Part 16: Strange Aeons
Part 16: Strange AeonsWith Syndesis repaired, we have an easy route to fix the other dragons. We can reach the Barosy for free, and can just drop our dragon fulcrum there and then lead Syndesis to any other dragon we want. Unfortunately for us...
quote:
>PERFORM DRAGON FULCRUM
The glyph that you have learned no longer seems to work.
...the fulcrum is picky about reuse. We'll need some new symbols. On the other hand, we've got the radix access pattern which might get us deeper into the alien wreck.
quote:
Hadean Land, at Wreck
You stand at the foot of a wall of metal. It's not a simple construction; it leans inward here, outward there, tracing an irregular shape that looms over the dusty plain. Perhaps it's broken, for debris is scattered around.
Mountains rise all around, forming a jagged grey bowl which cups the metal wreck. You can see the canyon pass to the northwest.
A hexagonal outline on the wall, to the east, might be a door. If so, it is closed.
Next to the hexagon, a small circular arc is incised into the metal.
A small puddle of mercury gleams in the dust.
>GET MERCURY
You glance around for a container, and settle on a broken saucer-shaped bit of ceramic. You gently scoop up the mercury droplet.
>PUT MERCURY IN ARC
You tilt the mercury droplet against the circle. It sticks to the metal, and slowly spreads out until it reaches the edge. There is now a perfect circle of quicksilver, mirror-flat, clinging to the wall.
>SPEAK RADIX ACCESS
You begin running through the radix access geometric sequence in your head. The quicksilver circle vibrates in response; complex ripples refract across it.
When the sequence is complete, a metal panel neatly and silently rotates, hiding the quicksilver circle from view. Instead, a small niche is now visible, containing a vial of black oil and another knot of marks.
>EXAMINE OIL
This elongated vial contains an opaque black oily substance, which seems to quiver of its own accord. Something in the back of your mind tells you that it is polar, like a liquid magnet.
>GET OIL
Taken.
>READ KNOT
You glare at the knot, willing understanding.
comprehension
This symbol resembles the first, but it comes with a new image: the black oil, magnetic oil, flowing over indigo stone. An indigo stone column. A familiar column, in a twisty maze of underground cracks! It must have magnetic properties, which the alien oil will respond to.
Somehow the alien writing, behind this locked door, knows things about our marcher. Well, it's not like we have any other leads.
quote:
>GO TO CONFUSING CRACKS
You push through the glass.
You make your way to the Confusing Cracks.
Confusing Cracks
You are lost in a maze of claustrophic cracks. You've stopped in a fairly wide space, but planes of basalt close in all around you. You could crawl in any imaginable direction; the largest passage heads back west.
In the center of this space is a thick column of stone, colored an eye-catching indigo. It runs from floor to ceiling.
A chip of basalt lies here. It must have cracked loose from the walls.
>PUT OIL ON INDIGO
You splash the black oil onto the column. It drips... upward.
The fluid flows up the violet stone, clinging in fine inky trails. The marks slowly resolve into the familiar (if you can call it that) alien script, which spirals up the column. The strokes spread across the roof and disappear into a gap to the southeast—a passage you had not noticed until now.
>SOUTHEAST
You follow the trail of script.
Dead End Passage
The passage ends here. You can return to the northwest.
The trail of black marks ends here as well, swirling back on itself across the ceiling. The marks hint at meaning, but... wait.
>EXAMINE MARKS
Twisting black strokes curve up the passage and wrap themselves into an obscure mandala around the ceiling of the dead end.
You concentrate on the black script, fishing for the echo of meaning. Something about the core... travel to the center, or from the center...
Understanding hits like a migraine. You memorize caudex access, the passage of the spine—another sequence of geometric transformations.
Well, that's useful. Let's try that at the wreck.
quote:
Hadean Land, at Wreck
You stand at the foot of a wall of metal. It's not a simple construction; it leans inward here, outward there, tracing an irregular shape that looms over the dusty plain. Perhaps it's broken, for debris is scattered around.
Mountains rise all around, forming a jagged grey bowl which cups the metal wreck. You can see the canyon pass to the northwest.
