Personification Life IC IX - [Semi Open]

[Swith Witherward]

After the German explained partially what is going on Jason asked "Vaffelheim? What's that? Also, what happened during these Drone and," He paused for a second thinking over what he was about to say "Cthulu invasion? Also, what is this Building you speak of?"

Lilian nodded her head at Jason. "That sounds cool! You'll have to tell me more later." The concept of other worlds besides Earth was still new to her, but Lilian had met beings from other planets before. This Jason guy seemed nice and interesting. He would be perfect for Bielefeld!

The German man reminded her vaguely of a man named Rudolph for worked at The Building; this guy would do well at Bielefeld, too. "Bielefeld is the city I've been living in for the past few months. It's totally wicked! Last time I was there there was this carnival, which was so totally awesome, but a fight broke out and ruined the mood.", she nodded at Jason's questions, "What's a Cthulu? The Building is in ruins? As in The Building? That's part of Bielefeld! There was a group here? They might have been my friends! Was there anyone with blue skin? A cyborg? Do you know why we're here? Dude, other dimensions exist?" Lilian could handle other worlds, but other dimensions? Say it ain't so.

The man was intrigued by Lilian's words. The Building itself was an oddity that did things without rhyme or reason. It was possible that this 'Bielefeld' indeed did have the Building in it. Perhaps Bielefeld was Vaffelhelm in some foreign dimension. He chose to ignore their question about Cthulhu.

"There are cyborgs in that group. Other dimensions exist. The Building is in ruins. It was obliterated during an invasion. Ogoti's magic wasn't enough to protect it or the restaurant, or those gathered within. Many were lost. Giovenith. Thriller. Lidev. Dab. Ogoti. Many others." He watched the rabbit child's face to see if her eyes would indicate familiarity with any of those names, but he also kept the male in his peripheral vision. "I don't know why you're here. Why don't you both take a moment to enjoy some buttered toast and coffee? I have things to check on."

The man rose and pulled the needle from the record, setting the arm in the cradle. He strode from the room and closed the door behind him.

[Torsiedelle]

Torii was starting to get upset with their situation, or rather, more upset than she was before, and she actually started trying to ignore the cat's meowing. "Nick, quiet.", She whispered, observing the tunnel in front of them. Would they go for the staircase, or go further into the tunnel?

Well, she didn't know if there was anything bad in the tunnel or not, and those nanites would have only one way to go if they followed it...

"I say we check that staircase ahead.", She said, walking in its direction while keeping withing a few feet of the group. "Maybe it leads up more, or to a maintenance area where we can find some shelter and supplies again. We don't know if there's anything dangerous in the tunnel, and it could be full of toxic stuff.

[Rocopurr]

Giovenith was gone? Lilian had known her for a short while. They and the others teens had had so much fun together, and Gio was gone? How could that be? How could a godling die? Weren't they immortal? Trying not to look horrified, Lilian nodded at the offer for food and walked over to the table. "Thank you.", for once her voice was dull and slow. She rested her cheek on her hand and picked at the toast with the other. At least her others friends were alive, right?

[The Drone Empire]

Torii was starting to get upset with their situation, or rather, more upset than she was before, and she actually started trying to ignore the cat's meowing. "Nick, quiet.", She whispered, observing the tunnel in front of them. Would they go for the staircase, or go further into the tunnel?

Well, she didn't know if there was anything bad in the tunnel or not, and those nanites would have only one way to go if they followed it...

"I say we check that staircase ahead.", She said, walking in its direction while keeping withing a few feet of the group. "Maybe it leads up more, or to a maintenance area where we can find some shelter and supplies again. We don't know if there's anything dangerous in the tunnel, and it could be full of toxic stuff.

"Of course, either route could be compromised by 'toxic stuff'." Dani said, certain that the dangers of above were just as real below. The thought of splitting up into two groups crossed her mind as to suggest, but her human superstition spoke against it. Rather than be the reason for their deaths, she'd cede that responsibility to someone else. She turned back to FUBAR, whose three red oculars seemed to glow brightly, and to a lesser extent the dozens of running lights that were all around his heavy body. She backed up next to him, finding a certain comfort when in close proximity to the machine; the quiet noises of his internal mechanisms were somewhat relaxing.

