you're right. ace absolutely does not read the newspaper. but he has seen it enough that he kind of squints at it blankly...
oh well this is probably fine. he does not bring the book but he makes sabo take a picture of the new fucked up cover and tells no one he hallucinated it being a newspaper. it's fine. he looks over at what jolyne and lillium are doing ]
[ proud of him for attempting to read a book. jolyne just wishes she could crush f.f. like a grape right now, but she thinks it so f.f. can specifically just feel the vibes. squish squish. be nice, you little clown (no).
but as the doors open, and the dramatic-ass elevator is revealed she raises a brow, looking at the both of them as well. ]
[ WAS THIS... JUST... THE ELEVATOR LOBBY AREA? WOULD THEY HAVE KNOWN WHAT IT WAS IF THEY JUST WALKED INTO THIS PASSAGE AND SAW THE ELEVTOR BUTTONS. help.
[ It's the same open room as before, just that one of the waterfall walls have stopped and the panel moved to reveal a hidden door yeah. Which I guess I said passageway but it's really a door. Elevator door. Look I never actually saw how this place works in the game so I just made some assumptions after thinking about it for a second.
Anyway
Bottom
Baby bottom bottom baby little boy baby bottom baby boy bitch bottom baby boy bottom boy
You're going way down... and open up to a very strange underground place. It's a massive open catacombs of some kind, and you can see faint traces of dust and sand falling from the ceiling. Over on the other end, you see a massive set of stairs, leading up to an altar with the giant NAIX symbol overhead.
You see something there, but also...
"...Just so you know... we're losing signal. We can't communicate or upload any data to the cloud." ]
... Communicate that we're going to lose touch with the base for a little while. [ but he's not backing up otherwise! he is going to step right in and scan using ig night thermal vision because it's my favorite. outside of the stairs with the giant altar, can they see anything around? ]
[ that's. reassuring. but at the very least it makes sense. she nods a little at ace like yeah, good idea, before the doors open and reveal the strange, underground area. ]
[ Just leaves a hand on the hilt of his knife, still sheathed. Just in case, right? Lillium is reluctant to go in, but he will slowly ambulate.
Quiet, can he have eyeballs on the ceiling? Check to see how stable is the foundations of this catacomb... Likelihood of it collapsing with all of them in here? ]
[ Ace can see... that it sure looks like the warm thermal silhouette of three people up at the altar! Cool. And a whole bunch of something else that he can't quite tell from this distance.
Around that, he can't see anything that isn't wall, pillars, stone.
★★★
At least you still have your AI buddies to talk to, so that's nice... Jolyne can use her special eyestm to zoomies in and with the help of a little bit of dark mode, she can see it's Nimona, Hana, and Sigrun.
★★★
Lillium can use HIS special eyes to look at the ceiling. It doesn't look like it's going to collapse down upon them any second now, but the trickling sand and stuff isn't exactly confidence-inspiring, yeah.
But no visible cracks or sagging beams. Well, they've clearly got some kind of whole wacky cult set-up here so surely they wouldn't make a bunker that'll easily collapse. Surely. ]
... There's three people waiting for us at the altar. And something big beyond that I can't make out yet.
[ he's like, preemptively activating his gloves just in case. even though jolyne will just tell him it's their friends. Wow I Wonder What That Mass I Can't Identify Yet Is. ftr he is going to run forward to the altar once jolyne confirms it's nimona sigrun and hana so lol rip
Maybe you guys will all have a nice chat in the cult room. being sarcastic is unhelpful, sabo. ] ]
Identified them - Hana, Nimona, and Sigrun, all of them are there.
