A BioHazard® 5.0 play-by-post adventure run by bh5ogm
Grover leads the way into the dark path, followed by Heil.
The party is surprised to find beyond the doorway a relatively small room. The dark confines of this square room, about 8 feet high and 20 either way, are cluttered with various objects. It appears to be uninhabited, so the party spreads out and begins to explore.
Grover lights up his finger more and stays near the center of the room. It appears that there was once a door in the doorway. Two metal hinges are bent downwards away and into the door. There are some burn marks around the doorframe, but they appear to be more like the scars of an arc welder. The room also appears to have some light fixtures hanging from the ceiling, but without electricity, they are surely useless. To the left and right of the door there are two windows, opaque with dust and grime, but still solid with thick glass. Grover wipes away some grime with his finger, exposing the glass underneath. Between the door frame and the window, Grover finds a small raised rectangle on the wall with a plastic switch in the middle.
Pafnuty moves to the right of the room and wipes the dust off some electrical equipment. His eyes widen as he removes a paper-thin covering from atop a desk and exposes a keyboard, one of such complexity that he's only read about in the books of current-day scholars. Several glass-paneled boxes surround the desk. Pafnuty cracks his knuckles, inserts his tongue firmly in the corner of a slight smile, and wipes the dust off an ancient metal chair.
Heil surveys the other side of the room, prodding untrustingly at objects with his walking spear. There are several footlockers, wholly intact, against the wall, and large shelves on the walls. Most of this stuff is ancient, he's sure---things that only Pafnuty will get a handle on. Making his way around the room, Heil discovers behind a group of empty metal crates a small door near the floor in the wall. It is only about four feet tall, and has a round simple doorknob on it.
Simultaneously, all three say aloud, "I think I've found something."
All three are somewhat surprised and give a singluar smile. In a few minutes, each divulge their respective discoveries.
"Really, though. This appears to be an ancient data machine," Pafnuty says. Grover walks over and gives the keyboard a cursory look. The Mystic gives a mysterious smile, and places his hand firmly on Pafnuty's shoulder. "Indeed you have, Pafnuty. What do you need in order to make it functional?"
Both Heil and Pafnuty are slightly stunned by Grover's direct tone, but both brush it off as his regular peculiarity.
"Well, I guess electricity," Pafnuty responds, "If this place was once functional, and by the looks of it hasn't been damaged severely, I guess all we need is a power source."
"Indeed. Look above and notice the light fixtures," Grover adds, "This place was energized at one point, but apparently very long ago. I assume it has its own power source."
"Assume? That's kinda going out on a limb---" Heil says simultaneously with Pafnuty's, "It's own power source? How can you be su---"
But Grover interrupts, "I can only guess that a facility this large and... technical... in nature had a way of supplying its own electricity."
Pafnuty replies, "Well I suppose that's a good point. If there's some sort of generator elsewh---"
But it's Heil's turn to interject, "Hold the swamp here for a second. Let's remember why we're here, to find the holy water and get on our way home."
Grover shoots a patient glance at Heil, and then sighs. "Perhaps you are right, but let us not pass up this opportunity for... unique discovery of ancient technology."
What can be done?
Pafnuty sits down in the ancient chair. It is surprisingly comfy. "Old man's got a point, Heil," he says, absentmindedly typing out his name on the keyboard, "We're in no hurry, and besides, figuring out what this machinery does might help us get the holy water in our vials. Certainly, it's not going to be as easy as waltzing down there, waving 'Hi' to the Faar, and dipping our tubes into the tanks, though Mr. Mystic here might have a power up his sleeve that accomplishes just that...." Pafnuty turns in the chair to grin sarcastically at Grover. He resolves not to let the man's thinly veiled condescension get to him, as he may very well depend on Grover's abilities, dubiously legal though they be in this rite, to extricate them from this pit.
"Say, Grover, you tried the light switch? If there's any juice left in this building's generator's stored cells, I might be able to rig the converters in our heating coils in parallel to jump start a small subset of this system. Without sunlight, I won't be able to sustain the system on the coils' solar cells alone, though." With a sudden insight, Pafnuty swivels in the ancient chair toward Heil, "Hey, maybe your door is an access port to the power generator? We should check it out first."
"Being in a hurry depends on your view of the situation, Pafnuty. The old man always has a point---so do I." I show Pafnuty the pointed end of my walking stick. Noticing a clump of mud stuck to my stick, I shake it free. "That was my intention Pafnuty." Like reaching into swamp water, I carefully bend down and open the small door near the floor in the wall. If I discover nothing, I will move to the footlockers and search them next.
