You hear the Trash Eliminator's clawed legs scraping ominously through the hall. It seems it won't be able to catch up with you immediately, but there aren't all that many places to flee to from here - at least, not many you've already explored.
[dice=Needler @ ]1d20+28[/dice] [dice=P Dmg]8d6+15[/dice] [ooc]Includes x Inhibitor, x if it hits.[/ooc
Shocca, having forgotten Ajithu's healing magic, allows a brief shocked expression to pass over her face. "Phew, nice..." She peers down the rifle sights and waits for the robot to turn the corner. Readied action for when he's in the tight corridor! She elbows Arc. "Think you can stop him up in the corridor? If he's squeezed, might be easier to hit."
Male Half-Elf Solarian 20 | SP 198/198 HP 146/146 RP 12/12 | EAC 35(37) KAC 36(38); DR 5/- Resist Fire 20 | F +16; R +15; W +16 | Speed 25 ft. | Init +6 | Perc +30
Arcalinte nods and jets out of the room, Skyndi poised to strike as he rounds the bend and unleashes a flurry of fiery blows!
Move Action from Haste to fly to current position, Full Round Action to attack!
Arc rushes forward, unfortunately denying Shocca an opportunity to shoot while the foe is in the corridor. Still, his fiery blade is keenly aimed, cutting through the strange creature's robotic limbs. He lands two slashes, but fails to finish the Trash Eliminator off. It strikes back, with one tentacle solidly slamming into him (46 dmg).
Male Half-Elf Solarian 20 | SP 198/198 HP 146/146 RP 12/12 | EAC 35(37) KAC 36(38); DR 5/- Resist Fire 20 | F +16; R +15; W +16 | Speed 25 ft. | Init +6 | Perc +30
Arcalinte tries to finish the fight with another series of fiery swings!
Ajithu delivers a healing wave to undo Arc's latest wounds. Arc on the other hand slices through two more of the Trash Eliminator's robotic legs with his blade before plunging it into the core of the creature. It spasms and utters "No. No. Vheiransch will... My..." before crackling arcs of electricity burst from its carapace. Arc is able to step back as it goes through its death throes.
Combat Over!(the door to the "swamp" is once again closed and the mutant sivv did not follow)
Male Half-Elf Solarian 20 | SP 198/198 HP 146/146 RP 12/12 | EAC 35(37) KAC 36(38); DR 5/- Resist Fire 20 | F +16; R +15; W +16 | Speed 25 ft. | Init +6 | Perc +30
Arcalinte touches down and deactivates his jetpack, breathing a sigh of relief.
"That was a close one..."
Then he looks down at his own warped form.
"...too close. But better to be changed and alive than dead."
He turns and looks at Ajithu-Ko and Shocca.
"What's your assessment, both as Xenodruids and doctors?"
Male Half-Elf Solarian 20 | SP 198/198 HP 146/146 RP 12/12 | EAC 35(37) KAC 36(38); DR 5/- Resist Fire 20 | F +16; R +15; W +16 | Speed 25 ft. | Init +6 | Perc +30
"I meant this," Arcalinte says, motioning towards his distended limbs.
Arc is looking rather elongated along one side of his body, though it seems the mutation stretched his gear as well so that it is still functional. It doesn't appear that the change to him will heal on its own.
As a reminder: These distended limbs cause a -10ft penalty to land speed, and a -2 penalty to all attack rolls and all dex-based skill checks. You can recover from this mutation with a remove affliction spell or similar type of effect at least as powerful as remove affliction (such as physical stability or regenerate).
Checking the body of the Trash Eliminator, you find this being was indeed a sivv, but with such extensive cybernetic augmentation that almost nothing was left of it as flesh. On it you find:
An ensnaring military degenerator rifle
Two degeneration grenades
[dice=Needler @ ]1d20+28[/dice] [dice=P Dmg]8d6+15[/dice] [ooc]Includes x Inhibitor, x if it hits.[/ooc
Shocca whips a White Hypopen out of her pants pocket. "Mass-produced, but still effective." She stabs it into Arc's shoulder, then pats his other shoulder. "Can't have our number one baddie walking with a limp." She settles down to rest, mentioning "I didn't see any treasure or keys in the swamp. Better skip it?"
Looks like you can save the hypopen Shocca. While the DC is high, a 39 from Ajithu will absolutely wipe it out.
