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"Ewwww!" Chance tiptoes around the dirty laundry. "So I guess that whomever was here left in a hurry, but did they have to leave their underwear lying around?"
When the Gem and the Crystal are found, Chance eagerly gives them an appraisal.
"Ooh, an elemental gem from the Plane of Earth. If you crush it, it'll summon a Boulder bruiser to fight alongside you to rock the combat!"
"And this crystal," says Chance, "is a Solarian Weapon Crystal, exactly like the one I am already carrying!" Chance shows everyone her crystal alongside the new one. "See? Perfect match!"
"Hang on, hang on!" Research Rat spits out a left-handed sonic screwdriver out of his cheekpouch, and hands it to RZMR. "That should be exactly what you need for that door!"
Mizzrym' scouts a bit down the other hallway to see where it leads, checking the rooms along the way he finds a few other abandoned rooms. Within one the metal bed and shelves are marred by deep gouges forming basic designs. He sees a picture of a purple-haired gnome on the wall as she smile brightly holding a trophy in her hands. Pinning the picture the wall is a distinctive, yellow-tinted blade driven straight through the photo's center.
Across from that, the next room Mizzrym' inspects has most of the limited space devoted to a desk. There is a set of shelves above it that have all been emptied. Within the desk drawer Mizzrym' finds a folded cloak composed of a set of dark, reflective identical metal hexagonal shapes.
Around the corner Mizzrym' sees the hallway turn and continue around far more rooms. Checking a door at the corner, he finds it locked.
Continuing toward the rest of the party, Trill finds a much larger room in the form of a lounge at the corner of the hall. It still has plenty of furniture around, some of which has weathered the passage of time better than others. It is a collection of varying, mismatched styles that have no common source. The tables and seating make it clear the room was for lounging.
Within the room Trill finds a couple items that have left behind. Within a side table, he finds a holo-projector still holding a charge of power. Activating it displays a team of seven Starfinders standing together in front of the Lorespire Complex (Picture). The group looks entirely comfortable together and they are equipped as though they were just about to embark on a mission. From the recruitment photos it is trivial to identify Iroiveth and Evethriel. The remainder of the group are a female witchwyrd, a male drow with a cybernetic arm, an orange quorlu, a blue-scaled dragonkin, and a female lashunta with tattoos and a friendly smile.
Continuing the search of the room reveals a set of metal-alloy gloves behind a dark leather reclining chair.
As RZMR works at the door, the a quick review of the other rooms along the path to the sealed door are another set of quarters. One has a bit more clutter than the others, but largely from miscellaneous nuts, screws, and bits of wire that have fallen under the desk. Looking through the storage cube within the room, at the bottom of the last one are a pair of Mk 1 shock grenades lying under some packing material.
The next room would be far cleaner if not the for layer of dust that has gathered in the intervening years. The loose containers are organized and in a proper order. Searching the room there is a high shelf that has a misplaced medical supplies kit. Inside there are set of three mk 1 serums of healing and a two medpatches that remain within.
RZMR is able to unseal the door and it slides open with with a slow struggling grind as systems activate after a century of dormancy. Beyond reveals a large empty room with several more mismatch doors on various sides, including a large cargo door to the south. On the northern corner closest to RZMR, he sees through a transparent window into an adjacent control room that over looks this room.
Throughout the room there are a smattering of scorch marks and gouges interspersed among the mismatched starship plating that is welded together with patches of other scavenged metal.
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“Oh! I’ve heard of these! It is a charge cloak, can use it to run equipment.”
That seems to be the only thing Trill can identify.
When he finds the projector and turns it on, he quickly calls to the others. “Found a holo that is likely the group! Do we have some way to capture it in case the battery runs out?”
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Chance holds up the jacket and stares at the picture of the team. "Well, that solves the question of who wore that jacket. That's a witchwyrd, though really a slob." Then Chance thinks. "Wait. There are seven starfinders in this picture. So the lashunta is Venture Captain Koerah, who's dead, but we could talk to Arvin, her descendent."
Chance taps the table next to the hologram. "How long do Dragonkin live? Or Quorlus? I know that Witchwyrds live about as long as dragons do, and Elves and Drow live a long time..."
