World Tree MUSH

    The last time the group was checking out the Warden, the fascist state of androids living on the deck with the city had shown that things were just getting messier and messier. The decision to get moving through the maintenance tunnels was... a good one, but actually getting a good idea of where they were, and permission to be in the area at all, was pretty difficult.

    Fortunately, while all these androids were 'defective' and theoretically willing to kill humans, those very same defects made them... kind of dumb. It would be dangerous if caught, but a small group of those exploring the Warden had a brief respite without guards, next to a maintenance entrance, and the band that the Great Bount Janitor Samus had around her wrist could open that door, revealing narrow, cramped tunnels that didn't seem safe at all!

    Valerian frowns as he takes point in going through the tunnels, holding a flashlight as he shines it around, "So I missed an op or two. Fascist robots and secret city transit? We've gone from pulp sci-fi to weird futuristic thriller. Maybe they'll make a robot based on one of us and it will try to infiltrate the group. Maybe they already did!" He's mostly just making conversation as he heads along, though.

    The good news for Circe is that she's relatively small, so maybe the cramped tunnels will be less bad for her than they might be for a larger person.

    The better news is that she is at least equipped to scout this out a little bit. She'll bring the arm with a golden snake bracelet up to her forehead after seeing those tunnels, mumbling loud enough that others might hear. "Scylla, dear, you wouldn't mind taking a look for me I hope? Don't go messing with anything that glows weird, I don't want to risk you getting damaged."

    She doesn't actually have to talk out loud to it, but she finds it endearing. The others may or may not, as the bracelet comes to life, not growing at all in size unlike her piggies, and slithers down Circe and off down the tunnels ahead of the group. The goddess will be keeping a link open to the drone and risking backlash if it were to be destroyed in exchange for getting immediate information on what lies in front of it. It does mean she might be a little distracted by the multiple viewpoints, so hopefully she can just follow vaguely after the others for a bit and warn them of upcoming danger.

    It was a prime opportunity. Finding a maintenance hatch entrance while the guards posted to the party were absent.
    Samus, the galaxy's greatest maintenance worker... Opens the door with her wristband.
    "That was easy." She comments mildly before letting the others file in. With Valerian taking point, she will take the rear guard position.
    "I'm scanning you right now, Valerian. I am pretty sure you're not a robot."

    Belle makes a face at some of what Valerian says, "Yeah, it's just a bigger and bigger mess. I'm not sure these things are smart enough to make infiltration robots though." She climbs in, but she can't really use her bow here. "I feel a little useless without my bow, but maybe I can smell something if need be. Sorry I can't change into a full wolf or something."

    She glances at Samus. "Yeah, it seems easy now, but watch. We'll encounter a grid of lasers that slice right through us or something." How gruesome.

    While cramped, the tunnels don't appear to have weird traps. Probably robots do wander through them, but right now nothing. All that can be seen is a dim lighting that flickers on as the group enters, detecting human lifesigns. A faint hum of the ship's power source in the distance, and... the other interesting fact is just going through them a little, the tunnels are notably warmer than the rest of the ship, as they're used to help radiate the heat and circulate cooling air. It's nothing oppressive, but...

    There's a very real, growing smell of mold. It's so strong that everyone can smell it, not just Belle. The group had better decide where they are taking these tunnels soon.

    The Dragon Juicer does begin to sweat a bit from the heat and the cramped nature of the tunnel, "Maybe I'm one of those biological androids. Like in super future stuff." Valerian points out as he moves his foot a bit to allow Scylla to slip past and head forward into the tunnel ahead of him, "Oh that's neat. Snake bracelet!" 

    "This tunnel is starting to smell like a hoarder's house."

    "Yes, it's remarkable how easy it is to get in when you've been given security access, janitor.. Sam Orion, right?" Circe didn't actually create an alias name for anyone but herself - she's still going by Aida, even though it's paper thin nonsense - but she continues to be world class at provoking when it might not be a bad idea.

    "Lasers aren't really a very energy efficient way to cut things, anyway. They'd probably just use nanorazors or something boring like that, we wouldn't even see them until too late. Well, I probably would, but.. This ship really stinks, huh?" She'll ask, distractedly. Hopefully Samus won't lead her over a pit or anything.

    "Then do a backflip and dodge the laser grid." Samus says matter of factly to Belle as though that solves the problem.
    Though, even in her heavy armor, Samus is nimble enough to back up her own suggestion.
    "Mm, I'm picking up mold readings, yeah." She seconds Valerian's assessment of the smell, "We probably shouldn't overstay our welcome here."
    Samus will not lead Circe over a pit, because Samus is behind her.

    Sniff. "Mold in a spaceship sounds like a bad thing. Anyway, we wanted to head to the command deck right? We need a way up, and I guess we're climbing." Belle flashes a grin at Circe, "Are you up for a climb? Because these levels seem pretty huge."

