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  1. - Top - End - #1
    Barbarian in the Playground
     
    Lord Magtok's Avatar

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    Default What's Left of the MagCave II: We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story

    Every evil genius needs a place of relaxation and quiet, a place to hoard his stolen loot, a place to scheme and plot. For Magtok, this is the MagCave. Drilled into the side of Mt. Enn, it serves as his base of operations, living quarters, garage, and workplace. It holds damned damsels in distress, places protagonists in perilous predicaments, and is quite likely the fanciest-looking fortress in all of the Nexus.

    Or rather, it was all of that. This place has been abandoned for approximately three years now, if you disregard that brief period a year ago where a single MagClone tried to reclaim it. He got as far as scaring off the cyberwolves and wiping out the vines, moss, and miscellaneous vegetation in the foyer before vanishing without a trace, leaving his home-repair project unfinished. That was a while back, and it didn't take long for all the plants and wolves and rot to come back with a vengeance, unfortunately. This labyrinthine complex of deadly science experiments and mechanical monstrosities is still as wild and deadly as it's ever been. Rogue AIs still haunt the mainframes of its darkest depths, an eldritch amalgamation of meat patrols the east wing in search of organics to assimilate, and worse yet, a trail of strange footprints suggests that seven floors down, the lasgeese have broke into the Mesozoic Museum, and...well, life found a way.

    All of that is destined to change soon, however. Everyone's sixth-favorite cyborg is back, and this time, he has no intention of succumbing so easily to deadtime! He's brought gardening tools and herbicides from what was left of the MagMart in Inside, he's got a hunting rifle to sort out those cyberwolves, and as many domestic cleaning drones as he could fit in the back of a pick-up truck. It's a monumental task, one that's sure to take weeks, maybe even months. Hell, the project could even extend to years, depending on what manner of carnivorous beasts are still lurking in forgotten labs, and the costs incurred in refurbishing the greatest technological achievements of our era.

    "Useless goddamned ****ing scout ****. Left all this mess, didn't even take back a single lab..." We can worry about all of that later, however. First, we have to actually get inside, and just clear out the foyer. Magtok parks the pickup truck in front of the massive skull-shaped entrance of the lair, and scowls up at the heavens. The giant ruby that used to sit in the left eye socket is missing, most likely dislodged by a filthy pack of opportunistic scavengers. That's too bad, a gem of that size would've made financing this reconstruction project a hell of a lot easier. We certainly wouldn't be here with a gun ourselves if we had any kind of money right now.

    "Hello? Anyone home?" He calls out, not really expecting an answer. Well, maybe a growl or two from the cyberwolves, but he's got his rifle at the ready for that. His usual violet robe has been switched out with a dark biker leathers, for greater range of motion and some scant protection against the deadly array of tooth and claw within, and his chrome visage has been hidden away within the violet biker helmet the store clerk offered to go with it. It would've been nice to have a proper laser rifle, or maybe a sophisticated suit of power armor, or even a few Magbots to do all of the hard work for us, but apparently Command is a bunch of worthless, penny-pinching scumbags, and it's more efficient to send one expendable clone to do everything himself with whatever he can loot out of an old, abandoned MagMart than to spend a single dollar on Magbot guards. So unfair. Blugh, this outfit is all kinds of uncomfortable, too. We can go back to our usual, more fashionable self later, first we've got to make sure this area is clear of vicious, horrible, man-eating cyborg wolves.
    Quote Originally Posted by RabbitHoleLost View Post
    Magtok's the best
    "You probably found 'How to Survive a Robot Uprising' in the humor section. Let's just hope that is where it belongs."
    -Daniel H. Wilson
    Unhooded Magtok avvie by urodivoi

  2. - Top - End - #2
    Barbarian in the Playground
     
    Devixer's Avatar

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    Default Re: What's Left of the MagCave II: We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story

    There are a couple interesting problems that arise once this Magtok arrives at the entrance. The first one is that somebody's done his work for him - the entrance has been opened, and cleared of vines and moss alike. The plants lay in two neat piles on each side of the gate.

    The second problem is the response to his calling out - or rather, the lack thereof. Not even a cyberwolf growl. Everything is eerily silent-

    "Hey! Sorry, whoever you are, but you're probably not gonna want to come in here! Bunch of weird monsters, site's not clear..." Well. Whatever that voice belonged to, it devolves into indistinct mumbling, as a couple of soft orange lights materialize at opposite corners of what looks like the foyer.
    Last edited by Devixer; 2018-07-01 at 07:39 AM.

