Country bumpkin. Village waif. Stray Sally. Hermit Harriet It’s all in good fun.
"You need Mihai's too."
"Focus."
"The moment's passed anyway."
Konrad knows he can deweave the woven shackles from the table, and does so to take one pair for Saemon. They leave the room and the hallway connected to it to exploor the south hallway connected to the east wing cells. In that hallway they notice blood coming from the examination room to the southwest, and northeast toward the morgue. When they go in to pull open the two compartments at room temperature, they get to the second one they intended to check when all the other compartments open and zombies jump out. They retreat to the doorway to swipe at the zombies' heads as they come by...and the last one is Steve's mother.
As she lunges at Steve, Mihai and Konrad swing at it. Konrad's sword cleanly severs the woman's head from the neck and the rest of her body. Steve turns away sobbing, unable to face the grim end of his mother. Mihai places the body and head on the stretcher in the morgue and covers it with a tarp.
"I'm sorry, Steve." He asks Fedler to find out which ones had recent injuries, and which ones had none. The only ones she found were those they had inflicted on the zombies.
"If she had died in their care, shouldn't they have sent word?" Fedler replies, "Maybe they did, and Silver didn't tell him..." She shakes her head.
Shouldn't they have told him? Then he wonders about his own family. We haven't even left the Free Feathers. They caught the man who killed my parents and my brother redhanded. Don't they know I'm serving time? I have an address. Did they think I wouldn't care?
"He never asked. He had no memory. I guess...I don't know. No one to blame for this."
You open the compartment, and a scared woman in her forties is lying there, looking scared. She wears the uniform of a doctor, but part of her sleeve has been ripped off and used to bandage her hand.
"Dr. Amelta, I presume?"
The doctor is lying in the cold chamber, looking at all of you with wide eyes. "Who- who are you?"
"The 113th Adjunct," replies Fedler. "We came to get patient 179, but got trapped here."
"Survivors are in the engine room and bunker for now."
"You are safe now. We've been doing a sweep to find the patient and clear the building."
"Wait, so the way to the first floor is clear?"
During this moment, Fedler looks back at Steve, and decides to stand beside him and puts her hand on his shoulder.
"As much as can be. Patients are either locked in the relaxation room, or bound in one of the massage rooms. And power is back on. Still can't exit without a Lv5 Keycard, though."
The middle-aged doctor gets up from the table, very nervous, and looks around. She holds her injured hand with the other, probably to calm down the pain. The corpses creep her out.
"What happened to your hand?"
"Got bitten," she says. "Why are the bodies of the patients...?"
"They didn't just go berserk at random. There's an entity here causing it. It can also reanimate their corpses until we destroy the head or sever the spinal column. Breeze, take care of that, will you?"
"I'll do it," decides Fedler. She approaches the doctor and extends her hands to cast Cure.
"To continue our sweep, we need to get into the west wing of this floor, Doctor. We need level 4 access for that."
Dr. Amelter's hand now being healed, there is no more need for the improvised bandage. She nods at Fedler to thank her, and says to Konrad, "Well, take mine." She reaches out into her pocket, and pulls out a Level 4 keybard. "Just be careful. The most recent and dangerous victims are confined there."
She catches sight of the corpses, and winces before looking away.
"Mihai points to the stretcher. "We'll want to give that person a burial when we're done here."
"Thank you, Doctor. We can take you to the bunker on the way to the west wing, if you want."
It takes a moment before she figures out who Mihai is talking about, but by process of elimination, she understands who he means. She waves her hand in dismissal. "As far as I am aware, her family never bothered to check on her. I'd be surprised if they changed their mind about it." To Konrad. "Okay, let's go. I don't want to stay here."
"Her family was kept in the dark as to her whereabouts. Until now."
Konrad walks off to go and ask Steve what he thinks they should do.
Konrad w/ Steve:
"She's your family, Steve. What do you want to do?"
Steve looks at Konrad with confusion on his face. His eyes are puffy and red from crying. "What?"
"I assume after this is over, there should be some sort of funeral, if you want there to be one."
Steve slowly nods in ascent. "She deserves whatever dignity we can still give her."
"I see. We'll make sure they don't take the matter into their own hands."
