Skyscrapers & ... Groundscrapers? (RP)

- Fiona and Arthur -

When you arrive onsite you see a sight, strange even to your eyes. And you have seen some things!

The skyscraper broke its 'roots' —like a tall tree after a strong wind— and fell, those below it panicked (aside from those (most, even) who did not even notice anything more than a rumbling till later) and vainly tried to run. But, as witnesses and video feeds alike report, the entire building started to tip over, then suddenly stopped falling, with a crash, "as though it hit an invisible barrier or something".

Now it hangs there, twisted, at a roughly 45° angle, glass scattering the street below for blocks around, its base a mass of concrete, ripped up and exposed.

The authorities have shut off the water and electricity, but the area around the canted tower is still flooded with water.

• How is this like your previous 'break'? (Judging from the outside.)
• How is it completely different? (Judging from the outside.)

• Tell us about your character. About what you are expecting or hoping for on this run. About why you are here and why you were 'there' the last time.

• What is the feeling as you approach?

What do you do?

Cloud of Woe:

Arthur looks seriously to Fiona. "This reminds me of the first Break we ran," he says. "The same kind of weird devastation of built structure, like something had a grudge against architecture and wanted to remodel in a completely surreal way. Remember how the glass facade of the library had exploded into shards and slivers of glass that were just hanging in the air above the parking lot?" He pauses and looks at the building. "But this time, no-one got hurt. That we know of?"

Arthur is eager to see the Otherworld again. In the library Break, vibrantly-colored ivy had twined among the shelving and some of the older books had flapped and swooped in lazy circles the whole time Fiona and Arthur were In. Arthur looks forward to that level of weird. It's the kind of yearning for adventure that pushed him to combat rescue work.

He looks up at the impossibly looming edifice. "So it looks like the front door is … under." He twitches his shoulders uncomfortably. "I don't like being under things." It was nice to survive the helicopter crash. It was not nice to have his shins trapped under the smoldering wreckage. It's nice to have grafted prostheses for what he had to give up to escape the flames.

- Arthur -

From below the windows look dark, but that is just because the power is out, right? A brave news helicopter circles beneath the leaning building, proving —like a magician with a hoop— that nothing is holding it up.

What do you do?

- Arthur and Fiona -

You head in.

• Do you wade through the knee-deep water and enter wet, or make some plan to get closer while still dry?

Being in the shadow of the massive structure is intimating, though some brave and foolish kids are playing a game of throwing stones and trying to get them in the windows, it seems none have succeeded yet, the water and danger-tape keeping them away from the lower floors.

"Who are you supposed to be, then?" One of the kids hollers at you.

From beneath, the windows seem unnaturally dark, like the sunlight is not penetrating inside quite as it should at this angle. The main doors are slightly crushed and bowed open, and gape like a pitch-black portal to... who knows where.

What do you do?

Arthur breathes deeply and slowly as he realizes that he might have to go under to enter. He looks for a window at the side of the building, out of the water and not facing the ground, that could be broken to enter.

- Arthur -

You may be able to gain entry into the building through the windows above, but the rift-portal to the break seems to have conformed to the architecture and replaced the front door. You can't tell from outside if there are any other rifts inside.

To get on top of the side of the building would still mean navigating the knee-high water, and then climbing the concrete mess at the base. Or you might be able to persuade one of the helicopters to ferry you there, but there is nowhere for one to land on the 45° glass face of the building, so you would need to jump.

What do you do?

"Hey, Fee," Arthur says, "it seems like we're gonna need to immerse our lower legs in the morass, here. Unfortunately I didn't bring waders. Do you think there's any risk with getting our feet wet? For example, are we sure that the utilities shut off gas and electric to the building?"

- Fiona -

You can confirm that the electricity is off, the risk is mainly about getting wet and then walking... or quite possibly climbing!... around in wet boots for the rest of the day.

You can do almost anything with what you have in your Tech Kit, but it takes time. A Scanner ('Tri-corder style multi-spectrum scanner') would tell you this in no time as well.

What do you do?

Arthur splashes forward too. His feet make a kind of weird noise, like they're "cutting" the water. Which tracks.

We get to the door without problems?

- Arthur and Fiona -

Close up, the portal smells different to the last time. More earthy and cool.

You can push through to the other side, but memories of last time might cause you hesitate before doing so.

