"Then if we want to do this, I suggest we get started. Do I have your permission to attempt to open another door?"
"Yes. Of course," says the Director flipping through the journal that he has no way of reading but which reveals surprising truths about his world. "Pod 3 door is locked and only the exterior door to the big dome is open."
You can open the Pod 3 door the same way you did Pod 2, with an Engineering check, possibly with another's aid.
"Yar. Legato the assistant be here!"
Henri studies the door to avoid making the same mistake as he had on the previous entry.
Seeing Henri’s having better luck with Door Number Three, Nissa flits over to the doorway to provide light.
The door opens halfway, which is wide enough to slip through if you wish. Looking into the room, you see two tables covered with equipment. One table looks like it is full of complex technological equipment of various types. It would take some kind of Engineering or Life Sciences check to figure out what all these strange objects are for.
A series of clear tubes sit on one small side table in various states of repair. You recognize these as 10" (25.4 cm) high stasis chambers. Something could be held outside of time in one of these, suspended, waiting ... From what you read, Hamel and the young Atlantean were putting eggs in these and they were to convert to small incubators when it was time.
Another long table contains items that look more magical than technical. The various arcane symbols painted on it give you some clue. It also features the tiniest summoning circle you've ever seen. The creature summoned couldn't be more than 4 inches high, whatever it was being used for.
On the wall of the shelter over the magical table is another permanent illusion. It's a city street in what looks like magical Victorian England. Wizards walk down the street with familiars on their shoulders, teens gamble in an alley, a quasit slips into a horse drawn carriage and then out again with something shiny in its hand. In the middle of the scene is the same lovely woman you saw earlier gazing in the window of a store called 'Coventry Occult Books'. This is Hamel's wife, from what the young Atlantean's journal suggested. The illusion has a bit of movement in it, but resets after the woman turns, smiles, and waves at the viewer.
Nissa is intrigued by the summoning circle and also the chambers she can easily enter!
She tries to compare the summoning circle to the illusion to determine what the creature might be, although Nissa’s only knowledge of magic is movie-magic. She might know a demonic circle from a fairy circle if 20th century films depicted the circles accurately from a thematic point of view (scary/cultish vs cute/nature-based).
Within the illusion, Nissa can see a couple of very wizardly-looking wizards. One is dressed in a black robe, wears an eye patch, and has a raven on his shoulder. His robe crackles with lightning as he walks. It's probably an illusion, but people give him a wide birth.
Another very wizardly-looking wizard stares, with apparent confusion, at the devices in a clock repair shop next to Coventry Occult Books. He has a fairy fluttering around him. She doesn't seem very bright. She keeps flying into the glass window of the shop. Maybe she's drunk.
A third man, who appears to be begging for change, has some magical ability, clearly. When the wizard in black robes with a raven passes him by with a scowl, he creates an illusion of the same man wearing gaudily colorful robes with a bright peacock on his shoulder coming the other way. The dark-robed wizard almost bumps into his colourful doppleganger, stops, and recognizing it as an illusion, stomps through it.
The quasit sneaks over to the wizard-beggar and drops a stolen bauble in his pocket.
The illusion resets and repeats at this point.
Nissa flies over to the fairy in the illusion. “Haha! Ohhh… I know this has been playing on infinite loop for over 700 years, but I just want the poor girl to just stop—oh, c’mon! It’s somewhat reflective—how can she not get…?! Gotta be drunk, right?”
Moving on to the ten-inch-tall chambers, Nissa investigates (without entering, for now).
Watches as Nissa flitters anf flies around the area. "Energtic like ya look." before his sigils roll and glow across his skin as he tries to figure out the summon circle. Pondering himself Filing away that funny trick
Henri slips in, as well, to study the equipment. ”No bodies or bones. Maybe put themselves in stasis in the last structure?”
Theo waits outside as anxiously as the other Utopians.
It's weird even for magitech, but it could work.
