operating like clockwork.

  • Thread starter camolot the creator
  • Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
Allisonnodded at Dalgon, the faintest smile emerged at his declaration. The girl could still be alright, if they hurried to help. "Definitely. Can you actually use this sword?" She whispered hopefully. Perhaps a little swordplay had slipped in while he was studying magic, she thought, before continuing "Or are you going to let go of my arm and take the bolt gun?" Hearing the turret firing to the north made it clear that the time to avoid 'bots was now over.
 
"of course i am a swordplay master i defeated a clockwork giant in one strike with a sword." Dalgon replies and he takes the sword. Dalgon lets go Allisons arm. "We should take out the turret ahead besides even though i havent got most of my magic i do have some to enhance a weapon." Dalgon says as he begins to make the sword glow faintly green.
 
Alison marveledat the enhancement, visibly relieved that the man was an experienced warrior. She looked up at the turret, taking aim, it was about time she figured out how far this bolt gun could shoot. A stationary target she was confident she could hit, but changed her mind lowering the tool. She wanted to see the glowing sword in action before they split ways. "Yours will make less noise. Once you take that out I'll go north to help hold the hallway." She said quietly.
 
i took out another 'bot with the turret, then glanced at a monitor to see the girl aiming her bolt gun at the turret. quickly, i leaned into the mic and spoke. "don't shoot the turret; that's what i'm using to guard the hallway. just set yourself up next to it and shoot at anything that moves down at the other end of the corridor." i glanced nervously at a read out on a nearby screen, then spoke again with more urgency. "however, if the turret starts twitching and acting funny, shoot it, because i'll probably be losing control to the security systems. this place is a weird combination of clockwork and electronics, mostly clockwork; there's some old clockwork AI core somewhere, and the AI notices whenever i take control of systems and tries to wrest control back. i've locked it out of the turrets for now, but there's no telling how long the security firewalls i put up will hold; the security systems that control the emergency bulkhead doors are already under the AI's control, so i can't close any more bulkheads, but luckily i locked the ones that i've already lowered in place and i can still control regular doors." i manipulated the controls for the turret so that it exposed a thick black wire. "if the turret starts acting suspicious or if i tell you to shoot it, don't hesitate: hit this wire. power to the turret's remote control systems will be cut, and you'll be able to operate the manual control systems." i checked a few screens, then returned to the turret view camera. "better hurry. the fire from the turret has attracted the attention of other security systems in the area, and you'll want to be inside the armory when they get here."
 
The ticking made him jumpy, he never liked old clocks, He could hear voices and gunfire, so he decided to stay in his room and pray no one was out to get him.

He is a 16 year old boy with blonde hair and a thin pale body. He sat in a corner with arms over his head, crying.
 
"Allison wait...do you hear that...it is crying...male crying...let us go find the person making this sound i believe i hear him back south." Dalgon says the Allison.
 
Once the voice over the speakers explained the workings of this clockwork nightmare Alison was glad she hadn't shot the turret yet. She glanced back at Dalgon, listening intently, he was able to decipher far more about the muted crying than she could. "Go! Go! That's the same direction the girl was calling from, if you can find him too, great, just hurry." She said planting her feet, trying to be ready to help defend the hallway until her new compatriots returned.
 
