[Episode One] Sanctum

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7am
Downrider


Oliver didn't care much for the other antics of the team after the battle had been won, its not like he was a super social person beforehand either. When everything had finished he'd simply found his way back onto the ship and his small cabin, unlike most of the others he'd also managed to sleep through the night easily.

Come morning time the conjurer was still fast asleep, the noise outside nowhere near loud enough to rouse him inside the ship.
 
7am
Downrider Bunks


Marie was asleep. Finally. She was in quite the unflattering position, clothes not even changed and her body without any real care or respect for the orientation of the mattress or the blanket for that matter.

The machines were ticking away, slowly printing out component after component that Marie wanted for her work over the coming week. She had a lot of work ahead of her.

But for now...sleep...

All-nighters were awful.
 
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7AM
Arbles's little corner of snoozes


A moderately quieted "Mragh!?" emanated from the hidden pilot, her face poking up over the cover she had made after a second. Her orangish-brown locks had become quite the rat's nest overnight, and lopsidedly hung off her head. "Oh, you're back. the fighters are off somewhere else, except him." She pointed to Mikodimus sleepily.
 
7AM

Mikodimus woke suddenly from his slumber. The young man had a really rough time the day before so to wake him already was going to have some hell to pay. As his eyes opened and he scanned the area as his pupils dilated as he took notice of the floating overseer. His mind was still in a haze as he watched. Concerned it was back from the dead and going to seek revenge on his employer.

Miko slowly reached out his arm towards Dahlia. His mind was unfocused but his soul was on fire. Without even knowing it the protective bubble that had reached out the night before pulsed. Like a rock slashing into a pond, it rippled and shimmered. For Miko time seemed to stop completely as his mind caught up. His eyes widened even more as he watched the bubble ripple. Oh no, not again...

Time instantly moved forward as the protective vector bubble burst forth away from Dahlia. Everything around her that was not attached to her body accelerated outward. The small debris around her was turned into a hostile projectile. Miko did his best to shield those close to him as debris pass around him. He heard a loud pop as a small pebble shot clean through his arm. It was oven just as quickly as it started. He stood motionless as he looked to those around him hoping they still lived.
 
The boy rolled over just in time for a pebble to merely whiz by his head and pop against his gauntlet, leaving a pea-sized hole on the edge before clinking harmlessly against the floor through a chink. His ear twitched, and his eyes cracked open to catch the light pouring through the sunroof of his own creation - and while it felt like hoisting a bag full of bricks, he pulled himself into a sitting position and rubbed his eyes one at a time.

"Jeez... wouldn't exactly call the commodities here five-star..." the boy's voice was gravelly, and he could feel the dried sliver where drool had seeped down to the stone floor in the middle of the night. "...but I haven't slept like that in ages!" Deimos stretched his back til it popped three times, leapt to his feet, and proceeded to reattach his armor. It was like putting on a sleeve. All he had to do was picture slipping his arm into the metal and it would lock into place. He flexed its fingers and twisted the wrist, then pulled his cloak on over his shoulders.

He hadn't even noticed the commotion nearby until he ran his fingers through his hair a few times and turned his head to see the mechanical ghost.

"Wait a second, you're supposed to be scrap!"
 
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Site 0001
Main Room


The wispy visage of the Overseer crackled with light and fizzled away as the blast of force sent shrapnel launching. The Pixy unit projecting the image was berated with a flurry of rocks and dust, spinning in midair briefly until it found its balance once more.

After a few seconds of surprised silence, Dahlia exhaled, and picked herself up off the now-swept ground. These hoodlums were doing an excellent job at renovating the place. The Scholar was about to open her mouth in exclamation as the mass of white polygonal light reformed, interrupting her. The scratched Pixy unit had started projecting once more, a piece of gravel firmly wedged between its lens and casing.

In no time, the polygonal features of the Overseer came into view once more. It was hard to tell if she had overestimated or underestimated these people. The flayed plume of faux white robes spun around as Deimos yelled, followed by the rest of the digital incarnation.

OSC-01 gave a single chortle, tilting their head at Miko and Deimos. She seemed surprisingly favoring, given the attempted crushing mere hours ago. “Perhaps I would be, if you had thought to use a full box.”

From behind, Dahlia had found her gun. She brushed it off, turning to face the hologram. The Overseer’s head returned to a neutral position, as did her tone. “It’d be a waste of munitions.”

”Yeeeah it looks kinda…. Not-the-real-thing…” The moderately narcoleptic pilot’s voice droned out through the room quietly.

