Rachna watched as the bolt of energy...went right through the rip. Hmm...seems like a portal of some sort, she thought, jumping and magically propelling herself to one of the levitating bookcases to get closer to the static-filled crack in the net. But where to? And what's it doing here? The lack of response from Ellen as the conjurer navi landed on her new bookcase perch suggested that she had dozed off again. Though normally she would yell at her to wake her back up, at the moment it was one less thing keeping Rachna from doing what all sentient beings felt the uncontrollable urge to do with mysterious portals.
Throw random objects through it.
Is someone there?
Rachna held out her hand, above which a simple book materialized, unmarked and blank within. She grasped the conjured object in her outstretched hand, then wound up and threw it through the static-filled tear in the net.
Late Night Busting
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The book sails end-over-end through the air, pages and wind resistance combining to create the most awkward throwing arc Rachna has ever seen-- despite all this, however, the book still manages to collide with the 'tear'.
Darkness. Rachna is suddenly swimming in it, like a thick, viscous, pitch-black fluid that clings to her. The sensations of falling, standing, and floating counter each other in strange, disorienting ways as Rachna exists, something causing her robes to flutter madly around her. Perhaps she is falling after all?
With a short Kzzt, like someone had replaced a faulty fuse, light entered Rachna's world once more. This was not the place she had been before, however... Ahead of her lay a single path, composed of dimly-lit panels interspersed between ones that seemed to flicker in and out of being. Behind her there was nothing. A void in empty space.
Despite it being nearly pitch-black, Rachna can almost see something up ahead...
She is brought out of her reverie, however, by her battle routines coming online. She spins-- and notices that where the empty space had been behind her, the path now continued, complete with viruses.
--Enemies--
Metool: 40 (On a... missing panel?)
Bunny: 50 (On pathway)
Hardhead: 60
--Allies--
Rachna: 100
--Terrain--
18%: Pathway, leads backward (towards the viruses) and forward (away from them).
16%: Flickering Terrain (Effects unknown)
66%: Missing.
?: Unknown. Is there more terrain here that Rachna does not know about...?
Darkness. Rachna is suddenly swimming in it, like a thick, viscous, pitch-black fluid that clings to her. The sensations of falling, standing, and floating counter each other in strange, disorienting ways as Rachna exists, something causing her robes to flutter madly around her. Perhaps she is falling after all?
With a short Kzzt, like someone had replaced a faulty fuse, light entered Rachna's world once more. This was not the place she had been before, however... Ahead of her lay a single path, composed of dimly-lit panels interspersed between ones that seemed to flicker in and out of being. Behind her there was nothing. A void in empty space.
Despite it being nearly pitch-black, Rachna can almost see something up ahead...
She is brought out of her reverie, however, by her battle routines coming online. She spins-- and notices that where the empty space had been behind her, the path now continued, complete with viruses.
--Enemies--
Metool: 40 (On a... missing panel?)
Bunny: 50 (On pathway)
Hardhead: 60
--Allies--
Rachna: 100
--Terrain--
18%: Pathway, leads backward (towards the viruses) and forward (away from them).
16%: Flickering Terrain (Effects unknown)
66%: Missing.
?: Unknown. Is there more terrain here that Rachna does not know about...?
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"Wha...what is...?"
As soon as the book hit the tear, a wave of what could only be described as pure blackness surged forth from it, engulfing Rachna and everything else around her. It forced itself around her, wrapping tightly, clinging to her body, as though she was now swimming in a pool of mud, or ink. Muddy ink. She was falling...no, she was floating. Or...standing? The sensations clashed, each vying for control of her mind until Rachna removed one of her gloves and let go of it in front of her, to see what it would do.
The glove simply vanished into the black.
"Rachna? Rachna, can you hear me?"
There was no crash when she stopped, no sudden reversal of the sensation of movement, no painful collision with whatever stopped her. In its place, a simple spark, and the light returned. Well...most of it. Faint glows marked the panels of a single path, in between flickering panels that may not have existed at all. This wasn't the dormitory network's library. This...likely wasn't the dormitory network at all. The conjurer was filled with the need to look around, to find where she was, but something else drew her gaze instead. Something directly ahead, just barely out of clear sight. If she could only get closer....
bvweeeeeeeeeee
Something else was there.
