private Deep Science 1x1 with Blitz Boom

[Illiad Easle 2,816]

@@Blitz Boom

[Void]

Pen looked surprised by the mention of 900, her eye-holes going wide, though she still spoke with the gentle soft voice. "We can hardly guess what he has planned for her, but no doubt it's something awful, use her to start something even worse." She sighed as she stood back up, though she offered a limb in Void's direction with a smile on her face. "Well, you won't do your sister much good laying there on the floor. Nor if you don't eat something, being in that sleep chamber as long as you were should certainly give you an appetite."

[Null]

"Well 'It' depends on what 'It' is. But I'm feeling generous so I'll give you a variety of answers."

Her SatNav lit up as it was accessed by Panic, revealing the room she started in and the nearby hallways.

"Omega is a U turn to your right, but we can't access it just yet, CODEX has it locked down tight."

"CODEX and your sister are in the Light Containment area, to the south, past the Omega. I don't have a map of that area, and they'll spot you when you enter, but in there is where you can get access via the control room."

"All the subjects, with few notable exceptions, are in their containment cells. Something I intend to rectify as soon as CODEX spots you. The multiple containment breaches will prevent CODEX from doing anything against you until they can be re-contained, and without the staff to help her... It could take a very long time for that."

"Though if you still want to talk with me while in the other area, you'll need to take the radio as well, though you'll have to find some batteries for it too."

[Blitz Boom 4,112]

@Illiad Easle

19 hours ago, Illiad Easle said:

Pen looked surprised by the mention of 900, her eye-holes going wide, though she still spoke with the gentle soft voice. "We can hardly guess what he has planned for her, but no doubt it's something awful, use her to start something even worse." She sighed as she stood back up, though she offered a limb in Void's direction with a smile on her face. "Well, you won't do your sister much good laying there on the floor. Nor if you don't eat something, being in that sleep chamber as long as you were should certainly give you an appetite."

Void wanted to say that she didn't need anything to eat, and that she only cared about her sister, but her growling stomach clearly disagreed with her.

"O-Okay, but we c-can't stay here. Big s-sis needs to be s-saved. I can't... I n-need her."

(After she have been given something to eat)

"...H-How long were I i-in there? A f-few days? A w-week?"

The idea of being a week in that box made her sick and horrified, as the more time passed, the more problems would be in Equestria at their home. Null's feathers only lasted a week, and without their anti.magic to keep the cursed items down, who knew what sort of calamity could befall Ponyville if the two of them were away for over that amount of time? The poor townponies...

It was probably for the best to not tell her how long it had actually been, or anything else that had transpired. Void might be a whole lot harder to work with if her cozy little bubble got burst.

20 hours ago, Illiad Easle said:

"Well 'It' depends on what 'It' is. But I'm feeling generous so I'll give you a variety of answers."

Her SatNav lit up as it was accessed by Panic, revealing the room she started in and the nearby hallways.

"Omega is a U turn to your right, but we can't access it just yet, CODEX has it locked down tight."

"CODEX and your sister are in the Light Containment area, to the south, past the Omega. I don't have a map of that area, and they'll spot you when you enter, but in there is where you can get access via the control room."

"All the subjects, with few notable exceptions, are in their containment cells. Something I intend to rectify as soon as CODEX spots you. The multiple containment breaches will prevent CODEX from doing anything against you until they can be re-contained, and without the staff to help her... It could take a very long time for that."

"Though if you still want to talk with me while in the other area, you'll need to take the radio as well, though you'll have to find some batteries for it too."

So a room guarded by some CODEX gal's code, that contained who-knew-what, and a need for containment breaches to distract whoever CODEX were to what, get the Omega area opened up?

Null were not a trusting pony at the best of times, thinking only that the words of Void were truthful, so she had not trusted this disembodied voice further than she could throw him up to this point, but the level got raised a notch when he refused to answer what this Omega thing were, and just said it was locked down. Nothing good came from somepony that were holding back what they were aiming for, yet as much as she loathed being used like this, Void were her priority above everything else, and she needed to use this voice as long as she could until then. If she'd help the dingbat release whatever that Omega thing truly were would be tested then, but for now, finding her sister were all that mattered.

Glancing down at the SatNav machine she had picked up from the room, she listened in to the babble the Colonel went on about. Sounded like she needed to take a radio too and then look for batteries out there - what was this, a treasure hunt? - to keep some semblance of communication going with the disembodied voice, and that she'd be surrounded by unopened cells full of monsters when she met with CODEX. What a thrilling, lively experience this were...

"So I can't see where I'm going in, and there's going to be monsters everywhere, but I have no weapon? I swear if I ever meet you, I will kick the smirk off your face."

She were more or less being led into a death trap that were just going to get even more dangerous, and Panic were full on confident that leaving her defenseless was going to solve all the problems. True to his name, he truly wanted to spread some panic around, but he could play his little foal tricks until he rotted in here for all Null cared. If CODEX really were between Void and her, and judging by the sound of things, worked here - why else would she try to re-contain things? - then by all means, throw stuff at her and hope it bites. Just for the sake of the sun itself, give the being you were depending on to get your sorry rear anywhere a bucking weapon!

Null would storm out of the room when she had the things and follow the SatNav towards the dead zone. On the way, she'd look out for anything she might be able to harvest some batteries from, as well as anything that could be used as a weapon. She'd take a lead pipe, a half-broken bottle- Just anything she could get her hooves on that could hit or slice, basically.

"So what kind of freaks have you cut loose already? More cursed statues?"

[Illiad Easle 2,816]

@@Blitz Boom

[Void]

Pen seemed pleased that Void was cooperating as a tendril floated a cup of something over to them, though as the tendril approached is seemed stopped by an invisible barrier around Void. Pen took the cup and passed it without difficulty to Void. It seemed to be a sort of soup and was actually pleasant to the taste, it was also warm. The tendril continued trying to approach Void, revealing in its attempts from varying angles that there seemed to be a spherical area around Void that the shadowy tendril could not enter. The tendril hummed in an annoyed manner before returning into Pen, who just smiled, "Don't mind Seen, he just gets frustrated when things don't make sense."

Pen moved for them to get up and leave the room, opening the door to a vacant hallway. "We're not sure exactly how long you've been in there, only CODEX knows that, so we'll have to bring you to her, then we can find out where your sister is and go get her!"

[Null]

"Oh, there's only one statue here, but he's not been too responsive after what You did to him."

As she walked she passed the doorway that Panic had pointed out as the Omega entrence, which was labeled, in faded paint, 'OMEGA Warhead Silo' above a very secure looking door. Though right next to it was a broken security glass window through which the decaying body of a guard lay. The room through the window was small, containing another secure door. The guard's halberd seemed to be in good enough repair, minus the fact that the pole was broken in half. Still it could be used as an ax.

She soon arrived at the chamber lock, "Alright, I'll be opening the door now. Just be warned, if she sees you I'll release the contained creatures I can to distract her. You'll have to move quickly to not get caught up in all of them."

There was a sound, a creaking of old rusted metal, as the door slowly opened to reveal a four directional hallway in much better repair than the area she was leaving.

[Blitz Boom 4,112]

@Illiad Easle

On 11/16/2018 at 3:35 AM, Illiad Easle said:

Pen seemed pleased that Void was cooperating as a tendril floated a cup of something over to them, though as the tendril approached is seemed stopped by an invisible barrier around Void. Pen took the cup and passed it without difficulty to Void. It seemed to be a sort of soup and was actually pleasant to the taste, it was also warm. The tendril continued trying to approach Void, revealing in its attempts from varying angles that there seemed to be a spherical area around Void that the shadowy tendril could not enter. The tendril hummed in an annoyed manner before returning into Pen, who just smiled, "Don't mind Seen, he just gets frustrated when things don't make sense."

Pen moved for them to get up and leave the room, opening the door to a vacant hallway. "We're not sure exactly how long you've been in there, only CODEX knows that, so we'll have to bring you to her, then we can find out where your sister is and go get her!"

It wasn't the best soup that Void had ever tasted, but beggars couldn't be choosers, and it really wasn't all that bad. Plus, it was warm. That counted for something. 

She could do without the attempted tendril prodding though... Even if Seen - whatever he were - couldn't touch Void, as apparently he was comprised of mainly magic of a likely dark variant, it was still unnerving to have these tendrils attempt to interact with her like that. Being told that it wasn't from the creature that Void were able to see  but instead from a separate entity, hiding eithin Pen, wasn't helping that either.

After she were done gulping down the soup in a somewhat quick manner - depending on the texture and heat - Void would put the cup down on the floor, and tentatively follow the two-in-one deal that were currently leading the charge. Not something she enjoyed, but for the sake of finding Null before the pegasus got hurt, she had to follow.

"O-Okay  but... W-Who or what is C-CODEX? Another m-monster?"

Void felt pale as the thoughts about going into a room just to be feed to some kind of big, cruel monster came to mind. It shouldn't be something to even consider a possibility, but... How could she not think that, with everything else this horrid place had done? The statue alone had tried to kill her,  and now she were going off to see something else they had in this place? Without Null even, but with these... Things instead? It didn't feel right. Nothing about this place, or anypony within it, ever would. Especially not as long as her big sister wasn't there to comfort her.

On 11/16/2018 at 3:35 AM, Illiad Easle said:

"Oh, there's only one statue here, but he's not been too responsive after what You did to him."

"That statue tried to take my sisters eye out. A few days of slumping over is far less than it deserves."

Dark thoughts involving said statue and the bat pony researcher that had seemingly set that particular test in motion, tied to a stick and used as a hammer, came to mind. If Null hadn't been so infuriated and desperate to finding Void, she might've cracked a cruel smile at the imagery, but she just didn't have it in her right now to find any sort of joy, even if it were tainted with well deserved violence.

