Audacious

Myriad Reality

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We'll go as quickly as we can. Anything we need to be aware of?

@Legend

Ahm: Just be careful. There are weap-
*The audio is interrupted by a very loud, sudden crackling sound, and the video feed becomes very static-y as well.
-*Drops my phone and covers the ears on top of my head with my hands in response to the sound, as though it was enough to hurt, and the call cuts entirely as my phone slides across the floor*

Myriad Reality

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*Looks up toward the top of the tower*
Nothing is ever as simple as it seems.

@Legend

I don’t think the tower is powered down, Ahm. I think it’s the opposite, it looks like it’s on.
Ahm: On? That changes things.
*A warning siren blares through the audio*
We’ve got to figure things out down here. You two need to make it to the top where the scouting navigation console is. If it’s on and there’s movement, someone is up there.

Myriad Reality

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*Attempts to pull my hand out of the wall*
I see. I’ll try to avoid or minimize damage wherever possible.

@Legend

Ahm: Thank you.
*The angle of the floor we stand on noticeably shift, as the balcony turns from a spiraling ramp to level, independent floors, detaching at segments up the wall and reconnecting at new points, no longer allowing us to simply walk up*
-Are we sure the power is out?…
*At the bottom level, the landscape and full view of the world can be seen as though the walls of the tower were gone and we were looking outside in a rapidly ascending structure*

Myriad Reality

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I don’t assume force is an option?
*Touches the light with my fingertip*

@Legend

Ahm: It would be preferred not to damage the actual structure. We prefer not to harm ancient architecture with history behind it.
*Your finger passes through the wall as though touching the surface of the pond, and you feel a cold vacuum on the other side. More small lights of varying brightnesses begin to dot the walls with an increasing rate*
…

Myriad Reality

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Would reactivating the tower at this point be wise?

@Legend

Ahm: We don’t have a choice. There are sections of the facility on our end that need power for access.
*A small speck of white light flickers to life near the part of the wall you inspected, and I don’t notice as I’m faced away*

Myriad Reality

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*Inspects the wall as you make your call*

@Legend

*The wall is lined with a material that feels akin to glass, but more solid*
It has. Is everything okay?
Ahm: I believe it is. Nothing here has run or been used in thousands of years. I imagine power failure is just a result of decayed systems or decayed power storage. We’ll try to get things running from down here, the power room shouldn’t be far.

Myriad Reality

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*Holds up a finger, gleaming with a white light*
That's unfortunate.

@Legend

*My eyes glow yellow against the light in the darkness, noticeably moreso than the average eyes would*
Kind of. Hopefully it doesn’t mean anything.
*My phone starts ringing some classical sounding tune, and I pull it out and answer, pulling up a video feed of Ahm*
Ahm: Checking in. You two lose power absolutely as well?

Myriad Reality

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*Chuckles*
I can't argue. If we're fortunate, today will be one of the boring ones.

@Legend

*Holds up my hand, crosses my fingers and smirks very slightly*
Fingers crossed.
*Another scan starts, but just after the pulse gets halfway between us and the floor, it can be seen to visibly flicker before dissipating, along with the lights, which seem to sequentially shut out on sets going from the bottom up and plunging us into darkness near pitch-black*

Myriad Reality

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I see. Are most of your objectives so high-stakes?

@Legend

No. But the coolness of stories kind of correlates to the stakes.

Myriad Reality

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Why compress rather than dissipate?

@Legend

It was far to concentrated and self perpetuating, I couldn’t remove the problem.