Okuu Quest Thereafter - A Z-Machine Adventure

[Hello Purvis]

>"Well, this is it. Moment of truth."
>Look around the corridor to make sure no one's in sight
>If the coast is clear, use Okazaki's ID in the card lock

>"Do it, Utsuho," says Parsee.
>The coast is clear. Despite the guard's statements about people coming at all hours, you've not seen anyone; though you've heard a bit of talking in the distance at one point.
>You slide the card through the door's card reader, noting for the first time there are no handles or knobs on it. But, this problem seems to handle itself as the door slides open. Beyond it, you can see a concrete block stairwell, leading downward.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>Cautiously descend the stairwell

[Kasu]

> "Well.  Lets do this."

[Hello Purvis]

> "Well.  Lets do this."

>Cautiously descend the stairwell

>"God, I can't stop shaking," Parsee says, as she follows you down.
>You begin to descend the stairwell. As Parsee and Ace follow you in, the door closes behind you.
>The three of you walk down several flights of stairs. The architecture here reminds you, somewhat, of the schools you went to, only without any trace of trying to make it look pleasant. It's old and clearly mass produced, made to be secure and probably cheap rather than nice to live in. It's pretty stuffy as well, you don't seem much in the way of ventilation.
>At the bottom of the 7th flight of stairs, you come to another door. This one, notably, has a keypad with its card reader.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"Well, uh, crap.... Probably should have expected this."
>Turn to Ace: "Please tell me there's a chance you can do something about this?"

[MysTeariousYukari]

> "Son of a submariner. I loathe these sort of things."

[Hello Purvis]

>"Well, uh, crap.... Probably should have expected this."
>Turn to Ace: "Please tell me there's a chance you can do something about this?"

> "Son of a submariner. I loathe these sort of things."

>You allow yourself some frustrations and quotations about this situation.
>"Yeah, I think so," says Ace. "But once I start hacking into that ICE, it's got a pretty good chance of setting something off. So if you got any other trade secrets I need to know about..."

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"Nothing that'll keep alarms from going off or hide us, if that's what you mean. We got the objects past the metal detector by simply moving them AROUND the metal detector."
>"But I didn't figure we'd be able to maintain cover down here for too long. There's a short list of people who get into here, so I figure that we'd stand out like a sore thumb as soon as someone noticed us, anyway."
>"Actually, hang on one second. I want to check something."
>Ask Stargazer (non-verbally) to go through the door and have a look around inside. Can she communicate any of what she sees to us?

[Hello Purvis]

>"Nothing that'll keep alarms from going off or hide us, if that's what you mean. We got the objects past the metal detector by simply moving them AROUND the metal detector."
>"But I didn't figure we'd be able to maintain cover down here for too long. There's a short list of people who get into here, so I figure that we'd stand out like a sore thumb as soon as someone noticed us, anyway."
>"Actually, hang on one second. I want to check something."
>Ask Stargazer (non-verbally) to go through the door and have a look around inside. Can she communicate any of what she sees to us?

>Ace nods. Parsee just keeps an eye on the stairs above you.
>You ask Stargazer to step through the door and try to tell you what she sees. She does so, and you begin to get feelings of large long corridors on the other side, going in three directions. There's also some large rooms filled with stuff she doesn't understand.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>Can she see any other people within roaming distance?
>Can we get any better idea of what this stuff is, or looks like, even if she doesn't understand it?

[Hello Purvis]

>Can she see any other people within roaming distance?
>Can we get any better idea of what this stuff is, or looks like, even if she doesn't understand it?

>She can see one person nearby, who is doing...something or other. She doesn't know. She doesn't seem to be paying any attention at all to the door.
>You're getting the impressions of what you recognize as glass windows, long blocky tables, glass vials... you think there's a lab on the other side, along one of those corridors.

>_

[Blitzer]

>Do you think the door can be opened from the inside?

[Hello Purvis]

>Do you think the door can be opened from the inside?

>She doesn't know. She looks at the door, and is dismayed to find it different than the one that you had her practice on. She stares hard at a thing on it she doesn't recognize. You get the sense of a kind of lever on the door.

>_

[MysTeariousYukari]

> Could we get Stargazer to pull the lever on the door to open it? Don't have her do it yet if she can.

[Hello Purvis]

> Could we get Stargazer to pull the lever on the door to open it? Don't have her do it yet if she can.

>You're reasonably sure she's capable of this.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>Is the person in the room in a position that they could see the door if it were opened?
>If so, does it seem like there's any chance of them wandering away if we wait a few moments?