On 11/16/2018 at 3:35 AM, Illiad Easle said:

As she walked she passed the doorway that Panic had pointed out as the Omega entrence, which was labeled, in faded paint, 'OMEGA Warhead Silo' above a very secure looking door. Though right next to it was a broken security glass window through which the decaying body of a guard lay. The room through the window was small, containing another secure door. The guard's halberd seemed to be in good enough repair, minus the fact that the pole was broken in half. Still it could be used as an ax.

Looking around the rundown dump of a hall she were in, Null noticed two things somewhat quickly. The first being the door to the Omega room that the voice had been mentioning before, along with the word *Warhead*. What that were, Null had no idea, but it sounded like something menacing. Some sort of cursed item that instilled violence? Wouldn't be the first of those things she would've run into if it were. Regardless, it had to be something along those lines, considering the word *War* were part of it.

Had this something to do with 900 and his little visions about ponies fighting, or that bomb attack? She didn't know, but this weren't exactly making her more fond of Panic, that was for sure.

The second thing she saw though, were something she were far more interested in: A corpse. Or rather,  the halberd with a broken pole that it was holding. Wandering over to the door, she'd either go through if it were open, or push something over and clear some glass away from the windoe before hopping in if it wasn't, and ignoring the all-too-familiar smell of decay and rot that came from a corpse in this state, before knicking what were at this point best described as an axe, and getting out of the room. As for the corpse, she didn't care in the sligtest. Why, how or when didn't matter when it was likely somepony that worked here, which meant that they got what they deserved.

On 11/16/2018 at 3:35 AM, Illiad Easle said:

She soon arrived at the chamber lock, "Alright, I'll be opening the door now. Just be warned, if she sees you I'll release the contained creatures I can to distract her. You'll have to move quickly to not get caught up in all of them."

There was a sound, a creaking of old rusted metal, as the door slowly opened to reveal a four directional hallway in much better repair than the area she was leaving.

"Whatever. Just don't think I'll leave your pets alone if they get in my way."

Irritating voice... Bah, to Tartarus with him. There was another, cleaner area to wander through (getting towards the main area) so she'd keep focus there for now. Likely for the best to hug the walls in there, to keep out of sight.

[Illiad Easle 2,816]

@@Blitz Boom

(Time to get jiggy)

"Another monster?" Pen turned back to look at Void with an annoyed expression as they kept walking. "Do you consider yourself a monster? Neither do I, and neither is Seen. There are monsters here yes, terrible creatures full of hate and death. THOSE are the ones meant to be kept here, WE" she gestured to the three of them, "just got caught up in the mix, Anomalies is all, different, but not evil... necessarily."

She sighed, "CODEX is another anomaly like us, something that got packed away for being different, but ever since she took control from the last director things have been different, better even! Anomalies like us work with her to keep the monsters contained, conditioning the tamer ones so they can stop being monsters." She shrugged, "It's been very slow going with some of those kept here, THOSE are the ones that Panic will release if he takes control. He'll destroy the world."

The hallways seemed to be improving in quality as they walked, although there was no sign of anyone else around, the halls were absolutely clean of any trace of dust.

[Null]

The first room she entered was a T room with a hallway extending to the left and right, a large puddle of some weird black ooze seemed to dominate the center of the room.

She could hear faint whispers that seemed to come from the center of the ooze, it was a grating feeling, like tiny hooks dragging across her skull that tried to drag her into the puddle.

Hugging the walls though she could easily make it around the puddle without touching it.

However, (I assume she move to pass out of the room as there is no reason for her to stay)

As the door opened to the next room, a sound like something rising from a kiddie pool filled with mucus came from the ooze as a equine head emerged, slowly, from the floor.

As some of the mucus-like ooze dripped from the head as it continued to rise it took on the appearance of a sort of changeling, though a bit larger than any she would have seen before.

A blood red eye with a diagonal slit pupil revealed itself from behind another drop of the tar-like ooze, its mouth open in a silent cry as a hole filled foreleg stretched out in her direction.

In a minute the whole body had emerged from the hole and began to pursue, at a leisurely pace, Null. But who could tell how far she had gotten since the creature began emerging.

(If she went left she would go through a straight hallway and then the information area where she and Void had been led to the evacuation shelter.)

(If she went right she would reach a giant metal door blocking her path forward, with a small elevator door marked storage access #3 to her left)

Regardless a voice came over the radio, very faint and cracking, a clear indication that the battery already inside was failing, "....shouldn't be there.... get moving.... eat you up." Was all that could be heard.

[Null & Void]

Another voice rang out in the halls, ever so slightly feminine in nature, though also sounding slightly bored over the standard mechanical sound. "Containment breach, Es One Zero Six, Light containment area. Area lockdown initiated."

A series of alarms followed as well as a flickering and dimming of the lights.

"Multiple containment breaches. Full site lockdown in effect. Distress signal sent. All personel should proceed to the nearest evacuation shelter, and remember their safety instructions for the following escaped Anomolies: C-96, C-79, C-173, C-49, C-66, S-106, P-372, S-939, C-1048, S-1048-1, and S-55."

[Void]

Pen looked scared as she moved closer to Void. "Oh... this isn't good."

They were in a T room, with a hallway continuing onward, and a door to the left.

[Blitz Boom 4,112]

@Illiad Easle

23 hours ago, Illiad Easle said:

"Another monster?" Pen turned back to look at Void with an annoyed expression as they kept walking. "Do you consider yourself a monster? Neither do I, and neither is Seen. There are monsters here yes, terrible creatures full of hate and death. THOSE are the ones meant to be kept here, WE" she gestured to the three of them, "just got caught up in the mix, Anomalies is all, different, but not evil... necessarily."

""Everypony w-who works here are m-monsters. They s-stole our lives once a-already, and when we're f-finally starting to become h-happy again, they t-took it away, and h-hurt us. At l-least the cursed i-items do evil because t-they were m-made for it, but e-everypony here chooses to w-work in a place that s-steals away ponies just to e-experiment on them, and call them t-things. It's a p-place of monsters."

Void had lowered her head as the retaliation from the two strange creatures came, as if she were expecting them to hurt her, but it seemed to just stay at words right now, thankfully. The tentacle thing might not be able to touch her, but the main body likely could, and though she could hit hard, Void weren't a fighter, and especially not without her weapon. She'd be overtaken  in seconds by anypony who knew how to really brawl.

23 hours ago, Illiad Easle said:

"CODEX is another anomaly like us, something that got packed away for being different, but ever since she took control from the last director things have been different, better even! Anomalies like us work with her to keep the monsters contained, conditioning the tamer ones so they can stop being monsters." She shrugged, "It's been very slow going with some of those kept here, THOSE are the ones that Panic will release if he takes control. He'll destroy the world."

"900 s-said that he couldn't b-be let out... B-but if he have Null, p-perhaps he can? Big s-sis might let h-him out if it meant that T-Troy would suffer. I don't... I just w-want to live in p-peace, away from all the e-evil of Troy, but she c-can't forgive."

It was hard for Void to forgive either really, and she would likely never come to a point where she could actually do so, but she had wished to leave it behind her, and get on with her life. Away from this country, and all the horrors that came from it. Was it really too much to ask for to just leave this place to fester in its own filth, long as they left them alone? Null thought so, and if it weren't because she had sworn that she would never willingly go back here, it were likely that she would have taken them back towards this place eventually just to dump a lot of cursed items at the border, and watch the country rot away beneath their hooves. Figuratively, as well as literally, depending on if it were before or after they found item 37. The kind of things that you could find in Harrowmark... A frightening country, and though small, one that they had gotten a half dozen really dangerous things from in a relatively short time. Hopefully they wouldn't be loose in Ponyville.

She spared some degree of a thought towards the notion that CODEX had taken over from the last director, though not really in the sense that a change would mean a substantial amount of time must have surely passed, but more towards it enforcing her point about this place being a place where monsters worked, and making her feel spooked about having to meet whatever twisted mind actually ran this place now. She were starting to open her muzzle to ask something about CODEX though, when something suddenly happened that made the words wither in her muzzle, eyes to light up fully with fear. (switching to Null for now)

On 11/19/2018 at 10:58 PM, Illiad Easle said:

The first room she entered was a T room with a hallway extending to the left and right, a large puddle of some weird black ooze seemed to dominate the center of the room.

She could hear faint whispers that seemed to come from the center of the ooze, it was a grating feeling, like tiny hooks dragging across her skull that tried to drag her into the puddle.

Hugging the walls though she could easily make it around the puddle without touching it.

Urgh, this must be what others felt around item 32 in their collection. Just a constant pull on your mind to go over and make contact. What could go wrong right? Nothing wrong with a plush bear, or in this case, a puddle. Almost made you want to go and jump around in it.

But Null weren't buying it, and just kept on her wall clinging route, taking the long way away from being anywhere near touching this now-whispering thing. Frankly it were becoming more obviously a bad thing right now than the plush bear who paralyzed anypony touching it and ate them alive, though that didn't really matter so much as staying away from the creepy whispers. She had more important things to do than to become slime food, or whatever would happen if she got closer to the big puddle of nope.

On 11/19/2018 at 10:58 PM, Illiad Easle said:

As the door opened to the next room, a sound like something rising from a kiddie pool filled with mucus came from the ooze as a equine head emerged, slowly, from the floor.

As some of the mucus-like ooze dripped from the head as it continued to rise it took on the appearance of a sort of changeling, though a bit larger than any she would have seen before.

