Difference between revisions of "Lost in Cyberspace"

Latest revision as of 01:34, 1 July 2013

Participants

Director

Darkwyrm

Log

[Darkwyrm(#8190)]: The communique had some basic directions to the Giza headquarters, and once anyone draws near the building, it is easy to see. A large pyramid logo on a three-story building is lit up by a neon GIZA sign. The first floor has another, smaller sign that says, "AWOL Bar and Grill". Once you enter the first floor doors, the smell of food assaults you and you can see a small restaurant with a bar. It's mostly deserted save for a surly-looking bartender and a few agents with Giza uniforms. Once inside, you are directed to the second floor stairway and then to a meeting room at the end of the hall. Inside the room it is dimly lit, with only a single hanging light over the table. A figure in a heavy trench coat sits at the head, the tall-eared silhouette of Darkwyrm. He has a folder in front of him, fat with papers.

Mazurek has been to this place at least once before, but it has been a very long time since then. The desire to visit his old friend actually comes just before the comms are inundated with the request from the company. So... he goes and meets with the group in question. The large Komodo with four arms lets himself be escorted, taking the time to enjoy the sights he can and ignoring the scents of all the food. Distractions.

[Mickey(#8826)]: Sometimes rats just need money. Sometimes to get that money, they have to moonlight about doing questionable things for questionable people. Not acting as a rep for mallkind today and actively avoiding the rare rat outside the walls this time around; Mickey is here incognito. Not a horribly clever disguise to pick. She's still a rather cool rat sporting thick, reflective aviator goggles that just barely hide the sign of a glow around its edges. At least she's not jingling. She arrives in the boardroom just after Mazurek, and even with her eyes covered the mirth on her face is clear. "Heeey there big guy. Been a bit," she smirks and lingers beside. "Good to see a familiar face here."

[Smokie(#26254)]: It was always this deja vu with the little Coyote woman. She swore she'd done this all before. All of it. The AWOL bar, she'd been to years ago, but today she felt like she'd already been here on this day before, for the same purpose. The sign, the room, that sexy bartender that she winks at. Didn't she just do that the other day? It must've been one of those weird premonitory dreams that Coyotes get. She went through teh hallway, up the stairs, to the waiting room, where the sexy jackal she knew waited.

[Cerris(#26550)]: And then comes savagery. The shadow cast by the familiar to some form of a massive feathered serpent passes over the intended mustering grounds, occluding all but local street lighting briefly before it passes over and is gone. Shortly there after a team of four military clad beings march up in a wedge formation behind what most would describe as a gaudy neon attention whore decorated in glowing piercings and various jewelry and regalia, all of which lights up at various moments or simply emits a constant scintillating radiance. Once inside, the subordinates fan out and take attentive postures while a woman with lieutenant's ranking and a name tag marked 'Ripley' speaks up. "U.S. Hard Corps. Alpha contingent reporting to assist." The neon clown remains silent.

Ryusho slowly makes his way into the area slowly peering around slowly, as he was curious from hearing the call for others to do something at least, though he was slower to enter and find his way up there, as he probably got distracted from good smelling food for a moment, even though he wasn't hungry, just curious what the scent was actually, before he would head upstairs where he had been pointed peering into the room after everyone else had entered, as he then makes his way in quietly, to be off to one side, ,even if in some ways he is not as quiet as he tries to be.

[Darkwyrm(#8190)]: "Glad you all could come.", Darkwyrm says after clearing his throat. "I see some familiar faces and some others new. Nonetheless, you're all here, I'm sure, to volunteer as subjects for our training room experiment. As such..", he pauses as he opens his folder and passes a sheet of paper to each person. "This is a waiver that signifies you understand Giza holds no fault for problems that may occur during testing. It also outlines the safety precautions and your tidy sum. Please sign on the bottom and return them to me so we may get started. Also, any questions?"

Mazurek smiles to his old friend when he spots the Anubis, and even the incognito rat. The latter he scoops up into his arms for a hug before shifting him to cradle in his double sets of arms, "Hello to you as well, Mickey." The lizard just might be the oddball of this group, wearing nothing at all. When it comes time to sign the waivers, he does so without fuss, though he does need to borrow a writing tool.

[Smokie(#26254)]: An X here, an X there! So familiar. She slides the paper back to the jackal, and gives him a wink, too. Maybe he was in on it?

Mickey would of thought Cerris and entourage were their hosts at first from the way they stomped on in. "Assist?" She headtilts as she happily accepts her new perch, then watches as the others file on in. "Let's say, imperfect world, what sort of problems would ya expect?" she asks as she scans the papers, then uses Maz's broad front to scribble a quick scribble. "We talkin', Total-Recall mental freakout? Or Star Trek Holodeck malfunction?" She hands it back, adjusts her goggles, then pats the lizard. Least there were friends. And money.

[Cerris(#26550)]: The military group, for their part discuss the document they are signing in hushed tones. The Lt. conferring with the glowing individual amongst them before Cerris, the man with the ability to stupid sparkle vamps sim dim and lackluster in comparisson, speaks up. "Gimme a sec here champ, I know a few people over in Zephyr that have been looking for a place to sink some extra funding so they don't lose it next cycle. I think this here playground sandbox of your's will be just up their alley." Without waiting for a reply, the rest of the soldiers sign and return the documents to the Lt. before she brings them all up, Cerris having stepped off to the side to make a quick radio chat.

Ryusho mrphs as he reads over it slightly, though he was just glancing for anything that might look like annoying small print, but he is not much of one for being skilled with...legaleeze or whatever they want to call The party of the first part and second part declare the party of the third part, not in conjunction with the fourth part or..whatever the crap it is called, as he rumbles and then slowly would shift to begin to sign it after trying to vaguely decipher any ..whatever you want to call that doubletalk...but since mazurek didn't bother much with it, he feels no real reason to worry too much since he does help Mazurek with another bit of work he does, though the dragon does at least wear 'clothes' though they are definately tailored to fit his rather....large form, and..well large forms that he has on his large form.

Kori took hir time wandering hir way here. So saying shi was late to the party is very accurate. Even when catching up with the group shi took hir time in reading the papers from top to bottom (excluding fine print too small to read), slowing hir down further. This rounded up to a slow walk around the halls following clues and voices in a passive manner while shi was focused on the paperwork. "Sounds like Total Recall... But they have quality assurance groups for pre-testing before making something public."

Darkwyrm glares as the soldiers fan out in his meeting room. "I can assure you, there are numerous safety protocols in place, and I will be monitoring the program the entire time.", he says to Mickey without taking his gaze away. He gathers up the signed papers and stuffs them back into the folder. "Your posse can stay in here.", he says to Cerris, not bothering to note if he is listening or not. "The test is not calibrated for that many personel." He gets up out of his chair and nods to the group before gesturing to the hallway and stepping out into it.

Mickey is, assumingly, still being carried by Maz as they all files out. "Oh, /you/ personally? Well that calms my fears.." I mean, she looks like she could toss Dark pretty far trustworthy wise. "S'long as there's no mention of derezzing, I guess we'll be alright.." she mulls, then watches the others to judge their reaction.

Smokie stands up an follows. She's oggling the Jackal mostly, but keeps glancing over at Cerris. Is that Cerris? Whatever. She can't contain this huge toothy grin on her face as her claws click on the tile. Surrounded by all these sexy people... Damn. At least one of them she was sure of she knew, but she was still trying to figure out what she remembered the Jackal from.

Cerris snorts when he hears the news, but that just means that he switches the radio conversation over to the L-T to handle, seems she was about to have some free time on her hands while he was off getting potentially skull fucked. "Posse, ha! That makes me sound like some sort of Strange Modern Cowboy...How...Needless." Now free from his call though he is finally able to turn his attention upon Smokie and to a lesser degree, Mickey and her...steed. Mickey would be no problem, maybe a bit sassy, but that is often fun...Smokie on the other hand...that smile of her's made him worry. Chances were, she'd end up over his knee at the very least by the end of this game. All the same, there he was, bringing light and levity to the group.

Ryusho looks over, "Well, I mean, if Mazurek Trusts you, I suppose it should be alright, I mean, He seems to be a decent judge of character for the most part from what I have seen." he says softly, nodding a bit as he adjusts his position and rumbles in thought, but looks around a bit more in thought at the others who were going to go into this as well

Darkwyrm shakes his head. "No. We have special headbands you will wear. And the room is programmed with sensors and projectors and all sorts of other stuff I hardly understand build into it." Darkwyrm says. He pulls open the metal-bound wooden door labeled "Proving Grounds" and ushers everyone inside. The large, dim room is massive, taking up more than half of this floor of the building. Plain white walls extend as far as the darkness allows you to see them. Behind you, a control panel and a shelf are all that is on the wall besides the exit. On the shelf rests several interesting metal headbands. "Everyone take a neural interface and put it on.", the jackal instructs.

