private Deep Science 1x1 with Blitz Boom

[Blitz Boom 4,627]

@Illiad Easle

(Void)

15 hours ago, Illiad Easle said:

"And with that, your usefulness to me has ended." The robot spoke with Panic's voice as it moved for the exit. "I won't kill you, because 900 asked me not to. When you see him again, tell him I appreciate having been lent his puppet."

"No!"

Void had felt a lot of things in a very short amount of time as things had unfolded. First worry and guilt, as Silver had wandered forth and reluctantly started to work with the strange stones. She had honestly been close to just raising her voice and saying that she would get it done, and that Silver could take a step back, but she didn't have the chance before the next two emotions overtook, with the appearance of the two-faced projection. That being fear, and shock.

There had been no doubt in her mind that this were Panic, though she hadn't expected it to be quite... This.

It were like seeing a picture of duality, just embedded into a pony, with one side seeming light and almost serene, whilst the other were dark, jagged, and to her, oozed cruelty and malice.

Still one thing connected the two sides. Those cold, cruel eyes, that she normally only saw on creature who were about to do something abhorrent, whilst not feeling anything about it. Not even joy, which just made it that much more disgusting and seemingly pointless when something bad then soon followed.

She had taken a step back by then, and opened her muzzle to say something to Silver. Begging words of having to run away, or ordering her - as it had turned out the robots gender had been - to throw the things she were dealing with away. Yet nothing had escaped Void's shivering lower lip as terror had grasped her heart. Perhaps if she had, what happened next wouldn't have come to pass.

That fact just hammered her in the face as Panic overtook Silver's body, and threw a jewel away from the robots chest and towards her hooves. More so when he started to monologue, and it became apparent that they had just been used as pawns and tool this entire time by both panic and 900. Everything they had done, and everypony that had died, ultimately lead to nothing. Something which on it own shattered her, but then came the crushing fact again and again that Silver were gone because of her, and whilst the scientists would not weigh on her, as what they did to Null, her, and likely other creatures who had done nothing, meant she could rationalize that they got what they deserved, Silver hadn't done anything. She were just an innocent robot, who seemingly had an array of emotions and thoughts that made Void think of her as alive.

And because of her selfishness, Void had killed her.

That one were what finally made her snap, and as Panic were about to take off, she went into her outburst, and charged forward with all the force she could muster - which were not an insignificant amount - trying to attack Panic and keep him back. There were no greater plan about it, as this were a purely emotional moment, which also unfortunately meant that she weren't paying attention to where she stepped, which in turn lead to her missing a particular diamond that had gotten out down in front of her hooves.

She ended up stepping on it with her false leg at an angle, which meant that it didn't get crushed, but instead would jam up like a splinter to the left side, as well as cause her to loose her balance as she slid down it, stumble forward, and as Panic moved out of the way, ending up bashing headfirst into the floor and keep the momentum going past there towards the control room, where her real back leg would end up either crashing through the window, or if said window were strong, collapse beneath it with a jolt of pain going through her leg from the impact.

Either way, she'd up doing the same afterwards: Crying and sobbing over what she had done, and still not taking notice in the diamond stuck to her false leg. (the magic negating effect does not include the false leg, only organic parts)

(Null)

18 hours ago, Illiad Easle said:

Pen looked distraught, "Oh no." Her pace redoubled, practically flying down the hallways as fast as the doors would let her.

Null couldn't follow that tempo, with both her being pretty much filly size, as well as having no ability to fly, but for once she didn't think something bad about Pen for making off in a hurry. The look on her face had told the pegasus all that she needed to know about the wonky message that had gone over the speakers before: Panic were out of containment, which meant that the two of them had failed to reach him before Void did.

The thoughts that something had happened to her sister after that, with some darkened outline of a pony standing atop her lifeless form tried to crash into her mind, but Null bit down and ran, doing what she could to block that imagery from polluting her mind. The pain from her gums as blood began trickling down her teeth, managed to give her something else to focus on as she ran down the path she had observed Pen speeding down, so she managed to keep despair at legs length, but it weren't gonna work forever. She had to find Void. Now more than ever.

18 hours ago, Illiad Easle said:

"He's out, and it won't be long before he takes this whole thing down. He's gonna go after Codex, then Omega. We have to get there first."

Null had just gotten past the smoke that had made her eyes itchy before she were forced to close her eyes and just run through, when Pen came out of wherever she had went and spouted off about taking things down, Codex, and... Omega? Awh hay.

"The warhead? Freaking great..."

This were gonna make all those years she had to spend running away from dangerous situations to good use, as it sounded like speed and stamina were the key to the next ten minutes or so. Null weren't sure if she could last all of that, but she had to try, so that they could get to Panic before he used that thing that she didn't knew what were, but since it included the word *war*, likely weren't good news. He might end up blowing up Equestria, and then where would Null and her go?

Her top priority though, were going to be to force out of him where Void were. She swore, if that dirty monster had harmed a hair on her sisters head, she were going to carve his off with a dull potato peeler!

[Illiad Easle 3,139]

@Blitz Boom

[Void]

(She simply tugs too hard on my heartstrings)

The only reason the diamond didn't shatter as she stepped on it was because it smooshed like dough when she did, though it seemed to like her as it stuck to her hoof till she came to a stop, where it dislodged itself to fall with a light tink to the floor, now glowing significantly less brightly.

The window itself, though mostly intact from her impact, had gained a slight fracture, which the creature within reacted to, pointing a forehoof directly at it. Were Void in any state of mind to notice she would hear the faint sound of high pressure air passing through the crack.

Slowly the fracture grew, bit by bit until it spiderwebbed across the full plane. Before suddenly shattering. Behind the glass stood a creature that looked almost not entirely unlike Pen had, just a bit more masculine, especially since it seemed to be made of a sneak suit rather than a wonderbolt's suit. It seemed to be breathing heavily as it looked around before focusing directly on Void.

[Null]

Pen simply nodded gravely before continuing her sprint, they passed a number of offices including Plate, Conegher, and one that had previously said Studs which had a plate hanging over it saying Easle.

They then moved through another large security checkpoint, now moving back into the heavy containment area.

If Null looked at the map she could see that a fast path existed by continuing forward, a certain wall that separated two hallways was noted to be damaged. But Pen was already turning to head in a longer direction to get to the Light Containment Area.

[Both]

"Mobile Task Force Scarves of Red has entered the facility, beginning sweep."

"Warning" The feminine yet metallic voice "Unknown forces have entered the facility. Extreme caution advised."

[Blitz Boom 4,627]

@Illiad Easle

(Void)

Void barely noticed the creature exit the room, as she were weeping on the floor in a mixture between physical and emotional pain over the crash and what she had caused to happen to Silver.

However, there came a point where it got impossible for her to ignore the presence anymore. Specifically, when it stood above her, and she couldn't avoid seeing it anymore, even through tear-filled, glossy eyes.

*sob* "What're you w-waiting for? Just do it, I-I won't run away... What's e-even the point in trying? Everything in here j-just wants to kill or u-use me anyway. Only Pen and Silver d-didn't, and they're both g-gone. That t-thing... Panic will just kill the rest. There's no point in fighting a-anymore.

Just... M-Make it quick."

