After the Last Age - IC

Quiet One

My God! It's full of Stars.
Original poster
LURKER MEMBER
FOLKLORE MEMBER
Invitation Status
Genres
Scifi, some fantasy, Mature. Anything that gets my gears going. Not opposed to Yaoi or Yuri.
Chapter 1
Emerging From the Cave

1551282246469.png
Alert! Patient containment units are compromised.
Alert! An error has occurred.
Intended hibernation time: 25 years
Actual hibernation time: ...
Reviving maintenance staff...


Samuel ( @Ur Degaton ) would see these words in blue letters in his eyes before consciousness returned. He was inside a pod of some sort with a jack inserted in the back of his head that was already pulling itself out and a series of IVs that were slowly in the process of removing themselves too. He had a view of multiple other pods nearby through a large window. On these pods and all over the floor were shiny, gigantic bugs. These creatures were about the size of housecats, with long back legs clearly meant for jumping, a large thorax, and roughly a five-foot wingspan. These things also had long proboscises that they were tapping on the glass. One insect suddenly climbed up the pod to Samuel's window. It leaned its head back and its proboscis started thrusting several hundred times a second like a jackhammer, chipping at the glass...

Alert! Patient containment units are compromised.
Alert! An error has occurred.
Intended hibernation time: 25 years
Actual hibernation time: ...
Reviving security staff...


Noemi Mayr ( @RedArmyShogun ) would also see these words. She would be revived in another pod across from Samuel and would be greeted by much the same sight he had come to. Her pod was more secure, so that the giant bug trying to drill into her pod would find the glass far tougher to get through. On the outside of her pod was a dusty sidearm...

Alert! An error has occurred.
Intended hibernation time: 25 years
Actual hibernation time: 5200 years
Alert! Patient containment unit is compromised.
Reviving patient...


The patients ( @Mythy the Dragon-Wolf, @QuiteContrary, @EmperorsChosen ) in the main pod would be revived all at the same time, having the first thing they see be the bugs drilling their long, steel proboscises trying to stab through and some already getting in. Three of the pod members were already dead, one seeming to have all of his fluids drained out with the bug stabbing into him still trying to draw a few more drops out of the mummified corpse. The bugs all continued hammering their long needles in, the IVs of the patients still slowly removing themselves from their arms, and their fasteners about to release in 20...19...18...
 
Last edited:
Stirring too a young woman awakens with a massive headache. "...where...who.. Noemi Mayr...Security...?" Hearing a faint drilling or pounding sound on her pod, Noemi opens her eyes, forcing her vision to focus.. "What?.." There was a giant bug of some sort trying to drill it's way into her pod.. As she peered left and right, others seemed to be trying the same, or in at least from what she could see one unfortunate case, had.

Thinking quickly, the soldier had no way to escape her pod, not before the 18 second mark hit 0.. And those bugs may get in well before that.

While she was unsure of a lot of things, this was one of the few she remembered. "Alpha Sierra Four Two. Unseal the hushed casket."

"15- Code... Recognized, medical inje-"


"Emergency purge, blow hatch."

"Affirmative. Purging now, external views clear hatch in, 3-2-1. Purged, Explosive bolts.. firing."

With a sudden deftness the collection of cords and iv's disconnect, spilling fluid to the ground as a central IV stabs directly into her chest, dumping it's chemical cocktail directly into her heart.

It was then she noticed the time spent in stasis, but there was nothing she could do about that, least not now.. Almost as quickly as a look of pain, rage and sickness passes her face, the door blasts off it's hinges, slamming into Samuels across from it with enough force to smash two of the bugs, but doing little to his own pod. Noemi spills out onto the floor, quickly grabbing the now ancient gun she pulls the slide back and prayed it would work, taking aim at the swarm on the pod set that contained victims as the Robotic voice sounds off at a; "9".

Hopefully the gun was simply dusty and would function just fine, or long enough for the others to get out, or just maybe the door being blown off it's hinges would seen the bugs running, either way she had a great many questions for the computer when this was all said and done.. Questions and maybe a need to hide a few things from the others in here, if only for a little while.

@anyone? @gunfire?
 
Samuel Groaned as his eyes adjusted to the bright lights above him."...Shit...What now?" He mumbled unamused while reading the alert on his pod's interface.

'Emergency. Emergency. Engineer required. Report to maintenance at once'

Sighing, Samuel cleared his rather dry throat."Maintenance Code Zero Zero Six. Open the pod." No response. "Maintenance Code Zero Zero Six. I Said open the pod." Still no response. Becoming a bit irked, Samuel rubbed his eyes as he scanned the outside of the pod. "What is goi-," Before he could finish, a strange giant bug jumps onto his pod and began chipping away at his glass door, creating tiny cracks that gradually got larger and larger.

