Our heroes, the De Facto Explorers exploring Level A, Inc for the Restorationists.
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Sonny Helianthus: a sentient sunflower artifact examiner with Restorationist ties.
Slitheran Wurmtail (aka Squiggles): a mutated earthworm scout looking for trouble
Sneaky Pete: a mutated weasel scout. Pete's telepathy and night vision take a backseat when he whips out his electrical powers.
Lathar Bracken: a pure-strain human from River Bend. He's got the muscle, the face, and a mount for most encounters. Lathar's trusty beast of burden, No Name, travels wherever he does.
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Sonny was proud of himself. The cards they had found in the storage closet of the ancients appeared to detect to the unseen poison of the Glow, and the box was some sort of communication device of the Ancients that was still powered.
That pride was cancelled by Pete uttering a few words:
"Guys, we've got company."
A large floating piece of living metal hovered into the room it was immediately identifying Lathar and scanning Sonny. The creature seemed quite entranced, or perhaps confused, with the mutated plant.
Pete scurried under the living metal, beneath the table and popped his head out on the far side of the room.
Lathar stepped forward to distract the living metal's attention from Sonny. "I'm new here, what do I have to do?"
With that exchange, Squiggles squeezed behind him and headed out into a hallway. Checking the first door and finding it locked, he moved onto the second door and snuck inside before the living metal realized anything was amiss.
The room was filled with a bunch of large picture screens on desks. Only one had the glow coming out of it.
The living metal addressed Lathar, "Identify yourself, intruder."
"I am security agent seven, I'm new here."
"There is no security agent seven on staff."
"What security agents do you have on staff?"
"Unknown, questioner does not have security clearance."
The original computer voice spoke up, "I'm still here." After that, another series of paper emerged from the center of the large table in the room.
Lathar grabbed a stack of papers, "Hey, I just signed my papers."
The Living Metal apparently was satisfied with that answer, but then proceeded towards Sony, hiding behind a chair, and Pete, still stooping behind the table.
Lathar dropped his stack of papers, reached into his satchel, and poured oil on the backside of the living metal. Not seeing a reaction, he set the oil on fire.
The original voice spoke up again, "Possible facilities breakdown. Room 33. Dispatching maintenance."
Sonny fronds struggle to push the wheeled chair further away. The living metal stood still. Three arms emerged from the robot to attempt to extinguish the flames.
The original voice made another announcement, "Fire detected. Room 33. Unauthorized personnel on the floor."
Sonny's retreating chair hit a rubber mat on the floor, stopping his momentum, but allowing the flower's strain to spin the chair in a circle, exposing him to the flaming, living metal.
With smoke and automated messages overwhelming the room, Pete fired off both his flintlocks into the living metal. One bounced off the living metal. The second ricocheted and hit a sprinkler, setting off all of the sprinkler heads in the room.
The living metal became disoriented and began shooting a variety of weapons randomly. The party members still in the room began scurrying for cover, and mixing flintlock fire with the occasional sword swing, to little effect.
A flash of light, paired with *pew-pew* sound, came out of of the living metal and Sonny's main stem was injured and he fell prone.
Pete slid between Lathar's leg and stabbed at the living metal with his rapier. A shock of electricity arced off the tip and encased the flaming creature, with no noticeable result.
The scrum tried to move around the table, with the living metal feebly attempted to put out the fire, and only getting two significant shots to almost subdue Pete. Red lights were flashing and numerous general messages were being announced, asking for more staff to arrive at Room 33
Amid the chaos, Sonny signed his name to a random piece of paper and shoved it into the receptacle in the large table.
"Doctor Helianthus, we've found you! You are in grave danger. Help is on the way!"
"Wait! Security alert is a big understanding. These are my escorts. Stand down, stand down!"
"There is no authorization on file for escorts."
"What? You lost the requests?"
"We don't lose anything, Doctor. Let us secure them and we can get the required authorization."
"My procedures involve them. They're my test subjects."
"The fate of humanity depends on it."
Next: #5 - Paging the Doctor
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