The Life of V

[Cecelia Riddel]

Celia keeps her finger where it is for the time being, studying the puzzle.

"You said the first time that one of the locks released when the walls closed off. Was it the first lock?"

[Zack Asiv]

The two exchange looks before Asiv calmly face palms with a sigh.

"You will know either way. Your position in the political field would put you there one way or another. There is a chance Project Judgement is able to control other experiments through the hive mind genetics created within them. Cabal during the war allied with a number of experiments and as a reward they are allowed relative peace and protection... Here."

Asiv gestures at the training grounds.

"There is a village hidden within the four hundred acres where they live and still work for Cabal if they wish. When things like this happen we lock them in and prepare the defenses to destroy them if the need arises. Every experiment that lives inside is aware of this and accepts this."

The black haired guy nods.

"And Scales Operatives are placed strategically in places to make sure no one gets in or out."

Mitsuki nods at Celia.

"Yes, before the top lock or first one unlocked."

[Pride]

"Great, sounds like no reason for me to not go in. Not an experiment. And if you guys are supposed to be able to kill them if they go nuts, and I kicked your ass, I'll be fine."

He goes to try and enter again!

[Cecelia Riddel]

So she'd gotten the first lock on her first try, and diverting from the obvious path lead to the last one being locked, but left her trapped. Removing her finger released the locks as well as her progress...was it that she had chosen a bad turn, or something else?

"I see." She would test the pathway again, starting from the center with the index finger of her other hand to see if it would register. Regardless if there was another dot, she would take another look at the puzzle to see if there were indications of what other doors could slide shut.

"Do you know if this locks us out after too many tries?" Don't panic thinking about that, Celia. Even if she was a little already.

________________

Mitsuki can Grant Celia the Copy Cat Eye's which give her infra red vision and 180 degree vision. Celia can recognize people, attacks, or Qi abilities after seeing them just once, even if the person is wearing a disguise, or completely changed physically.

[Valerian Blackburn]

"So are they freaking out or not?"

Valerian folds his arms, scowling.

It seemed like this was knowledge Lady Angelonia would have known either way. Like this was a waste of time to make sure...

...

His scowl deepens further.

[Zack Asiv]

The black haired man would raise an eye brow.

"We aren't the ones that will kill them. We just contain them."

He would shrug, Pride had all the warnings he was going to get, but like a regular Vindictan he was ready to jump at the danger headlong regardless of his life. Or perhaps he was just arrogant enough to believe he was untouchable.

The man he had fought before who was perfectly fine at this point had a look of shock on his face.

"Kicked my ass? Not to my knowledge."

The black haired man would shoot him a look.

"Lei Tsi, that's enough."

He'd shrug and walk away.

Asiv on the other hand would look at Val.

"The problem is they won't freak out. They will continue acting like themselves until the perfect moment for whoever is controlling them to act. They could even cause a single one of them do it and the others act like they are trying to stop them. Or only actually be controlling one of them, to make us second guess the others. There are Egg Shells everywhere Lord Blackburn..."

Asiv would put his hands in his pockets and look up for a moment to take a breath and ponder.

"You have my permission to go in. Use the jeep at the entrance. It will make the trip easier. Oh, and if you can try and keep the other guy out of trouble, yeah?"

Mitsuki would shake her head.

"I don't see any mechanisms that do that, but I don't know for sure."

Every different path she tried would lead to another locked hallway, five in all including the two she had already found. Spaced out however, there didn't seem to be a true order to them. Zola would reach a hand over and press her finger intot he hologram where a second red dot would appear like Celia's own.

"Perhaps, your whole hand?"

[Cecelia Riddel]

A look of satisfaction showed on Celia's face as she was able to see the second dot on the map from her free hand, reinforced by Zola's when her guard added her own to it. By now, she had the locks int eh ring around the maze, like little secrets tucked away from the main path. She could appreciate that. The reassurance that there wasn't a default to lock out potential intruders was reassuring. At least, not here.

"My thoughts exactly." She nodded at the guard with an appreciative smile, following the paths in order with the locked chambers with her fingers until they filled the lock mechanisms!

[Valerian Blackburn]

"I'll try."

Kind of.

Valerian goes to get in the jeep, then waits to see if Pride will get in as well.

Then he's happy to drive on in!

[Pride]

"Hey, you do you."

He shrugged and would join Val at the jeep.

"We should find that village they mentioned."

[Zack Asiv]

Celia would notice it was as simple as placing all five fingers in the hollowgram, twisting her wrist and closing her fingers slightly to hit all the locks. Clicks would sound before it opened and Mitsuki nodded.

Zola would climb in first to help Celia through. On the other side they would note that they were inside the wall. There were hundreds of connection points for a PT everywhere. It acted like a thin one person corridor for monitoring the defenses and systems of this oddly advanced training field.

Roy joins Val and Pride as they make their way driving along the oddly quiet and still training grounds. Qi beasts seemed paralyzed in place, doing nothing. Water didn't flow in rivers or waterfalls. Everything seemed to be waiting for something to happen. The ride would be a bit. Ten minutes or so before they could make out a few house roofs from the Jeep.

[Valerian Blackburn]

"Agreed."

Val nods, driving!

The training grounds...well... they're starting to creep Val out a bit. The further they go, the more uncomfortable he becomes.

He's not even really sure what he's looking for.

"This is strange. Some sort of... time bubble?"

[Cecelia Riddel]

Celia made a sound of satisfaction as the locks clicked into place, standing back a couple steps as Zola climbed in. Once she was helped inside, it was impossible to notice they were still in an enclosed space. She'd never seen so many connections at the academy before; it was overwhelming.

"Thank you, Zola." She turned her attention to her PT as she took a few steps away from the hatch entrance.

"Well, if there are still people here, I imagine there's defenses to go with them in case anyone got past the gate." They were supposed to be dangerous people like Project Judgement, after all. Cecelia would look for any indication of heightened defenses or, even better, a map!

[Pride]

"Who knows, but it's unnatural."

He'd reach over to pat Val on the shoulder.

"Don't worry, I'll make sure we are safe."

[Zack Asiv]

Val, Pride and Roy drive, yet they find a boy standing in the way a little ways ahead holding out his left hand in a sign for them to stop. If they do he would call out. His hair was normal his clothes were only a little odd, but his eyes were a vibrant red.

"You are wandering too close to an off limits area of the Training Grounds. Please state your name and reason for coming."

Celia's PT easily connects to a system of defenses outlining capabilities of control, as well as a map that shows a grid of environments and a black section completely empty in the map. No grid, no geography, nothing.

[Valerian Blackburn]

Val parks the car and gets out.

Annoyed.

"Valerian Blackburn. Here on the authority of Zack Asiv and Lady Angelonia to inspect the experiments."