Player Plot: The Mysidian Tower!

[jadethenecromancer]

Who: Everyone who signed up for the plot!
What: Jade is taking a team to explore the Mysidian Tower before it'd swallowed by the Calamity.
When: February 8th-12th
Where: The Mysidian Tower on the Continent of Ruin.
Warning: Everything that can be expected of surprise monster encounters. Beyond that, whatever people bring with them.

The Enterprise brings everyone involved to the tower on the afternoon of February 8th. Thankfully the early floors have already been cleared by previous explorers, making the initial entry easy and relatively safe. Once the Heroes start reaching the upper floors, however... Who knows?

All threads will be linked here for easy access:
OOC info post
Ground Floor - Campsite
Friendly Monster
Floors 30-39
Floors 40-49
Floors 50-59
Floors 60-69
Floors 70-79
Floors 80-89
Floors 90-99
Floors 100-101 will be open at a later date.

Comments

[zodiac_brave]

[Ramza responded to the call for 'fighters first' and climbed the stairs. He kept back from the hole in the floor, not fancying a short cut to the hard ground.]

Watch your step. [He called back to the others entering the room. He was not an expert in computers or machinery, so he inspected the canisters in the corner to make sure there was nothing threatening lurking inside.]

[thegreatninja]

[Yuffie ends up walking next to Ramza. She is technically in the fighter class though she's quicker to get out of the way that she is to tank anything that might be after them. She nods at Ramza's warning and begins to walk a little slower, though her steps are light.]

[ninjainviolet]

Jade might not wait for any protests, but that doesn't keep Sheena from saying something. "Thanks for answering my question," she mutters as she joins the rest of the fighters. "A simple 'I don't know' would have sufficed."

Entering the room, she bypasses everything to check out the viewing dock, her eyes and ears open to listen for anything outside that might enter--and that's when she sees the Calamity in the distance. Pulling out her crystal, she looks from it to the encroaching crystallization--a question forming as she does.

She approaches Sephiroth--crystal still in hand--to ask that question when she sees the machine in front of him. Following his gaze, she nods towards the slot.

"Any ideas what that's for?"

[confidentia]

[ Though logic would require focusing one's attention on the wide array of unknown machinery that might as well provide some sort of clue against their mountain of questions, it's something of an involuntary reaction for Ace to first head towards the deck after so many hours spent in dim light of the previous floors. Not just his, apparently, as many other Heroes are drawn to the unusual sight that almost could be considered beautiful if not for the origin of it, which would only keep on reminding them how little time they have.

He listens in to the discussions taking place behind his back, but doesn't turn his attention away from the landscape yet, sighing to himself. ]

[not_most_days]

[Dear Sonic, while Mary can't account for this within her own history there are some good arguments against messing with ancient tech without knowing what it will do from her home world. The 1755 Lisbon Earthquake for example.

Unaware of this massive future mistake on the part of the Assassins, Kidd continues to move with the group, keeping an eye on the button to make sure no one makes a lunge for it as they depart the room.

In a fairly obvious moment she's drawn to the observation deck first, going a bit closer to the edge than her present jobs are skilled at dealing with. She offers Sheena and Sephiroth a nod before looking out, taking in all of their surroundings. This is the highest view she's been able to get in this world from a structure and it brings back some memories of home. Mixing with the sight of the Calamity off in the distance she feels herself briefly overwhelmed but she keeps her footing.

She takes Sheena's leaving the overlook as her cue to do the same, following ]

Given what else we've seen in this tower I'd guess we're all thinking the same thing. The question is if it's worth the risk...

[She dislikes being so overly cautious, but there is a fine line between recklessness and bravery.]

[shinrasfinest]

I have some idea.

[Sephiroth flicks his eyes from the machine to Sheena and Kidd as they approach. Noting Sheena already having her crystal in hand it forces his thoughts inwards as yet again that protectiveness over his own raises its head. That same hesitation that had him waiting for Kidd to use her crystal to open a door in one of the lower floors where he'd simply taken an age to be able to summon up the courage to take a risk and do it himself.

Considering so much rested within their Crystals, not to mention it was fundamental in procuring the details he were using for his Custom Job development, it makes sense perhaps -- but is it also holding him back?

Briefly unzipping the top part of his military jacket where it's up right under his jaw, Sephiroth reaches inside and lifts his own crystal --it's deep blue, jagged shape with it's rounded edge that sits so well in his palm-- out of his pocket and extends it towards the empty slot. His grip tight and watchful for any reaction that might indicate that he needs to pull it back.]

