2014.12.14:The Flooded Lab

The Flooded Lab
A book outlining the creation of chimeras is hidden in a flooded animal testing lab. The group intend to get retrieve it.
IC Date	After the Hurricane
IC Time	Night
Players	Fabian (Storyteller), Alisandra, Liesl
Location	Prospect
Prp/Tp	Corruption of the Earthbound Priestess
Spheres	Demon

Log

As the storm clears up, there is still a lot around the city to get back into shape. Among these things is a peculiar lab on the outskirts of town. It was close enough to the beach to get some pretty heavy flooding, and as a result, is still closed. The slightly faded sign on the door reads, 'Alliance Labs'.

Fabian waits in front of the building, considering it curiously. He walks back and forth before clicking his tongue. Curious blue eyes peer inside before he turns around to lean against the wall. Pulling out a piece of candy, he fusses with the wrapper before popping it into his mouth. He rolls it around his tongue before stopping. Looking at the Trio he brought here, most likely by a cap of some sort he smiles, "So... Here's the thing." He glances at the Laboratory, "Some of my old associates in Phoenix gave me work that an old colleague of a common enemy has holed up in the city, and started this lab. I haven't... really had any way to infiltrate it until today. The storm gave a perfect window." He glances back, "This man is /very/ well known for very imhumane experiments on animals. Namely, gene splicing. Chimeras and the like." He pauses, "He used to be on our side in Phoenix.... But too corrupted. When he left, he stole a specific book. It's old... probably not readable by any of you. That's the best description I can give. The book, we think, is what is giving him information that allows him to come up with these experiments. I intend... to get it back." He lowers his eyes, "There are a few things I need to take care out out here. I heard some rumors that some of his associates might be arriving today. So I'm going to stand watch. Liesl, if you need help. Text me, you know the drill." He laughs, "Now remember.. this man... Is evil. You'll see the thing she does first hand. So if you see anything you want to take..." He glances at Alisandra, the scientist, "Don't feel too bad. He's probably better off without it. All I'm interested in is the book." He smiles, "Any questions?"

Liesl considers the words, the assumptions. "Would it be a bad idea to read the book, assuming one could? Is it like ... you know ... the Necromonicon?"

Basilisk nods seriously "So um..." she says looking hte place over. "Do you want us to take things or just raid and destroy?" she asks as if this is normal for her.

Alisandra doesn't look particularly comfortable, despite the end of the storm and the time since then; if anything, she looks a little more so, although at least she's had the chance to wash up and clean up. A frown crosses her lips when he mentions animal experiments, but it's a puzzled frown rather than a disapproving one. Only when he describes them as 'chimeras' does she seem satisfied. "I'm not a thief," she says, shaking her head slightly as to the last bit, "but I appreciate the sentiment."

"The book is... In a very, very dead language. If you can read it. By all means. I don't think it's anything like that." Fabian offers to Liesl, "I can't even read it. If I'm being honest with you." He sighs, "But I know of it, so that's enough. Turning to Basilisk he flits a smile, "I need to book. Whatever happens or doesn't happen... I am quite willing to turn a blind eye to. This needs to be taken care of." To Alisandra he adds, "I know you're not. What I am saying is this: If you see what's in there, and decide you need to do something extra to stop it. I don't think anyone would think you anything less than a hero." He tugs on the door, and it opens, "I already got the door open, luckily. So... If you're ready, feel free to enter. Remember, this /is/ a lab. So... Unless I am mistaken, you're not going to have to worry much about booby traps. At least not in the main areas. The power is still off, so security shouldn't be a concern either. Other than that... There is little I can tell you."

Liesl nods thoughtfully. "Any idea where it is being kept? Sounds like something that he might want to lock up into a safe. Or, you know ... take with him, when he leaves?" Not that she's trying to get out of things, but she's tossing that out there, in case their search ends up being fruitless.

"If he left after the storm had started," Alisandra speculates, "very probably he put it somewhere, um, watertight, or at the very least, somewhere high off the ground." Although she's removed her hat -- wearing something like that inside would just be asking for trouble -- she's left her sunglasses on. As far as can be discerned from looking at her, she hasn't got any weapons -- no obvious weapons, at least.

"The book is here. I'm sure of that." Fabian says firmly, "It.. is most protected here. If he were to bring it with him, there are ways we could have procured it already. But being in this building makes it extremely difficult to get at, at least by the methods we were using. So... It's one of the two things I'm sure of. The other is... I know he's not here. As for where? I don't know. That's for you to figure out if you're able. If not... I understand." To Alisandra he smiles, "It's very possible. Something to think on definitely." He smiles warmly before adding, "Again... I trust the pair of you. Probably more than anyone in the city." He speaks to Liesl and Alisandra, "I... don't think you'll be in too much danger. And if things get too terrible? Just run I won't blame you." He speaks to the pair, "Basil, go ahead and stay with me." He adds, "I think I'll need you."

Liesl has her snake with her, which is pretty much a given. He appears to be listening just as attentively to Fabian as Liesl does. She nods to Alisandra at her thoughts, agreeing that those are good ideas, and places to check. She nods to Fabian as well. "As long as they haven't ramped up the security, to prevent looting, we should be good."

A quick smile from Alisandra, directed first at Liesl, then at Fabian. "I'm sure we'll be able to find it," she says, sounding completely confident that this is, in fact, the case. "People don't usually realize how clearly their subconscious actions point toward the things they value most." She takes a breath, and lets it out, turning toward the building.