Samuel couldn't believe what he was seeing, it was almost incomprehensible. Pulling his IV's out, he looked around furiously as the bug attacked his pod with unrelenting determination. It wasn't long before he spotted the emergency utility wrench that was stored in the pod's inner compartment. Hastily grabbing it, his breathing grew more and more ragged as a second bug jumped onto his pod, only adding to Sam's stress.

"I'm dead. i'm dead. i'm going to die to an insect. This is because I sprayed all those roaches in my bathroom isn't it?!" He yelled at the bugs as they were only seconds away from breaching his pod.

As he braced for the end, the sound of a lid being popped off could be heard before another pod's lid crashed into his own door and the bugs are unceremoniously squashed like watermelons. Spraying sickly green gore all over his pod's exterior. Sam tried not to hurl as he quickly kicked off what was left of his damaged lid.

jumping out of his pod, Sam looked around the now falling apart and infested facility. He needed to make sure the other occupants were still alive. Gripping his wrench tighter, he immediately spotted the woman holding a gun across from him. He concluded that she was most likely security, judging by the way she held the firearm."Hey lady, you mind telling me what the hell is going on?" He asked while quickly putting on his armor that stood next to his now destroyed stasis unit.
 
Last edited:
Alert! An error has occurred.
Intended hibernation time: 25 years
Actual hibernation time: 5200 years
Alert! Patient containment unit is compromised.
Reviving patient...


Blue eyes fluttered open. "Wha-" Large, multi lensed orb's stared back at her, changing colors like oil on water... A bug! It was a bug! Her pod.. Pod? The glass was cracked, number were counting down. She was trapped! This impossibly large bug was going to kill her! The woman within the pod began to pant. She had to get out! Out? But the bugs were out there.

Her eyes rolled wildly in her head, until they stopped to the right. One of the bugs had made it through the glass of one of the pods. The man inside...was a husk! Eyes widened and the woman began to scream! Despite dry throat and unused vocal cords, her scream rang in her ears. Hangs grabbed at IV's, ripping them out. Through her panic, the woman barely took notice of the pain. The insect at her pod was hammering away. Small, spider thin cracks spread through the pods observation window.

"No! No! " Hands grabbed at a harness she couldn't undo. Still, the numbers counted down. "11." She was going to die there. "10" In her metal caske- "9" Green splattered all over the observation window and the woman let out a silent scream. Tears rolled down her cheeks as the large insect's life blood oozed through the cracks of her pod. She couldn't breathe. Arms pushed against the walls of the pod, hoping to have the strength to release herself. Wait.. It had been a bullet that had killed that insect.

The woman slowly began to calm. Large, shaky breathes heaved her chest against her restraints. The woman's mind was reeling. Bullets meant guns. Guns meant people. There was somebody out there! There were also more of those insects. "Help! Please!" Fists banged against the window and slid on the slimy green liquid. They had to hear here. They just had to!
 
Last edited:
"Mn? What's going..." The young man woke up while remembering nearly nothing about himself. No name, no active memories. Where was he? What was with these numbers going up on his screen? Release? He was in a glass pod... why did this feel so familiar, and yet so wrong. And then that was when he spotted the giant bugs. His eyes went wide as one started to flit towards him. The IVs in his body pulled out just quick enough that he was able to dodge the proboscis as it slammed through the glass and tried to spear him. "What the.." he growled and grabbed the appendage. Metal?

He was able to crunch himself up and slam his feet forward, breaking through the weakened glass and knocking back the bug. With his hand still on the proboscis it seemed to pull off of the bug. Surprised, the young man jumped out with the sharp instrument in his hand. This felt.. familiar. Something he knew. Something that wasn't his favorite style of it, but no time to be picky. He got into a duelist's stance and held the bugs back, stabbing at them when they got too close. Then he heard some banging, and would move over towards that pod.

@QuiteContrary
"You okay in there?" he called out to the woman - he assumed it was a woman from her voice - and took a guarding stance near her pod.
 
Stirring with a grumble, Ilyod's eyes seemed to begrudgingly crack open, not finding the sudden visual stimulation to be particularly comforting. His sight was somewhat blurry. A glass screen contained him, he could tell that. Beyond it there were figures as well, movement, an minor explosion of some force, like something was launched, and hissing. The source quickly made itself known, latching to and drilling against the glass separating him from what was outside.