A hexagonal outline on the wall, to the east, might be a door. If so, it is closed.
A small niche has opened next to the hexagon. It is empty.
>SPEAK CAUDEX ACCESS
You begin running through the geometric sequence in your head. When you reach the end, you feel slightly dizzy, but there is no other result.
>CLOSE NICHE
It is fixed in place.
However, the quicksilver is covered up and we can't get it back.
quote:
*** You awaken again ***
Go back to the wreck, put the mercury back in the arc, and try again...
quote:
>SPEAK CAUDEX ACCESS
You begin running through the caudex access geometric sequence in your head. The quicksilver circle vibrates in response; complex ripples refract across it.
When the sequence is complete, the panel silently slides up, hiding the quicksilver circle from view. Then, more slowly, the hexagonal door begins to move. It only slides about halfway open, but that is enough to enter.
>EAST
Strange Airlock
This chamber is not hexagonal, but it reminds you of a hexagon in all directions, if that makes sense. Perhaps it doesn't.
Strange as the architecture may be, an airlock is clearly an airlock. The outer door to the west is open; the inner door to the north is closed.
A small knot of black marks is drawn in the center of the inner door. Next to the door is another small circle. This one contains a film of black liquid.
>READ KNOT
You stare at the knot, willing understanding.
comprehension
This third symbol brings you a new image: a sheet of paper, buried in rubble. Again, the scene is familiar... a crack in a wall... the crawlway under the Nave. You do your best to memorize the paper's exact location.
This leads to my other theory of what has happened to the Retort. I can maybe gloss over the previous knot, which knew about the indigo column, as being some kind of generally occurring phenomenon, but an alien wreck has no right to actually know about what is buried where in the Retort's wreckage.
So my alternate theory is that this vessel was sent to us as a sort of life preserver or care package by natives of the Higher Spheres. A more superstitious time might have called them guardian angels. As for us, who knows their possible purpose?
quote:
>NORTH
(first opening the inner door)
You're not sure how to open this door either.
Well, we have two obvious things to try...
quote:
>SPEAK CAUDEX ACCESS
You begin running through the caudex access geometric sequence in your head. The black circle vibrates in response; complex ripples refract across it. But when the sequence is complete, the ripples just fade away.
>SPEAK RADIX ACCESS
You begin running through the radix access geometric sequence in your head. The black circle vibrates in response; complex ripples refract across it.
When the sequence is complete, the inner door begins to slide aside. Simultaneously, behind you, the outer door closes. Both move in silence—of course—and in moments the way inward is clear.
No vapor rushes into the airlock; you are still in vacuum. But an intangible strain seems to pervade the space from the open door. Your bones and teeth ache.
That's not ominous at all, and we certainly haven't already been warned about anything just like this.
quote:
>NORTH
Bent Chamber
This chamber has odd angles, but you're pretty sure they're not all intentional. The walls look crumpled and the ceiling is bent downwards. Hallways may have once run in several directions, but the only one that remains wide enough to pass is to the east.
The airlock door to the south is open.
The ache in your bones becomes worse—horribly worse—and the lights go dim and red. Or a dim red vapor is bleeding into the world. Perhaps your sight is failing. Perhaps everything else is.
*** You awaken again ***
Perhaps not the best way to get back to the Nave, but as long as we're here, let's see if the graffiti in an alien airlock knew what it was talking about.
quote:
Nave Crawlway
This was once the north end of a crawlway, but the passage has collapsed, leaving only this small space. Debris is heaped up to the south. Light slants in from a gap in the ceiling.
You see a vial of white powder lying in the rubble. It's labelled "highlime".
>SEARCH DEBRIS
You locate the correct slabs and dig between them, trying to disturb the earth as little as possible. After a few moments, the corner of a dirty sheet of paper becomes visible. You work your fingers in and yank; the sheet falls to the floor.
>READ DIRTY
You pick up the sheet. It's a potion receipt. "A POTION to RESIST FOREIGN AITHER: The most hostile lands are those where the very processes of life alter. This potion allows your body to adapt to these conditions—for a time. Like many life-sustaining concoctions, this begins with an exhilarant environment and a beaker of saline. Use the Hermetic sealing. Add a measure of zafranum to the arc. Ensure that the atmosphere is filled with an exhilarant aroma; tinct it by igniting the zafranum. Speak the Anodyne Evocation; place a sample of salt on the gestalt shelf; close with the Chi Binding."
