Separated
X-ExperimentsIndex:
(DH) – Daehyun speaking
(L) – Myungsoo speaking
(S) – Sungyeol speaking
(YA) – Yoona speaking
(J) – Jessica speaking
(JE) – Jieun speaking
(LJ) – Joon speaking
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The mines had proven to display its vast storage of crystals as the group drove through. It did take some time for them to pass through the mines, but with the vast amount of lights and colors that was displayed all around them, they had something to at least busy themselves with. It helped that there was a holographic screen to help occupy them as well.
Once they made it out of the mines, they were soon met with more rocky terrain. Just like the area that led to Arten City, the area around them displayed various shades of brown. Between the dirt and the rocks, there wasn’t really anything else around them that could be easily made out at a first glance.
Despite the rocky terrain all around them, the vehicle that they were in hovered smoothly along the ground. Since it wasn’t touching the ground whatsoever, it allowed for no problems whatsoever… depending on the driver, of course. Luckily, Joon wasn’t bad of a driver. It helped that he was going at a comfortable yet quick pace, cutting their travel time by quite a lot. Of course, it still didn’t make things any less boring.
“Why does everything look like rocks?” (J)
“Ah! That, my dear, is a very good question! Of course, not everything used to look like this. This specific area used to be filled with rich green grass and a large quantity of flowers! Due to the war a while back, anything that once grew had been destroyed. This place used to be called Flora Plains, but noooow… It’s called Dalium Wasteland. , right?” (LJ) Jessica slowly nodded as she stared out at the Dalium Wasteland. It must have been very pretty when it had once been filled with greenery. She remembered seeing what Joon had mentioned in the books she had to study with and she couldn’t help but feel disappointed to not be able to see it in person. Of course, she did also see it before making it to the city, but the way that Joon had mentioned it made it seem much more beautiful. “There was a town here before too. It was called… I think Oriela? Orien? Something like that.” (LJ)
“Can we see it?” (JE) Joon took a moment to think about whether that was a good idea or not. There shouldn’t be anyone following them at the moment, so it should be fine if they went and took a small detour, right? Then again, there really wasn’t much to show anyway. It was just a ruined town, nothing else. But maybe it would be a good learning experience for them. Or would it? He had to do some reconnaissance anyway, though it probably wasn’t that great of a place to choose from.
“Mm… yeah, sure. Let’s go ahead and do some reconnaissance.” (LJ)
“What’s re… re… that word?” (S)
“Reconnaissance! It means to scope out, or uh… make sure that everything’s alright. Does that make sense?” (LJ) Sungyeol and pretty much everyone else nodded as they sat back comfortably in their seats. Joon turned the car towards the right a bit as he tried to remember where that town had once stood. Considering the fact that the town had been destroyed before he had even been born, it was rather difficult to remember where it had been. Still, the surrounding area was pretty much bare, so it should be relatively easy to spot it eventually.
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“Here we are! Not much, but might as well check it out. Take some time to stretch your legs a bit.” (LJ) As they each filed out of the vehicle, Joon took a quick look around before pulling out a device of sorts. While he fiddled around with that, the rest of the group moved around, looking around at everything that ended up interesting them.
“What is this thing?” (J)
“It’s a circle!” (DH)
“But it’s a broken circle…” (J) Daehyun tugged at the object that they were currently looking at and to his surprise; it was much heavier than he thought. Furrowing his eyebrows a bit, Daehyun had begun to pull harder when suddenly, Bartholomew walked up from behind before pulling the object out with little to no problem. The three had jumped back with surprise as Bartholomew slowly laid the circular object on the ground, allowing the group to see what it was a little better. “Wel… come… to… Orien Town… Oh! It’s a town sign. I've seen something like this in the books I read.” (J)
“I thought signs were supposed to hang and not be so heavy.” (DH)
“Maybe they made it out of rock to make it heavy on purpose.” (SJ)
“Why? It ended up falling instead of hanging.” (DH)
While those three were trying to figure out the mystery of the heavy sign, Joon was scanning the area for certain things that shouldn’t be here. From machinery to Channites, Joon was supposed to make certain that there wasn’t anything suspicious around this area. Of course, why should it be? Considering the fact that this place has been left in ruins for who knows how long, Joon wasn’t really expecting to find anything.
“Oh! What’s that?” (DH) Joon had turned his head towards Daehyun and Jessica, whom were both currently looking over his shoulder out of curiosity. With that usual grin of his, Joon held up the device so that the other two could see it much more clearly. Their eyes seemed to widen with curiosity as they leaned in a bit more to examine it.