  3. - Top - End - #3
    Barbarian in the Playground
     
    Lord Magtok's Avatar

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    Default Re: What's Left of the MagCave II: We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story

    "Excuse me?" Magtok's sorely tempted to punctuate that statement by firing a warning shot or pumping a shotgun or something. Some sort of declaration that lousy squatters and the exotic monsters bred by his own clone brethren aren't going to stop him from reclaiming what's rightfully is. Unfortunately, his firearm is not a rifle, not a shotgun, and he's pretty much on his own here, and not bulletproof. If he scares this intruder with a 'warning shot' that gets mistaken for an invitation to battle, there are good odds Magtok will get shot to pieces before he can even see who's lurking in the dark here. Not a fantastic way to start our expedition. The cyborg instead settles for glowering within his face-concealing biker helmet, marching forward with his gun at the ready to see how dangerous the site really is.

    "Whoever I am?" He asks, more than a little offended he wasn't immediately recognized just from the sound of his voice. He was the greatest legend this world has ever known! His MagMarts and their market-shatteringly low prices were indispensable to the common man! He helped save the world on multiple occasions, and probably starred in a movie at least once! If he wasn't so concerned some kind of vicious animal might jump out at him and eat his face, he'd take the helmet off right now and show this mystery voice person just who they're dealing with! Instead he settles for just ignoring their warning entirely and marching forward. 'Whoever you are,' why I oughta...
    Quote Originally Posted by RabbitHoleLost View Post
    Magtok's the best
    "You probably found 'How to Survive a Robot Uprising' in the humor section. Let's just hope that is where it belongs."
    -Daniel H. Wilson
    Unhooded Magtok avvie by urodivoi

  4. - Top - End - #4
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    Default Re: What's Left of the MagCave II: We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story

    Magtok might notice a couple of bodies laid beside a wall - two cyberwolves, sparking from the holes in their necks. A small yellow flag has been put up next to them. And once he's further into the foyer, he'll have a much easier time seeing just who that voice belongs to. There's a woman in the foyer, a little on the small side, that's creating magical lights from nothing and letting them hover in the air. It's pretty easy to see that she isn't quite human - her blue-grey skin, the dark scales on the sides of her face, and the similarly colored horns and lizard-looking tail all attest to that. She's dressed to travel, with black pants and boots, and a brown long-sleeved shirt. The woman holds a large journal of some kind, keeping it open as she puts the lights up.

    She finally stops mumbling to herself to see Magtok, and she... sighs? "You adventurers never listen. Look, I don't care if you're here for loot or the thrills. This is a historical site, and I need to make sure it's safe before I start cataloging what I can find."

  5. - Top - End - #5
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    Default Re: What's Left of the MagCave II: We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story

    "...A historical site." Magtok stops, considering his options. This is about the right time for dramatic reveal, isn't it? Before she starts putting more gross magic light nonsense in our home, preferably. This is a place of science, after all. Man's triumph over machine, without any lousy magical crutches (except Needs sometimes) to keep up with the rest of the world and its lazy, degenerate spellcasters.

    "I check out of this Hotel California world for three years, and my house is an ancient cathedral. I know time moves fast around here, but..." Magtok grumbles, pulling off his helmet and setting it on the ground, so he can stand tall and survey the area with one foot atop his helm, and also dramatically reveal himself to be the Lord Magtok himself. "A forgotten tomb, a spooky dungeon, a place for adventures to die." He glares at a particularly offensive wall and shakes his head. Whatever, enough griping, we've got work to be done. Magtok unslings his rifle, pulls his helmet back over his head, and turns his gaze towards the wannabe Dr. Jones.

    "You're hired. Or rather, you would be, if I had any money. Hrm. Okay, better idea, I let you continue doing what you're doing, because it's moderately convenient for me, and I kick you out the door the second it's not. Deal?" Well aren't we a silver-tongued master negotiator today? Magtok doesn't wait for an answer, however, already moving forward, to inspect the foyer and see how much progress, if any, she's made into the adjoining rooms and hallways. I know there's at least one bedroom nearby, because we always needed one clone by the entrance at all time. Additionally, she probably hasn't gotten the lights working yet, given that this place is lit entirely by magic and whatever sunlight can stream in from above, so we should probably work on getting one of the generators operational. Maybe we can get to that before the sun goes down and this whole place becomes a hundred times spookier? Something to consider, maybe.
    Quote Originally Posted by RabbitHoleLost View Post
    Magtok's the best
    "You probably found 'How to Survive a Robot Uprising' in the humor section. Let's just hope that is where it belongs."
    -Daniel H. Wilson
    Unhooded Magtok avvie by urodivoi

  6. - Top - End - #6
    Barbarian in the Playground
     
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    Default Re: What's Left of the MagCave II: We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story

    "Yeah, a historical site. Do I need to go slow for you?" The woman throws up a few more lights before she's satisfied with the level of light in the room. They wouldn't last forever - lights like this could only take so much aether - but they'd work until she could find something more permanent. Maybe she could grab some lamps, or even turn on the power if she was really lucky and that still worked okay.

