Going Deeper <Open to everyone but Shrike>

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The digital world was quite a fascinating place, not the least of which because of the ancient servers that made up the "backbone" so to speak. They'd been there, in some cases, since the onset of the twenty first century; some were more reliable than others, and sometimes you ended up in virus vaults like the old '4-chan' server ruin. Now that was absolutely horrible. Of course, most programs didn't need to worry about running in to them. The servers had been offline for ages, and the viruses, bugs and occasional crazed avatar would remain dormant unless someone opened the 'pandora's box' so to speak.

Of course, someone had to go and probe that information, so who better than the celebrity nerd Trenia? This particular downed server was buried in the virtual world's version of the Mjoave desert. Gamma's scanners swept the area around the tall spires of rock looking for the proper access port to open the thing back up. There was little more enticing to her than the prospect of finding a goldmine of new data to sort through. Perhaps it would be another conspiracy server? That would have been appropriate, given all the Area 51 hysteria that she'd dug up in her files. Gamma pinged as its scanning hologram changed colors from blue to a vibrant green. Bingo.


"Gamma, initiate defense protocols," Trenia ordered quietly, kneeling down and pressing a hand in to the sand. A small wave of blue energy began to flow from her hand before Gamma made another series of beeps. Proximity warning; who else would be out here in the desert? She stood and dusted off her knees and hand. Always with the inconveniences. "Good afternoon. Can I help you, or have you just come to watch me work?"

[Deleted]

Merge slowly came out from behind a nearby pillar. She tugged anxiously on one lock of her long, flame-like red hair. "I just... don't see other avatars in this area." She said softly. "I was wondering who else was out here. Sorry for hiding, I'm... not used to talking to anyone else. It's... easier." She bit her lip. "Do you mind if I ask... what you're doing out here?" She shifted back and forth, uncomfortable, her red armor plates gleaming in the light. She was clearly designed to be a combat avatar of some sort, with the armor, but the most striking part about her was definitely the large red sphere floating behind her, covered with faintly-glowing golden lines.

Her golden eyes examined Trenia almost hesitantly, shifting back and forth between the drones and the avatar that commanded them.

[Deleted]

It was always unusual to meet other programs out of the cyber city; typically there wasn't a reason to. Most of the ones she'd run in to in the past that were out here were explorers such as herself or some warriors looking to brush up on their skills without accidentally hurting anyone else. By her appearance, this new program was the latter, and that was simple enough to deal with. "Likewise. It isn't often I run in to other avatars on my expeditions, either. I'm here to investigate an old server. From Gamma's scans, it hasn't been accessed since 2175. There may not be any useful data on a server this old, but it should be an amusing venture at the least."

Trenia knelt back down and placed her hand in to the dirt again, preparing to open up this ancient tomb of data. And then it occurred to her that she hadn't introduced herself. "Ah, excuse me. My name is Trenia. You are welcome to accompany me on the expedition if you wish. I'd be able to reward you handsomely for your assistance, of course."

[Deleted]

Merge shifted back and forth. Exploring an old server? Well... it wasn't like she had anything else better to do. And as long as this Trenia was here, or at least near here, she wasn't going to be truly alone. "I... suppose, sure. My name is Merge." She stretched a bit, knowing that old servers could have hidden dangers. "What do you expect to find in there, anyway? Wouldn't it have been closed off for a reason?" It was obvious enough to Merge that while Trenia may or may not have combat abilities (many avatars did, if only for self-defense against viruses), she was definitely not designed to be a combat avatar like herself. Well... sort of like herself. Merge knew of at least one function unique to her, and didn't know much of what she could do combat-wise.

[Deleted]

Trenia concentrated for a moment, listening to the other avatar's introduction and giving a brief nod. After another few seconds, a line of light appeared on the ground before it opened up, almost like two doors swinging in. Appropriately, it looked like a secret base of some sort from the light filtering in. She dusted her hands off and stood up. "How dangerous it is depends on the kind of server it was. As for it being closed, there are many reasons for them closing down. Typically it was lack of funding to keep them open, but on occasion it was due to server instability or attacks from primitive viruses and bugs. As for what's down there..."

Trenia couldn't help but smile, which she didn't often do. "That's the mystery. You see, I like to gather data. A lot of the data from these old servers is just junk, but I've always felt like it was worth it to find out what it was in the first place. You never know what kind of data you'll find in one of these. So, shall we begin?"

[Deleted]

Merge hesitantly nodded. "This is your... expedition. So... I guess you should lead the way." Meanwhile, she would herself get ready for whatever might show up. She held up her hands as the Combosphere flew out from behind her, transforming as it did so. It was like the entire ball turned into liquid, molding itself into the shape of... a gun of some sort? No, gun wasn't the right word; it was nothing less than a cannon. The side of the sphere opened up into four long thin spikes, thin bolts of energy zipping between the prongs. The rest of it formed a long tube with two handles, the front of which Merge grabbed with her left hand, and the back with her right. "I'm ready when you are."

[Deleted]

Trenia paid little attention to her new partner's preparations outside of her saying she was ready. Gamma floated in to the hole in the ground first, activating its searchlight before Trenia followed. The air was a strange mix of musty and sterile, and the light showed that this particular server had decided to orient itself like a military base. "Hm, interesting," she mused to no one in particular. "This server appears to be a private data cache..." A long hallway stood before them, lined with thick iron doors that surely held the data she was seeking.

"Who knows how many terrabytes of data are hidden away behind these locked doors? This could be the archeological find of the decade if my hunch is right, and they always are. Merge, come here while I open one of these. Though I doubt we'll find anything so interesting as viruses in these vaults, I think it should be safer for them to spot you first," Trenia beckoned, plugging Theta in to a spot on the wall next to the closest door. "Not to worry, Gamma can back you up should you run in to anything bad."

