Running the Gauntlet - Part 7
Jan. 6th, 2016 01:08 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rubyrubyrubyInside is a side-entrance to a motor pool. Vehicles are absent, as are tires and many spare parts for such. The amount of metal inside is astounding for anyone that hasn't gone far-off shadow trips. All metal grill walkways, rubber mats and warning signs. The pictionary diagrams all warn of very bad things: Giant fans. Slipping. Stupid people intentionally dropping poison or acid on themselves. Phallic looking plastic helmets that are in danger of having things dropped on them.
The doors have glass and rubber seals on the edges to make each section an preserved section of air all to itself. Smarty-pants laboratory types will note the similarities and could suss out that this place is meant to be kept clean and contained. There are rows of lockers and half-hanged one-piece suits that look a little cultish because they're all so darn similar. More gas masks are in abundance and are probably of better function than shadow-conjured facsimiles.
The brightly uniformed cleric seems a little annoyed at being disturbed. That's not the case once when he's turned around and gets a good look at you. The He turns out to probably be a She according to hints of facial features behind the glass. Much better masks here. They have a better view of the face. Better quality as well. Her eyes widen and she seems to get the point. She holds her hands up to either side of her, clipboard still clutched and the glass of her mask begins to fog with her increased anxious respiration. "..." She follows along, leaving her bank of dials and lights behind, the sounds of her suit making rubbery 'qik-qik' noises as she follows.
Merrisol steps cautiously along the roadway, not that there's any danger of being run over when there are no transports (boo!), but once the gratings prove secure, he checks for signs of Gaval's passing, blood or dirt trails if not a door handily swinging shut. Surely Liyandra has some idea from her earlier link with Sprite, though. In the meantime, Merri examines the open lockers, and picks up a lab mask to investigate the inner lining and filter cone. "These'll be useful," he mutters, stripping out of the tattered poncho to access his equipment harness and hook a few masks to go. "They're not heavy duty, but better than nothing."
Personal effects are in some of the lockers. Shadow-travelers and explorers will note keys, wallets, watches, coins and the like. Flashlights, though they're over-insulated hunky things. More warning labels and laminated panic cheat-sheets: Emergency call numbers. What to do if you smell a ghost? No children or dogs. The importance of showering, etc.
Entering the castle with the crowd of others, Maggie steps to one side as quickly as she can to get wall between her and any stray bullets that make their way across the no-shooting-zone accidently. Or on purpose, for that matter. Once in comparative cover she looks to be sure that everyone is accounted for. As Sprite and Gaval are the only ones not in evidence, she looks to see if Liyandra seems to be striking off to find the semi-wee beastie of a wyvern. Caution causes her to watch her footing as the group moves forward. Who knows? One of these 'tile' or 'grate' things might just swing loose and dump them all into a cauldron of boiling oil. Or, maybe this is the sort of castles with a tank of sharks with laserbeams on their foreheads. One can't be too cautious... Looking up as Merrisol investigates some of the lockers, she eyes the mass he claims dubiously for a longish moment. But, she does trust his assessment and leaves off that cursory examination to see what else she can turn up. Opening another locker, she shifts through some of the things found within. "These... Have been here for a while." Closing the locker, she glances over her shoulder to see if she can see where the others went. Antsy. Looking into another locker, she does not spend much time with it. "Odd. This one looks more recently used." Suddenly, with a sharp intake of breath, "We should find the others."
Ruby creeps in along with the group. Her weapon gives a buzz and she takes a few backward steps against the door frame and bonks it lightly against. That quiets it down. Her nostrils flare as soon as she's within. The smell of ozone she bring with her is sharp inside this enclosed space. An olfactory and physical intrusion. The mud and filth she tracks in with her bare feet would scandalize the cleaning staff if they were in attendance. "Don't feel good..." She smears her palms over herself, taking detours around the wounds that adrenaline is having less an ability to distract from. "Aye...we need tah git things done. Anythin we can loot while we 'ere? Not tha I want none 'o it...Beggy bollocks." she eyes a large series of tools in the corner. Crowbars, hammers and winch-wrenches. Some silly person has an aquarium with a dead snake in it set into the wall. It has a tapered copper head and has been all evenly wound up and tucked away. She sidles over towards the rack.
