etrayalogs | MISSION 011 Sidelogs

[ Something about that penetrates. It's staticky, broken up to her processing -- who do you love -- find them -- but it hits a memory, accesses storage resources and pulls up events from her human life. Stuck down here unable to move and with limited senses, it was easy to lose herself, lose track of everything. But it's true; she was someone once. She was someone who had people she cared for.

The bot stops struggling, slumps back. The view-screen is still blank, but she sounds clearer, more coherent. ]

They're all gone. Everything... is gone. There's nothing left.

Please, let me go with them.

[ Useless. Their questions don't elicit any information out of the trapped person. Whoever this is, they were weaker than her doll had been. Or even the other one, who'd managed to keep some semblance of identity after she repainted him. Clea looks over at Setsu and nods her head at the bot in a very human way, wordlessly asking.

'We're granting her request, aren't we?' ]

Is there a power source we can remove?

[ The form is mechanical, so it requires power, shouldn't it? A battery or a connection? ]

[ The bot regains some of her senses, and for a brief moment, Setsu wonders if maybe she'll be able to talk.

Then Clea looks at them, and nods at the bot, and Setsu is reminded that, whether they can coax her into lucidity or not, it's ultimately crueler to drag this on than to grant a swift and final death. If a power source can't be located, there are other methods...

Setsu slowly nods and looks back down to the nameless bot. ]

Can we know who you are, first?

[ Their voice is soft in an attempt at gentleness. The screen display doesn't change, but Setsu still questions:

What if they aren't gone? What if there is someone who remembers her? What if— What if everything really is gone, and she's the only one left? All alone, rotting...

Setsu doesn't want her to be forgotten. ]

[ Does it make her less human, or less than human, that she can't keep her mind together coherently? Aren't there plenty of humans with that problem? Maybe it makes her more so. Wouldn't a robot be functioning precisely, clicking along like a machine, errors defined and with clear parameters? It's messy. She's falling apart, and she just wants to be done. She doesn't think a machine could ever have that kind of desire, just to rest. Their questions are making her come back to herself now and she finds she wants it more than ever. ]

Amy, [ comes out in a careful whisper, the instruments flashing emergency warnings above her. ] I had a life once.

There's a chip -- a cortex chip. I can't get it to eject on my own. [ The lucidity is so sharp, like eyes adjusting to the sun after days of blackness, and she doesn't want to stay there. Amy fades back into a moan again. ]

Please.

[ Somewhere in her mess of tangled circuitry, there's a distinct square computer chip embedded in a slot that's accessible to the exterior. It's stuck and will need to be pried out and destroyed to end her existence. ]

[ Does it matter if she has a name? She has no hold on herself and will offer no useful information. That much is clear. Whatever had done this to her might still be down here and, if it is, every unnecessary moment they spend distracted or dawdling might lead them to the same fate.

This is no time for softness or gentleness, those things that should be hidden behind closed doors and shown only to those who you can trust won't bear their teeth at you. ]

Does it matter? She can't help us and she wants to be erased.

[ What good does a name do them, unmoored from any context? Even if 'Amy' had loved ones, she clearly can't articulate them, so there's no chance of Setsu and Clea carrying them a message. If she had her wits about it, the calculations would be different, but they are not.

The memory of a voice swims in Clea's mind: "I don't want this life. I don't..." She remembers desperation in the voice, in telling him she couldn't help him. ]

I don't know what a cortex chip is, so I will not recognize it. Would you, Setsu?

[ Amy. Setsu will remember that. Setsu doesn't know what those warning lights were for, but they responded to her name being said (or was that coincidental?), so they don't repeat it aloud.

Their dot eyes drift up on the screen, looking at Clea silently. The initial impression Setsu had gotten of Clea's personality over the network was that she's a difficult person, and right now, that's how Setsu sees her: A difficult person, saying exactly what's on her mind.