[Mickey(#8826)]: "He's awesome," Mickey chitters in agreement to Ryu as she enjoys the break from always scurrying about. Not biased in one bit. The rodent turns her hidden sight over to Cerris when she feels that Glare on her. It's easy to imagine her winking behind it. "Awesome, too," she adds when Darkwyrm mentions just how much he understood. She slips off her ride after a cheek kiss of thanks to take up a headset and examine it closely. "Fancy," she remarks as she replaces her goggles, then turns to show it off. Bright blue eyes glow fierce. "S'how it look? Could use some style.."

[Smokie(#26254)]: The rat and the lizard she looked toward, but took no interest in their conversation. Her grin did not leave as she sniffed the air in the room, walking around the group there, her tail swaying. Eventually the jackal's voice stole the coyote's interest, and she went to him to take her headset. She looked at it, and laughed a little. "Trying to show up the Prommies and their lightbulb sombreros, eh?"

Cerris, for his part simply studies the headset long enough to make certain he doesn't understand it much more than his does quantum physics or medical biology and thus simply cavemans his way through placing the thing on his head. This of course requires he observe others and mimic their actions before finally grunting his relief. Then he settles in to splitting his attention between their host and the coyote.

Ryusho quietly takes a look at one of the bands, as he holds it, looking it over, just partly checking out and making sure what side seems to be -up- then carefully putting it on when he could chuckling, "This almst feels a little silly to wear..reminds me of some sort of...old...show or comic book thing one might see somewhere..."

[Darkwyrm(#8190)]: "Very good.", Dark says with a nod as he watches the volunteers put on the headbands. "Everyone stay in here and mil about, I'm going to excuse myself to the control room." With a short bow, he heads out the door and closes it behind him. About a minute later, a speaker crackles on and you can hear his voice again. "Alright, everyone just stand still while I calibrate this.."

Smokie had been standing still the whole time, arms crossed, hips cocked. She occasionally shifted her weight to the other paw. A sigh. Damn. She thought she caught Cerris looking at her a few times, but did not say anything, or otherwise react except to look away. She was being fairly unsociable this time, she realized.

Mazurek had remained the silent giant of a lizard throughout the introductions following the signing of the documents. When Mickey goes to slip off of him he squats to futher help her do so and he grabs a headband of his own. Putting it on as instructed he turns to Ryusho and smiles, "I trust Darkwyrm for the simple reason that he is a very close friend, and at one point my mate. He sired a few children with me, too. Some you've seen during the days you're around the Reservation."

[Mickey(#8826)]: "Hey really?" Mickey chirps after she finishes fine-tuning the headgear. She's a rather good source of added light as her searchlight-gaze sweeps about; the visor causing a gaussian blur that softens the light, but makes her look something strange. "That actually does help a bit. Must be some pretty awesome kids if they're there," she hums as she chills with the group, then does her best to freeze. "Bet I get high score," she chitters under her breath in jest. Really, she had no clue if there would even be such a thing..

Cerris's blazing gaze can't help be felt by the coyote, it practically spotlights her local or at least it does as long as the lighting remains low. Tracing streamers of light with every movement of his hands, he halts about halfway to his intercept of Smokie, remaining still as the host requests. Each moment ticking through another spectrum of light his hair goes through in it's carefully braided state. A million things lance through his head to lash out at the coyote with, most filled with bile, spite and outrage. But one of the few others wins through and so he says in a low tone that he is certain those...that sharp ear will pick up. "She asked about you, Rouge was pleased with your visit." That said, he grunts again when Mickey makes a challenge of things, of course he rises to the occassion, he's the manliest of men afterall. "Little lady, if you beat me, I will owe you an IOU for anything you want."

Ryusho nods a bit towards Mazurek, "Well, I may have some on my one someday, though I may need to figure out and eventually return myself to a..more reasonable size as some would say, or find one who would like be the mate of one as...rather large as I am..." he says with a chuckle "But that is for a future time I know, but this I feel will be interesting at the very least, a new experience." He says as he waits, glancing around the room while they wait

Kori continues to examine the headband, ignoring most of the people chattering or goofing of. This is science. Science needs some seriousness. ... Okay not everyone was goofing off, but it was a bit too chatty. "I guess going human would help with these contacts. We'll see how it goes." Shi's mumbling to hirself while fitting it around hir head. "I'm going to want to see our kids after this, Dark. So.. Now what. Any chairs?"

[Darkwyrm(#8190)]: "No chairs.", the voice in the speaker crackles. "There's gonna be a bright flash of light, and you'll then be 'transported' to the training grounds. Just.. a military-style obstacle course to begin with. Just a moment.. starting it up.." About a minute later, the room humms with hidden machinery behind the walls and the dim light flicks and finally go out, leaving the room completely dark. Moments later, the entire room flashes white... but then it flickers again. The room's lighting seems to start doing some sort of strobe effect. Then strobe turns to static, like you would see on a television set with no input. Then, it stops. Everything is quiet for a moment. You don't know when it appeared, but you find yourself in a city. Wait, didn't he say military obstacle course? Further investigation reveals that this city looks much like pre-promethean Fairhaven. The buildings are intact, there are people walking down the sidewalks, though they are all turned away so you cannot see their faces. The sky is.. wait.. The sky is NOT normal. The sky is the same static you saw, but there is a black crack down the middle of it, as if it were made of glass. The lighting in the entire city seems off too.. like the sun were giving off grey light instead of yellow-white. You are all standing in a group in the middle of a street next to each other, and the room you were previously in is nowhere in sight.

Mazurek turns his head to gaze up to where the nearest speaker should be to him, "Military style course, eh? Anything like what I was in when I helped you test your holographic projectors quite a number of months ago?" Has it been a year? Two? He doesn't really recall the amount of time, but it works. He flinches as the scenery changes, groaning softly from all the distortions and such. When the changes are all finished he can't help but look around in amazement, "Wow. This is even better than before. Where exactly is the training ground from where we currently are?"

Smokie seems to stand still, complacent, though her tail crooks to the left and she sniffs to the right a little at the first change in scenery. Not so bad, that. It was the second one that stunned her, though. The sky was fake, and there were no smells, but in the rest... What? WHAT? Oh lord... There was a sight she never thought she'd see. Pre-Pday city... The coyote almost dropped to her knees, as she becomes visibly... upset? She steps back a little, her arms come uncrossed and her knees bend. What is this? She knows in her mind it's fake, but it's so shocking...

[Mickey(#8826)]: Mickey flashes a thumbs up, but quickly wishes she took it away. The rat is a user. She's no stranger to weird sights, sounds, or surreal events. Hell, she's invented her own color once on an acid trip. She named it Gruave. Sensory overload is quite a bitch however, and she's rather sure the dull pain in her jaw is her clenching her teeth as she fights the urge to seek a point to fix herself. "Baad trip, man," she grumbles when finally 'normal' seems to return..then she likewise takes in the sight with the others. "Funny..I think there's a few skybox issues," she says. Her attention is upward, not on the figures around them. "And it doesn't look much a course.." Shit. Pretty sure this is how the Holodeck always started to go whackers..

Cerris frowns as he looks away from Smokie, watching the other reactions around him to verify that he is not suffering alone, that this time everyone else was in on the weirdness. Reassured he wasn't about to suffer a personality break he weathers the storm, though occasionally looking around to be certain nothing was going to melt out of the environment to drag him into the ground. "This is not an obstacle course and the sky appears damaged...Operator, are you aware of our current urban setting?" Yes he is speaking to no one in general, expecting a response, doesn't everyone?

Ryusho blinks a bit as he looks around "Uhh..this..doesn't look like a..Military..training course.....this looks more like a city to me.." he says as he shifts slowly, scratching his head as he glances around, and turns around in a circle slowly to get a better look of the area before looking to Mazurek, "Oh...You have done this kind of stuff before? So I guess maybe we are not supposed to be right on top of it....maybe?"

Kori becomes disoriented by the strobes of static. This persisted until it settled down and hir new environment stopped looking fuzzy. "... So is this what the city looked like? Kinda makes me miss the college campus back home. Wonder if its fallen to ruin."

