revivalproject | RATtrap

Entry tags:

RATtrap

WHO: Tony and Cal
WHERE: The Agrii ship and the Mainframe
WHAT: ReBoot. You guys know ReBoot? 🍁
WHEN: March, after the AI message
WARNINGS: Extra fake violence?

Returning to the ship had not been part of the plan. The plan, however, had not factored in the sheer amount of activity back in the city, so keeping his distance had become more relative. It still made Tony anxious to pass by the Glitter Food, then disembark on the Agrii ship in a slow saunter that might have come across as a swagger as he took his time assessing who was in the hangar and how to best get by without being engaged. Compared to the hangar back in Temba, it was downright peaceful, without so many little bots learning their basic programming and plants chattering anxiously. Tony could push his sunglasses back up his nose and heft D.A.T.A. against his chest, patting the side of his shell restlessly. Maybe it wasn't so bad. The trip had given him a few more hours before he had to say goodbye to the little nuisance.

It was only when he was close to the engineering bay that he sent Cal the text, brief and to the point. I'm here. Going to try the astromech. The timing was meant to reduce how likely he was to be seen around anyone else, but it didn't account for the cluster of Agrii around Enide's casing, slowing Tony's approach cautiously. They did seem excited to see him when they noticed, but it was Enide who greeted him, causing the Agrii to scatter and leave Tony considering the tools left for him. While Enide explained that she intended to go into stasis and these gloves and helmets were to interface with her in that state, Tony set D.A.T.A. down on the console to extend his spidery legs and wander a familiar ginger, tapping rhythm along the metal, leaving Tony's hands free to examine the new interface curiously.

"I kind of brought what I hoped was a workaround..." he ultimately said to the AI, thought he hadn't put the strange headgear down yet. A workaround wasn't actually as effective as eliminating the problem. Even if it meant putting his trust in untested devices and dampening his senses. And connecting to her network via Extremis only had him bouncing off of those same bugs. D.A.T.A. came tip-tapping back toward him, peering up at him with that big, guileless camera eye that said the bot knew exactly who Tony was. He didn't need Tony to mutter, "See if you can find a place to plug in," to keep him busy while Tony brought the helmet up.

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BD-1 chirped a thank you as he resumed his scans. D.A.T.A.'s new shell warrants its own scan as well, accompanied with an appreciative trill.

"That right?" Cal sat himself down before reaching over to take the offered helmet. "Reminds me of training," he said as he studied the thing before settling it over his head. "Except those were made so you couldn't see anything. How's this supposed to work? -hey you two, I think I'm going to need those."

"What--to be a jedi?" Tony had to ask, because telekinetic training didn't feel like a problem for VR to solve. By then, though, he already had the gloves on, and was pulling on the headgear without any further consideration, and had to admit, "I know as much as you do," about what to expect. Trial by fire was something of an invitation. Already, he could hear Enide's cooling fans cut, the subtle systems whirring going quiet as she depowered, redirecting that processing to the sudden flicker of light before Tony's eyes, making him squint and impulsively raise a hand against it.

As his eyes adjusted, he was peering through his fingers to a clear, blue sky. Completely cloudless, smooth and seamless, blue from the apex to the horizon in a way that felt flat and immediate. All the same blue, Tony realized belatedly, as someone barked, "Halt!" in his ear. He was still thinking about the sky even as his body jumped in reaction, hand going to his heart like it might fall out, barely registering that it was clutched around a solid shape on his chest and his fingers skittered across it with a metallic whine.

"So about the usual then," Cal nodded, adjusting his gloves before he nudged the helmet down.

He really hadn't been too sure what to expect, but the sudden intake of breath was a sure sign that he wasn't thoroughly prepared for...

What..?

Cal wasn't really sure what it was he was supposed to be seeing. "Tony...?" he started, turning his head as he tried to get a better look around. Honestly the singular color was a bit unsettling to be surrounded by, and wouldn't have been nearly so much if there weren't visible representation of his hands there, moving where he'd expect them to move. Okay, that was kind of interesting, making the Jedi glance downwards out of curiosity to see what his computer representation looked like.