You memorize the instructions, and also pick up the sheet. Just in case.
That might have been useful about three turns ago, though we wouldn't have been able to create it—it requires the zafranum that we used to get through the Portico windows. If only Pneuma were fixed! Then we could take the airlock and have zafranum to spare for aither resistance.
But we've been reading more alien writing. We have more options now:
quote:
>RECALL GLYPH
Which do you mean, the first alien glyph, the second alien glyph, or the third alien glyph?
>RECALL SECOND GLYPH
The glyph is a multidimensional knot of curves and gaps. The glyph burns in your memory like something startling you have always known.
>RECALL THIRD GLYPH
The glyph is a multidimensional helix which bends back on itself without end. The glyph burns in your memory like something startling you have always known.
With these in mind we should be able to create two more dragon fulcrums and feed the two remaining dragons to Syndesis. The Barosy will make a helpful fulcrum point.
quote:
>PERFORM DRAGON FULCRUM. GO TO BAROSY. DROP GRANITE.
quote:
>PUT THICK KEY ON SHELF. SPEAK MARCHER'S. SPEAK SYMMETRIC. SPEAK DRACON.
You put the thick key on the gestalt shelf.
You take a breath, trace the bound in your mind, and intone the Marcher's Sealing.
The arc begins to glow smoke-grey.
You begin reciting the values of the symmetric sequence. After a few minutes and a bit of counting on your fingers, you reach the end (which is of course the same as the beginning).
You rumble your way through the Dracon Invocation.
A sense of pressure builds in the air. You feel something move, in the distance. The bound slowly dims.
Syndesis silently arrives.
Unfortunately, the cheapest way to Pneuma is to cut through the underground passage, but getting to that takes us through the Barosy, which leads the Syndesis directly to the fulcrum...
quote:
You can also see a chip of granite (with leverage symbol and glowing) here.
Syndesis drifts into the room.
Sudden electricity arcs between the dragon and the glowing chip of granite! The runes whirl out of control; the pebble goes dark; and—oh dear—everything else goes dark as well.
*** You awaken again ***
Let's try that again.
quote:
>CREATE LODESTONE OF CENTRALITY. PERFORM DRAGON FULCRUM. GO TO BAROSY. DROP GRANITE.
The parser then flips out at us on the way back to the Nave to summon Syndesis.
quote:
>GO TO NAVE
Which do you mean, the Nave or the Nave Crawlway?
>NAVE
Which do you mean, the Nave or the Nave Crawlway?
One's only real hope here is to pick the crawlway and go up, or walk there by hand like a chump. That also said, we need to visit Pneuma by hand anyway, to make sure that it uses the Lodestone of Centrality to reach Pneuma.
quote:
>WEST. SOUTH. EAST.
West Side Hallway
The Retort's main hallway continues from the Nave, to the east, towards the exoscaphe bay to the west. A cross-corridor runs north towards quarters wing and south to the paper garden.
Syndesis slides into the room behind you.
Paper Garden
The garden is the marcher's refuge of meditation and calm. Paper paths wind among beds of paper flowers; the walls are hung with paper trees beneath a calm blue-painted ceiling. A tiny brick-lined pool lies at the garden's center. The place isn't large, but it doesn't feel small. You've always liked it.
An opening to the north leads back to the Retort's main corridor, and another south to the lower reaches. To the east, a paper arch gives entry to the paper hedge maze. The observatory door to the west is closed.
Syndesis arrives a moment later.
You allow the pendulum to lead you through the maze.
Paper Maze, Center
You have found the heart of the hedge maze: a circle of paper screens. A single opening to the west leads back to the labyrinth. You also notice an open hatchway which leads to a crawlspace below.
The dragon Pneuma is a mandala of alchemical runes inscribed on the screens. They still look lifeless and inert.
A fragment of paper lies by the hatchway.
Syndesis slides into the room behind you.
>WAIT
Time passes.
Syndesis is being drawn towards Pneuma.
