Lab Rats I
“Vaelorys is home to a plethora of heroes and adventuring groups - with the latest to make waves in Otheria being none other than a group known as The Fated Eight. Those waves; the ripples of their nascent legend, have spread further than any of them are aware of. Gathered friends, let us shift our focus to one such location as I take you Somewhere Else In Vaelorys and show you what is happening there…”
- Cold open, as narrated
Footsteps echo through a cold and dark corridor. The lights flickered because the power was in bigger demand elsewhere in this labyrinth built into a truly enormous mountain. The lithe, pale Human male; with his long white hair tied in neat pony tail and his black leather eye patch tightly affixed over his left eye, walked through the corridors. He wondered to himself what horrors - past experiments - had once been contained by these now run-down research facilities. He had no reason to fear - even in his exhausted state; after being chased all over Vaelorys by that kid, he was still plenty strong enough to deal with whatever could have been lurking down there. He refocused as he approached a cold, steel door and hopped into what was one of many lifts connecting the various chambers of this hidden headquarters. Radek; the Orcish Mercenary, and Wolfram; a Human with a brutal demeanour, were approached by the pale & lithe man - instructing them that he had orders for their shared employer. The pair watched on as he; with a gloved hand, pulled out a puzzling device from his coat before kneeling and pledging fealty to the man looking down on them all from his raised office. He spoke plainly - updating The Boss on the results of his latest assignment - as they all witnessed the device fly through the air and through the opaque glass window that surrounded his office on 3 sides.
“I have a report Sir. Tryst was successful in his forging of The Core, but he was unable to control himself. It was not as easy as I’d hoped - but I managed to keep it out of that snivelling kid’s hands.”
- The Mysterious Agent’s Report
Radek and Wolfram each caught a momentary glance at The Boss’s bright green eyes and void black hair before his booming voice echoed through the chamber. He applauded the man - who he referred to as Plight - for his deeds in securing the object before informing him that there would be more in store shortly. The man disappeared in a cloud of dark smoke before Radek and Wolfram heard the shrill voice of their commander - Warden Kaiser Zelosh - shouting at all the guards them to get back to their usual stations. He spoke directly at Radek and Wolfram
“ALL RIGHT PRINCESSESS - BACK TO USUAL STATIONS! MOVE IT MOVE IT! MOVE IT!”
- Warden Zelosh’s commands
Elsewhere in The Laboratory, Minari Kashana was busy preparing her things for her daily tasks - whilst her mind ran about what Estyr; her friend and fellow researcher, was getting up to. The pair were getting close to completing an escape plot - but Estyr needed a few more days to complete the necessary reconnaissance before they could continue. To buy that time whilst avoiding detection - Minari was going to have to complete Estyr’s research tasks instead. The Kalashtar woman finished her preparations and headed off to begin her own work by recording the morning’s updates on Experiment Class E#333 - or more lovingly known as Benjamin Gorilla. The pair shared a conversation whilst going through the motions of their usual morning tests - Speech Fluency, mind-muscle connections, fine muscle movements amongst them. Benjamin noticed darker circles than usual under Minari’s eyes and decided to play a rousing tune - Espresso by Sabrynthia Coppertent - on the lyre to rejuvenate her. A lone but loud BANG interrupted Minari in a moment of thought - as she realized she had spent too much time with Benjamin and needed to get to Estyr’s experiments as soon as possible or risk being unable to cover for her. In order to save herself time - she decided to leave the lyre with Benjamin instead of returning it as she normally would.
Minari rushed from the clinical and clean wards that contained Benjamin, and towards the more brutal and unfriendly rooms that contained Experiment Class A2, Subject 236. She entered and noticed a large, and nude Bugbear strapped to a large metal bed. The figure had garish claw marks across his chest, and a large but healed slash across his throat. She noticed the figures’ wrist bent back at an unnatural angle as he continually scratched the number 2, 3, 6 into his flesh whilst his raspy and pained voice droned the numbers. Minari read over the instructions - that she thankfully reminded Estyr for - of what to do to complete the experiments on the creature referred to as Frend.
Talk to him for 10 or so minutes. Ask him about his home and what he used to like eating/hunting; (if he’s well behaved, see if you can steal some jerky from the lunch room)
Frend might be… difficult to understand. Try your…
Explain the process of today’s experiment. Even if you can’t understand him, it’s very likely he understands you and it should calm him a bit.
Today’s emotion is Calmness/Serenity
- Prepare the experiment material and load the syringe
- Rotate the red glyph on the console 90 degrees to increase blood flow, then quickly inject the elixir.
