"Again?" Harlan decides to leave the question for later, adding "That music's already gettin' on my nerves and we haven't even been here more than a few minutes. Any of you tell where it's coming from?" He tries to tell that himself.
"It's not the Song of the Spheres, I can assure you..." Jaeric replies, "But it's still kind of catchy." He sets off in the direction of the library. "Let's see what we can learn about this ancient society based on their culture and art...and any historical records they might have preserved."
|
The music seems to emanate from all around you. You quickly realize that you can't pinpoint the source of the sound because design the buildings themselves are acting as giant speakers. Their structural response and vibratory elements built into their walls are generating the music.
With the exception of the ever-present alien music, this enormous building remains completely silent. Digital and physical records from the planet’s past fill shelves and data archives stretching for the equivalent of city blocks.
Research is far from one of Harlan's strengths - largely he doesn't have the patience for it - but given that there's no one around to press for details in a more "personal" fashion, he grunts his displeasure and then starts flicking through the library's computer systems.
Already barely motivated, he gives up the moment the information doesn't just fall into his lap. He turns to the physical records, figuring that while the others find the information needed, he might be able to locate some collectors items to resell later.
While he's appreciating some of the illuminated manuscripts, he calls out "Oh yeah, if you check the systems logs, our lost Starfinders probably made it here. Shame they didn't leave some notes on where they were going."
Zephyr takes a look around, but he is. Hilt more for action than research.
Finding little of interest, Zephyr takes up guard duty and keeps an eye out for any developing threats.
Jaeric joins the others in meandering thru the library, looking for a workstation from which to access any knowledge repositories. Once he finds one, he settles down to try his hand at deciphering the system. But, it proves frustratingly slow and confusing despite his training in the xeno-sciences and archaeology.
"I'm not having much luck with the digital records here," Jaeric finally announces over the team's comm units. "Technologically, they do seem pretty advanced. Wouldn't surprise me if this is all part of the izalguun origins...though, the ones we met on that icy planet do seem to have put away a lot of that from their culture. I wonder what the ancient ones were like on this planet when they weren't so restrained in their use of it?"
He then proceeds to the non-digital records, browsing thru any physical media, art, and other artifacts. "They definitely seem to have a high degree of expertise in engineering and the life sciences," he shares, "And yet, that same golden shield trapped them here for generations, I assume. From what we know, the Tears are the only thing that got them out...and allowed us in. I wonder if the izalguuns created them or simply repurposed something which these supposed gods of theirs sent to them?"
Softly into the comms, Zephyr says, "That same figure seems to be watching us from across the street...Should I go out and make contact?"
”Sounds good,” replies Zephyr, heading out the door with his hands out wide and empty. Once he is outside, he looks up at the figure in the distance and waits.
Harlan looks up from a magazine "We should all go, just in case they want to do more than just watch." He keeps out of direct line of sight as Zephyr heads out to look up at the watcher.
|
|
The figure doesn't move when Zephyr exits the door. When the android walks down the stairs to street level the humanoid retreats until its back is against the wall of the building behind it. Then it begins to shuffle to its right along the wall.
Meanwhile, inside the library, Jaeric may be coming to the conclusion that he's learned all he can here without deeper investigation. Deeper investigation on the timescale of days, when the invasion is on a timescale of hours, or maybe even minutes.
Zephyr stops walking when the figure starts sliding along the wall. He raises a hand, waving at the figure and calling out, ”Greetings. Who are you? Would you like to talk?”
Harlan whispers an aside to Zephyr. "Hey, if he isn't being properly... cooperative and respectful to your requests, how about I make you invisible and you can go on up there and apprehend him for us."
"Seems our 'watcher' friend is either extremely shy or some kind of lure to draw us away," Jaeric remarks as he finally catches up with the others just in time to see Never's attempt to subdue it fail. "Either way, we can't spare time for it. They'll either come to us as a friend or foe and we'll deal with it then..."
"In the meantime," he adds, "I think we've learned all we can about the culture of those who lived here long ago. I doubt we'll find anything more in the residential areas or shopping mall. But at least we know some Starfinders did log into the systems at the library. So, I'd bet they probably examined the factory or military base after that. The factory would have presented an easier target to learn more about the izalguuns' industrial capabilities, so they might have saved the military base until last to avoid stirring up any planetary defenses left behind. By that reasoning, maybe we should go there next...and then the military base?"
”Well-reasoned,” replies Zephyr, still somewhat annoyed that the watcher eluded them. ”To the factory,” he adds.
|
|
A short walk later:
The factory district is full of activity: industrial robots building and repairing other robots. Standing at the edge of this area, you can easily see that the level of robotics is highly advanced, and everything looks fully automated.
Zephyr also notices the mysterious human standing about a block behind you, watching you.
Harlan gives the mysterious figure a lazy salute before turning his attention to the robots. If the figure can dissolve into mist, there'll be no talking or fighting with them until they decide its time to do so. So in the mean time, Harlan saunters over to the robots and takes a look around for anything that might reveal the presence or interference of the missing Starfinders.
He also tries to work out if the robot building process is a closed loop, or if they're perpetually generating more units without any destruction of the previous ones.
"Hello?" Jaeric politely announces their presence as he too approaches one of the robots, "Can you understand me? We're from off-world, but we come in peace. We believe others of our kind came here before us. Have you seen anyone like us? Or, can we speak with your overseer or creators?"