"Wha-Some kind of insect...?!" Physically recoiling at the sight, Quinn looked around at his confines, but it wasn't simply the lack of glasses that caused him to see nothing. There was nothing; nothing except the damned fasteners keeping him in place.

As the glass cracked, the large syringe-like organ punctured through, striking all too close to the side of his neck. There was nowhere to move to and no kind of button that would eject himself from this.

Grabbing onto the proboscis with both hands, holding it in place as the bug struggled to regain control. The creature was revolting and fear-inducing, but it wasn't all that large or strong it seemed. Kicking at the glass, maybe he could get free, but it didn't give way like it appeared to for some other figures in the rooms.

"Oh, of course...! Why not?!" He cursed to himself.

He did, however, hear gunfire. At the very least someone was fighting, and hopefully killing these things. If he held it in place, and kept it from gouging out his eyes, he might just make it through here.
 
The two insects that were smacked together by Noemi's pod's purge (@RedArmyShogun) rolled on the floor and not only oozed green insect guts but also a thick, silver fluid. One of the two didn't die from this strike and rolled and struggled to its feet. Two of its legs were broken and its long, metal wings were hanging limp on its back. The silver goo seemed to move of its own will and concentrated on those broken segments, and before their very eyes the humans would see the bug repair itself. But it did not attack. Instead, after making its wings functional again, it took to a low hover and flew out of the open doorway at the end of the chamber. The door had long rusted off its hinges.

There were still six other big bugs in the room, but aside from the two dead ones they had all flown up to the walls and ceiling, keeping a great distance away from the others, even though most of them were unarmed (@EmperorsChosen, @QuiteContrary, @Ur Degaton). The bug with the broken proboscis looked at its thief and walked backwards slowly (@Mythy the Dragon-Wolf), before its mandibles curled around the open wound and more silver goo came out. The mandibles worked rapidly and some of the proboscis was instantly rebuilt. The bug scurried away, occasionally stopping and holding its head up like it were stopping a nose bleed to build more of its missing tool. It seemed these creatures weren't the type to fight for their food.
 
Taking note that physical blunt damage was seemingly better over pin point strikes, the bugs also seemed to be capable of self repair. That being said it seemed to have it's limits, judging by how they scurried off they were likely a bit like scavengers or overgrown mosquitos. Pointing the sidearm at the one closest to the doorway, Noemi double taps the beast, not caring much if it dies or not, so much as to impart an important lesson upon it. Humans weren't to be trifled with.

Turning her attention to the male who had spoken to her before, the woman simply gives a shrug as she wipes the handgun off on her military styled pants. "The Facility still has power somehow but has been breached, I don't know how badly or where from here. I need to get answers and fast." Hiding her own unease with the situation she defaults on instincts breed through conflict, seek out command.

Looking at the rest, she expected some rebuke or problems in the long term, but in the short if she could use survival to get them to play along..

"Your Attention please;" She says, calling out to the rest, while standing at ease. "I'm Security Officer Noemi Mayr, you can stay in here, or you can come with me. I'm heading for the mainframe and hopefully some answers. Along the way I should be able to get us into any locked rooms, like the Armory or Medbay, but I need to get to the main network, see what is going on here."

Pulling the slide on her gun to eject a live round, she pops the mag, topping it off and counting how many rounds she had left, looking around she should have a couple spare mags inside the pod or where the gun was resting. "Find anything that can be used to protect yourselves, anything blunt, they don't seem to much like that. Mister.." Searching her memories, she loosely remembered her orders and briefing on those in the building, the now armoring up man, he was a maintenance worker.. Samuel.. Samuel what?

"...Mister Sam, I would like you to take point, if we run into any nasties you can take a couple hits, I'll be right behind you, so drop down if I need to shoot something. Plus it allows us to trade jobs on the spot depending on what we come across." (@Ur Degaton )

Looking at the next few still getting out of the pods, or who were shaken, there was at least one other with the presence of mind to pick up a weapon... Or to take a body part of one of those bugs as one, she could recall he was some sort of swordsman. "Bug boy, I would like you at the rear. (@Mythy the Dragon-Wolf )

You can check the other pods if you want, or stay here, I said where I'm going. We can split up and search the facility, but I rather do that once I know what happened and if I can restore our defenses. No matter what you do however, do not go alone."

Looking at the rest, she was eager to get this show on the road, but she had no idea how the rest would react, sitting here and dwelling on those who could not wake up would be a terrible idea however. (@everyone else)
 
Last edited:
Sam gave Naomi a curt nod as he looked to the others. Hopefully they could defend themselves until he and the security officer made it to the mainframe. He was lucky engineers like him were issued 'Class-B Anti-Trauma' armor. It wasn't the strongest suit available, but it could take a beating and was very reliable in the long run.

