Serious Plots 10: Two digits too srs

[Recaiden]

[Wandering Groundtown]

Sekhmet is not very perceptive. But someone pulling a bracelet from her wrist cannot go unnoticed. She whirls around towards the (likely fleeing) kid and prepares to give chase, but stops herself.
The bracelet isn't real. It's part of the enchanted clothing she's wearing. Moving it too far from the rest of the set will cause it to disappear.
And even if it doesn't, it would be a waste of time and energy to chase that kid down, time and energy better spent finding the other Firstborn.

Oh yes, the kid is definitely fleeing with his sadly-not-real prize, ducking to one side, and then running straight away when he notices Sekhmet isn't pursuing. Better not wait for her to change her mind.

Sekhmet wanders, seeking high and low but finding no creatures that look like herself anywhere down here.
She's interrupted by a thought foreign to her head- What are you doing out there? -as she was told there is a quality to it completely different than the hive's communications. It's not obvious from who or from where it came - the sender is hiding themselves. But something hints that it can't be too far away, somewhere in this neighborhood of cheap, quickly-built rectangles.

[Shadowcaller]

G'nichi's Home

This time G'nichi does sigh, because that's a question that is very difficult to answer. Bahamut give him strength to continue dealing with this demanding dragon. Maybe this is what he should expect of them. Perhaps he's been spoiled by spending time with nice ones. Or by technically being close to one.
"I am a manner of hybridization between a green dragon and a qilin, Ma'am. My paperwork says Qaglin but that's just a shorthand." It would have been possible that the qilin parts were merely aesthetic if he didn't have several qilin-like traits. Xeni really managed to make this one go deep.
The dragon's prying eyes only makes him feel worse that he didn't dress for this occasion.

G'nichi's Home

"Truly? Fascinating." A beat.

"And what of your companions? Since there were two others with you. Since it strikes me as odd that you were trying to fly all alone and then just happen upon people that helped you to explore my sanctuary."

[Deathkeeper]

G’nichi’s Home

”Oh, Zee? If you’ve ever visited Trog’s you might have met her. She wanted to give brownies to the ‘new neighbors’ and brought her daughter, Kara. Honestly it was rather a coincidence of timing. Though I do have a very strange tendency to bump into Kara at convenient times. I’m not sure who to blame for that one.”
There’s no less than three different sources of meddling that could be contributing to that.

[Shadowcaller]

G’nichi’s Home

It's hard to tell the dragons reaction but considering the usually long silence that follows there seemed to be some kind of recognition.

Which makes what she says next all the more strange. "...you're cursed little one. That's the reason for your troubles. Something intangible draws dangerous people to you, wherever they be foes or allies. It's most likely going to result in an early grave unless you can break it."

[Deathkeeper]

G'nichi's Home

This humble narrator does not know what Ambrosia was expecting the qaglin to respond with, but it probably wasn't the most casual shrug possible followed by, "Yeah, I know. It's this thing. Binds me forever to have an Interesting Life of a Hero. It'll kill me one of these days. But getting it off is impossible, so I'm just doing the most good I can with my time."
This is...not the tone most people use when discussing their impending demise.

[bc56]

[Wandering Groundtown]


Oh yes, the kid is definitely fleeing with his sadly-not-real prize, ducking to one side, and then running straight away when he notices Sekhmet isn't pursuing. Better not wait for her to change her mind.

Sekhmet wanders, seeking high and low but finding no creatures that look like herself anywhere down here.
She's interrupted by a thought foreign to her head- What are you doing out there? -as she was told there is a quality to it completely different than the hive's communications. It's not obvious from who or from where it came - the sender is hiding themselves. But something hints that it can't be too far away, somewhere in this neighborhood of cheap, quickly-built rectangles.

I'm just lost. That's a normal thing for Firstborn, right? They can get lost? Nothing weird about it?
She's not sure, but she doesn't have a better answer. So it will have to do.
It would be a pretty bad track record if she was found out as an imposter after her first sentence.

[Recaiden]

I'm just lost. That's a normal thing for Firstborn, right? They can get lost? Nothing weird about it?
She's not sure, but she doesn't have a better answer. So it will have to do.
It would be a pretty bad track record if she was found out as an imposter after her first sentence.

This way. An idea of a direction and distance appears to Sekhmet. Just past this block, in a not-so-red-anymore brick building.
Why are you even out here with the locals? She'll probably pick up some vague, unformed thoughts about how irresponsible the whole science team is, this is just typical.