• What did it feel like last time?

What do you do?

"Remember how it felt slimy but electric, at the same time, last time?" Arthur asks Fiona. "You ready for it?" He unholsters his .30 and holds it ready. The automatic building doors are open. The portal is obscure. He can't imagine what's the other side. He looks to Fiona. "I'll take point, if you don't mind," he says. Then he looks up into the portal, hoping that the diamond grip pattern on his blade will grab onto something — 45° incline is pretty steep. He reluctantly reholsters the .30 and grabs the edge of the open sliding door. Then he pulls and steps, up into the portal.

- Arthur and Fiona -

You slide 'up' through the surface of the portal, the magnetic-repulsion-push keeps you away from the broken glass of the automatic doors, but makes it slightly hard to get a grip on the other side. But you manage.

Inside it looks... well it looks just like the lobby of a skyscraper, except at 45°. Everything not nailed down has slid to the bottom side —where you are— and nestled in the V at the corner between the floor and the wall... or is it the floor and the floor, now. Navigating this is going to be hard, even harder than talking about it.

Above you, through half of the ceiling-that-was-a-window, you see sky, the window-that-is-now-a-floor is dark, you can not see the street outside nor the kids playing, nor your van.

In the center of the lobby the escalator looks all wrong, the direction you can see is hanging off the frame in a strange way forming an arc instead of the stair-step pattern you expect it to.

• Did the people get out? All of them?

What do you do?

- Fiona -

Aside from the canted angle —which is 'just not right' and could make one feel queasy— and the dark, earth-like 'floor', everything looks completely normal ... for a disaster zone. Your team might have come in expecting 'more weird'.

It is a large, mostly open, welcoming space, with elevator shafts in the center, and escalators leading to the mezzanine that overlooks the reception lobby.

• Does your scanner give you any indication about which direction would lead to the 'center of the break'? Does it show anything weird on this floor or the one 'above'? What is its range?

You could pinch-climb the aluminium bead of the window-frames, but that would end at an overhanging 'ceiling', it would be a really hard climb around/underneath the mezzanine, to get up that way.

There are features on the old floor that were probably used for mounting dividers or signs or something. With some close teamwork you could use each other as ladders and ropes to boost-and-climb the slick, tile floor-surface.

From what you could see from outside there may be a basement, but —at least from what pulled out— the building does not appear to do 'down' very far.

What do you do?

Arthur slowly shakes his head as he steadies himself on the debris in the "trench" formed by the old floor and old front wall. He looks carefully at the stairs beyond the fire door. Then he thinks about his climbing gear.

"I think we could use the steps," he says. "The ones I can see are horizontal facing up with steps protruding like teeth. That means the next flight would be vertical. I have two pairs of gecko gloves. They would help us get a good firm grip on the steps." He looks to Fiona for input.

After a pause, Arthur adds: "Reports are uncertain as to how many or what fraction of people got out of the building. It's very quiet in here except for the distant dripping of water. Power is out. The upper interior rooms may be dark, depending whether the lights are wired to a battery back up that's still attached to the building."

Distantly, Sid the intern's voice crackles in our earpieces: "Got it."

- Fiona and Arthur =

The gloves can make the tile floor relatively easy to traverse —though it is still an arm workout— but they have a limited charge, and unless you can get the power working, you might not be able to recharge them.

Wherever you are going you, probably need to get to the center shaft where the stairs or elevator (not that they will ever move again, not in controlled manner, anyway) are. How do you get there?

What do you do?

- Fiona -

If you go down to the basement, you will find that there are generators, but it will take some work to get them operational at these angles for which they were not designed. It has been a while since the tower fell (I don't know how long it takes you to get here), and the battery backups might not have much, if any, juice to power the inverters.

What do you do?

"What do your scans tell you about the basement?" Arthur asked as he shined his flashlight around the awkwardly tilted generator room. The whole place smelled of spilled diesel fuel … "I know diesel's not flammable as a liquid, and the fumes probably aren't thick enough to ignite, either, but the whole idea of starting things up in a room where the lower corner has a few inches deep of diesel fuel is making me queasy. Or maybe that's the fumes. It looks like the reserve tank overflowed when the building tilted. Probably wasn't designed for this angle, you know, it's not really a foreseeable circumstance."