The healing magic flows into Arc, checking his concept of himself and restoring his arm and leg back into their previous forms. By the time Ajithu's magic fades, Arc is fully back to normal.
Looking down the hall, there doesn't appear to be any other security that was triggered by your skirmish. Or at least, nothing that immediately seems to be falling upon you.
Male Half-Elf Solarian 20 | SP 198/198 HP 146/146 RP 12/12 | EAC 35(37) KAC 36(38); DR 5/- Resist Fire 20 | F +16; R +15; W +16 | Speed 25 ft. | Init +6 | Perc +30
"Thank you, Ajithu-Ko."
He looks at the items they've discovered.
"You'll have to take these. I'm only really trained in small arms fire."
Sheesh, how did I botch that caster level dice expression. I must've been so happy to see the 20 that I missed it -_-
GM Cellion wrote:
On it you find:
An ensnaring military degenerator rifle
Two degeneration grenades
Shocca? Want the grenades to channel your inner Jaraduk? One of us should certainly wield the rifle, which Ajithu is happy to do, to get persistent damage on our foes.
I don't suppose the other mutant sivv in that room happened to be a lieutenant? Maybe they know a lieutenant?
I suppose we could always return here if we don't find them at other locations on this level.
Male Half-Elf Solarian 20 | SP 198/198 HP 146/146 RP 12/12 | EAC 35(37) KAC 36(38); DR 5/- Resist Fire 20 | F +16; R +15; W +16 | Speed 25 ft. | Init +6 | Perc +30
"Those 'hillocks' didn't look very...sane, for lack of a better term," Arcalinte replies. "I imagine they rely more on instinct than higher reasoning. If we search their chamber further, we may want to try stealth to not provoke them."
Male Half-Elf Solarian 20 | SP 198/198 HP 146/146 RP 12/12 | EAC 35(37) KAC 36(38); DR 5/- Resist Fire 20 | F +16; R +15; W +16 | Speed 25 ft. | Init +6 | Perc +30
I was proposing sneaking into the room invisibly to see if there was loot without actually provoking the mutants.
Male Half-Elf Solarian 20 | SP 198/198 HP 146/146 RP 12/12 | EAC 35(37) KAC 36(38); DR 5/- Resist Fire 20 | F +16; R +15; W +16 | Speed 25 ft. | Init +6 | Perc +30
Lightwarp Inlay and Stealth Warp, baby!
Arcalinte returns to the door they just retreated from, closes his eyes to focus on the power of gravity to bend light, and activates his armor's properties, vanishing from sight and then opening the door to look in and see if the "hillocks" had returned to dormancy.
Arc opens the door and vanishes from view. Though invisible, he's not particularly quiet, and as he moves inside he notices the mutant sivv within the hillocks turning toward him. The sivv to the east seems to notice a little more regarding his presence because it raises a bloated limb to point in his direction. It seems if he gets any closer it might start blasting him once more.
To be clear, it doesn't seem to be able to see through your invisibility, but has roughly spotted your location regardless.
[dice=Needler @ ]1d20+28[/dice] [dice=P Dmg]8d6+15[/dice] [ooc]Includes x Inhibitor, x if it hits.[/ooc
Shocca grabs the grenades, happy to have another alternative method of defending the group. She declines the rifle, "I prefer my ammunition to be more pointy." She watches on from the hallway. And we didn't see anything of value in this room?
Male Half-Elf Solarian 20 | SP 198/198 HP 146/146 RP 12/12 | EAC 35(37) KAC 36(38); DR 5/- Resist Fire 20 | F +16; R +15; W +16 | Speed 25 ft. | Init +6 | Perc +30
Arcalinte closes the door and returns to the others, reappearing.
"They may not have been able to see me, but they knew I was there. We'll save that for later, I guess."
You swiftly close the door before the mutant sivv can fire upon you. Not wasting any time, you advance to the left and touch the next set of doors over to open them.
This long room is filled with banks of computer equipment. Several concave domes, like small satellite dishes, dangle from cables a few inches below the ceiling. A gentle whirring noise and blinking lights indicate that this array of computer equipment is operational. A cursory look reveals that the terminals here are unsecured - already logged in, you could say. Perhaps the Sivv never considered that unauthorized individuals could get in this far. If you start searching through, within minutes you can deduce that the bulk of the systems here are dominated by archives and backups of research and engineering work that went into the construction of Ark Prime.