A blood red eye with a diagonal slit pupil revealed itself from behind another drop of the tar-like ooze, its mouth open in a silent cry as a hole filled foreleg stretched out in her direction.

In a minute the whole body had emerged from the hole and began to pursue, at a leisurely pace, Null. But who could tell how far she had gotten since the creature began emerging.

"Are you actually serious right now?"

Null didn't speak to anypony in particular as she saw the head of the slowly surfacing goo changeling pop up and glance in her general direction. She had turned around to see what the sound she heard were, thinking that perhaps it were some kind of spy, but nope. It were the worse race she had ever met, represented in goo, mixed with every nightmare imaginable. This was the sort of thing that she wouldn't touch with a sixty foot pole, and as it reached its hoof out towards her, she went *nope* and went straight away out of the room, now with some more haste to herself. That thing might seem slow, but how long would that last? Were it even going to keep chasing her? She didn't know, and there was not enough gold in the world to convince her to stay behind and find out. That thing were creepy, and definitely dangerous.

On 11/19/2018 at 10:58 PM, Illiad Easle said:

Regardless a voice came over the radio, very faint and cracking, a clear indication that the battery already inside was failing, "....shouldn't be there.... get moving.... eat you up." Was all that could be heard.

"Aren't you a dandy ray of doom-shine?"

The cold, sarcastic comment were said to the radio, though she guessed that he probably didn't hear it. Battery sounded about ready to give out, so unless she found some new ones soon, she'd be on her own, and this thing wouldn't be worth more than a blunt instrument to throw at folks.

Considering so many reasons that it were getting annoyed to keep track of it, Null got on her way quickly, and took a wild stab in the dark with a right turn at the split path. She stooped up briefly to pull out a down and put on the floor, just in case it might ward off the creepy goo that may still be headed for her, but beyond that, there were no delay.

On 11/19/2018 at 10:58 PM, Illiad Easle said:

(If she went right she would reach a giant metal door blocking her path forward, with a small elevator door marked storage access #3 to her left)

So now there were a great big door blocking her path... How she longed for her blow darts in situations like this, but of course, all she had were the *axe* she now carried, and that would be about as effective against this door as a water balloon against a volcano eruption.

Seemed like there were a storage area though, but would this hunk of junk even work? She'd have to get in and try, and then hopefully, she'd find something useful in whatever that storage access were. Seemed like some kind of a plan. And then of course, things got nasty...

On 11/19/2018 at 10:58 PM, Illiad Easle said:

"Containment breach, Es One Zero Six, Light containment area. Area lockdown initiated."

The sisters reactions were basically the same at hearing this, as they could both remember the aftermath of this thing being loose the last time. Whereas Null were a bit more infuriated than Void's immediate fear, the thought that they were all in so much trouble now, were shared between them, and did not exactly diminish when the speakers began rambling on again.

On 11/19/2018 at 10:58 PM, Illiad Easle said:

"Multiple containment breaches. Full site lockdown in effect. Distress signal sent. All personel should proceed to the nearest evacuation shelter, and remember their safety instructions for the following escaped Anomolies: C-96, C-79, C-173, C-49, C-66, S-106, P-372, S-939, C-1048, S-1048-1, and S-55."

The numbers meant nothing, but if they were anything like 106, this were going to be a massive issue, and one which caused Void to scuttle closer to the creatures she had so far feared the most since waking up, and Null to pound on whatever kind of system should make the elevator move, to try and hurry it up, or find out that it were broken and that she had to run in another direction, and fast. It wasn't going to be safe for her younger sister with all these things loose. Not when she were all on her own, and potentially used as a guinea pig by somepony working here.

On 11/19/2018 at 10:58 PM, Illiad Easle said:

Pen looked scared as she moved closer to Void. "Oh... this isn't good."

They were in a T room, with a hallway continuing onward, and a door to the left.

They'd either bump into one another as they both moved closer to the other, or almost, depending on Seen's reaction to being in Null's vicinity. Might make for him making Pen move away, as a self-preservation move.

"We h-have to get o-out of here. I've s-seen what 106 does, and I-I don't wanna be rotten a-away. W-Which way are we g-going?"

[Illiad Easle 2,816]

@@Blitz Boom

(I just realized that I miswrote a bit, it isn't anything major, just the dream guy is 990, not 900 as 900 is actually Atlantis.)

[Void]

Pen seemed like she wanted to retort something before the alarm sounded, but it was clear the announcement had changed her mind on the subject. "Now if you're unlucky you'll meet the real monsters of this place."

Pen started to move back the way they had come, when all the doors around them closed, though Pen didn't seem to be too fazed by it. "Standard lockdown procedure, all the doors close to try and keep any breaches from getting too far as many have difficulty opening or going through doors, luckily a manual button is found by most of them to give us access."

As she reached the door they came from Seen extended to press the button and the door opened with a hiss to reveal another T room, path forward and left.

(Assuming she goes with them.)

Seen closed the door behind them once they were all through. "We need to get to CODEX, but in a lockdown we can't get in her chamber, so we either need to get a level five card to override her door, or end the lockdown."

She moved to the left door, "We'll just need to get to the security room first, and see how bad it is, then we can decide what to do."

[Null]

The elevator mechanism groaned in protest, like it hadn't been used in years, but the doors closed and she could feel that it was going down.

The whispers in her mind slowly dropped off as it descended, until she couldn't feel or hear them any more.

With a thud the elevator stopped and the doors opened to a dark and dusty hallway that, in the distance and shadows, seemed to go to the left in just a few lengths.

Slight thuds could be heard deeper in the darkness, not unlike the steps of a griffon, complete with the slight sound of the tapping of talons on metal. "What was that?"

(I'll give you warnings to SCPs you're about to encounter so you can get familiar with them and let me know if I'm playing them right or if I could stand to improve. Void's coming up on 049, and Null's coming up on 939)

[Blitz Boom 4,112]

@Illiad Easle

7 hours ago, Illiad Easle said:

"Standard lockdown procedure, all the doors close to try and keep any breaches from getting too far as many have difficulty opening or going through doors, luckily a manual button is found by most of them to give us access."

Void had nearly jumped out of her own skin when she saw the doors close behind them, sure that this were a trap, and that now she were going to be killed. Or well, considering this place, perhaps death were too kind of a fate to hope for.

Pen's words soothed her somewhat, but she were still on edge, and very fidgety as she slowly swallowed what felt like a golf ball with spikes. She really needed Null here to calm her down some, yet for once, she had to get through this on her own, as her big sister weren't here, but instead somewhere in this nightmare facility, stolen away and relying on Void to come save her, instead of the other way around like it mostly happened.

The only beings here that she could get near were Pen and Seen, and that wouldn't work, as they still scared her, and she didn't trust them more than she had to.

7 hours ago, Illiad Easle said:

As she reached the door they came from Seen extended to press the button and the door opened with a hiss to reveal another T room, path forward and left.

(Assuming she goes with them.)

Seen closed the door behind them once they were all through. "We need to get to CODEX, but in a lockdown we can't get in her chamber, so we either need to get a level five card to override her door, or end the lockdown."

She moved to the left door, "We'll just need to get to the security room first, and see how bad it is, then we can decide what to do."

So finding a security card, or fighting monsters? Void didn't like these options a single bit, though if she had to choose, the card sounded like less chances for them to perish in terrible, terrible ways. Plus if they had to make a run for it later, in case the sisters were attempted imprisoned again, that card could perhaps get them out, right? The level 2 they stole had... Wait.

"C-Can a level 2 c-card do anything? My s-sister have one from b-before we got put in the b-boxes."

Void would follow Pen and Seen where they went, as she had no other options to work with here, but her thoughts were still on her sister and how she might do in this place. Hopefully she were going to be okay...

8 hours ago, Illiad Easle said:

The elevator mechanism groaned in protest, like it hadn't been used in years, but the doors closed and she could feel that it was going down.

The whispers in her mind slowly dropped off as it descended, until she couldn't feel or hear them any more.

A moment of relief now it seemed, as she got out of reach of the annoying pressure on her mind and travelled towards wherever this elavator were going. A storage facility it seemed, but who could really tell with this place? She might end directly in a furnace for all she knew.

Null let out a deep sigh and sat down, a hoof placed on her head, and through gritted teeth thought about where Void were, and how she were doing. If she had to think rationally about it, Void were probably somewhat safe, as this hell hole seemed to want them alive to run their experiments on them, but just thinking about the things that they could be doing to her made Null's blood boil.

Rising up, she kicked the nearest wall in frustration, and let out a frustrated *Aaaargh!*. It wss torture to her to be away from her sister for this long, when Void potentially were in danger, and scared out of her mind. She needed to find her, and quickly, no matter the cost.

8 hours ago, Illiad Easle said:

With a thud the elevator stopped and the doors opened to a dark and dusty hallway that, in the distance and shadows, seemed to go to the left in just a few lengths.

Slight thuds could be heard deeper in the darkness, not unlike the steps of a griffon, complete with the slight sound of the tapping of talons on metal. "What was that?"

The elevator arrived before the thoughts could consume her too much, but Null were in a sour, foul mood as she arrived at the run down, dark hallway. Another long trip it seemed, and all just to try and find some batteries to get this Panic annoyance to actually help her get Void back, before the monsters he set loose ended up getting her. She already wanted to beat the teeth out of his muzzle for releasing them before Void were secure in the first place, but Celestia help him if her sister got as much as a scratch on her...

