With Basil's final two destructive shots, the final gearsman collapses into a pile of smoking scrap. The Ghost Wolf warriors let out several whoops and hollers as the battle comes to a glorious close. Before long, Harg's vision clears. Thankfully, the blindness was only a temporary measure.
Standing nearby, Jala looks at the technology on display with curiosity, notably the noisy chainsaw and equally noisy paddlefoot pistol. "Interesting. You already had more technology than I anticipated." He smiles, seemingly unbothered by this revelation. "I am afraid that there may be more of the constructs active nearby. In order to keep them from escaping, my warriors and I will guard the entrance while you explore." He pauses, considering his next words carefully. "If they continue to emerge, we may need to assume that you have been overwhelmed and collapse the entrance. Whether you've escaped or not."
Dinvaya, who has approached by this point, looks upset at this declaration. "Oh no you don't," she says, sticking a finger defiantly in Jala's chest and then marching over to Keldor's Gauntleted state. The older half-elf chants a few words and her hand glows with blue energy. She pats Keldor on the chest, phasing through Gauntlet, and the glow diminishes by half. "Who else wants me to keep track of them? I have one more charge."
Jala shakes his head. "Then I will not assume. I will trust the monitoring. But if we determine that you have been captured or killed, we cannot risk more tribe members on a rescue mission."
, glaucite has 30 hit points per inch of thickness (the same as steel) and hardness 15. It is half again as heavy as steel, and the difficulty of working with the material triples the object’s total cost to create . As a result, glaucite armor and weapons are generally commissioned only by eccentrics and collectors and rarely see use in the field, given that steel weapons and armor work just as well and are less encumbering.
In addition to copper, steel, and more mundane metals, the gearsmen's bodies consist of small amounts of gold, platinum, and sundry sky metals that can be salvaged with an hour of work.
The cloud of noxious gasses has now spread thin across the gully, showing a tunnel now open from which the robots had spilled out. The ground is still trembling faintly.
Keldor/Gauntlet will turn off the chainsaw, and put it away. He then slowly approaches the exposed tunnel while casting several Rejuvenate Eidolon spells.
As his vision starts to come back, "Does anyone have a method of healing? Thawm, you still have those powers, do you not?"
Basil takes Keldors girl friend aside: "Dinvaya, could I ask a favor? While we are exploring inside, could you further disassemble these Robots here? Some of their components seem to be made of valuable materials - the contacts seem to be golden, and this small gear embedded here seems to be made of platinum. Obviously you'd get a share of the salvage, which I am sure will be useful in your work - but it seems wasteful not to retrieve what we can, and it would take your mind off worrying about your allocated mating unit."
She also turns to Jala:"For what it's worth, this piece was custom-built by me. It is neither salvaged nor lost technology, merely the application of science to maximize the number of targets I can perforate with a single pull of the trigger.", she shows her gun, so that it can be easily seen that there is no high technology involved in it's making.
To Harg, she reponds:"I do have some minor ability to provide healing, albeit I would rather keep that capability for emergencies. Thawm?", she also turns to her companion.
As eyes turn towards Thawm as the second recipient, Dinvaya walks towards her and casts the second of her spell on the theurge. Then she nods at Basil. "I'd be happy to, Basil. Something to do with my hands will keep my mind from spinning. Too much."
Jala shakes his head and raises his hands at Basil's explanation. "My warriors may be a bit nervous, but I am not so zealous as my Chieftain. You need not worry for my reaction."
At the request for healing, Dinvaya reaches into her pack and rustles around before pulling out a bronze mask. She raises this, offers a brief prayer, and floods the area with positive energy.
Basil, Thawm, and Jala's wounds seem entirely or completely closed, while Harg still looks quite injured. Dinvaya makes some calculations and then focuses her energy on Harg a bit more.
"So you focus more on what's inside."
Thawm pouts as she realizes she won't be able to aim at anything important. She lands near to the larger robot with a huff.
"Move over."
She explains as she gives it a flying spinning kick in just the right spot.
"Obviously I'll be saving my healing magics for once we're underground." Thawm explains with a nod to Dinvaya as the pile of what was a robot quickly slides to a halt behind her.
