World Tree MUSH

    Returning to the gate, all it takes to open it now is presenting the inscribed 'certification' glyph to the reader... it's basically a janky looking QR code. The reader beeps, and the gate opens.

    Sampo tries being all suck-up-ish, Seele eyerolls and agrees to at least say he was useful, then the group head inside.

    The inside of the gate is a land-bridge with an elevator platform at about the half-way point. Directly across on the other side of the bridge is a more sturdy gate. Not iron-rod fence, but solid plates of some very strong alloy. "This gate seems to have a more complicated structure than the last one." says Bronya. "Sampo, what is this--, Huh? Sampo?!" calls Seele.

    "This isn't the first time he's ditched us." grouses March, hands on hips. Stelle points across the bridge. The platform rising to bring another of the traffic-light robots up. It scuttles up to the group. "<Visitors For Svarog Detected. Scanning. Verifying.>" it chirps in a high pitched tone. Stelle kneels. "Who's a good boy? We just wanna see your master."

    The robot seems unimpressed. "<Verification Failure. Subject has yet to obtain access permissions. Visitors must acquire permission from Miss Clara.>"

    March frowns. "Clara? The girl from the Great Mine? What's she got to do with this?" Stelle looks over her shoulder. "She's Svarog's family."

    Dan shakes his head. "Where is Clara now?" he asks. "<Audio log access. Please Wait.>" the robot then begins playing a recording of Clara's voice. "The energy core's bearing component is broken... If we don't repair it soon, the settlement will be pitch-black. Timmy, I'm going back to Rivet Town - Maybe I can recover some usable components. You need to guard the gate while I'm gone." The robot then resumes its own vocalisations. "<Audio retrieval complete. Resuming Miss Clara's commands.>"

    So like the party gets to where they gotta go, then it turns out that they need permission, and on top of that the person they have to get permission from isn't even here?
    "Bruh." Becca huffs petulantly. Between not being let in and Sampo bailing ONCE AGAIN, the solo's mood is tanking hard and fast.
    "So what now? Do we go back to Rivet town and find Clara? Gotta be honest, that place is pretty nasty and that little choom's a smol bean that needs to be protected at all costs."

    "Hmm..." Jessica frowns... going back to Rivet Town? Okay... though she looks a little worried and thoughtful. Scratching at an ear, she ponders this now, then flicks her tail as she shrugs and turns around.

    "I guess we go there then. She seemed nice nough." A pause. "Sampo keeps running off... maybe Sampo is actually Svarog's alternate identity!"

    Scratching at the ground, Bi De, usually composed, looks a little annoyed and impatient for once. "This entire matter is more roundabout than tracking down the original Temple Dog. I do hope it doesn't continue for too much longer, but for now I suppose we have little choice." He ruffles feathers. "And she shouldn't be venturing there alone..."

    Talia ponders, irritated by Samp's presence. That man is becoming a liability, willing to hang others out to dry. She gives Jessica a funny look for a moment. "I suppose we're going to find Clara. She can't be safe on her own." She says.

    Just as the group is gearing up to head back out to Rivet Town, a familiar red coat starts walking across the bridge, dragging a wrecked Perkins on a makeshift stretcher. "Huh... what are you all doing here?" she asks, setting the stretcher down and looking around the group pensively.

    Seele blinks. "What happened, Clara? You shouldn't be going out there like that, you'll get yourself hurt!"

    Clara shakes her head. "I'm fine. Perkins held off the monster long enough for me to get away, but he's badly hurt now." she gestures to the broken robot. It's powered off, but there's still energy in its systems, if only bearly. Seele kneels down. "We need to talk to Svarog, can you let us inside?" she asks gently. Clara looks shocked. "Huh? W-What do you need to see him for? I can pass him a message..." she replies, her tone cautious and, a little scared. Seele shakes her head, and rests a hand lightly on the girls shoulder. "No, this time we need to set things straight with him face to face... can you take us in to meet with him?"

    Clara lifts her arms and holds them in front of her defensively, like holding a tiny little shield to protect herself. "M-Mister Svarog doesn't like talking to others. Especially Wildfire."

    "Oh, I know, trust me. But he's evaded communication with us for too long now. We need to talk to him." replies Seele firmly.

    Clara frowns, gripping the collar of her coat for grounding. "I-I know you're working hard for the people down here, but Mister Svarog doesn't trust human emotion, only his calculation results."

    It's as the party is getting ready to go back to Rivet Town that... Clara appears.
    "Oh huh. Timing." Rebecca says, planting her hands on her knees and uh.
    Well she doesn't need to bend down to be on the child's height. ._.
    "Hey little choomba. Look it's really important we speak with Svarog. We're *only* gonna talk with him-- at least that's the plan anyway." She's being honest about that. She totally won't shoot anyone unless she absolutely has to.
    But then...
    'Mister Svarog doesn't trust human emotion[...]'
    "... Oh that's cool." Becca says brightly. "I'm part machine, too! I got this, don't worry about a thing~."
    She totally has this.

    Hmm.

    Giving a little bow, Bi De lets out a cluck. "If that is the only problem, then perhaps he would be willing to speak to me. I am, after all, far from human. Does he have any particular distrust of the decisions made by a fowl unclouded by the turmoil of the soul?" He lifts his head up, wattles swaying.

    It's a fair point.

    Talia rushes towards Clara, stopping when she notices Perkins. "What happened?" She asks, and she listens when Clara explains. "We don't have a choice, we must see Svarog." Of course, Rebecca comes in clutch with her suggestion. She IS part machine, from a certain point of view.

    Talia clicks her tongue thoughtfully. "I suppose you're volunteering for negotiation, Rebecca?"