It is dark in here. The only thing lighting the are are small battery powered LED lights that still seem to be faintly glowing despite the storm. The first area is a secretaries' desk. The computers are, obviously, all turned off. To the left, a set of visitor's bathrooms and be seen, and behind the desk is a door leading into the lab proper. There are various stack of paper on the desks, a little mussed up from the effects of the storm. The floor is damp, but the flooding doesn't seem to have effected this area too heavily. Behind the counter is a security camera, but no lights seem to be on on it. As much as the pair can see, it seems the security systems have been destroyed in the storm. A few chairs line the wall, a place for guests to sit and wait for business.

Liesl returns the smile to Alisandra, and slips through the door that Fabian has been holding for them. She stands with her companion surveying the area in the dim light. She points to the door that isn't the bathrooms, with a tilt of her head towards Alisandra. "Shall we start there?" she asks quietly. "Or should we riffle the desks first?"

"I think it's unlikely that he would have left something valuable out here," Alisandra opines. "Of course there's always the chance that someone'll go the opposite way on purpose -- but with so many people coming through here, and perhaps other employees needing to store things there -- I don't think we ought to prioritize it." She produces her cellphone and turns it to an all-white screen, so as to emulate a flashlight. "Let's see if we can get into the laboratory."

Liesl nods. "Works for me," she agrees, not really being wild about the idea of riffling though a desk that probably would produce little of interest. She stands behind Alisandra to avoid the light of the phone, while she's letting her eyes get used to the semi-darkness. "We can hit it on the way out, if we're unsuccessful in the lab." She does give the stacks a quick look, though, to see if a book was slipped in between the sheaves of paper.

Most of the papers are pretty dull. Really, it's mostly just forms. Some for specific medicines. Some for supplies. Nothing seems to be of much interest, really. It's basically what you'd expect on a receptionists' desk. A lot of Bureaucratic nonsense.

The hallway to the lab is long, it seems to snake around the side of the room with a door on the left side leading in. There seems to have been a keypad on the door, but it failed. As a result, it should open quite easily.

Inside the lab is lit by those same dim lights. The lab is best described as an open room split into three sections. Two raised areas, one where they stand and one at the far side of the room, and a lowered section in the middle. Due to the flooding, the middle section is submerged in water, creating a small pool extending from wall to wall about two feet deep. Various tables line the walls op the raised section, and a pair of four, in a two by two grid, fill the bottom area.

There are various experiments of the tables. Machinery, incubators, petree dishes. The most stomach turning are various dissections. At the far side of the room, barely visible, is a door leading to some more offices most likely. On the left side of the room, on the side Alisandra and Liesl are on, is a door marked 'supplies'.

Alisandra takes care to use her forearm, not her hand, to push the door open -- no fingerprints! Once they're inside the lab, she glances around, panning her improvised flashlight in first one direction, then another, until they've had a good look at their surroundings. "Take care of the water," she says -- "it might be in contact with something under the floor that could electrify it." She's not quick enough to have spotted anything unusual, but she's compulsively cautious anyway.

Liesl casts a quick glance around the room, then a slower one after that. She points out the fish in the center area. "They seem to be okay, though I'm not interested in wading through that anyway." Who knows what sort of experimental fish they might be? The doors catch her attention next. "Storage? Want to try in there?"

"Oh!" Alisandra exclaims, surprised, when Liesl points out their little piscine companions. "I didn't see those. One more excellent reason to try to avoid the water," she says ruefully. "If you can do without the light for just a moment -- " She switches her cellphone to a complex statistical analysis application, rapidly entering data. "I think I have a good enough grasp on the owner's way of thinking by now to project his most likely preferences for securing valuables."

Liesl watches Alisandra as she does her calculations and such, though there's that undeniable sense of Something Happening. Her brows raise, though she remains silent on that point. "So, where do you think he's hidden his goodies?" is asked instead.

The darkhaired young woman makes quick work of her analytical task: "Based on the way they've worked within the building's layout," she says, "there's almost a ninety percent chance that he'd've chosen to hide something of this nature further along the linear path through the laboratory. I calculate a better than two to one chance that the supply room will /also/ lead us there -- more immediate difficulty in exchange for less later on. And the fact that he's playing these sorts of mind games tells me that we probably ought to watch ourselves even more closely once we're on the way back." She flips the phone back into flashlight mode. "So! Which do you like better -- a steep but short difficulty curve, or a shallower but higher one?"

Liesl considers. "Let's do the harder to start, to help alleviate the double hit of needing to be watchful and having a difficult return," she suggests. She blinks a few times as the phone is flipped back into flashlight mode.

The tables in the submerged area rise about two feet above the floor of the raised parts. There is about a three foot gap between the raised area and the nearest table, and another three feet between table and table, and again to the far side. The tables are cluttered with aquariums and cages. Inside, a few little critters scitter about while others lay motionless, most likely dead. The longer the spend in the room, the more they may notice. Another one being that while the main door to the lab was shorted open, the door to the supply closet seems to be shorted closed. Locked, it seems. And not by a lock, but by a shorted out mechanism. Perhaps harder to open.