Arthur leads "up" the stairwell to the tilted lobby. "This building is eerily quiet," he mentions to Fiona. "I keep thinking that something will happen or someone will appear, but nothing. I'm surprised there was no one in the lobby."

There were no signs of people in the lobby, like everyone fled, possible during the rumblings before the tower fell?

Climbing the stairwell is tiring, though you are getting the knack of both types of inverted stairs. The central stairwell does not open onto the perimeter mezzanine, so it is a double-height climb to the second floor (depending on how you count) where you can get out of the stuffy confines and catch your breath.

The seconds floor looks much the same and the one below, sky above the roof-windows and darkness below the floor-windows, and no sign of any people.

Next floor up and things are starting to change. There is still sky above you, but the darkness below extends up the side windows... almost as thought the side of the building has sunk into the earth? Yes, that speculation is born out by the much stronger 'earthy' smell.

You find the first sign of the broken windows that strewed glass all over the street outside. A large hole in the side of the building appears to drop down into a... well you can only describe it a 'cave' —though you will have to get closer before you really make this determination.

There are muddy shoe-prints leading to (and from?) the hole, and, what looks like, a rope made from coats and jackets tied to a window fixture, as though people went down. They look like 'office worker' coats and jackets, not those of 'explorers'. So why they would have gone down is anyone's guess.

What do you do?

- Fiona -

Maybe the word 'secure' is a bit optimistic, but there are muddy hand-prints on the coat-rope so it probably supported a person in the past... but they were probably not carrying all your gear.

In your estimation the coat-rope will get you both down.

What do you do?

"I'll take point," Arthur says. He takes hold of the coat-rope and begins to hand-over-hand downward, gripping with knees as well. He expects that the rope might let go, and if it does, he has no real plan for "what next". But that's in the nature of the job.

- Arthur ... and Fiona, too? -

It was only really a small drop in open air before you find ground. The main need for the rope, it appears, is as a handhold as you make your way down the steep slope of soft earth.

Many feet below, the coat-rope ends, and you slide a few feet to the floor of the cave. Not much thought was given to getting back out, but a little effort should be able to boost one of you up to get a grip on the rope again.

The cave is massive, at least equal in size to the floors of the building above, but you are judging that based on acoustics, your torchlight does not reach the walls. It is mainly earthen —no stalactites or stalagmites in this one— with some columns/pillars at the far reaches of your torchlight. You are partway down one of the rolling hills of dirt.

You see footprints —from expensive-looking shoes— leading down the hill. A little ways along you see a pair of grey, high-heeled shoes —with cute yellow soles— lying, discarded, at the side of the trail.

All sounds are deadened, no echoes coming back to you, and no sound of water dripping nor of people breathing or talking.

What do you do?

Arthur unholsters his .30 and holds the gun and flashlight in that weird way that cop show fans would recognize. He scans around the big chamber. And he waits for Fiona.

- Fiona and Arthur -

The pillars of stone are covered with shelves of fungus, and tiny little, brightly colored frogs ... which are probably bad to touch.

As you come round a particularly large pillar that was cutting off your view your light falls on a woman, who cowers and whimpers. A group of little men... no... those are goblins! Step between you and the woman and holler at you in ... well, probably in gobbledygook? right? It sure sounds like it.

The goblins are all holding long sticks with leaf-shaped metal tips.

What do you do?

Unaffected by the forward-directed blinding light, Arthur watches the goblins reactions. Several of them (five) drop their spears. Four other goblins clutch their spears to their chests with their eyes closed.

The woman shrieks in alarm, throwing her hands in front of her face.

"Hey, were those your shoes?" Arthur asks before anyone can do anything else. "Yellow soles? Where did you get all the coats for the rope? Where's all the other people who had the coats? Yes, lady, I'm talking to you."

The goblins start yelling in gobbledegook ... or is it goblindigook? Are they goblins? Sure looks like what a goblin would be. They certainly have an awful lot of great, big teeth in their wide mouths. Wait... or is that German? French? Don't tell me they are Canadian! No, not with that bone-structure and grey-green skin.The few goblins what were not blinded by your light move to protect their woman, but there are not many left standing and, with a coordinated attack you could take them out before any reinforcements arrive in response to the yelling.