    Magtok's reveal would've been quite dramatic, and revealing - if the woman he's revealing himself to knew anything about him, or the owner of this cave besides "scientist guy." So instead of reacting with fear, admiration, or perhaps fangirling, she just sees this weirdo stand on his helmet, and is just confused. "Look, fine, this is your place. Whatever. It's still crawling with monsters and robots and robotic monsters, and that peashooter of yours isn't gonna do much. So just go back where it's safe and let me do my jo-"

    Aaaaand Magtok is just walking ahead of her. She walks ahead to catch up with him. "Please, like I'd let you kick me out. This world is crazy enough as is, and nobody's recording anything about places like this that have been abandoned or destroyed. How do people like you expect to survive without learning from the lessons of those that didn't?" She turns a page of her journal and touches a few spots of ink. She briefly glows with a white-red energy, before it dissipates once more.

    She hasn't made much progress past the foyer. There's only so much she can do on her own, and she actually spent more time clearing paths than fighting those two cyberwolves.
    Last edited by Devixer; 2018-07-02 at 12:26 AM.

  7. - Top - End - #7
    Barbarian in the Playground
     
    Lord Magtok's Avatar

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    Default Re: What's Left of the MagCave II: We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story

    "Relax, we're on the ground floor. Things don't get really nasty until about the fifth or sixth, unless Rhode and Leslie are lurking around here somewhere, or if you hear geese honking. If the lasgeese have made it all the way back up, your best bet is probably to toss some bread and find somewhere to hide. Maybe cast a fireproofing spell, if you have one," Magtok advises, before pressing his back up against a wall, standing beside the door. Beyond this door is a hallway, and in that hallway, there's an elevator, a staircase, the cafeteria and a bedroom. That elevator shaft and/or those stairs are vital to our advancement through the rest of the MagCave, and that cafeteria needs to be cleared out with extreme prejudice. No doubt the cyberwolves have been congregating there, tearing open all the canned rations with their horrible cyborg teeth, and feasting on anything they can find.

    "I'm just going to slowly open the door, peek down the hallway, and-" There's a loud thump from the hallway on the other side of the door. It's followed by another thump, rattling the entire foyer as it reverberates across the building. By the third thump, Magtok has completely given up on his plans to open that door, and is scurrying away in the opposite direction, gun drawn as he tries to put as much distance between himself and the spooky hallway as he can, whilst still keeping his weapon centered on the door so he can strike when the thing finally arrives. There's only a small handful of things that could fit in that hallway and still make the building shake like that, and none of them are friendly.
    Quote Originally Posted by RabbitHoleLost View Post
    Magtok's the best
    "You probably found 'How to Survive a Robot Uprising' in the humor section. Let's just hope that is where it belongs."
    -Daniel H. Wilson
    Unhooded Magtok avvie by urodivoi

  8. - Top - End - #8
    Barbarian in the Playground
     
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    Default Re: What's Left of the MagCave II: We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story

    "So much for having a nice and quiet dig for once," Asaigh mutters, as she takes a few steps back and to the side of the door to the hallway. Of course, that idea had gone down the drain the moment she'd been attacked by those robotic wolves. But she'd managed to maintain some hope that it wouldn't get any worse. A foolish idea, really. "I need to start hiring help."

    She traces several symbols on her journal, then in the air in front of her. The book's pages begin to ruffle as though a slight breeze had just blown past her, and the tips of her fingers begin to glow with a sickly green energy. "Right, whatever you are, come on out so I can catalogue you." She doesn't seem terribly impressed by the bangs on the door, nor the size that's implied by the shaking. almost like she's seen it all before.

  9. - Top - End - #9
    Barbarian in the Playground
     
    Lord Magtok's Avatar

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    Default Re: What's Left of the MagCave II: We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story

    In retrospect, Magtok probably should've barricaded that door with something before he ran off. If not that, then at the very least, he should've closed the door, just in case whatever's on the other side doesn't have opposable thumbs or the necessary muscle to knock the door off its hinges. That might've made everything a lot simpler. Instead, we have a dire cyberwolf walking in. The snarling beast is about six feet tall, half-starved, and in a really bad mood. This might have something to do with a certain archaeologist murdering her children. Or maybe those dead cyberwolves aren't its kids, and it's the big ol' ball and chain tied to its leg that's upsetting the beast so much. The thing keeps echoing all across the building every time the cyberwolf tries to jump, carving a massive scar into the floor whenever it chooses to run, and just generally being completely unbearable. Either way, however, the animal is angry as hell, and it's going to take that anger out on any cyborgs or lizards it can catch, preferably starting with Asaigh.

