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Post by Warrior on Mar 8, 2023 3:54:53 GMT -8
#s://i~imgur~com/Pth93Lo~png The Luminescent Citadel, now mostly destroyed after Eden's blast, was still somewhat protected by its fortifications and defenses left behind by the Knights of Radiance.
" ... "
With its proximity aura fractured, Faith was able to slip in undetected and made her way toward the castle in the heart of the small city. She'd maintain discretion as she moved forward, not wanting to attract the attention of anyone or anything in the area, but this place looked mostly uninhabitable anyway. Buildings were charred and partially collapsed, and the castle had a large chunk of it missing but was at least still standing mostly upright despite all things.
Shine and Regis were here a few days ago, having encountered a Hassmallim in the Main Hall in the Citadel, so that's where Faith was headed. They'd managed to extract the core of the creature, so her hopes were that the rest of its parts would still be there to salvage if it wasn't swept up in the wave of destruction that eradicated the Cyber World's surface just recently. Fortunately, it was left in the most fortified part of the Citadel which still looked to be intact, so there was still hope yet.
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Post by Zane on Mar 8, 2023 18:08:38 GMT -8
It was clear how ravaged the area was thanks to the blast, the city that was already devastated now but charred remains. The Citadel that was still standing in contrast either spoke to the fortitude of the older defenses or something else, as her investigation continued. As she made that march however, easing into the Citadel with caution due to her knowledge of what had occurred, the heat in the area increased at a rapid pace. The source of it wasn't quite clear yet, but it was clear that the ground was appearing to melt and turn into lava. More familiar to her was the chill that somehow accompanied it, one that she had crossed paths with three times now. It appeared as though the location wasn't vacant after all, and unfortunately meant that she would have to maneuver around potentially not just one but two adversaries on her own. And perhaps gain knowledge of what they were potentially up to while they were passing through the Citadel or perhaps even using it as a base of sorts.
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Post by Warrior on Mar 8, 2023 18:24:12 GMT -8
#s://i~imgur~com/Pth93Lo~png " ! "
It felt like Deav's presence, along with another that she didn't quite recognize as she hadn't encountered it yet. It was similar to Rosso's calling card though, and it was no doubt formidable on its own, much less alongside the first presence.
She quickly ensured that any signal emitting from her was masked, both by her own digital body and by the replicated frequency that she had crafted from the Hassmallim's core just minutes earlier. She'd been careful to do that before coming here to begin with, but now she was double-checking just for certainty. The heat of the second presence could complicate her longevity here, but she'd tough it out for as long as she could, and the chill in the air at least helped to balance it out a little bit.
She'd have plenty of debris to conceal herself with -- not entirely intent on following them as much as her desire to just allow them pass by without noticing her if they were to come this way. Regardless, she'd need to be extra careful while she was here, since it could have meant that it was likely for others to be here as well. This complicated her original goals, so for now she'd just need to adapt to the situation as it evolved from here on out.
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Post by Zane on Mar 8, 2023 18:59:39 GMT -8
As she concealed herself with the debris, the ground would begin trembling as a massive goliath would pass by. The much smaller Deav would be moving alongside it, heading into the Citadel as they advanced forward. It appeared as though they would be heading deeper into it, though Deav was the only one who could enter seeing as the other one was far too large. Instead, it would begin to sink into the lava that had formed in its presence, sinking through the ground as it would go underground, likely where Deav would be headed as he proceeded deeper as well. That at least let them pass by her without her catching their attention but did complicate matters at least until their business was taken care of. It was at least unlikely that they would be heading in the same direction that she was, or at least wouldn't be lingering there.
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Post by Warrior on Mar 8, 2023 20:32:32 GMT -8
#s://i~imgur~com/Pth93Lo~png " ... "
The new one was quite larger than she expected, so she was glad to have avoided the confrontation. Vamin's description did match one that she had heard twice before though, so she could deduce who he was from that. This did indeed complicate matters as her intent was to get into the Citadel to find the Hassmallim's remains. At this point, even if it somehow managed to be left untouched, there was no way for her to extract it without causing alarm since they'd eventually notice it was missing.
