The Frozen North: All Aboard!

[DigoDragon]

The device easily unplugs from the terminal. Doc thinks it's probably not radioactive and is probably safe to handle.

Well that's good, because Doc didn't really think about radiation just now since it's one of those invisible killers that'll strip the paint off your house and give your kids a permanent orange afro.
Cookie if you know that reference.
...anyway, Doc puts the device in a safe pouch within his saddlebag.

Golden stays silent for a few seconds. "Oh dear," she replies, "That does sound...interesting. Er, by the way, did anyone see where Oddy got to?"

"She's with the prisoner here."

[tonberryking]

"Before we start talking about bunking arrangements, maybe we should explore the downstairs part of this place. There may be more robots or any unknown factor we can't risk. And I don't know how well *I'm* going to sleep," she glares at Doc for some reason, "Knowing some pony's soul may be stuck in the malfunctioning robot so let's at least try to figure out what was going on."

She doesn't like that Doc took what she assumes was the brain case, but says little.

Everypony wanna fall in line?

She takes the lead, unless stopped, and peers down the hatch, flicking on her shotgun's flashlight.

Spoiler: OOC/rolls

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Perception (3d6)[7]

[Elbeyon]

Rime shows doubt. She asks Black Hawk, "Where did you put these frozen corpses? How did you dispose of them?"

She says to Black Hawk, "Another set of eyes is useful. Do not push yourself too hard. If you need to rest and catch your breath do that. We may have to run at some point." She adds, "We traveled the better half of a day to get here. We can not return tonight."

Rime searches the entrance room. "I will be ready to depart as soon as we know this area is devoid of secret portals."

Before they head down into the robot room Rime will stand by the hatch and feel the next room out for hostile auras.

Spoiler: Roll

Show

Anything bad in the secret door?
Sense Foes
Information; Area
(3d6)[12] vs 15 (Sense Foes)

Tells the caster if the subject has hostile intent, and what the degree of hostility is. Can be cast on one person or a whole area. If cast over an area, this spell will only detect that someone is hostile, without telling who.


Perception
(3d6)[9]

vs 18 (Sight) = 13 (Perception) +5 (Keen Vision)
vs 18 (Hearing) = 13 (Perception) +5 (Keen Hearing)
vs 13 (Smell/taste) = 13 (Perception)
vs 13 (Touch) = 13 (Perception)

[Miltonian]

"I dumped them over the next ridge," Black Hawk says testily, "Then I buried them. Someone had already gone to the trouble of killing them, but I didn't want to take any chances of them coming back." She gestures and gives a half-bow. "Be my guest! Wouldn't trust my judgement anymore, after what happened."

Rime's spellwork is flawless, as (almost) always. However, she does not detect any hostile intent in the nearby area, at least none to her.

Golden hefts her bat and forms up behind Pepper. "If anything gets too close," she says, "Fire and get behind me."

[DigoDragon]

she glares at Doc for some reason

Doc internally sighs. It ain't like he doesn't care. He does... or rather, he would care if he knew there was a filly's soul trapped in that robot. However, that seems to be the purview of necromancy magic as Rime put it, not science... then again, maybe Dr. Banks was a mad genius and found a sciency way to copy someone's brain into a robot. Buuut, Dr. Banks said he failed, and the robot could just be imitating a filly based on faulty programming. Because Dr. Banks failed. See why Doc is hesitant to assume there's a filly in there?

Too many unknowns!

He would like to get a hold of the doctor's notes on the device if they exist. The more Doc can learn about the device, the better he can figure out this mystery. If Glint is right, then yeah, Doc will help out. He'll have evidence and information that would be useful in helping out. But all of this isn't going to change Glint's mind that he's an uncaring monster. She probably dealt with a lot of terrible stallions in her past. Ye gods, Doc seems to have the worst luck with pegasi; Moonshadow, Strawberry, Viridia... especially Viridia. There was always friction with personalities butting heads. This was probably going to be another one of those work-relationships.

Doc externally sighs and just accepts it. Saying anything will just lead to more arguments. He... he really misses the fights he had with Linseed.


He walks up besides Golden, puts the gun in the holster, but not locked away and draws his sword again. He looks ready to continue exploring.

[Elbeyon]

She neutrally says to Black Hawk, "Sounds like you took precautions. Ghouls down here have a tendency of freezing then thawing out later when they are exposed to a heart source."

After she is done searching, she announces, "I did not see any secret portals." She agrees with Pepper, "Let us explore downstairs."

Rime draws her hoof sized magic circle on the floor but doesn't detect any hostiles. She holds up a hoof and casts a one charge stone missile. She says to Golden, "I understand."

She will go downstairs.

[userpay]

"Might be a filly, might not be a filly. I swear I heard about something like this once..." Roxy mutters but after a moment she shrugs. "Anyway I'm good to go." A pity this place was built out of metal and concrete, otherwise Roxy would have the time of her life searching for secret rooms.