She were able to see that there were something, but as she were right now, it were little more than a towering, dark presence that were obscured by tears. Not another suit creature as much as just a creature that like most other things in here, wanted to kill her in some way or another. Why not just stop resisting and letting it happen, before she ended up hurting more that didn't deserve it? Or free something worse than Panic? There were no hope left here...

(Null)

Null hadn't any semblance of a chance to look at the map, as she did her very best to keep up with the larger skin crawler. Going at full speed and not ending up collapsing or tripping over something took a good deal of her focus, as did making sure that she were able to keep Pen in sight, so minor details like the layout of the rooms they got to, items that might be visible, etc. was not something she had the chance to take in. Something which would suck if they managed to pass a better weapon than what she had with her right now, but it wouldn't be like she'd know better. Only one who knew what were really going on here were Pen, and whilst Null didn't trust the creature further than she could throw her, desperate times an all that mumbo jumbo meant she had to follow and then hope to not be eaten alive at some point during this.

Seeing as she had to save her breath to be able to keep running, she also couldn't ask Pen any questions about where the hay they were actually going, but hopefully they'd see it sooner, rather than later. She were gonna need to have some energy to fight Panic as part of what they were doing by the looks of things, and she only had so much energy to work with here, seeing as how she were a regular being of flesh and blood, and not say, a dark cloud hiding in a Hallow's Night costume.

[Illiad Easle 3,139]

@Blitz Boom

[Void]

The new creature tilted its head in confusion, then it simply scraped the diamond out and off of Void's false leg. It spoke with a voice that rumbled like a sub-woofer, "If you want to die, stay. If you want to live, come."

The creature then turned to walk out of the room.

[Null]

Running, hallway after hallway, running, until Pen stopped so suddenly that Null had no choice but to ram her from behind.

Across the T shaped hallway from them was what appeared to be a robot pony, though its eyes glowed the face was utterly devoid of any expression.

Slowly, and almost mirrored, Pen and the robot moved into a defensive stance, both started to inch slowly towards the door on their right, and the robot's left.

That is, until a goo covered pony began making its way down the hall from behind the robot, the almost unseen smile wide on its face as a hoof reached out towards the robot.

There was also some noise of something coming up behind Null, shambling hoofsteps like a zombie pony, and the faint voice "Don't be afraid, I am the cure." Both the robot and Pen seemed to notice the danger on the other side of the room, and seemed keen on stalling until the other got attacked by what was coming behind them.

[Blitz Boom 4,627]

@Illiad Easle

(Void)

On 2/20/2019 at 5:01 AM, Illiad Easle said:

"If you want to die, stay. If you want to live, come."

Void didn't react at first, just wincing a little as the diamond were taken off her, as she were sure that in actuality, the thing were making contact with her to start killing her. Tearing her limb from limb seemed to be the way forth, yet for some reason, it didn't kill her. It actually... Seemed confused that she asked? W-What were going on here?

The creature were already in motion and outside of the room before Void were able to jolt herself away from what had just happened, and actually consider what it were that the thing had said. Along with what it had taken too, which upon realization, made her slowly get up and stumble forward to try and get to the new entry in the story. Something easier said than done as her leg were feeling sore after the impact before, which didn't help her get her bearings any faster.

When she finally managed to catch up to who she had just not been killed by - and getting a look at the familiar-looking suit setup - she cried out to it in a desperate manner, trying to get the attention of the potential ally of Pen.

"W-Wait! Don't t-take that, I need it to... S-Something. Panic t-threw it away, it must be i-important to stop him, and s-save Silver. P-Please, you're like Pen and S-Seen, right? You m-must want to stop him t-too."

(Null)

On 2/20/2019 at 5:01 AM, Illiad Easle said:

Running, hallway after hallway, running, until Pen stopped so suddenly that Null had no choice but to ram her from behind.

Yeah, just what she needed after a long run. A face full of skin walker thigh. Curse this abysmal height sometimes, as well as this ratty-suited speed devil who couldn't give a warning when stopping up.

On 2/20/2019 at 5:01 AM, Illiad Easle said:

Across the T shaped hallway from them was what appeared to be a robot pony, though its eyes glowed the face was utterly devoid of any expression.

Slowly, and almost mirrored, Pen and the robot moved into a defensive stance, both started to inch slowly towards the door on their right, and the robot's left.

And now Pen were about to have a territory fight with a robot. She swore, if they ended up sniffing each other's flanks and marking their territories, she were going to leave them both here...

Though, on the off chance that this were an actual enemy, she might as well get ready to slash at this lifeless abomination too, so they could g-

On 2/20/2019 at 5:01 AM, Illiad Easle said:

That is, until a goo covered pony began making its way down the hall from behind the robot, the almost unseen smile wide on its face as a hoof reached out towards the robot.

There was also some noise of something coming up behind Null, shambling hoofsteps like a zombie pony, and the faint voice "Don't be afraid, I am the cure." Both the robot and Pen seemed to notice the danger on the other side of the room, and seemed keen on stalling until the other got attacked by what was coming behind them.

Oh, buck off! So not only was there a goo monster, but behind them, the creepo with the beak face were too? So what, they were going to go through a rousing game of *Who gets eaten first?* or something? Urgh, why couldn't they just do this the old fashioned way and just stab something?

Fine, she'd play this stupid game, but the second that it sounded like she were gonna get touched first, she'd charge forward, and kick this dingbat straight into the goo fiend, then let beak face have a smell too. She didn't have the time to stay here and play with second rate freaks and monsters. They had to find Panic, as well as her sister.

[Illiad Easle 3,139]

@Blitz Boom

[Void]

The moving sneak suit slowed, but did not stop as void called out to it, but it did stop when Void mentioned Pen and Seen. It turned to face her, while it's expression was difficult to decipher it was clear it was surprised and curious, yet very serious. "Others like me?" He shook his head, "No matter, I just want to leave. I've been here too long already." He turned to keep walking, they got to the containment area outside of Panic's containment before it paused again, "You wouldn't happen to know how to get out would you?"

[Null]

The goo covered creature kept approaching, and the shambling was getting closer too. Without looking it'd be impossible to tell how far off it was. But it seemed the robot was just daring them to look away.

As if spurring her into action, she distinctly felt a hoof slap her flank, hard. At the same time she felt, in a sort of ethereal sense, that getting bit on the flank would hurt more.

[Blitz Boom 4,627]

@Illiad Easle

(Void)

"I w-wouldn't stay if I knew h-how to get out. This p-place is evil. And h-how couldn't you know about... No g-guess if they t-trapped you too you w-wouldn't..."

Void followed this creature in awkward silence for a few seconds before she could find the gals to speak again.

"P-Pen and Seen looks l-like you, but in more c-colors. They wanted to stop P-Panic from getting out... Y-You have to help us w-with that. He's going to r-release everything bad in h-here, and use s-some kind of weapon. A lot of i-innocents could die. U-Us too."

It were a desperate attempt to try and get this creature to help her, but she had to try. Especially since he had that crystal. She couldn't let him just leave with that. She might not know what it did, but she knew where it came from, and it were likely instrumental in some fashion when it came to dealing with Panic. Somepony whom this one should care about not letting out too, even if he weren't with Pen. Wouldn't be much to return to if Panic got out more than likely, if her darkened outlook on the world were anything to go by.

(Null)

On 2/24/2019 at 10:33 PM, Illiad Easle said:

As if spurring her into action, she distinctly felt a hoof slap her flank, hard. At the same time she felt, in a sort of ethereal sense, that getting bit on the flank would hurt more.

