Play@YSDC

Z-Day - 12:29 PM Mountain Time - Deep Mole One
In the lower hatch chamber-
The lift descended about thirty feet while the passengers heard the hatch clang ominously shut overhead. It soon touched down on the floor of the room below. A ladder went up through a hole in the ceiling and up the side of the lift shaft, all the way to the now sealed hatchway.

The floor of the room was composed of white tiles, each of which had "Welcome - DEEP MOLE ONE" inscribed on it. There was also graffiti scrawled over many of the tiles, almost all of it nonsensical or illegible. A lot of the letters weren't part of the alphabet used by Western languages such as English, nor did they resemble any language the four lift passengers had ever heard of. A sign was posted on one wall listing the positions and names of the staff, and the only exit was a short hallway leading to a meeting room. Several people were visible in the room, gathered around a table and talking.

In the meeting room-
Kimberly waved with her uninjured arm when she saw the lift come down. "Hey, Sally!" she called. "Willie and I could use your help!"

"What happened topside?" asked Hockey.

In the upper lab hallway-
Ellen watched Max bound back downstairs and waited for the others to come up.

Michael exited the lift, intrigued by the otherworldly graffiti. He studied it further, trying to make sense of it.

In the lower hatch chamber-
Michael tried to make sense of the bizarre writing on the tiles. Rosie finished reloading her revolver as she stepped off of the lift, and Sally followed suit after exchanging the magazine in her new M-16A2 for a full one.

(Michael, roll Spot Hidden.)

In the lower hatch chamber-

Joe steps off the lift and glances around wondering if trapping themselves in here was a good idea.

In the lower hatch chamber-
Michael managed to find some of the graffiti in more or less plain English, though whoever had written it was clearly not right in the head. One message on the side was simply marked "CROATOAN." Another message said: "Fuckers ffuckers fuker fukkers fucers." A third message said: "The apple has a worm." A fourth message read: "Inside it knows."

Whether or not sealing themselves below was a good idea, it was now too late for Joe to do anything about it. Perhaps any survivors above might come down, clear out the remaining ghouls, and open the hatch from above, but there was no guarantee that would happen. While Michael read the graffiti, Joe noticed a sign on the wall near the hallway's entrance. It read:
"Project Manager- Alan Kirby
Assistant Project Manager- Samuel Niedler
Head of Geological Research- Patrick Craig
Head of Biological Research- David Muth
Assistant Geological- Judith Reagan
Assistant Biological- Gerald Starsia
Chief Engineer- Thomas Bateman
Assistant Engineer- Robert Cross
Steward- Randy Smith"

Meanwhile, Sally and Rosie went into the meeting room.

In the meeting room-
"It was bad up there," said Sally, coming over to examine the wounded. She finished reloading her pistol. "We couldn't kill all of them. There were over a dozen left, though some of them were on their last legs. And Randall...he stayed up there to seal the hatch. He said he was going to electrocute himself to keep them from getting him. He was bitten by one of those rats, and he knew he was going to die anyway..." The lights flickered for a moment, and she sniffled. "Do you think that was him?"

"What's been going on down here?" asked Rosie.

In the upper lab hallway-
Ellen smiled when she saw Max return with some of the others. "I've got the battery," she said, tossing it past the slowly melting creature. "Is Mr. Foo okay?"

Jenny picked up the battery. "He's fine," she said. "He and Jim should be right behind us. There's got to be something we can do about this thing." She motioned at the creature that had nearly eaten them all. "The way it is now, nobody can get past without taking the risk of accidentally touching it. Oh, you'd better go lock up Judith Reagan's body again. One of those things is inside her, and we don't want it getting loose. When you're going back, she's in the third living compartment on your left."

"Okay, thanks. I'll get right on it." Ellen departed back towards the living quarters.

In the lower hatch chamber-

"Interesting combination geological research and biological research. I wonder what they were doing down here?"

Michael followed the two women, unnerved by the eerie graffiti.

In the lower hatch chamber-
Joe Barring watched as Michael walked past him and into the meeting room. He could still hear everything going on in the other room.