And in the usual way Setsu deals with such comments, they choose to simply ignore it. The two of them have more important things to deal with than whether or not Clea can understand the value of an identity.

They look back to Amy. ] I know you did...and your life is still important.

[ As is her ability to choose to end it.

They look back to Clea, releasing Amy's hand so they can gesture—and finish this task. ]

She said "eject," so there should be a small, flat, rectangular hole somewhere on her. [ They form the approximate shape with their fingers. ] It's probably jammed by this point, so the chip might need to be pulled out by force.

[ Setsu tilts their head down, and the screen casts a dull glow over the orange plate of Amy's upper torso. She has a bot body the same as their own; their own bodies likely have the same chip, housed in the same slot. ]

There's probably only one hole, but if not...we'll have to try more than once.

[ Setsu is willing to lie to spare people's feelings. They do not know anything about this 'Amy' or if her life had any import. It may have not. Perhaps nobody misses her. Setsu does not know any more than Clea does. She'll need to keep in mind that she can't necessarily trust what Setsu says.

She's undecided on their judgment. So far, it's been sound, but that doesn't mean the sentimentality won't be a problem. Sentimentality is a swamp, with monsters ready to drown you, in a world where people will gleefully knife your back while you're stuck in the muck. It's a liability that keeps people from focusing and doing what needs to be done. The only reason some people manage it as a trait is because others exist around them to do all the things they cannot bear.

Small. Flat. Rectangular. Clea nods, her display blank and neutral.

Knowing now that Setsu is sentimental: That this would bother them, Clea decides to be the one who steps closer to look for the 'chip'. For the hole. She leans down and looks with eyes that are not eyes. Where is it? Dispassionately, Clea starts at the top, looking over Amy's head, then moves on to her neck and shoulders, cataloging anything that met Setsu's description. ]

Are there tools here we can use to pry it out? If our fingers don't fit.

[ They has a duty to fulfill, and with that, Setsu focuses on the task at hand. With the two of them having looked over Amy's front, Setsu gingerly hauls the broken bot up into what would be a sitting position, if she could sit on her own. She can't, so it's Setsu's own body she's propped up against to give access to her back and the other side of her head. ]

Hm...

[ Setsu peers around them, looking for a piece of metal that may work. Most of the vessel is wrecked, but wrecked outward. Still, they're not at a complete loss: some of the access panels are loose, too, and with one hand keeping Amy propped up, Setsu tears off a thin strip of metal from between them. ]

This might work... If not, I have other ideas.

[ Clea acts cold, but the colder she acts, the more concerned Setsu is for her mental state. She's a difficult person, but still a person. If it comes to it, Setsu will break the outer shell of Amy's body and crush the chip themself. ]

[ The strip of metal is good idea. Clea nods curtly and reaches out with her own hands (are they her hands? Are they hands at all? Hands are made of flesh and bone and these are not) to rip one off for herself as well. She reaches out and assists Setsu in keeping the dying bot upright - they need her upright if they're going to search everywhere for whatever a 'cortex chip' is. ]

Good. We need to be efficient. Whatever did this to her might still be here.

[ If they weren't possibly in imminent danger, Setsu could indulge themself all they wanted, but they are. They could easily end up in the same situation as Amy.]

You know what you're looking for more than I do. If you need me to erase her after you find it, tell me.

[ Clea opts to turn her attention back to the rest of the vessel, 'eyes' scanning the area with that same inescapable unease. If she had a stomach, it would settle in there, but she doesn't, so instead it's this terrible nebulous thing, like being filled with smoke. ]

[ It isn't too hard to find -- it's a subtle but defined slot on her back just below where the view-screen's "neck" attaches to the "torso". There aren't any switches or buttons, just a small indent a couple inches wide that's flush with the outer metal shell.

It might be easier to go in from the inside, dig through wiring and tubes and servos like they're organs, but it could be pried out, too.