She had barely taken a step in before she heard the sound of somepony else moving in here. Skmething with claws from the sound of it, or talons, which likely meant some sort of horrid monster, a griffon, or a dragon. It didn't sound heavy enough to be a dragon, but some of those were pretty limber in it, so it weren't easy to be sure. Personally she'd bet on a griffon, especially as the low voice she heard weren't gruff enough to be your typical dragon's, but why wait and find out what might be in there, waiting to ambush her? Whatever it were had already heard her, so it wasn't like she could sneak away unseen or unheard.

"Stop lurking around and show yourself! I am Not in a mood to deal with some low life trying an ambush in the dark."

After her loud outburst, the axe handle were clenched tightly in her muzzle, as Null began wandering slowly inside, ready to strike at the first thing that looked even a little like it wanted to attack her. Either she were going to get some information now, somepony who ran away, or her first of likely many victims who had the audicity to stand in her way.

[Illiad Easle 2,816]

@@Blitz Boom

[Void]

Pen put a hoof to her muzzle as she kept walking. "Well, that would get her a few places, at least a few places where she could get a better card."

Seen pushed a card out of Pen's mouth hole via a dark tendril into her hoof as she approached a card reader. It was a level three card.

The door opened to reveal a stairway upward, which Pen ascended. The room above was filled with a few rows of some sort of mechanical blocks, a faint whirring could be heard from each of them and there were a few blinking lights among them. The stairway door closed behind them as Pen moved between the rows of machines to another key door, which she opened with another swipe of the card.

The next room had a pair of chairs and a number of large panels which showed pictures of other rooms in the facility, about half of the panels were blank, and a number of the others seemed damaged or out of focus.

Pen stared intently at a few of the panels, a few moving shapes could be seen, but they were moving slowly. Pen didn't notice, but one of the panels showed a sort of goo covered creature leaving a black trail behind it.

Pen eventually sighed as she turned away from the monitor, "There's just too many of them, I can't hope to re-contain even half of them much less all of them. We'll need to go to P-914 to get a better card than this one so we can get to CODEX. It shouldn..."

From behind them there was the sound of the stairway door opening. Pen's head darted back to the panels as a glimpse of what looked like a pony in a black robe and a pointed mask entered the stairway. "Oh four nine"

Pen motioned that Void should remain silent as they creeped back into the room with the machines.

"Don't be afraid." The voice was low, and sounded like whoever it was was speaking through a metal tube.

[Null]

The shuffling stopped momentarily, before it started again, a bit faster, and moving in her direction. "Is someone there?" The voice had a hint of panic to it, which didn't seem to match the pace of the shuffling.

Soon enough she reached the corner of the hallway, and was able to look into a larger room filled with a number of containers, as well as a large red creature moving in her direction, it seemed to start moving faster now that it had been spotted, "Oh Stars how did They GET OUT" The voice clearly came from the creature, though the panic clearly wasn't from the creature. a mimic perhaps?

The creature didn't look to have eyes, but it did have way too many teeth.

[Blitz Boom 4,112]

@Illiad Easle

17 hours ago, Illiad Easle said:

The next room had a pair of chairs and a number of large panels which showed pictures of other rooms in the facility, about half of the panels were blank, and a number of the others seemed damaged or out of focus.

Pen stared intently at a few of the panels, a few moving shapes could be seen, but they were moving slowly. Pen didn't notice, but one of the panels showed a sort of goo covered creature leaving a black trail behind it.

So Null had been right it seemed. They were being watched, just like everywhere else here were. Or should be at least, judging by the number of screens. Whatever had broken out must have made a mess of their surveillance pretty quickly, or they just had a shoddy system that broke down far too easily. Otherwise, how could so little be shown when they would surely normally have a functional set of everything? It hadn't been more than a few days since Null and Void had been caught, so surely, these things must have been targeted. That... That was definitely the reason, yes.

There was another option to this, but Void refused to think about it, because it was simply too horrible in her mind. She were fine, Null were fine, and it had just been a few days. A week at most. Most definitely no more than that... S-She'd have grown older if that was the case! See? That was proof...

Amidst Void struggling with Denial, Pen and Seen wandered over what were going on, and what their options were, which sadly seemed to be to go out there, basically blind to whatever were going on, and hoping they could find a security card that were better than what they had right now.

17 hours ago, Illiad Easle said:

"There's just too many of them, I can't hope to re-contain even half of them much less all of them. We'll need to go to P-914 to get a better card than this one so we can get to CODEX. It shouldn..."

Void felt her heart skip a beat as Pen stopped talking, having heard the same thing that stopped the mannequin beings from talking, though she didn't see what were on the screen. It was probably for the better, as her whimpering and crying wasn't going to help them stay any more hidden from whatever were coming for them. 049 it sounded like, which were hopefully nothing as horrid as whatever 106 were. Void didn't want to rot away and dangle from some sort of dark pool in the ceiling.

18 hours ago, Illiad Easle said:

Pen motioned that Void should remain silent as they creeped back into the room with the machines.

"Don't be afraid." The voice was low, and sounded like whoever it was was speaking through a metal tube.

Void had followed quickly along as Pen had said to move along, thinking that she were taking the lesser of two evils by doing so, though as soon as that voice came around, the small hair on the back of her mane started to rise, and she scurried over to hide behind Pen and Seen. Whatever were coming, they knew what it were, so surely they would know how to deal with it, right? She'd just have to put these two between herself and the unknown thing that were sending off all kinds of bad vibes with the voice alone, and let them handle it. They'd have a better chance to make it away alive then.

18 hours ago, Illiad Easle said:

The shuffling stopped momentarily, before it started again, a bit faster, and moving in her direction. "Is someone there?" The voice had a hint of panic to it, which didn't seem to match the pace of the shuffling.

Soon enough she reached the corner of the hallway, and was able to look into a larger room filled with a number of containers, as well as a large red creature moving in her direction, it seemed to start moving faster now that it had been spotted, "Oh Stars how did They GET OUT" The voice clearly came from the creature, though the panic clearly wasn't from the creature. a mimic perhaps?

The creature didn't look to have eyes, but it did have way too many teeth.

"..."

Null tried to find some sort of phrase that were sufficient enough to describe this situation, but she was failing spectacularly in find a short sentence or few words that would describe how much *nope* this creature were, and how bad her situation were.

See, normally she would just look at this and turn around to go back the way she came, but up there were the goo creature, which left her between two hard rocks. Either she'd go up and be goo food, or she'd stay here and try her luck either slipping past or fighting this... Thing. Whatever it were, it had too many teeth to be comfortable, and judging from the voices, it either lured in prey with voices like that, or it ate beings and their last screams were heard coming from its being. Either one of those seemed like a bad thing honestly, but at least this one looked corporeal, so if she had to pick... The red monster here were possible to hit perhaps.

First though, it didn't seem to have eyes and she were small, so she'd attempt to try and sneak past it. With the amount of containers, if she were quick, she might be able to get through this area by running and using those as shelters, and in case the thing got near her, then the axe in her muzzle would have to come to its right.

Time to see if she could sneak first though... (You can control her movements in the next part. Permission granted)

[Illiad Easle 2,816]

@@Blitz Boom

[Void]

It seemed they had been quiet enough, as whatever was on the other side of the room started moving again, in the direction of the monitor room. Pen seemed to be planning something as she retrieved her card, but then thought better of it as she put it back through her mouth hole. She motioned silently for Void to follow them, the very faint sound of moving air all that accompanied Pen's movements. In fact, IF Void (were so inclined and at all interested) to look closely she (could potentially and in a totally non obligatory manner) notice that Pen wasn't actually making contact with the floor, but rather floating above it.

Void however did not have that luxury and would have to step carefully in order to avoid making a sound.

Though despite their efforts, once they reached the stairs, Pen noticed something she had forgotten,

The stairway camera.

As soon as they entered the stairway the creature would know where they were, and they would have to make a break for it to escape it.

Pen whispered as much to Void. "Alright once we reach the bottom of the stairs, take off running to the left." But she pointed rather emphatically to the right.

Not waiting for a response Pen started moving down the stairs at a rather fast rate.

(Whichever direction Void chooses, Pen goes the opposite as she is very bad with right/left directions. I think splitting them up is a great way for Void to actually make choices and find things without just following Pen around.)

[Null]

She likely hadn't accounted for the amount of noise her hooves would make on the metal flooring, which was near deafening before she slowed her pace to walk a bit more nimbly. She quickly jumped atop one of the boxes, luckily landing without making more noise, as one of the creatures thundered past where she had just been.

From atop the boxes she could see that the storage room was rectangular, the hallway she had come in from to her far left, an open elevator shaft directly in front of her, and a doorway both to the right and left of her on the near side of the room. The one on the left seemed to just be a room, but the one on the right seemed to be another hallway.

The first creature was making its way round the perimeter of the room, while the second one seemed to be resting in the far right corner, or dead.

There was a strange looking horseshoe on the floor in about the middle of the room, in a long dried puddle of blood.

[Blitz Boom 4,112]

@Illiad Easle

On 11/25/2018 at 5:52 PM, Illiad Easle said:

It seemed they had been quiet enough, as whatever was on the other side of the room started moving again, in the direction of the monitor room. Pen seemed to be planning something as she retrieved her card, but then thought better of it as she put it back through her mouth hole. She motioned silently for Void to follow them, the very faint sound of moving air all that accompanied Pen's movements.

Void wasn't sure what were going on, but she wasn't going to take any chances by doing something stupid, such as making too much noise. She had been around the world enough to know how dangerous making sound at the wrong time could be, though she couldn't avoid making any at all unfortunately.