”Amelter w/ Mihai”:
She is confused and a little irritated by this statement. "I'm not sure what that means, but do not question our competence. We report on the well being of the patients in a periodic manner."
"I'm not here to judge that, just stating the facts on our end. More importantly, do you know where the Director might be?"
"Well, your facts are wrong," she retorts. There is an uncomfortable silence before she then responds to his question, more than willing to move on. "He's probably in the west wing of this floor." She stays silent for a moment. "He's probably dead by now."
"Well, no one is getting out of here without his clearance. I assume he had the Lv5 Keycard on his person."
She's waiting for the question to come. When it doesn't come, she replies, "Yes, he does. Or did." She sighs in frustration. "Tell me later what verb tense I should have used. I'm out of here."
Konrad returns to Mihai and Dr. Amelter, who is growing irritable. "Come on, let's move our doctor friend to a safer place with a welcome change of scenery."
The gang take the doctor to the bunker. She is let in, and the gang leave and return to the hallway, where Konrad and Steve notice some shattered stone accumulated at the other end of the hall beneath a dent in the brick wall. Konrad notices runes on this side of the wall, and with Weaving he can tell that the other side also has runes designed to repel magic. One should be able to Weave their way through the wall from this side, destroying the runes in the process, but it would be much more difficult to get back.
They put that aside for now to check out the furnace, the examination room, the shower room and the toilet. In the furnace room, Mihai finds a printed magazine filled with images of fairies engaged in various sexual activities, called "Fondness", and a box of tissues. Konrad takes the magazine, laughs to himself, and puts it away on his person.
In the examination room, they find a nurse, a security guard, and a patient, all dead, now permanently dead after Mihai gets there. It's clear that Dr Amelter fled the scene and hid in a cold chamber, because Dr. Amelter is just a normal person. Konrad insists that Fedler keep an eye on the dented brick wall at all times, and everyone thinks he's crazy. They find some sleep and painkiller drugs, such as morphine. Konrad leaves his dose of sedation and gets a new syringe filled with morphine, and takes the now half-full bottle with him. Fedler does the same. Going into the shower room, they spot yet another mana snake, which Breeze makes disappear. Konrad finds Bubble-brand soap with a slogan that is hilarious to him and Breeze because the party knows a fairy named Bubble. He takes the soap and its packaging, planning to show Bubble later.
As they turn away, they hear the sound of crashing waves against the hull of a ship from behind them. Unable to ignore this, they all turn around.
”The Debt Carries Over”:
As you turn back, your surrounding now change to a new scenery; you are now standing on the deck of a another ship. This time however, you see land in the distance as well as a large city. Furthermore, the ship on which you are standing is hooked to another, larger ship. The crews of both ships are suspiciously looking at each other, but their captains seem friendly enough; at first glance.
"You still alive and kicking Gomer?" asks the woman. Her rough attire leaves no doubt; she is a dangerous individual, despite the fact that she must be nearing fifty years old. "Could say the same, Crone," replies the other captain, a little older than her. His red moustache is turning grey, and his face is wrinkled by age.
"Is this because i said 'fuck you'?"
"Just watch."
A young man approaches "Crone" from behind; they definitely share a family resemblance. "We're ready," he says. "Want me to bring out the goods?" "Yeah," she answers. "You've got the gold Gomer?" Her interlocutor clicks his tongue. "I always do. Let's just get this over with." Suddenly, a "tremor" shakes both ships. "The fuck?"
Konrad loses poise when he witnesses the tremor. hands balled-up, the unscarred half starts to look uncannily like it matches the other side in his anger.
Then in a similar manner as the party members witnessed themselves, tentacles rise up from the sea and waste no time; they sweep across the decks to crush the pirates like if they were insects. The tentacles appear even larger than before. Fedler instinctively protects her face with her arm when one of the tentacles pass through her.
"...................."
"Devil's teeth close on you if none survive, you fiend!"
The pirates are screaming, fleeing for their lives. The captains attempt to rally their subordinates, but like the others, they are indiscriminately crushed against their own ships. Smears of blood and organs are all that remain of them. The kraken begins to attacks the structure of the ships themselves, but before Konrad can witness the total destruction of the ships, the vision ends.
