Serious Plots 7: Why so srs?

[Purple Eagle]

Underground Laboratory

"Is it suffering? Because then I'd be able to help, maybe. I can talk to animals, though... I'm not as great as some dryads, at that. Unless the animal's like me." Associated with death, she means, and she's talking about euthanising it. Showing it how to die and pass its soul on, even if Xeyal's preventing it from dying on its own somehow.

Baccata will follow Sophie. She's not great at navigating underground, so she's hoping the others will know the way out better than she does.

[Underground Laboratory]

"If it can be saved, it's worth a try," Sophie agrees. "Can you feel anyone else alive in here, Baccata? There might be someone here in need of more urgent help than the chimera."

Underground Laboratory

"If it's suffering, death's kinder than letting it live unless you can make the suffering stop." Baccata's a death-spirit, more than a life-spirit. She has no problems with euthanasia. "I can't sense life, Sophie. Only death and dying things. I'll see what I can do, but Ruth might be better at the living thing." She reaches out with her senses anyway, just in case there's something she can feel.

[Underground Laboratory]

"Baccata." Ruth says simply, to stop the dryad talking. She rises to her full (currently human-height, that is) stature, and a burst of light appears behind her back, fading to reveal two pairs of wings behind her. For a moment, her olive skin flickers to a metallic silver colour, then back to normal. "As I said, I'm an angel, nature and the cosmos is my domain to the degree my master has allowed. I have, and will continue to hold back for your sakes, robbing you of the chance to use your skills would work to your detriments in the long run... but I am more than capable of handling the Chimera, unless it refuses all help and wishes to die. Let me find it and give it a chance at life."

Then she looks back at her wings. "I usually hide these, but you all in GLoG have taken my son's winged form as normal. Good thing too, I like flying." She says with a warm smile, then intensely focuses, scouring the halls for the living, dead, and any spirits around. That's mainly so she can give the other ladies a hint of what to prepare for.

Helping them prepare isn't stealing their XP.

What she's looking for, however, is the Chimera's general location.

[Murkus]

[The Vault]

Jim tries to snag one of the non-child souls to use as a macabre battery, and the fact that he has to be making this choice at all disgusts him. Unlike horror movie characters, Jim is apparently capable of looking up, and as he checks just in case he finds yet another horror waiting for him. Wonderful. With a cry, Jim fires another trio of bolts from the staff before pulling himself out the window with his prize.

[The Vault]

The soul of a weeping woman utters a faint cry of distress as it is deposited inside the canister. The creature above Jim utters a fantastic, reverberating wail, like the death rattle of a mighty engine. The blasts cut three glowing-hot, slag-dripping divots in the bulk of the thing, but it scuttles towards him no less quickly, hitting the window with a crash. It suspends itself there, clinging, staring with eyes full of broken glass and streaming sparks.

"Jim," it says in a drawling rasp, "Making a mistake. So much... show you..."

The more experienced adventurers probably arrive between the time when the creature is hanging on that last word... and when it begins trying to haul itself through the window, legs pinching the window's edges hard enough to crush steel. Mirdath recoils from it with a shout, but if this is one of the many faces belonging to her 'love', she has nothing to say to it. She is quite happy to flee.

[Shadowcaller]

[Escaped from the Void]

Eventually Val and Astrana arrive back at the port Val left from in the first place, leaving the ship without giving it a second glance. Val is silent for a moment, overcome by everything that had just happened. There's just one issue that needs to be resolved. "I need to drink..." She looks at Astrana uncertainly with her bright red eyes. Her fangs and claws refuse to conceal themselves in this state.

[Escaped from the Void]

Astrana's eyes widen, not really paying any real attention to Val's more inhuman features until just now. "I... Val, the children. What do they know?" She had let Val drain her a number of times in the past but with the girls born, things were different. Not too different but she pictured herself explaining the bite marks. It would work no doubt but it was still something that had to be considered.

[Morty]

[The Vault]

"What the ****?" Is the only thing Michalson really has to say about the thing that just crawled through a window. Which is promptly followed by aiming three bullets at each of its eyes.

