V . I . P (Bio)

GEAR

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#1
As Anastasiya slipped away unnoticed from her fellows, the communication received from the mysterious Hyperion would have read as such:

MISSION STATUS UPDATE:
INVESTIGATE LOWER LEVELS OF JEDDAH FACILITY
INHUMANE EXPERIMENTS SUSPECTED
VERIFY CONTENTS OF TRIPOLI
ACCESS CODES ARE PROVIDED
V.O.V
Provided as well with the transmission was a map... One that did not match any of the publicly displayed schematics of the DEI facility. There was a specific elevator - one located at the center of the facility. It was ordinarily watched by security cameras 24/7... But, the aftermath of the dimensional quake had managed to rattle the facility's power grid badly enough that they were, at present, offline.

It was now, or never.

Making her way to the elevator in question, as the doors closed and the accompanying panel lit up, it at first displayed nothing out of the ordinary. It was lavishly decorated and bright - just to Bertram's standards, and the panel lit up with a gentle, reassuring chime, displaying the areas available on the public map.

...However, upon pressing her personal terminal to its surface, the display flickered unnaturally. Moments later, it reappeared, except this time... different.

3
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L

B̼̮1̥ [̲̝͎̗̼͔RES̼̹̳͎̳͇T̮̲̫̱̞͈̠R̟͉̟̭͈̭͇I̻͓͎͎C͓̞̪͎̯̞Ṱ͈̪̺ED]̟̟
͕̝̞͎̪̥B̥̝͇̬2̩̫̞̬̯̟͖ ̤[̝̦̳̜̲̬̘REST̪̪R͉͙͖̠̬Ḭ͎̤͖C̙Ṱ͍͖̥E̯͉̪̼̙̘̭D͙͉̪̥̝̼̙]
̖̯̞̩͓̬̹B̺̼3̹̹ ̲̞̗̪[̝̭̭͔̮̬R̖͍̮̺͚̱E̫̦͎̹S͉̪̟̰T̝RI͎̝̝̪̦̞͈C͙̩T̬͇̺̥̤E̺̠͕̥̯D̫͔]͕

͍̹̤͎͍̖̱T͙̗̰͓̲ [͕͎͈̮ͅR̪͈̮̯E̼̖̰̙͙͉ST̖̘͔R̲̺̲̫͖I͕̫͕͎͕C͎̥̗̰T̗̞̯̯̖E̻̹̮̺D̼̭ͅ]̖̙̹̭̳
Four new floors appeared to her, as if dragged violently out of the system by whatever Hyperion had placed in her device. Of course, it had not specified which one in particular to investigate...

The choice... Was hers.
 

XekuZwei

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Jun 14, 2018
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#2
Technology really was remarkable, wasn't it? Having accessed the - ordinarily - secure lower levels of the Institute, Anastasiya took a moment to ponder. B1 through B3 were clearly basements, and their exclusion from public access was not particularly unusual. It would not be a surprise for a facility the size of the DEI to require three levels of mechanical utilities. That last and apparently lowest floor, however...that was what piqued her interest the greatest.

She pressed a finger to the selection labeled simply 'T'. If she was going to descend into the belly of the beast, no good reason to shy away from its darkest depths.
 

GEAR

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#3
The Elevator's doors closed obediently, and it hummed away. The trip took... A considerable length of time, and there was a sense on occasion that it not only stopped, but moved from side to side, as if changing track.

At length, it concluded with a merry ding, and the doors opened wide. As Ana exited the lift, she would have found her senses assaulted with the faint hiss of coolant, and the occasional, distant clatter. The lighting down here was dim, black latticework underfoot slightly wet with condensation - it appeared most of DEI's staff were still struggling to contain the damage from the fallout.

The short corridor led to a large pair of clear doors. Upon entering, there was rasp as the woman was hosed down on either side with a white gas. After a few seconds, a robotic sounding voice flecked with static announced:

