What Lies Beyond

[bravenewmods]

After weeks of repairs, tightened sanctions on incoming immigrants and the general feeling of unease that hangs heavy around the city of Union, the Council finally comes to a decision. It is not unanimous by any accounts, and there are many that wonder if this is the right approach. Union has existed for generations behind its great walls, and there were those who felt that it was that way of life that they should return to—one of solitude and skepticism. However, in light of recent events, the desire for security has own over the need for seclusion.

An announcement comes over the Warp Band, still hazy from the attacks on the Signal Tower. But it is not the face of a Councilmen that the citizens and visitors of Union are met with, but, rather, the youthful face of one of the leaders of the Seekers.

“Citizens and friends of Union—is that seriously what they wrote? Man, it feels weird talking like that, can I just say ‘hey you guys?’ Whatever. Everyone. We’ve got some big news, so listen up.” Maeve groans at the feed, tossing aside some paper, likely an official statement penned by some Council member. “So, the Council has decided that they want to take a more proactive approach after the attack by Sveta, Alina and their friends, and it comes to me to give you the juicy details.”

Okay, actually maybe she did need that paper. Leaning over in her chair, she ducks off the stream to reclaim the statement. “The Council has asked for volunteers to come together and investigate three possible leads for both our ‘friends’ with the Elite Four, Gigas, as well as some interesting goings-on in and around Refuge: a settlement to the west with supposed ties to Gigas; the inner caves of Refuge; and to the east of Glacier, in the direction which the great dragon fled.

“Now don’t all come flooding in all at once, I know how you Unionites get excited about stuff like this. Groups will disembark immediately, so get any supplies you can and meet up at the Seeker’s HQ before heading out. You’ll be given briefs upon your assignment into a group. If you have any questions, you can ask me or Captain Pirate Krabbypants, Ceilto. Maeve, out.”

Once they arrive, each person will be assigned a group, and after a quick briefing, begin moving to their destination within the day. Most take no more than a few days to arrive at their destination, and will immediately be put to work.

[All event logs are now live! As usual, mod tags will come every 24 hours. Feel free to post all IC questions to the Maeve top level and all OOC questions in the standard mod top level. During this log, several NPCs from prior events may appear. The event is scheduled to last a week and will end at midnight on the morning of March 5th.]

Comments

[bnw_ax_npcs]

[The door?

Isn't locked! It swings open with minimal pushing, the hinges groaning in protest. The light from the various lanterns and Kiho's orbs, refracted along the crystals, floods into the enormous chamber and reveals rows and rows of conveyor belts.

Terminals sit idle, dusty, but somehow still powered on, awaiting orders. The interior of the place looks relatively intact as well, though there are some broken causeways and catwalks here and there, marking the passage of time and metal corrosion.]

Most curious. It's still getting energy from somewhere? [Kiho pokes her head into the factory, blinking owlishly.]

I suppose we should see what's around, hmm?

[There are dozens of crates stacked on one side, near what looks like a materials chute. Further down the line are several levers, and those blinking terminals.]

[rememberher]

[ Lux breathes a silent sigh of relief as the door swung open, thankful that they would not have to use liberal force to get inside. Slowly following the orbs of light, Lux peeks inside, not quite sure she wants to wait for muscle of the team to enter; she's excited, all right? But she'll be good, for now.

The fact that the machines seem idle? Intrigues her even more. The urge to enter intensifies. ]

A generator, perhaps? But to be running that long--maybe someone else found this place before us, and is using it for something else?

[indy_wannabe]

Interesting. You're up, Spark.

[Ezreal's Electivire emerges from the Warp Band and he links with it]

See if you can trace the power source. Where's this thing getting energy from.

[sparrowfeathered]

Energy, huh? I guess--mm.

[She starts to take a close look. It could be because it's still powered. It could be because it's still used. Rose wants to be sure it's not that -- or at least, that they aren't caught unawares.]

[soulofmagus]

[ Or they could do that. That works too.

Sophia hangs back a moment, letting the others lead the way in, expression turning serious. For a facility this size, no door should swing open so easily. Even abandoned, why would the door have been left unlocked? Did they simply flee, without looking back? Add to that Kiho's earlier comment, that they are 'expected'.. ]

[murmured] ..Something's not right. I don't like this. It's too..

[ A bleep? of query behind her follows when she doesn't finish that sentence. Looking down at the Porygon, she sighs, then steps into the room proper. ]

I don't think anyone's been in here for some time. If they had been, there'd be footprints - look at the amount of dust on everything here, this equipment hasn't been disturbed in some time.

