FINAL INVESTIGATION

[umbralant]

FINAL INVESTIGATION

Time continues to pass. And before long, it's the end of the week once again. Maybe it feels strange to call it that when there's such little sense of time besides the changing phases of the moon, and maybe the exact day doesn't even matter to you anymore. But regardless of the day, regardless of the month, regardless of the year, one thing is certain:

The time for preparations is over.

Because as the moon in the sky shines blood red, it becomes clear that all of the fog and the tremors were nothing but omens for what was to come.

And so, on Friday morning, Survivors will find themselves waking up to the sensation of energy practically buzzing through the air, prickling and tingling on skin like static electricity. Those who venture outside will also find that the fog that's creeped up in the recent days has been dispelled entirely, which includes the impassable kind that once hid a number of the buildings. Despite this, the tremors themselves do not lessen, and in fact, the earth itself seems to be vibrating with this energy as well.

The feeling will only get worse as the day progresses, and those who have been marked by the manifestations may feel more restless than normal.

The clock is ticking and there are some new areas to explore. No one's coming to save you, so there's nothing to do but to save yourselves, right?

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[bawcock]

I don't mind if he doesn't. I'll just pop down the hall and take a peek at what's there—if I see anything important, I'll wave you over.

[ Heading down the way! Rideaux can come if he wants too, he's got his pick of locations here! Tell us, oh wise, guiding text! What's beyond the hall? ]

[umbralant]

[The hallway continues for a little bit longer before it leads up to some wood panelling and a wide open chamber that's... well, it looks mostly empty although there's definitely a door-like thing off in the back and a number of what looks to be worktables and bits of machinery and the like. There's also a desk off the side of the chamber, and a number of gouges basically mar the wood; it looks like this place was used as some kind of improvised workshop at some point but it's more or less abandoned.]

[pr159]

[ Yeah, he'll go ahead and head to the chamber too, since that seems like it'd probably have more to look at.

Let's check out that door... thing? ]

[umbralant]

[The door-like thing is... well, for one thing it's quite large and larger than a normal doorframe so it's no wonder it sticks out even from the entrance. But even stranger is the fact that it's all metal and seems to have wires and the like running along it, although it doesn't look like it's powered on at all. Looking closely, the wires also lead to some kind of fixed terminal nearby with a lot of unlabelled buttons.]

[pr159]

[ Uh. Hm. That seems like it probably doesn't go here...?? What's the terminal look like? ]

[umbralant]

[It's been fixed into the ground, but think of it like a one of these kinds of control panels but smaller. The only button that might be somewhat obvious is the one in the right-hand most corner that's green (but not lit up), but the rest is honestly difficult to decipher otherwise.]

[pr159]

[ All right... let's check out the work tables and machinery, unless this already counts as the machinery. ]

[umbralant]

[It doesn't! ...Well, okay it does but there are other bits of abandoned machinery around. Either way, there's not too much to be found here, although it looks like... there's something that she's made that looks antenna-like? Like, not just a small one, this is actually rather large and looks like it would fit on a pretty big machine. But aside from that, there's just a lot of other junk around that doesn't really look usable unless someone's good enough with machines to make use of it.]

[pr159]

[ Does it look like it would go on the big not-door machine anywhere? ]

[umbralant]

[It doesn't! The the big not-door looks complete, for lack of a better word; the only real issue is that it's off. It looks more like an aborted or failed part that was meant to go elsewhere!]

[pr159]

[ Hm! Okay. Taking a picture of that, I guess? Anything else of interest in this part of the room, or are we down to just the desk Erik is checking out? ]

[umbralant]

[Nope, this room has been cleared! You guys are all set unless you want to reexamine some areas!]

[bawcock]

[ While Rideaux takes the door, Erik will take the desk! Is there anything sitting on top of it or does he have to rummage around some drawers? ]

[umbralant]

[There's nothing on top of it, although there are definitely some signs of use like ink stains and such. One of the drawers will net him something though, and he'll come out with a lot of paper. Enough of it, in fact, to fill the drawer to the brim and most of them look like aborted schematics and blueprints for a lot of different machines and devices. Huh.]