He waits to see if the robot responds or simply continues carrying out its task. As he does so, he tries to surmise its intent or anything unusual about its behavior.
”The visitor is back,” says Zephyr, though he makes no move to chase the unknown entity again. Moving into the factory, Zephyr looks around too for anything interesting…
Harlan grunts his agreement to Zephyr. After another a few more moments of watching the robots, he asks "Yeaaah, we're not getting out of these chumps. How about we go to the military base? The place seems secure, might've been a good choice for someone looking to hide out."
"From our interactions with the izalguun descendants of this civilization, I got the impression they left here by any means necessary...and quickly. So, it's curious these robots are continuing to build, maintain, or otherwise manufacture something more since the departure of their creators. Could they have come here after the exodus? And, if so, who might they belong to or represent? And more importantly, what activity are they engaged in on their behalf?" Jaeric muses aloud.
When he sees Zephyr emerging from the factory again, he gives the android a quizzical look, "Any idea what they're doing in there? If not, I agree with Harlan. We move on the military base to see if any defenses were left there...and if our Starfinder colleagues ran afoul of them. Everyone stay sharp and have weapons ready. This may become a rescue mission that requires direct conflict."
Unless Zephyr has found something interesting in the factory or learned something important about the rot bots that are being made (Engineering roll above), he is good to move along.
|
|
Your route to the military base takes you past a shopping mall where the weird elevator music plays louder, then through a residential zone. There are no living inhabitants here; You observe only robots making repairs and cleaning the residences. The bots flee at top speed when approached.
Through it all the hooded humanoid trails behind you.
You find yourself at the gates to the military base. You're standing in a broad street in front of a gate in the glowing energy fence surrounding the base. Jaeric glances back and notices that the figure is no longer behind you. Suddenly it appears between you and the gate.
"I am A-1. Please return to your vessel and depart.."
”This place seems to be eerily devoid of organics, as if they all left millennia ago but their machines continue to maintain the planet—though we should not neglect the possibility of sentient robots,” says Zephyr.
Harlan lights a cigar and takes a long draw "Alright A-1, what's your game? We'll leave as soon as we know what happened to the visitors that came here. If you want us to leave, help us with that."
"What, ya didn't hear me? I said-" Harlan speaks in a loud, slow drawl, as if he were talking to a child He huffs "You can wait all you like for your ancient culture, but we've got more immediate problems, yeah? Now, you got anything or do we need to start puttin' some pressure on you before you talk?"
Up until now, Jaeric has used all this time to assess A-1, trying to discern what sort of entity this might be while the others engage it in conversation. But when the topic centers around the missing Starfinders and A-1's assertion that there were no visitors, he gets more directly involved.
"We know there were visitors here. They logged into the same systems we consulted among your library archives. We verified it..." he states with the kind of assertion that will brook no argument over the fact, "And I suspect you know that already if you're any good at being the Caretaker and Protector of this civilization. After all, you've been following us around since we arrived. So, why the deception?" Jaeric pauses to assess A-1's reaction to those statements, wanting to see how it will react to being caught in a potential lie. "And if you don't tell us the truth, there'll only be more of us coming to investigate..."
Regardless, he then softens his tone a bit. "Look, we're just trying to be reasonable here. We were expressly sent to look for our colleagues that went missing. And, no matter how much you might wish for us to depart, we simply cannot leave without them...or at least an understanding of what happened to them. So, where's the harm in helping us with that effort?"
He then tries to read A-1's reaction yet again in case he needs to prepare a spell or weapon...
Zephyr bows and says, ”I bring you greetings from those whom we believe used to live here. They call themselves the Izalguun, and now reside on a new planet, having forsaken the routine use of their technology. Tell me, can you speak mind to mind like Naarma could? I would be willing to share my memories of them if you would like.”
Zephyr bows and says, ”I bring you greetings from those whom we believe used to live here. They call themselves the Izalguun, and now reside on a new planet, having forsaken the routine use of their technology. Tell me, can you speak mind to mind like Naarma could? I would be willing to share my memories of them if you would like.”
"I don't think it's willing, Zeph..." Jaeric mumbles to the android, "Harlan might be right. We need to pressure it."
He then looks back at A-1. "If the files exist, that means you lied to us. And if they're 'classified' there's no one left on this planet who could have marked them so other than you. That means you can de-classify them, but you're choosing not to...and, if that's the case, you're complicit in whatever happened to our missing colleagues and we'll have to hold you accountable for it."
"Harlan? They said you were a technomancer. You got anything for this?"
"Spill your guts or I'll tear them out myself!"
Even Jaeric is startled by Never's direct approach given the entity's ability to fade away from the last time they threatened it, but he has to admit this course of action is probably all they have left.
"Or, we can just do that..."
|
|
A-1 doesn't flee Never's approach. She sinks her hands into it without resistance. Expecting some mass to stop her, she's overbalanced and her momentum carries her bodily into the holographic projection. The image flickers, and steps aside.
"If you won't leave voluntarily, you must face the Guardian. "
A rising whine of turbines spinning up sounds from somewhere back in the base.
"VIs are a real bloody pain. They know you can't hurt them, so they get so damn smug about everything. At least whatever its going to throw at us is going to be worth blowing up." Harlan groans, taking a few steps back from the entrance to the base.
Zephyr orients his weapons on his powered armor and brings everything to combat readiness, looking and listening carefully for the first sign of the target so he can blast it with his laser.