Amy can dimly feel them manipulating her and senses that the end is coming. It sends a jolt through her like a thrill, the first trace of eagerness she can remember feeling in so long. ] Good luck, [ she whispers against Setsu, and maybe she means with the cortex chip or maybe she means with everything, overall. Good luck surviving. She wants them to survive. She can't tell, herself, that they're stuck in the same predicament she is, human consciousness inhabiting a robot form.

The rest of the ship is a useless wreck -- not much for Clea to find except hints at the tech level being fairly advanced, but not totally futuristic. There's a rough industrial feel to everything that makes it seem like a vessel that had a job, and was previously kept in repair for function and not style. ]

[ Good luck. The bottom half of Setsu's dot eyes disappear, in the coding's attempt to replicate how their eyes narrow when they smile. Their hand curls around the back of Amy's neck, and— There it is.

It's strange, how this mechanical body has the tactile sensitivity of their human hands, yet when Setsu presses their fingers to the slot, they can feel it clearly. Too small for these fingers to reach into, but not too small for the metal sheets to pry open.

However, with the wires still sparking, digging into the neck, like cutting the throat of something made of flesh and blood, may cause more sparks to fly. In a place like this, that could be dangerous. It doesn't matter if Setsu dies, but leaving Amy here to decay and Clea here to the same fate would be too cruel. With that in mind, it'll be better to go from the inside, where any blowback will be at least a little more contained. Their eyes return to normal as they make the decision to steady Amy's body against their chest and force their arm up into the cavity of her torso's shell. (Does she have the same tactile sensation as them? No, probably not, or her voice wouldn't have been so calm; she would have started screaming long before this.)

It's nothing but wires and pieces of hardware grinding against Setsu's arm, the latter spilling out against their legs as their arm digs around inside for a path up to her neck. Setsu doesn't think about the warmth of the sparking cables. They think that, as a soldier, they have a duty to protect and to save. By doing this, they're protecting Clea from having to do the same and sustaining whatever damage might result from tearing out the cortex chip. And by granting Amy this end, that can also count as saving her... Setsu has chosen to think of it that way.

They don't respond to Clea's comments or her offer...or look at her at all, for that matter, with their focus devoted entirely to blindly and violently navigating the mess of Amy's chest cavity. There's the sound of metal scraping as they push their arm past whatever servos are kept there. Of course they need to act quickly. And of course they won't allow an ordinary person like her to do something like this. Even if she were someone like Alex, who has had to kill before, Setsu still wouldn't allow it... They're stronger than that.

Despite how this mechanical body isn't theirs, they have the spatial awareness to know when their fingers reach the neck and the tray that cradles the cortex chip. Their hand curls around it, and a bot's hands aren't delicate like a human's. All they need to do is grip it and yank down to snap the plastic holding it in place, and then leverage the chip itself against any sturdy piece of the bot's interior and their own thumb to create a point for it to snap.

It's a quick and decisive move. Setsu has gotten so used to breaking things, it really isn't difficult at all. ]

[ The companion bot that once housed Amy's consciousness falls inert, electronics rapidly cooling in the deep water and going black and silent. ]

[ Clea continues keeping watch as Setsu takes action, though she does look over once Setsu has finished. Her display looks at Amy's robotic body for a few moments longer than one would expect. Is that what will happen to them if someone takes their 'cortex chip'? Clea reaches a hand up and runs it against the back of this form's neck. She feels it there. Is that where 'she' is in this form? Could the cortex chip be repaired if it were broken?

She doesn't like these questions. They need to focus on returning to their bodies. This form is wrong, forced on them.

It's a quick and less violent death than many humans experience, wasting away to disease, trapped in disasters knowing they'll die, or bleeding out after a fight or injury.

Is something a corpse if it wasn't ever living? Clea doesn't know. ]

Do you know what could do that?