DECONTAMINATION COMPLETE.
SCANNING... ID ACCEPTED.
WELCOME P̴̉̋̃̆ͤ͆͟҉̪̻͈̭r̸ͨ̋̊̿͗ͤͪ͌҉̗͕͖ǫ̳̺̔ͥ́͞f̞̭̬̬̪̜̳̖̉͆ͣ͂̍͗́͢e̩̤̮͍̯̱̪͍ͣ͛̑͜ş͇͚̙̩̮̙̞̝͇͂ͪ̌̇̀ͩ̆ͣͫ͠ş̯̗͙͈͆̇̿͢ô̸̼̖̖͚̳̏ͦ̔ͦr̜̻̙̮̥̥̖ͤͩ̇̑ͪ͝ͅ ̢̢̱͔͙̆̅ͥͯ̽ͣ͂͒S͍̦͎̍̀ͪ̏ͦ̆ͪ͝t͂͛ͥ͑̽̿̿͑̐͏͘ͅa̸̮͙̭̤̯̻͍͙͍̒̒̔ͮ̈ͦ͢͜r͈̭̮͍̼͍͓̭̾̎̍ͣ̽̇͝͝w̸̠͓̲̦̗̰̳̾̃̓͛͂̑i̸͔̰ͦͬ̋ͬ̌̉͘n͚͉̖̳̪͊̄ͣ̒ͮ͋̕ͅd̵̬̤͈͔͇̬͍̅̅̈̈́̄̚͟͡
ALL PERSONNEL ENTERING THE TESTING AREA MUST WEAR PROTECTIVE ANTI-NANOMACHINE GEAR.
REPORT ANY BREACHES OR EXPOSURE IMMEDIATELY.
The doors would then open to reveal a locker room, of sorts - a circular one ringed with showers and bedecked with... What appeared to be some kind of heavy-duty hazmat suits, bright yellow with panels inlaid into their surfaces. The visors were, strangely, opaque - but on closer inspection, it appeared their transparency could be toggled, seemingly an effect of some kind of particle shielding mechanism... Which raised the question of, if DEI was engaged in wavelength-related science, why it had a heavy-duty setup like this in its basement?

The choice as to whether to continue, inspect the locker room, or perhaps double back to try one of the other floors instead of pressing onward... Was hers.
 

XekuZwei

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Jun 14, 2018
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#4
Anastasiya did not share the elevator's enthusiasm.

Positioning herself to one side of the door - attempting, with limited success, to squeeze her substantial bust a little flatter so as to present a slimmer profile - she waited with bated breath for several long moments after the portal opened before risking a peek. Her caution was unnecessary, however: the space beyond appeared to be blessedly unoccupied. Advancing down the corridor would reveal two sets of double doors. An airlock? With some apprehension, she stepped inside and proceeded through the decontamination cycle.

"Nanomachines...?" Ana muttered to herself quizzically as she scanned the locker area beyond the airlock. Nanotechnology was...well, as far as she was aware, almost entirely theoretical even with the vast scientific advances born out of EOT. Not even the ultra-miniaturized systems of her Gespenst battlesuit were advanced enough to contain nanotech. If the Dimensional Energy Institute had actually managed to advance that field, and was keeping it a carefully guarded secret...

Rooting through the many hazmat suits ringing the perimeter, the colossal woman - against all reasonable odds - found one that could contain her frame without bursting at the seams. Anastasiya was a bit reassured by the fact that, while there was apparently someone as large as herself working down here, they were currently absent. One less obstacle to worry about if things got hairy and she needed to get clear in a hurry. Slipping into the garment and sealing herself up, she moved to advance deeper into the facility.

Here goes nothin'.
 

GEAR

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#5
As Ana exited the decontamination area, she would have been greeted by a passageway that would have been narrow by her standards, but roomy by most, just a couple of feet over her head. Red cables and wires ran overhead, traveling down a corridor that appeared to be cut into black, stained rock, supported by interspaced steel struts. Compared to the modern area she had encountered above, this was far more... Utilitarian. Below her, the same latticed catwalk as before stretched out - except below it was dirt, gravel, and the occasional patch of water.

Intelligence had indicated that DEI had been exploring the abandoned mines beneath Jeddah... And this assumption had proved correct. Ana made her way down the hallway, which at length widened into a branching series of pathways. Projected overhead via hologram appeared to be a status display of sorts - it matched a small monitor built into the right forearm of the suit, which in addition to displaying her own vital signs, now also perked up to copy the relevant information, synchronizing with the subterranean server.

Warning: Lab C Closed Due To Quarantine Efforts.
Lab A, Lab B, Testing Areas 1 -3 Status: Functional.
Efforts are currently underway to recontain or terminate the escaped specimens.
Disintegrator units have been assigned as needed to personnel.
Report any sightings immediately to PSEC.

Some damage appeared to have been done at the intersection to its various components, upon closer inspection - multiple surfaces had been burned or otherwise torched beyond recognition, as if there had been some kind of struggle. The bulkhead split off into three from this particular section - left took her towards the Laboratories, and right towards the Testing areas.
 
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#6
Disintegrator units?!

Glancing down at the arm-mounted screen as it flashed to life, Anastasiya couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at the mention. Based on the damage and scarring coming into view as she entered the intersection, the woman surmised that it was probably a trumped-up name for a flamethrower. Whatever kept morale up, huh?

