| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
Darkness was all around her. And cold.
Molly couldn't feel her body, but the cold still seemed to permeate her very being. Silence was her only companion. Her first thought was Fifteen. Whenever she was afraid or hesitant, her wife was there to give her stability to lean against. But she couldn't feel the android's presence anywhere. Her intent to call out was cut short with the instinctual knowledge that the silence wouldn't allow itself to be disturbed.
What happened? How did she get here? All valid questions, but they paled against the one foremost on her heart; Where was her wife? Why was she alone?
Silence be damned, she drew breath into non-existant lungs to scream out for the woman, but her act of rebellion was cut short buy an unimaginable pain in her chest and bright light searing her eyes. The light faded somewhat to reveal Holg's determined face. With a shaking hand, she brushed his hand away from her chest and gasped for air.
"I'm ... I'm fine," she croaked out and closed her hand around her ever-present musket. "Don't worry about me."
The grimace on her face faded when she saw Fifteen only a few steps away, slashing away at the incorporeal Deacon. Knowing that in the midst of melee was not the place for her, she crawled away as best she could.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
As an incorporeal being of light, Holg reckons that Deacon Hope won't be harmed by any type of energy attacks, and weapons have reduced effect. However, force effects should prove particularly effective against him!
Meyanda, Fifteen, and Fireday all land a few hits as Molly crawls to safety, but they don't seem to do much to slow Deacon Hope down. He chuckles malevolently. "Well, this has been an eye-opening experience. You may have killed Metwaska, but I am not done yet. I will await you in my Quiet Garden." He flickers out of existence, transporting himself through the holographic projectors to another part of the ship.
Fifteen's blades vanish as she falls at her wife's side, cupping the tiny face in one cold hand.
"What did he do to you?" She asks, concern clear in her tone. "Holg, help her! She is hurt!"
Molly's precious musket drops to the floor and her wraps her small arms around Fifteen's waist. The android can feel the small woman's body trembling. "Just hold me," she whispers.
Fifteen does exactly that, curling up around her wife in a protective embrace that dares anyone to touch her again!
Meyanda comes down from her rage and back into her usual semi-enthusiastic state. "Incredibly annoying," she says as she lets her heavy blade hang loosely to one side, the adamantine tip gouging the ground. She glances over to Molly and says, "I think you had a close call. You're still with us though so it's going to be all right, isn't it?"
Holg frowns as Deacon Hope all but disappear, he is to say something when Fifteen calls for help "Yeah, let me do..."
He then puts the tip of the healing staff on Molly's shoulder and the wood starts to shine with bright light closing her wounds.
Then using his holy symbol channels energy to heal everyone.
And finishes healing Fifteen and Molly with the wand.
"It seems we are in trouble, this Deacon Hope, he is not natural, he is made of light or something like that" Holg breaths up uncommonly worried "Magical weapons would do just small damage, we need to use force effects. I cannot do much more than using a blade barrier but I do not think it would be enough to stop him..."
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Meyanda furrows her brow...
... but she can't think of anything helpful.
A moment of realization comes to Holg. The Kellid draws the dragon-slaying greatsword present from Kevoth-Kul "I will end this Deacon Hope even if that is my last deed"
"Those of you who want to teach a lesson to this moron fanatic, follow me" as he says this, Holg casts lead blades on the dragon-slaying greatsword "Are you ready?"
Fifteen doesn't move an inch, just tilting her head to look at Molly better.
"I'm not going anywhere until she can too." The android says firmly.
Fireday gives Molly a knowing nod.
"I know that look...you slipped beyond for a moment, just like I did."
He goes to her and Fifteen.
"It's alright if you need a moment...coming back from something like that, even if it was only for a little while...it's a lot."
Her wife's comforting strength settles most of the confusion and fear swirling around inside Molly's head. "I don't know what that was, but I have no wish to ever repeat it," she says in answer to Fireday's statement.
The halfling remains wrapped in Fifteen's arms for another few moments or so and private whispered words are shared. Finally with a nod and a rough brushing of her eyes, Molly takes a step back and picks up her dropped weapon.
"I'm ready to move on," she says with a nod to the android.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
You press on through the "backstage" areas of the entertainment deck. Past the grisly shrine, you enter a long, curving gallery. Dozens of glass chambers line the wall. Within these chambers hang transparent coffinlike containers, inside which float half-formed humanoid bodies whose limbs and organs are strangely glossy and weirdly unreal in appearance.
It seems that these are creches in which new androids are created. Currently, a dozen androids are in various stages of development, but none are quite ready to emerge yet.