"Rachna? RACHNA!"
Rachna spun on the spot, finding a mirror of the path ahead. Well, almost a mirror. Three viruses dotted the path...well, two dotted the path, and one was...off to the side? Over an empty void.
"Rachna, if you're still there, answer!"
"I'm here, I'm here," Rachna answered, somewhat unsure of herself. "I have no idea where 'here' is, though. I've got company though, and even I'm not stupid enough to go running off into the unknown with things chasing me."
"I told you you shouldn't have messed with that thing," Ellen groaned. "Anyway, chips coming your way. Try not to get yourself killed."
"Do I ever?" Rachna asked, downloading the first one and letting it materialize. A green cannon, twice the size of Rachna's head, formed in midair in front of the conjurer, at a perfect distance for her to grab it and point it at the metool. "Let's see what this does, then," she mused out loud, pulling the trigger and unleashing the massive shell in the metool's direction.
She knelt down as she activated the second, letting a dome-shaped amber shield materialize from a wire frame in front of her. She grasped the shield in one arm, angling it to hopefully protect from overhead shots as well as direct. More than that, however, she kept it so she could see the metool she had fired at, or at least the space where it had been standing.
___
1. Cannon - 40+Knockback - Metool
2. Guard1 - Reflect up to 60 - Angled slightly upward
3. Wait
As soon as the book hit the tear, a wave of what could only be described as pure blackness surged forth from it, engulfing Rachna and everything else around her. It forced itself around her, wrapping tightly, clinging to her body, as though she was now swimming in a pool of mud, or ink. Muddy ink. She was falling...no, she was floating. Or...standing? The sensations clashed, each vying for control of her mind until Rachna removed one of her gloves and let go of it in front of her, to see what it would do.
The glove simply vanished into the black.
"Rachna? Rachna, can you hear me?"
There was no crash when she stopped, no sudden reversal of the sensation of movement, no painful collision with whatever stopped her. In its place, a simple spark, and the light returned. Well...most of it. Faint glows marked the panels of a single path, in between flickering panels that may not have existed at all. This wasn't the dormitory network's library. This...likely wasn't the dormitory network at all. The conjurer was filled with the need to look around, to find where she was, but something else drew her gaze instead. Something directly ahead, just barely out of clear sight. If she could only get closer....
bvweeeeeeeeeee
Something else was there.
"Rachna? RACHNA!"
Rachna spun on the spot, finding a mirror of the path ahead. Well, almost a mirror. Three viruses dotted the path...well, two dotted the path, and one was...off to the side? Over an empty void.
"Rachna, if you're still there, answer!"
"I'm here, I'm here," Rachna answered, somewhat unsure of herself. "I have no idea where 'here' is, though. I've got company though, and even I'm not stupid enough to go running off into the unknown with things chasing me."
"I told you you shouldn't have messed with that thing," Ellen groaned. "Anyway, chips coming your way. Try not to get yourself killed."
"Do I ever?" Rachna asked, downloading the first one and letting it materialize. A green cannon, twice the size of Rachna's head, formed in midair in front of the conjurer, at a perfect distance for her to grab it and point it at the metool. "Let's see what this does, then," she mused out loud, pulling the trigger and unleashing the massive shell in the metool's direction.
She knelt down as she activated the second, letting a dome-shaped amber shield materialize from a wire frame in front of her. She grasped the shield in one arm, angling it to hopefully protect from overhead shots as well as direct. More than that, however, she kept it so she could see the metool she had fired at, or at least the space where it had been standing.
___
1. Cannon - 40+Knockback - Metool
2. Guard1 - Reflect up to 60 - Angled slightly upward
3. Wait
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Rachna takes a shot at the Metool; the brilliant projectile is illuminated like a supernova compared to the darkness around her, and a bright sphere of light surrounds it as it travels towards the Metool. The Metool itself, rather than do something intelligent like duck, instead attempts to fire a shockwave back at Rachna. The wave travels a few feet ahead, into the blackness, then disappears abruptly as the Cannon shot hits the Metool, deleting it in an explosion of light and sound that seems to daze the other viruses for just a moment.
