[center][img] https://i.imgur.com/h6OCm6X.png [/img]
Level 8 - EXP 21/80
The Frozen Highlands[/center]
[hr]
[hr][center][h2]Maintaining Ciphers[/h2][h3]Midnight Walk - Spire 04[/h3]
Featuring: Ramattra and Edward (and Eve)
[b]Word Count: 4180[/b] // +5 EXP[/center]

As it turned out, the maintenance bay wasn’t some corner of the main facility as it was its own adjacent facility, accessible through a tunnel that took a minute or so to get through even at a brisk jog. Since this complex serviced the entirety of Spire 04, it stood to reason that it would take a lot more power than the hydroelectricity of one dam to power it, and it was in the maintenance sector where all of the utilities that kept the complex operational were concerted into industrial harmony.

[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/CUmCu0C.png[/img][/center]

The maintenance sector took the form of a large main hub room dominated by a huge, cylindrical power plant surrounded by the pumps and reservoir tanks of the complex’s requisite fluids, from water to coolant to fuel. Scattered around the ground level were a number of stations where the machines, vehicles, and other equipment used throughout the facility could be serviced. Perhaps most remarkable were the giant [url=https://i.imgur.com/7omV5O1.png]robot hands[/url], used not just to lift, hold, and move large objects, but transfer personnel between different levels of the hub. Right now, though, the place was practically empty.

A squad of iron golems advanced through the door, shields raised defensively, auras projected around them. Edward, advancing behind them, Infected 'Rainfall' blade in one hand, Oden’s Pinky handgun in the other, saw the occupier of the hall through their eyes and saw that it (she?) was a far more pristine work than the crudely reanimated machines they’d encountered so far. As such, he felt compelled to step out beside his constructs and call out [color=ea590c]”Are you Naytibas, or something else?”[/color]

The [url=https://i.imgur.com/ifd6Dmg.png]orange-and-black gadgeteer[/url] turned away from her computer terminal and leaned against the railing of the power plant’s circular catwalk to look down at the intruders. She had no visible face, and the four cyan lights on her helmet’s front which somewhat resembled eyes betrayed no emotion, but her body language was anything but friendly. With one hand she raised a [url=https://i.imgur.com/dPIa1bi.png]bulky explosive tech weapon[/url] of some kind, and with the other she made a dismissive gesture, as if brushing the newcomers back toward the door she’d come through.

The Omnic was the first of the group to react, clutching his staff quietly in his off-hand while charging one of his nanite abilities in the other, waiting to see if the machine’s warning turned more serious. [color=bc8dbf]“Whatever happens, I can protect us. I don’t think she wants to blow us up.”[/color] While Ramattra was unable to observe Protea’s motives, there was something odd about the fact that she hadn’t already turned the group into rubble with the rest of the bay.

Though Eve had reached for her hairpin, anticipating a fight, she furrowed her brow at the warframe’s lack of immediate hostility. “It’s intelligent?” she murmured. “But…surely not an Alpha Naytiba. Come to think of it, I don’t see any Naytiba flesh…”

[color=ea590c]”Something else then”[/color] Edward said quietly, as he calmly stared down the barrel of the gun, and having the audacity to sheath his weapons while doing so. 

Eve glanced at him, one brow raised. “An android manufactured by Orca that escaped infection, perhaps?” Then again, that didn’t gel with what Sandalphon said about extremely dense techno-organic signatures, if indeed this thing was one source.

Ramattra stepped from the side of the group toward Edward and Eve, who had been discussing the nature of the stranger. [color=bc8dbf]“Then why did she not explode us given the chance?... There is an uneasy presence to this stranger. I can feel the air crackle to their will here… Be cautious.”[/color] It was hard for Ramattra to explain, but there was an uneasy pulse of raw energy that swept the room. Whether or not this stranger was an android or not, the environment was this well-dressed character’s personal playground.

Edward, half inclined his head to the warning, before  raising his voice as he addressed the strange being. [color=ea590c]”All we wish is to pass through, so if you could kindly disable the lock, we will be in our way”[/color] he told her, before glancing over her person and, noting that really all she visibly had was guns, added [color=ea590c]”I’d be willing to offer an armament or two in exchange for this favor”[/color]

After a brief pause, Protea tilted her head, then hefted her heavy weapon onto her shoulder. She seemed to respect Edward’s cockiness, which reflected her own. Raising her free hand, she held her fingers straight and together as she pivoted her wrist in a circle, the universal gesture for ‘continue’.