The hall ends at a metal door.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Fifteen, whose normally light and deliberate step seems to have an extra urgency to it, approaches the door. Examining it closely for traps or other dangers as she approaches she begins by trying her black access card and then resorts to more unorthodox methods if required.
Holg smiles seeing Molly picking up her musket "You are a bucket of resolve" and with a nod before following the others forward he adds "Let's return that hologram to the memory container it never should have came out from!"
Before the door is open, Holg makes sure his shield of faith is still active.
Fifteen does find an electric trap on the door, but she swiftly disables it before unlocking it with her access card.
Some fifty-odd humanoid brains, each floating in a vat of bubbling chemicals and pierced with dozens of coils of wire, decorate the transparent cells lining the walls of this clean white room.
Deacon Hope waits here, along with three hulking interlocutor kytons. The holographic being smiles and spreads his arms. "Ah, you've found me again. Welcome to my masterpiece--the Quiet Garden. Using the infrastructure of the android creche, the science of the neh-thalggu, and the steady hands of these Envisioners here, I have crafted this as a worship engine to help power Unity's ascension. The brains here came from unfortunate visitors, like yourselves. All are alive and in a state of drugged euphoria inside Unity’s digital world, serving Unity as additional beacons of forced faith. And now, I will add your brains to my collection!"
Deacon Hope gestures, and the kytons shamble forward!
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Fireday gasps in horror at the sight of this abomination and Deacon Hope's description of it.
"The picture becomes clearer...the monsters in the Valley...the kytons...all to assemble THIS."
He points his weapon at Deacon Hope.
"You and Unity do not understand faith, Deacon Hope! It is not something that can be coerced, not even for all the powers of a god. None of these people you have enslaved have true faith...only a delusion of it that you've mistaken for the real thing. Let us, the followers of Numeria's many gods, show you what true faith is, and the power it holds!"
He punctuates the statement by sheathing his body in ironskin!
Molly raises her musket. "Trasna ort féin," she declares as she pulls the trigger.
Fifteen jumps forwards to meet the nearest kyton, determined to cut her way through to the Deacon!
She cuts it apart in a flurry of flashing blades.
Fifteen and Meyanda leap into action, the first android tearing apart one of the kytons before badly wounding another. The second android moves in and lops off that fiend's head with a mighty swing of her greatsword! Molly opens fire on Deacon Hope, but she only manages one hit.
"I killed you once, halfling. I'll do it again!" Deacon Hope declares, attempting to take out Molly with another phantasmal killer spell.
The last kyton attacks Fifteen, ripping at her with its claws.
Fifteen is far too intent on dealing damage to pay any attention to trivial wounds received in return. The kytons are in her way and that needs to be rectified.
Seeing the group is dealing well with the keytons, Holg focuses himself on Deacon Hope "Molly, Fifteen, I need you to endure this for a bit more!"
Freeing one hand from his greatsword to perform the needed moves Holg starts casting a spell "Time to purge the Dick On Hope!" as he completes these movements a greatsword made of pure force materializes and strikes at the hologram.
With his spell causing a diversion, Holg profits the moment to boldly move through the battlefield grasping the dragon-bane greatsword with two hands "Gorum, you are my strength, no phantom can permanently evade the power of real iron!" and like echoing Fireday's words on faith, there is a response to Holg's plea as his greatsword starts to shine loaded with ghostslaying energy.
Fireday charges his weapon with similar power!
Then he joins Fifteen in attacking the Kytons!
"You can try," is Molly's only response as she takes more careful aim at the deacon.
Fifteen, Fireday, and Meyanda all focus their attacks on the kyton, the trio of androids taking it down in short order. Meanwhile, Holg conjures a sword of force that slices into Deacon Hope, and Molly shoots him several times as the Gorumite advances on the hologram.
"Destroy me! Dismantle my Quiet Garden! It won't matter!" Deacon Hope snarls. "You cannot defeat Unity! Soon, it will achieve its goal and become a true Iron God! Resistance is futile!" He reaches out to blast Holg with force and consume his memories!
Holg endures Deacon's touch and maintains the ghostslaying energies in his sword.
"There is only one true God of Iron! You fanatic, when will you understand?!" entering into a raging fury the Kellid starts to swing the sword with mighty strength "And he will rejoice when we finally fight Unity, something you won't live to see!" the weapon strikes with extra momentum from its lead blades weight.
Meanwhile the force greatsword starts full attacking Deacon's hologram.