Rachna spots something out of the corner of her right eye after the flash, and her head whirls to track it. It disappears just as she locks her view onto it, revealing a flickering panel. She spots it again, this time off to the left, and it again eludes her vision.. with another flickering panel being left where it stood. She hears something behind her, finally, and instinctively brings the shield down to protect her back--
--just in time to block the Shockwave that had disappeared before. Rachna's Guard shatters from the impact, causing the shards to coagulate into a shot that fires down the empty part of the pathway, towards whatever Rachna had seen far off in the distance. She spots a light in front of her, and her snappy instincts are unfortunately just a split-second short in dodging the Zapring sent her way. The electrified projectile lights her up like a christmas tree as the current runs through her, and she is nearly blinded by how bright it is. (20)
Something is clearly off here...
The HardHead takes a shot at her and misses, the projectile headed towards what appeared to be a 'missing' space off to the side. Instead of the cannonball simply passing through empty space, however, it strikes the 'ground' and leaves a flickering panel in its' wake.
--Enemies--
Metool: DELETED
Bunny: 50 (On pathway)
Hardhead: 60 (Also on pathway)
--Allies--
Rachna: 80
--Terrain--
18%: Pathway, leads backward (towards the viruses) and forward (away from them).
20%: Flickering Terrain (Effects unknown) (Interspersed in various places on and off the 'pathway'.
62%: Missing.
?: Unknown. Is there more terrain here that Rachna does not know about...?
Rachna spots something out of the corner of her right eye after the flash, and her head whirls to track it. It disappears just as she locks her view onto it, revealing a flickering panel. She spots it again, this time off to the left, and it again eludes her vision.. with another flickering panel being left where it stood. She hears something behind her, finally, and instinctively brings the shield down to protect her back--
--just in time to block the Shockwave that had disappeared before. Rachna's Guard shatters from the impact, causing the shards to coagulate into a shot that fires down the empty part of the pathway, towards whatever Rachna had seen far off in the distance. She spots a light in front of her, and her snappy instincts are unfortunately just a split-second short in dodging the Zapring sent her way. The electrified projectile lights her up like a christmas tree as the current runs through her, and she is nearly blinded by how bright it is. (20)
Something is clearly off here...
The HardHead takes a shot at her and misses, the projectile headed towards what appeared to be a 'missing' space off to the side. Instead of the cannonball simply passing through empty space, however, it strikes the 'ground' and leaves a flickering panel in its' wake.
--Enemies--
Metool: DELETED
Bunny: 50 (On pathway)
Hardhead: 60 (Also on pathway)
--Allies--
Rachna: 80
--Terrain--
18%: Pathway, leads backward (towards the viruses) and forward (away from them).
20%: Flickering Terrain (Effects unknown) (Interspersed in various places on and off the 'pathway'.
62%: Missing.
?: Unknown. Is there more terrain here that Rachna does not know about...?
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That's...there is... There was no way that shockwave should have come anywhere near Rachna, much less destroyed her shield. There was something off about this entire area. Something she couldn't see. It was as if parts of the abyss on either side of the path weren't actually there, or perhaps all of it, and instead the darkness was solid ground. She wanted to test it out, at the same time didn't think too much of the consequences if it really was a bottomless pit on either side.
Not to mention there were still two things trying to kill her.
"Ellen, help me out here. I have two things I need dead before I can look around some more," she said. In response, the half-asleep operator simply jammed the remaining chips she had into the PET and hoped for the best. Rachna shrugged. "That'll do."
She held out her hands, and at her command a shotgun materialized between them. Taking it and loading a shell into the chamber, she aimed at the virus that had just electrified her. "Pull," she whispered, though there was no reason behind it with the target already in front of her. She squeezed the trigger, and fired the shell at the bunny.
"Now...you..."
The shotgun dissolved as Rachna turned to face the HardHead. "Actually...I think I'll hold on to these for the moment." Instead of conjuring another weapon for the armored cannon virus, she gathered magical energy in her hands, and unleashed it in a sideways blast at the remaining enemy, hoping to knock it off the path. Taking her staff in hand again, she used some of the residual energy from the blast to conjure a mirror image of herself, appearing directly in front of her and then stepping away. The decoy immediately stepped toward the edge of the pathway, hopefully both distracting the HardHead if it didn't fall and further testing the theory that there was something beyond the path.
