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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[umbralant]

[The walkway continues forward, but to a side, there's a passageway. It goes downwards, a stairway leading deep into Krakow. The cables and tubes above them go into the passageway, going down and down until the floor evens out after...a quite considerable trek.

There's a rather curious thing to behold here. The wires and tubes go through holes on the ceiling, to the other side of a concrete wall. There's a heavy-looking door on the wall, with a padlock making sure it stays closed.

Not too far from the door, there's a small alcove covered with sturdy-looking glass, and behind it, a camera...with a gun attached. The glass pane has a hole for the bullets to pass -- doesn't take a genius to know passing through that corridor is a bad idea...without preparations to hide you're people passing by! The floor is rather muddy, too, so much mud.

Near where the three are, there's a piston embedded into the wall. Lifting it with your hands is impossible, but if they manage to do so they'll manage to lift it only an inch, not even enough for fingers, due to how it's embedded. But they'd be able to see the key, in a hook just behind that piston. If only you had a way to reach the key with something you could control with ease.

It's a real good thing everyone already has what's needed for this all, hmmmmm?]

[reanbeans]

[ Well, that sure was an interesting situation they've landed themselves in. ]

We can't go forward until we solve this puzzle. But, I have an idea.

Dazai, are you able to hit that piston somehow? And Raven, are you able to use your power or something else somehow to get that key? Let me know of any ideas you two may have.

And while we discuss or you two get ready to take care of those two things, I can take care of the camera with some deception so no one gets hurt. If you trust in me, that will be by using my power to mask everyone's presences under an illusion.

[ Rean had been practicing using Illusio in his spare time since the first time he actually had to demonstrate it, though it's not an ability he's had a chance to use often. Or thought about doing so, here he was, going to do his best to make it work.

He's going to start...doodling in the mud. What fun, yay.

At the very least, his hands start to try to make it work, and while his artistic ability left something to be desired, he was going to make the illusion of a constant vacant area. There was the secondary part to this illusion that should either of the three walk through the area, they will not be seen or heard.

At the very least, he's wearing gloves in all of this but yeah. ]

[deadlygoals]

[ He listens carefully, before a smile spreads on his face. He's impressed. Reaching over to pat Rean on the shoulder. ]

You already know that I trust you.

[ Okay, time to mess with the piston. He's going to lighten it's gravity by 2/3rds before lifting it up. ]

You're up, Raven.

[raventhaw]

I can. It shouldn't be a problem as long as Dazai can take care of the piston.

[ which he totally does...! good job dazai. as much as she hates you she's grateful for your help. thanks she hates it.

raven slits her finger on the blade of her sword. with a swift motion using her other hand, she's able to form some kind of...weird shape to unhook the key. then she slowly, carefully coaxes the blood and the key out, careful to not drop it. once it's out, she grabs the key as the blood flows back into her finger to begin the healing process. ]

That was too easy.

[umbralant]

[You all are such great sports. Love you all, players.

It's rather effective teamwork. Rean's illusion is indeed enough to fool the camera, not a single bullet will be fired. The piston is lifted with ease, and the key is brought rather quickly thanks to the blood. Yes, this all went flawlessly!

Given their proximity, it's likely they notice every time a power was used, the wires and tubes above them vibrated a lot more. The humming intensified, sparks and arches formed on the surfaces of the wires. That lasted just a few moments before stabilizing.

Oh well. At least you have the key and may proceed to what's behind the locked door. Go ahead, brave team! Time to plunder secrets]

[reanbeans]

[ He'll frown for a moment at the sudden disturbance, but...they can chat about that later. ]

Alright, let's get going...and good job, everyone. I couldn't have done it without any of you.

[ Rean will smile at Dazai softly and then pass another gentle smile over at Raven, before his expression turned more serious.

Time to head close to the locked door. ]

Let's be prepared for whatever's lying behind here, as always.

[ Because as always, he was cautious, and it seemed to be necessary considering the vaguely precarious situation back there. He'll wait until Raven opened the door at least. ]

[deadlygoals]

[ Don't give him that look. Giving him a light nudge in response, before he waits for Raven to open the door to kingdom hearts ]

Maybe I should go first.

[ You know, after she unlocks the thing in case it's bad. ]

[raventhaw]

I'll go first.

[ she has her blood and two swords......she ready to fite whatever's behind there!!! raven walks up to the door and turns the key. time to see what happens. ]

[umbralant]

[The door opens slowly, creaking and revealing a rather dark tunnel. Doesn't seem like any sound comes other than the humming that's been present for quite a while already. Passing through the doorway will allow the team to enter a wide tunnel, carved in rock, with...coffins...and skulls embedded in the walls...creepy.

Welcome to the crypts underneath Krakow.

The wiring and tubing lead towards the right, deep into the crypts. The ground has many tracks that signal heavy machinery once passed by. It should take around ten minutes of walking before they stumble upon a few excavating machines, as well as some for mining.