In the meeting room-
Michael entered a fairly large conference room with a long table in the center. Chairs were arranged around it, several of them occupied. There was an alcove off to the left, and at the far end of the room a hall led deeper into the facility. The hall was lined with cubicle-like chambers, and he could see Ellen Cody in the hallway walking towards the meeting room. She entered the second chamber on the right.

Rosie and Lynne, the waitresses from the diner, sat at the table. Lynne had her leg in a makeshift splint from when she'd accidentally shot herself when trying to kill one of the undead rats that had been nipping at her ankles. Still, she had at least fared better than Randall. Mrs. Foo, the wife of the motel owner, also sat with them, as did Kerry Pierce, the young lady that had been locked up in the prison upstairs. Sally the nurse was already looking over Willie and Kimberly, trying to decide which of them to treat first. Airman Justin Hockey sat down, looking at his own injury from when he had collided with the lamppost in his panicked flight from the motel.

"My husband and the others run into some kind of monster," said Mrs. Foo. "Like some kind of giant spider thing. They kill it, but it hurt them, and they think it infect them with something."

"There's more like that down here too, I'm sure of it," said Kerry, "and worse! I really wish we weren't stuck down here. This place is bad, real bad."

"We can still get out through the tunnels," said Kimberly.

"No!" cried Kerry. "I'm not going back down there, I'm not, I'm not! I'll take my chances where I am. Maybe someone up top will come down and rescue us."

"I wouldn't bet on it," said Lynne, "but I'm staying put too. I'd only slow everyone down with my bum leg, and what chance would we have down there? If those monsters don't eat me, all I'd have to look forward to is ending up in some skinhead pervert's sex dungeon." Kerry looked away, moaning. "Uh, sorry."

"I won't let that happen," said Kimberly. "If we all stick together, we're more than a match for whatever we come across. Besides, what about those other girls Kerry said were locked up under the compound. We can't just leave them there!" She turns to Sally. "Go on and help Willie first."

Sally examined Willie's wound and took out her first aid kit, but her progress was slow. Meanwhile, Kimberly tried without much luck to bandage Hockey's injury. Kerry was able to help, and he was soon good as new.

Just then, a woman's scream came from the living quarters.

In the living quarters-
Ellen entered Judith Reagan's quarters and approached the open capsule. She gasped when she saw the dead woman, her skull having been blasted open by a .44 Magnum slug at close range and her brains splattered all over the inside of the capsule and the underside of the glass cover. The body itself had decayed significantly. She shuddered in alarm as she reached to close the cover, and her alarm increased tremendously when Judith impossibly sat up. Unreasoning terror overwhelmed her, but she had no time to think about it. Judith took a swing at Ellen, sucker punching her in the face and shattering her nose. Ellen screamed as darkness overtook her, and she collapsed in a heap.

Michael dashes for the living quarters, motioning the others to follow him. He holds his pistol in both hands, ready to shoot and/or defend himself or the others at the smallest sign of danger.

In the lower hatch chamber-
Joe heard the woman's scream, and he could see Michael and a few of the others run deeper into this place from the meeting room.

In the meeting room-
Kimberly, Sally, Justin Hockey, and Willie all followed Michael down the hall and into the living quarters area with their weapons ready. Rosie, Lynne, Kerry, and Mrs. Foo remained behind.

"Ellen!" called Mrs. Foo. "You okay?" There was no response.

In the living quarters-
Michael and the others raced into the hall with their weapons in hand. There were eight cubicle-like chambers lining it, four on each side. The corridor continued beyond, and Max the dog stood there. Each chamber was about six feet wide and nine feet deep, furnished with a coffin-like bunk with a glass lid, a desk with a lamp, and a bookshelf. The sleeping capsules had control panels and oxygen tanks.

Ellen Cody lay flat on her back on the floor of the second room on the right. Her nose was broken and bleeding, and she did not move. Her shotgun rested beside her. The decaying corpse of Judith Reagan sat upright in the capsule, also unmoving. Her brains had been splattered by a large caliber bullet, and gray matter decorated the interior of the coffin and the underside of the open lid.

(Michael roll Sanity. Sanity loss is 1/1d4+1. Also, roll Listen.)