Meanwhile, the real Rachna turned around to try and figure out what she had seen before the viruses had shown up.
___
1. Shotgun Bunny: 50+Spread1
*Gust: Attempt to knock HardHead off the path
2. Copy: Create decoy to distract HardHead and test edge of path
3. Attempt to find "whatever Rachna had seen"
Not to mention there were still two things trying to kill her.
"Ellen, help me out here. I have two things I need dead before I can look around some more," she said. In response, the half-asleep operator simply jammed the remaining chips she had into the PET and hoped for the best. Rachna shrugged. "That'll do."
She held out her hands, and at her command a shotgun materialized between them. Taking it and loading a shell into the chamber, she aimed at the virus that had just electrified her. "Pull," she whispered, though there was no reason behind it with the target already in front of her. She squeezed the trigger, and fired the shell at the bunny.
"Now...you..."
The shotgun dissolved as Rachna turned to face the HardHead. "Actually...I think I'll hold on to these for the moment." Instead of conjuring another weapon for the armored cannon virus, she gathered magical energy in her hands, and unleashed it in a sideways blast at the remaining enemy, hoping to knock it off the path. Taking her staff in hand again, she used some of the residual energy from the blast to conjure a mirror image of herself, appearing directly in front of her and then stepping away. The decoy immediately stepped toward the edge of the pathway, hopefully both distracting the HardHead if it didn't fall and further testing the theory that there was something beyond the path.
Meanwhile, the real Rachna turned around to try and figure out what she had seen before the viruses had shown up.
___
1. Shotgun Bunny: 50+Spread1
*Gust: Attempt to knock HardHead off the path
2. Copy: Create decoy to distract HardHead and test edge of path
3. Attempt to find "whatever Rachna had seen"
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Rachna's shotgun blast passes over one of the flickering panels on the pathway-- and disappears. The Bunny hurls a Zapring at her, seizing on opportunity, but Rachna swiftly ducks under the electrified projectile. The shotgun blast returns as she pulls herself upright, appearing out of nowhere to blast straight into the Bunny, deleting it.
stop it
Rachna then blows the Hardhead off of the edge of the pathway. It drops into the abyss, like she probably expected-- but leaves behind a strange double-image where it fell. The readout still chalks it up as dead, however, so it should be fine.
turn back
Rachna's clone attempts to walk off the pathway and simply disappears entirely.
--Enemies--
Metool: DELETED
Bunny: DELETED
Hardhead: Blown off pathway! (No rewards due to lack of corpse to loot)
why won't you turn back
--Allies--
Rachna: 80
Rewards: Glitchy datacube (??), 220z
stop it
Rachna then blows the Hardhead off of the edge of the pathway. It drops into the abyss, like she probably expected-- but leaves behind a strange double-image where it fell. The readout still chalks it up as dead, however, so it should be fine.
turn back
Rachna's clone attempts to walk off the pathway and simply disappears entirely.
--Enemies--
Metool: DELETED
Bunny: DELETED
Hardhead: Blown off pathway! (No rewards due to lack of corpse to loot)
why won't you turn back
--Allies--
Rachna: 80
Rewards: Glitchy datacube (??), 220z
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"Well that's...strange," Rachna mused. For all the evidence so far that there was something beyond the edges of the path, when she tried to test it out herself, there was nothing. The artillery virus had fallen into the abyss when she had blown it off, double image or not, and her own decoy, too, had disappeared.
Wait...disappeared...
First checking to ensure that there were no more viruses around, Rachna reached out with her magic, searching the darkness for her copy. Whether it was visible or not, if it was still there she could still control it. She tried doing so, directing it toward where she had seen the metool before blowing it apart. If it was still out there, then presumably it would reappear when it reached that spot.
Wait...disappeared...
First checking to ensure that there were no more viruses around, Rachna reached out with her magic, searching the darkness for her copy. Whether it was visible or not, if it was still there she could still control it. She tried doing so, directing it toward where she had seen the metool before blowing it apart. If it was still out there, then presumably it would reappear when it reached that spot.
