BASEMENT
Contact
The lantern began to rattle and shake. Alice's fingers ceased up. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't pry them apart. All attempts to do so simply made the device shiver faster. Faster. Faster!
"Yes! Yes!" Cries of jubilation erupted from Crimson's lips. The mask of the reserved priest burned away. A triumphant zealot stood in his place.
"Here it comes!"
[BOOM]
A grey light burned in the heart of Lantern. The whole temple shook like a leaf.
***
MUSEUM
The Museum's visitors- already shaken by the last interruption- panicked and screamed. Clouds of dust descended from the halls' roof. The pilgrims ran for cover. Some threw themselves beneath the exhibits and interactive consoles. The Inquisitors threw their bodies against the hall's door-frames, bracing themselves in the face of the apparent 'Earthquake'.
The 'Earthquake' ceased as suddenly as it had started. The Pilgrims slowly removed themselves from their hiding-holes. A crimson hologram of Father Prison appeared in the center of the Museum.
"There's nothing to fear, my brothers..." He hummed with open arms.
"We're just experiencing some unexpected seismic activity. The Temple is sturdy enough to endure far worse than this. We'll have some additional inquisitors on route to your location to help with the clean up. Please, return to your tours. Our guests of honor from the Kanzuki Foundation will be arriving shortly..."
In a flash, the Hologram vanished.
"That was no Earthquake..." Eli scowled. His hand drifted to his belt and the pistol he had strapped to it.
"That was an explosion..."
"The Basement... Alice!" Wally exclaimed and the pieces finally clicked together. Charging forth at the speed of sound, the speedster rocketed towards the basement's access door. It came crashing to the floor before Eli could draw his weapon. With the guard having been dismissed some time ago, the path was clear for any of the Returned to venture into the pitch-black basement.
BASEMENT-- ENTRANCE
"Wally! Stop!"
"Cantstopgottafindher"
"How many walls have you ran into? You can't see a thing! You're going to--"
"Wally! Listen to him!"
"Toren! Are you sure you can't make your ring any brighter--"
[Crack]
The basement's emergency lights hummed to life. Flicking white bulbs filled the room with cool but inconsistent glow.
"Who did that?" Eli clicked the safety from his pistol.
"Wally, did you touch--?"
"Wasn't me. Maybe Alice--"
[BANG]
Something struck the wall behind you. You turn on the spot to face it. The creature's face is obscured by the pen's fogged up glass but... it almost looked... human.
Almost...
View attachment 7195
"What are those things?" Wally recoiled in disgust.
"Better answer is what were those thing..."
[BANG]
Another creature struck the glass. Then another. And another. The basement's lights seemed to be aggravating them. They were growing more restless by the second. With each strike, the thin cracks that scarred the glass pens grew longer and wider they weren't going to hold out for much lon--
[CRASH]
The glass shattered. Three dozen grey skinned men stumbled towards you, their jaws swinging loose. Their disheveled creature raised their blood-stained hands and reached out towards the living. Eli raised his weapon and kept it trained upon one of the creature's faces.
"Look at them..." Toren mumbled to himself.
"It's hard not to... too many of them... whatever they are we can't let them get upstai--"
[NNNNNNRRRRR]
A siren sounded. The remaining pen doors came screeching open. More stagged towards the Returned. They were closing in on all sides.
"Battle-stations!"
The door slammed shut behind you.
@Crunch @Yun Lee @Capri @Lucky
BASEMENT- LANTERN
The dark smoke that had poured from the Lantern had started to clear. As Alice's senses returned to her, she would find a certain...
stiffness filling her left hand. It's wasn't quite numb, but it didn't feel...
right. It was
cold.
View attachment 7196
Cold as Stone.
Trapped in her frozen, black hand was the Lantern of Nekron. It was
lighter now... almost weightless. It felt natural to hold. Even if she could put it down,
part of her didn't want to.
Before she could fully comprehend the situation, Father Crimson was at her side, helping her to her feet.
"The trail... is complete!" The Priest laughed, unable to hide the relief in his voice.
"I knew you were strong enough... I knew you could wield it... Try not to panic... this is only the beginning..."
The basement's emergency lights had returned to life. Alice could hear the sounds of distant combat rattling down its glass halls.
"Ignore them." Crimson waved the sounds away.
"You Second Trial is waiting for you..."
@Takumi
MUSEUM
Flayn. The name pricked the ears of the dark haired girl at Jakurai's side. She tensed up. She drew her shoulders inwards towards her chest. Her eyes darted towards the Council Staircase. Walking as fast as she could with running, the girl made her way towards the tower, her eyes glued to the floor all the while.
@Capri
WIDER CAMP
"Aww, ya got me!" 'CORI' cooed. A golden hologram buzzing out of the projector. She looked
similar to the A.I. the Godless knew and loathed, but there was something...
off about her. She was younger than the regular CORI. Her was curled. Oh, and she was
smiling. It wasn't a
sneer. It wasn't
smirk. It was a warm, natural smile.
"That's what I like about you, Val! Always on the ball! And Kat! Look at you! So kind! So sweet! So flattering! I'm not one to toot my own horn, but yes! I can set up a link between you and you lovely friends inside the Temple! Sadly, I'll confess... it won't be easy..."
"Turn it off! Now!" Soranik demanded.
"We don't need to--"
View attachment 7197
"I hate to interrupt, Doctor Natu." The A.I. winced. "
But I'd like to stay on, if that's okay with you? Mr.James may have sent me here to steal a file or two, but that's not all he did! When he was reprogramming my personality files, he was kind enough to keep my higher operating systems in tact!! In other words..." She cleared her throat.
"Anything mom can do I can do better!" The A.I. sung.
"I can do anything better than--"
"Please," Walker pondered.
"Help to understand you, Miss....?"
"Oh, sugar! What manners! You can call me the Quantum Ordinance for Remote Interfacing, or Q.O.R.I. for short!"
"Thank you, Ms. QORI." Walker chuckled in response.
"Correct me if I'm wrong... but you're offering to safeguard our rings and get our systems back online in exchange for access to our network?"
"That's right, honey! I mean, we already have access to all the information inside Mom's head. What could a few more files hurt? I'll even let you poke around in my noggin! I mean, we both want the same thing, right? A Free World? No more Imperials? What's the problem with sharing intelligence between friends?"
"And we should trust you why?"
"Well, if you want your me to safeguard you network, you don't have much of a choice? Sorry darlin', that sounded a little harsh... what I'm trying to say is that the Twins pick-pocked Eli without the Boss' permission. They were supposed to just keep an eye on you, and maybe lend a hand here and there if you needed it. But they're overzealous. They're kids! Who can blame 'em? The Boss values his privacy, and he'll punish them suitably for blowing their cover. James meant what he said. I am something of a peace-offering! The go-between-girl between our organizations! We'll both benefit greatly from this partnership. So what do you say? How about we bury that hatchet?"
"Our hands are tied, friends... We might have to chose between the devil we barely know, and the devil we really don't know..."
@Jeremi @Takumi @Capri @Lucky