Gaval's passage has been swift most likely. Or he's been snatched up by one of those ghosts that the safety placards warn not to smell. His progress, or rather his footprints, lead off through another set of doors that are slightly ajar.
Merrisol glances at Maggie as she comes to some dire conclusion about the state of the employee personal effects. "What did you find?" He turns back to the trail once he has the masks and a chunky flashlight-type dealie, but drawing the line at looting dead pets, however curious he might be over the snake's presence. Approaching the exit, he looks into the room beyond before swinging the glass doors wider and poking through.
Gaval peers at the priest in the mask and reasseses as they hold up their hands in surrender, one even holding a clipboard still. Priestess then. And juudging by the widening of eyes and fogging of the mask, one that didn't think to meet anyone like Gaval at all. He walks her along by the nose of her mask at a goodly clip, leading her back the way he came. He glances at her again trying to understand why her yellow suit makes such annoying 'squu-squu' noises as she walks. Still..cautiously he keeps his blade need her neck, unsure what magics she may have.
Liya looks at the snake, but if it's dead, she doesn't pay it too much attention. It's not a canary right? She does head the way Sprite and Gaval went, the wyvern hanging back a bit as she waits for Liya. And then as Gaval turns, Sprite flies back to land on Liya's shoulder again. Ow. She has to fight to not crumble right there, but manages, somehow. "Good girl, Sprite," she says approvingly. The poor wyvern is tuckered out, and it shows.
Gaval's escort is speechless. Just a lot of breathing. She doesn't hurry along after, just quick enough to avoid getting nicked by the sword and having the mask pulled away from her head. Her eyes occasionally move towards a wall-mounted glass cabinets that have cute little hammers attached to them on a chain. It's like they're taunting someone with poor impulse control. Truely, this is a strange shadow. The only thing on her person, apart from the clipboard, is a simple belt that cinches around the waist bearing five playing cards clipped on a thin cord. They're made of a material that reflects light if they hit just the right angle.
Ruby swipes one of those wrenches from the wall, tugging if forcefully away from its cradle rack and getting a grip on it just below the head, fingering the curious little corkscrew adjuster while she follows along through another doorway. She's got rearguard this time. Peering past some of the heads in front of her, she rasps, "Thinkin maybe I rathah be ootside now. This ain't tha same as 'ome."
Maggie shrugs slightly, "Nothing useful, really. Just a lot of stuff with people's pictures... what looks like money... Odds and ends. And a lot of things warning about strange, but dire dangers. I just... It creeps me out a bit that these things are... here. And apparently have been for a long time." She closes the locker she was looking into, then swings over to claim one of the masks and a bulky flashlight. And another mask. For good measure. Watching Ruby with her wrench, Maggie offers the woman a smile, "Agreed. Out of here will be good. So, let's find a way to toss this thing and leave, yeah?" Sidling after Merri, she nods a sympathetic nod to Liya as Sprite lands on her shoulder, "Uh. She can rest with me, if you want." Sure, Maggie is bone tired and hurting, but she does not yet have wyvern claw wounds in her shoulders. "IF she is willing." Looking ahead, she spots Gaval's trail and nods towars a sploop of bloody mud, "That way, I think?"
Those familiar with intercoms would recognize the gentle 'pop' of an announcement or musak incoming. A gentle two-tone 'ding-dong' issues from clever little grills in the ceiling. A chime that could indicate the hour, a train coming into station, or a need to pay the pizza boy soon. It's coming from every speaker that is passed, as so the source is not apparent.
Gaval pops back through a doorway and pauses as he spots the others,seeming relieved. Hand on the priestess's mask still he motions at her with his blade. He yells through his mask to be heard and again far too loud due to his ears still ringing. "I found a priestess! She was reading some of those glass things with the moving needles! Perhaps she seeks an omen?!"He closes the last few feet and halts himself and his prisoner.
