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]

Any weapons made of film will begin to melt on contact; those that aren't will be successfully prying the panels away.

As they push harder, the fallen blocks will begin to move back into the walls, and begin pumping in and out of the walls all around the room at varying lengths to attack those closest to the walls.

[notachickenhawk]

Tobias had long since backed off, but seeing the fact that magic wasn't working made him realize that something with more brute strength would be helpful. He let go of the Hork-Bajir morph, turning back to his normal hawk body for just a minute before ballooning up into his elephant morph again.

<Out of the way!>

He stomped close to the panel, reaching his trunk in to try to grab the panel and yank. He didn't really care if he got cut up. He could always demorph to fix that.

[ninjainviolet]

Accepting Riku's invitation, Sheena promptly rears back and embeds her kunai into a seam and begins moving it back and forth to loosen that area. Her weapon isn't made of film and remains intact for her to continue repeating the move in a steady rhythm in an attempt to drive the kunai in farther to allow her to pry the pieces apart.

Or give someone else the opportunity to do so.

Who knew that someone else would be David, coming in full force like he had before? Hearing the sound of his approach and hoping he hits, Sheena immediately dislodges her kunai and moves out of the way to work on another part of the panel in the same way.

Only to be moving a short time later in response to the command in her head and the sight of an elephant bearing down on her.

[puppy_lancer]

Lancer also comes to crowd around the other panel. However, before he uses his spear on it, he throws a quick look at the woman who had first gone to grab the panel.

"Oy, you still alive there?"

And, regardless of whether or not he gets an answer, he continues to pry at the panel.

[midgarhorizon]

Seeing the large animal coming, Reno dropped back away from the panels.

Since the wall whips were down and back to blocks and the need for protecting others from violently flailing things diminished, he retreated to a safe distance but still close by.

While he could dodge those blocks just fine, his strength wasn't that good and Tobias had a good plan going. Still, being the Turk he was, he stayed ready and watched for new threats Riki might throw at them. Keeping the effort going was the important thing.

[animusnpcs]

With Tobias' excess force, the panel is successfully pried off the wall, leaving more plugs and wires exposed as with the last one.

Once the panel is removed, however, the floating screens that Riki was working on previously reappear, restoring the damage that was already done to the other panel the team was working on.

The ends of the protruding blocks sharpen into spikes and continue their attack.

[sageprincess]

One more. There's just one more terminal they need to shut down, and then this will be over. But of course Riki's going to put everything he has left in protecting it, she thinks as she glares at the appearance of those floating screens.

Well, he's not the only one. Zelda doesn't have enough magic left to cover the room, but maybe she doesn't need to. If she can just block off the area immediately around that last panel...

She takes a deep breath, summoning golden light to her fingertips as she holds them out towards the final panel. A shimmering barrier appears along the wall immediately surrounding the panel, and with any luck it will hold off the spikes long enough for the more physically inclined to work out how to pry this one loose.

... Please hurry, though. She can't keep this up forever, if it works.

[warriorscribe]

Enoch is, for the most part, standing near the retrieval unit, cursing his decision to not bring his weapon. He glances over at Lucifel, sure he could have joined in to help. Was he more concerned with him, as his support?

But then the screens appeared near everyone. And they were undoing their work on the third panel. He couldn't do much - but he could try to attack the floating screens, rushing at one of the ones around the panel and drawing his arm back for a punch with all his strength.

[keybearer]

If the circumstances weren't so dire, Riku would've thanked Zelda then and there. Unfortunately, pointy spikes of death take priority right about now. The good news is, there's another set of plugs exposed. Normally, he'd consider using another round of Graviga, but after the last round of spells ricocheted back at his chest, he'd rather not take that risk.

So, what does he do? Well, the only thing he really can do right about now. He ducks and rolls under the nearest spike, attempting to take a grab at the plugs as he slides across the floor. If he can just unplug the darn thing, that should buy the others time to take care of that last panel.

[animusnpcs]

The spikes crash into Zelda's barrier again and again, sparks flying at their attempt to get past it and at the people working on the panel. They are relentless in their attempts.

Enoch's punch and Riku's pulling of the plug occur at the exact same moment, and before Enoch's fist can connect the screen flickers out of existence, along with all the others. The spikes crashing into Zelda's barrier cease their assault at that moment as well, snaking back into the wall.

A breath later, the screens reappear, but the spikes stay put. The damage dealt to the final panel continues to be fixed by some screens while others float ominously among the group.

[no_longer_a_king]

Arturia, for her part, has been staying put beside the retrieval unit to ensure he didn't get hurt in the chaos. They need him, after all, and she trusts the group to figure things out.

It doesn't mean she hadn't been forced to restrain herself from time to time and when things go quiet and the screens appear throughout the room, she finds herself startled. It's almost more ominous than the glittering monsters from earlier.

Just like before, she knows she doesn't need to tell them to be careful. Being careful is out of the question at this point.

[ninjainviolet]

If it's not one thing, it's another, and Sheena has had about enough of this. Literally growling as she gets to her feet, she pulls out a Pyre Seal and makes her way to the the front of the floating screens--dead center.

"Everyone stay back," she tells the others. "And shield the ones who are hurt. I really don't know what will happen." And no one ask her not to do this because the answer will be "no".