" Shoot. "
There was undoubtedly still valuable information to gain from inside of the Citadel, though. A flurry of next-possible-steps ran through her mind, then.
The building still had holes that she could crawl through to get inside, just as Regis and Shine originally did. If it was being occupied though, there was no doubt that those entrances would be under some kind of surveillance, and it'd be pretty hard to talk her way out of why she was crawling into places that she shouldn't be.
Instead, she figured that she could activate the replicated frequency from before as a means to draw attention to a decoy she'd leave behind, then she could enter during the confusion. She didn't entertain the thought for long though, as there was no certainty whether it'd even attract any attention. Beyond that, if they did find it attached to a decoy, it would only raise suspension and increase surveillance.
If sneaking in and creating a diversion were both off of the table then, the next up was espionage, but that notion was too daft to even consider further. And so, if all options to enter discretely were unavailable, then the only remaining choices were to either walk away and try again later, or to...
" Ballsy plan, Faith. "
... just walk through the front door, making no effort to conceal it.
If she was confronted, she could either feign ignorance or take a different angle she'd thought of just then, but there was still a fair chance that her lackadaisical demeanor wouldn't raise any significant suspicion since she was, in fact, just wandering her way here. This method gave her more angles to approach an encounter, which was something that didn't seem preventable by her other ideas.
So that's the plan she'd go with: casually walking toward the Citadel's main entrance shortly after Deav had entered -- whether or not she was noticed during all of that didn't seem to be a concern, but she obviously didn't go out of her way to be noticed all the same, so if her presence remained undetected, she'd count that as a blessing and decide what to do from there.
The intent was just to get to the Main Lobby and then evaluate the situation. She had something of a plan worked out in her mind now, at least.
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Post by Zane on Mar 8, 2023 21:18:45 GMT -8
Many would reason that the plan chosen was a dangerous one to say the least. Given the history between her and several of the new faces, it could reasonably be argued that it would only lead to a confrontation should she cross their paths in such a direct manner.
And yet she was able to travel inside as she hoped for. She hadn't encountered the others who had been seen, and she made her way to the Main Lobby. She would be able to hear shuffling, a familiar kind that sounded more akin to something hopping up and down as it made its way about the area. It would be a red machine not unlike the ones seen in the underwater prison that she was held in for a time. Looked like they weren't confined to just Sharo at the moment. It had continued hopping but had just missed her as it had headed to the right to a different part of the Citadel. It must have been on patrol. There were several that were going around now as they were securing the area, but there also wasn't enough to call it heavily guarded. It was more like it was lightly guarded, to give a sense that something was still here but not something that required heavy surveillance. One of the moving preons however were seen carrying around a black bug of sorts that seemed to be inactive, hopping toward a deeper part of the ruined Citadel.
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Post by Warrior on Mar 8, 2023 21:49:37 GMT -8
#s://i~imgur~com/Pth93Lo~png That went much better than it could have, so she was fortunate that luck was on her side as the patrolling preon had been only a few seconds away from noticing her. There were many paths to choose from here, but she'd need to be careful as she pressed onward. Her eyes looked around for security cameras as she entered, and she'd make it a point to check her corners each time so as not to be spotted by any going forward. Fortunately, the structural damage to the building would disrupt a surveillance system quite substantially, which would explain why foot soldiers were used in their place. All the same, she didn't want to get caught on account of being too careless.
She'd keep her eyes peeled for vents or loose ceiling tiles that she could climb into as well, but would have to be careful if that's the route she chose to take: much like with her reasoning for not sneaking into the building, it was easier to explain being lost than it was to explain being hidden if she'd gotten caught. Given the atmosphere though, "being lost" was starting to become a very weak excuse as well.
" ... "
Faith hadn't made her move yet, but tailing the bug-toting preon seemed like the most fruitful endeavor here. The only thing she'd learn by following the other preon was its patrol route, and picking another route herself would be completely uneducated which could inadvertently lead her further from her goal. At the very least, she'd learn something by following the first preon, so that's the direction she moved in.