It's always about the risk.

[A dry, somewhat bitter comment is muttered in response to Kidd. After all, the slot might well just use the energy to power the machine and that would be all. Problem is, they don't know.

Worst case scenario; he'd end up back in Aqures' hospital.]

[jadethenecromancer]

[The machine flickers to life when interacted with and produces a virtual map of Crystallis in the air, within the Heroes' reach. The slot Sephiroth is holding his crystal in lights up and after a few seconds Ancient text appears over the map: "Error: incompatible crystal detected." Thankfully, that's all it does -- nothing happens to his crystal at all.

The text is soon replaced with "Simulation data out of date. Updating data..." The map can be touched, but will not react until the update is finished.]

Hmm... Looks like it doesn't require our crystals to work. [Though, the slots are perfectly sized to hold crystals of some sort.

The containers Ramza is inspecting are mostly empty... Except for the last one. Inside, carefully packaged, he finds a Sapphire Crystal.]

[zodiac_brave]

[Ramza held up the Sapphire Crystal he'd just unearthed so the others could see it.]

Shall we give this one a try?

[He walked over to the machine, ready to try the crystal in the slot unless the other Heroes protested.]

[cantante]

... If you're willing to. [ Tear had released an almost audible sigh of relief when nothing negative came out of Sephiroth using his crystal, being one of the Heroes who had forgone stepping on the observation deck for the time being. ]

If it was found in this room, what other purpose could it have? [ Stepping closer to the machine, she couldn't help wondering if one would be enough given the number of slots. ]

[confidentia]

[ There were no protests from this side, at least. Having observed the commotion, Ace finally walked up closer to observe the result of Ramza's attempt more closely before resuming his own search. ]

Go ahead.

[ If people were ready to insert Crystals of their own, surely it would be acceptable to try out the seemingly safer options as well. ]

[wickedone]

[It was a good thing Sonic settled down, even if he did get a weird hedgehog pout. Albel was ready to threaten to stab him otherwise. No one was going to touch any important machinery that might make huge changes to the world, not without a plan.]

[Fiddling around with one's crystals in this big interactive map was suspicious, too, but it seemed slightly safer. That, and Albel wasn't going to fight Sephiroth right now.]

[He crossed his arms and watched Ramza, curious to see what the sapphire crystal would do and trying not to expect the worst.]

[jadethenecromancer]

[Jade holds up a hand, watching the machine intently.] Hold on just a moment.

[The machine has finished updating. A pale shape starts spreading from the Old Heran Island and then stops, perfectly matching where they know the Calamity to be right now. A prompt appears on the map: >Begin simulation]

Hmm...

[Jade reaches out to touch the words. On the map, the Calamity begins spreading, while a date starts ticking forward, showing them when the crystallization reaches each location. About one year from now, the entire planet is covered; then the simulation resets, once again displaying the Calamity's current position.]

I see. This must be how the Ancients kept a watch on the Calamity. [But in that case, what is the crystal for? There is something they're still missing.]

[soldierofloveandbeauty]

[Minako slowly edged her way, peeking over the others shoulder. That was pretty interesting to say the least.]

Must be. I mean they would of had to somehow, right? So it makes sense. But... does this help us in anyway?

[That was what she was trying to figure out.]

[ninjainviolet]

Her own crystal still in her hand, Sheena watches the display, her brows furrowing in confusion at the strange language and what looks like a countdown. But even she can tell it's only a prediction--and a frightening one at that.

At Jade's words, she stares from the machine to him, then back.

"Wait. You mean this machine is from the first time the Calamity came here? Has it been asleep all this time?"

You know, like in stasis?

[thegreatninja]

That's pretty neat.

[Yuffie stares at it curiously wondering if they can use it to track the Calamity. She looks over at Sheena and smiles.]

I find older stuff works better than newer stuff.

[It's just made when people don't want to cut corners.]

[shinrasfinest]

'Begin Simulation'

[He reads out the prompt for the others around watching who can't read Ancient. He's getting pretty quick at it now, having been all the way through the Tower.

As the simulation is reaching its end, Sephiroth is looking between the screen and the blue crystal that's been placed in the socket. While he's disturbed as anyone else about seeing how the Calamity will spread, he's very much 'on-job' and thinking objectively.]

No. This seems to have just re-calibrated itself, to show us a real-time simulation, based on the current status of the crystallization.