[Darkwyrm(#8190)]: In response to Cerris' inquiries, there's a garbled, distorted sound that seems to come from everywhere. It sounds like a voice.,. but it's impossible to make out. Seconds later, however, it cuts out abruptly with some static noises.

Mazurek can't help but burst out with some laughter upon realizing something, "Well, it seems that the program has malfunctioned. Not only that, but we can't get in touch with the programmer." He looks to the others and shrugs, "So... Who's up for some exploring?" Seems someone isn't paying attention to the others' distress, and he begins to wander down the street.

Mickey glances down and around. Smokie's sight sends up the next red flag, and the voice confirms it. "Wh-wait. Is that..ok? Jus'..wandering off like that?" She takes a few steps. "I don't think the 'yote is alright." Her hands go to her pockets as she wonders. Were her smokes here? She could use one. Suddenly the 'game' attitude was fading away and replaced with mild worry.

[Smokie(#26254)]: The panicking coyote stands in the middle of the road, staring in awe and terror at all the people. They had to be fake but she was frightened at the prospect. She was trying to repress her memories. This kind of stuff she hadn't counted on. She thought about all of the things she'd tried to forget, the memories in her brain of a life passed. She tried to get a grip of herself. Shaking. Ears pinned, tail 'tween her legs, she gritted her teeth. Just seeing a city not in ruins, it confronted her very sense of self, and made her wonder if her whole person was just a charade.

[Mickey(#8826)]: Oh thank god her smoking tin. The rat quickly snaps it open, selects one of her fattest spliffs, and quickly sparks it up to clear her nerves. It's abnormal just how long she holds the smoke in before finally expelling it as one thick cloud. "Ok, ok..let's chill." She's saying it for Smokie's sake, not her own. Honest.

Cerris frowns as he listens to the sounds of the digital equivalent of their evac copter being shot down just outside of the landing zone. "Okay, this extraction point is shot, let's move out! This is a video game of some sort right? If it's not on some sort of timer, then it should end if we complete it or crash it. So let's play along until we can reestablish contact with our operator and get a new LZ out of here. Hey, don't wander alone! Group up, we have no way of maintaining ccomms once separated!" Crazy as it was, he was already in motion to gather up Smokie, his arms sweeping the yote up to shoulder level to be carried either seated or draped across them, he didn't care, but from there he was heading to get Mickey and start exploring. "Come on pretty hippy, let's go see the sights."

Ryusho mrphs quietly, as he looks around slowly, "SO..uhm.....That doesn't seem like the best situation....that didn't sound good either.." he says softl as he slowly shifts from side to side....it has been ...a long time since he has seen anything like this..and had gotten quite used to this as it had become and..in one way enjoyed it more in some ways, but..he slowly rubs his head as he looks around, "Well..." He says softly as he scratches his head a bit more then notices Mazurek wandering off, "HEy..hey! Now wait a moment..." he says as he starts to take off after Mazurek.

[Darkwyrm(#8190)]: The streets are clear of vehicles. There is no traffic to speak of. There are only the strange, destination-less pedestrians that are always.. walking away from you. In the distance down the main street, you can see the original Zephyr building in all of its pre-promethean glory towering above most of the other buildings.

Kori starts looking around, examining the fake humans walking up and down the sidewalks and then the sky. So they're having technical difficulties. Great. "We don't know what the goal is, dude. Its supposed to be an obstacle course, but this is clearly not what they intended. So we don't know where to go. I suggest we start at the Zephyr building or get a map so we can identify the extraction point. Oh.. And be careful, these Non-Player-Characters might be hostile if they're also banjaxed. Those of us cap[able of looking human should do so now so they won't take notice as easily."

Mazurek does, indeed, stop when called out to do so, and actually rejoins the group almost immediately. Talk about the Zephyr building finally makes him look around much more closely than before and he grins upon finally spotting it, "Ah. Yes, Zephyr. If this is the case, then the only logical assumption would, indeed, be to check out the more familiar structure, eh? Let's just hope it isn't some Zombie Horror Game."

[Mickey(#8826)]: "Classic," Mickey mumbles as she puffs along with her smoke. She makes it a point to stay away from the figures even as they're actively moving away, and with Smokie being cared for in trusted arms the rat is more at ease. At least if the game corrupts and everyone dies, it wouldn't be bullshit picking them off one by one. "Righto..wait, he has that?" Mickey asks Maz, then rubs her chin. "Don't think flight would be handy. There's a ceiling up there huh?" She looks up again as they walk.

[Smokie(#26254)]: Yes, that's it. A lie. It's a lie! The Coyote puts her paw on Cerris, and says, "Put me down, you," in a shaky voice. "I've got legs and I can run on my own." Of course, she's still shivering all over. She can't help it. This was all too unnerving. She frowns at Kori's suggestion. "I will not turn human. I never was, I never will be again."

Cerris played a few zombie games in his time, hell soldiers on down time play a LOT of games in between working out and jerking off. Unless they are off duty, then they chase ass and get in fights. "Let's assume we are temporarily immune to the corruption or anything that develops, if attacked by anything give an alarm and defend yourself, even if that thing was a previous friendly. And no, Smokie, I'm not putting you down just yet, my shoulder is cold, you are temporarily drafted as an all weather garment...deal with it." As flimsy an excuse as it was, it was the closest thing he was going to offer the coyote to plausible deniability. So onward to Zephyr he marched, eyes and ears tuned for any deviations in their environment as they go, his memory working to try and steer them towards something that will bring his crew into solid footing.

Ryusho shifts slightly, looking up and away, "If they were hostile, I think they would be looking at us and moving towards us, but I have never seen a single one move towards, or look towards us, but...well who knows, and...well I was human I believe at one point, but....I changed to this form because Ilike it better, and don't think I can become human again if I wanted too..." he says after a bit, shrugging as he does want to head towards the zephyr building since at least it is a 'known' landmark...

Kori turns to face the direction of Zephyr, taking in its surprisingly clean splendor. Until Smokie starts up an act. "Well fine, wild one. If they do decide to go crazy nd attack us because we're different in some way, don't cry about it. They are passive now, and walking away constantly, but that could change at any moment in this glitchy environment." Hir features start shifting less furry and more human before shi begins walking in Zephyr's direction. "Gonna need shoes and a proper pair of pants I guess. Already have the jacket."

[Darkwyrm(#8190)]: The people don't seem to be afraid of you, they dont even look at you. In fact, have you even seen any of their faces? They don't seem to have picked up their pace at all either. They are just casually walking down the streets. As you pass one as you move down the street, he suddenly turns down another street even though it didn't seem like that was where he was going. You don't even glimpse his front, as fast as the turn was. Something definitely seems.. wrong with the citizens. The tower seems to grow exponentially in size as you grow closer to it. Perhaps a small error in the perspective scaling? It looms overhead, windows dark and mirrored glass reflecting the static of the sky above.

Mickey leaves behind her trail of smoke as she walks beside the two lizards. Occasionally she glances over to check on Cerris and Smokie, but when the building starts to loom up above her glowing eyes are quick to follow. "Creepy.." she mutters, looks to her barely finished spliff, then quickly deepens her hits. Even if it was fake, it would of been rude to just outright smoke indoors. She'd have to scout it out first. "Welp, let's find out what's behind door number one."

Mazurek watches the ever-increasing size of the building they've all come to know and (maybe) love over the years. Or is it months? Whatever. It's there, they're here, and it's growing. He even misses the sudden, abrupt turn of the programmed creature down the side street because of it. Even though Mickey is smoking, or at least was until a moment ago, the iguana picks up the not-rat again and holds her, cradling once more to try and make her at ease again during the trip.

Cerris sets the coyote down and points at an alley up ahead before calling over to the other three. "Hey I just remembered a shop that might be around here that can help with weapons and maps...gonna dip down this alley real quick and check." And just like that he is off, this too good to delay forward progress for.

Ryusho misses the person turning away instantly because of watching the building seem to get larger and larger as it seems to get bigger the closer they get before looking around "Are we getting smaller or is it getting bigger.." he says quietly, before looking to Mazurek, "And I hope you friend can fix this ...soon, this is starting to seem really creepy to me.." he says as he looks up again and mrphs in thought....

Kori murrs, "You're worried about a building growing taller in a virtual world whose population seems content to walk away and never turn to look at you? These people may not have a front for all we know, being just half a man or half a woman, literally." Shi moves closer to the door and nudges it open. "Ten credits on the interior of this building being a big pit of nothingness. Second best destination is the mall up north."