[Hello Purvis]

>Is the person in the room in a position that they could see the door if it were opened?
>If so, does it seem like there's any chance of them wandering away if we wait a few moments?

>According to Stargazer, she's not facing the door.
>She has no idea. She thinks that person is fairly into what she is doing right now.

>_

[Blitzer]

>Have Stargazer attempt to open the door.
>Contemplate how much Stargazer has "grown".

[Hello Purvis]

>Have Stargazer attempt to open the door.
>Contemplate how much Stargazer has "grown".

>The door quietly slides open. Stargazer is pleased with this development. Just looking at it, you can tell this is a very heavy duty door; like the kind you see in sci-fi on airlocks.
>"D-d-did you you just glare that door open?" Ace says in a small voice, looking wide eyes. "Holy shit, you're a Gibson..."
>"Shhh," Parsee says, before Ace's surprise can get any louder.
>Stargazer has certainly learned a thing or two. You're pretty sure she's as clueless as ever about most of the world, but she seems to understand some of the basics now. And you're certain she's gotten to experience some emotions she never did back in the forest. She might not even be so shy anymore.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>Quickly survey what we can see
>Can we see the person from here? How far away are they?
>Are they showing any attention in our direction?

[Hello Purvis]

>Quickly survey what we can see
>Can we see the person from here? How far away are they?
>Are they showing any attention in our direction?

>You look through the door. You can see a long corridor, framed on either side by plate glass windows allowing you glances into laboratories. You can see a woman with long purple hair with a white ribbon in it and a lab coat, messing around with large equipment that seems to be scanning a petri dish.  Her back is turned to you, and she seems oblivious to you at the moment. She's some yards away. Another corridor seems to run along the wall that the door is set into, but you can't see it very well where you are. Obvious exits are North, East, West, and South.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>Move out of the doorway and into the corridor to your side. Quietly move out of sight of the woman, and then get a better look at the other corridor

[Hello Purvis]

>Move out of the doorway and into the corridor to your side. Quietly move out of sight of the woman, and then get a better look at the other corridor

>You head through and slip into the side corridor, trying to keep out of the researcher's line of sight.
>The side corridor, which runs east and west, goes along the edges of the labs, and ends in two doorways. One is labeled supplies, the other security.
>You note, now, that the general architecture is a lot more like that of the facility upstairs, rather than the stairway down here.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>Can we see if the labs along the corridor (at least the ones that are visible to the hallway through the glass panels) have people in them?
>If we can't see them all from this angle, send Stargazer ahead of us to scout them, so that we can see people before they see us
>Otherwise, move down the corridor towards the 'supplies' door, and examine the labs as we pass for anything obviously suspicious or of unusual interest

[Hello Purvis]

>Can we see if the labs along the corridor (at least the ones that are visible to the hallway through the glass panels) have people in them?
>If we can't see them all from this angle, send Stargazer ahead of us to scout them, so that we can see people before they see us
>Otherwise, move down the corridor towards the 'supplies' door, and examine the labs as we pass for anything obviously suspicious or of unusual interest

>You head down the eastern corridor. This brings you a bit closer to the researcher, but you don't think she's noticed you. You can see into the eastern lab pretty well from here, but not into the western one.
>Before you can send Stargazer off, the door to the security room opens, and a silver-haired woman in combat fatigues emerges, carrying a rifle.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>Does it look like she's seen us? And if she has, does she seem aware that we're intruders?
>Is there a nearby door we can duck into, to get out of the corridor?

[Hello Purvis]

>Does it look like she's seen us? And if she has, does she seem aware that we're intruders?
>Is there a nearby door we can duck into, to get out of the corridor?

>She has most certainly seen you. And she doesn't look pleased.
>There is a door into the Eastern Lab near you.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>Duck into the lab, so that at least you're not in the line of fire if she decides asking questions takes too much time
>Ask Stargazer if she sees the large object the woman is holding. When she moves to open the door, grab it!

[Hello Purvis]

>Duck into the lab, so that at least you're not in the line of fire if she decides asking questions takes too much time
>Ask Stargazer if she sees the large object the woman is holding. When she moves to open the door, grab it!

>You duck into the lab, as the woman shouts "Halt!"
>The researcher looks in your direction, clearly surprised.
>You think Stargazer understands what you want.
>"Hands in the air or I will shoot!" the guard says. "All of you!"

>_

[DracoOmega]

>Wait... was this the lab with the purple-haired researcher in it....? (If so, I really need to make better mental maps for this stuff)
>Put your hands in the air. May as well look disarming while disarming