As much as Null did her best in creating Void's artificial leg, it were still wooden, and because it needed stability - plus Null lacked the materials to test this out properly - it couldn't be padded in the bottom. As such, a small amount of clacking against the floor were inevitable, though it were very low, as Void did whatever she could to thread carefully, and not put much support on her false leg. Easier said than done, but the fear of what might jump out and eat her were a great motivator. It did take almost all of her focus to ensure that this were done right though, so she didn't notice that Pen weren't technically touching the floor. She just spared a few thoughts on how jealous she were that the pony-like creature could move so silently. In times like this, that would have been rather helpful for the mare to do as well.

On 11/25/2018 at 5:52 PM, Illiad Easle said:

Pen whispered as much to Void. "Alright once we reach the bottom of the stairs, take off running to the left." But she pointed rather emphatically to the right.

Void gulped, and opened her muzzle to ask which way the two-in-one deal actually wanted her to go, but she decided to just keep quiet and follow Pen. It were the smart thing to do to just follow and try to keep up.

At least it would have been, if Pen didn't suddenly rush off, leaving Void with a heart rate that was now increasing rapidly as she glanced at Pen moving away, dumbfounded that it seemed like the creature were actually leaving her behind.

It felt like a jolt when through her as the thought of being left behind with whatever had passed into the security room before suddenly rushed into her mind, and Void set into a run, not thinking about much but just doing what she had been told before. That being, taking a left, and keep running. Pen could catch up to her soon enough, but Void needed to find a place where she could duck and cover, to try and convince herself that whoever had been after them before, would have given up going for the mare with the false leg clacking away on the floor.

Soon as she'd find something she could in or behind, she'd halt there. Provided of course that she didn't run into some kind of monster, in which case she'd promptly try and run in another direction, even if it meant backwards. Depended on what she may encounter.

On 11/25/2018 at 5:52 PM, Illiad Easle said:

She likely hadn't accounted for the amount of noise her hooves would make on the metal flooring, which was near deafening before she slowed her pace to walk a bit more nimbly. She quickly jumped atop one of the boxes, luckily landing without making more noise, as one of the creatures thundered past where she had just been.

Okay, for once, Null were actually happy that she didn't have Void with her.

There were nothing that she wouldn't do for her sister, but in a room like this, that would've had to include using herself as bait, since everything would work against her younger sister here. The floor being metal would just amplify the sound of her false leg, her larger size would make it difficult for her to jump upon boxes such as this, and generally speaking, her penance for screeching at incoming danger would have gotten them killed in an instant, as it seemed like this freak were going by sound. Off the floor like this, Null would likely be able to make less of that, especially now that she were aware of the hunting technique of the thing, and for once she would actually be thankful that she were smaller than a regular pegasus. Not a lot of sound you made when you weren't all that heavy.

Granted, some other times it were a boon too, but mostly it just made her feel even more crushed by everything and everypony, as not only hadn't she the option of flying, but she also had to be the size of a young teenager, and be both literally and figuratively looked down upon.

Bah, enough with thoughts like that. She had to think here, and fast, before this thing found her. The voices before might work as some kind of sonar, so this wasn't a time to stroll down memory lane. Or the mean streets of Tartarus, as she'd put it.

On 11/25/2018 at 5:52 PM, Illiad Easle said:

From atop the boxes she could see that the storage room was rectangular, the hallway she had come in from to her far left, an open elevator shaft directly in front of her, and a doorway both to the right and left of her on the near side of the room. The one on the left seemed to just be a room, but the one on the right seemed to be another hallway.

The first creature was making its way round the perimeter of the room, while the second one seemed to be resting in the far right corner, or dead.

So there were three options. Four if she included going over and poking the second of these things with a stick to see if it'd bite, but that would be about as dumb as starting to sing right now, so again: Three options. An open elevator shaft, a hallway, and a door into who-knew-what.

That last one weren't an option, as she might end up trapping herself if it was a closed room, so it were between a hallway where potentially more of these things lurked - or it could be a blind end - or going into the elevator shaft and climb up the rope/side, depending on if the cord had snapped. The issue there of course, being the obvious *if the elevator suddenly started to move, how crushed would she get?* It was risky, but... Might end up being the safest option.

Either way, she'd have to decide fast, as the first one had started to move around, seemingly to catch her -

On 11/25/2018 at 5:52 PM, Illiad Easle said:

There was a strange looking horseshoe on the floor in about the middle of the room, in a long dried puddle of blood

- and she definitely did not want to add to that stain by overstaying her welcome.

She'd try and sneak closer to the shaft to have a look there first, as it were closer, but she had to make sure to both try and stay clear of the floor, and thread lightly here. Hopefully she wouldn't be faced with the strong chance of getting a faceful of elevator for her issues, though if the creatures began chasing after her for still making too much noise, she might have to take the risk regardless. Might also be an option to throw the axe as a distraction, but she'd have to see where things led. It were something at least though, and a far better option that the card hidden in her hat. She were likely going to need that somewhere in this place.

[Illiad Easle 2,816]

@Blitz Boom

[Void]

(She'd stop in one of three places, in this order)

(If she stops at #1)

She skidded to a halt in front of a strange arch in the hallway right as the arch filled with a massive amount of electricity, leaving the air smelling of electricity.

(If she ran blindly forward)

There was a faint humming sound that grew in intensity as she ran, a large shock sounded as she ran through a strange arch in the hallway, filling the air with the smell of singed hair as it burned the end of her tail.

(If she continues, to stop at #2)

A sickening sound came from above her, like something moving through jelly, before a decayed equine body fell from the ceiling into the middle of the T hallway.

(If she keeps running anyway)

She finally saw an open door she could hide in.

Within there was another door with a button next to it labelled Light Testing Room. The antechamber was small, and contained only a small, locked, chest.

[Null]

It seemed luck was in her favor for once, as the creatures did not react to her movement towards the elevator shaft. Unfortunately it seemed her luck ended there as the shaft had clearly not been used in years, rust covered most surfaces, especially the service ladder. Plus the elevator seemed to be stuck halfway to the level she came from.

In short, it didn't look like a viable way up.

The moving creature sounded like it was about to come around the row of boxes into the center area.

[Blitz Boom 4,112]

@Illiad Easle

22 hours ago, Illiad Easle said:

There was a faint humming sound that grew in intensity as she ran, a large shock sounded as she ran through a strange arch in the hallway, filling the air with the smell of singed hair as it burned the end of her tail.

Void hadn't meant to stop already, but there wasn't any way that she couldn't notice her tail getting singed, which caused her to automatically stop up and look back at the smoldering tip of her silvery tail, which she promptly began stomping on, just in case there were some fire in there that were going to spread. She might work much on her appearance on a day to day basis, but having her tail potentially burn away would still be a horrid thing for her to try and get used to, and wouldn't look good on her. Plus, if it started to burn, it might reach her flank and leave burn marks, or catch her leg on fire. She already had too many damages. It wasn't fair if she had to deal with third degree burns too.

It seemed to not be too bad, though she was definitely not going back the way she came, or she might end up having her coat catch fire next. And... Wasn't it kind of safer to be on this side of whatever had gone on? Surely whatever had chased Pen and her couldn't just cross that place like nothing. pen might have to find her from another angle, but it seemed like she would be further out of trouble here at least.

22 hours ago, Illiad Easle said:

A sickening sound came from above her, like something moving through jelly, before a decayed equine body fell from the ceiling into the middle of the T hallway.

That thought didn't last too long, as somewhere in front of her, she saw the decaying body of somepony just plummet down from the ceiling, like it had been stuck there, or fallen through from above. She weren't close enough to see too many details, but there was no doubt that this pony were dead. Another one added to the big pile of corpses that had come out of this place, ever since Null and her had been kidnapped, though if this one were likely not their fault. The coin they had set loose didn't decay. That were more the work of that 106 being that had gotten loose around the same time.

A sinking feeling mixed in with the terror in her chest, as she felt a tinge of pity for whoever it were that had met their end. If this place had just left them alone in Equestria, none of this might have happened, but then they had been taken and Null had felt her hoof forced... And now they had ended up causing the exact thing they tried to avoid happening through all these years, when they picked up the cursed items from around the world. Why couldn't Troy just have left them alone?

A great question, but not one she focused on as much as where the corpse had fallen from, which drew her eyes to the ceiling some way in front of her, where it had seemingly fallen from. if nothing else seemed to drip down from there, she'd get moving and pass the corpse, though if for example it seemed like a creature were descending, she'd take another route, even if it meant turning around and speeding through the field that had set fire to her tail before. Nothing good ever came from dealing with anything that dumped decaying bodies, which were sadly something she could say from experience.

22 hours ago, Illiad Easle said:

It seemed luck was in her favor for once, as the creatures did not react to her movement towards the elevator shaft. Unfortunately it seemed her luck ended there as the shaft had clearly not been used in years, rust covered most surfaces, especially the service ladder. Plus the elevator seemed to be stuck halfway to the level she came from.

In short, it didn't look like a viable way up.

The moving creature sounded like it was about to come around the row of boxes into the center area.

Awh horse.apples... Guess it were too much to hope for that this elevator shaft would be possible to climb to anywhere, wasn't it? Why did this entire section of their base have to be such a bunch of junk!? Everywhere else, it were pristine, functional, and yada yada. But the parts she had been through? Pure dumpster material every inch of it, with the elevator she used apparently being a miracle for even working. What, did the things in this area get loose and they just sealed it off rather than be bothered, then used it to dispose of their annoying prisoners? If they were, she were so going to enjoy kicking a few down here when she got out, that were for sure.

