Lewascan2
Duoya
op2024
A Moody Writer
Snowdrops
TheMushroomLord
Ezekiel
Simple Unicycle
Damycles
Location(s): Paradox Engine (Central Controls, Testing Grounds, Luncheon Room)
KITT's work had borne fruit...Of some fashion. The connection between the highly-advanced automobile and these far more sophisticated terminals was tenuous at best, but still, it gave insight. Where others would have seen an incomprehensible language of alien glyphs and letters, luckily, KITT could read something a bit more understandable; code. That was able to cross a language barrier with surprising ease.
Even then, however, it became apparent to the supercomputer that these computational devices were suffering from a number of internal complications, though the source was unclear. Most of them, beyond the terminal that offered visuals onto some of the locales of the station, were undergoing some form of reboot, clearing the systems out alongside the unknown errors. Still, in this abrupt purge, fragments of information could be gathered. The main piece that was recovered seemed to be a conversation between two individuals, the recording transferring from the terminal to KITT himself. The first one to speak sounded male, perhaps in his early 20s, with a female who spoke as if she were some form of authority figure, clearly older, though not by an extreme amount.
"The Paradox Engine is stable. Core output reading positive..."
"What about the Gates?"
"Functioning as expected. We've begun creation of our first simulations. Which universes do you propose we test first, after the initial runs?"
"Get us simulations of the Omniverse, B10. The First Thinker might be able to grant us insight into..."
Abruptly, a painful and rough bout of coughing could be heard. Then a collapse, as if an individual had fallen, hitting hard steel.
"Matriarch? Are you alright?"
The movement of the individuals could be heard, likely being the youth helping his senior find her standing once more.
"Yes...Yes. It has passed, for now. But this is proof we do not have time to waste in these matters. Finding a remedy for The Decay is our utmost priority....Create simulations for DP Prime and POP Prime. DP's ectoplasmic-based entities might provide solutions, and if not, then perhaps the magic present in POP..."
"...The Patriarch told us not to risk contact with magic, or magical entities, of any sort. He claimed they were too unpredictable. Ma'am, are you...?
"....We do not have the luxury of fear, not anymore. We must find our answers, no matter how many stones we must turn, false universes we must upend...The choice was taken from us the moment the first of us fell ill."
"...The preparations will be made, ma'am."
"...And Castellan?"
"Ma'am?"
"You can call me by my name. Titles mean nothing now."
"...Of course, Laris."
The recording ended, just as the final piece of the terminal's reset complete, severing KITT from the system abruptly. What exactly it all meant? That was left for the supercomputer to puzzle together, but considering this was salvageable from such alien and highly advanced hardware, perhaps there would be more to discover...
The interior of the room Agumon had promptly busted into was freezing beyond belief; definitely several degrees below zero, at least. The room, surprisingly, seemed larger than the cafeteria itself, a spanning space of shelves bitten with frost, covered end-to-end with either two things. One was a tightly-sealed cannister, a glass-like outer covering revealing what lied beneath, which appeared to be some strange, purplish substance. It looked....Mushy, for lack of better term, but maybe edible? Must be, considering it was the only thing in this area that could qualify as food. As for the other....
In similar cannisters with labels that, just like the others, couldn't be read by the human or Digimon respectively, there was housed a cool blue liquid. Clearly not water, but also obviously intended to be some kind of drink, though it was unlike any the pair had seen before. Something about all of this felt distinctly alien to them. Fitting, given the situation. Regardless, for better or worse, it looked like they'd found lunch. Maybe it'd be good? Hard to say. The purple glop, at least, didn't look too appetizing...
Strangely enough though, behind them, they could hear an unusual sound, like a liquid being swished around...It was the remains of the door, having turned to an almost mercury-like consistency, before forming back into the solid shape of the door once more, completely repaired. Thankfully, it didn't shut on them, reforming to stay open and allowing the frigid air of the room to drift into the luncheon room proper.
Location: Paradox Engine, Simulated Universe #1 (Open Fields, Current Simulation: Techadon Invasion), Testing Grounds.
Mentions: Bonesaw @Lewascan2, Cyrus @Randomness, Shadow Moth @TruthHurts22, Poison Ivy @Crimson Flame, Horus/Terra @Dead Cruiser, Redmaw @Atlantic, Asta @XoXKieroBombXoX.
A perfectly executed assault, thanks in no small part to young Riley. And once the titan fell, the other pieces fell into place, working at the machine as best they could (though Driscoll was quick to note the hesitance on Shadow Moth's part); Horus worked away at the other end, halting its recover for now, while the red-headed florakinetic snared up the arms, preventing any retaliation or defense on its part as a line of flame from the beast dubbed 'Houndoom' bored into the Techadon's head. Cyrus' prediction was correct; just as Flamethrower had failed against the minor machines, it would not finish the work against this colossal variant. Still...It might be enough.
Freeing his other arm from Bonesaw's grasp, the Forever King took to battle once more, his cannon shifting back into the proper state as he generated a greatsword of energy and lunged forward, a warcry carried across the war-torn winds of the plains. Driving the blade home, it tore into the softened, heated metal near the base of the head, wedging its way through in a painstakingly slow process. No...This wouldn't do it! As he pushed further, mustering all the strength his suit could bear, Driscoll could feel it reforming internally, sluggishly pushing back his assault.
