[Nexus] CURATOR I: The Evil Has Landed

[The Alexandrian]

[Lake Hylia]

Poke attempt!

Counter!

Nabe attempts to nab the end of Rein's new staff that he's about to be prodded with! He'll attempt to latch onto it and chant a quick spell that should shoot a lightning orb at a wall where it will rebound and shoot toward Rein!

Liz cheers Rein on!

"Poke him! Poke him in his eyes!"

Nate shrieks before smashing into a wall and bouncing off.

"I'll get you for this, man! I'll get you! You'll- Ahhhh! Ouch! Ahhhhhhhhh!"

And this is the final boss battle of the dungeon. >.<

[Reinholdt]

[Lake Hylia]

All well and good of Nabe. If it wasn't for the fact that the necklace Rein's always wearing is specifically designed to absorb electricity. And allow the wearer to channel it and fire it right back at something. One of the more useful things he picked up in the dead dragon's lair.

As Nabe's about to find out when Reinholdt attempts to poke him in the eyes and channel that lightning orb right back into Nabe. Surely he's heard of the closed circuit?

"Oh hush Ebil Nate, I'll pick you up in a second."

[The Alexandrian]

[Lake Hylia]

Oh shoot!

Bzap! Crackle! Spark! Pop! Fizzle! Grind teeth! Grind teeth!

Blast! Nabe Gewell should've been more inventive with that spell! I wish they had included Rein's necklace in Ocarina of Time!

"Blglligliglll."

Nabe shouts through clenched teeth. It roughly translates to "No! Not the eyes! Ahhh! Aahhhhhh!"

If Liz had a pair of pom poms in her possession, she'd be the very model of a cheerleader the way she's carrying on!

"Go! Fight! Win! Let's go team!"

And Nate continues orbiting the room! She's on a collision course with Nabe!

"Ahhhhh!"

[Zefir]

[Downstairs]

A weapon. A weapon small enough for Mister C to operate yet powerful enough to eliminate anything the Nexus could throw at him. And he doesn't have any thumbs so...

"How 'bout an ancient psi-blaster. It focuses negative emotions to charge bolts of energy which can be directed at any object or creature with a single thought! Maybe that'll work for you. Do you want it or should we try something else?"

Lintha asks politely. Oh. The memories are returning. Did she really do that? Well... They did have it coming. They deserved nothing less. And now they serve her. But where? Where are they?

Mister C might observe Lintha's spiked tail materializing. She's stronger than she was before she slipped the ring onto her finger. And the magical energy of the ring? It's going... Going...

It will be gone next post unless someone or something intervenes.

[Downstairs]

Mr C thinks for a moment. A Psi-Blaster would still need to be placed somewhere. And he is out of the standart size model fr such weapon. After all a Psi- Blaster sounds like high tech not like artifact.

"Did you have something else? I'm not really a psionic or such."

Mr C is not even a fighter in any case so near every weapon looks odd on him.

Mr. C is awar of the tail. Being a crature that has near 360° sight makes such things very easy.^^

"Eh.. Boss. I think you should seek for a doctor. You grow a tail."

His paw oints at the tail.

((Don't forget to post in AMEN))

[Reinholdt]

[Lake Hylia]

That'd take all the challenge out of it!

Nabe is learning first hand that when it comes to combat, Reinholdt doesn't play fair. Maybe it's a good thing he at least tries to pretend at pacifism.
Or maybe he's just trying to impress Liz for whatever reason. I dunno.

Now let's see. What to use? Which of his somewhat many weapons hasn't he used already? Well, there's that infinite crossbow he's got. If he were playing Link's Crossbow Skeet with Ebil Nate's skull, maybe. Doesn't want to shift into a sabretooth on account that Nabe might get wise and use that spell again, since gear goes away for a bit.

Eh. Reinholdt will just have to settle for trying to grab the nearby floating wand and jamming it in Nabe's gut and trying a few generic wand activation attempts. Including that one thing Nabe said to get the staff to work, in case they're all connected. Time to find out what some of this stuff does!

[The Alexandrian]

[Downstairs]

"Oh, that has been known to occur upon exposure to magical radiation. I'm not fussed about it. I'll attend to it later."

Lintha scoots forward a half a meter or so. Her chair isn't as comfortable with the tail but it'll do for now. With a minor adjustment on her part, that is.

"Okay. What about a bracelet that shoots firebolts and lightning spheres at hostiles? Will that do or would you like to try for something else?"