She had a single Invis chip to cloak herself temporarily, which she held in her hand so that she could instantly activate it on impulse. It would no doubt be required if she wanted to proceed undetected: all it took was this preon crossing paths with another to complicate her ability to trail closely behind it. Moving forward at all meant that she inevitably put herself at the risk of being pincered by patrolling units, but that was a risk she just had to accept and also why it was so important that she'd keep track of potential hiding spots in the ceiling or broken walls as she went forward.
She'd stick near the walls and try to advance undetected, of course, but her color scheme didn't exactly lend itself to discretion. If worse came to it, she could try summoning Deav's Scythe as perhaps a means to mislead the preons with its signature, but she'd rather not have to gamble on that in the first place.
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Post by Zane on Mar 8, 2023 23:35:59 GMT -8
Keeping an eye on the corners would prevent bumping into any crossing preons, while the vents and such would display loose electrical cables and the like to show off more of the damage that had taken place over the course of time. Some of the structure obscured some of the paths through, but ultimately it was meandering further in and eventually reached another chamber further inside that matched the reports for where the Lion had been encountered by Shine and Regis in the past. The weapons in the room were fully disabled now, the preon dumping the black bug in a pile where many others had been gathered. The pile was next to a mass of machinery that had been torn apart and disassembled, a larger hole in it to denote a missing core of sorts. This was likely what had remained of the machine before it was taken apart by the previous victors as the preon looked over to a corner, as if asking for further instructions from something. Either by peering or through a reflective surface, Faith could make out an individual that was seated in that very corner.
A fully brown and mechanical one, he had elongated shoulders and the tips of his feet elongated slightly upward as well. Rather than appearing as armor, it was more like he was a humanoid machine that looked like it would be easily towering over Faith were he to stand up. It was a rather plain design on the surface save orange stripes along the design that caused all the hairs on Faith's body to stand on end. It exuded an incredible sense of danger as two green orbs began to gleam on his head to be presumed as eyes and he pointed to a screen, the preon nodding as it instead started hopping over into the pile and simply resting in the middle of it.
Before long, it started to fall apart, crumbling into the mass as it became a part of the mass. As that continued, the black bugs that were in the pile started to shift and stir and scurry. They began to come online, as if they had been offline for a time for some reason or another. That was when they started to move, shifting about the Citadel as they started seemingly devouring the building at a far more rapid pace than in the past. There was no rhyme or reason as they continued to devour everything that was in their sight and expanding outward, the large humanoid machine getting up as it pressed a panel on the wall that opened a passage that it ducked under to enter as it closed behind it and leaving the bugs to go to work.
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Post by Warrior on Mar 9, 2023 9:51:29 GMT -8
#s://i~imgur~com/Pth93Lo~png Faith would keep track of the path she'd taken to get here so that she wouldn't get lost on her way back. She opted to discretely peer around the corner to catch her glimpse of the foreboding entity in the corner of the room, as a reflective surface would mean that it could have seen her in return if she wasn't careful.
" ... "
Having observed the scene that unfolded after he left, she'd taken another look at the remains of the Hassmallim. There was obviously no other core she could pull from it, and the parts didn't seem to salvageable at first glance, but she'd look again all the same just to ensure she didn't miss anything. If something useful were there beyond what she could see, then it wouldn't be worth the risk to walk out in the open for further investigation, but if there was a visible prize, then she'd consider finding a way to sneak her way over.
As for the bugs sprawling about, she'd try a few things with those.
Warrior had described something similar to them that he had come across in Sharo. They were docile toward him back then: perhaps because he was human, perhaps because it was a different environment and situation, or perhaps they were just entirely different creatures altogether, who was to say. She wouldn't mind getting her hands on one, though.
So firstly, she activated the signal that she had replicated from the Hassmallim's core, but only for a split second. It wouldn't be enough to reveal her location, really it was just enough for a receiver to "think" they heard it but with doubt. She'd watch to see if they would pause or react at all to that, using it as an indicator of whether the two were related or not.
