Alasdair

• Being 1
• Constancy 1
• Biology 1
• Computer Tech 1
• Detection 7
• Stealth 1
• Sociology: 1

Ananda

• Biology 1
• Computer Tech 1
• Detection 6
• Sociology 1
• Stealth 2

Em

• Defeat Security 3
• Detection 3
• Stealth 1

Serek
None

CDP: 160
Total: 3760

Kassil: Last session ended with you intending to head to the E wing of the first floor, which is noted as having been something of a museum.
Jssra: Yep.
Karelzarath: Sounds full of horrifying potential
Kassil: Alasdair had just had a pair of slightly malformed reptilian skulls appear behind him, while Em has been experiencing the scent of ‘third oldest job in the world’ perfume.
Em: yes. I am a bit worried about that, even if it is par per course for the site
Kassil: A large, mysterious figure was witnessed momentarily, but it disappeared without a trace.
Em: it’s always different when its’ the integrity of YOUR perceptions being trampled on
Kassil: So. E wing. The door is wide open, with internal lighting from both recessed roof lights and hallway-lining glow strips.
Kassil: The entryway appears to be a decontamination chamber more than anything else.
Kassil: The inner door is closed, and a dull red light is visible above what appears to be a keypad beside it.
Em: Any data read out what’s in the chamber?
Ananda steps aside for Em to use the keypad.
Kassil: Read out on what?
Em: if there’s anything currently being decontaminated in the chamber
Em: or is the red light all we get for info on what’s beyond the door?
Ananda: (Aside from us?)
Karelzarath: ( Pretty sure we’re not decontaminated. ;) )
Ananda: (We might have to be to get in.)
Kassil: The readout appears to indicate that the inner door will remain sealed until the outer door is closed and the interior decontaminated. It might be possible to bypass it.
Em: I have a go at bypassing it.
Ananda: (And here we destroy the integrity of the archives… ;) )
Em: Can Alisdair sharpen my perceptions a bit? I’m still a junior grade security expert alas
Ananda: Is the keypad inside the decontamination chamber, or outside?
Kassil: Inside, a bit oddly.
Kassil: There’s no apparent matching keypad on the outer door’s exterior.
Em: no sign there used to be one either I take it?
Kassil: A cursory glance doesn’t show any signs of an exterior panel having existed.
Ananda: Oddly? It’s what I’d expect from a setup designed to be operated by a person inside, without someone standing by on either side to help.
Em: “I somehow imagine they had issues keeping this place fully staffed…”
Ananda: “How so? Aside from the zombies, I mean.”
Em: “It seems like a very elite, very high risk level installation.”
Em: “It looks like they got in over their heads regularly at the best of times, even with the full resources of the base behind them.”
Ananda grins, “Most of the field crew in Saint Mary is well matched for this place, then.”
Alasdair: “I’m amused at the presumption that we, ourselves, are not also in over our heads.”
Em: Oh of course we are. We’re in so far over our heads it’s a good thing we can all see in the dark because certainly no light from the surface is reaching us.
Em: I’m just sobered realizing they weren’t exactly high and dry either.
Ananda laughs, near-silently.
Ananda: “If we weren’t, what would be the point?”
Em: Well, theoretically, in a world where there any many options to invest resources, there are risks for gains a bit less extreme than this one. But I guess we do also share a refusal to let mortal peril slow us down when there is important work to do.
Em smiles weakly
Em: If I were better at office politics, I wouldn’t need to be so good at being a scholar’s excuse for a black operatives agent….
Alasdair unleashes a mighty torrent of Being energy to bolster everyone’s resolve.
Ananda shrugs one shoulder, “If mortal peril was the only challenge that mattered, there’s a green hell much closer to home and sangha I could’ve built a career in. Something’s strange here and I’d lay odds that the mystery is significant even if we can’t get all the pieces together in a single lifetime.”
Ananda pauses. “Well, Alasdair might live that long.”
Alasdair: “You forget that we’ve got the lifetimes of all those who came before to draw on, as well.”
Ananda: “True. Getting access to those may be something else again.”