"That sounds like an excellent plan," Alisandra says, and fortunately she does not launch into a disquisition on how it will affect their chances for success, or the stock market in Tokyo, or whatever else might be on her mind. Instead she crosses over to the supply room door to inspect it. "Locked. Do you have any thoughts on how we could get it open?"

Liesl joins Alisandra at the door, to inspect the lock. She plays with it for a little while, poking and prodding, before there's a little click and the door swings open. "Looks like some water got into it."

Alisandra's not especially good with locks, so she's quite relieved not to have to try to get it open herself. (Not even with the fixings for home-cooked thermite close at hand!) "Under normal circumstances, I'd be disappointed in that sort of poor waterproofing," she remarks, "but as it is I think it'd be a bit silly to object. Let's see what's inside." She peers inside the room cautiously, holding her cellphone-light up to illuminate as much of the interior as she can.

The inside of the closet is a medium size. Enough the the pair can fit in comfortably. Large boxes line the shelves, filled with various cleaning supplies, chemicals and other knick-knacks. The is a mop bucket as well, pushed against the wall. A small dim led light highlights the area from above, giving an eerie sort of glow to the whole thing. A vent lies in the wall, about two and a half foot square, most likely hooking up to some ventilation system. One the back of a door is a fire-escape map of the building outlining the various exits in case of a fire. Other than that, it seems a pretty normal closet.

Liesl peers about the closet, once inside, checking the fire-escape map to get an idea of where they might be in relation to other parts of the building. The shelves are given the once over for what they contain, with an eye out for something that might be a well-wrapped book, or a waterproof container large enough for same. The vent is given a somewhat closer look as well. "Yes, it would be silly to object. We're in, after all."

Alisandra gives the vent an uneasy look, eyeing it dubiously. "I have the very uncomfortable feeling that proceeding further on via this route may involve crawling through a very cramped ventilation shaft," she says. "That's just the sort of thing that people ought to stop designing out of their buildings."

Liesl looks at the vent as well. "Yes, you are quite probably right about being cramped. Of course, there wouldn't be any, you know, ventilation to the various rooms without them, if they stopped being designed in." She looks back to the map again, something tickling at her mind. "You know ... this looks like it's hiding something ... the lab isn't really this big." She traces the outline of the lab. "Looks like the map is trying to tell us that this bit here it further back than it really is."

"/Is/ it," Alisandra says, sounding decidedly satisfied. "That's very --" She breaks off in midsentence, peering a little more closely at the vent. "I don't believe that's actually for ventilation at all. Or rather, it may serve that purpose, but the latch on the bottom and the way the cover's shaped suggest it was intended as a service shaft. We might be able to take it down into the basement and bypass some of the rest of the building that way." And then shr grimaces. "Of course, if it /does/ go that far down, it's probably flooded through at least part of the way." Just for future reference, she takes a picture of the map with her cellphone camera -- never know when that might come in handy."

Liesl moves to take a peek at the cover that might actually be for service access, rather than ventilation. "Seems a better bet than ventilation, actually ... closet probably doesn't need a lot of ventilation." She nods. "Yes, probably quite a lot of standing water down there still. But, from here, there's not a lot of other choices." She taps the ladder, "Unless we can use this to bypass that pit in the middle of the lab." Other than the tables and stuff, and there might not be a lot of them, their options are limited.

"I'm, um, I'm not very good at, um," Alisandra says, obviously embarrassed. "Athletic activities. Climbing, running, jumping, that sort of thing. But, um, it seems to me that either way of doing things is going to involve doing some things that I'm not very good at. So, um, I think perhaps we ought to try the service shaft first, and if we can't get through it we can always try the other way?"

The service shaft is small, and cramped. A ladder leads about 8 feet down to a three by 5 foot opening. Hopefully no one is claustrophobic. The ground is cement, and about two and a half of the five feet is water. Various panels can be seen on the walls, with little notations made on what they do control. Breaker switches lie above the notations, most, if not all firmly in the off position. Most likely overloaded by the storm. With use of the phone, it is easy to see that the shaft leads forward, spanning the length of the lab most likely, where, barely, another ladder can be seen. The pathway also curves around to the right where that second ladder is. About halfway down the hall, there is an idle 'drip, drip drip' most likely where the flooded area upstairs lies.

Liesl nods. "I expect there will be some climbing at least, but hopefully little in the way of running and jumping." She peers down, points out the ladder. "Climbing for sure. And wet." She glances to Alisandra. "You okay with wet? We'll be doing some serious wading it looks like." And serious crouching, she discovers, for herself once she gets down, and finds the ceiling more than a foot lower than her head . Alisandra will have some crouching of her own to do. "Probably should have taken off the boots," she mutters to herself.

Liesl shakes her head. "Silly me, I have my own phone." She pulls that out, and finds the flashlight app, which lights the flash LEDs for the camera. Given that the passage doesn't have the emergency lights as was upstairs, she doesn't feel quite as bad about using a bright light in this area. "And yeah, the wet has been particularly pernicious. I don't think anyone managed to avoid it."

As the pair make their way forward. There is an odd... Sliminess at their feet. And odder still, it's not still. It seems to be moving. Little slimey something seeking out flesh wherever the can find. Be it an ankle, a calf, a foot. There isn't much pain. But there is an odd itching, and perhaps a pressure as they find a place to situate....