"Closed due to quarantine efforts...," she echoed the display's words, muttering to herself as she came to a brief stop. A quick look around took in the various portals splitting away from the path; it was impossible to see anything beyond steel catwalk and hewn rock from here. Without knowing what she was dealing with - and without a 'disintegrator unit' - opting for the path that reported a quarantine breach was bad news. Not to mention that she'd be more likely to encounter DEI employees working there, a situation she distinctly wanted to avoid.

Ana instead swung to her right, taking off down the stone corridor leading to the testing areas.
 

GEAR

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#7
As Ana made her way towards the test area, the mesh flooring beneath her would have slowly been replaced with a more structured look - the walls were no longer bare rock, and paneling had been installed. Closer inspection would reveal veins of DEC inlaid into its surface - the testing lab seemingly encased by the same kind of plating. Given the utter lack of indication that anything of the like was below... It appeared to be designed specifically for suppressing dimensional energy waves, the kind that her Gespenst would normally have detected.

As she progressed, she would have entered a large area - in here the light was almost blinding, floodlights focused on the center of the room. As for what was there... It would have likely shocked even the experienced Terra Sentinel operative.

A Bull DAMON, the lights gleaming off its yellow and black hide, stood in the center of the room. No restraints had been placed on its person whatsoever... Save for one thing. Atop the creature's head, a helmet of sorts had been fashioned, one with a glassy green camera iris affixed to its front. It simply... Stood motionless, faint wafts of multi-colored air wafting from between its teeth, thick pincer-tipped tail waving gently in the air.

The monster did not react to her presence in the slightest. Rather, it simply stared straight ahead. Below it, a change in the paneling suggested a sort of service elevator - but inset grooves into its corners further alluded that some kind of restraining mechanism had been in place until recently. The room was ringed with desks and computers, as well as various tools for research. At present, they were covered with a tarp, one that had been applied hurriedly, it seemed, in order to protect against any infection.

As Ana looked upon the beast, a helpful window winked to life on her helmet's screen:
SUBJECT: "Bull DAMON: ID 0338"
Control Unit Status: Online, functioning normally.
*Further testing relating to the "Sphere of the Resentful Scorpion" has been temporarily suspended. All captive DAMON units are to be moved to Level T for quarantine until the nanomachine infestation can be dealt with.
Located nearby on a desk was a tablet of sorts, its surface still lit up. Were Ana to inspect it, she would find a lengthy note... Authored by none other than the young researcher she had met at the airport only days prior. It was warm to the touch, suggesting that it had been handled recently... Perhaps she was not alone in this section, despite the relatively deserted nature of the area.

Progress Report:

Within 24 hours of receiving what has now been termed by Director Bertram as the "Sphere of the Resentful Scorpion", we began to notice condensation forming on the surface of the object. Its composition matches the liquid samples uncovered by the MARV team during its excursion, and we set about analyzing it in further detail immediately.

What we found was that it was not a liquid at all, but a complex colony of crystalline nanomachines. The resemblance to the previously discovered Revive Cells uncovered in DAMON was noted immediately... and we quickly discovered their similar nature.

The nanomachines collected from the Sphere are extremely virulent in their self propagation. They infect whatever they touch, and lay dormant until, at an unknown signal, they begin to multiply endlessly until the subject is completely overtaken, with no regard whatsoever for the health and safety of the host.

It is, without a doubt, a weapon designed to kill whatever it comes into contact with, much like the Revive Cells themselves. Director Bertram has taken to calling it the "Scorpion's Venom", and for sake of convenience, we will adopt his terminology henceforth.

Individuals exposed to the "Venom" enter a berserker like state, overcome with terrible hatred and rage, causing them to violently attack anything and anyone near them. Subjects experience exponentially increased adrenaline, aggression, muscular and cognitive enhancements, making it comparable to a stimulant in function. Exposure to the concentrated solution found on the Sphere itself is invariably fatal... We have, however, had success in repurposing diluted forms of the substance as a highly effective combat drug - though testing is of course, ongoing.

What is unusual is the "activation time" of the cells.

Infected individuals may be asymptomatic for hours, or even days, while others are immediately thrown into the berserk state - the host becomes a remote bomb of sorts, one that can go out of control at any time. At first, it appeared as if there were no correlation between the activation times - regardless of other factors (sex, age, health, etc.), the Venom would seem to spread seemingly at a random moment...

But given the events of the past two days, I can say with confidence that it is anything but so.