A flame sparked instantly in Null's eyes, and she kicked as hard as she could backwards, before swinging around and growling loud enough to nearly cause the attention of somepony in another room.

"The next one who touches me will get their legs severed, and shoved up where the sun never shines!"

If t he doctor thing were standing right behind her, which would give her the impression that he were the culprit, she'd aim the axe for the top of his legs, or if he were reaching out towards her, just wherever she could get a good slicing motion in. A strong attack all things considered, but against this one it would be mostly ineffective.

if he weren't close enough for that, she would just go through her yelling, and look around, trying to find out who the miserable cur were that dared to touch her. She didn't care what any of these low lives were thinking or what might prime their actions, or even bite notice in the strange sensation about how being bitten would hurt. She were guided by fury right now, after being touches were nopony had the right to get near.

[Illiad Easle 3,139]

@Blitz Boom

[Void]

The creature seemed to roll its eyes, "Fine, but I hardly qualify as innocent. Not by your standards at least. A fact of my existence." It shrugged as it looked to her, "Well, it would appear you know a bit more about this place than I do. If you would kindly lead the way?"

It gestured forward with a limb.

[Null]

The closest thing Null could see was a sort of decaying pony that rad rough stitches on its barrel, it was shambling towards her with an outstretched hoof, but well far enough away that it couldn't have been what slapped her.

Behind the zombie was the doctor from before, hoof outstretched in her direction as it made its way slowly towards her.

Her instinctual attack actually fared quite well against the shambling pony, cleanly cutting off one forelimb before her ax struck bone in the second, leaving it stuck and too close to its mouth to really get it out without risk of getting bit by it. It was slower now without the limb, but continued towards her.

At the same time as her outburst, pen and the robot started moving, or rather Pen tried to capitalize on Void's distraction and the robot was quick to follow her,

The goo pony threw something, and it landed on the robot's back, but it didn't seem to noticeably slow it as it began to chase Pen down the hall to their right.

Which left Void with both 49 and 106 converging on her.

If she were willing to leave the ax behind, she could fairly easily make it to the door to run after Pen and the robot.

[Blitz Boom 4,627]

@Illiad Easle

(Void)

"Well, y-you haven't tried to kill me y-yet, so you're more i-innocent then the rest I've m-met in here."

This place weren't for any sort of being that had innocence in them. The majority of the things trapped in here were monsters like Panic and the goo creature, whilst the doctors who had to keep guard over things were cruel and heartless too with their experiments. Then there were Null and her, who had been trapped here and didn't want to get out just to kill random ponies, but they weren't innocent either. Through the years, they had gotten covered in both metaphorical and literal blood, and no matter whatever it were mainly because they didn't have a choice or not, murder took away innocence.

Silver were the only one who had seemed to be clean off that sort of thing in here, and now she were sadly... A-Anyway, there were also Pen and Seen, though what their deal were, Null hadn't a clue. Perhaps good, perhaps bad, but likely not innocent either way.

She had to hope that this unknown being were okay though, as she were directed to lead the way, and hesitantly stepped ahead to take that position. If not, he'd likely either stab her, or break or neck soon. Not the way she wanted to go, but considering the alternatives in here, perhaps one of the kinder ways it could go. Just a short amount of pain, and then the sweet embrace of the afterlife, rather than perhaps getting beaten to a puddle, or melted.

The path she'd take would be the one she assumed Panic had gone down (if there were tracks, she'd follow them) and as they wandered, she would try to spark a bit of a conversation with this unknown being. Perhaps she could get more of a feel for him that way.

"So uhm... I-I'm Void, and I were k-kidnapped here some years ago with my sister, N-Null. Who're you? A-And what did you mean with you e-existence meaning you couldn't be i-innocent? Were you m-made somehow?"

(Null)

Oh great. Just, bloody, fantastic. Not only did she need to deal with beak face anymore, who were reaching out towards her like a cosplayer who had never seen a mare before, but now there were also a zombie caught in her axe, trying to get hold of her as well, because of course this place had zombies. And not the magical kind that just fell apart when near her either, nono. This had to be the real, non-necromantic deal, with a corpse just somehow being animated without being driven by somepony's magic. Freaking pains in the flanks to deal with, and highly infectious likely too. She had seen what one of those could do with a few scratches and bites, and it weren't a pretty sight.

Null would wriggle a little to try and get her axe free, but with no luck, and the rotting hoof nearing her, she were forced to let it go where it sat, and jump away from this creature, and beak face that were starting to get pretty near too. Clearly neither of these had been the ones clapping her rear (although beak face looked like he'd try if he were close enough) and whatever the weird goo thing were, that didn't seem like it either, so there might be a fourth monster in here somewhere. And she were now without a weapon. What a perfect scenario for somepony the size of a ten year old.

Were this a regular, bar brawl sort of situation, she would've been on them like a honey badger, but seeing how these things could (and likely would) tear her to pieces if they got their grabby hooves on her, or melt her perhaps in the case of the goo pony, she were forced to retreat. So off she went, dodging them, and speeding through the door the two other boneheads had gone. What a riot...

[Illiad Easle 3,139]

@Blitz Boom

[Void]

"Yet." The creature was staring right at her as they moved. "I and my kind take over the bodies of ponies to eat their dead skin, then when we're done and leave they become one of us. Just the skin though. The rest... Survives about as long as one can without skin."

It seemed it either wasn't used to, or was disinclined to participate in, casual conversation.

It seemed like Panic had left the doors open behind it, so it was easy to follow a trail of open doors back exactly the same way she had come from. It was a few hallways before she got to the room with the Tesla gate, only this time it had been disabled, the same goo she had seen many times at this point oozing from one side which also served as the starting point for a corroded and decayed trail in the floor leading onward as if in its own pursuit of Panic.

[Null]

The next room was a straight hallway with a pair of open elevator doors on the left wall through which the empty shaft was visible, a crashed car at the bottom. There was also a maintenance access which led to a storage area also visible from the open doors of the elevator.

The next room was a Tesla gate hallway, Pen tried to kick Panic backwards into the active gate but Panic was too heavy for her to knock backwards.

(assuming you navigate the gate correctly, she's done it before right?)

The next room was a four way, thick smoke from some busted pipes obscured Pan and Panic when they entered, but Pen's cry of pain was clearly audible as Panic's heavy steps continued onward. Upon entering the room the smoke cleared just enough to reveal that Pen had been torn nearly in half, or rather there was half of Pen trying to drag herself onward in the direction the sounds of Panic were still coming from, and a small collection of various cloth items strewn about. Pen had started to reform as Null entered, but it was clearly a slow process.

[Blitz Boom 4,627]

@Illiad Easle

(Void)

23 hours ago, Illiad Easle said:

"Yet." The creature was staring right at her as they moved. "I and my kind take over the bodies of ponies to eat their dead skin, then when we're done and leave they become one of us. Just the skin though. The rest... Survives about as long as one can without skin."

"You can s-survive without skin for a long t-time if you're taken care o-of the right way. I've s-seen it and it's n-not a pretty sight..."

On their travels, Null and her had run into a lot of horrid things, and among them, three objects that they had been carrying had been connected to skin removal. A rusty knife, a hoofmirror, and what they had at first thought were a Leather ball.. This place likely had the knife and the ball, though the mirror had long since been destroyed, which were frankly for the best as even though they all did things best not described in details, the mirror - and the deranged lunatic who had used it - had been the worst of them by miles. At least the others didn't force you to having to witness every second of the process, and then find yourself bound up and preserved by somepony who wanted to keep you alive out of pure cruelty.