Wait, was someone else here?

Cal's voice was enough to shake Tony out of his startle, hand flying away from his heart to bar across Cal as he put himself between him and the aggressive voice. Just in time, too, because Tony was rapidly rearing back from the point of a spear jabbed toward his nose, very effectively getting his attention on the fairy that seemed to be wielding it. She must have been a tenth of the size of the weapon, but still hovered in the air with the convincing bearing of a threat. "You require admin permission to proceed beyond the wall," she said icily.

Slowly, free hand up to ensure he was not a threat, Tony turned his head enough to see behind him, where there was, indeed, a wall. Like the sky, it felt uncanny, stretching up into the atmosphere, yet casting no shadow across them. It had the impression of brickwork, only completely smooth and reflective, like the bricks were made of obsidian.

The situation was a little ironic when Cal thought about it. His senses were telling him that they were the only ones present, but he imagined that applied only to where they actually were. It'd render things pointless to ignore what he was seeing, even if that would have been more of a Jedi-angled exercise.

As such he couldn't help for the slip of a laugh as he saw the fairy there. Was this like a more immersive hologame?

"Uh...I thought we already had permission when we were invited in here," he replied.

Speaking earned Cal the point of the spear in his face, all two centimetres of the fairy's face scrunched in irritation. "Guess we're in the wrong place," Tony mumbled out of the side of his mouth so he didn't have to be the one facing down the full brunt of that expression, both hands up in surrender then to try to ease himself around the guard and away from her precious, huge wall. It was hard to tear his gaze away from it, though, catching his own reflection in that dark glass surface, eyebrows jumping at how much he shined in return. It looked like a full suit of armor, slim and light, even the piece that draped around his shoulder that matched the garment that the fairy wore over her head, and that hung from her spear like a banner.

"Whoa-!" Cal yelped, jerking his head back. If he didn't react out of reflex and ignored the lack of sensing any actual threat, what would happen? Maybe this wasn't exactly the time to find out.

"Okay, okay, stand down and, um..." He moved his hand abruptly then, trying to grab at the shaft just below the spear point since he doubted the Force actually translated into whatever this program was.

Edited 2025-04-06 04:28 (UTC)

Just as Tony was trying a smile at the fairy, Cal moved suddenly and her face broke apart to shriek, "Threat!" Tony's smile turned stricken, and his head whipped around as that sound seemed to echo down the wall, light darting down it between the bricks as voices in the distance chanted, "Threat! Threat! Threat!" Blindly, he flung an arm around Cal's chest in a clatter of metal, armor scraping together, yanking him back and away from the wall as the fairy lurched forward to jab the spear into his face.

"Oh-ho-kay, we're going, call off the army!" Tony tried to shout over the cacophony of voices.

The sudden shift was already enough to make Cal cringe even before the shouts of 'threat' began. "Whoops," he mumbled sheepishly, vision swimming with the sudden movement as Tony pulled him away before he could have a new hole to breathe out of.

"Sorry!" he tossed back in some hasty apology as he debated whether or not it was worthwhile to push his point with the fairy. It seemed Tony at least had an idea of how you operated in such a place, so he let himself be dragged along, even as he half-wondered how weird it was looking from BD-1 and D.A.T.A.'s perspective.

The metallic shimmer still rang between them as Tony drew Cal properly up to his side, arm around his shoulders to lead them hastily away. "You've been living out in the woods for too long, sweetheart, you've got to actually talk to people more often, crash some parties, go on some dates..." he tried to say, only to find himself talking quicker and louder as the chanting intensified behind them even in their retreat. The fairies that must have lined imposing wall were converging together, their disparate voices falling into the same rhythm as they gathered, pointing their weapons toward their threat. They definitely weren't getting in that way now.

"Hard to talk to people when they're sticking point objects in your face!" Cal complained. "Unfortunately I'm used to that or shots fired in my direction so you should consider it progress I didn't actually respond with a weapon," he still had to point out, unable to keep from a brief grin. "-er, do we even have weapons? What're we wearing anyway?" Armor? It was a lot noisier than any trooper armor.