"Alright I'll be your shield. Stay behind me when we reach the blast doors. Who knows how many more of these chrome abominations are lurking about," He warned, walking towards the exit while glancing at the numerous individuals that were waking up. (@RedArmyShogun)

Sam would've preferred if everyone stayed in the chamber, but he knew that wasn't a very smart tactic. No doubt more bugs would arrive. Fighting an army of immortal insectoids was not on his 'To-Do' list. At least most of the people were farring along well, much better than him at least. Truth be told, he was bloody terrified. He did not want anything to do with the current situation. But he knew deep down inside that him and officer Naomi had a responsibility to fulfill. They signed onto the project after all, it was only logical to continue forward with their instructions and help as many people as possible.

Reaching the 'hingeless' blast doors, he looked back to his newfound allies. "Ok guys, none of us know exactly what to expect when we exit this chamber. So grab a weapon that best suits you and follow me. Naomi will give us directions, and I'll be in the front since I'm the most durable one here!" He yelled so everyone in the room could here him clearly. Waiting for anyone else to join their risky expedition.
 
[ @Mythy the Dragon-Wolf ]

"You okay in there?"

The woman's breathing quieted almost immediately when she heard someone talking. "Yes..yes! I-" A gasp for air. "I'm okay." Hands already covered with green, insect blood tried to clear the pod window so she could peer out. All it managed to do was smear it across the layered glass. The woman still felt as if she were suffocating, but at least she didn't feel so helpless anymore. All at once, her pod hissed, the glass lifted and the restraints holding the woman in released her. Muscles, unused for thousands of years, failed to catch the woman and she fell to the ground with a thud. She gulped down fresh air, giving herself the hiccups, and tried to wipe the insect gunk, and remnant tears, from her face, unsuccessfully.

The first person she saw was a redheaded man with...one of the insects proboscis?? To keep from getting totally creeped out, the woman looked around the large room. It was so...familiar. The four with her were not, but the room itself held a familiarity.

[ @RedArmyShogun ]

"Your Attention please;"

She looked to an intimidating woman who seemed to know what she was doing. Perhaps she knew what had gone wrong with....whatever it was that had gone wrong. Olivia, yes that was her name, pushed herself to her feet and wrapped her arms about herself. Her eyes wondered at the mention of using something for a weapon. All she saw were paperclips and staplers. Computer screens, wheeled chairs. Could she pry a pipe off the wall? Perhaps strangle a giant bug with an IV?

Olivia left the semi circle to search through cabinets, surely there had to be something- A-ha! A maintenance tool bag! It was small, perhaps just something shoved away for a quick repair, but there were a few tools inside. A clawed hammer, mallet, wrench. Olivia looked them over before pulling out the wrench. It was long, the end adjustable. It was heavy. She looked to the only other person that didn't seem to have something and motioned them over. Perhaps there would be something here they could use.
[ @EmperorsChosen ]
 
Last edited:
Suddenly, it appeared as if the insects were retreating. Quinn wasn't sure why when the damn things appeared to regenerate themselves. Either way the menace he was keeping place in his pod, rather than attempt to stab at him was now yanking backwards, recoiling and trying to break free.

Relaxing his grip on the creature's stinger, the insect quite literally buzzed off away from his pod. Sighing in relief, now there was just the matter of the stuck pod, but with a few more kicks and shoves, the glass screen popped out, allowing him to slide it to the side and free him.

Upon exiting the pod, there was a couple more gunshots courtesy of one of the women, causing him to flinch slightly. It didn't take long for the woman to take charge and start organizing everyone. Whoever she was, she certainly had more training in regards to the situation than any of them did.

Glancing back at his pod, Ilyod seemed less shaken at the near-death experience with the bugs and more curious as to the technology and room itself. The cadavers in some of the adjacent pods were somehow, not very impactful. Instead, he found himself looking around the area of the pod. His childhood, his past, his relationships, job, hobbies; it was all a blank. This thing kept him trapped for, going by what had flashed on the screen—No, that couldn't be right. His vision was blurry, he had to have misread that.

On the outside of the pod, he there was a small containment box. Perhaps it had identification, papers, anything.

Reaching inside, he instead pulled out a pair of prescription glasses. Curiously placing them on his nose, he found his vision to be crystal clear.

"Perfect prescription... How convenient," Quinn commented aloud with a light huff.

Prying his attention away from the pod, the supposed security officer was right. Who knew what other kind of creatures was in this place. They needed move and figure out what was going on.