"Please work," she says softly.

Immediately, she tosses the Pyre Seal up, and as a glow surrounds her, it multiplies rapidly, encircling all the floating screens completely before setting off a powerful explosion--which usually manages to knock down or incapacitate an enemy for a time.

[animusnpcs]

The seals multiply around the screens but slide off them like water - physically, they don't seem to stick. But while they are still being deflected (and thus are in range of about half the screens), they explode; the screens caught in the explosion are overcome with a sharp static and vanish abruptly.

They do not reappear, though the half that still remains continues to repair any damage done to the panel and float among the characters.

[midgarhorizon]

This is what he had been waiting for. Lifting his EMR, Reno took a few steps to build up speed and tried a swipe at a screen floating nearby using his momentum and agility to hopefully catch it by surprise.

[attheclocktower]

Seeing Reno spring into action. Xion follows suit. She's no good for physically prying a panel off, and she's all out of magic. But this? This she can do.

She runs forward with a fierce cry, swinging her Keyblade at as many screens as she can reach, jumping from one to the other, making her way towards the screens that seem to be fixing the panel. At the very least, she hopes the distraction will help buy some people time.

[animusnpcs]

Reno's EMR slides off the screen like water, never really seeming to connect - but when it comes away, it has melted down.

Xion's Keyblade, while real enough, never seems to connect with any of the screens, as if there is some force subtly deflecting it from connecting. Some of the screens float in her path as if to impede her progress.

[warriorscribe]

Enoch crashes into the wall as his punch fails; luckily for him, the spikes were no longer there to harm him. He pushes himself away and takes a quick stock of the situation in the room. Whatever the screens are up to, he doesn't know, but it can't be good. He takes a swing at one of his own screens before running back towards the retrieval unit, trying to get the screens off his defenders.

He hasn't yet seen the effects of the others' attacks.

[imperialsun]

Well if that seems to be the strategy everyone is adopting, he'll try and help them out as much as he can. The figure behind him vanishes before another one appears to take it's place.

"Here goes! Amon-ra!"

The Persona raises its staff, as it uses Hieroglyphen at everything in its path, in hopes that it will at least distract or do some damage.

[attheclocktower]

There's more screens in her way then there was before. If Riki's trying to stop her... maybe she's doing something right? It's hard to tell, and she's moving too fast to really stop and think that hard about it.

She continues to try to deal glancing blows to the screens she passes, but now she's putting all of her focus in trying to move around and dodge the screens getting in her way, making a beeline for the screens repairing the panel, and attacking them if she can, as soon as she's within range.

[animusnpcs]

Enoch's punch slides off the screen without really seeming to connect; Xion's Keyblade does the same thing. When Naoya's Persona casts Hieroglyphen at the same time, the magic deflects back at him from all of the screens but two: Enoch's screen, and the one screen Xion's keyblade was being deflected from at that exact moment.

Those two screens are overcome by a sharp static before vanishing. The other screens remain, those closest to the panel continuing to fix the damage while the others float among the people, occasionally floating directly into their paths.

There is an ominous crackle of electricity and the sound of spikes scraping out of the wall; the electric whips and the spikes have reactivated, and now the residents have them to contend with, as well.

[midgarhorizon]

Cussing up a storm, Reno tossed the now useless EMR away after unhooking the Shiva materia from the handle and watched Xion move into the field of screens. When Enoch goes by, it's enough to catch his attention.

"Enoch, stop! Follow Xion! I can't touch 'em!" He's yelling just before the whips and spikes start up again, running toward the retrieval unit and the defenders.

[megazero_to_superhero]

David has been hanging back again since the last remaining panels had been removed—he had to duck out of the way when Tobias bum-rushed the panel he was trying to remove, taking the sword with him. Seeing the that the screens are seemingly impervious to physical blows, much like the first panel, he's tried to keep out of this current phase of the battle. Especially after seeing Reno's EMR melt like that. Ouch.

—but when the room comes alive again with electric whips and spikes, David moves into action. He can't do anything about the spikes, and does his best to keep from getting impaled by them, but maybe ... maybe he can protect people from the whips.

So for now, he's going to try and intercept any whips heading for other members of the Infiltration Team, especially anyone attempting to use their powers on the screens—swooping in, hacking and slashing at the whips while trying not to get stung or pierced himself.

[notachickenhawk]

Tobias is getting hit, something he can't avoid while in this massive morph. He makes noises of pain but does his best to shield others.

<Can someone try and get the electricity to hit the screens?>

He has no hope of even making an attempt, but he'll play meatshield as long as they need.

[warriorscribe]

At Reno's warning, Enoch skids to a stop and turns to the repair attempts. He did notice his hand just seemed to glance off that one, but then that spell(?) had destroyed it...

Right. He'd go after the repairing ones then, turning and attempting to shove another screen out of his way on his way there. If it didn't work, he'd heed Tobias's advice and try to lead it to one of the whips, ducking out of its way and hoping it hit the screen instead.

[morphballin]

Samus isn't sure how she feels better, but she's not gonna look a gift pursehorse in the mouth. The situation changes and escalates pretty quickly, however. She charges up a sphere of energy, and lets it fly toward the screens - if her grapple beam got deflected before, it'll likely be so again, so back to basics.