Re: The Fatal Conflict! (GBS2G7) (Round 2: Robo City!)
05-09-2011, 12:55 PM
Originally posted on MSPA by Ixcalibur.
Doctor Lorrden was taken aback by the robots. Though he had never even heard of robots before Zaire’s introduction to them, he could not help but compare the soulless creatures to the ruthless Scourged that plagued his world, only these were not like that. They were far less efficient for a start. If the Scourged wished you to be dead, you would not see a single one of them, the first you would know about it was as the toxic fumes of the Undeath took you. These robots on the other hand, he had encountered and destroyed dozens of them in the short time he had been here. He considered them to be… sloppy perhaps; throwing more and more soldiers at a problem instead of analysing it rationally and working out the best approach. No, there was a better way to describe them; these robots were stupid.
He had recently shared an elevator ride with Scott; an interesting choice for this battle to the death. He appeared timid, so frightened of the robots that he had vanished, through time if Zaire was to be believed. He certainly would not be a reliable ally against The Redeemer, but that was probably a train of thought that could be explored later; when there were fewer robots to worry about. Now on this floor with the empty husks of dead robots Kaja felt safe, at least for the moment. He let his apparatus wind down a little, he let himself relax. Despite his inexpertise in the field of anatomy he deigned to examine the discarded carapaces of the robot creatures. They were not quite as he had pictured them; men made of metal indeed but inside there was wiring, unmistakably so though more sophisticated than he had ever handled. He had anticipated metal hearts and blood of quicksilver. These were not creatures after all, these were machines. Things built by men. No wonder they were so stupid; a machine could not be smarter than the man who designed it, and the man who designed machines that would kill him was a very stupid man indeed. But, alas, Doctor Lorrden’s examination was cut short, he heard noises coming from the floor above, and then the ceiling began to crumble.
He dodged out of the way of the falling stone, and observed. The hole was small at first, only large enough to admit a single limb; a leg which appeared inextricable. There was the sound of fighting perhaps, an explosion and the hole widened, revealing more robots as well as a pair of his competitors; a Scourged and an apparition. The Scourged grunted when he landed, but was otherwise unharmed, what a shame. The wraith was needlessly panicking, shrieking to itself unhelpful comments such as “Don’t get hit!”, “Watch out!” and “AAAAAAAAAAAH!” Doctor Lorrden was not sure he wanted to help a Scourged, but broadly speaking they were on the same side and the machines were unlikely to kill the Scourged and then leave him alone, though such a plan of action was probably dumb enough for them to carry out. His hands were already working, he would not be able to produce enough tinctures to take care of all these robots, not since he had foolhardily wound down his apparatus, but he could buy them some time.
“Scourged!” he yelled as he ran towards the elevator that had brought him here. “Over here.” He hit the button with the hand that was not working, and quickly corked a couple of flasks worth of his latest brew. The Scourged stumbled to his feet and slowly loped towards the elevator, the spectre hurried ahead of him. As the robot soldiers dropped down through the hole in the ceiling Kaja flung a flask at them. This mixture was a powerful acidic agent designed to spread quickly on exposure to air. Moments after the flask had shattered the machines in range found their chassis being dissolved at an alarming rate. “Is this as fast as he can go?” Kaja asked the spirit.
“erm… yeah, I’m afraid so.” Zach replied, thinking quickly he passed through the elevator doors and looked down at the slowly rising elevator, ascending from such a depth that it could barely be seen. “If it helps he’ll probably reach us before this does.” The soldier robots attempted to open fire upon the slowly retreating zombie, but found the integrity of their wiring was diminishing rapidly in the acidic cloud surrounding them. Kaja could see more robots lurking uneasily at the edge of the hole from the floor above, not wishing to fall victim to the acid below but not wanting to let the humans get away. As dumb as they were it would not take them long to find a workaround, Doctor Lorrden had to act now.
“Hold this for me.” Kaja offered the flask of acid to Zach, who still seemed uneasy, but perhaps less so now that someone had taken charge of the situation.
“I can’t.” Zach replied. “I can’t touch things, being a ghost, you see.”
