The Enigma Complex Pt 1 - Discovery - RPLOG
From Flexible Survival
Participants
Date
25/2/2023
Log
(Syntax) The call for assistance to the remote forests beyond Eureka was a bit of an odd one. Especially as it went through channels not directly tied to any of the big three. It came from a familiar person at least: Syntax. It apologized for not making the request in person, but she thought she found something. Something incredible. Something...she wanted to keep private from the big three for now. It came with directions and something of an odd suggestion: bring a gas mask. In the nanite fueled future, there aren't many scenarios where a gas mask would be needed. But she must know something you don't.
(Syntax) At the location in question, Syntax is waiting for the others alongside the ruins of an old ranger station which was blown apart by a stray shell some time ago. You know the spider girl means business as all of her drones and robots are at the ready. In fact, she's sitting atop her large scorpion robot Captcha as she waits for everyone to arrive. Her eyes occasionally dart to the shell of the station's basement...something down there must be the reason she called you out here to begin with.
(Nyazuli) Nyazuli scouts around for the indicated location, flying high above the canopy. As she feel like she's approaching, she finds a proper landing area. Activating her shrinking spell as she approaches the ground and finishing up the activation while traveling the remaining distance on foot, a functional but still huge 3m or close to 10ft. As she approaches the crater, she notices the spider girls waiting aside it. She smiles warmly and waves in her direction as she closes the distance separating them. "Well, I'd be damned if I ignore a call to a mysterious adventure, but a gas mask? really?" She declares in a teasing tone
(Conrad) Conrad's not going to admit just how he intercepted the 'invitation' to this exploration party. The panther seems quite at home in the woods as he saunters in to the clearing, glancing up with mild curiosity at the arachnid-morph astride a robot, of all things. "Seems a reasonable precaution," the cat replies, holding up a small, simple facemask with filters. "I should think th' drones would be better suited for exploration, though, if we were worried about needing to /breathe/..." White coat, Zephyr ID hidden for now, the 'taur doesn't seem too keen on introducing himself but would claim some sort of technical or medical expertise, if asked.
(Ysadora) Ysadora glides into the area, her long black hair sticking out at all angles from the propeller wash on the helicopter ride over here. She's patting it down with two hands in a vain attempt to get it to behave. As she spots Syntax and the giant robotic scorpion, she doesn't so much stumble as accidentally whack herself in the face with the gas mask dangling from another hand. "Ow! Uh, good afternoon. I don't think we've met formally but I got your message. I'm Ysadora, andism Her introduction is cut short by a radio buzzing to life somewhere inside her clinging white shroud. "Agent Ysadora! You were assigned to feral suppression at the Curvy Gym. What is yourism She fumbles around, sending her disconnected torso bouncing around before she manages to turn the thing off. "Eheheh," she blushes, deep red against the pale white of her skin, "So... What's all the secrecy for?"
(Junes) Junes was sliding a bit down a small slope before reaching, sweater and tights visible before the mask was visible as well before the chimeric hissah waved to the arachne and other mutants around and gave a smiling pat to ysadora before going to the arachne once more "a mask huh?" clanking their head "im pretty excited!" as they find a spot to sit and wait for anybody else to come while waving over those they haven't met before
(Umeko) Umeko carefully drove up the road in her RV before parking it outside the station and hopping out. She opened up one of the cargo slides to pull out some gear, including a rebreather and a helmet just in case. She was rather covered up today as well, between a black bodysuit, boots, gloves, and camo outerwear. She made her way over to the group, giving a wave to the familiar faces. "Hey there! Curious what we have planned here, a gas mask for a ranger station..."
(Booker) Booker had received the call, and made his way up to the designated area. He landed at the small cluster of people. "I take it this is the spot?" He gave a small chuckle. He spotted junes and Ysadora, and Umeko. As well as Nyaz. "Oh hey guys!" He approached them, then spotting Syntax. "Howdy! We exploring a station?" He gestured to the ranger station. "So how have y'all been since uhh we last met." Booker's face grew a bit hot as he said that, his eyes flicking to Junes. He did however walk up to Ysadora and whisper. "Hey uhh.. sorry for the groping thing.." He seemed nervous and a tad ashamed.
