(Gamma World) Not a Test #134 - The Time Sonny Pulled Every Lever

Our heroes, the De Facto Explorers, have decided to embark on an epic quest to reach Lathar's long-lost father, Harkonn. After side-quests, distractions, blue surges of strange auras, and beings definitely  not from around Riverbend, they've finally arrived at an odd softrock (concreate) planform with the water of the the Black Reeds... but by accident and incompetence, Squiggles and Poppy have been sucked into a pipe leading under the platform.

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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.   Looking for trouble in all the right places. The two-time champion of the Fair-Town Queen's Joust.  Recently married to the now-pregnant Thunnelda Haycock.   He had recently received a letter from his long-lost father, and has convinced the others to accompany him to the Wildlands.

Sneaky Pete: A mutated weasel scout.  Pete's telepathy and stealth take center stage in their mission, although he is apparently addicted to his newly uncovered yellow powder found at "The Pool House"

Sonny Helianthus: an over 10' tall sentient sunflower artifact examiner with four arms, and trusted Restorationist ties. Knowledgeable,  but not a good one with device repairs or upgrades.   Sonny may have recently detonated an atomic device in the petrified woods... although no one else knows. 

Slitheran Wurmtail (aka Squiggles): a mutated earthworm scout, in impromptu power armor, looking for trouble in all the wrong places,  and finding it often.   He  has been subject to genetic testing and developed super-human strength, a more human body, and a thick coat of shaggy white hair.  Recently attacked and kidnapped then left for dead by an unknown group, looking for revenge.  Also pregnant for the third time, and due to deliver badly out of season

Poppy and Speedy: Two of Squiggles' offspring from his first... litter(?) They're now teenagers in worm years, old enough to grab diminutive muskets and help their Manchi and his friends on this epic quest.   And we have learned the Poppy... can't swim.

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Two-thirds of group was in shock.  Sonny had attempted to teleport, with a passenger, across the open water to the concrete platform.  Sonny made it there.  Poppy the adolescent mutant earthworm spawn of Squiggles.  Made it more than halfway across before materializing int the water.

And then the current took the flailing worm.  Something hidden by the pristine surface pulled the worm around the side of the complex and was sucking him into an intake pipe.  

Squiggles panicked, realizing he had spent more time adventuring, or playing the bongos, than teach them how to swim, no matter how many times he had told them "Water is bad!" 

He dove in, valiantly tried to rescue his spawn, but he too succumb to the intake pipe. 

Sonny was helpless on the platform, his ten foot height afforded him a gret wingspan, but he didn't have the strength to pull either up... but their were options to hastily check out on the platform.

Back on land, with Speedy worm literally burying his head in the dirt, Pete and Lathar bickered like an old married couple as Sonny freaked out and their friend may have been drowning.  

Pete: "We don't know what's going on... I can't get a telepathic link with any of them.  It's obviously not a monster, but we don't know what your getting yourself into!  

Lathar: "I don't care...we need to try...."

All during the frantic discussion, he was removing equipment, stripping down to his barbarian skivvies,, and dove into the water... although he foolishly grabbed his trusty sword and shield and started awkwardly swimming.  

Meanwhile, Sonny was properly assaying the platform. There were railed off section that led to ladders... into the water nowadays, once to the lower levels....  There was a metal grid on the far end, displaced from its position.   And directly at his feet was a hatch....

The Concrete Platform

With a great pull, the sunflower... failed to dislodge the hatch, so he ran over to push the the grid over more so he could drop down and see if there was any access point  to save the worms.    

The room below was full of large pipes....   arching and twisting, obscuring some sort of mechanism that kept everything at a low hum.  Sonny located the corner with switchboards, and levels, valves, and wheels.  

Lathar kept swimming towards the platform, reaching the nearest corner, but swimming around... to this unseen intake pipe.  He was quite disappointed when he reached the far side.  Seeing the pipe sucking the waster in great quantities, only four or five inches of air at the apex of the tube.   He hung onto the top of the tube, the water trying to push him into the darkness, trying to make a plan for what he had no idea what was inside.  

Back in the pipe room, Sonny furiously tested the valves, levers and buttons.  The giant pipes behind him obscured the noises of what his actions were doing.  He knew they were out of time and tossed logic aside.  

Lathar whispered a prayer and let go of the pipe... he slid into darkness, desperately grasping onto the uneven side walls.  The water was cold, dark, save some vaguely red lights, small, some steady, some blinking, across the room.  He swam over to the lights, only to be blocked halfway from them by a giant pane of glass....  a control room... and no sign of Sonny.  

For Sonny was flipping switches, turning, and unscrewing with such reckless speed, that it was not too much of a surprise that on of the medium sized pipes burst, spray water in this service room.  He worked a few controls before abandoning the room, but not before grabbing some tools.

His lungs burning, Lathar beat against the glass with his shield, to no avail.  He moved further into the chamber to  see the target of his objective. 

Within three layers of devices which could best be describe as screens or filters, both worms were pressed against a four layer, metallic, spinning...  Squiggles was still conscious some how, frantic and wincing in pain his young worm ward in his arm, passed out.  It was difficult to see in the limited red light, but a large swath of fur on Squiggles' left side had been removed.  

Sonny pulled in from the chamber and made one last attempt on the hatch, with his new found tools.  He was able to break the seal, open it, and descend down the ladder, light flooding what was down below.

He wasn't prepared for the sight.

The sight of Lathar's ass, pressed against the giant glass window.  

The various control boards were a far more welcome sight.  

With the three flailing in the water on the other side.   Sonny was quick to figure out how to seal the intake pipe, let the pumps empty the room, and finally a level on the panel that set all sorts of red flashing lights and alarm and made the giant window retract into down in the floor.  

The group was rescued, but at what cost?  

An interpretation of the filtration chamber...

Next: #135 -