((Collab Post between RoflsMazoy, KillamriX88, Bartimaeus, and Letter Bee))

[b][i]Two Weeks after the Midnight Tournament[/i][/b]

[hider=Secrets, Hopefully?]

Wolf grit his teeth as he realized his mistake. Had he been alone, he may have ended up truly paying for it too. He'd grossly underestimated the beast's resilience. But he wasn't alone and somehow he hadn't paid for his foolishness. Still, it was humiliating... but he'd make use of that.

When the monster collapsed from its own thrashing, he saw a chance to make-up for his failure. He hefted his trident and found the beast's shoulder. If he went against the grain of the scales, under it's legs where the scales should have been much thinner, his weapon should be able to penetrate. He shoved his weapon into the beast. Even if the weapon wasn't currently at its full potential, if he drove it into the beast, the paralytic effect should spread and spread for as long as the trident could stay lodged in it.

Ascot, meanwhile, would rush at the monster from the side as the paralysis took effect, drawing his sword with both hands and trying to chop its neck cleanly. Hopefully, he and Aram can salvage it for Reagents later on...

Aram frowned as Ascot's sword failed to hash through the beast's tough scaled hide. [color=fff200]"No dice, eh? Maybe we need something more restrictive!"[/color] he jeered, before throwing both hands to the floor. The energy was back again, crackling around him. The floor rumbled as the mass within it shifted around, finally rising from the surrounding area and arching over the beast, forming close to its body as it hardened into steel. He stood, dusting his hands.

[color=fff200]"Bet you fellas are glad you brought ol' Aram, eh?"[/color] he said, a slight, cocky bow passing towards his companions.

Aram wasn't given too much time to congratulate himself however, as a stream of fire came aimed at his head. Sleipnir was bound, but it was still rather capable. It thrashed around in a frenzy, its deadly hooves swinging this way and that as it frantically breathed fire.

Aram jumped back from the flames, a small bit of them licking the brim of his fedora. [color=fff200]"H-hey! Watch it! This is some classy merchandise, ya big gorilla!"[/color] he yelled disdainfully.

Wolf had a moment to think but not speak. Aram... his powers really were a lot more reliable than his. He'd acted confident, but each time Aram had one-upped him. There was jealousy there, sure, but nothing so spiteful. Just a painful recognition of his own shortcomings.

He was about to say as much,and complement his friend accordingly, but Sleipnir only needed a few moments it seemed to realize its situation and begin flailing. Wolf's, foolish, first instinct was to try and keep the trident in place, but the trident was literally right next to legs ending in thrashing hooves.

Wolf was slammed against the nearby wall and stunned. And in his daze came a bit of... honesty. Honesty with himself. Honesty brimming with doubt and self-loathing.

And all the power that such pain brought him.

Anyone worried about Wolf would soon lose sight of him as a vortex of thick, black smoke engulfed him. Next came the echoing [i]THUD-THUD[/i] of impossibly heavy footsteps as the titanic armor of Sorrow lumbered forth. There was a hollow [i]clang[/i] as a hoof ricochetted off the helmet, only causing Wolf to list to one side momentarily before descending bare-handed on Sleipnir.

One guantletted hand crashed down on Slipneir's nose, clamping down around mouth and nostrils to keep its flames at bay. Next, the net he'd cast earlier returned to him before he wrapped it around his other fist. The weight of the armor now comibned with the weight of the net soon came crashing down on Sleipnier's skull as he grappled the beast. And then once more. And then...

 If he couldn't stab it -- he'd crush it.

The damage was reaching the beast's brain. Armour 101, blunt force can damage internal organs without necessarily having to destroy armour. Sleipnir had a thick skull, but not thick enough. The light had not faded from its eyes yet, but its thrashing was getting weaker, and it was clear it would die soon.

However, before Wolf could deliver the last blow, there were different cries. They were surrounded again, but this time by a multitude of different creatures. They stuck to the shadows but their intention was clear.

Sleipnir, their terror was bound, helpless and dying. A vertiable feast, one that would be shared, unless the party wasn't willing to give it up. Then it would be taken from them.