-------
[Lake Hylia]

Well, Ermine hasn't visited him in awhile so maybe he's hunting for a replacement girlfriend and treasure. Not that love isn't a treasure in and of itself but battling your way through the final dungeon of a killer video game and being rewarded with "the treasure of friendship" is a major disappointment, is it not?

Wand jab! It pokes the wind out of Nabe! And then fireballs him in the gut! Ouch!

The recoil from the fireball might blast both Nabe and Rein away from the loot! Nabe grabs a wand before he flies away! His new destination: a wall! But before his turn ends, his wand powers up and bzzzt! He has lightsaber-wand of doomity doom doom!

[Reinholdt]

[Lake Hylia]

Well Reinholdt's still lying to everyone that Ermine's still around. Though this Reinholdt isn't anywhere near that timeline yet. If he were, he'd have access to time shenanigans as well thanks to a rather powerful magic object he picked up from a Trog's Random Encounter.

Also, pretty sure the only thing you get for beating the final dungeon of a game is a sense of satisfaction and relief, some memories, and the nostalgia of the credits. Unless it's one of the two/three smart games that have New Game+.

Meanwhile, back in fantasy reality, fireball was definitely a terrible thing to have grabbed, Rein. Though it can't have been too bad, since Nabe didn't die from the point blank blast. Rein gets propelled backwards all the same, though, a bit singed. Least Rein cleared a path for Ebil Nate to continue her game of pong.

But bloody hell. A lightsaber. Rein doesn't have much at all to deal with that thing in close combat. Reinholdt tries pulling something out of hammerspace and is gravely disappointed, as indicated by his usual frown being frownier, when nothing appears. Rein settles on pulling out his dragon tooth knife instead and taking a 'come at me' stance. He... can't be serious, can he? Reinholdt doesn't even know what the special properties of that magic knife is, let alone if it can handle a lightsaber.

[Zefir]

[Downstairs]

"Oh, that has been known to occur upon exposure to magical radiation. I'm not fussed about it. I'll attend to it later."

Lintha scoots forward a half a meter or so. Her chair isn't as comfortable with the tail but it'll do for now. With a minor adjustment on her part, that is.

"Okay. What about a bracelet that shoots firebolts and lightning spheres at hostiles? Will that do or would you like to try for something else?"

[Downstairs]

Mr.C looks at himself. No thumbs grow, his tail doesn't grow, not even his collar did grow or anything else.

"Magical radiation? Nice try but I never read about that." maybe cause it didn't exist in your library of Alexandria?

"You should really seek for someone to help you."

And then another weapon is mentioned. Mr. C takes both paws in front aiming at a near wall. "pew""pew""pew" he says loud.

"Yeah I think that that would work."

[The Alexandrian]

[Lake Hylia]

Sith versus Jedi! D-d-d-d-d-duel!

Wachaaa!

Nabe flips off of a wall and begins to spin forward toward Rein! Oh noes! He's trying to be insanely unoriginal and use a lawnmower blade/weed whacker technique on Rein's face! Assault incoming! Whir! Watch it, Rein! You don't need a close shave from Nabe!

This is the end for you, Reinholdt!

-------
[Downstairs]

"Alrighty then! Down to the vault we go!"

Down to the vault Lintha goes (possibly with Mister C in tow)!

Is that? No. Couldn't be. Are the shadows... Are the shadows parting for her as she strides past them?

[Zefir]

[Downstairs]

Mr. C ties to place himself on her head. That shouldn't be much of a problem since he isn't that tall. After all his perception increased after he notice the tail. And now there are shadows moving away. Mr. C shivers. He taps her with his paw.

"Whats up with this ring? Tell me! Tell me! Tell me! Tell me! Tell me! Tell me! Tell me! Tell me! Tell me! Tell me! Tell me! Tell me! Tell me! Tell me! Tell me! Tell me! Tell me! Tell me! Tell me! Tell me! Tell me! Tell me! Tell me! Tell me! Tell me! Tell me! Tell me! Tell me! Tell me! Tell me! Tell me! Tell me! Tell me! Tell me! Tell me! Tell me! Tell me! Tell me! Tell me! Tell me! Tell me! Tell me!"

He says while allways poking her with his paw what just tickles a bit.

[Reinholdt]

[Lake Hylia]

"I hope you can deliver, cause it'd be about damn time."
Rein's been hoping for the end since the beginning.