Michael steels himself against the gruesome twin bodies, but isn't entirely successful. Overcome with worry, he ignores the environment around him. Wary of the bodies, he makes sure to maintain his distance from the both of them.

"Stand back, I'm going to shoot them both in the head." he warns the others, pausing to see if someone will stop him.

OOC - Will I have to roll to shoot them both in the head?

(Yes, you will have to roll. This is point blank range, however, so your skill is doubled. After you double your skill, deduct the -5% penalty for aiming at the head. You may fire up to three times at the same target. Note that Judith Reagan has already been shot in the head, and her brain has been destroyed. Also...)

In the living quarters-
Sally remained steadfast and looked at the women, but didn't notice anything unusual. "Hold on," she said. "We don't know that Ellen is dead yet."

Kimberly didn't see anything out of the ordinary either and was only mildly disturbed, but Hockey swallowed in fright and trembled uncontrollably. His psyche splintered, and he backed into the corner, whimpering.

Willie felt violently ill. He had seen awful things before as a war correspondent, but he never got used to them. He nearly went to pieces, but managed to hold onto some semblance of coherent thought. He looked more closely at Ellen. "Sally's right! Look, her chest is moving. She's still alive!" He pointed at Ellen, whose lungs were still pumping air.

Michael, ever cautious, fired a single round at Judith's all-ready destroyed head. The shot obliterates the remnants of Judith's head, slightly off center because of Michael's trembling hand. Still, the deed is done. Michael aims his gun at Ellen's body, ever watchful for any sort of undead trickery. His finger is on the trigger, ready to fire.

"Is she really? Someone take a pulse, I'll cover you."

OOC - Wow, that was almost a miss. Also, how many other players are there with me? Seems to be all NPCs.

Joe follows the scream ready for anything.

ooc: sorry about not posting didn't notice it had been updated.

(Joe Barring is also in this thread, played by Fearlessfred. In addition, Max, played by Kabukiman, has just joined this thread from the other one. There are a few PCs in the other Under thread as well.

Don't worry about it, Fearlessfred. You weren't the only player in Under who hadn't posted yet anyway.

My Internet connection is acting up, and I can't get to Invisible Castle currently, so I'm going to roll physical dice. I'll use spoiler tags to hide the die rolls, but feel free to open them up and look at the results.)

In the meeting room-
Joe Barring ran through the room towards the hallway leading towards the living quarters. The women looked up in alarm when they heard the gunshot. As Joe neared the entrance to the hall, he could see the others clustered around the entrance to the second cubicle on the right. He also saw Max the dog enter the corridor from the far end, running towards him.

(Joe Barring, roll Spot Hidden and Listen.)

In the living quarters- The top half of Judith Reagan's head was completely destroyed. Sally knelt over Ellen's prone form while Michael and Willie covered her and took hold of her wrist. "Yeah, she's still got a pulse," she said. "Let me see if I can bring her around." Try as she might, she could not revive Ellen. "Can I have a little help, please?"

Kimberly nodded and came over to assist her. She managed to stop the bleeding and bandaged Ellen's broken nose. Ellen moaned as she came to.

Hockey shrank further into the corner, sobbing.

"What happened?" asked Sally.

Ellen wearily sat up and pointed at the remains of Judith Reagan. "She brogue by doze," she said. "She hid be when I dried to log her id." She looked around. "Did you hear dad?"

Max ran through the hall outside the cubicle, barking and obviously frightened by something.

(Max, roll Scent Something Interesting. Everyone roll Listen.)

Foucused on what made the scream Joe doesn't see or hear anything.

Michael's stands up abruptly, gun at the ready after hearing something.

In the living quarters-
Michael heard a kind of sloshing sound, coming from the direction of the hallway that continued beyond the far end of the living quarters area.

Michael backs away from the sound, gun ready. He notes where Max is.

Max is scenting as best as he can.

-Wof! Wof!
Max keep running.