    Meanwhile, everyone's seventh-favorite cyborg (we just did another popularity poll, the dire cyberwolf has a bigger fanbase) is busy panicking, as cynophobia has always been one of his greatest weaknesses. He's not comfortable around small, domesticated terriers. He's deeply unsettled by pit bulls and german shepherds. Ordinary wolves are bad news, cyberwolves are completely terrifying, and this big ****ing mountain of a beast? It's a big ol' NOPE NO **** NO SORRY I'M DONE. Ball-and-chain or not, that thing's could probably snap him in half with one bite. Sorry, archaeologist lady, it was nice knowing you. Magtok will try to contact your next of kin if he can remember to run away before the gargantuan beast finishes ripping and tearing your guts.
    Quote Originally Posted by RabbitHoleLost View Post
    Magtok's the best
    "You probably found 'How to Survive a Robot Uprising' in the humor section. Let's just hope that is where it belongs."
    -Daniel H. Wilson
    Unhooded Magtok avvie by urodivoi

  10. - Top - End - #10
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    Default Re: What's Left of the MagCave II: We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story

    Asaigh winces as the huge cyberwolf just walks on in. If the cyborg was right and it only got worse from here, she'd need to step it up. Especially since the man himself had essentially left her on her own. She lifts her fingers, and quick rays of that sick green energy shoot out at it. The spells themselves are meant to inflict a fast-acting and debilitating disease on their target, but whether or not that's actually effective against these cybernetic creatures is yet to be determined. It definitely worked on the drones back in her world, but this was a whole new ballpark...

    She takes another step back, and glances up above the thing. Another page turn, and Asaigh throws a little ball of energy above the dire cyberwolf - this time a bright orange. Once it steps underneath, the energy will explode outward, in a large burst of aetheric energy, that will hopefully shear right through the metal of its body.

  11. - Top - End - #11
    Barbarian in the Playground
     
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    Default Re: What's Left of the MagCave II: We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story

    The cyberwolf doesn't understand flashy lights and incantations. What it does understand is that there's a nice, tasty lizard in front of it. It doesn't understand why the little one is standing tall and trying to fend for itself instead of running away like a smart little lizard, but no matter. Asaigh is obviously just too small to possibly do anything to stop the gargantuan beast. The cyberwolf trots obliviously, its nails scratching the worn, dirty floor tiles beneath it, as it confidently leans in to grab Asaigh in its jaws and-

    ...Wait. How is she still all the way over there? Did the ball-and-chain just become a hundred times heavier, or did something happen to the wolf just now? I think something happened. Fur starts to fall out in large chunks, revealing rusted iron and exposed wires in places this giant beast has been injured before. It glares at the lizard, its implants rejecting every instinct to run and cower, demanding instead that this assault be met with savage fury and intravenously-administered adrenaline. It leaps at Asaigh!

    -and then the explosion happens, and the dire cyberwolf is no more. A lucky shot, I think. Jumping ensured that its head would be a lot closer to the blast, whereas if it simply ran towards her, the extra distance between the wolf's head and her aetheric energy bomb might've been enough to merely wound the beast. Unfortunately for Asaigh, just because the wolf is dead, doesn't mean it's going to stop moving. It still managed to lunge forward before an explosion made a mess of its head, and that still puts Asaigh right in the beast's path...or it would, if Magtok hadn't stopped cowering in a corner long enough to shove her out of the way and get pinned against a wall by a giant wolf carcass in her place. What a hero. You should probably just leave him there, it's what he deserves.
    Quote Originally Posted by RabbitHoleLost View Post
    Magtok's the best
    "You probably found 'How to Survive a Robot Uprising' in the humor section. Let's just hope that is where it belongs."
    -Daniel H. Wilson
    Unhooded Magtok avvie by urodivoi

  12. - Top - End - #12
    Barbarian in the Playground
     
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    Default Re: What's Left of the MagCave II: We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story

    Asaigh winces and puts an arm in front of her face, bracing for a very gross impact. But while she's braced to be forced back, she certainly isn't prepared to be shoved to the side by Magtok. She stumbles, but manages to keep to her feet, without even dropping her book. She lets out a breath, then looks back at where she was going to be. For a moment, she's tempted to just leave the weird metal man here. But if he really did build this place, he'd know the layout a lot better than her. And there was that pesky manner of it not being right to just leave him there to suffocate in diseased, decapitated wolf. Not exactly on the higher side of the list of ways to go.

    She puts her book back in the pouch at her side, and heads over to try and heft the carcass away from Magtok. "You said this was your place? Why even- ugh, this is gross - why even have things like that? You clearly had some money, why not just hire a security force?" Yeah, Asaigh is definitely new to the Nexus.