It took a moment for Miko to regain his composure. It had been years since the last time he lost control of his power. He worked tirelessly to ensure this never happens as he has seen the aftermath of it. Though why was a vector bubble all the way over there, around a girl he just recently met to boot. This thinking would have to wait, he had more pressing matters.

”I’LL SHOW YOU!”

Deimos ignored the small girl’s remark as he rushed towards the hologram; his pata was readied for a full-force lunge, his every footstep echoed through the halls beneath the sound of a battlecry tearing from his lungs. The next second, he was on the floor, having tripped as he passed harmlessly through the mere echo of a machine.
The wail turned to a groan as he lay there for a moment. “Ok. Charging at the projected image… not a great idea.”

”Like I said. Anyways, now that that’s out of the way… Why are you just kinda, looking at us? You pretty obviously had a reason to wake us up, so…” Her questions were directed back towards the not-robot.

Miko could not help but grin as he watched Deimos hug the floor. He slowly stood and moved over towards the girl who drew his vector. This was done without thought, as he reached a hand towards her to help her to her feet. His eyes not moving far to ensure the seer was always in sight.
“I think it seems to look for peace.” Miko said with a smile.

”Such feist.” retorted OSC-01 as the image of the robot was split apart by the dive.

The Overseer replied simply to the drowsy pilots comments, flipping about face as the image reloaded. "I wake with a bunch of strangers in my home, and the two outside said this was the one behind it. What else is there to do?"

Dahlia's brows furrowed at the situation in general. She hesitantly kept her weapon at the ready as she clasped Miko’s bloodied hand. She had a medical pack nearby, but there were more pressing concerns.

”Then what do you want, robot-” Dahlia started, before being interrupted by yet another outburst.
“Peace, my ass!” Deimos pulled himself from the ground and teetered for a second while his bearings returned. “That thing just tried to kill you guys with its goons! How do we know it’s not going to call them back any second now?”

He jammed a finger in the direction of the unit. “We shouldn’t let our guard down just because we can’t touch one of them!”

Another sleepy retort from the pilot, ””Just”, was only… Like… .Several hours ago… And sleeping…”

Miko looked down at the projection bot and how it had taken a rock to the face. “If it does not want peace we will give it some piece, of lead.” Miko said with a smile as he motioned to Dahlia holding a weapon.

The Overseer’s eye slits narrowed, a feature the projection had that the physical model did not. "Perhaps, if we could finish a sentence. Please, I am OSC-01. May I have the luxury of knowing who I'm talking to?”

She wasn't even going to try the full title for a third time. The hologram gestured for a return.

”...Dahlia Morgan, Captain of the Downrider Inn Expedition." The scholar replied, sternly.

Miko noticed the blood running down his hand having one of those oh shit moments. It was about this time he noticed the sting in his shoulder. It would seem he got hurt from something. He reached up and pressed against the wound to slow the bleeding.

“I am Mikodimus, bounty hunter, treasure hunter and overall demo man.” He was grinning ear to ear.

”I already know about you, Mikodimus," the robot replied admonishingly. A moment later, their bright verdant gaze shot directly at Deimos, though their head moved not an inch.

”Arbitrated Shan, sage and…” A yawn, as the narcolepsy-plagued smol more or less leaned on her pack, staring into the room. ”...Pilot.”

The mention that the bot remembered him caused Miko to straighten up more. As this moment phased he looked down to see Dahlia was still holding his hand. He also saw the blood had soiled it as well. Oh shit, what am I, don’t even know. As he had his brain fart, his instincts kicked in and he pulled to help her to her feet. The entire reason he had walked over there, or at least that was his thought at the moment.

Dahlia let go of the hand once of the ground, slowly wiping it off and leaving a smear of red on the wall behind her.

As Deimos clambered to his feet, he bared his teeth at the machine, his own amber orbs shooting at the green pixels like darts. He wanted to refuse to introduce himself, maybe even try leaping at the projected image at least one more time just to see if it really is just a hologram, but common sense and the sentiment of his peers placed a firm hand on his shoulder to keep him back - though his expression remained displeased.

”Deimos Gerhardt.” He didn’t bother with title. He was doing all he could not to spit profanities as is. He crossed his arms across his chest with a huff. ”So with that out of the way, mind telling us why you’re back? Thought you would have learnt some kind of lesson after all that.”


The visage gave a low hum. Now that that was out of the way… ”I can only learn so much from something else's poor mistakes.”

OSC-01 turned their attention back to the rest of the grouping, floating back a foot or so. It was best to keep this simple before one of these fools ran out of a patience. ”I received an update, sent… quite a long while ago. Something rather nasty was in it.”