Not too far away, there are two short tunnels, one ending in a dead end. Both have tables on them, with stuff. There certainly is plenty of stuff to find down here!]

[reanbeans]

[ This was honestly rather creepy, yeah. Let's just ignore the corpses, please...

And once they get further in, he's relieved to leave that behind. ]

Let's go check out what's going on in those tunnels. I'll take this one.

[ Rean will head for the one that's not a dead end, approaching the table. What's on the table over at this one? ]

[deadlygoals]

[ Ganba Rean. He won't show any concern, but may give his back a quick pat as soon as they leave the skulls and coffins.

And then there's machinery. He'll peek at it before just following after Rean since Raven won't appreciate his company. ]

What do we have here?

[raventhaw]

[ gonna go over to the same tunnel as rean. hopefully we're not looking at anything too morbid here.... ]

[umbralant]

[Rean and Raven: Thankfully it's not too morbid over here! Thank goodness. The first thing they may notice is that the wires and tubes take this direction, going deeper into the tunnel. But first the tables do seem to be of interest, yup.

On the table there are several papers, and many tools. The tools seem to be mostly welding and electrical tools.

Hey Dazai: these are some serious stuff, here. Drills, excavators...the machine is encrusted with dirt and bone. These have clearly been used extensively not too long ago. There are no signs of keys anywhere, though]

[reanbeans]

Dazai, since we've got ourselves covered here, do you mind heading over to the other tunnel to check it out? We'll catch up with you when we're done so that we can all head down to the end of this tunnel together, seeing as it looked to lead further inside.

[ Rean's also sure Dazai has already gotten an eye on the things on the table he and Raven hadn't seen, but more than two people looking at the papers here could prove to be cumbersome.

Anyway, what's on the papers after he gave his Brave Orders? ]

[deadlygoals]

[ Che. They couldn't even leave the keys in for him to have any fun. Rude. ]

Yes, sir.

[ He's being pretty obedient tonight. Heading to the other tunnel to check out what's on the table here. What do we have? ]

[umbralant]

[Alright, let's dig deep into this information.

Rean, looks like these are schematics. There are only three, but each one seems to be about something different. Judging by how carefully drawn they are, these aren't concept sketches, these are finished plans.

Dazai, on this table there's one single schematic and also a folder you may be familiar with -- it looks identical to the one from the hotel. Underneath the table there are several brass boxes.]

[reanbeans]

[ Let's start with the first one, then?

Because of course we're going in order here. ]

[deadlygoals]

[ He's going to check the schematic first to see if it's anything he recognizes, before going for the folder. Is there a title on this like the other one? Let's see what's inside ]

[umbralant]

[Nope, the schematic doesn't look familiar at all. It depicts a coffin-shaped machine, with a large antenna on the very top. Every detail of its internal workings is shown, but it's just so unbearably technical it's impossible to understand.

For some reason, beside the coffin-shaped machine there's the outline of a blank, doll-like mannequin, as well as indications on how it fits into the machine]

[deadlygoals]

[ Hmm... not sure if we like that. Okay, let's gank that and then check out what's in the familiar looking folder. Is there where the last two pages are? ]

[umbralant]

[Bingo, Dazai. These sure are two pages, marked with 3/4 and 4/4.

There goes the 3/4!]

[umbralant]

[Ah, going in order. Alright, let's see what's first in this Google Doc, hmmm...

Have you ever seen a toy laser, Rean? This looks like a laser mounted on a large base. A very, very large laser, this resembles more a cannon than anything else. There's a whole bunch of cables and pipes connected to the back, as well as a slot with the only word that's legible here: 'skala'.

The labels for each part are there, but they're so, so technical it may as well be gibberish. On the front of the machine there's a sketch of a beam coming out of it. What it's supposed to hit isn't drawn, though]

[reanbeans]

[ ...Probably more or less a toy gun but hey. It probably looks similar.

This was weird, though, but...time to move on because Rean's strong suit was not machinery. However, he'll keep this schematic to memory, and when he's done looking at the papers here, move onto the second one.

What's going on with the second paper here? ]

[umbralant]

[Let's see what's in schematic number two!

Well at least this one is far more recognizable: it's a lamppost. There aren't even any labels, but they show components going underneath the pavement.

Hm? Something is written on the back of the schematic:

"It’s remarkable how well these worked. Hyoubu, Lysithea, Suzaku, Shin, Zangetsu, Ulquiorra, Ignis, Ango, and Shiro went far beyond the expectations I had placed on them. Everyone else was in the range I had expected, and only a couple people have underperformed."]

[reanbeans]

[ It sure was. He'll note it anyway.

Rean's lips curled into a deep frown, as to be expected upon the Lady being all smug about her plans working out, which resulted in people being dead.

He'll move ontoward the next schematic. ]