aterat | Story Event - Network and Log

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Story Event - Network and Log

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!]

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Waver was in the middle of dodging one and trying to deter another from rolling over a takeout container he’d left on the floor next to the sofa. So it takes him a moment to get back to his phone, but when he does? He gives the little smiling face a frown like the sourpuss he could be, before setting it back on the counter and trying to navigate his way over to the door.

One zap that smarted, and a few more magic bullets later, he threw the door open and hurried out to see if Zack was trapped at the edge of the field or not.

Oh yeah, totally at the edge of the field, looking around. Seeing Waver he took a step forward. And then... A look came over his face and he turned away to walk a few steps.

Waver looks relieved for a split second, before Zack literally turned away to walk a few steps in the opposite direction. “Should’ve known…” He huffed, pushing his hair back and striding across the distance between his workshop and the edge of the field. “Zack, it’s this way. Turn around and focus on my voice and crossing the barrier.” Or try to… Otherwise, the mage was going to just drag him across it again… Which, given time was of the essence… probably would be for the best.

Hey, it's not his fault this magic is potent. And he's apparently susceptible to mind fucking. But he does turn around, wave happily at Waver, and marches right on up to him. Didn't take much at this point apparently.

"Soldier First Class Zack Fair, on the scene!"

Waver felt a spark of gratefulness towards the universe over the ease at which this went this time. Maybe the guy was going to adjust to it? Maybe it would get easier, eventually? He still looks exhausted, and kind of singed in places by the shocks that landed, so he raised a brow at the peppy greeting. “Thanks, I’m glad you could make it.” He means that, Zack, grumpy tone or not! “These little things are as much of a menace as your story made them sound.” He shook his head, leading the man back to the workshop.

The mage braced himself as he reached for the door handle, mentally preparing himself for the utter chaos waiting within. The minute he does, the door is crowded by the dented original and four other little robots yelling that little message about security at them! “I swear I’m going to hear that in my nightmares.” And he doesn’t need anything more added to those! They are vivid enough!

"Yeah, that sounds about right," he says with a smile as he follows Waver inside.

"I'm guessing," he says as he sees the little things moving around so cutely, "that magic and my sword aren't really acceptable here? Don't wanna mess up your stuff."

The mental image of Zack doing anything like he had in that alleyway a few months ago was not a pretty picture. So he gives an affirmative nod to the question. “No, not acceptable at all. I’ve got some delicate projects I’m working on, would rather not risk damaging them if I can help it.” That does beg the question of what more Zack could do, but he had more muscle than Waver (understatement) so he probably could figure something out, yeah?

He does try to offer some help, keeping his distance from the little robots that he definitely did not think were cute at all. “If you have some magic that’s more precise, then that would be fine, but anything that could get out of hand would be better off avoided.” He braced his wrist and shot a magic bullet at one getting too close, but it just kind of dented its dome a bit and it kept on rolling around.

"Got i-yow!"

Okay, maybe he shouldn't have stood still so long. One of the robots absolutely just shocked him. Wow, rude. Zack shakes his leg out before booting the thing hard. It flips over and he stomps down on the underside. There's the audible sound of breaking. Of metal giving in. Zack was... well, he continued to prove he was rather strong.

Waver frowned. The little annoying hunks of metal were really good at sneaking up on you for a zap whether you were focused or not. He had begun to wonder if they were working together to distract so each could take a zap at you!

The mage himself did try to keep an eye out for future attempts at zapping while Zack began to deal with them properly. An impressed raised brow offered as the first one was broken, definitely more effective than what he’d been doing. But he could at least offer some good dents to deter them from ambushing Zack when he was focused on one.

When the last one was put out of commission, let out a relieved sigh at the silence that fell upon the workshop. FINALLY, he could hear himself think again. Waver nudged one just to make sure it wasn’t playing dead, before glancing at Zack. “That definitely worked better than what I was doing, thanks.”

Surely the things weren't so smart as that. Or at least Zack would have been surprised if they were. Granted Zack was super surprised they were here given they were decidedly ShinRa properly. In fact, he could see the logo on them.

When the final goes over Zack sighs to pick it up and soon he's piling them into his arms.

"Pretty sure these need to be dumped somewhere safe. Maybe the blacksmith can take them apart and help dispose of the dangerous bits. Sorry this happened to you though."

Waver hummed, looking one over thoughtfully. He doesn’t know the logo, but he’s not surprised considering they were from different worlds. “I can probably disassemble them easily enough now that they’re not functioning, honestly.” He commented with a shrug. He knew he had some tools somewhere, and he wasn’t a stranger to taking things apart that had some unnatural element to them.

The apology gets an appreciative nod. He at least accepted it. “It’s fine. You helped deal with the mess instead of just leaving me to.” If he hadn’t, Waver might have been grumpier. Instead, he’s just mildly tired and sore from exerting his magic circuits doing what he could. “And I get the feeling there’s something going on. This isn’t the first strange thing I’ve heard about going on in the city right now.” So, while he could blame Zack for the story, he couldn’t do so without being sure it was entirely on the guy. There was probably something that caused the story to come to life.

"I wouldn't put it past Shinra to have put a taser in the things in case you try and open it," he admits with a shrug. "But I won't stop you about trying."

Still, he nods along with the news that weird stuff is happening. Almost like he expected it.

"That sounds about right."

