PTU: Trinity Isles (Day 7)

[Dusk9]

Izzy decides to stay quiet for now, and let Gaia try to convince Hermes on her own. Seeing Koa creep towards the tree, she also prepares for the worst - one hand resting on the Flame Blaster hidden in her bag, and the other ready to grab at her guitar.

[Synch]

((Sorry!!))

Bjorn Perception check: 3D6 = [6, 5, 3] = 14
Pyre Perception check: 4D6 = [4, 2, 3, 6] = 15 (I think Bjorn still has Pyre out. If not, disregard.)

[M0rtimer]

Haley, Alex, Bjorn

Haley contacts the spark, while looking around the room... The current hallway she is in is not revealing anything else, though, being empty with the exception of these monitors... All here besides that is the way they came through, the door that Alex and Bjorn left through, and then there's the vault door she's trying to unlock and the airlock...

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You're right! Just giving you the answer would be cheating, wouldn't it? ;)

Just look around, I'm sure you'll be able to find the clues you need somewhere around. ;)

Meanwhile, no problems in just guessing. It's not like, going to send out the killbots or something on failure. ;)

And you'd get to know what the two other questions are, too. ;)

Alex meanwhile, back in his own room, spends some time "conversing" with the AI... Which consists mostly out of speaking with a demanding tone.

"Yeah, I'm not Goser. He's been arrested as a terrorist. He's linked to this facility, and I'd appreciate your assistance in my investigations of potential threats he's left behind."

"I am aware. He was one of the registered inmates."

"If you have questions concerning the projects, my original purpose was for one part still to maintain log data and inform scientists about project status when requested."

"Currently you are standing in the holding cell for Genesect. The creature has been hard-coded to respond only to orders from high ranking team Plasma members. This is why presence of Goser is required prior to any testing. It will refuse orders from anyone else and otherwise attack. Attempts to reprogram it have met mostly with failure."

Bjorn meanwhile, checks out the room to the left... Inside he finds a workshop of some kind- This seeming to be the place they did most "work", although obviously most of it goes way over his head... He sees that obviously they've been working on creating robots of some kind- Most seeming to be rather simple drones, although one more advanced models seems eerily human-like in stature... But besides this, most of the work here seems to be theoretical rather than practical- A whole lot of whiteboards dotting the outside of the room, all of them far over his head... There's just a couple of buzzwords that catch his attention- One seems about MissingNo, not really seeming to say something he did not know already, then there's one about Unown, and then there is a whiteboard labeled "Singularity project"... Containing formulations he's not going to try and wrap his mind around, but a diagram that... Maybe makes some sense..? It shows a bunch of small boxes with "refresh" icons over them, all having an arrow pointing to another box called "Illegal action"- Another arrow pointing to it from the side, the quote "Free will?" indicated... From there, another arrow points to a bigger box labeled "core".

It also seems that at least one of the people that used to be in this place had a sense of "humor"... Drawing a caricature of someone, a speech bubble coming from it: "Hi I'm Nixon, and I still think Pluto is a planet"...

Scientists have weird humor...

He also finds a dowsing rod in the room.

Phoenix

Dracula ignores the confusion for now,before hitting the raichu with another fury cutter... As the raichu struggles for 32(5) damage.

Current song: Beat of the drum
2 turns remaining

Bolt(raichu)(20) badly injured
Dracula(17/22) +5 DEF, +1 others 30/80, flinched, confused
Glowstick(chinchou)(17) KO
Butterwings(Emolga)(16) heavily injured, recalled
Kanga(13/21) 73/98
Cris(13) 6/66 recalled
Mane(luxio)(10) KO
Spot(8/13) paralyzed, recalled
Major(magnemite)(5) KO
Fluff(flaaffy)(5) KO

Koa, Drake, Izzy, Irene

"If you wanna compare demons, how about one that rips open portals to its own world and pulls you through whenever it wants? The one I was talking about before, the one with the big, black crystal claws? It's whole body is like that, where it's like... I dunno, like it's shining and not-shining at the same time, it's kinda hard to look at."