i tapped the keyboard for a second. "sensors confirm the appearance of another person." i glanced at a collection of static-filled screens. "cameras in the area are still out, though; unable to get visual confirmation. i'll try and hack back into the bulkhead control relays, try and buy a little more time. i'll try and watch out for both of you as much as i can, but Dalgon, once you enter a camera dead area, i can't cover you anymore. odds are that i'm more likely to accidentally kill you if i'm relying solely on sensor information." i breathed in and out once. "just be careful. and try to see if you can find out what's wrong with the cameras."
i switched off the mic for the moment, leaning back in my chair and staring at a small, blinking red light in a dark corner of the room. "well played, trans." i whispered to myself. "well played." i leaned forward again, spreading out my fingers and enjoying the sensation of the joints popping. "but not good enough." my fingers stabbed down at the keyboard as i began tripping alarms all over the complex, triggering pre-programmed reactions from the 'bots. fire, biological hazard, rad leak- anything that i could get my hands on before i was suddenly shut out of the system. grimly, i lifted my hands from the keyboard; i had done all that i could at this point, and it was all i could do to keep renewing the firewalls shielding the turret control systems. i flipped on the mic again. "i've done everything i can for now; except for what help i can render with the turret as my proxy, you're on your own. good luck."
i targeted the specific area closest to where audio sensors picked up the crying, then spoke quickly and softly into the mic. "if you can hear me, you're going to need to calm down. now, listen carefully, because i really need you to not go into shock right now, and having a goal will stave the shock off. of course, i guess it doesn't hurt that this might save your life." i glanced at the schematics. "there should be a red lever nearby. i'm going to need you to pull it, then hide until help arrives. can you do that for me?"
 
They ran south dalgon found two doors. "Allison go in the left one i'm going in right." Dalgon said believeing the others were in there.
 
He heard the voice over the voice over the loudspeakers. He quickly stood up and looked for the red lever, it only took him a few seconds to find and pull the lever. "Please, I just want to go home." he cried out before going back to his sobbing on the floor, he could hear the sounds of footsteps approaching, he had a feeling that his problems were just beginning.
 
But Allison was not close enough to hear Dalgon's instructions. She had run south with him only as far as the first intersection to look down the empty corridors for oncoming 'bots. Satisfied that nothing was going to come up behind him from here, she quietly left the master of swordplay and magic to complete the rescues on his own. She would get to see him wield the magical sword another time, it was almost something to look forward to; opportunities to use it were unfortunately inevitable. The young woman returned to the hallway near the armory, taking a position just far enough from the allied turret to watch it for treacherous behavior. Bolt gun at the ready.
 
Dalgon kicked the door open in which he found the source of the sobbing. He ran over to the boy. "Hey it's ok we are gonna get out of here." Dalgon told the boy.
 
He wasn't quite done freaking out but he knew that he would have to do something eventually, so he stood up and started to mentally prepare himself to leave his little safe room. Then the man with sword kicked down his sword and ran into his room scaring him half to death, but maybe this man could help him out. "Please help" He muttered.
 
"My name is Dalgon we have to get you out of here you are in some sort of shock so follow me." Dalgon tells the boy.
 
"reset lever pulled; auxiliary systems at optimum. shutting down primary systems." said an automated voice. reseting the main systems and switching to auxiliary would shut down all the turrets not currently active, as well as shutting the AI out of any other systems and giving me back control after a five minute reboot.
i tapped a series of keys with my right hand while holding the turret controls with my left; on the screen right next to the live feed from the turret, images cycled quickly, scanning for anything unusual with the systems. after a few images, it stopped on a live image from a camera on the western edge of the camera black zone, and i stared at the screen, horrified by what i was seeing, or- more specifically- what i could see implied. a huge metal panel had a huge gouge in it, and through the forced opening i could see the camera control/power cables sparking, quite clearly cut. i turned the volume on the speakers down, then spoke softly into the microphone, attempting to warn Dalgon and the newly arrived person.
"listen; move fast, and stay quiet. something purposefully took out the cameras in your area, and it was strong enough to rip a hole in an inch thick plate of titanium. i'm not picking up any heat signitures, but that means that whatever it is is intelligent enough to know that i could only confirm it's location by seeing it, and conclude that i would ask you two to trigger the manual reboot cycle. the systems would have repaired themselves already- i can see evidence that they were trying- but until the reboot is finished, the damage will not repair itself. i need you two to get out of there as quickly as you can, and into a zone where the cameras are working; if i can see it, then i can find it in the systems database and figure out how to destroy it." i sucked in a quick breath through my teeth. "be careful; if it is what i think it is, then it is hunting you for sport. fortunately, this means that it will toy with you for a while, which may give me a chance to destroy it myself." i glanced at an old fashion countdown timer, which showed four minutes, eleven seconds. "well, provided you can keep it busy for another four minutes." i switched over to the turret and quickly blasted another 'bot. the robot began to get up again, so i pulled the trigger mechanism, but, to my horror, nothing happened. "shoot the turret! shoot it now!" i yelled into the mic, fighting with the controls as they responded to remote commands from another source. "after you hit the control cord, the controls for the turret should open up for you." .50 caliber rounds would be a lot more effective than the bolt gun anyway, i thought grimly to myself as i fought the rebellious turret.
 