  13. - Top - End - #13
    Barbarian in the Playground
     
    Lord Magtok's Avatar

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    Default Re: What's Left of the MagCave II: We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story

    "This wasn't my security force. See, I had this wonderful idea that I could deal with the wolf problem in the woods around here by creating a nanite virus that sought out wolves, and it'd get in their brains and tell them to stay the hell away from the MagCave and the encrypted radio signal blaring high pitched noise and pain. Instead of getting the hell out, they just moved to the bottom of the mountain, and waited until I shut this place down and turned off that signal to start ruining everything," he groans in disgust, trying to wipe the grotesque and excessive amount of wolf blood from his outfit with his hands, which does nothing more than smear it around and get his hands dirty. Ugh, gods above and below, this is the absolute worst. Wait, scratch that, at least he's not going to die of embarrassment, pinned to the wall by a dead animal. This is almost the absolute worst.

    "You're new to the Nexus, aren't you? I'm Magtok. I used to be famous and important," he introduces himself, doing a few brief stretches and making sure nothing is broken or dislocated. He's going to have a few bruises, pinned against a wall by something so huge, but fortunately there's nothing serious. "I'd offer to shake your hand, but...you know." She touches her books with those hands, and those scholarly archaeologist texts probably wouldn't appreciate all of this wolf blood splattered all over their delicate pages.

    "As I was saying, there's a generator on floor six. If we power that on, I can get the workshop running, some of the lights will work, and I can have a few Magbots start cleaning things up and helping out with the whole rabid psycho science experiments that are probably running loose. Also, just so we're clear and there's no confusion later, we're on the ground floor now, below that is the first floor, and below that, the second. I know other buildings have the floors numbered in ascending order, but when you expand the place by digging down..." You don't need to explain any further, I'm sure she gets the idea, Magtok. Anyway, he starts marching forward again, like nothing ever happened. If we had money, we could hire a knight, rogue, plague doctor, and cleric to explore the depths for us, but like I've mentioned earlier, the MagCollective is made up of a bunch of penny-pinching jerks. Gotta get to that sixth floor and get things running again ourselves.
    Quote Originally Posted by RabbitHoleLost View Post
    Magtok's the best
    "You probably found 'How to Survive a Robot Uprising' in the humor section. Let's just hope that is where it belongs."
    -Daniel H. Wilson
    Unhooded Magtok avvie by urodivoi

  14. - Top - End - #14
    Barbarian in the Playground
     
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    Default Re: What's Left of the MagCave II: We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story

    "Most roundabout way possible - yep, you're a scientist, alright. At least you didn't just chop down the woods. Unless that was on the docket too." Asaigh shrugs. It really isn't her problem. For the moment, her book goes back into the pouch at her side. It seemed like they'd have a moment to catch their breath and come up with something that at least resembled a plan.

    "Used to? Well, my name's Asaigh, and people that used to be famous and important just happen to be my specialty. Just, normally they're either long dead, or they just came back from being long dead and they wanna kill me. Never dealt with one still alive and kicking." It was a little embarrassing, honestly. This cave looked like nobody had been inside in decades, but here was the owner, just fine - albeit soaked in blood. She'd have to find a more abandoned place next time.

    "Right. Better to let the drones get beaten up then us, right?" Asaigh has shown no amazed reactions to this new-fangled "technology." A bit odd, for someone who throws around what are basically spells and looks like she just stepped out of a fantasy novel about lizard people.

  15. - Top - End - #15
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    Default Re: What's Left of the MagCave II: We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story

    "Well I figured just sending the Magbots to hunt down every last wolf in the region would've been both bad for morale and also might completely screw up the ecosystem. Forcibly relocating them seemed the least messy way to deal with the problem, short of hiring a druid to negotiate with the things, but you can imagine what people would say if they heard I needed the help of some shapeshifting hippie freak with a bear for a wife." Hey now Magtok, rude. Not every druid marries a wild animal. Some of them are actually completely sane, and don't live in a hut in the middle of the woods, subsisting on a diet of centipedes, owlbears, and wild berries. Anyway, the cyborg continues on ahead, stepping through the doorway that the dire cyberwolf had charged through. Thankfully, it was all alone, and if there were any other creatures in the area, that loud clanging sound seems to have scared them away. He moves to the door leading down to the staircase, not trusting the elevator under these conditions. The stairwell looks mostly okay, but it just kinda stops just after the fourth floor, with the rest of the staircase lying in a broken, mangled heap in a dark pit at the bottom of the stairwell. Of course, things couldn't possibly ever be easy, could they? Bah. I guess they'll just have to find a way down from the fourth floor, then. Maybe there's another staircase they could use, or a bomb they could set off to blow a hole in the floor/fifth floor's ceiling.

