Story Event - Network and Log

[legacy_blade]

Who; Zack Fair and You?
What; Network Story and a Log for Event
Where; Network and Behind Closed Doors in Aterat
When; Early August
Warnings; n/a

Network Video
Hey guys!

[Hey look, it's Zack, smiling cheerfully. Well, the bit of him that is visible over the back of a chocobo is totally smiling cheerfully. It's still most of his face, but that counts, right?]

So I was just grooming Kunsel here [the chocobo warbles as he strokes its neck] and it reminded me of this really cool thing Kunsel told me about once at work. Well, human Kunsel, not, like, choco-Kunsel. Anyway, you wanna hear about the Mystery of the Buzzing Closet? Who am I kidding, of course you do.

So there are a lot of strange things that happened at the ShinRa building all the time, and Kunsel would keep us up to date on them so we could investigate. And one of those things had to do with the janitor closets down on floors 43 through 47. Sometimes, when you were down there running patrols at night you'd hear these weird noises. Which is kinda hard on Soldiers because we've got super sharp hearing and all of that so it could be a sound all the way across the floor from you so it could be really hard to pin down. You'd be halfway to where you thought it was coming from and then bam, the noise is gone.

Anyway, this whole thing was going on for weeks, driving Soldiers and MPs up the walls because we can't figure out what's going on. Well before you get there the noise is gone, and since it's gone, you can't track down where it's coming from, right? And then you're running around all patrol trying to zero in on the noise and that went on for, like, seven weeks or something? Real mystery. Those floors start to be given out as punishment shifts.

Anyway I'm not saying I got punished or anything. I was very reliable. And I'm not even the one that knocked that desk over anyway! But there I was, patrolling the 46th floor when the call came for backup on 44, so of course I run down. A Soldier's duty and all of that. So I run on down the stairs and burst out onto the 44th and there's a whole swarm! of Red Saucers loose! And I call out to the MP on duty and ask what happened! And he said he found the noisy door and opened it and all these little things came spilling out. Kept saying he was trespassing. Wouldn't even recognize his security clearance.

OF course I had to deal with them. Simple task. And they STILL docked my pay even though I saved the poor guy. Not like it was me that was storing the things in closets! Anyway, we did manage to solve the Mystery I guess. I was hoping it would be something more exciting.

[He spares another grin, strokes the chocobo's neck, and nods to himself.]

Yeah, we got up to some really funny things there. Maybe I should tell about the time Genesis's shirts all came out super small from the wash. But another day!

Buzzing Behind Closed Doors
It's almost like telling a story gives the universe an impetus to make something like it come true. At least in this case it's mostly a nuisance. A door with a low buzzing, whirring noise behind it. Sometimes you can walk around and not find the source, sometimes you walk up and the sound immediately stops. And other times? Oh the other times.

Open the door and out spins a small red robot. It rotates around a few times, still buzzing, still whirring, the purple tinted camera lens taking in the sights around it. Then, seeing a person nearby, it makes an angry beeping noise before a pre-recorded voice announcs:

Intruder Detected!

Which is sort of rude for it to say, right? Because that's your closet, or bathroom, or storage space it just rolled on out of. And what's that new, higher pitched whine. Why does it sound like something charging? Why is there electric sparks running up that antennae?

Run? Maybe run. Or fight. This is about to get hairy isn't it? Who knows, maybe you'll be lucky and, just like in the story you heard about these things in, a daring and charming hero will swoop in to help save you. It's always possible. He's just a phone call away at worst...


[Additional OOC Note: Don't feel bound to only run into Red Saucers here. Enjoy them in your own logs too! Everyone deserves buzzing closets!]

Comments

video

[cetrary]

Are you saying choco-Kunsel can't tell good stories? [ She's grinning. ]

I definitely thought this was going to be a ghost story with the way it started. [ And she was not about that!! ] Somehow it's really not surprising ShinRa still docked your pay. Sounds like typical ShinRa. [ She gives a little sigh. ]

Hmm, a swarm of Red Saucers sounds pretty exciting to me, I think you may have set your expectations too high.

[legacy_blade]

Well, he is warking on it. [He’s smiling back.]

Oh, I have one about the train graveyard too. But it’s less good for chocobros like Chocokunsel here. And the docked pay was so frustrating. I was doing my work so well.

Red Saucers are pretty pathetic though.

[cetrary]

I can't wait to see what he's warked out. [ Oh dear. Anyone that sees these two will groan. ]

We don't want to spook the bro, it might cause him to lose feather's and we don't want to be responsible for that. [ It's not that she's afraid okay. ] I'd say you should have protested but ShinRa wouldn't have cared.

[ She chuckles. ] I mean most enemies are kinda pathetic for someone as amazing as you, right?

[legacy_blade]

I will keep you updated on his progress.

Angeal thought it was a bit over the top but I can't really protest all of company policies, you know? They were probably stored in those closets for a reason.

[He wants to laugh at that but he's really thinking about it.]

Except the Saucers were supposed to be on the same side as us, you know? Actually, I had to destroy a surprisingly high number of them during my work so that's weird.

[cetrary]

I look forward to it!

They should have told you the reason. But that's ShinRa's big problem, they're not really keen on telling anyone anything.

Do you think they had faulty programing or something? Or maybe someone actually programed them to do that....for some reason.

[legacy_blade]

Yeah they... really weren't.

[Everything with Angeal, with Genesis, with Sephiroth... He's almost sick to be thinking about it right now.]

I think they're meant to be protective actually. That's just who they are.