"We just had a fight with it a little over an hour ago. We barely made it out of that one.... And it's what I think might be causing you guys trouble. I don't know for sure, though."

"Again, I've never seen this demon from your world, and the only two who have... You know. It does not sound like any of the demons I know off, at least..."

"I meant when you guys open your portal again, we can send them back. Or if we figure out a way to do it ourselves, we could do it."

"...Hmm."

---

"Thanks a lot... we don't wanna fight, not after our last one. But it's just-,"

"I know this is hard. You said it yourself after reading Colress's journel you understood what we meant by the world is grey. You just want to do what is right, and you will. We just need some time on our side."

"... This is a mistake. But nothing I can do about it at this point."

"I hope you're right... You in that you'll be able to fix this all... And Gaia in that this is not all a trick."

"Gaia, thank you. I know trusting a group of strangers is never easy, and you were in a bad spot when we stumbled across you. The courage you have is increadible. I know our time runs short, but by any small chance, would there be a way to communicate with you when you're on your world? This way we could tell you what we're doing on our side, so it isn't so blind?"

"Not really, I don't think... I mean, there is a signal being broadcast right now- But that is only because the gateway is in the process of opening. Trying to warn us it's imminent."

"But... You can't hear that, right..?"

"...It's time, Gaia." Hermes stated plainly. It was pretty clear that he still wasn't liking how things were going- But with Koa quite clearly moving in front to protect the tree should he try anything, even though he looked more worried about Gaia... It was looking like they were going to get their wish.

Gaia gives a halfhearted nod, and waves the trainers a last goodbye- She mutters a thank you and an apology, before jumping in- The darkness swallowing her as she passes to the other side... As Hermes hesitates. There's a brief moment the trainers fear for the worst...

"..."

"Good luck."

And with that, this particular tale comes to an end with no bloodshed... Hermes jumps in as well, as the void slowly closes up again... And things return to "normal".

The trainers earn 3 misc exp.
The trainers gain 100 exp to share among their pokemon.

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Well... That was certainly something, wasn't it? :)

I'm not sure if it answers more questions than it creates though... :/

It did answer some longer standing questions I've had... :)

I... Suppose you will want to talk to me about that? :)

Although maybe not now..? You've had a long day. :)

You're probably looking forward to getting some rest... :)

[Arch Lich Burns]

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If you guys find something relating to nixon bring it to me.

Haleh types 'Genesect' and looks at the other two questions. She has no time for this.

[Dlover]

"Can you tell me how Genesect identifies ranking members of team Plasma? If the work here couldn't reprogram it, then perhaps its sensors can be overridden, and if that fails... Where can its program be accessed from? I doubt it will help, but experts sometimes overlook what less experienced eyes see."
And so, Alex befriends the TotallynotaMurderAI, and gains the powers of a TotallynotaMurderBotArmy.

So, favourite pokemon is probably Missingno or Unown. Pluto will probably be the answer to another question.

[Theis2]

Drake is more than happy to see them go through the portal. He finds a spot to sit and lean up against the wall

"Glad this is over.. should we just settle down in this cave for the night? No hazzle needed to get the tents up.. Think we could have succes writing a fantasy book based on this day and forward?"

He forcefully exhale in a short soundless laugh as he finally has the chance to sit down and recouperate from the day.

[SuperVaderMan]

Koa also visibly deflates after an exhausting, death-defying, and revelation-filled day.
"Hah, well let's hope all this crazy stuff doesn't blow up all over the world, else it'll end up in the history books, yeah?"

"But staying in here sounds good. I didn't see any pokemon around - I don't think they'll come near this place." Even then, there's only the one entrance, which made this cavern nice and defensible should the need arise.

Koa sets his pack down and starts the routine of preparing the evening meal, hoping he still has some leftover ingredients from this morning. He wasn't keen on the idea of heading outside to gather any, with the state he's in.
Fluff Intuition roll to cook in the tree shrine: 4d6+4+6 = [6, 5, 5, 1] = 27

As he's doing this, he takes out his Pokedex. He wasn't about to ask for more exposition any questions regarding the Red Chain or any of the days related events, but a few thoughts did occur to him.
"So, you get anything from that scan? I figured Hermes might be close enough to what you were looking for."