She spoke quietly now, in the tongue which they shared.

"What can you see?" She said, assuming that he could very well see down both paths, and a well ways into the earth around them, to an extent. His insight of the situation would be most valuable.

[Giovenith]

Darn forks. Forks should stick with food, they sucked for escaping.

Upstairs seemed like the most logical choice to Giovenith, but then she considered that even if they lead to the outside, they had no clue where outside. It could be anywhere between the middle of an abandoned street, and any number of nasty surprises. Still, she didn't want to stay down here, where they'd be like fish in a barrel for those nanites. But then again, what of the breeze? The path was so dark, the godling conjured images of a slimy, smelly, stooped beast wallowing in it's nest, awaiting any small creatures silly enough to burrow themselves into it's home. Stairs, on the other hand, were man-made... but there were no humans here. Only the corrupted and disguised drones. Unless they were from a bygone era? Damn. She never loved choosing the lesser of two crappy situations.

"Alright: I agree with the stairs option," she laid out her opinion in a sturdy but rushed tone, explaining things as one might direct a plan. "If someone made stairs down here, then it was obviously for their benefit. People don't construct stairs without purpose..."

Unless they were unlucky enough to hire Escher or Dr. Suess as their architect, but that was beside the point.

"... but anything can go down a tunnel, so anything could be down the one we can't see through." She pointed to said pitch blackness. "I think we're better off trusting some builder than random darkness. Not guaranteed, but likely."

[Terintania]

Nex listened to the opinions on the different passages, then nodded,"I agree. The stairs seem like the better option for tonight. Even if they just lead to an underground bunker. It would supply us with a place to stay, and in the morning, if the stairs to not provide a way out, we will probably have to use the other tunnel. As I can not die, I would be willing to investigate either tunnel before anyone heads in, just let me know." He looked back and forth between the tunnels, wondering what was down them.

[Cerillium]

"Of course, either route could be compromised by 'toxic stuff'." Dani said, certain that the dangers of above were just as real below. The thought of splitting up into two groups crossed her mind as to suggest, but her human superstition spoke against it. Rather than be the reason for their deaths, she'd cede that responsibility to someone else. She turned back to FUBAR, whose three red oculars seemed to glow brightly, and to a lesser extent the dozens of running lights that were all around his heavy body. She backed up next to him, finding a certain comfort when in close proximity to the machine; the quiet noises of his internal mechanisms were somewhat relaxing.

She spoke quietly now, in the tongue which they shared.

"What can you see?" She said, assuming that he could very well see down both paths, and a well ways into the earth around them, to an extent. His insight of the situation would be most valuable.

A soft hum. A quiet tick. The unit was accoutered to persevere in nearly any situation. Their current predicament seemed oddly familiar yet there wasn't any data proving FUBAR had journeyed this tunnel before. The door "spooked" him, for lack of a better word; he would be unable to explain why.

"Scan complete," he responded in their mutual tongue. "Nanite presence: negative. Drone presence: negative. Cthulhu presence: negative. Cultist presence: indeterminable. Invidis presence: positive. Invidis location: 180.81 meters within left tunnel."

He paused and then continued in English in a soft and monotone voice. "The right tunnel courses eastward 91.14 meters; a steep 18% grade exists beyond that point: depth indeterminable, unknown outlet. Map overlay indicates right tunnel runs exact course as main sewer system; presumption: tunnel leads to observatory. The left tunnel continues past the exit on a level course. It turns westward at 210.03 meters; unknown outlet. Overlay indicates left tunnel has 75.5% probability of running same course as aqueduct; presumption: tunnel terminates at shoreline close to objective. The unit is Incapable of scanning beyond the door. Assume shielding. Nanites have breached landing point. Projected arrival time in this vicinity: 29 minutes. Probability of shepherd recall: 43%. Recommendation: exit doorway or advance in right tunnel. Recommendation: divide manpower resources to increase chance of survival and objective completion."

[Arastold]

"Well, that was helpful" Jason said before standing up and going to the table and sitting next to Lilian. "Hey, what's the matter?" Jason asked, sensing her sadness. While he waited for her reply he helped himself to some food and proceeded to wolf down a lot of the food.