(Syntax) Syntax smiles at those assembled and hops off the scorpion robot. "Ah, great!" After a moment to collect herself, she crosses her upper arms and shoves her lower arms into her pockets. "I appreciate ye all coming here. I know some of you don't know me all too well, but if you're here, it's because I know you well enough to know this isn't something you'd go running back to your handlers with for brownie points. Not immediately, at least. Which is the important part."
(Syntax) The spider girl looks out to the forest, seemingly to one particular point. "A ah...friend of mine is the one that alerted me about this. They're a tad uncomfortable introducing themselves to so many people, so you'll have to excuse them for not bein' keen on coming in person."
(Syntax) Syntax chitters "But that's aside the point! The reason we're here. The ranger station's basement. My friend mentioned that part of it doesn't quite look like it's the same age as the rest. Like it was built well before the station itself. I took a look for myself and noticed that whatever blew up the building also damaged one of the walls. And when I looked...well. It wasn't a big hole, mind, but it looked like there was something behind it. A large something."
(Syntax) Syntax Clasps her upper arms together, a nervous smile on her lips. "So...I'm going to be sending Captcha to the hole and making it much...much bigger. And as I don't know what's behind it and have a feeling it could be something really cool and/or dangerous, I thought I should invite other people with me!"
(Syntax) Sure enough, Ysadora does see some movement in the woods, albeit briefly. Booker, and Nyazuli even see what looks like an arachnid leg shuffling away. Junes, Umeko, and Conrad, however, spot, ever so briefly, a drider-esk spider woman gazing out at them, flushing as she realizes she was spotted and moving to a more concealed position. Junes in particular remembers them as the feral that transformed Syntax into a widow convert in the first place.
(Nyazuli) Nyazuli greeted everyone as they arrived, doing some quick catchup with the people she knew from before. And then something about super bananas before returning her attention to Syntax's explanation. She declared, "I see, interesting, well, you know you can always count me in, better make that hidey hole extra large though, hope it's not a bother". She smiles before offering to help with the wall blowing, "I got some spare bombs and good arms to clean up". She follows the bot toward the location they are supposed to enter soon
(Conrad) Conrad rolls his eyes briefly. "I'll just be over here. Something about combining a gawking crowd and demolition... Would prefer if I don't have to attempt to reattach any limbs today, thanks." Settling on his hindlegs, the 'taur keeps his hands to himself for now.
(Ysadora) Ysadora rolls her eyes at Booker's comment, though she has an indulgent smile on her lips. "You don't need to apologize, Booker. I'd have told you to stop if I wasn't enjoying myself too." She detaches her head briefly to give him a quick peck on the cheek. "Oh, and hey Junes, Umeko. Good to see you two as well." Ysdadora turns finally to look at the ranger station with a gleam in her eyes. "Now this place... This looks haunted as all get-out! Creepy woods, ruined buildings, grim backstory, half-glimpsed horrors... This is the kind of thing I was born for! Does anyone have a video camera? We can make it like, one of those ghost-hunting shows."
(Junes) Junes glanced at the forest a brief bit longer but then turned to the group and looking to ysadora said "yeah its good to see you and everyone here too" another glance to the forest before facing everybody once more "a ghost show huh? we dont get enough videos these days but lets hope its not dangerous" their gaze lingered on booker before realizing "oh and i haven't met some of you, but everyone calls me junes"
(Umeko) Umeko looked over at the drider curiously, giving them a nod before looking back to Syntax, "It does sounds very interesting, wonder what would be down there... I can help haul out the debris and such too if you need it." She then grinned over to Ysadora, "I can record stuff with nanomagic, perhaps, but I might need to turn it off depending on what we run into down there. Might have to take a back seat if it gets dangerous or I need to do something else..."
(Booker) Booker pursed his lips a bit, softly nodding to her. He looked over the station. "I can help with excavation aswell!" He gave a soft chuckle. He draped an arm over Ysadora. "Well at-least we have a ghost on our side." He looked over the station. "So theres a sub-basement? weird... especially for a ranger station..." He looked at the surroundings, wondering what kind of bomb had gone off. "Also syntax I didn't have a mask.. I hope thats alright." He gave a goofy smile to them. "Remind me when we're done to find one." He perked up a bit. "So its like an abandoned station with a weird basement?" He shook Ysadora slightly. then following June's lead. "Oh yeah to any new-faces, I'm Booker! The local huge lizard!" He chuckled stepping toward the station. "Well hopefully it's not infested with man-made horrors beyond our comprehension huh?"