Merrisol is concentrating mostly on the tracks that lead through the next room and then through the one after as well, but he catches something in Ruby's remark that causes him to take another critical look at his surroundings. "Do you mean Amber, or some other home?" Ruby drawing comparisons between this warlike industrial shadow and her own elusive origins is becoming a source of intrigue and confusion for him. For one thing, why isn't she more inclined to wear steel-toed boots instead of padding around barefoot? When Sprite glides back to them, he shakes his head to refocus on the search, and moves to the doorway through which she returned, with spatters as further proof that they are on the right trail. He passes beneath grille as it pings! and freezes, but when no laser trap seems to have been set off, he frowns at the ceiling and moves on... or starts to. Gaval is back, and he's brought company, though not a pizza boy. "Did not expect the interior to be.. functional, let alone in recent use by people. Didn't you say no one was allowed to enter, Ruby?" he wonders aside, before regarding the strange individual. "Apologies for the unannounced visit, madam. We will take our leave once we have looked into the heart of your... operation here." He ponders her ponderous headgear, then Gaval's mask. "You can, ah, take that off now, Gaval."
Liya is busy with Sprite, making sure the wyvern is okay. That done, she looks up, eyes widening at the incoming Gaval and ... company. "Well. She's got a mask," she says, thoughtfully. "I think. Maybe there's a reason for that?" She blinks again at Gaval's words, frowning. Her experience with high tech is ... still not all that much, but she looks around and says, "I think maybe not priestess, though close enough. Maybe we can get some answers? Take that mask off so we can hear?"
Maggie looks between Merrisol and Ruby, curiosity sparking within her gaze. Other options for Ruby's home sparkle in her imagination, though she does not give them voice. Walking through the rooms, she eyes the grille that pings as Merrisol passes beneath it. Disturbing noise, that one. Especially as it seems to flow easily from one to another and another and around them. A deepening frown begins and grows as she follows Merrisol and Liyandra through to the next room and the next. She turns her head sharply when Gaval and his ... uh... guest... come through from yet another room. Tilting her head a bit, she studies the woman from her head to her feet, then refocuses where the mask indicates the woman's eyes should be. "Hello," she adds after Merrisol's more coherent greeting. Motioning, she asides to Gaval, "I don't think your sword will be necessary, really. Or, I hope not, anyway."
Ruby can't stop her thumb moving along the fiddly bits of the tool. To Merrisol, she offers a curl of her lip, because she can't stop scowling at being inside this place. "No one allowed inside. Nevah. An nevah seen no body inside. Was told no body goes in. Evah. Too dangerous an precious. 'Ell...they shoot in back 'o 'ead if buildin gets scratched or anypart damaged. Taboooo." At the sight of Gaval and a prisoner, she narrows her eyes, offended at the existance of someone other than themselves inside. She raises her upper lip completely and readies her wrench. "Nevah 'ear anythin worthwhile from 'er. Gaval...Don't trust 'er. I bet she cast spell on ya. You did good. Can we take tha chance? I mean...answers...Maybe bettah tah get 'er ootah tah way..." she allows that to trail off with a rather cold-blooded insinuation.
It quickly becomes clear to Gaval that something is rather wrong with his hearing. He can see lips moving and heaer a touh of what they're saying. He starts focusing on lips and gets the general idea of what they're saying. The sword lowers, tip to the floor but doesn't put it away. The mask.. something about masks..he checks his to make sure it's in place and watches the priestess closely, letting go of his hold apon her mask.