I wonder what is the difference between this crystal, and our own.

[His, after all, is also blue. That said, he knows that Ales has been experimenting with crystal energy...could just be one of those...]

I heard that monsters could be harvested for crystals. What is the connection?

[He's musing more to himself but it's open for others to comment. At the front of his mind is the applicable life-energy theories from his own world that could be applied here, but it's being chewed over still.]

[zodiac_brave]

[Ramza left the Sapphire Crystal in the slot on the machine.]

There are still more slots. Perhaps we should look around and see if there are any more crystals around.

[wickedone]

Yes, [Albel answered Sephiroth,] I've infused some of those crystals into weapons. In the Crystal Forest, too, there were even crystals growing on trees. They very well could be linked to life forces.

[He looked over his own thoughtfully, slowly turning purple. He hadn't even died, not once, but it still changed on its own. Little by little, steadily on.]

If it's updated the Calamity simulation, then it must have been used in a previous cycle. Perhaps it has been dormant since the last Heroes were here.

[And failed.]

[they_call_me_sonic]

[Processing... processing...]

Wait a sec, if that's true, then maybe it has stuff on the last cycle!

[He hopped off his perch and approached the machine]

Maybe we can get one step ahead of the storm here. For all we know, it's just playing the same path over and over again!

[not_most_days]

[Kidd's eyebrow goes up at the crystal that Ramza has found. She missed it when he located it, or else she wasn't present, but the fact that such a thing was laying around reminds her somewhat of the artifacts they saw in the Heran Research Facility. She fingers her own crystal as she thinks about that artifact she handed over to Palitutu and at the same time eyes the error message that popped up for Sephiroth's crystal. If the one Ramza has found doesn't work then she'll try her own. Perhaps it would react differently to one that has been drained of the Calamity.]

If it's going to tell us anything more I expect Ramza is on the right track. We should try to find more of those crystals.

[She moves to go search the room for any that may have wound up hidden, fallen under or behind other things in the chamber. She never turns her back on the machine though, keeping an eye on it just in case things take a turn.]

[shinrasfinest]

Hm.

[He's thinking alongside Albel now, apparently.]

And every cycle previous, by extension. Why else would it still be here considering Crystallis has been reset each time? It lends itself more and more towards Ancient origins.

[Unless...whomever put this here, during whichever past cycle, figured out a way to root it's presence into the very fabric of Crystallis when it -and arguably the rest of the Tower- was built.

In the meantime, Sephiroth stays by the machine but watches as others go looking for similar crystals to what Ramza found. There were other slots, after all.]

[jadethenecromancer]

[Unfortunately, there are no other crystals to be found in the room. Looks like the Sapphire Crystal was the only one left. Moreover, the Sapphire Crystal doesn't seem to be doing anything yet.

Well, time to experiment a bit. Jade reaches out again and picks a location at random, touching the spot where Esdham should be. The map reacts to his touch and a blue circle appears over the location. Tapping it again turns the circle green, then red, then makes it vanish again. Should any of the other Heroes touch the map, they'll find it reacts the same way to them.

Curiously enough, while circling a location in green or red gives no other prompts besides the initial "Begin simulation", circling one in blue presents an additional one -- "Activate barrier?"]

Activate barrier? I wonder if... [Jade trails off, glancing down at the Sapphire Crystal in its slot.]

[they_call_me_sonic]

[Yeah, Sonic sees the connection, too. He's not smart, but he knows when he sees two and two together...!]

Woah... time out there! I know I was acting hasty earlier, but that's just bad news right there! If I didn't know better, I'd say that this place was a major failed experiment. Who wants to bet this entire place was one big barrier system?

[zodiac_brave]

[Ramza studied the machine, frowning.]

Should we try it? It seems safer to activate a barrier than deactivate one.

[Who knew what the old barrier was keeping out, after all?]

[ninjainviolet]

[ Sheena shook her head and looked at Ramza. ]

And what if we can't deactivate it? Just because it gave us the option to do so doesn't mean we can. Besides, those barriers may be meant to keep things in, not out.

[ Then she turned to Sonic. ]

A failed experiment by the Ancients? Or something that became one when other Heroes came by and tried to use the information they had discovered.

But maybe someone can answer this question for me: If blue is a barrier on this thing, why are there two different colors that say "begin simulation"? Is one a good simulation and the other bad? Or is one what will happen and the other what might happen?

[ You know, green versus red? ]