(no subject)

[sphererpmod]

Who: The People making the Left Choice: The Air Filtration System.
Where: The tunnels the room housing the air filtration system to the agricultural dome.
What: The Choice plot.
When: ICly: August 1st or so.
Warnings: Death, violence, creepiness, fire, drowning, being attacked, ghosts. (I will add other warnings as they come up in threads.
Important Notes: This is the first log of two for the Choices plot. This log only covers The Air Filtration System. The other choices will have their own logs going up. Please remember to warn for things that need warnings in these threads.

Departure

The door that Enis opened is large and dark. It’s something that’s more likely to be in a warehouse than a normal kind of door. What little emergency lighting that is present is weak and flickering and seems to peter out after a hundred yards, leaving no way to tell what’s beyond that dark stretch.

But with a creak, the door starts to close, rolling downward like a shade. Now is the time to make your choice: are you in or out? Once the door closes, it’s not going to open again until the power is fixed.

Encounters: Environmental

Once the door is shut behind you, and you’re moving towards the single path, you start to realize just how old all of this around you is. Where as things in the Sphere normally seem bright and sparkly and new this is ancient and rusting and crumbling. The light here is a sickly barely there orange that creates more shadows than something that you can actually see by, which makes the way the metal grating floor incredibly perilous. Water drips constantly here, making everything wet and slick and slippery. There are places where the lighting seems to have burned out. Or has it? Sometimes it has, and sometimes it’s just that the grating has no walls to hand hold across a chasm that you can’t tell the distance on. Hope you’re getting creative.

But needing to walk over epic heights isn’t just something that you need to contend with. There are places where the flooring just gives way below your weight suddenly, and places where there’s none of it all together. Better tread softly and be fast on your feet--it’s an incredibly long way to fall, and not something that you can live through.

Every so often, the pathway will end with a door with a rusted hatch, the window of it coated with grime and rust and dirt (and is that ash?!) that need to be forced open, and then closed behind them before the next door will even budge.

Sometimes these rooms are large, wide and deep enough to be storage spaces like in the back of stores, and some are so small that the largest among the group barley can squeak through them sideways. The temperature of the rooms varies as well. Some of them are freezing cold, and some are burning hot, so hot that the metal is scorching.

There are places where the rooms themselves are sealed because they happen to be on fire or flooded. In those areas, alternatives can be found in the floor and ceiling or in the walls. It’s just a matter of being crafty with discovering them.

Encounters: Creature.

The Sphere is something that has access to every universe and every timeline, so the things that they encounter can be varied. Some can only be defeated by magic, others by brute force and some much be plotted against. Basically, you can bring in whatever kind of creature your heart (even humanoids, aliens, fae etc) desires so long as they can be killed, destroyed or somehow trapped so that the characters can get to the next room.

Encounter: The Air Filtration System

As you approach the room that houses the Air Filtration system, the hallway becomes newer, more clean, more scifi. There is more lighting here, and after so many days of travel, it’s almost blinding. Additionally, after so long with your comrades and the relative quiet of them, there’s the buzzing of voices speaking a language that no one here can speak and the Sphere doesn’t translate.

Upon entering the room, it’s huge. There are people—or at least what look like people—wandering around. Some are seated at stations in front of complicated-looking stations, some are standing in front of others, some are holding clipboards. But whatever they’re doing, they don’t seem to notice your approach. Nor do they seem to notice if you try and talk to them.

Anyone with any sort of psychic ability, or some other way ability or way to see ghosts can tell that they aren’t alive. They aren’t people. All they are is ghosts. Indeed, some of them might even look familiar to you from when the ghosts invaded the Sphere. But they aren’t attacking you or anything. Yet, anyway.

Looking around the room will reveal that whatever those stations are labeled as, you don’t understand. That doesn’t translate either. But the screens are blank when you look at them. They have the dim red glow of power being on that the rest of the room has, but they don’t show anything other than that. It’s almost like a television caught between channels. When you stand there long enough, it’s easy to see that the ghosts are stuck in a loop: it’s a long one, but eventually it repeats in its entirety.

But you are here with a job to do, after all and you need to try and figure out which of these stations happens to be the one that restarts the air filtration system. However, when you touch them and break the illusion, it becomes clear that these are entirely in disarray. They spark and they stroke and there are pieces scattered around. There is hope: each of the scattered parts only fit one type of station, so they can be put right.

