Celestia's Finest: So Long and Thanks for all the Love

[DigoDragon]

Ah imagine Hyper Thought is feelin mighty nervous at this point. He probably knows what that explosion meant and with the others safe... Well he might fight like ah cornered wolf.

'Agreed. We should tread carefully as he may be liable to take his own life... and us with him.'

[Miltonian]

Everyone looks much better after Rose doses them with her healing (professional) touches. If this were Ogres and Oubliettes, she'd be a Paladin.

Chrysalis, however, is caught up in scheming now. Ideas are occurring faster than she can say them. Longshot and Rose are mostly ignored as she rises and begins to pace back and forth, cackling to herself.

--

Hyper Thought replies in a low voice, coming out of the central pillar. "Yes. I can hear you." The bombastic, gleefulness is gone from his voice. "Were you hoping for a last confession? Some dying words?" Now, only hollow bitterness remains.

Love gets a schematic of the hoop. Unfortunately, it relies on several components and materials not native to this world. Replicating it would be almost impossible.

As for the pillar, it serves as the main control unit for the hoops, which can not only link to others of their kind in a stable way, but also create short-lived and temporary portals to almost anywhere with the right calculations. The longer the distance, however, the more power is required. This thing doesn't have anywhere near its full capacity, that seems to have been disabled, but it could get them to Canterlot.

Wait a second...the screen above it, the hoop against the wall... Love looks around and spots a camera, the very same camera she was looking through when she saw Andromeda leave! It couldn't show the entire room due to its angle, but she's seen this in action before!

Plugging in should be safe, yes.

[Elbeyon]

Love waves her Squid over the pillar a few times. She doesn't spot any obvious booby traps.

This technology is amazing! She should ask Andromeda about long-term usage. Scomm, answering Brazen, "The device hasn't been completely disabled. I could get us to Canterlot with some calculations." She crushes another Reveal Stone and plugs her laptop's cable into the machine. A wire trails from her saddlebag to the pillar. She needs to hack!

Brazen's next sentence puts Love on edge. Rose drives the point further.

Love perks up when she hears Thought's voice. She puts her hoofs on the pillar and asks it with worry, "Dr. Hyper Thought! Are you hurt!? There was a tremor through the lower levels. I wanted to make sure you were safe." Love shakes her head. "I don't want you talking like that."

Scomm, "Hyper Thought said something about last confession and dying words!"

She looks toward the camera so Thought can see her. "I want living words! I want promised you'll continue inventing, building up knowledge!" She tries to put some genuine cheer into her words, despite the dire circumstances, "The world needs you, Dr. Hyper Thought! Your special talent will continue to change the world! There are ponies that need and love you, need to be with you. The world needs your passion! I want to learn with you!"

Spoiler: Magic!

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I'd like to use Reveal Function's second function to Increase Love's Familiarity w/ Temporary Portals from -2 to -1.

Spoiler: Reveal Function

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The spell can also be used to reveal how to activate known functions (i.e., which button to press); the caster gets one try, at -5! If successful, the caster can then use the machine with the appropriate skill (or IQ-6) at a penalty of only -1 for unfamiliarity.

[DigoDragon]

A paladin? Nah, Rose doesn't think she has the temperament for it. She is more an Oracle (assuming PF classes). Rose can spend some more healing if it is needed. She has batteries to suck on.

(3d6)[9] vs 16
(3d6)[11] vs 16

Batteries
(3d6)[13] vs 15
(3d6)[9] vs 15

"Anyone else need my magic touch?" If not, Rose can hold Midnight again?

[D.KnightSpider]

Longshot's face goes blank.

"Affirmative, Love. Whatever happens, keep him talking until we can take action." He pauses for a moment and then Subcomms Harrier and Co. "If we're going to do anything fancy, we need to do it soon. Otherwise, we're going to have to push on and hope for the best."

He sends Tumbler to unlock the door to the lab.

Spoiler: Don't Fail Me Now!

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Lockpicking
(3d6)[2][4][3](9) VS 16

[Miltonian]

"Heh. Ha! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Hyper Thought laughs a long, hard, desperate laugh, the laugh of someone who's just about reached rock bottom and, upon getting there, encountered something so ridiculous that the only thing they can do is laugh without a care in the world for the moment. "Love me?" he jeers, "Need me? Let's examine that statement a bit, shall we? First, it's completely false. Oh, my wife made it very clear, very, VERY clear, that neither she nor my children needed or wanted to see me again. Can't think of anyone else either! So let's cross that right off the list."