[Darkwyrm(#8190)]: As everyone else is awed by the looming tower, Cerris ducks down an alley. The alley is between two tallish buildings that do not let a lot of light into it. As he passes one shop, a closed electronics store, the television sets in the front display click on. The white-grey static illuminates that part of the alleyway, demanding attention.

Mazurek stops when attention is called to the fact that there's a possible shop close by and actually proceeds to follow Cerris into the alley. Of course, he's a few dozen paces behind when those televisions suddenly flicker on and it would be only natural that he gravitates toward the light generated by them. There must be an insect strain of DNA in him or something.

Mickey squeaks as she's hoisted up once again. This time there's no real rush in trying to get back down from her. Although her flushing cheeks show her embarrassment, it is too comforting to protest the treatment. To prevent offending she flicks the smoke away just as Maz suddenly turns about. "Really? Would that kind of thing actually translate here?" She nearly topples when Maz changes course again, and as she changes to a more proper perch on his shoulder she follows his gaze. "Huh? Something on?"

[Smokie(#26254)]: The Coyote happily came to her feet. The shakes were going away, but she still was shivering. She was trying to play it off. She was smiling and whispering to herself that it wasn't real and that everything didn't go back to normal and in awhile she'll be back in her broken bed and her musty blankets in her dirty office in the decrepit, rusted warehouse.... She looks up at the Zephyr building, and laughs a yapping laugh. "Hah!"

Cerris jerks around, a snarl on his lips when Smokie laughs and lights flare up. "Damnit Smokie don't fuck arou..." Doubling back he practically runs to the lit screens, his eyes quickly scanning the storefront for any security devices or alarms before he ventures any closer seeing as it appears to be closed. Damnit if he doesn't want all the intel he can get in any given situation.

Ryusho mrphs as he looks over, noticing one moving away, but he kinda stays there as he looks up, then around again rubbing his head, "SHouldn't we...stay together incase something goes wrong? What if this is a glitch and a sudden change to the environment might make it so a place we could go is not accessible...so then we would we stuck not able to get there and if someone was in there they would need another way out..." he says quietly, as he rubs the back of his head more and slowly turns around and looks the way they came, then back and looking up at the..strangely big buillding, he doesn't remember it being that tall..or even the same scale for what he does remember -exists- for what they know now...

[Darkwyrm(#8190)]: For a moment there.. wait, there it was again. The pyramid logo of Giza flashed on each of the television screens briefly before fading out again. Could it be a sign? Mazurek blinks, staring a bit more at the screens as they flicker and fade. He is quick to point it out to the others, "Alright. Darkwyrm, if you are still able to monitor us, your company's logo is only barely coming through." He steps into the building and begins to explore the interior, still holding Mickey against him. Mickey's ears perk up. Not that much with all the metal weighing them down, but still enough. Before they vanish out of sight she turns her head to call out to Ryu. "I think we got an objective marker!" Her tail flickers and, in an attempt to not become totally useless, keeps a watchful lookout from her perch. +5 to swag, as well.

[Smokie(#26254)]: Everyone is going into that little shop. Damn. Must the band of heroes always have the shared attention span of a goldfish? The coyote sighs and brings up the rear, not liking the enclosed space of not-so-decayed buildings. That static is killing her eyes and her ears. She grumbles to herself a little.

Cerris actually goes no further than the shop's entrance, looking for any other activated electronics. "Look for something to use to supplement this comms failure. If TVs are giving images, speakers and mics may be doing the job as well. I'll secure our point of egress." In this situation, his experience as a field officer shines through, overshadowing those moments in which he may or may not have been thinking about how many dicks he could sink into that college girl's ass.

Ryusho mrphs as he turns and looks before sighing as he slowly begins to wlak after the others, "Well you know you all could I don't know, DISCUSS IDEAS before suddenly running off randomly like chickens with their heads cut off!" he calls out as he walks to catch up... Kori wanders away from the doors of Zephyr and closer to the light show that attracted so many of the group. "If you can figure out how to supplement this stuff, I'll try to whip together something to use as a blueprint. Then we gotta figure out how to connect it and get it working."

[Darkwyrm(#8190)]: Inside the dark store, it is mostly what you would expect to see inside of an electronics store. Shelves full of various electrical doodads, keyboards, accessories and the like. None of them are turned on. What really catches your eye is the terminal behind the counter. A pyramid logo is rotating in the center of the screen like a screen saver, almost as if waiting for input.

Mazurek has used enough computers in the past, and really still does when it comes to his Reservation, that when he discovers the little screensaver with the logo on it...he simply taps the screen to see if anything happens. If there's a mouse or keyboard nearby, he does something with those if that fails.

Mickey's glowing eyes are darting about like they're in a candy shop. So many electronics! So much salvage! Goddamn and it was all fake. Glowering at the lack of real fortune, she watches Maz tap away on the screen. The rat waits for several minutes, then when she can't wait any longer she reaches over to point. "Think you gotta unlock it? Try the Trifecta. Ctrl-alt-del."

[Smokie(#26254)]: The Coyote resigns herself to a corner of the shop, looking out the window. She figures it's best to let the people with know how do their thing, instead of getting in their way. She does marvel at some of the pre-Pday stuff, and wonders if there'd be anything left in the real world of this store. She'd love to salvage things. Though, most other folks salvaged things to make them work again. Smokie just salvaged them to make them into jewelry or to take out little parts she might need.

Cerris quietly ducks back out of the shop, hailing Ryusho as he does so. "Hey, watch the alley, I have something else to take care of." In a moment, Cerris is gone, his considerable athletic ability put into a sprint to carry him swiftly to the gunshop he was hoping to find while everyone else is occupied with getting communications up and running. Note cool speed lines left behind due to glowly stuffs.

Ryusho blinks as he turns around and looks at Cerris charging off, "WAIT! ...What...WHY DON"T YOU TELL US THIGNS!" he sighs and shifts to lean against the wall, as he hears a gurgle down below as he glances down, "Oh quiet down you four, I will take care of you when we are not in this mess....

Cerris arrives at the arms shop, all right. But if he were to look up at the sign designating the shop, it looks like a crudely drawn gun with the word "Gunz" on it as if it were added only as an afterthought. Peering inside the windows would reveal that the store is just completely black. In fact, there is no door. Once someone fiddles with the terminal, the screen goes black for a few moments before a tall-eared canine head silhouette appears on a background of blue. "Sheesh. Thought you guys would never find a terminal.", a crackling voice says. "I suppose you've gathered by now the program isn't quite working right."

Ryusho slowly slips more into the building as he hears the one on the screen talking as he mrphs softly, "...Lovely...So we are in a program...that is affected by a virus?" he shifts a bit, "Doesn't that mean that it could be possibly....well...risky to be stuck in here? Sinc eyou can't turn it off?" he guesses from what he is hearing....

Mickey glances over her shoulder to Ryu and ushers to him to join around the display. "Sounds troublesome. And us without a security.." wait, never mind. Tron jokes were getting old, truly, and this was actually sounding serious. Like, she wouldn't be getting paid serious. "Soooo..what then?" She chirps, glancing between the screen and others.

[Smokie(#26254)]: A virus? That very well IS a predicament. She growls softly to herself. "Wait, if we're in a virus, can the virus... Infect us?" She dramatically emphasizes the last word. It was a momentary idea, but it was just too good to not say.

Mazurek listens to the others speak their concerns. Instead of voicing his own concerns he instead asks, "I will run under the assumption that you can see everything that is going on around us, from the half-rezzed population all the way to the oddly gigantic Zephyr building. So, what is this program's objective and what is it that we are supposed to do to complete it? Best get this information out in the open before we face the possibility of this virus preventing us from communicating. Also, the last time I was engaged into this system it was more a prototype. Are the safties still operational or will this be lethal to the losers?"

[Darkwyrm(#8190)]: There is a long period of silence after all of the questions are asked. Finally, Darkwyrm activates his mic again and says, "I am unwilling to terminate the program at present, as there is a possibility of damage if turned off prematurely. Uhh.. as far as infection goes, I am unsure of the extent the virus has spread into the system. I would exercise caution. I am surprised you have not seen signs of it yet." He clears his throat as you can hear the sound of typing through the speaker. "This seems promising though. If you can destroy the virus within the program, I can safely shut down the system and get you out. I can get more help for you if you can wait a few minutes."