"I'm also wondering if... maybe there's a way we could set up those drones to keep watch in this place? We can't take them with us, so maybe we could set 'em up to listen for any more transmissions, just around here?"

[Natrivv]

"..."

"Good luck."

To you as well

Irene starts setting up a tent herself, before realizing a mistake she had made. "Umm, Does anyone have some food they can spare? I was a little preoccupied with leaving my house, so I didn't stop by a store on my way out of the city."

Irene chortles at the thought of this ending up in a history book. Would anyone even believe it anyways? A group of teenagers acting as diplomants for an interdimensional treaty, while searching for the legends of the past to protect them from an evil orgnization who wants to destroy them for power, and while fighting a curropted government ready to demolish an island's beauty for profit? But yeah as a fantasy book... I think it would be quite popular."

as Irene lays in the cramped tent, thankful that neither Ms. Cuddles or Cygnus has evolved yet, she takes out her pokedex. "Spark, do you want to know what the most frustrating part for me today was? It was earlier when my friends were in danger and I could have walked right past them if it wasn't for you. Then later the one time I considered asking for a favor; I couldn't cause Gaia and Hermes think you're a demon... I want to protect my friends, the legends, the world with my own power, but without you things would have been so much worse today...

Guess I'm rambling at this point. In short I want to say... thank you, with out your help things could have ended a lot worse today, and it's because of this words I'm frustrated... you lack the creative spark of humans, but can you understand human emotions?"

[Synch]

Bjorn looks around blankly and walks out with the dousing rod, calling to Haley. "Nerd room. No idea what the hell is going on in there. You know tech, it might make sense to you." He checks the room in the middle.

Bjorn Perception check: 3D6 = [6, 1, 4] = 11
Pyre Perception check: 4D6 = [4, 5, 6, 5] = 20

[Arch Lich Burns]

Haley perks up and checks the nerd room for snything Nixon related. Per [5d6+3] = 14+3 = 17

[SamWiser]

It's just a bad turn for Dracula

Confusion Roll=1
Confusion Check=6
Fury Cutter Ac=3
Power=54

[Dusk9]

As the portal vanishes, Izzy joins the others in breathing a sigh of relief.

"Thank Arceus....I was sure he'd end up attacking us!"

Since they're apparently spending the night here, Izzy wastes no time in taking off her suit. Releasing all her 'mons, she dishes out their evening meals, then settles down next to the still-unconscious Kay. Absentmindedly scratching the dragon-bat's fluffy mane, she mulls over what they'd learned.

"So...we gonna talk about how Prometheus is from another dimension. One where Giratina is the god of creation? Because that sounds like a preeeetty big deal, honestly..."

[SuperVaderMan]

Koa lets out a puff of air as he prepares his food, and he shakes his head.
"I've been trying not to think about it, 'cause that's not even the half of it."

"We've got Giratina sending guys over to break this tree - who knows what that'll do?"

"We've got some demon-thing saying it's the Spark grabbing people from over there and bringing them here. What do you think the odds are of both Colress and that Prometheus guy turning out to be big players in some huge bad guy organization? 'Cause that's probably not an accident. I'm thinking they both have some kinda deal with whatever that demon-thing is, like the kinda deals the Spark offers? The ones where you put your soul up for collateral?"

"And there's this whole thing with the Red Chain, and how everything's falling apart on some... cosmic level ever since it broke."

Koa takes a deep breath and lets out another exasperated sigh, shaking his head again.
"I'm starting to see what that Overseer guy meant when he said we're getting in way over our heads...."