"We will." Fifteen says without an ounce of doubt, moving behind the Deacon to flank with Holg.
"We've slain Iron Gods before and we will do so again! Burn in the light of Heaven!" Fireday adds, joining in the fray.
Resilient as Deacon Hope has proven to be, he is no match for all of you focusing your attacks on him. Holg does the most damage, Gorum granting him the power to slay ghosts and other incorporeal creatures. With each strike, Deacon Hope's holographic form becomes fainter and riddled with static, and he lets out a garbled, defiant cry as, with the last blow, he bursts apart and disappears, gone for good!
Holg's rage relaxes once Deacon is gone. Saving the dragon-slaying greatsword to his back, he looks at what remains "One less fanatic AI gone for good."
He then pumps more healing magic on Fifteen and himself, stopping the android's bleeding.
Uses the last wand on Fifteen.
The Kellid takes one of the posters acclaiming Hope and tears it apart "Enough of this"
Only her wife would detect the huge amount of relief that Molly hides when the deacon finally fades from view. "Is there something we can do for all those poor spanners back there that were following this ... thing?" she asks as she clears the bore on her musket and adjusts the sight slightly.
Holg looks to Meyanda and smiles "Well... we have experience converting androids to the true faith"
"Some of them probably won't want to leave. Everything they need is here. But a few might. Just giving them the choice is a good start," says Meyanda.
Returning Holg's glance she says, "But we've got still bigger challenges to fight. Deacon Hope was just a representative of our real troublemaker!"
"And we should grant peace to these poor souls Hope enslaved," Fireday says, gesturing vaguely at the brains. "Freeing them from the delusion they forced them into will likely weaken Unity, and leaving them in this state is...it's worse than death."
From the datapad in which she resides, Casandalee's face appears as she chimes in. *These brains are connected to Unity's Godmind. Their lives within are ones of unending servitude and mind-controlled devotion. Killing them would be a mercy, and it would weaken Unity for your inevitable confrontation.*
"No." Fifteen says firmly. "I will not allow this. I was once like them and I escaped the control of Unity. They may all do the same. Should you wish to destroy them then you must destroy me first."
Her voice remains calm, but the android hasn't replaced her blades and everyone has seen how fast she can be.
Molly steps close to the android and puts a small hand on one of her wrists.
"They have nowhere to escape to, Love," she says in a soft voice. "Their bodies are long gone and they should have been given the right to move on to the next existence long ago. Unity has them trapped in a servitude that only death will free them from."
She gestures around at the tanks holding the enslaved brains.
"Would you want to continue existing in this manner?"
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Fifteen looks down at Molly in obvious confusion, "We are talking about the androids are we not?" She asks. Once it is explained that they are in fact, not talking about the androids in the creche she stows her blades without comment and steps aside.
"My apologies."
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Fireday's eyes widen when Fifteen makes her statement, but once the misunderstanding is straightened out, he relaxes.
"Casandalee and I are in agreement, and Molly too it seems. Do not worry, Fifteen. The androids outside can be given the choice of whether to remain here or maybe follow us to the surface," he pauses. "Casandalee, will Unity's destruction, for lack of a better term, 'break' the spaces here? We will confront Unity, that is inevitable, but if it means the people here will be forced to abandon their homes, if it means the life down here that sustains them will die, we should prepare them for that possibility."
When the group is ready to destroy the tanks, he says a prayer to Iomedae for each soul freed from this abominable engine.
"Breaking stuff?" Holg smiles raising his adamantine greatsword "I am your man"
In a frenzy of destruction, the Gorumite joins Fireday breaking the tanks and freeing the brains from the suspended state and into true death.
After this, Holg will propose to go back to the main area of the recreation deck and see what can be done with the androids.
*Unity is connected to the ship, but it is not Divinity. Everything here will to continue to function unimpeded once it is gone,* Casandalee says.
You destroy the vats here, killing the brains and freeing them from their torment. From there, you discover a vault filled with enormous vats of powdered minerals, scrap materials, and nanites used to power the fabricators that create everything the androids need here on the recreation deck. Among the various mundane substances stored here is a wealth of raw materials, including powdered gold, silver, skymetals, and diamonds, each worth a total of 20,000 gp—the total value of these materials is 80,000 gp.
You return to the main promenade of the recreation deck, where the androids continue their listless form of life. Now that Deacon Hope has been destroyed, though, you can try to break their faith in Unity and convince them to focus their efforts in another direction.