Ryusho mrphs quietly, "...I guess all we -can- do is wait in one regard, we have no weapons other then ourselves and...some of us don't look like we are very much 'naturally combat built' ..." he says softly, with a hum in thought, "....that being said we don't even know if what we can do would be able to hurt a virus depending on how it is in the system."

Mickey's ear gives a little flick at that, and she shoots a glance to Ryu. "Hey, not all of us are built with bulk in mind." She gives the dragon a slight tilt of her head, then wiggle of her eyebrows. "Whatever you guys think'll get us out of this wonderland fast enough, I'm game for.

Smokie listens keenly with her ear-and-a-half. Hm, this was definitely something. She loves over at the dragon, frowning. "I'm not so big or brawny, but I've been in my fair share of fights-" she points up at her half-ear, "-As you can see. I think we'll be able to get in there and take out the Master Comp-- I mean virus. Yeah. Just leave it to us."

Kori heaves a loud sigh. Great. Virus, frozen shutdown. Pulling its plug the hard way could be a lobotomy. The impending sarcasm would have to wait however. "Or they could pull Matrix on us and appear as hostile people in suits. We'd have to Matrix them back. Its a program, we're digital representations of ourselves so the rules aren't as clear. Hell for all I know we could all be able to fly in

Mazurek smirks, "No information regarding where we need to go or anything like that, eh? As far as corruption goes, the sky is the most obvious thing we've seen so far." Then to Kori, "Some of us can fly just by thinking it. It just takes the appearance of wings in some cases." To Mickey he picks her up into his arms yet again, "I know nothing of the powers of the Mall Rats. Do they have any combat powers?"

[Darkwyrm(#8190)]: The screen blicks off and goes black It stays that way for several minutes, threatening to stay off and leave you without any more help from the jackal. But just then, it flicks back on. "Alrighty. I've arranged for some help you you.", he says. "Stand by." A peculiar glow light up the room as a green silhouette appears in the middle of the floor, and slowly becomes more resolved, gaining depths and finally details. A Foxheart has entered the game. However, it seems her appearance has overloaded this station. "Fffzzzt ff-ffiind other... Ssshhhhzzzzzcomputers to contact me.", Darkwyrm says through the static before the screen cracks and smokes, turning off forever.

Ryusho blinks a bit as the console seems to begin to short out as he cringes a bit, "Lovely, There....goes our contact with the real world..." he says softly, shaking his head as he looks around, "Well, I suppose now our first goal is to begin trying to find another computer console, so we can contact him for what to do next, now that ...well apparently our re-enforcements have arrived...." He says as he looks over Foxheart and nods slightly to them.

Mickey's wings flutter for balance like a scooped up bird, then transfers over to a sidelong perch along Maz's shoulder. Give her some green wings and a cracker and she could pass for Polly. "Not 'xactly. We mostly shine in avoiding trouble. It's a Zen kinda thing; don't bother it, it won't bother you." She tugs on her whiskers, then pats the Komodo's chest. "But I'll keep an escape route open for all of us in case we gotta leg it. Got your back." Literally; it's a great view up here. Foxheart is eyed curiously, but any help is accepted at this moment. "Howdy. Welcome."

Smokie looks over at the glow Reinforcements, huh? No one like Ahnuhlled. But that'll do. She sighs and moves over to the door, looking out again.

Foxheart shakes her head and pulls herself together, hands placed at their blade handles before she realizes she recognizes one of the people here...vaguely at least, then stands her guard down. "Darkwyrm, you owe me for this..." She puts a hand over a breast in a salute. "Foxheart. Darkwyrm said you needed some combat backup."

Kori scans her eyes up and down the new arrival, then the terminal the cat thing came from. "... You'd think they could just recompile the environment code in this spot to repair the terminal. The hardware on their end must've blown. So... Now what. We still need to know where to go."

[Mazurek(#22948)]: Those several minutes seem to drag onward while the Komodo is awaiting the next bit of information. He looks over to the new arrival when it finally happens, only to snap his attention right back to the terminal when it breaks, groaning a bit after the final transmission. With the newcomer's introduction he nods toward her, "Not everyone here is combat ready. The more involved the better." He makes sure Mickey is safe on his shoulder, holding his legs if he needs to.

[Darkwyrm(#8190)]: An unusual sound outside gathers your attention, and a strange shifting of color. The lights in the electronics shop go out, leaving you in darkness.

Ryusho looks around, "Crap, we need out of this area..or something...I think something thinks this is a good area to mess with..and ...I guess they can't since that would also affect the area -we- are in and could mess us up..." he says with a cringe, and then shifts, a defensive stance of sorts, "We...need to get out of here, and find another console...so we can get more help, as I said, I don't think we can fight it with what we have access too right now...."

Mickey drapes her tail over Maz's back as she sits with her legs secure. Good thing too, because she would of given a startled jump once the lights cut off. That blue search-light gaze of hers sweeps around quickly, looking right away for either a back way out or large enough window. "Yeah, I kinda second that idea. Get the feeling the longer we stay in one place the more danger we're in."

[Smokie(#26254)]: The Coyote opens the door and peers into the alleyway outside. Nothing seems to have changed, as far as she can see. She sighs, and turns back inside, leaving the door slightly cracked. "Well, I dunno what's up. I suggest we go to the big attention-stealing tower, and not get caught up in fetch-this sidequests."

[Foxheart(#27136)]: A spark of life flitters from the kitsune's tails as she draws her short sword and lets it guide the wisp like a lantern, giving her just enough light to see a nearby surroundings. "You'll forgive me if I can't make this any brighter. Don't want to burn anyone. Lead the way."

Kori shrugs at said kitsune, holding up a hand of hir own which promptly ignites. Show-off. "Having a fiery hide can be more useful than giving some ferals a case of hot-foot." But since they now have two light source, the group should feel fairly comfortable moving on. "So lets just get going."

Mazurek has his own searchlights! Well, not really, but they work fairly well. He uses Mickey's light to help guide him around the shop, heading toward the exit that Smokie is by. Well, the room lights up enough thanks to some flaming light anyway, so he shouldn't bump into anything...maybe.

[Darkwyrm(#8190)]: Outside of the shop, the light emitted from the defective, cracked, static skybox has shifted from gray to a pale crimson. Everything looks threatening now from the slight color change. The crack in the sky has widened too.. and inside of the crack a glowing pupil is partially visible.. creepy. You cant see much else from here, being in an alley and all.

Ryusho peers around and up, "...we need to find the next terminal, so we can get something to protect ourselves with hopefully in this world....because I think something knows we are here now..." he says quietly, "I think thta should be our first priority...plain and simple..." he says quietly as he glances around still in a partly defensive stance.....

Mickey keeps the light turned down towards the floor so that Maz can step cleanly, although when she chances a glance outward and sees the huge eye she quickly shuts them and hurriedly yanks her goggles back up. "Whoo, ok, now /that's/ fucking creepy," she shivers and hunches down. "Good idea man. Keep something between us and that..thing, try not to make a fuss. Let's hit up that building."

[Smokie(#26254)]: The coyote looks up at the sky, and freezes. She recalls some lore, but she shakes her head. That is not Coyote's eye, no, Coyote never had red eyes. She advances up the alleyway, in the front of the formation, tense. She's short enough that everyone behind her can see over her... A pause. She lifts her head up, looking up at the red broken sky, and takes a few deep breathes through her nose, and then delicately tries to scent the area.

[Foxheart(#27136)]: Foxheart draws her other sword, and the longer katana bursts into flame as she readies her technique. She's far better versed at smashing things, not fixing them, and with a few graceful steps, walks to the front of the group. "Looks like we're being watched. We might have company..." Her tails furl up and fold into half to make it easier for her to dash if she had to, fur bristling everywhere.

Kori looks up with a sharp scowl. Well forget about looking like everything else in here. The light shows down on the ground would draw that thing's attention up there. "Well fuck. We're going to stick out like a christmas tree in an orange grove now."

Mazurek would be one of those that has a distinctive scent to Smokie, though whether it would be good or bad depends on the situation. It is outside the shop that the sky's change can be seen clearly, not inside. Gazing up at the eyeball gazing down at them brings about a simple quip from the large reptile, "Well, looks like we have an idea of what the virus is that we need to destroy. GladOS, welcome home."

