revivalproject | Ad-vent-ura

The Barry's coming and going had made the vents and obvious, clear way out to a livable surface. Too much longer down here, and Tony would say they were the obvious point to start digging. As they were, they didn't exactly have the capacity to move their community. In other words, "I don't think you'll fit, sweetheart," he warned Cal as he spotted him looking up at that temptingly open vent. He was sauntering down the tunnel, his own synthetic companion cradled in one arm, his communicator device in the other hand with its screen flickering with each rapid dart of D.A.T.A.'s camera.

Cal sensed Tony before seeing him, but he breathed out a sigh all the same, offering the man a crooked smile.

"Yeah, I think that was obvious," he said. "BeeDee however..." He looked down at the birdlike droid at his feet. BD-1 gave a little bounce in place, wiggling then as though he were readying for a pounce. He glanced over at the other two, hooting a greeting.

"He's eager to try. I know he can handle himself but I'm also not sure about letting him run around in there alone."

"I don't know, you're pretty trim..." Tony started as he came alongside Cal to also peer up at the vent like he could imagine what determination it might take for Cal to fit his shoulders through it. Maybe Cal wasn't the most likely, he was resolutely unflappable, but there were definitely a few restless powerhouses down here that would be making those calculations. BD-1 wouldn't have been at the top of Tony's list, and he glanced down at the droid with an eyebrow raised, that he then turned on Cal with more condescension, like he was about to ask what Cal could possibly be worried about. It was a tool that fit the problem. He was just sending a camera into a hole.

He gripped D.A.T.A. a little tighter, enough for the robot to turn his camera up toward Tony's chin inquisitively.

"If they go together, they'd have backup. You know, if they come across oppositional forces," Tony eventually suggested, a little reluctant yet. Spindly, little legs were already poking into his arm then, though, and the screen he still held up in one hand was focused very steadily on BD. Someone might have been excited to look at new things.

BD-1 beeped inquisitively at the spherical bot, wandering closer towards Tony.

Cal looked a little hesitant, but he supposed what he'd been sensing of the place was nothing new. "Well, you never know," he said as Tony suggested what possibilities they might face. Still, he nodded. They weren't getting any look inside otherwise.

"All right. BeeDee, you take care of this little guy while you're in there, okay? And if there's any buttons, please don't push them without letting us know what you've found."

"Unless they look really fun," Tony amended very responsibly as he shifted his hold on his robot, only to pause with DATA out on front of him where the camera could peer back with an inquisitive whir. After a beat, Tony warned, "You would be really expensive to replace," before lifting him up to the vent, then backing away quickly with his arms hugged around his chest. DATA almost climbed back out, several legs dangling over the edge to brace him as he leaned over to focus on BD-1 again, aperture closing slowly.

"Don't encourage him," Cal sighed, but he wasn't being too serious there, failing to keep his expression stern as a grin crept in again.

BD-1 bounced and then wandered just below the vent, looking up at DATA as the spindly-legged drone stared down at him. He hooted and then jumped up as Cal held out a hand, clambering expertly up the Jedi's arm and across his shoulders.

"Up you go," Cal said as he hoisted the little droid up, and BD-1 jumped, his little thrusters kicking in to jet him up towards the opening as he beeped at DATA, probably telling him to move.

Whether DATA actually understood was unclear, and it was probably good that BD-1 learned so early on that his partner was going to be stubborn and not particularly attentive to anyone trying to give him orders. The robot stayed where he was, reaching for BD-1 instead to hook and pull him into the vent instead, rolling backward quite uncontrollably as he refused to then release the droid. He might have also been a little clingy.

On the ground, with his elbows still tucked in close, Tony withdrew the tablet from under his arm to consider the jumble of legs and darting, unfocused scan of the narrow vent. "They'll be fine," he said, not very convincingly with a frown at the screen.

The startled and perhaps even mildly annoyed squawk from the box-headed droid echoed from within the vent as they disappeared.

Cal watched as they disappeared, then turned a look towards Tony, brow lifting. Probably not the greatest start for their little venture, but the Jedi at least looked a little amused.