[Torsiedelle]

"So, up the stairs, or down the scary tunnel. Either way, we're being followed by nanites. This sucks."

She shrugged when she thought about what Gio said. "Yea, those stairs aren't built without purpose. They also shouldn't lead into creepy caverns. I know it leads to the sewers, but still, it should already be in the sewer. It could be shorter than the right, but it could also be home to some raiders or zombies or stuff. I saw it in a video game."

Then, she got something of an idea. "Wait....wait, I got it!", She exclaimed, turning around. She set Nick down for a moment to talk to Marcus, walking quickly to his position. "You know about Nifid and Drones and Shoggoth, right? And FUBAR has light weapons and lasers? We also have a plasma rifle. Nifid use Biotech, right? Can Nanites be zapped like bugs, or, um, disintegrated?"

Her gaze shot to Giovenith. "And aren't you part dragon or something? I forget. Oh! Mr. Nikanor, remember when you produced your Transformation Devices? How did you do it? What materials? Someone said they had a 3D printer device? Can't you modify a TF gun to act as a Disentigration Device? If not, we could use it to revert salvageable supplies!"

She started hopping up and down to find the future man for reference. She looked a little dumn, excited, and even crazy, but that was how she usually acted when she had an idea.

[Giovenith]

So even now there was no clear route? Both carried their own risks and safeties, and there was very little time to debate them.

"Okay, so left is more perilous, but closer to where we need to go?" Giovenith gathered and repeated. "But the right probably has less to fight through, and likely leads to the observatory? What if... what if some of the stronger people go to the left, so that they can find a good route, and the others wait at the observatory to be picked up? Or..."

She honestly didn't know. Giovenith wasn't an expert strategist, so her plan was rather simplistic, but it was the best one she could come up with. Normally she would have been fervently against splitting up the group, especially when they had no communication links between them, but she readily assumed that FUBAR knew better than the lot of them even if he was, as Marcus said, thinking like a machine. Maybe one of the official-type fighters like Dia or Ray had a better plan?

Then Torii started piping up with something, although what she onto was far from Giovenith's guess. "W-What?" she asked, genuinely taken off-guard. "Um, dragons are my mom's associated creature, so I've got the abilities. Anubis has jackals, Hera has peacocks, that sort of thing... why, what are you thinking of?" She hoped it was reasonable and damn fast.

[The BranRiech]

"I don't have a TF gun on me . . ." Bran shook his head. He liked Torii's ideas, but now that it seemed like they were going to be trapped in a sink-hole for a long while, he might as well believe any solution would save them at this point. "Torii, didn't you keep yours?" He asked, going along with her plan as well as he could. Hell, he just wanted to be of some use, other than losing his bag.

The plan seemed a bit iffy though, but if Nanites could be vaporized, then it would be the best way to go about getting rid of them. They were only tiny machines, right?

[Torsiedelle]

"No. I keep it in the dresser, underneath my TV. That's why I was asking what materials you used.", Torii said. "Dia, being able to stop time, could run around and get them if he needed, and we could use future man's gun maker to manufacture it."

She sighed. "If we can't get our hands on a TF Gun, then maybe more plasma rifles. Actually, if this is 2015, then would your old factory still be around, and if so, could we find an old gun? Is it on our path?"

[Transgravitas Directorate]

Dia would also have preferred to stick together, if only so he could help keep an eye out on everyone. But if the odds of success were greater with splitting up, it was worth the risk.

"We don't necessarily have to do both at the same time, actually," he offered, after a moment's thought. "I can freeze time in the left tunnel, and either seal it off or let us explore it first. Then we can double back for the right tunnel if we don't find anything. Or we could even still split up and do both, if you guys felt the need. Perhaps a few of the faster people, like Flying Bug Man, with me, in that case?"

[Cerillium]

"So, up the stairs, or down the scary tunnel. Either way, we're being followed by nanites. This sucks."

She shrugged when she thought about what Gio said. "Yea, those stairs aren't built without purpose. They also shouldn't lead into creepy caverns. I know it leads to the sewers, but still, it should already be in the sewer. It could be shorter than the right, but it could also be home to some raiders or zombies or stuff. I saw it in a video game."