It's so cramped in the shaft, and Alisandra so focused on getting through it, that she's disinclined to stop /in/ the water. "It's times like these," she says, through clenched teeth, "that I'm very glad none of my majors was in zoology, because then I'd /know/ what it is that's trying to squidge its way up my slacks, and then I'd have to scream, and in this place that would just be rude."

Liesl is glad she /didn't/ take off her boots now. The leather keeps the slimy creatures away, though she'll probably have to dispose of them once this is over. "Even if you knew, I wouldn't want to know, anyway," she assures Alisandra. "And screaming would probably be a bad idea in here," she concurs. Slogging ever closer to the ladder at the far end, she counts her steps, to get an idea of how far along they've gotten.

The service panels are marked with various information. Mostly what rooms go with what breaker. However, among them... The pair find one panel that sees to still be operational. In a sense. It is higher, enough to avoid most of the water. Near it is a note 'Back up generator.' But, following the logical wirings, it can be seen that the power has been diverted somewhere specific, down the right bend in the hall past the ladder. Perhaps that is why the lights are so dim and the security system is off.

For some reason, this information is enough to make Alisandra lower her voice. Or maybe it's just the infuriating acoustics of the water-filled shaft. "Wherever the backup generator covers," she murmurs, "that seems like it's most likely to be the most secure part. Do you think?"

Liesl is of the same mind, her own voice lowering. "Yes, why else would there be a diversion like that? That area probably still has lights going." She lets her eyes (and the flashlight/phone) follow the wiring again, to be sure that she didn't miss some sort of crossing the first time she looked.

As the pair come close to the ladder at the other end. It is safe to say that at least a leech or two have found flesh. Or at least, latched on to their clothing. However, this doesn't seem to be much of an issue. Leeches are medicinal, right?

What does seem to be an issue is a large, rolling growl... There is an obvious thud from above. The thud... Thud... Thud... passes them. Then a large howl of rage. The thuds get louder, and louder before CRASH... A large, muscle-colored clawed paw breaks through the ceiling where the flooded area above would be. Water from the lab comes crashing down, fish and all. The water level begins to rise, but all and all, it doesn't rise too heavily. Perhaps there is a runoff and some point.

From the flesh of the paw, little wriggling forms bore out of the meat. What looks like.. leeches fall off the flesh and fall into the water. The claw recedes, leaving a hole in the ceiling.

Right. Medicinal. That's undoubtedly what Alisandra's telling herself, and telling herself that is probably the only reason she's managing to ignore the leech attached to her calf, and the other one sliming its squidgy way up her leg. All the same, it's enough to get her tension to an elevated level, and that's why she emits a strangled squeak when the clawed paw breaks through the ceiling. Reflexively, she dives flat to the floor of the shaft, which means whatever wasn't soaked already definitely is now, to say nothing of the many new opportunities the leeches have to attach themselves!

Liesl doesn't scream, but what she does do is let out a disgusted grunt as she is deluged with the water from above, and the .... things flashing and splashing past her. She backs away, catching a heel on one of the underwater wrigglers, and finds herself sitting in water up to her neck. "Shit," she mutters, managing to at least have kept the phone above her head. And, of course, she's now fresh game for the leeches. With a sigh, she looks around for Alisandra.

When the pair get deeper into the water, more leeches attempt to latch themselves on. And some do. The only saving grace... Are the fish. Perhaps accustomed to the food source, or just going fo the easier meal, they seem contnet to pick off the little scragglers the can get their teeth on. The water bubble lightly with the feeding frenzy. And there are two real thoughts. First, what happens if the leeches continue to latch on? Will the monster get more aggressive? And two... What happens when these fish run out of the easier meal?

Alisandra's scrambling forward as quick as she can -- which, let's be honest, is not especially quick while she's busy being overcome with body horror. But she /is/ moving, down the right-hand curve toward where the auxiliary power's been diverted, and she's going to worry about plucking the leeches off herself later. Assuming she doesn't pass out from blood loss along the way.

Liesl notes the moving Alisandra, and decides that she better follow suit. The passage is narrow, but neither girl is particularly wide, so there is actually room for Alisandra to pass Liesl by on the way to their goal. Liesl doesn't do much in the way of waiting, either, and gets to her feet as quickly as she can, to minimize the amount of flesh actually available, before sloshing her way to the right passageway.

Curving to the right, there is another pathway. Still, the leeches writhe beneath. The creature seems to be following the pair, thud, thud thudding above. However, perhaps due to the thicker floors, it's unable to reach them. When they reach halfway down the right path, the creature's holds seem to stop. Not in sounds, but in movement. It stays in one place, and a large scratching can be heard. Perhaps it reached a wall? Before them, another ladder. This one however... Is odd Looking up, it seems wholly too long. As if it climbs the length of a tower. But oddly, the whole thing seems lit.. the entire way, even though it's hard to see from what source.

Once she gets to the ladder, Alisandra pauses, going a rung or two up, no further; if her phone's survived all this excitement, she'll consult the photo of the building map to see if she can estimate where they are now. Either way, she'll motion Liesl up the ladder first: "If you go first, at least I won't knock you off if I fall," is her wanly humorous explanation.

The ladder seems to go on for a long time. Entirely too long for them to get back to the main floor. Liesl may have even started feeling helpless. However, after about two minutes, and most likely some firm determination on Alisandra's part. She manages to find the top. Pulling Liesl along for the ride the room above comes into view....