>WAIT
Time passes.
Syndesis slides towards Pneuma, faster and faster. At the last moment, Pneuma seems to crumple, break apart, and be drawn into the violet-red heart of Syndesis.
You hear, smell, see a confusion of smells and sounds and colored light.
*** You awaken again ***
Three down, one to go. Let's take the easy route back to where Pneuma was to see what's changed.
We find Lt Anderes there, and we again get two possible descriptions and text based on how many times we've examined her.
quote:
>GO TO BAROSY. NORTH. NORTH. UP.
quote:
Paper Maze, Center
You have found the heart of the maze: a circle of paper screens. A single opening to the west leads back to the labyrinth. You also notice an open hatchway which leads to a crawlspace below.
With the dragon gone, the illusion of a hedge maze has faded. It's just a paper room.
Lt Anderes is here, poised as if stepping out of the maze. Though she is still caught in mid-movement, her stance crackles with energy.
[ALTERNATE TEXT: Lt Anderes is here, poised as if stepping out of the maze. Her body is tense, her stance pugnacious.]
A fragment of paper lies by the hatchway.
The two perspectives available are these:
quote:
Lt Anderes and her partners have been a step ahead of the rest of the marcher, this entire journey. If only they'd managed to get clear before their thefts spilled over into disaster.
quote:
Lt Anderes and her partners have been a step ahead of the rest of the marcher, this entire journey. You can't help but be impressed.
That means her shadow should be at the Mechanica Lab, where we'd previously seen her. We do find a shadow, and the oculus gives us additional context...
quote:
>LOOK THROUGH OCULUS AT SHADOW
The shadow forms words when viewed through the oculus. But the text is longer than before:
"I have evidence that Jana Anderes is guilty of graft. She has been slowly removing rare reagents from storage, transporting them off the Retort when in home port, and profiting from their illicit sale.
"This much I knew weeks ago. It has taken me much longer to confirm who Anderes is working with... for I required the hardest of proof. I am now convinced that Captain Hart is involved in the crime. She must have discovered it—and rather than bringing Anderes to marchcourt, decided to let the business continue under her own thumb.
"Needless to say, we cannot bring this to light until the Retort reaches home port. But we are becoming critically short on certain supplies, and I fear for the safety of the marcher."
So, the Captain is being targeted by Powes, is in love with somebody, and was conspiring with Anderes to sell off the alchemical supply stores. This may explain some things about how poorly the Retort is being run.
With Pneuma fixed, the airlock should work, too. Drink a vacuum potion, head to the airlock, and then...
quote:
>GO TO AIRLOCK
You make your way to the Airlock.
Airlock
The airlock is a stumpy cylindrical chamber, ten feet long and ten feet across. It is used whenever the Retort is rigged into a non-Gaian land. The chamber walls are bare steel. At each end is a circular slab of a door. The inner door to the south is open; the outer door to the north is closed.
The pressurization lever on the wall is pushed down.
>CLOSE INNER DOOR. PULL LEVER.
The inner door is massive but well-balanced. It swings shut with a muffled whoomp.
You pull the lever. Air hisses out of the airlock. After several long moments, the sound fades—all sound, in fact.
The vacuum plucks at your clothing for a moment, but the only other sensation is a nagging dryness in your sinuses.
>NORTH
(first opening the outer airlock door)
Hadean Plain
You stand at the edge of a Hadean land now. Grey lifeless dust crunches soundlessly beneath your feet. The sky is black; the stars are glorious. And you have no more protection than the potion you drank.
Behind you are the comforting walls of the Retort. The airlock is a heavy circular door in the south wall; it is open. To the west, you can see the broad window of the portico. But to the north and east, the Hadean plain stretches away towards jagged foothills.
We can now reach the alien wreck without needing to make the metal attractor chime or the glass permeability chime. That should let us get further into the ship.
But before we do that, we use the third alien glyph to create another dragon fulcrum, put it in the Barosy, and then head up to the Aithery, where Aistheta waits.
quote:
Syndesis slides towards Aistheta, faster and faster. At the last moment, Aistheta seems to crumple, break apart, and be drawn into the violet-red heart of Syndesis.
