Endgame: Eyes I Dare Not Meet in Dreams

[animusnpcs]

Characters: open
Setting: floor 101/hidden floor; June 2
Format: action brackets, please
Summary: Something arrives.
Warnings: psychological horror, physical horror, violence

[The thing arrives on the twenty-third floor where no one is around to see it. But even if there was anyone except the retrieval units there, they would hardly have a chance to spot a single shadow, as the Tower pushes around and caresses the thing, hiding it away. The Tower ripples, then, and delivers the thing up and up, skipping floor after floor.

Floor one-hundred and one goes dark, and the glamour fails entirely. There's a thing lurking about in the darkness, approaching the way to the hidden floor. It can't be seen in this gloom, but it can be heard taking heavy, laden footsteps.]

Comments

[keybearer]

[Riku takes the bottle without hesitation, muttering a quick thank you. For a moment he stops to glance back at the fight. Was nothing wearing him down?

Well, let's see...]

Okay, so that's not entirely true. When I first got in there, he got blasted with some fire and lightning spells, and those seemed to do some damage. We even managed to knock him over the edge, but he launched himself back up. That's when the magic stopped working and when he started hiding under that stupid barrier.

[keepscalm]

You knocked him off the tower? [England's astonishment is obvious. Right off the damn tower and it still didn't work?

He frowns, reflecting back on the information that had been discovered during the hacking. Mastery over the Tower, huh?] I guess that means he can control the exterior of it, as well. [What a pain.]

[keybearer]

Only explanation I can think of, but that sure doesn't make our job any easier.

[He grumbles, squeezing his water bottle before taking a huge slurp.]

I don't know how we're gonna stop him at this rate. He keeps bending the floor, the ceiling... anything to defend himself. And that barrier's completely reflective.

[keepscalm]

Shame none of us can survive outside for very long. [Said with a healthy amount of bitterness.]

It would be ideal to get him away from the Tower somehow, or in lieu of that, some place that he can't control everything. [He glances back to Riku, his expression thoughtful.] Have you ever been down to the administrative levels?

[keybearer]

[He nods, reaching for his chin.]

A couple of times. I went down during that big infiltration last year, and I went down with the team that shut down his computers. Why, you think there's something down there that can stop him?

[To get him away from the tower, they'd have to hit him with a particularly heavy blow. Knock him down and away...]

[keepscalm]

I was wondering if you'd come across any places that seemed like they might fit the bill. [England doesn't have that much experience in the administrative levels, himself, save for his trip to the ground floor, which was hardly a scientific exploration.

...wait a second.

England can't help but hesitate, because he's still a bit gunshy about what happened down there, but there's something that stands out about his follow-up investigation that strikes him as odd.] ...actually, I might have an idea.

[keybearer]

You do?

[Whew, well that's a relief, becuase Riu doubts that the elevator shaft or processing would fit the bill.]

So, what do you have in mind?

[The sooner they know, the sooner they can whip up a plan. And at this rate, they're gonna need one fast.]

[keepscalm]

[England twiddles his fingers a bit. He's thankful for the dim lighting, since it will serve to hide his little fidget.] I went down to the ground floor once. Looked like no one had been down there in centuries.

Zo told me afterwards that even the administrators aren't allowed down there— something about being past a fog barrier. He— [hesitation, again] ...he recommended that I ask Riki about something I encountered. But when I did, Riki claimed to know nothing about it.

[And maybe that was a huge lie — Riki has definitely established himself now as a huge liar. But considering that apparently the administrators are forbidden from entering that part of the Tower, and Riki has always prided himself on his expertise of it, England figures there's about a 50-50 chance he was telling the truth.]

[keybearer]

...So you're saying that if we get him all the way down to the bottom, we might be able to corner him.

[He starts to grin, but stops, realizing there's just one little problem.]

So how do we get him down there? In case you haven't noticed, we're pretty high up...

[keepscalm]

It's a possibility. Zo's abilities seemed to work down there, but I can't say for sure if that holds true for all of the administrators or if it was because of the nature of Zo's powers.

I'd say it's a better idea than fighting him up here, though.

[And then, England pauses, recalling Zelda's reaction to his method when he first told her.]

...well, I had to break the elevator to get that far down. [Not exactly graceful.]

[keybearer]

...You had to break the elevator.

[There's a long, drawn out pause, and though it's too dark to see, Riku gives him a deadpan look.

And then he starts snickering.]

Okay, so, let me get this straight. If we're gonna make this work, we're not only gonna have to break the elevator, but get Riki in there, too? That's a tall order, even for us.

[keepscalm]

It's— don't laugh! [THIS IS ALL VERY SERIOUS OKAY.

England huffs a mighty huff, put off but not enough that he'll withhold help on taking down someone he really hates.] Breaking the elevator wasn't too difficult when I did it. I just cracked open the control panel and cut the wires— I don't suggest doing that with anything that conducts electricity, by the way. [Getting electrocuted probably wouldn't make for very efficient fighters.]

It's getting everyone in there that would be the bigger challenge, I'm certain.

[keybearer]

...Sorry. It's just the way you said it.

[He shrugs, taking a moment to mull over his words. So he cut the wires... hrm. Should be easy enough with weapons, but then what?]

Question is, would he even follow us? Riki wants into the Secret Floor. If we all head downstairs, won't that just cut a clear path for him?

[keepscalm]

[He'll let it go. Just this once.]

Specifically, I'm pretty sure he's only interested in the secret floor because Zo and Aria are there.

I think to get him into the elevator, you'd either have to force him in, or convince him that you've got the both of them with you somehow. [Convince only, because using them as bait is not an option in England's mind. Too dangerous objectively, and too questionable morally.]

[keybearer]

That could work, but how do we trick him? We'd need something pretty convincing. Decoys, Zo and Aria themselves...

[And the latter is a horrible idea, which he'd rather not entertain.]

If we forced him, we'd have to find a way to bust through his barrier. And that requires getting close enough to hit him.

[So what's their best bet? Talk about a tough call...]

[keepscalm]

You were able to force him off of the Tower, correct? It may just be a matter of waiting for another opportunity.

[He does think a bit on the matter of decoys, though.] Another retrieval unit could suffice for Aria, though I'm not certain how to go about masquerading as Zo.

[England won't be of any use in the actual fight, so all he can really do is throw out ideas, for the time being.]

[keybearer]

Hmm... well, we might be able to ask one of the kids. Depends on Riki's sight.

[Well, if nothing else, they have a rough idea of a plan. But this raises another question.]

Anything we should know before we go down there?

[keepscalm]

[Again, England hesitates, though it's much more noticeable this time. Though he speaks in a level voice, he looks away from Riku.]

...when I went down there, I was able to open the exit door. Be careful with that. If you go outside, this thing turns on, like a spotlight.

It will kill you. Permanently.