Gaval's prisoner turns her mask towards the group when it's free of Gaval's hand, within the larger and more sophisticated headgear, her expression is a little easier to gauge than the folks trying to kill each other outside. There's a paleness to her complexion hints as to how much time she's able to stick her head outside. In one of her upraised 'I surrender' thick gloved hands is a clipboard that she's unwilling to just let drop to the floor. She watches each of the group in turn. The sizes of the largest individuals has her gawping further. But it's the Wyvern that makes her question reality. A thick accent from a numb throat issues from her mask, right about the same time as a voice from a speak says "'Clare. Your station is vacant. Clare.'" This steamrolls over what she was going to say, but also gives her time to make herself audible without too much stammering. The clipboards falls from her hand to clatter to the floor. She says hollowly, "Get out. You can't have access to the heart. Barbarians. You've breached...You've breached the terms. Who authorized you to come inside?! I don't recognize which side you're from. Just get out. Go back to your war."
The technician has a thought and drops her jaw. "It's not over is it? One of you gave up? Impossible..."
Merrisol sideglances at Ruby when she all but thumb-slashes her throat with a 'shhhck' sound effect. "No, we can't upset the routine inside or the fortress may not remain the secret safe spot you were looking for," he reasons. The PA announcement gets his attention, his gaze moving back to the individual apparently known as 'Clare'.. how reassuringly regular, that name. He crouches with some stiffness in the movements, to retrieve the fallen clipboard, and stays down while he reads.. and tries to work out how he's going to rise back up without whimpering. "Schedule of maintenance checks on the generator powering the processes of.. whatever they've got going here. Can't keep her away from them for long," he informs the others, then looks up at the priestess-technician. "We are not bound by the terms of your nations," he says, but leaves it at that for now, in case someone is thinking of running with the woman's incredulous query on the conflict.
Liya just stares, then rubs her head. Because she's tired, and in pain. She smiles at Maggie. "Thank you, but it'll be okay. Sprite is not entirely well either, so better here than not." So, are these people speaking Thari? If not it takes a bit to distinguish what they are saying, at least for Liya. Which takes her some time to figure out.
Maggie sidles a glance over to Ruby, one brow lifting slightly, "No... I don't think that is a good idea..." Though Merrisol covers it more rationally than she could. Her attention turns to the grille when the voice speaks and she looks briefly thoughtful. Briefly. Turning back to the woman, she offers a smile, "Please excuse our appearance, Ms. Clare. It took a lot out of us to get here. We will be delighted to leave but have an errand here that is of the utmost urgency. Once that has been finished, we will be out of your hair in a heartbeat." Or... you know... a few. "This will be far easier with your help then without it, I admit. Will you please lend us your assistance?"
Gaval lifts a hand to his head and knuckles an ear, working his jaw behind the mask as if trying to get his ears to pop. At least stop ringing. He's hearing more and more which is a good thing. He keeps his eyes apon Clare to ensure she behaves but nods to Maggies words. They sounded pretty good from what he heard.
Clare has her brain further wrinkled by all of this. The motley group is so bizzare that this interaction is way bewildering. She shakes her head, confused and stymied from immediately speaking while her clipboard is correctly assessed. "I don't...understand." She stares around at the group and tries to take a step away. Reasoning from some...threats from others. "Please don't touch anything. Just leave the vats alone. Leave the Core alone. Leave us alone. We're the only reactor left. The last thing to fight over." She turns her head slightly to allow herself to look back the way she was brought. "If you touch the wrong thing, you'll get...sick. No one is allowed at the core. I can point you to the exits and access tunnels out if you promise never to come back."
Ruby's eyes flash wide, one of the pupil's gleaming. She smiles in triumph. "Where nobody allowed tah goo." Ruby shoulders her way forward, hating the way the grating feels on her bare feet. "Give 'er shadoo-black in tha back, Gaval." she hisses. She flinches as she gets a small jolt from her back and a small electrical discharge plays across her teeth. "Worse than witches. Coggy cu-" she cuts off the curse in half as another 'ding-dong' dingalings. Ruby swings the wrench up to put an end to the innocent little grill and the speaker behind it.
Crunch - Sqwonk. A useless gesture, as there are plenty more embedded in the ceiling at evenly spaced intervals.
