Ex Machina; Infiltration

[animusmods]

Characters: Riki and the infiltration team
Setting: administrative levels
Format: any
Summary: Riki's efforts must be sabotaged. Stealth is the name of the game and time is of the essence.
Warnings: psychological horror

Though the chipped unit does not follow, he sees to it that the team advances the rest of the way. At the end of the lit corridor is a set of double doors, heavy-duty polished metal with small windows set into each one.

Through the windows, a massive machine is visible, connected to thousands of holographic screens that are hard to make out at the speed at which they're being manipulated. The machine sits in the center of the room and is networked to four elaborate terminals stationed along the walls via a complex tangle of panels, wires, and towers. Each of these terminals controls its own set of floating screens; the sheer amount of holographic monitors in the room is disorienting, and really, it's hard to tell what's connected to what.

In the chair in the middle of the enormous set-up is Riki, maneuvering all of the screens with the same ease with which most people breathe. His back is to the doors that lead into the room, and for the moment, he is utterly engrossed in his work.

Comments

[puppy_lancer]

Lancer gives a nervous chuckle in response to Reno.

"Sorry. I'll be more careful next time. And you keep on being careful too. Dee's gonna be worried if you don't make it back either."

He frowns as he hears the question about his Gae Bolg. It had been snapped by that monster which almost killed him, but he hadn't felt its destruction. It was part of him--if it was destroyed permanently, he would know.

"...I'll try."

He mutters, holding his hand out and willing his spear into existence. With a flash of red light, it appears in his hand again.

"Whoa, I guess I still can."

...And just in time for something big to happen, it seems.

[warriorscribe]

Enoch squints at the lights and turns his gaze to the still normal terminal behind him. What would Riki do next...?

"Should we try to shut them down again, or is it better to remain near you, to guard you?"

[ninjainviolet]

Sheena's also thinking about taking a look at the computers. She may not know much about them, but maybe there's something on the screen? Her eyes adjusting to the light, she starts in that direction, stopping and turning in Riku's direction.

"'Things?' Oh! I can use Seals to add an element to someone's weapon. You know like Fire, Ice, Light. That sort of thing."

She's about to say more when things start happening, and she immediately takes a battle stance.

"What's going on?" she asks the retrieval unit.

[animusnpcs]

"Pull the plugs, don't mess with the terminals," the retrieval unit says. "You'll have to take that off, though."

He gestures to the area beneath one of the terminals where there's a bolted on plate.

[midgarhorizon]

Reno watches Lancer summon the spear, then squints immediately when the light hits and pulls his goggles down over his face- thank you, Elena! When Chip mentions the bolted plates, he gets up from his position beside Naoya and scrambles over to one.

"You heard 'em!" He yells, and starts examining the bolted plate for the best way to get it up.

[greyerrant]

"Would brute strength be sufficient?" Loken asks, and moves his hulking form towards the terminal with the bolted plate, drawing the chainsword and the orc sword he acquired. Figuring a film AND real weapon would get the required result, one way or another.

[keybearer]

Hmm, so they have to pry the plate open, eh? Riku's eyes drift down to his belt, and he scoops up the crown-shaped charm attached to it. After threading it through his Keyblade's hilt, he transforms his weapon into a sleek, black form, complete with a flat, pointed tip.

"Well, there's only one way to find out."

Squinting, he slips over to the plate, attempting to pry up one of the corners with his Key.

[animusnpcs]

Anything made of film simply melts against the walls. The real weapons fare better, though there's a pulsing sort of hum in the walls that may not bode well. The plates are bolted in very tightly.

[notachickenhawk]

<I'm out for this one. I don't have thumbs.> Tobias lands on Asch's shoulder again, leaning over to preen his feathers. <That humming doesn't sound good, though.>

[stitchedupbodyguard]

Veronica pulled a blade from her cloak and walked over to one of the terminal plates. She gave it a once over hesitantly before sliding her blade into it.

And then her swords melt.

"...Well that's not good."

[notayoungkitten]

She instantly puts a hand to her gun, just to reassure herself that it's still there.

Damn. This isn't good. And there's the humming from the walls that causes her to look around sharply. What's going to happen now?

"Be on guard."

[ninjainviolet]

Joining those at the plate, Sheena kneels down and pulls a real kunai with a ring on one end from a boot. "Will this help?" She asks, looking up and around at the others.

She has a bad feeling the plate and the humming are connected and the sooner they get it off, the sooner the humming will stop.

[attheclocktower]

Xion hurries, following Reno over to the plate that he's at.

... it's dumb and it probably won't have any effect at all, but, remembering the door earlier and all the times she's used and seen it used before, she reaches out and taps the plate twice with her Keyblade.