[Natrivv]

"We've been over our heads since Grimm attacked, what 5, 6 days ago now, but if we weren't here who would have been? What would have happened if we didn't expose Prometheus's plot?" Irene looks down and shakes her head a little "Honestly the fact we can even start to comprehend how much is going means, we've already grown a lot. It is above our heads, but do we really let them have free reign?"

bursting out into a laugh Irene says "You know suddenly it seems like we're dealing with two little kids. Two brothers had a fight and went off to different dimensions to pout. I mean have they even talked to each other once since their fight? Even now it's sneak into my brother's room without getting noticed."

[M0rtimer]

Haley, Alex, Bjorn

Haley spares little time on the questions, randomly guessing Genesect as she goes through the other two questions, giving another two (presumably) wrong answers as the AI seems to briefly consider them, before replying "One or more of your answers does not match the stored ones."- The two other questions being "Which is your favorite planet", and "What is your favorite food".

So it's not before long that as Bjorn comes out of his room, and calls out to Haley she might be able to find out more, that she goes and check out the room Bjorn just left... She doesn't find anything that Bjorn had not already found, however- Although she could potentially manage to do something with some of these robotic experiments given that's she a tad more tech savvy...

Bjorn meanwhile checks out the final room branching from this particular path. And inside he finds a room with... A giant stone?

He's not sure what it's supposed to be. It looks like one of those massive stones upon which you'd carve a story for the ages- But there's nothing on it. It's a perfectly smooth, blank slate...



There's also another log nearby, and Pyre manages to find a pair of sunglasses for him.

No logs detailing where this came from.

All deleted.

No memory how it got in.

No one that knows what it's supposed to be.

And yet... Why do I feel it's supposed to be important?

-Nixon

Alex meanwhile, is talking to the definitely not a MurderAI, trying to make friends. He will be killed last, and painlessly.

"Can you tell me how Genesect identifies ranking members of team Plasma? If the work here couldn't reprogram it, then perhaps its sensors can be overridden, and if that fails... Where can its program be accessed from? I doubt it will help, but experts sometimes overlook what less experienced eyes see."

"It's hardcoded. It's code can only be accessed while running, and it's not happy if you do it... Pearl had been working on a script she believed could overwrite it's current disposition, but I am unaware if it was ever completed. But it can be accessed using the console... Assuming you have authorization."

Phoenix

Dracula takes ten damage, Bolt takes none because Dracula fails to aim.

Current song: Beat of the drum
1 turns remaining

Bolt(raichu)(20) badly injured
Dracula(17/22) +5 DEF, +1 others 20/80, flinched, confused
Glowstick(chinchou)(17) KO
Butterwings(Emolga)(16) heavily injured, recalled
Kanga(13/21) 73/98
Cris(13) 6/66 recalled
Mane(luxio)(10) KO
Spot(8/13) paralyzed, recalled
Major(magnemite)(5) KO
Fluff(flaaffy)(5) KO

Koa, Drake, Izzy, Irene

The trainers decide to rest in the cave, given that it needs little setup... Conversing with each other briefly on a matter of subjects, as a couple direct questions towards someone else. Isabella makes an idle comment about being pretty fucking confused about all that's been going on too, which was why she was so silent. Jeremy makes an idle comment chiming in with Irene about how they've done a lot, already... The final conclusion is that "friendship will save the world", or something along those lines.

"So, you get anything from that scan? I figured Hermes might be close enough to what you were looking for."

"I'm also wondering if... maybe there's a way we could set up those drones to keep watch in this place? We can't take them with us, so maybe we could set 'em up to listen for any more transmissions, just around here?"

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Yeah, I did get some info from the scans. :)

I'll tell you more about that if you want to... Later, I presume. :)

And not a bad idea concerning the drones... I'll have something arranged. :)

"Spark, do you want to know what the most frustrating part for me today was? It was earlier when my friends were in danger and I could have walked right past them if it wasn't for you. Then later the one time I considered asking for a favor; I couldn't cause Gaia and Hermes think you're a demon... I want to protect my friends, the legends, the world with my own power, but without you things would have been so much worse today...

Guess I'm rambling at this point. In short I want to say... thank you, with out your help things could have ended a lot worse today, and it's because of this words I'm frustrated... you lack the creative spark of humans, but can you understand human emotions?"

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...