Merrisol plants one hand on the grating and pushes himself upward, straightening his legs in a more or less coordinated manner, after Maggie's exchange with Clare yields some clues about the stronghold, but no acquiesence from the tech for getting them deeper into the complex. "This Core.. it has to be outfitted with multiple exhaust vents. We need only find one such chute to make the drop-off," he suggests, before handing the clipboard back to Clare. "Let's go back to your station, madam. I should be able to get the system to open up long enough."
"...If you can't or won't."
The doors have glass and rubber seals on the edges to make each section an preserved section of air all to itself. Smarty-pants laboratory types will note the similarities and could suss out that this place is meant to be kept clean and contained. There are rows of lockers and half-hanged one-piece suits that look a little cultish because they're all so darn similar. More gas masks are in abundance and are probably of better function than shadow-conjured facsimiles.
The brightly uniformed cleric seems a little annoyed at being disturbed. That's not the case once when he's turned around and gets a good look at you. The He turns out to probably be a She according to hints of facial features behind the glass. Much better masks here. They have a better view of the face. Better quality as well. Her eyes widen and she seems to get the point. She holds her hands up to either side of her, clipboard still clutched and the glass of her mask begins to fog with her increased anxious respiration. "..." She follows along, leaving her bank of dials and lights behind, the sounds of her suit making rubbery 'qik-qik' noises as she follows.
Merrisol steps cautiously along the roadway, not that there's any danger of being run over when there are no transports (boo!), but once the gratings prove secure, he checks for signs of Gaval's passing, blood or dirt trails if not a door handily swinging shut. Surely Liyandra has some idea from her earlier link with Sprite, though. In the meantime, Merri examines the open lockers, and picks up a lab mask to investigate the inner lining and filter cone. "These'll be useful," he mutters, stripping out of the tattered poncho to access his equipment harness and hook a few masks to go. "They're not heavy duty, but better than nothing."
Personal effects are in some of the lockers. Shadow-travelers and explorers will note keys, wallets, watches, coins and the like. Flashlights, though they're over-insulated hunky things. More warning labels and laminated panic cheat-sheets: Emergency call numbers. What to do if you smell a ghost? No children or dogs. The importance of showering, etc.
Entering the castle with the crowd of others, Maggie steps to one side as quickly as she can to get wall between her and any stray bullets that make their way across the no-shooting-zone accidently. Or on purpose, for that matter. Once in comparative cover she looks to be sure that everyone is accounted for. As Sprite and Gaval are the only ones not in evidence, she looks to see if Liyandra seems to be striking off to find the semi-wee beastie of a wyvern. Caution causes her to watch her footing as the group moves forward. Who knows? One of these 'tile' or 'grate' things might just swing loose and dump them all into a cauldron of boiling oil. Or, maybe this is the sort of castles with a tank of sharks with laserbeams on their foreheads. One can't be too cautious... Looking up as Merrisol investigates some of the lockers, she eyes the mass he claims dubiously for a longish moment. But, she does trust his assessment and leaves off that cursory examination to see what else she can turn up. Opening another locker, she shifts through some of the things found within. "These... Have been here for a while." Closing the locker, she glances over her shoulder to see if she can see where the others went. Antsy. Looking into another locker, she does not spend much time with it. "Odd. This one looks more recently used." Suddenly, with a sharp intake of breath, "We should find the others."
Ruby creeps in along with the group. Her weapon gives a buzz and she takes a few backward steps against the door frame and bonks it lightly against. That quiets it down. Her nostrils flare as soon as she's within. The smell of ozone she bring with her is sharp inside this enclosed space. An olfactory and physical intrusion. The mud and filth she tracks in with her bare feet would scandalize the cleaning staff if they were in attendance. "Don't feel good..." She smears her palms over herself, taking detours around the wounds that adrenaline is having less an ability to distract from. "Aye...we need tah git things done. Anythin we can loot while we 'ere? Not tha I want none 'o it...Beggy bollocks." she eyes a large series of tools in the corner. Crowbars, hammers and winch-wrenches. Some silly person has an aquarium with a dead snake in it set into the wall. It has a tapered copper head and has been all evenly wound up and tucked away. She sidles over towards the rack.