Dahlia spoke up promptly. ”So what, a virus. Why should we care?"

OSC-01 yawed her head lightly. "I don’t expect you too, but I do.” The machine paused momentarily, looking the three over. She was in a bit of a predicament. In no place to make a threat, nor quite over it enough to ask for a bit of help.

”I’m not a fool. I know what you all are after here, and it makes me worried. What impelled you?”

”Impelled? What are you, an aristocrat’s servant or something?”

OSC-01’s green eyes lowered for a moment, looking away. It seems the comment had struck some form of sentimental thought. After a moment, they cast it away and returned. ”Once in my time, I was.”

“Going to be honest here, no clue what we were going to find here. Let alone if it would be worth anything.” Miko commented as he looked at the overseer. “Think of this as an information gathering mission. Though sorry we broke a few things.” Miko tried to hide his smile.

After a moment, Dahlia stepped forward, arms crossed over her puffed chest. She was doing her best to be intimidating, though it only came in waves. ”We’re looking for- information, and maybe a bit of money on the side. On a place legends call Arcadia.”

The Scholar immediately motioned to both men to get ready, just in case that happened to be a repeating trigger for anger.
Miko did nothing or so it seemed. He was ready to act at a moment’s notice.
Deimos took a single step back, readying a potential lunge with his blade. His eyes narrowed.


But there was nothing. After a few seconds, OSC-01 blinked. After that, she laughed. ”I’m afraid you’re a little late for that one.”

Though their external posture had barely shifted, the robot servant was… relieved. That place had gotten what it rightfully deserved.

“Yeah, figured they were long dead. So what is this place?” Miko asked in a soft voice.

Dahlia huffed quietly, clearly not a fan of being laughed at. Before she spoke up, OSC-01 replied. ”Many things. I’ve seen it as a shrine, a military outpost, a prison, and a bunker. When it was left to rot, I came back to make myself its last occupant. Well, until now.”

The ghostly robot looked back down at the captain and company, still batting around thoughts in their mind.

Miko reached over and rubbed his chin for a moment. The wound on his shoulder had stopped bleeding yet the hole was still there. It looked as if the blood floated, still, frozen in place.

“Kind of let that place go if you ask me.” He said with a chuckle. He too was not a fan of being mocked, more so from a busted after thought Overseer. “So anything of value left in this place left to rot.”

OSC-01 replied sharply to the mercenary, in an almost trained manner. “Wouldn’t you like to know?”

After a moment, Dahlia stepped forward and answered that question for them. “We would, and I’d like to know who built this place.”

OSC-01 hummed again, thinking it over. "I don’t have a name, nor a build date. It was, however, found and re-purposed during the Nepherian Civil War, prior to the Schism."

Dahlia blinked. That wasn’t quite in the stories she’d collected. "Nepherian Civil War?" After a moment, the Scholar looked over at the pilot and mercenary- though she doubted they’d know any more.

OSC-01 remained still, but took note that they had found themselves a foothold in the situation.

”Schism?” The little Shan could hear the capital letter in that word. That… usually implied a pretty damn significant event. Usually. ”Though, I can’t imagine a civil war ever going very well. Either things are incredibly one-sided and end quickly, or they go on forever until… Some form of effective… Annihilation. Of one, or usually all major powers. I don’t know what a Nepherian is, though.”

OSC-01 gave a little dry laugh. She avoided answering that indirect question, for now. ”And it seems the stories are still as one-sided as ever.”

“Name doesn’t ring a bell to me, either.” Deimos grunts. At this point he had already sheathed his sword, replacing it with his basic gauntlet. “Though I’m guessing their skirmishes weren’t exactly what we’d call minor…”

He pointed a finger at the hologram. ”You called this place a bunker. Would it be wrong to say the Nepherians had some kind of weaponry that would require the Arcadians to seek shelter even if the threat was indirect?” Bringing in a second faction to investigate didn’t exactly make this puzzle any less intricate. If anything, it felt like another thousand pieces had been dumped atop what was once a good chunk of progress.

”On the contrary. This place was used as a shelter for Nepherian war generals at one time. Tucked away under the nose of Arcadia. ”

Dahlia quickly retrieved her notes from her backpack, flipping through the pages at speed. ”Nepherians… Nepherians… I have a few references on those, but nothing about a civil war. I take it they were the ones that brought the… “Grand Republic” down?”

