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As much as you'd have liked to avoid being seen, you knew eventually you'd have to take a risk. A real one. If you were caught in here...

No, no. You wouldn't be caught. Tiiris was counting on you. You think. At the very least, explaining what the hell you were doing inside the cloister was not something you wanted to do. Your fingers close around the rungs of the ladder, and you slowly step onto the bottom rung, as lightly as you can to prevent it from ringing. Slowly, you make your way up towards the hatch, and lift it up with your hand an inch. There's a quiet click, then a sigh of hydraulics that lifts the hatch up and away from your head.

Poking your head up over the lip, you're somewhat surprised to see that you aren't in some cramped mechanical closet, or a disused storage room. In fact, it looked like some kind of library.

Carefully, you creep up over the lip of the hatch. It was carefully positioned between two bookcases, with only enough cramped space for one person between them and the next bookcase. You push the hatch down behind you, and it catches on it's hinges and lowers itself the rest of the way on it's own.

Your feet were on some kind of thick and soft carpet- when you reached down to touch it, you notice it's almost immaculately clean, instead of slightly dirty like most floors that get walked on a lot. The shelves were overflowing with... books? You didn't think Valkans used books. Perhaps they were secret Valkan texts or something? Peering at a few of the spines shows that... no, they seem to be... old-fashioned paper textbooks. Not even Valkan ones, as far as you could tell- they were all written in Tagaran.

Here and there, a few shelves were cleared to make room for boxes upon boxes of what looked like computer hardware. Hard drives stacked one on another, cables coiled up and sorted into individual bags. On one of the shelves was a shallow box full of blue chips of some kind. Strips of packing tape were stuck on most of them, most of them labeled with 'dead' or 'empty' in Tagaran. Some kind of fancy flash drive, maybe?

You carefully make your way down to the end of the isle, peering over the top of individual shelves to make sure you were alone before sticking your head out. Something about this room was odd. It felt strangely... chilly. And not from the temperature, either. You spot a door on the other side of the bookshelves and press an ear up against it for a moment. Didn't sound like anything was on the other side...

"You came..."

You stiffen, feeling the hairs on the back on your hair stand up straight. "...where are you?" You murmur to yourself. "Hello?"

>>4436689
"I'm... further in..." The voice was much stronger now, audible without you needing to strain to hear it. With that sudden clarity, you could tell that the voice was definitely female, and utterly exhausted. Each word sounded labored, and when she lapsed into silence, it came with a slight sigh of someone collapsing after overworking themselves. "Sorry..."

"It's okay!" You say, then lower your voice. "Can... can I ask you something?"

"...I'll try to..." Her voice fades out before she can finish the sentences, but you get the gist of it. It sounded like each attempt to communicate took a toll on her, whoever she was.

>"Who are you?"
>"Any ideas on the best way to get to you?"
>"Anyone I should watch out for?"
>"Do you know where someone named Tiiris is?"
>Don't ask a question, she needs to save her strength by the sounds of it.

>>4436691
>"Any ideas on the best way to get to you?"

>>4436691
>Don't ask a question, she needs to save her strength by the sounds of it.
We should probably let eST know that we heard the voice again, and ask if they have any ideas on trying to find Tiiris.

>>4436691
>Don't ask a question, she needs to save her strength by the sounds of it.

>>4436691
>Don't ask a question, she needs to save her strength by the sounds of it.
Yeah, save her strength for when she really needs it. Maybe it'll be easier as we get closer.
>"Anyone I should watch out for?"
Second choice that, though. Don't know what state she's in, but if there's someone near her it could be a problem.

>>4436691
>>"Anyone I should watch out for?"

>>4436691
>Don't ask a question, she needs to save her strength by the sounds of it.

>Don't ask a question, she needs to save her strength by the sounds of it.
Writing.

You open your mouth, then close it. "Nevermind." You mutter. She sounded really tired, why would that translate to... telepathy or... a divine sign or whatever you were hearing right now? Was it really a mental voice, or did mental voices actually sound tired? You shake your head. It probably wasn't important.

Pushing the door open, you peer around the corner. The plush carpet stopped at the doorway, what was beyond was simply bare wall. Not a thin facade of drywall or something people could put pins or nails in to mount things, either. Actual bare structural wall, the metal and girders that were usually behind the drywall completely exposed and unpainted. There were random gaps between the floors and the walls where the flooring had been cut away for whatever reason. Some of them were cut to make way for small bundles of cables that ran up and along the wall. Power cabling, maybe? Seemed awfully large to just be power cables...

Moving to one end of the hallway, you peer around the corner and immediately notice the wide double doors of the cloister peeking around the other end. That was the entrance, then... and around the other way, the hallway branched off into several short passages. One appeared to join with a larger main hallway. As you got close to that end, you realized you could hear sounds coming from the rooms next to you. Turning your head a little, you realize that it's music mixing with conversations- some sounding natural, but others sounding suspiciously like podcasts or television. If you strained your hearing, you could just make out what sounded like pop music.

Living spaces of some kind? That made sense, the cloister had to live back here. Although... you thought most of the cloister spent most of their days in prayer? Or... or worship? Then again, you suppose even priests had to relax. The real prayer chambers must be further in.

You inch a little closer to the main hallway. While it was less noisy than the living spaces, you could definitely hear footsteps echoing down it on occasion. If the cloister door was over there, then the main hall probably started there too. Which meant going in the opposite direction was probably going to take you deeper into the cloister. The only question was how.

You'd had your fair share of sneaking into places you weren't supposed to be when you were younger at the encouragement of the priests and your friends. Lots of funny little places you weren't supposed to be, but were harmless to be in. If you could avoid being spotted, that would be great, but what would be even better is looking like you belonged. A disguise of some kind, combined with enough acting skill to sell that you weren't lost or lingering suspiciously.

>>4437891
Easier said than done. You had no idea how often new people came through here. Your ability to disguise yourself depended entirely on how at ease they were in here. If they weren't, someone could immediately tell you were an interloper unless you had a really good excuse. In that case, it would be better to avoid being seen at all, even if it meant taking it somewhat slow...

>Avoid inhabited places and make your way in further.
>It's a bit risky, but you think you can sneak behind a few people's backs if you need.
>Take a gamble and try to act like you belong.
>Maybe you can get into one of the rooms and grab a disguise from there?

>>4437893
>Avoid inhabited places and make your way in further.

>>4437893
>>Take a gamble and try to act like you belong.

>>4437893
>Avoid inhabited places and make your way in further.
I don't think Netana is particularly adept at the improv required to hide in plain sight.

>>4437893
>Avoid inhabited places and make your way in further.

>>4437893
>It's a bit risky, but you think you can sneak behind a few people's backs if you need.

>>4437893
>Avoid inhabited places and make your way in further.

>>4437893
>It's a bit risky, but you think you can sneak behind a few people's backs if you need.
Even Tiiris can be taken off guard by how quiet we are. A bit of risk is necessary if we want to get this done in reasonable time.

>>4437893
>It's a bit risky, but you think you can sneak behind a few people's backs if you need.

>>4437893
>It's a bit risky, but you think you can sneak behind a few people's backs if you need.

Rolled 2 (1d2)

Okay, split between the slow and difficult sneak and the risky but rewarding sneak. 1 for slow, 2 for risky.

Delaying update.

Can't believe bentus yeeted themself

You didn't really have the time to move safely and unseen- actually, you never had when sneaking around with your friends, either. Circumstances were always changing, and while you couldn't turn invisible like Tiiris apparently could, you were pretty quiet yourself. Time to take a chance.

Moving up to the passage that led to the main hall, you listen carefully for the sounds of footsteps. They were... getting quieter, moving away from you. You turn your head down the hall as far as you could to look for oncoming traffic, glanced across the hall until you saw another side hall, took a breath and walked over to it.

A pair of masters were walking down the hallway from you, their backs turned. That was... Masters Keyla and Tal. Looks like they were off to hold... it'd be afternoon prayer, would it not? Briefly, you feel guilty about missing it before ducking back into the side passage. Surely this counted as doing due diligence to your lords? Against your lords? Maybe? You hadn't seen any sign of Tiiris since getting in here. Maybe she had just wound up meeting with the other masters for tea?

...okay, even you had a hard time believing that one.

You scurry into the passages on the opposite side of the main hall. It was far, far quieter on this side. In fact, at the end of the hall you abruptly came face to face with a thick wall of brass. It was stained a dark color, like the doors of the clergy, and didn't stop at the crack in the floor, instead running down past it. Was this part of the barrier that Est had mentioned?

The hallways that ran to your left and right were normal sized, but cramped from the massive amounts of electrical wiring sprouting up from the floor and going through the walls in different locations, unlit except for what spilled in from the lights above your head. Carefully stepping around the bundles of cables, you slide in to the lefthand passage before anyone passing down from the main hall happens to glance in and see you.

It wasn't that bad inside, just a little dark. In case you trip, you stretch a hand out to the wall on your left-

You wince and yank the hand back. It was freezing! It wasn't the same kind of cold you'd felt earlier. Not a mystical cold, it was just genuinely icy to the touch. Was this a walk-in freezer? Why did it need so much power? You stop and listen for a second, before hearing what sounded like a man speaking and then a strange, keening sound that made the hairs stand up on the back of your neck.

Time to move on.

>>4440993
On the other side of the mystery room was a short hall with two doors in the side. The first presumably led back into the definitely-not-holy walk-in freezer, while the other was open. You couldn't hear anyone inside at the moment, but from the slight sliver you could see through the doorway, you saw what looked like a workshop of some kind. At the very least... that was a table saw, that was a hydraulic... something and there were tools on the wall. Granted, you weren't sure what use a lot of them would be for anything other than carpentry. Did the clergy maintain hobbies or something?

Past the two doors was... another cloister door? You blink a few times at it. Had you gone down the wrong way? Were you at the entrance somehow?

After checking sure to make sure the workshop was empty, you come all the way up to the large brass doors, then look down the main hall. On the other side, an identical pair. There were two? The cloister didn't have a back entrance, as far as you knew. Was there another path through the utility floor to this second inner sanctum? You worry briefly if you had somehow screwed up, and this was in fact the door that led out into the prayer hall itself.

How could you... wait. The workshop. It extended past doorway, in fact it shared it's front wall with the door. There wasn't a random protrusion coming right through the prayer hall, so this couldn't be the one there. So you were on the right track.

How to get past it, though? You didn't have the strength to yank it open yourself- you hadn't ever tried, of course, but you knew you weren't blessed or a Valkan, so the chances of you being able to open it yourself - and without being seen - were low.

>Try to brute force the doors open. You seem to have some spooky favor on your side.
>>[Sub-Option] Ask the voice if it can help you.
>Maybe you can wait until someone comes through, and then slip in before it closes?
>This door was impenetrable... but maybe the walls of the workshop weren't?
>Investigate this definitely-not-haunted cold room first.

>>4440996
>Investigate this definitely-not-haunted cold room first.
it might be a good idea to ask eST if they have any idea why they would need a second warded door that, or a cold room near a workshop?.

I have a feeling that this might be a loading dock where take delivery of food and materiel either in bulk or, that is too unwieldy / obvious to carry otherwise through the front door.

> So there might be some form of cargo elevator nearby that we could use to access the other floors later.


