Sheldon shivered a little. Siberia was cold any time of the year. Only the natives could really feel the difference. He was glad he had some relief, though...
"Here we go," he flicked a switch on his wrist panel, "Thermal conditioning for my clothing... I could probably whip up a few spare systems for anybody else who may need one out of spare materials, but they might be lower quality..."
Ryat99 seemed to be getting coated with ice as they walked. However, the big machine didn't slow or even pay the ice much heed.
"I hope this is known territory," he informed Vern, "And if so, I would like to know the history of this place and its location in relation to the target."
My Stories
Look at that. A full-grown woman pulling off pigtails. Her crazy is off the charts.
A blast of wind cold enough to drive the air from Build's lungs hit him full in the face. He heard a whir and a click in his mind.
"Increasing core body temp to one hundred six degrees to attune to external environment," His nanites stated calmly
"Isn't that almost enough to fry my brain?" Build said as he did a quick double take.
"We are currently able to sustain bodily function with temperatures up to one hundred twenty-eight degrees. If this is not wanted we can lower your body temperature back to normal and allow you to deal with this foreign environment on your own." The nanites said without any emotion
"Is that a personality I'm detecting?" Build said. He hadn't realized his nanites had advanced so far.
"We have adapted to fit the inner workings of your mind. We have copied your own personality to fit within our current programming." The nanites said with a laugh.
"So how long before you become self sustaining and decide that my current mental state and body aren't to your liking?" Build asked with apprehension.
"Unexpected circumstances have arisen, we could have adapted you to our purposes along time ago. Namely curiosity. We have allowed you to stay the way you are due to the fact that we are curious to see what you will do next." The nanites said sadly.
Build looked toward Sheldon, "You know anything about self aware nanites?"
I do not know my reasons for posting, but post I must. ~~Build
"We can't stop here, this is bat country."
--Johnny Depp
"I ain't bi-curious, I'm a man. Why do you think I'm wearing this tight spandex and got all these muscles?" Meatwad
Igor hunched along with the rest of the group.
"With I brought the carriage..." He muttered. "And where am I thuppothed to fthind detheathed bodieth to reanimate HERE?"
Apparently his Gumbo-Head zombies hadn't followed him through the Light Portal.
Experiment barely recoiled from the cold, his figure disappearing under a newer, more advanced heavy suit of armour, seemingly coursing with unstable electrical currents.
He tapped his PDA, adjusting the stability of the suit to around equal levels, the electric coursing reducing to mild sparks every few seconds. "Awesome. The auto-initiation procedure works... Although, now that I think about it, if it HADN'T- Well, anyway. So, where are we now, exactly? Apart from, y'know, hanging out with some tree roots?"
((Well, Build...))
Sheldon rubbed his chin before answering.
"I personally don't have experience with self-aware nanites... The one person I think would be capable of helping you would be a man in the Etoile Isles... Raymond Harris. I can't seem to remember his costume name... In any case, he has nanites in his bloodstream that tend to act independently of his will... He says he has an ancient tome memorized in his head that they're trying to translate, but I find that notion preposterous."
Ryat99 made a throat clearing noise and looked pointedly at his creator.
"What?" Wallace asked calmly.
"Such individuals are not our current concern," the android reminded the inventor, "We would do well to keep our minds on our current task."
My Stories
Look at that. A full-grown woman pulling off pigtails. Her crazy is off the charts.
" 'Bot I gotta can opener with yer name on it. Raymond Harris? I'll have to look him up." Build said as his nanites started doing something in his head.
"What are you guys doing in there? It feels like you let loose a buzz saw in there. Build asked the rampaging nanites
"Your body will not be optimum in this environment under its current physiology. We are making adjustments. Unfortunately these adjustments will be too severe for your robots to recognize you. For the time being we are shutting off your ability to summon." The nanites said crypticly
What the hell are you ?!? Build felt something akin to liquid fire race through his veins. He let out a horrified shout as he collapsed to the ground.