OSC-01 raised her head momentarily, taking in the details of the statement. ”Eventually, they did. It seems like you don’t quite not how the story really went, do you Miss… Morgan.”

Dahlia’s brows furrowed once more. She wasn’t sure if she envied, despised, or held some sense of hope in this machine. ”It seems like there’s more to the story, for sure.”

“I hope someone brought some food, can’t have story time without food,” Miko said in a matter of fact voice. He did however hope more would be shared about this civil war.

”Get your own food.” The sassy retort crashed into Mikodimus’s ears as the little Shan girl started to munch on another granola bar or three, plopped on top of her big ol’ backpack.

“For a small you eat enough for two.” Miko shot back with eyes of envy. A moment passed and he got curious. He leaned down and started to mess with the robot giving off the projection. At least the overseer was more portable now.

In turn, the Pixy unit projecting the image simply floated out of reach, like a ball without gravity. It quickly came to be at rest once again.

A quick correction: ”Three, not two.”

”Food would be nice.” Truth be told, Deimos would have been stuffing his face with breakfast by now if it hadn’t been for the adrenaline rush. The only word that popped in his head was “pancakes”, leading a small trail of drool down his chin from his still grimacing lips. He refused to acknowledge it until the last second, brushing it away with the back of his glove. ”Wonder what’s cooking in the galley, if anything…”

Dahlia glanced between the three others, thinking briefly about the decadent foods stuffed away in the ship's pantry before her mind slapped back into gear. She folded the blue binder of truthfully half-connected information, looking at the Overseer. ”So, care to enlighten us…. Osco?”

OSC-01 gave a disgruntled “hmf” in response to the shortened name. It would have to do, for now. It seemed, however, that the general tension of the situation had been all but diffused completely. The wonder of… food. The one thing she couldn’t have.The visage came to rest ‘touching’ the floor as the frayed planes of simulated white robes fell into a straight tube around them. ”I can. And I can translate what you’ve found here, as well”

“That is kind of you but this isn't my first time so I have to believe there is some kind of payment if you will for this service.” Miko stood up and looked squarely at the now named Osco.

”You catch on quick,” replied the wispy robot.

Dahlia stepped forward, slightly skeptical about the deal. She wanted to see good in it, but this robot had only just been possessed and tried to kill them ”And what do you want in return."

OSC-01 thought about it for a millisecond, before responding in an almost weary fashion. ”Well, I’m not the only of my kind. If I was sent that hoax update, chances are…”
The scholar rested a hand on her hip. ”There’s a lot more trouble ahead.”

”Yes,” OSC-01 replied temporarily dropping to a quite frank tone, ”And I’ve got a few… personal endeavors to settle. It’s been a while since I was last activated… I need to check on a few people. IIII’d do it myself, but it seems like time took out my only means of transportation- and someone blew out my reactor.”

Dahlia squinted. A servant robot having personal endeavors. She figured it wouldn’t be the weirdest thing to come out of this- not by a long shot. She held up a finger, before motioning the pilot and mercenaries over for a quiet discussion.

Deimos nodded, taking a few steps over a couple downed slabs of stone to stand near Dahlia. He didn’t say a word, and yet the hump in his brow and the furrow of his lip was enough to ask what she thought of the situation. It was a silent “Well?” It was obvious how tense his jaw was as his teeth bit down on one another - and his hunger wasn’t helping his sentiment towards the ghostly mechanism. He didn’t know whether the lack of breakfast or the premise of making a deal with “Osco” was making his stomach tie up into enough knots to make a sailor blush.

Miko smiled about the reactor knowing damn well it was them that broke it. He moved in closer to the group to listen to the big plan. “So, what's the game plan?”

Dahlia looked between the two men, knowing well that it wasn’t a favorable situation with Deimos. ”Well so far they haven’t tried to do anything but be… snarky. If they really know as much about the history we’re looking for as they let on, they could be useful.”

”Well, yeah. They could be useful. But can we trust them to not, y’know… Get ‘infected’ again? Unlike that Reman guy, I’d like to stay alive. As in, not dead, not picking fights with damn near everything.”

”And how do we even know this infection it’s talking about isn’t really gone - or even exists? How do we know this thing isn’t just programmed to rend everything in its path?” Deimos’s words were hissed out. It felt irredeemable to ask those who bested you to make a deal with you immediately afterwards. It was sheer arrogance, and the taste was bitter in Deimos’ mouth.

“They make some good points. Though as a hologram not sure it can do any real damage. Other than make comments and hurt our pride.” Miko said with a grin as he looked over towards Deimos.