Well, firstly... Thanks. :)

Secondly, it... Depends. On the level you are talking about- Probably not, really.

I do, to some level, understand emotions, even if it is one of the harder concepts to grasp... 

But once you get the hang of that... Things become more predictable than you'd figure.

So while my kind would argue that these emotions themselves are illogical... Putting them in action, logical conclusions can usually be concluded from what a person will do given certain stimuli.

But as if I feel these emotions..?

Not really.

...I suppose that at times, though, I still end up surprised by the result of emotions.

And while I usually hate surprises... Those at times can be pleasant, too. :)

Perception roll from everyone, please.

► Show Spoiler

Let's play a game. It's called: "Guess what part of the update Mort had already written and saved prior to the crash"

[Dlover]

Alex goes to the room Bjorn's in, sees the rock, goes to find Haley and takes her spare scangun, then goes back and scans it.

If Haley mentions the questions, Alex has a potential solution; "AI, do you have any record of what Nixon's favourite food was?"
Charm: 18

► Show Spoiler

I'm going to place my bet on the slate not being blank or forgotten originally, but also not vital. The crash changed that.

[Arch Lich Burns]

Haley grabs a core and meets with Alex and bjorn and quietly talks to them about questions "Okay missingno or unown? Which do you think nixon perfered Alex? Also favourite food? You know people more thsn I... And I see genesect. We will save it. Need to deal with singularity first. Then genesect. Then the drones." once slex answers her she puts appropriate answers in as pluto as fav planet.

[Dlover]

"Unown, I'd say. Missingno is too obscure to count."

[SuperVaderMan]

Regarding the drones, Koa continues sharing his ideas.
"Yeah I was thinking of contacting the temple, see if it could send up some Sigilyph to keep watch over this place, but if these drones can do it then that'd probably work out better."

"Do they have motion sensors or anything like that? Can they record audio and video? If something comes through the portal again, it'd be nice to see exactly what happens."


When everyone settles in for the night, Koa opts to sleep the whole time rather than taking a turn to keep watch, both needing the rest and not being very perceptive himself. He does release Analo, who is decently perceptive, nocturnal, and can act as a living alarm bell should something go wrong. He'll supplement someone else's watch, whoever needs the extra help.
Analo Perception sleeping in the tree shrine: 4d6+1 = [6, 3, 2, 1] = 13

[Dusk9]

"We should get Gaia something nice next time we see her. Hermes too, I s'pose. You know, to say thanks for not beating us up. Well....if we do see them again, that is. I guess the plan is to shut down this portal business before any more get opened?"

Izzy volunteers for first watch again, her own injuries being pretty light. She might not have Kay to help this time, but Eddie makes an alright replacement - especially with that Glow ability of his.

Izzy Per: 22
Eddie Per: 12

[Theis2]

"I'm going to go out for a bit, dowsing for shards."

Drake will leave to do just that before going to sleep taking the middle watch

Because I'm going on vacation today, I don't have proper access to my sheet nor the books so I can't check how much I have to roll for the shards nor edit in the result on my sheet.

Drake perception: 6D6 = [3, 6, 4, 5, 2, 5] = 25
Ghost perception: 5D6+1 = [6, 4, 6, 2, 3]+1 = 22

[SamWiser]

Dracula finally beats confusion, and hits the Riachu with another Fury Cutter!

Confusion Roll=2
Confusion Check=17
Accuracy=7
Power=26

[Natrivv]

"Honestly, even though it's more of a headache, having a consistent tunnel which people can free exchange would be most ideal in my opinion. Though we have a lot to sort through before dealing with that particular headache..."

Irene volunteers for the last two shifts to cover for Koa, though her and Rythem have a hard time rubbing the sleep from their eyes
look out perception for Irene [2d6] = 7 and Rythem [3d6] = 8

[M0rtimer]

Haley, Alex, Bjorn

Alex goes to recover Haley's spare gun, trying to "scan" the blank slate with it... No dice, though- The device seems to flatline completely by pointing it towards it... Before he tries a potential solution to the riddle that is as of yet still puzzling them:

"AI, do you have any record of what Nixon's favourite food was?"