Looking up information on Ark Prime's History:
The systems here present a heroic story of the Sivvan campaigns against the kishalee civilization, but even a cursory reading between the lines shows that both sides were pressed hard. After the loss of the Stellar Degenerator, the tide turned against the Sivv and contingencies were dreamed up. One such project was Ark Prime, a megaproject helmed by Commandant Vheiransch and his expansive team of military engineers. Cannibilizing technology from other projects amidst the pitched war, Vheiransch's engineers constructed two massive vessels: Ark Prime, which would hold thousands of sivvs in stasis, and an even larger vessel called the Worldseed, which would hold the resources and servitor species needed for terraforming new worlds.
As the war approached its grim conclusion, the timeline for Vheiransch's project was accelerated. They gathered as many sivv as they could and placed them on Ark Prime before launching it into rel-state, the quantum hyperspace accessible only the sivv. The objective at this point was simply to evade the fall of the Sivv Dominion and mutual destruction together with the kishalee, but with the eventual intention to re-emerge and rebuild.
It appears that since then, Ark Prime has drifted in rel-state, dropping out occasionally only to pick up resources, interesting specimens, and engage in long-range scans. It's only when the remnants of the Stellar Degenerator were detected, as well as the derelict Worldseed (now known as Hibb), that Ark Prime turned its attention to the Pact Worlds.
Looking up information on Vheiransch:
As the Commandant in charge of Ark Prime and the Worldseed project, Vheiransch had great prestige and responsibility. Portrayed in these logs as a genius, selfless soul, he chose to stay behind during Ark Prime's launch in order to continue work on the Worldseed, which was to launch second. Based on the records here, an AI copy of him was once created for the purpose of advising the living Sivv crew that would have stayed awake during the initial years of Ark Prime's mission. However, it appears that at some point an incomplete merging of his AI personality and the Ark's primary mission control AI was conducted. Shortly after, the living crew were forced into stasis. The intervening thousands of years have clearly changed the merged Vheiransch-AI's programming. It appears that the ship's AI has essentially been corrupted by Vheiransch's lingering will, changing the parameters of the mission to more than just ensuring the survival of the species.
Looking up information on the AI Core:
You're able to confirm much of the details that the moon giants had divined here. The AI core sits at the center of this floor and the key equipment itself exists in superposition with reality by being phased into rel-state. To access it, you'll need to phase it into reality by means of up to four transposition keys. These keys were once held by the living sivv leadership during the early days of the ship, but appear to have been left behind when those sivv went into stasis. The system doesn't have any information on where the keys might be now, except for one - a scientist has left a note here that one transposition key was repurposed for an experiment in the Optics Lab (room E9).
Once the keys are obtained, phasing in the AI core can be accomplished by means of the Core Monitor (in E13). There are some references here that it may be possible to complete a phase-in with fewer than four keys in an emergency, but no details are provided on how.
Finally, after the AI Core is phased in, it likely won't be able to be disabled by any ordinary means. Instead, a reboot code must be input directly into the Core itself to reset its AI and purge any corrupted memory banks. The reboot code itself is stored here on this computer, but unlike all the other data, its been stored in a secure data module (Computers to hack)
Male Half-Elf Solarian 20 | SP 198/198 HP 146/146 RP 12/12 | EAC 35(37) KAC 36(38); DR 5/- Resist Fire 20 | F +16; R +15; W +16 | Speed 25 ft. | Init +6 | Perc +30
Which world do you mean? Nejeor VI? Or one of the planets from the Gate of the Twelve Suns?
Arcalinte gives a despondent sigh as he reads the information.
"It seems I'm more responsible for this than I thought...in unsealing the Stellar Degenerator, in destroying it, we unwittingly woke Ark Prime up. We have to finish what I started, then. If we can't destroy this thing...maybe exorcising Vheiransch's digital ghost we can stop its rampage at least."
He turns to Shocca and Ajithu-Ko.
"Let's get the one key we know the location of to start with. Then we can begin conducting a sweep to find the other three."
Ajithu thinks back to his friend Lenny at Absalom station, who per his stories had something to do with the Stellar Degenerator. He's not sure if he'd have the heart to tell him of this consequence.
He nods solemnly at Arc's suggestion.
Indeed, perhaps we'll find more clues for the remaining keys as we obtain the first one.