[Reinholdt]

[Underground Lab]

Nothing around is immediately dying or anything. This is a lab! The subjects are only supposed to die during or immediately after an experiment. Doctor Xeyal would not permit them to die on their own time beyond that point. He needed their living tissue for samples.

There are various abomination to the senses that exist in a state that could be called 'living'. The largest one is easy enough to find. Now Ruth and Sophie both know how to get to the so called Ultimate Chimera. Beyond that, there are four other locations containing living things.

The lab itself makes creepy noises at regular intervals. Knocking pipes, hisses, rattling, and distant crashes. Nothing that can't be explained away, but unnerving nonetheless. Not the type of place you want to explore alone.

[Morty]

[Underground Laboratory]

"Lead on, then, Ruth. Let's see if you and Baccata can communicate with the poor creature. Then we'll sweep the rest of the place," Sophie says as she reloads her gun.

[Earl of Purple]

Underground Laboratory

"You're an angel, I get it, but I'm a psychopomp. I know death, and if it's suffering, keeping it alive would be cruel. There's no suffering in what comes after, most of the time." Not always, however. She'll follow Ruth and Sophie.

[Purple Eagle]

[Underground Lab]

Nothing around is immediately dying or anything. This is a lab! The subjects are only supposed to die during or immediately after an experiment. Doctor Xeyal would not permit them to die on their own time beyond that point. He needed their living tissue for samples.

There are various abomination to the senses that exist in a state that could be called 'living'. The largest one is easy enough to find. Now Ruth and Sophie both know how to get to the so called Ultimate Chimera. Beyond that, there are four other locations containing living things.

The lab itself makes creepy noises at regular intervals. Knocking pipes, hisses, rattling, and distant crashes. Nothing that can't be explained away, but unnerving nonetheless. Not the type of place you want to explore alone.

[Underground Laboratory]

"Lead on, then, Ruth. Let's see if you and Baccata can communicate with the poor creature. Then we'll sweep the rest of the place," Sophie says as she reloads her gun.

Underground Laboratory

"You're an angel, I get it, but I'm a psychopomp. I know death, and if it's suffering, keeping it alive would be cruel. There's no suffering in what comes after, most of the time." Not always, however. She'll follow Ruth and Sophie.

[Underground Laboratory]

Ruth nods to Sophie with a smile, leading the way towards the chimera. So many souls in need of relief, either by death or by rehabilitation, relief she and her current companions are willing to bring. "I know, Baccata, the messenger angels under my command also perform the duties of your 'psychopomps' where I'm from. I won't get in the way of your duty... if it comes to that." She says, pausing as she notices her forcibly unzipped clothing for the first time, exposing a bit of her back not covered by the wings sprouting out of it. So that's what that zip was for! She reaches back to zip up to just below her second pair of wings so the small of her back isn't exposed, locking the zipper in place, then pointing forward as she walks. "Onward, then. There are so many here waiting to be rescued from their plight." She says, her voice firm and resolute, but still emotional, as she empathizes with the poor victims. "We have four locations more to visit after facing this chimera."

Ruth's taking note of her surroundings with all her senses, physical or otherwise, her purple eyes searching the area in front of her. If there's no unforeseen surprise waiting for them, she'll lead them straight to the chimera.

[Gullara]

[Escaped from the Void]

Astrana's eyes widen, not really paying any real attention to Val's more inhuman features until just now. "I... Val, the children. What do they know?" She had let Val drain her a number of times in the past but with the girls born, things were different. Not too different but she pictured herself explaining the bite marks. It would work no doubt but it was still something that had to be considered.

[Escaped from the Void]

"Nothing, nothing. They've been at the daycare." Val takes some steadying breaths, unnecessary, but nonetheless helpful. She closes her eyes and tries to sooth her aggravation. It helps a little perhaps, but she needs to eat. Or drink, rather.

[Reinholdt]

[Underground Lab]

Following a familiar route, to Sophie at least, the group make their way to the Ultimate Chimera. Along the way, the only thing of particular note is one door that's much more heavy duty than the others they've seen. The kind of metal door you can seal shut from the outside with a circular handle. It didn't show up as one of the four other locations though, so checking it out would be a little detour.