Void were not proud of many of the less than ethical things she had done in her times, but releasing the victims from their torment and then setting fire to that building were just merciful, though the image of those poor beings were one who were likely never to leave her head. Even if Null had eventually managed to find a way to destroy the wretched creation for good.

As for this unnamed creature and what the implications then were for Pen and Seen... She didn't know what this meant. Did that mean that Seen were the actual entity, and Pen were just nothing? But if Pen were a thing, then how did that fit into things? There seemed to be something wrong with this picture that she couldn't exactly place, though knowing that their existence in one way or another included taking the skin of somepony... Perhaps both Pen, Seen, and this creature were best left locked up somewhere here, lest they'd end up devouring the world, one hide at a time.

Sadly,t his would prove to be the good times, as a horrifyingly familiar sight met her as they backtracked the path to find Panic: A trail of ooze, and melted walls. The mental image of how close the gooey hoof had been to touching her earlier as it melted through the elevator door made Void feel pale, as she staggered to a halt.

"G-Goo monster it's... C-Chasing him too. It n-nearly melted me earlier. I-I don't know if it's s-smart to... *whimper*"

(Null)

On 3/3/2019 at 10:15 PM, Illiad Easle said:

The next room was a Tesla gate hallway, Pen tried to kick Panic backwards into the active gate but Panic was too heavy for her to knock backwards

Okay, seriously, what was it with this place and its turn on with these electric gates? Were it for protecting them against the monsters? Because big news if that was the case: It didn't work!

*sigh* freaking annoyance on top of an already disgustingly frustrating and rushed situation... Made her miss the old days when the kitsune had kept them prisoners. At least that had been safe, no matter how infuriating the entire situation had been, and t heir traps had made sense. This were just shady, annoying work that didn't serve to do a singular good thing, other than slowing her down.

(once she got past it)

On 3/3/2019 at 10:15 PM, Illiad Easle said:

The next room was a four way, thick smoke from some busted pipes obscured Pan and Panic when they entered, but Pen's cry of pain was clearly audible as Panic's heavy steps continued onward. Upon entering the room the smoke cleared just enough to reveal that Pen had been torn nearly in half, or rather there was half of Pen trying to drag herself onward in the direction the sounds of Panic were still coming from, and a small collection of various cloth items strewn about. Pen had started to reform as Null entered, but it was clearly a slow process.

Seems like the robot they had stumbled into had proven the victor then. Lords know that there were a time when tearing up Pen like this would've been a satisfying sight for Null, but seeing as she actually needed the creature, this were just adding another delay that were more frustrating than satisfying, and frankly she felt robbed that she couldn't even enjoy this. Wasn't like the creature weren't gathering herself together again, even if she kept dragging herself along like it were life or dead.

"I don't know hat your beef with that robot is, but give it a rest. We need to get to Codex and stop Panic, not play with the inmates."

Taking a wild stab in the dark, Null would start kicking the scattered cloth pieces of Pen towards her to see if that helped her get back into shape faster, so that they could get on with things. Seriously, what were her deal with that dome head anyway? Hadn't been a word from either on it. They just started acting like wild animals.

[Illiad Easle 3,139]

@Blitz Boom

(Making sure it's just Null and Void who are confused, Pen is the flight suit/scientist, Seen is the dark mist creature that lives inside her usually.)

[Void]

The creature seemed content to leave her behind as it took up the trail started by the goo, or in other words, it kept moving down the hallway whether Void would or not.

(Assuming she works up the courage to follow)

The creature stopped in the next room, a T room, where the goo started to head towards the left before stopping suddenly in a larger puddle. Indicating that the creature had descended into the floor. Through the open door on the left some shuffling could be heard, clearly hoof-steps.

[Null]

Pen wheezed weakly, like a punctured set of bagpipes, before her chest cavity reformed enough to articulate speech.

Meanwhile, kicking at the shreds had quite the opposite effect than she had intended, as no sooner had she come into contact with them then they latched on to her foreleg like a number of bracelets. She could feel the fur of her leg being gripped like they were made of Velcro.

Pen finally spoke, much fainter than before. "That was Panic. I could see it in its eyes."

[Blitz Boom 4,627]

@Illiad Easle

(Void)

Void had naturally followed, since as much as it were horrible to actually chase the goo creature down, being left alone in this place were far worse. So she had begrudgingly followed, shaking and just expecting any second that a melting hoof would reach out of somewhere and grab hold of her, as had been tried before.

17 hours ago, Illiad Easle said:

The creature stopped in the next room, a T room, where the goo started to head towards the left before stopping suddenly in a larger puddle. Indicating that the creature had descended into the floor. Through the open door on the left some shuffling could be heard, clearly hoof-steps.

"P-Please don't touch it! I've seen what it c-can do. Melts everything. It's h-horrible."

It were somewhat good that the thing had gone into the floor, though it also brought up that it could be sitting right beneath them right now and just waiting to snatch them up. A concern she were about to vocalize, before Void heard that there were also some steps going on the left, which depending on the sound would make her give one of three responses.

1. The steps were slow, and headed towards them, at which point she would stagger back a step and try to stutter out a *watch out*.

2. The steps were slow, and wandering away from them. This would be something that would make her give a shaky, small sigh of relief, and look if there were other paths.

3. The steps were at normal or higher speed, or heavy. These wouldn't match with the steps she had heard the goo creature make at all, nor the speed with which it tended to move, so she would suggest that they should follow that. It might end up being Panic, though they had to make sure to not touch the pool at all.

(Null)

18 hours ago, Illiad Easle said:

Meanwhile, kicking at the shreds had quite the opposite effect than she had intended, as no sooner had she come into contact with them then they latched on to her foreleg like a number of bracelets. She could feel the fur of her leg being gripped like they were made of Velcro.

What the- Were these things actually clasping down on her? What the hay were going on? Don't say that somehow this suit creature's parts were like leeches of something. Null were seriously not in the mood to deal with cloth that wouldn't come off unless it got burned. Sure she'd get charred too, but with her coat color, that wouldn't make much of a visible color difference.

She were about to call Pen out on this, and ask her to get the five pieces that had gotten stuck to her legs off the pegasus, when pen let out a bombshell that took away all concern about the cloth and what it might be doing.

18 hours ago, Illiad Easle said:

"That was Panic. I could see it in its eyes."

"Panic? No... No! He's not getting away from me!"

Null would take off after Panic with fury burning in her chest, and not a thought as to how she would do anything, since she hadn't any weapons or anything on her. However, she would run close past Pen, which would give the skin crawler a chance to grasp hold of the small pegasus and potentially hold her back instead. If not chosen or able to do so, Null would run on and chase down Panic herself. He weren't getting anywhere before she knew where Void were.

[Illiad Easle 3,139]

@Blitz Boom

[Void]

The steps were slow, and wandering away, mostly. There were also at least one set of fast hoofsteps that sounded further down the hallway than the first ones.

The creature started to move in the direction of the hoofsteps, deciding that some sort of life was the best bet on finding its way out of here.