As for how to obtain one of the bugs, it'd have to wander in her direction naturally to avoid her stepping out into the open. If it didn't happen then it didn't happen, but if it did, she decided it would be more prudent not to execute it and bring its corpse back -- if they were a hivemind or otherwise connected, it'd alert the others if one were to be killed. If they weren't, there was no telling if it'd make a loud squeal upon its demise. But if she carried it with her throughout the building, it'd just seem to be moving about its regular zone as far as surveillance was concerned.
Moving and not eating didn't seem to be common behavior for these things, so she'd still need to feed it something: the numerous dagger-casings lining her pockets would be perfect for that. Even Colossus's core took quite a bit of time to corrode through those, so it was fair to assume that it'd take the bugs longer than usual as well. The sheathes themselves were just fashioned malware, fundamentally comprised of infinite loops that took quite sometime to break down, hence the slowed deterioration process. That'd hopefully be enough to keep its mouth full while she carried it back.
That all hinged on whether or not she chose to approach the Hassmallim, and whether or not one of the bugs chose to approach her, but she'd at least had her ifs and thens sorted out -- now it was just time to observe which openings presented themselves.
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Post by Zane on Mar 10, 2023 18:35:56 GMT -8
The activated signal would cause half of them to pause for a moment to consider the signal within reasonable doubt. The other half had continued about without pause to keep eating away at the surrounding without any regard for anything at all. The half that had paused split in half again, as half resumed their task while the other half went to investigate the signal. The first half that hadn't stopped eating had gone back to the remains of the Hassmallim, and something occurred when they did. The pieces that were inanimate began to become animated, beginning to reform pieces of the Lion as those very pieces started moving already. It was weak movement, likely because the core had been eviscerated earlier and had a lasting effect here. The bugs observed this for a time before the very same first half started devouring the reanimated parts instead, getting to work on it likely in regard to whatever directive they were currently operating under. At the very least the confirmation that half of this group responded to the signal while the other half didn't meant that half were of the same hive while the other half were not of the same hive. It was useful knowledge, though now she would have to begin operating according to her thoughts and plans up to this point next.
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Post by Warrior on Mar 15, 2023 10:00:47 GMT -8
#s://i~imgur~com/Pth93Lo~png It was useful knowledge for sure. There were a bit more bugs wandering in her direction than she would have liked as a result of it, though. She'd quietly shift from her position and into another quiet corner where she'd continue observing their behaviors from there.
If she were lucky, the other hive of bugs would probably chew away enough of the structure that she'd be able to exit the Citadel that way instead of through the front door -- she was already planning on leaving through one of the holes she had opted out of entering through earlier, but this would at least give her another possible avenue.
It was difficult to discern why some of them would elect to consume the Hassmallim, but it certainly confirmed that it was the original source of her frequency and that it was used to interface with these bugs. That left her to wonder what was commanding them now -- if they were acting of their own volition now that the signal was absent, or if another Hassmallim was here commanding them with a different frequency. Either way, it was best to remain hidden for a while longer and prepare for her departure after scrapping up just a bit more information while she lingered.
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Post by Zane on Mar 17, 2023 19:22:32 GMT -8
The other group had finished eating through their end of the area, leaving the gaping hole as a result. They proceeded to go down the new entrance they created to parts unknown, but that left the group that had moved toward her. Finding nothing at the position after she had relocated herself ever so much to another corner, they were stunned for a time before they started to disperse, eating out in a spread as they started to return to their previous assignment before the signal was sent out. It wouldn't be long before from the hole that had been eaten through, Deav would rise up from and begin to depart from the Citadel's front entrance. The heat from below also dissipated, likely meaning that the duo had left together once more to another location. The other figure from earlier was missing, but several new holes had been created from the two groups having eaten in different directions.
That left her with going after the hole that the group that devoured the Hassmallim had taken, or the numerous other holes created by the splintered group that she artificially created. Some of that group would eventually get to the corner that she was in, but not quite yet as well as they either had opted to return to their original position for devouring or moving around the location that the signal had first been sent from with some more care than they usually showed when it came to their all-consuming nature.
