Episode 77
A distant, ambient drone faintly fills the air. Aged lighting flickers at the end of the long ramp downwards. Cideeda, Dretphi, Aristespha, Sotalia, and Bach cautiously walk down the wide and tall corridor upon an old, coated concrete floor. Sebastian's ghostly form hovers in front of the team, watching carefully ahead. Magical lamps and flashlights search the space, the team studying the surrounding architecture under the illumination. Bach narrows his stare at the wall paneling and recognition fills his face. "Does any of this look familiar to anyone else?"
Pausing, Aristespha glances at a few spots and scrutinizes details with a slight nod. "Yes. Somewhat. This construction is common to many early third period government structures. Similar to the research outpost."
An uncomfortable curl twists the corner of Bach's grimace, and he grumbles audibly to the rest of the team. "Gods, let there NOT be a kill crazed security bot here."
Sotalia flashes a confident grin, resting her hands on her hips, and laughs boldly. "Oh, I think we all know how to deal with something like that."
The passage levels out, and Sebastian coasts ahead of the team, noticing the back-lit silhouette of small structures within the tunnel ahead. "So... What is all of this?"
Under Sebastian's signal, lighting from flashlight and lamps aim ahead and illuminate a small guard kiosk off to the side, the crossing guard arm across the concrete roadway, and a sign. Interest shifts over to the large lettering on the painted metal sheet. Despite the decayed vinyl and rust obfuscating the outer wording, the center plainly states the most important piece of information. Everyone focuses upon the title between the pair of symbols, three black circular slices around a center circle upon a yellow background.
"Nuclear Waste Transmutation"
The team stares blankly at the letters and symbols, briefly dumbfounded. Sparks of terror ignite the frightful faces upon Aristespha, Bach, Cideeda, Dretphi, Sebastian, and Sotalia. Aristespha quickly gestures through a frantic incantation. Cideeda expediently searches through her vest pockets, retrieving a device. Both Aristespha and Cideeda turn their full attention ahead, pointing spell and gadget forward, and the rest of the group remains in aghast silence.
Cideeda's emerald green eyes study the display on the detector, and her furry ears listen to the consistent, modest combination of beeps and clicks. With her palms aimed outwards, Aristespha's glowing violet eyes scan the vicinity ahead. Tense seconds later, Cideeda glances over Aristespha with tentative relief. "I'm not picking up anything seriously out of place. Maybe slightly above normal?"
Blinking her violet eyes back to normal, Aristespha releases a long breath along with her nerves and nods thankfully. "Yes. The same as I detected. There are traces of elevated levels but nothing that should be immediately harmful. Though..."
She wanders her stare between warning signs beyond the guard post, rising out of the shadows. "I would NOT recommend an extended stay in this place."
A wave relief passes over the rest of the squad, and Aristespha releases her spell. Tweaking the threshold knob of the detector, Cideeda clips it onto her vest. Sebastian hovers ahead of the group, directing them ahead. "Well, let's see what we got going on here... AND, make it quick as possible."
Resuming formation, the team slips around the guard gate and ventures towards the end of the concrete and metal panel tunnel. Echoes from a large open area funnel down from the brighter mouth of the passage, and the team searches the area curiously. Sebastian halts at the exit of the tunnel, hovering in place, and gawks with his jaw open. "Holy. Shit. Really?"
Signaling the rest of the team to join him, he continues to stare ahead in a mix of surprise and wonder. Aristespha, Cideeda, Bach, Sotalia, and Dretphi arrive around him and search out. They all stare out in utter astonishment at the overhead dome of concrete and rock ceiling meters above a huge steel framed and transparent paneled geodesic structure upon a vast concrete bowl. From the surrounding, encircling outmost platform, a ramp leads down through the open outer passage towards a central smaller concrete and metal encased semi-spherical building. Stepping forward slowly, Cideeda squints her eyes and points a claw tip to massive structures of steel, copper, and other materials. She traces the routes of the hardware, guiding the team's attention. She shows the connections from the central structure to the outer framework perimeter and the joining networks of pipelines stretching out into the walls at evenly distributed angles. "Those HAVE to be heat exchangers... And THOSE are the pipes! One of these must have run to that field."
Noticing a light haze on her full face visor, Dretphi carefully rubs a finger of her gauntlet-covered hand across the bottom of the outer surface and studies the condensed moisture. "It is WARM down here."
Discomfort arises within everyone else, and awareness prompts reactions to the unexpected temperature. Sotalia glances around the area with her golden eyes, inspects the gradual curling of her fiery orange, wavy hair, and blinks thoughtfully. "Yeah, it feels like I'm around a heated indoor pool or inside a sauna warming up."
Bach opens his eyes wide, glances over the group, and settles his inquiry to Cideeda. "Oh... Shit... Is this place running right now?!"
Cideeda blinks, tinges of worry creeping upon her light brown face. Her furry ears flick around and search the soundscape. Seconds of scanning the mix of sounds later, she grits her teeth and gazes back toward the team, unease building. "Something is running. I don't know what. But, I'm hearing too much happening right now for it not."
With a stern, urgent tone, Dretphi draws in breath and suggests. "We should find the controls."
Sotalia points over to a nearby rectangular building close to the entrance. "Well, THAT one looks the part."
