[21:09] <> [21:09] ( *gnaws on Cham* Mmm. Meaty. ) [21:10] <> [21:10] (Logs are up, if you wanna doublecheck.) [21:12] <> [21:13] Wow. [21:16] Shall we procede into the city, commander? [21:18] * Charlie walks near the edge and peers over. [21:19] * Chako stuffs the cube and crystal away. "Yeah, we might as well." [21:19] <> [21:20] * Tim walks to the edge, too, and stares down at the city. [21:20] Long way down.. Right or left, cap'n? [21:20] <> [21:21] ( How far down? ) [21:21] <> [21:22] * Chako checks her missiles. "Doesn't matter. Let's go right." [21:22] Either way looks about the same from here, Cap'n" [21:23] * Isis stands close to the edge (dangerously so) and glances down. "Quite a distance..." [21:24] * Charlie heads for the right staircase, ".. pretty symetrical, really." [21:25] * Illyana follows Charlie, rather abruptly. [21:25] <> [21:25] * Tim hurries for and down the right staircase, seeming obviously eager to get down into the city. [21:26] (Tim falls off the world!) [21:26] ( Aie! ) [21:26] ( Oh dear, that staircase ends an eighth of the way down. ) [21:27] <> [21:27] <> [21:28] <> [21:30] * Chako proceeds down the stairs quickly, lest the techs get too far ahead. [21:31] * Isis walks down stairs, or something. Yeah. [21:31] * Tim keeps going down the stairs! [21:31] * Charlie keeps going as well. [21:32] (thigh workout it is.. it seems) [21:32] ( looks like it. ) [21:32] ( Finally. God damned piece of shit AOL. ) [21:33] <> [21:34] <> [21:34] * Illyana peers at it. [21:36] <> [21:36] <> [21:38] * Tim looks at the mural, then looks the turnstile over. [21:38] Tim, can you fool this thing into working? [21:39] Not sure. [21:40] <> [21:40] 2d6+5 [21:40] * Atom rolls for Tim (2d6+5) and gets 12. [21:41] ( That would be a 'no'. ) [21:41] ( +8? OUCH. ) [21:43] * Tim looks the turnstile over, and frowns. "Doesn't look like there's much I can do on this end. Let's try the left, maybe?" [21:43] * Charlie looks up at the mural, looking back at other sections as well. [21:44] If I could find whatever is used to activate this, I could do something, prolly. Or we could cut our way through. [21:45] * Illyana stops looking at the mural long enough to look around for any means of opening the turnstile. [21:45] < <> [21:47] There was that box, up near the top.. [21:47] Dunno what it's for though. [21:47] * Isis draws her sword and slings it over her shoulder. She seems nervous but isn't saying much. [21:47] As much as it's fun to cut stuff up, I think that'd piss someone off. Might as well check the other side, yes. [21:48] I could try to find out. [21:49] Do so. [21:49] * Tim goes to do that, then. [21:50] * Chako says, "Isis, run over and scan the other side real quick?" [21:50] <> [21:51] <> [21:52] ( Run, Lola. Run. ) [21:52] <> [21:53] * Tim tries pulling the door open. (or pushing, if it looks like that's the way it opens.) [21:54] <> [21:55] * Tim glances at the speakers over, but decides to check the switches instead. He looks the panel over carefully, both for any clear markings and for any points of access. [21:57] <> [21:57] <> [21:58] * Isis hmms and eyes the turnstile carefully. [21:58] ( Metal? Stone? Rice paper? ) [21:58] <> [21:59] <> [22:00] 2d6-2 [22:01] (Curses. Atom?) [22:01] * Atom rolls for Tim (2d6-2) and gets 2. [22:01] ( Oh yeah. ) [22:01] * Isis drums her fingers on the hilt of her sword, shrugs, and attempts to cut her way through. The sword's designed to pierce exosuit metal, after all. [22:02] <> [22:03] ...gah! [22:03] <> [22:04] * Tim backs away from the other 'speakers' and tries to pry this one off. [22:05] * Isis grits her teeth. "Gah..." Sheathing the sword, she sighs. "Well, the direct path is obviously not going to work." [22:05] (What's beyond the turnstile? Presumably I can just go *over* it. ) [22:05] * Chako frowns at the noise and sidesteps to see what Tim is 'gah'ing about. [22:06] <> [22:06] <> [22:06] ( That is No Good. ) [22:07] ( Well, prolly not, anyway. ) [22:08] ( Can I hear the gah? I'm feeling sort of selfish, here. ) [22:08] <> [22:08] ( Since it's on radio... yeah, what he said. ) [22:09] * Isis turns around and heads toward the others, then. [22:09] * Chako eyes the thing, but can't possibly take any sort of shot at a dissolving speaker. "Aw, hell." [22:09] <> [22:09] * Illyana turns and peers at the.... well, nevermind. [22:09] * Tim steps out of the hutch. "Uh... this may be trouble." [22:10] * Tim blinks. "Or not." [22:11] Uh, I don't suppose you guys