”Interesting! I don’t know enough to explain how they work, but given time…” He is lost in thought for a moment, thoroughly confusing Kate about how to translate a cascade of jargon and half-formed theories before he snaps back to focus, ”Sorry, you don’t need to share that part, I was brainstorming. Anyway, these are stasis tubes like the journal discussed. They are all damaged in some fashion. They were designed to hold eggs until they received a signal - that the air was clean, probably - and switch to incubation mode to hatch them. Designed to monitor and adjust as they matured, of course. There seems to be some magic built in to feed the hatchlings grubs via summoning.” He points at the tiny summoning circle. ”But if you eat a summoned grub, do you actually get any food for the trouble? Interesting question. Maybe the working tubes are in the other building. Maybe with our two workers as a desperate measure to survive?”
Nissa says, “I summoned grubs.” She leans close to one of the chambers, and winces at the result. “Yuck.”
"You did!?" Henri leans in to see what she is looking at. "Fascinating!" He watches intently to see how long the grubs last - or at least until distracted by something else.
Nissa points out the chamber with the twisted door and the cozy nest inside it. “There are weird runes carved in the ceiling. See?” When she points, her glowy arm activates the arcane circle. More grubs fall out of it.
“Yup, seeing it over and over doesn’t make it any less gross. Good thing I don’t need food, ‘cause if I did, I’d have lost my appetite.”
On a more serious note, she asks, “What’s so important about the birds. Are they supposed to fly up and somehow keep the skies clear? This all seems like a lot of magic just to celebrate clear skies.”
"It makes sense if you're trying to reestablish an ecosystem," Charles points out in response to Nissa. "You need a lot of insects to form the basis of an ecosystem, but then you need predators to keep their populations in check. A lot of birds are good predators for insects."
Nissa considers Charles’ words. “So they aren’t summoning fairies or tiny demons. They’re summoning woodland creatures?” She points to the circle that seems to summon a four-inch-tall person.
Then she flies over to it.
“Anyone know if fire happens to activate the magic?” She looks at Legato like he’s obviously a magician.
""mmkay probably dont play with the summong magic. Aldo don't play with the Abyssal Grubs. Nota problem exatly alone tho. They're kinna more like a learning level thing? Also on a timer that activates when nearby every day-or well, my day. I dunno what a day here is exactly yet hour wise!. but yeah. Prolly something to help learn when they wake up.. or ya food maybe? I nevah ate sometin made out of magic body goop."
Legato bends down and plucks the freshest lookin one before chomping down on it. before he continues.
"Fire probably breaks it. Tho you're a magical firebug so..." Legato shrugs a bit. "Are we wantin to try and fix or activate them? Might wanna look at them desks."
""mmkay probably dont play with the summong magic. Aldo don't play with the Abyssal Grubs. Nota problem exatly alone tho. They're kinna more like a learning level thing? Also on a timer that activates when nearby every day-or well, my day. I dunno what a day here is exactly yet hour wise!. but yeah. Prolly something to help learn when they wake up.. or ya food maybe? I nevah ate sometin made out of magic body goop."
Legato bends down and plucks the freshest lookin one before chomping down on it. before he continues.
"Fire probably breaks it. Tho you're a magical firebug so..." Legato shrugs a bit. "Are we wantin to try and fix or activate them? Might wanna look at them desks."
Searching the shelter, Legato discovers that a nondescript metal cylinder on the counter is actually a container. He cannot see how to open it until he uses detect magic.
Once he can see the thin glowing runes inscribed on the tube he can see that the cylinder is magically locked. Unlocking it would require a spell capable of defeating a lock or solving the magical puzzle presented in the runes. Legato must select all the possible spell components for a particular type of sleep spell. It's a very old-fashioned type of magic and not one Legato practices; selecting spell components for the spell requires a DC 25 Mysticism check.
Crunching the grub, Legato ponders another, "Betcha that'd sell as drive thru fried clams." After searching for a bit, he points at the metal cylinder on the the counter staring at it for a while mumbling.
"This can open... if you're good at magic puzzles, or stronger than it. I got nothin strong enough to blank it. Anyone gots secret knowledge on old old sleep spells?"
Henri continues to stare at the grubs that haven't been consumed, trying to time how long they remain present. Don't summoned things only stay for a limited time?
"I'll take a look if nobody minds", Theo announces as he peeks inside.
Crunching the grub, Legato ponders another, "Betcha that'd sell as drive thru fried clams."
Nissa watches in disbelief as Legato has a second helping.