As Heil moves to open the door, Grover tries not to betray the quickening of his pulse and the swirling of adrenaline at the site of the computer. "Heil, if there is a generator beyond that door, as Pafnuty supposes, it would be a most excellent finding, as we all shall see, hee hee, hee hee!" Turning to Pafnuty, he continues with a more serious tone. "And, young, smart Pafnuty...." Grover's eyes suddenly appear to be filled with more knowledge of Pafnuty than he previously revealed, as if he had some knowledge of the youth's intellect before meeting him just a short time ago in the village square of Arlktn.
"Well," Grover speaks suddenly, interrupting himself. "Pafnuty, first things first." Grover flicks the switch.
Whether it does anything or not is up to the Game Master of course to decide. After the players see what happens when Grover flicks the switch, Grover continues regardless of the outcome....
"Ah ha!" Grover remarks after his hands leave the switch on the raised panel between the window and door. "But let us not get too focused on the present. Remember what the elders said." Suddenly Grover produces the telescope he was given at the start of their journey, along with the two vials he was to fill with the Holy Water.
He sets the vials on the dusty top of a table near the dusty keyboard. "The telescope---remember of what it is to remind us? Not only to think of the future, but also the present. Now we are focused on the present---the ritual journey." Grover smiles. "The telescope reminds us that while one eye is on the present, another should be on the future." He pauses, and thinks, "Ok, so that's not quite how the Arkltn elder put it, but it will do nicely."
Speaking aloud again, Grover explains. "But, what we have found here is more important to me---hee hee, perhaps to all of us here---than the Holy Water which might see the light of day through the glass of these vials." Grover uses the telescope to indicate the two vials he put on the table. "These vials---the present: the ritual journey. This telescope---the future: whatever it may be. This computer, which I hope Pafnuty can confirm---the past: perhaps, a powerful piece of ancient technology known as a Vee-Ex-Four-Three-Three computer."
Grover's eyes once again widen at the prospect that what they have found here might be a computer of the kind he mentioned. "If this is a VX433, Pafnuty, Heil..." he says, glancing at both in turn, "and even if it is not. I make a promise: no more secrets." Grover smiles, and prepares himself for a barrage of questions and accusations he suspects will follow.
"Pafnuty, first things first." Grover flicks the switch.
Nothing happens. The metallic click echoes through the cavern.
"If this is a VX433, Pafnuty, Heil..." he says, glancing at both in turn, "and even if it is not. I make a promise: no more secrets."
Heil looks puzzedly at the elder, who never ceases to surprise him. "No more secrets? Okay...."
Pafnuty interjects, "VX433? What is a---"
Heil interrupts, "Why are you here with us?"
Grover clears his throat and looks confidently into Heil's eyes as he explains.
I'll have mercy on the deladened Ben and post for him here. :)
"What we have found, my comrades, is a VX433. It is an ancient computer, and most likely these mechanical components have not been touched since the Day of the Change. Also likely is that our skeletal friend in the foyer never made it past the Faars as we miraculously did."
"Quit avoiding the subject with your granduer and majesty of the room. Get to the point. Why, foreigner, did you come with us?"
"For him," Grover says, turning and pointing to Pafnuty. The young scholar's eyes widen as he sinks into the chair. Heil is puzzled but silent as Grover continues.
"There is a secret society in this region, a group with vast knowledge of ancient technology and very powerful allies in the regional governments and oligarchies. They call themselves "Die Eire." One of these allies is my Mystic Order. I have been sent as a representative of the Mystics and a missive of Die Eire to locate this VX433 machine and assess its operational capabilities."
Pafnuty interrupts. "What's so special about this machine, even if it works?"
Grover looks around and goes to the back of the room. There, a large dusty metal closet, about six feet wide and six tall, stood silent with twin metal doors closed and locked with a sophisticated but old-looking padlock. Grover studies it for a bit and shines his torchlit finger near it. Pafnuty and Heil are silent, then gasp as Grover places his fingers on the padlock keys for a moment, then pulls the lock through the lockholes and off the door.
"This is what is so special."
Swinging the metal doors open with a loud rusty shriek, Grover exposes what looks to be a large vertical honeycomb. In each hexagonal shape is a socket of some sort, obviously electrical in nature. The honeycomb is full except for four empty sockets scattered throughout the 32 avialable sections. Brightly lighting the area with his Mystic power, Grover waits to continue until the others gather in awe next to him.
"This is the VX433 data archive. This archive was extremely advanced and was developed and finished, according to Die Eire, only months before the Day of the Change."