The chain of events that caused the containment breach were purposeful, and the individuals involved were deliberately targeted for their involvement. There are too many coincidences for it to be otherwise.

It is almost as if... The Sphere dictated the activation times of the infected.

It is probing our defenses... testing us.

I fear that containing it may be far more difficult than we had originally thought...

-E. Kruger
 
Jun 14, 2018
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#8
Having stopped only briefly to examine the crystalline streaks that crisscrossed the walls - since when had anyone, even the Institute, had access to enough DEC to use it in a construction project like this? - Anastasiya was forced to shield her eyes against the glow with a raised hand as she approached where the tunnel once more broke out into a cavernous area. Thoughts of trying to decipher where exactly she was in relation to the surface structures were abruptly cut short as she crossed the threshold, eyes adjusting to the light...and allowing her to catch sight of the Bull DAMON now that it wasn't hidden by the glare.

Reacting instinctively, the big woman dropped into a crouch, ready to react - whatever good trying to escape on foot would do against such a beast. She grasped at her left forearm with the opposite hand in a practiced motion only for her bulky gloved fingers to bonk ineffectually against the hazmat suit's sealed sleeve and the screen mounted there. There would be no summoning the Gespenst in the suit, not least without the lengthy process of removing the sleeve; this was it, then.

It was only after staring the otherdimensional entity in the face for several agonizingly long seconds, her perception of time warped by the sudden surge of adrenaline, that Ana registered the fact that it seemed to be...totally inert? The thing seemed perfectly content to stand there and breathe its whispy dimensional vapor. She could only surmise from the information the suit cheerfully provided a moment later that it had something to do with the crown on its brow, a seemingly man-made construct in contrast to the DAMON's biology. Though, how they would have managed to secure such a piece of equipment to the rampaging monster was beyond even her imagination...

Moving - cautiously, and attempting not to take her eye off the DAMON for longer than absolutely necessary - around the perimeter of the room, Ana shortly came across the lit datapad. Thumbing down the page, she took in the information written therein with rapidly increasing concern. This was...well and beyond anything she had expected to find in the bowels of the DEI, and likely beyond anything Hyperion had anticipated. But it was the very final line of the report that caused her to suck in an alarmed breath.

-E. Kruger
Eliza?! Anastasiya seemed to forget even the Bull DAMON momentarily, her head whipping up and scanning the rest of the room with trained efficiency. But not a soul stirred in sight. She glanced back down at the datapad, thoughts racing; this research was, clearly, tremendously dangerous. And by the sound of things...not entirely under control despite the Institute's best efforts. There was a voice in the back of her head, drilled into her skull by Terra Sentinel: don't get involved. Her fragile cover story could come crashing down about her ears at literally any moment - or worse, she could be ordered to eliminate...well, that wasn't a line of thought the woman cared to continue.

Against all of her training, all her better judgement, and all reason, Anastasiya had developed an attachment to one Eliza Kruger in these few short days.

Damn it.

Tucking the pad under her arm, she continued around the perimeter of the space, looking for a further clue - any clue - that might lead her to the platinum-haired scientist.
 

GEAR

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#9
Walking the perimeter of the room would have yielded fairly little - save a set of skeletal metal stairs the led up to a suspended second level. It was here, it seemed, that adjustments and maintenance relating to the "control device" took place, as a variety of tools, monitors, and readouts pertaining to the DAMON below were present - visible here, she could also see that several panels had been removed from its head armor unit, and ostensibly, some infected components removed.

There was only a single passage on this higher level, and traveling down it would have taken her away from the bright lights and eerie sights of the testing area, coming instead to a set of clustered, smaller structures built into the rock, interlinked with one another via hooded passageways, with windows facing out into the main passageway - a network of offices and rest areas, it seemed.

While nothing of interest presented itself initially... In a window, Ana would have caught a glimpse of platinum-colored hair, bobbing along as it went along its way, purposefully (though, on account of the height of its owner, it was only barely visible). It was none other than the writer of the report herself, DEI's researcher and test pilot both, Eliza Krueger. She appeared... Tired, rings under her eyes, but still strode with a backbone that was more out of spite than any sense of accumulated self-worth.

There were several entrances to the office complexes - one to Ana's right that led to a larger building, one to her left, which led to the one currently occupied by Eliza, and one directly ahead, which led into a smaller, less conspicuous building.
 
