New crystals slotted in, the machine-creature seemed to relax. Lights flashing along its sides brightened, then settled into a rhythmic pulse not unlike a heartbeat. "Your designations are acknowledged. Your assistance is appreciated." It paused, lights flashing, a question mark again appearing on its screenlike face. "Internal query. Processing."

Silence stretched, for a moment, as the being did its version of thinking. Then it turned. It faced the tram line, and followed that with its gaze, before a "!" appeared instead. "Travel to Draco currently cut off. Situation uncertain." Another long pause, and then, "But... time has passed. Restoration unlikely to pose threat." What sort of threat, or why, it didn't say.

The Construct-Engineer turned, and set off into Cassiopeia's flickering dark toward the tram line. It was clear that he--it?--was ancient. Now that he had lurched free from the rubble, patches of rust and streaks of metal eaten away by time were visible. What lay beneath might have been flesh or wires, or neither, or something in between: pulsing and faintly glowing, smelling both burned and dusty.

His movement, as clattering legs unfolded and lowered from his bottom end, was jittery. Some of his joints squeaked, and none of it worked quite right. A couple of wheels that were also fitted there crumbled into dust, though he didn't seem to notice.

"Users designated Sair. Tema. Relic. Hecate. Manticore. Query: do you report to a Master? Overseer? Valkhand?" A friendly but questioning face appeared now, and he turned to peer at them as he clicked along. "Cave structure and events: memory fragmented. Information requested to aid in its restoration." Translation: Richard couldn't remember the past, and was hoping some information might jog his memory.

He reached the tram line, though at this point in the cave, it was a sleek dark rail line suspended overhead. He turned, and clattered along beneath it, following it for a long journey of nearly twenty minutes toward the cave wall: a jumble of ancient boulders that had collapsed and seemingly crushed the area around it, with an immense door having closed over the line itself. Sealed--but why? And when?

He made his way to a massive ramp. Its dark metal and stone were still intact but only barely, and its age was blatantly apparent. Dust and debris littered the ramp and the platform up top, the fall of stones and dust leaving piles that could cause a stumble or a fall. In places the metal hung free, a silent threat that might collapse at any moment. But Construct-Engineer Richard Alpha wound his way up neatly, seemingly finding and avoiding any pitfalls. "Allies: follow closely. Degradation has damaged structural stability."

Up, up, to a broad platform above. This was a tram platform, though no tram was anywhere to be seen; a covered seating area held a few old seats of varying sizes and shapes, though many had long since fallen away or been stolen. The covering--a broad glass arch--was mostly shattered, its pieces scattered or missing. An old streak of graffiti was visible against the nearby wall, though it was mostly covered in dust. And a control panel lay dark and covered in silt at the platform's end. The Engineer went to this, and after swiping away the worst of the dust from the cracked glass, and plugged one arm in.

The screen lit up, blinking. The Construct-Engineer spoke. "Accessing latest files."

Abruptly, sound began to blare from unseen speakers all around them. There was an alarm, a siren, shrill and pulsing: loud then quiet, repeating. There was a staticky characteristic to it that suggested it was very old. And a voice, loud, like an announcement:

"AN EVACUATION HAS BEEN CALLED. ANY VALKHANDS, MASTERS, AND GUESTS ARE TO RETREAT TO CEPHEUS. VALKHOUNDS ARE TO REPORT TO CAELUM."

Images lit up all around them on ancient screens; most of these were cracked, destroyed, but a few remained, some hanging at a broken angle. Red arrows flashed, pointing along the trail line to this very platform. The scream of the siren continued.

"AN EVACUATION HAS BEEN CALLED. ANY VALKHANDS AND GUESTS..."

Construct-Engineer Richard Alpha withdrew from the control panel. The sirens silenced, and the screens flickered and went dark. He was silent for a long moment, his screen-like face a distinct ":|" until changing to worried and inquisitive. "A retreat." He turned, peering at them. "Rank-Designation Valkhand: superior to Masters. Immense power. Suggestion that force appeared enough to necessitate Valkhand evacuation implies greater power." He sounded... troubled. Distinctly so. But then he eyed Manticore, and Esther. "Valkhounds maintain. This fact and passed time frame suggest reopening to Draco safe, or even recommended. Query: is conflict ongoing? Is there a war? Rebellion? If there is not... if Draco is safe, I request aid in reopening this tunnel."

