"What's happening?" Ton says, hoping someone will be able to enlighten him even as he backs out of the room just in case.
Ton'iel backs out of room just in time, as a huge arc of lightning splits across the room from one machine to another. The hum in the air abruptly ceases, but the machines are still humming... and hissing.
Wulf laughs attempting to kick the sand off his boots with every step hoping to get nothing inside them. "You're right, but I think we're remembering it differently, you were naked at least for a part of it."
Wulf watches as Ton steps out of the room just in time for a large spark of lightning to jump from one side of the room to another. He brings up his hammer. "What is this place, everything is designed to kill us."
Charles walks to the door Ton just exited, making sure not to enter. He looks carefully for signs of a trap. "Stay back."
Charles waits and watches as the machines hum, and eventually he hears it again, a buzzing in the air. The hair on his arms rise, and then ---CRACK!--- another bolt of lightning shoots across the room.
It seems the machines in the room are malfunctioning horribly. You will have to turn them off or smash them, and only have about 10 seconds to do it without getting zapped.
Charles steps in and tries to turn the machinery off.
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Charles carefully waits until the next lightning flash, then he darts into the room, knowing that he has to work very quickly.
He quickly insects the machinery and notices three wires particularly close to where the lightning emanates. A red, blue, and yellow wire. Which one to cut?
The buzzing in the air picks up. Charles' hair rises off his arm... He has mere milliseconds to act before he is fried. Charles make an immediate decision and clips the red wire. His arm hair goes flat, and the room becomes quiet.
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"Not bad, kid." Ton says as magnanimously as he is able
Charles can't help but grin. OK, that was more of a challenge than I thought it would be. But it worked. This little thing is definitely useful. Charles uses sleight of hand with a flourish to make his e-pick "disappear." He then bows and gestures that the others can follow now. "Gentlemen."
Charles opens the door on the far walls and gestures everyone to proceed through. This area, on the east side of the desert, feels a lot like the rooms on the west side of the desert. The walls are a dark metal, and looking up, you see the same lighter panels in the ceiling. [roll20 updated]
You are in a hallway. There is a door directly ahead of you, with a brown access panel set in the wall, and then as you peek around the corner a bit, you see another two sets of door located at the far end of the hallway.
Charles tries to scout ahead around the corner.
"Who's got the card?"
The party listens carefully at the door, and you hear some more buzzing. Perhaps more out-of-control elektrizity? Cautiously, Zeke inserts the brown access card and the door slides open.
The air in this room seems to buzz and hum with energy. Strips of glowing rectangles light the room from above, while strange flickering windows line the east and west walls. A large glass topped circular table sits in the middle of the room. To the north sits a large metal desk covered with blinking lights, while a humming pillar of purple-and-black metal stands nearby, its sides flashing with tendrils of violet energy. A single golden panel flashes with a soft but incessant light on the side of this pillar. A thick layer of dust coats everything, diffusing the lights shining from the various surfaces, and many of the machines seem to be damaged, cracked, or otherwise ruined.
On the side of the room is a round metal capsule, with a dusty glass pane on the exterior. There is Androffan writing on the side of the capsule, with some buttons and switches.
Charles starts carefully making sure nothing in this room is going to explode, slice, shock, burn, squish, or otherwise harm the party.
Charles conducts a thorough search and determines, to the best of his abilities, that the party is not likely to die a gruesome death in this room.
Zeke walks quietly behind Wulf, keeping an eye out for signs of Khonnir Baine's (or anyone else's) passage in the strange hallways and rooms.
Stepping up beside Garfaulk Zeke curiously examines the capsule and the writing, careful to avoid getting close to the pillar. How were these strange devices built? he wonders as he mutters a quick prayer.
Upon seeing the complex machinery, and having only just escaped a zapping, Ton warns:
"Nobody touch nothing, Charles reckons nothing is about to explode and I believe him. But I still don't think we should press anything."