But it’s not as easy as all of that. As you start changing the environment around them, you become more and more visible to the ghosts, and they become more and more angry at what you’re doing. At the halfway point of putting the parts together, the ghosts will attack. It’s now up to people to defend those who are reassembling the stations: if they don’t sacrifice themselves then everyone will die.

The air filtration system is the last one assembled, no matter what order they are done in. As soon as it kicks on, the ghosts will disappear, leaving just the other dangers that were already faced on the way back. But you already know what they are, don’t you?

The door will only open if both tasks are completed.

photo inspiration

Comments

Questions?

[sphererpmod]

Tommy Shepherd

[doubled_speed]

The Journey Begins | September 1st/2nd

Of course he was going to go do something. There were too many people in this place that Tommy loved, that he had openly come to care for, for the young speedster to hold back from a mission. But those familiar with the young man would know from the start that something was off about him. No amount of smiles and confidence could hide the fact that Tommy's clothes, normally so tight fitting, hung off of him more than they likely did for most people in the Sphere at this point. And the lack of him immediately offering to speed ahead to scout might raise questions as well.

Even those that don't know him as well should pick up some on the lethargy from the guy clearly working so hard at selling smiles and a sense of energy. First to sit down on suggested breaks in their journey, last to stand up despite his smart mouth and cheering things on. Always needs specifically roused when sleep is called for, which is strange for a guy that normally only needs four hours of sleep. Always, always so careful with his food resources, dragging out eating on his feet to keep the food going as long as possible.

All of it contrasts to the quick talking, easy smiles, and gentle ribbing of the young man. Or how nimble he is with the briefest bursts of speed if an obstacle is reached. Strange, right?

Right. And with this, a brief break for the group to rest their legs, perhaps it's time someone checked in on him quietly.

"I'm starting to think," he muses aloud to the group as he sits down, back against a wall of the corridor, "that I should have done more spelunking back on Earth. Mostly when I traveled it was all the above ground stuff. Grand Canyon, Taj Mahal, the Yasaka-no-to Pagoda, all that stuff. Should have done, like, Mammoth Caves or something."

Mind The Gap | On Way to Filtration System

This? Stuff like this? That's why Tommy is here. He sighs as he considers the dark void between them. Already he'd almost fallen into the gap. The only thing that had saved him was the fact that his super speed was still there, if he pushed hard enough through the pain and exhaustion and hunger. Anyone watching Tommy on his shift as leader of their hike into oblivion would easily seen a trail of white light as he danced back from the edge, like a chemtrail of light just for the movement of one person.

"Shit," Tommy grumbles before turning back to the gathered. "Okay, uh... I'm going to see if I can jump across this and figure out how far the gap is. Unless someone has a better idea, that is. Just saying, I can definitely get fast enough to jump it."

Hero's Exit | A Day Before Arrival at System [CW: Character Injury and Death] [OOC Note: This one should either be closed to one person or as an anyone can jump in thread. I leave preference up to the first person to tag to it. There is no saving him from this fate, but he will argue while he's fighting. The goal is to keep the team moving.]

They've been through so much to get here. So infinitely much, and really, it's not fair that they're so close, and this was what was holding them back now. They'd been through fire and water (so to speak). They'd outsmarted people and they'd fought giant spiders, and they'd done so much. They'd worked so hard. They...

He was tired. Tommy was so damn tired, and so damn weak, and these things were just insult on top of injury. Or injury on top of insult as it were, because already Tommy was dealing with some sluggish bleeding down one arm where he'd gotten clawed trying to get someone else out of the way. Speed, he was finding, was the right solution to this latest problem. A problem which was new and 'interesting.' They were creatures that were both like and unlike the stereotypical video game sahagin, little things that were part amphibian, part fish, all fins and scales and sharp teeth and claws. Not to mention spears they had made out of shards of metal from how fucked up this place was.

And they were fast. Fast enough to leave even Tommy concerned.

"Head for the door," he orders the other, his voice firm and angry. "I'll keep them off you and occupied."

Occupied was clearly necessary, given the things looked hungry enough to eat people, and fast enough to catch most of their party off guard.

Mind The Gap

[paperclipninja]

Ziva wonders how a person can have an ability to generate light when he moves. It's one of the many curiosities she's encountered in her short time here. But what is more concerning to her is Tommy's condition. He puts on a show as if everything is hunky dory, but she can tell he isn't at his strongest at the moment. She makes a mental note to keep an eye on him and be ready to catch him if he faints.