Further down, the end of the torso was growing resilient, taking more and more blows from Horus to even make a mark. The arms had begun flexing, glowing as if super-heated as the plant matter holding them down began to sear and melt away. At this rate...
Then he heard the roar.
In spite of himself, he turned from the true threat to bear witness to what could only be described as some form of mechanical rex, charging forth with a whir of fury escaping the gigantic maw of the entity. It was no Techadon, that much was certain. In that moment, the Forever King couldn't afford to move his attention away, whirling back to his painstaking process of pushing into the head. It was then the metallic beast made its assault, breaking into the torso of the machine, and loosening the connection to the head just enough. This was the moment.
Without hesitation, the Forever King gave up on his original tactic, pulling away from the head for just a moment. At first, it looked as if he was giving up...Until he raised a hand to the suit's chest, opening the cavity to reveal...Something. A power source, it seemed. A spherical container hooked into the armor with several thick, large cords and wires, which Driscoll promptly disconnected for his purposes. Inside the sphere, one could barely make out a small, glowing orb, almost like a miniature sun, practically pulsating with power...
Taking the sphere in one hand, he brought it towards the other arm as a new section unfolded itself; an area to implement the sphere directly. Under normal circumstances, the suit's on-board Artificial Intelligence could've diverted the power itself, allowing for brief, monumental improvements in certain aspects of the suit. He'd have to be more hands-on for now.
He unceremoniously shoved the Sub-Energy into the new socket, and one could see the waves of energy travel through the arm, as if it were supercharged. With that, he turned back to the Techadon, as it could barely move its head towards the former Plumber. The Forever King only had one thing to say.
"You have lost."
With extreme force, he shoved the empowered arm into the base of the machine's head once more, pulling with an amount of force that was downright absurd. Forming a twisted game of tug-of-war with the tyrannosaurus mech, with the Techadon as the rope, it finally gave way as Driscoll sent the head careening off the machine into the sky, before landing with a resounding thud a few moments later.
It was done. And they had their spoils of war.
Taking a shaky breath of relief, the King set about to restoring the Sub-Energy to its proper location before any notable power less could happen to the suit, the hatch closing snugly behind it afterwards. He now took the time to look upon the strange new machine that had, seemingly, aided them. He had noted that the roar occurred only moments after Horus gave a command to advance. Perhaps it reciprocated orders?
He would humor it.
Looking up to the construct, Driscoll cleared his throat before he spoke up."Follow." A simple command. Whether it followed it or not would be interesting to see. Regardless, there were surprisingly more pressing matters. His gaze crossed the battlefield, assessing those who had aided him. For the most part, they seemed fine; most certainly worse for wear, but not injured or debilitated. Perhaps aside from Cyrus. Seems he was too comfortable letting his pet do his work, given how tossed-around and worn he appeared. But he was alive.
The Forever King was preparing to address the lot when he spotted it; just behind little Bonesaw, as if formulated from nothingness, stood...A fixture, of some sort. Driscoll would never claim to be wholly familiar with alien technology, but if he were to hazard a guess, it appeared to be a gate of some kind. It looked too small for him to properly walk through, though as he found himself approaching, he abruptly halted as it adjusted to his height. Intriguing...
Before he could make any further moves, the device seemed to fire up, an incandescent swirl of colors forming something akin to a portal, practically beckoning them forward. Shaking the shock off, he turned to the rest as he strode aside his battlefield companion, addressing all of them with a wave of his arm towards the space distortion.
"I believe we have found our exit."
He didn't intend to sit around and wait; with any luck, this would return him home. Barring that, at the very least he'd be freed from the hellscape these plains had become. Without hesitation or fear, the Forever King took his first steps through the gateway...
Terra placed her palm against the reader, and the brief buzz of a scan was brought to life, crossing her hand several times over. Abruptly...It spoke. "Terra Grayson, from Universe INV Prime. Accepted." After addressing her, she could suddenly feel a brief suction of air; not nearly enough to yank her or Asta anywhere, but enough to be noticeable, as the gateway fixture now housed a swirl of colors that the Viltrumite hero could recognize as some form of portal, though not any she were familiar with.
It was then the metal hands pushed through, clinging to either side of the gateway to draw themselves through, as on their end the device shifted size to accommodate the new arrival; a figure clad in heavy-set, steel-grey armor, a red cape billowing behind the entity as it rose to full height after emerging, at first staring above the pair before turning its gaze downwards, revealing a cracked visor.
Hm. Driscoll couldn't have claimed to anticipate this. Everywhere he looked, devices similar to the one which he had just arrived from lined the walls. Offline, from his quick judgment. The rest of the layout was simple, the area made of a metal he couldn't lay his finger on, though clearly not of earthly make. Then...The two new strangers. Teenagers, if he were to guess. Great. Still, it wouldn't do him any good to enter a room with blatant hostility.
After letting the two step back, as they likely would with the surprise appearance of an armored figure that stood head and shoulders above them, he gave them a bow. "Greetings. You may refer to me as the Forever King....Where exactly might we be?"
