ASH - Cael

[Laraqua]

"I'm keeping the line open," whispers Sarah back on the radio. "Be careful, Cael. I love you."

OOC: I'll post what you see in the room in an hour or so, have to rush off at the moment.

[Laraqua]

He steps inside, his foot sliding a little across the wet blood -- still fresh. The iron tang cloys the air and reminds him of a dozen missions long since past. The unlit room is large, with multiple desks and computers, filing cabinets, book cases, and large machines that must have once flickering with lights and read-outs but now stand dormant. There is a glass display case partially hidden behind the desk closest to the door that seems to have at least one open book inside - a pair of gloves situated within, so that a person could turn the pages without touching the book or exposing it to air.

The light flickers on and he sees the world doused in red. Blood has landed on the surfaces in flicks, splats, sprays and splashes, painting a picture of death and pain. Bodies are hung from the ceilings in different poses, arms out spread, or legs, one wrist pierced through, the other arm hanging flat against the body, one with the lower half of the body shredded, another with the back of the head staved through, one with the lower jaw ripped off, another disembowelled. All naked.

The light flickers on and he hears them scream as power courses through those wires that embed in their bodies and hold them in place, causing them to dance a bloody jig, thrashing and screaming, and throwing out fresh blood from fresh wounds that should have been fatal. Yet still they dance.

The light stops flickering. The bodies hang limp.

[Andrew]

Cael who had just about thought he had seen it all when it came to death and human misery was taken aback at the sight, he swallowed hard and blew out a breath he didn't even know he was holding. He remembered a time when he was in Cambodia, bodies ripped apart and strung up in a very similar fashion but those were dead, they didn't move no matter what happened. The thought that these people were still alive in some fashion or another made his blood run cold but his emotions were to dead to actual care enough to find some way to help them, they were dead and that was that.

However the screams were loud enough that not only was he sure it transmitted over the radio but if something else was here, he just sprung the trap. "I'm fine, none of that was me. However I'm damn glad no one but me came either. Even with all my training and sights I've seen, this takes the cake." Cael said into the radio as he pulled a cigarette from his pack and lit it. "I see a book that's in a glass case, seems though that it has to stay there. The case is made so you can put your hands in and use gloves to turn the pages. That mean anything?"

Once that was said, Cael began to cautiously move throughout the room, looking for whatever it was they wanted him to grab. "Alright old man, you'd best remember what was so damn important because there's a lot of shit in here."

[Laraqua]

As he moves further into the room, carefully moving aside of the bodies that jig whenever the lights flicker on, he sees that the display case contains seven books. The first book is thick and folio-sized, measuring 18 by 11 - 1/2 inches. The type style is black-letter gothic and there are numerous woodcuts illustrating the text, bound in cheap, crumbling paste boards. The second book is a relatively short, hand-written work that seems to be written in Latin - though Cael couldn't be sure as he knew little of Latin. The third book has wavering, blotted handwriting that appears to have been in congealed blood. The ink-stained contents of the fourth book has made the words on the open pages near illegible. The fifth book has the edges charred, though the Arabic writing is added to by english words written in the margins in blue ink. The sixth book, if it could be called that, is a loose sheath of pages that appear to be tattooed pieces of human skin. The seventh book appears to be a more modern book.

There is a thick steel door to the left that is labeled Observation Chamber.

[Laraqua]

Sarah exhales with relief. "Thank God you're okay," she says. "You don't know what went through my head when I heard those screams! I'm glad none of us were down there too." She calls back to her father. "Cael's fine. Do you know what he needs to look for?" There's a long pause, then Sarah speaks into the radio again. "Daddy says not to touch the book in the case, but he doesn't know why yet, so leave it there. He doesn't remember exactly what he left there yet, but look for the Sleeper Device - it's pyramid shaped, you said - or a backpack. He's still thinking."

[Andrew]

"Check that. There are seven books and well... I'd burn them before I touched them. If this were Dungeons and Dragons and I cast a Detect Evil spell, well those books would radiate so much evil I'd go blind. Sort of reminds me of the Evil Dead series and their Necronomicon. There is a thick steel door that's labeled Observation Chamber." Cael said as he began searching around the room for either a pyramid shaped object and or a backpack. "Your father sure those books aren't important? I mean in just about every movie and book to stop the great evil someone has to use it."

[Laraqua]

"Daddy says the books are important, but there's something else that's absolutely essential," Sarah replies on the radio. "Take the seven books on the shelves - you can put them in the Hello Kitty backpack you borrowed from Dahlia - but leave the one in the case for now. Daddy also said not to read them, or they'll do funny things to your head. I think he knows this from experience. He said if you can't find what you're looking for in that room, it might be in the Observation Chamber. Sounds to me like maybe that's where the Sleeper Device could be. If you do find a Necronomicon, don't forget to say the words 'Klaatu Barada Nikto' before picking it up and make sure you pronounce them exactly right, 'kay? Daddy, what about the book in the case? Daddy said you can take a look and see what the book in the case is, and it should be okay, but he doesn't know if it can be removed safely. He's unsure if the case is to prevent the book from being damaged, or to prevent it from damaging the reader."