Also does this building / these floors, have false ceilings, that we could hide in if we need to, like the convention center did?

>>4441040
Support

>>4440996
>>Investigate this definitely-not-haunted cold room first.

>>4440996
>This door was impenetrable... but maybe the walls of the workshop weren't?

>>4440996
>This door was impenetrable... but maybe the walls of the workshop weren't?
No one inside the workshop makes this the perfect time to scope it out, even if ends up being a dead end.

>>4440996
>Investigate this definitely-not-haunted cold room first.

>Investigate this definitely-not-haunted cold room first.
Writing.

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You start to move towards the workshop, but another sound from the cold room next to you makes you pause. There was something off about it- and it wasn't just the sheer cold. Some kind of storeroom? It certainly seemed like a walk-in freezer. Although the walls were crazy cold. Wouldn't this frost up and get water everywhere? And yet, you couldn't see any frost on the exterior, despite the freezing temperature.

Someone was in there, too. Probably for the best not to open the door, then. Was there an entrance facing the hallway? You poke your head out around the corner and see a rolling shutter door, shut only halfway. Perfect. You duck your head back around when you hear footsteps approaching, moving back into the narrow gap between the cold room and the brass wall. Whoever it is comes down your little side corridor, and a second later you hear a doorway shut, and the sounds of machinery spinning up.

The workshop door was closed when you stick your head back out, which suited your purposes just fine as you walked past it, out into the hall and rolled under the shutter as quickly as you could. The cold hit you like a wave, rolling over your body in a sheet, but you try to keep from gasping and scramble to your feet instead.

The inside was lined with scaffolding, holding up massive machines that were hung from the ceiling, by massive coils of cabling, most of which appeared to route into large fans and clear pipes that ran up against the machines and out the back wall. Cooling machines?

A few support beams sprung up from the inside of the room, attached to the scaffolding as well. Large plastic drapes hung down between them, rustling slightly as cold air billowed out from within. Carefully, you peek through the slats, and see... some kind of chair? It was suspended from the module above, and had a couple long, snaking cords running from it to the ceiling. These weren't power cords, though. There was something... off about them. Something that pulled at your consciousness in a funny way. You could almost swear you heard voices- one male, one female.

A man was standing just outside of the chair, his back turned to you. "...good, I knew I made the right choice picking you, Merlide. Now-" Whatever he said next was covered up by a loud groan of metal from the main hall, from just outside the room, it sounded like. Someone coming through the main door? This could be your chance to move past the second door, but you had to admit you were also curious what what happening in here...

>Stay and watch some more.
>Take advantage of the inner sanctum being open while you still can.

>>4442759
>Stay and watch some more.

>>4442759
>Stay and watch some more.
Sounds important. Or at least educational.

>>4442759
>Take advantage of the inner sanctum being open while you still can.
Cultists gonna cult, what else is new? This sounds like a route to getting ourselves locked in a freezer or much harder to get to where we actually need to be.

>>4442759
>Take advantage of the inner sanctum being open while you still can.

>>4442759
>Take advantage of the inner sanctum being open while you still can.

>Take advantage of the inner sanctum being open while you still can.
Writing.

You glance over your shoulder, and see shadows and a pair of feet flick by the gap between the shutter and the floor. You look back at the interior. Something was happening in here, something important- but, dammit. You had something more important to do. With a little regret, you quickly roll under the shutter again and immediately make towards the cloister door. It was slowly swinging shut, hinges groaning loudly. Perfect.

With the noise, you're able to break into a quick jog instead of creeping and dart around the door before it closes behind you with a loud bang and a click.

...guess there's no going back.

You take a few steps forward, squinting your eyes as they adjust to the sudden gloom. The rest of the cloister had bright, fluorescent lights attached to the ceiling, but this new section was lit only by glass bulbs set into the corner of the ceiling at regular intervals. It was still lit, but much dimmer than you were used to, more along the lines of a surface building that got regular light instead of the simulation bulbs indoors. It gave it a strangely homey, library vibe. The floors were covered in short-napped carpet, instead of bare metal, and it all properly came up to the edges of the walls, too. There were still bare wires here and there, but not to the degree of the previous room.

To your right was a modest pair of double doors- not a hulking mass of brass like the cloister doors were. No, these were nice, wooden doors. Made from driftwood too, if you weren't mistaken. Quality driftwood in that size wasn't exactly common- plenty of trash in the sea, of course, but it was rare that trees were allowed to sweep out to sea these days...

There were voices coming from past the door- well, a voice, but sounding like he was talking to someone. On the phone, maybe? An older man, from the sounds of it. You lean close against the wall, but his voice is mostly muffled by what sounded like another room and some fans running. You could only make out brief phrases. "...I know... all the cards..."

You tilt your head a little at the sound of his voice. It rang some faint bells for you, and- well, okay. It didn't take much to guess who he was. Innermost part of the cloister, old? That was probably the Father in there.

It takes a moment for you to contain your excitement, but you steel yourself and - with no small amount of will - force yourself to creep past the door, instead of bursting in to view a Valkan with your own eyes. You'd fulfilled that wish... in the strangest way possible. You shake your head. Focus, Net-

"...you made it?" The voice suddenly came to you. She sounded... clearer. Not stronger- in fact, with the extra clarity you could easily pick up on just how exhausted she sounded.

>>4444282
"...yes?" You say as quietly as you can while you make your way down the hall. The wall on the right bulged ahead of the other, shorter wall on your left. That must be where the workshop emerged out into this part of the cloister. Wonder what the purpose of that was.

"You made it..." The woman's voice was disbelief and hope in equal parts as you made your way into the next room. "Thank you-" She made a choking sound, and over whatever strange link the two of you shared, you suddenly felt the impression of- not of pain, but an... absence. More than the woman sounding drained before, she sounded like- almost like she had died. The connection between you didn't close, but for the briefest instant you thought she had been knocked out or something. Then, she suddenly gasped, mumbling something in a language you didn't understand. "S-sorry. They're... indoctrinating a new member. It's... taxing to me."

"It's okay." You mumble. "Just save your strength." The walls to either side of you open up, bringing you to a four-way intersection. Each one only went a few feet - six at most - before bending, which was just enough to accommodate the small prison cells set into each wall. Your eyes gradually widen as you realize most of the cells appear to be occupied with very still bodies.

>"What the hell is this place?"
>"Who are you?"
>"Indoctrinating? What's that?"
>"Why did you call me here?"

>>4444287
>"Who are you?"
>"Why did you call me here?"
I suppose they're utilising the Abyss somehow to "persuade" unlucky people to join their cult, and this is the dungeon where they do it and likely closely related to the chair in the workshop. Going by the rule of drama one of them will probably turn out to be Tiiris, and I wonder if this was done to Netana or her parents at some point.

>>4444287
>"Why did you call me here?"
All of the other options seem kind of pointless

>>4444287
>"What the hell is this place?"
Cells full of bodies. WHY.

>>4444287
>>"Who are you?"
>>"Why did you call me here?"
Clone bodies?

>>4444287
>>"What the hell is this place?"

>>4444287
>>"What the hell is this place?"
>>"Why did you call me here?"

Okay, so the Curse has finally decided to retaliate against me by setting my state on fire. I'm safe and far from any flames, however the winds are making my internet hell. Can't guarantee I'll be able to post an update anytime soon, so we're keeping the vote open for now.

>>4444287
>"What the hell is this place?"
>"Who are you?"
>"Indoctrinating? What's that?"
>"Why did you call me here?"
All of them, but also each one down the list is individually a 2nd-3rd-4th choice

>>4445019
I'm blaming you for the smoke now
You should have kept up with the sacrifices to the dice gods

>>4445019
Valkans afraid of fire. Tagara still #1.

>>4445019
California, not even once

I can't believe Bentus is fucking dead

>>4446635
Every week. He’s like the zombie that keeps coming back.

>"What the hell is this place?"
Okay, looks like the fires are moving away from me and internet's been mostly stable all day, so calling it.

>>4446204
Never trust the neighbors.

>>4446759
Crawling back to relevance from the pits of obscure QM hell while being bogged down with silly things like 'the doctor has ordered you to go to sleep on time Bentus' and 'remember what they said about taking breaks Bentus'.

"What the hell is this place?" You murmur. The bodies were generally slumped over on their backs or sides in the corners of the cells- although a few looked like they had been bound in chains somehow. Tubes ran out of their bodies and up the walls into the ceiling, where they ran through the plastic walls and out of the cell to a bundle of other cables.

"This is where they hold every Valkan they've captured. This... prison is shielded, to prevent anyone from calling for help." The woman's voice was a mix of sheer relief and giddiness, as if she was ecstatic to finally share this information.

"These are Valkans?" You ask in a small voice, touching a hand to the plastic and leaning closer. "Are any of them alive?"

"I don't think any of them are... it's hard to tell what's going on... I- I don't remember anyone else live recently-" She cut herself off as she suddenly cut out again.

That snapped you out of your brief fixation on the bodies. You pull back with a force of will and look around the small prison. The bodies on the left side were all still- same at the end. You loop around the corner and see the network loops back into itself, four cells on the inside, twelve on the outside. You must be talking to one of the prisoners, right? That means she was-

"H-here..." She croaked out. "To your left..."

You look over your shoulder and spy a particularly large bundle of cables emerging out of one of the cells to your left. Moving over, you come upon a woman curled on a chair. It was a lot like the chairs you spied hanging from the ceiling in the cold room, except... far more invasive. She wasn't quite held down to the chair, whatever bonds she had were purely for her hands and feet. The tubes and cables from the ceiling plunged into her skin seemingly at random and seemed to be both connecting to her and delivering some kind of fluid into her... and out of her, for a few. You could see the fluids very slowly creeping through the tubes.

The shadows were long in her cell. Frost built up on the plastic and evaporated in patches. Her whole body shimmered with wisps of smoke that dissipated once it got a few inches past her skin. Just looking at her made you feel uneasy and ill-at-ease. She slowly lifted her head up, blinking and trying to look through long, sickly yellow hair. "Hey." She said blearily. Her eyes were two pricks of red light surrounded by a massive spiderweb of red circuits that stretched over her cheeks and across her forehead, lighting up a winged shape field of stars on her face.

You stare for a few seconds, looking up at the cables and following them out to where they left the prison. "What is..."

>>4448070
"Your priests get their powers from me." She said bluntly. "Through this, they can force me to use my powers for them... clumsily. I don't really want to, after all..." Her eyes squinted slightly, trying their best to focus on you. She looked tired... "But I still have a little control. Enough to mark someone and... keep track of them?"

"We..." You gestured to yourself and back to her quickly. "We- have we met?"

"You're young. You must have been... six or seven when it happened. Gaaldj used my powers- clumsily. I was able to sneak out a few threads." She sighed, slowly sliding to one side of her chair. "...I'm tired. Can you get me out of this thing... please?"

"H-how?" You stammer out. Your head was roaring in a funny way, but you try to ignore it.

"They force me to generate a protective shield around myself... it prevents me or the machinery from being damaged." She gave a forced, wobbly smile. "But it's actually quite delicate otherwise. I'm going to kill myself for a moment-"

"What?" You nearly screech.

"...trust me, it won't be the worst thing that's happened to me." Her smile turned sadder. "When the barrier drops, rip me out of the cradle. Once I'm free, my implants should bring me back."