*sigh* Whatever. The thing was getting near the center of the room, and she needed to make a choice to get anywhere. Seeing as sadly, the only thing she had that just make any sort of distracting noise were the only weapon she had in this place (unless Vale didn't remove the gas mask before putting the sisters in their boxes, in which case she'd still have that one on her) she had to... No wait, she still had those other two... But what then if she found batteries? She needed to be able to hear from that Panic idiot on where Void were, and the sat nav had to start working again at some point, right?

Null gave it a glance to see if it would help her see a good direction, but likely it wasn't, and in a spur of the moment, she'd move as much as she could to the side without hitting the floor, and then tossed the axe/gas mask into the elevator shaft, where it would ring against the walls and make one hell of a ruckus on it's way down. If the thing were dumb enough to jump in, then bonus points to her, but right now the ideal were just to get it distracted long enough for her to take advantage of the louder noise to get to the door. (You can control her actions in the next post as well, to smooth the action out)

[Illiad Easle 2,816]

@Blitz Boom

[Void]

The ceiling was covered in a black goo, but it seemed inert. Outside of her own heavy breathing there didn't seem to be any noise around.

A glint of light came off the corpse, revealing a strange horseshoe that seemed entirely unaffected by the goo. A closer inspection would reveal a series of seemingly random markings along the flat side. Due to the decay of the corpse she could likely detach it easily.

Other than that she could either continue forward, go to the left, or try to go back the way she came.

[Null]

The gas mask gave off quite a bit of noise as it hit the sides of the old shaft, revealing in turn that it was a LONG way down. The moving creature burst into movement, running with great speed towards the shaft, the other creature also started moving in the same direction, though at a much slower pace.

Null only barely managed to evade the first creature's assault as it threw itself down the shaft, a bloodcurdling shriek, likely originally from whoever previously owned the horseshoe, filled the room. Which gave her more than enough cover to move to the other side of the room from where she had entered, through the doorway was another hallway ending in the open doors of another elevator.

[Blitz Boom 4,112]

@Illiad Easle

21 hours ago, Illiad Easle said:

The ceiling was covered in a black goo, but it seemed inert. Outside of her own heavy breathing there didn't seem to be any noise around.

A glint of light came off the corpse, revealing a strange horseshoe that seemed entirely unaffected by the goo. A closer inspection would reveal a series of seemingly random markings along the flat side. Due to the decay of the corpse she could likely detach it easily.

Other than that she could either continue forward, go to the left, or try to go back the way she came.

Couldn't she just have a single year without having to grasp some kind of object off a dead being? Just one, singular year?

They had been so close too. A few weeks and it would have actually marked a year where all the things Null and her found were not attached to corpses, but no. Now she were back in Troy, and the tradition stood, as she wandered over and began to pull the horseshoe off the victim.

There wasn't much evidence of why she needed this, but in a place like this, alone and uncertain about what to do, she had to scavenge what she could find and see if it could be used. This horseshoe for example, might be a key to some door, considering the strange markings, so it were the best to take it with her. Worst case scenario, she'd have something to throw with.

As could be expected, it were really easy to get loose, and after shaking off the worst of the decay that were still stuck to it, she tied it up in her bandanna, so that it were dangling around her neck. As she had no pockets, this were the best she could currently do.

Looking behind her, she thought for a moment before carefully wandering to the path to her left. Something told her that if Pen had not come yet, she weren't going to at all. Void prayed that her death had been quick.

21 hours ago, Illiad Easle said:

The gas mask gave off quite a bit of noise as it hit the sides of the old shaft, revealing in turn that it was a LONG way down. The moving creature burst into movement, running with great speed towards the shaft, the other creature also started moving in the same direction, though at a much slower pace.

Null only barely managed to evade the first creature's assault as it threw itself down the shaft, a bloodcurdling shriek, likely originally from whoever previously owned the horseshoe, filled the room. Which gave her more than enough cover to move to the other side of the room from where she had entered, through the doorway was another hallway ending in the open doors of another elevator

Good she still had that useless thing on her, but by Celestia that had been a close call. She had almost felt a tooth and prepared to scream in pain, and yet somehow, she were missed, and the blood-demon or whatever it were, had gone past, with the other one slowly following. Hopefully the scream meant that the first one had died, or would be in enough pain to lure t he other one down, and then have the elevator fall on them. She really didn't want to run into those things again, which were a reason why she did her best not to make too much noise so that the second one would make a turn and go after her. It might be slow now, but that wasn't guaranteed to always be the case.

When she finally got out of this room and into the next, she found that the hallway were in fact not covered in these things or some kind of horror eggs, and walking down it hadn't ended in her getting chewed on like a dog toy. That was the good news. The bad were that she were not done with elevators in this place, as it ended in another of those things. Had she gotten to the basement floor before or something?

Well, whatever. Not like she could walk back, so she had to roll with the dice and go into the elevator, and see where she could make it go, if it even worked at all.

[Illiad Easle 2,816]

@Blitz Boom

[Void]

Through the door on the left she found a hallway almost identical to the one she had just ran through, another strange arch, and a very faint hum of electricity. Now that she wasn't sprinting blindly, a bit more could be seen about it, namely that it was labeled Tesla Gate, and DANGER HIGH VOLTAGE.

Though whatever her decision regarding the gate, another entered the scene.

A strange creature, with the proportions of a large equine sort of... melted, through the door on the other side of the gate, its entire body was covered with a strange black goo that dripped off of it to cause decaying puddles on the floor, revealing beneath the surface a mangled, pocked, black carapace.

Its head tilted sideways as it stretched out a hoof in her direction, slowly starting to make its way towards her.

[Null]

Luck seemed to be once again in her favor as the elevator started moving with just a slight shudder. I wasn't long before it stopped again, the doors opening to reveal a room very similar to the one she had first entered the elevators from. The main difference being a new hallway to go through. The large metal door to her left now looked heavily corroded, a trail of decay like her darts caused going from the door, to the middle of the room, then proceeding to its left, or directly ahead of Null.

And given Null hardly seemed like the sort to chase after what she had just been escaping from, left her the option of proceeding to the right.

[Blitz Boom 4,112]

@Illiad Easle

On 11/30/2018 at 3:29 AM, Illiad Easle said:

Through the door on the left she found a hallway almost identical to the one she had just ran through, another strange arch, and a very faint hum of electricity. Now that she wasn't sprinting blindly, a bit more could be seen about it, namely that it was labeled Tesla Gate, and DANGER HIGH VOLTAGE.

Though whatever her decision regarding the gate, another entered the scene.

A strange creature, with the proportions of a large equine sort of... melted, through the door on the other side of the gate, its entire body was covered with a strange black goo that dripped off of it to cause decaying puddles on the floor, revealing beneath the surface a mangled, pocked, black carapace.

Its head tilted sideways as it stretched out a hoof in her direction, slowly starting to make its way towards her.

Nonononononono. N.O. No!

There were no way on this planet that she were getting anywhere near that thing.

Void didn't even stay to look fully at what the thing would do. The second she saw it she froze in place, but as soon as that hoof were reached towards her, her fear of being even an inch closer to that creature were stronger than the paralyzing fear that had made her stand still and just watch in horror, with her heart trying to smash through her chest.

She ran directly in the opposite direction of the creature, and took a left, which would lead her down the path she had not taken before. What were there wasn't certain, but seeing as behind her were a goo monster of some kind, and to her right electricity, she had to take her chance with this, and hope that it wasn't just some sorta blind hall with no exit, so that she'd be cornered by the goo creature. Long as it wasn't blind and the monster didn't get any closer to her, nothing worse could be down this hallway than the one she had almost been in before.

The brief thought that Pen had been right about this place needing to keep the monsters locked up grazed her mind, but it were short lived, as Void did hers to make sure that she wouldn't become dissolved, or whatever else would happen if the creature she had been going towards got its dripping hooves on her.

On 11/30/2018 at 3:29 AM, Illiad Easle said:

Luck seemed to be once again in her favor as the elevator started moving with just a slight shudder. I wasn't long before it stopped again, the doors opening to reveal a room very similar to the one she had first entered the elevators from. The main difference being a new hallway to go through. The large metal door to her left now looked heavily corroded, a trail of decay like her darts caused going from the door, to the middle of the room, then proceeding to its left, or directly ahead of Null.

And given Null hardly seemed like the sort to chase after what she had just been escaping from, left her the option of proceeding to the right.

Okay, she were starting to think that this wasn't so much the dumpster region as much as just a facility where everything had gotten loose. How long exactly had Void and her been out for, to make it go this far? Probably less than it looked like, since all of these weirdo creatures likely had a hoof in making things seem even worse than it would normally be. Like this area for example. This was pretty clearly not corrosion made by the passage of time, but by some outside influence. She knew this sort of thing from her blow dart set, which had an effect much similar to this, though as it were a cursed item, normal beings who used it would sacrifice ten years of their lives every time the thing was used. She weren't effected, as the curse didn't take its hold on her, but others sure could fall to it. She had seen it with her own eyes.

Whatever had done this had left a clear trail of where it was going, so of course, Null would go in the exact opposite direction. She wasn't here to fight with demons and whatever monsters they had here. She just wanted to find her sister, and then get the hay out of this dump. Perhaps kick Panic in the face too before leaving, just in case she got the option. Most useless *savior* ever... Couldn't even put her down near a hall with some batteries in it.

Bah, to Tartarus with him, and everything unfamiliar in this place. She had work to do, and no time to waste. To the right she went, axe ready between her teeth and prepared to cut something down if it got in her way, didn't appear to want to move, and didn't seem like it could eat her in one chomp. Weird standards, but in this place, she got the feeling quite a lot of things would touch either of those points, and make her rethink her approach.

What happened to the ood old days when she just faced possessed ponies and could take a swing without remorse? At least then it was simple.