Edward glanced back, both to gauge the reaction of the others and to make a show of beckoning his inferno steed towards him. The steed stored Edward’s spare (and presently unused) two handed ranged weapons. He still intended to use the magnetic grenade launcher, but the other, the plasma cutter beam rifle, he was willing to offer up to avoid unnecessary violence.

Without much hesitation, Protea decided that she wanted a closer look. She stowed her rocket launcher on her back, then catapulted off the catwalk, soaring through the air at high speed. She landed before the Seekers in a slide, her metallic body sparking as it ground across the coarse concrete. When she nimbly hopped to her feet, she stood at 6.5 feet tall. Not at all bothered by the proximity of so many possible enemies, she reached out and beckoned for the plasma cutter.

Edward tensed up as the warframe came leaping down, who wouldn’t, but he held his nerve enough to do no more than that. Once she approached, he held the gun by the barrel with its muzzle pointed to the floor, and offered it to her.

When she received it, she turned away and held it level to her helmet as if staring down its sights. Aiming up at the concrete wall, she fired off a few quick bursts of concentrated ionized gas, followed by an extended stream. She targeted painted numbers, starting big and going small as she quickly got a feel for the gun’s handling. When it heated up, she relaxed her posture, looked down at the weapon’s red-hot barrel, and figured out how to vent the heat after a moment. Once satisfied, Protea expended some of her own energy to rapid-construct a dispenser, which promptly belted out a couple orbs and a universal ammo pack with which she refilled the plasma cutter with dextrous hands.

Protea then stared at the weapon, deciding how she felt about it. After a moment she looked away with a tilted head, as if slightly underwhelmed, and her gaze wandered to the rest of Edward’s weapons stowed upon his fiery steed.

The Omnic, now able to get a closer look at the Warframe in action, confirmed his suspicions that this being was more than just an android, cyborg, or Natiyba, unless that summoned dispenser was an unusual feat of tech to Ramattra. Oddly enough, she still seemed like she could be swayed. The Omnic, noticing Protea’s rather lavish appearance for a gunslinger, hinted to him that maybe there could be other ways to make their inventory more… appealing. To hasten efforts, the Omnic would unclip [url=https://imgur.com/I5fQlXy]the red plague mask[/url] off the side of his samue without second thought. Maybe she appreciated spooky aesthetics. He placed it gently alongside Edward’s offerings, looking on his person for more to offer.

With a sigh, Ramattra recalled one last sensible thing he could offer. His staff was off-limits, obviously, being his go-to weapon, along with the fact that nanite mastery was a feat only obtainable by Omnics and through special cybernetics. From the pockets of his pants, he drew out his previously tattered Monk Garbs. While he had no original intention to part with them, their time was precious, and traversing this area was of top priority. [color=bc8dbf]“Mondata, forgive me…”[/color] He hushed to himself as the clothes were politely offered atop the rest.

When offered the mask, Protea picked it up and looked it over. Not quite her aesthetic or color, but it was unique. She took more of an interest when Ramattra offered a new outfit, but his reluctance did not escape the warframe’s notice. With slightly less eagerness, she examined the clothes. They weren’t exactly her aesthetic either, but the colors did suit her almost perfectly. Those four blue lights on her helmet stared at Ramattra for a moment before she glanced over toward the terminal. Then she shrugged, hung the mask on her helmet, and passed the clothes back to Ramattra. With one more reluctant look at all of Edward’s weapons, Protea stowed the plasma cutter, stepped aside, and crossed her arms. A quick nod of her head in the terminal’s direction said [i]knock yourself out[/i].

[color=ea590c]”Much appreciated”[/color] Edward said with a deferential nod, before beginning the ascent toward the terminal alongside the others. Upon arrival he inspectedt it for a moment, and then hitting the only interactable element on it, namely the power button. This caused the monitor to light up and fill with symbols, and the keyboard to pop out underneath it.