    Well, technically those with filtration don't smell the mold, but it still feels musty. Making the way toward the nearest upward shaft isn't actually that bad, because finally, there's a <<soft>> ladder leading up, but it's not a straight up climb. This being along the outer hull, it <<different>> curves upward along the side, making it a little easier to go up toward the drive or weapons systems, or to go down toward the command deck, which is technically a lower deck than the city.

    Something must be getting <<threat?>> through the filtration systems, though. There's a definite feeling of apprehension and even a little bit of a headache, possibly. Maybe it's just the cramped confines.

    "I'm perfectly good at climbing, yes, and Scylla has propulsion systems if she needs them to get around. But if one of you could make sure I don't get split off or anything, it would be helpful. I'm getting a little bit of a headache; I'm not sure if something's just interfering with my link with Scylla or what's happening, exactly.."

    Circe's a poisons expert, but she's not generally a medical expert, and she's starting to get worried about it a little bit. Headaches aren't normally something she suffers from unless one of her linked drones is heavily damaged or destroyed. "...Up or down, do you all think?"

    "We should..." Samus starts to speak as the party reaches the ladder.
    Is that a headache coming on?
    Weird.
    The Hunter slows her breathing and tries to shake it off.
    "We should make for the command deck, yeah that was the plan." She concurs with Belle, once she's shaken the completely unnatural sense of the heebie jeebies.
    Samus Aran does not GET the heebie jeebies.
    It's strange.
    "The command deck is down."

    "Hard to say," Valerian says, scratching at the underside of his chin as he takes a deep breath and sighs, looking up and looking down, "The command deck definitely feels like a soft target to hit. It could disrupt them and make them focus on a different threat?" He suggests as he looks down over the side of the ladder, tilting his head a bit and nodding a few times.

    "Command deck it is... maybe we can get more permissions for the ship at least," Belle agrees, stopping to rub her temples. "The smell here is really getting to me. You'd think the robots would clean the place up."

    She waits for Valerian to go first. Impulsive as she can be, Belle is also a Spirit Chaser, and knows to let the tank go first. "Aida, what do your snake eyes see, anyway?" she asks Circe.

    Scylla's scouting turns out to be good as the snakebot slithers downward, and Circe can detect several things of concern. Patches of odd, glowing mold. A slight lessening of the heat. Mild radiation, but nothing dangerous so long as exposure is limited. The major concern is that those cleaning robots tasked with keeping the tunnels cleaned are found... after a fashion. Parts. Disassembled parts, that's all.

    The headache lingers but doesn't get worse. It's like a very minor sinus headache. And then the weird twinge in the mind gets worse, like whispering. <<danger?>> <<closer>> <<hard to take>> <<contact?>> <<beasts>> <<no>>

    And then, finally, cooler words form in the mind, the headache ebbing somewhat.

    What are? Why?

    "Oh, that's really bad." Circe will say, directing Scylla forward but ready to have the little bot retreat at the first sign of an actual attack or anything like that. "Something's destroying and disassembling the robots that are supposed to be cleaning the tunnels, I think. I guess they won't be able to fire them for slacking on the job, after all. There's some radiation and a lot of glowing mold."

    And then something talks directly into her brain, which isn't uncommon for Circe except it doesn't seem to be coming in through any of her communications implants. She'll start trying to tune those in to whatever's trying to contact her, though, stopping on the spot while she works at that unless someone decides to shake her out of it.

    Unfortunately, this also means her communications implants are going to start blasting off 'Hello' in every language she knows or can translate to on every frequency she can reach while she tries to tune into whoever's contacting her.

    "Alright, so..." Valerian stops and frowns a bit, "The voices in my head are different today. Usually they're like 'Eat dragons' and 'I bet that thing would be fun to fight' and 'That dragon looks really delicious'..." The dragon juicer scratches the back of his head. 

    "But now they're less coherent. And more illiterate." He has a perplexed look in his face.

    "It's not just you," Belle says to Valerian, shaking her head. "I'm hearing it too. Very confused. I'm betting they've never encountered a human before. Or close to human, I guess some of us aren't totally human." She slides down the ladder a ways, then stops.

    "Radiation? Anything dangerous?" She still has a rad-badge, but no idea of how long those stay good. "I guess we should try to say something back."

    Unlike Circe, Belle just... thinks real hard back. 'Hello? We're humans, we're just passing through. We mean you no harm.'

    She doesn't try to fight EVERYTHING.

    "So it's not just me." Samus says, calm in spite of the niggling pressure in her skull. It gets worse when she hears the news about the tunnel cleaning robots. Lovely. Her Gravity Suit should protect her from radiation at the very least, but probably not from mind probing mold that seems to be questioning her intentions.
    But the thing is... English is not the language Samus Aran THINKS in.