"Speaking of which; I believe that as the healer, my good health will be your primary indicator of how well we're doing down there." Thawm explains as she holds out her hand for Dinvaya to touch.
Thawm demonstrates why it is always unwise to underestimate a wizard as she winds up and sends the warden's busted chassis tumbling through the air until it impacts a nearby arroyo and causes it to crumble.
And with a bit of guidance from Brigh, Dinvaya has "eyes" (of a sort) on Keldor and Thawm.
The Aerotech Synthesis Compound, or so you suspect, awaits.
Keldor/Gauntlet shakes his head and holds a hand towards the 'entrance' a bit dramatically.
"Far be it that I attempt to argue with you Thawm...so I won't. I actually agree with you on this really. Let's gather what we need and move forward soon. I have a feeling the only thing preventing scavengers from hitting this place before now were those protective robots."
Standing near the entrance now, Keldor/Gauntlet flaps his metal-appearing wings slowly to help dissipate the foul mists nearby to see better and 'listens' to the ground using Gauntlet's temporary modification.
"I'll fly up and look around before we head down. I can do at least some of the scouting." Thawm explains before flying back up.
The vibrations grow stronger as Gauntlet approaches the blown-open-wide entrance of the site, but there are no obvious dangers here at the mouth.
Taking to the air, Thawm gazes over the sight as an avatar of the All-Seeing Eye. There is no clear or obvious movement in the surrounding areas. Pale green gas seeps up through vents in the earth for several hundred feet around. But there are no other beings, human or robot or otherwise, obviously nearby.
Thawm lands right behind Basil.
"I'll help you search, you and Keldor can lead the way." She explains as she starts giving Basil the Blessing of the Faithful.
Keldor/Gauntlet turns back to the others, folding his wings carefully.
"I sense something moving down there...vibrations...but it is not approaching us. I'm unsure if that's a bad thing or not. Let's move forward then. Harg? You've done a lot of the heavy lifting so far, so let me go to the front on this for now. Between the two of us, Gauntlet and I are pretty hard to harm. I do need to practice more with that chainsaw however..."
Leaving his hands free, Keldor will lead the others into the entrance when they are ready.
Harg pulls out a wand from his pouch and taps it on his chest, a flash of blue appears briefly.
Basil checks all chambers of her gun, and makes sure they are loaded again. "Before we proceed, let me take a closer look at that greenish gas. It seems heavier than air, lingering near the vents. You can flap it away up here, but down below, that will not be an option."
She gets closer to one of the vents and attempts to determine if the gas will be a health hazard to the group - especially in regards to extended exposure or inhalation.
She also gazes into the entrance, probing different wavelenghts to find one less impaired by the mist. She also adds a focal point on Detecting Law. She was unsure if that was even applicable to Robots, expecting them to have less Agenda than necessary to consider them anything but neutral entities, but it was worth a try.
An almost imperceptible hissing sound pervades the entrance corridor. Stone quickly gives way to glaucite on all sides. Despite the known strength of the iron-adamantine alloy, the corridors are sheared and twisted, bending the view ahead at unnatural angles. There may have been other passages and rooms here at some point, but they are inaccessible behind tons of wrecked skymetals mixed with earth. Peeking out from the ruined glaucite are broken pipes leaking gas. Faintly glowing panels flicker at random intervals, providing near-constant dim illumination to the group's steps. In the light, it appears that the usually dark gray glaucite has been stained yellow green.
Keldor leads the way in, with Basil scanning ahead for traces of order aided by Thawm's regular calls for Nethys' blessings. Harg's blade thrums in his grasp as the group passes through the thin gasses into the Aerotech Synthesis Compound, inexplicably excited.
Picking up on all of the clues, Basil theorizes that perhaps the original function of this compound was to synthesize and store a variety of gases. What the purpose of these gases was may not be immediately apparent, but inhaling too much of it can't be healthy for bioorganic lifeforms.
Looking ahead, Basil notices a gradual build-up of some of these gases through vents further down the entry corridor. It may be possible to reverse the vents' flow, causing them to suck away the area's foul fumes.
"Basil, do you agree that reversing the gas flow is possible? There should be controls..."