Research Rat has no idea what the knife is, but the gloves are magnegloves. "Ooh, Magnegloves!" Research Rat enthuses. "They've got electromagnets in 'em!"
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Chance tries to recall what she knows of lifespans. "Both the Dragonkin and the Quorlu could still be around, though they might be getting on in years. Dragonkin can live anywhere from 100 to 200 years, and don't quorlus average at about 180? So... everyone in the picture but the Venture Captain could still be around."
Studying the picture, the lashunta looks a bit younger than the Venture-Captain and likely another member of the group. Lashunta have a long enough lifespan to naturally survive a hundred years, but would near the end of a natural life span without exceptional intervention or augmentation.
As to the lack of masks on the elven pair, it isn't unusual for those that join the Starfinder Society to actively break from the societal norms of their species. It potentially indicates a lack of intent, or desire, to return to the elven communities.
Working at the door, Mizzrym' struggles at the door he nearly manages to get it open in the moments of work. The door's age has worn away at the more delicate components of the locking mechanism. It may take more effort, but he is likely to get it open with more work.
Slowly tools are worked into the mechanisms of the door and drive it open. With force the door is capable of being pushed open the rest of the way revealing a L-shaped room has a computer system and workstation along the south wall. The terminals are active and provide dim illumination through the room with the consoles showing errors listing missing programs and files. There are a wide bank of window overlooking the entire large room to the southeast.
Most are showing errors and lack of function.
There is a module for the area lighting that still seems to be functional. It is currently set to off for the facility, but can be turned on or set to activate upon motion within any of the rooms. Motion detection records show no records of detection until within the last hour and show the party's movement through the rooms.
One of the broken controls is for the Security System. There are multiple errors as it fails to engage. It would require someone with Computer or Engineering skill to restore this so that you could control it.
There is a training module refered to on the system to be able to activate drones for combat training, but the entire system has been erased and is impossible to recover.
The last of the control systems lacks any information. The only references you find it the system was named "whisper", but there is no other sign of the purpose on record.
Below the list of applications Within the directory of files you find a simple text file at the bottom named "help."
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Albrik follows RZMR and looks puzzled at the new array of monitors and waits patiently for someone more competent to engage with them.
When/if he is brought up to date about the picture and Chance's musings about lifespans, he says:
"You see Norbert - they could all be still alive. I hope they are and I hope at least one of them started to regret his actions in all this time and can be persuaded to cooperate."
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The greatest mind know no barriers RZMR says as he accesses the computers, and relays his conclusions: A secure system of motion tracking, has recorded our movements, but none came before us. Even when he's not proclaiming some abstract philosophy, RZMR keeps his pompous declaiming tone. Gaining control of security installation is essential for establishing sovereignty over this structure he adds, clearly indicating that establishin sovereignty is a priority.
Any rogue combat drones are undesirable entities and should be eliminated or deactivated.
RZMR attempts to get further access to the security system.
Who does not know the evils of war cannot appreciate its benefits. Please use the toiler brush and leave the bathroom in a clean state.
There are some scripts that need to be adjusted to account for missing files, but RZMR is able to restore the core of the security system. He has gained access to the locks through the facility and the automated defenses. Both can now be enabled and disabled through this console.
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"You see Norbert - they could all be still alive. I hope they are and I hope at least one of them started to regret his actions in all this time and can be persuaded to cooperate."
Repentance is the first step to redemption, RZMR wise-cracks as he decides the security system needs to be taken offline Stand down, my troops!
The lights slowly come on throughout this control room and elsewhere in the complex. The lightning struggles and flickers in places, while some fail entirely to activate. You see through the windows the large chamber becoming more illuminated as is the hall behind you.
In response to the command to unlock the doors, the system processes the commands and runs for a few moments before responding with success.
Opening the 'help' file produces a black screen as you look at the empty text document. The cursor idly blinks on the first line.
After a moment though the you see text being entered in even without keypress, click or command. There are burst as the words appear until the file now reads
"Who are you?"
Another moment passes it begins again adding to the next line another question.
"Why are you here?"
The text cursor flashes on the next line, waiting for your input.
There is no response to Norbert as the file does not change. Entering the question into the computer soon produces a response as a new line of text is typed out.