"Implants... what?" You ask in confusion.

"Trust me." She smiled. "I could really use some."

>Agree.
>Refuse.
>>[Sub-Option] Go to the Father.
>>[Sub-Option] Go to Tiiris.

>>4448073
>Agree
Fuck it. We can’t find Tiiris anyways

>>4448073
>Agree.
Okay. She's definitely Valkan, which means, uh, she outranks everyone else. Except Tiiris? Guess that's a matter for later.

All this stuff is definitely an atrocity against all kinds of divinity. An absolute Abomination.

>>4448073
>Agree.
Just gotta have faith.

>>4448073
>Agree.
It might be worth it to take a photo or two and send it to eST, and see what they and LL think of what is going on.

Also there is a high likelihood that having her disconnect will alert them to the fact that something is up, and having someone come looking.

and If the government got a hold of a few of these chairs interrogations would likely be able to last significantly longer, so tipping off and getting them to raid the place would probably be a bad idea.

>>4448073
>Agree.
Tell Esty what we are about to do and hear what he thinks

>>4449104
*she

>>4448073
>Agree.
I believe!

>>4448932
>>4449104
Miss Chair Angel just said this place is shielded to prevent calling for help. I doubt we've had any phone reception at all since entering the cloister.

>>4449211
We don't know what method telepresence that eST is using, there may be some sort local presence running on the phone, And the doors are going to have to be open for others to get inside and to get us out anyway, it just means that the message might be delayed by a bit and / or the response may not come and it would proably be a better idea to ques the message now so we don't have to spend time doing later while we are busy running.

The photo may also let eST identify them via their anterior markings.

She might also be able to contact whomever is getting interrogated over an open channel and direct them to us after we direct her out though the sublevel.

>Agree.
Writing.

>>4449104
You'll actually be leaving Netana's POV this update - this is where I wanted to end the special, but life unfortunately reared it's head. However, enough people mentioned it that I'll make a note that Netana will send a message as soon as she gets a chance.

>>4449347
So are we getting a new thread after this?

>>4449805
We're only on page five, and I don't wanna nor need to clog up the board just to satisfy my autism about the archives being neat, so we'll just be switching POVs.

>>4449827
it's just two threads, doubt anyone would care

"...okay." You nod carefully, fumbling at the edge of the cell door. It slides open with a scrape of disused plastic. "U-um, how will I know when you're..." You approach the chair warily.

"It should be obvious." The woman closed her eyes. "But watch for the smoke stopping."

You nod as clearly as you can. "O-okay, I'll... okay."

The woman looks at you, her head lolling slightly to one side. She gives you a little smile of reassurance before it slowly slid down into a grimace. Huddling up slightly on her chair, she closed her eyes and seemingly braced herself. The temperature in the room dropped, the light dimming like the shadow of a ship has just blocked out the sun. Little hairs stood up on the back of your neck, and you leaned back a little as the dark smoke wisping off the woman's skin suddenly built in intensity. The woman was still for several seconds, then her entire body shook like she had been slugged in the chest.

Your skin felt warm and flushed as the temperature in the room suddenly snapped upwards. The smoke cleared in an instant and the recessed lighting went from slowly fading out to blaring brightly in your eyes. The plastic was rapidly clearing of frost, and the woman had gone completely still.

You step slightly closer and peer at her. Was she really- her chest wasn't moving, and her face was completely still. So- your brain suddenly catches up to the present moment, and you stumble forward, grabbing the woman's body and hastily pulling it off the chair. The cables plugged into her arms and back pull taunt on her body, and you hastily grab at them. They were slick with condensation, and slipped under your hand. You wrapped your fingers around the raised edges at the head of the cable and gave it a hard yank, pulling it free with a wet click of metal.

Grimacing, you work faster, yanking out cable after cable. You'd just yanked out their power source, surely some of them would notice what was happening? Would their powers disappear all at once, or would it be gradual enough that they wouldn't realize what was happening?

Some of the cables leak a foul smelling brown substance as they're pulled free. One seemed to have been inserted fairly roughly, and trailed a thin stream of blood as it came free. You yank the ones in her back out blindly, awkwardly trying to wrestle with her limp body as you roll her off the chair. She wasn't heavy, but she was bulky, and her limbs wobbled back and forth without any resistance to your movements, which somehow made it worse than if she was struggling. Not that you exactly knew what dragging a struggling body was like, of course.

>>4450699
You start to set her body to the side, then think better of it and drag her out of the cell entirely and prop her up against the wall. Kneeling down, you peer at her with concern. Still not breathing... did you kill her? You might have killed her. There was no pulse when you pressed a finger against her neck, and when you open her eyes, all you could see was a faint red prick in the center of the pupil, but her eyes weren't moving at all.

Fuck. Fuck, you'd really killed her. You must have ripped the cables out too quickly- or one of them you weren't supposed to pull out. You'd just killed a Valkan. There wasn't a fate horrific enough for someone like you. You should go and turn yourself in, even if they would probably kill you at least they'd do it-

Lights flickered underneath her skin. Traces of red light pulsing and flickering under her skin. They blinked in and out on a steady beat, then flared into their full, crimson light. The woman's body suddenly was thrown forward with a start, and her eyes snapped open as she sucked in a lungful of air. Her hands came scrabbling out, grabbing the wall and then gripping you as she stared wild-eyed into your eyes. Then, in an instant, her expression cleared and she slumped backwards, gasping for breath. Already, the lights were fading from her face as she carefully ran a hand over the places on her arms where she had been plugged into the machine.

She closed her eyes and breathed a slow sigh of relief. "...I owe you one, big time." With a slight grunt, she struggled into a squatting position. "But they probably noticed all of their magic going away."

"Should you really be moving?" You ask.

"Probably not, but we should probably get out of here." She pushed her blonde bangs back with a grimace. "I don't suppose you have an escape plan?"

---

Cloister of the Valkan Father, Miir, 1st Floor
19th of 6th, 1173. 9:25AM. An hour and a half earlier.

Was this really how the surviving Valkans lived?

You turn over a book in your hands. For all intents and purposes, it seemed to be a grimoire. The shitty, knockoff version of a grimoire, with hand copied notes and theorizations that veered so far off of what little you know part of you wondered if they were secretly works of genius. Surely these people didn't understand so little about their powers that they viewed them as something to fight? You had to admit, you hadn't exactly gotten off to a good start with your own powers, but they didn't actively fight you.

Perhaps it was a thing to do with Shadows?

The door opened, and the owner came striding back into her bedroom through the open door. Her eyes moved across the room and through you without even stopping for an instant, unable to parse your cloaked presence. As she came around her desk, you gently moved backwards around the side, not making a noise. She breezed past you and sat down in the chair, snapping her fingers to light a little candle with a grin.

>>4450701
You stare at the casual use of her powers for a few moments before turning and making yourself scarce before you accidentally flickered the power of you cloak. It was a lot harder to sustain without Wander's help, but you were managing so far. With some short bursts to rest. You'd spent a good six or seven hours moving around down here, and despite the relative ease of sustaining the cloak, you had to admit that without liberal use of your stimulants, you probably wouldn't be as chipper as you were right now.

At the door, you spare a final glance towards the bedroom of a so-called... 'dark master'.

It was gaudy. Not just tasteless - although it had that in spades - it was simply... excessive. A water cooler in the room, luxurious bed from some memory bead brand you'd never heard of- and you didn't pay attention to those kind of brands - hell, even her own kitchen despite the communal one outside. A large TV, what looked like a decently powered computer... what did this woman do to deserve this level of accommodation? It appeared to be common, from all the other examples among the priests you'd seen. As you turn and leave, you tug slightly on your neck seals, hoping to relieve some of the firm pressure against the back of your head.

You needed to get out of this damn lifesuit. It had been hours since you'd put it on, and while the promise of relative anonymity thanks to the helmet was helpful, the rest of the suit was... too helpful. The damn thing felt warm against your skin, the fabric rippling and shifting occasionally. It had grown snugger and thicker as you had made your way through this place alone, comforting you with a heavier thicker feel to the fabric.

Wearing it felt like sinking into a warm bath after a long day, but in a more... abstract way. Steadily, it felt like the suit itself was sinking into the top layer of your skin- effectively becoming a part of you. Thankfully, a panicked, invisible search of yourself had revealed that, no, the suit was not actually fusing with you. It was merely that comfortable. And that made it feel all the more wrong. Getting comfortable in... what was essentially a dead woman's skin. That felt wrong.

For a second, you entertain the idea of someday getting your own lifesuit. New. Not salvaged. After a moment, you shoo that thought away. You weren't a real Valkan. You didn't need a lifesuit or whatever to live your life. You could tolerate the dead woman's armor for now.

Turning in the halls that seemed to contain their living units, you turned onto a large hallway in plain view of an oncoming pair of priests. Simple clothes and humble appearances. Yeah, right. You'd seen the kind of things these people wore when they were out of view of their precious faithful. Some of them got dressed up fancy. Designer labels, too. Is that were all the temple donations went? If they even had donations.

>>4450702
You walk down the hallway, ignoring the second cloister door you had encountered in here for now to instead return to the one that you had entered through. Earlier, these places had been a bustle of activity, preventing you from getting a closer look, but now that the morning seems to have passed, you were finally able to see what was in here.

It was shockingly mundane, actually. Right next to the cloister doors was a large storeroom, easily twice the size of the individual rooms and even their damn library. It was loaded floor-to-ceiling with things that they seemed to have brought through in small carts and trolleys during the very early morning. Nearby was a kitchen, then a small room with some tables... a rec room, you think. The sounds of pots and pans clanging echoed out of what you could only presume was the kitchen, although it seemed to have two separate entrances for some reason. Furthermore, a strangely familiar voice was echoing out of it, but you hadn't the foggiest idea where you knew it from. It certainly wasn't anyone you actually knew.

>Just head straight to the cloister.
>Poke around in the storeroom for a bit.
>You swear you know that voice in the kitchen... check it out.
>Anyone having idle conversations in the rec room.
>[Write-In]

Sorry for the huge delay. For the immediate future there might not be warnings about delayed or cancelled updates due to the wildfires. Still no actual fire in my area, but evacuation is being considered due to heavy smoke and I've been focused on preparing and pulling my emergency filters out.

>>4450703
>You swear you know that voice in the kitchen... check it out.
It could be someone on the staff at school or, the old man that visited the bookstore that one time.

>>4450703
>>Poke around in the storeroom for a bit.
Loot!

>>4450703
>You swear you know that voice in the kitchen... check it out.

>>4450703
>Poke around in the storeroom for a bit.

>>4450703
>You swear you know that voice in the kitchen... check it out.
>Just head straight to the cloister.
Ah, hell, it's the Art Book Guy, isn't it?
Second choice is to head for the juicy cloister secrets and skip all this banal cult-life stuff. Fortunately we have plenty of time to wander around, since nothing dramatic or dangerous is happening in the background whatsoever.

>>4450703
>You swear you know that voice in the kitchen... check it out.
>>4451001
I don't think we met that guy, did we? Sana just mentioned he'd come in enquiring and buying shit.

>>4451265
Kind of. We saw him and heard him talking to Sana, but didn't speak directly. Just after the start of thread 12.
http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive/4142774/

>>4450703
>>Poke around in the storeroom for a bit.