In the living quarters-
All hell broke loose in an instant. The sounds of gunfire coming from deeper within the facility ripped apart the silence: fire from M-14s, a .44 Magnum, and an MP-5 on full auto. The noise was accompanied by terrified screaming. The sound had come from the same direction as the sloshing Michael had heard earlier. Max ducked into the closest cubicle, the first one on his right as he emerged from the upper lab hallway. Joe Barring unconsciously looked down the hall towards the sounds of gunfire, but it appeared to be deserted. The project manager's office door stood open on the left side of the hall, and that room appeared to be the source of the shooting.

"Game over, man!" moaned Hockey. "Game over!"

Sally went over to him, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Come on!" she said, pleading with her big eyes. "Get a grip on yourself! I know you're scared. I'm scared too, but we've got to keep going. We need you to protect us. That's your job, isn't it?"

Hockey pulled himself together. "Yes, ma'am!" he said, finding a new reserve of courage within himself. He went out into the living quarters hallway, his M-16 at the ready.

Kimberly helped Ellen to her feet and retrieved her shotgun for her. Both women followed Hockey out of the cubicle.

(Max, roll Hide if you wish to hide in here. The base skill is 10%, but even if you fail the roll it's possible you won't be detected if something wicked this way comes. Also, say where you want to hide. The only two places in the cubicle that you can see to hide in are either in the sleeping capsule or under the desk.)

In the meeting room-
"What now?" asked Kerry, fear gripping her at the sudden cacophony.

"We're probably all going to die," muttered Lynne.

"That sound like my husband's MP-5," said Mrs. Foo. "He fire a lot of bullets. Whatever he shoot have to be dead!" She nodded confidently.

"I sure hope so," said Rosie. "If that wasn't enough to kill it, what chance do any of us have?"

Michael ducks behind some cover, gun still at the ready. He shouts out. "Hey! Whoever that is, we're over here and we have guns!"

Max tries to hide under the desk, even if a bit clumsy.

Joe raises his shotgun and heads to the room "What are you shooting at?" he asks those in the room.

In the upper lab hallway-
Kimberly, Sally, Ellen Cody, Hockey, and Willie all followed Joe Barring out of the living quarters. As they ran, they heard a loud whooshing sound and the crackle of flames, followed by a loud slap. Joe and the others reached the open door to the project manager's office, and within they saw a very disturbing sight.

A massive black creature that looked like a cross between a squid and an octopus with dozens of eyes all over its body occupied the area of the office just inside the door. It looked somewhat singed and charred, but its wounds did not seem to affect it much. Duke lay in one corner in the fetal position, while Alice and Mr. Foo were unconscious on the floor, a flamethrower at Mr. Foo's feet. Only Jenny Cooper remained standing. There was no sign of Jim Kerr. All of the people in the room except Alice had tentacles wrapped around their waists.

"It's another of those monsters!" called Jenny, her voice full of terror. "Guns don't hurt it! Fire, acid, electricity, and water do!" She slung her M-14 on her back and took out a flask of acid. She flung it at the thing with all her might, but her throw was off and it shattered harmlessly on the wall. "There's more acid downstairs in the geology lab, and another flamer in the decontamination chamber!"

There were stairs leading further down at the end of the hall. The only other exits were the office door on the left and the doorway to the living quarters.

Meanwhile, a man's voice came from the reel-to-reel recorder on the desk: "November 2nd- The hatch has been locked down by order of General Grey. Some of us were very upset about this, protested to the soldiers above, cursing them for leaving us here, trapping us. Craig tried to shoot the hatch, but it's bullet proof and he nearly wounded one of the team. But most of us seem resigned, as if we should have expected this to happen. No further information is coming. Duffy seems equally concerned and uncertain, but is following orders. What did they find? Niedler and Muth had a fight in the meeting room afterwards. Bateman says it's the things below. The thing? What thing? Everyone on edge, acting strangely. I have contacted Grey and Warren. They claim that by order of the President the lab needs to be placed into quarantine. He informs us that we are to continue to report our findings."

(Joe Barring and Hockey, roll Sanity. The Sanity loss is 1/1d10, so you lose 1 point even if you succeed and 1d10 points if you fail. If you lose 5 or more points, roll Idea. If you succeed at that roll, you go temporarily insane. If you fail, you don't fully understand what's happening and you remain sane.