[dice=Needler @ ]1d20+28[/dice] [dice=P Dmg]8d6+15[/dice] [ooc]Includes x Inhibitor, x if it hits.[/ooc
Shocca shakes her head sadly while reading the news. "Picked up interesting specimens, eh? What I would give for a sampling of their genetic code..." She doesn't add what she's really thinking, that the group's time on the icy world of Hibb may have directly led to this catastrophe. "But first before we get that key, let's get that reboot code. Never write when you can copy, I always say." She spends the time necessary to break into the data module.
Computers:1d20 + 28 ⇒ (14) + 28 = 42
"To the Optics Lab!" She looks over her shoulder. "But can we backtrack through the lobby? This hallway ain't working out so well for us."E8 to E9.
Male Half-Elf Solarian 20 | SP 198/198 HP 146/146 RP 12/12 | EAC 35(37) KAC 36(38); DR 5/- Resist Fire 20 | F +16; R +15; W +16 | Speed 25 ft. | Init +6 | Perc +30
"Indeed. I can scout ahead."
Arcalinte activates his armor's inlay and vanishes from sight. Following Shocca's prompt, he returns to the lobby and checks the only other door there.
Shocca accesses the secure data module that stores the reboot code with ease, but as she inspects the resulting string she gets the sense (call it a hacker's sixth sense) that the process was a little too easy and the resultant code a little too obvious. Almost as if there's something she missed while hacking in. Almost as if she's taken some kind of bait.
The ceiling of the server room fades into rel-state, revealing a bulbous array of clear domes affixed to the ceiling. They flash in a dizzying array of colors...
And the world around you all seems to whirl. Arc and Shocca steady themselves as the psychic whirlpool surrounds the three of you, eventually pulling themselves free largely without further issue. Ajithu's mind on the other hand is drawn in.
For Shocca and Arc, what you see when your vision clears is Ajithu lying in the ground and wriggling excitedly, with what appears to be fear and wonder in his eyes. When he notices you looming over him he tries, unsuccessfully, to wriggle away in a panic.
(You've accessed a false shell countermeasure and subsequently triggered a trap! In retrospect you would recognize that the data you were looking for is probably in there, but better hidden, such that it would take an unparalleled hacker to uncover it safely. Probably at the very far end of Shocca's hacking capabilities.)
Ajithu:
When your vision clears you find yourself trapped in an opaque white sphere, submerged in some kind of breathable fluid, almost exactly like what you experienced within one of the Sivv conditioning simulations - the medical facility. You reach out to try to touch the bounds of your spherical prison but discover to your horror that you lack any limbs. You look down, vision blurry, and realize that where your body once way is now nothing more than a furry, snake-like form!
You've been mind swapped! You retain your mental statistics, memories, mental capabilities, magic, etc, but your body is that of an unknown, tiny snake-like alien. Your physical statistics are equivalent to a squox. You're trapped inside an opaque sphere of force approximately three feet across.
[dice=Needler @ ]1d20+28[/dice] [dice=P Dmg]8d6+15[/dice] [ooc]Includes x Inhibitor, x if it hits.[/ooc
Dang, I was so confident in that 42! High level play sure is hardcore.
She reviews Ajithu's condition, medlab at the ready. Doing a roll to see if she can diagnose him. Maybe that would be possible if it was a technological or hybrid effect? If she thinks it's a mind-affecting effect then she'll use a special biohack:
Breakthrough: Boost Neurotransmitters:
(Ex): As a standard action, you can create and deliver a compound that causes a surge of cognitive activity. When injected into a creature, the formula grants the target a +4 enhancement bonus to saving throws against mind-affecting effects for 1 minute. If the target is already subject to a mind-affecting effect, the target can immediately attempt a new saving throw with a +2 enhancement bonus against the effect. This does not grant a new saving throw if the effect did not originally allow one.
Medicine:1d20 + 34 ⇒ (8) + 34 = 42
Shocca stares down the computer, reviewing the hardware to see if there are any ports for a physical key (or four of them) that might show that an administrator was using the terminal.
Male Half-Elf Solarian 20 | SP 198/198 HP 146/146 RP 12/12 | EAC 35(37) KAC 36(38); DR 5/- Resist Fire 20 | F +16; R +15; W +16 | Speed 25 ft. | Init +6 | Perc +30
Arcalinte goes to try and grab Ajithu-Ko (at least what he thinks is Ajithu-Ko) to keep him from hurting himself.
