Adventurers Amongst the Stars IC

[Izzarra]

Pixel studies what the plant-creatures are doing. She consults her AI's database to see if there is any information on what is happening.

Spoiler: Roll

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Here is a roll, not sure how to use it:
(1d20)[15]
+12 if Eidetic Memory misc expertise
+18 if Well Informed Check

[tonberrian]

"They believe he's 'The Shining One' returned as the prophecy foretold." <The Shining One seeks... the Holy Shrine, or whatever it's called.>

Spoiler: OOC

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The <> denotes psychic conversation, in this case directed at the plant things.

[Dodgeson]

The natives paused in their ritual as Kanna Te's words appeared in their mind, telepathy wasn't something they were particularly familiar with but in the presence of the 'Shining One' they weren't exactly going to object.

<Of course> One of the plant creatures replied, breaking away from the formation, their flower rapidly shifting colour and releasing a fresh scent <The Shining One returns for great work>

Graff watched Kanna Te as the whole thing unfolded and slowly approached her "You can understand them?" He asked "Remarkable..."

The native turned back to the others and more scents, colours and gestures were exchanged before they too moved from their position around John and began to head towards the temple.

Spoiler: Pixel

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While there isn't much specific information on the natives in the database, after all as far as the rest of the galaxy was concerned they were merely flora and it was in the Malachord's best interest to make sure that nobody really pried too far in to that, but what they were doing matched in no small part several religious rites found in several tribal cultures on other worlds.

[Quellian-dyrae]

The Shining One, huh? Well, it wouldn't have been Tager's first choice for a graviator name, but he supposed they'd take what they could get. At the very least, this appeared to have solved the problem of convincing the natives to let them access the temple. Giving a kinda "roll with it, I guess?" shrug to John, he followed after the florids.

Kana-Te could communicate with them. Telepathy really was a super-convenient power, when it wasn't being a super-squicky one. Tager felt like there should have been some things to ask her to ask them...and totally failed to come up with any. Well, it's not like he had ever pretended to be a great anthropologist or anything. ...Or would that be herbologist in this case? Maybe split the difference at biologist? Aliens were hard and he was none of the above, so whatever.

[Dodgeson]

~Scene Wipe~

The natives lead our heroes up the steps and in to the temple, leading them through its labyrinthine passages.

<Please only follow our steps> One of them explained in another burst of scent and colours as they very deliberately navigated their way forward, walking only on certain blocks and tapping others as they moved passed them, assuming that at least Kanna-Te and the 'Shining One' could understand them <The temple has many ways of keeping out those who should not be here>

Meanwhile the Professorman followed them, more than accustom to the temple's security measures at this point, something that he'd had to learn through trial and error "What are they saying?! This is all priceless information!" He pleaded, tugging at Kanna-Te's clothes.

Eventually the natives came to a halt in front of an enormous wall, covered in strange and unknown markings <We can go no further, beyond here is the Shining Ones great work, their Ascension Engine> One of them said, filling the passageway with a bitter scent.

[Quellian-dyrae]

Tager followed the steps of the florids carefully. There was a tiny, irrational part of him that kinda felt like it was cheating, but he ignored it. When they got to the rune-marked wall...he looked to John. Look, I'm not saying Tager took a wall to be an insurmountable obstacle or anything. Hitting things is well within his skillset. But he kinda figured smashing down the ancient wall of their hallowed temple might upset their hosts.

"Sooo...what do you think, 'Shining One'?" he asked. Yeah, I'm sure John would live that one down any minute now.

Ascension Engine, he thought to himself, as Kana-Te translated the florids. So presumably some sort of energy generator of some kind? On the one hand, at least it (probably...maybe...hopefully) wasn't a superweapon. On the other hand, if it were a powerful enough energy source, it kinda wouldn't have to be.

[Izzarra]

"This looks interesting."

Pixel carefully scans and documents all of the markings for future reference and asks her AI if it can make anything of them.

Spoiler: OOC Translation Matrix

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Comprehend (Languages; Speak, Understand, Read)

[tonberrian]

"I cannot translate these runes. Can any of you make any sense of them?"

[SuperCracker]

The Shining One?