The honeycomb is shiny, metallic and unrusted. Weatherproofing rubber edges on the doors and thicker-than-perceived galvanized metal have protected the array for centuries.
Grover continues, "From what they have told me, there were three of these machines built. They had superior computing power for the time and were capable of performing trillions upon trillions of tasks at a time."
Now Heil interrupts, "Like what? Gardening? Cooking? Hunting? That's impossible, how could---"
Pafnuty cuts in, "No, fool. Mathematical operations. You've seen the relics of the elders, and you have seen the adding machine that gets its power from the light of day. It's like one of those, except powerful enough to... well, honestly I'm not sure what they'd use it for."
Grover continues, still illuminating the room. "Data storage. The VX433 was developed to store all the knowledge of contemporary civilization. Just as much time was spent on data implementation development as was spent on collecting the knowledge of the planet into one source, one very," Grover looks up at the ceiling, "permanent source."
"That's why its underground."
"So this machine stores all of the knowledge of the world. We're talking buildings, plants, animals...." A glimmer shoots into Heil's eye. "Weapons."
"So what happened to the other two?"
Grover nods as he continues, "Die Eire found one, and that's what started it all. All the hexchips," Grover points to the sockets that are occupied, "are intact. These can be removed, you see. Unfortunately, Die Eire's machine has limited functionality. The Day of the Light, they say, ruined most of the chips' precious circuits. The archives are difficult enough to decifer in their native language, but impossible when even the data archives of language are not aviailable. The second machine Die Eire found in shambles 100 miles to the north of them. This third machine, 100 miles to the south of Die Eire's terminal, appears to be incomplete. I've been told that the data was not stored seperately in each chip. For example, everything on weapons would not be in one chip, but rather in all of them. For security reasons, the data was spread throughout all the hexchips, so the data archive is useless if even one is missing. The computer may still work, and we may find valuable information in its core systems, but we must locate the final six chips."
Pafnuty rubs his hands together in anticipation. "So you think it works?"
Heil snorts. "Well, then it's useless. The chips are gone, and if they aren't in here, most likely they won't have survived the time." Grabbing his walking staff in preparation, he begins again, sarcastically, "Looks like there's nothing to do here. Oh wait, there is. THE HOLY WATER! Can we get back to task already?!"
As if on cue, a ground-shuddering impact startles the three. A roaring inhuman and high pitched shriek accosts their ears as they turn to see a Faar, standing on the catwalk outside the doorway, wings aggressively reared back. Its fierce eye looks striaght at them.
You are 20 feet away from a Faar. Next to the large cabinet and near the floor is the small doorway. The Faar is standing almost in the doorframe, but it is slightly too large to charge through.
You have one action. If your action is a combat one, it is close enough so that you can run up to the Faar and melee attack in the same turn.
"well, honestly I'm not sure what they'd use it for."
But Pafnuty does have an idea. In fact, hundreds of them race across the synapses of his over-oxygenated brain; he just spares Heil the details.
His collection of conjectures and algorithms, sketched in the margins of the ancient books he hoards in his room, remain largely unchecked on account of his lack of patience to do the calculational grunt work. If the VX433 did work, he would be able to compute trigonometric and logarithmic approximations, numerically integrate the key differential equations of astronomy, investigate his integer sequence generating functions and prove (or disprove!) his conjectures on factoring large products of primes, to name only a few. The information on the hexchips could also help him decipher the technical papers in his pack, or even that endlessly tantalizing but hopelessly incomprehensible book on advanced electronics he had back home!
Too giddy with the myriad possibilities of the potential for computing power before him, he forgets to ask the obvious question of the strange man, "Why are you here 'for me'?" Indeed, if Heil had not mentioned the holy water, Pafnuty may have happily forgotten the whole reason why they came here in the first place. And now there's that pesky bird breathing down their necks....
HOLY FRAK! THE FAAR!!
Pafnuty nearly hulches with the reality shock as he stares into the single mesmerizing eye of the fearsome bird, as would his nocturnally prowling housecat stare into the sudden arresting beam of his solar flashlight. Nevertheless, his loaded crossbow is in his hand to his own surprise, and he unleashes the bolt, aimed directly at the Faar's eye.
Pafnuty has used his Speed Burst mutation, which allows him two attacks every 25 - CON rounds in a combat sequence. He uses two attacks this round to draw, carefully aim and fire his weapon all in one turn, if the GM will allow it.
Crossing my arms I listen... and it better be good. Now Grover has my full attention. For some reason the word "spy" echoes in my feeble swamp-laden brain.
"No, fool. Mathematical operations. You've seen the relics of the elders...."
