Legend

Myriad Reality

<Snipped quote by Host>

I'm afraid it'll turn on us-

<Snipped quote by Legend>

*Throws a hand up in either direction, surrounding us in a box of the same making as the barrier against the door*
Just like them.

@Audacious

*Flings a piece of rocky debris against the barrier to check its properties*
Violet!! Can you hear me??

Myriad Reality

<Snipped quote by Legend>

*Snaps my head in the direction of the door, summoning a similar barrier of heat in front of it*

@Audacious

*The structure of the door rattles, and dents in more distant parts of the metal walls burst forth at points untouched by the heat barrier*

Myriad Reality

<Snipped quote by Host>

Why does this space scream “alien” more than everything else?
*Slowly walks toward the central chair, turning around to look behind us, manifesting a wall of glowing plasma in the air of the path we took to get here*

@Audacious

<Snipped quote by Audacious>

*Both of us follow suit*
We need to hurry. This is it.

@Host

*Bangs on the metal doors*

Myriad Reality

<Snipped quote by Host>

*Stares at the opening, mouth agape, for just a moment before blinking a few times and nodding*
Yes. Yeah, let’s go. No time to waste.
*Gets down on my hands and knees to crawl ahead first*

@Audacious

*In a blur of motion from within the ravine, makes brief eye contact with you, then Artemis, then Zinnia, and doing nothing to hide the complete shocked expression that follows*

Myriad Reality

<Snipped quote by Legend>

*After giving the empty cage a quick up-down, walks past it and to the cryo chamber door, grabbing on to the handle of a key of ice as the air in the tumbler freezes solid into a skeleton key for the lock*

@Audacious

*The key turns without major resistance apart from the now-cold metal and the door swings open*

Myriad Reality

<Snipped quote by Legend>

*Checks to see if it is even actually locked first by trying the door*

@Audacious

*The door to that cage opens without resistance, but the door to the cryo chamber is locked*

Myriad Reality

<Snipped quote by Legend>

...
*Lowers my passive body temperature to match that of the environment as I walk*

@Audacious

*Several servers are locked behind cages that extend up to the ceiling, but one of the cages is empty save for a windowed door into the cryo chamber, this one locked with a traditional key*

Myriad Reality

<Snipped quote by Legend>

*Whispers to myself*
... So creepy.
*Turns and pulls the door shut behind me, then walks further into the room*

@Audacious

*Any servers you walk by react in precision to temperature differences; as you walk, one of the servers sporadically beeps loudly and rapidly*

Myriad Reality

<Snipped quote by Legend>

*Sighs and carefully steps in, taking a look around*
Hello?

@Audacious

*No voices emerge from the room, but a fan unexpectedly kicks on from immediately behind your head in response to the temperature differential; in the center of the server room stands a holographic screen with "DEMO" written diagonally across in large block letters and a grayed-out "live" banner on the bottom corner, underneath which lies video scenes of the planet's natives with an accompanied percentage followed by a time lapse of the taped individuals conducting a variety of menial crimes as the percentage ticks up toward 100% simultaneously with the crime taking place*

Myriad Reality

<Snipped quote by Legend>

*Stands frozen still for a moment, then nudges on the door gently*

@Audacious

*It glides open without a hint of friction, leading into a frigid server room full of flashing lights, the white noise of fans, and beeping components*