Gauntlet was an eidolon: an inevitable, not a robot. But Keldor had been paying attention to the sorts of bizarre phenomena presenting themselves in his traves across Numeria. He knew the language. And he had begun to intuit the layout of their panels. Even if something wasn't explicitly labeled, there was a certain logic to the devices used to control the items buried across this land.
And so , Keldor not only finds the controls, but perfectly presses the sequence of buttons and turns the knobs to reverse positive pressure to negative, inducing a mild vacuum. Within a few moments, the caustic gasses disappear from the entrance corridor, allowing safe passage beyond.
The chamber ahead is a mess of shattered boxes and other detritus, and the lights flicker and crackle. A few intact-looking objects lie near the eastern wall, including a book-sized sheet of glittering crystal. Perhaps most striking is that the objects are arranged in a vaguely human-like shape, with a suit of dark, form-fitting fibers deflated haphazardly in the eastern corner.
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"Good job, Keldor, yes, I was about to confirm your theory, but you already managed."
Basil takes a look at the chamber ahead, taking note of the various items scattered in the room.
Pointing out various objects, she comments: "A lot of tech in here. With those 2, I don't recall anything...this one, I'm not entirely sure, but those other ones I'm pretty certain of their nature. They are..."
"Nice." Thawm applauds as the gas fades.
"Let's figure out what these are." she explains as she gathers the technological items together, mostly with her telekinetic Mage Hand.
Once Basil starts looking things over, Thawm prays to assist her.
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Basil identifies several pieces of technology, along with their names in Androffan. Not everything has a direct translation into Taldane, but she can describe their functions and come up with a loose parallel for most of them.
The chip within the skillslot is a mystery to Basil: she can surmise that, given what it's plugged into, it could provide knowledge about how to do something, but what she isn't certain.
The crystalline device is also an anomaly.
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Once Basil has given it a shot, Thawm tries Technomancy, just in case either of the last two items is immediately useful.
before this post
Items:
. wand of CMW (x15 charges)
. potion of CLW x7
. (Divine) scroll of Cure Light Wounds (x8)
. (Arcane) scroll of Detect Radiation (x2)
. (Divine) scroll of Endure Elements (x3)
. (Divine) scroll of Magic Weapon (x3)
. (Divine) scroll of True Appraisal (x1)
. (Arcane) scroll of True Strike (x2)
. (Arcane) scroll of Unseen Servant (x1)
. (Arcane) scroll of Aram Zey's Focus (x2)
. (Divine) scroll of Protection from Technology (x1)
. (Divine) scroll of Restoration, Lesser (x1)
. blood boiling pill x8
Supernatural Abilities
. at will Blessing of the Faithful
. 5/5 /day Channel Energy (DC 15; 3d6)
. 1/1 /day Bonded Holy Symbol
. 1/1 /day Deflection Aura (7 rounds)
Spell-like Abilities
. at will Lore Keeper (successful touch attack equals a 25 on the appropriate knowledge check for the touched creature)
. 6/6 /day Acid Dart
. 1/1 /day Arcane Bond (Ring)
. 6/7 /rounds per day Remote Viewing (at will standard action and limited by rounds/day)
Cleric Spells
. 4th 1+1/day {D} Arcane Eye, Summon Monster 4
. 3rd 3+1/day {D} Dispel Magic, Second Wind, Summon Monster 3, Summon Monster 3
. 2nd 4+1/day {D} Barkskin, Protection from Technology, Eroding Ray, Resist Energy, Restoration, Lesser
. 1st 5+1/day {D} Shield, Abundant Ammunition, Abundant Ammunition, Bless, Bless, Fastidiousness
. Orisons Create Water, Light, Purify Food and Drink, Spark
Wizard Spells
. 4th 1+2/day {S} Dimension Door [x2], Summon Monster 4
. 3rd 3+2/day {S} Summon Monster 3 [x2], Dispel Magic, Fly, Haste
. 2nd 4+2/day {S} Glitterdust (DC 15) [x2], Aram Zey's Focus, Eroding Ray, Eroding Ray, Summon Monster 2
. 1st 5+2/day {S} Grease (DC 14) [x2], Detect Radiation, Mount, Technomancy, True Strike, True Strike
. Cantrips Detect Magic, Mage Hand, Open/Close, Read Magic
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Although the blue crystal journal remains a mystery to Thawm's augmented vision, her curious divination gives her insight into the skillchip without having to plug it in somewhere. Like the skillslot, after being implanted in someone's brain. Sure, there might be a machine that would allow you to analyze it outside of someone's body, but there didn't seem to be anything like that around here.