can hear that, too? [22:11] <> [22:12] Er, Chako, don't shoot them. Not yet, anyway. [22:12] * Charlie takes a step back. What's it doing? [22:12] (er, "What's id doing?" shoulda been quoted) [22:12] * Chako frowns, but shrugs and backs away from the jiggling speakers. [22:13] It's some kind of... automated tour guide. It adapted itself to my systems and it's communicating in English. [22:13] <> [22:13] * Illyana says quickly. "Are you recording?" [22:14] Of course I'm recording! [22:14] Good. Transmit it to me. [22:15] <> [22:16] * Isis stops a few stairs up. "What's up?" [22:16] * Tim shrugs and transmits the audio to Illyana. "All it's saying is to get on the escalator so it can begin the tour." [22:17] <> [22:17] * Chako waves towards the speakers which she is eyeing warily, with one hand on her own sword. "Some fairly insistent tour guides." [22:17] (PLAY with us!) [22:17] We've found a tour guide, Isis. I've got mixed feelings, but I'm pretty sure it's not intent on eating our brains or anything. [22:19] Do we let it touch us? [22:20] Sure. You'll get an odd sensation in your head, and your speakers will spout gibberish before the device figures out English, but otherwise I can't see anything bad. [22:20] ...unless it starts in on "We're walking, we're walking". That could get irritating fast. [22:21] (*SNRK*) [22:21] * Chako frowns, and continues to eye the speakers. "I'll refrain, thanks. We don't need that many tour guides." [22:21] Can you shut it up?.. I dunno if I want voices in my head. heh [22:22] * Charlie taps his helmet. [22:22] I dunno, honestly. [22:22] It could probably translate other things for us, too, if we need it. Hm. [22:22] * Isis shrugs. "I'll volunteer. Better to be informed than not." [22:23] I would like to as well. [22:23] If any of these guys are still alive, it'll be good to have these. [22:24] They don't seem threatening, but we should have at least one person without one, just in case. [22:24] <> [22:25] * Charlie taps a foot. "I think I'll pass for now. We know where they are if we need one." [22:25] <> [22:25] <> [22:25] * Isis mmms curiously. "Remarkable. And in no small way incredibly unnerving." [22:26] Are they working? [22:26] Rather convenient. Something like this would be quite valueable. [22:27] I guess. I'd love to see what make these things tick, later. But right now we've got a tour to take. [22:28] <> [22:29] * Isis stretches. "If this little adventure has taught me anything, it's that occasionally the best way to get anything is to ask." [22:29] <> [22:29] Heh. [22:29] * Illyana gets on the escalator. [22:30] * Isis does too. [22:30] * Charlie makes sure he's on the ride. [22:30] * Chako steps onto the escalator. "Can you funnel that to me too, Tim?" [22:30] * Tim gets on the escalator. [22:30] Sure thing, boss. [22:30] * Tim does that. [22:31] <> [22:32] (Sit back, this is gonna be a fuckload of typing for me. Free RP while this thing goes along.) [22:32] I suppose I shoud hear it too. Can somebody patch me in? [22:33] * Illyana glances around at the surroundings as the escalator carries her. [22:33] *** Atom is now known as Atom[DDR] [22:33] This way I can turn it off if I like. *would wink if he could* [22:33] * Isis seems... disturbingly distracted. [22:33] <> [22:34] * Tim patches Charlie in, too. [22:34] <> [22:34] *** Chamelaeon is now known as Narration [22:36] The first record of a sleythin civilization dates back to 1000 . Trade records of merchants dwelling in the Jeynalthe valley show the rudimentart beginnings of most sleythin languages. [22:36] (-t+y) [22:37] Evidence would indicate that all subsequent civilization on the western continent took its cue from the Jeynalthians. This visitor, is the beginning. [22:37] (+,) [22:38] * Chako is simply doing her paranoid 'where's the stuff to kill' scan routine while she listens, eyeing the wall as prompted. [22:39] <> [22:40] The Jeynalthians joined with fifty of their neighboring valleys to hew the Great City of Heaven out of the very mountains. Only since this time have accurate records of anything been kept - thus all dates are measured from this point. As of now, the year is (change in tone) 8745. [22:41] * Charlie decides to sit on a step, lean back, and watch the murals go by. [22:42] * Tim blinks. [22:42] <> [22:45] The Great King, Karee'ka, set about building an empire. He was the first sleythin ruler ever, and considered to be the best king. He instituted a research grant system, hiring the