epidemiology | EVENT ★ LABYRINTH III: THE ESCAPE

LABYRINTH III

The correct passageway to the inner ring of the maze is hidden behind a thick wall of vines. After cutting through the plants, the structure of the maze is noticeably different: the overgrown plants continue creeping up the walls, but the walls are no longer brick and stone, composed instead of some sort of blue metal with holes and divots carved elaborately into the surface. From some holes gush forth pure, clean water; from others, acidic liquid. The air is cool and crisp, the plants creating a lush, dim environment lit by eerie blue lights spread throughout this section.

The lizards, rats, and other monstrous creatures seem to be absent from this area of the maze, replaced instead by rhinoceros-sized beetles. The beetles each have a single horn protruding from the head, and their hard carapaces make them difficult to kill -- a better method might be to simply climb somewhere high and wait for the beetle to get bored. But unlike the other monsters encountered in the maze, the beetles seem to have something else on their mind beyond wanton violence: they can sometimes be found rolling massive balls of dung throughout the corridors of the labyrinth. (This might explain why the plants are so lush closer to the center.)

There is little time to explore this section of the labyrinth before there's a flicker of light all around and more ALASTAIR recruits suddenly appear, most dressed in a freshly pressed uniform and carrying extra food and supplies. They have been told that the cloaking surrounding Asterion Labyrinth is so strong and complex that Oska was only able to send in a handful of recruits at once for a relief effort.

In order to leave, they'll have to locate the escape mechanism that lies deep within the labyrinth; the remaining Asterion Prison correctional officers know its general location, but not precisely what it entails. All they know is that it will require technological cunning to operate and that it's heavily guarded.

After five days, the portal room is found.

THE PORTAL ROOM

The center of the labyrinth is a large, circular room with a raised platform in the middle. On this platform rests a circle of computer consoles surrounding another platform, on which sits an empty circular frame 2.5m (8') in diameter. This is the dormant portal, and it is now Audentes's task to turn it on and find their way back to Oska.

Because the portal is not made for interdimensional travel, it must be overclocked, which will cause it to burn out and explode once it is used. In order to override the safety protocols in place to prevent such dangerous tampering, the control panels must be unlocked -- and unfortunately, the locks are all complicated puzzles, ranging from the numerical to sliding pieces into place to complete a pattern. There are many of these puzzled scattered around the portal room, and once they are all unlocked, it's a simple matter of flipping the power override switches. Ignore the dangerous humming sound and the way the frame suddenly fills with violent purple energy. That's probably normal.

The new recruits have the correct coordinates to locate Oska, which has temporarily lowered its cloaking shield to allow Audentes to return. So there is a bit of a time crunch.

Adding more to the difficulty of the situation is the presence of a monster lumbering around the circular portal room. Six meters (20') high, the beast is best described as a minotaur, but perhaps not in the traditional sense: while it resembles a bipedal bull, it is an amalgamation of flesh and machine with its body covered in pistons and glowing lights. One of its hands is an enormous axe and it belches fire and acid. Despite its head resembling an herbivore, the piles of desiccated bones scattered throughout the portal room tell a different story.

Upon seeing the group, the minotaur charges. Mavahari, the Zymandis recruit, rushes to meet it with her sword drawn. Inmates and correctional officers do their best to fight it as well, but something becomes quickly apparent: it cannot be harmed by projectile weapons. The machinery of the beast keeps it protected from most attacks, though electricity will stun it and acid will corrode its metal. But in order to injure the minotaur, it must be stabbed between the metal plates where its vulnerable flesh remains.

During the battle, the minotaur fights viciously and without regard for its own safety. The first casualty comes early: the minotaur swings its axe toward Mavahari, who is pushed out of the way by George. The axe connects with him solidly, sending him flying into the wall with a shuddering impact. George lies there still, but there's no time to mourn. The beast continues its rampage.

Once the minotaur is defeated, you'll have to quickly decide what to do with the correctional officers and inmates who have followed Audentes through the Asterion Labyrinth. The overclocked portal won't hold forever, and the longer Oska leaves its cloak down, the better chance they have of being found by their enemies.

OOC NOTES

This log will last for six IC days: five days for exploration and one day at the center of the maze. We have also recently altered the calendar this month, so make sure you review it!

IMPORTANT: Participation in the solution poll is mandatory for August AC. Failure to participate will result in an automatic strike. The only exception is for those who are exempt from August AC. The poll will close on 11 August 23:59 UTC.

If you have any questions about the labyrinth that aren't answered here, please direct them to the Leramzen dossier.

Questions about the game in general should be directed to the FAQ and you may submit mission ideas or player plots at any time.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Working on it.