Then, she got something of an idea. "Wait....wait, I got it!", She exclaimed, turning around. She set Nick down for a moment to talk to Marcus, walking quickly to his position. "You know about Nifid and Drones and Shoggoth, right? And FUBAR has light weapons and lasers? We also have a plasma rifle. Nifid use Biotech, right? Can Nanites be zapped like bugs, or, um, disintegrated?"

Her gaze shot to Giovenith. "And aren't you part dragon or something? I forget. Oh! Mr. Nikanor, remember when you produced your Transformation Devices? How did you do it? What materials? Someone said they had a 3D printer device? Can't you modify a TF gun to act as a Disentigration Device? If not, we could use it to revert salvageable supplies!"

She started hopping up and down to find the future man for reference. She looked a little dumn, excited, and even crazy, but that was how she usually acted when she had an idea.

Marcus was puzzled. "Well, we could ask the Tilktep about Nifid, but the nanites are Drone. I honestly don't know much about them except they seem to replicate quickly, can form into larger creatures, and devour stuff. I don't think Nifid bother with nanites. Not when a virus can do the job. I guess we could ask Dani about what kills nanites. We stopped them the last time by making an organism smaller than the nanites which fed on them like parasites. You could pack thousands into just a single nanite, or something like that. I don't carry that stuff on me."

He bit his lower lip and reminded himself that his father did. Always be ready for the unthinkable, or so the old man always said. The boy firmly believed his sire had nothing better to do in life than seek out new beings and plot their demise.

"Twenty minutes isn't a lot of time," Marcus peered back in the direction they'd come. "We could go down either tunnel and possibly lose them. We could go through a door blindly, but FUBAR can't see what's beyond - the nanites might not be able to pass through it, maybe? I'm all for taking the tunnel with the door in it, or taking the door itself. We could split up, but I'm sticking beside Giovenith. I'll go with whatever Dia says."

[Torsiedelle]

"Or Dia could do that, sure.", Torii added her opinion. "Freeze time and let us scout out. If there are enemies, they'll be frozen and unable to hurt us. If there's a way out, we can take it. I don't want to risk splitting up. Everyone has something that makes us as a whole stronger, and we can't subtract from that. Honestly, I just want to get out of here and back on track, and fast, and I want everyone else to do the same."

She leaned against Bran for a moment, then gently pushed herself off and got down into a squat. "And what about, ya know, what I said about energy weapons?"

She sighed again when Marcus gave her what info he had. "God damnit.", She muttered, hopping back up. "Well, no other way than to test it out. Anyway, I still say we should let Dia freeze time to the left and walk through."

[New Aksarben]

Marcus was puzzled. "Well, we could ask the Tilktep about Nifid, but the nanites are Drone. I honestly don't know much about them except they seem to replicate quickly, can form into larger creatures, and devour stuff. I don't think Nifid bother with nanites. Not when a virus can do the job. I guess we could ask Dani about what kills nanites. We stopped them the last time by making an organism smaller than the nanites which fed on them like parasites. You could pack thousands into just a single nanite, or something like that. I don't carry that stuff on me."

He bit his lower lip and reminded himself that his father did. Always be ready for the unthinkable, or so the old man always said. The boy firmly believed his sire had nothing better to do in life than seek out new beings and plot their demise.

"Twenty minutes isn't a lot of time," Marcus peered back in the direction they'd come. "We could go down either tunnel and possibly lose them. We could go through a door blindly, but FUBAR can't see what's beyond - the nanites might not be able to pass through it, maybe? I'm all for taking the tunnel with the door in it, or taking the door itself. We could split up, but I'm sticking beside Giovenith. I'll go with whatever Dia says."

"I'll be sticking with Giovenith too. But I think we should stick together,really. Strength in numbers is good." Sterling said with a small nod before glancing backwards towards where he nanites were coming from. It was very much too dark to see where they were, even with his magic lighting the tunnel. Thank Celestia they at least had that. Sterling couldn't imagine how much more difficult this trek would have been without a source of light. The observant unicorn glanced at the walls of the tunnel behind them briefly, wondering how much force might be needed to collapse them. He couldn't imagine they had held up the best with no maintenance for possibly years.