Reaching the Ultimate Chimera's room, there's a pair of double doors in the middle of the hall and a single door on the left just past that which Sophie should recognize as a supply closet based on the proximate smell alone of rotting meat and harsh chemicals. Within the double doors is a very large room. The ceiling is higher here and the floor is caked in unidentifiable smears. High along the walls are various cameras and monitors watching the room from a variety of angles. On the far side of the room is a large metal shutter currently in the down position, separating the Ultimate Chimera from this larger arena. Tucked into the corner of the room is an observation and control booth. Within are even more monitors, currently off, and a surprising number of buttons, switches, and levers. No doubt one of the more prominent choices opens the shutter, but none of the options are actually labeled.

Strewn about the booth are also the frantic scribblings of notes, theorems, diagrams, and potential other dna donors for the Ultimate Chimera. There is probably an order to the madness, but none comes to mind. Even the few pinned to the cork board only seem like they'd be helpful to a scientist also specializing in biological splicing. A filing cabinet would have done this booth wonders.

[Shadowcaller]

[Escaped from the Void]

Astrana let's out a deep sigh as she wraps her arms around Val's neck and nuzzles into her chest. "This can never happen again. We need to get back to them and explain this, all of this." She tilts her head to the side slightly, exposing her neck. "Just drink, so we can get home."

[Morty]

[Underground Lab]

"This is the place," Sophie says. "The chimera is behind the shutter. Here's where Xeyal tried to have it kill me and I Exalted. Whether we want to kill it or rescue it, we'll have to let it out first. And it's not something we can do lightly."

[Gullara]

[Escaped from the Void]

Val squeezes Astrana tightly. The relief after all of this is enough to even dull the gnawing inside her for a moment at least. Astrana's suggestion catches her off guard, though. "Are you sure..?" She asks seriously, and uncertainly. The last time Val drank from her, years ago now, it never went so well...

[Shadowcaller]

[Escaped from the Void]

"Don't hesitate now, Val. When I say something, I mean it." Astrana replies firmly. "Better me than anyone else, right?"

[Earl of Purple]

Underground Lab

"Well, you're a demi-god or something now and she's immortal. I've visited Death before, and come back. I think we can handle it. Me or Ruth should be able to talk to it, if that's what we want to try first." Baccata's overstating her toughness, here. She's never visited death as a customer, only ever as an employee. The process would be different; she's still probably the most fragile person on this team. Either way, she's confident and eager, though she's also growing bark over herself, starting under the jumpsuit, just in case talking doesn't work.

[Gullara]

[Escaped from the Void]

"I just mean- Okay, okay." Val nestles her face into Astrana's neck. She holds there a moment before she feels her fangs sink into her neck. It's a brief flash of pain before it fades to a simple heat. She drinks for a short time, just enough to help her focus and steady herself, and far from presenting any risk to Astrana. She pulls away a moment later and looks at Astrana, trying to gauge how she's feeling.

[Shadowcaller]

[Escaped from the Void]

Astrana has her eyes closed, shivering as Val pulls away as some of her color seem to have been drained away. Slowly she opens her eyes. "Are you done?" She inquires.

[Purple Eagle]

[Underground Lab]

Following a familiar route, to Sophie at least, the group make their way to the Ultimate Chimera. Along the way, the only thing of particular note is one door that's much more heavy duty than the others they've seen. The kind of metal door you can seal shut from the outside with a circular handle. It didn't show up as one of the four other locations though, so checking it out would be a little detour.

Reaching the Ultimate Chimera's room, there's a pair of double doors in the middle of the hall and a single door on the left just past that which Sophie should recognize as a supply closet based on the proximate smell alone of rotting meat and harsh chemicals. Within the double doors is a very large room. The ceiling is higher here and the floor is caked in unidentifiable smears. High along the walls are various cameras and monitors watching the room from a variety of angles. On the far side of the room is a large metal shutter currently in the down position, separating the Ultimate Chimera from this larger arena. Tucked into the corner of the room is an observation and control booth. Within are even more monitors, currently off, and a surprising number of buttons, switches, and levers. No doubt one of the more prominent choices opens the shutter, but none of the options are actually labeled.