Nodding in agreement, Sebastian flies ahead, leading the team ahead. "Lots of cabling going to it, furthest from the action, AND right next to the exit. Sounds like where anyone trying to run this thing should be. Let's go!"
Spots from flashlights zip between shattered screens and shredded wiring. From the ceiling, ambient magical glows from blue orbs, casting light down upon the ruined equipment. Fanning out into the wrecked command center, the team surveys the wholesale destruction done upon rows of electrical and computer systems. Sebastian hovers towards the middle of the area, coasting close to the ceiling, and scans the vicinity with a confused stare. "Okay... So... Any ideas of... What the actual fuck happened here?"
Cideeda approaches a torn open console and carefully lifts up the keyboard module dangling by ripped ribbon cables, slowly shaking her head. "I don't know. Someone caused this damage. This all looks like just control equipment, so there shouldn't be anything in these systems that would make them blow apart like... THIS."
Sniffing the air, she ponders out loud with an investigative grimace. "And... It doesn't smell right. Electrical equipment and electronics burning up on their own usually stinks up a room with very distinct odors. You can tell what gave out just by the smell sometimes."
Dretphi swings her gaze around, stepping next to a computer rack, and spots a puncture through a front bezel. She scrutinizes it closely, reaches for the knife from her back holster, and pulls it out, moving it towards the hole. Holding the tip of the blade close to the gap, she pantomimes a few maneuvers, studying the possible motions, and settles upon a likely candidate. Replacing her knife back, she glances over to the rest of the team and ponders out loud. "Purposeful attack. Took significant effort to perform. A specific goal in mind? Attacker knew how the system functioned?"
Sotalia closes her golden eyes, relaxes her shoulders, and holds her arms out slightly from her sides. Moments later, she twists her mouth into a grimace, crosses her arms, and opens her eyes full of suspicion. "Yeah. Someone threw some serious magic around in here. I can feel A LOT of leftover energies."
Aristespha blinks her eyes to a violet glow, and Bach's eyes flick to a blue illumination. The two stare at scorched impact points littered long rows of computing systems, analyzing the evidence of destruction. Bach grits his teeth and grumbles uneasily, nodding. "Someone REALLY wanted this place to be completely, utterly fucking wrecked. I mean, they just went down the row and blasted each station along the way."
Curling his upper lip into an uncomfortable sneer, Sebastian coasts down towards the floor and stares around the scene, bewilderment obvious on his translucent face. "No shit, bro. Damn. This is beyond just tossing something in and running off. Someone really took their time to do all this."
Slowly walking through the aisle between equipment rows, Aristespha spots a broken flat panel monitor on the far wall. She cautiously approaches the shattered display and narrows an accusatory gaze upon a single, embedded arrow. She studies it closely. Gripping the shaft tightly, she firmly rips it clear out of the screen and examines the construction. Mumbling a few evuukian swears to herself, she turns around and holds up the arrow in view for the rest of the team. "It seems like Brennon's hunch was right. This is handmade, evuukian design..."
She twists an angered frown on her ivory face. "And, definitely something a Terra Priest would use."
Flying over, Sebastian's ghostly visage eyes the projectile closely, lifting an incredulous brow. "Really, dear? It's the only one here. Uh, did whoever shoot this... Just do it to leave their mark behind? "
Aristespha furrows her brow, sighs out hints of annoyance, and nods with a groan. "Yes, Sebastian. Knowing the egos on some of them, I am very sure that is the case. Because, he, obviously, had other means of destruction available to him."
Resting her hands on her sides, Sotalia idly picks at her belt of pouches and sways her hips with an irritated curl to her lips. "Okay. SO. What the hell was the goal here? Are you trying to use this place for something? Or just wrecking it? Which is it? Pick. One."
Cideeda's furry ears flick and perk towards a faint noise in the corner of the room. She snaps her gaze towards the source, swiftly scales over the piles of debris, and digs into a clutter of knocked over computing systems. Carefully, she extracts from the chaotic nest of cabling a partially functional monitor and inspects the device. "Hey! This screen is still working and actually attached to something that is working, too. The sound barely works, but-"
Her emerald green eyes lock on to the status graphics on the shaky screen, the erratic pattern of blinking red littering key measurements. The team assembles around her, and an unsettling, tense silence presses down on them, unspoken dread rising within each. Squinting his stare at the screen, Bach slowly shakes his head, understanding spiking into fumbling fear. "None... Of that... seems- is- um... good..."
Cideeda's eyes widen with the surge of horror, and she struggles drawing in breath without shuddering. "No... Everything..."
She shallows hard and yanks in a gasp. "EVERYTHING. IS. OVERLOADED."
The team travels fast down the access path leading through the outer geodesic containment structure and towards the vault door on the central concrete, metal encased dome. Cideeda slightly leads the group with her radiation detector in her hand. Hovering next to Cideeda, Sebastian stares ahead at the massive doorway ahead, questioning. "So, what are we looking for?"
Cideeda checks the readings on her detector, gazes ahead, and eases out a hesitant, hopeful sigh. "Well. The control room is trashed, nothing we can do from there. BUT, this place is still running."