>>4450703
>You swear you know that voice in the kitchen... check it out.

>You swear you know that voice in the kitchen... check it out.
Writing.

RIP bentus. Can't escape the QM curse after all.

>>4453006
I thought I had avoided the curse, too. One year and nothing all that bad had happened beyond a minor sleep issue. Then suddenly everything is on fire.

Frowning, you turn and step towards the kitchen. That voice- you know it wasn't anyone you had bet before. Not in person. And yet, you still recognized it from somewhere. But where?

The faintest sounds of steps makes you reflexively turn your head, but all you see is a pair of priests moving away from you towards the doors to the inner sanctum. Turning back around, you move up to the door to the kitchen and actually poke your head inside this time. Sitting around some of the tables were cultists - the priests - who were sharing conversation over dinner. It looked like fine food, too. One of the cultists was digging into what looked to be a thick slice of steak drizzled with some kind of-

Was that Kiid Raser?

A dark-haired man with a stern face was behind the counter, carrying on an animated conversation with one of the cultists in a distinct Kanan accent while focusing most of his attention on the knife in his hands. That wasn't- no, it couldn't be anyone else. That was Kiid Raser. You didn't even watch cooking shows all that often and you knew who he was. You're pretty sure he owned some luxury restaurant in Kana and... maybe Esari? You don't remember at all, but... why the hell was he here?

...was the Cooking Network run by fucking death cultists?

You lean a little further into the room, looking for any possible explanation. Some kind of hologram, a nearby drone, a sign advertising the brainwashed Kiid Raser service for five seventy five an hour- but, nothing of the sort. The kitchen behind the counter was a gleaming silver, and full of large and no doubt expensive equipment, but other than a small side room that had his coat and a few lockers inside of it, you didn't see anything out of the ordinary. The cultists just... inexplicably had a celebrity chef working in their priest's 'private' sanctum. Did Netana know about this?

"Yes, well- I'm not sure it'd make a great vacation spot." Kiid Raser said to the priest across from him. "Too remote, and while the vistas are beautiful, you can see them from the city."

"Eh, the city's a bit crowded for a vacation spot, isn't it? Besides, isn't it a lot safer out there these days?"

"Sure, if you don't go too far into the desert." Raser gave a little laugh as he slid what he was working on into a pot and set it aside. "And too far in you won't find any property for sale anyway."

You stare at the conversation for a moment before realizing why you were here. Right, the spooky ghost voice calling Netana for help.

...you hadn't heard it at all yet. What did that mean? Were you somehow immune due to being Valkan yourself? You hadn't realized telepathy was even a thing. None of what you'd read or been taught so far had mentioned using your powers to communicate. Hell, the only voice you'd ever heard in your head was Wander's- which was essentially your own, you'd found out. So why did Netana hear it and not you? Maybe it just couldn't see you due to being invisible...

>>4453171
>Head on past the cloister doors.
>Stay and listen to the conversation for a bit. Maybe they'll mention something sensitive, since they think they're safe?
>[Write-In]

>>4453171
>Stay and listen to the conversation for a bit. Maybe they'll mention something sensitive, since they think they're safe?

Managing to uncover the Cult's network of contacts, sympathizers, members and associated locations should help the government and friends keep an eye on and constrain their ability to function in the long run.

>>4453176
>>4453172
fixing the link

Also it might even give us a second reason to go to Kana anyway, therefor getting others to do the heavy lifting on getting us a way there and back.

>>4453172
>Stay and listen to the conversation for a bit. Maybe they'll mention something sensitive, since they think they're safe?

>>4453172
>Head on past the cloister doors.
I'd like us to remember how tired tiiris is

>>4453172
>Stay and listen to the conversation for a bit. Maybe they'll mention something sensitive, since they think they're safe?

>>4453172
>Head on past the cloister doors.
>>4453253 makes a good point. Running on stimulants is probably not the time for idle eavesdropping.

But also reading about a chef in a kitchen is making me hungry and that's annoying.

>>4453172
>Head on past the cloister doors.

>>4453172
>Head on past the cloister doors

>>4453172
>>Stay and listen to the conversation for a bit. Maybe they'll mention something sensitive, since they think they're safe?
Uhhhhhh damn my curiosity

>>4453170
>Head on past the cloister doors.

>Head on past the cloister doors.
Writing.

You can have Easy and ST dig through any dirt they can find on him later. For now, you have a more important job to do. At least, before you collapse from exhaustion. Turning, you walk away from the kitchen and march towards the second pair of doors that lead to their sanctum-thing. You glance down each of the side halls as you pass, mostly to make sure that nobody who might be able to see was coming as you approach the doors.

These things were weird. You were expecting them to simply be extremely heavy- some kind of super heavy reinforced door that required Abyss-augmented strength to open. Turns out it was actually more similar to your cloaking device. It simply drank up Abyss energy that you let flow into it, sort of 'filling' and discharging the energy into the walls around it. After it had gotten some of your energy inside of it, the thing became a normal, if loud and slightly heavy metal door.

Walking up to it, you reach out a hand to grab the handle and step through as fast as you can before noticing something to the side of you. A fairly nondescript door further down the same wall as the cloister doors. Inside, you thought you'd seen what looked like some kind of heavy equipment.

You poke your head inside and see that it's some kind of workshop. Expensive looking lathes and printers were set into the center of the room, which seemed to be taken up mostly by stations of some kind arrayed around benches. Peering into the clear plastic bins around the room, you see hundreds of pieces of obviously Valkan machinery inside. There were too many strange materials and lack of cables for it to be anything else. It seemed to be a place where they disassembled Valkan tech. Maybe they were trying to keep the drones they had in working order?

Not that there had been any drones to be found yet, but you could only assume they had some. They were Valkans, at least some of them had to have drones they inherited or found, like you.

Glancing upwards, you notice the cables running through the ceiling. Something about them piques your senses- they seemed to be slightly Abyss-touched? Was that server hardware for an AI, maybe? At the least, it had to be some kind of Abyssal machine. Unless the Valkans had enchanted fiber optic cables. That seemed a little silly, though.

Was it worth checking out? The cloister doors were right there, but what if this place had working drones and tech in it?

>Search the workshop.
>Nah, go through the doors.
>[Write-In]

It's currently pouring rain, the sky is flickering like I just hit channel zero by accident and my lights are doing the same.

At least it's not as smokey anymore.

>>4455622
>Search the workshop
Time to steal drones

>>4455622
>Search the workshop.
They might have engineering units, or phased disassemblers around that we could 'liberate' somewhere, we were going to need them if we going to recover more of LT's chassis / corpse.

A drone is probably going to catch us looking around, hopefully we don't lose the suit.

It would probably be a good idea to attempt to catalog what is here, though i doubt more complicated than a doorknob would be in a working condition otherwise it would likely already be either in use, somewhere or sold. before we decide if we should take things since it could be a valuable source for recyclable parts,and materials and so disrupting that now might not be the best course of action, since we should be able to return later, properly prepared for a 'Salvage' mission if / when we need them.

>>4455622
>Nah, go through the doors

>>4455622
>>Search the workshop.

>>4455622
>Search the workshop.

>>4455622
>Nah, go through the doors.

>>4455622
>>>Search the workshop.

>>4455622
>Search the workshop.
STEAL ROBOT
Not from from innocent people, mind you. Good thing death cultists do not count. Also they still owe us recompense for the bombing.

>>4455622
>Search the workshop.
Robutts? Robutts.

>>4455622
>Nah, go through the doors.
It's gotta be booby trapped

>>4455622
>>Search the workshop

>Search the workshop.
Writing.

You pause, then step inside the workshop. There were a lot of boxes and places things could be hidden in here...

To give yourself a bit of an early warning, you shut the workshop door behind you. If someone came through while you were fiddling with something, the sound of the metal door opening would give you a second to react before they stepped through. And if the cult was paranoid enough to have secret cloaked drone patrols and magic sensors waiting for the precise moment someone closed a door without permission, then you were already screwed anyway.

That done, you take a closer look around the room. The boxes of scrap appeared to be just that... scrap. If any of this was usable, you sure didn't know how. Something to ask OH about later. For now, you carefully clamber onto one of the workbenches and look at the weird bundles of Abyss cables in the ceiling.

A lot of them simply seemed to be traversing this room, but you notice a couple of free cables hanging down from them, almost like those hanging power cords you've seen in wood shops. You grab one and hold it up, and see that the connector is a fairly standard looking circular plug. If it wasn't for the concentric circles on it's inside, you would have thought it was a connector for a fancy speaker system. No Abyss energy flowed through it at the moment, either, which was a tad odd considering most of the other cables seemed to be powered- but not all of them. A good chunk of them didn't have any kind of energy to them at all. Maybe there were legitimate power cables mixed in there?

The spots in the walls where they passed through were also interesting. Mostly because the one leading into the workshop was fairly large and open, while the one leading out - into the deeper parts of the cloister most likely - squeezed into a small and carefully sealed hole. The wall looked surprisingly thin.

Just looking around the room, though, you didn't see many examples of advanced technology. A couple of the workbenches were partially topped in some kind of Valkan plating, and one or two of the machines were definitely Valkan, although mundane in function. Despite missing the spindle - and uh, the other part, whatever it was called - one of the machines was still obviously a lathe. In place of the normal spikes, there was a clear glass disc that you were willing to bet was a manipulation beam. Interesting...

Equally interesting was the heavily padlocked cabinets against the wall. You hadn't noticed it on your first look, but on second glance the presence of a lock was highly suspicious. Almost everything in here had been characterized by a lack of locks. Even the bedrooms just opened with a turn of the knob- no secrets among cultists unless you were Netana, you suppose. And yet these cabinets were inexplicably locked. It just screamed 'valuables'.

>>4457292
Giving the doors an experimental tug only makes some noise and rattles the heavy internal bracing of the lock. Okay, opening it wouldn't exactly be subtle if you forced it open with the Abyss. You had the plasma rifle, but that wasn't exactly subtle, either. Quieter, you suppose. Picking it might have been an option if you knew a single thing about picking locks...

>Start raiding those workbenches for tools.
>Just rip the cabinet open with your hands.
>Try a more subtle approach with the plasma rifle.
>How difficult would it actually be to make a hole in the wall?
>Screw this, just try the warded doors again.
>[Write-In]

>>4457294
>[Write-In]
Could the Lifesuit be of any use in opening / defeating the Padlocks quietly.

Since Valkan tech is somewhat unstable and wants to change it's shape, could it be influenced by our machine heart to act as some unholy combo of picks and a tensioner / or shim(s) in this case.

>>4457372
It's definitely malleable enough to be feasible, although whether it's practical remains to be seen.

>>4457379
It could be a useful skill to take the time to figure out the basics of, even if we have to spend the time and effort working from first principles. Where is OH, or ST when you need them.

>>4457294
>Try a more subtle approach with the plasma rifle.

>>4457294
>Start raiding those workbenches for tools.
There's gotta be something to break the locks

>>4457294
>Screw this, just try the warded doors again.
So far, we have left no traces of our presence. If someone notices their cabinet of goodies has been broken into by way of the smashed door or lock, they'll go berserk and likely turn the place upside down looking for the culprit. The exception is if we can figure our a way to get in without causing damage.

