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Post by Leafy on Feb 12, 2023 0:26:00 GMT -6
However, she was most interested in the box beneath all these items. Kilowatt rushed forward and clambered on top of the box before she could open it. He growled at her and pointed his snout towards the lid. She sighed and gently pried the lid off with her fingers. Kilowatt grumbled excitedly as he tugged at the flaps until they finally tore free. Leafy leaned her head inside the cabinet to get a proper glimpse inside the box. When she saw what it contained, her jaw dropped. There was a large black device standing upright in the corner. It looked strange, like an explosive device one might read about in the news.
"What is that?" Leafy whispered.
She felt a shiver run down her spine and turned around to face Kilowatt, who was happily scratching at the box tail while staring at the object. For now, she would back away slowly from the potentially dangerous object.
(Kilowatt 4 2/5, 14 2/5)
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Post by Leafy on Feb 12, 2023 0:33:11 GMT -6
She suddenly felt an intense need to try and figure out her purpose for coming here. Had it been to discover dangerous devices? She didn't seem to think so. In fact, she figured she'd been on a rather boring mission if she recalled right. She and Kilowatt made sure to get out of the area quickly. The fastest way to do that was by finding the next door to head through. The only door available to them was straight ahead. So, once more, Leafy held the door open for Kilowatt and the two of them passed through the opening. Squinting in the sudden dimness, Leafy saw that they were back in the hallway they had been in earlier.
She began to pass door after door, feeling that none of them were quite right to head through. Finally, she came to a stop. This door that they found themselves in front of, looked very strange indeed.
(Kilowatt 4 3/5, 14 3/5)
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Post by Leafy on Feb 12, 2023 0:41:19 GMT -6
The door was round, made of metal, and bore the symbol of a pair of crossed swords. Leafy took a step closer to inspect it. The door appeared to be locked, yet she could feel a faint buzzing emanating from somewhere within the room concealed behind it. She reached out and pushed on the handle, but nothing happened. She glanced over at Kilowatt, who raised a front talon and gave a soft, questioning grumble. She smiled at him and walked up to the door. Then, she rapped on the surface with her knuckles.
To her surprise, she could faintly hear the sound of the lock turning and the door opened before their very eyes. Inside was a small, rectangular space, barely big enough for the two of them to stand side-by-side. The walls were covered in glowing lines and numbers that formed a grid pattern. That would take some brainpower to figure out.
(Kilowatt 4 4/5, 14 4/5)
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Post by Leafy on Feb 12, 2023 1:21:36 GMT -6
A single chair sat in the middle of the room, looking almost comical because it was so small. On the far end of the room there was another door. Leafy and Kilowatt exchanged glances with each other. They both knew that would be the place to head towards next. Neither of them particularly wanted to stay in the cramped room.
As they approached, the door swung open and revealed a narrow staircase leading downwards. Leafy nodded at Kilowatt and they started to descend the stairs together. They moved cautiously, making sure not to bump into anything or make too much noise. The steps creaked beneath their feet as they walked. At the bottom of the stairs, they found themselves in a long corridor with several doors lining either side of it. None of them seemed especially promising, which meant this was going to take some time. Leafy decided to simply pick the first door.
(Kilowatt 5, 15)
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Post by Leafy on Feb 12, 2023 21:06:51 GMT -6
As luck would have it, it was the right choice. She pushed open the heavy door and entered the room beyond. The room looked like a larger version of the last one they'd been in. In the center of the floor stood a pedestal with a glass bowl resting atop it. Two shining stones sat at the base of the pedestal, one blue and the other red. The blue stone glistened in the light and emitted a dim glow from deep within its depths.
Kilowatt walked closer to the stones, drawn in by the strange light they emitted. He sniffed at the air around the room. He paused for a moment, as though he smelled something strange. Leafy followed his gaze and sniffed as she tried to catch the scent as well, she came up empty, however. She frowned and went about investigating the person way instead. Not everyone could rely on their nose.