She squints ahead and scans the dome around the heavy massive vault door. "So, the core systems must be still intact, but there's nothing coming from the control room to tell them to stop. If this place was built to any safety code, there's GOT to be emergency overrides somewhere."
Slowing to halt, the group arrives at the entry into the solid, huge containment structure. Old, worn heavy machinery surrounds the reinforced gateway frame, the massive mechanisms attached to the thick door exuding an imposing presence. Sebastian hovers up close to the haphazardly closed vault hatch, narrowing his stare upon blast marks and scorched sections, and glances back to Cideeda uncertainly. "Huh. This doesn't look like it's in the greatest shape."
Stepping forward, Bach points towards signs of surface melting and soot marks scattered across the dome walls and machinery. "Yeah. Someone tried to blast this thing open... Or just blasted it?"
Sotalia narrows her stare, wiping a bit of sweat off her forehead, and nods in agreement. "You mean TRIED. Gods damn it. Whoever tried the same spells they did in the control room on this. At least they didn't manage to do much."
Surveying the nearby structure, Dretphi rolls her shoulders uncomfortably in her red plated armor suit and focuses her attention towards the heat warping of light above the thick, reinforced door, motioning at it with a gauntlet. "The door is not sealed. Heat is escaping above."
The team draws close to study the entrance further. Alarms ring out, and rotating warning lamps spin up. Instinctively retreating, the team backs away, low mechanical groans sounding out. Loud, powerful straining resonates throughout the structure, vibrating into the ground. Rushes of hydraulic fluid churn in the aged pumps. Gigantic rams rattle free layers of old dust and rust. Machinery clangs out into a cacophony of metallic echoes. The huge, thick door shudders briefly and flexes millimeters closer to flush with the frame, groaning defiantly. Covering her furry ears briefly, Cideeda searches the audible chaos, filtering for a particular sound. She spots a large steel chunk bending under the crushing forces of hydraulic rams and supporting metal framework. Searching around, she spots a strange collection of blast marks surrounding a missing section of plating on the dome above. A minute later, the system halts and gives up its attempts to seal the vault door completely, settling back down.
Waving for the team's attention, Cideeda points out the huge metal blockage and calls out. "THERE! It's been jammed. We'll need to clear it out."
Bach twists his mouth and glances apprehensively down towards Cideeda. "Should we? I mean, that might be the only thing keeping this door from sealing completely."
Cideeda walks up close to the heavy machinery, slowly nodding, and waves a claw tip between key issues. "If we want to get in there, we'll have to clear it. That chunk is completely locking the thing up. I just hope nothing else got too bent up from trying to close up with it in there."
Studying the material, Aristespha ponders a moment and readies to gesture out a spell. "That seems to be lead with thin steel layers encasing it... I think I have a spell that can cut that."
Sebastian hovers over the team, thinks a moment, gazing upon them, and instructs. "Okay! Let's make this quick. Aristespha will cut that chunk up. Sotalia, you get the pieces out of the way. Bach, Cideeda, and Dretphi. See if you can coax that door open enough. I'm going to peek inside and make sure nothing immediately terrible is inside."
With shared acknowledging nods, the team scatters to the tasks. Over the minutes, Aristespha releases concentrated beams of magical energy and surgically whittles down the massive lead chunk into manageable pieces. Sotalia guides transparent flows of magical energy, hoisting up the heavy fodder clear, and piles up the metal clumps. Cideeda coaches Bach's magical manipulation of the door systems, and coordinates Dretphi's application of muscle and leverage with a scrap metal pipe pry bar. Sebastian's ethereal form phases outside from within through the thick door. With a brief shudder, he recovers his senses. "Whoa... That's at least a meter or two thick..."
Observing the team's progress, he announces. "It looks like everything is still intact inside."
He wrestles down an uneasy frown. "At least... I didn't see anything sparking, on fire, or leaking."
Cideeda acknowledges the information and glances to Bach and Dretphi, calling out. "Okay! Get ready. On three! One. Two. THREE!"
Bach's eyes flash blue, pulses of prismatic flow traveling down to massive valves and reinforced electrical lines. Stubborn flows of hydraulics fight against uncooperative rams, and Dretphi forces her full might against a flexing steel pipe, wrenching the support arm of the thick, solid door away from the gateway frame. In the tense moments, Sotalia's magical energies assist Dretphi's efforts upon the heavy door. Groaning loudly, the central concrete dome's massive hatch gradually parts open a few centimeters and grinds against a hard stop. Seconds of futile effort later, Cideeda signals everyone to stop, hops down, and approaches the doorway cautiously, with radiation detector in hand. Studying the size of the gap and checking the readings, Cideeda stretches her body. "Okay. So. I think I can fit through there."
Sebastian's ghostly visage lands on his feet next to Cideeda, and he gazes at her with a concerned grimace. "You sure about that? We really should try to get that door open a bit more and secure it, first."
Drawing in a long breath, Cideeda slowly shakes her head, examines the gap closer with a frown, and sighs. "It can't open any wider right now. And, fixing it is going to take time away from figuring out if we can even shut this thing down safely. I need to get in there and find out."
Grumbling slightly, Sebastian agrees, gritting his teeth. "Damn... You're right. Okay..."