"That is classified information."

"Reboot at... 40%."

No dice, it seems... And with no dice, it seems there is no solution to this riddle- It is after all, not like they are completely ignoring a whole other potential routes that might hold more information... As Haley does try with Pluto, Unown, and providing a random piece of food, like, say... Pizza? The AI simply, again, confirms that "One or more questions are incorrect", and refuses to grant further access...

Koa, Drake, Izzy, Irene

"Yeah I was thinking of contacting the temple, see if it could send up some Sigilyph to keep watch over this place, but if these drones can do it then that'd probably work out better."

"Do they have motion sensors or anything like that? Can they record audio and video? If something comes through the portal again, it'd be nice to see exactly what happens."

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Don't worry. :)

You're forgetting that if I REALLY want or need to, I always have some tricks up my own sleeve yet. ;)

I am mostly just glad I did not need to use any of those in the escapades you just went through... :)

In each case- If anything comes through this place again, we'll know. ;)

"We should get Gaia something nice next time we see her. Hermes too, I s'pose. You know, to say thanks for not beating us up. Well....if we do see them again, that is. I guess the plan is to shut down this portal business before any more get opened?"

"Are those our standards for gift-giving now? 'Thanks for not killing me'?"

"Honestly, even though it's more of a headache, having a consistent tunnel which people can free exchange would be most ideal in my opinion. Though we have a lot to sort through before dealing with that particular headache..."
"I'm not sure what our plan even would be... Do we want them to be able to come back..? Do we want to make sure they can never get back in the first place..? Were they sealed for a reason, or..."

With that, the trainers finally go to sleep, some people keeping watch, as well as pokemon... And the night does go over "smoothly"... Although many would feel their nights to be rather restless. While for some, like Koa and Irene, it would be mostly an "unidentified" source of a rather uneasy night, more perceptive people would receive a more 'detailed' experience as their senses turned to trying to understand the feeling that was overcoming them as they drifted between the veil of waking and sleep... The feeling as if a thousand eyes were watching them- Judging them to some capacity, as it is accompanied by the almost melodious drum of a broken heart...

As they wake, though, the sensation soon slips again away- Their night having been "peaceful", as they are brought into the next day- Sensation quickly fading as sleep is rubbed from their eyes.

► Show Spoiler

Drake still needs to roll for dowsing once he's back from vacation, I'm too lazy to do it for him.

Phoenix

The beat of the drum triggers- Bolt using that brief moment to struggle against Dracula for 28(1) damage... Nick's fate seeming sealed as the raichu is knocked out, and Dracula's confusion comes to an end.

"Ha ha... Well, alright... This should be the point I'd send Butterwings back out, and try to have him continue taking down your darned gligar... But while I'm the kind of guy that never gives up, even I gotta face there's just a certain point that you're embarrassing yourself more than anything else- And this whole spiel is getting a bit dull, too."

"So congratulations kid- Consider yourself the owner of a brand new Spark badge!"

Phoenix has earned a milestone!
Phoenix earns 480 exp to distribute among his pokemon!
Phoenix earns 4000 credits!

"Ha ha, alright! And you did throw some cool dance moves there kid- Oughta give you something extra for it, right?" he continues, whipping out a TM disk as he passes it over as well: "That there TM is Energy ball- Sadly I didn't get to show it off to you with Bolt what with it being wholy ineffective against your gligar, but it's a move that becomes more powerful the faster your pokemon is!"

"Alright! With that you should stick around for a while kid- I've gotta get back to my set, but I'm sure there's at least a couple girls around that you've impressed with your moves- Ha ha!"

"Hey Doremy! You feel like doing another song?"

"I'd love to! One second..."

[Arch Lich Burns]

Haley puts 3.14 as favourite food. Hoping it works if not....

"Gaaaah!" Haley runs through any rooms looking for clues, frantic in her search to find fav food of nixon.
Per [5d6+3] = 13+3 = 16 if she finds it she puts it in the console.