Ziva steps up to the edge of the hole and peers down as she points her flashlight into the abyss. The beam of light never reaches any sort of ground. It just tapers off as a flashlight beam does in murky air. At the very least, they know it's a long way down and not a shallow thing they can just hop in and out of.

She doesn't have much luck when she shines it across the gap either. It's just too misty. Too clouded.

"You want to jump that? How do you know you will be fast enough?" Her tone isn't so much incredulous as it is apprehensive. "Forgive me for noticing, but you do not look... well."

[doubled_speed]

Want to jump it? No. Can he. Probably. But the question? Earns a dark look. Though it turns positively angry at her calling him out.

"None of us are well. We're on survival level of rations, my Mom went wandering off through the other open door, my boyfriend is too shaken to move out of our fucking tent, and the world is basically ending. No one is well."

Ha! Successfully deflected. He backs up a step and considers the distance.

"I can run at Mach 5 or more. Even lower level speeds and a good jump will get me across quite a bit. And if I fall, my bones and muscles are many times more durable than a human's. I can survive and get out if I have to."

LIes. But he has to help them.

SLOW LUNA IS SLOW. Sluwna.

[paperclipninja]

Ziva holds her hands up defensively and raises her eyebrows.

"Sorry I asked."

She shines her light into the mist one last time and sighs. Not a lot of options here.

"Only you know your limits. If you believe this is the best course of action, I will allow it." As if she honestly has any say in the matter. "Just remember that you are no good to us if you are dead."

It is fine

[doubled_speed]

Tommy shrugs. He doesn't know that's true. But he points up instead of answering.

"See if there's a continuous ceiling? IF so, I'll run across that."

[paperclipninja]

Ziva obliges, ignoring his lack of response. If he is going to be moody, she doesn't feel like dealing with any more of it than she has to. Her light shines to the ceiling, revealing a solid surface.

"It is continuous, it seems, yes."

She begins to question his ability to run across ceilings but stops herself before she can utter a word. She is not opening that can of worms.

Hero's Exit

[fuckingtragedy]

Simon made a promise to himself -- in what now feels like forever ago, but in reality, was only a little over a year for those less inclined to dramatization -- that he would never let another friend go down without a fight.

Something changed in him the day he watched Ebb die; he knew that, he just hadn't realized how much until they stepped through that door a few days ago. Because 'heroes' are never the ones who survive, or the ones who live to tell the tale. Heroes are the ones who fell for the cause, to hell with the aftermath and whomever they left behind. Heroes are the stoic dead, lips sealed beneath tombstones and lily wreaths. And that never sat well with Simon at all. Ebb was a good person, and a better friend. Simon was meant to be the hero, he was meant to perish, not her, and not like--

If that means no one else gets to play 'hero' again, so be it.

That's why he turns sharply at Tommy's order, skids to a halt, and draws his sword without a second thought. None of them are unscathed at this point; Simon's been nursing his wings for the past day, after squeezing past some scalding metal that he swore nearly seared them off his body. It's doing wonders for his balance, coupled with all the other scrapes and bangs they've accumulated along the way. And Simon's not Tommy fast, but he's tough and he's an unholy terror with a sword. Maybe, hopefully, that'll be enough.

"Like hell," Simon growls. "I'm not leaving you here. You think we can't take these tossers?"

[doubled_speed]

Simon, stop being an idiot hero and let Tommy be an idiot hero. Tommy who is so very tired. Tommy who is faster than these things probably. Tommy who can explode them from the inside out.

But no, he had to go and make friends with the stupid idea of risking themselves.

"You know your boyfriend is going to get pissed off badly enough over your wings, right?" he counters, dancing away as one of the creatures moves so fast as to almost claw at Tommy's leg. The thing gets kicked roughly where the junk would be as a result, and goes flying. He's got enough strength left for that.

[fuckingtragedy]

By all accounts, they've stumbled through the motions of this entire mission well enough up to this point. Baz can't be too mad about the wings, as long as they don't die. Which they won't. Simon is at least 85% certain of that.

The claw glancing off Simon's cheek shaves a couple percentage points from that total, but odds are still decent.

"He's used to it," Simon grunts against the effort of skewering one of the creatures to a decaying bit of wall. "Haven't you been in worse scrapes? Cake, this."