"Second, of course my inventions will change the world! But I doubt anyone other than you is going to want me around for it." He cackles. "But I did it, didn't I? I discovered things Twilight would never dream of. I know far more than she ever will. And in the centuries of her life to come, she's going to know it. She'll know that I, Hyper Thought, was her equal!"

"Third, you wanting to 'study' with me can be arranged, after a fashion. I have left copies of all my 'useful' discoveries on my personal hard-drive. The military ones were, of course, deleted, but there is a lot I learned about how the body works that 'normal' doctors can use to save many lives, I'm sure. I almost had figured out a way to stop aging entirely, if you can believe it. True, biological immortality. Or at least, you'll look like you're in your late twenties, early thirties until you die in a car accident or something. Feel like it too. I'll leave that to you, since anyone else would just destroy it. You'll find it with Null. She'll be asleep for the next few hours, so you should have time to secure her."

"Heh. Twilight told me cloning could never be done. I want you to take Null and Blank and rub them in that stuck up princess' face."

He sighs. "And...that's about everything, I suppose. Goodbye, cruel world, and all that. Let's not drag this out longer than it needs to be." He starts to hum a lilting little tune and Love hears the sound of someone fiddling with a pistol.

The function is revealed, everyone is healed, and they all stack up by the door, waiting for Longshot to open it. He does in a mere moment and reveals a massive room, row upon row of glass cylinders large enough to hold a pony stretching on into the darkness, and no sign of Hyper Thought save for the vague echo of someone humming.

[userpay]

"Oh come now Hyper Thought." Brazen cranes his head to look towards the camera. "Aye folks back home aren't to keen on ya, hells ah have to admit ah ain't either, but that still don't mean you ain't got folks that don't depend on ya. Midnight and them wouldnt like to see you off yerself. If you surrender we can try to git you some leniency... Methinks the nobles would find it difficult to argue against us after this opt. Not to mention wouldn't you like to try and git back at Polaris fer leavin ye high and dry?"

Diplo (3d6)[11] vs 13

[D.KnightSpider]

"I'll scout ahead and try to find him." Longshot says. "Don't push too far, too fast. This feels like deja vu."

Time isn't on his side. He moves faster than normal in an effort to find Hyper Thought before they lose him... permanently.

Spoiler: I Liked the Rules Ignorant Odds Better

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Perception
(3d6)[3][5][1](9) VS 16

Stealth
(3d6)[4][2][6](12) VS 12 (15 Skill, +2 Tac Suit, -5 Movement Penalty)

[DigoDragon]

Rose texts Love and Brazen, 'What's going on with H.T. there?'

She takes Midnight and keeps to the back of the party, putting lots of delicious, warm, recently healed bodies between them and the door(s).

[Miltonian]

"Oh yes. Leniency. So I'll be turned to stone instead of sent to actual Tartarus," Hyper Thought drawls sarcastically, "How very alluring."

Longshot follows the faint tune, pulling far ahead of the rest of the party. He almost loses himself in the maze of wires and identical glass cylinders, filled with some sort of vile, green liquid. but his sharp ears show the way. The haste, however, means that by the time he reaches the back of the lab and finds the door to where Hyper Thought is, he's vacuum-sealed the door shut. Longshot can see him through the porthole, aiming down the sights of a service pistol.

"You can run on for a long time," he sings softly to himself, "Run on for a long time. Sooner or later gonna cut you down. Sooner or later gonna strike you down."

--

Midnight looks up from her book, a look of concern on her face.

[userpay]

Scomm: He's tryin to avoid being imprisoned by takin his own life.

"Hyper Thought, ah think you've forgotten something." Brazen continue to stares into the camera. "Yer old family might have rejected you but you have ah new family that needs ya now don't ya? Midnight, Null, Blank to ah lesser degree. You know them better than we do, yer the best suited for helpin teach them to live ah normal life."

[DigoDragon]

Rose matches Midnight's look of concern She whispers to Midnight, "I'm hearing from the others on my comm that Hyper Thought feels like a trapped fox and might take his own life. Would you be willing to talk him down? I don't want him hurt any more than you do."

[Elbeyon]

Love tries to calculate a teleport on Hyper Thought's location. She uses comparison pictures/architecture/hud recordings and sound data being gathered by Longshot's robots as he beads in. Longshot's GPS/auto-mapping data being very useful. She walks near one of the hoops to use it as quickly as possible once activated/everything gets calculated.