[bawcock]

[ Wow, ok, that's just ridiculous? Lady plz.

Given how full it is, he's going to just. Pull the drawer out and start ransacking the pages. Maybe there's something interesting buried in here or at the bottom?? ]

[umbralant]

[Well, he's got the right idea for sure. While most of it is pretty useless or probably too technical for most of the people here to decipher, what Erik will notice is that despite the volume of paper... he'll reach the bottom of the drawer quite quickly. And, well, is a single drawer supposed to be this heavy on its own?]

[bawcock]

[ It sure isn't!! He runs his fingers over the bottom of the drawer, feeling for seams or anything else out of place. ]

She's not the most subtle person, is she? [ If only he had still had Peep so he could check inside to see if there was a trap!! Even if it only works on treasure chests, whatever. ]

[umbralant]

[It'll take a bit of work, but Erik's skilled fingers will find a seam for sure, and it won't take much effort to pry the thick wood panel out of the drawer. Thankfully, there are no traps so Erik will survive just fine today, and be able to look that those two folded up sheets of paper laying there.]

[bawcock]

[ Man, Rembrandt was so right about her. It's kind of sad. She probably never imagined someone would figure out her trick drawer.

When he's done shaking his head at the Lady, he picks up the folded sheets of paper! What do his eyes see? In before they're blank 'cause it's invisible ink or something. ]

[umbralant]

[Wow, he will see things!! Does it smell like lemon to you. Either way, I hope you enjoy notes Erik, because the first of them is something written by The Lady about Rembrandt (pretend the bolding is something being circled):]

OBSERVATIONS: Shapeshifter, night vision, pyrokinesis, teleportation, conjuration, superhuman strength, agility, restoration (both organic and inorganic), and even the ability to make plants grow. Is there anything he can’t do? This demon is like a toolbox with anything you can ask for. He is even great at cooking! This versatility is both a curse and a blessing for me. Even if I counter all the abilities I’m aware of, he could have another that I don’t know about yet.

According to the research I did in my own world, demons are incredibly strong and dangerous to deal with. I made sure to get as much information as possible before performing the summoning ritual -- I even made sure to sacrifice someone valuable to me. While I would love for him to obliterate this body, it’d be such a waste to not make use of its talents in case something goes awry.

But I don’t trust him. All the warnings, all the cautionary measures, it’s clear what’s the meaning of it all is: I’m playing with something incredibly dangerous. Oh, the challenge! Now, if the need arises and my hand is forced, how shall I defeat a demon?

POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS: Bodily harm, spiritual harm (possible but may be too risky), exorcism (costly and dubious), containment

[bawcock]

[ The Lady was keeping notes on Rembrandt, eh? He has to wonder if she really thought he wouldn't find this drawer though. Erik would not at all be surprised to hear Rembrandt could see through walls!!

A thoughtful pause before he folds the paper and looks at the next one. ]

[umbralant]

[The last note is shorter and more or less speaks for itself:]

Exorcising demons seems possible, but it’s too risky. Getting the right materials without the demon noticing will be difficult enough, but also needing to expose myself to him to conduct it? No, I will have to seek alternate ways.

Besides, there’s something about the way it was worded that bothers me. Bringing the demon into the world required the sacrifice of someone that held some value to me -- and the person I chose for that will be sorely missed, if only because of how useful she was. Wouldn’t it make sense if to send the demon away you’d require a similar fee? Consider it an equivalent exchange. That’s the only thing that makes sense.

[pr159]

[ Just to check, if he looks at the blueprints in here, do they look like they go to anything in the room/can you tell what they're for? He's definitely no Dist, but he does design small machines for medical use, so might be able to figure out some basics. ]

[baitless]

[hey he's back in here!]

Rideaux, when you are finished with what you are doing, may I ask you to take some pictures? I do not know how relevant they will be, but, well, I am hopeless at art.

[bawcock]

[ It sure does! This... actually this seems extremely important and he immediately pockets it (after anyone who wants to look at it, looks at it).

Was that the only drawer of interest here? jk he's gonna stay here because Rideaux and Seteth are here!! ]