BD-1 meanwhile was not used to being...robot-handled. He continued conveying his displeasure in succinct beeps as he tried to extract himself from DATA's tangle of legs. Hey, he can walk just fine! He manages to jerk a foot at the tumbling body.

Without much indication that he seemed to realize what the problem was, DATA untangled all of his legs as he rolled to a stop, first to right himself, then to draw them all in to leave him a smooth, expectant ball. The camera focused on BD-1 like he might be waiting for instruction, only to abruptly swivel toward the mystery depths of the vent. With a whir, DATA was trundling away, scanning the angles assiduously.

"We might be able to follow them," Tony offered, though didn't sound terribly sure. He swiped away from DATA's feed to display the map he had been building, mostly still on Donnie's notes and only a few highlighted portions retraced with DATA's exacting scans, now overlayed with a new stub that sketched in as DATA rolled. There were only a handful of the vents actually noted, where they might meet up with the synthetics again.

BD-1 gave a bit of a shake as he got to his feet once released. He trilled in an accusatory tone, and as DATA started rolling off again, the droid's antennae perked up before he started along after. He paused to scan sections of their surroundings to internally build his own map of the ventillation system.

Cal stepped over to look at Tony's tablet. "Someone's been busy." Not that he can blame anyone for taking to map things out. He and BD had done the same, but they had mostly been aimlessly wandering.

"May as well see how close we can follow along, although I'd be interested if they got anywhere that wasn't specifically within the areas we have access to."

"Lotta time to kill," Tony muttered, starting to wander in the direction that the vent seemed to be leading. He wasn't sure if he hoped they just safely popped out at the next grate, or found that inaccessible path that definitely did exist to carry the plant people to and from the place. "Kid who did the bulk of the work thinks we're in some kind of space ship," he relayed as he went, rotating and expanding the working map so Cal could see that circuit pattern, highlighting the nodes, as they were, with a tap. "Definitely some kind of engine. You're not still anxious, are you?" He was suddenly not looking at the screen anymore, but directly at Cal as he went, unconsciously at pace with the robot that rolled through the wall.

That, Cal certainly couldn't argue. He continued to eye the ceiling as they went along, as though he could trace their two metal friends just by sight. If only it worked that way.

"I wouldn't rule it out, anyway," he said carefully, frowning as he looked back at the tablet. "...not nearly as much as before. It's more of a normal level of anxiety. Comes with the whole being locked in with not much choice of where to go."

He paused. "...this place hasn't been used any time recently. If I had to go by what I've sensed, I'd say it's never been used by anyone before. There's been no trace of anything having been in here earlier than what I've picked up of Dustin and the Funfronds. Not that I believe this place has been empty all this time, there's got to be a purpose for it."

The vents didn't keep a parallel path to the two in the corridor for long. It veered off closer towards the walls, its own network going more along in vertical lines, ups and downs before crossing above. The lines forming from DATA's continual scans weren't too different from Donnie's maps, just in different directions.

...oh, and watch out for that drop, DATA.

'Normal level' did not do much to reassure Tony that Cal's sensitivity was to the volcano itself and thus behind them. Forced into yet another bunker with the threat that had sent him out of the city in the first place didn't seem to be making it worse, at least. Maybe someone more annoying had earned Wesker's focus. It was harder to believe this strict structure had been kept empty, making Tony glance around like he could point to some sign of life to say otherwise, before he was asking, "Is that something someone could do?" Maybe he should clarify. "Hide their...smell or whatever from you." It wasn't something Tony would have thought to account for. How exactly he was going to start doing that now would have to be a plan for another time, because a distant, thudding sound came from somewhere beyond the wall, and Tony startled and swiped at his screen in time to see the flickering of the spinning camera, and occasional shattering of static as DATA bounced off of the walls.

"Wesker's not part of it," Cal felt he had to clarify. "So long as we're sheltering here, he shouldn't be a threat." Hopefully. Cal couldn't do anything if anyone somehow instigated anything with the guy.