[Miltonian]

The group descends into the depths of the bunker, ready and alert for anything. With Pepper forging their path, shotgun ready, they move down a long, gentle slope and come directly to an open door that leads to a massive, if dimly lit, room. Charging stations of all kinds stand row upon row, empty and devoid of anything that moves. However, scattered around the floor are the corpses of many ghouls, all in various states of recent and violent dismemberment. It seems that the first victims of the robots once they woke up were the ghouls who had invaded this bunker so many years ago.

Three doors exit this main storage room: two on the left, both sealed, and one on the right, which is both open and has a flickering light coming from inside. Pepper even hears the sound of faint muttering coming from within. Something about, "now where did I leave that conflabbit processor?"

[igordragonian]

Oddy was oddly... quite.
No humor, no nagging. Nothing. She remembered a scene she hoped she has forgotten but she didn't.

Spoiler: Boring Flashback

Show

Imagine Oddy with this kind of body https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/...86/495/159.png (also wearing a red version if those uniforms with furry edges)
Lil' Oddy in class levitated puppets of Celestia and Twilight Sparkle. "And because you are so super friendly, you became a goddess as well, Twily!" Oddy dubbed Celestia.
"We ponies are amazing! The shun, moon, love and friendship! I am sho glad we are ponies!"
Few of her fellow students clapped. Some had.. an expriession of cringe.
But Oddy didn't minded that. It just meant they weren't expriencing or knowing enough!
"Sho.. any questions?' She asked with a smile, exposing her braced teeth.

The teacher frowned. "No. I just wanted to add some context to those... mythes." Ms. Merry stepped forward straightening up her glasses.
"Yes. We are obligied by tradition to serve all kinds. Even ponies. But there is no need to worship them. There were many of them. They had unimaginable powers of magic and tech- and with that, they have decided to doom the world. Don't forget that. We are in safe haven here... but they have turned the rest of the world into Tartarus, where every horror is real."
Oddy stomped with determination. "There are few mean ponies, but in their core, ponies are the best thing in the world!'
Ms. Merry stomped as well. "Stop fooling yourself, Oddy! Out! Out!"

Oddy mambled. 'Stop fooling yourself...'
She walking to check the sealed doors- simple logic- if it is sealed, then it worth something.
She pulling her lock picking tools, seeing if she can ply with it.

[DigoDragon]

Doc will follow the direction Glint moves, and have his weapon ready. 'Who else is down here?' he wonders.

[Elbeyon]

A long slope and a massive room? She did not make her detect foes spell area large enough to cover everything.

Rime looks around the room. "What a strange room. It is so dark. Did anypony bring a light source? This many corpses could mean they were dumping ghouls here." What could they have done in the charging room? Rime can not identify all this tech. She horns her seek radiation wand out of her bag and tests the area again.

She whispers at Oddy, "Is something wrong? Do not stray too far from the group."

Spoiler: Roll

Show

Anything bad? Roll because who knows what will happen.
(3d6)[9] vs 15 (Seek Radiation)

[igordragonian]

"Just seeing if I can break into THOSE rooms. If they k'have sealed, it must be worth something.' She answer Rime with a smile, but.. less jovial then her usual.

[DigoDragon]

Doc raises a hoof to shush both Rime and Oddy. He whispers, "we are not alone" and points to the open doorway.

[tonberryking]

Pepper suddenly holds up a dramatic hoof for silence, quickly giving a stern glare at everpony aside from Doc. Continuing with more hoof gestures that --while probably make more sense for ponies accustomed to police tactics-- are relatively self intuitive: she wants the party to keep quiet, and wants the team to surround the open door.

She takes lead again, quietly hovering in the air to hook into view/firing range of the door and peaks in, shining her gun/flashlight inward.

Spoiler: ooc/rolls

Show

(3d6)[14] Perception

(3d6)[12] This is a shotgun check--not to actually SHOOT anything, but to get a bead on any potential threat. I dunno if I can hold an action but if some creepy rust bucket chainsaw murder monster is inside, Pepper's going to shoot it first/ask questions later.

[Miltonian]

Rime's spell does detect some radiation this time, coming from inside one of the locked doors. Fortunately, not the one that Oddy is currently investigating. As for Oddy, she is sure she can get this door open, with a little effort (and a roll).

What Pepper sees when she peers through the door is, at first glance, a glowing ghost of an old, robed unicorn stallion with a long beard that trails along the floor. However, it flickers to regularly and his glow is a little too electrical for the netherworld. Pepper quickly surmises that he is of technological, not supernatural, origin.

He glances in Pepper's direction and, if she does not want to be seen, now is a good time to try and avoid it with some stealthy maneuvers.

[tonberryking]

Pepper hastily tries to move out of view, back to the wall alongside the doorway, mouthing "don't move " at the others...

Spoiler: ooc/rolls

Show

Stealth: (3d6)[7]

[Miltonian]

"Hello? Hello?" the stallion calls from inside, "Is anyone there?" He waits for an answer and then snorts in annoyance. "Horgen-blasted old machinery. Can hardly see my own gorim-tossed hoof in front of my face through this."