    "If it's any consolation, I may not want to kill you, but I have died plenty of times before. Well, other Magtok clones have, but with memory transfers and the same genetic structure, it's basically the same thing as dying and coming back to life. Sorta. Dying used to be one of the things I was really good at, too. I've been shot dead, stabbed to death, fragged, burned, bludgeoned, beheaded, harpooned..." Magtok goes on and on, naming just about every violent cause of death you can imagine. The whole MagClone thing used to see a lot more use, back when the world was a hundred times more vicious, and more than half the population was some sort of deity or demigod. These days, a normal human civilian can actually walk down the street without being struck by lightning, which was completely unheard of back then.

    "The worst was probably the harpoon death, though that was more timing than anything. That clone had just proposed to his girlfriend, when suddenly some human supremacist asshats with this thing about miscegenation show up and shoot him with an actual harpoon. I mean, there's some lousy ways to die, and then there's that. We sorted it all out and got them back together again later, though." Magtok shrugs, as if regularly making a complete mockery of human mortality were no different than any other wacky anecdote one might share.

    As for the fourth floor, (assuming Asaigh followed him down there, of course) it's dark. Incredibly dark, since the power is out and there's no sunlight streaming in to these depths. Magtok isn't too bothered by that, since he's got his cyborg eye and doesn't have to trip over any more vines down here, but Asaigh might not be so lucky. Or maybe she is and reptile people can see in the dark, I don't know. If she can see through all the spooky gloom, she'll probably notice that this floor is largely devoted to lab space and Magtok's various scientific pursuits, with large sheets of glass instead of walls separating the 'rooms,' all kinds of strange bodies floating in large glass tubes, beakers and vials of colorful chemicals broken and scattered across the floor, and a large aquarium tank containing a lone octopus, hard at work cobbling together a suit of armor from the scraps of metal that have fallen into its tank, and completely unaware of the building's new visitors. There's no robots in sight, though. No death ray blueprints, MagBot designs, or shiny new spider-mechas roaming the halls in search of prey. Nothing shiny or chrome down here; I guess Magtok preferred to keep all of his more mechanical creations sequestered elsewhere?
    Quote Originally Posted by RabbitHoleLost View Post
    Magtok's the best
    "You probably found 'How to Survive a Robot Uprising' in the humor section. Let's just hope that is where it belongs."
    -Daniel H. Wilson
    Unhooded Magtok avvie by urodivoi

  16. - Top - End - #16
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    Default Re: What's Left of the MagCave II: We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story

    The Fourth Floor.....

    A while back, Magtok and Felandria were looking into ways of improving her profile, when Magtok had suggested Felandria dolls.

    These weren’t the Felandria plushies that are currently flying off the shelves, but more like offbrand Barbie type dolls, with slightly exaggerated eyes and vacant smile.

    Then he thought that since Fel was trying to be a hero, the dolls should maybe try and help their owners, like cleaning the kiddies rooms while they were asleep, and possibly doing other secret things while the parents were asleep, but the dolls never made it to market.

    Unfortunately, the dolls leftover in the lab weren’t shut off entirely, and they started being helpful, by making more of themselves so they could go out and help even more.

    And now about twenty five little plastic Felandrias are marching down the hall in their direction, each one about a foot tall........

    And carrying wands.

    Where the heck did they get those?

    Surely they didn’t work, right?

    They only seem to know one word, though...

    Help.
    Last edited by Felandria; 2018-07-16 at 04:37 AM.

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    Default Re: What's Left of the MagCave II: We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story

    Asaigh just keeps an eyebrow raised as Magtok goes on and on and on about all the ways he's died. She's sure she isn't lying - she knows a good bit about clones, but not enough to know about anything like shared memories. She just wasn't interested enough in the science behind it to actually try and puzzle out how it's supposed to work. "Er, yeah, that's a real bummer. Got people that have problems with other races back home, too. They're idiots." At least there was something she could agree with. Racism is bad, kids.

    Asaigh's eyes can adjust to the lowering levels of light, but there does come a point where there just isn't enough light left for her to see a thing. "Ugh, hold on, I need to..." She pulls a small chunk of crystal from one of her pouches, and strikes it against her book. It quickly begins to glow with a soft purple light - not the brightest thing in the world, but at least she could see now. "There we go. And now..." she lightly tosses the crystal in front of her, where it starts to float a few feet ahead of them. "It's a good thing aether still works the way it does around here, or else I'd be kinda scr..."

    She blinks as she sees just what's heading her and Magtok's direction. Were those... dolls? They looked even more lifeless then that line of automatons back home. "So what brilliant idea was this one?"