[Darkwyrm(#8190)]: As you step out of the alley, you KNOW something's changed. The large, prominent Zephyr tower that was tall and pristine before is now covered in pulsing blue and purple tentacles. The very top of the tower is completely covered, with tendrils grasping downward from there and finally blocking entrance to the entire first floor. The tentacles don't necessarily look fleshy, but they have glowing veins that seem to pump a light blue fluid through them. The stores lining the streets are now destroyed, looking as if they exploded outwards. Those pedestrians you saw before.. well they're still around, but now they're facing towards you.. and advancing. There is no wonder why they were facing away from you before. They have no faces. Where their facial features should be is smooth, pale flesh. They don't seem to be in any rush, but if you move, then they adjust their direction. Walking.. slowly from all sides.

Ryusho shifts, "Start moving, now, and No, the Zephyr building is -not- our goal right now, that's probably our -end- goal as the virus is working -from- there, not to there, we gotta find the one place...just..try to keep moving..so they don't actually -reach- us hopefully..." he says as he shifts..and..decides to glance around "Anyone recall major places that might be nearby, local area?" he shifts as he glances around though walking slowly, Kori pages, "how would they take to a blinding sunburst gold flare of light from someone shifting back to their dedication form?" to you.

[Mickey(#8826)]: "Ooh-kay..Yeah, good man," Mickey mutters to Ryu, again her gaze more focused on what's upward then what's actually around at ground level. When she finally does notice her hand goes right for her vest pocket. "It's infecting the city..except these ain't nanites." She looks around, tries to quickly count, then picks a direction that she figures could more or less be random. "This is the city, right? Mall is thataway, I know for sure." You do not question a rat on this, regardless of form. tell kori Try it and find out

Smokie turns suddenly, to follow Mickey. She glances around at the faceless things. They didn't really scare her. It was like some sort of zombie movie without the gore. But these were never alive. Now, if she started seeing familiar faces... THAT would scare her, but it'd take quite a bit, because no one whose face she remembers was human. She spits in their general direction, and laughs, following the rat. Suppose they were going to the mall? This IS turning into a zombie movie. Of course, what she smelled earlier, it was... Strange. Very strange, and she didn't like it that it was playing with her brain like that, to be putting smells in her mind. Perhaps this whole thing was planned from the beginning? That seemed like more of a Zephyr trick, but she never put anything past anyone.

[Foxheart(#27136)]: Foxheart keeps her wisp lit anyway as her eyes follow each of the strange figures in turn, looking around, utterly confused. It doesn't scare her one bit though, considering all that she's seen before, and then looks at the group once before she shakes her head. "We'll get through with ease. They don't look like a threat." A tail points at the large infested building. "We are here to destroy the virus, aren't we?"

Kori shifts hir feet while bending down into a predatory crouch. The eye was watching them, the Zephyr building was being tentacle raped, the 'people' were converging slowly on them and the surrounding buildings had exploded form the inside. The virus knew they were there, knew where they were, and didn't seem to want them to leave. "That's half the plan. The other half is getting out of here. I suggest closing your eyes. This is kind of bright...okay, very bright. Won't bother these faceless things much, no eyes." Hir body begins glowing soon after those words, a glow of yellow-white light like the sun that quickly increases in intensity until it hits a painfully bright radiance. See, hir magic was being used again. Only unlike turning human, returning to hir patron's lioness form was unfortunately flashy. It wasn't nearly this bad in the real world though, so this flare of light was only a pain in the ass within this virtual world.

Mazurek is the one being followed, for Mickey is still on his shoulder. Where the Rat points, the Komodo heads toward, "The things are taking their time, folks. Let's just head where instinct says should be perfectly safe. Can you blame me that I am even more attracted to the Zehpyr building now than before with how it looks now?" Sensitive noses, this one's currently in heat here, though has enough self control to keep it visually hidden, "Let us try to survive the in-game night before we try taking on the tentacle building. Maybe once we get to the mall can we use its resources to do what's required."

[Darkwyrm(#8190)]: Unsurprisingly, the advancing faceless threat is unaffected by the bright flash. As for the others in the group, that is another matter. Other than the scattered walkers all over the place, the streets are mostly clear of debris. Obviously the first floor of the tower is inaccessible, so if the party wanted to try and get in, they would require an alternate entrance.

Smokie following the large lizard around, the scent of his heat only annoyed her. She frowns a little, looking between here and the tower and the walkers and the Eye of Sauron. Damn. What a hoot. Really, she wasn't in the mood to dilly-dally, but no, no one ever listens to the Coyote... The first floor looks inaccessible, but... What about a subterranean entrance?

Ryusho covers his eyes and looks away, "Yes, I know, we need to take out the virus, but for one, we can't get in the tower easily if you looked at the front door, and two, I don't see anything that we have that might -actually- be able to work as an anti virus or something..." he says simply, "It would be hard to remove a virus, when we don't have anything that is able to remove a computer virus from a computer program, and since we are -in- a computer program....well..." he kinda motions with a hand, thats how logic is working for him right now

[Mickey(#8826)]: "If it's something like that, we'll need to either find it or have it sent," Mickey chitters to Ryusho, then looks over her shoulder to Fox. "Unless Dark gave ya anything before he zapped you in here?" Pointing out turns as needed, she keeps the party on track. "Either way, it's only like; two blocks. Maybe we can find something useful left over from the orignial programing. Or a terminal." She rubs her whiskers. "It's just right up here."

Smokie following the large lizard around, the scent of his heat only annoyed her. She frowns a little, looking between here and the tower and the walkers and the Eye of Sauron. Damn. What a hoot. Really, she wasn't in the mood to dilly-dally, but no, no one ever listens to the Coyote... The first floor looks inaccessible, but... What about a subterrainian entrance? (Repose in right spot)

[Foxheart(#27136)]: "Anyone got a drone or two they're willing to send into sure death?" Foxheart isn't sure herself if she's saying this seriously, eyes still kept on the figures on the streets. "I...I think we should find cover as soon as possible. Would be easier to fight from..." Mentally, the kitsune remains fixated on combat and dangers, most of the technology-related stuff completely over her head.

Kori straightens up and starts walking again at a normal pace. The faceless ones weren't bothered, as expected. The eye in the sky however couldn't possibly miss it. On the other hand it likely didn't care. "You're right. We don't have an anti-virus. But what if we're supposed to /be/ the anti-virus? We're certainly foreign, and this thing has an unhealthy interest in us. Wither we realize it or not, we're a threat and a curiosity to it. Probably more the latter than the former for the moment."

Mazurek pipes up, "Ot it is just watching the whole place all at once? Does it really matter one way or the other whether it wants something or not? I have nothing to help with being a decoy other than myself. Not going that route here."

[Darkwyrm(#8190)]: Closer and closer the walkers approach. It isn't certain what will happen if they reach the party, but who wants to wait and find out? The sprawling strip mall lurches closer as the party quickly outpaces the ominous corrupted citizens. The storefronts are not blown out, but all of the glass is cracked, and most of the windows and doors are boarded up.

Ryusho would motion lightly, "Lets see if we can find a door or something, that is not boarded up, or if we have too I guess we can break in, but....Hopefully this is part of the 'atmosphere' this ..virus is causing, not something to try to keep us out of a place the program is not capable of keeping track of." he says nodding as he mrphs, glancing back at the left behind -mass- of ..faceless things....

Mickey flutters her wings in mild worry when she sees most of the openings covered up. "There's an electronic's storefront, maybe another terminal in there. There's gotta be something useful here.." She mumbles, more to herself, and tries to peer into one of the windows as they pass. "They do look breakable.. Anything beats the welcome party back there."

Smokie is following the lizard-mounted rat, glancing behind herself. Huh. that wasn't so bad, those faceless dude. Yeah, not bad at all! Of course, her fur's all on end with fright now. Blegh. She keeps going along, looking through the windows. "I can try and kick one in, if these aren't static meshes, of course."

Foxheart skitters over to the back of the group and keeps both swords at the ready, swinging them if the creatures get too close and snarling. "Let's be careful, shall we?" She begins to prime a charge in her tails too, ready to blast a path through a currently non-existent horde.

Mazurek notes the numerous cracked windows and gets the same idea that most of the others are having about them. Growing, he takes it one step further and actually calls out, "Mickey! Brace yourself, we're going in!" So saying, he rushes headlong toward one of the windows, only to shift at the last second to a shoulder-rush...the shoulder pair that doesn't have the rat.

[Darkwyrm(#8190)]: There is in fact a store with a broken sign over it that reads "EL-CT-ONICS". The windows all have plywood over them and the door is covered by several 2x4s. When Maz slams into the plywood, he finds himself repelled backwards and sprawled on the ground. The plywood suffered some cracks, but did not fully break. The noise created by this impact, however, is loud enough to wake the dead. Moments later, an unearthly warbled shriek is heard from... somewhere. You can't pinpoint it, but it doesn't sound far.