[tonberryking]

"Some kind of hologram traipsing around..." Pepper whispers to the others. "Do we go in and try to talk? I can't tell if its a recording or if somepony's trying to contact this place...:

[DigoDragon]

"Recordings don't react to our presence," Doc whispered back, noting that it called out 'hello' just after Glint ducked.

"I say we try taking to it," he adds.

[igordragonian]

Oddy smile, and hop on air toward the unicorn.
"Ello!" she wave cheerfully.
"My name is Oddy Irre! Who are you?'


----

Spoiler: ooc

Show

Empathy please

Psycology- 8
(3d6)[5][5][3](13)

[tonberryking]

Pepper remains where she is out of sight-- her shotgun isn't exactly warm and welcoming, but she looks like she wants to bonk her head against the wall. The reindeer better not mess this up...

[Miltonian]

It is eerie to Oddy. For the first time in, at the very least, a long while, she has found someone who gives her no reading. From observing his reactions and behavior, he seems to be the grumpy old grandpa sort crossed with a bit of unicorn-mage arrogance, but she gets no sense of him, who he is, and whether or not he is a good pony.

He, however, reacts with a startled leap backwards. "Gaaaahh-reat wickering baskets, filly!" he shouts, "You don't sneak up on an old stallion like me!" He puts a hoof to his chest and pants rapidly. "I...whoo...give me a moment here."

[igordragonian]

Oddy giggled with an amuse.
"Please accept my apolagy. Mister...?' she has tilted her head with curiosity.

[DigoDragon]

While Oddy banters with the mystery holo-pony, Doc will attempt to locate where the hologram emitter is. He is pretty sure this isn't a ghost (to be fair, he is skeptical that such entities exist) or magic trick (he trusts that Rime could sniff it out if it were). If this is a hologram, the there should be a computer at the source, right?

Stealth (3d6)[10] v. 12
Perception (3d6)[10] v. 12

[Miltonian]

Something...strange happens. The stallion begins to answer, then fragments. His face flickers, different parts becoming different faces that flash by too quickly to really see as five different voices almost answer.

"So--"

"Sh--"

"Fl--"

"Th--"

"Su--"

As suddenly as it began, it ends. The stallion beams vacantly at Oddy. "I'm terribly sorry," he says, "But the information you have tried to access is classified and requires administrator privileges to access. But you may call me Starswirl." He strokes his long, pure-white beard. "Maybe you've heard of me, or at least the 'me' I'm supposed to be. Maybe you haven't. It matters not."

A frown comes over his face. "Oh dear. You wouldn't happen to be a civilian, would you?"

Doc, meanwhile, spots a projector. Or rather, a series of them, arranged in a circle and embedded in the walls of the room.

[igordragonian]

Oddy's jaw drop.
'Sikonda. Chto....?' Her brain taking her back to her original launghage.
She released a fangirlish giggle.
'....I k'have read about you. But I always was sure... you were.. a myth.'
She pause.
'Are... The Heart Warmth Eve stories... based on true 'istory?' She ask.
It seemed... very important question to her.

[DigoDragon]

Doc, meanwhile, spots a projector. Or rather, a series of them, arranged in a circle and embedded in the walls of the room.

Doc nods toward Glint and points them out, just in case the conversation needed to end quickly.

He watches over Oddy. If anything moves at her that isn't this hologram of... Czar Swell or whoever, Doc would intercept with shield.

[Elbeyon]

Rime's spell does detect some radiation this time, coming from inside one of the locked doors.

The wand pings in relation to the strength of the radiation. Ponies definitely would have been able to see were she was pointing and the noise (loudness depending). Rime tucks the wand away until they advance again.

Hey! Don't leave Rime out! She will look at the things Doc is nodding to as well!

[DigoDragon]

Hey! Don't leave Rime out! She will look at the things Doc is nodding to as well!

Doc will point the emitters out to Rime too.

[Miltonian]

Streaks of red slowly grow through the hologram's beard and mane. He pulls out a pair of spectacles and dons them, peering at Oddy a bit more closely. "Hmmm," he says, "I see now. You a deer! That does explain your interest in the holidays." He clears his throat. "The original story of Hearths Warming was, for a long time, considered a myth. However, in the waning days of the war, it was well-documented that winters grew longer and summers shorter, even though the royal sisters did their best to keep the solar-lunar schedule in the optimal place for their ponies to change the seasons. Winter-Wrap-Up had to be pushed back further and further, ostensibly because of the ponypower shortage on the front lines. Weather teams were understaffed as well, which could have explained the unforeseen snows and harsher than intended blizzards which engulfed Equestria each winter. However, certain ponies looked to the old Hearthswarming story and came to a different conclusion."

He takes the glasses off and stows them away. The streaks of red turn grey and then back to white. His eyes take on a slightly blue glow. "One which has been confirmed," he says quietly, "By later information-gathering." He smiles apologetically. "Now, I must ask you a question. Tell me, please, are you or do you know any of the descendants of Late Night? He was the President and CEO of the Amethyst Electronic Solutions company."