[ Clea gestures at the bot that was once Amy. Some of her creatures could, but as none of them are present, that is not helpful knowledge. Setsu seems to understand this place or at least they have more knowledge than Clea. ]

Does the name Amy mean anything to you?

[ While she does not understand the vessel or cortex chips, Clea has some understanding of what Aurora had told them, and they still need to determine if this is a hallucination or something else. Her display eyes 'think' again. What they should do will be different if this is an illusion versus if it is not. ]

[ It's over, just like that. No last sparks of life, no rattle of death. Over. They'll remember that, too—and they feel like Clea will as well, if the time calls for that knowledge.

Setsu carefully pulls their arm free again and lays Amy's body down to the floor. There are scrapes on the exterior of Setsu's arms, and the ghost images of blood sometimes flicker across the orange shell.

Setsu rises to their feet, paying it no mind. They look around, observing at the controls Amy had been leaning against to see if they can find some significance to her being there. ]

My guess is whatever tore the hole through the exterior. Given the size of the hole relative to the vessel, I think there was some kind of explosion... Her legs might have been caught in the blast.

[ And this vessel is large enough for more than one... ]

The name "Amy" doesn't mean anything in particular to me, but it's unlikely she was manning this on her own. It's possible her crewmates may have been blown outward in the blast.

[ Though they very well be dead or in worse condition than Amy. ]

If they exist, we might be able to learn more about what happened here.

Can you tell how long ago it would have been?

[ The question is an honest one. Clea doesn't know what this vessel is for, but she knows that old damage to a building or a bridge looks different from new. Perhaps Setsu could gather that information from the materials around them even if Clea couldn't.

It's a relief to know that it was likely an explosion. Something like a cannon hitting a ship and causing it to sink. In that case, it's less likely that there is something roaming around threatening to do them harm. There may be environmental dangers still, but it is a relief nonetheless.

Others on the vessel makes sense. (What doesn't make sense is the two of them - why are they here? Who put them in these bodies? Why did they put those bodies here? They can't have been here the entire time: she and Setsu don't look nearly as worn as the other aspects of this place.) ]

I agree, we should see if they're here. It's likely if they are that they're in a similar or worse condition given Amy received no assistance.

[ Clea is cold. She knows this. Others know this. She would still check on her allies and comrades after a disaster if she had the ability to do so. ]

If none of the names mean anything to either of us, that is a point of evidence in favor of this not being a hallucination.

[ Not a concrete answer, but a clue. And clues may be all they can access. ]

Should we sweep the rest of the vessel and, if nothing is found, head towards the light outside?

[ Something has to be making the light. It would be the most logical place to find others if the vessel had truly been abandoned or Amy's crewmates were no longer functional. Although... something Amy says bothers Clea. 'Nothing is allowed to die'. Perhaps her crew mates are detached heads sitting on the bottom of this ocean, blown out by the same explosion.

If she had a true body, Clea would shudder. ]

Before we leave, we should decide what we want done if either of us ends up in Amy's situation.

[ ooc: tl;dr for mod. setsu is investigating: the controls by amy's robo-corpse, the hole, and the area around the hole. Looking for signs of deterioration, movement, residue, or any notable-looking objects. ]

It's hard to say... I'll have to look more closely. This vessel looks pretty old, but compared to the overall aesthetic of this world, it's probably "modern"...

[ So they can't make a judgement based on its design. Although water damage isn't actually something Setsu has that much familiarity with, they try to take the way water and salt naturally degrade metal into account, along with the way sea creatures will move in after an extended period of time. They're a soldier in special forces, trained to handle things like Gnosia infection and other interplanetary threats; this kind of thing isn't something they've been trained in, so they can only rely on their own logic here. Still, they don't falter and set their mind to finding what they can about what happened to this vessel and those previously onboard.

They still continue to talk to Clea while they do so, even if they don't look up from their task. ]

Yeah. Once we're finished here, let's check the other light. It's possible it may belong to one of the other crew members. [ Bright enough to be an emergency beacon, if they we're so deep underwater. ] As for ourselves...