Of course, he also isn't currently crazy enough to fight with a knife of unknown effect against a lightsaber. That was just a ruse to try and get Nabe to charge in. As soon as Nabe starts in Reinholdt tosses the knife aside, pulling out a short, sawn-off shotgun from his hammerspace instead.

"Hasta-la-vista Nab-y."

He fires all two of his shots in rapid succession. The purpose is two-fold. Shoot Nabe in a manner that he can't deflect, and propel himself backwards away from the attack, a technique he admittedly stole from Nabe.

Unfortunately, Nabe went and chose the one lightsaber attack maneuver that might just be able to protect him from this carefully laid plan. Curse you General Grievous and your echoing coughs techniques.

[The Alexandrian]

[Downstairs]

Mister C's landing is an total success! Boop!

Oh gosh! No! Anything but the Clarissa interrogation method!

"The ring? Oh, it's nothing special in and of itself. To me, it serves as a Ring of Awakening, but that's only because I possessed it long ago once upon a time. But that's ancient history these days. And not the important ancient history we study as an organization."

Lintha can't help but laugh at Mister C's antics as she traverses the hallway outside of CURATOR's super-duper secure vault!

"Alright. Let's get these doors open now."

-------
[Lake Hylia]

Lead pellets? Dozens of them? Flying at Nabe Gewell's face!

Oh dear!

The clever kitty brought a gun to a knife fight! Nabe Gewell would call him a Cheater Cheat McCheaterpants if he didn't have his hands full desperately deflecting lead pellets that would burrow into every inch of his body if he paused to do so!

Nabe is pumped full of lead. But he's alive! But he's bleeding... And bleeding in zero gravity is messy and disgusting, to say the least!

He's also attempting to swing his lightsaber-wand wildly in Rein's general direction before he passes out from blood loss. And he should pass out from blood loss very, very soon!

[Reinholdt]

[Lake Hylia]

Not soon enough. Reinholdt, doesn't have any more shots to propel him out of the way, so throws the whole gun itself at Nabe to push himself backwards. Not entirely fast enough, as a nasty looking burn scar makes its way onto the side of Rein's face. Rein lets out a horrendous yelp.

How that got lost in continuity, I'll never tell.

It does push him away enough to avoid the brunt though. Honestly, he'd have been better off flying away, but I think Rein panicked a bit. Lightsabers are very scary.

[Zefir]

[Downstairs]

Mister C's landing is an total success! Boop!

Oh gosh! No! Anything but the Clarissa interrogation method!

"The ring? Oh, it's nothing special in and of itself. To me, it serves as a Ring of Awakening, but that's only because I possessed it long ago once upon a time. But that's ancient history these days. And not the important ancient history we study as an organization."

Lintha can't help but laugh at Mister C's antics as she traverses the hallway outside of CURATOR's super-duper secure vault!

"Alright. Let's get these doors open now."

[Downstairs]

Mr. C thinks for a moment. Suddendly a long beard appears blocking part of Lintha's view. He graps it in the 'old man is thinking' style.

"Intressting. This must mean your thousands of years old. I have to say you have done well. What kind of body lotion do you use?"

[The Alexandrian]

[Lake Hylia]

But not without good reason! Lightsabers are incredibly deadly! And untrained mercs handling lightsabers frequently chop their hands off in the Star Wars galaxy, from what I've heard! Like this!

Vrrooom!

There goes Nabe's hand!

Nabe releases his lightsaber-wand and clutches his stub. He glares at Rein before soaring off to his exit on the other side of the room! Or attempting to soar, in any case. He flies like a moron.

"This isn't over, Rein! Do you hear me? This isn't over!"

Nabe really needs to take a chill pill!

So does Liz because she's attempting to join Rein in the zero g chamber! Nobody burns her friends and retreats without multiple mortal wounds!

((And my internet fails and this doesn't post and I don't notice it until a few hours have passed! Sorry about that, Rein!))

-------
[Downstairs]

"Gah!"

Lintha shouts in surprise as the beard blots out her world so suddenly, resulting into her walking into the impenetrable vault hatch and rebounding off of it, holding her nose.

"Hey! What's the big idea!"

Lintha attempts to pluck Mister C off of her head and set him on her shoulder so that he can't cause her to crash into any walls anymore.

"I'm a daemon, not a human. And I don't age because I can't age. But I can shapeshift to replicate the aging process. But I'll never do that because that'd be pointless and a complete waste of my energy!"