"Those... those were Jenny's." The cowering woman whimpers. She seems traumatised, like she has spent the last hours (how long since the indecent?) being harassed by strange things unknown, and your sudden appearance, blinding lights, and demands for answers are not helping her state of mind. "I don't know where everyone else is!" She wails.

What do you do?

" Submariner," Arthur confirms. " Whosever it belongs to, it's not doing them any good here." He keeps his flashlight and gun pointed toward the "goblins" as he looks for other signs of erstwhile humanity.

Indeed: While the goblins, both men and women, wear no clothes, a few have piercings glinting in their ears —and other places— and you see a wedding ring hanging precariously from a long, large-knuckled finger, and one is wearing socks —though its toes have poked their way through.

Any signs of humanity are either very superficial or buried deep down inside, but it seems you have found the missing 'people'.

What do you do?

Arthur's medic training takes over. "Come with us, lady," he says to the woman. "Do you think you can climb back up the rope?"

- Arthur -

The goblinized people, though still dazzled by your bright lights, argue and gesture with their weapons to prevent you from taking the cowering woman. You can almost pick out words in their goblin language, 'ours' and possibly 'one of us' dominate, though you could be projecting.

"What's going on?" The woman wails, as scared and confused by the voices out of the light as by the strange people around her.

What do you do?

If the woman complies with instructions, and the goblins don't interfere, Arthur leads her to the rope.

- Arthur -

You saw no sign of long, goblin feet on the way here, it looks like the people (while they were people) came down here, into the dark, of their own volition. Why they would do that you can not guess, but the woman —even scared out of her wits by your sudden invisible 'appearance', and the light that, possibly for the first time, shows her the goblins around her while hiding you— does not want to go back, and wants to know what is going on.

The goblins form up around her, they won't let you take her.

What do you do?

Understanding that violence is not imminent, Arthur carefully considers his next words to further reduce the tension. "We're from back there," he says. "We are investigating the incident. My name …" and he considers whether names might have Power in this weird place. "… is not important. If you would not like to leave here, would you like to explain why not? Can you communicate with your companions?"

- Fiona -

Dazzled by your flashlights (the regular kinds, not the kinds that FLASH) the people —are we calling them 'people' now?— you are confronting can not see your raised hands nor Arthur's pistol and have only your words to go on... if they (aside from the one woman) even understand English.

A little bit of sidetracking and you find what you were looking for, a pile... well 'pile' may be too neat a word, but a scattering of clothing are strewn (yeah, that's the word) long the path, but off to one side. They don't look damaged... well, not ripped, anyway... and not bloody, so it does not look like the people were eaten out of the their clothes, more like they were just too large and fell off or were discarded when they got in the way. It is interesting that people seem to have broken from the group to walk alongside for this process, it does not look like it happened all at once, but this needs more study to be sure.

What do you do?

- Arthur -

Your calm words help a little, the goblins lower their spears, in a relaxed way, like they understand the gist of your tone or words even if they can not speak them.

The woman, whose eyes are starting to adjust to the light your are shining in her face looks around when you ask about her companions, seems to realise for the first time what they look like, and screams, scrabbling backwards, away from both these monsters and the voice out of the light that will not name itself.

You can not know this, but your talk of 'back there' and 'leaving' (or going back) scares her as much as the sight of the goblins does.

You can see the goblins shoulders slump at her fear, as if to say, "we were trying to avoid that, thanks so much". They don't seem 'hostile', more 'protective'.

What do you do?

"You're the lead on this," Arthur says. "I'm just protection and first aid." He blinks his flashlight at the goblins and the woman. "Sorry to bother you, we're moving on."

- Arthur -

"Wait. Where are you going?!" The woman wails. "You're not leaving me with these monsters?!" Now that she has seen who she is with, and with you being the only ones speaking 'proper language', she is not happy staying with the goblins.

"Where is everybody?!"

What do you do?

- Fiona -

"What?" All this talk about 'breaks' and 'less flexible minds' and 'goblin coworkers' is not easy to understand.

The goblins give you (or your general direction) a thankful look, and start to gabble at you before one of them shushes the others and assumes the role of 'speaker'. It does not help that you can not understand a word they are saying, though. At least they don't seem hostile, more curious.

What do you do?

Arthur adds, "But seriously, folks. All will be well. Beats cubicle work, amirite?" He also moves to advance beyond the goblin gaggle. What's next?

