acatalepsy_logs | ( WORLD #2 - THE CHANCE TO END IT ALL. )

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( WORLD #2 - THE CHANCE TO END IT ALL. )

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a storm approaches.

This log is for everyone who signed up for the various stages of saving Struxta and defeating The Storm. If you have any questions, please feel free to refer back to the OOC Post. Otherwise, it is up to you - Circle Members - to save Struxta from imminent destruction.

For those returning to the Storm, you may notice something is a bit different about it. It seems a bit more wild, a bit more unwieldy. Is it...stronger? Does the wind seem to have picked up? You might want to hurry.

group one: the preparation.

The BG's are sure to meet with everyone who volunteers for this position, explaining that you will be deployed first, out of all the groups. You are to head back to the area of the storm, and set up the The Pins - which are about a foot long, but just about 3 inches in diameter. They will explain just how they need to be wedged into the ground, how far, and at what points. There are 5 Pins, and they will be divvied up between all those who volunteer.

The distance between the points in which the Pins needs to be placed will be massive - the Storm is about 5 miles in radius, which means that the circumference is about 34 miles around. These five pins need to be placed equidistance around the circumference, and they need to be done so relatively around the same time - as they need to be placed in the right position before the storm continues to move. The people in these groups will need to be fast (to get to those places quickly) and strong (to wedge them into the ground), and then will need to quickly return to the cart to be brought back into the tunnels.
PROMPTS:
1.) Get to your selected area, and find a way to get the pin wedged into the earth. Because of the proximity to the storm, you cannot use anything too technologically/electrically powered, as there is a high chance of shortage if the storm gets too close. It is not dangerous for those who are electrically powered, but smaller devices might have a difficult time.

2.) Get back to the cart as quickly as possible - the Storm seems to be stronger, now, and the winds more intense. You may experience your route to be hindered by falling debris and pieces of the abandoned area of the city. You don't have too much time to get back to the cart.

3.) Maybe you decide to hold down the fort near the cart - to make sure that none of the wind or debris damaged it, or just to make sure it doesn't leave before the entirity of Group One returns. It will be up to you to get things moving once everyone returns - but remember, your time is tight. Everything needs to be moving as quickly as possible. And you definitely don't want to leave anyone behind!

group two: the deployment.

This will be, arguably, the group in most danger, as they will need to go to the eye of the storm and set up the device. As you will be going into the storm, there is high risk of being struck by lightning, and with all the information gathered, the BGs will let you know clearly and simply that you will die. There is no if, or high chance - if you are struck by lightning, you will be fried beyond a place where they will be able to revive you.

The other issue, here, is that the device must be activated. This is extremely tricky, as the activation takes a computer, or an understanding of computers, that have been connected to the Mass Subconscious or Archives in some fashion. The BGs are extremely wary about explaining this part of the plan, as they are hesitant to ask anyone to risk their lives to this degree. However, without someone to complete this part of the job, no part of the plan will work. For those built/dependent on their electronic interface, they will be able to build a temporary guard that the Circle members will be able to wear, but it will have a time limit, as explained here.

You are brought out in a group, dropped off in the same station that you were dropped off in before. You, and everyone in your group, will have about five hours to set up the Device and activate it, but be careful. The Storm is more intense than it ever has been before, with smaller lightning strikes spreading out with a smaller interval of time in between. You and your group will need to take the device to the center of the Storm, set it up, and then evacuate as quickly as safely as you can.

This group will be dropped off after the first group, and will have to remain behind for a bit longer than the first group as well, as their cart will require a reboot to take them back through the tunnels

PROMPTS
1.) Getting to the eye will not be an easy task. As the Storm is more intense, getting further and further into the Storm will be more and more violent and more and more difficult to traverse. The wind will become dangerous, as will the smaller strikes of lightning, but you have to find a way to get to the center, and set up the Device.

2.) Setting up the Device will take a few separate steps to get it set up. Not only will you need to have it set up directly in the eye, you will need someone with knowledge from the mainframe of Struxta to set it up. It will take either those who have connected to the Archives, Mass Subconscious, or other forms of the main systems of Struxta to be able to work the Device and to finally set it up in a way that it will connect and be able to translate the electrical shock of the Lightning Strike to the rest of the planet.

3.) Find a way to get back to the cart. When the Lightning Strike is dissolved, the Storm itself will dissentegrate, leaving about an hour of absolute chaos and mayhem with nowhere for it to go. After the hour is up, everything will be calm once again, but until that point it will feel as though you are caught in a tornado of strong winds, extreme thunder, and very little light or way to move. For those who have stayed back at the cart, the cart will need to be rebooted and brought back online. Good luck.

group three: the aftermath.