Konrad rushes out to attack the creature, and as it disappears, he smashes the sink. When the blow connects, when it sinks in that there's nothing he can do to stop what's already happened, he starts going to town on that sink.
Fedler looks back and forth between Konrad and the rest of the party. Breeze appears worried. The whole sink breaks down, and the now broken pipes begin to discharge water at Konrad. In only a few seconds, he is completely wet.
"That's not Snicker," he says, deadpan.
He takes one more swing and lets go of the crowbar has he does, quitting the sink. "Let go of me."
Mihai turns around. "We're not done here." He leaves the room.
Konrad picks up the crowbar. "No. I guess we're not."
The gang close the door behind them.
Mihai checks Breeze's condition before they proceed. "Are you good to keep going if we find more of those things?"
She nods, still worried.
Konrad scans the dent in the brick wall.
The Scan reveals nothing special about the brick itself. It has simply eroded because of time, but it seems to have done so when the runes on the other side of the wall have been altered. They're weakening. Someone on the other side of the wall must have begun to deweave the runes present there.
By Konrad's estimation, the adjunct have 20 minutes before the wall is completely dewoven. They decide to set up an ambush to catch whoever comes through, but when the countdown is over, Breeze uses the signals K came up with to show him that Snicker is moving, and about to come through the wall. The wall explodes, and the adjunct faces Snicker possessing the body of Saemon.
They try a combination of tactics to weaken him, but they notice that he's regenerating. Finally, Breeze has a stroke of genius and tell the party to put their love globules inside Snicker. Which they do.
”Memory and Thought; Jet Black and Clawed”:
Konrad finds himself standing in a field by Fedler’s house on the outskirts of Waterglass. He feels oddly calm, considering he was just fighting the demon, and taking the orb out of his head had teleported him away instead. He knew this because Mihai was standing there beside him.
“Pulled the orb after i did?” he asks.
“Yes, it must have taken us back here.” Konrad shakes his head. “Away from him.”
“I don’t think so,” he mutters. “I think it took us straight to him.”
Kolson appears now, perhaps as quietly as Konrad did. “Hi,” he greets. Fedler too.
“Sup,” Mihai, replies.
He instinctively goes to her and checks her wounds, but finds that she isn’t injured. None of them are. In fact, Konrad discovers he has all his mana left, and feels quite refreshed.
The ranger looks at her previous home, probably just as confused as the other three. “The hell?”
“Hello.” Konrad ponders. “No, it wouldn’t teleport us. This has never happened when our orbs were taken out before.”
“I think we are the orbs,” Mihai projects. “This place could be Saemon’s memory.”
“Oh, we are copies of ourselves then,” Steve adjoins.
Fedler blinks multiple times. “What?”
"No point thinking about it too much right now,” Mihai replies. “Either way, Snicker should be close by. So should Saemon.”
"Oh...I don't want to be a copy. We need to go back somehow."
"We need to kill Snicker somehow."
“It’s not so bad. It’s not like we can tell the difference here anyway,” Steve adds.
Konrad has no interest in pondering where they are, or what they are. He yearns for a purpose, some direction toward their enemy. “Hmm...that’s if there’s a hole in our memories. But I suppose we have nothing else. Where should we start?”
“So...we’re not even real…” Fedler muses.
"Oh, we’re real, just in a wibbly-wobbly way,” Steve corrects with his unique brand of humor.
I’d rather be real.
“We’re real enough,” Mihai concludes. “For now, we got a job to do.”
“Yeah, let’s head into town and see if we can find Snicker.”
“Let’s try Saemon’s house.”
I’m still real, Konrad hopes. Of course I am. “Good. Then we’ll do the best we can, and then we’ll go back. We have to get back.”
They all notice someone standing at the edge of their peripheral vision. It's a woman in her thirties who is sitting on wood logs that have been piled behind Fedler's house. She is wearing brown trousers, a dirty and used blue shirt, but no shoes. She has short raven hair, and her hairstyle is similar to Breeze's. In fact, this woman's overall appearance is similar to your fairy friend, as if she was her older sister or something. Everyone approaches her, with Mihai in the lead.
“Nice day out,” he says. Steve waves at her.