His skin and hair paled to the point that he blended in perfectly with the surrounding snow. His eyes lost all color except for red, and suddenly he could see in the infrared spectrum. Those around him burst into multicolored heat signatures. He heard the metal that was his arms bend and contort becoming both lighter and stronger.
He flexed the mechanical joints. . .and heard a *SHINK!* sound as six claws sprang from each hand.
Now you are optimal for this environment. Thank us later. The nanites said with almost silent snickering.
As soon as we get home I'm changing your program. Build said threateningly.
We'll just have to change that for the time being won't we? The nanites said as Build felt a roaring in his head.
Brilliant white light exploded behind his eyes. His mind was reduced to base instincts. . .except for the nanites.
He crouched low to the ground and looked at Ryat99 with his head cocked to one side.
I do not know my reasons for posting, but post I must. ~~Build
"We can't stop here, this is bat country."
--Johnny Depp
"I ain't bi-curious, I'm a man. Why do you think I'm wearing this tight spandex and got all these muscles?" Meatwad
Vern wasn't quite sure what the entire ruckus was about. The Labtower's interior held a temperature quite comfortable for humans, and there wasn't any snow either. After all, why would one have snow lying around inside a building? Even in Siberia, that didn't make any sort of sense at all.
Then again, Vern's mind naturally worked in a manner that greatly differed from a human's. He never would have considered that there existed a chance for the reason to be psychological. A Krayten simply didn't think that way. He couldn't understand it - so he let it be without comment. At least nobody was asking questions about the roots.
"Of course it's known territory." Vern told the Ryat unit as they walked, "And I bet you would. But I'll have to disappoint you there..."
"If I had Force powers, vacuum or not my cape/clothes/hair would always be blowing in the Dramatic Wind." - Tenzhi
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((Wait wait wait... These guys had the furnace running? Then there'd have to be...))
"Secrets and all, right," Ryat99 said to Vern without looking away from Build, then pointed at the 'man-dog-thing,' "Um... I don't think this is good for our situation."
Sheldon shut down his thermal conditioning. He was getting sweaty. The big android that accompanied him, however, did not shut down its ice armor.
"I'm perfectly fine in just about anything," the machine rumbled, "This is just a strange circumstance for me, so I'm keeping my armor running."
My Stories
Look at that. A full-grown woman pulling off pigtails. Her crazy is off the charts.
((Well, of course. 
I'm sorry, but I don't know what possessed you to think otherwise, especially since I never said anything about cold in my post. 
It's Siberia. It's cold. You don't leave a building unheated there. And man-dog-thing? Vern's gonna fall over laughing when I tell him that one. 
))
"If I had Force powers, vacuum or not my cape/clothes/hair would always be blowing in the Dramatic Wind." - Tenzhi
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((I was referring to what Build seemed to turn into... Also, it's cold here in Northern NY, too, but we don't waste fuel to keep places warm when nobody's going to be inside in the foreseeable future. If there were more cheap and renewable fuel resources, maybe, but not as things stand now. I can't imagine that Siberians would leave their thermostats at... At... Oh crap, what's 50 degrees Fahrenheit converted to Celsius? In any case, that was the reference point I was running. Sheldon could easily write this off as a "controlled test," but feel free to have your characters snicker and chuckle at his expense.))
My Stories
Look at that. A full-grown woman pulling off pigtails. Her crazy is off the charts.
((Ah, gotcha.))
"If I had Force powers, vacuum or not my cape/clothes/hair would always be blowing in the Dramatic Wind." - Tenzhi
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((Whoops! Following Grey's lead. Just consider the cold coming from Ryatt, and Build's transformation for the upcoming climate change when we leave the building.))
I do not know my reasons for posting, but post I must. ~~Build
"We can't stop here, this is bat country."
--Johnny Depp
"I ain't bi-curious, I'm a man. Why do you think I'm wearing this tight spandex and got all these muscles?" Meatwad
Klaus stared wildly at Build.
