[b][u]Part Two[/u][/b]
Everyone is standing around the table. Skye steps up before them and holds out a hand. From it appears a pale blue, glowing orb. It floats up above the table to illuminate a yellowed piece of paper in the center of its surface. It is a hand-drawn map of the laboratory, where Errol is expected to be found. Skye crosses her arms self-consciously. It is quite easy to see how nervous she is. Whether it is because of the situation at hand, or not being used to having a group watching her, or a bit of both, it is difficult to tell. Her eyes drop to her feet as she clears her throat and opens her mouth to speak.
“W-well, I just want to… you know, it’s really… I mean…”
She pauses to give a steady sigh. Then she rests her hands on the table, and lifts her gaze, a more confident air about her.
“I want to begin by saying thank you for being so willing to come here. Most of you offered to help before I could even ask, and none of you… none of you hesitated. I’m genuinely honored to know you. I don’t think I could have asked for a better company.
“Now, I’m pretty sure that everyone knows this, but just to clarify, the goal is to disarm Errol and capture him, not to kill him. I… have a better understanding of what to say, and I want to talk to him at least one last time. This is a map of the laboratory he and I drew out a long time ago.” She gestures to the paper in front of her. “I’m going to be honest, I don’t know exactly what to expect from him, or what kind of improvements he’s made to his Atoms. He has worked on his Atoms here…” she points to the room marked with question marks “…and that could be a place to start. But there’s still a possibility he’s somewhere else, so we will have to be on guard.” Her finger glides up to the largest room on the map with a circle in its center. “We have to be careful to avoid the… eh… really-big-core-that-could-explode-room. We have to be careful regardless, but the core in that room is what powers everything there, and as far as we know it’s never been turned off, so it’ll be unstable.
“Chiara has a tool that could help us disable the Atoms and leave Errol open.” She nods to the named one. “The rest of us will have to make sure she has the chance to use her Nanotech until we have the opportunity to get close. But other than that, we are basically flying by the seat of our pants.
“It’s a six mile walk up to the mountain, so there will be plenty of time to ask questions on the way if you have any. If everyone is ready, we should get moving as soon as possible.”
The archer tucks her helmet beneath her arm, hooks her bow over her shoulder, and waits for one last signal from each of her allies to show that they are prepared.
English
-
[spoiler]Haha, that's true. It is inhabited by humans, after all![/spoiler] "Phew..." He looks down at the atoms below, then around the vent. "Let's hope that's not the case. They could be far worse to escape in here. Now...this could be our way further into the compound."
-
[spoiler]Silly hoomans![/spoiler] “We’ll know if they’re nearby if we hear anymore rattling or humming, if there are any in here.” Skye also looks around. “You’re right. I don’t think it would be a good idea to go straight into the core room, since if Errol saw us we would be vulnerable. But maybe you can make it to one of the doors while I head back to the security office and finish opening up them up.”
-
Skye shifts to pull out her map of the lab. She unfolds the yellowed paper and analyzes it. “That would work. There’s also six people in our team—not including me—and six doors. Errol has practically trapped himself in the core room, and if there is one person at each door, we can have him surrounded.”
-
“I do. Give me a second, I’ll figure out where everyone is headed.” She reaches back once more to a radio attached to her belt and presses a button. After a moment, she points to five of the doors around the core on her map. “Everyone else is headed to these positions... that leaves the farthest door, on the other side of where Errol escaped us. Do you think you can find your way there through here to there?”
-
He looks around at the ventilation shafts around him as if it would reveal to him the way to get through. He nods slightly as he finishes the sweep. "Yes, I believe so. I'll get there as soon as I can, hopefully before you get the doors open. Then we take him on all sides." He begins to move, still crouched, towards an offshoot of the tunnel they were in. "I'll see you there, Skye. Godspeed."
-
“You too.” She begins to turn towards the path that would lead her to the security room before she stops. She grabs her radio along with the wireless earpiece, and offers it to Ring. “Wait, take my radio. I can find something to contact you with in the office. That way if something happens we can still communicate.”
-
"None so far. It's been pretty quiet so far, except for a few times where I heard noise beneath me. Probably our friends, or maybe atoms." As he talks into the radio he arrives at his position. With his free hand he holds his sword. "Alright, I'm in position."
-
With the go ahead, he pulls open one of the ventilation grates and drops down into the room below. He looks out around the area, scanning for any sign of trouble. "Errol sure knows his tech, sounds like. Something of a genius with these atoms."
-
[spoiler]^Location update![/spoiler] The area is quiet. There are many glass containers and vials in this room, but no sign of the Atoms. There is another hallway outside, and to the left is another door to the core room. “He took an immediate interest in this laboratory once we found it,” Skye replies after an audible sigh of frustration at her work. “It didn’t take him long to get a decent grasp of technology. But... I never expected him to create something like the Atoms. I guess it took him years to perfect their functionality.”
-
"He's very dedicated, and so are you obviously, to pursue him even when he would try to hurt you." He walks to the hallway and looks into the next corridor. As he does, he sees the "experiment" room down the way and raises an eyebrow. "Skye, do you know what this room down one of the central halls is?"
-
“I just... it’s even more than me. He could hurt more innocent people, and I can’t stand by and let him fall like that. Our father... he wouldn’t have wanted that.” She pauses for a somber moment. “You mean of those ‘large experiment rooms’ we so cleverly named? Sort of. Simply put, we assumed that they were used to test the tech that was larger in size and required more energy. Why?”
-
"Your father sounded like a good man. His teachings did good for you, they can save Errol, we just have to stop him first. Large experiment rooms...what if it houses something important for his devices? Perhaps a power source? How long do you have until the door is open, perhaps I can check there first.
-
A small and quiet chuckle can be heard from Skye before she speaks in a faintly trembling voice. “I-I wish you could have met him. Sometimes you remind me of him in good ways. I just need a couple more seconds before I get it open. Everyone is ready and in position. I don’t think there would be anything in there that we would know how to use that could affect the Atoms.”
-
“Aye, lets get this done lass. I got faith in us, even if I ain’t got the weapons as the others, nothing Stopps a stubborn dwarf.” *The dwarf tips his axe towards Skye in some sort of salute and begins to walk out the door.