Seeing himself waved over, the other girl of the group appeared to have found something. A maintenance kit, something for the purpose of repair now being wielded with the potential to maim. How ironic. Still, he grabbed the hammer.

"Crude... but better than being unarmed I suppose." Looking at the computers and papers, none of which was functional or gave them information, Quinn sighed and turned back to the group. "I would advise keeping calm and close together. Whatever those insects were, they're probably scavengers; they don't want a fight."
 
The young man was confused. He didn't know where he knew this stance from, he didn't know who he was, and he didn't know what was going on. However, as the adrenaline lessened, he found himself getting flashes in front of his eyes. Memories? Dreams? He couldn't tell. But when he was addressed, he looked to whomever it was that spoke, and blinked.

"Bug boy?"
he said with a frown. "I don't think I like that name. But I don't know what else I should be called..." he sighed and looked around, seeing himself in a reflection. Hm. That red hair was.. striking. Like.. he shook his head. "Call me Cardinal." he said, though eventually what she said sunk in, and he nodded. "In the back? Guess I can do that. Ready to go when the rest of you are..." he held his weapon tight, though his eyes fell on the woman who he had called out to before.

< @QuiteContrary >
"Hey.. you doing okay?" he asked her as he came up to her side. "You seemed really.. really freaked out there for a moment. Not that it's not called for. Just.. you good?"
 
The hallway down to the mainframe was mostly empty. They would spot a couple of the large bugs on the way, but it seemed that as long as they were moving the creatures would not attack them. What was more troubling was that the walls were overgrown with large roots. Some had punched their way through overhead lights, slithered down walls, and blocked off entire areas. The roots were a strange striping of both wood and metal, catching the light as they seemed to merge and become equal with the walls. What lights there were weren't from the lighting system. Those bulbs had died long ago. Instead, there were a few tiny holes in the ceiling where sunlight peeked in and cast some light. Whatever else had changed, at least it appeared to be a nice day outside. However, these holes were literally only a few inches in diameter and few and far between. Most of the light came from bioluminescent mushrooms that were latched onto the semi-metal tree roots.

When they reached the mainframe room they found a virtual forest of roots intertangling with the rows and rows of databanks, growing around them, growing through them, and growing into them. There was a terminal that seemed to still work, however; a computer sitting alone among the roots. It had about three inches of dust over its touchpad keyboard and monitor, but turning it on would show it still functioned. However, this wasn't a computer any of them remembered seeing. The log-in screen asked for a name and fingerprint ID on the touchpad keyboard. Sam (@Ur Degaton) would find that his fingerprint wasn't accepted here (and that it demanded his first and last name), but Noemi (@RedArmyShogun) would be accepted, although the computer would reroute her to an emergency-version of the database, as a state of emergency was its only understanding for why a security officer was there.

The computer, unfortunately was not helpful. With a lot of its databanks eaten up by trees there were huge sections of data that were missing. Staff, gone. Patient records, gone. Records of available technology in the facility, gone. Map of the facility...still there. There was a blueprint of the building that they could look at with each room labeled. Including a series of exits they could take, one in particular being a large delivery exit. There was also a physical exam room. Information on the room was damaged on the computer, but it did say they had a private hard drive there for patient memories. Also, there was a file of Atari games that was still undamaged.
 
Sighing a bit, at least everyone had been co-operative, the mechanic, eager even. Catching glance of her facial reflection the woman's brow creases slightly.. I'm too young to have been in charge, aren't I? Has to be a senior command.. I remember the orders, what to do by scenario, but..who...where..

Setting her thoughts aside, they most assuredly were in a hurry with the big man leading the way, turning her head over her shoulder Noemi speaks swiftly. "Cardinal, huh...hmm.. I can't say that is or isn't your name." Truth was she had no idea, the only thing she knew for sure was he knew how to use that sticker, something he mind kept pestering her on. Walking the halls, nothing at all she had seen was encouraging, not in the least and it was very unlikely she could get the facility defenses back online... Least not the ones for these halls, to put it simply, there was barely any halls.

After letting the worker she could recall getting first shot, an extremely short one at that. Moving up alongside him she places her own finger upon the pad and speaks a phrase to override the machine, looking through the files, it had not given her a single thing she had wanted, well not fully, they did have a map.

"...." Peering over the map, Noemi shouts a few commands that the barely operational computer could follow. Sending out communications and electrical singles for rooms that we likely ruined or cut off, if it had no electricity or no means to communicate with machines inside, then it was likely the room was now part of a tree, looted, or gone with time.