(Syntax) Syntax laughs lightly at Booker and remarks, "Well, it's mostly a precaution. Don't know what kind of bugger all weird is in there. Should be able to get ye in though, Nyazuli! I reckon a full sized truck could fit past the opening we'll be making. Do hand me those explosives, though, that'll help a lot!"
(Syntax) After the explosives are placed and everyone is at a safe distance, the wall is given a solid introduction to the basics of exothermic reactions and rapid decompression. After that, all that's needed is for Captcha, the giant robot scorpion that he is, to bulldoze forward and properly open it up.
(Syntax) Perhaps to everyone's surprise, what lies ahead are two large, partially rusted garage doors and multiple signs that make warnings of authorized personnel only and this being "government property." With the simplistic concrete of the ranger station out of the way, there's something more sturdy looking about what was behind the door.
(Syntax) Syntax chitters "Huh...so it looks like this half of the basement used to be part of some kind of...checkpoint?" She steps forward and examines the garage doors. "Umeko, Nyazuli, can you work together to open these? Carefully, though. I'd rather not just throw them open. Might be handy to have them usable later."
(Nyazuli) "Leave it to me!" the dragoness declares before approaching the garage door and finding an appropriate grip on the left one, before pulling with all her might, which happens to be quite a lot of might indeed as it slowly but surely gives in to the force applied. Soon enough, the door is wide open, promising thrilling adventures! She inspects it for damage, and outside of a slight bend around where her each of her fingers were, nothing much to report. "She looks toward Umeko giving her a wink and a thumbs up before turning toward the group and proudly declaring, "the way is open, and adventure awaits!". She finally turns toward booker and gives him a few headpats as a thanks for the help, which, even if unneeded, did cheer her up in an endearing way.
(Umeko) Umeko prepared herself by getting ready and gearing up, grabbing a crowbar and putting the helmet on and mask ready as she went over to one of the doors. Just for fun, she decided to go with Ysadora's idea earlier as well as she activated her recording software to document the adventure. She gave Nyazuli a grin as well before she got to work, working carefully to pry it open enough to where she could use her immense strength to just lift it up the rest of the way without demolishing the thing. "There we go, not too hard~"
(Booker) Booker stepped up to aid in lifting the door. He used the tip of his tail to wedge the bottom, so they could all get a handhold on the bottom of the rolling door. "I hope its not broken.. otherwise this is gunna be louuud..." He slid his fingers under the door, He exhaled and started to heft, only to find it moving easily. He made eye contact with Nyaz as she hoisted the door basically by herself. He stepped back placing his hands on his hips as he sheepishly said. "Was lighter than I was expecting!" He glanced down at the floor for a moment in a moment of realization. Muttering to himself "Oh.." As Nyaz headpatted him.
(Syntax) The sound of metal being forced up and grinding against its tracks echoes inwards and onwards. It's not a small echo either. It bounces from the dark walls immediately before you and on...and on...and on. This is not a small hidden chamber...this is something else entirely.
(Syntax) Syntax gawks and steps forward to look in, several of her surveillance drones floating forward to flick on LED lights to illuminate what's before them. "Bloody hell."
(Syntax) The room before the party is a large vehicle staging area that, at one time, might have been able to stage multiple lanes of large vehicles. The air is stale, humid, and dusty which is only a more immediate spoiler to how long this place compared to the signs plastered on various walls. On top of the general decay one might expect from age and nanites, they are also of a style of a forgone age. There are even several propaganda signs that make reference to the Communists. "Loose lips sink ships. They also destroy bunkers. Don't give the reds an inch!"
(Syntax) Far along the staging area, there are two vehicles that, for whatever reason, were never moved out of the facility. An old green bus and a military truck with a heavily decayed canvas covering over its storage section in the back. Both of the vehicles could have been ripped straight out of the opening to an old movie portraying the Vietnam War.
(Syntax) There are multiple lights in here, but none are active. It's only with the help of the drones floating within to light the way that you see there are two exits at the far end. One is an old metal door with a sign reading AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY and the other a more wide path.
(Syntax) At the back, a large welcome message has been painted onto the top of the wall. "WELCOME TO THE STALLINGS EMERGENCY BUNKER."
