It's not like I'm walking alone into the valley of the shadow of death--

[sageprincess]

Characters: Enoch, Zelda, and their ragtag bunch of immortals (Lucifel, Naoya, Solas, Saber Lily, and Ruler)
Setting: Admin levels; night of April 9th
Format: Any, though action might be faster?
Summary: With Jason apparently busy examining the "malfunctioning" worker units, it's the perfect time to strike and retrieve the information Dax left behind.
Warnings: It's a break in. These do not have a history of going well. Character injury and death is possible.

It is a dark and stormy night, as cliche as it sounds. Most of the Tower residents should be asleep by now, or wandering the more interesting floors in search of monsters to fight.

Not these ones, though. A small group quietly begins to gather around the administrator elevator after the sun is well and truly down, several of them armed. Jason's announcement over the intercom yesterday had been just the tell they were looking for - one that informed them he was distracted - and despite some of the distressing disappearances that followed, they had to jump on this rare opportunity while it was within their grasp.

Dax trusted them with the information he had collected, and one way or another, they were going to find it.

Comments

MINGLE

[sageprincess]

It's going to be a while before they can get the elevator doors open, and it's likely there are going to be a few things the group will need to talk about before they go down. Better keep quiet, though.

[warriorscribe]

Enoch is the first to join Zelda at the gathering spot. He looks worried, to say the least.

"Zelda... I saw Tohko being carried off by a retrieval unit. I couldn't keep up with it..."

They'd be down one person, it seemed.

[repeatingsun]

Solas arrives after Enoch, having already shifted into a more plantlike form. Her skin is green and kind of like tough leaves, her hair is fronds, et cetera. She does arrive in time to hear Enoch's statement, though.

"The retrieval units are doing something? That's bad...I hope Tohko's all right."

She didn't know the girl all that well, but no one deserved to be tormented by the administrators.

[sageprincess]

Zelda, dressed in her Sheikah gear rather than the more traditional dress she was seen in last time she went in the administrator levels (amazing what a bit of time to prepare will do), frowns at the news.

"I should be more surprised, but... the idea that Jason would work on both the worker units and the Tower populace is not a particularly shocking one, as unfortunate as that is."

She looks back up to Enoch and Solas (who's appearance is... odd, but she won't question it now), her expression set into one of determination.

"All the more reason to do this right."

[brbtalkingtogod]

"I hope I'm not late to the party?" Lucifel was probably just fashionably late for the mingle, appearing with the sound of fingers flicking in the distance. But this is drifting off from the actual topic at hand. Odd enough for some, he was carrying an umbrella along with him.

"We are short by one I've heard?"

[crouching_sin]

Naoya walks up, hands tucked in his pockets. His expression is carefully neutral, as he looks around the group. He looks over at Enoch and nods to him, before nodding in general to the others.

"Who else are we waiting on?"

[warriorscribe]

Enoch smiles and nods in return. "I believe only one more...? They would be someone the Princess has invited."

[warriorscribe]

Well, he would have heard it from him, so Enoch doesn't respond to that, only reaches out to lightly touch Lucifel's arm in thanks for coming along.

"We've only started gathering. Remember the walls have ears...we should keep our voices low."

[crouching_sin]

Naoya pulls Enoch aside while they're waiting for people to gather.

"Enoch. I need to speak to you. It's a... family matter, if you will."

He actually looks pretty worried.

[warriorscribe]

That's...not a good sign.

"Of course. What is it?"

[crouching_sin]

After they're at least a bit away from the others, he sighs.

"Asako. She's... she's been trying to wake up her fragment of Abel out of a misguided sense of familial responsibility to me. It's not going to work, and if it does, it'll hurt her more than anything. Abel's dead and shattered and gone and no matter how much I wish he weren't, he is. I've accepted that, though I still hate it. But if she does wake something up, it'll consume her."

He looks down at the floor briefly.

"She's not Abel. She'll never be Abel. And she's only going to hurt herself trying to be him. She won't seem to listen to me very well, so... I thought perhaps you could talk to her. I know you're not really familiar with her, but I think she could use someone who's a good listener. Heh. I know I haven't been the best brother - or uncle - most of the time, but I can't just let her hurt herself like this."

[warriorscribe]

Enoch reaches over to put a hand on his shoulder. "I will try."

He remembers Asako, in the whirlwind of Shadow battles; they'd fought alongside one another against Naoya's Shadow.

He also remembers talking with the other Naoya in Meridian, the one who told him Abel's soul was shattered, fragmented. It was sickening, to think of someone being utterly and completely gone... And then what was left corrupted and associated with a demon...

"She is your family whether that fragment is awakened or not. I'll...do my best to help her see that."