"This large delivery room may be our best way out, or a death trap. I want to have more than a handgun when we go in there. It has a nice big door, trucks, maybe supplies, but that's the problem, that big door, I don't know if I would count on it standing, we go in, might be bears mad a new home, and neither me or our Man of Steel is going to be able to do much."

Being selective in the information she was given, she did however share the newly updated map, some of those here had huds, she herself, least as far as she could remember had no augmentations, except maybe to her limbs, but even then she wasn't sure. Turning her purple gaze from the rest of the group, she points at a few images. "The physical examination room has some hard drives we could use, if we are lucky one of you was a doc, don't just slot them either, we have no idea how badly fragmented they might be.. Other than that."

Peering over a few sections not too much of note. "Okay, lets head up the West Wing see if we can get some supplies, batteries, carts, food, water, real weapons. A Radio would be a godsend.."

Pausing for a bit, looked like she would have to keep this up a bit longer, thinking on the future of humanity was not for right now.

"So we either do this in one slow crawl around the building, or we split and take chances .. Either way, the medical wing, and this side of living and storage cores would be good, enough for making a run on the big exit."

Waiting to seeing what others decided or chose, one area of the map caught her attention.

"Hmm...the personnel lockers down along storage..yes, I think I'll be going to those first. We might get the most luck out of those, depending."
 
Last edited:
Sam examined the map the security officer presented through his helmet's built in hud. "If we split up, I recommend we at least have a line of communication if one of us runs into danger," The engineer said, pulling out numerous domino sized devices from his utility belt. They were black, with a speaker in the middle and a single antenna at the end of each. Overall they had a very practical and primitive design. "Maintenance workers like me always had transceivers like these on our person in order to communicate with our colleagues. We can use these to create an effective line of communication," He explained, handing them out to the others.

Besides the spare radios Sam kept with him, he also had his tool kit which contained various multi-purpose tools used for utility operations. He hoped they would come in handy. They sure as hell wouldn't be much use against the forces of the bizarre ecosystem that now calls the facility its home. He had a lot of work to do. Being the only engineer came with a hefty amount of responsibility. At least the security officer knew what she was doing. To be truthfully honest, when they debriefed him on the layout of the facility he didn't have his coffee that morning. So suffice to say, he was glad at least she had a map.
 
Olivia, she had to keep reminding herself that her name was Olivia, put the bag away and closed the cabinet door. Why? She was unsure. It certainly didn't seem like there was anyone else around to care if things got put away, but... "Hmm?" She rose to her feet, the adjustable wrench in both her hands, and looked up at the redheaded man. Cardinal, he had said his name was. "Oh. Um, yeah. I'm fine." She was as fine as she could be after a 5000 year slumber, waking up to a giant mosquito trying to kill her....and being covered in green slime. Perhaps a part of her recognized her body was in shock, perhaps not. But for now, Olivia was fine.

Olivia fell into the group formation somewhere in the middle. She started at the doors opening of the rusted doors. It scraped against its frame with a nasty skrrrr and Olivia hunched her shoulders up in a grimace. It wasn't until the air from outside came rushing in, did she realize just how stuffy the room had seemed. She took in a deep breath, her eyes closed for a moment. The air smelled...musky. like tree roots, soil, and rotting leaves. Like the underbrush of a forest- roots! Interwoven throughout the building! It was beautiful, in an odd way. Light streaming through holes in the ceiling. Soft blue mushrooms clinging to the darkness, giving off their own light. Olivia almost reached out to touch one, but something in the back of her mind told her not too.

In the database room, Olivia took to looking at the banks, themselves. It was interesting. The roots woven between them..almost seemed metallic. Visibly, they still had the grain of wood. Olivia ran a hand over one. It was smooth, like metal, but had grooves, like a tree root would have. It almost seemed as if the roots had fed off the electronic information itself.


[ @RedArmyShogun ]

"I would like to come with you..." Olivia swept her eyes over the group. "If we decide to split up, anyway. I'd like to get cleaned up as much as possible. If there's no running water, at least I can maybe find a change of clothes." Olivia turned towards a desk. She went to pick up a piece of paper, but it crumbled in her fingers. She had doubted the message on her pod's observation screen, but the evidence was against her.

[ @Ur Degaton ]

"Thank you." Olivia said as she took the small box and fiddled with it, her wrench sitting upon a metal desk. "Did any of you read a message on your pod's observation window?" She didn't want to freak anybody out. There was enough of that already, but perhaps it might help to know, if they wanted to get to the bottom of things.
 
