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

[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?

[brbtalkingtogod]

Once those who had touched the walls were on their feet again Lucifel began to look around for something useful as well, a toolkit, anything that could be used now and perhaps later as well if the situation allowed it. Before he would use brute force he wanted to search for an alternative if one was available.

[animusnpcs]

The voltage of the electricity gradually begins to increase the more pressure that is applied, traveling along the prying weapons to their wielders.

No tools have been left behind.

[keybearer]

After the first burst of electricity, Riku stopped briefly to catch his breath and cast Cure on himself.

"Guys, I think we may have to change tactics here. If this thing's gonna start shocking us, I say we pry at it in short bursts. Maybe that'll keep us from getting fried."

Whatever the others choose to do, Riku will start applying a start/stop method to prying in hopes that it'll stave off the charges. However, if it gets too unbearable, he may take a longer break. After all, he doesn't want to risk dying and, therefore, his real powers.

[megazero_to_superhero]

David's not giving up, even as the electricity continues to amplify. He's been shocked plenty of times in his superhero career—by Outcasts with electrical powers, by the Freakshow—he has a good idea of when this will get too much for him to handle, and David hasn't felt like he's hit his limit yet.

—but, he does let go of the sword momentarily when he hears Riku's idea.

"Arright ... Let's try dat," David responds. His voice has a slight shake to it, mostly from the aftereffect of the shocks he's already received. "I'll follow your lead."

So, he'll wait for Riku to begin prying. Once the keybearer's going at it, David will join in, but only prying when Riku's at rest. In a bid to get the bolt he's working on to come off, he's also activating his flight system's afterburners to get even more leverage every time he makes an attempt, grunting in both frustration and pain as he does so.

[warriorscribe]

This couldn't keep going on, it would kill them! And who knew if Ruana would be in any mood to revive anyone...

"Will someone allow me to use their lever? My armor can shield me from harm as long as it holds up, itself."

[attheclocktower]

Once it was clear the room itself was empty of tools or something that might help them, Xion attempts to examine the panels more closely itself, as well as the walls around them, looking for anything that might help them access the panels or the area behind them. She kind of wishes she'd observed this room more closely when she'd been here before.

"There's gotta be something," she says, quietly.

She knows some people are trying to muscle their way through, but it could take too much time. Time is of the essence.

[sageprincess]

Of course there aren't any tools they could use. That would be just too easy, wouldn't it. Zelda sighs, wincing in sympathy and frustration as the others continue getting shocked. Eventually she heads back towards the retrieval unit.

There has to be a better way...

"Do you know if there is a way to remove them without physically prying them from the wall using brute strength?"

It's clear enough that avenue is quickly becoming a non-option if they intend to survive this.