Kassil: Em, after several minutes of stupid, mainly manages to work out how to get the system to work on an accelerated cycle, rather than the normal. Has everyone gone into the decon chamber?
Alasdair: “As they say, ‘I wanted to see beyond the common throng and so I stood on the shoulders of giants.’”
Ananda does so.
Alasdair is in the death, er, decontamination chamber.
Kassil: Err. Stupid/study. Sorry.
Em giggles and given her relative paucity of knowledge thinks “stupid” would be fair (laughs softly)
Kassil: So. Em, what are you doing?
Em: Well folks, I can’t just open the door unfortunately. I can get it to think the decontamination is going much faster than it is. Should anyone stay outside in case their decontamination equipment has been tampered with/damaged in a way deleterious to our health?
Alasdair: “Eh, others have made it through here. I’m sure we’ll be fine.”
Em: Alright then, I’ll start the expedited decontamination.
Em does so.
Kassil: The outer door swings shut, securing with a soft click and a hiss of pressurized air as soon as Em switches the sequence on.
Kassil: An acrid-smelling mist is dispensed from misters in the roof and walls, lightly dampening all of you and making your skin itch slightly, followed up by an unpleasantly high-pitched sound that seems to make the fluid crystallize and fall away from you.
Alasdair pops his ears and grimaces slightly.
Ananda shakes her head reflexively.
Kassil: The entire process takes perhaps a minute, after which you feel exceptionally clean, slightly raw-skinned, and have a mild ringing in your ears.
Kassil: The inner door swings open a few seconds later.
Em steps back and takes her position at the rear again
Ananda steps out, looking for any sign of trouble.
Alasdair exits expeditiously and checks for anything unusual. Well, more unusual than usual.
Em brings up the rear and pointedly focuses on behind us in the chamber and the ceiling and floor.
Kassil: Immeadiately on the other side is a foyer similar to what you might expect in a medical museum – the ceramacrete is covered with tiles of what appears to be marble, with more recessed lighting providing a steady ambient light. One main door is flanked by a pair of booths apparently built for high security, with ports for heavy-caliber weapons to be secured to fire on the entrance.
Kassil: There’s a logbook next to the doorway deeper into the building.
Alasdair ambles toward the log book.
Em wonders if the “never release this creature” signed the logbook one time…
Ananda checks the logbook for the most recent times anyone has signed in.
Em quietly checks if there’s any emergency override on the heavy artillery pointing at us
Alasdair didn’t realize Ananda was such a slow reader.
Alasdair: ( I don’t believe there are weapons, just places to secure them. It’s a BYOW zone. )
Kassil: The logbook last appears to’ve been signed roughly 150 years ago.
Ananda: Archival paper, or is it showing its age?
Em: (ooops. I thought that meant they were hidden in the recesses, waiting to pop out)
Kassil: The logbook appears to be regular paper, but it’s not as aged as you’d expect it to be.
Kassil: And those are just weapon attachment points; the actual hardware is missing.
Alasdair ponders timesharing a retirement community down here.
Ananda considers a moment, shrugs, and signs in. Then takes a picture of the page.
Em: How big’s the whole logbook, we might want to scan the whole thing?
Kassil: It’s a relatively new book, with only about four pages of signatures dating back about a month.
Alasdair checks the book for the names of the scientists from the Geist lab/area/cave.
Ananda records the other pages for completeness’ sake. It could be useful later.
Kassil: Most of the signatures are apparently from the people assigned to work in the wing, and they suggest four-day work weeks. None of the names are familiar. Anyone want to roll Sociology or Business Administration?
Kassil: Fortunately, Ananda has a Clue.
Alasdair: They’re all part of a group that disappeared without a trace under mysterious circumstances?
Ananda waves a hand over the log, “I think there’s a heierarchy here. O, R, A, D, in descending order of importance.”
Ananda: (Does this room have any other administration-type furnishings?)
Alasdair tried to run the “O” names through Saint Mary’s database to see if anything interesting turns up.
Kassil: If you look around, you can find faint discolorations on the floor that might be where tables and chairs used to sit.
