Kisume Quest V - A Z-Machine Adventure

[Hello Purvis]

> Get out from under the seat and get back in the chair.

>You make your way out of the vehicle, and have to float over to another platform, where your chair has been set up. Settling into the chair, you have to fight down a deep longing to crawl into a bucket, any bucket. Now that you're not scurrying from under a cart, you have time to take in your surroundings; you are inside a large sort of artificial catacomb, made of some kind of strange smooth sedimentary stone that you don't recognize. You have the suspicion that it's artificial. The ceiling is low and supported by a number of plain square pillars, many of them bearing little signs. Between these pillars, arranged in neat rows, are dozens of vehicles. They are somewhat similar in basic shape to the one you rode, but there is a tremendous variety in color, shape and size. Some are large and bulky, others sleek and small. Some seem to have more seats, others have wagon beds built right into them. Having considered that shared dream recently, you have the feeling that you saw things like these in it, something almost but not quite like them in shape, but perhaps the same in design. In the distance, some dozens of yards away, you can see a large rectangular opening in the cavern, and the night sky beyond it. Closer by, you can see some metal doors with buttons near them.
>Ruukoto takes position behind your chair. "Want your translator, or do you think it's better to go without?"

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Any people present?
> Did the device do translating both ways for us, or was it two separate devices for listening and speaking?

[Hello Purvis]

> Any people present?
> Did the device do translating both ways for us, or was it two separate devices for listening and speaking?

>You don't see anyone.
>It is one device, but you wouldn't be surprised to learn there are two separate parts in it working together.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "How common is Japanese here?"

[Hello Purvis]

> "How common is Japanese here?"

>"It's completely unheard of," says Ruukoto. "The only reason it's an option for the translators is become the Professor decoded it herself in the past, and she sold the information to the people that make them."

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Raise an eyebrow.
> "Those two have very Japanese names considering."

[Hello Purvis]

> Raise an eyebrow.
> "Those two have very Japanese names considering."

>"If you asked them, your name sounds really Kosan."

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "Huh. Well...how common are humans that look like me and don't speak that language?"

[Hello Purvis]

> "Huh. Well...how common are humans that look like me and don't speak that language?"

>"Not very common," says Ruukoto, "But we do have ambassadors and foreign agents and stuff around here, so they're more common in the palace than anywhere else."

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Did we need that translation evice to talk to the others?

[Hello Purvis]

> Did we need that translation evice to talk to the others?

>Yes, but you also don't anticipate them arriving until later.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "Hmm. Are you able to get in contact with the others?"

[Hello Purvis]

> "Hmm. Are you able to get in contact with the others?"

>"Not without the right tools," she says. "I wasn't built with shortwave capacity. It's kind of outdated, really."

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Nod.
> "And how many people do you think will be out and about in this area?"

[Hello Purvis]

> Nod.
> "And how many people do you think will be out and about in this area?"

>"Just a few people at most, right now," says Ruukoto. "We have a good hour before the castle really wakes up. There will be a few out, though."

>_

[Kilgamayan]

Shit, I've forgotten if more people or less people were going to make me want to wear it. :V

I'll think about it in bed. Other people are welcome to chime in, of course!

> Do we still have our map with us?

[Hello Purvis]

> Do we still have our map with us?

>Assuming it was stuffed in the bucket, you should. The bucket is still dangling off the wheelchair's right handle. At a glance, it seems to be full of bottles of strange liquid and rags and weird-looking brushes.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "All right, I think I'll wear it, then."
> Put the device on.

[Hello Purvis]

> "All right, I think I'll wear it, then."
> Put the device on.

>Ruukoto hands it to you, and you put it on.
>"Anything else?" she says.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "Don't think so. Let's head to the medical lab, I guess."

[Hello Purvis]

> "Don't think so. Let's head to the medical lab, I guess."

>"Right you are," says Ruukoto, and she starts to wheel you forward.
>Soon you pass through a pair of glass doors that side open on their own with a little woosh noise after Ruukoto runs her card through the slot on the side. Before you can have time to marvel at this, you are lead inside. The halls are still strange and alien, but there is still a sort of comforting familiarity to be in surroundings you've seen once before in this strange world. You have more time to appreciate the alabaster-like floor and the curved ceiling overhead. The halls are almost empty, though you pass by one VIVIT who is busy pushing a large, loud machine down the hall that bristles with brushes and the like on its bottom. Soon, you can see several sets of metallic doors at a T-shaped intersection, and a soldier loitering near them, looking in their direction idly. "Play it cool," Ruukoto hisses as the two of you approach him and the doors. You quickly note the arrow buttons that Chiyuri told you about, and realize this must be the elevators.
>The soldier glances over toward you as Ruukoto nears the door. He then says something brief and light-sounding, the translator quickly does its work repeating, "Hey, are you new here?"

>_

[Kilgamayan]

Okay, I have a plan for the act we're going to put on, but I want to be sure of a couple of things first.

> Did we ever tell VIVIT or Agent Whatshisface our name?
> Does this soldier sound like he could be one of the soldiers that took us prisoner earlier?

[Hello Purvis]

> Did we ever tell VIVIT or Agent Whatshisface our name?
> Does this soldier sound like he could be one of the soldiers that took us prisoner earlier?

>You have not told your name to anyone aligned with the Empire.
>Judging from his voice, he doesn't seem like either of the two that escorted you. You didn't pay much attention to the minute details about them, so you can't tell visually whether that is the case. The armor really does a good job of blending them together unless you'll looking for differences.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Give a small smile and a nod a little bit slower than normal.
> Take on a tone of voice that is slightly weaker and quieter than normal.
> "Yes. My name's Parsee. What's yours?"

[Hello Purvis]

> Give a small smile and a nod a little bit slower than normal.
> Take on a tone of voice that is slightly weaker and quieter than normal.
> "Yes. My name's Parsee. What's yours?"

>You give a low nod, and put on a slightly weaker tone of voice that usual. It takes a moment for the translator to work, but you're pleased to hear it has captured your tone of of voice. "Private Imal," he says. "Kind of late to be up, isn't ii?"

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Look a bit downcast while actually looking down.
> Keep the same tone of voice for the remainder of this conversation until otherwise noted.
> "Yeah. I wanna be in bed, but it hurts."

[Hello Purvis]

> Look a bit downcast while actually looking down.
> Keep the same tone of voice for the remainder of this conversation until otherwise noted.
> "Yeah. I wanna be in bed, but it hurts."

>He nods. "Ah, one of those cases. I have a buddy who took a shot to the arm during the siege of Sanu, and has problems like that."
>There is a ding, and one of the sets of metal doors slide open, revealing a tiny room. the soldier walks inside, Ruukoto follows. You are turned to face the front, as the soldier produces a red card similar to the one that Chiyuri showed you, and swipes it through a slot. Then he hits a button on the panel below it. Ruukoto does the same on a panel on the other side of the doors. They slowly slide shut after a moment, and you feel the room begin to rise. You notice a black panel over the door, displaying a glyph of some kind in little red lights.
>"So what do you do around here?" the soldier says, as he looks toward the panel.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> That must be the card key thing they were talking about!
> "Um...not much. I mostly play with VIVIT when Mommy's not around."

[Hello Purvis]

> That must be the card key thing they were talking about!
> "Um...not much. I mostly play with VIVIT when Mommy's not around."

>"Oh, I see," says the soldier. "You look a bit older than that, you know?"
>The doors slide open again, and Ruukoto wheels you outside. Once they close, she says, "Not bad, Parsee."

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "Do I really look older than that? Huh."