[Andrew]

Cael shrugged and grabbed the books from the shelf and threw them in the backpack he borrowed. He chuckled a bit and shook his head, "Funny... I think it's stranger for me to be carrying around a Hello Kitty backpack than to be lugging around books of ultimate evil." He stated.

Since he apparently didn't find anything else useful in the room he went and stood before the thick steel door that was marked Observation Chamber. "Alright folks, next thing is to open this door and see what's so worth observing that they had to make a special chamber for it." That said he opens the steel door.

[Laraqua]

The steel door leads him into a large room that is divided by a large windowed concrete partition. The window is covered by heavy steel shutters. On this side, is a counter covered in buttons, toggles and what were once brightly lit read-outs that now sit silent. There is a door between partitions, heavy steel, closed and with no handle. There is also a lever by the window. There are dark goggles hanging from a rack on the wall. There is a black satchel on the floor in the corner of the room.

[Andrew]

Cael looks around the room and stoops to look at the contents of the black satchel. He's smart enough to know that in a room like this you just don't go mashing buttons. He picks up the satchel and has a seat at the console, checking to see if any of the buttons are labeled.

[Laraqua]

The satchel contains a number of print-outs that describe some very disturbing things judging by the bizarre diagrams as well as several small artefacts. Some of the read-outs and gauges are labeled but it would require a more scientifically minded person than he is in order to understand them. The lever by the window has a label beneath it: Opens window. REMEMBER: Wear goggles.

[Andrew]

Cael looks for a pair of goggles and then opens the window.

[Laraqua]

There are dark goggles hanging from a rack on the wall. Putting them on, he notices that they seem to contort his view of the room, causing him to feel light-headed and slightly nauseas. Grasping the lever and pulling it down, activates the heavy steel shutters that are slowly pulled in behind the concrete to reveal a room painted with slightly glowing symbols that seem to flow and pulsate. A dozen chains of light in shades of colors Cael cannot name and has never before seen - seem to be draped across a slowly rotating hunk of twisted metal that was a shade between gray and silver. Simply by looking at it, Cael can smell an iron tang, taste the metal, feel its presence beneath his fingers, feel his blood warm his skin, his heart pump, his eyes itch.

[Andrew]

Cael closes the window and steps back. "Wow... Don't think I should have done that." He stated. He grabbed the satchel and looked around, this seemed to be the only thing that seemed important besides the books. He then said into the radio, "Heading to rendezvous point, ETA 5 minutes."

[Andrew]

OOC: Can I post somewhere else then? Been sort of stuck here for a week now.

[Laraqua]

OOC: Sorry, sorting out about one round so far in another thread. Coming onto the second round, you may get a reply back soon, which is why I've paused things.

[Laraqua]

OOC: Screw it, that's going to take awhile to resolve. I'll give Cael some time to kick ass and take names.

Cael can hear footsteps in the room beyond, slow and shuffling.

[Andrew]

Cael smirked, this was more like it, he preferred a straight up fight to all this sneaking around. He readied his weapon and stepped into the room.

[Laraqua]

Cael comes out into the main room in time to see a blood-smeared injured man who gazes out from sightless eyes as he shuffles nearer.

OOC: The monster gets high initiative. But not high enough.Cael goes first because of his +17 Dex.

[Andrew]

Cael levels the rifle, making sure it's on a 3 round burst, and fires three shots at the creatures head. "Yes all that is gunfire, I got company." Cael says rather calmly into the radio. It's then that he realizes it'd been a little while since he heard anything from those topside. 'Shit... They better not be dead up there. I've never lost a man yet and don't plan to start now plus I haven't had the chance to get any alone time with Sarah, we got a lot of things to talk about... and do.' He finished his thought with a sly grin.

That said he began to sing aloud,
"I've got sunshine on a cloudy day.
When it's cold outside I've got the month of May.
I guess you'd say
What can make me feel this way?
My girl (my girl, my girl)
Talkin' 'bout my girl (my girl).

I've got so much honey the bees envy me.
I've got a sweeter song than the birds in the trees.
I guess you'd say
What can make me feel this way?
My girl (my girl, my girl)
Talkin' 'bout my girl (my girl).

Hey hey hey
Hey hey hey
Ooooh.

I don't need no money, fortune, or fame.
I've got all the riches baby one man can claim.
I guess you'd say
What can make me feel this way?
My girl (my girl, my girl)
Talkin' 'bout my girl (my girl).

I've got sunshine on a cloudy day
With my girl.
I've even got the month of May
With my girl"