“Okay.” Kaja said. “I can work with that.”
Thinking quickly he acted; with one hand he uncorked the acidic mixture and threw it onto the door, with the other he was already mixing a potion; this battle was turning out to be a massive drain on his herbs. He really hoped he would have the opportunity to stock up soon. He dashed away from the spreading cloud of acid, and towards the lurching zombie, as explosions struck other points on the floor of the floor above and the ceiling began to cave in at two other points. This potion Kaja quickly gulped down. It tasted foul, but that was irrelevant, he could feel its effects already coursing through his body. “I hate you Zaire for making me do this.” He muttered to himself as he bodily grabbed the Scourged and flung him over his shoulder. A tonic of strength such as he had made was short-lasting, he kept moving, heading straight back to the door, or at least the space where the door had so recently been. Robot soldiers dropped down from the floor above on either side of him, their weapons at the ready. “Hold on tight you filthy Scourged!” Kaja did not stop; he ran through the cloud of acid and leapt into the seemingly bottomless elevator shaft that lay beyond. The Scourged, despite his previous poor control of his body, suddenly managed to find it within himself to grasp tightly to the Doctor, luckily the more stable parts of the brass apparatus made a remarkably good handhold. Kaja grabbed hold of the cable and held on as tightly as he could. This had probably not been the best idea, what with the massive weight of his apparatus and of the Scourged.
“What now?” The Scourged asked, gripping tightly onto Kaja’s apparatus.
“When I have a clue, I will let you know.” Doctor Lorrden replied.
“You could just slide down?” Zach suggested, as he hovered nearby. “There should be a trapdoor on the roof of the elevator; you can get into it through there.” And as the alchemist felt the strain on his arms worsen, an indication that his short-term potion of strength did not have much longer to last, he did so with gusto.
Spoiler
Doctor Lorrden was taken aback by the robots. Though he had never even heard of robots before Zaire’s introduction to them, he could not help but compare the soulless creatures to the ruthless Scourged that plagued his world, only these were not like that. They were far less efficient for a start. If the Scourged wished you to be dead, you would not see a single one of them, the first you would know about it was as the toxic fumes of the Undeath took you. These robots on the other hand, he had encountered and destroyed dozens of them in the short time he had been here. He considered them to be… sloppy perhaps; throwing more and more soldiers at a problem instead of analysing it rationally and working out the best approach. No, there was a better way to describe them; these robots were stupid.
He had recently shared an elevator ride with Scott; an interesting choice for this battle to the death. He appeared timid, so frightened of the robots that he had vanished, through time if Zaire was to be believed. He certainly would not be a reliable ally against The Redeemer, but that was probably a train of thought that could be explored later; when there were fewer robots to worry about. Now on this floor with the empty husks of dead robots Kaja felt safe, at least for the moment. He let his apparatus wind down a little, he let himself relax. Despite his inexpertise in the field of anatomy he deigned to examine the discarded carapaces of the robot creatures. They were not quite as he had pictured them; men made of metal indeed but inside there was wiring, unmistakably so though more sophisticated than he had ever handled. He had anticipated metal hearts and blood of quicksilver. These were not creatures after all, these were machines. Things built by men. No wonder they were so stupid; a machine could not be smarter than the man who designed it, and the man who designed machines that would kill him was a very stupid man indeed. But, alas, Doctor Lorrden’s examination was cut short, he heard noises coming from the floor above, and then the ceiling began to crumble.
He dodged out of the way of the falling stone, and observed. The hole was small at first, only large enough to admit a single limb; a leg which appeared inextricable. There was the sound of fighting perhaps, an explosion and the hole widened, revealing more robots as well as a pair of his competitors; a Scourged and an apparition. The Scourged grunted when he landed, but was otherwise unharmed, what a shame. The wraith was needlessly panicking, shrieking to itself unhelpful comments such as “Don’t get hit!”, “Watch out!” and “AAAAAAAAAAAH!” Doctor Lorrden was not sure he wanted to help a Scourged, but broadly speaking they were on the same side and the machines were unlikely to kill the Scourged and then leave him alone, though such a plan of action was probably dumb enough for them to carry out. His hands were already working, he would not be able to produce enough tinctures to take care of all these robots, not since he had foolhardily wound down his apparatus, but he could buy them some time.