[Null]

As Null ran past Pen, Pen was able to grab onto her like the torn pieces had, as first slightly hindering her movements as it more firmly latched on, but once Pen had a firm grip around Null's flanks she seemed to aid in Null's running, triggering her muscles even faster than before, counteracting any fatigue that had built up in the mare's system.

It was almost like Pen was the one doing the running, and Null was just along for the ride.

They dashed down a smoke filled hallway, which horribly stung Null's eyes, then Pen forced her to skid around the central pillar of the lock room, through a door that had been left open, before skidding them to make a sharp right turn.

Down the hall they could see Panic, still moving at a decent clip.

[Blitz Boom 4,627]

@Illiad Easle

(Void)

This being had to be crazy, right? Following that sound that might well be the actual monster she just told him would melt those it got a look on. Only thing that might be nuttier than that were her actually following him, and yet here she were, worried every second that the floor or something would suddenly lounge out and grab her, or that whatever they were following might end up luring them into a trap from which there were no escape.

Hopefully this were not gonna end up in their wholesale slaughter. Not before they found Null at least.

(Null)

"Hey wait, what the- Get off me! Stop that!"

Getting gripped by the small patched were one thing, and Null could generally ignore it, but now Pen were attaching on to her the same way, and furthermore, actually controlling her movements.

Had she the option right now, Null would have torn Pen into several smaller pieces for this, as whilst she were able to tolerate a lot of things in this wild goose chase, there were no being that were going to make her lose control of her own body and actions and get away with it. For somepony who had spent her life doing what she could to stay in control - with all the good and bad that came from that - this were simultaneously the worst offense, and one of the most horrifying thing that she could imagine going through. Just being a puppet like this were a disgusting feeling, and sadly, she could do nothing about it beyond complaining right now. Which the stream of... Colorful language, surely would make clear as the way was made forth.

It were also a possibility that she were instinctively running along, were aided by pen, and in this state just couldn't tell the difference between her own natural tendencies boosted by Pen, and being dragged along like a dog on a leash.

The swearing were briefly interrupted when they passed through some smoke that went in and did a number on irritating Null's eyes, which made it so that she didn't even see they were nearing Panic at first. There were still some blinking and coughing to try and get that stuff out of her system before she could get a look at how close they were to anypony.

[Illiad Easle 3,139]

@Blitz Boom

[Void]

It seemed they were moving about the same pace as whatever was making the noise ahead of them, as it wasn't getting any louder or quieter.

Until the sound of quite a bit of electricity, a grotesque scream, soon followed by the scent of overcooked flesh, came from the hallway ahead of them. The hoofsteps stopped, then apparently had turned around as the plague doctor came into view. It extended a hoof towards them, towards Void especially, "I sense the disease in you. Do not be afraid, I am the cure."

It was now headed towards her.

[Null]

A very long, straight, hallway stood before them, with noting in between them and Panic, who was still running full tilt towards where She and Pen had found the halved Director Bunsen earlier.

Pen did not respond to Nulls comments, as she didn't presently have a mouth nor ability to move air as she was, effectively, a pair of shorts at the moment. She had become entirely translucent, as had the bracelets, Null's coat even sticking through them. Were it not for her continued obligation of movement she might have forgotten Pen was even there.

Nonetheless, she was sent charging down the hall at Panic, gaining on him just a bit before he ducked into a door to the right side near the end of the hallway.

[Blitz Boom 4,627]

@Illiad Easle

(Void)

"N-No! Stay away f-from me!"

Void staggered backwards, away from the beak-faced stranger. Out in the world if she met one of these, she would have just assumed it were another weird guy donning a costume and getting way too much into his role, which made him annoying, but ultimately harmless. Here though, in this facility? There were no way this wasn't some kind of monster, and if he got his hooves on her, he were gonna end up carving her from top to bottom, or flay her, or something else.

She'd try putting the unnamed skin crawler between it and herself, but in case that wasn't going to do any good, she'd have to turn around and escape along some other path. Whatever it took so that this strange equine did not get his hooves on her.

(Null)

For the love of everything holy, unholy, and whatever were in between, stop jerking her around like that! She couldn't stand being used like this constantly, and she weren't even able to see Pen anymore. It were like she had been absorbed into her skin, or had gone under it or something. Which were not a thought that were helping her increasingly furious mind whatsoever. In fact it just served to fuel the flames even more and get her dangerously close to a state where the term *Frothing berserker* were applicable. It were almost like Pen wanted her to end up in attack mode so she'd blindly strike at anything resembling a sentient being the first chance she got.

Something which seemed to get more imminent as they were gaining some on Panic, before he passed along through a door, though at that point he had been seen, so there were something to chase. And at this point, Null were about ready to let out a guttural roar and aim for the throat.

[Illiad Easle 3,139]

@Blitz Boom (Very sorry for the delay)

[Void]

The creature that had been with her seemed to agree with her that retreat was in their best interests, as it moved backwards at the same pace she did.

As such they were essentially still in the T room where the ooze creature had disappeared into the floor. To the right of where they were still facing the masked creature, through a pair of still open doors, a pony came into view. They were dressed in a white robe, a staple of Troy, and covered in many armored plates like a member of the elite guard. They wore a full helmet, their neck covered with what seemed to be dragon scales, though it was obscured by the red scarf it wore. The pony looked alert, scanning back and forth with one hoof on the intimidating war hammer it carried on its back. It was clearly not a pegasus, but it could still be a unicorn.

It caught sight of Void, and started moving cautiously towards her, calling out to her in the process. "Hey! You there! You're not one of the things they locked up here are you?" The voice was gruff, but feminine, most likely a mare.

[Null]

It wasn't long before she arrived at the same door Panic had ducked through, and where he luckily wasn't waiting in ambush. It was the same door they had found the halved Director Bunsen, who was in fact still there, though his front half had been shoved to the side, likely by Panic.

It was there, at the closed door to Codex, that Pen started to peel herself off of Null, it was a very odd sensation, like peeling dried glue, it seemed to suck on each of the hairs of her coat as she was released from Pen's embrace. It only lasted about 10 seconds, and she had felt at least a few of the hairs of her coat pulled out in the process, but once Pen had removed herself, the coat where Pen had been had never looked cleaner, it almost glistened in the low light.

Not that she was at all worried about that at the moment, in all likely hood she would never notice.

When Pen recomposed herself she was about the size of a foal, maybe just a bit bigger, but only half as big as Null. She pulled out her card, which Null might have felt on her mark while she was running, and moved to open the door.

Unless Null had something to say about it.

(I think one new event it enough for now, the next post will have the other big event as we move into phase 3.)

[Blitz Boom 4,627]

@Illiad Easle

(Void)

On 3/16/2019 at 10:10 PM, Illiad Easle said:

It caught sight of Void, and started moving cautiously towards her, calling out to her in the process. "Hey! You there! You're not one of the things they locked up here are you?" The voice was gruff, but feminine, most likely a mare

T-Troy guard! This wasn't good, this... They were going to be in even more problems now. And she barely had to actually catch a glance at the figure to know that fighting weren't an issue, considering both the getup and the enormous hammer the mare were lobbing around. Void would get her extremities broken in a heartbeat by a single hit of that, and with her *condition* healing were a slow, potentially impossible process.

With her focus completely on the... Mare? Void had no idea what were going on wit the unnamed skin crawler, and generally just stood there with an open muzzle and a look of horror going over her eyes.

"I-I'm..."