(Nyazuli) Nyazuli immediately dives inside of the newly opened room, looking around her with awe, and declaring excitedly, "Look! we're probably the first persons to set foot in here in 70 years! Who knows what old world wonders this place holds!" She swiftly starts scanning the room to see if anything in there reminds her of anything or could potentially have value, before turning toward the spider girl and inquiring, "What did you have in mind with this place by the way? it looks completely and irremediably abandoned. Trying to keep the loot out of Zephyr's hands uh? Naughty girl!"
(Conrad) Conrad's green eyes squint into the gloom. "I wouldn't be so certain--" He hesitates. "They certainly built it to last, after all." The cat takes a few tentative steps forward. "Would've been a clever place to try and wait out th' end of the world. /If/ there was another exit." Scanning the walls, he takes a few cautious sniffs of the air, too, keeping the gas mask in hand but not rushing to put it on just yet. "How.... exactly did your friend get tipped off about this place?"
(Ysadora) Ysadora watches the others' display of strength with wide eyes, pulling her curtain of hair apart to make sure she's seeing right. "Y'know, Booker, I was going to ask if you're gonna let them show you up like that but...uh...that's on another level." She pats the big anole's knee consolingly, then floats into the newly-opened hallway. "This place is...huge! Syntax, I thought this was just going to be like, a hidden basement or something. Like Nyazuli said, there's gotta be all kinds of mysteries down here, and *we* get to dig 'em up before Zephyr or RSX or anybody else!" Ysadora's eyes are shining and she rubs two of her hands together. "Is it time to gas mask up?"
(Junes) Junes looked at the vehicles with curiosity before the light shines away and soon enough they realize and go into their backpack and started to feel around for it before its found, a flashlight! popping it on to look on their own at things "yeah i kept mine on just in case but hmm, what should we do if there is anything risky in the air?" checking the ground for anything interesting and shining the light up occasionally to follow the group and getting closer to umeko to ask "recording software huh? i wonder, if we find some controls maybe you could light the place up?"
(Umeko) Umeko put her gas mask on before heading in, not wanting to breathe in a bunch of asbestos or whatever other potential hazards might be in there until after some further inspection and possibly cleaning. Her eyes were more than capable of seeing in the dark as she scanned the area slowly, making sure to get a good sweep as she recorded everything she saw. Her gaze lingered on the vehicles as she continued to inspect them more, quite impressed by such an amazing find. "Wow... This sure is something else, old military vehicles in great condition all things considered..." She then peeked back to Junes, "Recording this might actually be pretty useful for proving that we were the ones to crack it open too... Powering the place might be an issue though, I can fix things up but don't count on lights right away, especially without a proper power source. Who knows what the state of the wiring is like in here too, might be a lot of work..."
(Booker) Booker immediately followed after Nyaz, He turned to Ysadora. "Thats just rude." He pursed his lips at the spectre before turning to look where he was going. He gasped in awe at the faint relics of the past, wandering around like a tourist as he looked over the signs, trucks, and basically anything but the floor and walls. "Whooaaaaa..... This is what im TALKING about!" He was giddy with excitement. "This place would be so cool if it was restored!" He daydreamed about the possibilities of the bunker. He glanced at Conrad. "Who cares why they tipped! They tipped gold into our laps!" He pressed his hands together underneath one of the "Report all communist activity" signs. "This place is a literal freeze frame of the past!" He turned to syntax. "I think we all need to agree right now to keep this place out of the big three's eyesight... Im sure there'd be a huggge fight to take possession of it... This place seems super secure."
(Syntax) Syntax blushes deeply at Booker's accusation. "I uh...look, I had no fuckin' idea it was going to be this huge! I thought it was just going to be a hidden cache or somethin'! I didn't tell them because I just kind of had a hunch..." Still, she is certainly not whipping out her comm to report this in. "Hannah just noticed the hole in the wall and thought it was weird there was space behind it. I don't think she was expecting this either." As she trails off, she advances with her robotic posse in tow, eyes looking over everything. "Not sure about 70 years. The cold war went on for some time. Certainly more than a few decades at the very least...I'll keep Captcha posted at the door for safety. Can you all check the passage to the left? I have enough protection in the form of uh...weapons and robots to check out that smaller door to the right. I'll leave some of my surveillance drones with you, though. They can detect if the air goes bad." Not unlike Umeko, however, she's playing it safe and sliding a gas mask on her own head. "Just take it slow, alright? If the drones start emitting a ton of beeps, anyone without a mask should fall back."