He pantomimes out the layout inside to Cideeda. "Just to your left inside, it looks like a control console and a bunch of monitoring valves, I guess.I would stay away from the right side, as it just looks like a bunch of really hot pipes. Then, there's the central chamber with what looks like the reactor in a deep pool of water. It is closed off, but there's some thick windows looking inside that space."
Drawing in a nervous ethereal breath, he gazes into Cideeda's emerald green eyes, fighting off the concern on his face, and grants an encouraging grin. "Listen. Just get in there. Figure out if it can be shut down safely. If not, try to make it manageable. We'll get ready to cut and run, and seal everything we can on the way out."
With a confident smirk, Cideeda nods and exhales deeply. Flexing her small, lean frame, she slips into the narrow gap between door and door frame. She wiggle between the layers of steel and concrete and deftly slides upon her suit's slick enchanted plating against the tight quarters, squeezing past the narrowest part. Slowly drawing in a breath, she reorientates herself on the other side of the vault door and glances over to the control console on her left. She swiftly steps over and studies the system in front of her. Wiping away the dust from the screen, she brushes off the keyboard. Seconds of analysis later, she types through a series of menus on the simple terminal interface. Sebastian phases through the doorway, shuddering from the transition, and flies over next Cideeda, carefully inquiring. "So... What's the story?"
Cideeda's emerald eyes sort through the information prompts on the screen, her claws clicking upon the keys. She narrows her stare, furrowing her brow in thought, and grumbles to herself. "I don't know yet. This is definitely some kind of backup or emergency console."
Rolling her eyes, she sighs. "Thankfully, no password."
She frowns, frustration and sweat forming upon her light brown face. "I'm trying to figure out what a graceful shutdown could even be at this point. GODS. Someone really did a number on this thing."
Digging deeper into the different menus and systems outlined by the console, a nervous wave radiates up her, and she tenses her body, concentrating against pressure. Sebastian observes the quiet changes and asks gently. "Everything okay?"
Gritting her sharp teeth briefly, she sighs out long and slowly shakes her head. "Not really. I'm no expert in nuclear systems. But... There SHOULD be a way to handle THIS..."
Dretphi's voice calls out through the door gap. "Do you need assistance?"
Glancing over her shoulder, Cideeda aims her voice back. "No! Just keep out there! And, make sure that door stays open. Not sure how to shut this thing down, yet."
She bites her lower lip and sniffs in a tense breath. "BUT, once I do... We should leave this mess as soon as possible."
Dretphi confirms and moves away from the frame. "Understood."
Outside the concrete dome, Dretphi picks up the scrap steel pipe in her hands and steps over to the heavy duty hinges of the thick, concrete and steel laminated door. Studying the structure and mechanics of the hardware, she slides the pipe firmly, wedging it between functional clearances, and gazes over to Aristespha, Bach, and Sotalia. "Need more to secure it properly."
Aristespha taps Sotalia's shoulder, points over to the pile of steel plated lead chunks, and motions over towards the door corner. "Let's hover this over to the door and see about an impromptu doorstop."
Sotalia nods and glances over to Bach, lifting a curious eyebrow. "You got it under control over there?"
Bach sorts through the collection of stabilized magical energy cables in his hands, blinks over to Sotalia, and rocks his head side to side. "I think so? I mean, I got the valves set and locked that we know of. But..."
He frowns with a hint of aggravation, eyeing the hydraulic door systems. "Good gods... This damned thing is engineered with a bunch of redundant and backup systems that are... Well... Really hard to figure out."
Another set of alarms blares out in the area. Spinning warning lights flash to life around the doorway. Bach's eyes widen and surge with bright blue light. He snaps his full focus upon the door control systems, and the magical lines flash with powerful prismatic pulses. Loud, powerful thunks sound out, torrents of fluid stirring violently inside the piping. Grimacing sharply, Bach strains his concentration and surges out new flows down the bundles of magical lines. "SHIT! The valve servos are fighting back! Trying to interrupt the power-"
Sparks erupt into a downpour from powerful electrical controls, and motors strain against opposing forces. The door shudders forward. Dretphi grabs hold of the steel pipe and wrestles the leverage back, jamming machinery. Sotalia quickly gestures out an incantation, flows her energies to a large chunk of steel and lead, and guides the mass up into the air and over to the door gap. With explosive arcing and a powerful mechanical thud, the system violently frees itself from Bach's overrides. The full power of the hydraulic ram forces the door mechanisms against the makeshift pry bar in Dretphi's hands. In a surge of overwhelming power, the steel pipe flings Dretphi away, launching the makeshift tool out into the distance. In a ditch attempt, Sotalia propels the steel and lead chunk into the closing doorway. The heavy duty door and door frame pinch upon the metal scrap. Moments of strain later, the compressing pressures pop the chuck back out and propel it meters away, free from Sotalia's telekinetic control.
The door quickly closes and sinks into the frame. Loud machinery engages. The locks secure the door completely.
Maintaining a constant watch of the console display, Cideeda monitors the system outputs. She blinks hard, releases a long, stressed breath, and wipes the sweat collecting off her light brown face. Hovering next to Cideeda with a reassuring smile, Sebastian motions over towards the door. "Hey. Don't worry. They will figure out how to get the door back open."
With a reserved, hopeful smirk, Cideeda nods to Sebastian, gazing back towards the screen, and taps out commands upon the keyboard. "I know. I've been listening to the radio..."