"I think we should go to the Second Floor's room right now!" Ascot shouted. "Remember what we came here for!"
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[hider=Secrets, Hopefully? Part 2]
[color=fff200]"Gumshoe's right, Wolfie-boy."[/color] Aram nodded.

Wolf stood up straight, Sleipner no longer a threat. He was a good foot or so taller in the armor. He recalled his trident and walked directly toward a portion of the monstrous swarm. He swung his trident, striking the floor and letting sparks fly. The message was clear.

Step aside.

[color=DarkKhaki]"I'll lead. Keep close."[/color] his voice echoed deeply from inside the armor. If they'd only gotten brave once Sleipnir was killed, then logic dictated that instinct would tell them to back away from him too. The armor would slow him down, but not nearly as much as fighting their way through everything. He'd take it off once they were clear.

Aram would follow close behind his now much taller friend, while being sure to keep William between the two. He'd try to ignore the eerie feeling he got from so many eyes staring at him, that he couldn't stare back at. He was walking backwards, because he knew what animals of prey were like. They'd take any advantage they could get. especially if they were [i]hungry[/i]...

Aram caught a glimpse of his light glinting off of the black armor that covered his left arm. [color=fff79a]Compared to Wolf, this is nothing,[/color] he thought. [color=fff79a]Wolf might not be able to control his power night and day, but who cares? He's strong...without help, he thought. I...I have to rely on people to "help", if I can even do that. Alchemy...it's strong. In the right hands. They told me I have the right hands, but how can I believe that when I feel so...so Hu[/color]-- His thought was interrupted by a hiss nearby in the dark, startling him.

[color=fff200]"C-C'mon.. let's split."[/color] he managed to cough up.

William knew this; that their goal was coming into view. With Wolf and Aram's help, he was going to reach the desired destination - the Second Floor's special chamber. Once the running stopped, once they finally arrived, he was going to examine, then open the door, though slowly and not without caution...

The door was a door like any other in the facility. It was shut tight, but the panel for the manual override was already half opened. There were other doors like that but so far they'd each been on a path to an exit of some sort. This room was most definitely a dead end.

Nevertheless, the party strode onwards. The room was dark, like the rest of the facility, but the lights were specifically different from the rest. Stepping into the room was indeed like stepping into an entirely different place.

Yet inside it were still very familiar equipment. There was monitoring equipment, a bed, surgery tools, and a lot of things the party didn't recognize. One thing that leaped out at them however was that the room felt like a room made for one subject.

There was a large test-tube/vat in the back of the room. The bed was nearby, with the monitoring equipment either surrounding it or facing it. They could tell that there would normally be just one subject with some researchers studying them.

In one corner of the room there was a cabinet with some files. Upon looking at them however, it seemed as if they were encrypted using a code of some kind. Other than those files, there was nothing else in the room.

They could take some pictures of the equipment hopefully to study it and try and track down the manufacturer to perhaps find some more information in the future.

Ascot took out his smartphone and began to take pictures, first of the equipment, then the various pages of the files. When his smartphone's memory ran out, he used various USBs from his pack to store more photos of the files' pages. He would then say to Aram: "Don't ask why, but two things. One, I think that the vat was used to manufacture an Artificial Human/Clone, and two, this technology would be useful once my boyfriend and I get married."

Aram raised his eyebrows at that, blinking as if he'd just been pegged in the head with a rock. [color=fff200]"Um.. Okay? Hope you get your info so we can scram.."[/color] he said, scratching his head. [color=fff79a]So Gumshoe's got a lovebird, eh? Wait, isn't he with that Vernon kid? Something's off about that character..[/color]

[i]This must be where Christine - Baumann, not Abigail - was born.[/i] William though as he went to the Generator. If it still worked, he could try and reactivate it and so gain access to the data stored in the monitoring computers...

He'd need some fuel to start the generator. There wasn't exactly a guarantee the generator was alright, or that the computers would boot up either, but if they did the data would most likely be intact due to being relatively isolated from the facility's main power grid.

It was likely the generator had simply run down in this room, or that it had been turned off before the researchers had met their doom.

William Ascot turned to Aram, saying: "Alchemy can be used for basic repairs to electronic equipment, right? Nothing fancy, just a few reconnected wires here and there. But more importantly, you can transmute generator fuel and use it to power up this room for a while. We can then leave and come back with even more numbers."