For better or for worse, you are the first of the groups to know for sure that the plan has worked. Because as soon as the Lightning Strike hits the ground, the entire world of Struxta seems to spark, an uncontrollable power surge moving through every inch of what you can see. Lights flicker and go out, giant holographic advertisements go dark. Androids and robots all around you surge, spark, and go dark. For about a minute, everything is completely dark, and you are unsure if you have just murdered an entire planet in one go, or if the plan actually worked.

Then, slowly, everything comes back online. It's a slow process, and definitely not all at once. Some things come online right after, and others take time, and others still will require help to be completely rebooted. You've been prepped by the BG's on how to help get everyone back online, but it will take some time. You have thousands of people to check in with, to plug in or help rearrange wires, or any other manner of ways to help bring them back online. The issue? You only have 12 hours to bring the entire city back online. Move quickly.
PROMPTS
1.) Because of how much of Struxta is electronic and mechanical, much of how it is run depends on the use and functionality of the buildings. Without the electricity, some of the buildings may even begin to sway, or creak, as if they are about to collapse. These will need to be dealt with in by their "breaker box" of sorts. Some are much easier to find than others, but you will want to act quickly, as there is no telling when those buildings, and all of the androids inside, may collapsed and be lost for good.

2.) There are - to put it simply - thousands and thousands of bodies around you. These were normal, everyday kind of androids and robots who were simply living their lives, before the surge took them all out. There doesn't seem to be a rhyme or reason to who or why some are able to bring themselves back online, but many are not. The BG's have prepped you with a battery of short that you can use to go around and help bring these others online, but still the situation is tense. There is about a 75% chance that they will come back online without issue, but some may not - as the surge could have fried their mainframes. To help with these, you will need someone who is either very adept as working with technology and computers, or you will need to take these to a kind of 'First Aid' tent of sorts that has been set up with the necessary materials to help bring these more complicated cases back online.

3.) The 'First Aid' tent is a production held up primarily by the BG's. It had been their plan from the beginning to help find a way to reroute the Storm and provide safety to the rest of Struxta. They have some older materials, as well as some tools, that they bring up with them and the rest of Group 3 to help set up a hospital of sorts. They will need help, as their units are glitchy and shaky as well, but they have the knowledge to help guide any other members who may be interested in staying back and helping them reworked the more complicated cases.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Ahh, no wonder she seemed unsure. A2 doesn't soften, exactly, but her vaguely irritated expression fades some into placid neutrality. She is quietly relieved to get this instead of a question about her physical appearance.]

I'm not a human.

[...] I can keep up.

[... oh.

There's been a lot of things Konoha doesn't understand, since she was taken into this Circle. A lot of things she couldn't understand, coming as she did from a world not yet past the medieval, before electricity and steam. She's tried, but-

Sometimes, she's learned, it's better not to ask. At least... not right now.]

... Alright. Let's go.

[Stretching her legs for a moment, Konoha checks the map to make sure of the direction again... and then sets off. She starts at a trot, then kicks into a canter, her grip on the harness she wears serving to align her spine at much the same angle a horse's neck would take, keeps her upper body streamlined. She's heavier than some others of her kind, but the pace is still not one a human could match for more than a sprint.

Even though she said she could... Konoha looks to make sure A2 (and the floating thing???) can keep up.]

[A2, on Earth, could easily outpace the few animals left there. Here, she's nowhere as agile, but she's still at about a human's peak physical condition, and so after gauging Konoha's relative speed, she takes off in a sprint.

She doesn't ever get neck and neck, but she's close enough, with Pod gliding silently behind her. Her running is done with a single-minded focus: she doesn't even seem to be breathing the same way a human might.]

[Konoha is in peak physical condition, used to making multiple trips up and down a mountain with heavy loads, so she isn't tired by the trip... but she is scared. Dodging around cracks in the street, occasionally jumping over debris, she keeps looking back behind to make sure A2 is there. (She is- She must really not be human, after all.)

At least she isn't alone... but the Storm above is an ever menacing presence, and it drives her ever forward...

Until she reaches the point she thinks they're supposed to be.

Trotting around the space she checks the nearby landscape just to confirm it, wringing her hands slightly with nerves as thunder rumbles a bit too close for comfort, but when A2 gets close enough to hear,]

This is it, right?

[Konoha's skittishness is registered in the same way A2 analyzes threats: taking in the physical tells, the way she twists her hands together when they finally do stop at the site.