She answers Thought as Longshot flies closer, "I do ‘want you around’! I want you around for a long time! I want, need, to see you. You know more about me than perhaps any other pony. I’ve gotten to know you through files and inventions. A day hasn’t gone by where I haven’t thought of you. I need you to live! I’m worried about you! I consider you my friend. I love you. And, Brazen is right! Midnight needs you too! You raised her. You’ve been listening to her haven’t you? She has been calling your name! She has been asking for you. She loves you. You'll realize she loves you if you listen to her.”

“You’ve learned so much. You’re key to keeping your research safe from faulty storage or representation. No one has the intimate knowledge and familiarity needed to handle your research. Your research could be put behind years, decades, with no one to cultivate it. You understand the value in processing power! A pony of your caliber has so much more to offer the world. We’d be missing your processing ability for centuries. You have unfinished research. With immortality, you’d be able to continue researching for centuries and see your work enacted in the future! You can stay on top of the scientific world! With time, anything is possible.”

Love tears up, her voice unsettled. “I can’t wait to meet Null again! She’d want to see you too! She spoke very highly of you. You raised her. You had a hoof in raising all these ponies. Blank, I’m glad you remembered his name, would want to see you too. Dr. Hyper Thought, you shared with me my brothers and sisters. I have some family around the world, but I wouldn't have brothers or sisters. They wouldn't exist without you, and I love them. That's because of you. You're important to me. I'll fight for you to have a good life. A life filled with people who care about you. Myself included. The future is a better place than now. We can work together. Midnight cares about you. She wants to see you happy. We can make her happy together. You will cause her smile."

Spoiler: Edit

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Slight edits

I can roll some things.

[D.KnightSpider]

Longshot listens to Love's words, watches Hyper Thought and readies himself to intervene if necessary. His rifle can snap up to fire in an instant.

Spoiler: What'cha Thinking Thought?

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Taking a Wait Command to fire after HT's immediate reaction to Love's speech if necessary.

Perception
(3d6)[2][2][3](7) VS 16

Body Language
(3d6)[2][5][6](13) VS 17

[Miltonian]

Hyper Thought listens to Love and Brazen with an impassive expression. His hoof straightens his mane. He clears his throat. His eyes go to the pistol. Then, Midnight, at Rose's prompting, speaks. "Doctor?" she calls again, voice wavering and plaintive. Hyper Thought stares at the pistol for a long five seconds. Then, with a single motion, he throws it to the other side of the room.

"Coward," he mutters and pushes himself up from his chair. He heads towards the other side of the room and pulls out a large bottle of alcohol. The danger has passed.

That is one crisis averted, but then Chrysalis buzzes up behind Longshot, fire in her eyes. Her eyes are fixed on the door.

[D.KnightSpider]

Longshot sends out a general comm.: "I've located Hyper Thought. He's locked himself behind a vac-door, appears to be no longer contemplating suicide and instead taking to alcohol. You can follow TacNet to my location and find him."

A deep breath cleanses the stress of the situation. So far, so good.

He looks at Chrysalis. "Hyper Thought was kind enough to put himself in the mousetrap. He's not going anywhere any time soon."

[DigoDragon]

For a moment, Rose felt like she was going to subjectively dry heave.

She gently squeezes Midnight's hoof with appreciation that she did a good thing. "Let's go see him. Sounds like Dr. Thought is just gonna drink now. That's an Idea I could get behind." Rose carries Midnight as she heads to where Longshot is.

[Elbeyon]

That teleport is still a work in action!

Love holds a step forward as he contemplates then steps forward when Thought tosses the gun aside. She says enthusiastically, "Dr. Hyper Thought! You're being brave! We're going to rock! Let's work together toward an awesome future!" Love smiles real big at the camera. "Thank you, for Midnight."

Scomm, "Roger, Longshot. I'm reading your location loud and clear! Good work on finding Thought!"

[Miltonian]

Chrysalis huffs. "I was hoping he'd resist. This feels very unsatisfying."

Midnight nods and, for once, has no objections to being carried. They will arrive shortly. In the meantime, Rose gets to appreciate the creepy, dark lab. A lab that has not been fully checked yet.

Love thinks she can activate the second hoop. The one that Powder Keg fired on is damaged. It looks like it used to have a 'list' of addresses it could connect to, but that's now missing. Probably it was in the crystal they took with them. There is exactly one address remaining, though. The last that portal connected to.

Canterlot.

[DigoDragon]

In the meantime, Rose gets to appreciate the creepy, dark lab. A lab that has not been fully checked yet.

