ORIGIN - [Quest] Clockwork Dreams

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Sair

At least the bear had been right, kind of. Her magic did not seem to be enough to sustain the machine, but it had at least woken the creature (could it be called that?) enough to communicate more clearly. Ah, and there she went again, acting (or in this case speaking) before anyone else had a chance to offer some insight. Sair was not a fan of impulsivity, but they were also here to observe more than intervene. For the sake of knowledge, of course. It was harder to record events when you were a part of them. Bias is the killer of science, after all.

Sair resolved themself to do the thing the bear wasn't doing; find a new power source. They lacked the ability to test its strength, but the more gems they all found, the more likely that one would be sufficient. Besides, with the amount of gembound that had gathered around the commotion, it was becoming more and more likely that at least one of them would have some ability to check them. That was, of course, if the machine needed gems to power itself at all. The pile of dead ones around did insinuate such an idea, but maybe it was only a temporary measure? Things that required power seemed to hook up to the generator; maybe that was possible again now that the cave had reopened?

"Speaking." Thinking. Doing.
OOC:

We don't know how to accept we're just a product of a chance /
And less like gods but more like plants

Relic bristled as the construct began to move, ready to bolt if things got ugly. It was big, whatever it was, distinctly inorganic, Like a metal golem. She recalled the feeling of biting down on oilstone - if it was violent, it would not be an enjoyable fight.

Thank the caves it wasn't then. She moved forward, though she made sure to place herself so the bear was between her and the construct. Just in case.

"You want stones, right? Magick? The Spire could help." She sniffed. "What does Construct-Engineer mean?"

Hecate fluttered back, blinking, startled at the combination of vision and sudden movement beneath her talons. She landed somewhat gracelessly on the floor a few meters away, blinking and folding her wings hastily against her back.

Irritation rose in her, prompted by pride. She couldn't reveal what she'd seen as some grand bit of wisdom, since the damn thing had just woken up and answered the question itself. She kept her huff internal, eyes flicking to the robot-thing. She tried to think, to prove that her mind was as keen as she pretended it to be.

"...I saw it--you, excuse me," she corrected herself, beak clacking, "in some... cleaner place. Shining, with a lot of white and gold things. I have not seen any place like that, so I suspect... you slept for quite some time." Like the others, she wondered if 'slept' was even quite correct.

She suspected, somehow, not. "I saw a vision, just now," she announced to the rest, but her eyes were locked on this 'Richard.' "You were tasked with creating a new form of life..? What sort of life would that be?" Hecate was greedy, as ever, for knowledge.

And it helped that she could show off, at least, just this little bit.

Chaos threaded through him always, so that it was difficult to focus on any given thing. He liked this cave for that; it had a darkened, almost hibernating feel that was touched clearly by Chaos.

Right now, Manticore was wholly and abruptly distracted by the sensation of his own claws curling into stone, and then, by the movement of leathery wings not unlike his own, off to one side. He turned to stare at Relic, and the urge to fight bled away just as abruptly as it'd come. "I like your wings," he said, his voice a thoughtful rumble.

He added nothing to explain that thought, instead turning back to 'Richard.' His gaze shot to Sair, who was searching nearby; it took his mind a moment to catch up. Power source, he thought, and those eyes then moved to the chip of stone the bear had offered.

It needed something bigger-?

Manticore plodded over, moving to search alongside Sair. He wasn't sure why they were doing this, but he was taking slow, vague note of everything that was happening, trying to keep up.

Sair's search, aided by Manticore, was not in vain. Only a couple dozen yards away, there was an alcove set into the ground floor of one of the buildings at the city's very edge. Here there stood a bucket, of sorts, carved directly from the black stone below; and in this, carefully arranged into vertical slots, were a number of crystals that hummed with ancient energy. They were nearly dead; only the faintest crackle and glow. They held no life--they were unlike lost gemstones in that way, though related. They were reservoirs, instead. Batteries. It would take only a moment to lift one from its casing, to bring it to Construct-Engineer Richard Alpha, to slot it into the place Tema's gift had briefly filled.

The creature paused, face a blinking, blank cursor. This was replaced by a question mark. The monitor turned slowly from side to side, scanning what it could see of Cassiopeia.

"Time frame indeterminate," it stated at last, the rasping mechanical voice somehow softer. "Wear indicates centuries." It paused. "Analyzing status."

There was a soft grinding noise from inside it.

"Analysis complete. Memory damaged. Events preceding deactivation missing in part. Allies requested. Escort deemed valuable against unknown risk." It paused again, a face reappearing on its monitor: one that seemed almost sad, its mouth a thin, straight line and eyes large and puppy-dog like. Its form of address changed, from short and mechanical to more alive, as though it were now 'translating' for living beings.

"Your designations are requested. Will you accompany me? I will attempt to uncover the circumstances behind my deactivation."