Tapping on button her vest, the speaker of her radio crackles to life with the mode switch. Bach's voice sounds out over the heavy static. "Gods dammit! What the fuck is wrong with this thing?! This system is overpowering anything I try... Ah, shit... what the fuck to do... Dretphi! Check to see if there's a cut off or something for this thing."
Dretphi crackles out over the radio. "Understood. Saw valves over there. Will investigate."
Sotalia's irritation seeps through the audio, and she growls out her frustration. "This is just layers of steel, concrete, and lead! There's got to be some locking bar or something holding it in place... FUCK! I can't pull this door back."
Hints of desperation trickle through Aristespha's vocal facade. "I know. If we can find the locking deadbolts, I may be able to cut them, and then you should be able to pull the door back."
Frowning with a brief grimace, Cideeda taps the button, switching her radio back into the previous mode, and sighs nervously. "They're... They're not having the best of... Luck."
Sebastian summons up a hopeful demeanor against the gravity with an encouraging tone. "It'll be okay. You focus on getting this thing to shut down properly. Then, you'll help them figure it out. I know you will figure out the best solution."
Cideeda's claw tips clack on the console keyboard, and she flips through the same series of information screens. With each transition, her frown deepens, her breaths shudder more, and her ears droop further under the grim weight. Sebastian gazes at Cideeda and drifts in front of her, concern blatant. "What's wrong?"
With her furry ears nearly upon her shoulders, Cideeda drops her head forward and sadly states. "I know a way to shut it down..."
The spark of joy within Sebastian disappears under a wave of dread upon his translucent face. "But... It's... Not good."
Cideeda draws a long, deep breath, wipes more sweat off her face, and sorts through the explanation, fear swelling up. "I don't understand, completely, how this system works... BUT. I think it was supposed to use a fusion reactor to transmute nuclear waste into more stable isotopes. From what I can gather, I know it's well past its limits."
Tightening her grip on the sides of the console, she tenses her body. "Whoever... They purposefully overloaded the processing chamber with too much nuclear waste and set the output of the fusion reactor way too high. Now, you have too much heat from the fusion reactor AND have nuclear waste undergoing fission, adding more heat."
She lifts her head up, hints of tears blending with the beads of sweat near her eyes, and stiffens her frown. "Meanwhile, the cooling system, that was already in disrepair, isn't capable of handling the thermal load anymore, ESPECIALLY after every heat exchanger pipeline burst. And..."
Gazing out through the observation window into the reactor chamber, she swallows hard. "With the heat build up, the containment pool water level has dropped from boiling off. In fact, the only thing that's keeping this area from getting bombarded by radiation is the protective containment force fields... powered by the fusion reactor."
With a trembling voice and terror filling her emerald eyes, Cideeda stares out through an observation window, past the sparkling energy barrier, and into the glowing pale blue cooling pool, the water level far below aged markings. "Without the advanced computer control, this system has been running off of basic backup systems..."
Tilting her head of short hair back, the mix of brown, white, tan, orange, and black locks darkening under the sweat, she draws in a deep and slow breath. "It has been stuck in a feedback loop of doom. Fusion reactor powers the field. Field stops the radiation from escaping into here. Radiation is caused by fission products from the fusion reactor processing the waste... AND NOW, the leakage from the water pool being too low."
She fights down a grimace. "The only thing I can stop is the fusion reactor, which will hopefully stop the cycle and drop the heat output to something manageable. But, once it stops... The protective field will decay in minutes. This containment dome will keep radiation from going outside... But here..."
Horror washes away the encouragement upon Sebastian's face, and he desperately searches through possible options in his mind. "Okay... Okay... Okay... SO. We're not out of options. Okay. How long before the force field breaks down after shutdown?"
Glancing inside her mind, she processes the calculations and weakly answers. "Maybe ten to fifteen minutes? That's being really... Hopeful."
Visibly stressing at the situation, Sebastian summons up his composure, forcing up a hopeful grin, and ponders out loud. "Okay. That can work. Once they figure out how to open the door, you trigger the shutdown and you get out. Then, we close that door and get moving. We'll try to get the other containment dome door closed, if we have time."
Grabbing hold of the console sides firmly, Cideeda pulls a pained breath in, stares at the status monitors on screen and gauges off to the side. "Time is the problem."
Sebastian follows Cideeda's gaze and squints grimly at the gauges, the needle indicators well into red regions. "Oh. Gods... I was really hoping those were broken and the needles were resting on those pins."
Cideeda frowns, closes her eyes tightly, and shakes her head slowly. "No... They're pushing against the stops."
Staring at the strained indicators, Sebastian searches Cideeda's face for an explanation. "What does that mean?"
A grim chuckle slips out from Cideeda, and she snorts softly. "Just that the containment pool water boiled off into superheated steam and the entire reactor chamber is under pressures it was never designed to handle. And, it could blow at any time."
Drifting away towards the door, Sebastian puts forth a reassuring front with a bold smile. "Hey! We still have a good option! Since you know how to shut it down, we can focus on getting the door open. Then, we can shut it down, seal it, and run. Let me get everyone focused. And, with your help, I'm sure we'll get this thing open."