Instead, unbidden, Thawm's magic begins displaying something like a vivid illusion, flickering there in midair.
A small, blue-furred creature with six arms hovers in midair, its eyes glossy black and its teeth as sharp as a goblin's. It is dressed in an outfit that would not be terribly out of place way down south in Alkenstar, complete with a leather jacket and one of those wide-brimmed hats worn by certain horse riders. It holds a flintlock pistol in one hand and something that looks a bit like a flayleaf pipe in another while chewing on the end of what looks like a small grain of wheat. The creature looks at Thawm, it's eyes illuminated by a similarly illusory campfire nearby, and begins speaking in Androffan while a plaintive melody on plucked strings begins playing from an unseen instrument.
<"Well howdy pard'ner. Out here in the wilds of southern Aberanderen, survival ain't just a skill--it's a way of life. Introducing the Trailblazer Chip – your ticket to becoming the ultimate survivalist, straight from your noggin!>"
The furry creature grows in size--sort of. Part of its body seems to fade near the bottom, almost like some sort of ghost, as it looms in on Thawm and smiles.
<"With the Trailblazer Chip, we'll implant the wisdom of the wild right into your brain. Learn to start a fire with twigs, track critters, and find water where you least expect it.">
The creature begins flashing over in different locations around the room, accompanied by an illusory scene, and complete with costume and prop changes.
<"Whether you're lost in the desert or stuck in the mountains, you'll be ready for anything, cuz the Trailblazer Chip makes you a bona fide survivor!">
The creature stands on a rugged-looking plateau in which two glowing moons hang in the sky.
"<And with our new Trailblazer Mark III, you won't just live: you'll thrive! Ask your doctor today if the Trailblazer Mark III is right for you. Get out there and show Mother Nature who's boss. Yeehaw!">
The furball holds up his pistol and fires two shots into the air, emitting loud pops that crackle a little in the sound. He turns shadowy as though a strong light is shining from behind him, turning him into a near-silhouette of himself as dark smoke lazily drifts up from the barrel of the gun. A disembodied voice begins speaking in a rapid voice. The Androffan language is still new enough that it's too fast to catch everything, but the different listeners catch phrases like <"Trailblazer Corp,"> <"medical advice,"> <"diagnosis and treatment,"> <"side effects include,"> <"at your own risk,"> <"do not use if,"> <"pregnant or may become,"> and <"in rare case.">
The creature tips his hat as the Androffan text for "Trailblazer Corps" appears against a stylized blue background. The background looks like an impossible horizon showing multiple different geographic features adjacent to each other along. Near the bottom right of this coat of arms is a steady a blob of black and white squares in a seemingly random pattern above which the text "scan me now" is written in Androffan.
The creature speaks one last time, though its mouth does not move. <"Trailblazer Chip – Embrace the wild within!"> The plaintive melody from the beginning reiterates here at the end as the speaker finishes, increasing in volume before ending with a flourish.
A different disembodied voices pipes up, this one deep and gravelly. <"This message has been approved by the Veskarium.">
---
"Impressive, Thawm.", Basil points at the device it was in:"I'd assume those go together. This is a unit that is plugged right into your brain, and allows that other part to transmit it's content right into your mind. If that is desired. But the process of implanting it seems...complicated. I'd prefer not to perform the initial attempt of the procedure on any of you.", she does not say more to that, instead moving to the next item.
"This here is a flashlight - I believe we found one before. That over here is simply a piece of art, to the best of my knowledge. It can be implanted and is essentially the Androffan equivalent of a tattoo."
She holds up the stretchy suit:"This one provides optical camouflage. Much like the one I was outfitted with. Not equally powerful, but for longer periods of time. It also doubles as light armor."