“You know that I can create fire, if you actually want to eat a grub that’s fried like for real.”
Henri continues to stare at the grubs that haven't been consumed, trying to time how long they remain present. Don't summoned things only stay for a limited time?
The grubs don't disappear during the time Henri is watching them.
In repsonse to Nissa' suggestion, "Mm. Sure? I've never had cooked grub before.. I did want fried in a coatin tho yakno? but I aint got flour or eggs. Or oil."
Legato gets down and dirty with the box along side Theo.
Nissa shrugs off Legato’s words. Grubs are not grub. She’s pretty sure about that, and glad she doesn’t need food anymore. A starving person might eat a bug from the abyss, a bat out of hell, cats and dogs raining from heaven…
But Legato isn’t starving! He’s thinking of what ingredients—!?!
Nissa shrugs off Legato’s words like for real.
She turns to Charles. “Ecosystem. Right! So the birds and the.. yucky grubs—all part of starting over. Summoning circles expedite nature being all natural again.
“So we’re onto something. We just need that bio-scrubber!” She asks Charles and also Henri, who seems more sciencey than magical, “Any clue what that is?”
Nissa also asks Mindy, “Any particular book I should maybe read aloud to my ner—really smart friends?”
"We have book," says Mindy. "But no cannot read. I me think know two words but no know sound. Whole big secret."
Mindy finishes her sentence out loud and looks mildly embarrassed. She speaks again in her own tongue and Cate passes sends the meaning along telepathically.
"We have a book left by the Ancients back at Utopia, but we cannot read it. I think I know the meanings, but not the sounds, of two words, based on the pictures: the word for 'Builder' and the word for 'Minder'. I doubt Guardian One will let you see it though; it's one of the seven secrets the Guardians keep from the people, except their entourages."
Nissa smiles at Mindy.
“I hope Guardian One won’t keep the secret that could clear your skies. Any book that depicts Builders and Minders working together likely involves a project of that magnitude.” Especially for the sake of any Builders present, Nissa says, “I believe Builders are highly intelligent people. Anything they can touch, they can create even in ways a Minder can’t.
“But only a Minder can look into the skies and say to a builder: ‘this is what you need to create to clear the gloom.’”
She turns to Mindy and also the burly woman.
“Supposing we can’t persuade Guardian One from words alone. Is there anything here at all—books, illusions, your minds?” She is addressing both Mindy and the Builder when she says ‘minds.’ “—anything at all that can get us closer to knowing what a bio-scrubber is, assuming that is even something meant to clear your skies.”
She does cede that she’s “literally made of Sun, so I might be heavily biased regarding the Sun’s importance. But then… it really is dark and cold, and you rely on magitech to create light and warmth.” And having countered her own disclaimer she pleads to both Minder and Builder:
“Do you think you can figure something out together while I further explore the journal?”
Henri gives up on figuring out the duration of the summoning. Probably a magic I haven't even heard of.
"Bio-scrubbers? It would help to know what caused the issue being cleaned up? Smoke from factories? Nuclear fallout? Forest fires?" He is quiet for a bit, then looks up at the locals, "We have only seen a few locations in your world - what do you know of the rest of it? Are there many other places like this? Other places that might once have been settlements or cities? How far from Utopia City have your people explored? Are all of your vehicles small people-carriers or were any larger, possibly to carry freight or larger teams of scientists?"
Where are the two workers that were stationed here 700 years ago?
In repsonse to Nissa' suggestion, "Mm. Sure? I've never had cooked grub before.. I did want fried in a coatin tho yakno? but I aint got flour or eggs. Or oil."
Legato gets down and dirty with the box along side Theo.
[dice=Mysticism]1d20+11
Legato with Theo's support selects the three possible spell components, represented on the lock by their arcane symbols. The trickiest one was the dead cricket, one of which apparently contains enough calcium and zinc to work in that spell.
A seam appears at a spot in the tube where no seam appeared before. The tube opens on its own.
Inside is a long thin glass tube full of a thick black liquid.
Henri peers around the duo of magicians. "If we can get a sample of that, I can try to analyze it. Maybe it will answer some of our questions." He looks at the Director and Mindy the Minder questioningly.