It is... beyond words disgusting or fascinating, depending on who you ask. The walls are lines with dissected corpses of all kinds animal hybrids. A chimpanzee mixed with a lion. An owl with a scorpion. A guinea pig with a capybara, which just comes out looking like a guinea pig. There are dozens of others. The odd part is none of the corpses smell. They all seem quite well preserved, like something out of the creepy bodies museum exhibit. Other than that, the only thing in the room is a large symbol drawn in chalk in the middle of the floor.

The lights here are bright, however, it still doesn't do much to explain why there would be so much power diverted to this particular room...

For Alisandra to be helping anyone up a ladder is one of those things that strains credulity, but however much it pains her -- and it obviously does, even ignoring the continued drain from those devilish little leeches -- she keeps on until she's out into the secret lab. Once she's safely off the ladder, she collapses to the floor and spends a good thirty seconds just taking deep breaths to recover. /Then/, of course, off come the boots, and she's got to get rid of those damned leeches. Dissected chimerae? They do get a second glance, but right now she's too preoccupied to let them take over.

Liesl was actually ahead, so Alisandra was clearly pushing her up the ladder. She crawls into the room far enough to let Alisandra follow through, and she's doing pretty much the same, divesting herself of any remaining leeches. She gets herself to her feet, and as long as the critters pinned to the walls don't smell, or are dripping ichor or anything gross like that, she notes them, but doesn't freak. Honestly, it probably more resembles a taxidermist's odd hobby. As long as she doesn't look too closely. The symbol on the floor is noted, her expression mostly a quizzical frown. And, somewhere in there, she's turned off her flashlight app, but doesn't seem inclined to put away the phone, since her clothes are soaked. So, she starts taking pictures.

As Alisandra takes off her boot, and places it to the side, a bit of the moisture pools out. The puddle expands, trailing against the chalk. As it hits the chalk... There is an odd flicker in the area. Like bad reception almost. From behind then, the sound of scratching can be heard, as that beast tries to get in. However, as the leeches are removes and disposed of... The creature seems to lose interest. It huffs, before beginning to stalk the hallways around the hidden room.

Thanks to her splashy time in the shaft, it takes a bit of doing before Alisandra can get all the leeches off of herself -- a process hampered by her unwillingness to shed any of those soaking wet clothes to speed things up. Not even her jacket! But ... she /does/ pause for a moment when the area flickers, glancing uneasily around the area, and then hurries to get rid of the rest of those little suckers.

Liesl would have no qualms about stripping down to get rid of the leeches, but she was lucky with her choice of clothing, and didn't need to. The flickering of the air seems to catch her attention to a particular part of the room, and she heads that direction, pausing as she also catches sight of her snake, and picks him up, and drapes him over her shoulders once more. He doesn't seem to like it much, but he does settle down after a moment. Once Liesl's reached the area of interest, she paces along the area, looking around intently.

Once she's free of parasites, Alisandra hauls herself back to her feet -- looking a bit pained in the process -- and begins to examine the room more closely herself. Not surprisingly, Liesl showing interest in one part of the room draws her attention as well -- she's nothing if not conformist. "Did you see something unusual here?"

The more leeches die, the more docile that beast becomes. To the point it wander off... Somewhere, unknown. That leave the pair in the room, with the corpses and the odd symbol. When Liesl walks forward, then Alisandra, the whirr of generators can be heard. What they are doing is anyone's guess. However, it's obvious that there is some sort of power supply, box or something in the wall at the far side.

Liesl makes a series of gestures, using her hands to give vague dimensions of a rectangular object. "When there was that flickering ... Something desk-like? But it isn't actually here." She shrugs. "But," and she tilts her head a bit, "There's generators, it sounds like. Maybe we triggered them going off?" She looks around again, clearly curious about ... everything, really.

"Some sort of dimensional displacement?" Alisandra theorizes, examining the area that Liesl indicates. First with her sunglassess off; and then, after putting them back on and touching an unobtrusive button on the frame that causes a tiny red LED to illuminate at the end of one earpiece. "It could be. The additional water might have tripped another circuit breaker, or -- well, we didn't check for infrared sensors or anything of that sort, so just our being there /could/ have done it. Let me go and take a look at the power -- panel, or whatever it is." Suiting action to words, she moves toward the far wall.

There doesn't seem to be a panel of any sort. The generators are coming from the wall itself. Feeling it, the vibrations indicate they are somewhat close. Perhaps someone strong could even break through to them. Really, that seems to be the only thing really noticeable. The chalk symbol, the corpses, and the generators.

Liesl shrugs a little, at the question. "Maybe. Does seem to be ... here and not here." She watches Alisandra with her sunglasses with a great deal of interest. She paces to the wall as well, and feels the vibration there. No real need to get to the generators, just good to know they're working, right? "Maybe the gauges are back where we came from," she suggests. "Or are you looking to try and find what they're hooked up to?"

"We might be able to disconnect the power lines in the, um," Alisandra says, and winces even saying it: "The service shaft. Then again, that might just make things worse. For that matter, we don't even really know for certain that the generators are what's keeping the displacement static -- we might cut the power and find out that that was what's holding the door closed." All the same, she leans closer to the wall, inspecting it inch by inch, and even, on occasion, bringing out her phone to do some sort of material analysis via its camera.