Gaval's passage has been swift most likely. Or he's been snatched up by one of those ghosts that the safety placards warn not to smell. His progress, or rather his footprints, lead off through another set of doors that are slightly ajar.
Merrisol glances at Maggie as she comes to some dire conclusion about the state of the employee personal effects. "What did you find?" He turns back to the trail once he has the masks and a chunky flashlight-type dealie, but drawing the line at looting dead pets, however curious he might be over the snake's presence. Approaching the exit, he looks into the room beyond before swinging the glass doors wider and poking through.
Gaval peers at the priest in the mask and reasseses as they hold up their hands in surrender, one even holding a clipboard still. Priestess then. And juudging by the widening of eyes and fogging of the mask, one that didn't think to meet anyone like Gaval at all. He walks her along by the nose of her mask at a goodly clip, leading her back the way he came. He glances at her again trying to understand why her yellow suit makes such annoying 'squu-squu' noises as she walks. Still..cautiously he keeps his blade need her neck, unsure what magics she may have.
Liya looks at the snake, but if it's dead, she doesn't pay it too much attention. It's not a canary right? She does head the way Sprite and Gaval went, the wyvern hanging back a bit as she waits for Liya. And then as Gaval turns, Sprite flies back to land on Liya's shoulder again. Ow. She has to fight to not crumble right there, but manages, somehow. "Good girl, Sprite," she says approvingly. The poor wyvern is tuckered out, and it shows.
Gaval's escort is speechless. Just a lot of breathing. She doesn't hurry along after, just quick enough to avoid getting nicked by the sword and having the mask pulled away from her head. Her eyes occasionally move towards a wall-mounted glass cabinets that have cute little hammers attached to them on a chain. It's like they're taunting someone with poor impulse control. Truely, this is a strange shadow. The only thing on her person, apart from the clipboard, is a simple belt that cinches around the waist bearing five playing cards clipped on a thin cord. They're made of a material that reflects light if they hit just the right angle.
Ruby swipes one of those wrenches from the wall, tugging if forcefully away from its cradle rack and getting a grip on it just below the head, fingering the curious little corkscrew adjuster while she follows along through another doorway. She's got rearguard this time. Peering past some of the heads in front of her, she rasps, "Thinkin maybe I rathah be ootside now. This ain't tha same as 'ome."
Maggie shrugs slightly, "Nothing useful, really. Just a lot of stuff with people's pictures... what looks like money... Odds and ends. And a lot of things warning about strange, but dire dangers. I just... It creeps me out a bit that these things are... here. And apparently have been for a long time." She closes the locker she was looking into, then swings over to claim one of the masks and a bulky flashlight. And another mask. For good measure. Watching Ruby with her wrench, Maggie offers the woman a smile, "Agreed. Out of here will be good. So, let's find a way to toss this thing and leave, yeah?" Sidling after Merri, she nods a sympathetic nod to Liya as Sprite lands on her shoulder, "Uh. She can rest with me, if you want." Sure, Maggie is bone tired and hurting, but she does not yet have wyvern claw wounds in her shoulders. "IF she is willing." Looking ahead, she spots Gaval's trail and nods towars a sploop of bloody mud, "That way, I think?"
Those familiar with intercoms would recognize the gentle 'pop' of an announcement or musak incoming. A gentle two-tone 'ding-dong' issues from clever little grills in the ceiling. A chime that could indicate the hour, a train coming into station, or a need to pay the pizza boy soon. It's coming from every speaker that is passed, as so the source is not apparent.
Gaval pops back through a doorway and pauses as he spots the others,seeming relieved. Hand on the priestess's mask still he motions at her with his blade. He yells through his mask to be heard and again far too loud due to his ears still ringing. "I found a priestess! She was reading some of those glass things with the moving needles! Perhaps she seeks an omen?!"He closes the last few feet and halts himself and his prisoner.