first physicists and philosophers. Within his lifespan, from 3 to 62, he untied nearly all the western continent under his banner, where it would remain for several thousand years. He names his country Tholdeka. [22:47] (united?) [22:47] <> [22:47] (yes. ^^;) [22:48] Makes me wonder how long their years are.. [22:49] *** Atom[DDR] (EDeangelus@ACA64FFE.ipt.aol.com) Quit (Read error: Connection reset by peer) [22:49] Nashal'na and Socra'na, the Knower and the Doubter, were two of Tholdeka's three finest thinkers. Nashal'na lay down the basics of physics, morality, and all science. Socra'na proceeded to pick apart each and every one of his arguments. Between the years 978 and 1041, not a day went by that the two did not disagree over something. [22:50] The personal missives between them when they were not actually talking make up over seven thousand volumes, and each wrote over four hundred books on their own. late in their lifetimes, they began ending arguments. The Natural World and The Spirit Realm, the two gigantic books they wrote together, set the stage for the Golden Age of the sleythin. [22:51] <> [22:51] <> [22:51] * Tim smirks. [22:52] * Illyana listens. "It is nice, but it lack something...." [22:53] <> [22:55] * Illyana takes note of it. [22:56] * Chako is frowning behind her facemask. Frown frown. [22:56] * Tim frowns. [22:56] In 4615, the Golden Age ended as the eastern continent, Satalshe, invaded Tholdeka. A hundred years of bloody war ensued, with massive casualties on both sides. The Great War, which was the first and only true war in the history of the sleythin, ended when Tholdeka's hastily assembled navy invaded the nearly undefended Satalshan capital. [22:57] The superior technology of Tholdeka also won them the land war before the surrender orders arrived from across the sea. [22:57] The Tholdekan king at the time swiftly merged the two nations, and the planet became one united government in 4720. [22:57] (Whew! Two more.) [22:58] *** Atom[DDR] (EDeangelus@AC9D6A77.ipt.aol.com) has joined #ATC [22:58] <> [23:01] Shetl'she, the Lawgiver, lived between 4812 and 4900, and grew up in a period of intense corruption and near-rebellion. In response to the moral decay around him, he formed a rebel faction known as the Liberators. He designed his own form of government, controlled by three circles of politicians and based on 108 laws, so incredibly complex that there are upwards of twenty explanatory volumes for each one. [23:02] * Charlie suddenly remembers that the air had changed to "breathable" and double-checks the atmosphere reader again. [23:03] Along with this, he developed an impressive moral system to work hand in hand with the government. His laws and his powerful speeches won over the populace, and his coup was bloodless. His political system is still in place, and has kept our people safe and united for over three thousand years. [23:03] Tim, Illyana.. you trust this air at all? [23:04] <> [23:04] The suits claim it is breathable; I see no reason why they would be incorrect. [23:04] *** Atom[DDR] is now known as Atom [23:05] We should be able to tell in a little bit. [23:06] <> [23:07] Sleythin always remember their past - it makes us who we are. We hope that you have learned a lot about us from your short tour. At the end of the escalator, you will find the City of Refuge. Please watch your step. [23:07] <> [23:08] *** Narration is now known as Chamelaeon [23:08] (@_@ Hoo, that was rough.) [23:08] ( I could imagine @_@ ) [23:08] * Tim looks around some more, and also watches his step. [23:08] <> [23:08] * Illyana does likewise. [23:09] Hm. Air check says it oughta' be alright. [23:09] I'm guessing they didn't expect many Sleythin to come down the stairs. *gets up as he says this* [23:10] Or maybe they just like their past that much. [23:10] <> [23:10] Apparently not. Although it makes you wonder why they'd build a city just for visitors. [23:10] As the message said, they strive to remember their history. [23:11] But, as you enter the city? It's like getting a history of the house you live in ever time you walk in the door. [23:12] * Chako yawns, and scans around. "Kinda like the small monuments at civvie spaceports, or something." [23:12] * Illyana nods. "A suitable analogy, yes." [23:12] * Isis sighs. "That, or it was left as a memorial for future visitors after this society died out." [23:13] <> [23:14] I'd thought of that, too, but I dunno. [23:14] Perhaps. I'd prefer to explore a