Onward: Orange

[voidtreckermods]

On the second night those still on the train may be woken by rough seas, the train lurching and rolling in the waves.

If they manage to sleep through the choppy waters they might instead be woken by the voice over the ICPs. "Orange team to doors. Orange team to doors."

Those that head the instruction and exit out of the luggage carriage or dressing room doors will be met with a strange sight.

The sea is glowing. Or at least part of the sea. Underneath them, from where Bui lies there is a light that shines upwards through the dark water, rippling over the water, breaking into specks of light in the waves.

It seems it is time for another investigation.

Night Dive

The water is even colder at night, the water eerie as they make the dive down to the city. The whole city is lit up, light reflecting off shells and coral.

The light seems to be coming from the far palace. Outside the palace there is a sigil, in the shape of a shell, glowing brightly. It had not been there before, nothing to suggest there had been anything special about that patch of ground. Yet it glows now.

Crabs

The city of Bui, until now, has been peaceful, eerily empty even. But as they investigate they will find a different problem. Some of the giant crabs have found their way to the city. Not overwhelming numbers, but enough to be a problem, especially as their aim seems to be attacking the sleeping citizens.

On the Train

For those who remain on the train dawn brings it's own problems. Dawn breaks into darkness, the sun barely penetrating. Shadows are deep and the temperature cooler. It is not too dark to see, more like an endless twilight.

The seas remain rough and choppy, like a storm is brewing.

Comments

[adropofsunlight]

Rapunzel simply nodded, if she had to she would make sure to keep back, but at the same time she didn't want to feel completely useless. it's why she had a frying pan on her.

It worked on Flynn why couldn't it work on anything else?

"Shells that shimmer like the scales of merfolk? Do you think it's actually their scales or that the shells have a connection to them?"

[unfavorableinstigation]

/Which begs the question - is this a pre-set SOS, something the natives of Bui made, or was it put here by something else?/

Something, not someone. It was just as likely, but Nita didn't like thinking in those terms just now.

Nita sent some of her own whalesong at the shell-of-shells, waiting for a more detailed echo to come back. Maybe there was something underneath, that it was attached to?

[so_dark_a_road]

"The shape is that of a nautilus shell," says Curufin, looking closely and shining his own SCA light on the artifact. "But that is interesting, that it is made out of smaller shells. The light seems to be coming from the center of the nautilus, but what is the source of the light? Is it magical or electrical? And as Nita says, is this an SOS? Did some mer-person manage to wake up and switch it on?"

[internetsexsymbol]

"Would electrical lights even work underwater?" Reigen squints at the pattern with some scrutiny, as if staring at it hard enough will give him the answer. " ...what do you think would happen if we mess with the pattern? Would it turn off, or is it only the center that matters?"

Speaking of which, Reigen's going to try and shine some more light on that center seashell. Assuming it's a seashell.

[voidtreckermods]

It is a sea shell, a conus imperialis to be exact. Still half buried the light seems to be shining through it and out onto the other shells.

The echos Nita is sending out return strange, something is strange with the ocean bed, the echo of rumbles and movement.

[unfavorableinstigation]

/Uh, guys?/ Nita cuts in quickly.

/I don't think we want to be close to that spot in a minute... feels like a seaquake!/

That doesn't mean people aren't going to poke it anyway, but at least they're warned?

/Swim up!/

[blue_ice]

"Another one?"

Kaiba shakes his head, staying put. "Someone should see this. If it gets bad, we still have the SCAs."

[so_dark_a_road]

"There was a disturbance just before this light began to show at the surface. We all felt it. The sea began to rock, causing the platform to rock, of course. I wonder if that one was caused by a quake in the ocean bed, specifically a quake originating from this very spot, this very artifact?" He'd be scratching his head in puzzlement, if it weren't for the fact that his helmet is in the way.

Curufin is a bit less worried than he ought to be. NIta wants to leave, Kaiba wants to stay, and Curufin is not decided about that. He really wants to solve this mystery, though.

He moves closer to the shell and reaches out to touch it. Of course, his arcane senses are so muted that he doesn't receive any information back, but he's still a smith. He has a sense of what materials a thing is made of, and he's trying to determine whether this thing is all natural shell, or whether it contains metals.

He also moves his left hand closer to the SCA, in case they have to get the hell out of here in a hurry.

Coming in late, Pretend he was already here?

[deductiongeek]

Conan had hung back until now, sorting through all the details the others had uncovered.

"Nita, how sure are you that the vibrations are natural? Could there be something buried underneath causing the vibrations?"

[mtsilver_conquor]

"Kaiba's right, though Lele's recording everything-" Eva says, even as she's backing away, Lele's primierball in one hand, the other ready by the SCA.