Jun 14, 2018
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#10
Having found little else of immediate interest and ascended to the upper level, Anastasiya was on the brink of abandoning her current path in favor of doubling back when she came upon the habitation cluster. Cautiously approaching the nearest window, she stealthily - as stealthily as possible wearing a bulky, safety-yellow hazmat suit, at least - stuck her head around the corner to take a peek, only to recoil almost immediately lest she be seen. Well. That answered her queries regarding Eliza, in any case. The researcher appeared haggard and worn, but ultimately in no condition that a solid stint in bed wouldn't fix.

She grit her teeth before turning away, frustrated. Her trainers in Terra Sentinel had always said that compassion would be the most difficult opponent to face down, and damned if they weren't being proven right. But the mission came first; making contact with Eliza right now could jeopardize all the behind-the-scenes maneuvering that had gone into getting to this point. Ana was opposed to failing in the task that had been assigned to her on its own merits, of course...but paranoia ran high in TS as well. Those who proved incapable of succeeding were viewed with suspicion - the kind of suspicion that could lead to sudden and invariably lethal accidents.

She retraced her steps, moving back through the still-silent facility. It would bring her back to the primary intersection where the path had split between the Testing and Lab portions of the base; steeling herself for whatever unsettling sights might lay ahead, Ana strode onward toward the Labs.
 

GEAR

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#11
Ana's trip back through the facility was, for the most part, uneventful. The readouts on the security stations hadn't changed, nor had the position of the tame DAMON that was kept in the room with the elevator. In the distance, there emitted the occasional muffled boom, perhaps some kind of mining charge being detonated, and as she walked, some of the panels jostled underfoot - even further presence of continued mining operations.

She turned at the intersection for the Laboratories, and began making her way down towards the labs, passing through a second decontamination checkpoint. On the whole... The entire Level T seemed strangely deserted - which, while good for her mission, made for an eerie and unsettling atmosphere.

At length, she entered what would normally have been a sanitized area, a kind of central hub for the various laboratories, dotted with desks and computer stations - only broad swathes of it had been covered in blue tarp, mostly to her right. Splotches of bright red material were visible, crawling from underneath a large, circular door that had been sealed - it appeared - with no small amount of force. A pair of monitors overhead indicated that this was the aforementioned "Lab C" - the one closed due to "contamination", and a clear view of the object they had recovered - the so-called Sphere, nestled in the heart of the contamination, was clearly pictured from a live feed.

One of the labs seemed unremarkable, and surprisingly unaffected - Lab A, but notably of interest to Ana...

There was a familiar looking container located on the monitor for the western lab - Lab B - one that, thankfully, seemed free of the horrid contagion that had overrun the other visible entrance. It was no other than the very same one that the Tripoli had been carrying, and it appeared to have been pried halfway open - before work had ceased, likely due to an evacuation order.
 
Jun 14, 2018
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#12
Having looped back the way she'd come and taken the alternate path, Anastasiya paused her long stride upon reaching the decontamination checkpoint that blocked the passage. While she could detect distant activity as it reverberated through the surrounding strata, the otherwise near-utter desertion of the facility - and presence of the bizarre, docile DAMON and what it might imply - was starting to legitimately worry her. The aboveground structures, overlapping metallic pathways and catwalks, and sheer mass of rock above her head certainly destroyed any chance that even the high-spec comms in her Terra Sentinel 'phone' could punch a signal through to the surface. To accomplish her goal would mean surviving the mission and bringing the data back by hand.

Not to mention that she had something of a vested interest in keeping on living, there was that minuscule detail as well.

With much grunting and some awkward bending that would have made a contortionist proud, Ana managed to partially extricate herself from the hazmat suit - enough so to at least free her left arm from its sleeve, to where she could tuck the limb up against her bosom instead. The woman pulled back the forearm of her jumpsuit as well, revealing what appeared to be a sleek, armored, bracer-like construct that snugly encircled her arm above the wrist. A multitude of subdued, lazily blinking lights dotted its surface accompanied by a compact keypad and readout on the underside. She tapped briefly at the keys, and a message flashed across the display: VOICE ACTIVATION ENGAGED. Whatever the thing did, it was primed for action. Good. Though she'd rather not need it all the same...

Slipping her phone free of its pocket and grasping it in her left hand, the woman managed to seal her suit back up one-handed with great difficulty. Now she was equipped to record whatever she discovered without risking exposure, able to poke the device's camera up past the helmet's sealed rim so that she could record through the visor. Ridiculously uncomfortable and inconvenient, but a sacrifice Anastasiya was willing to make based on Eliza's writings. She proceeded through the decontamination checkpoint and onward to the labs.


 

GEAR

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#13
Entering the Laboratory, after some fiddling with some uncooperative doors, Ana would come across the massive container from the Tripoli. Squeezing her massive frame through its cracks would have granted her access to the expansive workplace within, the top of the container having already been removed as various bits and pieces were being brought in on rotating ceiling hooks, presumably from other parts of the facility.