[Lesson one in dealing with fantastical nonsense, WM. If you can't punch it, shoot it, or set it on fire, you can always out think it. The resident metas are gearing up to try their luck, but he'd rather not have to rely on that. He dares ducking out of his cover to get another look at the arena. Considering.]

How are you with heights?

[This is mostly a rhetorical "are you in," kind of question. She's a sniper, after all.]

[Out thinking things is good, she can do that. It just normally took a back seat to being able to shoot things previously -- she doesn't bother to try and think about all the other possible fantastical nonsense they could potentially -- or had before she'd taken a one way ticked through the rift -- face. Some of them had to be able to be taken down by conventional means.

Science vs magic and all that.]

How high are we talking?

[Oh she's in, her attention shifting to the higher platforms and the walls nearest to them before swinging back to Jason.]

Well, lets see.

['atta girl. He directs her attention to an old and unstable-looking piece of the sculpted structure of the arena—maybe a story or two high, all the way across the room. —Just barely within the cyber-minotaur's reach. Just above an alcove where a puzzle-lock sits, unattended and unsolved.]

I'd say just about that high.

[He pulls his attention away from the battle to see if she gets his meaning. Cross the room and drop down to the locks without drawing attention, and maybe they can get themselves out of here without worrying about taking down the monsters at all.

That is, if she's up to the climb.]

[Her head tilts as she takes in what he directed her to look at, studying the integrity of it. She wonders, briefly, it could actually hold their combined weight -- or if she could cheat and grapple up without pulling some piece of it down on her head...

Widowmaker makes a thoughtful noise in her throat, a brow quirking when she notices the puzzle platform (their true target). It changes her plan slightly, and she looks down to check over her gauntlet a second after. If she was lucky her estimation of that height might be just within the cable's reach.]

I can do that.

[Her eyes flick to him when she feels him looking at her, the ghost of a smirk curling at the corner of her mouth. Hopefully it worked and they wouldn't have to worry about climbing, at least not the entire way if she was wrong --

But she wasn't often when it came to things like this.]

Let's go before that thing decides to take another crack at us.

[You don't have to tell him twice. Only a little bit ironically—]

Yes, ma'am.

[Luckily, grappling guns are something of a Bat-standard equip—that is, he'll be able to keep up. And, because he's a gentleman—]

Ladies first?

[The interrogative is there to give her an out, if she needs it. But he doubts she'll take it.]

[She takes a second to check the whereabouts of various people and the beast itself before she considers her next move, cocking her head in his direction to offer a proper amused look.]

How sweet.

[Then she moves, darting from behind their makeshift cover towards the platform he'd indicated. It only takes her a few seconds to reach it, casting half a glance behind her to make sure he's with her as she raises her arm, eyes cutting back to the pillar as she fires the grappling hook and pulls herself up.

It's just shy of the platform, but she's hardly complaining about the climb she cut off, starting on the remaining few inches.]

[Always respect a lady who can nail a bullseye from a few hundred yards away without breaking a sweat.

He's right behind her, if a few seconds delayed to give him time to fish for a grapple and judge her trajectory—and keep them from colliding midair. (Clearly, he's done this sort of thing before.) By the time he's got boots on the wall beside her to hoist himself up onto the ledge, the minotaur has charged past them to the other side of the room. ]

Whoof. That was close. Think I might have singed something.

[He's fine, he's just being dramatic. He leans over the edge of the platform to get the lay of the land. The puzzle-lock is there, almost surrounded by spattered pools of lava. Dropping down is about the only way anyone is getting down there at all.]

[She laughs faintly as she pulls herself up beside him, her hand shifting with the hiss of the cable line retracting back into the gauntlet. It's a small relief to have one less thing to be as worried about, her eyes flicking from the puzzle-lock over to where the minotaur had gotten off to, then back.

It's a dangerous drop if she'd ever seen one, her lips pursing at the idea of being nearby something so hot. She wouldn't fare well the longer they were down there, but she wasn't about to stay up here and do nothing. So she shifts a foot, head tilting as she judges just how to drop off the platform to not end up with an extremely unpleasant case of hot foot.]

If it's not one thing, it's another.

[Nevertheless, when she's sure of how she's situated she does drop down, hitting the platform in a crouch before straightening and making her way closer to the puzzle-lock.]

[You said it, WM. He's a little slower to follow this time—mostly because he doesn't want to draw attention to their little corner of the room. But once he's got boots on the ground beside her, he hooks his grapnel gun back to his belt and claps his hands together in front of him.]

Nice. Hope you like brain teasers.

[Just the one lock, but the puzzle is wide and twisting. He's actually pretty good at this kind of stuff—learning the ropes from Batman does tend to train one's problem-solving skills to a razor's edge. But it'll go faster if they put their heads together.]

Lets make this quick. It's getting a little hot for my tastes.

EVENT ★ LABYRINTH III: THE ESCAPE

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