Ananda makes a ‘shall we?’ gesture towards the doors that (hopefully still) lead into the museum proper.
Em nods and just marvels at the lavish expenditure and follows.
Alasdair: “Um, Ananda, does this name mean anything to you?” He points at one of the names in the book.
Ananda pauses and goes back to look.
Ananda tinkers with her p-comm, but doesn’t seem to come up with anything. “Aleghri, or something like that? Doesn’t ring a bell.”
Kassil: So, what now?
Ananda: On into the museum.
Alasdair: “Fair enough. Just seemed passingly familiar.”
Em follows
Kassil: Stepping into the museum wing, you find it opens up quite a bit, with brighter, cleaner lighting filling the room. Beyond what seems to be a ceramacrete-and-steel reception desk, you can see an entry area of modest-size glass cases containing skeletons, pieces of machinery, and the occasional apparently cosmetic tubes of colorful illuminated goo. Three more doors lead off from this entry hall.
Alasdair heads into the museum proper.
Ananda: Where are the doors located, in relation to the other things in the room?
Ananda checks the reception desk for interesting documents.
Kassil: One on each of the other walls, approximately halfway along each.
Alasdair: “Left is always right and right is always wrong, so let’s pick the middle.”
Kassil: The reception desk is the most wrecked thing you’ve seen in this wing so far; the computer is a congealed lump of metal and plastic, the paperwork is burned badly, and the ceramacrete appears to be marred, on the receptionist’s side, by acid burns.
Em: Are they recent?
Ananda frowns at some paperwork. “What a mess. Probably best to leave it for someone with document preservation skills.”
Alasdair: “We’re certainly best with living things that want to abuse us.”
Ananda doesn’t touch anything further and steps away. “Clockwise, start on the left.”
Ananda: (Do the doors have windows in them?)
Em: if all else fails, you can heal living things, too, if we have to damage them a bit subduing them.
Alasdair: “Sounds as good as anything.”
Kassil: They’re more open doorways.
Ananda moves on.
Alasdair heads to the left passageway.
Kassil: The left doorway opens onto what appears to be a museum of unnatural history, filled with skeletal displays and preserved corpses of crytpids. Several doors sit in the back wall, seemingly made of wood, with nameplates unreadable at a distance.
Kassil: While all the species are interesting, not the least because many were unheard of prior to the Fall, the most impressive are a pair of three-meter-tall humanoid skeletons with massive wing structures.
Alasdair takes pictures of all the displays and doors, making a clockwise orbit of the area.
Ananda meticulously photographs the cryptids. Does she know any of these species?
Kassil: Alasdair, you quickly discover each case has a plaque on it describing the situation the basic biology of the creature and a rough attempt at giving it a taxonomic designation. Ananda, you discover the same, and realize many of these species are semi-common today.
Em boggles a bit at putting the museum in the middle of the secret base, but admires their dedication to euridtion…
Alasdair: But each predates the “known” discovery date by a substantial time?
Kassil: Yes.
Kassil: All the dates precede the accepted period of the Fall.
Em: Wow. The Old World crytpic, monolithic security apparatus was good for something on occasion.
Ananda mutters, apparently to herself, “I always did suspect ’nature’s revenge’ was nothing of the sort…”
Em notes, "For an expansive, ironic value of “good”, perhaps."
Ananda: Names on the office doors?
Alasdair: “I expect the heart of this place is some sort of tesseract that pulls in things from across a wide span of time. The explosion of cryptids probably caught its interest.”
Kassil: The two end offices belonged ot O-9 and O-17, respectively, ‘Daniels’ and ‘Markov’. The next six are marked R and belonged to ‘Zakariah’, ‘Brown’, ‘Cole’, ‘Hix’, ‘Cooper’, and ‘Aligari’, numbers 12, 43, 77, 90, 104, and 165.
Kassil: There are, notably, no A or D office doors.
Ananda quirks an eyebrow at Alasdair, “I don’t see any dinosaurs. Maybe one of the other display halls.”