As a scientist, explorer, and self-designated galactic ambassador of Earth, John’s first impulse is that it would be intellectually and morally dishonest if he allowed the natives to worship him as whatever kind of religious/mythological figure they were holding him up to be.

On the other hand…

If someone asks if you’re a God, you say YES!

….

“Yes! The Shining One returns for great work!”

He followed along with the natives and the group as they made their way to the ruins-slash-temple. “Please only follow our steps” seemed a lot like “Only the penitent man may pass.” John had his visor tag the safe blocks in his HUD in case he needed to beat a retreat later.

“We’ve gone from Buck Rogers to Indiana Jones, got it.” Absolutely no one present would get the meaning of that.

The Ascension Engine had a foreboding tone… and could mean a lot of things. Flight, extradimensional travel, uplifting plants into a sentient species even… John was extremely wary. As they approached the wall, his sensors reached out through the structure of the building, mapping it out to give John safe places to teleport.

“I’m not sure what it says… Cortana?”

“The language portion of the Creators’ database is not yet safe to integrate into your mind. You are going to have to wing it, Commander.”

“That’s a no.”

He took a deep breath. “Alright, let me take a peek behind the curtain. If I’m not instantly killed, I’ll come back for the rest of you.” And with that, John went to teleport through the wall.

Spoiler

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Using HUD to map the temple. It penetrates concealment, so I should be good.

[Dodgeson]

Taking in the markings in front of them, Pixel's AI would slowly begin to render them readable and what she got was a warning.

Spoiler: Pixel

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DANGER

We who are left are not so vain as to believe that our great work will remain concealed forever but it is imperative that you go no further. There are things that no being that should possess, boundaries that should never be crossed.

Please for the sake of all that is you must turn back now.

And then John mapped out the temple behind the barrier and vanished.

---

The air was musty as John appeared in the darkness on the other side of the wall, dim and ancient lights aligned in unusual patterns on the walls slowly stirring to life a and beginning to illuminate the enormous musty chamber. Almost everything was covered in a thick layer of dust, it was obvious that was the first living thing to set foot in this chamber for a very long time, from the scorched walls to the silvery metal floor. The one thing that had appeared to be untouched by the passage of time stood in the centre of the room on a slightly raised platform, it was a bizarre looking amalgam of gold and crystal that glowed gently with its own shifting internal light, looking more like a piece of art than any kind of machinery.

[Quellian-dyrae]

Tager gave John a blase thumbs up at the plan. He could have showed some concern, offered to go with as backup, but meh. John would be fine. He was pretty sure Cortana was immune to instant death.

Having precisely zero knowledge, training, or tech that in any way prepared him for translating what were presumably ancient precursor runes, he just left that detail to others and waited for John to return.

[Izzarra]

"It appears that this text implores us to go no further as the contents of this temple should not be possessed by anybody."

[SuperCracker]

John has now been the first human to tread many places in the galaxy, but here it felt like he was the first anything to do it since the Shining Ones / Precursors. Pixel’s voice came in through his comms, which meant that comm traffic could still make it through the barrier.

“I kinda figured that’s what it said.”

John began recording and transmitting the images from his visor to the others. The visor automatically switched from darkvision to normal sight as the chamber lit itself. John first noted the scorched walls, then the machinery in the middle. John’s suit rippled with space distortion as he floated a few inches off of the ground (just in case there are any floor traps) and he came closer to the device in the center until he was 20 feet away or so. He zoomed in on the machine and began to scan it with his sensors.

“Alright people, anyone have a clue what I’m looking at?”

John himself tried to puzzle it out… he was a scientist after-all.

Spoiler

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First, John analyzes the machine with Detect Energy.

And once he has those readings… Expertise Science maybe? (1d20+12)[30]

And I can roll investigation or anything else I need to.

[Dodgeson]

Spoiler: John

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The light inside the machine wasn't just shifting, it was pulsing, what you were looking at was a heartbeat, the machine (if you can even call it that) was dormant but very much alive, you're pretty sure you could wake it if you wanted to. Not only that but the light was obviously an energy source, pure energy, the sort of stuff that birthed the universe, you are very much in third law territory right now. If there was any doubt in John's mind as to the sort of power the Precursors wielded and how much damage their artifacts could do in the wrong hands, now was probably time to reconsider his stance.