“It’s called a redar. Redar’s are used to locate crystal power and by locating it, they are then able to see what elements are currently surrounding that power. Miners use these devices to keep from running into anything currently using that crystal power. Neat, huh?” (LJ) While Jessica seemed to understand Joon’s explanation, Daehyun seemed to still be a little confused. Though, before anything else could be said, a sound of sorts had soon pulled his attention away. Looking around here and there, he soon quickly looked downwards. “What the… SHI-” (LJ)
His words were cut off abruptly and soon replaced by three people screaming as the floor caved from underneath them. Bartholomew, whom had been riding on Daehyun’s shoulders, stretched its body as much as it could before it began air into it. Bartholomew’s descent quickly began decreasing, causing it to catch the falling trio before safely bouncing along the cavern floor. Once they were stabilized, they each looked around before Joon looked up at the hole that they had just somehow made. “DAEHYUN! JESSICA! JOON! ARE YOU OKAY?!” (JE)
“Y-… YEAH! WE’RE FINE! JUST STAY UP THERE WHILE WE MAKE OUR WAY OUT!” (LJ) Joon mentally cursed while Bartholomew began slowly deflating itself. He had promised Byunghee that he would make it back to base with all six of them safely intact, but how was he supposed to do that now that they were separated? No, no. It was completely fine! He just needed to make sure to get these two… or three… back to the surface safe and sound before anything bad happened to the remaining four. “Okay! So, uh… minor detour, but we’re just taking a little field trip! Come along kiddies, or… uh… kid adulties.” (LJ)
Standing firmly on the ground, Joon took a moment to take in his surroundings. There were about three different tunnels, giving them far too many options. Lifting his redar, Joon stared at it as he tried to think. Would this device be helpful in getting them out of this place? He doubted it would work, but there may have been a possibility. Since most things ran on crystal power, they could end up finding some sort of abandoned machine that run’s on that power. Either that, or they would end up bringing themselves into even more trouble. Of course, what else were they supposed to do at this point?
As they began walking, Jessica walked closely next to Joon to see what he was seeing on the screen of the redar. The device fascinated her and it doesn’t hurt to figure out how to use it. Though, while they were busy with that, Daehyun lagged behind a bit as he looked around the hallway that they had taken.
It wasn’t interesting. In fact, it basically looked just like the caves that he had been through previously. Maybe the main difference was that one of the caves that he had been into at least had shining crystals in them, but otherwise, there wasn’t really anything interesting around here. “When are we getting out of here? It’s really boring! I… used that word right… right?” (DH)
“Yes, Daehyun! You used it right. And… um…” (J)
“Just hold your Octorses! We’ll get out when we get out. Just patience is needed!” (LJ) Daehyun slowly nodded, now preoccupied as to what Octorses were as opposed to wondering when they were going to get out. While Daehyun was busy with that, Joon pointed the redar here and there before coming to a stop. “That’s… odd… the redar is picking up multiple crystal pockets currently in use.” (LJ)
“What does that mean?” (J)
“That means that… it’s possible that there are crystals still being used in machines down here which ALSO means thaaat… we MIGHT be able to find a way out! WOOHOO! LET’S GO!” (LJ) Without any other warning, Joon began running down the tunnel with excitement. Jessica and Daehyun stared for a brief moment before they began running too, determined not to be left behind to see whatever it was that had excited Joon.
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“How are we going to find them? They fell through the floor.” (S)
“Well we can’t just sit there and do nothing! What if they need our help?” (L)
“But Joon said to stay where we were.” (JE)
“Well… he only said to stay up here. I think it’s okay if we find a way down there without falling too.” (YA) Sungyeol and Jieun nodded, seeing the logic behind Yoona’s thinking. Myungsoo would have said something, but he decided to stay quiet for now. Yes, he wanted to go below and save their friends, but he also didn’t want them to know about it until after they found a way downstairs. They might try to stop him, so the best way to get them on his side is by taking action!
“Where are we supposed to look anyway?” (JE) Even if they did want to go down and help their friends, they had no idea where they were supposed to start looking. The area was completely unfamiliar to them and even if they did use their map, they wouldn’t be able to pin point a way down. Of course, that wasn’t enough to keep them from at least trying.
“Just look around! It shouldn’t be that hard.” (L) Despite their efforts though, everything that had a hole or a doorway didn’t lead downwards. Sometimes they would find a way inside of a broken down building, but it still wasn’t where they needed to go.
After a bit of time had passed, Myungsoo was starting to lose his patience. He didn’t want to say anything, but he secretly had wished that he had fallen down with the others. It’s not like he wanted anything bad to happen or for anyone to get hurt, but he wanted some sort of adventure as well. It seemed to be much more interesting down where the others are as opposed to being up here, stuck waiting for them to make a return.