>>4457294
>Try a more subtle approach with the plasma rifle.
Shooting padlocks off is a fine old tradition of ornery space-hicks all across the galaxy. All that accuracy training has to be good for something.

>>4457294
>Screw this, just try the warded doors again.

>>4457294
>Try a more subtle approach with the plasma rifle.

>Try a more subtle approach with the plasma rifle.
Writing.

It wasn't like you were ever coming back to this place. They would know someone had broken in just from all their stuff being gone. No need for subtlety at this point.

Reaching behind your back, your fingers close around the stock of your plasma rifle, which simply lifts off of your back without any force- like it was just laying on a table. You had to admit, you were pretty surprised when you found out it could just stick to the hard segments on your- the lifesuit, but it had definitely come in handy. The placement was a little awkward with it's size, though.

Hefting it in your hands, your implants hum pleasantly as they connect to the rifle. Pointing it away from yourself, a short jet of plasma erupts from the barrel, stretching a good two feet away from you. You'd had quite a bit of practice with your implants and interfacing with them lately, far more than you were really getting with the Abyss. Narrowing your eyes in concentration, the jet shortened, growing narrower and shorter until only a short plume remained, no larger than a cigar lighter.

Carefully, you aim the rifle down at the cabinets, and gently poke the middle seam of the double doors with the jet. The metal slagged in an instant, melting and running down the seam of the doors in rivulets as the doors swung outwards under their own weight, banging quietly against the workbenches to either side of it.

The insides of the cabinet were filled with more scrap- but of a decidedly more complete bent than the piles of junk that you saw laying around the workshop. First of all and most noticeably, several half-assembled or damaged rifles were lined up side-by-side. They were missing barrels, or chunks out of the midsection, or were scorched along the barrel and exhaust ports, but they were far from destroyed. Same went for the various knives, what looked to be some boxes of small devices about the size of a phone and a shelf full of what looked to be robotic arms. All of them were in various states of decay and disrepair, but a few of them had a flicker of the Abyss to them.

What really caught your attention was what was on the top shelf. A series of flat, spade-shaped drones- far smaller than Easy or OH, but larger than the dock scarabs. Several of the drones were nothing more than shells, with missing optics and gaps in their chassis where other pieces were probably supposed to slot in. The last drone in the line was promising, though. It was one of the ones that had a fairly significant flicker to it, which meant that it probably hadn't 'rotted' all that much. Furthermore, it looked mostly intact. It was missing some modules, but it appeared to have several spidery optics between the two scales of it's body.

>>4459079
Lowering the rifle, you lift it above your head and stick it to the back of the lifesuit again. Looked like the more valuable salvage. Guess they kept the complete stuff somewhere else. You wished you could get on the line with your drones here. You could have used ST and OH's advice on all of this, but all signals from outside had vanished as soon as the door closed behind you. For now, you'd have to go with your gut instinct.

>Leave it all.
>Take the drone.
>>[Sub-Option] Take a few of the more intact shells, too.
>>[Sub-Option] Take all of the other shells.
>Take some of the weapons.
>>[Sub-Option] The rifles.
>>[Sub-Option] Any smaller weapons, like pistols or knives.
>Take the robotics.
>Valkans didn't use small electronics all that much, from what you knew? Take those.
>[Write-In]

>>4459081
Is there a chance the cultists could repair the weaponry to serviceable condition with the means they have, or does Valkan tech not work that way?

>>4459081
>Take the robotics.
The drones gives off a bad vibe

>>4459081
>>Valkans didn't use small electronics all that much, from what you knew? Take those.

>>4459081
>>Take the drone.
>>>[Sub-Option] Take a few of the more intact shells, too.
Need parts to repair it.

>>4459081
>>Take the drone.
>>>[Sub-Option] Take a few of the more intact shells, too.

>>4459081
The drone we need for our disembodied AI. A few more of the same type for spare parts wouldn't hurt. The small electronic things sound interesting since Valkans use implants for everything, so they may be external backups or something.

How much can we actually take? I can't really visualize hauling it around... does stuff clip to the suit like the rifle does?

>>4459081
>Valkans didn't use small electronics all that much, from what you knew? Take those.
Possibly some data drives with important information.

>Take the drone.
>>[Sub-Option] Take a few of the more intact shells, too.
>Valkans didn't use small electronics all that much, from what you knew? Take those.
Writing.

>>4459183
The cultists appear to have a lot of parts, but a lot of the parts appear to be scrap or not the ones they specifically need. The missing parts in the most complete drone, for example, can't be found among the remaining drones. So if they don't have the parts, that means they'd need to build them. That depends on whether the cultists have the proper technical knowledge to do that.

>>4459453
You can take most of it within reason. The one thing really unable to be taken in their entirety is the rifles since there are just so many of them. Everything else you can pretty much take freely.

The electronics were interesting- so far, you hadn't seen anything that looked like a phone or what you'd consider a traditional computer. Those functions seemed to be filled by implants and lifesuits more than anything. Which hadn't quite made any sense to you. If your terminal broke, you could just get a new one, not to mention technical difficulties. You knew implants were good and reliable, but wouldn't Valkans incur brain damage if anything went wrong? Could you even get replacement parts if something broke? It's not something you exactly enjoy thinking about.

Your implants hum in agreement, sharing your anxiety.

That said, considering how the lensing field generator had slotted straight into your lifesuit like a module... you had a decent idea of how these devices would work...

You tug the box out and leaf through it's contents briefly. It was a mix of different thin, flat rectangles of different sizes and shapes mixed in with small tubes that could have been flashlights, maybe headphone cases? There were too many and their shapes too basic to get much of an idea, but thankfully the box was small. Must have been their best or most valuable stuff- or maybe just the stuff they hadn't gotten to scrapping yet.

Either way, it was yours now.

You slip it into your bag- a spare, shitty bag with all evidence of your name removed that OH had helped hastily attach to the back of your suit. Before you do, though, you pull out a reasonably intact looking... phone and peer at it. It was a smooth, rectangular shape. And not all that large, actually. It was certainly smaller than your regular phone. What looked to be the back was marked with a distinct series of bars and Valkan text. From the limited amount of Valkan you spoke, you think it might have been a name? A brand, maybe?

If you were a Valkan designing electronics, you would... you would be thinking about how to make them work smoothest with the implants and the suit. What's the use of a phone if you couldn't use it in a vacuum, or if your implants did the same thing? So if your suit was on and your helmet up, you must be able to...

Remembering what OH said about suit attachments, you take the device and press it to the side of your helmet. Getting nothing, you try your back, then your shoulder-

It snaps right into place against the fabric. You let go, and it sticks as the fabric ripples and thickens around it, building up a firmer, more rubbery exterior to hold it snugly in place. Symbols suddenly flicker in your helmet, and you flick your eyes over to watch as the lifesuit mentions attempting to connect.

>>4461501
The symbols hang for much longer than normal, and the message changes to Error: No device found.. Perhaps it was a bit too much to hope for, but maybe OH would be able to fix it using some of that slurry you found. Reaching up to your shoulder, the device conveniently pops out so you can grab it and slide it back into your bag, the rubbery suit material softening and returning to normal after it's removal.

Reaching up, you gently pull the drone from the top shelf. You examine it closely, then flip it over in your hands. One half of the drone appeared to be attached to a small plate of some kind, which was also marked with a set of the same bars you had seen on the electronics. Your shoulder doesn't yield anything this time, but it suckers readily to your back, right on the same hardened plate that held your rifle.

New device detected: Utility Remote, Model UTP-II.
No AI detected. Boot in slave mode?

Slave mode? That was an... electronics term, you think? You're half tempted to hit 'yes' for a moment, but your implants hum gently and you suddenly remember what happened the first time you put on your suit. New muscle memory had been disorienting at the time, and it was still a little now. You didn't want to be debilitated because you couldn't wait a bit. For later, then.

You pop the drone off your back and slide it into your bag. You close the cabinet and - when the doors pop back open - seal it shut with a brief application of plasma. That should stop anyone from noticing anything's wrong as soon as they step into the room.

Alright, time to think about what you're actually here for. The inner sanctum and... whatever Abyss stuff is going on in there. All you really had to do was open the doors, although... the workshop's relative quiet and lack of apparent traffic could be useful. You could try and bypass the doors through this room, although it would probably be obvious what was happening to anyone on the other side. The cultists might notice a gaping hole in the wall, though...

You glance up at the bundle of cables running the length of the room, then the spot where it connected to the wall. If you shoved those aside, could you fit something through? Your phone, perhaps, to look at what's on the other side?

>Keep it simple. Go back out and use the cloister doors.
>The time for subtlety is passed, blow a hole in the wall.
>>[Sub-Option] Cut a hole through the back of one of the regular cabinets against the wall and the close the door behind you so it's not obvious.
>Try and look through the bundle of cables where they go through the wall.
>>[Sub-Option] Send your new drone friend through.
>[Write-In]

>>4461503
>Keep it simple. Go back out and use the cloister doors.
Looks like it's time to follow the cable.

>>4461503
>>>Keep it simple. Go back out and use the cloister doors.

>>4461503
>Keep it simple. Go back out and use the cloister doors.
Enough faffing around

>>4461503
>Keep it simple. Go back out and use the cloister doors.

>>4461503
>Keep it simple. Go back out and use the cloister doors.

>>4461503
>Keep it simple. Go back out and use the cloister doors.
Loot acquired. Unusual absence of fire or explosions so far. ONWARD!

>Keep it simple. Go back out and use the cloister doors.
Writing.

Looking up at the cables, you think for a moment, glance at your bag and promptly turn on your heel and walk back to the workshop door. You stop at the threshold and carefully listen for footsteps before opening the door.

Coast was clear. Swinging the door the rest of the way open, you slip out into the main hall again - once you had made sure nobody was coming - and grip the handles of the door. It was difficult to summon up the energy while cloaked. You needed to draw on the extra power and direct into the door, where it would suck it up and grow warm while also making sure it went to your cloaking device as well. It probably would have been easier to turn it off for the moment, but you didn't want to risk it. The workshop was already a risk enough, you didn't want to alert the entire base.

Concentrating, you let the Abyss soak into the door, saturating the metal and slowly filling it until it's... primed, more or less. There was a telltale lifting of the handle in your hand, the door moving back slightly in your grip instead of being practically welded shut. Bracing and then pulling, the door swung back easily on it's hinges, the massive bulk of it making it swing out slowly and hang slightly longer than a door should as you pulled it back.

Slipping through, you grab the handle on the other side and yank the door completely shut. Letting go, you drop your channeling of the Abyss and take a few bracing breaths. Your cloak flickers, the light on your helmet display indicating it's status blinking a few times as the field strangely distorts around you, bending the hallway beyond the door in strange colors.

You close your eyes to try and get a handle back on it, to resume your channeling and raise your cloaking field again. Halfway through attempting to steady your breathing, you find yourself yawning, and instinctively cover your mouth with a hand. "Stims..." You murmur into your helmet.

Reserves dry.

You groan. That wasn't good... how often had you been hitting it today? Something like five, six- eight times since you got in here? Trying to focus on the Abyss was difficult at the best of times... is this why Valkans didn't use it for everything, and instead had machines to use it for them? You had enough trouble with telekinesis as-is, you couldn't imagine manually sustaining something like invisibility for hours.