(Nyazuli) Nyazuli declared, slightly annoyed "yes ma'am" and started rummaging through her backpack before pulling out an extra large gas mask and attaching it to her neck. "I still really don't like breathing through that, makes everything smell like wet socks, I'll just keep it close for now She continued "Anyway, left passage is ours? sounds fun, can you stay closely behind Junes? I don't see in the dark all that well, but keep a safe distance in case something attacks us or something" She waits a moment for junes to catch up before readying a protection spell and heading for the large corridor
(Conrad) With a sigh, Conrad awkwardly fits his mask on the end of his muzzle. The big cat isn't in a hurry to take the lead, letting the larger mutants forge ahead. "Not about to find buried treasure in n' abandoned army bunker, for godsakes," he mutters. "Just hoping we're still alone in here. Space s' so large, it's hard to be certain."
(Ysadora) Ysadora spends a bit of time fitting the gas mask over her head. It was designed for someone a bit bigger, and perhaps without such unruly hair. "Mph mhphp..." Eventually, she gets it properly in place and stares out at Booker with magnified eyes. "I didn't mean it like that, jeeze," her voice is now tinny and slightly distant. As they move into the corridor, she indulges her habit of patting down the area around her with her many disembodied hands, feeling for weaknesses, switches, or anything else of interest. Although she can see perfectly well in the dark, the thick lenses of the gas mask make this a more difficult proposition, so she relies as much on touch as sight as they proceed inward.
(Junes) Junes responded to the dragon by keeping a few paces behind but shining the flashlight past them to view ahead as they occasionally shine the light closer to the ground to look for anything of note "we really did stumble into something interesting huh?" their voice still a bit muffled from their own mask as well before speaking to the dragon in front "i appreciate it that by the way, oh what was your name again?" they asked listening to the faint echoes around as they think about all of the possibilities for such a place "wow" they said to themselves
(Umeko) Umeko mentally took note of the condition of the vehicles, already knowing that they would be a massive project to revive just like her RV, but still appreciated their condition at a glance. In the meantime she drew her sawed off shotgun from her bag as she scanned the area and proceeded deeper carefully, looking for any signs of potential danger. "I kind of doubt there's anything living in here, but honestly who knows... Take it real slow and easy, make sure there's no traps or other security measures too..."
(Booker) Booker muttered. "With those doors anything in here is surely dead." He laughed as he followed the few proceeding to the passageway, pulling a mask from his bag. He hadnt had time to adjust it to something with a snout, so his nose was pressed up against the plastic. He looked at the group. "Y'all want me to go first?" He smirked, pulling his blade out from his bag, the hefty scrap of sharpened steel reflecting a bit of drone-light. "Better safe than sorry." His tail swaying behind him excitedly. "I've always hoped to find something like this! Its better with friends though." He gave those he was referring to a wink. He undoubtedly looked a bit silly, like a dog trying to smell something through glass as he adjusted it, fixing his face behind the plastic screen.
(Syntax) Syntax nods and heads over to the side door, her mantis shaped robot Fork working to force it open. "Just be safe. I'll tell you if I find anything over here.
(Syntax) As the rest of the party moves to the larger passage to the left, it's hard to miss that there are multiple stacked boxes beside the truck and a crumpled note atop them. Further along is the actual passage itself. It appears to have been some kind of checkpoint in the far past. It even has those little pylons used to hold up queue lines and metal detectors. and two X-Ray machines large enough to fit personal belongings through.
(Syntax) Syntax nods and heads over to the side door, her mantis shaped robot Fork working to force it open. "Just be safe. I'll tell you if I find anything over here.
(Syntax) As the rest of the party moves to the larger passage to the left, it's hard to miss that there are multiple stacked boxes beside the truck and a crumpled note atop them. Further along is the actual passage itself. It appears to have been some kind of checkpoint in the far past. It even has those little pylons used to hold up queue lines and metal detectors. and two X-Ray machines large enough to fit personal belongings through.
(Syntax) It appears there might be a path to the left of you looking into the checkpoint, but it is blocked off with a chainlink fence. Not that is a huge issue for you, but you'll need to rip that door open if you're going to go that way. Those with dark vision can see that there's not much back there beyond broken metal catwalk stairs leading upwards. You'd need to fly if you were going to get up there which would be an issue due to a lack of clearance for the winged members of the party.
(Syntax) There is another large room just past the checkpoint.