If you stay sane, you may act freely. The creature has a 19 Dex, so you cannot act before it does unless you shoot at it with the gun you have ready - and Jenny just told you that won't help. If you want to do anything other than attack, you should also roll Dodge twice in case you are attacked. There is a -10% penalty to your Dodge skill because of your vest.)

In the living quarters-
Max hid under the desk in Cross's room, covering his eyes with his paws. Michael remained in Judith Reagan's room, where the long-dead woman's body sat motionlessly in her coffin-like sleeping capsule. Both of them heard the shouting and the voice of Kirby coming from the project manager's office.

In the meeting room-
Mrs. Foo rose up, shocked as she heard the noise. "My husband!" she called. "He okay?!"

"We've got to get out of here!" said Rosie. "If we stay where we are, we'll be trapped with no way out. We have to get past it and go down while we can!" She tried to help Lynne stand up.

"No!" cried Kerry. "Nooooo...I'm not going back down there, I'm not, I'm not..."

In the upper lab hallway-

Joe is shocked but knows he has to try and help. He tries to get to the stairs knowing that he would have to follow the instructions to try and save them. He just hoped it wasn't to late already.

In the upper lab hallway-
Kimberly was on the verge of panic, but Joe's steadfast example kept her calm. Sally was as unflappable as always, and Ellen did not break either. Hockey was also cool and collected, as was Willie.

Being in control of their faculties did not take them out of danger, however. As they ran for the stairs heading down, the creature's tentacles became more slender and elongated. They slithered out of the open office door with amazing speed. Three of them surged out. One nearly seized Willie, but he nimbly avoided it. Another missed Hockey, and the third fell short of Willie.

Then two more tentacles sped forth. The first wrapped itself around Joe's legs and tripped him up. He could feel it burn through the pants of his uniform and into his flesh. The other one took Kimberly. She nearly escaped downstairs, but the beast was just a little faster and it snagged her legs and began to drag her back towards the door. She cried out in surprise and pain.

Another tentacle lashed out at Willie, but he slipped around that one too. One last tentacle sought out Ellen, who couldn't quite avoid it. She too was brought down, her legs ensnared.

Sally, Willie, and Hockey made it down the stairs unscathed.

"The geology lab is on the right!" called Jenny. "I set aside the strongest acids. The flamer's straight ahead! Hurry!" She seized the dropped flamethrower near Mr. Foo with grim determination and sprayed the thing with fire. The flames only singed it around the edges, but its tentacles instantly released everyone they had grabbed and it did seem to be weakening some. "Yeah!" she cheered.

The tape recording continued to play: "November 3rd- I accepted and gave authorization orders to put Judith Reagan under sedation. Muth believes she suffers an infection and that it might be dangerous. He is conducting a study and will take X-rays. Bateman and Smith refuse to go below. I don’t blame them. I suspect there is something down there. And it knows about us and is displeased. I have heard the chanting now. When I close my eyes it is in my head. The others are not arguing about this. The elevator seems to be non-functioning. I suspect sabotage. I report all to Warren. They have been listening but can offer little help."

(Joe, you may try again to reach the stairs. Roll Dodge twice as before. You took 1 damage when the creature grabbed you.)

In the lower lab hallway-
The three survivors who had made it past the creature looked around the hall. There was a lab on each side visible through glass. Each had a door that could be sealed airtight, but both were currently open. Further down the hall, there was an open metal door on the right and another open metal door at the far end of the hall.

"Okay, let's split up and grab what we need," said Sally.

In the meeting room-
"Come on, Kerry," said Lynne. "We can't stay here. I don't want to go into the tunnels either, but it'll be okay if we just go down to the lab. We're sitting ducks here, and Mrs. Foo needs you to help her walk."

Kerry calmed down. "O-okay," she mumbled, taking Mrs. Foo by the arm and helping her walk into the living quarters behind Rosie and Lynne.

In the living quarters-
"Come on!" called Rosie when she saw Michael. "We have to get past that thing and downstairs before it traps us here!"

Max continued to cower under the desk.

Is it safe to get out of here?