Liesl nods thoughtfully. "Probably best to just let 'em run," she comments. She lets her gaze sweep around the room, seeing if there is anything else of interest. She notes the closed off doorway, not being professionally done, if she could see it. "Someone wanted this place to be difficult to get to," she remarks, then continues circling the room, seeking the prize, or at least a clue that would lead them there. At one point, she looks over to Alisandra and her activity, another of those quizzical frowns crossing her features. "Any luck?"

"I think so," Alisandra says -- absorbed in her study, she's barely noticed the second, blocked-up, doorway. "See this spot, here? Analysis of the sonic response of the wall to impact testing suggests that it's only drywall from /here/" -- she points -- "to /here/. Not a very big weak point, but big enough that we could probably break through and see what's behind with just a boot or ... if you have a pocketknife or something of the sort. Only, do you think we ought to risk it?"

Liesl approaches, prodding a little at the wall. "Soggy. Probably sneezing on it will bring it down," she observes. "Well, do we want to advertise that we were here? Alternatively, is it important that we get a look at what's behind there?" Of course, there's the possibility that the book was hidden in there.

Alisandra considers. "If we find the book and make off with it, it's going to be obvious that /someone/ was here," she says. "So I don't think giving evidence of it is necessarily a disqualifier. It'd be better if we would make it look natural, but I'm honestly not sure how we'd go about doing that. I was never much good in materials science. I think ... I think we probably /ought/ to look; if those generators /are/ what's keeping the dimensional rift stable, the only other way I can think of to shut it down is to go back into the shaft, and I don't know if that'd work."

Liesl nods to Alisandra's remarks. "Fair enough, let me ..." She breaks off as the bits of ceiling fall on the other side of the room, due to the creature's throwing himself at the wall - or so it sounds. She nods again, and turns back to examine the ceiling above the area they've got under scrutiny. "That's probably ready to come down, too. Let's see if we can find something to throw at it." She continues to study the wall and the adjacent bit of ceiling. If nothing else, she can take off her boot and throw it.

The thump and the rain of plaster draw a nervous glance from Alisandra. "I think we probably ought to hurry," she suggests, "because if that ceiling /does/ come down, I'm not sure how much support there is for whatever's up above it. And I think Fabian'd be very upset if we let the building collapse on top of his book."

Liesl nods. "Probably a good idea, yes, to do this quickly. Can you see anything that can be thrown?" She gets ready to remove a boot if not.

Liesl has a mean pitch. The ceiling cracks, and a large hole, about 3X3 opens up. Beyond that, a large deluge of water, probably collected on the roof falls in. The chalk is washed away. The wall comes down easily with the ceiling, and behind, a pair of generators whirr with sound. There are wires hooked up to it, most likely coming from whatever source below. It is hard to see the effect of the machines, but from the amount of wires coming out, the seem to encircle this room. After all the dust settles, the chalk drawing is gone, and the motors are still... And.. in the north part of the room is a small writing desk. It's hard to say when it appeared because of the chaos, nor what end led to it. One thing is for certain:

Liesl's boot is pretty nasty.

The odd part aside from that is the Beastly mass outside doesn't seem to react. Perhaps noise is not a fantastic sense of his.

"I can't imagine anyone going to all this trouble to hide something that isn't valuable," Alisandra says once things have calmed down again. She crosses over to the desk to inspect it -- careful not to touch it, of course, but to see whether they'll need to gimmick another lock. If, in fact, the desk has drawers.

Now the the desk is in view it looks like... A desk. There is nothing emanating from it. No spikes, or levers. It's hard to say for certain... But as far as can be seen, it's a desk. There is a drawer in it that has yet to be open.

Liesl picks up her boot, and pours out the mixture of water, mushy drywall, disgusting debris from whatever was in that water that poured in from the ceiling space. Nasty or not, she doesn't plan to let the leeches have their way with her uncovered foot and leg. She looks around as she gets it back on, and zips it up, before heading over to the desk as well. "Yeah, looks like it was the generators keeping it inaccessible. And, you're right, someone did go through a lot of trouble to hide this."

"I'm going to try opening the drawer," she says, and adds, with a rueful smile, "Maybe stand back in case there's some sort of explosive device hidden inside. Probably not likely, most people'd never find it in the first place, but better safe than sorry."

Liesl nods, and takes a few steps away. She keeps an eye out as Alisandra goes for the drawer, an eye drifting to the other wall, as though that would keep Snoopy at bay. "Better safe than sorry," she repeats in agreement.

When Alisandra opens the shelf... Reality begins to tear away. Okay. Not really. She tugs at the desk, and it opens. Inside is a book. Black, leatherbound. On the front is the same symbol that was drawn on the floor. Inside the book is.. a very odd language. It's a mixture of what look like letters, symbols and designs that seem to make no sense. Nothing really happens other than that, perhaps the Keeper never expected anyone to get this far....

Alisandra's shoulders slump a little in relief. "Thank goodness," she says. "Now we just have to get the dratted thing /out/ of here." She glances at the door, then the bricked door, then, reluctantly, at the ladder. "I don't suppose you have anything waterproof we could wrap it in?" Naturally, going up through the ceiling has not occurred to her.

Liesl moves in as Alisandra doesn't blow up into a million pieces, and pulls the book from the desk. She is eager to take a look, but as she approaches, she reaches into her back pocket, and pulls out a handful of water ... well, it's a plastic zip-lock bag, but it had trapped some of the water that she found herself in earlier. No leeches though. "As a matter of fact..." She unfolds the bag, inspecting it carefully, then unzipping it. It's a big one, the two gallon size. She hands it over, and reaches towards the book. "May I?" she asks, clearly wanting to see what the fuss is about.