It was worth a shot, and wouldn't take more than a few seconds.

[greyerrant]

Garviel uses the real sword of the orcs, stoically accepting whatever is about to come as he exerts himself to try to lever the plate off.

"This is probably going to hurt."

[animusnpcs]

The plate doesn't respond to Xion's tapping. There's a louder hum, and after a few seconds, anyone touching the wall gets shocked with electricity. It's not quite enough to kill.

[midgarhorizon]

It's a good thing Reno had stopped before using the EMR to try at that thing, when he sees the other weapons melting. Letting out a low whistle, he shakes his head and reaches down with his sleeve over his hand to test how tight the bolt is.

"Need something sturdy and real. Hey Cu, your spear doesn't break easy, does it? Anybody that got a real weapon! Get on these. They're bolted in tight. It might take a few of us to get 'em off."

[puppy_lancer]

Lancer nods at Reno's order and stabs his spear at the edge of the plate, joining in the effort of prying at it.

"Careful the shocks, though. They look like they hurt."

[warriorscribe]

The humming has him worried, but all he can do is stand and watch. He's reminded of the sound of the elevator when they were taking the collar fluid.

And then its purpose is revealed and Enoch inadvertently steps forward for the sake of anyone who was shocked.

"Are you all right!?"

Of course not, electricity hurts, but he's never been more logical than not. Besides, if they can respond at all, that's a good sign.

[sageprincess]

Zelda isn't physically impressive by any stretch of the imagination, so when the task of prying plates comes up, she hangs back, catching her breath and trying not to lean too heavily on Asch for support (how much she succeeds at this is up for debate). She can only stand watching for so long, however, and seeing those attempting to loosen the plates get shocked lays to rest any thoughts of, well, resting.

She murmurs a quiet 'thank you' to Asch before pushing herself back onto her own two feet, squinting around the room in a cursory search.

"There must be a better way..." she says, more to herself than anyone in particular, as she steps off to search the too-bright room more thoroughly. Perhaps... by some divine act of providence, Riki overlooked a bundle of tools or something before he left?

DYNAMIC ENTRY

[megazero_to_superhero]

At about this point, David finally joins in on the fray. He'd been hanging back, still cloaked, letting the distraction team do the work of distracting Riki ... and he's been waiting for an opportunity where he can do something with the meager abilities he has.

Having a real weapon—that Orcish sword—looks like just such an opportunity has opened up.

David charges at the wall—but being careful to not actually touch the wall itself—dropping the cloaking system as he does so. The effect almost makes it seem as if he came out of nowhere.

Presentation is all part of being a superhero, after all.

He slams his own Orcish sword in between one of the bolts and the plating, gritting his teeth and grunting in pain as the electricity starts biting into him. Once he's got the sword wedged in well enough, he tries using his flight system to help with the task of prying the bolt off. That, he reasons between the sensation of electricity coursing through him, would be far more effective than relying on pure muscle or augmented strength.

[evokingfool]

"Shocks, huh?"

If anyone's looking at him, Minato looks as calm as always as he draws out his evoker. In one swift movement, the gun's pointing at his right temple and he pulls the trigger. Bang.

Out comes Cu Chulainn yet again. Without a word, he walks over towards the plate and stabs his spear into the edge. He starts to pry it off, despite the shocks he's receiving. The only signs of the shock's effects are in Minato's small winces.

Mental feedback can hurt sometimes.

[notachickenhawk]

Tobias considers the group, and flutters off to the corner of the room. Anyone watching him will see him shift and change, and while the others are lining up for their attempts he finishes his morph. Ideally he'd morph Andalite for this, but he needs something with more durability.

<Bladed monster, coming through.>

A large monster steps up to one of the panels, jamming one of his arm blades into it and twisting to try to unscrew the bolts. He makes noises of pain at the shocks, but doesn't stop. Just push through it, don't think of when you were trapped, keep going.

[notsogrimreaper]

Ryoji hangs back as much as possible, waiting to see if Tobias and Minato have any luck, but he has a real blade in case either of them need a break. He doesn't mind a few shocks.

[attheclocktower]

When her Keyblade doesn't work, Xion all but steps back. Like Zelda, she looks around to see if there's something - anything - that can help them. But she's not physically strong, and she isn't really sure what other ideas she has, unless there's something in the room that can help them.

She suspects brute strength isn't the best way to deal with this, but what other options do they have.

"Let me know if there's anything I can do," she says, worriedly.

[slightlyoblivious]

Yukiko can't do a whole lot physically, either. Once she's steady on her feet again, though, she'll start - carefully, remembering what happened to Naoya earlier - checking the area closest to the machine. Maybe there's a tool box or something?