(Kilowatt 5 1/5, 15 1/5)
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Post by Leafy on Feb 12, 2023 21:19:19 GMT -6
She placed her hands on the ground and closed her eyes for a few moments. When she opened them again, she focused on sensing the presence of magic, in case there was another crystal in the room. After a minute of concentrating, she came up empty. That hadn't worked very well. Instead, Kilowatt appeared to have a lead.
The Wiurn sniffed at the wall beside the pedestal, near where the blue gemstone rested. With a low growl, he padded over to examine the spot further. He pressed his snout against the wall and licked at the surface. Leafy could understand her pet's intention well enough and she moved closer to press her hand against the wall. It was cold, smooth, and slightly sticky. Had something been hanging here? She couldn't detect any magical power coming from it, however. She decided to try and track down whatever had been on the wall.
(Kilowatt 5 2/5, 15 2/5)
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Post by Leafy on Feb 12, 2023 21:27:46 GMT -6
Whatever had been on the wall might be linked to the weird gemstones, after all. A loud groan sounded nearby. She froze mid-step and peered around the corner of the doorway to look in the direction of the sound. The sight before her was rather puzzling. Kilowatt followed her, his body language assuming that of a defensive posture. There was a large figure slumped in the shadows of the far corner of the room. Its hunched shoulders and long arms looked powerful enough to crush bone. Long fur covered its entire body, with the exception of a patch of skin showing between the fingers on one paw. When Leafy approached it, it slumped over and fell. She poked at it tentatively and soon came to the conclusion that it wasn't actually a real being. Instead, it was some kind of animatronic. The noise she had interpreted as groan, was instead the popping of electricity.
(Kilowatt 5 3/5, 15 3/5)
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Post by Leafy on Feb 12, 2023 21:36:08 GMT -6
The strange substance on the wall had been oil. This animatronic must have broken free from the wall somehow. For a moment, she grew concerned that Kilowatt had licked oil, but the Wiurn appeared completely normal. She didn't know why the animatronic was here, but now that it was, she could at least attempt to try and loot it for treasure. It wasn't that much different from a person, right? If you just removed the fur, wouldn't the rest be basically human? Maybe there would be some interesting components inside.
She put aside her concerns for the moment and approached the body cautiously. It was surprisingly light compared to what she expected. Kilowatt watched her with great intrigue. He scrambled closer to put his talons on the animatronic as Leafy tried to open it up. It was more difficult than she first guess and instead, she had to settle for checking its pockets.
(Kilowatt 5 4/5, 15 4/5)
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Post by Leafy on Feb 12, 2023 21:40:19 GMT -6
Inside was a single gold coin and a wooden coin holder. A quick glance showed that the gold coin was indeed real. She pocketed it quickly and then turned her attention back to the animatronic. She tried again to pry open the metal plate that covered its chest. When that was unsuccessful, she decided to simply give up. She would need to come back later with better tools if she could manage to find this room again.
She returned to the entrance of the room and met the eyes of Kilowatt. His face wrinkled in confusion and worry. He gave a low growl and thrust his nose towards the door, feeling an urgent sense to leave. While searching, she noticed that the walls in the room were starting to become darker. Something else was emerging from the ground, but it took her several long seconds to realize what it was. It was a staircase.
(Kilowatt 6, 16)
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Post by Leafy on Feb 12, 2023 22:46:52 GMT -6
It didn't take much convincing to get Kilowatt to follow her down the staircase. It was a bit trickier for him to navigate, so she made the executive decision to simply pick him up and carry him. Babies didn't have much dexterity and needed grace to navigate going downstairs. She sighed as she fumbled for her flashlight which was marginally more difficult to manage whilst she was carrying Kilowatt. But there wasn't anything else in the way of a light source.
The only thing she could do was hope the stairs went somewhere safe. It was too dark to tell, after all. Kilowatt snorted at the smell of the air as he descended. It was a mix of natural earth scents mixed with an odd metallic tang. As they neared the bottom of the staircase, the air grew warmer and smelled even stronger. Her flashlight revealed a narrow hallway, stretching out into the distance.