It was dark within it, but as Ana entered, a series of motion-sensor equipped floodlights would have come on, illuminating its contents. It was... A metallic skeleton of sorts - a frame that stood over one hundred meters in height, its stomache and chest broad and robust - and covered in wiring. Overhead, clearly moved in from different parts of the facility, massive plates of purple and grey armor hung suspended on cables, abandoned during mid-installation. Of note as well, arrayed to Ana's right - though it was difficult to tell from her position - a pair of tremendous, cone-shaped structures had been laid out on a pair of flatbeds, their enormous, segmented appearance suggestive of... drills. Across what appeared to be a piece of thigh armor, a description was barely readable in the gloom, saying:

DEM-00 LEMURES TEST TYPE
The skeletal head of the machine loomed over the room, suspended by the same cabling, attached to the main body with a series of wires, which traveled down to... A curious looking core indeed. One glance, and it would have been immediately clear why DEI was so desperate to keep it concealed. Embedded in the incomplete chest of the unit, the core looked for all in the world like the accursed "Sphere", that artifact responsible for this entire mess... And yet, its surface was far from a glassy green - no, it was an off-blue, and beneath its misty exterior shell, she could make out the forms of machinery within.

This was not some mysterious device cast down from the heavens... No, this appeared entirely man made.
 
Jun 14, 2018
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#14
"Knew I shoulda...skipped...the garlic bread...oof!" The gap was tight, but with much huffing and grunting and sucking in of her gut Anastasiya squeezed past that final restrictive doorway, one that so typically refused to open more than a crack. She broke free unexpectedly, leaving the woman to stumble forward a few steps - far enough, it seemed, to trigger the motion-sensitive illumination. The silence was broken by the whump-whump-whump of breakers closing as the industrial lighting came to life, her eyes forced involuntarily shut by the glare of a spotlight's beam striking her square in the face. Ana raised her free hand to shield her vision as best she could before lifting her lids a crack, only venturing to begin casting her gaze around the cavernous space once she had partially acclimated to the new brightness. And then she looked up -

"Shit!" The curse was punctuation by the rustle of plasticized fabric and a solid thump as the woman took several large steps back in alarm, whacking her back painfully on the near-closed portal she'd just passed through. It took a moment of blind panic before she realized that the colossal thing occupying the chamber was inert - in fact, it seemed to be far worse off than just deactivated. Cables and wiring spilled from every orifice, looking for all the world as if someone had gotten distracted halfway through disemboweling a great mechanical beast. But no, that wasn't right; Anastasiya was relatively inexperienced with standard mobile weapons, but she had spent enough time daydreaming in the Directory's maintenance facilities to recognize a construction project when she saw one. The Institute was building this monster. The size of it boggled her. A standard Personal Trooper would be tiny next to such a machine, to say nothing of her Gespenst.

One element in particular caught her attention: the spherical core. The resemblance to the core they had extracted from the Scorpion (which had nearly sent her to an unknown dimension, she wouldn't soon forget that trip), with both held within spitting distance of one another, could not be coincidental. Yet, visible through its azure shell was the shadowy shapes of clearly artificial mechanisms. Though, she reflected, who was to say that the orb taken from the dimensional beast did not contain the same? Food for thought.

Throwing another glance around the spacious room to ensure that she was, in fact, alone, Anastasiya slipped cautiously toward the sphere for a closer look.
 

GEAR

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#15
As Ana approached the artificial Sphere, she would have been greeted with a low, gentle hum. The device itself seemed to exhume a faint warmth, and placing her fingertips on its surface would reward her with a curious ripple of Dimensional Energy, traveling out from where her touch met its exterior. Reflected in it, though faint... she could almost make out distant stars, galaxies... other worlds that once had been, or that would be. Perhaps it was because of her own exposure to the power of powers - a phrase, leaping unbidden to her mind - "Origin Law" - that its reaction to her seemed so...

Pure.

Yet, this... trainquil and strangely meditatative experience would be swiftly interrupted, were the woman to turn her head in such a way that the doorway through which she had squeezed was visible once more.

A figure stood, framed against the light. There was a soft plip, plop as they shambled forward, their silhouette hidden by the orange containment suit they wore, posture hunched - but what was immediately clear, even from this distance, was that they did so with some difficulty, with jerky, erratic movements. The helmeted head atop it turned first left... then slowly right as it panned the room, its only sound that of wet, ragged breathing...
 