Cardinal, as he had just named himself, walked in the rear of the group, looking around the halls as they moved. Tree roots? But they didn't look right. Some mix of biological and mechanical material? He shook his head and walked with his makeshift rapier at his side. He kept getting random flashes of... something. But whatever they were, they weren't coherent enough to make sense of.

"I would think we should stick together.."
Cardinal said as the rest of them spoke about what to do. "We don't know anything about what's around, and if nothing else.. maybe we'll have numbers on our side?" he asked, though when Olvia spoke up he looked over and nodded. "Yeah. What was it.. 5200 instead of 25 years or something?" he mumbled, blinking as he thought about what that might mean - still feeling slightly dazed and thus not understanding the full extent
 
As the group moved, Quinn noted more of the same insects that had attacked them earlier, though they showed no signs of even getting close to them. It appeared as though his hypothesis was correct; the creatures were scavengers. While durable, they did not partake in fighting for a meal, rather they searched for scraps. It made sense, considering how long they had all been in those pods, unmoving. It wouldn't have been difficult to mistake them for fresh cadavers.

Though while that was one piece of weight off their back, another revealed itself in the flora that hat melded with the buildings. No kind of plant life could overtake such a structure, at least while it was well-maintained; maintenance being the key. It certainly validated the year reading on the glass of those pods.

Upon reaching some kind of terminal, while the one trained woman was granted access to it, nothing inside gave them any idea as to what was going on. No records, no information, just a blueprint of the building. While they weren't anymore informed, they had an idea on what to aim for. Survival was the priority right now. They were all debilitated, but Noemi was right. They needed to ensure supplies, then worry about educating themselves on what occurred.

As the examination room was pointed out, a single word brought a flash to his brain.

"Doctor."

Grimacing, Quinn brought a thumb up to massage his temple for a moment as the group conversed. Such a simple word, but it invoked something. A memory? He could almost hear another person calling out the word. A feminine voice?

"Yes... splitting up. A wonderful idea," Quinn spoke sarcastically, turning his attention back to the current situation. "Those insects may not want a fight, but we are still displaced. We don't know what else may be in this structure. We aren't even sure if those creatures didn't attack us simply because we had numbers. Cutting our numbers in half sounds very ill-advised to me. Not to mention..."

The bespectacled man eyed three of the group in general. The officer, the engineer, and the apparent swordsman. "I don't know who any of you are, and I assume the same can be said for you, but I think it's safe to say that only one of us here has any kind of combat training... Conventional, anyway."

Not to mention, the guard was the only one of them with an actual weapon. The swordsman was just that, a swordsman. Considering there were giant metal bugs roaming around the place, he didn't feel particularly safe engaging anything in melee, or safe for anyone else to do so either.

Either way, it seemed as though two of the others saw the same numerical value that he had.

"So... the numbers were accurate..." He murmured in regards to the supposed years they had been slumbering. "That... can wait. While I don't particularly feel comfortable not remembering... anything... We can worry about figuring out our own circumstances after we have established the safety of the group. As Officer Noemi suggested, nourishment, weapons and medical supplies should be our priority at the moment."

Thinking on that, they didn't even know each other's names, did they? Aside from the guard and maintenance worker anyway.

"Quinn Ilyod... Unfortunately, that is all I can tell any of you of myself. Hopefully by the time we can stop for breath, I'll have remembered more to tell."
 
Listening to the rest, Noemi wasn't too surprised about the common consensus. Only one of them was for splitting up and she herself had considered it out of speed. But one thing that caught her by surprise was the mention of how much time had passed.

"...No, that has to be a glitch, maybe 52, but..5200? ..if we can find more logs we'll learn the truth." Or the stars in the night sky will tell us, after so many years it's undoubtable change. She thinks, but doesn't add out aloud.

Listening now to the man named Quinn, he she couldn't remember, plus the woman who's name she did not know.

Shaking her head in response to the later, she sighs. "When I woke up I was concerned about the overgrown mosquitos and commanded my pod to Emergency purge. I seen a little information but it concerned the safety of the other pods. And so far it seems none of you want to split up, I won't try forcing it."

Pondering their next course of action, some sort of discussion would need to take place on this, but for now they all seemed alright with her taking the lead, internally she knew as much as they all did, maybe even less based on the computer readouts they all were mentioning. "Alright." Taking the communications device offered by Sam in hand, Noemi stares at the Quinn fellow once more, then the others in kind. Pulling the slide on her weapon to be sure it was loaded, she gives a nod, committing the map to memory.