Michael grabs Rosie's hand, and motions the others to follow on his cue.

"Ready?" he asks Rosie.

(I have some time tonight, but don't have much during the week, so I'll go ahead and update now in the interest of moving things forward. I'll assume Joe is trying to get downstairs again. No Dodge roll was needed.)

In the living quarters-
Rosie nodded. "Here, take Lynne's other hand instead," she said. "With her broken leg, she needs help more than I do. Kerry, you help Mrs. Foo." Once everyone had gotten ready, she continued. "Okay, go!" The five of them ran into the hallway leading to the stairs.

In the upper lab hallway-
Jenny sprayed another gout of flame at the monster, only for the flamer to sputter and die. "No!" she cried, staring in horror at the failed improvised gadget in her hands and the creature poised to attack her. A tentacle whipped out and smacked her across the belly, but not as hard as it could have. She cried out in pain, but remained standing.

Three more tentacles out in the hall lashed out at the three people there. One of them snagged Ellen again, and she had no chance to escape. Another got tangled up in a failed effort to grab Kimberly with the third tentacle that had been grasping for Joe Barring. Both of them made it downstairs.

Michael, Rosie, and Lynne hurried into the hall, with Kerry and Mrs. Foo following them. All of them caught sight of the creature as they passed the open door - and it saw them too!

Kirby's voice kept speaking on the reel-to-reel: "November 4th- I don't go near the shaft. Every time I close my eyes for more than a few moments I dream of Cross in the shaft, coming up like some mixed amphibian man. Everyone is working to understand what we've found. Organic and inorganic substances. Biological in some ways but inorganic in others. Whatever they are, they are large and they are below us. Some of us are of the feeling that we need to confront them, to fight them. Bateman blames me for not abandoning the project. He says I have doomed them but now we must fight. That we have no choice. It's this place, it must be. Or maybe it's them. Starsia has a theory and is scared. We continue to send our reports. Warren has not been responsive. They only ask that we continue to report."

(Michael, roll Sanity. Sanity loss is 1/1d10. If you do not go insane, you may try to run down the stairs. Roll Dodge twice in case you are attacked. Dodge has a base skill of Dex x 2.

Max, you may also try to run through the hall and downstairs if you wish. If you do, you must roll Sanity as described above and, if you stay sane, two Dodge rolls.)

In the lower lab hallway-
"Dibs on the flamethrower!" called Hockey as he raced down the hall and through the door at the far end. Willie followed Sally into the lab on the right.

Kimberly and Joe rushed down the steps, panting for breath.

In the geology lab-
Sally quickly found the flasks of acid Jenny had mentioned. There were 32 in all, with eight of them set aside. She passed two of those eight to Willie and grabbed another pair for herself.

In the decontamination chamber-
Hockey slung his M-16 on his back so he could pick up the flamer, which he easily saw lying on the floor. "Now we're cookin'!" he said.

Michael stays relatively calm, yet only manages a clumsy jog past the monster.

Max stays quiet

"Which one is the lab?" asks Joe still trying to catch his breath and get over his close call.

In the geology lab-
"In here!" called Sally from within the lab on the right of the stairs, already on her way back.

Joe enters the lab and goes to grab some of the acid.

(Michael's Dodge of Dex x 2 is 28%, not 35%. The rolls weren't needed anyway, as none of the attacks targeted him.)

In the living quarters-
Max remained where he was, the sounds he was hearing disturbing him greatly.

In the upper lab hallway-
With a surge of adrenalin, Ellen Cody somehow broke free of the tentacle's grip and broke for the stairs at around the time the others entered the hall. Rosie barely kept it together, but Lynne freaked out, stunned by the horror in the office. Knowing she and all her friends were doomed, she went limp. Mrs. Foo did not waver much. Kerry, however, was terrified, being reminded of something she had seen in the tunnels. Her sense of self-preservation kicked in, though, and she hurried on.

The abomination sent forth two more tentacles, which thickened as they swept at their targets. One seized Jenny, who failed to get out of its way. The other missed Lynne badly. One more tentacle tied itself in knots going after Kerry. Yet another one tried to grab Ellen, who barely escaped its grasp.

