The underground security system recorded the demise of the last drone segment's transponder signal.  It did this mutely, with no emotion, as it sat in the darkness and examined the data it had received.  The entire battle had lasted only a matter of minutes, with a full and decisive victory by the intruders.  There was no sense of loss; in fact, the system viewed this as a successful outcome.  An outcome that would now change the way it would welcome the intruders.

Several of them demonstrated special powers, but all of them had shown a ferocious "will-to-survive" that marked them differently from the typical person of even such a world as Faiza.  The system wasn't aware that its creator had proposed a theory about the idea that there are PCs and NPCs - Powered Citizens and Non-Powered Citizens.  The idea behind this theory was that PCs, even ones that didn't have outright powers or abilities that differentiated themselves from "regular" people were still defined by a fierce drive to change the world around them, even if they themselves were not aware of this motivation.  NPCs, meanwhile, usually faded into the background and served to create a foundation of "normalcy" that was the perfect environment for PCs to enter and manipulate as they saw fit.  The system also wasn't aware that it was technically "politically incorrect" to classify individuals by some nebulous sense of narrative, and was part of the reason the creator had been rejected by society at large.  But these factors were of no real importance.

What [i]was[/i] important was that flags had been triggered.  If the intruders had been marked as NPCs, the system would have continued to drive them away with increasing countermeasures until they left.  But since they were clearly PCs, the system waited to see what would happen next.  Waited with the infinite patience of a computer with no imagination or understanding of its own purpose beyond its programmed parameters.  There would be no barring of the gate, no shutting of the door; they would be welcome to enter, as was planned by the creator.[hr]
Nora stood at the door to her room, a breathing mask apparatus over her mouth and nose.  Her eyes stung a little, dazed though they were as she surveyed the damage the robots had wrought during the attack, but the lodge's built-in sprinkler systems were already diluting the strong chemicals in the air.

Unlike conventional sprinklers that used only water, the lodge was equipped with hidden nozzle sprayers and a complicated array of sensors that could detect not just fires, but other forms of environmental hazards such as a buildup of noxious gases or toxic substances, as well as discern the source of a fire and determine if it was electrical, chemical or otherwise.  Then, a computerized series of chemical tanks would add to the spray of water just enough of whatever was needed to help neutralize the threat, or if water would only make the situation worse, a flame-retardant soluble liquid was used instead.

The best part was, it was all non-toxic, washed out easily with a little water and evaporated quickly.  And, it was lemon-scented.

Nora's mind recalled these facts, which before they had known only clinically from having read over the lodge's safety equipment.  Now she was seeing it in action as the spray from the sprinklers soaked into the carpet around the mezzanine.  She wasn't exactly sure which chemicals were being used now, but it was effectively breaking down the intense capsaicin foam into a harmless bubbling mix.  A secondary mist was being laid down by the sprinklers to counteract the peppery smell from the air.  Without any effort on her part, cleanup was already occurring, and she stood there, suddenly a little warm with the adrenaline running through her system, dampened by the discharge from the sprinklers, and almost giddy with the excitement that had torn her from a strange dream that she half-remembered.

[i]I should take at least one of those drones for study,[/i] she thought, musing comfortably with this impulse for understanding.  It would be so much nicer if that was all she had to do, merely sit back and analyze.

Then her sense of responsibility kicked in as she gave a quick start, blinked her eyes, and strode to the mezzanine railing to try to look at everyone at once.  Her glasses shone with tiny lights as she examined the scene while her hands rested on the wooden rail.  Jane and Sam were over in the laundry room, with Jane visibly in shock as she laughed in the odd white noise silence of the sprinklers, and Sam was trying to see if she was okay (in his boxers, but at least he had those on, thought Nora as she blushed a little and moved her gaze quickly on).  Ashley had left by the front door, which still was open to the warm night air outside.  Boxcar still crouched by a couch downstairs, watching intently at Jaiden, who sat in the middle of a mess of crushed drones and, despite the holes in his clothes and her own memory of the spraying blood from earlier, Jaiden was remarkably unbloodied, though he did look a little like he had just woken up.

In a single sweep of her light blue eyes, she analyzed the situation.  [i]No serious injuries,[/i] she thought in review.  [i]The regenerative abilities of both Jaiden and Ashley are functioning better than their reports indicated.  The drones no longer present a threat.  Aside from possible trauma and adrenaline...it looks like everyone is okay.[/i]

Then Nora thought of the door, and realized they would [i]not[/i] be okay if even one more of those robots came through.  [i]This was my fault,[/i] she thought matter-of-factually, and she gripped the rail more tightly with her hands in a rare show of anger as her brow furrowed.  [i]If I had insisted on checking out what was down there earlier, or at least had gone down there to take a look for myself, this wouldn't have happened.  We could have sealed the door, or taken the fight to the drone, instead of being ambushed like this.  Ambushed![/i]

Another wave of frigid ice went through her.  There wasn't anything stopping the same thing from happening, if it hadn't already begun.  She had to get help, and fast, if-

[i]Get help from who, sister?[/i] she berated herself mentally.  [i]If I call Cybertronics like this, they'll just fire me outright instead of being polite and shunting me out of the way!  And that's if they don't just shut down the entire lodge project, and these guys will all be kicked out...nope, no more waiting, no more hesitation, I should have taken care of it in the first place![/i]

Nora went back into her room and gathered a few things - some slippers for her bare feet, a few tools that she slipped into the pockets of her labcoat - and came out and went immediately down the stairs and towards the rec room and its yawning door into the basement, trusting that Sam would be able to help Jane out for now, and that all of the others would be all right.  The transponder for Boxcar's collar swung about on her neck as she moved with definite purpose.  She felt guilty about just leaving the others so quickly, but she knew time was of the essence - and she was also terrified that if she didn't do this now, she'd chicken out.

Boxcar, finally able to draw his eyes away from Jaiden, fell into step behind Nora silently.  Nora only barely acknowledged his presence - she knew he wouldn't be able to stay away from her anyway with the shock collar, and she felt reassured having his company.

When she entered the basement and switched on the light, Nora stood there for a moment, hesitation creeping into her heart again.  She stared at the open door, which led into a dark hallway that looked like a gate to the Abyss in the dimness of the single lightbulb above her head.  The basement was cooler than the upstairs areas had been, but she could swear she felt a chill breeze rising from the depths of whatever laid below the lodge.

Then she tightened her grip on one of the tools in her pocket to stop her hand from shaking.  "Let's go," was all she said, and she started forward into the automatically-lighted hallway, with Boxcar at her heels.

"Shouldn't we stuff something in the way of the door?  In case it closes on us again," said Boxcar, sounding very nonchalant.

"If the door closes, then that means whatever is down here can't get at the others," Nora said...then realized how awful a picture that sentence painted, leaving them trapped down here, and she giggled nervously.

"Okay, but if we reach a spot where the corridor ends suddenly, don't say anything about a 'dead-end' all right?" grumbled Boxcar.  "Place gives me the creeps already."

So the two began to descend the stairs at the end of the short hallway, lights automatically clicking on as they went, detected by various motion sensors and other electronic eyes that scanned ceaselessly and without conscious thought.