Alasdair lingers at the Aligari door and gently lays a hand on the surface.
Alasdair: “Dinosaurs are, honestly, some of the least interesting creatures to ever walk the earth. It was just an attempt by biology to do something different.”
Kassil: The door is slightly ajar.
Ananda: “Not having met any other than modern birds, I can’t say.”
Alasdair: “Excellent example, there. Birds are a perfection of the mess that started as dinosaurs. Excellently adapted for flight and a dizzying array of species. Nothing so clunky and unimaginative as a T. Rex.”
Alasdair nudges the door open a little.
Kassil: The door swings open to reveal a modestly sized office, slightly cluttered, with a computer terminal that was likely high-end at the time it was last used, and a few framed pictures on one corner of the desk. A large filing cabinet occupies one corner, and the rooms have been painted a slightly-too-cheery shade of yellow.
Ananda ambles over to check whether the other doors are locked. “Paleontology can tell us so little that I wouldn’t rule out much on its evidence alone.”
Alasdair: “I don’t see why people get so hung up on what was clearly a pre-alpha of modern creatures.”
Em checks if the computer has a phsyical lock or some such on it before trying to hack it.
Kassil: The other doors are closed, but not locked.
Kassil: Em, you can determine that the computer is not powered on.
Alasdair ambles into the office, checking for anything dangerous, mobile, or interesting.
Ananda: “Kf. Because evolution is non-directed. And more generally, because creatures so different catch the imagination.”
Ananda starts with Markov’s office.
Em looks around for the missing cables, murmuring “odd. Wonder why they took the easily replacable parts or if there’s more missing from the inside….”
Alasdair: “That’s a bit like going crazy over a line instead of a cube, though. Different rules of geometry, sure, but there’s much less to get into.”
Em pauses to extract the hard drive and any solid state memory devices, double checking for any physical anti-tamper traps first.
Em notices the biometric scanner and tries to gimmick it so it doesn’t trigger a tamper alarm, if one were set to go off?
Kassil: Em, you realize, after fiddling with it, that it’s the equivalent of a login password for the computer.
Em relaxes, remembering the last time she toasted multiple computers, and takes the scanner and the storage devices.
Alasdair , on a whim, tries his finger on the biometric sensor.
From Kassil: Nope. Examination reveals power cables to be missing.
Em: The computer’s powered off, someone stole the power cables (and the cables connecting monitor to the unit too).
Em: No sign of any spares (or the originals) nearby that I’ve seen.
Alasdair: (Oh. Um. Nevermind, then. )
Ananda rustles around inside Markov’s office, then goes on to the one marked “Daniels”.
Alasdair putters over to the filing cabinet and begins rummaging around.
Kassil: Ananda, you find much the same thing, less the card.
Kassil: The filing cabinet appears to be full of relatively dull, low-security notes about the cryptids in the hall. Despite the intelligence of many, and the common belief in the time period the files were written that humanity was alone, none of them betray any surprise about the intellect of anything present.
Kassil: Sufficient rummaging in the various offices will produce a fairly impressive set of files on the two large humanoids in the hall, tagged as ALF-799 “Seraphim” and ALF-800 “Ophanim”.
Alasdair runs a quick check through the Saint Mary’s computer system to see if these files have been logged.
Kassil: No record of Seraphim or Ophanim exists in the St Mary databases.
Ananda does a cursory scan through the remaining R-level offices. In particular, she’s looking for photographs of the former occupants.
Alasdair: “We should collect the information on the two large creatures. It doesn’t appear to have been logged yet. Which is rather perplexing, actually.”
Kassil: Most of the desks have one or two photos of what likely was the inhabitant of the office and sometimes a family. They’re all human, although they cover a wide ethnic range. No sign of any Elim genetics.
Ananda: (Any look-alikes for the rest of the group?)
Kassil: Not that you can find. The Aligari office doesn’t have any photos in it.
Ananda comments offhandedly, as she moves from one office to another, “Maybe it was the wrong phase of the moon to access those files.”
Alasdair: “Here, that would not surprise me.”
Em: Maybe we have to believe the truth is out there ….