Zeke can make out some letters on the capsule, but not the whole thing. The combinations of letters are different than what he is used to seeing in his studies with Khonnir. He can make out: "LaRA-3.0".
The room is full of interesting things. What draws your attention most strongly is the pulsing golden panel, that looks a bit like a button... this has Androffan written on it too. And the capsule certainly merits closer inspection.
"I really don't like this place..." He says looking around the room expecting one of the blinking walls to jump out at them at any moment. "Are any of the robot things going to jump out on us here?" He says stepping towards the capsule.
Charles checks out the capsule.
Charles approaches the capsule. Androffan words are written near the controls and buttons, so he leaves that alone. Instead, he wipes the dust and grime off the glass panel and peers inside. It is dark, but he sees into well enough, and with a start, he involuntarily takes several steps backwards. There is a woman in there!
With this news, the others look in as well. After some inspection, you realize that she is an android, thin, with brown hair. She is wearing a white and grey full body outfit with bright orange sleeves, and some type of emblem on the left upper portion of her chest. It seems like a uniform of some sort.
Her eyes are closed, and there is a mask covering her mouth and nose with a tube that connects to somewhere else inside the capsule.
"Garfaulk, what's all this say? She alive?"
On the floor, Zeke sees that someone trailed in sand from the desert. This is certainly the way other people had come, though they seemed to have left this room alone for whatever reason.
"She's an android? Baine left her there but maybe she knows more about this place than we do. If we can get her out, and she doesn't go crazy, she might actually be pretty valuable."
"Another one?" He looks over the others to see into the capsule and seeing the android woman. "We're not doing well for androids. Think this one will be less insane? Might have some information on this crazy place lets just open it."
Garfaulk, who had for most of their trip over been sucking on a metal bearing in an effort to make his headache go away (though it had done nothing but distract him from it) suddenly perked up add he heard his name. Stepping forward to peek into the chamber, he saw the female android and took off his hat. "Well now, who would lock someone in a pod like this? Not a nice thing ter do to a lady" looking over to the button and panel and the Androffan, he raised an eyebrow with a bit of a smile "Well waddya know. Sum writins I can finally read down here"
Garfaulk picks up more of the strange language than Zeke was able to. The Androffan reads "Library and Research Assistant-LaRA unit Inventory #3." It goes on to give directions for engaging and disengaging the controls for something called "suspended animation". These words are foreign to Garfaulk so he spells them out.
Unable to resist any longer, Garfaulk follows the directions to deactivate the strange capsule. He hits a series of buttons, and as he does the pod lights up! Strange hissing sounds emanate from within, and with a loud clunk the internal locking mechanism disenages. The lip flips open, and the woman's eyes pop open! The mask falls from her face.
She looks about, confused as to where she is or who you are.
[roll20 updated]
The android's eyes blink several times in rapid succession, as the confusion on her face persists. Taking a cautious step outside of the tubular chamber, her oddly green eyes take a long look, head to toe, at the individuals in front of her, as the confusion sets in even further. Her head snaps at the dwarf sitting next to the console, as her mouth opens. "Warning: Unauthorised and unscheduled awakening.", she speaks out in a level, yet somehow accusatory tone. "Warning: Fatal damage to memory banks detected.", she adds, before looking down at the dwarf once again. Observation: Members of primitive civilisations have been invited on board. Theory: Said primitives have accidentally awakened LaRA unit. Advised course of action: Maintenance and data acquisition.
A polite smile spreads on the android's face. "Hello, on-board local lifeforms. I am Library and Research Assistant unit, Inventory number three. For simplicity of verbal communication, you can address me as LaRA.", she says in a clear cut tone. She frowns once more. On-board navigation impossible. "Please escort this unit to the location of the crew repair bay for emergency maintenance." Her head turns to the muscular nanite-covered android accompanying the others. "Hello. Are you this local group's assigned handler? Are you authorised to be present in the storage bay?"