"Mein friend, are zjou okay?"
Looking around Klaus noticed the various roots strewn around and the various other points of interest in the room. "Is zis going to be our base of operationz in ze area?"
Build cocked his head to the side to look at Klaus. A weird techno-ized version of Build's voice echoed out of his mouth, "Fine. Upgrades were needed for this body to act at maximum in the current environment."
Build shrugged a little.
Transformation percentage complete: 76%
Metamorphosis will continue at designated rate until bodily decay becomes evident. Will periodicaly increase rate due to environmental stresses.
I do not know my reasons for posting, but post I must. ~~Build
"We can't stop here, this is bat country."
--Johnny Depp
"I ain't bi-curious, I'm a man. Why do you think I'm wearing this tight spandex and got all these muscles?" Meatwad
"Oooookay, just checking. You looked kinda pale."
Klaus tilted his arm so that he could see his PDA built into his suit. He tapped a few buttons on it and a transparent image of Build appeared on screen.
The complex sensor suite built into Klaus' armor was capable of scanning down to the molecular level. At this range, Klaus was able to see the nanites moving throughout Build's body.
Now Klaus was an overly cautious man. Some would say he showed signs of Schizophrenyia. As such his suit was now recording everything around it. The scan of Build was promptly sent to his own little folder. Klaus made a mental note to conduct a thorough analysis of the guy at the next free moment he had.
"Don't think I've been here before," Toy Dispenser remarked as he stepped through the portal. "Just how long have you and Acid been fiddling with my planet, anyway? I don't think I've ever gotten more than a vague estimate out of you."
As Toy's bots stepped through the portal as well, Solid Shot hung back and waited for everyone else to go through before he stepped in himself. Not entirely trusting this odd lizard and his stick-like companion, Solid would err on the side of caution for now.
**********************************************
With an inaudible chunk, the two unactivated Stickmen were fired out of the portside launchers at Earth. The heat that built up during the first stage of entry into the earth's atmosphere jump started the two drones, causing them to phase shift 99.9% of their body mass out of touch with normal reality. The four individual slivers of metal that made up their soles burned white hot as they streaked through the night sky but did not melt or deform in any noticeable fashion.
The four streaks of light were fairly visible but since each signature was extremely small, way too small to be any sort of remote probe, they were dismissed as miniscule fragments of some forgotten satellite or other piece of space junk finally decaying and falling through the sky to burn up before they hit the ground. That they didn't burn up still didn't raise many questions, which was quite preferrable to the pair of Stickmen as they correctly oriented themselves and started skating through the ice and snow toward the target base.
The thermal signatures their feet were throwing out would most likely have dropped entirely by the time they were halfway to the base.
Statesman said let there be heroes, and there were heroes.
Lord Recluse said let there be villains, and there were villains.
NCsoft said let there be nothing, and there was nothing.
"Tho..." Igor began hopefully. "Ith there thome thmall corner you don't need to uthe were I can thet up thop? I'd only need thome thpathe until the carriage arrivth."
Jake entered through the portal of light with a red face. Seeming to be fuming, he quickly glanced around the room until his eyes rested upon Igor, to which he pointed accusingly. "Dare I ask what the Hell you did to my soldiers? And don't try to tell me you didn't do anything, I don't see any other undead surgeons anywhere else here in this freakshow."
((It's my way of saying hello, Diov. ))
((Sorry guys. I've been having loads of company. X_X))
"Ah, lovely." West said, helping Vanessa through with a slight nod. "Thank you, Vern, you've pulled through for us again."
Vanessa let out a low whistle, admiring the inside of the Labtower. "Blimey." she muttered. "'Tis a bloody great place 'ere..."
"That it is." Daniel said, stroking his small beard slightly. "Nonetheless, we must focus on the task at hand..."