[But if not here...then, where? ]

[ While Rose and Ezreal take a look for that energy source, Sophia heads to the right, her hand wiping absently along one of the crates as she moves towards the levers and chutes. Kenaz whistles and beeps excitedly at the sight of the terminal, floating over and up to be level with the monitor. ]

Careful, Kenaz. We don't know what that does.

[ Meanwhile, Elhaz the Ivysaur trundles over towards one of the ramps connecting to the conveyor belt, lifting his crystal to get a better look and see if there's anything left on it. ]

[bnw_ax_npcs]

[The power supply seems to be coming from, as Lux had thought, a generator. The machine seems to be in passable working order, though the connections leading to the conveyor belts at large seem to have been badly corroded ages ago by a water leak that's also long since tried up. The terminals were just lucky, there seems to have been no leak.

With a little work and jury-rigging, it might even be possible to fix the cables to the main belt and power junctions.]

What did you find little one?

[The Ivysaur is approached by Kiho, who brings an orb closer to the belts. On them are shards of stone, clear and sparkling...with rainbow crystals inside. They seem to be somewhat incomplete, not having been polished and rounded yet...]

Stars...!

[indy_wannabe]

[Ezreal lets out a low whistle]

Those look interesting. I think I might be able to get this thing going at something resembling normal capacity, what do you guys think?

[He walks over to the cables and starts examining them, getting his pack down and grabbing a few tools to start tinkering. If given the affirmative from the group, he'll get to fixing in earnest]

[sparrowfeathered]

[Rose glances at Sophia, then she nods. She's right, she decides. But then Ezreal notices a thing -- and that gets her attention.]

I vote yes. See what you can do, huh? Maybe we can get this place working.

[She starts towards Kiho, then, and looks at the stone with the shard inside of it. She raises her eyebrow.]

Pretty... what are they, though...?

[wise_maiden]

[For her part, as soon as they had gotten inside, Raine was preoccupied, mostly in her own world and giving random details out about the walls and make of the place.

The orb discovery, however, draws her somewhat manic attention back to the group, as she joins them at the belts.]

Those stones... I wonder... does that mean these machines have been refining them for mega evolution?

[rememberher]

[ Lux frowns, curling a finger at her lips. ]

But what were they building, exactly? These stones? I suppose it couldn't hurt, but we can't be too sure if activating anything on this machine won't trigger something else down the line, or possibly agitate anything that might be living here. We should be ready for that, just in case.

[soulofmagus]

I agree with Ms Fos, we do not wish to attract unwanted attention. We should at least make sure there's a means to deactivate the machinery before we find a way to turn it back on.

[said as Sophia wipes down the monitor of the terminal Kenaz is so enamoured with, mindful not to press any buttons. At least the glyphs and lettering are still clearly printed, even if the text along the side of the machine makes little sense to her.]

..Kenaz, do you think you can access this? See if it will load anything?

[ There's a series of whrrrrrs, before the Porygon complies, turning its focus on the device and seeking a way to interface with the terminal. Sophia straightens up meanwhile and turns, then hides a smile behind a raised hand. Elhaz isn't quite doing a happy dance at his discovery, but he's certainly pleased he found something the Humans and Kiho think is important!

But let's be practical here.]

We should likely clear what we can from those belts before the device is activated, in case they are damaged or lost. Maybe there's more in these crates as well?

[smitesevil]

The noise might attract the territorial Steelix we were warned about, but if you believe it's something of value, go ahead.

[ That's what Sanger is here for, after all. ]

I wouldn't expect anything like a factory to fall into our laps without a fight.

[bnw_ax_npcs]

I think Megastones.

[She picks up one, looking at it briefly before putting it back down.]

I can't tell the species, but I'm almost certain.

[Ezreal's tinkering definitely works, and it doesn't take terribly long for the cables to end up connected back to the main power junction. The terminals all blink in unison...]

Status: Loading
...
...
...
Status: Online
...
...
...
Welcome, Overseer. Input Command?
...
...
...


[Several options, the names of various Pokemon species.]


Charizard Y: Data Corrupted
Charizard X: Data Corrupted
Blastoise: Data Corrupted
Venusaur: Ready
Beedrill: Data Corrupted
Pinsir: Ready
Aerodactyl: Data Corrupted
Scizor: Ready
Abomasnow: Data Corrupted


[And the list goes on and on, but every other entry is corrupted.]

Select Production Run?