The Utopians give permission. At this point, they've learned more about the ancients in an hour than they have in 3 years of exploring the lands outside Utopia.
The Utopians are discussing Nissa's questions. They tell the party that there are a number of structures left by the Ancients that seem like they should have served a purpose but are largely dormant, locked, and unexplored. Perhaps some of them were to be involved in this bioscrubbing.
"Nanobots. Millions, no, billions of nanobots. Some appear to bond to living cells, but some have another function. Possibly they use the bonding units to bridge to the cells. I can think of some tests to find out more of... varying levels of safety."
Nissa says to Henri, “Nanometric size is within my ability. I could take a look at the nanobots, if you want. I… don’t have any idea if that would be helpful, though.”
"Mm. It aint yours to test or drink or play with." gesturing to the locals "Its theres nah? Should be them testin or decidin danger. I can't say playin with it in the ruins of a dead civvie is a goodn plan either." Legato points out the setting of the situation.
But if ya just wanna inject someone. that sounds funny"
"Mm. It aint yours to test or drink or play with." gesturing to the locals "Its theres nah? Should be them testin or decidin danger. I can't say playin with it in the ruins of a dead civvie is a goodn plan either." Legato points out the setting of the situation.
But if ya just wanna inject someone. that sounds funny"
The more you as a group prove yourself capable, the less social authority the locals seem to have around here. Mindy brought you in and you're finding all sorts of stuff out, so she's pretty much the boss now. Do as you wilt.
"I have an idea. Nissa, if you are willing to observe..." he starts clearing an area to work and field-sterilizing it before using his medkit to draw some of his blood.
When Nissa is ready, he explains as he affixes the test tube with the blood sample into a frame using a clamp, "I am thinking that I will set this at an angle, like so, and you can fly in and wait above the level of the blood to see how the nanobots react when they meet the blood cells."
If she agrees, he will wait for her to get into position before gently releasing a drop of the nanobots to slide down the bottom side of the test tube into the blood.
Nissa is excited by this idea. “I can’t wait to tell L.C. I’m doing actual scientific observation! I’m in!” She for some reason looks uncomfortable. “Not like literally diving in the blood pool. In like you said, hovering above… yeah, you very likely knew that.”
She patiently crosses one leg over the other, as if sitting in midair, wings rapidly abuzz to keep her in place. She will become about the size of a nanobot on Henri’s signal.
He gets his materials ready, pulls a sample of nano-sludge in a pipette, and nods to Nissa. "Yeah, watch from outside the test tube, that's safer in case the reaction is violent. I will count to thirty to give you time to get into position. Is that enough time?"
“Plenty!” Nissa replies. She contemplates her best vantage point, which is admittedly outside of the tube. Exactly where depends on how the blood and nanobot goop mix—or don’t mix!
With that thought, her best vantage point is at the surface of whatever substance is in the container first.
When the count begins, Nissa will give herself about twenty seconds to settle herself in place.
Henri counts down, holding the pipette over the larger quantity of nano-sludge until he gets down to three, carefully moving the pipette toward the test tube. Two... One... and release.
He immediately begins monitoring the air at the mouth of the test tube for anything interesting that would identify the reaction occurring within using his chemanalyzer's air-sniffing apparatus.
The Shining elevator… Amityville Horror’s walls… that thing they do at the start of every James Bond movie…
Nothing from her 20th Century Film class could have prepared her for this moment: seeing blood pour down glass at the molecular level.
This is so amazing!
She watches the nanobots react as the cells make contact!
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After the darts fire, there's a pause for all of 2 seconds as these darts swell just a bit and then start emitting energy, which seems to summon a rush of nanites who swarm towards the dart and then into the cell like Black Friday shoppers when the doors open.
This is happening in hundreds of red blood cells at once. The cells well and blacken and are replaced by black tubes made up of nanites. Other nanites, sleeping until now, begin to attach to the tube, but they start to form a long black fiber. Ten seconds after the nanites hit the blood, a dozen fiber tubes are thrashing about in the blood, trying to attach themselves to something, but it isn't clear what. Whatever it is, apparently is not there.
While Henri and Nissa are experimenting, a Builder steps forward. He says something in Utopian. The meaning arrives in your head, "The Director said you needed a test subject. I am required to volunteer."