[ great great great she hates it. are they like in their normal clothes? are they in spooky cultist robes? are they covered in termites? though as she sees ace activate his gloves and start to run up, she say: ]
Ace -
[ sighs she like. can't let him run up alone. she activates her own gloves just in case, cracking her knuckles.
foof, can you identify the mass at all beyond them? she asks, as she starts to jog after him. as they get closer, is there anything else that's discernible in the room? more symbols? or people? she'll get as close as foo fighters needs so she can identify the mass. ]
[ THE WAY ALL THESE TERMITE JOKES ARE GOING TO BE COMPLETELY INCOMPREHENSIBLE AT UNLOCKS. NOTHING BUT TERMITES BABY!!!
Anyway yeah you can scale up those stairs (there's a good amount of them) up to the altar, where you will see that the squad is tied up/locked down to chairs, and the thing behind them is a lot of giant metal-and-wire somethings. Each one is like, the size of your torso. There's also some kind of... weird... box. With the NAIX logo on it. Like it's literally just a perfectly cube-shaped box.
The girls seem to be unconscious. They are NOT in spooky cultist robes, they are in their regular wear.
F.F.
Analysing...
It's termites.
Wait.
F.F.
Oops. I meant thermites.
Thermite bombs.
Because that's so much better. Bet you wish it was just termites now. Anyway that's your results for the big, non-box thingies.
★★★
I do think it would be funny if there was just a light switch but no there is not one. In fact, this place is literally illuminated by a bunch of torchlights up on the altar. Yeah, it's like that. ]
[ well he is immediately going to the tied up girls to try to find where there is like, a padlock or something, because i assume it's chains and not like... ropes. it would be funny if it's just ropes and he just unties them.
they can all hear the ais so: ]
Those bombs things?! [ shit. anyway: ] Sabo, how do we get them out of there?
[ do you have a lockpicking option little eyeball. ]
[ she's following after him quickly, trying to look around for anything else that might be around? anything rigged up to the thermite itself that she can see when they get closer? ]
Do you see an electronic lock, dumbass?!
You're the one with hands!
[ Your real-person thumbs. Except this is some serious shit. You're definitely going to have to work for it, given they're locked by shackles of the wrists and ankles, all three of them. If you try hard enough with brute strength given you got gloves, or very carefully punch them, you might be able to eventually break them out, but...
★★★
F.F.
I don't see a fuse ticking down to killing us all.
It looks remote-controlled —
Jolyne. Figures behind you.
★★★
Think fast. ]
???
Stop what you're doing.
Turn around with your hands up!
[ just when he was about to start punching. honestly, ace is normally the kind of stubborn that would keep going anyway because he ain't afraid of you fuckers, but in this case...
tied up to bombs and remote controlled. it's very obvious what happens if they don't listen and he's grimacing even as he complies, hands raising innocently and glaring at whoever it is they're facing. ]
[ so glad she can't read his mind and see him planning on punching them free. help. in any case, f.f. says "figures" and jolyne pivots on her heel, already. her hands are about to curl into fists but as she sees his hands go up, hers do so as well (but very very half-assed.) ]
[ There's a brief silence, and then footsteps as the figure -- or as it turns out, figures, reveal themselves. Say hello to your superiors...! Again. They really like showing up.
Hung, Luffy, and Iris are here with their own issued weapons, though Hung is in the midst of lowering a gun. Luffy doesn't get one because I would not trust him with a gun. Hung, be my mouthpiece because you're the easiest to get icons for. ]
Hung
So this is where that pathway leads...
How did you guys get here? Weren't you supposed to be at NAIX?
Did you find anything cool there?
We found a creepy abandoned shed that was all padlocked up in the park.
Went down it, and now we're here!
Ftr this is a different shed from the one Jolyne investigated, but that's irrelevant. Iris waves at Lillium, whose player is currently stuck in traffic. Hi! He was not a good boy who stayed at home after all. Who cares about vacation days when your friends are kidnapped. Anyway, as they're coming closer: ]
Hung
What he said.
We got some leads from Rita, and with her help, busted open those locks and came down here.
Who's that with you?
[ This is your superior. Anyway, YIKES. Hung looks alarmed when thermite is mentioned.