Sterling looked forward again, and he glanced between the two options. "If we chose one I'd go with the door. What's known beats the unknown any day of the week. Oh, and with Dia freezing time, would he be able to pull us all with him, or would we be frozen too? I had the idea that we could possibly try collapsing the tunnel behind us if possible. The metal things might be deterred by that and think its a dead end possibly. Would that be a good idea?"

[The BranRiech]

"Look, I just think we should think for a few minutes before the damn Nanites come back, we could go and check it out, but I really do like the idea of Dia freezing time for us first, it wouldn't have any negative affects, at least that I can think of, and we could know what's on the other side of our paths here." Bran said. He was starting to take Torii's side here. The teens running the whole thing didn't seem to be doing a good job, and as much as he liked Marcus, he did seem a little timid in the face of leading the other tenants around this dangerous world.

He too, crouched down, and leaned against a wall.

"We have to choose soon, I think."

[Giovenith]

"I throw my vote in for the time pause too," Giovenith nodded, and shifted Turtleboss from one arm to the other. "If it can give us both more time, in a sensation sense of course, and a better idea of what awaits us, I don't see why not."

[Germanic Templars]

"Oh, well, I've got no idea what we should see, Aleki?" Natiya leaned into him. She didn't know what the sights were, and figured that Aleki knew. "Some of the islands sound nice? Maybe we could swim?"

"Assuming we swim over in areas of the fifteenth district that would be a good idea. Krutes are known to help keep their fishing, and more recently, recreational areas clear from dangerous sea creatures of this planet. Though, first we should eat first. Maybe a stop in a town or so in the seventh district."

[Cerillium]

The answer was on the tip of her tongue and she yearned to give it. But nothingness - zero - had a very tiresome meaning for her. Time hated being wasted, however, and for the moment she was Klingon, not her normal self. And for that moment, she drew on the courage of her adopted race.

She strode forward, no hesitation or diffidence visible now, and tossed her head proudly, sending the medium brown hair whirling about as kelp in a hurricane.

"I had none before you, and I shall have none after you - let all witness, and turn their backs if I break faith," she cried out. Her own bat'leth turned in a swift arc and clanged against Ha'nS' as she held it parallel to his, their hands touching, back to back along the grips of the swords. The tips threw the barest shadows on the floor, but beyond them the lengths of the curved blades cast longer, more artistic flickering images on the walls of the chamber.

ChryS turned to face the rest of the hall, gazing at no one and everyone, and squared her shoulders. Whatever happened next, she would take in stride, though she wasn't sure herself what this proclamation would lead to. Even so, leaps of faith often led to the most rewarding touchdowns.

Ha'nS likewise had no idea what they were getting themselves into. It had started off as assertions to strip away further advances by other women. It had turned into something darkly Klingon in nature. He liked it. It stirred something deep within the core of his very being; it pleased Rache as well.

ChryS' stern expression and flared nostrils stirred something else and Ha'nS lowered his blade and bowed his head to sniff at her temple. His mouth's corners slowly drew back to hint at a mildly feral smile. There wasn't any Dia here. There weren't any overly concerned males from the Building who would spirit her away because they feared her to be too timid and feminine for combat and danger. It dawned on him that he'd never had the chance to kiss her. He wasn't even certain if Klingon's kissed. He hesitated, awaiting Fate's cruel hand that always snatched her away from him at just the worst moment. One heartbeat. Then two. Then three. His smile widened. He growled and ran his nose tip against her forehead ridge to make his intentions clear. There wasn't any way in all of Hell that he'd lower himself to 'Nesh standards to roll upon the floor in public but, perhaps, there were rooms at hand.

[Monfrox]

"Certain situations call for a brief pause, and certain ones call for action." Varona stated, looking to the tunnel and then to the group. "The longer we wait, the more time we spend at this fork, the less time we have to evade those "Nanites". So, I appreciate that you all think that we should rest, but there will come a time for that. Right now, we need to make a choice. We know a little about what's behind door number one, and knowing a little is better than going in blind. Even so, we must assume the worst, and that anything behind it isn't big on talking. Besides, if that was turns out to be a dead end, then we always have the other option." She glanced to the stairs for a second before refreshing her grip on her weapons.