After another moment, he stepped back and glanced a touch sheepishly at the others, saying [color=ea590c]”I will admit. I have no idea what I’m looking at at the moment, and though I’d love to take the time to figure it out on my own, perhaps this is more in line with something from one of your worlds?”[/color]

Eve stepped forward to examine the terminal, one arm crossed beneath her chest while her other elbow rested on the wrist, contemplative. “Although I haven’t seen a cipher like this before, I have found and entered many passcodes. This time, though, I rather think the answer is right here in front of us.” She gestured at the stacks of numbers and letters. “All these words are five characters long. Perhaps one is the answer, and the others are red herrings. Or failed attempts.”

Picking out one word, ‘skies’, she entered it. Immediately the number of attempts left counted down from 5 to 4, and a response appeared on the right side that said [i]1/5 correct[/i]. “That’s something,” she said, glancing at Ramattra. “Want to venture a guess?”

The Omnic had scratched his chin for a moment. With a glance over the letters and numbers, Ramattra tried his best to piece together what the passcode could be. Nothing immediately came to mind off gut instinct, but with the first attempt already securing a correct letter, the group had to do some hypothesizing to not waste their precious attempts. [color=bc8dbf]“Well… with the code being five characters, and one letter of our first attempt being correct, I believe it is reasonable to rule out the possibility of any of them being numbers.”[/color] While it was a bit of a reach, it was all they had to go off of without the input of the nearby stranger. If their second hazarded guess proved no progress, maybe bartering with her again could earn them the key to this terminal.

[color=bc8dbf]“I believe… that it is also reasonable to assume that the word is none of the options with ‘ie’, and words with two or more letters to skies. I’m inclined to believe our correct letter is also one of the two s’s, which eliminates some more guesswork… though, honestly, if we begin to whittle our entry attempts, we may want to barter for information from our stranger…”[/color] He glanced over at Protea, who watched as they fumbled with the password to the console, hoping that his suspicion that she controlled this bay was her personal derelict, rather than being under some higher control from the Spire. For a moment, the Omnic thought about the reaches he had made for the passcode, and what possible word could fill in the emptied query.

With a muffled sigh, the Omnic thought it best not to overthink his logic. They still had 3 attempts, even if he had failed, any progress on getting the key was crucial. ‘TANKS’, with this being a maintenance bay, maybe whoever was responsible for the passcode was incompetent enough to pick a word associated with the room's function.

Despite a big difference in terms of the guessed word, the result was the same: 1/5 correct. Now just three guesses remained.

The Omnic figured as much; the wrong answer gave him some room for deduction… Lucky for him, it didn’t seem that the console had put him under any time constraint. Ramattra looked backward to Edward, hoping the commander had some sort of writing utensil and paper for him to scratch down potential third guesses. [color=bc8dbf]“Edward. Might I bother you for some quick writing supplies?”[/color]

When he was handed a fountain pen and ink, he would quickly jot down answers that couldn’t be correct so far, because of misguessed characters on the terminal… Unlike all-knowing artificial intelligence, Ramattra’s sentience was clearly more human-like, relying on the process of elimination to reach a new conclusion, as their second attempt provided no insight into whether Ramattra’s intuition was correct or not.

Words with two or more identical letters were crossed off a neatly stacked list, now translated to a spare sheet of paper. The design here was to help Ramattra make informed choices for his second attempt. After analyzing the list one last time, he looked at the terminal and typed his third attempt, trying the word that stood out the most: PRICE.

Luckily, his guess resulted in one additional correct letter; now 2/5 were right. That wasn’t all that Ramattra’s choice revealed, though. Eve crossed her arms, thinking. “Ah, so it wasn’t the ‘s’ at the end after all,” she remarked, her tone one of curious intrigue. With only two guesses left, they could afford only one more mistake, so she considered what they already knew. Even after eliminating everything with more than one letter in common with the previous guesses, there were still seven possibilities according to Ramattra’s list.

As the others took a look, Edward was left with his thoughts, which, unfortunately for him, went to how it was a slight shame that this had ended peacefully given the warframe’s capabilities. The athleticism and ammunition generation alone would have made her a valuable fusion. 

He frowned as he dismissed that thought, and instead considered instead what might be reasonable to barter for her ammunition stores. He did this while flicking through an armory panel, during which he spotted one of the items he’d sent back to the armory rather than having them pile up in the back of the stagecoach. On a hunch, he summoned it to his hand.