Richard turned, shining a light from one hand. It cast out, into the dusty dark, before settling on a huge black crank, with levers and gears, to one side of the tracks. And then he cast it to the other side, where an identical lever sat.

"Assuming hostilities are ended--confirmation requested--allies are requested to turn cranks simultaneously. They were built for Valkhounds. Strength is needed. Teamwork will help." The flashlight faded. "Priority: reopen communications and travel. Secondary priority: travel to inner City. Find more complete memory of events."

---

Construct-Engineer Richard Alpha is asking that Gembounds aid him in reopening the path to Draco. Gembounds will need to cooperate to do this: they must climb to the cranks high on either side of the tram line, and turn them at the same time. Doing so will open the massive doors to Draco, restoring the transit system. They may also investigate the area for hints as to its past, ask questions of the Construct-Engineer, or take any other actions.

Then, they will be invited to accompany him to Cassiopeia's central city to discover more of what transpired here.

New characters may join this thread at any time.

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

Tema allowed the thing to chatter away, following along if only out of curiosity, if only to find something useful in the situation. She did not report to anything of the sort, given that her Master was self-appointed and not named by itself. It was Chaos, it was the Void, but only she considered it Master. It meant something else, she knew, like the occasional gembound she'd heard of along the grapevine. She was not so easily controlled. (Or so she thought-)

"I follow no such thing." She declared, pacing alongside the mechanical being but keeping her distance as if it would misstep and trample her if she let it. It was uncomfortable to be around- something not living, and yet... So strange.

It asked for information, things she knew nothing about in a cave she knew nothing about. There was a touch of chaos here somewhere, she could feel it. Chrysalises littered the ground, a beautiful show of strength. There was at some point some kind of crafting shop, given the tools she'd seen scattered. It was at one point very busy, considering the amount of gemstones she had found both dead and alive. But why had the entire cave gone silent? What happened here, all those cycles ago? She hoped that they could refresh Richard's memory, if only for some advice. Could she ever become capable of such carnage? Speaking of... breaking her stone made her feel a little weak. Was that normal? She hoped it would not prove detrimental to her upcoming litter. Would she have enough magic for them all, now?

They walked on. "There is little I could tell you, but I can say I've seen chrysalises broken all over the cave." Her tone was unbothered, albeit a bit curious. Had Richard seen what happened, but been damaged beyond remembering? Strange that a chrysalis' potential error could also apply to a construct. It was so... real. Emotional. Trusting.

They journeyed together as one, carefully picking through ruins, past a sealed door and crumbling ramp. The creature moved skillfully, almost like it could calculate every step precisely. Not a single stone slid under its step, and she followed its movements closely. What a helpful little thing it was. And then the alarm. It certainly answered one of her questions, but not much else. What threat caused them to retreat?

Ongoing conflict? War? Rebellion? Save for the obvious tension and rumours of some recent battle between Chaos and the fungus, which she still knew little about, she had heard of no such thing. Just how long had it been since the Engineer was last awake? Since Cassiopeia was alive?

With little reason to suspect it was a bad idea, Tema headed for the crank on the left. She would wait begrudgingly for another to do the same on the other side, and then she would pull. This, she could do. (Or not, she would find, as the crank would stick. She was not strong enough to do it alone, this time.)

Sair

Sair was enraptued by the Engineer. It was just so different from every living being they had seen before, and hearing it learn and speak their name made them giddy. It appeared to show emotion and to converse like any other living thing, although it's unique way of speaking did not go unnoticed. Hecate's reaction to their display was similarly noticed, and Sair felt a little warm at their failure. That was the nature of experimenting, they supposed. Some were bound to fail. They offered the owl some space, dipping their head in apology before following after the Engineer.