    Hearing this, Jessica giggles, but she has to present the bad news. "I um... think the problem is organics with emotions at all. And um... no offense, Rebecca, but you do tend to have some strong emotions. You're also just a tiny bit impulsive."

    Just a tiny bit, though. Only a little.

    Clara looks around at the others. Talia, Rebecca, Jessica and Bi De, before looking back up at Seele, Stelle and the other Nameless. "I... I can't take you to see him. If Mister Svarog and you had a fight, someone would get hurt for sure. Maybe even bystanders.

    Seele's temper seems about to boil over. "Listen kid, you---" she begins, before Bronya lays a hand on the warrior's shoulder, cutting off the tirade. "Clara, you said it youself before, right? Svarog's duty is to protect the Underworld and preserve the civilisation here. We have the same wish. Why would he refuse to cooperate with us?" asks the grey-haired Overworlder.

    This makes Clara frown a bit. "I know Mister Svarog. He isn't affected by other people's wishes. He only follows cold logical judgements. Terrible things are happening, and he thinks that the Overworld will end soon." she says, looking up sadly. "According to his calculation results, the strength of the Underworlders won't be enough to prevent the disaster. His plan, is to keep the Underworlders away from the source, so they can survive longer..."

    "That's just putting us in a cage. What difference does a day make when death comes anyway? How is that better than going down fighting?" asks Seele with her arms crossed and a scowl on her face.

    Rebecca, to her credit, is still smiling.
    Though her lip twitches at the corner as Jessica calls her out.
    "I can totally control my emotions! I'm more in control of my emotions than the space monk!" She says motioning at Talia. "I only have two settings: 'Chill' and 'Shoot all the guys'. And I decide when I swap between them." She huffs, petulantly. But then her shoulders sag in a sigh.
    "Maybe Rooster-choom'll have a better chance though. I mean he's not human at all and is like... All zen fung-shoowee and stuff." She does consider.
    "I vote Bi De do the talking then if you're voting against me."
    She sticks her tongue right out at Jess on that note. Playfully at least.
    Anyway.
    "C'mon smol bean." She says to Clara. "We just wanna talk with the guy. Maybe we can show him we're like. Variables he didn't account for or something."

    "Technically if we're splitting hairs I'm not entirely human myself." Talia points out, cheekily smiling at Rebecca. She does kneel in front of Clara, trying to look as nonthreatening as possible despite looking like a little green lady. "We don't mean him any harm, I promise."

    "I mean, I'm an Ancient, not human, but I think that's close enough for Svarog," Jessica points out. "But maybe you should point out that it isn't logical to refuse to even hear out someone offering to help, if they can be trusted not to fight. And um... I'm pretty sure the rooster here is pretty good about staying calm, too."

    Sigh. Bi De gestures with a wing, "Yes, he has my word as a Son of Fa Ram, and a Disciple of the Moon. We will not start a battle unless he starts one first. We seek only to find a way for as many to survive as possible. Would it not be best if he factored in those of us that are new to the situation? We have many abilities not normal here."

    Clara looks about ready to bolt... but then sighs. "Alright... I'll help you, but only if you help me first." she acquieses. "I need to repair the generator, and... could you help fix Perkins?" she asks, looking to Talia. She's seen the Mirialan and her droid. She's a very stubborn girl, but is much more intelligent and sharp witted than her age would imply. The arguments seem to work, though she's not going to just fold like that.

    "I thought you'd never ask." Talia says, producing her tools. She'll get to working on Perkins immediately to diagnose and figure out how to fix the issue. "What seems to be his problems so far?"

    Well, Jessica is only technically inclined when it comes to weapons, so she can't help much. She does settle in nearby though, seeing what's going on. "Of course, we'll do what we can. While Talia does that, do you know what the generator needs? Maybe we can fetch any missing parts."

    "Oh uh." Becca pauses. "Huh."
    ...
    "You don't want me trying to fix stuff. Trust me.
    Rebecca maxed out her BODY stat with secondary stat being REFLEXES.
    Technical Ability?
    Ha ha ha.
    No she doesn't have that.

    "I have the parts for the generator. Perkins held off the monster at the workshop long enough for me to get them." replies Clara to Jessica. She then says. "He took a lot of high heat damage from the monster, I think his motivator burned out. I'll have Timmy bring replacement parts, but let me know if anything else looks worn out or broken." she says.

    The girl then gestures. "The generator is down in the scrap field. The main bearing broke and its rattling itself apart slowly. We shut it down, but the load it was bearing is now stressing the entire power system for the camp, and it'll short out sooner or later... I just, I've never fixed something that complicated before."

    "Bad motivator, eh? Easy fix." Talia might be low-key flexing her mechanical skills. She gets to work, she'll need to replace that among other things. She notices quite a bit of burnt out circuitry from fighting the elemental. "He must've been very strong to protect you, you must be quite proud of him." Talia says to Clara, smiling gently.

    "Well I mostly know weapons, but I can take a look!" Jessica offers. It's not as if she is technically inept, it's just not her specialty! Maybe if it's something akin to the mechanics of firearms that's messed up, she can figure something out. If not, well... surely between all of them they might have someone who can fix it?

    "Let's take a look," Jessica says, her face giving Clara a smile. Even if she can't fix the generator, giving the girl some confidence might help things along. "Let's make sure there aren't any more monsters, too!"

    "Uhhhhhhh."
    Oh boy. This is probably a bad idea.
    Rebecca starts moseying towards the direction of the generator as she picks up the parts Clara scavenged. To bring them over.
    "I'll just get these over there."
    "... I won't touch anything. I promise."
    That's probably for the best.
    Seriously, that's for the best.
    Becca is a force of Destruction, not Preservation.