"If you like, go ahead," Alisandra says, shaking any remaining moisture out of the plastic bag, and then ... well, she initially tries drying it with her jacket sleeve, but of course her jacket is already soaked, so that won't help much. She winds up just shaking it vigorously. "Clever of you to plan ahead. I didn't think to bring anything like this."

Snoopy continues his sniffing around. He seems to have found something interesting, pawing at the ground. From down the ladder, the sloshing of water can be heard. Perhaps he's pawing through the hole he made earlier.

As for the book. It seems.. like a book. Nothing happens when it's opened. It just contains a /lot/ of information. From the ceiling, a drop of water falls on it. It rolls right off, sort of like that windshield covering that repels water.

Liesl takes the book, nodding. "Fabian mentioned a book, so ... with the weather, I figured a little precaution would be a good idea." She opens the book, cradling it carefully in one hand as she turns the leaves with the other. She skims her gaze over the pages, noting the odd writing. She doesn't take too long, since there's no telling how soon Snoopy might break through. "Oh!" she exclaims as the drop rolls away. She closes it up quickly, not trusting that it wasn't a fluke, and moves to tuck it into the bag.

With Liesl taking care of the book, Alisandra crosses back over to the ladder the two of them came up on, and cautiously peers downward into the shaft below to investigate the source of the sloshing. "We'd probably better go ahead and get out of here," she says, "before anything worse happens."

Liesl looks about the room, to see if there's any alternate options. Short of the zombie route, of course. Another drop of water has her look upwards. Nah, once up, they'd still need to get back down. She joins Alisandra at the hatch. "Sounds good to me," she agrees. Phone is turned back onto the flashlight app and she gives Alisandra a nod. "Ready when you are."

The corridor they entered is becoming more flooded, and the sound of Snoopy pawing around in there is pretty evident. It's possible that the ladder passed up before could lead /somewhere/. But it is also possible it leads to where Fluffy would be. The leaves and the fish are still there, the latter feeding off of the former. However, upon turning the corner, Snoopy's paw can be seen. It is reaching about three feet down, attempting to paw up some of the fish to no luck. This leavs about two feet of submerged room to crawl under him, should anyone be that brave.

Alisandra does /not/ look particularly confident, and she doesn't look particularly happy about the prospect of trying to get past some sort of genetically engineered attack dog this way. Besides, who knows how many leeches there might be in the vicinity? But ... there's not really any other way to get by, is there? "Um," she says. "Do, um, do you want to go first, or should I?"

Liesl peers down, then opens the bag, drops in her phone (still being a flashlight), holding it out to Alisandra for her to do the same. "We're going to have to swim more than wade it looks like." She shrugs. "Up to you ... I'm good either way."

The leeches begin their slow descent up the legs... Far more than before. The fish do what they can but it's becoming clear they are outnumbered. One even floats near the surface, flopping gently as a pair of leeches attach to it's sides. This increase in the leech population seems to be throwing Snoopy into a frenzy. His claw swipes at the water, helplessly trying to get at something, anything. Perhaps at this point, he even knows there is bigger prey down below....

After dropping her phone into the plastic bag, Alisandra takes a deep breath, lets it out, and ... starts to make her way through the water as best she can. She's not taking her time, she's going quickly, and, in an act of either excessive caution or reckless lack of same, she'll duck entirely under the water as far as she can go when she reaches the rough area where Snoopy's paw is swiping. Here's hoping she won't get too many scalp leeches.

Liesl tucks the book into the front of her jeans, with the phones providing some light as she descends. Morningstar is entirely unhappy about the whole ordeal and writhes about her neck and shoulders in distress. She ducks into the opening, and like Alisandra ahead of her, dives under the seeking paw, hoping that the leeches will not be a huge bother once they get out.

As the pair swim under Snoopy's claw, there is a deep hunger. The swipes come faster and firmer. However, in his fury, he happens to catch the edge of one of the panels. There is a loud yowl of pan as he pulls his claw up. However, there hand is hooked. He tugs, and tugs, yowling as blood falls from his gash. When the pair are free, they arise. Alis seems to have done well, avoiding the majority of the leeches. Liesl got on stuck to the side of her hand, where it happily sucks away.

Snoopy keeps tugging until finally.. there is a crack and the ceiling falls. The beast is seen for the first time. It has no fur, instead it looks like a skinless, muscle covered bear. However, instead of a bears head, there is a... sucker like opening, like that of a leech, completely encircled with rows of teeth. The struggles and flails in the opening, trying to right itself. However... it seems stuck for now, the space far too small for it to handle.

Perhaps now is the best time to run.

Alisandra doesn't need any more encouragement. Honestly, she didn't even need /that much/ encouragement. As soon as she's past his reach, or thinks she is -- and apparently she guessed right -- she surfaces and starts rushing through the water toward the ladder, the supply room, and safety (?). She's /not/ good at moving quickly; she's slower than most people, and it's very obvious that even her fastest pace pains her to keep up for more than a few steps at a time. But now is not the time to complain.