She couldn't think straight right now, faced with this dangerous pony working for the country who had partially appeared to make it their life's goal to hurt her and her sister. Escape plans, attack plans, deceit- Nothing stuck on as her mind scrambled to find some kind of approach to deal with this. It were worse than when that beak faced creature had tried  to... Grab her...

Panic overtook her and she let out a shriek, whilst falling down towards the guard, and pointing in the direction the skin crawler and her had been wandering before.

"M-Monster! B-beak, d-dangerous!"

Nothing about Void's behavior should seem dangerous, and should be seen as what it were: Her being afraid that she were about a second away from being embraced by the creepy *doctor* thing. The guard however, might see it as a lure or trick, especially as she had not gotten an answer to whatever or not Void were one of the things locked up here. Certainly didn't help that she were wandering with a skin crawler either, though it were curious how he would react to all of this.

(Null)

On 3/16/2019 at 10:10 PM, Illiad Easle said:

When Pen recomposed herself she was about the size of a foal, maybe just a bit bigger, but only half as big as Null. She pulled out her card, which Null might have felt on her mark while she was running, and moved to open the door.

Unless Null had something to say about it.

Pen would get a helping hoof getting to the door, as Null violently kicked her towards it with a strong strike (for a pegasus) of her front right hoof, right as Pen had gotten something resembling a form that could be hurt. Had it been a focused one from her back legs, it would have hurt a lot more, but this should still be possible to feel for the creature who frankly should have known better, after spending this much time with Null.

"Nopony. Controls. Me."

Angry as she had been at other times during this *adventure* all of this being jerked around by a suit of skin had gotten her into the white-hot rage zone, which were evident with not just her frozen, hateful voice, but also by her having no issue in hurting Pen in a form that made the skin crawler of a particular looking age group. Null were already the size of a young teen foal, so being half her size were barely anything.

Null glared at the creature with her hoof still risen, shaking under the nearly overwhelming urge to do it again, and again, and so forth, until there would be nothing left to hurt. She didn't know what made her hold back right now though. Some degree of pity for the creature? Remorse for hurting one smaller than herself? Actually caring about Pen? She didn't know, and frankly, it weren't soothing her to think over these sorts of things right now, it just made her angry and confused, when not even an hour ago, she would have been perfectly happy taking Pen apart thread by thread.

[Illiad Easle 3,139]

@Blitz Boom

[Void]

The mask on the guard made it impossible to tell by facial features, but she sounded concerned as she approached, one hoof on the massive hammer on her back. She spoke into a small box on her whither, something about 'got a live one', before turning her gaze back at Void, and approaching faster once Void collapsed.

The creature that had been with her since Panic's room had disappeared, it seemed it had no desire to be seen, or potentially caught, just yet.

The plague doctor was getting closer, though it stopped once the armored mare entered the room, itself right at the doors of another entrance. It titled its head to the side as it seemed to stare directly into the soul of the newcomer.

The mare looked ready to swing the hammer if either of them made a move towards her, she spoke again into the box on her shoulder. "Double contact, a black coated mare, white mane, and a cloaked pony, pointy mask. Intel requested."

The plague doctor reached out a hoof towards the mare, "The disease is strong in you, I am the cure."

It started to move towards her.

[Null]

Pen seemed completely taken by surprise at Null's attack on her, the blow knocking the card from her grasp and sending her to the floor. Perhaps the pathetic state she was now in contributed to Null's lack of desire to hurt her further. When she spoke, it was in a very weak voice. "I... hardly... controlled you..." She lifted herself shakily from the floor, and moved to pick the card back up, "I... just... pushed you along. Helped you go faster, helped you turn quickly, guide you."

She didn't even turn to look at her as she moved to swipe the card, "I've done so much to try and keep you and your sister safe... some thank you I get."

The reader beeped, and the door slid open.

Right on the other side was the other half of the late director Bunsen, despite the clear evidence that no one had come through here in some time, there was not a speck of dust to be seen, something that made Pen sigh in resignation.

The room was like a large cylinder, and in the center, hanging from the ceiling, was a grotesque assortment of cables and panels that looked vaguely like a pony hanging upside down. what looked like the head had a single glowing light that turned to face them as the door opened.

"Containment breach, CODEX main chamber, Containment breach, CODEX control room, Unauthorized access detected."

The voice was metallic, yet ever so slightly feminine.

Pen's head darted quickly to look up at a box on the wall, labelled control room, where they could see Panic inside.

"Facility status: Compromised." The sound seemed to glitch, "Activa- Act--- a a  a ." The sound glitched again. "Warheads locked."

[Blitz Boom 4,627]

@Illiad Easle

(Void)

The closer the beaked creature moved, the more Void scurried across the floor on her rear, back towards the guard and face turned at the creature spewing about being the cure for something. What sort of thing she hadn't the foggiest idea about, and wouldn't even if she could think completely straight right now, but she had heard rhetoric like that before that were starting to bubble up in her memories. Cultists and fanatic loners tended to be the ones saying variations of this the most, though regardless of who said it, it were always meant to be some sort o reference to them thinking that life, or the individual, were a disease. Or they suspected them to have some sort of infection that needed to be *treated*, which could range from horrid experiments or untested *medicine* getting applied to the victim, and towards sacrificing the being in question to try and *save their spirit* or something equally as deranged. Of course there were situations where the body were gone, and the best you could do for them were to end their misery, but that were rare occasions. Not something you did with any being you could get your hooves on.

Some variation of these deranged beings were what were in store if the beak-faced one got to her for sure, yet at the other end of the spectrum, were the Troy guard, and if Void weren't just killed on sight, who knew what an official of the country would do to her, considering what they had already done through the Grey branch that had kept the area in check where she had been born and raised? She might just end up strapped to a wall in some kind of dungeon for the rest of her life, or publicly executed perhaps. She wouldn't put anything past the Troy government.

She were more or less trapped between a rock and a hard place, and instinct alone being what made her withdraw from the creature before the official, as thinking on this too much would have perhaps made her take the risk of running past the slow moving creature rather than dealing with the law. They'd see soon enough which one of them were going to take her down and subject her to a horrid fate first though, as the gap between these two - and in turn, Void - were diminishing every second.

(Null)

18 hours ago, Illiad Easle said:

Pen seemed completely taken by surprise at Null's attack on her, the blow knocking the card from her grasp and sending her to the floor. Perhaps the pathetic state she was now in contributed to Null's lack of desire to hurt her further. When she spoke, it was in a very weak voice. "I... hardly... controlled you..." She lifted herself shakily from the floor, and moved to pick the card back up, "I... just... pushed you along. Helped you go faster, helped you turn quickly, guide you."

She didn't even turn to look at her as she moved to swipe the card, "I've done so much to try and keep you and your sister safe... some thank you I get."

Null had kept quiet as the skin crawler talked, continuously trying to stop herself from going over and put her hoof in the small creature's face. Yet as Pen said that last part, she lost it, and stomped down into the floor.

"Safe? Safe?!

You left me to die earlier, then you dare to say that you enhanced me, when I couldn't stop moving, and Now you play innocent?! I should... I...."

Her hoof were raised again, ready to pummel the little thing. Small, defenseless creature, frail and alone against somepony bigger than her who only faced her with hatred.It would be so easy.

...Just like it had been with everypony else when she were this size, and had to face a world that met her with nothing but disdain and suffering.