Cideeda weakly nods. She slowly draws in calming breaths, wipes the sweat off her face, and combs away stray multi-colored hairs with her clawed fingers. Closing her eyes in thought, she struggles with focusing herself and mutters a few fvalian prayers under her breaths. Her furry ears twitch to a new noise. She steps back from the console and sweeps her head around, both ears locking onto the source of the sound. Through the ambient drone, crisp noises tickle Cideeda's furry ears. She gawks blankly, spotting crumbles of concrete fall from gradually expanding cracks around pipework entering the reactor chamber. Hairline fractures form from widening divides leading to other reinforced equipment. Narrowing her silent stare, she watches the slight bends flex in the longer runs of steel tubing and the strange, minute twisting at joins and connectors. The waves of heat billowing out from the heat exchange machinery fume up, flowing along the tall, vast domed ceiling.
Another noise yanks Cideeda's attention over. Focusing her frightened gaze through the observation window and sparkling force field, she surveys the surface of the glowing pale blue pool. Small bubbles breach the surface of the water, and more patches of boiling vent out onto the surface in rising intensity. Cideeda's expression blanks. Her stare grows distant. Quietly, she drops her head down, stepping up to the console, and gazes resolutely inwards. Her emerald green eyes dart through possibilities, calculating the odds between blinks. Costs weigh heavily upon her shoulders. Sebastian phases back through the door and hovers over towards Cideeda. "Okay. I think the plan is to try cutting off the door hydraulics. That might free it up, so that with your help..."
Frowning sadly with tears welling in her eyes, Cideeda lifts her head up to the console screen and begins to type out a command. Drawing in a long breath, she silently contemplates. With a somber smile, she taps a button on her radio and gazes over to Sebastian, remorseful filling her tone. "I'm sorry, everyone."
Sebastian's jaw drops, and he vainly reaches out for Cideeda's hand and pales, his hand passes through her. Cideeda initiates the fusion reactor shutdown. In the dwindling ambient hum, Cideeda closes her eyes tightly. Sebastian watches the tears run down her face in absolute, overwhelming dismay.
The background din winds down, and Aristespha, Bach, Dretphi, and Sotalia search around the space in confusion. From near the hydraulic door machinery, Bach blinks absolutely bewildered and calls out. "Hey! Did something turn off? I didn't do anything over here. What was that?"
Aristespha glances over to the shrugging Dretphi and bewildered Sotalia, narrows a perplexed gaze at Bach, and eyes the concrete dome with developing dread. "That sounds like it was from inside..."
A faint crackling chorus sounds out from the group's radio devices, and Cideeda's resolute voice rises up from the static. "I have shut down... the fusion reactor... The pressure and heat levels are dropping... Slowly. Containment should hold out. It all should stabilize."
Her shuddering, uneasy breath wavers off the airwaves, and she fights through her choking sobs. "I'm sorry... But. You all maybe have ten minutes to get safely out of here! The concrete containment dome should... shield you all from most of the radiation..."
She gasps and forces out her words. "But- I DON'T KNOW! I want YOU ALL to get clear! NOW!"
Abject horror crushes the team. Cideeda draws in a sniffing breath and clears her throat. "Try to get the second containment dome shut for everyone's sake! But, don't stick around. I'll monitor things from here..."
Grabbing hold of the collar of her cloak, Sotalia pulls it away, revealing the clipped on radio, and glares at the device. "WHAT THE FUCK, CIDEEDA?! Why did you trigger that now?! We need more time to figure this door out!"
With a pained growl, Cideeda sternly retorts, her voice cutting through the static. "There was NO TIME. The walls of the reactor chamber were at the point of catastrophic failure! I'm not going to risk it blowing up, and killing everything for kilometers around this place."
Bach frantically rambles into his radio. "Okay! We can still do this! There's things I need your help on- BUT! I think I can overpower the system as hard as I can and get it to cooperate for just long enough and-"
With a cold, eerie tone, Cideeda's voice systematically dismantles. "That would risk breaking the current seal in place. We CANNOT risk opening what we don't know we can close... Leave... Please... Respect my... last wishes..."
Bach glances around terrified, blue eyes tearing up. Sebastian phases through the door with a firm upper lip and stares grimly at the team, commanding. "You heard her. GO. NOW. Close the outer containment door if you can. We need to alert the town."
Dretphi meets Sebastian's hard gaze, drops her head, squeezing the tears from her steely gray eyes, and steps towards Bach. Grabbing hold of his arm, she pulls away from the door hydraulic systems and marches towards Sotalia. Summoning her defiant ire, Sotalia draws in a long breath, stretches her arms, and readies herself for spell. "FUCK THAT! We'll just cut a hole large enough to get you through and-"
A firm, red gauntlet-covered hand clamps onto Sotalia's shoulder, and Dretphi drags the hesitant Sotalia, both fighting against their emotions. Sebastian rests a sad gaze upon Aristespha, sighing deeply. "I'm... going to stay with her as long as possible."
Aristespha summons all her resolve, maintaining a strong front for Sebastian, nods simply in agreement, and quells the turmoil in her voice. "Thank you... Sebastian..."