[Illiad Easle 2,816]

@Blitz Boom

[Void]

The new door opened to reveal a simple hallway, with a door at the far end, as well as an open door to the left side.

(If she enters the door on the left)

Through the open doorway was a small room  containing only a small, locked, crate, some shelves, and another door to the left with a button next to it similar to the button next to the door she had just entered, and (If she were to think about it) to the side of just about every door she had seen in the facility.

(Unless I specify otherwise, every door has a button to open it with.)

(If she enters the door in the small room)

No sooner had she opened the door then the sound of clay hitting glass filled the room. Through the door looked like an office space, with a desk, chair filing cabinets, as well as a large window into the next room.

Which contained the crazy golom from before. It stared at her, forelimbs pressed firmly against the window. already faint cracks were visible in the glass.

The room also contained a SatNav, a Radio, and a keycard. All could be reasonably accessed without breaking eye contact, though likely only two without blinking.

(If she continued onward in the hallway)

Through the door at the end of the hallway revealed a room that seemed familiar, it was in fact the room where Null had released the coin, though hardly any trace of that remained, leading to doubts as to whether it was in fact the same room. (It is)

There was a door to the far end of the room, a side area to her left which contained a clipboard, two papers, a gas mask, and 2 9v batteries, and a door to the right which served to access the stairs down to the area below.

[Null]

(The hallways continue in a straight line, but each of the four sections has the option to turn right of left.)

(If she turns right, being the first or second opportunity)

Through the door on the right was a lock room similar to the one that Panic had first sent her through to get into this area. The doors were closed with a large panel overhead reading: 'Lockdown, P-8 uncontained'

There was a window to the left side through which a teddy bear was visible. It started moving once it saw her, waving to get her attention. It pointed to the sign, then back to where she came from, pantomimed pulling a lever, then indicated a door opening. (Yes he's in either of the lock rooms, 1048 be like that.)

(If she takes the first left)

As she opened the door to her left, so did the door at the far end of the new hallway, revealing a pony dressed in all black robes, a hood covering their features, except for the grey mask with an exceptionally long nose which tapered into a point much like a bird's beak. It extended a gloved hoof towards her and spoke in a deep voice which rang like someone speaking through a tube, "I sense the disease in you, don't be afraid. I am the cure."

It started to move towards her at a walk, hoof still outstretched. (049)

(If she continues into the room of the second left.)

As she entered the fourth section of hallway, she wasn't alone. No sooner had she entered the room than the door to her left opened to reveal another pony, this one looked to be wearing an old style wonderbolts flight suit under a lab coat. It had been running, but skidded to a halt as it noticed Null "You!" It seemed surprised to see her, its voice feminine, but faint, like someone trying to talk over a stiff breeze. "How'd you escape from Colonel Panic?" (Yes that's Pen)

[Blitz Boom 4,112]

@Illiad Easle

(Void)

4 hours ago, Illiad Easle said:

No sooner had she opened the door then the sound of clay hitting glass filled the room. Through the door looked like an office space, with a desk, chair filing cabinets, as well as a large window into the next room.

Which contained the crazy golom from before. It stared at her, forelimbs pressed firmly against the window. already faint cracks were visible in the glass.

The room also contained a SatNav, a Radio, and a keycard. All could be reasonably accessed without breaking eye contact, though likely only two without blinking.

Were there no end to the nightmares in this place?

Void had had a small glimmer of hope when she saw that the road she had followed did not in fact contain an empty hallway with no end to it, but no sooner had she gotten through one of the doors that could lead her further away from the goo monster before she were faced with another horror, and sadly, this one were familiar to her. All the way down to the small cracks she had left on its face when she had bashed at it in panic earlier, which if the thing had any semblance of a mind, likely didn't leave her as a being in its favor.

Yet this one she at least had heard some about what to do with, as opposed to the goo monster, so even if she were terrified and on the verge of breaking down crying, she kept her eye on this thing. She hadn't heard much of what it did in the moment it had nearly attacked her the first time, as she had been horrified, but Null had spoken about it later, and how they might be able to use it to their advantage, so she knew that it reacted when nopony were watching it. Blinking, or taking your eyes off it were a bad idea, as then it would move in closer, and judging by the glass, it wouldn't take much for it to get to her.

She had managed to see something else before this thing had caught her eye though. A key card she thought, though it wasn't as if she could check now, just react on it, and in a spur of the moment, she stumbled tot he side to pick it up, keeping her eye on the golem constantly, and repeatedly thinking to herself that she couldn't blink, or it would get her. She managed to get over and get her hoof on the key card, and something else, though what she wasn't sure. It felt like it might be metal in construction, but she felt the need to blink urging closer, as her eye started to run over, and she scurried like a crab to the side, barely making it to the doorway before she had to blink and stumbled out of the room. She'd kick the door close if she had the chance, but the golem might have taken its chance as she blinked and it were impossible.

(Null)

And another multiple choice option, and yet again this hunk of metal called a SatNav didn't seem to do her much good, so it was down to eyesight again. Panic really were the worst helper imaginable in this place. hay, even the darn doe would likely be more worthwhile. As a living shield granted, but that were still more useful than what she had been given.

Whatever. What were the options here again? A left and two rights it seemed.

The left seemed promising, if not for the word *Uncontained* on the door, which pretty much made her discount it straight away. knowing this place, it might be anything from a face-eating worm to a dimension gate full of brain-eating tentacles, and either thing wasn't something she wanted to see uncontained.

Let's see, what was in the left room then? *creaks the door open and pokes her head in*

6 hours ago, Illiad Easle said:

As she opened the door to her left, so did the door at the far end of the new hallway, revealing a pony dressed in all black robes, a hood covering their features, except for the grey mask with an exceptionally long nose which tapered into a point much like a bird's beak. It extended a gloved hoof towards her and spoke in a deep voice which rang like someone speaking through a tube, "I sense the disease in you, don't be afraid. I am the cure."

It started to move towards her at a walk, hoof still outstretched. (049)

"Blow it out your flank, creepo."

With that, she closed the door and scurried over to the last option of the ones she could see. Sure, the guy in there didn't look that tough, but the whole point were to try and find Void, not spend the next twenty minutes stomping on some weirdo until his beak broke and she could use it to stab things with. She swore though, if the next door also contained some idiot speaking nonsense, she were going to cut somepony. And depending on if the creeper followed her, it'd be him first. Disease her flank...

6 hours ago, Illiad Easle said:

As she entered the fourth section of hallway, she wasn't alone. No sooner had she entered the room than the door to her left opened to reveal another pony, this one looked to be wearing an old style wonderbolts flight suit under a lab coat. It had been running, but skidded to a halt as it noticed Null "You!" It seemed surprised to see her, its voice feminine, but faint, like someone trying to talk over a stiff breeze. "How'd you escape from Colonel Panic?" (Yes that's Pen)

"Awh for buck sake, can I get into one single room without one of you freaks barring my way? You know what? No, buck it, and to Tartarus with you."

Null entered the room and slammed the door behind her, wearing quite the furious facial expression above the axe that were held tight in her muzzle.

"I am so done with you pestering monsters and that good for nothing Panic idiot. I want my sister, and I want her Now! Fork her over before I cut your hollow noggin off and use it to bash that beak-nosed freak out there to death with."

Null had it up to here with all of this. The place, the beings in it, whoever worked here and how she were obviously being used. She just wanted Void, then to leave this place and hope it consumed the entire country. Not be faced with some sort of face-less creature in a costume representing a group she had yelled more obscenities at than she could remember, which frankly wasn't helping her mood right now either. Frankly the thing should be thankful that she had more important things on her mind than a chance at hacking down anything wearing one of the Wonderbolt's uniforms without getting the law hammering down on her.

And why did she demand that the faceless creature should fork over Void? Since it had sounded as if she knew Null, which meant that she knew Void too. As well as Panic, which might mean she had some idea about what this was all about. Somepony worth interrogating rather than beating to death, but right now, Null were getting to her breaking point, and either she'd get Void within the next thirty seconds, or somepony was going to get an axe to the face.

[Illiad Easle 2,816]

@Blitz Boom

(Honestly I'm surprised that they haven't had any near death experiences yet. You've really got a better survival instinct than the last bunch.)

[Void]

The sound of shattering glass came as soon as her eyes closed, but it was quickly followed by the door sliding shut. She had a feeling that it wouldn't hold it for long.

The card she had collected was a level 3.

She collected a SatNav, it would blink to life as soon as she inspects it, revealing a sizable portion of the facility. (The map has been updated) Two rooms on the map had been marked.

She was back in the hallway, and could go either right or left. Both of the marked room were to the left, but so were the Tesla gates. She could either brave them, or try to get around them some other way.

[Null]

Pen took a step back at Null's outburst, though her features hardened, Seen's dark tendrils extending from the wing holes in the suit. "Look, I don't have your sister. I've been looking for her too. I'm trying to get this all under control so the both of you can get out of here before Panic blows it all wide open. I can't let any of the real monsters here loose."

Pen started gliding across the floor towards the far door from the one Null had entered from. "I need to get to Codex to lock this place down before Panic or anything else gets out. Once everything's contained then I can let the two of you go."

There was the faint sound behind Null of a door sliding open, likely from the previous room.

[Blitz Boom 4,112]

@Illiad Easle

(Void)

On 12/3/2018 at 8:48 PM, Illiad Easle said:

She was back in the hallway, and could go either right or left. Both of the marked room were to the left, but so were the Tesla gates. She could either brave them, or try to get around them some other way.

So... She either had to backtrack and potentially run into that goo thing, stay here and get trampled when the golem would finally break through, or venture into the unknown?