By then at least Cal was moving along with Tony, stealing a glance back at the wall and the unsettling shouts that followed after them.

"I think they're the ones that need to talk to people more... Are we supposed to get in there if it's that protected?"

Those were all excellent questions that Tony had no immediate answers for. He did do a twisting inspection of himself as they walked, patting down his sides to search for something substantial to respond with, and craning his neck to watch the assembling guard. There was a holster at his hip, concealed under the metallic cape that draped from his shoulder to his knee, and he produced from it something that did kind of look like a gun. It had a trigger and a barrel, he knew what to do with that. As for what they were supposed to do--"You don't put on that much of a show unless it's something worth having. Besides..." He waved out ahead of them with his maybe-gun, at the flat sky and perfect, endless horizon.

"-good point," Cal had to concede as he followed Tony's gesture, squinting out at what might as well have been nothing. He shook his head, deciding to figure out what all he might have been allowed by way of weaponry if Tony had a gun.

His own cape was more of, of all things, a poncho. He found a hilt jutting out from where it hung at his belt. The sword he pulled was just as unwieldy as it felt, and for a moment he thought he heard the familiar electronic titter of his droid buddy, if distantly.

"Okay. So I don't suppose the AI gave you any secret passwords or anything on how to bypass that wall and its um... army?"

"Cool," Tony murmured at Cal's sword, with an anxious question in his face for whether Cal knew how to use that thing, and what they were already supposed to be prepared for. He was already hurrying Cal along in a listing arc now, though, and indicated down the wall with his chin. "She was generous enough to treat us to a puzzle," he reframed. "And you've already cleared the way, listen, all of the guards are gathered up down there, if we're quick we can get closer to the wall."

Cal flashed him a lopsided grin. "'Generous', huh. That what we're calling this?"

At least he sheathed the sword since it seemed weird to be walking around with it. Quick? He could do quick. He gave Tony a tap on the shoulder with the back of his hand before moving faster.

"Weird wall. How much of this is supposed to mimic reality? Can we just make an opening or climb it, do you think?" Or do they debug it? Not that Cal had the slightest idea of how to go about that.

Edited 2025-04-07 00:07 (UTC)

The more questions Cal had, the less answers Tony seemed capable of, resulting in an anxious, tight lipped sigh where he was glad to hurry along ahead of any more things he didn't know. Climbing it seemed impossible to Tony, who scanned upward searching for the apex, only squinting in the light bouncing off of those glass bricks. It had to open somewhere. He threw another glance back the way they had come, down the wall to where the guards had gathered together, as he slid up against it, running his fingers along the surface and into the debossed pattern. An experimental tug revealed that it was, in fact, a wall. Scuffing at the ground didn't even move any dirt around at its base, leaving Tony's hands splayed empty, frozen for a beat while he tried to think of a solution that wasn't a trebuchet. "If it's admin access that is required, then what it wants is a password," he rationalized, to which the wall shimmered and flattened several of its bricks so a slim section could slide away. In the silence that followed the whispering of the motion, Tony remained frozen with his hands raised, baffled, until he repeated, "Password. The password is always 'password'."

Walls were so much easier to open when they were cracked and required only some Force encouragement. Or failing that, sending a giant rock sphere hurtling through it after unleashing gale-force winds to set it moving down directed paths and chutes.

But this was still a computer program of some sort and (thankfully) not some ancient ruins left by an ancient race with some weird penchant for puzzles, so Cal had the feeling that physical methods weren't inclined to work, or at least would have been more difficult to pull off.

He blinked as the wall began to respond to Tony, uncertain that he'd done anything just then until the man clarified what must have happened. "Seriously..?"

Well, who was he to complain when they'd gotten themselves an opening? He stole a glance down the wall before nodding at Tony. "Well, that's one security flaw. Let's go see what else we have to deal with."

"Yeah, or I'm a genius," Tony was happy to amend, examining his nails haughtily for about half of a second before he was following Cal's gaze down the wall. There was more security, and they were buzzing furiously their way now, snapping Tony to attention then making him flap his hands and push Cal ahead impatiently, through the door before a flying spear could ruin those plans.