Garfaulk smiles up to her as she sat up and spoke, hat still in his hands as he gives a small bow. "Er, nice ter meet ya LaRA. The name's Garfaulk, Garfaulk Sharpstone, at yer service. Not quite sure where that is you wanna go, but I'm sure we can figure it out. Tha said, if ya need repairin, perhaps i could help" He winces slightly, hearing her call Wulf their handler. He laughed heartily, trying to cover up his slight frustration as yet another lass seems to have gravitated to the larger, shinier man. "More like we handle him! Line that night in the casino" He grinned, offering his hand to help her get out of the pod
Ton's breath catches in his throat when he sees the android. He wasn't quite prepared for her to animate so suddenly. Nor for the long brown hair and oddly mismatched, but intense, green eyes.
"Easy girl." Ton says with uncharacteristic gentleness. "Reckon you've probably had a shock to the system."
"I don't know who you are or where you've come from, but you ain't there no more. Name's Ton." he introduces the rest of the group. "None of us handle the others, we're all here for the same reason an' that's to find a man called Khonnir Baine."
"You said 'bay' and 'crew.'" Ton starts putting the pieces together. "Is this a ship?"
Wulf eases up as LaRA doesn’t seem to want to kill them and addresses him. ”No matter who it is, people just see me as the boss around here.” He smiles punching Garfulk playfully in the arm.
”I’ll let my lessers speak to you they might know more to help you. Should we help her? ” He turns to he half elf?
Zeke stares at the android as she emerges from what looks to him like a metallic coffin. "'Suspended animation'?" he thinks to her. "Are you undead? Returned to life?" Warily he holds up the symbol of his god, a skymetal ring shaped like a moon with a skull inscribed. As the others speak, he relaxes slightly. "I am called Ezekiel Smith, or Zeke," he thinks to the group. "The man we entered these caves to seek is my adopted father."
When Wulf asks him if they should help her, he nods decisively. She seems to know things about this place that could help us, his body language seems to say, plus he clearly regards her as a person, like the other android they traveled with briefly. He carefully approaches her and looks her over, checking for any obvious injuries or other clues about her condition.
Charles simply observes.
LaRA's eyes glance over Wulf. "Please note that it is against regulations to refer to local Golarian lifeforms in a derogatory manner.", the tone in her voice sounding almost scolding. Turning to the dwarf, she returns a polite smile. "While offer of assistance is appreciated, aid in non-life threatening situations is best left to professional psychosurgery crew."
Glancing at the tall half-elf, she starts speaking with a confident tone. "Affirmative. This is the starship..." Her mouth snaps shut. "No data available... ", she finishes with horror. New directive: acquire immediate operational information.
She turns once more towards the party. "Query: Please provide information pertaining the events prior to your arrival of the vessel and the awakening of LaRA unit." , she asks, blinking rapidly with her bright green eyes.
As the white haired man speaks into her mind, she nods. This unit is capable of providing limited arcane support. In addition, should you inquire with our surface outreach programme, you may be able to locate information regarding your father.
Hypothesis: possible testing of LaRA unit stress response capabilities.
Zeke - the information that you might obtain from that is that LaRA is healthy enough, physically, and appears to be in sound mind, however confusion seems to be settling in more and more by the minute.
The rest - I'm pretty sure LaRA is still a bit confused!
The f!~$ is a starship? Some religious b+%!@~#~?"
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Glancing at the tall half-elf, she starts speaking with a confident tone. "Affirmative. This is the starship..." Her mouth snaps shut. "No data available... ", she finishes with horror. New directive: acquire immediate operational information.
"Starship." Ton scratches his chin. "I'm no sailor but I know they navigate by the stars, some reference to that? But then how in the Hells would a ship get all the way out here? And it's bigger than any ship I've ever heard of."
He turns back to the android.
"LaRA. This ship is underneath a town called Torch. Yep, no idea how that happened either. Zeke's old man came down to investigate along with a bunch of others - they are mostly dead now." he decides not to sugar coat it, besides he has a feeling she can take it. "But we're still looking for this guy Baine."