Three new tentacles slid out of the office. The first wrapped itself around Lynne several times, and she offered no resistance. The next just barely found Kerry, and she nimbly hopped over it before it could touch her. The last one nearly recaptured Ellen, but she evaded it. She followed Kerry and Michael, helping Mrs. Foo downstairs.

"Lynne!" cried Rosie, trying to pull the other waitress free of the tentacle without success. "I'll come back, I promise!" She too fled downstairs.

In the office, Jenny dropped the flamethrower and desperately crawled over to where Duke lay curled up in the corner. With the tentacle wrapped around her legs it was hard for her to make any progress, and she couldn't free herself, but by stretching out her arm to its utmost she managed to wrap her fingers around his electrical prod.

Kirby's recorded voice continued: "November 5th- Bateman is working on the shaft, thinks he can have it fixed. Everyone on edge, expecting something. Starsia claims that what is below has a psychological power, some form of mind control. What if it comes to the surface? What if these things are even now beneath our cities? We are busy working and most of us try not to sleep, only getting a few hours. When we sleep we dream and when we dream…… I see Cross. Judith has been sedated and placed in a chamber. Muth claims there is something inside her, like a tapeworm that is growing inside the walls of her stomach. The capsules allow us to slow down body functions of those inside, thereby allowing those in the capsules a greater chance of rescue. Her heart rate has been slowed, but we can only sustain her in this way for three months before oxygen runs out. We can attempt a freeze. It's been tried before, but only on animals. I am not sure. I'm scared. I think we don't have much time. Warren is silent."

In the decontamination chamber-
Hockey returned to the hall at a run, cradling his new flamethrower in his arms.

In the lower lab hallway-
Hockey, Sally and Willie ran back in as Michael, Kerry, Ellen, Mrs. Foo, and Rosie entered from the stairway. Kimberly ran into the geology lab with Joe Barring.

"It got Lynne!" said Rosie. "I have to go back and save her!"

"Here!" said Sally, handing her the two flasks of acid. "I'll go back for more!"

In the geology lab-
Kimberly reached the table with the acid first and grabbed a pair of flasks from the group that Jenny had moved aside. Joe got the last two of them, leaving two dozen other flasks of acid that wouldn't be as strong.

Michael dives into the nearest cover, pulling Rosie with him. If safe, he'll peek out to get a view of the situation.

OOC - His character sheet states otherwise - he must've put some skills into Dodge.

In the lower lab hallway-
"I have to go back up there!" cried Rosie. "It's got Lynne!"

(Michael has Dodge at the base level of Dex x 2. Since his Dex is 14, that gives him 28% in Dodge. He has not improved it beyond that yet. Even though he failed his rolls earlier, they were not necessary because the creature did not target him. I listed Dodge scores for all the new Chapter 3 characters even when they only have the default level, but haven't done it for the older ones.

If you want to try to talk Rosie out of going back upstairs, roll Fast Talk; there is no time for Persuade in the heat of battle. If that fails, you may try to Grapple her to keep her from going back up. The base level for Grapple is 25%. She will have a chance to Dodge if you succeed. The nearest doors are the biology lab on the left and the geology lab - where the acid is stored - on the right. There is a metal door at the far end of the hall, on the right, and another door at the very end of the hall leading to the decontamination chamber. If you Fast Talk Rosie, you may pull her through one of the exits this round. If you Grapple her instead, you can't drag her until next round.)

Michael yells rushed words into Rosie's ear, managing to convince her to come with him. He rushes into the geology lab, grasping her by her hand.

OOC - Ah, sorry, I looked at Duke's dodge skill instead of Michael's. My bad.

In the lower lab hallway-
Sally took the flasks of acid back from Rosie. "Go with him," she told her. "I'll go help Lynne." Rosie nodded and numbly went with Michael.

(Don't sweat it, OathinBlood. More than one player has looked at the wrong character sheet before.

I went ahead and updated. Fearlessfred hasn't posted in a while in this thread, but I'll assume Joe is heading back to the hallway now that he has some acid.

Everyone is moving to this thread: In Too Deep)