Shocca's incredible medical knowledge allows her to deduce exactly what has happened in just a brief assessment. It appears that the Ajithu you see before you is being puppeted by a mind not his own. In fact, Shocca is fairly certain that his mind has been replaced by that of a creature of low animal intelligence. Erasing his mind outright in such a fashion may be possible for the Sivv, but it is more likely based on the evidence that his mind has been swapped with that of the creature that now controls him.
This effect is mind-affecting, magical, and unusually complex. Your evaluation would be good enough to tell you that it won't easily undo itself on its own (minimum hours, if not days). Worse, any attempt to reverse the swap must be conducted on both minds thusly affected. So Boost Neurotransmitters would need to be administered to both Ajithu's body and Ajithu's new host, wherever that may be, and then both would need to succeed at the save.
Ajithu wriggles robustly in Arc's grasp, but the solarian is able to keep hold. Meanwhile Shocca checks the archive terminal, and while it does have ways to establish administrator access, she doesn't see any ports. The integration of this magitechnological trap and the false data module that lured you in seems to be designed at a far more advanced level than anything else in this system - almost as though the regular users and even administrators would not have been aware of its existence. Unraveling the trap's trigger programmatically therefore requires root access.
Ajithu:
No line of effect out of the sphere. However clairvoyance doesn't need line of effect - its cool that way.
Suspended in the fluid, it takes a little wriggling and shimmying for you to even get to the edge of the sphere. It is completely implacable to your attempts to push against it. There's no sensation of rolling.
When you cast your clairvoyance out of the sphere you see that your force prison lies in a cradle on a shelf in a medical clinic of sorts. The room contains an unusually shaped capsule with a rounded lid in the center. Racks of medical supplies line the western and northern walls, while a wall of force spheres in cradles line the eastern wall. Directly across from the room’s only entrance is a cabinet about three feet square sitting atop a shelf. The cabinet’s front hatch is missing, and it’s partially filled with a gross greenish paste that’s spilled out its hatch and stained the counter beneath it with a nacreous green trail of slime. An armored hulk of a humanoid stands at the cabinet, scooping slime out and snacking on it. Glowing shackles of force hold it bound, though there's enough slack for it to move around most of the room. You immediately recognize that the creature is an Aqlath, one of the furred humanoids you saw and then eradicated in one of the Sivvan simulations.
If he can't move his cage, I'm a bit at a loss for what else to do.
Ajithu decides to spin around and bump against the sides of the cage to see if he can at least get the aqlath's attention. Is any interaction possible at all?
You float around, bumping at the edges, but the walls are unyielding and there's no sense that you're making any effect on the outside world.
Your physical body right now is very weak and you're being held in a force containment bubble, so it doesn't seem like you can physically interact outside. You could try magic, but if you don't have anything that might work, you'll need to rely on Shocca and Arc finding a way to get you back.
[dice=Needler @ ]1d20+28[/dice] [dice=P Dmg]8d6+15[/dice] [ooc]Includes x Inhibitor, x if it hits.[/ooc
"Wellllllllll that's not good. Keep 'im tight, Arc." She turns back to the terminal. "If I get root access, I might be able to swap him back. If not, we're going to have to go hunting as a duo. Don't like our odds, there." She stops before hitting the enter key. "Uh... you mind stepping out for a second? There's a chance I'm about to start the evil disco one more time..."If Arc can get Ajithu out the door, then she'll try to keep hacking.
Computers:1d20 + 28 ⇒ (18) + 28 = 46
If that doesn't work, I think we should go to E7? Seems like the other body would be nearby.
Since Ajithu can see outside with clairvoyance, he wonders if he can contact the Aqlath using Mindlink... and whether it will understand him or respond. Let me out...
Male Half-Elf Solarian 20 | SP 198/198 HP 146/146 RP 12/12 | EAC 35(37) KAC 36(38); DR 5/- Resist Fire 20 | F +16; R +15; W +16 | Speed 25 ft. | Init +6 | Perc +30
Arcalinte nods, sheathes Skyndi, and tries to wrangle "Ajithu-Ko."
Its easy enough to wrangle the animalistic Ajithu and drag him out of the server room. Shocca goes for another attempt to hack into the system, this time with the intent of granting herself root access. Unfortunately not only is she not able to, but the dangerous system activates once more!