Liesl follows after, and doesn't worry about how fast or slow Alisandra is, since water slows /everyone/ down. Except maybe Morningstar, who had slid from her shoulders when she ducked, and wriggled his way to the ladder. He's waiting at the top, in the storage room when the girls emerge. He is not a happy camper, and somehow manages to make Liesl aware of this as she emerges on Alisandra's heels into the room, dripping all over the previously dry floor. She slams the leech hanging from her hand, somehow only now being noticed, against the wall to try and loosen it.

Snoopy appears to be stuck. He is flailing around, trying to right himself to no avail. The water around him is coloring slightly from the blood of his wound, but it has yet to spread. As if thrown into a frenzy by the blood, the fish are coming to get what they can. This leaves the pair to, thankfully, reach the ladder and get up it without interruption.

==

Fabian is outside, playing lord knows what on his phone. He tap tap taps away indly before looking up at the sky. He murmers softly to himself, "I should have brought an umbrella... I'm going to be soaked..." Before looking back down, ocean blue eyes curious. He checks the time, a bit of worry on his face. He seems like he's considering doing something... What that is, who knows. Instead, he just sighs, "No... They'll be fine. They'll text if..." Then the rain starts up a little heavier, "Ugh... I'm going to get soaked... I should have went in with them."

When the two of them emerge, they aren't likely to be too sympathetic to his potential soakedness. Alisandra looks like a bedraggled, drowned rat, but fortunately it's a look she's had a lot of practice with lately. "We found it," she announces. "Well -- I should say /she/ found it; all the insights were heres."

Once out of the lab and into the lobby, Liesl withdraws the phones from the zip-lock bag, handing Alisandra her phone, and keeping her own for herself, turning off the flashlight app. Terrible drain on the battery, but it served its purpose. She tucks the book into the crook of her arm, and squishes her way towards the door. Raining? So what? They're both soaked to the bone anyway. She holds out the book in its bag towards Fabian.

Fabian looks at the pair as the leave. There is a look of 'Dear lord, I'm in trouble' On his face before he sighs, "Ah..." He lowers his eyes, "Sorry, it wasn't too terrible was it?" He hesitantly takes the book, looking over. For a brief moment, there is a look of... disbelief? He runs his hand over the bag, "Well..." He says simply, "At least it's safe now." But the hard choice comes next. Slipping it into his bag, "We can talk about the later, however." Turning towards Alisandra he smiles, "You always say that. At this point I have to assume that you fought off a twelve foot tall monster with your bare hands." He glances behind him, "One person did show up... I threw him off the trail. Other than that.. I was quiet out here." Adding softly, "I... didn't mean for you two to get soaked. I'll be for a new set of clothes?" He looks towards Alisandra as he says this.

"It was an acceptable level of risk," Alisandra says, in one of those overly analytical moments that make her periodically aggravating. "No hand-to-hand combat was required." Unless you count leeches, and she doesn't. A quick shake of her head: "That isn't necessary, but thank you for offering. I have plenty. Besides, this set was ruined already."

Liesl watches the book get tucked away, with a rather hungry look in her eyes. Yeah, she's got a LOT of interest in looking that book over again, without naked bear-lampreys threatening to eat them at any moment. She waves off the offer that was presumably for her as well. "No worries," she says, behind Alisandra's refusal. "So ... that's it then?" she asks, sounding a little bit eager to be off.

"For now, "I'll chat you up later, Liesl. Thanks." Fabian says. He motions to the book, "I won't leave you hanging." Turning towards Alisandra, he lowers his head, "I owe you a favor, Alis. I know you'll say it's not necessary. I know you'll say it's nothing. Still. I do. So.. when you need it, you need only ask. Then again, I might owe you multiple at this point. Keep it in mind..." He rubs the back of his neck. Eyes notice Liesl's hand, "What happened to your hand?" He asks curiously.

"If you already know what I'll say," Alisandra says, smiling faintly, "then at least it saves me the trouble of saying it. Do you -- is there anything else I can help you with?" Just the opposite of Liesl, she's /far/ from eager to depart.

Liesl turns her hand up to look at where the leech had been sucking away. "Giant leech," she says. "Or something like it." She glances over to Alisandra. "Lot of them in the really wet passageway. It was pretty icky." She smiles back to Fabian. "But, we survived."

"I hear they're good for the health at least." Fabian intones to Liesl, looking her over, "Go ahead, you can go if you want. I know your fiance is waiting for you." There is a certain fondness of the woman as he says that. But he soon finds himself considering Alis. There is a deep consideration of her, "Well... It's dull but there is a music academy. I think I mentioned it to you. There was a lot of flooding. We had to move all of the instruments up to higher ground. It's not..." He nods to the Lab, "This... But if you want to come, help clean up...." He pauses, giving a shrug, "You can stay there as long as you need. There is plenty to be done."

"I can't stay for long," Alisandra says, in defiance of her own obvious preferences, "but I'd be happy to help out until I have to be getting home." Sure, it doesn't look like physical labor agrees with her at all, but what's that matter when there're people she can help out? Or ... something like that.

Liesl smirks a little. "So they say. I'll leave the bloodletting cure to things like getting poisoned, or the like." She smiles at the mention of her fiance and nods. "Yes, he will probably wonder when I come home soaked. Let alone a wounded hand. So, maybe I'll get home first, and he'll never know." She doesn't sound like she believes that necessarily. She smiles to Alisandra, and to Fabian. "Sounds like a big project. I'll drop by tomorrow to help, okay?"