Strewn about the booth are also the frantic scribblings of notes, theorems, diagrams, and potential other dna donors for the Ultimate Chimera. There is probably an order to the madness, but none comes to mind. Even the few pinned to the cork board only seem like they'd be helpful to a scientist also specializing in biological splicing. A filing cabinet would have done this booth wonders.

[Underground Lab]

"This is the place," Sophie says. "The chimera is behind the shutter. Here's where Xeyal tried to have it kill me and I Exalted. Whether we want to kill it or rescue it, we'll have to let it out first. And it's not something we can do lightly."

Underground Lab

"Well, you're a demi-god or something now and she's immortal. I've visited Death before, and come back. I think we can handle it. Me or Ruth should be able to talk to it, if that's what we want to try first." Baccata's overstating her toughness, here. She's never visited death as a customer, only ever as an employee. The process would be different; she's still probably the most fragile person on this team. Either way, she's confident and eager, though she's also growing bark over herself, starting under the jumpsuit, just in case talking doesn't work.

[Underground Lab]

"This booth should offer some measure of protection, ladies." Ruth responds to them both, her eyes scanning the controls. She's not merely looking at the physical, but the extrasensory, the psychic, the spiritual, trying to glean as much information as possible as to what the controls do and what the information contained with the booth is. She's scanning for psychic imprints memories, data. "Let me focus and see what the metaphysical shows us."

Whatever she can glean, she'll pass on to the girls, then steps out with Baccata to face the chimera.

[Gullara]

[Escaped from the Void]

"Yeah, I'll be fine for now." Val leans in and gives her a peck on the lips. "Come on, let's get the girls and go home."

[Reinholdt]

[Underground Lab]

There are memories of making the notes, but it's like listening to a podcast in a different language you haven't studied. They wouldn't be of much help anyways to be honest. Doctor Xeyal was not interested in comfort or whether his experiments could survive in the wild.

The controls control the room around them. Raising and lowering the shutter, recording footage, taking scans, monitoring the Ultimate Chimera in its pen, locking the doors to keep the creature's food from escaping, etc. The one real thing of note is that anyone out in the room on this side of the shutter is treated as food. Probably why the floor is so caked with smears.

[Morty]

[Underground Lab]

"Do you think you could glean something more if you saw the chimera through the monitoring system? Or do we just release it and try to do our best?" Sophie asks.

[Earl of Purple]

Underground Lab

"Personally, I don't think so. Screens and things like that... I don't think they'll help. It might be an idea anyway, so we know what we're going in for." Baccata doesn't have much knowledge or experience with technology. It's well outside what she knows, so she can't do much to interact with it.

[Purple Eagle]

[Underground Lab]

Ruth nods at Sophie. "I would suggest that, yes." Still in the booth, she presses the button to observe the Chimera and glean what she can. "Better to try still, Baccata."

[Deathkeeper]

[The Vault]

Jim raises the bident and fires a blast at the horror. And again. And again. And again.
”The only thing I want you to show me is your heart so I can save Sticks the trouble of being associated with your mustache-twirling, child-soul-sucking, HR Geiger bull-” Jim snarls. He had people in there. Children. Just floating. The bastard. The bastard.

[Reinholdt]

[Underground Laboratory]

Through the cameras, the group can see inside the alcove behind the shutter. Within is an horrendous amalgamation of creatures. A three headed malformed hexaped with an unfathomable number of eyes and mouths stitched along patches of various skin, scales, fur, feathers, and tails. It is a cerberus troll kitsune dragon caladrius gorgon werewolf unicorn dodongo griffin half-elf ogre naga dryad scylla giant manticore drider centaur angel demon konchu chimera. And that is honestly just the recognizable parts. This is terror derived wholly from man and the sin cast forth with an unquenchable resolve and a complete lack of conscience.