Cal still allowed for a smirk at that, but there seemed little time to really do much more as he found himself being shoved through the newly opened wall.

He stumbled within, hand fumbling for the hilt of his sword, resting there in case he needed to draw it. Already he was looking in the direction of where the commotion had been- unless there was anything already prepared to greet them on the other side.

They must have been diligently guarding something, but Tony was happy to take his chances with whatever that was over the pointy threat of the fairies. He watched their approach as he backed through the wall after Cal, giving a panicked search around the slick, reflective frame with a swipe of either hand. They both jumped away as the wall responded again once he was through, sliding seamlessly closed again with a clatter and shriek of frustration from the other side.

At least there weren't any fire-breathing creatures or something. Cal glanced back as Tony somehow managed to take care of the wall problem.

"Nice!"

One less problem to worry about, anyway. He started away from the wall, looking across at a courtyard of sorts, with very geometric hedges lining the convenient path that they found themselves standing upon. The way forward was, by that alone, very clear, leading to an almost simplistic looking keep, like a big rectangle with a slightly larger one balanced on top, indented with crenellations. Its stonework appeared with a similar sheen to that of the wall they'd just come through.

"Onward and forward?"

Closed behind the wall now, Tony felt very aware of every sound he made, his armor jangling and cape swishing, with nothing else to disturb the pristine environment. It was much darker, too, with the sky hidden beyond the barrier and only a vague, ambient glow that seemed to radiate from the ground. The effect had him dropping his voice as he trailed after Cal, searching restlessly even as he walked, twirling on his heel and skipping backward to get a full 360 assessment, "It's like a lab on power-saver mode. After hours. I thought this was where the party would be." Without Enide awake, they might have been without those lively resources.

His anxious searching didn't stop him from dropping into a casual lean against the doorframe when they approached the castle, head cocked to listen and elbow braced as he rapped a playful rhythm with the other hand. He had propped his knocking hand on his hip and crossed his ankles, lips pursed and ready to shrug at Cal when the door creaked open, just enough for one wide eye to peer out.

"Would this be equivalent to the AI dreaming, then?" Cal voiced as they made their way towards the structure.

"...I don't know what to make of the system. You know, when I asked about nearby planets and data regarding the Agrii's world of origin, it crashed and rebooted the system or something, whenever I tried prompting the latter. Which...I guess isn't too surprising if there's been some data that's been blocked off, but the weird thing? I could...sense it. The computer was somehow projecting feelings. It was actually becoming upset and disappointed in being unable to assist as it was requested."

It was fascinating. And the reason they now stood...in front of a door of a rendered castle, he supposed.

He blinked as the door opened, putting on what he hoped was a friendly smile. So long as they weren't being jabbed at with a spear, he could be friendly!

"Hey there," he greeted. "We were asked to take care of a bug problem. This the right place?"

"The PESTS!" the voice from inside wailed, the eye disappearing as they reared back then collapsed dramatically to the floor, letting the door meander open. After another nudge from the overcome boy on the ground. He did look very young, small and slim limbed and dressed modestly, for clothes made of space blankets. When the door was properly open, he let himself collapse again, hand to his forehead. Tony watched the whole display with raised eyebrows, then shot Cal a sidelong look, which was a beat of hesitation too long for the theatrical youth who moaned, "Well, hurry up, inside already. The Master isn't here, I fear he's been overridden by now. Does that make me the wizard of the realm? I'm not ready for that kind of responsibility."

Cal jolted back slightly at the response, looking back at Tony before the boy on the floor spoke up again.

"Er, right. Sorry," the Jedi said, shrugging as he stepped on in, carefully over those spindly legs. "Did your master go to deal with the problem?" he asked, wondering if that was of any importance as he took in the interior of the castle. He had to double-take at the surroundings, which stretched up and on far beyond what the castle's exterior limits suggested. If he were familiar with the style, he might have likened to it to something Escher-esque.

"What can you tell us about what we're going to deal with?"

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