[Reinholdt]

[Lake Hylia]

"Like hell I need more people out there who want me dead."

Reinholdt says, pulling out the weapon he should have used from the get go, his trusty, god-killing sniper rifle. Sure it's only somewhat magical and can't actually kill a god right now, since Neirian has one of the original pieces, but it still speeds his reaction time, shapeshifts to size to his form, all the bullets turn into .50 cal versions, it can totally shoot ghosts, and it has an elder sign painted on it, just in case.

But mostly, it just shoots bullets and Rein's really good with it.
He tries to shoot Nabe in the back as he runs away.

[The Alexandrian]

[Lake Hylia]

Oh well! You had a good run, Nabe. You had a good run.

Pow! Nabe is now deader than a possum on a freeway! But he generously gifts Rein something positively horrible in passing!

Alarms sound! The room blinks with bright red light! A feminine computerized voice cheerfully informs the occupants of the base, dead and alive, of the status of the underwater laboratory!

"Self-destruct sequence initiated. T-minus five minutes until the base self-destructs. Please panic and swarm the exits of the facility as fast as you can. This is not a drill. If you are in sections F or G and you didn't pass your physical tests, the administrative staff would like to take a moment to bid you a fond farewell. Do be productive with whatever time you have left. That is all."

That's...a grim self-destruct warning!

Liz floats up to Rein and attempts to pass him some of the loot from the center of the room!

"Whatever we're gonna do, we've got to do it fast! And if we don't make it out of this one, I just want you to know that you're a great person and the first male who has ever been kind to me!"

[Reinholdt]

[Lake Hylia]

No time for slow passing one by one. Reinholdt pulls out a large burglar's sack, lets it hang open and goes to fly and scoop, grabbing stuff that way in a series of sweeps. Unfortunately it means he can't keep track of what was there and what Nabe might have filched. Which I'm sure he'll somehow use in a manner akin to injecting yourself with a super-zombie virus and escaping an exploding mansion on foot...? That part never did make sense to me either. Needless to say, Rein is worried Nabe's done something stupid like that.

Not worried enough to dwell on it though. After all someone, or something, somehow activated the self-destruct. Yeesh. Reminds him of Calublufiok. That guy had some sort of base self-destruct fetish. Reinholdt used to just think it was him, though now suspects it might be more prevailing in some circles than he'd like.

Can't go back. He'd be totally lost and there's all those other creatures who are probably running that way. Rein hopes they get out, but he can't waste his time trying to shut off a mechanism that might not have a shut off, even if he does want them to live. Hopefully everyone else that came down just left after getting frustrated or something.

"I'm not Reinholdt, Treasure Hunter Extraordinaire because I let a few tomb traps stop me." Reinholdt says, going to snatch Ebil Nabe out of the air from his space pong game. "If you want to continue with your unlife, you'd best tell us the way out of here." If Ebil Nabe feels like being difficult, well there's always plan B.

[Zefir]

[Downstairs]

"Gah!"

Lintha shouts in surprise as the beard blots out her world so suddenly, resulting into her walking into the impenetrable vault hatch and rebounding off of it, holding her nose.

"Hey! What's the big idea!"

Lintha attempts to pluck Mister C off of her head and set him on her shoulder so that he can't cause her to crash into any walls anymore.

"I'm a daemon, not a human. And I don't age because I can't age. But I can shapeshift to replicate the aging process. But I'll never do that because that'd be pointless and a complete waste of my energy!"

[Downstairs]

Mr. C is pluged.

"Thousands of years? Cool I'm also older than I look."

[The Alexandrian]

[Lake Hylia]

Ah, Nabe's not getting out of this one so easily, Jill Rein! He was just finished off by a weapon that's really powerful! Especially against living things!

He's deader than the imps in Doom, the unnamed red shirts in Star Trek, and Old Yeller at the tail end of the movie by the same name combined! He could pass himself off as a block of imported swiss cheese! And worst of all, he'll probably be-

"Eeeargh!"

-reanimated as a zombie in a minute...

Drat! At least he's too stupid as a zombie to figure out how to navigate the anti-gravity chamber!

On a cheerier note, Rein gathers all of the plunder! All of the plunder but Nabe's lightsaber-wand. And he probably doesn't want that wand as it has been soaked in zombie blood and all. Yucky and germy, it is!

Ebil Nate is even less helpful than Zombie Nabe in the escape attempt! He/she/it attempts to bite Rein as Rein attempts to reacquire him/her/it before yelling at him!

