011 ♐ it's easy living in the house of your dreams ♐ ᴏᴘᴇɴ

[geometry]

Characters: Equius Zahhak (AU) and YOU
Setting: Floor 70, the machine.
Format: Starting in action, but I'll do whatever.
Summary: Equius gets his geek on in the worst conceivable way.
Warnings: Possible crushing, burning, or acid corrosion. YAY SCIENCE!


[...Wow.]

[There was no telling how big this floor was. The walls and ceiling were nowhere in sight, because they were completely covered by a massive breathing machine. There was a faint tinge of rust in the air here, and the outer reaches were further obscured by smoke of various colours. Metal parts clunked and ground against one another, making extremely unattractive noises as they did so. A truly staggering amount of the mechanisms here were burned or dented (or maybe they were supposed to be that way, since they were unfamiliar), but they all seemed to be working together towards... something that wasn't immediately clear. There had to be a million different platforms all around the place, but most of them were conveyor belts, carrying scraps of some kind of metal into a huge boiling vat of liquid that sizzled when something dropped in.]

[It was beautiful.]

[Not much to see here, Tower; just a troll, standing next to the staircase, gawking in amazement at the monstrosity in front of him. Judging from the oil streaks that have long since dried on this particular pair of pants, he could feel perfectly at home here... if he got an opportunity to look around. Right now, it's all unfamiliar. And way too big. All Equius can do for quite a long time is stand there and gawk. What could this thing be for?]

[He seems to want to find out, as shortly afterward he's examining the closer and less dangerous metallic innards. And then the slightly further metallic innards. And eventually he's crawling and jumping all over the place, still in view of the staircase, but observing mechanisms that could crush a hand and balancing on things that really ought not to be balanced on, all in the interest of getting just a little closer to that peculiar piece of machinery. It's just so interesting. He seems to be doing pretty well now; one of Equius' few talents is coordination and nimble movement. But who knows how long that'll last if someone startles him...]

Comments

[geometry]

Very possible. It... it might even be in their control room, the one they broadcast from, wherever that is. [Oh, he knows physics doesn't work properly, Shion. He knows and he hates it.]

[savedbyasong]

If they only have one. [It is painful isn't it?] They may have several.

[geometry]

There's only one way to find out... [...looking at the machine. Gotta go deeper.]

...b-but, uh, you don't have to come if you. Don't want to.

[savedbyasong]

I do... [Cautiously lets go of railing and follows, trying not to wobble.] I want to come with you.

[geometry]

[He sees your wobbling, bro.]

I, uh... [How to put this?] ...I don't think that would be a very good idea.

[savedbyasong]

[Shion blinked, and really he couldn't have looked more hurt if Equius had punched him.] I can keep up, I wont slow you down.

[geometry]

[ !!! ]

...No! No, that's not what I meant! Oh god. No. I... I'm sorry!

[flailflailflail.]

[savedbyasong]

[Oh. Flailflailflail. If they're not careful they will flail right off this machine.] No don't be! Please! It's okay! [Though he's confused, what did he mean?]

[geometry]

I... [Pause.] ...I just don't want you to hurt yourself, that's all...

[savedbyasong]

I wont... It's fine... [And if he did. Well dying now counts as scientific research so it's not all bad.

Also awkwardness that Equius was worried about him... And not annoyed at his uselessness.]

[geometry]

Are you sure?

[Yeah. Equius is weird like that.]

[savedbyasong]

[Shion nodded, looking determined.]

[geometry]

...Okay.

[He turns around, but doesn't move yet.]

If you're sure.

[savedbyasong]

I am. [Determined nod.]

[geometry]

...Then we're looking for something that seems like it might be a central terminal, or at least a big one.

[adventure]

[savedbyasong]

[Yay adventure. This could end in tears. Shion let go of the railing fully and began to follow Equius] A large terminal... It will probably be quite a way in, away from the staircase.

[geometry]

Probably.

[He grabbed onto the edge of a platform they ran across, and picked up his feet a few inches from the ground; enough that he could determine the strength of the construction, but also that he wouldn't be hurt if it was weak. It seemed sturdy, though, so he dragged himself up onto the grilling and looked down at Shion, expecting him to follow.]

[savedbyasong]

[He's following, he's following. He's actually stronger than he looks, all those weights Reno made him lift. Not to mention Rat used to drag him around and expect him to climb things and laugh scornfully at him if he couldn't.

Of course he looks like he's about to fall, but there's a great deal of flailing that comes with just being Shion. So he's fine, at least he can do things like this without getting out of breath now.]

[geometry]

[Yay, Shion! Equius keeps watching him out of the corner of his eye, nervous for the other boy's safety, but at least he can pull himself around decently well. That kind of helps with the lack of coordination. Though the human may have gotten that way through training, Equius gained his skills mostly out of necessity; there wasn't a lot of places to run in a particularly dark backstreet, but there was a lot of places to climb.]

[Meanwhile, the supports holding up this platform begin to creak, and Equius jumps.] This... could be corroding, oh god. Look around quickly, and if you don't see anything, we'll keep going.

[savedbyasong]

[You see Shion wouldn't have even thought to climb to escape attackers. Which is why he was forever having to be rescued by Rat.

Ahhh creaking not good. Shion looked around taking in everything he saw.] Nothing that seems important.

[geometry]

Yyyyyeah. [SPRINT]

[Well okay not sprint, because sprinting would make it fall apart faster. But he doesn't loiter around. Shion can get off as well, hopefully...]

[savedbyasong]

[He can, quickly but not too heavily hopefully. And right on time as it half collapses as he scrambles off it.] That was close...

Mel says that they won't be able to figure out what the machine does, so...

[geometry]

[...the question now is, should they die in their explorations or not?]

Oh, god!

[Yeah, don't mind that outburst as Equius practically clings to the pipe he was leaning on.]

Close... close, yeah.

Well the real question is...

[savedbyasong]

[Will anything short of death stop them from trying?]

Are you alright? [Stop panicking Equius, you're making Shion panic. He finds his own pipe to cling to.]

[geometry]

Y-yeah, I think I...

[Creeeeeak.]

...whatwasthat.

Whatwasthat.