"Please, I need your help. I'm Almina, a Starfinder that was investigating here when I got trapped here."
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“Almina? Isn’t that the name of the gnome Technomancer that went missing?” He checks his notes and says “Yup!”
“We should introduce ourselves. She did ask who we were.”
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I am RZMR, the timeless, champion of the starstone, RZMR humbly types, I am your new AI overlord.
Trapped how! RZMR demands to know, he who limits the freedom of the individual without warrant shall be paid tenfold in kind. Please note that tech support is only able to assist when a minimal reproducible example is provided
The proclamation of RZMR's identity and position is followed by a set of ellipsis on the next lined typed out over multiple seconds.
After a few moments the RZMR's prompt gets an answer.
"There was a trap. I didn't have much time so I jumped into the computers. Not my first time using the spell. I was working my way though the firewalls when servers started getting destroyed. I was able to avoid the worst of it I think. When the systems shut down, everything went dark and I fell asleep. The system came online a bit ago and I just started getting my bearings again."
"I should be able to exit this system from any other device on the network, but the destruction of the servers left me... stuck? Or maybe lost? It is hard to explain..."
"It's like trying to find your way out of a maze that's been scrambled up. I'm not even sure an exit exists at all anymore. I'm doing my best to see if I can find out an exit from inside. I don't think many other people have done this for your tech support routing to help, but if you could keep an eye out for me out there? Would you? Maybe you can see something I can't."
"I don't know. Keep an eye out. I don't see any path out here. I just had enough reach to get this file access. There might be a device on the system I might have missed that might let me out."
"You are in father than I got. I only made it one room in before setting off an alarm. I think you are already past it."
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Albrik mutters under his breath while reading along and getting out of the way of the tech-people:
I always suspected that all those computers around us bear the danger that we loose ourselves within them. Never suspected it could happen so litterally...Sarenrae - guide this soul back to the light to feel the warmth of your lifegiving light again...
“So there was a security system that unlocked the doors. Are there any camera in that system?”
"I've seen some motion sensors looking through here, but I haven't seen any cameras. I admit with how little there is left you would think it would be easy to find what is left."
"Even the parts that are still here are buried and out of the way. Following your trail on the sensors has made it easier."
What device do you suspect? The system named whisper has an undisclosed purpose.
"I don't know, I should be able to get out through this console, but I keep finding deadends trying to get out to you. If you link me to your comms I can follow along and share what I can."
"It would be nice to see out there again."
"I can see the system to start up Whisper. I'll try following it."
A dozen or so seconds pass as the cursor idly blinks before Almina's next post.
"The trail leads to the servers. At least where I think the servers used to be. There is nothing there now."
"It is wonderful to meet you too! At least to be able to talk to people again."
"I'm still a bit groggy, but I have my body here with me! It might be a lot easier moving through the systems without my body, but I'm really attached to it! :)"
"I admit though I do hope it is still just temporary. I've only used this magic for a few hours at a time and I haven't heard a rumor of anyone using it longer than a few weeks. If I do get out I'll be able to document a lot on living in destroyed computer systems."
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"I'm still a bit groggy, but I have my body here with me! It might be a lot easier moving through the systems without my body, but I'm really attached to it! :)"
The body relies on a constant stream of carbohydrates, peptide and electrolytes, all to ensure a constant flow of oxygen to the brain. Even the shortest of interruptions may cause permanent damage, and the slightest change of environment causes atrophy of the muscles or disruption to the metabolism. Such are the limitations of the carbon-based lifeform. RZMR provides some cheerful companionship to Almina in the form of philosophical debate, offering some consolation. Perhaps. Every lifeform seeks to transcend these limitations, and to attain perfection, freed from the shackles of form.
RZMR blesses Almina with a direct communication line to her new AI overlord and stores her contact under 'minion', just like everyone else.
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The response from Almina in regards to RZMR's debate is one that depicts consideration.
":/"
Routing the communication into the network and granting her access is simple process. You get a call on the comms soon after along with a few prompts for camera and audio access.
Answering the call produces a warbling sound as the comms settle. Within is a cheery voice voice, although a bit exhausted, coming through as she asks, "hello? Hello? Am I coming through clear?"
"I think I'm connected! You should be able to move around and I'll give some support as I dig around here."