He closed his eyes to try getting a brief sense of their surroundings, shaking his head slowly. "I'm not sure. But otherwise whoever made and used this place was emotionally dead or ...droids." That wasn't something he'd previously considered, ironic when the war he'd fought had been against armies of them.

"But there's another layer to it. I've felt it before. I think...it was on the Agrii ship." It was a little hard trying to place it. Those memories were only slightly clearer than a dream, another lifetime that had manifested only once he'd found himself back in the city. "It's not something I can sense unless I really focus, but if it were that prevalent, I would've been worse off than I'd felt while things were stewing before the eruption."

He blinked at the sound then, looking towards the wall before glancing towards Tony and the display. Oh, that didn't look good.

BD-1 squealed in alarm as his exploration buddy vanished over an edge. Activating his light, he ran over to it to peer downwards with a cautiously inquiring hoot.

At least the drop hadn't been that high, and once the droid spied where the surface below was, he hopped down, slowing his descent with his rear boosters.

Tony couldn't imagine what gave Cal the confidence to make this claim about Wesker, earning him a raised lip of disbelief, because Tony certainly hadn't figured out the man's motivations. He had to admit the attitude was better than Cal running scared, though.

DATA was clattering on the screen, all of his legs out again to reorient himself as BD-1 made his more controlled landing, reaching out and touching each of the walls in a web until he was satisfied. Then he was rolling again like nothing had happened. After a beat, Tony acknowledged, "You don't think BD has emotions?" That couldn't be right. Maybe it would sound less like an accusation if Tony also affirmed, "Those shields that are protecting the equipment, we saw those on the ship as well. Definitely Atroma work."

"We've come to an agreement," Cal said. "Neither of us want any trouble here, especially being stuck under circumstances beyond our control."

He tipped his head, considering how to answer that question as he eyed the wall, listening for any further signs of alarm. "...he has plenty of emotions. And an attitude," he laughed. "But it doesn't imprint the same way. The impressions I pick up tend to be tied to objects, but if something big has occurred in a given place, that's easier to pick up as well. ...usually on the more negative spectrum of emotions." Those unfortunately clung a lot harder to places all too easily.

"I don't like it, that general feeling that's just hanging around. It means nothing good for anyone, which is really reassuring when we don't have anywhere else to go. But it's a passive feeling, part of the structure, maybe some residual intent?"

On the other side of the wall, BD-1 almost gave something like a chortle as he watched DATA reorient himself. The spherical drone was definitely sturdy, and as he continued rolling onward, BD-1 followed without much objection. Eventually they'd come upon a portion of shielding, an overlap through the wall from where machinery stood in the adjacent room, curving through the wall where the droids were. Still no sign of where it was being generated, unfortunately, though it also didn't render the rest of the vent impassable at least.

Knowing something about the intent would have actually been very useful, so Tony ventured, "Could you sense what it's for then? Maybe if we got you some of those crystals, and a yoga mat?" He clearly had some confidence in reading Wesker's intent, because Tony wouldn't say the circumstances Cal had defined were any different down here than they were up in the fresh air. An underground structure this size didn't get made without some serious intent.

And maybe it would have helped DATA better understand what he was tapping at. It didn't look like much until he had bounced off of it, but extending a needle toward the obtrusion was met with resistance, and a dancing of light around the point. This repeated no matter how quickly he tapped. He was still hammering a steady beat to shimmering effect when he rolled his camera inquisitively on BD-1.

"Not sure that'd be enough, but then I haven't even gone near the caves since that one time," Cal admitted, grimacing a little. "I haven't experimented much with crystals outside of using one for the lightsaber I made here though. Think it'd help?"

BD-1 cocked his head at the shield, nothing he hadn't already seen back in the hallways, but he scanned it anyway before he came closer to apply a foot to it. Was the shielding consistent? Shame there wasn't anything he could scomp into to turn the annoying things off!

Eventually he hops back, giving another beep before he moved around DATA, looking to continue onward.