Fifteen stands rather awkwardly in the creche - she wants to help her fellow androids but she knows nothing of faith or of how to convince her fellows of the path that they should follow. Whatever deviation which allowed her to break free of Unity's conditioning has not been replicated amongst these others and she feels a shiver travel down her spine as she watches them.
Her hands reaches automatically for Molly's. "It is strange, watching them here." She says softly. "Is this what I would have been if I had not been rejected? A shell without thought or will. Or love?"
Molly smiles reassuringly up at her wife and gives the hand a squeeze. "Nah. We were fated, Love," she says. "You for me and me for you. It was always going to happen."
Holg takes note of the minerals so the party can come back later and take it for their great plans.
Once back to the main area of the recreation deck, the Kellid starts stopping androids and making them to listen. After he has the attention of a few of them, he climbs up to one of the tables and raises his voice for everyone to hear "You are now free to pursue your own goals in life. You all can feel something was wrong with your place here, isn't it? Inside yourselves you know there is something more outside that what Deacon Hope wanted you to know" he points up, outside Divinity "There is a world outside for you to discover. A place full of dangers and things to fight away of the monotonous false safety of this place. A world to explore where decisions are meaningful 'cause a bad movement can bring you down. Break your chains and embrace Gorum's teachings. There is no lost life if you have something to fight for. Whatever it is! Get out and find what is this for you! This is your time, stop losing it inside this mirage of a world Deacon designed for you"
SPOCK: Apparently, our hypothesis is correct. There is no living being there. It is a machine, nothing more.
KIRK: Well, the field's down, people are going in. Let's see what kind of luck we have.
(But as soon as they stand, the eyes light up and there is a rumble of thunder.)
KIRK: That's not the way.
SPOCK: Evidently not. This is no ordinary machine, Captain. It may well possess a rudimentary intelligence.
KIRK: But it needs to eat. Frequently. So it can't have any great power reserves.
SPOCK: That may not be of any help. The Enterprise has only ten hours left in which to break free.
KIRK: What happens if Vaal weakens around feeding time? Spock, check the electromagnetic section of the astrophysics lab. Get an estimate of the total amount of energy being expended against the ship. Have them measure it hour by hour.
SPOCK: Acknowledged.
(McCoy joins them.)
MCCOY: What's going on, Jim?
KIRK: Mess call.
SPOCK: In my view, a splendid example of reciprocity.
MCCOY: It would take a computerised Vulcan mind such as yours to make that kind of a statement.
SPOCK: Doctor, you insist on applying human standards to non-human cultures. I remind you that humans are only a tiny minority in this galaxy.
MCCOY: There are certain absolutes, Mister Spock, and one of them is the right of humanoids to a free and unchained environment, the right to have conditions which permit growth.
SPOCK: Another is their right to choose a system which seems to work for them.
MCCOY: Jim, you're not just going to stand by and be blinded to what's going on here. These are humanoids, intelligent. They need to advance and grow. Don't you understand what my readings indicate? There's been no progress here in at least ten thousand years. This isn't life. It's stagnation.
SPOCK: Doctor, these people are healthy and they are happy. What ever you choose to call it, this system works, despite your emotional reaction to it.
MCCOY: It might work for you, Mister Spock, but it doesn't work for me. Humanoids living so they can service a hunk of tin.
KIRK: Gentlemen, I think this philosophical argument can wait until our ship's out of danger. Kirk here.
Holg may be passionate, but his words fall on deaf ears. The androids shrug and begin to drift off as his speech comes to an end, returning to their usual malaise.
Saraon is about to launch into a speech of his own, but seeing how they react to Holg's words, he decides to hold his tongue until later.
"What's our next move, Casandalee?" he asks.
Feeling the androids are just ignoring his words, Holg gets down to the ground and dismisses the people "One day they will open the eyes, but not today it seems"
"I would say we deal with Unity's High Priest, the gargoyle Ophelia next" Holg scratches his head.
*Yes, that is a wise course of action,* Casandalee says. The datapad image changes to a map of the security deck, several lifts blinking on the image. *These lifts will take you to the command deck. Be careful!*
You take the monorail back to the security deck, then use the lifts to rise up into Divinity's command deck. The doors of the lift open into a large chamber that is spotless and well-lit. Models of strange ships and hyperrealistic depictions of alien landscapes decorate the walls, but in many places they have been covered with tapestries depicting a glaring eye peering from a sawtooth gear. A sparkling statue of an androgynous angel, arms upraised in triumph, stands in the middle of the room.
Four burly gargoyles stand guard here, clad in chain shirts and gripping battleaxes. They snarl and prepare to attack!