[ Setsu feels acutely aware of the presence of the chip in the back of their neck. There's no promise that these aren't the only vessels housing their consciousnesses, and no way of knowing how they're stored. ]

... There's too little known about these bodies and our current situation. If possible, I would want to carry you back to the surface before attempting anything as drastic as removing the cortex chip... But if you can still talk, you can make that call yourself.

[ Setsu's head bows. ]

And for me... You can do what you see fit.

Edited (mod flag hewwo) 2025-09-27 18:07 (UTC)

[ The hull around the edges of the blast hole is contorted, evidence of not only an explosion but something mechanical forcing the hole wider open.

The controls are mostly defunct and only partly operational, but examination of the readouts does indicate that the vessel had charted a course toward a nearby facility called Lambda. Someone with good geo-spatial skills could determine that the distant light they'd seen is in the same direction, and is possibly Lambda itself. ]

[ Setsu doesn't mean 'old' in the sense that the vessel has existed for a long time. Clea looks around once more at a vessel that she considers an intricate miracle, but that Setsu considers old. What wonders must exist in Setsu's world, if devices straight out of Verne could be so dismissed as old. Sometimes Clea had wondered what a 14th century Parisian would make of her city, with its lit and centrally planned streets and its occasional horseless carriage and camera.

Perhaps they would feel like Clea does now.

The suggestion that they carry each other if possible is a good one. Clea nods.]

I wonder if these bodies can sleep or otherwise lose consciousness. Is there a switch that would make us sleep?

[ Do mechanical creatures sleep? Most mechanics have switches or knobs or other control mechanisms - Clea can recognize which parts of the vessel are for controlling it, but not what they do. ]

Could the cortex chip be placed in another body?

[ Are the parts interchangeable? If the situation got dire, carrying something as small as the cortex chip might be easier than part of a mechanical body. ]

We will attempt to preserve each other if possible, and if not, we'll erase one another quickly.

[ Clea would not treat Setsu differently than she'd be treated herself. She will ask for no special kindness.

She joins Setsu looking around the rest of the small vessel. Clea may not understand most of what she's 'seeing' (is she seeing? She doesn't have eyes, even though sometimes she forgets this fact), but Clea does know how to read maps. She has spent enough time with historical maps to understand how to orient herself to a new form of guide. ]

The vessel was on its way somewhere.

[ Clea leans in, although it doesn't actually help her vision in this form, which is, once again, disorienting and displeasing. ]

Near the light. It's named Lambda. Perhaps we're in Greece?

You mean on Earth? [ The bot's voice pitches up a little, skeptical, then hums. ] It's not impossible at this point... But I'm hoping "Lambda" just the designator they've chosen. Otherwise, we're far away from Aurora...

[ And given that they have the bodies of companion bots right now, that's a worrying prospect.

Setsu looks at the readout again, confirming that Clea's reading was correct: This vessel was headed towards the light. ]

Anyway, let's head that way. We can keep talking as we go.

[ Setsu carefully steps out of the vessel and waits for Clea to keep pace alongside them before continuing.

Her questions make it clear that robotic technology is far out of her depths, and knowing that, Setsu can adjust the way they explain things, but first— ]

I don't think this hole was from an explosion alone. There are additional, distinct points where the metal's been bent that aren't consistent with an explosion. Something else forced the initial hole open more than it already was. It's unlikely it was an animal or anything organic. Most likely, it was some form of machinery...or other bots with stronger bodies than ours.

[ Setsu says this now, gravely, so Clea can be on her guard. It's hard to see anything down here, but they also don't know why Amy was headed towards Lambda or what it contains, or if something there might have cut her off at the pass.