A2 looks up automatically at the roll of distant thunder, aware of the ever-present danger of the Storm as well. It would do worse than scramble her or Pod for a few hours if it hit them, this time. The possibility of her own death is hardly anything she cares about, and hasn't for a very long time, but she would rather avoid the collateral damage of it.

Pod answers Konoha instead of her.]

Affirmative. Intel gathered previously suggests this is the correct location.

We need to move fast. [A2 adds. She sounds a little less terse this time, occasionally looking up again to the ominous sky.]

[The thing talked again. But at least it said what she wanted to hear? This was the place... and A2 said exactly what she was thinking, so she's going to overlook the... absolute insanity of a talking, hovering metal box.

In favor of the absolute insanity of pushing a Pin into the earth to stop a giant storm.]

Alright!

[Quick as she can, she unties the Pin from her harness, carefully cradles it in the crook of her elbow... and looks around. Surely it couldn't be as simple as-]

We really just need to... push it into the ground?

Yes.

[A2 raises her hands, expectant, waiting for Konoha to hand her the Pin. The thunder rumbles, closer than before, and she turns her head in that direction so quickly that it's clear now she's just as nervous as Konoha is, despite her earlier behavior.] They're...

Hypothesis: The Pins are conduits to contain the Storm and redistribute its electrical energy to the Device.

What it said. C'mon. The faster we move, the faster we can go.

[If A2 wants it... she'll get it. Konoha is strong, but she doesn't know how the thing works, and she's honestly afraid to break it... so she hands it over after a momentary jump when the thunder rumbles.]

Okay, here-

[Even the metal box's explanation isn't very helpful though. She doesn't understand electricity or how it works... to her, lightning was an act of the gods, of nature.]

How far in does it need to go- should I dig a hole, or?

[The Pin is lighter than she'd thought it would be. A2 kneels to the ground after grabbing it. Presses the end of the Pin against the ground, which is unyielding and won't budge much even after she puts some force into it.]

Yeah. [...] A hole would be useful. The earth won't give.

[Okay, a hole. She doesn't have a proper shovel, but-

Konoha taps the ground with her hooves, frowning. There's a crusty layer of... she doesn't know what it is, (some sort of asphalt her world doesn't have), but unless it's broken up it doesn't seem like they can access the softer soil beneath... ]

Okay! Stand back a bit!

[Gritting her teeth, she steps back herself... and rears up onto her hind legs, human arms spreading wide for balance as she hovers in that position a moment, forelegs kicking out, aiming... before she slams both her front hooves down on the spot. The ground shudders, but doesn't break, so she hauls herself back up and repeats the motion, once, twice, three times, as cracks in the top layer spread until they finally seem to be wide enough and she stops, human spine bowing as she reaches down to grab the largest piece, dig her fingers in... and pull.

Muscles bulge and it takes a moment, but... she pries the thing loose and slings it out of the way with a grunt, revealing a slightly sandier layer of earth beneath.]

There. Maybe try now?

[A2 stands back, and Pod follows suit, moving to hover alongside her. She watches, impressed despite herself, as the ground shudders and then buckles beneath the force of the moose-human's hooves. Then before A2 has the opportunity to step in to help dislodge the hardier bits of asphalt covering the softer earth, Konoha is pulling that apart too.

Huh.

A2 steps closer when given the go-ahead, and once again moves to press the Pin down into the earth. It is harder to do than she'd expected, even now when the ground yields beneath the force she's exerting. Her joints strain under the pressure of it, but she keeps it up, unwavering, and gradually the Pin begins to lower.]

Almost...

[Her human-looking half would pass for a well-muscled, physically fit woman if she had two legs... but benefiting from those muscles being anchored in a more powerful equine shape lent even more strength to her movements beyond what humans were capable of.

Despite her rather non-aggressive demeanor thus far.

She hovers a bit anxiously, gaze torn between the storm and A2's effort's, one hoof pawing antsy at the ground with a soft scraping noise.]

Do you need more weight? I could step on it...

[She thinks she could maybe balance a hoof on the top of it... if it wouldn't break, she's not sure-]

[A2 continues to push down on the Pin, and progress is being made, but it's most definitely too slow for her liking. The sound of thunder is closer now, reminding her that they didn't have much time before the lightning, and after that she had no idea what might happen.

Maybe then, it was fine to accept the help being offered. Just this once.]

Fine. [...] Don't step on my hands.

O- Of course not!

[At least... not on purpose.

As it was, she didn't rush it. She'd never tried something quite like this before, even if the concept was physically possible... so she eyeballs it carefully, biting her lip... before she rears back up again, only half way this time- but she aborts the motion, not trusting her angle.

One more time. She makes a rather awkward sight as she quakily balances on her hind legs for a half second, but when her her hooves come down... one lands square on the head of the pin.