"Sam if you can, copy that down to your Hud, yours should be separate from your mind right? We don't know what nasties might be left in the database.. For now we'll stay grouped up, same order as before. We'll head for the storage area and the lockers. If I still have your attention I have some.. Requests for you to follow."

Raising a finger on her left hand, it would be joined be three others.

"One, if you find anything security locked, come see me, if you find anything mechanical, come see our power armored friend. Two, do not eat anything till I've been able to look at it, or we've gotten it to a scanner or test it some other way. It's been longer than 25 years, how much longer we don't yet know. Three, any sort of carriers, hover carts or seeds be careful with those."

Then she held up a final fourth finger.

"If you see any edible looking plants, see any humans or animals, do not call out to them or try and eat the former or even the later.. We need to see just what we woke up into, hopefully we'll find answers in here first."


Laying her hand down and finishing the speech, the Security officer rolls her head with a brief smile.

"Also I get first look at any weapons, don't want any of you blowing your hands off from a discharge.. Once we search the lockers and any nearby rooms, we'll head for medical, mechanical.. Once we see what we have we can plan for what's next."

Heading for the hall Noemi leaves a lingering gaze on the computer room jungle, turning her head back.

"Go Right. Then take another right, when we are done it's straight down the hall to the rest."
 
Last edited:
The new hallways the group went down would again have the metal-woven roots and bioluminescent mushrooms. But the area was more tightly compacted with the roots, and they would then notice something. The mushrooms would glow brighter as one of them got closer to them, as if they had motion sensing abilities. They'd find one of the giant bugs clinging to a particularly thick root, its proboscis jammed into the wood as it tried to suck...something out of the tree. After a few minutes of this, the roots slowly moved, making the bug jump off and fly away. The door to the locker rooms was blocked by these roots. In fact, the door had been ripped off its hinges and was only being held in place by these roots. More of those bioluminescent mushrooms flanked the door like lights. As Sam (@Ur Degaton) approached first the mushrooms glowed brightly and the roots slowly withdrew. The door creaked, shed rust, and finally fell with a clang in front of them.

It appeared to be much like any other locker room. That is, it had rows of lockers, benches, and fluorescent lights overhead. However, time had changed a lot of this. The fluorescent lights were replaced by a huge cluster of those blue mushrooms, flecks of dust or spores clearly shown in their faint light. The lockers were now little more than shelves; the vast majority of the doors rusted off their hinges and sitting in a heap of orangish-brown dust. In one open locker sat a pocket bible, but if anyone tried to pick it up the contents would poor out as dust, leaving only the cover. Still, each of them would be drawn to specific lockers.

Samuel (@Ur Degaton) would be drawn to a large locker, Employee Locker 14. In there would be his personal effects, but it was all pretty tattered. He had apparently come into work the day he went into stasis wearing a jacket, but that jacket - even though it had been placed in a zipped-up plastic bag - was in tatters, moth-eaten and barely clinging to its rusty hanger. The plastic bag seemed to have...rotted somehow. He had other effects, too, like a wallet that was also eaten away. The only thing surviving it was some change, the cards having their magnetic strips...eaten. A few other effects were laying in a heap surrounded by some tiny mushrooms at the bottom of the locker...

Noemi's (@RedArmyShogun) locker was Employee Locker 1. Her personal clothes bag had survived better, though the clothes themselves were still far from daisy-fresh and still had holes and fading. Her other items seemed to be preserved in some kind of moth-eaten duffel bag...

Quinn Iloyd (@EmperorsChosen) would wander to Locker 32. His and the other patients would have smaller lockers, but it seemed they'd stuffed more in them. Among his items was a second pair of glasses, these ones with rapid transitional lenses and a diagnostic HUD display capability. There was no internet to surf through, but it did have various pieces of medical info stored in the frames...

The man calling himself Cardinal (@Mythy the Dragon-Wolf) came to Locker 60. All of his effects were in a vacuum-sealed bag, but alas like Samuel's coat some process had dissolved the plastic. What it left was a sticky film over his objects, but among his items was a small box that had once been lined with faded velvet, but now was barely considered a box. Inside was a gold ring with a single ruby...

Olivia's (@QuiteContrary) locker was 56. Among her items was what once was a very nice designer purse, but now was a rotted faux-leather sack. It seemed to be built with conceal-and-carry in mind, as there was a tiny carbon-fiber handgun buried in it...

Across from the main lockers was a series of long, pressure-sealed crypts labeled in faded lettering "Emergency Equipment". Inside were suits with a biohazard exterior and graphene interior, a few functional weapons and multitools, and a wireless link jack that could be fitted into each of their heads to give them wi-fi communication with one another. That is, if all this stuff was still intact.