Construct-Engineer Richard Alpha will require assistance and escort in uncovering the history behind Cassiopeia's fall and isolation. Gembounds may be asked to perform small tasks, but in return, will learn of this history. Currently, Richard is requesting their names and an assurance of help.

New characters may still join this thread.

@Tema @Sair @Relic @Hecate (Manticore) @Samael @Esther

Sair

The not-stones that they found were lined up, settled neatly into little slots that seemed to match the one connected to Richard. It fit perfectly, and thankfully, it seemed sufficient. Sair had little time to question what they were before the construct spoke again. Centuries. This was it. This creature, this... thing? It would know about the caves before! Before him, before the ruins became ruins before... Everything, they hoped. If Richard could provide them some answers, Sair would happily offer themself as an ally.

Designation. Juggernaut. Sair wondered how he was doing, and was thankful that the construct's strange way of speaking was made so clear by having interacted with him. But why did Juggernaut speak like a machine? That was... A thought for later. "I am Sair. I will help escort you to help recover your memory. I can peer into the past with magic, as the owl just did." He glanced at Hecate with a smile, hoping that between the two of them, they would have little trouble uncovering the mysteries of the cave. He summoned his own set of wings, wisps of magic flowing from his shoulders to form a barely glowing set of pale blue 'feathered' wings, which he displayed fully for a moment before folding their form against his sides. A show of his alignment, if not an attempt at inspiring familiarity. "I hope you also have some other tricks?" He chuckled, addressing the owl directly.

"Speaking." Thinking. Doing.
OOC:

We don't know how to accept we're just a product of a chance /
And less like gods but more like plants

@Hecate (Conversing directly)

Was her gem really not better than those faint little crystals? She was surprised the thing still stayed on after her stone was replaced, dropped to the ground to be forgotten. What a waste.

"My name is Tema. I will escort you." She bit her tongue to avoid insulting the others. There was no sense in making enemies with so many variables at play, even though she did not think that they would prove to be worthy escorts. Her company was little more than a horse, an owl, some barely visible moth-thing, a pumpkin-headed (she wasn't even joking here) hyena, and... oh. Well, the other two might be worth something, after all.

She was, in all honestly, irritated. This was more gembound than she was willing to deal with at one time, and she made a point of keeping some distance. She had to try and keep herself at least somewhat calm lest the whispers take hold of her and the others became little more than meat in her eyes. She would keep it safe, if only to see what it could provide her with in turn, and she would otherwise keep out of the way.

Relic had hoped that this strange animal, Richard, would have a better understanding of what the group had stumbled upon. Not only had she been wrong, but she felt a tug in her chest as the construct paused to reflect. Had they overwhelmed it?

It was strange to watch it process information. She felt as though she could track its thoughts if she payed enough attention - attention that was currently occupied with side-eyeing Manticore. "...Thanks?"

After some thought, she offered: "Yours are pretty nice too." Though she personally struggled to appreciate the limbs outside of their practical use.

Back to business. "Name's Relic, and sure. Not sure how much I can offer you though." The horse boasted some useful magic, and the bear seemed to know what she was doing at least. Relic would try her best to pull her own weight.

"Hecate," the owl replied primly, straightening. "I will come." For information? That was fair. As long as she got to learn the 'circumstances', too, she was interested.

Like Tema, she was irritated at all the company; but at least it meant she had others to do the heavy lifting. She could just follow along, and reap the rewards-...

She turned, staring at the horse who had addressed her. Past the gemstone sheets over her eyes, everything was mostly green; but he was patches of dark and light, and shimmering wings that she guessed were also green or somewhere close to. She eyed the wings momentarily.

Being generally rude and standoffish, she took his question as the same, despite his gentle laugh. Feathers ruffled up slightly, as if she were physically bristling at the question. "Of course," she half-snapped, almost glaring at him.

A little light, a bare wisp of a wisp, flickered up beside her as if to help answer. It cast a dim phosphorescent glow on the area around them, and she turned away deliberately. Are his wings meant to mock mine-? To say they're useless when he has his own..? As with my magic?

The very thought! The gall-!

She all but "hmmph!"'d as she turned away, claws scraping the ground as she turned her body (but not entirely her full attention, which still lingered on Sair) toward the robot-thing.

@Sair (for visibility here!)

"Manticore," Manticore answered, lingering a little beyond the rest of the group. "I'll come." It was vague curiosity that prompted him--that, and the idea he might miss out, when really he had nothing better to do.

But his gaze scanned the group again, wondering at them. Would they be friendly, antagonistic, neutral? Would they do the thinking? (He wasn't very good at that.)

Nostrils flared as the dragon-cat-beast exhaled, half-exasperated at the robot's stilted speech. "What is analasysizing?" he demanded, baffled, tail twitching like an aggravated cat's.

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