You hear, smell, see a confusion of smells and sounds and colored light.
*** You awaken again ***
If the pattern continues to hold, then one more crewman will have moved and left a shadow.
The pattern does continue to hold—it's Ctesc who's moved. The shadow tells a more harrowing story than usual.
quote:
"The situation is most disturbing. It appears that Sydney Ctesc has indeed been reaching for advanced alchemical knowledge. But worse: he is gathering it by means of a subtle chi-ritual, extracting knowledge directly from the mind of another. And worse yet: his target is Captain Hart!
"Such rituals are of course dangerous to both parties. I do not believe that Ctesc has yet lost control of his alchemy. But a failure could occur at any time. I must insist that Ctesc be taken into custody."
Cripes. The Retort is going to end up some kind of dark legend of mismanagement. We do get to pick our reactions to him, though, as usual:
quote:
Ensign Ctesc is leaning against the handrail. He should not be up here. Of course, neither should you; but Ctesc made it here first, and perhaps for better reasons.
quote:
Ensign Ctesc is leaning against the handrail. He should not be up here; but, of course, neither should you. And trespass is the least of Ctesc's sins.
And the detailed descriptions:
quote:
Ctesc must have found what he was looking for. You can't help but envy him that. But you also can't help regretting the tragedy that it has led him into.
quote:
Ctesc must have found what he was looking for. You can't help but envy him that. Whatever crimes he committed along the way, he was reaching for the stars.
Syndesis also is looking to be in good shape:
quote:
The oculus reveals Syndesis as a web of occult relations running throughout the Retort. It looks healthy now.
The architecture of the marcher is still somewhat fractured. But you can see patches covering the worst holes—by the secondary alchemy lab, the chymic lab, the opticks lab, and the deck suite.
Syndesis has absorbed Pneuma, Aistheta, and Baros; you can see their associations as well. These include active control paths to the air-pumps in the airlock and exoscaphe bay; alignment repairs in the garden maze and the cracks by the chasm; stabilization in the chasm and in the crawlway beneath the garden and Barosy.
The repair of Aistheta has produced "alignment repairs" in the garden maze and the Chasm's Cracks. That means they're no longer mazes to speak of:
quote:
Paper Maze, Interior
The hedge-maze is just a few symbolic forks and blind alleys. You can see the center to the east, and the exit archway to the west.
Access to Pneuma's old lair is now even more free than it was after fixing Syndesis and Baros. Meanwhile, in the Cracks...
quote:
Confusing Cracks
You are in a wide space within a maze of basalt blocks. Claustrophobic cracks lead in many directions, but the most promising ones run west and east.
In the center of this space is a thick column of stone, colored an eye-catching indigo. It runs from floor to ceiling.
A chip of basalt lies here. It must have cracked loose from the walls.
>EAST
The layout of the passages seems obvious now. You pick your way forward.
Dead End Pit
You've come to a dead end, a shallow pit of basalt. The only way out is west.
A pale green bead is lying at the bottom of the pit. It looks like jade.
Jade!
We've been hoping to find this since almost the start of the game. I sthere anything else here?quote:
>LOOK THROUGH OCULUS
You peer through the oculus. Everything acquires a colorful, hazy fringe.
The oculus reveals a hyacinth spark floating in the air.
>EXAMINE HYACINTH SPARK
You focus on the hyacinth spark through the oculus. A new memory comes into focus. "...and when she looked into their shadows..." That's all you overheard.
You consider these memories.
Way ahead of you, hyacinth spark. But if we hadn't thought to do this before, the game is polite enough to tell us how to find some backstory.
The last thing we've unlocked was from Pneuma: there was an issue by the Exoscaphe. What's changed?
quote:
North Arcade
This is the north end of the gallery. A long window in the west wall overlooks the exoscaphe bay. You can see the 'scaphe itself on the other side, hooked up to the portal you saw back south.
To the north is a massive door of pale marble, outrageously carved. The door is closed.
Perhaps the door has suffered some damage. A chip of white marble is lying loose on the floor nearby.
>EXAMINE BAY
Through the window, you see that the bay roof has been damaged and hastily repaired. Chunks of brick are clumped hither-thither at the top of the vault, as if an invisible hand were holding them in place.