The goblins stare at Arthur, unamused by his joke if they understand it at all. They don't do anything to stop you from exploring further into the caves under —or beside?— the building. One of them was seen patting the freaked-out woman's hand, but the fact that she has gone quite may be the result of her passing out. They seem curious and expectant, as though waiting for something to happen.

As you head deeper into the cave you see no sign of the footprints you followed earlier or goblin tread, the goblins have not been this way, and there are no signs that anyone came out to get them. Why they walked into these caves and then turned into goblins is a mystery for now.

The wildlife here does not much like your lights, maybe this is the first time they have seen lights? Or maybe not, since they all ... mostly? ... seem to have eyeballs, which might be a strange evolutionary choice in a land without any light. The little frogs you spotted before blink at you and try to move out of the light, and you are sure you heard bigger things moving out there, things that do not show up on your scanner, but that is not exactly designed to show 'signs of life'.

The background energy readings are weird, though. How?

• What does the scanner hint at ahead? What do you do to prepare for it?

It would take a long time for your eyes to adjust to the faint light source, but with your own lights on you don't see the faintly-glowing, hair-thin tendrils lining the walls till you arrive at the main source.

It is beautiful, shimmering all the colors of the rainbow —and, Fiona's scanner suggests colors outside the visible spectrum, too. The central column of this great hall is ringed with light. Looking right at it, you have to squint to see what it is. It is more of those mushrooms, these ones pulsing brightly enough for you to see, even with your flashlights.

On the brightest part of the light emitting mushroom stack sits a frog, larger than the others... no wait, this one it not a frog (anymore?), you would say more likely a salamander. As you start to draw near you also realise that the cave is large, and it is further away (always hard to judge distance when looking directly into a light source) ... and therefore much larger... like crocodile-sized, in fact.

It turns its head towards you and ... licks its eyeball.

What do you do?

- Fiona -

There are no signs of discarded clothing here, and, unless you also think the tiny, fingernail-sized frogs were also 'people', this looks more like a long-term resident.

What do you do?

"I got your cover," Arthur answers. He keeps his .30 pointed at the wet eyeball of the salamander crocodile thing.

A salamander-sized crocodile would be cute, though it could still have your finger off. A crocodile-sized salamander is more scary, and the distinction may be moot.

The beast turns as you approach, its hindquarters wagging to find better purchase on the glowing fungus, possibly readying itself to pounce?

You have a moment to act before it does... well, whatever it is it about to do.

What do you do?

Arthur exhales slowly and squints against the fungal glow. He's pretty sure that he can nail the thing in its eye if it pounces. "Let's be friends, big fella," he says calmly to the lizard.

- Arthur -

The lizard-shaped amphibian snaps it head to you as you try talking to it. Uncomprehendingly it tenses, about to jump, but your aim is true and your bullet pierces its eye, passing through into its brain, and it topples, still and lifeless, from the fungal-perch to the loamy ground at base of the pillar.

What do you do?

- Fiona -

Through the smashed eye socket —and wherever you break the skin of the salamander taking your samples— you see what looks like smoldering coals inside. There is no heat, in fact the opposite, the beast is cold to the touch.

By the time you get back round to the head, having collected shallow samples from everywhere —and may be preparing for more invasive and destructive sampling— you find that the eyeball has ... congealed? Filmed-over? Healed?!

The, previously very dead, but apparently regenerating, salamander turns its head sluggishly and tries to bite you. It sure has big teeth this close up.

What do you do?

Arthur has been standing by, watching around about for any other dangers that might creep in. Hearing Fiona yelp/gasp he glances back toward her work on the … moving?! … dead lizard.

"You should get away from that," he suggests. "Do you think I should shoot it again? Undead lizards are not something I want to deal with."

Arthur feels a twinge of dismay at the idea of repeatedly shooting the lizard, which is not presenting an immediate threat now. But he's not in charge of this expedition. "Sure thing, boss," and he squeezes the trigger …

Arthur keeps wary while Fiona does science.

- Fiona -

There is definitely energy in the fungal growth, more than is needed for the light they are emitting, like maybe the light is just a waste-product. The tiny fibre-like threads seem at least as efficient as any fibre-optic cable at transmitting energy from end to end, but they are not strong enough to handle, they squish when you take samples and form a blob, it may still have interesting properties, though.