And she leans into it, bringing to bear a half ton of weight.]

Please don't break-

[Go in the damn ground, mister pin!!!]

[A2 moves her hands away (and moves away entirely) before Konoha rears up, only to lower one of her hooves against the top of the Pin. She watches it carefully for any signs of strain or buckling. When it does begin to lower, it's faster than she'd been managing, but as nails sometimes do it begins to look uneven, and so carefully she kneels to right it, aware of the fact that Konoha could probably easily crush her if she got too spooked.

Without thinking, she's offering encouragement. In her way, anyway.]

We're almost done. I'll hold it steady.

[Eventually it hits the point where A2 moves back. To Konoha:] That's enough.

[It... does actually help steady her. The worry that she's doing this all wrong on her expression eases somewhat, and her back legs stop trembling so badly. It didn't seem to be breaking, so... she leans forward to put just a touch more weight on the thing until A2 says it's enough.

With a grunt, she pushes off the Pin and gets back on all four hooves with a clatter on the hard crusted street, gaze darting between the device and the approaching Storm. Okay-]

Is this really all we need to do? Just leave it here and we can go?

That's it.

[If A2 were human, she might have the weird urge to pat her flank. It's fortunate then, that she isn't human. Instead she steps away from the Pin, stretches her legs some. Running back was an unpleasant prospect, with her new limitations, but she didn't have much choice.]

Let's go before the Storm catches up.

[Konoha wrests her gaze from the Pin with a final nod, gathering herself up for another gallop... but she pauses, looking A2 over for a moment. Somehow she doesn't think she'll take this well, but-]

Are you alright to do it?

[Was she tired? A human wouldn't have even made it this far in this time, but she was... something else.]

[Another one, worried about her for no apparent reason. The urge to snap out a reply is immediate, but she stops herself at the last second, recalling the hesitance in Konoha's voice from earlier, the way she'd wrung her hands together.]

I'm fine. [...] I can usually run faster.

[Admitted reluctantly, after a pause.]

[She says she's fine... so despite her reservations, Konoha just bites her lip and nods. Insisting or arguing didn't seem like it would be very effective, so-]

... Alright. Just speak up if you, uh, need anything.

[Re-situating the cords tying back her sleeves, Konoha starts trotting before she kicks back into a canter. The sooner they got back...]

[A2 nods in response, and once more waits for Konoha to start running before she follows suit.

...It's harder, this time. She had not rested enough between this run and the one before, because she's not used to resting at all, ever. She barely ever did maintenance on herself.

She lags a little as a result: her joints ache, which is new, and unpleasant, but she ignores it, again. It's not like she's going to ask for help.]

[The Storm is growing closer, and Konoha cannot help but glance over her shoulder every now and then. Compared to their first trip, where she could see A2 at a somewhat constant pace behind her... she seems slower.

But she also seemed proud, and she wouldn't accept help that easily. While it seemed they were still safe she could tolerate that kind of thing, but...

She slows her pace, just to make sure.]

[A2 doesn't notice the slowed pace from Konoha (fortunately), but that's because she's distracted by how increasingly difficult it is to move (less fortunate.) She's forced to stop after a few more seconds of running, frustrated. Pod, trying to help, speaks up.]

Alert: Motor functions delayed. Unit A2 is advised to engage in shutdown and maintenance to restore optimal system conditions.

What? Now?

Observation: Unit A2 has skipped regular maintenance since arrival on Struxta.

I can't stop now! [She's lagging though, in a literal sense. Her legs seem to follow her commands a second too slowly, a blip of delayed reactions that make her movement jerky and less refined.]

[Ah... She stopped. No, she's moving again, but it doesn't look right... Konoha has been willing to allow a certain degree of independence, she wasn't trying to offend the woman or hurt her pride... But teamwork shouldn't do that. Working together was fine, everyone had to do it. And more than that... She wouldn't be able to live with herself if she left her and something happened.

Mind made up, Konoha leans to the left and circles back around, cantering up until she comes to a stop by A2... and holds out her hand.]

You're tired. Here, I'll carry you.

[Though it's said with a smile... the nervous look Stormward betrays her fears. They don't have the luxury of time.]

[She looks up when Konoha moves closer, staring at her outstretched hand with a mixture of wariness and frustration, though the latter is mostly directed at her own stupid, uncooperative body.

Another rumble of thunder sounds in the distance. A2 looks over her shoulder, with effort, then back again. She looks ready to concede, but:]

I'm...I'm heavy. Heavier than a human.

( WORLD #2 - THE CHANCE TO END IT ALL. )

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