Ananda leans against the doorframe to Aligari’s office and studies Markov’s ID in more detail. “I’m beginning to think this place is messing with us more than usual.”
Em p-coms “something apparently invisible/intangible just touched me, double check it’s not a delusion, please?”
Ananda: (Where’s Em?)
Em: (in Aligari’s office finishing plundering the computer for data shinies)
Alasdair replies, “If I can’t confirm, does that refute or bolster your ‘delusion’ theory?”
Ananda looks over to Em.
Em: Why it refutes it of course because you’re the next best thing to Balaam we have on hand and your magics are mighty.
Em smiles and avoids much irony and tries not to wince at accidentally falling back into the mythology of her upbringing
Kassil: Ananda, you can’t detect anything.
Ananda: “Nothing I can see.”
Alasdair tries to figure out what Em’s hallucinating/experienced.
Kassil: There doesn’t seem to be any source for the mystery sensation.
Ananda hands Markov’s ID to Alasdair, “What do you make of this?” The photograph looks startlingly like a Caucasian version of Ananda herself.
Em looks relieved to merely be easily driven insane by the site
Alasdair looks it over. “Well, apart from the obvious attractiveness, I don’t see much. I expect the Site is intentionally trying to get us off our game.”
Alasdair rubs his elbow and looks up the hallway.
Ananda: “Likely.” She shrugs and pockets the ID card. Might come in handy later.
Alasdair subtly indicates the far end of the room and signs, “Sighting.”
Ananda pauses to look and listen.
Ananda signs, ‘Saw movement near the entryway. Shall investigate.’
Alasdair follows Ananda at arm’s length.
Ananda readies her SMG and attempts to move as ghostly silent as possible to get a better view.
Em signs back “I think something’s really there”
Ananda: (Maybe we should get some flash-bangs next time we’re in town. Having a shootout in a museum seems like a bad idea.)
Alasdair: ( Bad ideas are often the best ideas )
Kassil: Ananda pads silently down the hall, trailed by Alasdair almost as quietly; despite your stealth, you don’t see or hear anything by the time you’ve made it even a fraction of the distance down the hall.
Em watches all O_O
Ananda signs, ‘Sneaky creature, for something so large.’
Alasdair signs, “I think it’s content to watch for now, but it’s too interested for my tastes.”
Ananda signs, ‘Yes. Let’s keep moving.’ She waves Em forwards.
Em sneaks forward.
Kassil: Moving down the hall quietly and carefully, the three of you are able to be fairly certain nothing could slip past you, and you see no sign of anything moving out the door, but you fail to find any living creature as you reach the front of the hall.
Ananda attempts to continue the performance, into the next wing clockwise.
Alasdair follows Ananda, watching for the creature following them.
Em: (Be vewy vewy qwiet, we’re hunting Zoological Impossibilities)
Ananda pauses a few steps from the middle hallway, eyes her feet suspiciously for a moment, then (assuming she finds nothing), continues on.
Alasdair has a similar reaction, bolstered by Ananda’s. He signs, “Definitely being observed.”
Ananda signs, ‘Where?’
Alasdair frowns and signs, “No clear source, but faint whispering.”
Ananda nods acknowledgement and keeps on into the middle hallway.
Alasdair follows.
Em follows
Kassil: The middle hallway appears to be full of machinery; contained in glass cases like the skeletons, with a similar row of office doors at the back. Objects range from what appear to be laser pointers up to a bizarre rusty-flaked contraption in a case that appear to be full of extremely briny water.
Kassil: The first object in the exhibit hall is sitting on a pedestal with no cover; the plaque identifies it as a ‘bacon ray’.
Ananda looks around, nonplussed.
Em stops, probably no longer sneaky as she has to just stumble forward in shock to try and get the case open and see if this insane sounding travesty works .
Ananda: (No case.)
Em: (oops)
Em: (checks for security anyway)
Kassil: It’s a typical-looking novelty laser pointer sitting on a small pedestal. It doesn’t seem trapped.
Kassil: There’s a single button on it, and a clear aperture for the beam to shoot from.