Just in case.

She's also very ready to move at a moment's notice and grab the nearest person if it looks like they might be in trouble.

[unfavorableinstigation]

/It's not any more natural than what happened to the people of Bui,/ Nita reasons, responding specifically to Conan.

/But on the other hand, maybe it's supposed to be touched by us, or blocked?/

Nita can't exactly press her own SCA, but she can still flee in a hurry!

[voidtreckermods]

The shell feels smooth underneath Curufin's fingers. Indeed a little too smooth, as if it has been worked, polished and worked rather than being a natural shell left behind by the creature that once called it home.

[so_dark_a_road]

"Oho, this is a sculpture!" exclaims Curufin. "Somebody's been at it with carving and buffing tools."

He's wondering the same thing as Conan is. Is there something submerged in the sand under the shell that is causing the quake vibrations? Also, is Nita right? -- are the Voidtreckers supposed to touch the shell for some reason? Is this a trap? Or is this somehow the plan, that some rescuers should come and trigger some event that will save the mer-people? No way to be sure which of these alternatives is the case, or if it is something else altogether.

[adropofsunlight]

Rapunzel had been keeping back for the most part, unsure as to what to say or do beyond letting those who seemed to know what to do just do their thing.

But when she felt like she could speak up she did. "So it's something that's been made, rather than being natural? Does that mean it was made in that way for a reason?"

[unfavorableinstigation]

/It... looks like some of the shells in the city?/

Not necessarily the architecture; that was mostly sand.

/So I'd say yes to that one, Rapunzel. But beyond that - if this is literally their safety-plan-/

The royals had some strange ideas of what self-defense looked like.

/Whatever it is, it turned on when those crabs started showing up, I'll wager. And that happened at most two weeks after everyone in the city was knocked out./

Which was better than how Gyueran had fared, if Nita was remembering things from the SCA correctly.

[voidtreckermods]

As they spoke the shells continued to glitter, reflecting the light. The centre shell pulsed slightly underneath Curufin's fingers.

[so_dark_a_road]

Curufin replies to Rapunzel, "That's what I'm wondering. Was this thing made for a purpose?"

And to Nita, "Maybe this is their equivalent of an air-raid warning siren. Crab-raid, whatever. Involuntary sleep warning."

His fingers detect that slight pulsing. "This thing is activating in some way. I can feel it. Unless it was already pulsing before I touched it."

And to Conan's comment, "Whatever is going on, I don't think it's natural."

[blue_ice]

"Most other magic has been suppressed...I wonder if that's some kind of clue. If it's connected to the people."

Kaiba drifts a little closer to the people. "Have the crabs been drawn to it? Or repelled by it?"

[mtsilver_conquor]

"Lele: close as you can," Eva orders, voice tight with worry as she watches her teammates.

"It could be. I'm all for backing off and having Lele continue to poke at it, for the record. If nothing else, I can recall Lele in a heartbeat and put it into stasis. I can't recall any of you."

[unfavorableinstigation]

/When in doubt.../ Nita says, strain evident in her voice.

/I say we go with that plan. We may have to return to protect the city again in a hurry after whatever this is blows out./

Or worse, retreat to the surface entirely.

[voidtreckermods]

The other shells around them begin pulsing and the ground is now rumbling enough for those without whale echo-based hearing to feel and hear. The shell sigil on the ground seems to shift, twisting around and down.

The water get's rough a moment, buffeting them around and sand rises from the sea bed making the water murky.

But it settles and when it does they can see a spiral staircase, leading downwards into the dark sand below.

[deductiongeek]

Conan immediately forgets about any attempts to keep a safe distance and swims forward to get a better look.

"So there was something underneath. How many flashlights do we have?"

[unfavorableinstigation]

/Not enough,/ Nita deadpans - pointedly singing right at Conan.

/And I can't exactly reach mine, like this. Gimme a few minutes and I can come back better equipped, okay? If we're really going to check this out./

Nita curves around to check on what she can see of the rest of Bui.

/For now, though, there's still crabs to fight, and who knows what else could be down there to add to it!/

[mtsilver_conquor]

"I've got mine," Eva says as she starts to come closer, Lele already heading down towards the staircase. "Though Nita-chan's right. I don't think we have enough, but..."

This might be there only chance and damn if she's not curious. "Should have installed Flash on Lele too..."

That's a thought; maybe she can get the HM and see if it can be done?

[blue_ice]

"Everyone's SCA should have one," Kaiba answers, making sure his is on the brightest setting. "If we could have two more additional sources aside from those, that should be enough."