Null had never found herself in a situation where she could sympathize and see somepony else in the exact same spot, as she had never been the one standing above another creature that had brought her ire to this degree, but as that thought had entered her mind, it hit her like a wall of bricks. The details were irrelevant as this flooded over her, it were just the bare basics of her now beating on a creature who kept saying that she only wanted to help, and were feeling the bitterness of being met with violence. It had been the same with her, and much as she had really wanted to hurt Pen some more, something in her stopped Null from doing it, as she didn't see the tiny skin crawler who had left her to die in this moment, but a reflection of her old self, back when there were still something resembling hope that hadn't been crushed yet.

And so, she screamed. A halfway roar of frustration and anger accompanied by Null kicking the wall with the hoof she had been meaning to hit Pen with time and time again for twenty seconds, before the air had gone out of her and she jut leaned up against the likely not even scratched wall. She were trying to catch her breath again after this, before she'd turn around and wander through to Codex's room.

There were things going through her mind about this now that her head were a little clearer. Did she actually have the power to stop before but didn't want to? Had she been to harsh towards the one being who arguably had done something resembling helping the sisters find each other again? Were this all just a ruse to make her lower her guard and then take advantage of Null in a moment of indecisiveness?

She'd like to address this, and talk to Pen in a relatively calm manner, but then, up there stood Panic, apparently controlling what had to be Codex - a pile of wires and metal, go figure - and about to send those warheads towards somewhere. Null still had no idea what they were, but anything with the word *war* in it couldn't be any good, so whatever potential morality she might have suddenly gained, or tantrums she'd have to go through soon in regards to dealing with Pen, would have to wait.

"Panic! Come down here and fight you pathetic lowlife!"

This of course, were likely never going to happen. It'd be wiser if Pen did the thinking here for the time being, and tried to work the frustrated, semi-confused little mare towards something more productive than yelling.

[Illiad Easle 3,139]

@Blitz Boom

[Void]

The mare's ears flicked, as if listening to something, before she nodded, "Acknowledged." She quickly moved between Void and the plague doctor, raising herself up on her hind legs to better wield the hammer she took off her back, holding it in front of her defensively. In a low tone she tried to reason with the plague doctor, "Back off, or I'll cordially introduce your face to the floor."

It didn't deter the cloaked pony in the slightest.

The moment the pony got in range the guard swung, hard judging by the sound the hammer made when it connected, and the doctor was flung backwards before colliding with the far wall and slumping to the floor. Despite all that, it was still alive, breathing heavily, and looking at them as it retrieved a small medical bag from its cloak and began to bandage itself up. "I can see you’re not well, the sickness has taken hold of you."

The guard seemed deeply disturbed as she lowered herself back onto all 4 legs and returned the hammer to her back, she looked to face Void, "I have orders to get you out of here, follow me." She started to move backwards, keeping her gaze on both the collapsed doctor and Void, waiting for either of them to make a move.

[Null]

Pen looked further hurt by Null's remarks, but said nothing.

Panic didn't react to Null's shouting, whether he actually heard it was debatable.

Panic seemed to be doing something to the controls in the box, the sounds coming from... whatever that thing hanging from the center of the room was... seemed to be in protest. "No... n. n. n.    NO. I    i.ii.i.i.i.i. I won..... t let you."

Panic turned to face Void and Pen, or maybe just Pen, as the sound of breaking glass was heard from his direction, then alarms blared as the room was bathed in red light. 

A new voice was heard, it sounded like a recording. "Warning, core ejection manual override. Prepare to receive ejected core."

Pen's eyes went wide as she ran underneath the hanging mess of cables, which had gone limp once Panic pressed the button. Speaking of which he was no longer in the control room, and it wasn't clear how he had even gotten up there in the first place given it had no access save for a door that left the chamber. Unless he somehow flew up there it was a mystery, and unless she could fly she wasn't getting up there herself.

There was a hiss of hydraulics and steam as the machine lowered closer to the ground, a hatch opened out like a mouth, a tongue-like bed further added to the visage as it slid out from the opening, dropping a somewhat familiar looking deer on the floor by Pen, who immediately set about trying to wake it.

Vale's mechanical parts were clear, along with half of her face it seemed both of the legs on her left side were wholly mechanical. Furthermore, her head had a pair of smooth metal plates that seemed embedded in her skull where her horns would be were she a buck, or a reindeer.

[Both]

A new voice came over the intercom, one Null and Void knew all too well. "Clave Bunsen here, if you're hearing this message it means someone disconnected the CODEX. And given I'm the only one left here, and I wouldn't do that, It means one of the SCP's has gotten fully out of control. As a precautionary measure the facility was rigged to detonate a series of charges to seal off the interior from the outside world." the recording laughed, "But I decided that was way too soft. I'f I'm going to die down here, then I'm taking everything down here with me. There's a pair down here who deserve it after what they did to me."

[Void]

The guard mare looked concerned, then started talking into her box, "What do you mean they're being primed?" She turned back to Void. "We need to go NOW, this whole place is going to come down on top of us."

[Blitz Boom 4,627]

@Illiad Easle

(Void)

16 hours ago, Illiad Easle said:

The moment the pony got in range the guard swung, hard judging by the sound the hammer made when it connected, and the doctor was flung backwards before colliding with the far wall and slumping to the floor. Despite all that, it was still alive, breathing heavily, and looking at them as it retrieved a small medical bag from its cloak and began to bandage itself up. "I can see you’re not well, the sickness has taken hold of you."

Void visibly flinched when the hammer connected. The sound were not one that she expected though, of bones cracking and varied internal systems getting beaten down. Sure the creature still got flung around as if hit with overwhelming force, but the movements and words of it as it just patched itself up lightly were proof that there weren't any of the usual detriments happening that normally came from getting beaten on with a weapon of this caliber. Frankly, it barely seemed like it had done anything, beyond making the slow moving creature sit still for a brief period of time, which made Void want to get even further away from him, as immortal or semi-immortal creatures were extremely dangerous in her personal experience.

17 hours ago, Illiad Easle said:

The guard seemed deeply disturbed as she lowered herself back onto all 4 legs and returned the hammer to her back, she looked to face Void, "I have orders to get you out of here, follow me." She started to move backwards, keeping her gaze on both the collapsed doctor and Void, waiting for either of them to make a move.

The guard had orders to... Get her out of here? W-What? Why would anypony send somepony to get her? In fact, Who would ask for her? Nopony had ever come looking for Null and her without it either being with bad intentions, or as something of an omen, as bad things tended to happen shortly after such a meeting. Equestria had gone differently per se, but in a sense, terrible things had still inevitably happened, as they had been forced back to Troy again. That somepony were now giving orders to bring Null and her to them, were a bad omen. One that she would have taken into context and likely given her the final reason to run, had another voice not suddenly broken into things, and halted her from getting on her hooves and try to escape whilst the mare and the creature had their altercation.

It were impossible for her to not know the voice of the doctor that had started all of their examinations, tests, and had pulled a feather from her sisters wing. Somehow, she would not be surprised if all of this were his fault, and it seem like she weren't the only one blaming others for things, as the voice of the doctor then went on to say that two beings in particular did something to him, which Void didn't have to guess were meant as Null and her, considering the coin they released. It had likely not gone over well with whoever were in charge that he had failed to notice that thing on them, which had caused a lot of chaos, mind demolitions, and worse. Which meant that whatever were worse than sealing this entire place off were going to be horrid, and it were something that he thought would actively hurt the sisters. Which basically made the only choice whatsoever, to follow the Troy guard, or suffer something unspeakable. At least if she tried going with the guard, she might just be executed instead, though it weren't going to be that easy regardless of that, as there were still something that had to be done in here.