[bc56]

Wandering Groundtown
Sekhmet follows the direction given. The mention of a science team gives her a slight advantage here. She doesn't actually know anything about science, but she knows some sciencey words. I was studying them. Their reactions. Scientists study things, right?
No mention of how she seems to be a stranger either. That's serendipitous. But then again, since she looks like this it would be impossible for her to be a spy, so maybe they just don't have to worry about it.

[Recaiden]

[Wandering Groundtown]

If there's any left, you can study them *after* the mission. Stay focused. But they seem to think that this rebuke is enough. It seems that is a thing scientists do.

Following the direction given leads to a warehouse, which looks pretty empty-
Until she actually gets inside, where it's suddenly possible to see a ship hovering just off the ground (bigger than a house, four wings, very gold), a pair of buglike robots patrolling the warehouse floor, and a half-dozen Firstborn busy with inscrutable tasks at temporary workstations (there are a lot of holograms).
It seems everything thinks Sekhmet is supposed to be here, and no one is paying close attention yet/anymore.

[bc56]

Wandering Groundtown
Right. That doesn't sound good.
But now Sekhmet is left alone with a lot of sciencey looking things she has no idea how to use or what she should do to look like she belongs.
Uh, any advice? she sends to the Hive. She's really out of her element. While she waits for a reply she'll see if she can go up to an unoccupied workstation and look busy.

[Recaiden]

[Wandering Groundtown]

Sekhmet receives some advice...but no one in the hive is really great at this kind of job.
Pretend you're a stranger, who came to the Nexus in a warp accident, and need their help. That will get them to underestimate you.

Hmm? That'll make them suspicious. Pretend to be a member of the security team and ask the scientists for the status of their investigation.

Look confident, don't fidget with their machine so much. Just get aboard the ship. That's where anything important will be.
One normally boards a Firstborn ship via teleporter. But there'll be an emergency hatch somewhere on the top.

[bc56]

Wandering Groundtown
That last idea sounds like the best one. There will be more information there. Sekhmet stops fiddling with the machine and heads to the ship.
Permission to come aboard? she sends. Hopefully that works.
She doesn't look like an intruder, at least.

[Recaiden]

[Wandering Groundtown]

Approved.
A blue glow surrounds Sekhmet, and a moment later she's aboard the ship, on a prepared teleportation circle.
There are no straight lines anyway. Just circles, arches, and moderately warped diamond-shapes. Much of the interior is made of the same golden metal as the rest of their machinery, with shades of gray and brown here and there, and lots of blue semi-holographic displays. She's at the narrow end of an oval hall crammed with all sorts of mechanical junk which is probably not supposed to be stored here when the ship is in flight. The ceiling shows the night sky, despite the fact that it's solid metal and there's a roof above that and it's currently daytime.
There are two doors to the left, currently closed and apparently locked. There are two doorways to the right, currently open and curving further back into the ship. The nearest one contains one of their robots, a mechanical sea urchin sort of thing floating a few inches off the floor and slowly drifting further back.

The pilot's station will be behind those locks.

Ignore the robot. Act like you belong here, right?

[bc56]

Wandering Groundtown
Right, Sekhmet agrees. She ignores the robot and heads through the other open door. I don't think we want to go to the pilot's station though. It will be too obvious I'm not supposed to be there. Plus she doesn't know how to fly a spaceship.

[Recaiden]

[Wandering Groundtown]

The robot carries on its route. The hive will tell her that the small ones like it are quite single-minded, and unlikely to react unless she directly interrupts its job. Might be like some of the things in Pontius's golem works, actually.

The first thing down this hall is an archway on the left-hand side. not exactly locked, but with passage barred by a mostly-transparent wall of shimmering blue. Behind it, row and row of large glass(?) cylinders, each containing a Firstborn frozen perfectly still.

A little ways past that, towards the center of the ship, is a door (closed but not locked) with harsh bright light shining through the gaps around the edges.

[bc56]

Wandering Groundtown
Yes, that would make the robot a lot like a golem.
The frozen Firstborn make Sekhmet a bit uncomfortable. Being frozen alive is a bit of a personal nightmare for her. She pauses in front of the door that's open a crack, then attempts to open it all the way. If it's just a normal door that she can push or pull open, that will be easy. Otherwise, she may struggle to figure it out for a few moments.