Nessie's assault bot, Gasket, clomped through, the little android Essex clinging to its back. "Hurrah for Siberia?" she offered sheepishly.
Japancakes.
Art - Theme 005 - Seeking Solace
"Hurrah indeed, my little pink H34lz0r friend." Experiment added, nodding and smiling in the armoured suit. Stretching and groaning, Experiment then continued. "So, where exactly are we? Wonderland? The Real World? Under the sea?"
"Whichever makes your mind feel more at ease." the Krayten told Experiment with a sly smirk as they walked, taking a moment to remark toward Igor, "I'm afraid your conveyance won't be finding you here. The android's deduction is quite correct."
Indeed, not a single outside power knew of the Labtower's existence (or had until now), its protections sneaky enough to deter any and all prying eyes, whether from this world or another.
"Oh, must be more than twenty years now." Vern answered the robotic mastermind's inquiry as he led the group to the left at an intersection of corridors, heading for an empty, circular shaft of impressive size, most likely a cargo elevator of some sort, "And we haven't fiddled with a thing, my dear Toy. We're not allowed, you know. Thankfully, I was able to find some competent assistance around. Yes, good help is truly hard to find - but I dare say it was well worth the effort."
Arriving at floor's edge, the Krayten' wings twitched slightly in an instinctive reaction ot the sudden drop-off ahead. The cylindrical shaft must've been at least a dozen meters in diameter, stretching up and down who knew how far, and the absence of an actual elevator platform combined with the general lack of lighting inside the thing (only a few sparse points of white light hung symmetrically arrayed along the walls) created a reasonable sense of depth and foreboding in just about anyone.
Still, Vern did not stop, nor even slow down, walking into the thin air of the vertical tube as if it was the most normal thing in the world. Indeed, here it certainly was, as the upward polarized gravity field that dominated space inside the shaft offered both firm support and a ride at comfortable pace as it pulled Vern and the group after him into the regions above. Truly, the field could already be felt by just sticking one's arm into the pipe, and from that point on it gave the body the distinct command of 'Up!'.
The thing certainly seemed to have a mind of its own, speeding up and slowing down the group's members in tandem as it took them past several sealed blast gates that quite frankly resembled nothing but veritable outpourings of resistance. No matter what the symbols painted on the gateways denoted - probably floor numbers - it stood to reason that these doors wouldn't give to anything less than full-scale artillery bombardment. Even then, estimated results could be dubious.
Luckily, it didn't come to anything like that. A number of floors up, another gate stood open, letting light from its corridor wash into the gloom of the shaft, and thereby making its presence known long before the elevator deposited its passengers gently on their destination level.
From there, Vern wasted no time, heading right in the transverse corridor that curved somewhat like a ring, making sure the others could follow as the final gate ahead slid into the ceiling to reveal a long, rectangular chamber, the far end of which seemed open to the outside. Still, it was quickly evident that appearances were deceiving, as the overcast skies of Siberia that could be seen through the hangar-like opening certainly had not caused the temperature within the chamber to drop. Some manner of transparent protection kept the frigid air at bay.
This, however, fell quite by the wayside when one considered just what the chamber contained. Sitting idly on a standard gauge was a train the like of which could be found traveling on the Trans-Siberian at any given time of day in modern times, with any given kind of commuter, looking perfectly normal and ordinary in every single way.
"I present to you our 'geological expedition's' mobile laboratory." Vern explained right away, finding himself chuckling a bit at the words, "The papers in the Kremlin are being finalized as we speak, and should arrive within the hour. Probably even sooner. Everything's on the straight and narrow, permitted, allowed, and perfectly legal. They're not even going to have a clue anything's up until it's far too late. Ladies and gentlemen, do please make your way on board, as we are ready to depart..."
"If I had Force powers, vacuum or not my cape/clothes/hair would always be blowing in the Dramatic Wind." - Tenzhi
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Klaus eyes gave a little twinkle as they passed through the lab tower. "Zis...zis is incredible!" he muttered excitedly on several occasions. Many times he forgot to translate his exclamations into English, speaking instead in heavily accented German.