Merrisol is concentrating mostly on the tracks that lead through the next room and then through the one after as well, but he catches something in Ruby's remark that causes him to take another critical look at his surroundings. "Do you mean Amber, or some other home?" Ruby drawing comparisons between this warlike industrial shadow and her own elusive origins is becoming a source of intrigue and confusion for him. For one thing, why isn't she more inclined to wear steel-toed boots instead of padding around barefoot? When Sprite glides back to them, he shakes his head to refocus on the search, and moves to the doorway through which she returned, with spatters as further proof that they are on the right trail. He passes beneath grille as it pings! and freezes, but when no laser trap seems to have been set off, he frowns at the ceiling and moves on... or starts to. Gaval is back, and he's brought company, though not a pizza boy. "Did not expect the interior to be.. functional, let alone in recent use by people. Didn't you say no one was allowed to enter, Ruby?" he wonders aside, before regarding the strange individual. "Apologies for the unannounced visit, madam. We will take our leave once we have looked into the heart of your... operation here." He ponders her ponderous headgear, then Gaval's mask. "You can, ah, take that off now, Gaval."
Liya is busy with Sprite, making sure the wyvern is okay. That done, she looks up, eyes widening at the incoming Gaval and ... company. "Well. She's got a mask," she says, thoughtfully. "I think. Maybe there's a reason for that?" She blinks again at Gaval's words, frowning. Her experience with high tech is ... still not all that much, but she looks around and says, "I think maybe not priestess, though close enough. Maybe we can get some answers? Take that mask off so we can hear?"
Maggie looks between Merrisol and Ruby, curiosity sparking within her gaze. Other options for Ruby's home sparkle in her imagination, though she does not give them voice. Walking through the rooms, she eyes the grille that pings as Merrisol passes beneath it. Disturbing noise, that one. Especially as it seems to flow easily from one to another and another and around them. A deepening frown begins and grows as she follows Merrisol and Liyandra through to the next room and the next. She turns her head sharply when Gaval and his ... uh... guest... come through from yet another room. Tilting her head a bit, she studies the woman from her head to her feet, then refocuses where the mask indicates the woman's eyes should be. "Hello," she adds after Merrisol's more coherent greeting. Motioning, she asides to Gaval, "I don't think your sword will be necessary, really. Or, I hope not, anyway."
Ruby can't stop her thumb moving along the fiddly bits of the tool. To Merrisol, she offers a curl of her lip, because she can't stop scowling at being inside this place. "No one allowed inside. Nevah. An nevah seen no body inside. Was told no body goes in. Evah. Too dangerous an precious. 'Ell...they shoot in back 'o 'ead if buildin gets scratched or anypart damaged. Taboooo." At the sight of Gaval and a prisoner, she narrows her eyes, offended at the existance of someone other than themselves inside. She raises her upper lip completely and readies her wrench. "Nevah 'ear anythin worthwhile from 'er. Gaval...Don't trust 'er. I bet she cast spell on ya. You did good. Can we take tha chance? I mean...answers...Maybe bettah tah get 'er ootah tah way..." she allows that to trail off with a rather cold-blooded insinuation.
It quickly becomes clear to Gaval that something is rather wrong with his hearing. He can see lips moving and heaer a touh of what they're saying. He starts focusing on lips and gets the general idea of what they're saying. The sword lowers, tip to the floor but doesn't put it away. The mask.. something about masks..he checks his to make sure it's in place and watches the priestess closely, letting go of his hold apon her mask.
Gaval's prisoner turns her mask towards the group when it's free of Gaval's hand, within the larger and more sophisticated headgear, her expression is a little easier to gauge than the folks trying to kill each other outside. There's a paleness to her complexion hints as to how much time she's able to stick her head outside. In one of her upraised 'I surrender' thick gloved hands is a clipboard that she's unwilling to just let drop to the floor. She watches each of the group in turn. The sizes of the largest individuals has her gawping further. But it's the Wyvern that makes her question reality. A thick accent from a numb throat issues from her mask, right about the same time as a voice from a speak says "'Clare. Your station is vacant. Clare.'" This steamrolls over what she was going to say, but also gives her time to make herself audible without too much stammering. The clipboards falls from her hand to clatter to the floor. She says hollowly, "Get out. You can't have access to the heart. Barbarians. You've breached...You've breached the terms. Who authorized you to come inside?! I don't recognize which side you're from. Just get out. Go back to your war."