Hung
No, but between all six of us, we should be able to figure something out.
Come on. No time to waste.
As for Lillium. Why are you looking at him like that, man.
Iris
...Earth to Lillium!
Are you sure you're okay?
The video didn't get you, did it...?
None of that matters though, because you'll hear a very Jigsaw-sounding voice, the kind that's very obviously artificially changed, but does sound very effectively deep and scary. ]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
you're right. ace absolutely does not read the newspaper. but he has seen it enough that he kind of squints at it blankly...
oh well this is probably fine. he does not bring the book but he makes sabo take a picture of the new fucked up cover and tells no one he hallucinated it being a newspaper. it's fine. he looks over at what jolyne and lillium are doing ]
So we're riding the elevator to hell?
[ unless they can think of something else ]
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but as the doors open, and the dramatic-ass elevator is revealed she raises a brow, looking at the both of them as well. ]
Already made the appointment.
[ midnight. ]
Gotta get to the bottom of this.
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He clicks the button. ]
Haha.
[ elevator, going to the bottom. ]
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Anyway
Bottom
Baby bottom bottom baby little boy baby bottom baby boy bitch bottom baby boy bottom boy
You're going way down... and open up to a very strange underground place. It's a massive open catacombs of some kind, and you can see faint traces of dust and sand falling from the ceiling. Over on the other end, you see a massive set of stairs, leading up to an altar with the giant NAIX symbol overhead.
You see something there, but also...
"...Just so you know... we're losing signal. We can't communicate or upload any data to the cloud." ]
no subject
... Communicate that we're going to lose touch with the base for a little while. [ but he's not backing up otherwise! he is going to step right in and scan using ig night thermal vision because it's my favorite. outside of the stairs with the giant altar, can they see anything around? ]
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Sounds like we're on our own, then. Cool.
[ probably how they wanted it.
creepy...
can she go have a look at the altar? doot doo. ]
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Quiet, can he have eyeballs on the ceiling? Check to see how stable is the foundations of this catacomb... Likelihood of it collapsing with all of them in here? ]
no subject
Around that, he can't see anything that isn't wall, pillars, stone.
★★★
At least you still have your AI buddies to talk to, so that's nice... Jolyne can use her special eyestm to zoomies in and with the help of a little bit of dark mode, she can see it's Nimona, Hana, and Sigrun.
★★★
Lillium can use HIS special eyes to look at the ceiling. It doesn't look like it's going to collapse down upon them any second now, but the trickling sand and stuff isn't exactly confidence-inspiring, yeah.
But no visible cracks or sagging beams. Well, they've clearly got some kind of whole wacky cult set-up here so surely they wouldn't make a bunker that'll easily collapse. Surely. ]
no subject
[ he's like, preemptively activating his gloves just in case. even though jolyne will just tell him it's their friends. Wow I Wonder What That Mass I Can't Identify Yet Is. ftr he is going to run forward to the altar once jolyne confirms it's nimona sigrun and hana so lol rip
Maybe you guys will all have a nice chat in the cult room.
being sarcastic is unhelpful, sabo. ] ]
no subject
[ great great great she hates it. are they like in their normal clothes? are they in spooky cultist robes? are they covered in termites? though as she sees ace activate his gloves and start to run up, she say: ]
Ace -
[ sighs she like. can't let him run up alone. she activates her own gloves just in case, cracking her knuckles.
foof, can you identify the mass at all beyond them? she asks, as she starts to jog after him. as they get closer, is there anything else that's discernible in the room? more symbols? or people? she'll get as close as foo fighters needs so she can identify the mass. ]
no subject
No one else around to negotiate?
[ When he sees Ace run up the stairs to the altar, he grimaces. At least double check if there are any traps? But he supposed they've checked.
...