[indy_wannabe]

[Welp. Only one thing to do. Ezreal pushes da button]

[soulofmagus]

[ The ivysaur backs up a bit once the power comes back online, grumbling as he goes. He doesn't want his vines caught by mistake, after all. Sophia is busy scribbling the words printed on screen, though she closes her notebook as soon as the button initiates...something. The Porygon remains linked to its terminal - it wants to watch and record the system at work! ]

[sparrowfeathered]

So I'm not an expert in... machine-y stuff, but should we press the button? That's not gonna explode is it? I'm not really keen on explosions.

[She's backing up a bit, but her Combusken is peering up.]

[rememberher]

This is just something he does. You get used to it, after a while.

[ Resigned to the fact that, if there is a giant button, her husband will press it, Lux sighs, backing up as well, a hand hovering on her forehead. Usually it doesn't end up in explosions, but one could never be too careful.

She has so much faith in you, Ezreal. ]

[bnw_ax_npcs]

[Lux you have the best husband, okay. Even Kiho thinks he's a real shitter.

The machine starts up, a great groaning of metal filling the air. The belts start to turn, the automated systems start to work, and the crystals are all starting to be fed into a sort of machine. There's a rattling, uncomfortable...but definitely operational sound from inside and...out one side comes a batch of polished stones, rolled off the belt and onto the ground. Maybe someone should put a crate down there, because they keep rolling out...]

Maybe...we could add more material to make more? This is quite the trove.

[Kiho looks at the boxes of raw crystal...starting towards them.]

Unless there's an objection...?

[soulofmagus]

It works.. [there's a sigh of awe] It all still works.

[ The Porygon bleeps at her! It is still monitoring the system via interfacing with the panel. There are at least three cuts the machine can do.

Just why the ancients might need to make so many stones isn't a question that occurs to her yet - mostly because Sophia has no idea what these crystals actually are. ]

I have none. [objections, that is] If some of these crates here are empty, we can put the newly cut ones in there, rather than let them keep spilling all over the floor. [ Her Ivysaur moves to help her at once, though he won't likely be strong enough by himself to support an entire box, or even half of one (the thought still counts, right?).]

[sparrowfeathered]

Yeah... I kinda gathered. [She gives Lux a sympathetic look -- and then she looks at Sophia and Kiho, before she nods. She walks over to grab one of the crates in question -- and then puts it down, before she looks up.]

Let's try it. I mean... it's making stuff. That's good, right? If I read that screen thing right...

[She hesitates.]

...It's something to do with specific breeds of Pokemon, right?

[smitesevil]

[ Sanger's just... going to stop leaning against the closest wall and pick up a crate. ]

They're for evolution. I haven't seen a stone like this do anything else.

[ Probably. If only they had a Venusaur, Scizor, or Pinsor on hand to test it out.

Elhaz, go gain five levels and come back. ]

[wise_maiden]

Going by the screen's data, it's likely that the stones being created -- if they are being processed correctly -- will only affect certain kinds of Pokemon. Venasaur, Scizor or Pinsor, by the sounds of it. Amazing!

Still, I don't like the idea of running this ancient machine for too long. We can't risk a discovery like this to suddenly break down on us before we fully understand it...

[indy_wannabe]

[Awww yeah

Ezreal will somewhat smugly help get crates ready.]

We should also see if any of this data is downloadable. It would be really handy to have back home.

[bnw_ax_npcs]

[With a little rooting around, Ezreal will find a disc eject button on the terminal base, so yes, he can take the data home for later. However, the machine will eventually run out of raw materials, and poking around the factory will reveal no more.

It will, however, have enough for the machinery to make around four hundred of each stone to take back to Union.]

((ooc: That really concludes this log, everyone! Thanks for threading and staying on top of everything. When the OOC completion post goes live, we'll announce results and rewards!

Feel free to continue threading, though, and if you need Kiho, she'll be around to answer a few questions before departing.))

[soulofmagus]

[ It seems to take ages, and yet really, not very long at all for the machinery to finish refining and manufacturing the mega stones. They certainly fill more than a few crates with this new found treasure.

Rolling one of the stones that had scattered across the floor earlier between index finger and thumb, Sophia slowly loses that pleased look as she looks around the factory, brain processing the implications and impact their discovery has made. It's not until a familiar metallic shink in duplicate makes itself known at her elbow that she snaps out of it.

Lips purse into a flat line. ]

If we were to take the generators offline, how likely would it be that we'd be able to start up the terminals again at a later date?


((ooc: thank you for running this with us! ))