Right, time to save your strength, then. You look ahead. The corridor here was much more homey than the other ones. Was this their guest room, or- no, it was probably near the kitchens. This was...

This had to be wherever their leader lived. Only the best for glorious leader, right?

>>4463379
Next to you was a pair of double doors that led... somewhere. Ahead was a path directly to a more harshly lit chamber, with concrete and bare metal visible instead of the sudden stretch of nice carpet you found yourself on now. With your senses still stretched out for now, you could feel a... strong current of Abyss energy coming from down there. Something big and... pathetic. The room next to you, however, was filled with many small, strong Abyss signatures.

>Go into the side room.
>Go forward into the large room.
>[Write-In]

Okay, smoke and evacuation warnings have been suspended for now, so we should be getting back to a regular update schedule here. Or my standard schedule, just with warnings and notifications this time instead of ol' Bentus skipping town to replace his air filters without a word.

>>4463387
And in that vein, no update tonight since it's so close to the normal vote close time.

>>4463380
>Go forward into the large room.

>>4463380
>Go forward into the large room.
Big and pathetic? These Abyss senses are weird.

>>4463387
You can't fool us zombiebentus we all know you died a bunch of times
But glad to hear things are calming down a bit in your area.

>>4463380
>Go forward into the large room.
Side room is probably the vat room I think??

>>4463380
>Go into the side room.

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>>4463772
>Vat room
Not sure what you mean, you mean the prison? That's the large room with the harsh lights.

>>4463680
Me? A zombie? Couldn't be, I look completely human.

>>4463680
On second thought I'm switching to this:
>Go into the side room.
Lots of "small, strong Abyss signatures" makes me think either Drone storage, or an archive of important artifacts rather than the broken stuff in the workshop. Either way it would be important to know what's there in case we need to make a hasty exit.

>>4463380
>Go into the side room.

>>4463380
>Go into the side room.

>>4463380
>Go into the side room.

>Go into the side room.
Writing.

You eye the large current of Abyss energy for a second, and briefly reach out with your senses. There was a large concentration of... something down there. Maybe pathetic wasn't the best description, it just seemed... slack. Unmoving.

Shaking your head, you look to your left and grab the handle of the door. No cloak from here on out. You were sure you could activate it in a pinch, but you'd have to be much more careful from this point onwards. Turning the handle as quietly as you can, you push open the door and step inside as quietly as you can.

A well-appointed sitting room was on the other side of the door. The other priests had nice, but small quarters. A sitting space and a small, attached bedroom. This was... this was a full dining room. Eight varnished wooden chairs sat around a well-polished table, lit by the warm orange glow from a hanging chandelier. Cabinets filled with fine dishes lined the side walls, and to your side was a small kitchen space separated from the dining space by a stone-topped bar- if they had a famous chef on staff, you suppose they didn't exactly need a full suite.

In the room beyond, you could see an equally large living room of some kind, with an expensive looking television and large couch. Did the cultists know they lived like this in here? Did Netana? It gave you way too strong a vibe of the Valkans taking advantage of their cults.

Speaking of which...

You creep forward, swiveling your head from left to right and peering out with your senses- at the very least, that hadn't become too tiring yet. Someone was talking deeper in the apartment. Around the corner of the living room. An old man, seemingly addressing- wait, footsteps?

>Cloak up. Even if you can't hold it, just try.
>Scramble behind the bar and just crouch down.
>Wait paintently for your guests to arrive.

>>4464963
>paintently
That is a strange but fitting typo.

>>4464963
>Scramble behind the bar and just crouch down.
We should check for any reflective surfaces around that might give us away. and we may want to ready the rifle, since we may not be able to do so stealthily, if we need to.

>>4464963
>Scramble behind the bar and just crouch down.
Aww, not a museum of poorly secured valuables... okay fine, behind the bar it is. But keep an eye out for any expensive transforming abyssal cutlery we can filch.

>>4464963
>>Scramble behind the bar and just crouch down.

>>4464963
>Scramble behind the bar and just crouch down.

>>4464963
>Scramble behind the bar and just crouch down.

>>4464963
>>Scramble behind the bar and just crouch down.

>Scramble behind the bar and just crouch down.
Writing.

Time to get raped

You glance towards the source of the sounds, then back to the living room, then to the sounds, then to your very visible body. Thinking quickly, you dart behind the bar, pressing down as close to the floor as you dared. If they noticed you back here, you might have to try and dash past them, and you didn't want to be laying down on the floor when that happened.

Thankfully, the bar being a bar meant that it was quite tall, and you were fairly certain nobody could see you behind it, even if you merely crouched down low instead of going prone on the floor. The footsteps came closer and closer, until finally they started echoing into the dining room proper. You instinctively hold your breath, and your implants send a pulse into your suit.

Intakes closed. You hear, as your breath is abruptly confined to your mask.

"Thank you, Father..." A woman said, reverentially.

"Yes, of course." A man spoke in a slightly thin, wheezy voice. "It's not unusual to struggle with your faith every once in a while. Please, if you need anything else, my door is always open."

"Yes..." The woman said, still uncertainly. "Thank you..."

"Goodnight." The man said, his voice slightly wheezing. There was a slight squeak of a door swinging open on it's hinge, then it closing a short while after. Shrinking back further, you crouch next to the drawers and wonder madly for a second if there was any Valkan cutlery in there you could grab. A foot steps around the corner...

>Cloak!
>You're too tired for anything sustained, but try something- anything with the Abyss.
>Shrink back into the shadow of the bar as best you can and hope he doesn't glance your way.
>No point in being afraid, stand up.
>>[Sub-Option] Ready your rifle, just in case.
>Screw subtlety- shoot him first.
>[Write-In]

>>4466795
>Screw subtlety- shoot him first.
Then maybe set the body on fire, after we raid his room and disable the fire alarm.
We do actually need a set of cutlery to go with the plates we got off the Tanoh, anyway.

>>4466795
No murder in the dining room, please.
>In the room beyond, you could see an equally large living room of some kind, with an expensive looking television and large couch.
>You're too tired for anything sustained, but try something- anything with the Abyss.
Knock over the TV with TK. Crash.

Alternatively:
>Cloak!
Either way we'll be using Abyss energy. But the TV would keep him distracted without needing constant focus.

>>4466795
>Cloak!
2nd choice
>>4466858
Knock over the TV

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>>4466813
I guess it wiold look like some sort of sporkife thing.
the basic version would be made of ceramics, or plastics if it was disposable.
I guess it could be integrated into a lifesuit's programming as part of basic survival toolkit, (like the helmet is.) as some sort of survival function, and more expensive/fancy versions could integrate a heating coil, and a Peltier cooling system in order to prevent things from getting to hot or cold and allowing things to be at kept at perfect temperature, even after they have left the plate.

If we shoot that priest will it be Tiiris's first murder or does summoning shades to kill the cultists count?

>>4466903
If it was Tiiris that summoned them, it would be considered self defense, since the cultists were shooting at the time.
But I vaguely recall Jess implying that the Dead Army shows up to defend any Valkan kid under 17 (in Tagaran years) from attack, so it might be only Tiiris's age and mother that brought them.

Which, come to think of it, means that if we try to pacifist-run this place but get attacked anyway, well... There are a LOT of unmoving bodies in the cells nearby...

>>4466795
>You're too tired for anything sustained, but try something- anything with the Abyss.

>>4467015
It's meta knowledge but I'm pretty sure this compound will get destroyed once the caged valkans are set free soon. Any evidence of crime here would probably never be found, if any. And the ones who will get blamed won't be Tiiris.

>>4466858
Supporting

>>4467666
Bentus could we die here?

>>4466795
>Screw subtlety- shoot him first

>>4466858
Support

>Muster your power and try to knock the TV over.
Writing.

>>4467673
Honestly, there have been plenty of places you could have died before, but you've played very carefully so far so it hasn't been a huge risk.

>>4466895
>Peltier cooling system
Never knew those things had a specific name, that's pretty neat.

>Function of the lifesuit
One day, you'll find out about the lifesuit market and there'll probably be a lot of votes over it.

If he came in here- well, you didn't see any way you'd be able to avoid him seeing you. And if you did manage to hold your cloak, he'd either bump into you or hear you moving out of his way. The lensing field dampened sound, you knew that, but that meant it probably just reduced the amount of sound you'd make. Still, there really wasn't anything for it if you just darted around him and hoped for the best.

The foot gives way to the leg of a pair of pants. You close your eyes and clumsily feel out with your senses. You kept making mistakes, losing chunks of the energy you managed to call forward to lapses in focus. The amount of energy remained the same, however, no matter how sluggish or sloppily you drew it forth. Individual spells didn't seem to be that bad, either, it was just your mental discipline that was lapsing after so long awake and exerting. Maintaining your cloak was like thinking about two things at once, while this-

A collection of scrambled thoughts smashed up against the television, sending it sailing forward. It tipped forward, but instead of falling onto the floor like you expected, it actually caught and pitched suddenly to the side, swinging out on an arm mount it was attached to and smashing into the wall. There was a satisfying, loud crunch and a quiet tinkle of broken glass as the man stopped and turned around. "What the- Avert? Are you still here...?" He murmured to himself as he turned, the leg vanishing from view once more.

This was your chance...

>Book it back outside while you still could.
>Follow him forward and slip behind his back and down the hall you hadn't been in yet.
>Take the breather to get on your feet and get him at gunpoint.
>>[Sub-Option] Go further and knock him the fuck out while his back is turned.
>Reposition to a better hiding spot elsewhere in the room and cloak.
>[Write-In]

>>4468225
>Book it back outside while you still could.

>>4468225
>Take the breather to get on your feet and get him at gunpoint.
>>[Sub-Option] Go further and knock him the fuck out while his back is turned.
The body can still be set on fire afterwards, anyway

Any movement is going to be heard thanks to the broken glass, the door to the outside is closed and will telegraph that someone is there, and the TV falling may have alerted someone outside, so they might be coming to investigate the disturbance.

>>4468225

>Book it back outside while you still could.
Is this the other hallway the one where he came from, not the one with a big but weak signature?

>>4468267
>Book it back outside while you still could.
Is to go back the way you came, to the intersection where you can head to the prison or back out the cloister doors.

>Follow him forward and slip behind his back and down the hall you hadn't been in yet.
The hallway you haven't been down yet is where he and the other priest came from, and is the place with the strong signatures mentioned in:
>The room next to you, however, was filled with many small, strong Abyss signatures.

>>4468225
>Book it back outside while you still could.

>>4468225
>>Take the breather to get on your feet and get him at gunpoint.
>>>[Sub-Option] Go further and knock him the fuck out while his back is turned.
Unconscious people can't hear things

>>4468225
>Take the breather to get on your feet and get him at gunpoint.
>>[Sub-Option] Go further and knock him the fuck out while his back is turned.
>>4468149
Care to regale us with a few, out of curiosity? Or would that be metagamey?

>>4468877
The lifeship episode for one

>>4468225
Crap. Now he thinks one of his guests is still here, he's going to start checking rooms...
But I'm not voting for bludgeoning a guy unconscious either. That's stupid movie nonsense. Concussed people can't answer questions coherently, assuming they ever wake up at all.
Ech. Fine, back out. We can get upset and start waving the gun around when we have a better idea of what's going on.
>Book it back outside while you still could.