Wouldn’t surprise him either, honestly. Mage’s liked to prevent people from snooping. “I’ll keep that in mind.” He agreed, clearing a space on the old tavern counter for Zack to set them down. “I might be fairly useless compared to most when it comes to combat, but this is actually something I’m more than a little accustomed to.” He added, rummaging through drawers a bit. So, to him, it was probably better than going to a blacksmith if there was the potential for a trap or two waiting to prevent further deconstruction. “Mages have the occasional habit of leaving things around where they shouldn’t during my cases.” And he picks them up (like a curious child).

He sighed, though. It was about right. “Seems to be a trend. Things get quiet for a while and then hell breaks loose.” He mumbled, leaning against the counter. “We’ll have to watch what we say, I think. See what else happens… Did you experience anything weird when you told the story or after it?”

"I mean, my MP seemed low," Zack said with a frown. "I was trying to do some magic and just didn't seem to have the energy for it."

But he didn't track his magic energy levels as regularly as some people.

Waver would say that tracking them regularly was probably a good idea. It could be fairly dangerous for your reserves to be drained too low. More than just because you didn’t have the power needed to use magic, in fact. At least where he was from, anyway.

He raised a brow, though, at the fact that Zack apparently had found his own reserves too low to use magic. The mage paused on setting his tools out in favour of giving the man a curious and, dare one say, slightly concerned look. He’d seen what Zack could do, but he didn’t have a base idea of how often he could use his form of magic. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but I’m guessing it’s not often you find yourself lacking when you try to use your magic?” Waver paused, then added. “And you didn’t do anything that might cause it before you told the story?”

He… really doesn’t like where his brain’s going here, Zack.

Well, Zack was more of a sword fighter than he was a person who was good with magic. He was really so good at things.

"Probably not," he admits with a shrug. "I don't use magic a lot here actually. Not as needed when I'm at work I guess."

Waver gave him a look that suggested he’d expected a more detailed answer than that. Sighing, he picked up a tool and started working on the disassembling the machine in front of him to focus on. “No? Hm… Where did you find work, anyway?” That’s a half-serious question, something thrown out while he mulls over the main point.

Zack probably should have been able to do something but hadn’t been able to. If he hadn’t done anything to drain his reserves beforehand, then it stood to reason that something else had. You can’t create something from nothing, it was a basic fact. Summoning rituals especially, and while he wasn’t sure you would call this… that exactly… It still was quite obvious that the robots didn’t belong in Aterat and were of Zack’s world. “I could be wrong… But I think it seems likely that you were drained as part of whatever brought these things here. You were used as both a catalyst to pull the subject of the story from your world, and a well of power to draw from.”

"Chocobo ranch, when I'm not doing odd jobs," Zack said with a shrug. "I know the birds, they've got them back home too. Didn't work with the mounted units much but it was always nice to see them."

Wait, the other part sounds... weird. He was drained to make robots?

"Robots are made by machines. And transported in crates."

“Right, I’ve seen them around a lot. Been meaning to learn more about those… I’m more accustomed to horses or cars.” He missed his car. He didn’t have to walk everywhere when he had a car… And the horse was more of a nostalgia thing, but he had ridden before.

He can see the confusion on Zack’s face. He’s seen it on other people’s faces often enough. “If we were in your world or mine, sure. That’s all one would need to do. But it doesn't seem to be something that can be done here, at least based on the level of technology that is common beyond what’s in the apartments, and these have just appeared at random with very suspicious timing. I admit it’s not… Normal to summon robots, but given the strange nature of this place and how things to happen?" It wasn't entirely impossible.

Zack... missed the motor cycle. But he was happy with the chocobos as a compensation point, so he could live with that for now. Actually, probably for all time. You didn't need to give chocobos tune-ups and they worked in all terrain.

Still, he's willing to listen to the smart people when they suggested things.

"You really think so?"

Until Waver learned more about them, and gained a little experience, he was going to be undecided about how he felt about the large birds… But he was curious, and knew practically he could use some form of transportation, at least that was a start.

“I do…” the mage responded with a frown. He didn’t like that he did. It just made the most sense based on Zack’s experience. “At least it’s the best theory I have at the moment.” Waver offered as he picked up the screwdriver to continue working, sighing to himself as the wheels started turning in his head as he considered the situation. This was going to need more looking into, especially if this turned out to be a ‘thing’ that repeated itself. “I’m going to see what I can learn around the city. Find out if there’s anything else that happened that lines up with your experience.”

"Alright then. I guess you can call me to interview me if you need. And let me know if more things show up to attack you," he says with a smile. Because, at the end of the day, he was actually a helpful guy.

“Good, I might have more questions once I’ve had a chance to investigate a little more.” He agreed, glad that Zack was open to more questions. Depending on what he learned, Zack might think of something to provide more insight or something to compare with later.

His expression dipped lightly at the idea of more things showing up to attack him. He really didn’t need that… “I appreciate that, but with any luck, this should be the most excitement I see today.”

"Awesome. Then I'll get going," Zack says with a bright smile and a small wave. He could totally just get on the road. "I'm going to go see if more of these little guys showed up. Consider me the exterminator!"

“Good luck with that. If you happen to hear anything while you're out, then let me know.” He offered in response, at least having the manners to put down the screwdriver and see Zack out the door. The mage made sure the guy was gone before he returned to his theorizing and tinkering, where he’d stay until something inevitably pulled him away.

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legacy_blade - 2023-09-29 19:16 (UTC) - Expand

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