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The double-image reappears, as expected-- but there's a large chunk of it missing. A crater-like hole has been blown clear through the side of the torso, and one of its' legs is simply gone from the hip down. The thing turns to face Rachna, leering at her with eyes that glow a creepy, self-aware red, and then collapses and dies.
stop stop stop stop stop stop STOP
The flecks of data that the double leaves behind scatter throughout the air after its' demise, then shoot through the air, possessed, and strike certain points in the darkness. A path of red lights forms where they struck, leading off to... somewhere else.
stop stop stop stop stop stop STOP
The flecks of data that the double leaves behind scatter throughout the air after its' demise, then shoot through the air, possessed, and strike certain points in the darkness. A path of red lights forms where they struck, leading off to... somewhere else.
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Rachna's eyes widened at the reappearance of her decoy, now heavily damaged and distorted by...something. She winced as it turned towards her on its own, glaring at her with glowing red eyes that had been neither glowing nor red before, then collapsed. Its data scattered, lighting up a trail in red through the darkness.
"Not going that way," the conjurer muttered, turning away from the red lights. She liked being in one piece, which her decoy seemed to suggest would not remain the case if she went that way.
Looking back down her original path, she pressed forward toward her original goal, leaving the red trail behind.
"Not going that way," the conjurer muttered, turning away from the red lights. She liked being in one piece, which her decoy seemed to suggest would not remain the case if she went that way.
Looking back down her original path, she pressed forward toward her original goal, leaving the red trail behind.
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Rachna continues down the path, avoiding the flickering panels, and walks off into the distance. As she continues down the path, she notices the atmosphere-- which, of course, meant the wallpaper-- getting lighter. The pitch black, image-less look that the area had before was proven to be very false as Rachna continued, and through the darkened haze she could make out the darkened image of a book-covered wallpaper. Had she wandered into the university's library network?
no, stop!
Regardless, Rachna's thoughts were interrupted by her coming across a large, rounded platform at the end of the path. While the platform itself appeared to be stable, unlike the path she was treading on, its' edges were glitched, disjointed masses of pixellated textures and bent polygons, twitching and cracking in strange, almost undulating patterns.
LEAVE ME ALONE!
Atop the platform itself sat a set of three control consoles, one red, one green, and one blue, and a Mr. Prog, himself appearing damaged. The Mr. Prog did not move, nor twitch, nor show any signs of life, and its' two 'eyes', normally a bright, almost glowing white, were pitch black.
go away go away go away go away go away
As Rachna looked over the platform more, she noticed a note stuck to the center (green) control console...
no, stop!
Regardless, Rachna's thoughts were interrupted by her coming across a large, rounded platform at the end of the path. While the platform itself appeared to be stable, unlike the path she was treading on, its' edges were glitched, disjointed masses of pixellated textures and bent polygons, twitching and cracking in strange, almost undulating patterns.
LEAVE ME ALONE!
Atop the platform itself sat a set of three control consoles, one red, one green, and one blue, and a Mr. Prog, himself appearing damaged. The Mr. Prog did not move, nor twitch, nor show any signs of life, and its' two 'eyes', normally a bright, almost glowing white, were pitch black.
go away go away go away go away go away
As Rachna looked over the platform more, she noticed a note stuck to the center (green) control console...
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So it wasn't just blackness in here. Rachna looked around as the wallpaper theme lightened and began to show detail again, barely visible through the darkness but still obviously there. She wondered, if that was the case, was there something wrong with the area she had just left that had caused it to appear endlessly black?
Wait, stupid question. Of course there wa-hello, what's this?
The path ended in a rounded platform, somewhat more stable than the path she had been walking. The edges still appeared to be falling apart, or worse, but the middle was stable and took up much more space than the glitched circumference. She stepped onto the platform, approaching the Mr. Prog. She knelt down, examining it.
"I think it's inactive," Ellen suggested.
"Oh, you are still there," Rachna said, standing up again. "Yeah, you may be right. Very least, nothing I see that I can do for it. Now these things on the other hand," she turned toward the control consoles, "Look like they have a lot of buttons for me to test out."
She walked up to the center console, noticing the note stuck to it. "And what have we..."
Wait, stupid question. Of course there wa-hello, what's this?