>>4468225
>Book it back outside while you still could.

>Book it back outside while you still could.
Writing.

>>4468877
You could have died on the Tanoh- either by failing to talk down - or shout down, as the case may be - the Rontah, or by doing something to spook the military. Another time was the hammer guy who jumped you, although that would have only been if you tried to stay and fight and did something really stupid. Wander would have been a much, much larger factor if you took a certain route, but you missed it by a country mile. There was also an opportunity to meet another Valkan that could have gone poorly depending on your choices, but you also managed to slide right on past that.

>>4469788
Great, now I'll always be slightly paranoid that we could die at any time. If we had died, would it have been the end of the quest? Or would there have been something to come after that like existing as a ghost, switching PoVs or getting Tiger Dojo'd and told off for being a dumbfuck and sent back to a checkpoint?

>>4469797
It's a sort of Outward-inspired system where if you 'die', you actually survive in the most probable way (i.e. being captured instead of executed in the field), so the impetus for avoiding failure is still there. In the event you actually die due to there simply being zero chance you could have ever survived, I'd probably hold a vote on whether people wanted to PoV switch to an existing or even brand new character unless I had something special in mind.

You debate for a moment about trying to slide behind him, head into his apartment where all those signatures were. But... no, it was too quick, and you were too tired. Even if you cloaked, he might notice you trying to speed past him, and the way you'd distracted him was far too suspicious. Time to go, for now.

Creeping forward, you peer around the corner, and see him in the living room, fussing with the broken television and moving shards of glass into small piles with brief waves of his hand. Double-checking, you see that he was indeed using the Abyss in some way. Interesting, he didn't... quite look right. The energy flowed from his hand, but it wasn't... right, somehow. Not enough came from within him, but rather... around him. Like the other priests had. But he was the Father, right? It would only make sense that a death cult would be headed by a Valkan, considering how much Valkan technology was around. Maybe the original Father was dead?

There'd be time to think on the implications of that later. You dart forward and ease the door open as gently as you could without slowing down. It opens whisper quiet, and you thank the man's apparent extravagant taste for a second. You don't know what you'd do if it creaked on you now.

Slipping to the other side and closing it as quickly as you can, you let go of the handle and go as quiet as you can. The sensitivity on your hearing spikes as you and your implants strain together for any sound of alarm, or sign that the old man was heading this way.

...none. You were in the clear... ish. For now.

Straightening up, you look down the only path you hadn't taken yet. The Abyss energy from there weirdly spiked as you watched, flickering and dipping in intensity before peaking and then settling back down. Was someone doing some weird ritual back there? Was that even a thing- really long rituals? It didn't look like some big open space, either...

>You're too tired to stay here. Start making plans for your exit. Netana should be outside, right?
>You've come this far, might as well see what it is...
>[Write-In]

>>4469839
I figured we'd switch to Kara or Elan if the worst happened, since they were also options at the start.
We did will all our Drones to Kara just before the Tanoh trip just in case, so there would still be continuity of supporting characters even while adjusting to a new PoV.

>>4469869
>You've come this far, might as well see what it is...
It's probably nothing exciting, but might as well do a quick check. So far we've seen personal dorms, a warehouse, a library filled with terrible Abyss advice, a rec room, a kitchen with a celebrity chef (?!), a workshop with totally normal tools and broken Valkan things (admittedly, the weapons are concerning), and the Father's lavish but homey apartment. Netana might have been right about her cult being the less-Deathy kind.

But I suppose we could still trip over a huge torture dungeon stacked wall to wall with bodies, or something.

>>4469869
>You've come this far, might as well see what it is...
If only Wander was still around so we could get her input on all this.

>>4469869
>You're too tired to stay here. Start making plans for your exit. Netana should be outside, right?

>>4469969
Going by what Bentus just said, probably not.

>>4469869
>You've come this far, might as well see what it is...

>>4469869
>You've come this far, might as well see what it is...

>>4469869
>You've come this far, might as well see what it is...

>>4469869
>You've come this far, might as well see what it is...
c'mon, you can't dangle something like this in front of us and not expect the cat to meet curiosity,

>>4469869
>You've come this far, might as well see what it is...

>>4469869
>You're too tired to stay here. Start making plans for your exit. Netana should be outside, right?
I'm getting too paranoid that we get Tiiris killed

>You've come this far, might as well see what it is...
Writing.

>>4469977
I never said that you killed Wander.

You rub your helmet and sigh. Turning on your heel, you march towards the final place. You swear, if it proved to go even deeper than this, you were going to turn around and leave. This place was so innocent so far- a little crazy and... at the very least incompetent. The priests clearly hoarded all the wealth for themselves judging from the state of the floor outside of it, but that was no cause for...

For...

You stare at the slumped over body in the cell in front of you. There were bloody stains on their clothes in the place where taps should have been. Their chest wasn't moving, and there was no Abyss energy in their body... were they dead?

This... this was a prison? But there was a Valkan in the cell! These guys were death cultists, weren't they supposed to worship Valkans? The Father hadn't seemed like a Valkan to you- he was way too old. So why would he...? The Abyss was everywhere in here, leaking out of the cables and clinging to the walls. The bodies, on the other hand, were drained utterly dry. Not even a flicker, although admittedly you didn't know how much energy corpses generated. Most of the ones you'd been around since getting your powers had been ash.

You move onto the next cell and find a similar story. This one was strung by cables jammed into their taps to the ceiling, which fed them into a familiar looking mass of cables. These things were carrying Abyss energy earlier, but what was the purpose of it? Your implants step in and gently slow your breathing so you wouldn't hyperventilate as you move to the next cell, pressing your hand against the glass.

The body was strapped down, in what was practically a straitjacket and tied to some kind of... medical gurney. They were contorted in a twisted position, arms and legs bent in awkward directions and their head twisted aside. An IV feed of some kind was plugged into their taps, but the liquid had long backed up inside the line, overflowing the valve halfway down the tube. You press a hand against the glass and lean in to peer. His face was twisted up and bloated strangely, his skin having a funny sheen to it. He must have been dead a long time-

The Abyss energy that was filling the room suddenly spiked higher than it had before, making the plastic in front of you suddenly start to fog, ice crystals forming on the surface. The shadows drew longer as you yanked your hand back. Your plasma rifle was somehow already in your hands as you huddled it protectively close to your body. Then the energy cut out like a switch had been flicked. The shadows were short, and you felt strangely cold as your body warmed back up to room temperature.

>>4471270
There was a thump from around the corner of the hall, and you creep towards it, rifle still raised. There was someone moving in the next cell, swearing quietly and grunting as she shoved something heavy around. You heard it hit the floor with a thump as you carefully creep around the corner. A familiar shape was huddled over a woman's body- no, wait, she was moving. Her hand gripped the wall tightly, one hand clutched to the olive-skinned girl hovering over her as she quietly murmured something. Something about her... it rang bells, distantly. You weren't sure what. She didn't look like anyone you knew.

This was the person Netana had been called here by? Honestly, a part of you assumed she couldn't be real. Telepathy wasn't a power you knew existed, but if she was really here in the flesh... maybe there was another explanation? The woman looked like shit, though. Matted up hair that was either dirty blonde or... very, very greasy golden blonde. Freckles in that same winged pattern that you had.

You creep closer, carefully lowering your rifle.

>"Netana?"
>"Is this who you were looking for?"
>"How the hell did you get all the way back here?"
>Take off your helmet so she can see who it is.
>Holster your rifle.
>[Write-In]

>>4471274
>"Is this who you were looking for?"
Looks like we got what we came for,and it's time to leave.
I feel sort of bad about all the bodies that we're leaving behind. I guess we could always come back later if we need to, or sic the cops on them.

>>4471274
>The woman looked like shit, though. Matted up hair that was either dirty blonde or... very, very greasy golden blonde. Freckles in that same winged pattern that you had.
Not going to jump to conclusions. Seems like a common look for Valkans so far. DEFINITELY NOT JUMPING TO CONCLUSIONS.

>"How the hell did you get all the way back here?"
>Take off your helmet so she can see who it is.
Both. Helmet just folds away into the suit anyway, no hands required.

>>4471274
>"Is this who you were looking for?"

>>4471274
>"Is this who you were looking for?"
>"How the hell did you get all the way back here?"

>>4471274
>>"Is this who you were looking for?"
>>"How the hell did you get all the way back here?"

>>4471274
>>"Is this who you were looking for?"
>>"How the hell did you get all the way back here?"

>>4471274
>"Netana?"
>"Is this who you were looking for?"
Netana can't see us, don't spook her too badly behind enemy lines

>"Is this who you were looking for?"
>"How the hell did you get all the way back here?"
Writing.

You cant your head to the side as you lower the rifle all the way to your side and step further to the cell. "How the hell did you get all the way back here?" You ask incredulously.

Netana, for her part, shrieked and spun around, then proceeded to choke back a yell while quickly backing up. When she backed up into the woman, she seemingly remembered that she was there and protectively lowered herself over her.

The woman's expression had hardened into a thin line, her eyes flicking up and down your body rapidly.

"Netana?" You hold up a placating hand. "It's me. I'm not one of them, relax."

Netana, for her part, managed to calm herself down- although unfortunately she seemed to be replacing her panic with the same stunned awe she always seemed to wear around you. She looked your lifesuit up and down before giving an intelligent. "You look absolutely divine."

"Um... yeah." You nod, then glance back to the woman. "Is this who you were looking for?"

Netana looked down at the woman. "Uh, yeah. The cultists were using her as like a... um..." She looked to the woman for help.

In spite of it all, the woman gave a slight grin and looked to you. "They were using me as a conduit to access the Abyss." The grin faded as she glanced out of the cell. "Along with everyone else they captured..."

"So everyone here was..." You look around yourself.

"Trapped and forced to cast spells for the priesthood and for Gaaldj."

"Gaaldj?"

"I believe the cultists call him the 'Father'."

"It's not a cult, it's a commu-" Netana started to say automatically before cutting herself off.

You spare her a side glance before looking back to the woman. "I saw him earlier. He looked like an old man, not a Valkan."

"He must be wasting." The woman muttered, carefully pressing up against the wall and pushing herself to her feet. "That's why he needed me. Even a little Abyss power can be dangerous, and I know he commands several drones, so we should still watch out."

"Right..." You murmur. Your gaze lingers on one of the slumped over bodies in the cells next to you. "Can you walk?" You ask.

"Not quickly." The woman sighs, leaning heavily against the wall. "But I won't drop dead." She groaned and held her head. "We should get moving. They'll want to know what's wrong."

"In that case..."

>You'd like to avoid any fighting if you could- was there a way the three of you could sneak out?
>You had a plasma rifle and a warskin at your disposal if you could get a message out. Plus, revenge.
>Was this possibly something you could talk your way out of?
>[Write-In]

>>4472761
>You'd like to avoid any fighting if you could- was there a way the three of you could sneak out?

>>4472761
>You'd like to avoid any fighting if you could- was there a way the three of you could sneak out?
the major thing that is going to slow us down is the ladders, we may want to use the plasma rifle to start fires inside the building, on our way out in order to slow them down and prevent them from following us.