"This other guy we know reckons this place has a bunch of machinery powered by electrizity - that mean anything to you? Anyway, we are checking this place out when we came across your..... bed.... pod..... thing. So we figured you might know what the Hell is going on here."
"It was just a bit of a joke." He raises an eyebrow at her. "Lighten up, if you want our help you'll have to learn to take a joke." He nods to himself, as he moves about the room.
"A Starship... I have to agree with my friend here." He points to Ton. "What does that mean and how did it end up so far underground?" He says as he notices a few wires hanging from the wall he moves them about attempting to straigten them out.
Garfaulk chuckles at Wulf's jab and punch in the arm, and would elbow him in the gut if he wasn't confident that he would probably hurt himself doing so-plus, he was in the presence of a lady-first impressions an all. Instead, he merely smiles up at LaRA, but its a bit of a mournful one. "Aye, looks like in the crash, this place has become a bit dangerous. We nearly got shocked by a couple o machines. There was a cave with sum creatures that lead to a pair o doors. We found ourselves in a chamber that looked an awful lot like a desert, and we found you. As for the inhabitants, the Kathasa, er, kasatha, they, ah... didn't make it" And with that, he started the song he had written the night before, the haunting melody echoing through the room behind his powerful voice. After finishing, he sighed. "Seems some strange magics have kept them roaming the desert there, but with not a scrap of flesh on them. Tragic tale"
The pulsating golden panel continues to blink, attracting attention. As the group talks and considers the strange tidings brought forth by this android, you notice there is Androffan written on the panel. Zeke stares at it for a while, with the writing illuminated every time the panel turns back on.
He reports it as saying "Habitation System Reboot".... and there is a button right alongside it...
LaRA pauses for a moment, staring blankly at the wall. Assessing..., a thought passes through her head, as the implications of what's being said slowly worms itself in her head.
A moment later, with a sombrer face, she nods at Ton'iel. "Affirmative. A starship is a colloqually accepted term for an interplanetary transportation device. The term originates from the original sea-faring vessels, however they do not use sails as a means for locomotion. Data retrieved from my memory indicates that at least one of the original goals of the starship was to observe Golarion, the name of the planet we are currently on, judging by the technological level of your equipment.", she glances at the nanite-covered man. Re-evaluation: He appears to not be an android. Possible test subject on affects of nanites on local lifeforms. "Affirmative. Will attempt to receive attempts at humour. For calibration purposes, how many times out of ten would you say you are funny?", she asks Wulf with a completely straight face, before beginning to once more look at the room.
Her eyes glare at the dust of the room and the visible aging of the equipment. "Hypothesis: The ship has lost control of atmospheric locomotion and has." She pauses, considering the implications. "Crashed. If there is a settlement above the crash site, that would mean... a considerable amount of time has passed." Her breathing gets faster by the second. Her eyes begin darting and looking away at invisible things all over the room, a panicked expression setting in once more.
"This... requires consideration. Hypothesis: other technological equipment has been damaged by time as well, leading to indiscriminate assault.", she answers a moment later. "Until an further information is obtained, assistance would be offered for bettering chances of self-preservation of all parties involved." She moves back at the time-worn pod, and takes a heavy backpack, large Androffan letters covering the surface.
"This 'habitat reboot' ...that help??
LaRA stares at the glowing panel in frustration, knowing that she should know what "Habitation System Reboot" means, but it doesn't compute.
Wulf frowns at most of what LaRA is saying but lightens up she speaks to him again. "I really don't understand much of what you're saying, but I'd have to say I'm funny all the time. 10/10 everyone here would agree." He smiles nodding to himself.
As she turns to get her items Wulf looks to the others."She's a bit of a strange one. Is this place thousands of years old then? She looks a lot better than me for sleeping that long, I look half dead every time I wake up."