The path ended in a rounded platform, somewhat more stable than the path she had been walking. The edges still appeared to be falling apart, or worse, but the middle was stable and took up much more space than the glitched circumference. She stepped onto the platform, approaching the Mr. Prog. She knelt down, examining it.
"I think it's inactive," Ellen suggested.
"Oh, you are still there," Rachna said, standing up again. "Yeah, you may be right. Very least, nothing I see that I can do for it. Now these things on the other hand," she turned toward the control consoles, "Look like they have a lot of buttons for me to test out."
She walked up to the center console, noticing the note stuck to it. "And what have we..."
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It's only when Rachna picks up the note that she notices it is several pages stapled together, with the top page stapled separately to that.
'BLUE CONSOLE DECOMMISSIONED DUE TO SECURITY CONCERNS; IF THIS IS AN INCONVENIENCE, PLEASE FEEL FREE TO BLAME ADMINISTRATOR MARK SCHNEIDER FOR ABUSING THE SYSTEM FLUSH CONTROLS.' The first page of the stack contains that simple message. After reading it, Rachna turns the page and continues to read.
'To whom it may concern: This is an archaic manual repair system for the network that, should the administrators keep things up as their jobs require, will not have to be used. In the case of human error or other inevitable, possibly-catastrophic failure on the parts of those simpletons, however, these three control consoles have been left here.
Accessing a console will, should a subsystem be damaged, charge up the Mr. Prog in front of you, allowing you to guide it through a specific part of the network to engage in repairs. The correlation between console and subsystem is as follows:
The RED console will allow you to dictate the repairs and use of the Panel Subsystems of the network.
The GREEN console will allow you to dictate the repairs and use of the Network Lighting and Environment control subsystems.
The BLUE console will, once its' subsystem connection is repaired, allow you to flush the network system of all foreign or uncatalogued processes and files, with anything listed prior to the last backup being left behind.
The subsystems are connected to the consoles on the platform you are standing on, dear sir or madam, and are connected to that platform via the panel grid. Upon activating one of the consoles, you will find that the terrain surrounding this platform will shift, attempting to connect with the respective subsystem. Should the connection be unsuccessful, the Mr. Prog will charge up and be loaded with three (3) Connector panels. Please note that in order to place the panels, the Mr. Prog has to manually suspend them in the air via levitation effects. If it should have to leave the area (IE: In order to acquire more panels) without the subsystem being repaired, you will have to either hold the panels up via some other method or allow them to careen into the abyss.
Please also note that due to their nature, dropping a Connector panel on top of an already active panel will have... unpleasant results, and refrain from ordering the Mr. Prog to do so.
Please ALSO note that while the panel connections need to be direct, the Mr. Prog is more than capable of crossing diagonal gaps, if not panel-wide ones.'
With that small warning, thenote stack of papers reaches its' end. Rachna (should) hang(s) the note back up on the side of the green console.
'BLUE CONSOLE DECOMMISSIONED DUE TO SECURITY CONCERNS; IF THIS IS AN INCONVENIENCE, PLEASE FEEL FREE TO BLAME ADMINISTRATOR MARK SCHNEIDER FOR ABUSING THE SYSTEM FLUSH CONTROLS.' The first page of the stack contains that simple message. After reading it, Rachna turns the page and continues to read.
'To whom it may concern: This is an archaic manual repair system for the network that, should the administrators keep things up as their jobs require, will not have to be used. In the case of human error or other inevitable, possibly-catastrophic failure on the parts of those simpletons, however, these three control consoles have been left here.
Accessing a console will, should a subsystem be damaged, charge up the Mr. Prog in front of you, allowing you to guide it through a specific part of the network to engage in repairs. The correlation between console and subsystem is as follows:
The RED console will allow you to dictate the repairs and use of the Panel Subsystems of the network.
The GREEN console will allow you to dictate the repairs and use of the Network Lighting and Environment control subsystems.
The BLUE console will, once its' subsystem connection is repaired, allow you to flush the network system of all foreign or uncatalogued processes and files, with anything listed prior to the last backup being left behind.