(Kilowatt 6 1/5, 16 1/5)
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Post by Leafy on Feb 12, 2023 23:11:43 GMT -6
The walls were covered by a layer of dirt and the floor was built from a layer of brick. Was this a basement? Leafy hadn't found any windows or doors yet.
"There is no telling how deep we are," said Leafy. "But I think we should walk carefully until we can see where we're heading."
Kilowatt responded with silence, which she could only take as an answer of agreement. He was already walking ahead of her, taking the lead. After another few minutes of exploration, she heard faint voices echoing through the halls. If she tried to distinguish words, she couldn't quite catch what they were saying. The language was familiar enough for it to be common, however. As they continued to walk, the hallway gradually widened. Eventually, they reached a large room filled with tables and chairs. One table was piled high with various bottles and containers filled with food.
(Kilowatt 6 2/5, 16 2/5)
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Post by Leafy on Feb 12, 2023 23:46:47 GMT -6
A small portion of the wall had been ripped away to reveal a wooden staircase leading further down. In the center of the room sat a massive desk, with several chairs surrounding it. Against one wall, a smaller table held stacks of papers and books. This appeared to be a bizarre sort of storage room.
Kilowatt beelined for the table with food. It wasn't the biggest surprise for food to be his greatest motivator, Leafy considered food a pretty good motivator herself. She followed after him and took a seat, setting her bag down beside them. There was still no sign of whatever she was meant to be looking for, but that didn't really concern her. She had hoped to grab a bite while the opportunity presented itself. A loud clatter caught Leafy's attention and she looked over to see several barrels being rolled across the floor. She turned away from the food disappointingly.
(Kilowatt 6 3/5, 16 3/5)
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Post by Leafy on Feb 12, 2023 23:53:01 GMT -6
It seemed like someone was attempting to move furniture around. She stood up to investigate when a low growl stopped her in her tracks. She glanced at Kilowatt and the Wiurn appeared on edge. He wasn’t the one who had made the noise. She walked slowly forwards and looked around the room. When she spotted the source of the sound, her heart dropped.
The room was packed full of animatronics. They were arranged neatly in rows, each standing upright with their arms crossed. She regarded them with heavy distaste and Kilowatt turned to growl back at them. She scanned the rows of them, her eyes resting on one that appeared to be operational. It moved its head slightly to look at them. She backed away and stared at the creature. It was the same model as the previous one she'd encountered, but that one hadn’t been capable of moving at all.
(Kilowatt 6 4/5, 16 4/5)
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Post by Leafy on Feb 13, 2023 0:01:12 GMT -6
Leafy felt a burst of energy rush through her veins. She needed to make her escape. She picked up her backpack and slung it onto her shoulders, then took off running for the nearest animatronic with Kilowatt hot at her heels. There were several other animatronics in the room, but none of them reacted to her presence. They stayed eerily still, watching her with deadened eyes.
Another set of footsteps echoed through the rooms. She nearly leapt out of her skin when she realized it was coming from a humanoid animatronic at the back of the room. It wasn't reacting to either of them, so she assumed it wasn't meant to be active. It began rolling towards them, forcing her to turn aside from it. She grabbed Kilowatt and sprinted towards the closest door. She exited into the hallway just in time to see the humanoid animatronic closing in on them.
(Kilowatt 7, 17)
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Post by Leafy on Feb 13, 2023 0:08:34 GMT -6
Its fingers were waving wildly as it chased them, screaming in a shrill voice. Leafy ran through the hallway, searching for another door to escape through. Just as they reached the end of the hall, she came across another wooden doorway.
She darted inside, quickly shutting the door behind her. Immediately, a wild pounding echoed across the surface of the door as the animatronic desperately tried to break through. Leafy kept her body still, blocking the door with every ounce of strength that she had. Kilowatt cowered in her arms, snuggling up close to her chest as he pressed against her. After a moment, the banging ceased and the noises died down. Leafy waited, holding her breath as she listened for anything else. She was certain there would be more of these things chasing after them once the first one figured out how to break through. Instead of waiting around to find out, Leafy tried to keep moving.
(Kilowatt 7 1/5, 17 1/5)
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