Void's panicking mind over how close it had been for the golem to get her just a second ago were clouding her judgement over what were rational, which generally speaking weren't to go into the unknown, and instead, she should venture back and see if the goo monster were still there, and if not, try to get through the gate. However, in the state she were in and on the likely low time she had to work with, the few glances she had sent at the SatNav made her just react instinctively and run down to the right, away from what she had seen thus far, and into whatever were waiting in the unknown. The SatNav and the key card were both in her muzzle as she ran, as she didn't think of perhaps tying them up in her bandanna right now, as much as just  getting away until she felt like the golem weren't potentially chasing her anymore. A good 200 meters without a clay monstrosity chasing her might do the trick.

(Really hoping I read the map right, and that she were at the top to the left, with the two rooms down on the map and upwards - right in her perspective - being the unchecked areas. I weren't entirely sure what hallways you were speaking off)

(Null)

On 12/3/2018 at 8:48 PM, Illiad Easle said:

"Look, I don't have your sister. I've been looking for her too. I'm trying to get this all under control so the both of you can get out of here before Panic blows it all wide open. I can't let any of the real monsters here loose."

What, this thing thought tendrils scared Null? About a third of every single cursed item Void and her had ever encountered involved tendrils or tentacles of some kind. It started to lose its novelty and scare factor after a while. At least this one talked like a somewhat rational being, but Null were not sold on her for that. And saying that she too were looking for Void didn't make her mood all that great either, as the way that this mare spoke made Null think of her as one of Them. The monsters that worked for the self-proclaimed *doctors* of this nightmare.

"You think that I care about Panic and his *warhead* whatever that is? Him, you, and this entire country can boil in a pool of molten slag!"

Null growled and took a step forward towards Pen.

"We just wanted to be left alone, was that too much to ask for? How many more do I have to kill before Troy finally understands that we want nothing to do with any of you?!"

The axe fell out of Null's muzzle as she rose her voice to finally let some aggression out, though why she didn't just do so physically, she didn't know. Was it because Pen said too that even if she wanted to contain the things in this place - which honestly, didn't seem so bad in their case anymore - or perhaps the fact that as she were looking for Void, it must mean that she had seen her already? Perhaps some small part of Null actually felt pity or smartened up enough to figure that it were better to take advantage of somepony that she could see, rather than a voice that she could not even hear anymore because of the horrid batteries?

Whatever the case, the spike in anger were deflating, along with the volume of her voice, but it were unlikely for the beaked one to not have heard her outburst just now, unless his ears were covered, and the walls thick.

On 12/3/2018 at 8:48 PM, Illiad Easle said:

"I need to get to Codex to lock this place down before Panic or anything else gets out. Once everything's contained then I can let the two of you go."

"What's Codex? A nickname for one of this place's monsters in lab coats? What are you, another one of the doctors Pets? One of 900's little goons? You know what, why am I even bothering? Get moving, and if you try any dirty little tricks, I will end you."

If the axe had not been removed, Null would pick it up again, and stare with a cold flame in her eyes at Pen, signalling her to turn around and go through the door the faceless creature hhad just come through. This freak wanted her to trust her? Yeah, that was not going to happen, but until Null could find an excuse to gut this one or had a sufficient enough rage spike again, she would use this thing as the tool she were. Perhaps for once, it wouldn't be the small pegasus being the only one used for the menial work of a mindless goon.

[Illiad Easle 2,816]

@Blitz Boom

(Oh, there are so many things I could do to her right now. I just needed a moment to really think out Pen's personality.)

[Void]

Through the door was a room that seemed familiar, it was in fact the room where Null had released the coin, though hardly any trace of that remained, leading to doubts as to whether it was in fact the same room. (It is)

There was a door to the far end of the room, a side area to her left which contained a clipboard, two papers, a gas mask, and 2 9v batteries, and a door to the right which served to access the stairs down to the area below.

Heavy steps sounded behind her, indicating that she still needed to move quickly before the golom caught up to her.

[Null]

(This action would likely have gone unnoticed by Null until she tried to collect the ax again.)

Pen extended a hoof in the direction of the ax casually. A faint sound of wind as the ax moved just far enough away from Null for a small tendril creeping across the floor to grasp it and warp it within Pen's body, effectively out of Null's sight.

How she would react to the ax not being there would be something to see.

Pen's eyes narrowed as Null ranted, but she did not offer any retort until Null moved to recover the ax that she had stolen from under her muzzle. Pen's face contorted to expand the mouth area and put it in line with her neck before a large burst of wind blew from her directly at Null, knocking her backward a few lengths before Pen whirled around at blinding speeds to go through the door opposite Null, the one that neither of them had come through. The tendrils activating the button to open and close the door as she passed through.

On a minor note, the burst of wind had the faint sound of a scream of rage to it, it seemed she had angered Pen in some way. (Pen will not be keen to let Null leave.)

A faint sound of movement could be heard from the previous room, and it was getting gradually louder.

(I hope you have no issue with Pen stealing the ax.)

[Blitz Boom 4,112]

On 12/5/2018 at 1:08 AM, Illiad Easle said:

There was a door to the far end of the room, a side area to her left which contained a clipboard, two papers, a gas mask, and 2 9v batteries, and a door to the right which served to access the stairs down to the area below.

Heavy steps sounded behind her, indicating that she still needed to move quickly before the golom caught up to her.

It was still chasing her? Oh dear, oh dear, she were in so much trouble right now. If only Null had been here, perhaps she could block it with a feather, but Void didn't have anything like that. The stuff didn't linger in her hair, spit, or other stuff like that, so she'd basically have to ride on the thing to keep it down. And that were if that even worked. Not that she'd test it, as getting anywhere near it were the opposite of what she should be doing right now.

When faced with a choice of where to go, Void at first ran into the left, thinking that were a way to get out of here, but no, that were little more than a closet with some random stuff in. She registered grabbing something slightly heavy and crumbling some papers around it before rushing out, not even bothering to close the door, but she wasn't sure what. For some reason she were just hoarding things, and currently had two things in her muzzle, and now this bundle stuck under her chin. Might be that she thought this could be used as weapons, though in that case, she'd be disappointing. Unless the golem somehow were weak to small amounts of electricity and the image of a barely-started map of this place on a screen, it were about as usefull as a feather duster would be in battling a tornado.

Yet now she had it, but the detour, even though it were less than six seconds in total, had likely gotten the golem closer, so she might not have a good lead anymore as she rushed to get down the stairs, and nearly stumbled over herself on the first few steps. If there weren't a wall she could hit with her shoulder, she would've gone over an edge, or just stumble down a floor and potentially get seriously injured.

On 12/5/2018 at 1:08 AM, Illiad Easle said:

Pen's eyes narrowed as Null ranted, but she did not offer any retort until Null moved to recover the ax that she had stolen from under her muzzle. Pen's face contorted to expand the mouth area and put it in line with her neck before a large burst of wind blew from her directly at Null, knocking her backward a few lengths before Pen whirled around at blinding speeds to go through the door opposite Null, the one that neither of them had come through. The tendrils activating the button to open and close the door as she passed through.

On a minor note, the burst of wind had the faint sound of a scream of rage to it, it seemed she had angered Pen in some way.

"You bucking- You're dead do you hear me? Dead!"

She knew she should have cut this monster down the first chance she had, instead of trying to use it. What were she even thinking here? You couldn't trust these monsters, and clearly, seeing as she had now had her weapon stolen by this freak, that CODEX freak were no better than Panic. In fact, it were worse. Panic hadn't left her for dead, he were just a useless idiot who didn't plan ahead. None of them were worth supporting, but only one of them had left her for dead, and now the hunt were going to be on for real. Not just for Void, but for this freak of nature before it could find her sister and do Celestia knew what to her.

Perhaps if she popped its screaming head off, she could get her bucking weapon back too!

She'd follow and try to get through the door that the freak had went through, but that likely wouldn't work, even if Null pressed the same button(s) she had just seen getting pressed. If it did, she would go through there though, and give chase.

If not, she'd have to try another way, and seeing as the beak-nosed toffee-twirler behind her were likely to get in at any second, that just left one exit to try her hoof with, or end up facing a fight with no weapons at all in her arsenal, which might end up being more against her than she could do much about. If only she had her blow dart set, she could do something here, but no, she didn't, so she'd have to try and run away for now.

(Not really. Though it will make it extremely difficult for her to convince the siblings that she is on their side now, in case Null lives through this)

[Illiad Easle 2,816]

@Blitz Boom

[Void]

Void didn't know what came over her, but even though she was sure she had gone through the door and down the stairs, she found herself in front of the door again with the strong sense of dread that she should not go down there. (990 brought her backward, she would have been trapped down there by 173.)

She did still have the items she had collected in the closet though.

The steps were getting closer to the door she had come from.

She could still continue through the door opposite the one she had come from.

(she collected a gas mask and the papers)

[Null]

As she rushed through the door that Pen had just gone through the door on the far end of the new hallway was just closing. In the middle hallway on the left was another closed door.

(If she just keeps moving forward)

The next room was a four way hallway, doors to the right and left and forward. The one on the left was just closing behind Pen.

(If she checks out the hallway door before the four room she'll find an elevator coated in dried blood with a skeleton in the middle. The elevator does not work. Then when she continues to the four room she does not see which door Pen went through)

(If she follows Pen around the corner)

A very heavy door was closing behind Pen, who was holding a key-card to a reader while facing Null, rage etched onto her empty face. "You'll bring this whole facility down on our heads!" She screamed out with another burst of wind, not powerful enough to knock her back, but enough to keep her on the other side of the door until it closed. There was another key-card reader on Null's side of the door.