Pieces of roof have fallen on the exoscaphe itself. It's hard to tell, but it looks like the 'scaphe's upper dome is also cracked, and the rest of the hull is battered and dented.
That's a step forward. Meanwhile, in the main entrance to the exoscaphe...
quote:
>EXAMINE WHEEL
The valve wheel is marked "Emergency Bay Pressurization," and is also marked with the shorthand symbol of Pneuma.
>TURN WHEEL
The valve turns stiffly. You hear air whistling through the pipes—faintly, and then louder, as the pressure in the bay increases. After a time, the whistle drops to a hiss, and then stops.
>WEST
(first opening the heavy steel portal)
Exoscaphe
The exoscaphe is a vehicle for exploring hostile lands. From the inside, it's more like being in a spherical steel tank. A windowless tank, at that. You recall that there's a better view from the pilot's dome; but the hatch above your head is closed.
A circular bench runs around the perimeter, broken only by the dark engine compartment to the west and the exit portal to the east. The portal is open. You see a small emergency lever next to it.
A cabinet is fastened to the wall. Its latch is tied shut with a knot of white cord.
On the bench are a crumpled sheet and a horn coin.
>UP
(first opening the small hatch)
Exoscaphe Dome
If you were piloting the 'scaphe, you'd sit in this seat and work the controls, peering out through the glass dome around you. The vehicle looks to have fallen on rough times, however—or vice versa. The dome is cracked and the controls look dead.
The only exit is the hatch in the floor, which is open.
A dessicated sheet of paper and a thin key are visible under the console.
>GET THIN KEY
Taken.
And now, since we didn't have to introduce a pressure differential, we can take the thin key out and actually get into the Tertiary Lab.
quote:
Lab Hall Northeast
This is the northeast corner of the laboratory hallway, which runs south and west. The lab stairwell opens to the southwest, but a fracture prevents entry. The Tertiary Lab is to the east; its door is closed. The Pyrics Lab door to the north is open.
The Captain is standing here, gazing moodily off down the hall. She looks nearly human like this; it's rather charming.
>UNLOCK TERTIARY DOOR WITH THIN KEY
You unlock the pine Tertiary door.
>EAST
(first opening the pine Tertiary door)
Tertiary Alchemy Lab
This is the Retort's fanciest lab, all shiny and new. Of course, the rectors usually have it reserved for fancy shiny work.
The center of the room is a dais, built with a ritual arc in bright platinum inlay. The door to the west is open.
You notice two vials here: a blue vial labelled "anti-Tellurian distillate" and a pale-gold vial labelled "nickel".
A bound with an intrinsic platinum inlay—this is the last thing we needed to perform electrum phlogistication. "Anti-Tellurian Distillate" should serve as counter-Gaian precipitate without consuming elemental earth or orichalcum, and the vial of nickel might get us two doses of sublime spirit if we need them.
That's quite a find, but it doesn't get us any new map. Let's make the aither-resistance potion and see what's in that alien craft.
quote:
>OPEN KELP
You pop open the impet, and the kelp aroma rolls out, salty and faintly rotten.
>PUT SALINE IN BOUND
You locate a beaker in the clutter, pour a measure of saline into it, and place it within the pedestal bound.
>SPEAK HERMETIC
You take a breath, trace the bound in your mind, and intone the Hermetic Sealing.
The arc begins to glow golden around the beaker of saline.
>PUT ZAFRANUM IN BOUND
The gold light ripples as you push through the arc. You strew the zafranum threads around the beaker.
>LIGHT ZAFRANUM
(with the torch-lighter)
The zafranum threads flare up and vanish. A puff of pungent yellow smoke rises, and then swirls around the beaker.
The aroma of zafranum melds with the smell of the ocean, provoking images of sea-travel and distant lands.
>SPEAK ANODYNE
You begin the Anodyne Evocation. The rhythm beats in your chest and blood. Slowly, the liquid in the beaker turns a deep, sparkling blue.
>PUT ROCK SALT ON SHELF
You put the lump of rock salt on the gestalt shelf.