She points at two other objects, then explains:"Those are items for travellers - this one is a shelter, which can automatically deploy into a techtent. It would also be quite valuable to a collector. Unless we intend to use it, it may be worth finding someone willing to purchase it. The other one, I would suggest to keep. It's a small boat, it would be cramped but I think it should be able to hold all of us. It's also very energy efficient, only consuming charges when deploying or folding back into storage. Might come in helpful."
She holds up the last item. "Now this one could be interesting. It works like a technological accuser devil, recording images or videos of things that happen. And it is able to play them back, as well. Let us see if there is anything interesting stored on the device, we may learn about the fate of this place."
Basil activates the Camera using one of the remaining charges, and checks if there are any photographs or videos recorded from the last time it had been used.
"Trailblazer Chip..." Thawm echoes, not fully processing the advertising that her spell just triggered.
"I do not think it turns you into a...Skittermander...I mean a 6-armed blue-furred creature.", Basil responds to Thawm. "In case you're worried about that."
Having been concentrating on keeping the area safe while the others 'oohed' and 'aaahd' over the new devices, Keldor nods at Basil's conclusions.
"Yes...how odd. Why would anyone want to shove metal into their brain? These people certainly had an odd way of living their lives, extra arms and blue-furred or not."
Activating the camera, Basil cycles through dozens of short pictures and videos. There are pictures of landscapes impossible even on as varied of a world as Golarion is, dotted with truly alien structures. Creatures for which Basil's significant knowledge has no name appear, along with (presumably) evidence of them, from footprints to skeletons to droppings. There are also a few pictures of people who appear human, smiling while looking forward. One human appears more often than the others: she has a light chestnut complexion, dark brown hair, and a blue tattoo that looks like it could be the same cyberart as is lying on the ground. These pictures and videos are interspersed occasionally with pictures of the woman in a corridor like the current one, but presumably before it was destroyed.
The second-to-last file in the camera is a close-up of a different woman that Basil immediately recognizes as an android: blue lips and streams of nanites working over furrows in her face. The video is brief, almost a mere photograph, save for a blink at the end. The face strikes Basil as...familiar.
The final video shows the room in its current state, panning around to the suit before the image jumbles to show the overly-close visage of a wizened man with long silver-gray and a matching beard. He speaks--this time in Taldane.
"A curious device, but ultimately useless for my purposes. Its archive is limited, not connected to any database, and none of its images are labeled. However it did accept my spell's magical charge."
A second, much deeper voice from off camera replies, "Master Xoud, I still do not understand: why are we here?"
Master Xoud's face lights up, though it goes out of the view frame so that he is off-kilter and barely visible. "The last photograph confirms my suspicions that our quarry once sheltered here. Depending on how deep she went, Sahasho, we may find more clues to her trail. Yet you should know by now I have numerous projects. Come, and you will see why I called upon you."
The camera view descends even further, watching the man walk away to the west. A swirling of dust and wind follows him before both are eclipsed by the screen's edge. The view stays like this, unchanging for several minutes before going dark.
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Reviewing the video, Thawm knows two things. First, Xoud's companion was certainly invisible. There is insufficient information to offer any other clues as to the nature of the invisible companion, but Xoud's final statement of "I called upon you" suggests that the companion was Called in the arcane sense, perhaps not unlike Xzron the Burleev from her childhood.
A calling spell transports a creature from another plane to the plane you are on. The spell grants the creature the one-time ability to return to its plane of origin, although the spell may limit the circumstances under which this is possible. Creatures who are called actually die when they are killed; they do not disappear and reform, as do those brought by a summoning spell. The duration of a calling spell is instantaneous, which means that the called creature can't be dispelled.
She also knows of Xoud from research that she had done into the Technic League following her parents' disappearance.
Furkas Xoud was once a member of the Technic League, and had a reputation as a powerful wizard. As a young man originally from Caliphas (in Ustalav), he left his aristocratic home and joined the Technic League to study electronics and robotics. He published several papers on the functions of nanites: tiny robots that resembled smoke in large enough groups.
For reasons unknown to Thawm, however, his association with the League ended about 11 years ago. Rumors say alternately that he was exiled for unorthodox beliefs and experiments or that he fled persecution for the same. Regardless of the reasons, he relocated to south-central Numeria in a region known as the Dreamwood. He almost certainly chose the Dreamwood as the location for his new home due to its inaccessibility and remote location, but the hill giants dwelling in the wood certainly provided an additional deterrent for anyone trying to follow him into the tangled interior.