bit more before jumping to conclusions. [23:15] Works for me. [23:15] <> [23:16] <> [23:16] * Tim heads for the obelisk. [23:17] <> [23:18] * Chako will walk towards the obelisk as well. [23:18] * Tim shrugs and tries the handle. [23:18] * Illyana follows along. [23:18] * Charlie follows [23:18] <> [23:19] *** Atom is now known as Peter [23:19] * Tim looks around inside. [23:21] * Illyana peeks inside. [23:21] < [23:23] * Tim approaches one of the panels and holds his right arm out. The same tendril leaps out of his suit and into an access port on the panel. [23:24] * Illyana checks the upper floor, since Tim's doing that. [23:25] * Chako follows Illyana so she doesn't get eaten. [23:25] * Charlie stays on the lower floor. [23:26] <> [23:26] Hrm. [23:27] *** Peter (EDeangelus@AC9D6A77.ipt.aol.com) Quit (Ping timeout) [23:27] <> [23:27] *** Tim (stdwrs15@AC828DC8.ipt.aol.com) Quit (Read error: Connection reset by peer) [23:27] <> [23:28] *** Peter (EDeangelus@AC9D6A77.ipt.aol.com) has joined #atc [23:29] *** Tim (stdwrs15@AC828DC8.ipt.aol.com) has joined #atc [23:29] ( x_x ) [23:29] <> [23:30] <> [23:30] This panel controlls the position of a lens... prolly to direct... hm. [23:30] * Illyana peers at... well, pretty much everything that stands out. [23:31] * Tim looks around for anything like instructions. Or another handy speaker. [23:32] <> [23:32] < <> [23:35] * Charlie paces slowly. [23:36] <> [23:36] <> [23:37] ( Why not? ) [23:37] * Tim looks at the markings, trying to puzzle them out, if he can. [23:37] <> [23:38] ( Oh. Phooey ) [23:39] * Tim hums. [23:39] <> [23:39] (Repetition intentional.) [23:40] (meanwhile, for the poor combat characters, magic monkeys appear to fight!) [23:40] * Illyana turns to the commander. "I cannot yet decipher this at the moment; there is nothing for us here." [23:40] I got it. Gimme a sec, I think I can get this running. Maybe. [23:40] I was gonna say.. nobody wants to poke buttons? [23:41] * Chako nods. "Yeah," and waves for Illyana to lead the way back down the stairs. [23:41] * Illyana does that. [23:42] <> [23:43] (*snipes a monkey in the eye, gives it an eyepatch and tells it it's a pirate!*) [23:44] * Tim punches sets of numbers into the pannels and pulls levers! [23:45] <> [23:45] <> [23:47] <> [23:48] * Charlie watches the beams on screen. [23:50] You know what it's doin' yet Tim? [23:50] Not really. I have a hunch, tho. [23:51] <> [23:51] * Chako is just making sure she doesn't fall over. [23:51] * Illyana peers at it. [23:52] <> [23:53] * Tim hazards a look outside. [23:53] <> [23:54] Say, what was upstairs? [23:54] * Illyana goes back up the stairs to see if anything might have changed. [23:54] <> [23:54] <> [23:54] * Chako says, "Just beams," but doesn't follow Illyana upstairs. [23:55] * Tim grins. [23:55] <> [23:56] Must be what's in those panels then.. [23:56] It worked! Great! [23:58] * Chako mutters, "Well, at least we'll see the nothing that's trying to kill us." [23:59] * Illyana comes back down. [00:00] <> [00:01] * Tim looks around. [00:01] * Charlie goes outside to get a better look. [00:01] You make it sound as though you want something to attack us, commander. [00:01] <> [00:02] <> [00:02] 2d6-2 [00:02] * Peter rolls for Chako (2d6-2) and gets 6. [00:02] 2d6-2 [00:02] * Peter rolls for Tim (2d6-2) and gets 6. [00:02] ( Made it. ) [00:02] 2d6-2 [00:02] * Peter rolls for Illyana (2d6-2) and gets 5. [00:02] Let's just say I didn't join the military branch of ATC to sit on my ass. [00:02] 2d6-2 [00:02] * Peter rolls for Charlie (2d6-2) and gets 9. [00:02] (And I didn't make it) [00:03] ( Got it ) [00:03] (none for me) [00:03] (Isis, you've got like fifteen seconds.) [00:04] ( Sorry. Dazed. ) [00:04] 2d6-2 [00:04] * Peter rolls for Isis (2d6-2) and gets 4. [00:04] ( Which succeeds. ) [00:06] <> [00:06] * Tim frowns. "Uh, boss?" [00:07] * Isis frowns. Whatever reverie's been obsessing her snaps immediately; she draws her blade and shifts her right foot back. "Company." [00:07] * Charlie looks for said company. [00:07] "Boss, things are coming this way. Might wanna be ready in case they decide they don't like us." [00:08] * Illyana takes a defensive stance inside the building. "It looks like you will be getting your wish, commander." [00:08] * Chako grins behind her faceplate, and says. "Ya gotta get lucky, or unlucky, sometime. Another set of things that ain't sensor-hits, eh?" [00:08] <> [00:08] (That's a cliffhanger, folks. I know you have work.) [00:09] <>