He rather instantly regretted this, for the grotesque Sporothrix rifle was incredibly unpleasant to hold. That aspect alone would certainly reduce the trade value for most, but given the scan results, and the fact that she was presumably ‘from’ this area, Edward made a gamble and asked the warframe [color=ea590c]”I don’t suppose this would be ‘on theme’ for you, would it?”[/color] 

Protea had been watching idly, waiting for the newcomers to finish with the terminal maybe. With how dangerous things were around here thanks to the Naytibas, she could just be taking a break. When Edward approached her, she fixated on the Sporothrix instantly, and when he asked if she’d be interested Protea gave him an earnest nod.

[color=ea590c]”That’s valuable information all on its own, but I’d still like to barter for it and one other, similar, item, if you have anything you’d be willing to offer”[/color] Edward replied, inviting her to consider what she had to offer before making his own pitch. Frankly, he’d probably take anything she could offer given the offputting nature of the weapons, and he did not intend to drive a hard bargain given their lack of rapport, but she didn’t need to know that right away. 

He gave her a moment to consider, during which  he placed the butt of the sniper rifle against the floor, and then retrieved the Synapse electro rifle as well. This held in the same way, against the other gun, after giving her a moment to look it over. He also would offer her journal and quill to write with, should she seem to want/need to get past her muteness. 

Protea’s shoulders went slack with disappointment as her head tilted completely to one side, the unamused glow of her helmet’s optics saying [i]really, bro?[/i] After a brief moment -and a head motion that looked suspiciously like an eye roll- she produced the plasma cutter she’d received earlier, then held it out with one hand on her hip. Though her body language was slightly derisive, she seemed curious about whether or not Edward would go for this trade.

Edward supposed that, other than the pouches, she didn’t seem to be carrying much, and so her lack of barterable items was rather limited. He could see her attitude’s legitimacy, and so he wasn’t going to insist on trading back for the Plasma Cutter. Instead he went for something more universally useful, and hopefully less offensive.

[color=ea590c]”Perhaps. But you also seem to be able to produce those remarkable ammunition kits that can restock even a freshly acquired weapon like that one"[/color] he nodded to the plasma cutter [color=ea590c]”I would be willing to exchange these for some of those, if that would be feasible?"[/color] 

With a shake of her head, Protea signalled that it wasn’t. After a moment, though, she held up a one finger as a sign that she’d thought of something. From one pouch she pulled a circular grenade of some kind, which she reconfigured and then tossed into the air. It began to float next to her, projecting a beam of blue energy that seemed to create a low-opacity force field around her. Then, with her demonstration complete, the warframe offered three such grenades to Edward.

It was unfortunate that he’d not get to fill the armory with magnetic grenades given that those would likely be quite useful against whatever larger bio-mechanical horrors surely lurked within the structure, Edward felt, but this seemed interesting in and of itself, and interesting was valued all of its own. Well. Maybe not for the price of two weapons from the team’s stores, but there was also the diplomatic angle to consider here, and so he was certainly open to the trade.

[color=ea590c]”Now that’s quite something. Limited duration, I assume? Minutes?"[/color] he asked, more to know than to weigh up the value of the items. Indeed even as he asked he moved physically to offer the weapons to her and to take the orbs off her hands in exchange.

If Protea could narrow her eyes in a wince, she probably would have. Rather than hurriedly complete the transaction, she stepped back with a shake of her head, then quickly used the plasma cutter to burn a couple numbers into the concrete. [i]13[/i]. She then shrugged as if to say [i]they’re worth it, though[/i].

[color=ea590c]”In a pinch, I suppose"[/color] Edward replied, getting her meaning. But it was true that that wasn’t really worth the two weapons alone. Perhaps something more mercenary would work, he thought, before asking [color=ea590c]”I don’t suppose you can help us against the Naytibas? Be it an escort if you are going our way, or a distraction to draw them away if you are going your own way?"[/color]

In response, the gadgeteer cracked her knuckles, then her head from side to side as she rolled her shoulders. Seemingly in agreement, she held out her hand to receive her payment.