Buzzing Behind Closed Doors

[ask_whydunit]

Waver had heard Zack’s story, the energy around it sparking a bit of nostalgia over some of the chaotic situations that might happen around his class… Flat would have loved this one, no doubt about that. Actually, those two might get along a little too well if they ever met. Which probably wasn’t a good thing for Waver’s patience, so small positives to him not being here… At least that’s what the professor told himself.

But he soon forgot about the tale once he started on some projects. The mage set a burner on, moving to grab something and… he heard a weird buzzing sound from behind the door to the small kitchen space in the back. The mage got a sinking feeling in his stomach, but maybe he left something on in there (wishful thinking)? Crossing the room, he nudged the door open and cautiously peeked in. Nothing. “Paranoid, Velvet.” He muttered with a sigh of relief before going back to his work. Then, just as he got to the counter to begin again, the broom closet started buzzing. Wash, rinse, repeat. Alright, maybe he wasn’t paranoid… Maybe this was another sign that something was wrong.

Finally, there’s a buzzing and whirring coming more loudly from the door to the little cellar, where he stored materials and worked on more delicate projects. Third time is a charm, right? This time he moved forward quickly and swung the door up and open to look inside and…

“No!” Came out in a firm, curt tone before he took a couple hasty steps back and tried to slam the door closed just as quickly as he’d opened it. But it was too late, the little red robo-terror was already out, alarm going off and its zap-happy nature was ready to go.

Yes, Zack is definitely getting a phone call about 30 minutes later.

Audio for now

[legacy_blade]

“Hello, Fair handy man service here. What can I do you for?”

Audio;

[ask_whydunit]

“Oh, for the love of-” is what Zack hears at first, clearly not directed at him. Then the phone’s audio is muffled slightly by a hand covering it. He could probably hear the faint, familiar sound of robotic alerts and something getting knocked over, followed by the addition of Waver yelling something colourful.

Then the voice returned. “Right, sorry.” His tone is definitely ruffled. “What you can do is tell me how to deactivate those bloody robots you were talking about earlier, because your story is terrorizing my workshop.”

[legacy_blade]

Oh, the saucers? Zack frowns.

"Just break them."

[ask_whydunit]

Waver was, unfortunately, hoping for a solution that didn’t require much physical strength. Nor the risk of other things getting caught in the crossfire. “What, they didn’t remember to build them with off switches???” Huffing, he kicked at one from where he was perched on top of the counter. “Do they at least have weak points??”

[legacy_blade]

"There was probably a master computer program to shut them off? I don't know. That's R&D area and I'm SOLDIER. We're completely different divisions. SOLDIER doesn't need stuff like that to support us."

And were often offended when it was suggested to use them.

"The antenneas. And the armor is probably weaker under them?"

[ask_whydunit]

“Are you serious-” No, don’t answer that. He knows the answer. There were no computers in Aterat, so it wasn’t like he could count on a program also suddenly existing in a system to shut the menaces down easily. Great. “You weren’t even curious how they worked after you had to deal with them once?”

Antennas and the underside… Great. He could probably damage the antenna, but he wasn’t sure about flipping them. “Do they repel spells at all?” He does not need a magic bullet ricocheting off and damaging some of his stuff.

[legacy_blade]

"Nope, no elemental affinities or resistances that I remember. Well, they can shock you, but that's just overloading a bolt materia to zap you."

Which seems logical to him.

[ask_whydunit]

“Good, then If I’m lucky I can break it and be done with this whole mess.” He muttered with a grimace, liking the idea very much. That or maybe trying to crack them open and see what made them tick since it wasn’t every day you saw stuff like this from other worlds…

… What, he’s a curious guy at heart, okay?

There’s a small yelp as he yanked his leg up when the thing had gotten close enough to where it was dangling off the edge of the counter to do so. “Oh trust me, I noticed that!” He braced his wrist and tried firing a shot of what looked like a bright light at the little demon roomba. Ah… It definitely dented it, but his magic shots aren’t as strong as his students were. It was going to take a few of those and careful aim. “I am so tired of getting electrocuted by things.” He muttered as he tried to balance the tellphone against his ear with his shoulder.

Oh… There’s more buzzing coming from the closet too… That’s fun!

[legacy_blade]

“You going to be okay man? Like… are you sure you can handle it?”

Why isn’t he just kicking them? That should be enough?

[mostlycloudy]

You named your chocobo Kunsel. [Of course he did.]

...did you ever figure out who was storing the saucers there?

[legacy_blade]

Is there a problem with that? I think Kuns would love it.

[He shrugs. Because of course he doesn't know. He didn't pursue that stuff.]

I reported it to Angeal.

[mostlycloudy]

...he probably would.

[Maybe he should have talked to Kunsel.

...nah. Even now, he doesn't know what he'd say to the guy.]

Just seems like a weird thing to do, move your saucer collection around closets in HQ.

[legacy_blade]

Actually, I think he'd like here in general. Dude would investigate so many things. We'd probably get a local newspaper that way. Just so he could have a gossip column.

[He misses his other best friend quite a bit.]

I mean, are you surprised. Name one remotely normal executive we had.

[mostlycloudy]

That wouldn't be so bad. This place could use a newspaper.

Good point.

[legacy_blade]

Yeah, And I wouldn't mind having someone around to give me advice from time to time.

[Because Kunsel had been good at that. Without judging him.]

[mostlycloudy]

[He doesn't say anything immediately.]

You know I'm around, right?

[legacy_blade]

Yeah, but what if I need advice ABOUT YOU? Then you can't give it. See? Problem.

[mostlycloudy]

About me? [What could Zack possibly need to think about regarding him? If anything, Cloud needed advice about Zack.

Oh. Wait.]

Yeah, okay.

...but I'm still here.