Turning around, Sebastian phases back through the vault door towards the interior chamber. Aristespha pivots in place, musters her courage, and quickly steps forward, catching up to Bach, Dretphi, and Sotalia. She seizes Sotalia's other arm. She firmly disarms Sotalia's pleas of desperate, hastily thrown together plans. Dretphi, Sotalia, and Aristespha step out the outer dome's transparent framework, through the gateway. Noticing the distance from the central dome, the finality surges through Sotalia, and she struggles to break free. Dretphi releases Bach, wraps her arms around Sotalia tightly, and pleads simply through her tear splattered full face visor. "Please... I know..."
Standing blankly at the mouth of the outer geodesic structure entrance, Bach stares hollow at the central containment dome. Moments passing, he gazes downwards towards the concrete metal encased building, focusing upon the vault door. Tightening his fists, he drops his head down, closing his blue eyes tightly, and draws in a long calming breath, frowning with a strangely peaceful hint. "I'm sorry... Cideeda."
A pale blue light radiates out from the containment pool waters, highlighting the sparkling surface of the chamber force field. The mix of ambient glow and flickers of light blend with the illumination of the overhead lights and yellow strobes. Resettling her back against the interior concrete wall, Cideeda tightens her arms around her curled up legs and rests her head on her knees. Sebastian crosses his arms, sitting on the floor next to Cideeda, and glances over with a curious brow, humming. "That actually sounds like a nice name for a boy. Why don't you like it?"
With a snort and roll of her emerald green eyes, Cideeda smirks briefly. "Same name as a boyfriend I had. If mom has a boy, he doesn't deserve that namesake."
Sebastian cracks a humored smile and nods in agreement, chuckling. "Ah. Fair enough. About as good a reason as any. I'll be sure to remember that, so Aristespha can write it down."
Drawing in a long breath, Cideeda releases an equally drawn out sigh and surveys the chamber. She stares at the console and watches the status monitors gradually drift further from the red extremes within the relative safety of the yellow regions. Settling her sight upon the gauges nearby, and she watches the slightly bent indicator needles creep gradually away from stop posts. She flicks her furry ears over and listens to the shrinking cracks in the concrete around pipelines, various pipework shifting back to their original shapes and alignments. A somber smile appears on her light brown face, and Cideeda rests her head back upon knees. "I guess... I guess it was the right move..."
Sebastian summons up a bold grin against the looming doom and nods with a genuine tone. "You saved the team. You saved the town. And prevented who knows what else. It could have been an absolute disaster."
He stares up towards the observation window and the looming pale blue glow radiating out, glances over to the console, and settles his proud gaze upon Cideeda. "You knew full well the situation, and you did it anyway. That's far more brave and courageous than I've ever been."
Blinking, Cideeda lifts her head up and puzzles at Sebastian. "Says the man that has gone toe to toe with the Dark Lord Noxian?"
Sebastian rolls his eyes at himself and shakes his head with a smirk. "Oh. THAT wasn't bravery. I was bold and dumb. Totally believed I was totally going to win those confrontations each time..."
A few moments of silence pass on by in the low background noises of the surrounding systems. With a weak smile, Cideeda glances over to Sebastian, snorts, and asks through her embarrassment. "Hey, um... Could you buy Bach a new holoplayer with my share of the mission payout? I've got it with me, and I'm certain the radiation will destroy it."
Sebastian's ethereal form fights against his swell of sadness, and he presents a comforting smile. "Of course..."
Lifting up her head, Cideeda stares at the console screen and watches the power indicator meter for the reactor force field creeping near the bottom. Her mind processes the status. Her emerald green eyes water. With a sudden frown on her face, she drops her head down, curls up tightly, and sobs loudly. "I wanted... to do... so much more..."
Wiping the overflowing tears, she sniffles and cries, burying her face in her hands. "I was really looking forward to having a little brother or sister, and helping my mom and dad out... I was finally learning how to use magic and really loving it... There was that business I wanted to try out after adventuring..."
Regaining some of her composure, Cideeda struggles to calm herself down. She concentrates on a series of slow, stammering breaths, leans back into the wall, and frowns regretfully with a sad tone. "And... maybe... There was a possibility I wanted to explore... That I'd never considered before."
With a curious lift of an eyebrow, Sebastian smirks and chuckles against the gloom, prying. "Like what?"
A slight tint of embarrassment fills Cideeda's face, and she twists her mouth, perking her furry ears.
Sebastian suddenly sits upright, springs up into the air, and glances around confused. "Cideeda, have you been listening to your radio?"
Cideeda blinks, stands up, and reaches for a button on her radio. "No, uh, I turned it off to well... Let me turn it-"
She clicks the button. A blast of static crackles out upon a wavering twist of tones and other odd noises to her utter surprise. Sebastian halts suddenly. Blinking in surprise, he stares off distantly, his ethereal form warping slightly. He snaps his attention towards Cideeda. "GET TO THE DOOR!"
Utterly perplexed, Cideeda steps in front of the door and stares at Sebastian, furrowing her brow. "What the fuck is going on?! They aren't going to-"
Her furry ears flick forward, and her eyes search the doorway. Thin threads of prismatic magical flow seep around the joins of the door and weave into the material surrounding. From outside, loud clunks resonate into the structure and mix with a cacophony of mechanical strain, fluid rushing forcefully against pressure, and groans of machinery running counter to its desires. In a brief moment of silence, Cideeda widens her eyes. Prismatic flows erupt in a brilliant white energy burst of meshing fibers. Locking bolts slam hard. The containment door flies open with a powerful suction of air.