Regardless... ] I'll do what I can to preserve you and your consciousness. The cortex chips, if properly removed, should be able to be implanted in other bodies. That's usually how it works with bots like these. The pieces can be removed, repaired, upgraded, or replaced over time, as parts begin to degrade or fail. If the cortex chips contain the bots' consciousness, then it should be the one piece that can transferred.

[ Hopefully that explains things. ]

Usually, bots can go into sleep mode, but I have no idea about these ones.

[ There's a rumbling sound like a chuckle at that. Probably because Setsu finds such an honest question kind of amusing, even if they suspect it's not being asked simply in case the two of them become tired... ]

Is it common to use Greek letters as designations?

[ On Earth? Where else would they be? Mars or Venus? How would they get there? Are there people who live in those places? Clea wonders briefly what it would be like to live on another planet - she's spent her time under foreign skies, but those were crafted by artists. ]

Are we? What would be considered 'far' depends on technological progress. In my great-great grandparent's age, travels that take us weeks would have taken months. Our days were their weeks. Perhaps what is far to us is easily reachable to Aurora.

[ Not that Clea thinks they should trust Aurora. She is limited to what Echo will allow, and Echo clearly has no interest in their wellbeing. It's likely the tale they were told is a lie. Nevertheless, she thinks her point is something to consider. If knowing Aurora may find them reachable regardless brings Setsu some manner of comfort, there's no reason not to share the thought.

She follows Setsu out of the vessel, feeling some trepidation at leaving it behind and stepping into the darkness with only a far-away light to guide them. Is this how her brother had felt as a child when he had been scared of the dark? Not knowing what lurked there, creating monsters in his imagination?

Other mechanical creatures or tools... perhaps there had been a battle using mechanical bodies. Clea's eyes slant with worry. What would be the best way to defend themselves? She knows the weak points of flesh. She does not have this knowledge with machinery. She dislikes this.

They trudge through the dark toward the light, lacking any other option. Clea does her best to keep aware of her surroundings, but how is she to know what would be out of place here? What sounds would be a sign of disturbance as opposed to something normal? ]

If we end up bisected or otherwise disabled, the wisest course of action may be to put the other to sleep, if we can figure out how, and take only the chip with us.

[ If they're actively under attack, having to haul the other body with them may be the difference between survival and death for the one who remains. A chip is easier to carry and would be less cumbersome.

Clea keeps the green light in her sight. Lacking her breathing, she uses the sound and feel of her steps on the seabed to keep herself grounded. Instead of inhale, hold, exhale, it's left foot forward, right foot forward. Focus on the here and now.

Focus on the green light. ]

[ Distances are hard to judge on the lake bed, and it takes quite a while for the hazy green light to start resolving into a flood light covered in algae and plant life. It arches over a structure of the same industrial design and tech level as the vessel, with a massive round pressure seal door at the front, currently closed.

It's hard to make out further details yet. Thick tentacled aquatic sponges spread across the rocky floor, making it slow going.

At one point, an enormous coelacanth-like lobe-finned fish emerges from the darkness, lazily crossing their path. It's six meters long, so it's a bit like a train crossing, demanding they stop and respect its precedence. ]

Although...that's true, if we're no longer in Etraya, that means contacting Aurora if something happens to these bodies will be difficult. I don't know if the technology level of whatever world we might have landed on will be able to handle the maintenance.

[ She must get that, right? It's not Aurora reaching them that Setsu is worried about: It's either of one of them hauling the other's body out of the water and finding they have no means to repair them.

Setsu was willing to end Amy's life because she begged for it, but they don't want either of them to be in the position where they feel a need to do the same. ]

... Anyway, companion bots should be relatively self-sufficient; we should be able to "shut down" our systems ourselves. That would be like "going to sleep" for a bot. When we have more time, we can try to find how to access that option mentally, so we can do it whenever we need to.

[ Hah... Setsu's own eyes slant sadly. They're really just...accepting this situation, aren't they? Where are their real bodies? Are their real bodies still living, even without a consciousness? It shouldn't be so easy to discuss something like "shutting themselves down," like it's normal... But for the sake of continuing on and being a reliable companion for Clea, they choose not to think of all of that right now. Their eyes return to normal.