"Curious work environment. I take it the dim lighting is Dr. Thought's preference?" Rose asks Midnight.

[userpay]

Feh, suicide is the cowards way out not continuing to live. Still Brazen doesn't voice that though for the moment and instead turns to Love. "Almost done fiddling with that thing? Even if Hyper Thought is outa the picture ah'm worried Polaris still has somethin up their sleeve."

[D.KnightSpider]

Longshot studies the room and the surrounding area before replying.

"If we ask get out of this alive and without major injury, I'll find it satisfying."

Spoiler: Clap Your Hooves If You Disbelieve!

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Will
(3d6)[6][6][1](13) VS 14

[Elbeyon]

Love keeps an eye on Thought through Longshot's view. She re-assigns one of the BugBots onto the lab glass to carefully watch him.

Scomm, "I can't change a hoop address without overriding the last used address. The pillar no longer has a hard drive, long-term storage, to keep the addresses saved. Based off the set location and previous video, I'd say the second hoop," Love motions to it, "was used by Andromeda to travel to Canterlot. I'm done fiddling unless we're heading to Andromeda's location. The hoop we damaged doesn't hold an address so we're not following the wolves." Love wouldn't want to follow them anyway unless she had a sudden death wish.

[Miltonian]

Midnight nods. "He doesn't like bright lights too much."

Longshot is sure that there are no illusions in the immediate vicinity. He can, for once, believe his eyes. Chrysalis peers over his shoulder and snarls, a wicked grin spreading across her face. "Well doctor, how does it feel to be the rat in a cage?" she mutters under her breath.

As for the other four hoops, they don't seem to have power. Longshot will have to get the door open his own way.

[D.KnightSpider]

"Affirmative, Love. I recommend you leave the teleporter and hoof it our direction. Once we regroup, we can finish securing the floor."

Longshot takes another look about the area and those present, before turning his attention to the door. Tumbler is stationed by the door and he begins the process of making his way through the barrier.

"Must feel pretty lousy if he's turning to drink." Longshot replies in a distracted manner.

Spoiler: Peeping Through Keyholes

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Perception
(3d6)[5][1][1](7) VS 16

Lockpicking
(3d6)[1][4][2](7) VS 16

[Elbeyon]

Scomm, "Roger. Agreed." Love looks to Brazen for his thoughts on regrouping. She nods her head, "Regrouping." Love will speed toward Dr. Hyper Thought.

Love will keep an eye on Thought as they make their way to the lab.

She says out loud as she runs. "I enjoy a hard drink myself."

Scomm, "Sickle, do you have any recordings of what happened after the teleport?"

[DigoDragon]

Rose arrives with Midnight and stands out of the way. She looks at the lab around her, noting what is where and if anything looks particularly dangerous. Hope Thought is a fan of labeling everything.

[Miltonian]

By the time everyone arrives, Longshot is one click away from getting the door open. "Cheery place," Question Mark mutters.

"Oh yeah. Real cheery," Sickle snarls. She turns to Love. "It was a lot of robots and mechanical traps."

Unfortunately for Rose, Hyper Thought has almost nothing labelled in the lab at the moment. She does see some cylinders that are far larger than the others, though, and filled with colors other than green. Six of them, in fact.

Chrysalis keeps her eyes on the door, ready to spring at a moment's notice.

Their comms crackle to life. "Sulmandeer is down," Wildcat says, "What's your status?"

[DigoDragon]

She does see some cylinders that are far larger than the others, though, and filled with colors other than green. Six of them, in fact.

Rose points out the cylinders to Midnight. "Those related to the elements, yes?" she whispers.

[D.KnightSpider]

Longshot stops just short that last click. He pauses Tumbler and taps the side of his helmet to indicate that he's answering.

Longshot unfastens his face mask.

Subvocal Comm.: "Harrier Squad reporting. Wrath has been contained in an iceburg. The Magic Anti-Element is our captive. Hornet Squad has secured the bunker's first floor. The second level is partially secure.

"The short version is that we encountered the remnants of the wolf allies and 'encouraged' them to retreat via some unknown teleportation technology. Early indications are that they've abandoned Thought but not Polaris.

"Lt. Charge talked Hyper Thought down from suicide. As soon as I can pick the lock to the chamber within which he's drinking himself into a stupor, he'll be in our custody. We will have taken him alive and unharmed."

Chrysalis receives a meaningful look. HT hasn't resisted, so there's no cause for 'beating him into submission'.