Within the Dreamwood he constructed a new home: a dauntingly tall tower belching forth thick smoke about the boughs of the forest. Soon after the tower’s construction, local tribes began telling stories of strange dreams experienced by those who slept within the woods or near its borders. Word also spread of the strange "smoke wizard" who had taken up residence in the woods. The forest is now often called the Smokewood by the locals.
No one has heard from Xoud in about 7 years, though the Choking Tower continues to billow with smoke. The common belief is that he passed away from old age in his tower, but some believe that the Technic League finally succeeded in sending an assassin after him during one of the League's power shifts. No one unassociated with the League is interested in finding out the truth, however.
After the end of her long winded explanation, Thawm pauses for effect (as well as to finally take a breath).
"...so, in summary, there has been at least a few visitors here. Perhaps that 'Smokewood' might be worth visiting some day. Any enemy of the league might be a friend of ours." Thawm explains, coming to the end of it at last.
Shrugging, Keldor nods down the corridor.
“Let’s go find out what they found then.”
"His quarry. What was he after, Thawm? Do you have any idea what his purpose was? And could you call this Sahasho so we can question it?", Basil inquires of her companion, not taking her eyes off the camera, where she re-views the second-to-last video in a loop.
Her memory worked...differently, most efficient than that of a purely biological entity. She could retrieve information efficiently and cross-reference things easily, or run internal analysis and pattern recognition that was beyond the mental capacity for average humanoids. But it all had to "make sense". She was bound by logical rules. Unlike a unsentient robotic being, her mind was shielded against incomplete fragments of memories or data. So she KNEW the woman was familiar. The face was known to her. But that was the extent of what she was able to retrieve - the associated memories were scattered and fragmented, and to protect her mind, the neural interfaces did not allow her to access what was there. In emergencies, overruling those safeguards was an option, but it could have horrible effects on her mind. Not something she was willing to risk at this time.
Memories, fragments of memories, recordings, and speculation linger in the air as the group prepares to move on. Before Thawm has an opportunity to respond to Basil's most recent query, reaches for the final item in the pile. They turn over the large, blue crystalline, metal-reinforced journal-like structure, which suddenly shimmers with swirls of color, vibrating lightly to the touch. The colors quickly resolve into that of the human woman from the photographs. She looks around for a moment as if disoriented, but then looks straight at . Her face lights up with excitement. She smiles, waves, and speaks in Androffan.
<"Well hello there!">
"Hello there.", Basil waves back mechanically. "I'm Basil. Nice to meet you!"
"Basil," the woman repeats, the image jittering slightly. Basil notices that there is a small crack in the upper right corner of the screen, unnoticeable when the device had been turned off. She smiles. "I'm...hmmmm...Iss...sai...rah. Isirah. Isirah Tana." the pronunciation is slow at first, as if she had almost forgotten it. "Isirah Tana," she repeats, with increased confidence. "It's nice to meet you, Basil!"
Her face comes closer in the screen and her eyes flit left and right, as though attempting to see if anyone else is with Basil. "Are you alone, too?"
"No, I am not alone, Isirah. I have...friends... with me. I believe I have found your camera. It seems to contain memories I assume are precious to you. Where are you, so that I can return it to you?", Basil responds, while tilting the screen to include any of her companions that do not seem to want to avoid being shown.
Isirah waves at the other three as Basil pans the screen around, looking quite excited at the sight of Gauntlet and Harg, a little "Hello!" greeting each one in turn. "Can you all understand me?" she asks, seeming once again thrilled when it seems that everyone in the group speaks Androffan. Then she turns her attention back to Basil. "My camera...oh yes! I remember now. That's wonderful."
She pauses at the question of where she is, tilting her head within the screen. "I'm right here," she says simply. She blinks her eyes a few times before a seeming dawn of realization lights her face. "Oooooh, my body. Is it not there with you?"
It's not.