They don't really want to have to think of how to remove the chips themselves. A human consciousness is delicate...

The facility is up ahead, and somehow, it feels more alive than the rest of this space. Setsu stops a respectable distance away from the large fish that swims past, giving ample space for its fins and its massive body. It likely has no interest in a pair of inorganic beings on the sea floor, but that doesn't mean it can't damage them on accident. ]

You can't tell from the vessel?

[ Clea somewhat understands, but there are gaps: She knows her world could not fix or maintain the robots. They'd likely be able to take them apart, but they wouldn't understand what they were seeing. She understands there is something beyond the purely mechanical, but general purpose computing only exists as basic esoteric theory. The intermittent steps between the technological levels are a mystery to her: Both the robots and the submarine exist only as 'future wonders'. That the existence of one doesn't imply the other isn't understood.

She listens and considers Setsu's idea. Clea somewhat worries there will never be a better time, but it isn't worth the fight.

The going is slightly slowed further by Clea bending down to examine the sea life on the bottom of the floor. She's never seen an aquatic sponge up close, and she would enjoy stopping to look at them further, but there is no time. They're different than the replications she'd made from drawings.

Where Setsu stops at a respectful distance, Clea steps towards the giant coelacanth-like fish with what is (even in this body) clearly fascination, eyes slanting to a 'pleased' state and standing as close as she can without disturbing it, hand raised ever so slightly in a desire to touch but refraining.

Even here, there is beauty.

Once they can proceed, Clea looks behind them to watch the fish swim away, enchanted.

She appreciates the view as the majestic creature recedes, then returns her attention to the cold, sterile looking building. ]

Do you know how we can enter?

[ Will the door open? It doesn't look like any door Clea is familiar with. ]

If I were going by the vessel's appearance, I would say this world is too far in the past for me to rely on their ability to repair our bodies. But it's possible that the vessel's design is only an aesthetic choice.

[ A very useless answer, all things considered. Their shoulders slump regretfully. ]

Sorry, I don't know how to analyze the equipment itself well enough to be sure either way. A lot of Etraya is designed with the aesthetics of eras that, from my perspective, are from the distant past. The vessel's designer might have had similar tastes.

[ Even the D.Q.O. was built like that, and Setsu themself didn't realize it until someone else pointed out that the outdated design was only aesthetic.

Setsu continues to stand and wait as Clea looks at the sealife. It really is interesting, being in such an alien place, yet Setsu can't let their guard down enough to enjoy it. They just stay in place, watchfully, in the event that something might change.

Clea admiring the scenery and Setsu standing watch, it's the way things should be. It really is beautiful, though...

Thankfully, this moment of peace isn't interrupted. The large fish swims away, revealing the building that could previously only be seen from a distance before that fish wove past it. Seeing it now...it's amazing the light is still on. With the amount of plantlife on it, it gives the appearance of having not been maintained in a long, long time.

Does Setsu know how to enter? They narrow their eyes at it, then turn to Clea. ]

It might become more clear once we're closer. Let's give the handle a try and see if it opens.

[ As they approach it becomes clear that the huge circular door doesn't have a handle but a button, with a tiny yellow light beside it indicating that it's closed but not locked.

Pushing the button will result in the door shuddering to life, metal groaning as it winches open. Behind is a small pressurization chamber, a kind of waiting area with a second door exactly like the first not far in, with another matching button.

The second button makes the first door close and red lights flash in warning as the water is slowly pumped out of the chamber from top to bottom. Once it's completely empty, the inner door finally opens to admit entry to the facility... which is dark, beyond. ]

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o/ I think?

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o7

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o/

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Sorry for the delay; I had a shitty couple of days

Sorry to hear that. ;o; Hope your weekend is better!

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