Ryusho grits his teeth and cringes as mazurek -slams- into the wood and it cracks, "I think we need to try to -remove- the wood and.." he freezes as he hears the shriek, "We might need to protect ourselves, or try too soon enough....so why don't someone keep a look out while we try to get the woo dout of the way...without burning the place up preferably...."

Mickey looks to Maz, and the window in uncertainty. "Not sure this is the be-" Oh nevermind, he's going for it anyway. Hopping around, the rodent clings to the far side of Maz's back. She's light enough that she herself does no harm to the Komodo when she's jarred roughly forward against him, but she is forced to scramble quickly in order to prevent herself from ending up trapped below. "Hurry," she grunts. "Try ripping it..Maz you A'rite?" There's concern; now they got something else after them too..

Smokie jumps and spins around, ready in a fighting stance with her paws up, one made into a fist, the other holding with her claws out. Her eyes peer around the lot, growling, her good ear down. Yeah, she didn't want to lose her other ear. For a moment, she forgets it's a game, and she is seriously worried. She hasn't been in too much of a real fight in awhile. Yeah, she hunts gryphons, but a gryphon with a hole or three in his chest from a 5.56x45 FMJ is hardly much of a fight. "Sounds like the sub-boss fight's coming up!"

[Foxheart(#27136)]: "Still, to fight a virus..." Foxheart steps a short distance away from the run down store to put up a literal fire wall in front of her with a slash of her flaming blade, hoping that it'll ward the zombified things from trying to approach too aggressively...and a little less the large opponent she can't yet see. "The technology stuff is...up to you guys..."

Kori rolls hir eyes at the mention of 'sub-boss'. "Seriously, its not a game right now. if that thing beats one of us down it might be able to infect us. Then what happens when it finds a way out of this program? Our bodies will be its new host with it in control. So if we get attacked, shoot to kill." Speaking of, shi's engaging hir fiery hide to full blast just in case. "Yay magic firewalls...just don't touch me." [Mazurek(#22948)]: REBOUND! The Komodo can feel his body wanting to mash against the boards when he connects with them, but they force him to bounce back! At least he didn't break anything in his attempt...other than the boards. He collapses to the ground face-up, which would have Mickey scrambling to lay on his front instead. Sprawled out, he groans a little, though that is quickly drowned out by the screech of the unknown thing. He stares up at the sky and the eyeball above, suddenly finding himself quite dizzy thanks to the impact. Did he even hear the rat's question aimed his way? He's going to need help up soon.

[Darkwyrm(#8190)]: Around from the back of one of the buildings, something appears. What that something might be is quite questionable. It looks like a cloud of static mist.. but it is constantly shifting and morphing. Along with it comes a most unusual and disconcerting sound. Like a mashup of the growls and calls of several beasts warbles together and distorted. At one point, it looks like there are some appendages sticking out of it at random points, but then you blink and it's suddenly sporting hundreds of eyes all over it. Mouths, teeth, horns and a large variety of eyes morph in and out of this cloud. Then it 'sees' the party. And flies straight towards it!

Ryusho blinks, "..Oh Lovely, we have Glitchthulu after us...or maybe this is Bug-rog..." he says as he shifts, "INCOMMING!" he sayas though he shifts and tries to break off one of the boards on the window, if anything to use as an impromptu weapon to keep it farther away then hands reach.. Mickey shakes herself sensible, then freezes when that..thing comes into view after Ryu's warning. "Aww fuck, C'mon big guy," she quickly stoops on Maz's chest and tugs her goggles down to shine the bright blue light in his face. They needed fighters now, and having one on his back before they even started was not good. "Let's go, doubletime," she tries a little shake then swats his cheek. Should he still be dazed, she'd flash him full in the face with those volitile eyes to try and shock him on his legs with a squeaky command. "Get up!"

[Smokie(#26254)]: Oh shit, nope, she wasn't expecting that. With a yip she skitters back for a moment, before shaking her head out, and running to the flank of the team. Firepower all around. She isn't sure right away waht it's supposed to be but she can't help but try and throw her best at it. She sure as hell doesn't want it to touch her, no knowing what it'll do. Time for some fire breath! With a quick little prayer to Coyote she opens up her maw and snarls viciously, a burst of flame spews forth. Spicy.

Foxheart takes her short sword and drags her wisp forcibly back into her tails before yelling, "Get down!" She twirls her edge once in a flurry of blades and tails, jagged ice spikes forming from condensation and being shot like arrows, aiming the try to disperse the mist with sheer brute force.

Kori whips around to the shriek of the new contact. It was a little ways off before. But now its right here and charging the party. Not a good time. Not at all. Shi bends hir legs and squats, putting one fist on the ground. Within a second hir flesh turns shiny and semi-solid, taking on a rubbery jelly quality yet it remained opaque. Hir weight shifts creating a bulge in hir calves that quickly travels up hir legs and into hir body. The flames shi already wore stoked hotter still as it seemed to begin turning the digital water vapor into steam. All the while shi keeps hir eyes on the target. "I always wanted to do this shit. Gear...second." Another second or two passes as shi watches Ryu, Mickey and Smokey begin to fight it before shi makes hir own move in a literal blur of motion which was quite hard to follow with the naked eye. This sudden acceleration launched hir into the air, allowing hir to cock back a fist that was already on fire, the afterimages making it look a lot like hir arm stretched quite a distance in its jelly state. "Gum gum...Red Hawk!" Incoming high velocity fire punch for mister Eldritch Horror Of Eyes And Mouths!

[Mazurek(#22948)]: The rodent's tactics work to an extent, and thankfully it's before the second flashing of the eyes. The first flash to the eyes, even though only one of them can really be affected thanks to them being wide-set, is enough to break through the daze that the screech somehow did not. Having Mickey on his chest helps even more and he wraps his arms around her before getting to his feet. He immediately notices that others are attacking...something. He's the only one that isn't attacking right now, besides Mickey, and he instead shouts out, "Alright, who brought the God Of Decay, Moander, out of the Forgotten Realms?"

[Darkwyrm(#8190)]: The fire breath seems to go right through the glitching abomination. However, the ice shards make contact with a sickening crunch, causing large spots of it to disappear into deresolution where the chilledf spikes pass through. It makes another loud, disorienting shriek and pulses, heading straight for Foxheart!

Ryusho blinks for several seconds as he shfits, 'PHysical force! Use Physical force!" he calls out as he shifts and does eventually work and pry at least part of one of those boards off to try and shift so he can fling it at it in a way if it is not big enough to 'wield' as it gets closer...well if he can otherwise -forget it- he will just do something else...

[Darkwyrm(#8190)]: The glitch's body spreads out, creating a hole whch Kori flies right through, though not without the creature stinging hir on the way out. The spots on hir back and ass where it makes contact start to crackle with black sparks and sting with corruption. Mickey, being a fire-type rat, has no real chance of being much use in a straight fight. "We did. Glad you're up. Be careful." And she scurries on over to the storefront entrance. She assumes that, best case, they would have a few seconds, so without much time spent looking for ways to arm herself she instead works on finishing up the job Maz started. She figures Ryu's ripping boards to work his way in, and starts muscling at the plywood covering. It's less brute force, more trying to leverage up from the sides and pop it from its fastenings to form a way in.

[Smokie(#26254)]: Her attack was ineffective. She snarled. Well, suppose it's time to jump into it. It didn't really like the solid ice chunks... Maybe if she tried to claw at it, she could do -something-.

[Foxheart(#27136)]: "Anything you can hit with a piece of ice...you can frag with enough energy..." Foxheart smiles, and then with a bit of added flair, the long sleeves of her kimono crackle with energy and disintegrate into ashes once the large, purple flames start, and then she charges the being with enough force to dry and crack the ground she's standing on. It isn't long before she's howling out in pain from the heat, though the flames are so incredibly intense...