“You’re taller - and older - than I remember,” Konrad quips. “Then it’s true, we’re not in Waterglass,”
The Breeze lookalike stands up, and greets you with a nod. Her expression is serene, but there's a sadness to it. She seems almost mournful. "Hello," she says. "I take it you understand what is happening?"
Mihai guesses with his theory. “We’re inside Saemon’s head?”
She shrugs. “Yeah. Not for long, if Snicker has his way. I already feel him closing in on this place.”
“There’s no avoiding that.”
Konrad issues a grim challenge, “Let him. Can we fight him here?”
“That’s why you’re here,” she answers Konrad. “I’ll help you however I can.”
"Breeze, why are you like that?” Mihai asks.
Steve stares at her. “I bet you could answer my questions about fairy culture now, eh?”
“We should be taking this time to prepare,” Konrad agitates.
“Yeah, I know. I just hate having my suspicions somewhat confirmed and I probably won’t remember it when I rejoin Steve Prime.”
"Konrad is right, we should prepare. However, we don't have the time." She looks up at the sky, towards the north side of town. "He'll be here any moment now."
"Then we'll kick him in the teeth," declares Fedler.
The woman chuckles. "Let's try." She pauses, and then looks at the whole party now. "If we're going to die here, you should know my name; it's Jasmine."
“You mean you’re not a version of Breeze?” Konrad wonders aloud. “Who and what are you?”
Mihai catches a whiff of nostalgia. “Was Breeze born from your desperation?”
Her expression hardens, and she lowers her head. “I guess she was. I ‘m dead, is what I am.” They hear an unnatural sound, like screaming thunder.
“No time to waste,” she says. “Get ready.”
Mihai draws his enchanted weapon, Waterglass. “We’ll talk later.” Kolson readies the staff Velstar gave to him, and Konrad pulls his sword out by its gaudy hilt.
Jasmine explains that power here comes from one’s innerself. To defeat the enemy, they will have to sacrifice memory and thought for power. They cannot be returned, but one hopes they are only copies and that these things will still exist in their real world counterparts. One can only sacrifice good things, and once sacrificed they are gone forever. The bodies they are in control of mean nothing.
They hear the same screaming thunder from earlier, only much closer. When their enemy comes into view, they see a dragon. Jasmine says that he can’t imagine a more intimidating form.
It certainly is intimidating...but I’ll take the dragon over the kraken any day. Konrad stops himself from completing this thought out loud. Jasmine begins to charge an attack, and Konrad wonders how it is she will be helping them, and tries to sense this...and his eyes fly open at the realization, that she is aided by an Elemental! A Wind Elemental to be exact. The way the wind moves it too unnatural to be fettered, or simple. By Neptune, we’ve got a much better chance than I thought! The creature shoots fire in a line, and by magic and arrow, he is brought crashing to the ground at the end of his attack. Mihai charges in while the others pelt him with arrows, and in the end, Fire and Ice win the day.
”Final Thoughts”:
Konrad ends up sacrificing quite a bit. Memories of his crew, his captain: They are all going. He can feel it. Every drink, every laugh, all the camaraderie...names, then faces. Their forms fade into a blob of standing shadows on a ship with the figurehead of a ram. He finds himself clinging to one person the most: the captain. His resistance is almost completely futile in the face of his committed decision. Every drink, every laugh, the way he worshiped the man...what was his name again? Why is he so angry? The very feeling becomes a tingle of numbness as in legs gone to sleep, until even that fades away.
his adolescent life: The good times of his adolescent social life begin to fade. Food and friends, sparring with partners, hanging with the guys, showing off, more "sparring". So much of those experiences gone. He tries to conjure how he felt about each person, good or bad. His grasp on what motivated him to leave loosens, till it falls away. Why is he out here? He wanted true freedom...why? It almost hurts to remember as it slips away, until he can't remember anymore.
What he thinks about next, Konrad clings to while the demon is pelted by Ice and arrows, hoping beyond hope that he wouldn’t have to sacrificed the next thing that came to his mind. It wasn’t strong, but it had its own special strength. The demon didn’t have the decency to spare him of using the memory by dying sooner. He would forget it all. Everything he learned, all memories of their time together, except a vague sense of the feelings he had for her. Except for her name, and her face, Naomi is now just a ghost in his mind.