“Where’s the entrance?! This is really annoying!” (L)
“Calm down! We might find it soon. It’s just hidden, like the um… that secret passage that we used to escape from the lab.” (JE) Myungsoo sighed, but he understood what Jieun was talking about. It pretty much was like that, so that meant that they would really have to look everywhere to find it. It just frustrated him that they couldn’t find it right then and there.
“Oh…! What about that building?” (YA) Upon looking over to where Yoona was pointing at, they couldn’t help but stare at it for a moment. Unlike the other buildings, it wasn’t as worn down or destroyed. There were also vines growing along the walls, which was weird to see in a land full of dirt and dust. So, it was probably the best place to look if they were going to try to find a hidden passageway to the underground.
“Well… let’s try it ou-” (L) Myungsoo was cut off abruptly as the ground beneath them began to shake violently. It took the entire group’s strength to keep from toppling over, but that determination turned into surprise as the ground in front of them caved in. However, instead of just simply another hole, a creature suddenly began to emerge from within. “Wha-… What is that thing?!” (L)
“I-Is it safe?” (JE) They watched and waited until the creature was completely out of the ground. The creature looked more like a statue of sorts; blocky in its build as opposed to the machines they used to fight. It seemed like it was built out of dirt or stone, though just like the building behind it, it was covered in vines. It was also much, much taller than any one of them. It may be about two or almost three times their height. The hole underneath it had immediately been filled in, almost as if there wasn’t a hole to begin with. The creature stood there, motionless at first. None of them really knew how to react to it, but just as they began to ease up a bit, the creature’s eyes suddenly shot open.
Without warning, the creature brought its arm up before swinging it downwards. If it hadn’t been for all of that testing that they had to endure in the lab, the group probably wouldn’t have reacted fast enough to jump out of the creature’s path. As the creature swung its arm to the right, Myungsoo jumped out of the way as the others took out their weapons. “This guy’s too slow! We can beat him easily!” (L)
Myungsoo swung his glaive at the creature’s arm, but despite the cut that he had managed to produce, it seemed to not have any effect on it. The creature brought its arm back to the left, hitting Myungsoo in the process and sending him flying towards the others. While Sungyeol was getting ready to attempt to catch Myungsoo, Jieun had raised her lantern up in a defensive manner as she shut her eyes tightly.
Suddenly, her lantern began glowing before something shot out towards Myungsoo.
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“Ah! Now I know where we are.” (LJ)
“Where are we?” (DH) Joon chuckled a bit to himself as he put his redar away.
“The Orien safe house! Or uh… Tunnels. This is where the citizens of Orien would flee to whenever some sort of disaster would strike. I’ve been here a few times, so I know the way.” (LJ) Joon nodded, but he didn’t want to say that he had absolutely no idea where they were. After all, if he wanted to look cool, he would have to know exactly what he was doing! Luckily, this pathway seemed to be rather straightforward, so they shouldn’t be getting lost any time soon... hopefully. “Ah! Look over there! A light!” (LJ)
“… But there are lights everywhere.” (DH) Joon slowly nodded, but he was mentally smacking his head. How could he have forgotten that there were lights at the edges where the ceiling and the walls met?! Well, it should be fine! It distracted them at least, right? Lights were very… distracting when certain things play out and he played it out exactly how he had planned it!
“Exactly! That means we’re going the right way.” (LJ) Both Daehyun and Jessica looked at one another before looking at Joon with concerned looks on their faces. Neither one of them were sure whether to believe Joon or not, but neither one of them wanted to say anything either. “Ah! See that? There’s an opening! Not far now, right?” (LJ)
Joon hummed contently to himself as they made their way down the tunnel. As they neared, they were beginning to make out the objects much more clearly than before. Of course… the objects they saw weren’t necessarily something that was giving them any sort of comfort. Well, to Joon anyway. Joon was feeling a bit uneasy about what he saw, but this may be what he was supposed to have been searching for when he was told to scout the area.
Once they were through the opening, they looked around for a moment, unsure as to why something like this would be in a supposedly safe area. Walking up to one of the machines, Joon tapped the screen, bringing the device to life to show it requiring a password of sorts. Letting out a small sigh, Joon scratched the side of his head as he tried to think for a moment. “What is that?” (DH)
“Huh? Oh uh… Probably just the security system or something. You guys can just… uh… look around and stuff while I figure this out. Just don’t touch anything!” (LJ) While Joon turned his attention back to the screen, Daehyun and Jessica turned towards the rest of the room before they began walking slowly around. It looked just like Himchan’s laboratory, which made them both feel a little uneasy being there. However, since there wasn’t anyone around, there were at least no immediate threats.