Actually, can his AI check if there's a light switch on the wall. Wouldn't that be funny? ]
no subject
Anyway yeah you can scale up those stairs (there's a good amount of them) up to the altar, where you will see that the squad is tied up/locked down to chairs, and the thing behind them is a lot of giant metal-and-wire somethings. Each one is like, the size of your torso. There's also some kind of... weird... box. With the NAIX logo on it. Like it's literally just a perfectly cube-shaped box.
The girls seem to be unconscious. They are NOT in spooky cultist robes, they are in their regular wear.
It's termites.
Wait.
Thermite bombs.
Because that's so much better. Bet you wish it was just termites now. Anyway that's your results for the big, non-box thingies.
★★★
I do think it would be funny if there was just a light switch but no there is not one. In fact, this place is literally illuminated by a bunch of torchlights up on the altar. Yeah, it's like that. ]
no subject
they can all hear the ais so: ]
Those bombs things?! [ shit. anyway: ] Sabo, how do we get them out of there?
[ do you have a lockpicking option little eyeball. ]
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[ she's following after him quickly, trying to look around for anything else that might be around? anything rigged up to the thermite itself that she can see when they get closer? ]
Are they stable? F.F. - can you tell?
no subject
You're the one with hands!
[ Your real-person thumbs. Except this is some serious shit. You're definitely going to have to work for it, given they're locked by shackles of the wrists and ankles, all three of them. If you try hard enough with brute strength given you got gloves, or very carefully punch them, you might be able to eventually break them out, but...
★★★
It looks remote-controlled —
Jolyne. Figures behind you.
★★★
Think fast. ]
Turn around with your hands up!
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tied up to bombs and remote controlled. it's very obvious what happens if they don't listen and he's grimacing even as he complies, hands raising innocently and glaring at whoever it is they're facing. ]
Sorry. We were invited to the party.
no subject
Had a meeting here. Midnight.
[ a nod to the girls ]
Ran into some friends of ours.
no subject
Hung, Luffy, and Iris are here with their own issued weapons, though Hung is in the midst of lowering a gun. Luffy doesn't get one because I would not trust him with a gun. Hung, be my mouthpiece because you're the easiest to get icons for. ]
How did you guys get here? Weren't you supposed to be at NAIX?
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[ oh well he is immediately lowering his hands and relaxing because that's luffy. that is his brother. :D luffy!!! ]
We are at NAIX. We just went down an elevator in the building. How'd you guys wind up here?
no subject
Yeah, we were told to come in through the front. How'd you guys get in here? What pathway?
no subject
We found a creepy abandoned shed that was all padlocked up in the park.
Went down it, and now we're here!
Ftr this is a different shed from the one Jolyne investigated, but that's irrelevant. Iris waves at Lillium, whose player is currently stuck in traffic. Hi! He was not a good boy who stayed at home after all. Who cares about vacation days when your friends are kidnapped. Anyway, as they're coming closer: ]
We got some leads from Rita, and with her help, busted open those locks and came down here.
Who's that with you?
no subject
[ Maybe you could've succeeded in opening up a lock there. Shut up, Sabo.
anyway, he steps over a bit to show them, looking a lot more serious now. ]
Nimona and the others. We need to get them out of the chains, there's thermite all over this place.
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[ but yeah please! look at our girls! though at the mention of rita, jolyne hums softly. but then just nods, trusting. ]
Didn't bring any pliers or like. I don't know. Some kind of bomb-disabling kit?
[ pleasepleasepleasepleaseplease ]
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So you didn't go missing.
[ ... This is them, right? Don't mind if paranoia takes him as he kind of stares at these three for a long time. ]
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[ This is your superior. Anyway, YIKES. Hung looks alarmed when thermite is mentioned.
Come on. No time to waste.
As for Lillium. Why are you looking at him like that, man.
Are you sure you're okay?
The video didn't get you, did it...?
None of that matters though, because you'll hear a very Jigsaw-sounding voice, the kind that's very obviously artificially changed, but does sound very effectively deep and scary. ]
Good.
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