He sacrifices a few more scattered tatters, expending mana past what is safe, dipping his feet into the river of madness. Vacant. A huge chunk of Konrad's life is missing. His thoughts and feelings towards those around him are... fractured. There's precious little left of the man whom the others have gotten to know. He looks around at each of his friends to find footing. He renews himself in this manner, returning his gaze towards their common, contemptible enemy. One thing remains in his head: survival. Anger. And hatred, a half-empty mini glass of hard whiskey, but hard enough for him.
He had hoped beyond hope that she would not be next, but the fight had lasted too long for that hope to be rewarded. As he’s getting ready to charge in throw more of his identity into another attack, Fedler sends a holy light to destroy the beast, the final blow.
The demon combusts and fire begins to spread, engulfing him and Mihai. Fedler has gone catatonic on the other side of the flames. Mihai panics for his love, and he understands why he should try to save them, if he can. It’s just them and me now. My job, my dead family, some ghost in my memory whom I barely remember. I’ve killed the one remaining nemesis in my life. There’s no one left but the people who fought beside me. They might as well be the entire, meager world to what remains of me. Konrad’s last act in this dreamland is a failed attempt to leap over the flames. He fails, reaching the other side in flames. One last thought, one final hope crosses his mind: I hope I’m a copy. I hope the real me is alive and well somewhere spitting on Snicker’s grave.
Snicker doesn't move an inch for a long moment, and then suddenly, he falls forward and his head hits the ground.
"...I think he's unconscious," says Breeze, while she approaches him with caution. She tentatively puts her hands on his head and pulls out the globules one by one. Once Fedler, Konrad and Mihai receive their respective globule, they notice that the Elemental energies within swirl at a much slower pace than before. Steve's orb however is almost as animated as before.
The fairy observes Saemon's body for a while before she finally makes the decision and pulls out the last globule; Saemon's. Unlike the others, it doesn't contain Elemental energies, but some kind of black smoke that slowly drift on itself. Fedler doesn't waste any time, and casts Cure on Saemon to heal his wounds. Once it is done, Breeze flies to the eye level of her companions, and shows them the globule.
"Here's Snicker," she explains with a grim tone. "That's him."
Konrad smiles at the indignation of the tiny creature. "It's only for short, Blue! We haven't forgotten what it's really called. Now, before we decide whether to destroy it, I think we had best be certain." He casts Scan on the orb, maximum strength.
Fedler stares at the black orb with an austere expression, and stays silent.
Konrad:
Konrad's Scan reveals that the surface of the globule is made of Elemental energy, and it contains something that is composed of the same matter that the black tendrils were made of. The black matter is attempting to push outward, but the globule contains it, and there seems to be no way out for it.
Steve blinks as he realizes Mihai doesn't agree yet. He decides to see where the others stand. "That's two for destroy. What do you think Fedler? How about you Breeze?"
Zeiss
Posts : 5014 Join date : 2007-01-26
Subject: Re: 3rd adventure: Rebirth Thu 15 Jun 2017, 12:09 am
The blue-haired girl turns to face Steve, and then looks back at the globule in her arms. "I don't know," she tells everyone while she shakes her head. "You guys think we should... destroy him?"
The ranger glares at the globule for a long moment, hiding her emotions behind a stony expression. She then folds her arm, and states with a cold tone, "If we give the globule to anyone, there's a risk that Snicker will escape and come after us and our families. I say we kill him."
The fairy nods. "Then I also think we should destroy him."
RorytheRomulan
Posts : 7109 Join date : 2017-05-17
Subject: Re: 3rd adventure: Rebirth Thu 15 Jun 2017, 12:13 am
"Then we are all agreed. Do it, if you can."
K
Posts : 3812 Join date : 2017-05-16
Subject: Re: 3rd adventure: Rebirth Thu 15 Jun 2017, 12:15 am
Mihai stares at Konrad, but regains his cool in short order - "We don't know that this is the last Endless that will decide to step on us ants. And they can't call us in every time they find a new one. If everyone thinks that's an acceptable risk, i don't care what happens to it."
Mon 29 May 2017, 10:52 pm