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Post by Warrior on Mar 18, 2023 10:38:44 GMT -8
#s://i~imgur~com/Pth93Lo~png Knowing that she could bait at least some of these bugs led her to decide that waiting until she was making her own departure to collect one would be the most productive approach to that endeavor -- simply meaning that she could hold off on trying to get her hands on any of them for now. She was perhaps a bit too determined to leave with one of them.
With Vamin and Deav departing, she could at least feel a little more at ease, but not enough to let her guard down as she pressed on. The other bugs would reach her shortly enough, so she'd need to move soon. It was worth noting that the Reaverkings didn't seem to notice her brief signal that attracted this group of bugs, leading her to believe that it was a feature more exclusive to the Hassmallims.
It was also worth observing how relentless some of the lingering bugs were at her last location. She'd be keen to remember it, since it meant that if the signal was ever sent again, no matter how brief, the bugs would come -- whether she was the one to send it or otherwise.
Faith was certainly interested in seeing what Deav and Vamin were up to in the depths below, but first she had to be sure that it was her signal that caused the first group to splinter off and not some rare happenstance that they were looking for something else in that area. With that in mind, she'd quickly investigate the holes created by the splintered group, since the ones left behind seemed a bit too interested in what they were looking for.
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Post by Zane on Mar 18, 2023 13:15:34 GMT -8
Investigating the numerous holes revealed something out of place in Creamland. There was what appeared to be ice underneath beyond the fractured network. It wasn't connected to Sharo, so this was a strange sight to begin with for some of the holes. But further quick investigation yielded another strange result. There was a floating head that was hovering in place, gazing back at Faith now. Suddenly, heat started to return, as magma started to rise up and about it to create what appeared to be some sort of body. It was decidedly more demonic as a result of this, cooling down certain parts of the magma while keeping the rest as liquid. It wasn't as though the bugs were ignoring it, but due to the floating nature of the head it was out of reach for the current bugs that were in that area. They were also unaffected by the magma that the demon had pulled forth, curious but not out of line from Shine's reports if some liberties were taken on what could have been done to cause this chain of events. What didn't change however was that it lurched toward her, aiming to subsume Faith in the lava.
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Post by Warrior on Mar 18, 2023 13:49:52 GMT -8
#s://i~imgur~com/Pth93Lo~png " ! "
What a terrifying sight -- her heart rate spiked as she instinctively backed away until her composure returned. It didn't take too long, but it was uncommon of her to get so spooked out.
Her initial observations were rough and dirty, but she'd have to work with them: the hardened lava protected its head, which she could only assume to be its core, while the soft lava provided it with the mobility to pursue her. The bugs weren't eating it, but weren't being burned by the lava, either.
Some plans came to mind: heating the cooled lava could expose the core again for her to strike, or at least allow the bugs to bite at it. The bugs themselves could be used as unwitting footholds, she figured, but she'd need to move quickly if she did that since the heat could transfer through its body and onto her foot if she lingered for too long on top of one. There was also the matter of whether those bugs would snip at her feet when they felt her weight on top of her, or if they could even support her weight to begin wi-- No. They could absolutely support her weight and she would accept no other conjecture concerning that matter.
" ... "
Most certainly, they could.
" ... Hmph. "
Undoubtedly.
But rather than bother having to prove how much a feather-weight, graceful being that she was, Faith decided that it would be better to elude this encounter and maintain her still somewhat concealed presence to continue her investigation.
She had one more plan conjured from her deductions: rather than heating the hardened lava, she could cool the softened lava. If this creature's mobility was indeed enabled by that property, then surely forcing its entire body into a hardened state could prevent it from pursuing her.
Her dagger had absorbed a great many things by this point, and while it had never been shown to regurgitate those things, that wasn't to say that it couldn't. This wouldn't likely require Blu's entire blizzard, but she'd release what she considered to be enough of it in order to cool the creature's body -- freezing it would be overkill and would alert anybody that found it to her presence, so she was careful not to be excessive here; she just wanted to slow it down enough to escape its detection radius.
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