Spoiler: Perception (DC15)

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The lights around the chamber aren't in just any pattern, it looks like more of the same writing you saw on the barrier.

[Quellian-dyrae]

Tager reviewed the images coming through on his phone. It wasn't like he had any particular knowledge of this stuff, but still, he had his share of tech skills, and tried to offer what insights he could. Hopefully they would amount to more than "Well it's very glowy."

Spoiler

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Team Check for any Technology roll Pixel might make regarding the device: (1d20+15)[20]. +5

[SuperCracker]

John kept his distance and watched the machine until what he was looking at clicked right into place.

“This thing is alive. There’s an energy signature with readings similar to… the Big Bang. The energy is pulsing inside that thing like a heartbeat. We never even conceived that such a thing could be possible under the known laws of physics.”

No wonder the Precursors were treated as gods. And now… no wonder his suit could draw out so much power from John’s mere human metabolism. The Precursors just take known physics and fling them out the window.

“It’s dormant, but I can wake it up.” There was a tone in John’s voice that was almost far-away as he said that. Tager and Pixel both knew a fair bit about John Young. His primary driving force in this region of the galaxy was to research the Precursors in the hopes of finding a way home. This didn’t override his morality or the clear need to keep this technology out of the hands of monsters, but John Young would never just destroy it before trying to [understand it.

Inside of John’s mindscape, Cortana was standing nearby dressed in your stereotypical white lab coat with black rimmed glasses on. “Commander, I urge you to remain cautious… however… this life form was made by the Creators themselves. It is imperative that we attempt to make contact.”

"And if it starts yelling 'Kill all humans?'"

"We are equipped with Creator technology ourselves. And your friend has a hammer. Science, bitch," she said with a playful smirk. She'd been watching frontal lobe TV again.

"Duly noted."

Through the comms to the others, John said, “It’s alive. I know what the warning says… but if it’s alive, we can maybe communicate with it. Get it away from here without having to destroy it. It’s a risk… so I’ll put it to a vote. Either way...”

John teleported back into the other room. He then transported anyone willing back into the chamber with him. At least Tager, for the aforementioned reason. Once all who desired were in the room, he waited for the vote.

“I vote yes.”

[Quellian-dyrae]

It was alive. Some artificial intelligence. Or artificial life form. Or something. Tager's head swam. This was...so, so far beyond anything they had had on Naiar.

Of course, he teleported in with John. Tager Yung would hesitate before no unknown!

But Tommy Yang...

"No..." he said. His voice was subtly but undeniably different. It wasn't just that he spoke more softly. His voice was not just quieter, but smaller. There was less presence in it. His body language seemed to change too. He drew in on himself, just a bit. His gaze dropped slightly, and flicked on occasion to the walls or the floor. For some reason, he suddenly looked almost awkward in his striped armor. Like he was wearing a suit too big for him. His form and features didn't change one iota, but he nonetheless seemed, in some indelible way, like a different person, one far less strong and confident and cool than the mighty Grav-Knight.

"I vote no. I mean...not now, anyway. I'm not saying we have to just destroy it out of hand. I mean, of course not, not if it's alive. But...to just activate it, or wake it, when we have no idea what it would do, when every single piece of information we've encountered on this thing tells us it's too powerful, too dangerous, for anyone to use..."

"We can take it from here. Maybe find someone who can analyze it better, figure out what it will do. Maybe...maybe see if we can find a way to communicate with it without activating it. Between Kana-Te and Pixel and Cortana, or something?" Even that suggestion he hesitated on. Naiar had science-fiction too. He had seen movies and read books about artificial superintelligences convincing their creators to let them out of the box... "Maybe once we've learned more, but to just activate it now, on a whim. That's just...irresponsible."

He didn't...really look at John as he said so, couldn't quite manage to meet his gaze for more than flickering fractions of a second. Tager would have no trouble arguing with his friends when he thought they were wrong, even about matters he knew were important to them. But Tager would have no problem activating the device and handling whatever came of it. Tager couldn't be trusted with a decision this important. This was Tommy talking, and Tommy was way more socially awkward than that.