Allison had been surviving, taking down several ‘bots as she got the hang of using the bolt gun, and wishing that Dalgon and the other’s were back already. Trying to do this on her own was unnerving. She flinched at the sudden shouting over the speakers and turned her attention away from the oncoming sentries. The thick black wire was still exposed, a single bolt severed it, paralyzing the turret causing a control panel to come into view. Forfeiting the tool to the ground at her feet Allison quickly took command of the turret, aimed at the closest ‘bot, and fired. This time it did not get up.
 
I relaxed as the bullet cleaved through the remote command tether and she took control, releasing my white-knuckle grip and allowing the manual turret ckntrols to slide back into their compartment with a low grjnding of gears. "Alright, all of you are on your own for rhe most part until the systems reboot completes itself. I'll try and steer you away from danger, warn you, but hat's about all i can do for the next-" i glanced at the countdown. "Three minutes. After that, i'll have control again."
 
Allison glowered at the results her armature aim. The inaccurate puncture holes that appeared as the bullets rent the metal casings did little to hinder the bot’s progress. Clenching her teeth and holding her breath she kept trying, taking more time to manipulate the controls to aim before successfully shooting down another ‘bot. How long had it been since Dalgon had gone after the others? She was too preoccupied to estimate the passing of time, “Hurry up. 3 minutes.” she repeated.
 
Dalgon ran to the other room grabbed the girl and ran back to Allison so she wouldent worry anymore about his absence.
 
i saw Dalgon moving quickly out of the camera black zone and through the range of several cameras, the newcomer on his tail, headed back to the armory. then, out of the corner of my eye, i caught movement: quickly, i locked my gaze on the moniter that had shown it, and caught a glimpse of what i had feared. it was the largest and strongest of the security bots, old but, unfortunately, reliable. it had only ever been driven away at high cost of life, and it's battle scars shone in contrast with the grimy, tarnished brass and bronze that composed it's armor. it was there only for a few seconds, then it and it's dragon-like form was gone down the corridor and after Dalgon, moving faster than the cameras could track. quickly, i glanced at the countdown again, then spoke into the microphone, specifically targeting Dalgon's location. "if you can move faster, do it. the Guardian has detected your presence, knocked out the cameras so that i couldn't see it, and is now stalking you. if you fight it, there is a small chance that you can beat it, but there is something that will definitely destroy it, or at least damage it to the point that it deactivates. get to the armory; in one minute and fifteen seconds, i will open it, and you will have twenty seconds before it reaches you to set up the trap: otherwise, the Guardian will tear right through the armory door like tissue paper. once you are inside, look for a long, black crate labeled FIM-92 STINGER. once you find it, open it and take the weapon inside, then wait in the corridor for the Guardian. it will come barreling down that hallway, and due to the materials that make up it's processing systems, there will be approximately a ten-second delay between it recognizing the weapon and it's response. you need to fire the weapon, and HIT, during those ten seconds. if you miss, there won't be enough time to reload, and if you wait longer than ten seconds, the Guardian will dodge the missile all together. if you manage to hit it, the weapons fire will destroy it and you'll be safe for the time being, but if you miss, your on your own, because any defense i can throw up against it will be easily destroyed."
a mechanical voice announced that one minute remained before systems reboot, and the message went out all over the Facility using the same speakers that i did, and then began to count down from 60. i bit the nail of my thumb anxiously as i watched events unfold before me.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.