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    Default Re: What's Left of the MagCave II: We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story

    "Merchandising. Felandria wanted to be a superheroine. I wanted to exploit her superheroics for money. I did exploit her superheroics for money. These dolls didn't make it to the stores, though. Safety issues, I think. Maybe they were choking hazards?" Oh yeah sure, choking hazards. There's an army of them with weird little wand things marching towards you all dead-eyed and ominous, but obviously that's nothing to worry about. No, the problem must be little kids choking on the dolls somehow, even though they don't have any small, detachable pieces. That totally makes complete sense, uh huh.

    "Dismissed, Felandrias. Back to your boxes. Engage sleep mode. Shutdown Code Olympus Gate. Go away please. Help someone else, thank you. Okay, stop. Go. Leave?" Magtok orders the dolls, becoming a little more worried with each failed command, starting to back away and panic around the fifth or sixth failure. He's just making commands up as he goes along, really. He has no idea what he's actually supposed to say to shut these things off. That's what happens when you lose all access to the MagCave's memory databanks, you see. Only the 'important' stuff can fit in a single cyborg's head, and the admin commands for a doll that never even made it to the market...well, I'm sure you can see why Magtok didn't think he'd ever need that again.
    Last edited by Lord Magtok; 2018-07-18 at 04:51 AM.
    Quote Originally Posted by RabbitHoleLost View Post
    Magtok's the best
    "You probably found 'How to Survive a Robot Uprising' in the humor section. Let's just hope that is where it belongs."
    -Daniel H. Wilson
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    Default Re: What's Left of the MagCave II: We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story

    The Felandria dolls continue to head towards Magtok and Asaigh.

    As they get closer, Magtok might notice that the dolls seem to be occasionally looking behind them, and some of then may not be paying attention to them at all.

    There is a rumble in the distance.

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    Default Re: What's Left of the MagCave II: We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story

    Asaigh shakes her head and steps forward. "Great marketing, you're a regular House of Splendors." She opens her book once more, and withdraws a quill from between its pages. As she starts to inscribe symbols onto the page, the quill and book both begin to glow with a deep red energy.

    It takes her a moment, but soon Asaigh flicks her quill towards the ground, as though she were trying to splash ink onto it. "Come forth!" Flames appear at the spot she'd indicated, before a small bipedal creature of pure flame materializes. It takes a couple of steps forward, waiting for orders. "Alright you dumb dolls and whatever that noise is, come and get me."

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    Default Re: What's Left of the MagCave II: We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story

    Magtok kneels, pointing his rifle into the distance. "Dolls aren't the problem, I think." He's mostly sure they're not, which is still slightly more sure than he usually feels about things. He's seen a few movies in his lifetime, he knows how this sort of dramatic reveal works. First there's the mob of scary things rushing in your direction, the things you think are the real threat. Defying expectations, they run past you, revealing that they weren't running towards you, but away from something else. That's right about when the real problem shows itself, and everyone freaks out because it's so much worse than the initial mob of scary things could've ever hoped to be.

    "Eyes up, in the direction they were running away from. Hold your fire until we're sure it's a threat, and not just a harmless doll-eating fish monster." There's a very small chance some of the things running wild in the MagCave might actually respect and obey a Magtok, after all. It's not terribly likely, honestly, but if there's even a chance there might be a friendly, useful ally in here, we should hold off on shooting until we're sure we're dealing with a hostile. You know what they say about shooting first and asking questions later.
    Quote Originally Posted by RabbitHoleLost View Post
    Magtok's the best
    "You probably found 'How to Survive a Robot Uprising' in the humor section. Let's just hope that is where it belongs."
    -Daniel H. Wilson
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    Default Re: What's Left of the MagCave II: We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story

    The dolls, as it turns out, are not the problem.

    But they helped create the problem.

    They just wanted to help, so they got together and made a friend to help them help people.

    Unfortunately, they only had practice making other dolls, and their efforts to make a full sized helper went horribly awry.

    As the dolls scurry past Magtok and Asaigh, a few of them hide behind Magtok’s legs and one of the dolls tries to hug the flame creature, and this is a bad idea for the doll as it quickly catches ablaze.

    At which point it comes around the corner.

    There weren’t quite enough parts around to make a full sized Fel doll, but there weresome cyborg materials around, and the dolls used those to finish.......well, almost finish

    Feltok looks angry, although that may be the fact that she doesn’t have an entire face, one eye spins around wildly and the eyebrows seem to be crudely drawn on with orange magic marker, because one supposes they couldn’t find a red one.

    It spots the pair and snarls

    HELP!

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    Default Re: What's Left of the MagCave II: We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story

    Asaigh sighs and flips the pages of her book. Nothing's ever easy. "Azys Lla all over again... No, we're good, thanks!" She shouts in a very strange language that isn't translated by the Nexus Babel Atmosphere, and the flame creature starts to float towards Feltok, casting a shield of flame around itself. It's still on the defensive for now, though. Asaigh wants to see just what it does first, to determine her plan of action.