"I'll tell you nothing! This place will be your tomb! Hahahahahaheehee!"

"I'm so eeeeeevil!"

-------
[Vault]

"So you're, like, four months old, old lizard?"

Lintha teases as the vault's security programs scan her. There's no visual effect accompanying this or even any weird sounds so this event is pretty uneventful for the most part.

"How old are you?"

Just gotta wait for the vault doors to open.

[Reinholdt]

[Lake Hylia]

"Ow! Bloody..." Reinholdt whips his hand up and down a bit. Hopefully that's not going to get infected. He goes to grab the back of Ebil Nate with his other hand and jam the gag back into the skull's mouth again, tying it off on his belt. He wants the stupid thing to live just to see Reinholdt prove it wrong.

That done, and enough time waste, Rein hammerspaces the loot bag with some difficulty before going to grab Liz's hand to pull her along.
"Come on. Nabe clearly knew where he was going to get here, so if he was running, it had to be for an exit." Reinholdt says, going to float around the now zombie Nabe and towards where Nabe was running to.

[The Alexandrian]

[Lake Hylia]

Ebil Nate is a jerk, but I'm confident that Rein can find a superior punishment for it instead of having it blown to smithereens in one, clean explosion!

Ebil Nate is gagged again, much to its displeasure! Tied up as it is, it cannot bite Rein's legs off!

Dodge the zombie Nabe! Probably best to evade all that infected blood too!

Whee!

Liz is pulled along by the hand by Rein! She doesn't want to exploderate! But this deadly situation does give her an excuse to hold Rein's hand.

"I hate zombies with a passion!"

Liz bares her teeth at zombie Nabe.

And look at that! Rein was right! There is a big, red button on the wall not too far from Nabe's soon to be rotting corpse!

[Reinholdt]

[Lake Hylia]

"You don't have to tell me..." Rein's greatest fear is becoming undead! Zombies are the worst too.

"Hope this doesn't make things a lot worse..."
Reinholdt zooms up and... presses the button!

[The Alexandrian]

[Lake Hylia]

Pushing the button earns Rein multiple meme references and a panel falling off of the wall opening a route into a soulless office hallway with untidy, faded blue carpets and four doors branching off in every compass direction! Also, a staircase heading upward is straight ahead! And a crumbling ceiling threatening to crush everything! And a hole in the floor to jump over! And flashing red lights and sirens!

"Fo-three minutes remaining! How are you mentlegen? You are on your way to destruction. You have no chance to survive make your time. Ha ha ha ha..."

That computer announcer is just plain rude.

Run like the wind, Rein! Liz will keep up!

Oh, and it sounds like there are groups of zombies stationed behind some of these doors. But which doors? And are the unmarked doors even that important?

[Reinholdt]

[Lake Hylia]

Rein's not letting go of Liz's hand, even as he's all pink and flying. Even if it means pulling her along a lot and helping her jump that pit. Even if it means slowing down, compared to how fast he could normally fly. If she can keep up, then great, they both zip along.

Rein's going straight for the staircase. He already knows he doesn't want to stay level. Gotta get to the lake above them.

[Zefir]

[Vault]

"So you're, like, four months old, old lizard?"

Lintha teases as the vault's security programs scan her. There's no visual effect accompanying this or even any weird sounds so this event is pretty uneventful for the most part.

"How old are you?"

Just gotta wait for the vault doors to open.

[Vault]

"At least I'm three months older than you." He sais with agrin. Then he starts thinking.

"Eh I stoped counting after the first thousand years."

[The Alexandrian]

[Vault]

"You're probably my elder even if you're measuring your age in reptile years! I'm much, much younger than one thousand solar cycles. As a matter of fact, I'd still be considered a child were I an Elf! Well, if you only count the time I lived in the material plane, at least."

Lintha giggles. Mister C is in incredibly good repair for being so aged! And to think with his condition, Lintha could have sworn that he was new to the world.

"Should I be asking you for advice on relationships then, oh wise, ancient, and revered one? Have you had a ladyfriend sometime in the past?"

Oooo! Personal questions time!

And the metal vault door hisses as it swings open! Inside of the vault are walls and walls of tinier vaults! It's vaultception!