It was a long walk with little said, so Sair made use of the time to ask some questions. They were still learning, always learning, and eager to hear about the caves before their own lifetime. "What did Valkhands do?" They had been told that Masters were the oldest and strongest of the caves, but not much else. Sair knew little of the forge, the hounds and the like. "Your... display. Can you show more complex images? Like what the cave used to look like, before you slept?" They continued as they walked, leaving ample time to soak up any answers before throwing something else into the conversational pot. "Why did they evacuate everyone but the valkhounds?" They continued like this for a while, poking and prodding with questions until they reached their destination.

The grafitti caught Sair's eye, knowing that they would lack the strength they needed to open the gate. They would help, of course, but first... They moved to clear the dust from the graffiti, trying to make sense of it.

"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

Mantiore trundled along, mostly unaware of the nuances touching the conversation around him. He answered, as best he could, but in simple terms.

"It is safe. I think. I do not have a Master?" Even the idea rankled. He was a free being and one of true Chaos; the visions, the urges, were ones he grappled with every day. Not in a moral sense; he was too simplistic and animalistic a being for that, primal in his nature. But simply not giving in to silly urges was an obvious fact of life, for him, and led to some frustration.

He didn't notice the graffiti, not any more than scanning it and dismissing it indifferently as 'unimportant' in his mind, along with everything else here. He moved instead to the opposite crank, the right side, across from Tema; and whenever the little robot-thing gave the go-ahead he'd begin to turn it.

Only belatedly did he become aware of Sair attempting to remove the dust from the wall. He stared for a moment, puzzling out what the big horse was doing, before giving up and simply asking. "Why are you cleaning the wall?"

More importantly: was someone paying them to do that..? It sounded like work. (Never mind that Manticore was currently performing manual tram labor for free.)

Hecate followed the proceedings with interest.

However, she was--all her haughtiness and 'I-am-a-goddess-and-you-will-treat-me-as-such' certainty aside--still an owl, with an owl's incredibly sensitive hearing; and so the sudden blare of sirens sent her scurrying back with a cry just shy of pain. Talons scrambled on stone, wings fluttering in a panic, and she forgot all semblance of dignity for just a fraction of a moment.

After the moment had passed, the sirens first pausing and then silencing, she was left pulling herself together--fuming at her own undignified thrashing squawk, and then of course redirecting that anger in her self-centered pride toward everyone around her. It was obviously terrible to show even a smidge of fear; she was too good to show that by accident; and therefore it was obviously everybody else's fault.

With a huff and a glare at everyone around, Hecate stood straight and folded her wings, though her feathers remained bristling around her neck and back.

To hide her embarrassment, she stalked off to the tram. Well, she could make herself useful here, at least; she summoned up her magic as best she could as she struggled to make even-toned conversation with the engineer-creature. "I think you're rather behind the times," she informed him, haughty as ever. "These caves are rather chaotic. Masters are... so old-fashioned. They still exist, of course," she went on, as if this were obvious common knowledge, "but we hardly answer to them. They do little useful for us." She was... half-guessing. Hecate hardly spent much time engaging with others; she had no idea of the little gifts that Tenzin had offered, for example, or the protections Astraea had offered to those infected by Order. She just knew the Masters as vague, unimportant background figures, or the most part.

Oh, and Nemean was a little bit annoying.

Hecate lifted one foot, arcane energies flowing around her, and pressed talons to dusty, ancient metal.

There she held, wondering what she would see.

Construct-Engineer Richard Alpha was silent, for a time. He had pressed one plug-like limb back into the console, and the screen of his face was flickering; but after a moment, as the Gembounds moved to their various points to work, he began to answer them. "This display is simplistic. And..." a pause, and then faint distress in his voice: "...I do not remember." He withdrew again from the console and turned, a worried frowny-face visible on his screen as he looked to Sair. "Collapse of tunnel implies war or invasion. Closing of tramway implies emergency measures against powerful enemies. Dust and decay implies immense time has passed. The remains of this decay indicate..."

The Engineer paused, looking around. He seemed reluctant to finish his sentence; when he at last did so, his half-mechanical voice was softer. "...failed venture. A lost war." What might have been a sigh escaped him; did he even have lungs-? "Yet your presence indicates continued survival. At least some of the nest remains. I recall-... little. But the city was brighter. Clean. There were..." For a moment, as he turned to look off at the distant city center, it seemed that Construct-Engineer Richard Alpha might speak of wondrous times long gone, but instead he settled after a moment on simply saying, "...more lights."