"No, no body here. So you are self-contained within this device, not somewhere remote? I expected you to have a physical existence as well based on the pictures. What is this item I am holding?", Basil inquires, then adds "There is a slight crack in the upper right corner. I hope this does not impact or inconvenience you in any form, Isirah?"
"Wow," Isirah marvels. "Maybe it's been a while, then. Organic matter tends to degrade and all that. Oh well." She seems truly unperturbed by this revelation: that her physical existence is no more.
Isirah listens to Basil's question, commentary, and expression of concern patiently before responding. "This item you are holding," she mimics knocking on the screen from the inside, accompanied by a tinny *knock knock* sound emitting from unseen speakers, "Is an AI core. Artificial intelligence. I stored my mind in here when..." She pauses, her eyes panning back and forth. "When something happened. Something very dangerous, I suppose. Or else why would I have done it, right?"
The gentle smile returns. "So where are you? We, I guess. Where are we?"
Detect Evil.
”Facinating!”
Gauntlet detects not an ounce of evil in the room. No swirling malaise, no malice, no mockery of the heavens above.
Isirah seems to notice Gauntlet looking at her, and she waves. "Thank you, I guess. Who and what are you, metal man? You don't look like any robot I'm familiar with."
"We are at the Aerotech Synthesis Compound.", Basil moves a bit to give her a better view of the immediate area, "There were hostile robots and dangerous gases, albeit I think you may reference something more severe, considering some of those pictures. Does your AI Core generate it's own power? If not, are you capable of plugging into a robotic mechanism? I am not sure if there is a possibility to recharge you, especially considering the age of your Core."
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"The Compound!" Isirah repeats, clapping. "And you already know its name, too! I had forgotten that, I think. But I meant where where. Like, where-in-the-universe- where are we?" After a beat, she adds. "I was an explorer before, but...I don't know where we ended up. Or why."
Isirah gets a thoughtful look on her face at the rest of Basil's questions. "Wow you're curious. I like that. Well let's see. If I remember correctly, which is a big maybe, then...no, but yes. I think. I've never tried. Let's see..."
The screen shimmers around the cracks and a read-out displays in Androffan.
Isirah's eyes glance up and down at the list before the "Status" word blinks and a new readout displays.
"Hmmm, well the timer is busted, so no way of knowing how long it's been. Transference: incomplete. Memory repairs recommended? Well that explains a few things. One hundred and forty nine hours of charge remaining. Well that's not too bad."
Isirah seems to notice Gauntlet looking at her, and she waves. "Thank you, I guess. Who and what are you, metal man? You don't look like any robot I'm familiar with."
Nodding at his negative readings, he goes back to keeping an eye out for trouble. Once he can get a word in edgewise, Keldor tries to explain his bond with Gauntlet in terms a technical specialist might understand better.
"You have a keen eye...or camera?...my Lady! I am not a robot...or golem, although I might currently resemble one vaguely. This form is a spirit entity of Lawful aspect, who comes when I call it, and allows me to bond with it in order to impart its physical characteristics to me temporarily. I can control it directly without interference, and when we are bonded, it offers me greater strength, protection, and..."
He waggles his new wings a bit.
"...other aspects of travel most humanoids cannot enjoy directly."
Isirah giggles at Gauntlet's compliment before listening keenly to his following explanation, smiling dreamily. "That sounds kind of like aggregation!" she exclaims at the end. "Do you have your own body or are you like me?" She makes a knocking motion on the screen once more, a swirl of colors tittering from the point of digital impact.
Harg has remained wary during the conversation, seeming distracted and not entirely paying attention to Isirah and the others. Whatever is on his mind is unclear, but he's clearly agitated.
Nodding, he replies easily with understanding of the woman's current odd nature and her curiosity.
"I fortunately still have my own body. Gauntlet...that is the name of the Eidolon I inhabit at the moment, cannot stay here forever, but will return later when I call him again."
He then waves in a vague manner, and responds in a very curious manner himself.
"It IS possible we can find you a new body at some point, is it not? As long as the technology exists to download you into...whatever that is you are speaking to us from...we should be able to reverse the effect but into a different empty shell of a body? Or we could maybe construct one..."
Keldor seems to ramble himself off to another corner of his thought processes on potential body replacements for Isirah.