[Transgravitas Directorate]

"My command is your wish," Dia quoted, tapping the front of his temple above his eyebrow in response to Sterling's question about whether the others would be frozen as well. He slid over to the left tunnel and...disappeared. The tunnel entrance blacked out from the point of view of the group behind. A few seconds passed and Dia reappeared, giving a satisfied nod.

"That'll work. Things don't extend that far down, so something can still jump out at us. I'll have to stick close to the front to extend the freezing effect out."

[Transgravitas Directorate]

Ha'nS likewise had no idea what they were getting themselves into. It had started off as assertions to strip away further advances by other women. It had turned into something darkly Klingon in nature. He liked it. It stirred something deep within the core of his very being; it pleased Rache as well.

ChryS' stern expression and flared nostrils stirred something else and Ha'nS lowered his blade and bowed his head to sniff at her temple. His mouth's corners slowly drew back to hint at a mildly feral smile. There wasn't any Dia here. There weren't any overly concerned males from the Building who would spirit her away because they feared her to be too timid and feminine for combat and danger. It dawned on him that he'd never had the chance to kiss her. He wasn't even certain if Klingon's kissed. He hesitated, awaiting Fate's cruel hand that always snatched her away from him at just the worst moment. One heartbeat. Then two. Then three. His smile widened. He growled and ran his nose tip against her forehead ridge to make his intentions clear. There wasn't any way in all of Hell that he'd lower himself to 'Nesh standards to roll upon the floor in public but, perhaps, there were rooms at hand.

The solemnity was beginning to get to her a bit; she missed a certain lack of decorum. Fortunately, there were ways around that, and ironically, they came from Mezran's own people. She, too, wasn't aware if Klingons accepted the idea of kissing. So, instead, she stretched up and bit him on the neck, with a carefully hidden sparkle of mischief in her eyes.

It seemed to her, too, that Fate had decided to play nice and bless Hans with a stroke of luck. There was no Dia here. There was no Dia at all.

She glanced questioningly at Mezran, wondering if there were any rooms nearby, or if he'd be kind enough to let them use his ship. The latter wasn't likely, but it was worth asking. The feeling of her mate's nose on her forehead, although perhaps not right for Klingons, was enough to start her running in combination with everything else that had happened that night.

[Mincaldenteans]

Mezran stifled a laugh and murmured gruffly at Rudolf. The sight of Hans and Chrys embracing each other made the Klingon warrior perk and eyebrow at his friend. "Shy you say? Well, it is rather tame," Mezran commented lightly, taking a gulp of his warnog that he left untouched in favor of bloodwine at the beginning of the feast.

"pa' vI'ogh poS vaS," Mezran said to the fawning couple, making a shooing gesture to the doors out of the great hall. The guild had accommodations for everyone even if they barely utilized it. He wondered how they would fare with beds that were literally carved from wood or stone. There were no 'beds' to speak of, although hides were used for warmth. He remembered once a Starfleeter had lamented giving up his rations for a soft bed. Mezran never understood that, the ground was comfortable - what more could they ask for? Still, humans and their comforts. He stifled another chuckle and went back to his food, turning his hulking body back around and plopped down a few more chucks of bregit lung.

"Eat, my friend! We will wait for our companions at dawn, in the mean time," the Klingon encouraged Rudolf, slapping a rather large piece of liver onto the man's plate. "There is food, drink and song to be had!"

[The Drone Empire]

Dani stood alongside FUBAR, the news was... interesting, to say the very least. Behind them now, an immense swarm of lethal creatures that could carve and consume this entire cave if they found the time. She listened to Marcus, feeling slightly more important as she became of more use. And she did; Marcus would scare them, the nanites might be voracious, but fortunately not that capable... or at least, the nanites that she knew. Nanites and zeptomites were similar; what exactly happened when they mixed she didn't quite know, though she supposed the zeptomites would simply consume their lesser cousins...

She realized how much she was leaning on FUBAR, her back pressed against one of his immense metal plates. She stood up, reaffirming herself that she had not fallen asleep.

"Nanites, or Zeptomites, I can't be sure which, are vulnerable to any weapons, though high powered, broad range sweeping fire would be the most effective..." She spoke in response to Marcus.