    "Choking hazards, huh?" She says back in Magtok's direction.

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    Default Re: What's Left of the MagCave II: We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story

    "Hey, I didn't make this one. Usually had a small army of menial robot goons with guns, so I never would've had to deal with this myself anyway," the cyborg insists, tightening his grip on his rifle and waiting just a little longer to line up his shot. You know, I don't think Magtok entirely understands the criticism being directed at his mad science capitalism.

    "I've got your help right here, Red. Just don't make any references to five nights at you-know-what and I'll make it quick," he promises, pointing his rifle at that spinning eyeball. If the thing makes even the slightest hostile move, running with arms outstretched or teeth bared or doing practically anything other than raising its arms in surrender, he's firing. Yeah, that'll show the robot Felandria not to be so big and frightening and Felandria-shaped in his home!
    Quote Originally Posted by RabbitHoleLost View Post
    Magtok's the best
    "You probably found 'How to Survive a Robot Uprising' in the humor section. Let's just hope that is where it belongs."
    -Daniel H. Wilson
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    Default Re: What's Left of the MagCave II: We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story

    Quote Originally Posted by Lord Magtok View Post
    "Hey, I didn't make this one. Usually had a small army of menial robot goons with guns, so I never would've had to deal with this myself anyway," the cyborg insists, tightening his grip on his rifle and waiting just a little longer to line up his shot. You know, I don't think Magtok entirely understands the criticism being directed at his mad science capitalism.

    "I've got your help right here, Red. Just don't make any references to five nights at you-know-what and I'll make it quick," he promises, pointing his rifle at that spinning eyeball. If the thing makes even the slightest hostile move, running with arms outstretched or teeth bared or doing practically anything other than raising its arms in surrender, he's firing. Yeah, that'll show the robot Felandria not to be so big and frightening and Felandria-shaped in his home!
    The Feltok slowly approaches, it seems not so much hostile at the moment, more curious of this new development.

    Mommy?

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    Default Re: What's Left of the MagCave II: We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story

    Asaigh looks at Feltok, then at Magtok, and she bursts into a fit of silent giggling. "Mommy?" Of all the ways to refer to its... creator? That was certainly one of them.

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    Default Re: What's Left of the MagCave II: We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story

    Magtok scowls, shooting Asaigh the dirtiest, most hateful look he's given anyone in years. Mommy, seriously? Gods, what he wouldn't give for this to just be a straight-up fight to the death right now. He wouldn't even mind if it ended in his death, just so long as he wasn't dealing with this utter nonsense.

    "I'm going to assume you mean Felandria and not me. She's outside somewhere." Maybe still at the Beachside party, maybe at war in Riverside, depending on how the timelines fit together. "If you mean me, then yes, fine, sure. Mommy needs to go downstairs; can you step aside and let her find a working staircase or giant hole in the floor?" Jeez, I hope this isn't anything like how Magtok used to talk to his actual kids. It might explain why none of them ever bothered welcoming him back to the Nexus, though.
    Quote Originally Posted by RabbitHoleLost View Post
    Magtok's the best
    "You probably found 'How to Survive a Robot Uprising' in the humor section. Let's just hope that is where it belongs."
    -Daniel H. Wilson
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    Default Re: What's Left of the MagCave II: We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story

    Feltok comes closer, wary of the fire creature.

    It looks at the flaming being and reaches out to it.

    And now Feltok is on fire.

    And angry

    And charges right at Magtok and Asaigh!

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    Default Re: What's Left of the MagCave II: We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story

    "Yeah, no, just touch the fire! What a good move!" Asaigh growls and calls out in that arcane language again. The creature takes to the air, just in front of Feltok, and swipes at it with one of its claws.
    Asaigh taps three spots on the open page of her book, and her hand starts to glow with three separately colored energies - red, blue, and green.
    Last edited by Devixer; 2018-08-03 at 07:30 AM.

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    Default Re: What's Left of the MagCave II: We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story

    "Raptor Christ, why is this always my luck?" I mean sure, he wanted the thing to die a moment ago, but he wanted to not be set on fire even more. It seemed like it could make for a convenient tool or bait for the next floor's monsters, but alas, such a thing was not meant to be. Magtok backs away and holds out his left hand, hoping to keep the monstrosity at least an arm's length away, with the arm that doesn't really matter too much if it gets set on fire. He'd try shooting at Feltok, but this is really more of a two-handed sort of firearm, and Asaigh seems to mostly have this under control, right?
    Quote Originally Posted by RabbitHoleLost View Post
    Magtok's the best
    "You probably found 'How to Survive a Robot Uprising' in the humor section. Let's just hope that is where it belongs."
    -Daniel H. Wilson
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