Anything would be more productive than the lightshow DATA was putting on for them, making Tony squint and raise his free hand to shield his eyes despite being reluctant to look away from the screen as he answered, "Couldn't hurt. Things have got a kind of resonance with us. Some kind of inverse relationship to the storms--there you go." DATA was inching around the shield to follow after BD, back to his dedicated measuring.

"That's true," Cal mused, nodding thoughtfully. "Well, if you have any stockpile, I'm all for trying." It sounded far better than actively being in that cave, not that such was an option at the moment anyway.

Meanwhile BD-1 moved along, finding that their narrow pathway was angling back up again. He paused to glance back at DATA, trilling a head's up in case the other wasn't paying attention again before he started up to something closer in relation to the hallway ceilings again.

"Wasn't exactly on my packing list," Tony admitted, muttered as he scanned the ceiling like he could pinpoint where the synthetics had gotten to now. DATA had taken BD's warning as an invitation to happily speed up close to him, and most of his feed was the droid's feet scuttling along. "Do you have that lightsaber with you? There's a start. Could start asking around, other people must have made a few batteries, too," Tony said, giving up on trying to see through the walls. Several of the scientifically-inclined kids definitely had a few crystals on them, though instead of saying that outright, Tony asked, "Did you talk to Pete?" His focus only lasted for a second on Cal before it was drawn back to the screen, where DATA seemed to have discovered personal space and was standing still, considering a junction with incredible intensity. There was air blowing in two directions, the constant whisper that had been with them since entering the vent easily buffeted by a stronger gust from up another ramp.

"Fair enough," Cal nodded. He knew he wouldn't have thought to bring such things. He was glad he usually kept his most important things together, so at least that much hadn't been something to worry about. He reached behind him, unhooking the lightsaber from his belt. "Right here."

He paused at the other question, shaking his head. "Didn't get the chance," he admitted.

BD-1 peered one way and then another once DATA stopped. The thin line of his active scanning traced along one way and then the other for as far as he could see before looked at the spherical bot. Then he jerked his boxlike head towards the ramp with a hoot.

The crystals didn't seem to have the same effect on Tony, blowing a fuse at best if they had a chance of overloading his system like they seemed to with Donnie and Jon, so he didn't really know what the ideal interaction with them was and went, "Hm," at the lightsaber like it might be able to tell him. Keeping one next to his heart in the Iron Man hadn't given him magical powers. Luckily. "How did you fix it, when it made everything glow?"

DATA did not need much encouragement to go speeding ahead up the ramp, undeterred by the present possibility that he might bounce off of another wall, or pitch over a ledge. Those things were going to happen anyway, so the speed at which he did them didn't actually matter. It was a speed that did have Tony going, "Uh...," hand raised to stall Cal from answering while he watched the blurred walls through DATA's feed, then swiped quickly to try to see how rapidly the map was managing to update. It was definitely a few feet behind, the process stuttering, but made for a very clear, straight line across the stiffly parallel tunnels they were trapped in.

BD-1 couldn't roll, but he still moved pretty fast on his tiny pedes, skittering after DATA with almost a gleeful trill.

"Where are they going...?" Cal wondered aloud as he watched the tablet attempt to keep up with their two metal companions' progress. And why so fast, but he knew BD had the tendency to run off ahead whenever he found something interesting, and if the live feed had been anything to go by, DATA was even worse.

"I didn't really fix it. It still makes things glow when it's activated." He flipped the dual-ended hilt around, igniting the amber-colored blade of light with the brush of a thumb.

Wherever it was must have been incredibly interesting, which was just about everything to DATA, who would have hurried to observe the pressure fractures on an old mattress. Unfortunately, Tony was not going to find out any time soon what banality had inspired his robot, because he got as far as, "Oh," at the flare of amber light, only then noticing that his screen had gone black.

DATA, meanwhile, had no indication that the tenuous wireless connection that Tony had rigged for him was so easily overcome, and continued his scanning blissfully uninterrupted. There was a sound from this direction as well, a vibration in the ventilation as the air pressure built and exhaled past his metal shell, making a steady pulse for DATA to aim toward.

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