No, it's not. Simon's a decent strategist, but strategies are decidedly harder to strategize at the rate these things are hitting them. Keeping him on his toes, that's for damned sure. And now his cheek is bleeding, which--

"Do you think this is like a werewolf thing? If one of them scratches or bites us, we'll turn into them? I've always wanted gills."

[doubled_speed]

Worse scrapes? Yes. Worse scrapes after a month of rations that will help others survive but were slowly killing him given his body's higher caloric needs? Nope. Definitely not.

"Not sure werewolves give you gills," Tommy grumbles as he grabs at one lunging after their team and yeets it away with impressive force. Then he raises his hands and they vibrate, blurring into a hard to look at state before the thing explodes.

Fun, all that blood and the like. Ew.

"Simon, I need you to go."

Alex Manes

[notmybattle]

[Enter at Your Own Risk]

There was no way in hell that the military vet wasn't going to head inside. To do what he could to help those of the Sphere. He'd grown attached to quite a few of them and planned to keep them alive as much as he could.

He hears the door shut behind him, but starts moving forward. If others came through behind him, then they could find a pathway and hope like hell they survived.


[Don't Always Trust the Path]

When someone is as used to something one way, they don't take well to change. Even if they were used to something like that. This place seemed like it was falling apart. Like it belonged underwater. Even the lights were making shadows along the walls.

One pathway leads towards a way that looked like there were no walls. Either they needed to find a way across or slip down a different pathway, perhaps even find a door.


[Encounters of the... Well, whatever they are.]

One of the pathways leads to something strange. Something different, dangerous even. The military vet wanted nothing to do with whatever it was, but that didn't mean he wouldn't fight. Fighting was one thing that he knew how to do. Even if he's pretty sure that these things were possibly stronger than him.


[Or choose your own adventure, I will follow your lead. You can poke me in PMs or Alex's contact post.]

Own Risk

[doubled_speed]

"Field trips are fun, right?"

Tommy grumbles it as he walks past Alex. "You gonna keep up, grumps?"

Stupid thing to call someone else, when Tommy clearly was someone who wasn't pleased with all of this.

Own Risk

[notmybattle]

"Can't remember the last time I was on a field trip."

Honestly? If he really thought about it, the last one he'd been on had been with Maria, Liz, and the rest of them. Sometime during middle school or high school.

"I can keep up just fine," Alex tells him with a shake of his head. It didn't matter what kind of strange thing they were running into. He'd needed something to do. Anything to keep his mind off of the fact the one person he gave a shit about was gone. "Also, pot meet kettle."

Re: Own Risk

[doubled_speed]

"Never been on one," Tommy offers up of himself. But the joke and point stands.

He offers a brief nod at the pot-kettle comment.

"I just don't like that my boyfriend might get himself into some stupid trouble while I'm gone."

[notmybattle]

"Never?"

It wasn't really a surprise, if he's thinking about it. There were some kids who didn't get permission or who just hadn't been interested. There were other reasons too and he didn't want to think about that. Thoughts like that led down roads he didn't want to think about.

"No one to watch out for him while you're in here?"

Enis Edrin - OtA

[blindpuppet]

Departure/Environment

[She waits for everyone to funnel into the narrow doorway before watching the flicker of energy fade and the door slam shut. Annie had told her that its a one way trip but its different seeing it for herself. Hopefully they don't fuck this up...

With a heavy exhale, Enis turns and slowly heads forward with the group. She trails a little behind but tries to keep the mass of people in sight. It's difficult with the twists and turns, as well as the various rooms that deviate their paths.

Her reactions aren't as quick as Tommy's but she feels the subtle changes and with a whirl there is a alarm ringing through her head that sends her stepping back, the metal grating falling into the darkness.]

Fuck me. [She whispers before continuing forward.]

Creatures - (Fighting!)
[ooc/potential cw: Enis is going to lose control of herself to the chip in her head. She will not respond normally until after the fight is over and it'll take some time to snap her outta it. She'll also be crying blood. Will imply past torture & other such topics if she is pressed.]

[The room appears empty at first. Metal walls and rounded doors encircle the room with peeling rust curling down in various patters. There is six inches of water but otherwise the path is clear, the doorway in front of her own.

There is a soft splash as Enis steps towards the door.] Great. Just what we need. Water. [A low growl rumbles and she comes to an abrupt stop.

Warning. Warning.

System alert.

Override inactive.

Safety protocol.