Kori flies right through the thing, and clear through the hole in its body. Momentum of the flight carried hir a bit further until shi hit a building. Jelly body or not, impact still hurt. And the dust cloud it created is enough indication that shi needs a moment to get out from the rubble and self assess hir condition. Mazurek watches the effects of the various attacks by the other 'players' and grimaces on noting one of them not affecting while another..having some sort of effect. He snorts after that and turns his back toward the creature and raises his tail, "CLEAR THE AREA!" He doesn't give much time for a response, for two seconds later, out comes a powerful spray of skunk liquid aimed right for the creature! (Skunk Blast)

[Darkwyrm(#8190)]: Ryusho and Mickeyu manage to pry off one of the large plywood boards covering a window. It's heavier than it looks though, being hard-packed wood and all. Foxheart flies through the glitch similarly to Kori's attack. The heat does singe and derez some of its mass along the edges, however Foxheart also gets whipped by a few corrupting tendrils as she passes. Smokie's attack rips off a chunk of it, but the physical contact with it causes her entire hand to start burning with electrical corruption. The skunk cloud attack appears to have little effect on it.

Ryusho shifts as he grunts, using his size to try to weild it, but doing his best to keep off to the side, as maybe he just needs to swing it and -break- the damn board first, but either way, he would get ready and if mickey helps him, he would try to either swing it himself ot smack it or 'clothesline' it with mickey moving on one end and him the other if it was that big, but...well, "STOP GETTING INTO CONTACT WITH IT!" he yells out, "..If thats not obvious enough from watchign whats -happening- when you get in touch with it!" ..at least he is observant....

Mickey oofs softly as the wood finally comes off, and she holds the one side as Ryusho has the other. When she looks between the dragon and the virus, it seems the rat is having the same ideas. And with the window now uncovered..well; "Go! Get inside!" she squeaks out, then braces herself. "Get over here!" If the Virus started to follow, Ryu and her could wall it off in the face..

[Foxheart(#27136)]: "There is no room for fear, dragon." Foxheart growls, and continues her dance with fire, though visibly starting to get winded as she has to focus on dodging any counterattacks to, blades twirling in tandem with her feet.

Mazurek turns around after his blast is finished expelling from him...and notices that there's absolutely no effect. Unable to hold back a snort he calls out, "Everyone inside, now! This is not about fear! Do NOT be a hero!" He rushes to the aid of whoever needs it and will be the last one in even if it means being the creature's target

[Darkwyrm(#8190)]: Sensing movement, the glitch makes a swipe at Foxheart before thrashing towards the fleeing portion of the group. It makes its terrible, confusing noise again as it tries to decide what to do. Those who make it into the electronics can see empty shelves, but a powered on terminal on a table towards the back.

Ryusho would stay with mickey, if they kept holding the board, "SHUT UP AND GO INSIDE MAZ!" he calls out, as he shifts, "We can't try to get in and 'block' the way in so it won't come through with this thing if you are still out here!" at least thats what came to mind for him....

[Mickey(#8826)]: "Jus' Go, go!" Mickey edges on those that made the break for it, then looked between Ryu and the others. "Maz just grab her and let's go." She keeps a firm grip on her side and tugs to place herself and Ryu at least somewhat infront of the door. Just enough room is left for them to make a break for it, or clothesline the beast; whichever oppertunity reared its ugly head.

Smokie is already inside. She looks up at the terminal, then back at the opening. She doesn't want to touch it. Whatever that thing did to her hand... Did it corrupt her data? Jeez. Now was she just making herself scared? She went back to the opening, and stuck her head out. "Come in, it's safe!"

Kori pushes hirself out of the rubbel, lashing hir tail in irritation at the glitchy thing. Ice sort of worked, fire made most of it vanish, and phsyical contact was outright impossible. This required a distraction. Hir best thought at that time was to utilize a skunk mist to cover hir movements while she ran for the store to get inside. Not a normal mist of skunk spray, but a thick one. Of course the glitch has no nose, but its still a thick chemical cloud. It has eyes, sort of. [Mickey(#8826)]: With everyone else inside, Mickey steps into the shop and jams the plywood panel back behind her. Turning to set her back hard against it, she squeaks to Kori; "Help me brace this!" She likely figures Maz could contact Dark, but right now she's just hoping her lean is enough to buy time.

Mazurek is definitely tempted to be the one who holds the board in place to help the rat, but with the sudden notice that everyone else has just vanished to whereever this place is sending them he moves back to the activated terminal instead and works to operate it.

[Darkwyrm(#8190)]: The glitch's horrible, warbled cries are heard muffled from behind the plywood. However, after a minute or so, the sounds stop and it appear to have given up its pursuit. The terminal blinks on with a beep once Mazurek approaches it and the golden pyramid logo of Giza spins in the center of it as it loads. Moments later, it is replaced with the black silhouette of Darkwyrm again. "Oh, good. You found another. I see you are in the mall district now. Good. Here's what I've found out. TRhe virus has latched itself into the section of the program that makes up the Zephyr Tower portion of the code. From there, it is sending out its tendrils of corrupting code to the rest of the system. You gotta make it in there and destroy it. GOOD NEWS. There is a entrance to the Zephyr tower from this building, through the sewer. Look in the back room. Oh, by the way, try not to make physical contact with any of the corruption, it might do bad stuff. If you do happen to get infected, then you can use these terminals to cleanse it, once per computer."

Kori calls from the doorway shi's blocking. "Oh NOW you tell us! It has mini avatars walking aorund out here. They look like Chuthlu horrors with lots of eyeballs and lots of teeth! Ice seems to be effective, but fire is not. Tried it myself and it went right through it without slowing it down. .. Plus my back itches like hell from the attempt!"

Mickey remains leaned up against the wall for several long moments until she is sure the thing is gone. "Well..good thing we came here then," she mumbles inbetween a sigh, then straightens up to look around for anything useful. "Might as well use it then," she chitters to Kori; adding. "I know that way, but it's collasped in the real world.." Would make sense it would be intact if it was simulation, tho'. "Alright, well, just /how/ do we off it once we get there?"

Mazurek describes in full detail what happened after the first signal was lost, leaving nothing out at all. Afterward he asks, "I don't suppose your headbands malfunctioned in some way? We only have tree of us left to do this with. Cerris tried to locate an armory as well, but that turned out to be nothing." Turning his attention to Mickey he smiles, "Lead us to it after we clear Kori of her infection."

[Darkwyrm(#8190)]: A clear "DING!", is heard, and a cool, refreshing mist pours out of the computer, enveloping the party. Any corruption is cleansed, and wounds are healed. "There y'go. Well.. to be honest, I don't know much about the virus. If you can activate more terminals, I can download more information. I'll unlock the access door to the sewers. Good luck!" And with that, the terminal blinks off. A metallic clink is heard from the room behind the computer.

Kori looks at the odd mist and the back of the store. The itches in hir back are gone now and that thing outside is as well. This was a good time to get to the back of the store and look for that door.

Mickey doesn't appear to see anything worth taking along, and after taking a heady breath of the mist she relaxes, regains her cool, then nods. "Righto," she whistles as she leads the way to the door, then the path to the sewers past that. "I really hope it didn't start growing down as well as out..I should be able to lead us there, still."

Mazurek finds his attention attracted toward the metallic noise right behind him after the contact is terminated. Even so he doesn't move toward it until their resident rat starts leading the way, "Just how much knowledge do you gain by being a Mall Rat, anyway? I never noticed anything out of the ordinary, really."

[Darkwyrm(#8190)]: Opening the door reveals a metal staircase leading down into darkness. A mysterious fog seems to seep out of this hole in the earth. Not unexpectedly, a funky smell also emanates from here.

Kori starts to climb down the stairs, holding up an ignited hand as a light source. Hir nose wrinkles at the odor, though there shouldn't be any smells in a virtual environment. "Alright, any idea what the mist is? The smell makes only a little sense..."

[Mickey(#8826)]: "Well, as I understand, once you're a rat, you get drawn here if you're not already. Also see things.." Mickey stops at the top of the stairs, furrows her brow and wrinkles her nose, then starts her way down; her eyes also help light the way. "Differently. Shinier. Rod requires us to know the sewers, and always be aware, for those that chill there. Something about his previous gig having something evil that corrupted rats down there. This mist..dunno. Could just be the virus?"

Kori pushes hirself out of the rubbel, lashing hir tail in irritation at the glitchy thing. Ice sort of worked, fire made most of it vanish, and phsyical contact was outright impossible. This required a distraction. Hir best thought at that time was to utilize a skunk mist to cover hir movements while she ran for the store to get inside. Not a normal mist of skunk spray, but a thick one. Of course the glitch has no nose, but its still a thick chemical cloud. It has eyes, sort of.

[Mickey(#8826)]: With everyone else inside, Mickey steps into the shop and jams the plywood panel back behind her. Turning to set her back hard against it, she squeaks to Kori; "Help me brace this!" She likely figures Maz could contact Dark, but right now she's just hoping her lean is enough to buy time.