Em tries pointing it at its pedestal.
Ananda takes a moment to part her right pants leg from sock, inspecting the skin for sign of bug bites.
Kassil: The bacon ray, when tirggered, emits a reddish laser beam; the scent of cooked bacon fills the air a moment later, apparently emitting from the pedestal.
Alasdair does his best to stay away from the business end of Em’s newest toy.
Em is cautious to make sure no one is downrange, only dragons want to turn wizards into bacon.
Kassil: Ananda, after you work your armor boot off and check your leg, you discover your legs and ankles are covered in dozens of tiny wounds, each with a little stain of blood; the boot itself proves to have collected some blood, and your sock is a bit worse for the wear.
Ananda flags down Alasdair. Signs, ‘Invisible ants turn out not to be intangible. Irritating.’
Alasdair is instantly distracted from Em’s tinkering to check Ananda’s legs.
Kassil: Em, you observe that while the pedestal smells like freshly frying bacon, it hasn’t become bacon.
Kassil: Alasdair, you’re fairly sure the bites are consistent with army ants.
Em: Okay, is there a covering of bacon oil or something on the pedestal or it just sudden smells like bacon? o_O
Kassil: It just suddenly smells like frying bacon.
Em: What other machinery is on display here or is this the only one?
Ananda seems fairly dismissive of them, aside from the invisible source. ‘If it were new-world salados,’ she signs, ‘or old-world army ants, I likely wouldn’t have skin or muscle left. Worked on them for a bit.’
Ananda: (Old-world being Africa, in this case.)
Alasdair runs his hands over Ananda’s legs to heal the wounds.
Kassil: There are plenty of machines on display.
Ananda comments, “Kf.” with amusement.
Kassil: The ant bites fade away with the healing touch.
Em tries to see if any of them clearly run on magic or (as with the bacon ray) ultra tech of some stripe.
Kassil: Well, everything in the hall appear to be mechanical in nature.
Alasdair signs, “Let me know if they relapse. Stranger than usual here.”
Ananda signs, ‘Barely worth healing, but yes.’
Alasdair busies himself to hide the faintly trembling hands.
Em: Yes, but the bacon ray has no parts that can be examined by the tools I have with me, whereas if there’s something with gears that turn without a connection to a power source or magnetic field…that’s a tech/magic hybrid…
Em: trying to confirm if some/all of this either has mind boggling effects like the bacon ray courtesy of magic or tech beyond our ken, or just obviously straight up magic tech. This is her pet field and she’s been eager to explore established work in it)
Kassil: Well, the crowning piece appears to be a tank of saltwater with an inexplicable mass of gears submerged in it. The plaque identifies it as the Forever Engine, and warns that it needs to be left contained in ocean water to dampen a memetic effect.
Alasdair increases the duration of the Fear State boost by 5 hours.
Em: Can I use telekinesis to see if there’s any way to examine the inards while leaving it immersed?
Kassil: You might be able to try, but the gears appear to be held together by rust.
Em looks torn but gives up and sees if there’s anything small and plunderable liket he bacon ray worth taking for future examination.
Kassil: Poking around, you find a handful of odd devices – an electric lamp that’s lit despite no apparent place for batteries or an on/off switch, a gyroscope that’s apparently been spinning ever since it was found, and a swiss army knife that apparently has round 300 tools hidden inside a quarter-inch-thick case.
Ananda is mostly ignoring Em, while she cleans the blood off her feet and digs clean socks out of her pack. Both the used washcloth and the socks go into an airtight container.
Alasdair finds things to examine that allow him an unimpeded view of Ananda’s legs.
Em finally comes out of her fixation on the tech and asks, “What hurt you? I saw Alasdair taking care of it so I knew it was under control…”
Kassil: Alasdair winds up examining a stray box of paperclips.
Ananda: “Hn? Oh. Invisible ants. Not serious. Yet.”
Em: Did you ever have an incident in your past where ants gnawed on you?
Ananda frowns at her boots and shakes some baking soda into them before putting them back on. Best she can do for now.