“What’s that thing?” (DH)
“It looks like the machine we had to fight in the virtual space. It’s just colored differently.” (J) There were about three of these machines sitting in the back of the room, though they weren’t moving this time. It was a relief that it wasn’t moving, but it was still worrisome that something like this was even here in the first place. “Should we… destroy it?” (J)
“I think so. It might be too dangerous to let go.” (DH) Before they had a chance to think about how to destroy the machine, Bartholomew made its way up to one of the machines before its claws grew. Raising its arm, Bartholomew stared at the machine for a moment before bringing it quickly down in an arc motion. It took a moment or so before the machine fell apart into five pieces.
As Bartholomew went off to do the same thing to the other two machines, Joon was still busy trying to figure out the password. Normally, anything requiring a password nowadays either had a certain genetic code attached to it or it was voice operated. This time, however, it as asking for an actual password so Joon couldn’t just pass up the opportunity to potentially find out something. What he was trying to find out, however, he would just have to wait and see when he finally figures out the password.
Looking down at the table, Joon was thinking about looking through the drawers, but paused for a moment when he saw a small device on top of it. Reaching down, Joon pressed the button on the device, causing the center of it to open before a hologram of a woman showed up. Leaning down a bit, Joon listened as the woman began speaking. “Did you forget again? I swear… I don’t understand how you became a scientist if you keep forgetting every little detail. The password is chrysalis. Understand? Don’t forget again you dolt!”
The hologram soon disappeared before the machine closed up once more. Whether it really was that easy to get the password or not, Joon didn’t care. At least he now had the password to whatever it was he was trying to get into! Looking back up at the screen, Joon quickly tapped his fingers along the screen, typing in the password letter by letter. When the last letter had been entered in, the screen immediately changed before showing what had last been shown.
“Hehe… Jackpot!” (LJ) Just the first bit of information was what the resistance needed to overthrow Himchan! It had the designs for the machines that Channites were using, though it looked more like the older models used during the war. It may not have been the current models, but maybe it would be enough to figure out how the current machines worked. “Let’s see… is there anything else that I can find oor… Ah!” (LJ)
Seeing the files lay out in front of him, Joon quickly reaches up and presses his cryston before the holographic visor stretched out in front of his eyes. The files instantly began transferring to his cryston as he continued his search through whatever the machine had to offer. Now if only Byunghee was at the resistance headquarters to see the kind of information he was able to get. The amount of praise he would get would be amazing! Until then, Joon would just have to get praise from everyone else.
“That one too!” (J)
“Okay!” (DH)
“Hm…?” (LJ) Joon briefly glanced over at the duo, but just as he was about to turn his attention back at the screen, he couldn’t help but stare at the duo with shock. What were they doing?! The laboratory was filled with destroyed machinery and from the looks of it, they weren’t stopping at the amount that they had already gone through with. “H-HEY! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!” (LJ)
Bartholomew came to an instant stop as the other two froze in place, staring at Joon with wide eyes. They may or may not have forgotten that they weren’t supposed to touch anything and now that they were caught red handed; they didn’t exactly know what they were supposed to do about it. Joon was about to slap his forehead with the palm of his hand, but the downloading was still in progress and he had been told time and time again to keep better care of his gear. So… somehow, he had managed to resist the temptation. “I told you two not to touch anything and yet the second I turn around, half the lab is destroyed! What were you two thinking?!” (LJ)
The two only continued to stare at Joon, unable to summon up any words that could justify their actions. Sure, they were worried about the well being of the people on this planet, but it’s not like the machines were doing anything right now. For all they knew, it was probably just something used for decoration. “Um… Well…” (DH)
“We beat up these things! They’re dangerous and we don’t want them getting out to kill people.” (J) Joon sighed as he shook his head. They shouldn’t have touched anything, but maybe it was for the best. After all, they had to have a reason for destroying these machines and from what he’s been told, they’ve had been experimented on. So, there’s a high probability that they had to fight these things as tests. “Alright. Go ahead and destroy all but one, okay? We need one to figure out how these things work and how to destroy them more efficiently.” (LJ)
“Great! Bartholomew! Let’s go!” (DH) With little to no hesitation, Bartholomew’s claws grew yet again before the destroying happened once more. Joon shook his head as he turned his attention back to the monitor. Well, as long as they kept one machine around, then it wouldn’t matter too much that they destroyed all the other ones… right?
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[[ My Own Thoughts:
Hey there!
Sorry for not updating for so long.
I’ll try my best not to take so long next time! ]]
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