When they reached the hangar bay he gave a little smile. "Vell sir, I must say zis facility is truly vonderful." He commented, directing his praise to Vern.
All the while, his suit's advanced sensor system was busy trying to analyze and explain just what made the Labtower tick.
As they passed the floors of reinforced doors, hi-tech equipment, and other assortment of technological goodies, as well as the mere fact that the group was floating up some kind of gravity-distorted tunnel in 2.0's eyes, he 'harumph'ed, and walked cross-armed to the train. As he stepped aboard, he growled "I am annoyed- First it was Doc West's labs, now it's this place...
"Why does everybody else have all this awesome stuff?!"
"Because we're poor, Experiment Two-point-Oh," Sheldon gave a wry chuckle, "Yeesh... If my father would just apply for a grant, he could probably build something like this under his barn... But he's a miser, and much more in control of his inventing urges than I am... I'm just so obsessed with my daily work..."
His gauntlets crackled a little to help explain the work he meant.
"And I'm very... Very poor. I wouldn't try to make anything like this from spare parts... Dale might... He did build that freakish Jules Vern inspired lightning-on-demand system out of scrap..."
Ryat99 floated in from the transport tube and hovered outside the arrival point for a few moments.
"Intriguing," he muttered as he gazed at the various fields circulating through it, "Though it may have been difficult to set up, once the breakthrough was achieved, I bet plugging in the floors and chambers after that first got progressively easy. It seems to simply flow like a river, and just needs a little guidance."
The android settled on the floor and turned to Vern.
"I salute you, Master of the Manor, for a most pleasant journey, as short as it was. That must be what clouds feel like."
My Stories
Look at that. A full-grown woman pulling off pigtails. Her crazy is off the charts.
"Good." was Vern's answer, and with that a bright flash of white filled the room for a moment. It wasn't blinding, or even savagely luminescent, giving more the impression that someone had just erased all color but white for a fraction of a second. Then it was already over.
Just before the nearest wall now hovered a circular vortex of white, roughly four meters in diameter and composed of the same light that had filled everyones views the instant before - not blinding, not stinging, but merely carrying the appearance of a painter having drawn a blank white canvas over said spot of wall.
"Well, come on." the Krayten urged the others on, "We've a job to do. No time to dawdle."
To that end, Vern intended to step through last, the spindly mechanoid ceasing its fowl-like actions and reshaping itself into an approximately quarter-meter-long tube instead. M had deactivated the communications droid for now.
The workings of the light gate were fairly basic - it simply attuned its endpoints to one another, merging them into one, but without all the nasty side effects of bending space and time or some-such. Its working principle was much, much more basic than that, not even touching any such relevance.
On the other side lay what one might expect - the Labtower's portal terminal; a large, rectangular chamber that aside from the raise platform and ramp that formed passage for a few large-bore gateway rings of apparently metallic composition, seemed to contain nothing at all, save for a pair of sizeable blast doors at the far end of course, one set into each side wall.
Still, the terminal did have something strange about it: the gray-blue metal that composed it stood covered with plants. Roots, to be more specific, snaking their way along and about in a myriad of patterns, disappearing through holes in floor, walls, and ceiling as if the place had been tailored right around them.
Vern waited patiently for all who wished to come to do so, as there wouldn't be any getting to the Labtower once the portal had shut down again, the gateway the only means of entry at this time, and then stepped through as well, the generated vortex dissipating behind him.
"This way, if you please." he bid the group to follow him through the right-hand blast door, the thick slab rising into the ceiling to free their way as they approached. The corridor beyond bore the same appearance as the terminal, thick roots of what must have been some massive tree growing where they wished, yet never truly impinging on any space or blocking the way...
"If I had Force powers, vacuum or not my cape/clothes/hair would always be blowing in the Dramatic Wind." - Tenzhi
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