[faithstaynight]

Similar to the recent meeting, Ruler was keeping quiet as they waited. Not really because she didn't wish to speak to the others, oh no. She was lost in thought; she had been contemplating something for a while now, since Zelda had revealed that she was planning this mission. But she couldn't keep putting it off any longer.

So, as soon as Zelda finishes talking with the others, Ruler approaches her.

"Zelda? When you have a moment, I need to speak with you."

[sageprincess]

"Hm?" Zelda turns to her without hesitance, of course, a curious furrow in her brow. Ruler's silence hadn't been entirely strange - it had been much the same during the initial meeting to plan this infiltration - but the need to speak with her tips her off that this might be something concerning.

"Of course, what is it?"

[faithstaynight]

"With the amount of danger we're currently putting ourselves in, I... need to tell you something. A warning of sorts."

Again, she hesitates. Part of her realizes that it's ridiculous to hide this, but a bigger part of her is worried over what she's sure will be a negative reaction from her dear friend.

"If something goes wrong, if we must resort to fighting our way out of the lower levels... if need be, I will not hesitate to use my Noble Phantasm; the most powerful skill I have at my disposal. I tell you this because there is... a catch, to this skill."

[sageprincess]

Curiosity turns to concern at that, and her lips purse into a frown. A warning, is it? Of course it couldn't be good news at this point. May as well get this unpleasantness over with--

"And what would this catch be?"

[faithstaynight]

"A Noble Phantasm is meant to be a representation of a hero's legend. Iconic abilities, weapons, tools... these are all things that could transfer over into a trump card that will most certainly tip the scale of any battle that it is called upon in."

She pauses yet again, but it's not a hesitant pause. She scans the group quickly, making sure that none of the others are trying to eavesdrop, before continuing again.

"You... know of my name." Ruler winces ever so slightly as she says that. It wasn't exactly a pleasant memory, the one where she had unintentionally revealed who she truly was to the princess. "I do not know if you have heard anything connected to that name. I will not bother you with the long story now, but I will tell you this much now: I was a normal human. I had no fantastical abilities or magical weapons to aid me as I liberated France, so my power as a Servant had to come from... something else."

The girl frowns, looking down at the sword in her hands. "If there is one thing, aside from turning the scales of a century-long war, that I am most well known for... it is that I was burned at the stake after a year-long trial following my capture." She takes a steadying breath before looking back up at Zelda, a grim look in her eyes.

"My Noble Phantasm is a flaming holy sword that represents that event. And holy or not, the fire is connected to my manner of death, so when I use this ability in battle... I will die, no matter the outcome."

[no_longer_a_king]

Arturia had arrived late. Mostly because she had taken extra time to organize her notes of the information she'd been gathering over the last few weeks. Part of her wondered if it would even be useful anymore as it seemed the Administrators could change the shape of the Tower at will. However, this was the information they had and so they had to at least try.

"Zelda?" she said to the princess, holding out the sketches and notes for her to peruse, "My apologies for being late. I need to make sure these were legible."

[sageprincess]

"It is all right. We are waiting," she notes with a tilt of her head in Naoya's direction as he works on the elevator. She doesn't dare risk saying what they are waiting on in so many words before they've even begun, but she believes she doesn't necessarily need to.

Tucking her twin elven daggers away for now, she takes the notes offered, looking them over with interest. She seems impressed. "On the contrary, these sketches are excellent. Good work, Arturia."

ELEVATOR

[sageprincess]

After Naoya's hacked it open, it's time to enter and see if they can get the elevator to go where they need it to.

[animusnpcs]

[The doors slide open a few minutes after the elevator is called. Inside of the stainless steel box there's a flat computer panel that can be pressed to indicate which residential floor they would like to go to. Beneath it is a currently locked panel for advanced control.]

[crouching_sin]

[Naoya grins at the sight, flexing his fingers before starting to punch in combinations of numbers. He remembers this clearly from last time, and it shouldn't take too much experimentation to get it to work, provided that the administrators haven't changed any of the security protocols.]

[animusnpcs]

[It seems as if they haven't--it's not long before a computerized voice sounds off in the elevator.]

Please speak your destination.

[Of course, without a specific destination, simply saying "administrative levels" could take them anywhere downstairs. There's more information contained within the systems, but it will take more digging to break into.]

[crouching_sin]

[Oh goodie. He's not satisfied with simply aimlessly wandering around down there, so he attempts to pull up an access log along with a directory of available inputs.]

[animusnpcs]

[The directory is very basic:

Area One - ACCESS LOG DENIED
Area Two - ACCESS LOG DENIED
Area Three - Jason
Area Four - ACCESS LOG DENIED
Area Five - Dax
Area Six - all

It's impossible to get more details on area one, two, or four from the elevator--the equipment isn't available from this sort of access point.]