[color=fff200]"Er, well...electronics are a bit sketch. But if it's just simple...I can give a swing at it. Need to lay eyes on the insides though...But the gas'll be easy as pie."[/color] he responded.

Aram looked around, looking for disposables he could use for transmutation fuel. There were quite a few. He walked over to an IV stand, grabbing it along with a blanket that had lain on the bed, and threw it on top of the stand. He unscrewed the cap on the side of the generator, then performed his alchemy once again, turning his gathered equipment into fuel of the appropriate composure for a generator, which he luckily knew the the components for. He then controlled it to flow into the old generator, until it filled to the brim.

He let the rest of the gas fall to the floor, turning it into water to avoid any unnecessary hazards. [color=fff200]"There ya go, Gumshoe."[/color]

Ascot would then turn the generator on, hoping for the best...

The generator spluttered, but it started. As it got to work the lights flickered to life. The computer screens flickered on one by one, but each one only showed a blue boot error screen save for the last one. It seemed to contain surveillance footage, but most of it had been taken.

They were recorded with dates, and there were clear month-long gaps in between certain dates. The likely conclusion was that footage of any experiments taking place here had already been transferred elsewhere. However, there was a recording for the day the facility had been overrun.

Opening it showed a lit room almost the same as they saw it now. It was empty, the tests having long concluded by now. The time ticked on, but it wasn't even possible to hear any sound coming into the room.

Suddenly, there was a burst of static. Something had entered the room, but slices of static obscured it constantly. It was as if it was emanating it. It moved around the room, seemingly doing nothing. It came to the generator, then the recording stopped.

Ascot nevertheless used more USBs to take what data was available, including knowledge of the gaps in surveillance and the final day. He then made copies of said final day and sent them to Eleanor, his sister-in-law, to show to Alexander later; the latter should be in Mephisto's presence right now. Looking at Aram, he would say, "I think I know what this part of the facility is for; it's creating an artificial human for an unknown purpose."

Then, to Wolf, the boy would say, "And while I think that you're a combination of skeptical and disappointed right now, as the files we have are encrypted and the surveillance footage is inconclusive, let's just say that I came to this conclusion because...the artificial human is my adoptive niece. Michael can confirm; he was with me on a previous trip to see the Spirit of the Facility for the first time."

[i]I have a niece. And I presume that Mephisto might want her to be his' if he knew of her existence. I have family I want to protect now; the rest, including Liliana, can take care of themselves.[/i] Liliana Ascot was William's younger sister. "It seems I've been selfish. Trying to save Vittorio's soul and prevent his life from becoming a tragedy, when I have someone who needs me almost as much, someone who needs me more." A sigh. "But then again, Vittorio's still the one who's suffered more than anyone else in Rhea, and winning him away from Mephisto...it'll protect my niece as well."

Aram sat for a moment, taking in all that they have gathered. [color=fff200]"So this trip wasn't a fiasco afterall, eh? That's swell on your part...but do you think you can help that empty soul? I hear he's pretty hard-headed.."[/color] he inquiried. He'd never really met Vittorio outside of a brawl, and especially hadn't talked to him head-on, but he'd heard rumors on how stubborn he was. How obsessed...he was. 

[color=fff200]"But wait, they made phony people here? And your family adopted one?"[/color] Aram asked, [color=fff200]"That's not possible...It shouldn't be possible."[/color]

William glared at Aram, his right fist clenched as he grit his teeth, "Call my niece 'phony' one more time and I'm smacking you in the face. Understand?"

[color=fff200]"Woah, cool down, Goomba. We're friends, aren't we? I came to help you, I meant no harm..."[/color] he said apologetically.

Ascot's face softened as his fist unclenched. "That's all right; it was a mistake. Anyway, yeah, my niece was born right here. I hope she's adapting well to the adoption..."

A pause. "Anyway, we should go."

Aram looked over to Wolf. [color=fff79a]He seems off his wig today...[/color] he thought. He blinked. [color=fff200]"You did swell today, Wolfie-boy."[/color] he said, then looking at William. [color=fff200]"Let's scram. This place gives me the jitters."[/color]

William then turned off the generator, then the trip back outside started...
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