-------
[Lake Hylia]

Aw! Rein is a real pal if ever there was one! And a kind, gentle soul! That's what Liz believes with all her heart, anyway! He may be more complicated than that in the outside world, but Liz will never forget this. She wouldn't have been able to clear that hole in the floor without his selfless aid. She owes him her life. Twice. He didn't have to endanger himself to rescue her. She has made up her mind that she will repay him somehow someday. She doesn't know how she'll accomplish that mission. All she knows is that she will. As for now, all she can do is run. Run fast and try not to slow the speedy pink kitty down too much.

As the pair of adventurers ascend, they'll be met with a wave of water as they rush past the top of the staircase. It threatens to sweep them away as it has two chairs, a desk, and a door! A door barreling straight toward them! Uh-oh!

[Reinholdt]

[Lake Hylia]

Well I know how she wants to repay him at least.

Gah. Water. Rein hates water. Not always or anything, but today he really hates water. In fact, he's always been a terrible swimmer. He had to have someone teach him how to swim in human form and he's admittedly made progress, but not enough to counter a wave. Fortunately his flight doesn't die if he gets wet and he normally just travels that way. By flying through water. Hurts a lot worse than through air though and definitely slower. Rein grips Liz harder and pushes forward, albeit at a decreased pace.

As for the door, I'll presume it's not a measly wooden door, since I don't think there are even any in here. A big old metal door is far worse. Though really there's only two choices either way. Go around it or go through it. If there's enough space to navigate around it with Liz, Rein will try.

If there's not, then Rein's in a bit of a bind. Most of his weapons can't be used in rushing water AND blow a hole in a metal door without seriously hurting them. Only thing that comes to mind is the Ori staff plasma weapons Erin's keeps unloading on him. Rein will bring that out and try to blast the door with it, though it's one handed aim and a terrible environment. Might just miss the door entirely and that's saying something when you can't hit a door.

[Zefir]

[Vault]

"You're probably my elder even if you're measuring your age in reptile years! I'm much, much younger than one thousand solar cycles. As a matter of fact, I'd still be considered a child were I an Elf! Well, if you only count the time I lived in the material plane, at least."

Lintha giggles. Mister C is in incredibly good repair for being so aged! And to think with his condition, Lintha could have sworn that he was new to the world.

"Should I be asking you for advice on relationships then, oh wise, ancient, and revered one? Have you had a ladyfriend sometime in the past?"

Oooo! Personal questions time!

And the metal vault door hisses as it swings open! Inside of the vault are walls and walls of tinier vaults! It's vaultception!

[Vault]

Yeah he was lucky to not get into much trouble and his skin is a mix of stuff animal and normal skin. The mage created a good thing here.

"No, but I readed about it in many books, whats your question young one?"

He plays the elder roll now, since she asked.

[The Alexandrian]

[Lake Hylia]

Indeed! Liz would love to repay Rein in that currency, but she realizes full well that Rein might have reservations about her doing so...

Lucky Liz is that Water Breathing is a passive skill for her!

She's doubly fortunate that the skinflint wizards who conjured up this building spared no expense on the stair handrails. They're solid steel attached to genuine wooden boards in the wall. She'll anchor herself to this rail by latching onto it with one hand as a brace when the wave slaps the two treasure seekers and pushes to wash them away. The impact stings Liz very, very much regardless.

But Liz is just as adept at swimming as she is at running! She trained in that skill soon after she invested points in walking as a youngling!

As for the door...

The door is metal. And it might smack Rein even if he switches over to evasive maneuvers. So Ori staff plasma weapon ahoy!

Taking aim while this current is bearing down on the two might be near-impossible, yes. But the front of the door is facing Rein and it is perpendicular to the ground. A near miss, which Rein might then score, would tip the door about its center. Possibly. Therefore, the door should almost scrape Rein and Liz but miss by an inch or so. Close shave, eh?

Ahead is a hallway. And at the end of that darkened hallway is a light. Not heavenly light, but the light of the surface world flooding in through a hole in the ceiling. Fighting against the pressure of the water emptying into the lab will be an intense battle for survival, but if Rein and Liz surge forward and Rein conserves his oxygen supply...

-------
[Vault]

Lintha unlocks another safe door, withdrawing a Mister C-sized, sapphire-blue relic of cold alien metal from it, a wrist-mounted fire and lightning thrower etched in arcane runes of a long dead civilization.

Lintha cordially presents this to Mister C as she talks with him.

"Yeah, uh, this is gonna sound so silly but how are you supposed to tell someone you wanna take things a little slower than they're already proceeding?"

Lintha doesn't know! She's never had to deal with this particular issue before...