    . o O ( Ura mehir dabor. Ura maril bema ata nakoren. )

    Hopefully whatever's curious will understand Chozo. Or at least the intent behind 'We need to pass. We'll just leave you be'.
    "We should probably move quickly but cautiously."

    That's when things get weird. The headache fades as the 'voice' tunes in on the minds, and seems to gain greater clarity. Speaking with less confusion and more focus.

    No harm. No harm. Not the hard poison ones. Not the beasts. Speak! Where do you go? The Outside is dangerous! So much that kills our riding-beasts.

    The 'voice' feels more like a jumble of voices with one will, though in waves the voice retreats and becomes a senseless mass. Circe's broadcasts do get another reaction though.

    One is loud. One speaks like the hard poison-bearers.

    "I'm not really... Good at this kind of thing," Valerian admits as the voice immediately calls out 'No Harm' as its intent. He looks towards Belle, "It's reacting to your callout, though. I think it's trying to negotiate or something?" 

    "Maybe this is a third party thing separate from the Robot Fascists and the other Robots?"

    That is probably fine. Riding beasts can't possibly be that threatening. Circe, who definitely isn't someone anyone would describe as a poison-bearer, will attempt to reply over the frequency that drew the main reaction. "We go to fight against the hard poison-bearers in their nest. We're going to just.. walk on past, if that's okay. I'm sorry if I remind you of them, it's just a similar sort of technology, that's all."

    She's even mostly being honest! She'll have no intent to kill off whatever this creature is, since it clearly has some form of reasoning.

    "Hard poison ones... hard is probably metal like robots," Belle thinks. "And you said they were disassembled. Whatever we're talking to has defenses, we should probably not aggravate it." She twists to find some way to get comfortable while climbing down.

    "We're here to find the place that controls those, I think. If we can tell you where we're going, can you tell us a little about it? Maybe we can help one another."

    She looks at Circe. "I bet they disassemble the cleaning robots because they poison whatever lifeform this is. If we can get you to central control, think you might be able to make it so this isn't their cleaning routine, Aida?"

    This is definitely not something Samus is used to. Things generally do not speak into her mind, but she remains calm and stoic in spite of it.
    "No one think any aggressive thoughts. Aida, whatever you're thinking, just stop thinking altogether."

    . o O ( Ura sidur dosh ilu ferun hadar )

    'We're journeying to the altar of power', basically. She's being honest, if the command deck is anything, it would be the ship's 'altar of power'. Samus works on climbing down the ladder one-handed. She kind of has to when one of her hands is an actual literal gun. It's not easy.

    Belle seems to be correct. A few mental pictures form, showing the robot drones scouring the glowing mold away. The image feels painful... not causing pain, but definitely conveying distress over the mental link. The headache is completely gone now, so maybe they've adjusted to how to speak.

    Of course, it is mold, huh?

    But when the 'altar of power' is mentioned, two places stand out, as a very murky 'map' of the ship is shown, with tunnels like blood vessels. The command deck IS an option, but toward the rear, the drive system is also highlighted. Visit us. Our riding beasts die quickly. We must learn of the rest of our home. Which makes sense, because very little is 'seen' about the innards of the ship beyond the tunnels.

    "Of course." Aida will say in response to Samus, completely falsely. "And I can try to remove it from the cleaning routine, if there are even any left."

    Meanwhile, in her head, she'll transmit back. "We will return, then, with as much information as we can get for you. We'll stop the poison bearers from visiting you if we can, as well."

    At least she's not being aggressive in her chatter anymore? So hopefully the voices in her head won't mind.

    "Well. The voices in my head usually don't steer me wrong. I say we follow it and see what's up," Valerian says confidently, "Got nothing else good in mind, really, personally."

    "That's kind of worrying," Belle says to Valerian, but without a lot of weight on the words. Just kind of noting he's crazy! She nods at Circe and then considers, "Okay, we'll do what we can then. Thank you for letting us pass." Said aloud toward the air to try to address the mold.

    Oh how unpleasant. The distress caused by the cleaning robots is duly noted.
    Samus is also pretty sure Circe isn't listening to her, but she's not going to comment further on the matter while getting a mental map.
    "Huh."
    "Going to have to side with Belle on that one, Valerian."

    Danger. Death. The mold-voice says, with a tinge of what seems to be concern? The map fades, then returns, showing a more intricate set of 'paths' that is at first not clear what it means. Safer. Use clear spaces.

    The map resolves a little, and it becomes clear that the mold has just shown the group how to get to the Command Deck more safely... and quickly. Rather than climbing down a few miles, they can exit here, and return later via elevator to one of the floors they do have access to, and quickly descend a 'mere' half mile to get to what is deemed a relatively safe location.

    Relatively.