The technician has a thought and drops her jaw. "It's not over is it? One of you gave up? Impossible..."
Merrisol sideglances at Ruby when she all but thumb-slashes her throat with a 'shhhck' sound effect. "No, we can't upset the routine inside or the fortress may not remain the secret safe spot you were looking for," he reasons. The PA announcement gets his attention, his gaze moving back to the individual apparently known as 'Clare'.. how reassuringly regular, that name. He crouches with some stiffness in the movements, to retrieve the fallen clipboard, and stays down while he reads.. and tries to work out how he's going to rise back up without whimpering. "Schedule of maintenance checks on the generator powering the processes of.. whatever they've got going here. Can't keep her away from them for long," he informs the others, then looks up at the priestess-technician. "We are not bound by the terms of your nations," he says, but leaves it at that for now, in case someone is thinking of running with the woman's incredulous query on the conflict.
Liya just stares, then rubs her head. Because she's tired, and in pain. She smiles at Maggie. "Thank you, but it'll be okay. Sprite is not entirely well either, so better here than not." So, are these people speaking Thari? If not it takes a bit to distinguish what they are saying, at least for Liya. Which takes her some time to figure out.
Maggie sidles a glance over to Ruby, one brow lifting slightly, "No... I don't think that is a good idea..." Though Merrisol covers it more rationally than she could. Her attention turns to the grille when the voice speaks and she looks briefly thoughtful. Briefly. Turning back to the woman, she offers a smile, "Please excuse our appearance, Ms. Clare. It took a lot out of us to get here. We will be delighted to leave but have an errand here that is of the utmost urgency. Once that has been finished, we will be out of your hair in a heartbeat." Or... you know... a few. "This will be far easier with your help then without it, I admit. Will you please lend us your assistance?"
Gaval lifts a hand to his head and knuckles an ear, working his jaw behind the mask as if trying to get his ears to pop. At least stop ringing. He's hearing more and more which is a good thing. He keeps his eyes apon Clare to ensure she behaves but nods to Maggies words. They sounded pretty good from what he heard.
Clare has her brain further wrinkled by all of this. The motley group is so bizzare that this interaction is way bewildering. She shakes her head, confused and stymied from immediately speaking while her clipboard is correctly assessed. "I don't...understand." She stares around at the group and tries to take a step away. Reasoning from some...threats from others. "Please don't touch anything. Just leave the vats alone. Leave the Core alone. Leave us alone. We're the only reactor left. The last thing to fight over." She turns her head slightly to allow herself to look back the way she was brought. "If you touch the wrong thing, you'll get...sick. No one is allowed at the core. I can point you to the exits and access tunnels out if you promise never to come back."
Ruby's eyes flash wide, one of the pupil's gleaming. She smiles in triumph. "Where nobody allowed tah goo." Ruby shoulders her way forward, hating the way the grating feels on her bare feet. "Give 'er shadoo-black in tha back, Gaval." she hisses. She flinches as she gets a small jolt from her back and a small electrical discharge plays across her teeth. "Worse than witches. Coggy cu-" she cuts off the curse in half as another 'ding-dong' dingalings. Ruby swings the wrench up to put an end to the innocent little grill and the speaker behind it.
Crunch - Sqwonk. A useless gesture, as there are plenty more embedded in the ceiling at evenly spaced intervals.
Merrisol plants one hand on the grating and pushes himself upward, straightening his legs in a more or less coordinated manner, after Maggie's exchange with Clare yields some clues about the stronghold, but no acquiesence from the tech for getting them deeper into the complex. "This Core.. it has to be outfitted with multiple exhaust vents. We need only find one such chute to make the drop-off," he suggests, before handing the clipboard back to Clare. "Let's go back to your station, madam. I should be able to get the system to open up long enough."
"...If you can't or won't."