This terror... is currently sleeping on its 'paws', kinda like a dog would since it's trapped in its pen with nothing to do. It seems to have a large number of psyches with competing desires, but all of which are fairly animalistic in nature.

[Purple Eagle]

[Underground Laboratory]

Through the cameras, the group can see inside the alcove behind the shutter. Within is an horrendous amalgamation of creatures. A three headed malformed hexaped with an unfathomable number of eyes and mouths stitched along patches of various skin, scales, fur, feathers, and tails. It is a cerberus troll kitsune dragon caladrius gorgon werewolf unicorn dodongo griffin half-elf ogre naga dryad scylla giant manticore drider centaur angel demon konchu chimera. And that is honestly just the recognizable parts. This is terror derived wholly from man and the sin cast forth with an unquenchable resolve and a complete lack of conscience.

This terror... is currently sleeping on its 'paws', kinda like a dog would since it's trapped in its pen with nothing to do. It seems to have a large number of psyches with competing desires, but all of which are fairly animalistic in nature.

[Underground Laboratory]

Ruth is silent as she eyes the creature through the camera system. "Unholy abomination. Killing it is the greater mercy. I will cut it down, and Baccata can guide its spirits." She says after a few seconds. "Let's go."

Once they're all in agreement, she'll step outside with Baccata while Sophie's left to release the Chimera.

[Murkus]

[The Vault]

Jim raises the bident and fires a blast at the horror. And again. And again. And again.
”The only thing I want you to show me is your heart so I can save Sticks the trouble of being associated with your mustache-twirling, child-soul-sucking, HR Geiger bull-” Jim snarls. He had people in there. Children. Just floating. The bastard. The bastard.

[The Vault]

"What the ****?" Is the only thing Michalson really has to say about the thing that just crawled through a window. Which is promptly followed by aiming three bullets at each of its eyes.

[The Vault]

"Hhh... ah..." The machine gives out with a guttural sigh, metal rumbling and failing, before toppling off the window with several fresh smoking holes. Eschelle has naught to say about that. She grabs Mirdath by the arm and tugs her over in preparation to leave.

"Back to the door then, lads!" Says she, and unless they have changed their minds, they'll head back in that direction with Jim's newly captured soul. The door, now activated and with a slot on this side revealed, permits another soul charge to be entered.

They can flee from this dismal place without any further incident. And where from there? Back to Sticks?

[Morty]

[Underground Laboratory]

"I'll defer to you on this," Sophie says. "I don't know if there's anything that can be saved in this poor creature."

Provided Baccata also agrees, she'll stay behind to open the shutter.

[Earl of Purple]

Underground Laboratory

Baccata glares at Ruth. "No, Ruth. It's not unholy, nor an abomination. Life's never unholy, nor is life ever abominable. It's been tortured, and that's unholy, that's abominable. It's suffering, has been for ages. Put it out of its misery, Ruth, but don't make the mistake of attributing the crimes done to it as its fault. It's a victim, not a monster. It just looks like one." Baccata's got a lot of fire in her voice, here. She'll follow, and help, but in this she believes Ruth to be wrong; this chimera's not an unholy abomination, but a victim of unholy abominations, and can't be saved.

[Purple Eagle]

[Underground Laboratory]

Ruth is looking right at Baccata, her facial expression of mild amusement not changing. Even after the dryad's finished speaking, the angel continues to just look at her, unblinking.

"Mortals." She finally says, remembering to blink. "So eager to act without pausing to ponder. If you'd bothered to ask rather than immediately reacting to my words, you'd realize we're saying almost the same thing." She smiles and shakes her head.

"Life, never unholy nor abominable." The angel smiles wider, finding that obviously false sentiment amusing. "I may be very young, but I have seen a lot in six centuries. I look at that thing and I see something that should not be. Hence, abominable. Something that has been twisted from its natural, pure form. Hence, unholy. Do not attempt to contest this further, Baccata. I am good, not soft." She finishes with finality, ignoring further attempts to change her mind, then steps out to face the beast.

She'll stop a few metres away from the shutter, her body glowing, especially her hands.