Blinking in utter surprise, Cideeda briefly gazes upon a magical barrier coating over the exit and spots Sotalia's and Dretphi's field encased arms reaching out. Each grabbing hold of Cideeda's hands, Sotalia and Dretphi yanks her out through the vault doorway, into the barrier, and outside the central containment building. Cideeda runs, with Sotalia towing her along and Dretphi ushering behind. Joining the evacuation, Aristespha warps her barrier, bubbling it around them. Cideeda glances back and watches the massive, heavy containment door slam shut under the power of elder energy infused magical machinery. Long runs of flow conduits bound to parts of the door system glow brightly, and magically energized sparks erupt out from hydraulic electrical systems nearby. Loud solid clanks echo throughout the outer containment dome, the door locks reengaging under a dominating force. Moments later, the cracks between the vault hatch and door frame glow to a near white hot heat and sputter with molten lead, magical cabling melting leftover metal chunks into the crevices.
Dretphi, Aristespha, Cideeda, and Sotalia cross through the threshold of the outer, transparent geodesic dome, and Sebastian materializes next to the team. Following the bundles of magical, white pulsating cables and conduits, Cideeda gazes over to a torrent of prismatic and white energy flows rushing out from Bach. Full concentration and focus within brilliant white glowing eyes, Bach gestures his hands, altering the energies pouring forth from him. The long lines reaching to the concrete dome dissipate quickly into clouds of elder and prismatic miasma. The remaining lines pulse and twitch, operate the outer containment dome's doorway. The system sputters and grinds. Dretphi glances around, frantically searching for an issue. Cideeda's furry ears flick over, and she listens briefly. Glancing over to Bach, she notices the growing strain apparent on his face and wavering concentration. "Disengage the safety locks! Then pressurize the rams!"
Snapping back to awareness, Bach nods quickly and warps the flows of energy down the lines. The final transparent, framework containment door shudders free, slides closed, and locks. With confirming thumbs up from Dretphi, the final conduits of flow dissipate in clouds of magical miasma. Bach stumbles around, releasing the last flows of energy. Rushing to his side, Dretphi swiftly supports him under the shoulders and leads him towards the main exit with the rest of the team. The group rush down the facility entry corridor, charging through the surrounding chaos of alarms and around the old guard station.
The team sprints out from the underground ramp into the daylight, Aristespha's protective barrier encasing all, and reaches a clearing many meters away. Down within the corridor, a new alarm faintly sounds out. Aristespha braces herself and bolsters the barrier around the team. Bach drops down to knees with Dretphi guiding him down. The team holds position and waits expectantly. Pulling out her radiation detector, Cideeda shows it to Aristespha and eases it just out of the barrier bubble. Minutes pass uneasily. The surrounding forest overtakes the silence, nature filling the background behind the beeps and clicks of the radiation detector.
Cideeda motions over to the detector, and Aristespha warps the field over. Carefully reaching out, Cideeda picks up the detector, sorts through the reading history, and breathes a sigh of relief. "Normal levels. That barrier should have shut down completely by now. I think we're safe enough for the moment."
Releasing her barrier bubble, Aristespha takes a few steps and eases herself down upon the ground. "Oh. Good. I really need to rest after that. Sotalia... Potion please? Need to get ready to do some medical checks."
Sotalia flips open a pouch on her belt, plucks out a vial, and passes it to Aristespha. "Here you go. I'm going to make a call to the local police before ANYTHING ELSE happens today."
Patting Bach's shoulder gently, Dretphi waits for him to nod and flips up her visor, retrieving her aetherphone. "Will contact the guild. Let them handle whoever may be concerned."
Sebastian hovers up and sighs. "Okay. I'm going to check to make sure nothing else is happening nearby from above. Gods fucking dammit. Can this day just end."
Cideeda steps next to Bach and Aristespha, settles down onto the ground, and relaxes for the moment. Slowly recovering from the surge of activity, she glances over to Bach and cocks her head, watching him support himself up by his arms and sway quietly. She slides over close to him and curiously gazes. "You okay, Bach?"
Bach unsteadily keeps himself up upon his hands and knees without response. Cideeda grips hold of his forearm, gently presses her claw tips, and cranes her head around, checking his face. "Bach?"
Startling out of his stupor, Bach lifts his head groggily to Cideeda, struggling to focus his faintly white glowing eyes. "W-w-what? Are you okay? I- Um- Uh- Where..."
Concern stressing her tone, Cideeda nods and grips both of Bach's arms. "Yes. I'm okay. We're okay. We're clear. You can rest now."
A relieved smile graces Bach, and he blinks into a wince. He grimaces, shudders, and reopens his normal blue eyes. Exhaustion overwhelming, Bach manages a weak smirk, gradually tipping over to the side into unconsciousness. "I'm going to lay down n..."
With a firm supportive pull, Cideeda redirects Bach's collapse and guides his head gently upon her shoulder. Wrapping her arms securely around Bach, Cideeda gently strokes his back. Bach passes out. Cideeda closes her eyes and hugs Bach tightly.