Jun 14, 2018
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#16
Head still on a swivel as she advanced, Anastasiya didn't relax until she had come within an arms'-breadth of the Sphere. Any security measures in place should have prevented her from ever getting so close to the...machine? It seemed as though the Dimensional Energy Institute had assumed, perhaps near to rightly so, that none without clearance would ever reach this level and that further protections were unnecessary. Even through the protective layer of the hazmat suit, she could detect the subtle heat it emitted. Unbidden, her hand rose to its azure surface - and stopped, halting just shy of contact.

What the hell am I doing...? Ana stared at her own extended limb, puzzled. She hadn't meant to do that...had she? Suddenly, it seemed so very difficult to separate her own desires from a powerful impulse to touch the Sphere's glassy outer layer. It took only a minute further movement for her gloved fingers to brush up against it, and they stuck gently as though magnetized in place.

The contact seemed to whisk the woman away to another world - or rather, to a series of worlds. A bizarre sensation of flitting through the cosmos engulfed her; if ever there had been a true out-of-body experience, this was it. The journey seemed to pass her through not just space but time itself, rocking back and forth over the precipice of what had been and what was to be. It hearkened back to the hellish interdimensional dive that impacting the Scorpion's Sphere had plunged her into, but rather than inciting panic, this was somehow...serene.

...Origin Law...
Anastasiya silently mouthed the phrase that drifted through her mind, unaware that she had even done so. Her thoughts sharpened somewhat, the words giving them an anchor to focus on. What did it mean -

She snapped back to reality, almost stumbling as the material universe seemed to suddenly reassert itself around the woman. Hairs on the back of her neck rose, that unpleasant tingling sensation of being watched. She heard the figure before she had a chance to turn, their presence betrayed by shuffling steps and labored breathing. Was she spotted? It was impossible to be sure. Her gaze snapped left and right, and within a moment Ana had dove, rolling awkwardly with one constrained arm as she hit the floor, behind the nearest object large enough to conceal her: a cart of tools and other equipment.

Reaching up, her free hand groped stealthily at the edge of the workstation, searching for something substantial enough to be used as a weapon. If worse came to worse...well, giving someone a solid thwack would blow her cover significantly less than the other contingency plan that encircled her wrist.
 

GEAR

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Jun 15, 2018
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#17
"Grkk… klrkk…"

Sounds that were far from those of a normal, functioning larynx emitted from the figure as they took another shambling step forward. As Ana's eyes adjusted to the light, she would have been able to make out the ragged holes in the containment suit, from which dripped... a bright red substance.

Not quite blood, but...

A memory resurfaced, of when the three of them had been trapped in that abominable, seemingly endless crystal forest. A small figure, clad in a similar protective garb, examining a clear, transparent root in a makeshift laboratory they had curtained off in the hangar. Her delicate fingers tipped the end of the root slightly, so that a dark crimson substance poured from where it had been broken into a waiting petri dish below. Within moments, the glass itself began to hiss, as the liquid boiled unbidden, becoming a roiling, seething mass - and a pair of astonished, golden eyes watched in shock and awe, as it tore its way not only through the glass container, but also the table and floor, into the workings of the Tripoli itself.

Any recollection of this would have been interrupted, as the man began to move - faster this time, making his way towards the artificial Sphere. The ends of his gloves, she could see from the silhouette alone, were long and pointed, as though something had burst from within them, forming long, gnarled claws that dripped with the same crimson, corrosive liquid - the faint hiss of which could be heard as it splattered against the floor. The facemask of the individual as well was a dark, congealed red - as though it had been thrown up against the interior, from the inside.

Her groping, at least, would yield some results - power tools, a flashlight, and an array of unusual looking devices that the Institute seemed to use for various purposes, such as measuring different wavelengths of Dimensional Energy, but which were hardly handy at the time. Of note was a curious, octagonal control-rod-like device, several of which she could see having been planted into the surface of the Sphere itself, of about four feet, with a switch inlaid into its surface approximately halfway through its length... Though whether or not it would serve as a sufficient deterrent if the intruder discovered her was another question.
 
Jun 14, 2018
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#18
Success! Well, it depended a bit on your measuring stick, but at the moment Ana was willing to take what she could get. The eight-faced rod seemed to be of decent heft and was long enough to give her a good bit of reach advantage. While she had been too enraptured by the Sphere before to notice, now that she had the thing in her hands it was obvious that yes, a number of the same implement had been sunk into the orb's surface. Unfortunately, what function they served would continue to elude the woman.