>SPEAK CHI BINDING
You begin the Chi Binding, paying proper attention to your tonality. The sparkling light within the solution brightens, and then disperses. Its color deepens to a startling indigo.
The bound fades. You lift the beaker and gently decant the indigo potion into a fresh bottle.
Now what's an apprentice going to do with that, I wonder.
Watch and learn, Sarge.
quote:
>GO TO WRECK
You make your way to the Nave Crawlway.
You take the vial of highlime.
You make your way to the Nave.
You brew a bottle of vacuum protection.
You drink the potion of vacuum protection.
You make your way to the Airlock.
You close the inner door and depressurize the airlock.
Unfortunately, your possessions do not fare so well. In the vacuum, the flask of saline boils away; the torch-lighter shatters.
You make your way to the Hadean Land, at Wreck.
Hadean Land, at Wreck
You stand at the foot of a wall of metal. It's not a simple construction; it leans inward here, outward there, tracing an irregular shape that looms over the dusty plain. Perhaps it's broken, for debris is scattered around.
Mountains rise all around, forming a jagged grey bowl which cups the metal wreck. You can see the canyon pass to the northwest.
A hexagonal outline on the wall, to the east, might be a door. If so, it is closed.
Next to the hexagon, a small circular arc is incised into the metal.
A small puddle of mercury gleams in the dust.
The saline and the torch lighter shatter in vacuum, but the aither-resistance potion survives. Apparently those vials are made of sterner stuff.
quote:
>EAST
(first opening the outer door)
You take the droplet of mercury.
You apply the mercury to the circular arc.
You invoke the caudex pattern to open the outer door.
Strange Airlock
This chamber is not hexagonal, but it reminds you of a hexagon in all directions, if that makes sense. Perhaps it doesn't.
Strange as the architecture may be, an airlock is clearly an airlock. The outer door to the west is open; the inner door to the north is closed.
Next to the door is another small circle. This one contains a film of black liquid.
>SPEAK RADIX
You begin running through the radix access geometric sequence in your head. The black circle vibrates in response; complex ripples refract across it.
When the sequence is complete, the inner door begins to slide aside. Simultaneously, behind you, the outer door closes. Both move in silence—of course—and in moments the way inward is clear.
No vapor rushes into the airlock; you are still in vacuum. But an intangible strain seems to pervade the space from the open door. Your bones and teeth ache.
>DRINK AITHER RESISTANCE
You swallow the indigo potion. The liquid seems to boil in the back of your throat. Your vision hazes blue, and the ache in your bones fades to a chilly numbness.
>NORTH
Bent Chamber
This chamber has odd angles, but you're pretty sure they're not all intentional. The walls look crumpled and the ceiling is bent downwards. Hallways may have once run in several directions, but the only one that remains wide enough to pass is to the east.
The airlock door to the south is open.
>EAST
Ruined Hallway
This hall runs east and west, but to the east the walls are crushed together like a paper sculpture.
A wide trapezoidal window is set into the north wall. It looks like ordinary glass, although you suppose one never knows.
>LOOK THROUGH WINDOW
You can see a chamber on the other side. There's a smudge on the far wall which just might be another knot of marks.
Do the aliens have anything else to say to us? Can we read it from here?
quote:
>EXAMINE KNOT
You can't see any such thing.
Hmm. Well, windows don't generally stop us.
quote:
>PERFORM GLASS PERMEABILITY
You invoke the caudex pattern to open the outer door.
You close the outer door and pressurize the airlock.
You make your way to the Chasm Rubble.
You make your way to the Scaphe Arcade.
You set aside your possessions for a moment and dive for the bronze B chime.
The pinch of zafranum is gone; you used it in a ritual in the Nave. You don't know where to get more.
(While trying to create the metal attractor, to retrieve the F chime from the slab, to acquire the bronze F-sharp chime, to create the glass bypass.)
(You are now in the Scaphe Arcade.)
However, we're back in a situation where we're resource-constrained. We need that zafranum for the aither-resistance, so we need another way through windows or another way to get that F-sharp chime.
Next Time: All the dragons are repaired. We know how to reach the Chancel. It's time we took stock of our capabilities and plot the rest of the way to the endgame.