“Scourged!” he yelled as he ran towards the elevator that had brought him here. “Over here.” He hit the button with the hand that was not working, and quickly corked a couple of flasks worth of his latest brew. The Scourged stumbled to his feet and slowly loped towards the elevator, the spectre hurried ahead of him. As the robot soldiers dropped down through the hole in the ceiling Kaja flung a flask at them. This mixture was a powerful acidic agent designed to spread quickly on exposure to air. Moments after the flask had shattered the machines in range found their chassis being dissolved at an alarming rate. “Is this as fast as he can go?” Kaja asked the spirit.
“erm… yeah, I’m afraid so.” Zach replied, thinking quickly he passed through the elevator doors and looked down at the slowly rising elevator, ascending from such a depth that it could barely be seen. “If it helps he’ll probably reach us before this does.” The soldier robots attempted to open fire upon the slowly retreating zombie, but found the integrity of their wiring was diminishing rapidly in the acidic cloud surrounding them. Kaja could see more robots lurking uneasily at the edge of the hole from the floor above, not wishing to fall victim to the acid below but not wanting to let the humans get away. As dumb as they were it would not take them long to find a workaround, Doctor Lorrden had to act now.
“Hold this for me.” Kaja offered the flask of acid to Zach, who still seemed uneasy, but perhaps less so now that someone had taken charge of the situation.
“I can’t.” Zach replied. “I can’t touch things, being a ghost, you see.”
“Okay.” Kaja said. “I can work with that.”
Thinking quickly he acted; with one hand he uncorked the acidic mixture and threw it onto the door, with the other he was already mixing a potion; this battle was turning out to be a massive drain on his herbs. He really hoped he would have the opportunity to stock up soon. He dashed away from the spreading cloud of acid, and towards the lurching zombie, as explosions struck other points on the floor of the floor above and the ceiling began to cave in at two other points. This potion Kaja quickly gulped down. It tasted foul, but that was irrelevant, he could feel its effects already coursing through his body. “I hate you Zaire for making me do this.” He muttered to himself as he bodily grabbed the Scourged and flung him over his shoulder. A tonic of strength such as he had made was short-lasting, he kept moving, heading straight back to the door, or at least the space where the door had so recently been. Robot soldiers dropped down from the floor above on either side of him, their weapons at the ready. “Hold on tight you filthy Scourged!” Kaja did not stop; he ran through the cloud of acid and leapt into the seemingly bottomless elevator shaft that lay beyond. The Scourged, despite his previous poor control of his body, suddenly managed to find it within himself to grasp tightly to the Doctor, luckily the more stable parts of the brass apparatus made a remarkably good handhold. Kaja grabbed hold of the cable and held on as tightly as he could. This had probably not been the best idea, what with the massive weight of his apparatus and of the Scourged.
“What now?” The Scourged asked, gripping tightly onto Kaja’s apparatus.
“When I have a clue, I will let you know.” Doctor Lorrden replied.
“You could just slide down?” Zach suggested, as he hovered nearby. “There should be a trapdoor on the roof of the elevator; you can get into it through there.” And as the alchemist felt the strain on his arms worsen, an indication that his short-term potion of strength did not have much longer to last, he did so with gusto.
Heaven Help Us | Make Room!!!! | I'm Not Okay (I Promise)
Hang 'Em High | The Only Hope For Me Is You | Zero Percent | Early Sunsets Over Monroeville | DESTROYA | Demolition Lovers | To The End
Surrender The Night | Disenchanted | The Ghost Of You | Party Poison | Vampires Will Never Hurt You | The Jetset Life Is Gonna Kill You
Hang 'Em High | The Only Hope For Me Is You | Zero Percent | Early Sunsets Over Monroeville | DESTROYA | Demolition Lovers | To The End
Surrender The Night | Disenchanted | The Ghost Of You | Party Poison | Vampires Will Never Hurt You | The Jetset Life Is Gonna Kill You