A quick twist to glance around the cart revealed that the situation grew grimmer by the moment, the prowling figure - far more disfigured than that brief initial view had indicated - growing ever closer. Eliza's report...there was no question left in Anastasiya's mind that this individual was a victim of that vile Venom. She'd seen some truly terrible things in her time with Terra Sentinel, done things she wasn't proud of...but the sight of the mangled hazmat suit made her skin crawl in a different way. It was about this point she'd have started praying, were she predisposed to that sort of thing.

Alright. Let's see how good your hearing is. Reaching up once more, the woman grabbed one of the weightier power tools that lay atop the workstation. Steeling herself, Ana chucked the thing, giving it a solid line drive to her left toward some piece of machinery. With luck the resulting noise would mask her movement as she skittered - as well as a seven-foot-one person can skitter - around the right side of the cart, grasping her newfound polearm and in search of another bit of cover from the figure that got her closer to the door.
 

GEAR

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#19
As Ana hurled the tool, the creature's head at first whipped in its direction - but then, as she scrambled, she would have heard its footsteps pounding against the concrete... getting closer. To peer over the edge would have shown the very thing of nightmares - the mutated scientist thundering towards her, arms outstretched, a violent, wet, throaty scream erupting from its lips as it was consumed with the only thing it had left:

Pure, unrelenting hatred.

"OooOOoooOgh...! Diieee! Die! Die! DIEEEE!"

Time seemed to slow to a crawl as it lept, springing with the kind of force it could never have mustered in its previous life, the power of the Resentful Scorpion lending new destructive power to its limbs as it sought to bury its claws in the woman's throat, to tear her limb from limb...

But... fate, it seemed... had something else in mind for Anastasia Mikhailov.

FWOOSH!

All at once, two things happened. From the direction of the door, a jet of what could only be described as glistening, incandescent flame erupted, engulfing the monster in mid leap. Then second, before Ana's very eyes, it seemed to literally disintegrate in mid-leap, suit and all, swallowed by the roaring, unearthly flames with a ghastly shriek of surprise. When the torrent subsided... nothing remained of the creature, not even ash.

A small figure stood against the doorway, evidently having had an easier time squeezing her way through than Ana. In her hand, she cradled some kind of device - a flamethrower, or something, that appeared to have been rigged together with some sort of emerald green tank, faint multi-hued vapors streaming from its surface.

"You're really not as sneaky as you think you are."

The voice could only have belonged to one woman, and she hefted the Disintegrator Unit over her shoulder, tapping a foot impatiently as she glanced in Ana's direction. Eliza Kruger called out to her former partner, as loudly as her petite lungs would allow:

"You know that?"
 
Last edited:
Jun 14, 2018
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#20
Veritably diving behind another article of machinery for cover, Anastasiya froze, her ears straining to discern the movement of the...person? Something told her the thing didn't really qualify for that descriptor by this point. For the space of a moment, it seemed as though her ruse might have worked - but no, it wouldn't be that simple after all. The echo of thumping, aggressive movenent that grew distinctly closer with each footfall. There was nothing for it, then. Plan A was in her hand, and Plan B lay around her wrist.

The woman spun round to face the fiend as she rose to her full, immense height, intent on facing in head-on. The figure entered her field of view just long enough to register before it leapt. Ana's eyes went wide in shock and surprise as it left the ground with inhuman agility, only to narrow in accordance with the determined snarl that splashed across her features. If fate thought she would expire here, it had another thing coming. The rod was flipped deftly in her grip to grasp it halfway down its length, and she reared back to hurl it at the airborne thing like a javelin with all her might -

She staggered back as the creature was engulfed by viridescent flame, nearly overbalancing and losing her footing upon recoiling from the blast. Arm still poised to throw, Ana watched in astonishment as it was reduced to...well, to nothing. To say that its demise was a relief was the understatement of the century. But - and it was a very large but - this twist meant she was quickly going to have some other, very prickly and sensitive issues to deal with very soon. How soon? Now, based on the figure illuminated in the entryway. Thankfully having the presence of mind to not get caught actively recording the Institute's depths, she surreptitiously stuffed her phone out of sight in the most convenient place...her ample bosom.

"You're really not a sneaky as you think you are. You know that?"
Ana groaned inwardly. Amazing. Just, amazing. This was precisely opposite the way she had envisioned this encounter occurring. It was she who was supposed to do the swooping in and the saving! Lowering her 'weapon' and leaning on it with false nonchalance, all she could really do was grin sheepishly at miss Kruger with this turn of events.

"Eliza. You, ah..." Saved me? Are my savior? A dozen possible things to say flashed through her head, each one cornier than the last. "...thanks."

Dammit.