Also if we get seen we should take Netana hostage as obviously as we can, and brief her on the possibility that they know that she helped facilitate the escape. So returning to her normal life might be impossible, letting her know that ST is watching over her for the next couple of days would be a good idea as a precaution, for reprisals from the Cult.

>>4472761
>You'd like to avoid any fighting if you could- was there a way the three of you could sneak out?

>>4472761
>You'd like to avoid any fighting if you could- was there a way the three of you could sneak out?

>You'd like to avoid any fighting if you could- was there a way the three of you could sneak out?
Writing.

You purse your lips and turn to look around the corner, down at the hallway doors. "I don't really want to fight anyone right now..." You turn back to look at Netana, an ordinary human, and- er, woman, who looked like a stiff breeze could probably knock her over. "I can cloak... er, for a bit. But I can't turn either of you invisible."

"You have a... what was it called..." The woman rubbed her head. "Lensing field generator?" She asked.

"Yeah." You nod.

"It could be stretched to cover all three of us with enough input energy. But, uh... I don't think either of us are up to that." She smiled a little sheepishly.

You fight back a yawn. "It was a good idea, at least." You look around. "Netana, any chance you know some secret way out?"

"I got in through the place they run power cables..." She offered. "But the hatch is on the other side of that door."

You heard the distant sound of a door slamming. "I don't think we'll get that far before they come and see what happened here."

"If we're fast enough on our feet and there's few enough of them, maybe we could give them the runaround?" Netana asked hopefully.

"What, like a cartoon?" You ask with a strange smile.

"Get their attention with someone, then while they're distracted running after them have the other two sneak past?" She shrugged lightly. "I could act as a decoy?"

You fixed Netana with a look, then remembered she couldn't see your face behind the helmet. "...and... what would they do to you if they caught you?"

"Banish me, probably?"

"And where do people who are banished go?" You ask.

"I dunno, usually they go into the cloister and never come back- oh..." Netana grew quiet.

"We're not doing that, then." You think. "...giving them the runaround isn't a bad idea, though."

"We could also try and hide ourselves..." The woman began, looking around the sparse cell, which was only occupied by a strange piece of machinery that looked vaguely like a chair, and the former cables attached to the ceiling. "This is a prison, so it probably wasn't designed to allow people to hide... but I'm sure there's a place..."

>Go for the ol' runaround.
>>[Sub-Option] Be the decoy yourself.
>>[Sub-Option] Send Netana.
>>[Sub-Option] Make the woman do it, they knew her already.
>Was there anywhere you could hide?
>Maybe you should just leave Netana to take the blame. She was willing...
>[Write-In]

>>4474031
>>Maybe you should just leave Netana to take the blame. She was willing...
Go for the good ol no witnesses method perhaps?

>>4474031
>Go for the ol' runaround.
>>[Sub-Option] Be the decoy yourself.
Hand over the rifle and its power pack to the and set up a communication link so we can to better coordinate with the woman and pump her for information if time permits., summon the sword and off we go.

We should aim to escape out the main doors while the others leave though the back, ST should be able to track them via Netana's phone signal.

If we can make it back to the workshop or spot the "Abyss" cable on the way out we should cut it on our way out, to throw off the fact that the source is missing and adding additional time before the realize that, potentially diverting them for long enough for the others to make it out uncontested.

>>4474051
That may not work out too well with the Woman being right there, especially considering that Netana was the one to actually come to her rescue.

>>4474031
>Go for the ol' runaround.
>>[Sub-Option] Send Netana.
We're not the sneaky one. She is.

>>4474031
>Go for the ol' runaround.
>[Sub-Option] Be the decoy yourself.
No good places to hide in a prison, by design.
Netana has less armor, less options for escape, and no weapon training, if things go bad. With the suit, we're also anonymous, while she is recognizable.
Mystery Woman can barely walk, and likely can't shoot straight in her current state.
Alien cyborg super-athlete time. Once more into the breach...

>>4474031
>Go for the ol' runaround.
>>>[Sub-Option] Send Netana.

>>4474031
>Go for the ol' runaround.
>>[Sub-Option] Be the decoy yourself.
Also keep a lookout for anything else we can use to mess with them. Would be a crying shame if someone left the gas on in the workshop.

>>4474031
>Go for the ol' runaround.
>>[Sub-Option] Be the decoy yourself.
If they know what a plasma rifle is they wouldn't want to get too close.
Alternatively we could try the RC drone

>>4474031
>Go for the ol' runaround.
>>[Sub-Option] Be the decoy yourself.
If we use the rifle to make some holes in important things, they might waste time on those while we escape.

>>4474031
>>Go for the ol' runaround.
>>>[Sub-Option] Send Netana

>>4474031
>Go for the ol' runaround.
>>[Sub-Option] Send Netana.

>>4474051
Fuck it. Changing to
>Go for the ol' runaround.
>>[Sub-Option] Send Netana.
Sorry Bentoos, looks like you're gonna have to roll the dice on this one

Rolled 1 (1d2)

Well that looks like a tie. 1 for your number one fangirl, 2 for doing the dirty work yourself.

"Not unless we climb up and hide behind those cables..." You glance up, then look at the woman. "...yeah, that's not happening." You bite your lip and look to Netana. "Netana, I'm going to need a favor."

She looked at you, her eyes wide. "What is it?"

"I'm going to need you to play decoy." You step past her and gently step under the arm of the woman. "Get them to look the other way, lead them away from us. Can you do that?"

Netana looked at you for a long moment before nodding. "Yeah. I'm pretty good at that."

"Go." You jerk your head. "I heard them open the door a while ago."

She glanced towards the door and then did a double-take. "O-oh- got it! Uh, meet you outside?"

You nod. "Try not to let them see your face."

"I know." Netana said, fumbling with her jacket. She was pulling it off for some reason, turning it inside out before putting it back on, and pulling at and rearranging her hair while fumbling her way out of the cell.

"Come on." You mutter to the woman. "You seem like you could use some help."

"A little..." She muttered as you helped her make her way out of the cell. "Sorry, I haven't used my legs in... thirteen years?" She laughed a little, trying to get a better look at you. "I understand if this is a bad time, but... who are you? I only reached out to... uh, what was her name? Netana?"

>"I'm a friend of hers."
>"I'm regretting ever getting involved with this."
>"I'm Tiiris. Tiiris Elson."
>"I guess my name's... uh, Tiiris aust Tagara?"
>"We don't really know each other, she just figured out what I am."
>[Write-In]

>>4475749
>"We don't really know each other, she just figured out what I am."
Deflect, ask her her name, and if she knew Kallis aust Tanoh or Vilnea aust Tanoh.

Hot water, food, sleep, medical attention, spiritual guidance and figuring out what to do next, await.

Should we take her to the Rontah so she can talk to Xol, after we swing by the house so we can acquire food and sleep.



Should we see if Mr. Soban or Tina can help our new acquaintance, with acquiring appropriate documentation since we probably are going to struggle to support a third person on a single income.

>>4475749
>"I'm Tiiris. Tiiris Elson."
>"I'm a friend of hers."
Holy balls. Thirteen years enslaved in a torture dungeon? She's got one hell of a will to survive.

I don't particularly care if she knows our real name. Thirteen years, spent in a dungeon? She isn't exactly going to be squealing to anyone, least of all death cultists. Besides, I like the Reflexively Polite Tiiris thing we have going. Breaking and entering is bad, but being unfriendly is just plain wrong!

>>4475774
+1

>>4475853
The point of not telling her is that if she actually is our mother however small , is to not telegraph that we know that she survived since that might get her to bail on us or lie,most likely because she doesn't know what to do. and that would be bad for everyone involved.

>>4475774
+1, and we can cross those bridges when we come to them.

>>4475864
That seems like a lot of overthinking a simple introduction.

Anyway, she's not going to identify herself if Tiiris doesn't introduce herself too. Act suspicious, get treated with suspicion.

>>4475868
Also on that note Xol can probably help / relate to the span of time spent doing nothing, since while he was with the 10th he spent most / all of his time in a reliquary.

Thread #15 post>>4282677

>>4475878
I think it would be best wait for a little and get to safety, and allow things to calm down somewhat, and do things properly by setting aside time for a proper introduction, once we are all safe and any pressing concerns are dealt with should we move on.

>>4475749
>"I guess my name's... uh, Tiiris aust Tagara?"
>She's a weird stalker who roped me into this. It's complicated

>>4475774
Support

>>4475749
>"I'm Tiiris. Tiiris Elson."
>"I'm a friend of hers, I guess."

>>4475749
... And that was the last time Netana anyone heard from Netana.
>"I guess my name's... uh, Tiiris aust Tagara?"

>"We don't really know each other, she just figured out what I am."
>Deflect and ask her name instead- maybe she knows Vilnea or your mom?
Writing.

File: I should really get some (...).png (332 KB, 680x594)

332 KB PNG

"Netana, yeah." You grunt a little as you adjust her arm on your shoulder. "We don't really know each other, she just figured out what I am... one thing led to another and here I am- uh, helping you." You cough a little and hope she doesn't notice your clumsy diversion from her question. "Uh... who are you, actually?"

"Me? I, uh-" She stumbles against your arm as you bring her around the corner. "I guess I'm like you. Formerly of the 13th Fleet. I was a knight, if you can believe it..." Her walking wasn't actually that weak - it was pretty strong, which would make sense if her implants still worked and were maintaining her body while she was imprisoned - but her balance was leaving a lot to be desired, constantly wobbling and stumbling against you. You were spending a lot more time helping her walk straight than just holding her up, really. "Actually... no, you're a bit too young to be from the 13th. Were you born on Tagara?"

"I was raised here. I'm half." You help her come to a stop around the corner, then carefully poke your head around just in time to see a very worried looking old man run past. He shouted something indistinct, and you heard a second pair of shoes suddenly go hammering down the hall, going away from you. You smile a little. Good job, Netana.

The woman grimaced as you rounded the corner. "That was Gaaldj. I was really hoping I'd be up to killing him once I got out..."

"Given the conditions..." You allow your eye to roll down to the cells and the bodies contained within. "I can't really blame you. But I don't think you're in any condition for that, are you?"

The woman grimaced. "I'll have to have a chat with him another time." Her attitude turned much more dour, her eyes narrowing.

Glancing her way, you cough and try to steer the conversation back to friendlier territory. "So, uh, I didn't catch your name?"

"Oh." She blinked, and shook her head. "Sorry. It's Kallis. Kallis aust Tanoh."

>Stop dead and try to process that.
>Her name is- you don't have time. You DON'T have time.
>"Hi, I'm Tiiris Elson."
>"...Mom?"
>Huh, strange name. Alright, now for the way out...
>[Write-In]

>>4477186
>Stop dead and try to process that.

Well this is going to make things awkward.

We can always come back later and burn the place down if we want to.

>>4477186
>Scream internally
>Scream externally
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

>>4477186
>"...Mom?"

>>4477186
>Stop dead and try to process that.
Thirteen years immobilized in a torture dungeon and she never gave up.
>"...Mom?"

>>4477186
>"...Mom!"

Really wish that we had burned a hole in that priest's head now.

>>4477323
Then she wouldn't be able to talk to him, we can always come back later when we're better prepared / ready.