The subsystems are connected to the consoles on the platform you are standing on, dear sir or madam, and are connected to that platform via the panel grid. Upon activating one of the consoles, you will find that the terrain surrounding this platform will shift, attempting to connect with the respective subsystem. Should the connection be unsuccessful, the Mr. Prog will charge up and be loaded with three (3) Connector panels. Please note that in order to place the panels, the Mr. Prog has to manually suspend them in the air via levitation effects. If it should have to leave the area (IE: In order to acquire more panels) without the subsystem being repaired, you will have to either hold the panels up via some other method or allow them to careen into the abyss.
Please also note that due to their nature, dropping a Connector panel on top of an already active panel will have... unpleasant results, and refrain from ordering the Mr. Prog to do so.
Please ALSO note that while the panel connections need to be direct, the Mr. Prog is more than capable of crossing diagonal gaps, if not panel-wide ones.'
With that small warning, the
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The first thing to catch both Rachna's and Ellen's attention about the note was the notice stapled to the front, regarding an administrator who had been abusing the controls. Rachna simply rolled her eyes and flipped to the next page, but Ellen decided to comment. "And that's one of the guys in charge of the network of the school I am paying to go to. Wonderful..."
"You get one of those anywhere you go," Rachna commented in between reading the instructions for the consoles. "You go somewhere else, you might get one where they didn't knock out the console that's being abused. Then I might get forced out of the network for no reason. You'd just be pushing me along, trying to get some research paper done at the last minute like usual, and then-"
"Alright, I get it," Ellen interrupted. "So what's the story with the consoles?"
"Manual repair system. And the Mr. Prog over there apparently has to be powered up and forced to work or else it just sits there like that. Kinda like you."
Rachna could hear a frustrated grumble from Ellen's end, followed by a "Shut up." She simply laughed, hanging the note back on the side of the console and turning back toward the red and green ones. Obviously, the administrators had not been keeping things up as their jobs required, or else they were asleep and something had been damaged in the blackout that whatever repair navis had been around earlier had missed. Which meant that dealing with the repairs fell to her, who had found and was standing at the controls for this manual repair system.
"Hm, told you there'd be something to find in here," she said under her breath, deciding on the red console first and activating it.
"You get one of those anywhere you go," Rachna commented in between reading the instructions for the consoles. "You go somewhere else, you might get one where they didn't knock out the console that's being abused. Then I might get forced out of the network for no reason. You'd just be pushing me along, trying to get some research paper done at the last minute like usual, and then-"
"Alright, I get it," Ellen interrupted. "So what's the story with the consoles?"
"Manual repair system. And the Mr. Prog over there apparently has to be powered up and forced to work or else it just sits there like that. Kinda like you."
Rachna could hear a frustrated grumble from Ellen's end, followed by a "Shut up." She simply laughed, hanging the note back on the side of the console and turning back toward the red and green ones. Obviously, the administrators had not been keeping things up as their jobs required, or else they were asleep and something had been damaged in the blackout that whatever repair navis had been around earlier had missed. Which meant that dealing with the repairs fell to her, who had found and was standing at the controls for this manual repair system.
"Hm, told you there'd be something to find in here," she said under her breath, deciding on the red console first and activating it.
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The platform makes a horrible grinding noise as it shifts suddenly, sliding across the netscape... It continues like this for a while, eventually arriving at a long pathway. The platform slides into place next to the pathway, locking onto it, and the panels connected to the platform light up in a quick sequence, shooting off into the distance...
...before suddenly going dark. An error pops up on the console.
The Mr. Prog in front of the control consoles lights up, a stack of three panels appearing on its' back, and then shoots off down the pathway. There's a long pause as, at least for a while, nothing happens. This changes when the screen shifts to display an overhead of the Problem area, and a command prompt and keyboard appear at the bottom of it.
>__________
...before suddenly going dark. An error pops up on the console.
Subsystem Link Failed: Panel grid damaged.
Deploying Mr. Prog...
The Mr. Prog in front of the control consoles lights up, a stack of three panels appearing on its' back, and then shoots off down the pathway. There's a long pause as, at least for a while, nothing happens. This changes when the screen shifts to display an overhead of the Problem area, and a command prompt and keyboard appear at the bottom of it.
>__________
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"That has to be the most unpleasant sound I have ever heard," Ellen said after the platform finished moving. "What just happened?"
"Nothing. We just moved a bit," Rachna answered, not looking up from the console. From the corner of her eye, she saw the panels light up in a wave into the distance, and then all fall silent as an error popped up.