"I-I won't leave w-without my sister! I c-can't... I Need h-her."

(Null)

Grrrr, bloody coward wouldn't get his metallic rear down here to fight her? Why, if she still had her other wing, she would've flown right up there, and torn his circuit out! Weren't there a path up there or something that she could take, whilst they were dealing with this robot and it's yappi-

18 hours ago, Illiad Easle said:

Speaking of which he was no longer in the control room, and it wasn't clear how he had even gotten up there in the first place given it had no access save for a door that left the chamber.

Wait, where'd he go? He couldn't just get away like this! Not after all he had to answer for. There had to be some kind of way up there. Some clue or trail that could be followed so that she could get that bugger down somehow. He didn't deserve to just make it out of here unscathed, and with everything going his way.

She'd look around, mostly oblivious as to what went on with the machine as it were frankly none of her business. It were gonna eject some core, it were likely some kinda metallic doohickey like most other things in here, and so on. They'd be better focusing on getting something done here. Seriously, what could be so important about some dang robot insides?

18 hours ago, Illiad Easle said:

There was a hiss of hydraulics and steam as the machine lowered closer to the ground, a hatch opened out like a mouth, a tongue-like bed further added to the visage as it slid out from the opening, dropping a somewhat familiar looking deer on the floor by Pen, who immediately set about trying to wake it.

Vale's mechanical parts were clear, along with half of her face it seemed both of the legs on her left side were wholly mechanical. Furthermore, her head had a pair of smooth metal plates that seemed embedded in her skull where her horns would be were she a buck, or a reindeer.

This were a conflicted sight for Null. On one hoof, they really had to get to Panic already, and this were wasting time. Yet on the other... She hadn't forgotten this deer. Sure she looked different since there were now all of a sudden some mechanical parts to her, but the face were all the same on the doe that had terrified her sister when they first woke up on the slabs, and Null hadn't forgotten her immense disdain for the lackey and her lies. Now here she were though, exposed as just another one of this place's freaks, if not the main one, considering she appeared to actually be Codex. It would be so easy now to go over and show this brat a piece of her mind... But there were better things to do, and bigger fish to fry.

"Get her up quickly, we have to move."

(dialogue from the late doctor then came)

Null started to stomp into the ground in increasing frustration. Why could this place never just work in her favor, instead of throwing her around like life's big punching bag? Whatever were going to happen now, were directed at Void and her mostly, but were likely against every single thing in here, and unless they got their hooves moving, they would be stuck smack down in the middle of it.

"If you can't carry her and she won't wake, then start running. We're outta time."

If Pen were to take over and *enhance* Null again to be able to drag Vale along, the mare might be more sympathetic of it, though regardless if that'd be the case or not, she wouldn't be attentive enough to avoid it, if this was what Pen wished to do. If not, Null would soon be on her way, not wanting to be stuck down here in the middle of whatever judgement day were going to befall them.

[Illiad Easle 3,139]

@Blitz Boom

[Void]

Despite the mare's entire face being covered by the mask, it seemed clear she was exasperated, she let out a huff before speaking into the box on her shoulder, "Any ID on the other VIP?" There was a pause, then the mare shook her head with another huff of air, "Of course I am." She looked back towards Void, "Seems she's not too far away, presuming they gave you both the same number thing?"

She put a hoof back on her hammer as she began to make her way forward, where the doctor, who was still patching itself up, had come from. "We'll need to be quick though, who knows how much time we have."

The next room was a normal hallway with a pair of broken elevator doors on the left side, the elevator car crushed just below the opening of the doors.

The next hallway smelt of burnt rotten flesh and had the charred remains of a pony sitting in a deactivated Tesla gate. The guard stepped gingerly over it before proceeding. She was moving quickly, but her head was on a constant swivel, seeming to look every which way at once.

[Null]

Pen didn't respond at first, focused on trying to wake Vale the deer. "Go then." She didn't look over at Null, "I'm not leaving her after everything she did for me."

There was the somewhat familiar sound of metal running in the halls, it seemed Panic was back in the hallway, running away.

Vale stirred into wakefullness, the mechanical eye opening to glow with a warm yellow light, she seemed highly disoriented, and by the way she struggled to even get on her hooves it was clear she wouldn't be moving very quickly any time soon.

(As a hint, Panic's going where he tried to get Null to go in the first place.)

[Blitz Boom 4,627]

@Illiad Easle

(Void)

Hearing once again that both Null and her were traced by Troy now, weren't any less sickening the second time around. Neither were it to once again be referenced to as a number, instead of names, yet Void still nodded when she were asked whatever it matched or not. What else did she have in the way of options really? Saying no and leaving her sister behind? That was unthinkable.

As it stood now, they were bound to be either captured, or killed. At least if she assisted this guard, they could face the end together.

Void would follow the guard quickly as they left the beak-faced one to patch up himself, and down a hallway ripe with the sadly all too familiar smell of burned pony, mixed with another smell that she also knew too well. That if rot, which meant that she were not at all surprised as to what they found at the Tesla gate.

Passing that and thankfully not getting roasted themselves, Void did see the constant looking around that the guard did, but who could blame her? This place vould have monsters just jump straight out of the wall to melt or devour you. Not being worried about that were suicidal.

(Null)

"Then get her out if here, and leave Panic to me."

Seemed like the mechanical deer were somehow moving, but doing so in a fashion that made it clear that she wouldn't be able to get out if here fast, and likely not at all if she didn't have any support by Pen. If the two creatures had some sorta connection, then yeah, no way were Pen going to chose Null over Vale, but that didn't mean that Null could just let this go. Panic were the last one who had seen Void, and either she were hurt somewhere because of him, or she had gotten away somehow. Either way, she had to find Panic to find her, and if the worst thing had happened, try to avenge her sister. Weren't like Null would survive without her anyway.

She heard the sound and started to head that way  then halted briefly to look back on Pen and Vale.

"If you see Void, take her with you out of this place. Tell her I'm dead if she won't."

Pen and her were not, and likely never would be, friends, yet that were a beef between them. Void hadn't done anything to deserve ire from the skin crawler, and she Had to get out of here, no matter what. Let Pen have her grievances with Null all she liked. Fine. The mare didn't care. But if Void had gotten away and these two would run into her, they needed to take her with them, and leave Null behind before the whole thing collapsed, pulverized, or whatever else were going to happen.

One way or another, chasing Panic would likely not give her the time needed to escape, but if Null didn't make it out in time, at least she'd be able to face the end knowing that she did everything she could so that Void could get out of this nightmarish place. It might end being the first calm and serene thought the small mare would have had in years.

Weren't time to think about it anyway. Panic were getting away, and with him, perhaps Null's only chance at getting answers and potential vengeance. She hadn't any weapon with her, and physically would likely be snagged like a twig, but it didn't matter. All that did were to find Void and trying to get her out of here, no matter the cost.

So she ran, down the hallway Panic had made noise in. Away from Pen and the scrambling Vale, shouting at the top of her lungs as she made her way:

"PANIIIIC!!!"