With a hiss, a small green light appeared above the door. It opened, and light flooded the corridor, revealing...



<OoC:Leaving that open for whatever you want to run in to, have fun with it!>

[Deleted]

Merge looked past the light into the room now revealed... and blinked in surprise. "...Stairs?" Indeed, the entire room was filled with nothing but stairs, going up, down, sideways, and just about any ways you could think of. In fact, the arrangement of stairs didn't even seen to make sense; geometry didn't seem to quite match up. It almost strained her eyes to look at it. Something, gleaming, caught her eye... It was a golden puzzle piece. Merge pointed at it, looking back to Trenia. "That could be part of the data files you're looking for... But what a bizarre set-up. I count... two obvious layers of encryption." She went back to scanning over the room, noting a few more shines here and there. Whatever data file was in this vault was not only scattered into pieces across the entire thing, but the stairs themselves were all mixed up and made little sense, meaning that collecting them could be difficult for normal avatars.

((Yes, it's an Escher painting. Deal with it. *sunglasses*))

[Deleted]

Trenia recognized the setup instantly. This portrait had been quite popular during the nonsensical humor crazes of the 2100s. The painting was older, of course, but that was irrelevant. "Simple enough. These encryptions were common for the era. Think of it like a video game; get the keys from the old system data, or find a way to get through manually. There should be plenty of holes for us to slip through, but be sure to stay alert. There could be any manner of security system in place."

And with that bit of exposition in place, Theta floated ahead of Trenia, displaying a blank screen save the entrance of the room. "A map will ensure we don't get lost in the code. Theta will fill it out for us as we go along," She explained, moving in to the room with the two probes floating ahead of her. There were several staircases to choose from, one to the left, one to the right, and one coming out of a wall that looked to be in easy jumping distance. Trenia chose the left stairwell and started up it, already making mental notes. Whatever data was in here, its owner had wanted it kept safe. It was an advanced system for its time, long ago.

<You pick what they run in to xD>

[Prythian]

Merge pressed her lips together. She let go of the cannon, which rapidly changed shape back into the large Combosphere, returning to floating behind her. I shouldn't need any firepower here, and if so, I can always regain it. She reasoned to herself. She let Trenia take point this time, figuring that there probably weren't many viruses in here that she needed to worry about. Truth be told, she was more worried about viruses coming through the open door from the network into the server, now that they'd cracked the security! She followed along silently, watching... keeping an alert eye out for whatever security system might trigger.

Shortly up the first staircase, it opened up into a circular landing, which had absolutely no other ways back. It appeared almost to be a dead end... But Merge had the feeling something was hiding here, waiting to trigger. In the center of the landing was a golden puzzle piece; either part of whatever data was hidden here, or part of the key to accessing it.

((A trap will be triggered when the piece is picked up. It's up to you what it is.))

[Deleted]

The first thing the data cache decided to throw at them was quite obviously a trap baited with a part of the security key, judging from the data signature Gamma was picking up. They'd need that to continue to other parts of the facility, which meant either trying to synthesize a copy of the proper access code or just dealing with the security protocols. Now was hardly the time to be spending hours reverse-engineering security clearance, so Trenia merely grabbed the glowing puzzle piece. The pedestal receded in to the floor as red holographic letters flashed on a wall. Security breach. Blocks of data swirled up from the ground to form three humanoid security programs, a red visor taking the place of a face and each with a nasty looking weapon. Sword, mace, and flail. Hm, must have been a medieval buff.

"What an interesting security program. Merge, I think you can handle them with some support. Gamma, attack pattern alpha," Trenia instructed, the little drone opening up to fire its laser at the sword wielding program. Theta stood by, a small healing prod ready for action.

[Prythian]

The Combosphere flew back towards Merge's front, quickly dwindling in size to form a red-and-gold handle and crossguard. Golden energy flared up into a large broadsword shape. "Lingering Slice. Sword Blades." She murmured to herself, flickers in the energy of the sword indicating the activation of her programs. Then, Merge was off, charging forwards. She was headed towards the one wielding a flail, but her first target was actually the one with the mace, as would become obvious by her slicing the air. Each slice sent off a crescent-shaped blade of energy flying at the target.

When she reached the one with the flail, she struck at its body. Even if it managed to block, anywhere her sword touched would leave a damaging piece of energy.

[Deleted]

This might have been a bit more problematic than Trenia had anticipated. The security programs proved more durable than the first look would have implied. In fact, the hits they took seemed to just make them mad. These programs were more advanced than they seemed, which meant that they'd stumbled on to something big. No doubt. That said, they had to actually make it by the security first. There was no chance she was letting this data go. Gamma seemed to have the sword bot's attention, and Merge seemed to have drawn the ire of the other two judging by the flailing weapons. Plenty of time to switch to a combat phase.

A sheath of green energy surrounded Trenia for a moment before she let out a laser from her hands, knocking away the security program with the flail before it could make contact with Merge. "I need a moment before my combat charge is at full power. Sorry I can't be more help at the moment."

[Prythian]

Merge pressed her lips together as she held off the mace with her sword. "Oh, don't worry... no problems here!" Despite her initial timidity and awkwardness, it was clear that she had SOME sarcasm mixed into her personality! Unfortunately, as things currently were, there was no way she could add on more power than what she currently had now. It occurred to her that there was one possibility for helping get rid of these guys, but she had no idea what it would do to the coding of this area.

Oh well. Caution was for those not in danger. She charged forward, ducking under the flail, and instead of attempting to stab the security program, attempted to ram into it with her shoulder. She was attempting to see if she could knock if off balance. If she could, she would go for hitting it hard enough to make it fall off the edge of the landing.

((Up to you if this works and whether her ramming does anything at all))