Legend

Myriad Reality

<Snipped quote by Legend>

*Snaps my gaze to you as you walk past me, and I hurriedly follow behind*
Does any of this stuff make sense to you? You’d think living with two big nerds all my life would make me familiar with the type of things they talk about, but it just never clicked for me.

@Audacious

Physics and whatever was never my strong suit. But the researchers joke that all roads lead to PaMDA. It's dad's favorite accomplishment of all time.
*Mumbles quickly to myself, barely above a whisper*
Which does hurt a little bit.
*Another display discusses previous planetary defenses, including the Artifacts and Holy Sword with life-size replicas*
Holo Dynamo: Traditional weaponry fails against far too many unknowns, even if those weapons are extraordinarily powerful. We realized the best defense was to prevent anyone from noticing we exist at all. Signal that drops far, far, far below the noise.

Myriad Reality

<Snipped quote by Legend>

I hope none of this stuff is dangerous to be exposed to the elements like this.

@Audacious

I would've said that I'm sure it's all safe and deactivated. Would've.
*Walks past the numerous displays of the lab's history and experiments*
Holo Dynamo: —which is why we permanently decommissioned all nanobot experiments. After all, who wants to build using anything as large and risky as a nanobot when PaMDA has the probability distributions of matter at its fingertips?
*Another hologram pops up discussing time travel experiments and the timeline locks applied to the dimension*

Myriad Reality

<Snipped quote by Legend>

You’re right.
*Slides down the metal toward the closest point where our platform meets the trench wall*

@Audacious

*The inside of this cavern houses a museum of sorts, filled with displays of projects in various stages of development and a few with finalized versions behind protective glass cases*
I forgot this place existed.
*Reaches out to touch the first case filled with disjoint brown tiles, and a hologram of Dynamo appears, explaining the mechanics of nanobots and the risks of gray goo incidents*

Myriad Reality

<Snipped quote by Legend>

There’s more than one person in these parts, and I really don’t know exactly where she went.

@Audacious

*With just a touch of bitterness*
Then maybe one of them will know what to do. Whatever it is, we can't stay here.

Myriad Reality

<Snipped quote by Legend>

Are there parts of the facility that stretch to all the way down here?

@Audacious

There are, but I haven't been down here since a little after I was created.
*Leaps off the platform and lands inside the nearest cavern, peering inside*

Myriad Reality

<Snipped quote by Legend>

Roughly. She dipped into a cave somewhere, from what I could tell.
*Uses my sixth sense to feel for the vague presence of any person down here*

@Audacious

*You sense quite a few figures deep in the caverns moving very quickly, and others very still*
Then we should find her and regroup.

Myriad Reality

<Snipped quote by Legend>

Alright...
*The air freezes below us in the formation of many layers of lattice webbings, shattering under the weight of the platform we fall on before hitting the next and tearing it apart, but slowing our descent with each layer*

@Audacious

*We come to a stop near a network of alcoves within the canyon wall just a few meters beneath us*
Is this... about how far down Artemis went?

Myriad Reality

<Snipped quote by Legend>

*My eyes widen as I stare at the facility suddenly grow farther away as we fall*
Isis?!

@Audacious

*Holds onto the broken exterior with my good hand to steady myself*
This really is doomsday.

Myriad Reality

<Snipped quote by Legend>

But where?

@Audacious

The fastest way is on the other si—
*As if on cue, the last restraint holding up this corridor snaps, dropping us into the ravine below*

Myriad Reality

<Snipped quote by Legend>

I...
*Directs my gaze vaguely in the other direction*
You're welcome. We really should move quickly now. We're still in danger.

@Audacious

*Nods after a brief moment of hesitation*
Go as fast as you can. I'll keep up.