"Ya best watch who ya' calling a 'fool,' boy," I interrupt briefly, showing Pafnuty my fist. Hearing the Faar, I instantly forget about giving Pafnuty an ass woopin'.
My first instinct if possible is to grab the large cabinet and either slide it or carry it to the doorway to block the Faar from entering, (possibly giving us enough time to escape through the small doorway). If that is not possible, then I fight.
Sorry about the post delay. I don't seem to be receiving my BH post e-mails. Damn that Yahell for leaking BioHazard!
Heil backpedals and looks for cover but finds none (the cabinet holding the VX433 archive hex is too large, and there are no handy lead-core radiation shields).
The Faar finishes its initial mind-numbing shrill roar and charges towards the doorway. Not quite big enough, the door frame shudders as the Faar's massive shoulders ram it. Stretching its bat-like and bulbous head in, the creature gives off another cry as its clawed feet tear at the metal grating. You imagine that if it could only figure it out, the Faar could squeeze in through the door by turning its wings.
(Begin simulatenous Matrix™-cam action sequence)
Terrified from the first roar, the second one forces an involuntary knee-jerk reaction in Pafnuty. As he stumbles backwards stunned, the trigger of his crossbow is depressed....
What attack should he use here? Ah, a mental blast, an attack that would probably not kill, but would stun the creature long enough for a comrade to strike the fatal blow....
Quickly thinking back to his home, Heil remembers training in the swamp. He would use red paint to make a mark in a tree trunk, and then from every angle and possible distance, he would fling throwing daggers at the mark. In recent sessions, his aim was impeccable. This time, the faint shimmer of glowing red in the Faar's massive cyclopic eye, six inches in diameter, serves as a perfect target. In one smooth motion, Heil removes a throwing dagger from its quick-release holster and sends it spinning end over end....
(Resume real-time camera angles)
Grover's mental blast is the first to arrive. The creature's primitive mind is an easy target, and as Grover concentrates, he delivers the full force of a Mystic telepathic strike through the thin defenses of Faar brain tissue, striking a bioelectric direct hit to the base of the creature's brain, and sending a thoroughly unpleasant shockwave of psychokinetic energy through its nervous system.
In mid-scream, the Faar's head jerks back and upwards and its voice changes to a high-pitched, piercing hum. That hum lasts only a half a second, as Pafnuty's crossbow bolt enters the creature's larynx, disrupting the flow of air and muting the sound emanated to a pained and stuttering rush of wind. The bolt throws the creature's head back down, mouth open wide and eyelid peeled back in shock. That's right when Heil's dagger splits the corneal flesh in two and manuevers its way into the optic nerve, barely nudging the first lobe of its brain. A gush of clear fluid mixed with dark brown blood follows.
Muted, stunned, blinded, the creature stumbles backwards onto the metal grate catwalk, wings flapping furiously and completely unable to touch either of its wounded areas. Clumsy feet stuggle to keep the bird's balance, and finally the wing flapping grows so intense that the batlike beast loses its balance and dissappears off the side.
Frozen stiff with fear, excitement and elation, the three adventurers are perfectly still and quiet as, a few seconds later, a distant <sploosh> echoes in the chasm.
Heil gets up, having fallen backwards as he threw his knife, and rushes to the doorway. The doorway has cracks and stress marks on the outside from where the Faar tried to push itself in. Peering over the side, Heil can see ripples far down below reflecting faint light in the nearest circle... the nearest gigantic tank of liquid. Grover exits the room and looks down as well. The surface of the tank settles down to the calm serenity of the other two. No motion. No Faar. No other sounds.
When they are satisfied, they reenter the room. Pafnuty is dusting himself off and reloading his crossbow.
"Boy, we r-r-really took care of him, didn't we!" Pafnuty says, stammering and excited.
"For sure, we were lucky," Grover announces.
Heil coughs a smirk and goes to the small door in the back of the room. "Luck had nothing to do with it," he murmurs haughtily, bending down to examine the portal more closely.
Heil continues, "Now, as I was saying, we need to remember exactly why we came. For the holy water. Not some computer, not some 'die eire' cult, not some whacked-out Mystic. Holy Water. You guys may have a bigger goal, but my objective is to get the stuff and go home."
Getting up and pointing to Pafnuty, "And don't you forget where you came from, boy. You're only here because of your father, so don't dissappoint. You know the rules... don't even bother returning to Arlktn without the holy water."
Go To:
PBPArchives
| BioHazard
| Module 1
| prev
| next
This page updated: Mon Jan 09 14:22:11 2006
All text Copyright ©1999-2006 PBPArchives.