"Well of course it's damaged," she said. Why else would she be here? To press a button and call it a day? No, no, that would be too easy. If one stumbles on a manual repair system and something it's connected to isn't working, of course they're going to have to use it.
Once the map, keyboard, and command prompt came up, Rachna tested a few movement commands to ensure that the Mr. Prog would move as it should, then almost immediately came on a broken path. Rachna consulted the instruction manual again, noting briefly that the Prog could cross diagonal gaps. But the connection between panels would have to be direct, so she couldn't just shortcut across them and call it a day. "So I'll need to drop one here and...wait, what are those?"
"What are what?"
"There's a couple of blinking...things on here. I can't tell what they are, but I think I can get the prog to them."
Rachna heard her netop's familiar tired grumble, followed by "Are they important? Focus, Rachna. Focus!" She ignored it, directing the Prog diagonally across the gap and down the path toward the first of the unknown signals, just above the center of the displayed map. Once there, Rachna typed in one more command.
> RETRIEVE ANOMALY
"Nothing. We just moved a bit," Rachna answered, not looking up from the console. From the corner of her eye, she saw the panels light up in a wave into the distance, and then all fall silent as an error popped up.
"Well of course it's damaged," she said. Why else would she be here? To press a button and call it a day? No, no, that would be too easy. If one stumbles on a manual repair system and something it's connected to isn't working, of course they're going to have to use it.
Once the map, keyboard, and command prompt came up, Rachna tested a few movement commands to ensure that the Mr. Prog would move as it should, then almost immediately came on a broken path. Rachna consulted the instruction manual again, noting briefly that the Prog could cross diagonal gaps. But the connection between panels would have to be direct, so she couldn't just shortcut across them and call it a day. "So I'll need to drop one here and...wait, what are those?"
"What are what?"
"There's a couple of blinking...things on here. I can't tell what they are, but I think I can get the prog to them."
Rachna heard her netop's familiar tired grumble, followed by "Are they important? Focus, Rachna. Focus!" She ignored it, directing the Prog diagonally across the gap and down the path toward the first of the unknown signals, just above the center of the displayed map. Once there, Rachna typed in one more command.
> RETRIEVE ANOMALY
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A message flashes on the screen in response.
Anomalous object retrieved!
Please input additional commands:
>_____________
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"Well, that was...remarkably unhelpful," Rachna commented, staring at the message on the screen. She wondered briefly why it hadn't tried to do anything else, such as identify it, or return with it, then decided that that must be what the 'additional commands' meant. She typed in two more commands, first >PICK UP ANOMALOUS OBJECT, then >RETURN WITH ANOMALOUS OBJECT.
"What, you're bringing it back here?!" Ellen asked.
"Well if this thing's not doing anything to identify it..."
"What, you're bringing it back here?!" Ellen asked.
"Well if this thing's not doing anything to identify it..."
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A few moments pass uneventfully, then the Mr. Prog comes whizzing back down the pathway. On its' head is-
...A mystery data...?
Well, it -looks- like a mystery data anyway! Its' model is glitched, however, with bits and chunks of it colored differently or fragmented. It's hard to tell if it will even open at all, much less what color it is.
____ Mystery Data: 5
...A mystery data...?
Well, it -looks- like a mystery data anyway! Its' model is glitched, however, with bits and chunks of it colored differently or fragmented. It's hard to tell if it will even open at all, much less what color it is.
____ Mystery Data: 5
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Rachna watched the Mr. Prog approach, carrying what appeared to be a mystery data with a gltched outer shell. She approached the delivery carefully, hesitant to take it. "See, Ellen, a BugFix program would probably solve this. Why don't you spring for one?"
"What, at almost three in the morning? Besides, I'm a college student. I'm poor. You know that."
Right, of course, her excuse for anything. Shrugging, Rachna took the data and attempted to open it. She never got anywhere by being overly cautious anyway...certainly not down here.
"What, at almost three in the morning? Besides, I'm a college student. I'm poor. You know that."
Right, of course, her excuse for anything. Shrugging, Rachna took the data and attempted to open it. She never got anywhere by being overly cautious anyway...certainly not down here.