The fox narrowed his eyes at the man. He had half a mind not to smack him upside the head for the comment, knowing good and well what one of the machines has not only done to him, but his team, and even one of this team’s members.

Dahlia bit her lip, glancing over at the idly waiting robot. Her blue eyes then diverted back onto the group. ”I don’t imagine they’ll be able to do much with their reactor blown out. Maybe we can convince them to stay in this… form until we have a reason to trust them. If not, we can just you know, eject them out the ship.” It was true, the cargo bay did have a giant electromagnet attached to a ceiling crane.

OSC-01 remained unmoving for the time, waiting for their consensus. In truth they could hear it all, but found all their worries to be reasonable. It was best not to but in.

”That seems… Reasonable.”

Withdrawn, Deimos shook his head and raised his hands. ”You’re the boss. Whatever you say.” He wouldn’t have had much of a choice anyways, with his word outnumbered at least two to one in this group.

“Sounds good to me, will be the one to push the button to blow open the air locks.” Miko said with a smile as he looked to Dahlia. He was not sure why he looked to her with a smile.

The captain nodded, taking one last count with the others. A moment later, they dispersed again to confront the idly hovering robot. ”Alright. You may accompany us on a few terms.”

The image of OSC-01 folded their wings a little closer together. ”I’m listening.”

Dahlia cleared her throat, reading from a mental list. ”You are not to physically harm me or any of my crew, or otherwise be a detriment to our cause.”
The robot nodded.

Dahlia continued. "I’d like for your body and.... whatever is a hazardous part connected to you,” the scholar motioned at the floating Pixy units and their armored hosts, ”To either stay here, or be locked away in the Cargo bay. Until we can trust you."

OSC-01 nodded yet again. "That is fine. Without a functioning reactor, my body can only just walk."

Dahlia, looking back at the others, finished her list. "And, we expect you to fulfill your end of the deal. You can translate Arcadian, Nepherian, whatever texts we’ve found here, correct?"

”Give me a little bit of time, and I can do you one better than just translating. I have only one request.”

Dahlia’s eyes narrowed briefly. And what would that be?"

"You can have everything from this building, I only have a few possessions. One is the codex your techies in the back tore down. It would help us all to have that in one piece, if possible."

Dahlia thought on it for a moment. "Fine. I'll let them know to put it back."

At the mention of everything he was ready to take everything not nailed down. Even if it was nailed down he would break said nails and take that too. “So boss, load this place into the cargo bay?” Miko had a gleam to his eyes. He really loved treasure.

”Let’s hope that crate is in good enough shape to carry the stuff.” as much as Deimos loved the prospect of investigating relics and distributing them through questionably legitimate outlets, his mind was more focused on other things. ”If you need me, I’ll be in the Downrider.”

Arbles, when the meeting was adjourned, nodded quietly. ”I’ll go warm ‘er up for take-off.” Munching on her extended breakfast, the hottest member of the crew - steaming a little bit in the still cool morning air - packed up her stuff, hefted her backpack onto her back with a grunt, and went back to the Downrider.

"Tell the others to get out her soon. We've got a few hours work ahead of us." Dahlia ordered as the two left. She then shifted her attention briefly to Miko and his punctured arm, with a light scorn. "Lets get that wrapped up before you pass out from blood loss."


And so, the two went on their way to get patched up. Over the next few hours, plenty of finds were hauled away from the site, including the mechanisms found in the study hall, as well as the various maps, plaques, and other trinkets scavenged from the barren study. The Overseer had also netted the crew one whole barrel of the black sealant that once coated the electronics within the sanctum. To top it all of, they had more brown Pixy units than the ship really knew what to do with. The bobbly robots pleaded at first, but we're perfectly compliant after being reset by their Overseer unit. Which, speaking of...

OSC-01 had picked their physical selves up from the remaining damage, in not much better shape. While their armor had held. their limited power left them effectively limping to get from place to place. Fortunately, their Pixy units were there to support her. The only stop they had made on their way out was to the collapsed right wing of the building. After several minutes of slow searching, they eventually drug out a long, black case fastened with locks. Likely one of the few possessions they mentioned. With that and their half-scorched robes slung over their shoulder, the damaged Overseer slumped back to the ship. They had knowingly spared any details about why they were down there, but only one thought bounced around behind that black and white face-plate. Reality was calling.


What could possibly go wrong.








Well would you look at that we actually made it.
If it's not apparent, this is more or less the ending of Episode 1. If you'd like, you may post brief character outros or just trust in this being a wrapping up point. I likely won't reply to anything else here.
 
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