- Leave the room and close the door gently, to not startle him.
Frend was apprehensive at first - but Minari was able to build trust with him following Estyr’s instructions; and ducked out to grab him jerky from the lunch room. She warned Frend not to fight the Arcane restraints that kept him bound to the table. Frend ignored this warning and managed to get his arm in a position that teetered on the point of the bone snapping before unconsciously relenting to avoid serious injury - his mind wincing as the pain overtook him. An odd comfort came over the tortured creature as he recalled what it was like to genuinely feel something other than despair. Minari returned just in time to witness Frend’s arm snap back into it’s usual position, and she sternly told him off for ignoring her. Minari offered him the jerky on the condition that he he listen to him - to which Frend seemed agreeable.
With Frend on good terms - the Kalashtar Cleric explained the experiment for today - before preparing the substance for injection. As she turned the red glyph - the bindings slowly released a small amount as to not restrict Frend’s blood flow. Frend was upset but compliant in the process as he let Minari completed the injection - to which he noticed she was more skilled at this than Estyr. Minari observed no immediate reaction and attempted to offer one more piece of jerky - but Frend refused. She left the room swiftly - but Frend spoke up once more before she closed the door. Minari returned to the lab to kill the next hour before she would have to return to do follow up tests on Benjamin.
Frend had done this experiment a few times. As best as Estyr’s could explain, she had been trying to evoke certain emotions - happiness, sadness, anger. Regardless of which emotion however - the serum proved to cause physical pain as a side affect. Today was different however - today brought Frend a serene and comforting sense of calmness. He recalled a memory of cooking food by the fire whilst in The Shifting Shades - before being joined by his Eladrin friend. For the first time in an unknown amount of time - Frend was able to think incredibly clearly once more. He wasn’t sure if it was permanent - or temporary - but a large part of the psychological torment inflicted by the interrogators had been reversed. With this increased mental clarity, he was able to capitalize on the loosened bindings - forcing them to snap and freeing himself as he rolls off the table. His attention was caught by a thud from an air vent near the corner of the room. Approaching it - Frend noticed a familiar scent waft towards him before a voice called out to him. It was Estyr - who crawled out of the vent and sent two beams of energy at devices affixed to the ceiling.
“Hey buddy! How you feeling? Hopefully Minari wasn’t too harsh with the meds! Come with me - let’s go find your friend, & then we’ll come back for mine!”
- Estyr calling out to Frend…
Estyr; seeing Frend’s puzzled reaction, explained - in broken sign language - that she too was a prisoner here; in a different way to him. She could’ve escaped a long time ago - but she had to try find a way to get Frend; and maybe others, out of here as well. She pointed to the vent before signing to Frend.
“You. Stretchy skeleton. Hopefully squeeze?”
- Estyr’s sign to Frend
The pair climbed through the vent - with Estyr leading the way - as she elaborated on how she arrived at The Laboratory. She apologised to Frend for any pain she caused him as part of an experiment - she didn’t feel good making the choice but it was the best one she had available to her. The pair seemed to come to an understanding as Estyr arrived at a similar air vent before whispering to Frend and kicking open the grate.
“Ok - if I’ve done my calculations this should be where they’re keeping your friend! Or least… close enough!!”
- Estyr whispering to Frend.
Meanwhile, Radek and Wolfram had been reassigned to the lower levels - tasked with doing a security sweep of each floor to ensure that Plight had not been followed. Neither of them enjoyed searches of lower levels - as their lone thoughts interrupted only by the eerie and sudden sound of metal creaking. Radek pondered the truly horrific things he’d seen in just the past few weeks of his employment here - and how he’d arrived thinking he’d seen the worst of what the world had to offer - as he started to realize how naive he truly was. Wolfram considered how the device the man known as Plight could enable The Boss to do even more inhumane things - whilst he searched the lower levels he came across an odd diary left in one of the rooms. Wolfram recognized the red and black leather as common in his homeland, alongside the familiar symbol of The Arcane Will on some of the pages - someone from Terick was, or had been in these levels. Despite being incomplete - it detailed at least one possible exit somewhere between The Pit and The Lower Levels. The pair both heard a gruff voice break the eerie silence as Warden Zelosh walked out from the elevator.
“Princesses! What ARE you doing??? I leave you down here alone for 10 minutes and you’ve already gotten lazy! I’d have covered 3 times as much of this floor in that time BY MYSELF - Do I have to send the both of you to The Pit for some remedial training???”
- Warden Kaiser Zelosh scolding Radek and Wolfram…
TBC