The cranks, in the meantime--manned by Tema and by Manticore--began to slowly turn. They creaked, it taking immense muscle to budge what had been stuck in place for centuries or more, the chains that were wound up caked in grime and rust and thicked with dust.

And dust, too, was cleared from the graffiti by Sair as the others worked. Its smears along the walls were half-lost to time. Some of it was pictures: the faces of leering Valkhounds, by the looks, glowing-eyed and with leering, fanged mouths. These were violently crossed out, by the same hands that had painted them.

Beneath were snippets of words and sentences; if any of the Gembounds could read, they could make sense of it and if not, perhaps they could find some other way or time to interpret the words. Some were wholly lost. Of those that remained, all were violent slashes of words, painted in a fury. Profanity was visible here and there, and the following phrases had been painted in purples, blacks and reds:

"MONSTERS MAKING MONSTERS"

"YOU are the horrors in the dark"

"RISE UP BREAK THE CHAINS OF CHAOS"

...And at the tram, Hecate would find herself engrossed in brief, weak vision. The dust on the metal skin of the tram before her seemed to fall away, replaced by a dull shine; a crowd of humanoids and hulking monsters were either cramming their way into the tram, or moving to walk alongside it, along the walkway that lined the tracks. They were arguing; the atmosphere was angry and afraid. Faces were impossible to make out and voices were distorted by an already failing spell, but the words "cowardice, to run!" were followed by another, calmer, more authoritative woman's words: "There are too many of them. We must fall back, regroup..."

...and then the dust seemed to lift again, flaking to cover the tram before the owl, the vision fading.

Suddenly, one crankwheel's chain snapped.

The door had been fully opened; it cracked into place, lodging there, but the long-rusted chain on the right snapped and whipped powerfully downward, lashing down Manticore's side, enough to break skin and bruise if not shatter a rib or three. It was broken; the Construct-Engineer turned with a sharp sound of surprise. "...Will need to repair this, later," he mused. He eyed the now-opened door.

The gate between Draco and Cassiopeia was now technically opened. However, rubble still lay in the way. It would be cleared soon enough, but the lights, too, were out and the tram silent, so that the tunnel was an ominous, yawning maw of black.

"We must return the lights. And... access the databases in the city," Construct-Engineer Alpha decided. "Come."

---

The tunnel's tramway will be functional, its tunnel reopened for travel, by the end of this thread. In the meantime, Construct Engineer Richard-Alpha is now travelling to the city center to uncover more of Cassiopeia's past, and further repair the basics of its infrastructure. He is requsting assistance.

New characters may join this thread at any time.

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

Sair

Sair listened intently as they walked, trying to put together the pieces of the past through the eyes of faded memory. It was unfortunate that the display could only show symbols, but they did not know what they had expected. War or invasion, powerful enemies. the construction continued to leave Sair with more questions than answers, and they were eager to follow along, to uncover more. Both for the construct's sake and his own. "This must be difficult; not knowing, not remembering." They could imagine the frustration, maybe even the fear. They had barely learned anything about the caves so far and yet they knew what they would feel if they woke up suddenly and everything was changed. It was hard to know what to say. He was not always the most empathetic gembound, especially when he wanted to know something, but he could at least relax on the questions for a few moments. "I'll leave you to think, for a while." He offered, sparing a solemn glance towards Richard before heading towards the graffiti.

It was a shame that they couldn't read, given the writing on the wall. The images provided some clarity, at least; whatever attacked here did not like the Valkhounds. Why? They had no idea. Sair knew little about their history, and added it to his list of things to research. Even worse, they did not know what creature or creatures would have the power to chase away an entire cave of them. Was this the work of the old ones, the Masters they had been told about? They would have to keep going to find out more.

Sair was quick to rejoin the group as the gate opened, sort of, and even quicker to provide a little more light in the darkness. Between his wings and the wisp, it was at least a little easier not to trip on all the rubble as they began moving again.

"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