The hum whirled in Enis's ear as she feels her control slip and her stance widen. There is the subtle disturbance of water before Enis turns, her gun in her hand. A large tiger leaps at her but she wedges the gun into its mouth and fires. A defining ringing sound echoes through the room as the tiger rises and gets ready to pounce.]

The Air Filtration System - (Mechanic!)

[Her right arm is tied to her abdomen as blood stains slowly seep into the fabric holding the now useless limb into place. It isn't an ideal situation but she has the brain power to handle any repair... even if she currently only has one broken arm.

She heals fast but it might not be fast enough. Everyone is running out of air.

It doesn't take her long to figure out the pattern but she's worried about the people. They don't respond now but she isn't stupid to think that it'll stay that way.]

That one- [She turns towards one of the group.] -it goes there. I don't know what's going to happen as we do this but we should be ready for anything.

[Enis moves towards another one of the stations and clicks a pieces into place.

She only has a moment of relief before the ghost next to her cries out and claws down her side. Enis steps back, struggling against the chip in her head as she stumbles back. Her one good arm held up to protect her torso and face. She can't fight like this.]

[unpawnish]

[Rey is a good mechanic, and she had been trying to help Enis as she figured out where and how the pieces worked. She has some of the pattern figured out, but not all of it. The constant weird pressure through the force is making the past and present merge a bit, so she's not as quick as she otherwise normally would be. At least in that way anyway.

But a way that Rey is actually quick as ever? Is in the way that she fights. Moving to defend, Enis, she gets between the woman and the ghost. Her staff is lit, not for the first time during this trip and what would no doubt not be the last.

With her staff between them, and the ghost, Rey pulls the woman away from where the pieces went. "I've got you!"

[blindpuppet]

[Enis exhales and wipes the sweat and blood from her face with her good hand.] Thank you. I'm almost done here. I just need a bit longer. Can you hold them off? [She doesn't wait for Rey's reply but looks back at the console.

The computer chip in her head whirls to life and the red drips of blood once again begin to fall from the corner of Enis's eyes as she uses an algorithm to determine the pattern in front of her.

One piece in place, and then again.]

I'm almost done with this one.

[Her fingers slip and she curses that she doesn't currently have both hands to work with. She'd already been pushing her body and now it's wavering beneath its weakness but none of that will matter if they don't make it through this.]

[unpawnish]

[Rey looks to the ghosts around the room, and how they seem to be heading in their direction once more. She curses softly, below her breath and then she looks to Enis again, the concern evident. Whatever else happened, Enis had been the one to open the door in so she needed to be the one to open the door out. Honestly, she can't just die.

Keeping her voice very calm and soft.]

I can heal your arm, using the Force. So you can keep doing this while I'm protecting you.

[blindpuppet]

[Enis looks up at Rey and after a moment's hesitation she nods.] Alright but there are nano machines in my blood stream. They allow me to heal faster. [Sadly not fast enough.] Try not to damage them or it could kill me.

[She pulls out a handgun from her holster and begins to shoot beams of electricity out from its tip. It's one of her inventions and thankfully, it seems to work on the figures approaching them.]

I'm going to take their interest in me as an indicator that I'm on the right track of fixing this mess.

Departure

[flammablepitch]

[Baz doesn't look like much compared to everyone else here. He's white as a sheet from trying not to drink and looks like he could fall over any minute, but his mind is still sharp.

Hanging back, he's constantly scanning the little light that they've got before pulling his wand out from it's hiding place. Quietly mumbling "This little light of mine.", he ignites the tip of his wand, allowing the area around them to shine brightly before catching Enis's words.]

Care to illuminate the rest of us?

Departure

[blindpuppet]

[Enis lightly presses the tips of her fingers to her temple, applying pressure to the steadily increasing buzz echoing through her head. She glances back at Baz and exhales.]

It depends on what you're looking for.

I don't know much.

[All she knows for certain is that this really sucks.]

Re: Departure

[flammablepitch]

Neither do any of us. Anything's useful.

[He can't help wondering if she has a headache or something.]

Departure

[blindpuppet]

If we fuck up we die? And probably everyone else with us?

[Okay, that's unhelpful.]

I really don't know. The last time I went into the Sphere to fix things there were monsters and an area was flooded with water. We should be ready for anything. Some people with the technical mind should be protected and push forward... even if something happens.

If they can fix this then those who die will be resurrected.