Alasdair wonders what a box of paperclips could have done to be worthy of inclusion here.
Ananda: “No. Came close a couple of times, while working on some inch-long nasties. If it was them, I’d have needed reconstruction, not healing.”
Kassil: The plaque indicates that the paperclips are some kind of anomalous material capable of resisting cutting, shearing, and melting, while somehow still able to be flexed to clip papers together.
Alasdair collects the box for further study.
Kassil: They’re surprisingly light, even for a box of paperclips.
Kassil hums.
Kassil: So, who is doing what?
Ananda gets up and examines the offices.
Em takes the items unless there’s objections and ponders aloud “I wonder if there’s a way to set a trap for delusions.” o_O
Alasdair does the same, starting at the opposite side.
Kassil: Rooting around in the offices produces files on several of the objects in the room, including the Eternal Engine and the Bacon Ray, as well as an ID card for a woman about twice Em’s age who bears some strong familial resemblance.
Em boggles and reviews her genealogy, as far as she knows she’s the only runaway from those damned cultists who raised her. o_O
Em: Is there anyone of the right age who seems a plausible prospect for an apostate from the clan?
Kassil: Curiously, that office is marked as belonging to Agent Bethany Ellisande.
Ananda idly pages through the file on the Eternal Engine.
Kassil: You don’t know of anyone alive who’d have run away, but if the timeframe is to be believed, Bethany lived 150 years ago.
Alasdair looks into the Bacon Ray.
Kassil: The Eternal Engine proves to be a somewhat disturbing read; when allowed to be exposed to open air, it begins to shed rust rapidly until the gears are clear, at which time it spontaneously begins to move; at this point, it exhibits a memetic effect luring people to add metal to it, to the point of forming a cult that hurls people into the gears for having gold teeth or prosthetic limbs.
Kassil: Immersing it in salt water brings it to a grinding halt and it rapidly builds rust up once it stops churning.
Em boggles and wonders what the side effects on the bacon ray are. o_o
Ananda blinks. Considers the amount of piercings she has that aren’t actually meant to come out. Decides to be very careful around the Eternal Engine.
Kassil: The Bacon Ray apparently only has two effects, and was an accidental creation of ‘AO-900’ during experimentation. On objects, it produces a strong aroma of bacon that persists for 4-6 hours; on food, it apparently adds a strong hint of bacon flavor.
Alasdair: Sounds like a perfect item for any restaurant. Calorie-free bacon flavor.
Kassil: There’s a reference to a ‘Porkrind Ray’ that is apparently a bit less friendly.
Kassil: There are a lot of little pedestals.
Kassil: After some searching you find a pedestal covered by glass that has a plaque for the Porkrind Ray, and a black laser pointer sitting under the glass.
Em: So. How big is it, and how is it unfriendly?
Alasdair puts something substantial between himself and Em.
Kassil: About the same size as the Bacon Ray.
Em: I wouldn’t mind having a weapon more effective than my shotgun, or at least someone who’s a better shot than I am having a weapon of ludricous but effective character.
Ananda is still paging through files, inside an office.
Em: (eeps and checks if there’s anything to distinguish the two before taking it off its pedestal)
Alasdair parks himself in an office and writes in his journal.
Kassil: It’s painted black, while the bacon ray is red.
Em: Handy. (peruses the file at more length while getting digital copy of it)(unless there’s time pressure to get a move on)
Kassil: The Porkrind Ray, oddly, doesn’t have a file.
Kassil: Just the one reference in the Bacon Ray, and a cautionary note to not point it at anyone you need to keep around.
Em: o_O forbidden lore
Em: Should we pause and give the collection a comprehensive examination just to determine if any other little treasures are in it which might help us stay alive?
Em tries not to dwell on the disturbing dimension of turning enemies into pork rinds.
Alasdair salivates suddenly for no discernable reason.
Kassil: Okay. Unless there’s something you really want to do, we’ll call the session here, and next time we’ll see you into the Anomaly Wing of the Museum.
Alasdair: I knew the right passage would be the most interesting one.
Kassil: 160 CDP for everyone.