The man couldn’t help but grin at the confidence, and then gladly handed over the weapons, which he assumed were about to be put to good use. Of course, he wasn’t sure where or how, that had been vague given her muteness, but after the initial rudeness the warframe had proven to be rather honorable in her dealings, so he had no doubt she’d hold up her end of the bargain one way or the other.

[color=ea590c]”A pleasure"[/color] he said once everything was sorted out, before glancing over to see how things were coming along with the console.

“So…’skies’ and ‘tanks’ have one letter correct apiece, and ‘price’ has two.” Eve raised an eyebrow. “The only thing it has in common with another is the ‘i’ in ‘skies’. Oh…could it be ‘trick’? That has the ‘ri’ in price, the ‘i’ in ‘skies’, and the ‘t’ in ‘tanks’!” Spotting another word left her indecisive, though. “Hm, it could also be ‘thick’, I suppose. It has the ‘ic’ from price…” She glanced at Ramattra, wondering if he had a preference.

[color=bc8dbf]“Well, with ‘trick’ having 3 overlapping correct characters to our estimated word ‘price’, it only leaves third and thick left for our attempts. Should our deductions be correct, we could just as easily enter one, then the other, if we fail in theory.”[/color] Ramattra pointed out. He looked at his previous attempts, comparing his logic to the notes he had jotted down. [color=bc8dbf]“Hopefully you trust my reasoning, otherwise be ready to barter again…”[/color] His metallic digits entered another word into the dated green screen of the terminal - THIRD, each letter rung with a satisfying metallic clack. [color=bc8dbf]“So archaic…”[/color]

After realizing her oversight, Eve decided to lead the deductive reasoning to Ramattra. Either way, though, it seemed like the two had this in the bag, since enough attempts remained to cover all the plausible guesses. When Ramattra entered ‘third’, it came back with 3/5 correct, so at that point it was a simple matter to enter ‘thick’ and unlock the terminal. From there, all the omnic needed to do was press the button (and subsequent confirmation button) to remotely disable the hypertube lock. One down, two to go.

For a moment, Ramattra held his figurative breath as he entered the final attempt into the terminal. His logic had served him well so far, and for a moment before submitting his guess into the console, almost considered bartering for the Warframe to help them. 

When the console accepted his entry, he released a relieved sigh, thankful that Eve and him were able to enter the machine. Ramattra clicked through a couple of unimportant clearance notes, inventory logs, and other information about the bay itself before selecting the (HYPERTUBE LOCK ACCESS) option, and disengaging the first lock.

The moment that the mechanism began to unlock and spool up the hypertube, though, klaxons sounded out to signal the operators to stand clear while the machines worked. This sudden commotion resounded in the massive, cylindrical chamber that was the maintenance sector, and though it shut off after only a few seconds, the damage was done. Enemies stirred in the wings as multiple squads of Naytiba drones began to emerge, eager to investigate the source of the noise.

In an instant Eve’s monomolecular saber was in her hand, ready for action. Protea seemed unbothered, though, as well as unsurprised. As she took stock of the incoming enemies, she gave the Seekers and their new ally a dismissive wave, indicating that they should scram and leave these dregs to her. Evidently the warframe planned to hold up her end of the bargain sooner rather than later.

The trio saw no issue with that interpretation of the deal, swiftly hustling back the way they’d come, trailing disposable minions in their wake. As they did, Protea deployed a hovering turret above her before leaping into the fray, hotswapping between weapons as she did. Flesh rotting particles burst, electrical beams sparked, plasma artillery bored, rockets blasted, and shrapnel grenades splintered.

Then, right as she looked to be out of ammo, and at risk of being overrun, she suddenly and rapidly began to move in reverse, her every action rewound, every weapon reloaded, every wound mended, till she was back where she’d started thanks to her Temporal Anchor. The consequences of her actions remind as they were however, namely a number of fading spirits littering the ground. Soon enough, far more would join them.

[color=ea590c]”I can only hope the others also found a way to talk the others like her down,"[/color] Edward commented as they bid their hasty retreat.

The hasty Warframe’s special ability caught Ramattra’s immediate attention… Time manipulation. The Omnic was correct to assume that Protea was a being of her own, rather than any of their assumptions. The capabilities of her powers were beyond any magical or technological understanding that he had. Though, her ability to restore her state of time certainly reminded him of that time-manipulating Overwatch agent…