The shelves of fungus are woody and hard, but they emit light when you break or cut into them. The samples you took near the beginning of your experiments are still glowing as bright by the end, if you ran out of batteries for your flashlights —you shouldn't, efficient LEDs have largely rendered such concerns a thing of the past— these could prove a useful alternative.

• What else interesting did you discover about the mushroom/fungus?

As you and Arthur return to the salamander it is just standing up and shaking itself, as though trying to rid itself of an uncomfortable but lingering sensation. It has not turned to face you, so you can't see the wounds to its head and face, but the skull-structure seems to have, mostly, reformed from where it was deformed by the bullets.

What do you do?

Arthur touches Fiona's elbow with gentle urgency. " Let's move away from the unkillable croc," he says, and starts to retreat in a different direction than where we came in.

As he does, he sucks on an oddly delicious "any flavored" crumb of fungus that somehow wound up in his mouth.

- Arthur -

The fungus is good! So more must be better! You can feel your mind expanding, though you don't know exactly how, but you are sure you can perceive truth that others don't have access to.

- Fiona and Arthur -

You back away, from the, probably angry, salamander and follow cave system onwards. Up ahead you see a light, it seems more constant and familiar than the shimmering fungal lights, and as you approach it you see blue sky up above. You have looped round and found you way back to the skyscraper, on a higher floor.

Stepping out the caves seems to have had more of an effect than 'just moving from one room to another', you don't perceive a portal or barrier here, but suddenly your radios and phones are receiving again and you hear the worried voice of your intern, Sid, on the radio.

"Oh!" They say when you reply. "I was getting worried something may have happened to you! HQ have called in reinforcements..." They hesitate a moment before continuing, in a chipper tone that suggest the higher-ups are listening in on the conversation. "Um, can you get back to the lobby? Herman... Herman Niederfelt, you remember? Herman is about to come in."

• How do you feel about Herman joining your expedition? Do you still blame him for last time?

What do you do?

Herman finally arrived after 20 minutes on the subway and a 10 block jog. He hops in the van and throws on his "**** Institute" (tm) overalls. He’s wearing his "magicadabra" (tm) baseball hat backwards to cover his early pattern baldness (and on top of that a hard plastic helmet) also some 10.14 bitchen-looking sunglasses. He checks in on the walkie talkie. "Ais’a comin’ yall!!! The subway wasn’t too bad. I all geared up and I assume we need C4. Anything else special you need me to bring? Rope, crowbar, twinkies? Is there a trail for me to follow?"

... and of course Herman's reaction to the building is, (long whistle) "Dude woooah!"

- Fiona -

Like the floors below you, this one is devoid of people or any signs of people having been here when a disaster happened. There are computers and desks pilled up on the lower side and dangling from the stairwell/lifts in the center, and someone's lunch has spilled open, revealing processed foods and chips, but there is no indication that anyone was hurt during the fall.

You have to climb through this detritus of office-space cutter to get out of the cave. Through the 'bottom' windows you see nothing but darkness... no that isn't true. Around where you exited the cave you can see some cave shapes through the window. It feels a bit freaky to be standing on glass, over a cave, especially since more than a few windows panes around you have broken, spilling desks into the soil below, but also allowing egress from the caves.

You have to climb almost halfway up the 'side' of the building before you emerge from the surrounding darkness and can see the street below and Herman by the van. As soon as you ascend above that line, you look down upon the street, no soil or caves in sight outside.

You are higher up than you thought, what with the mezzanine and all, you have ascended another floor through the cave system.

• Are you going down to get Herman? Or do you expect him to find his own way to climb up to your spot while you rest?

What do you do?

- Herman -

It is one thing to hear the reports, but seeing the skyscraper stretching upwards multiple city blocks, but at a 45° angle, and just hanging there, is a jaw-dropping experience. Not so jaw-dropping that the kids playing around the base have not become bored with their game of throwing stones and are poking at the shimmering portal with a long piece of rebar.

There is a puddle of water around the base, though it looks like it has been receding and you maybe be able to get over to the portal without getting your feet wet... if you are lucky.

What do you do?

Arthur shifts his backpack around. "Yeah, I have climbing gear in here. Just a moment, gotta get it out without spilling." He rummages briefly, pulls out a rope and grapnel. "Let's see what we can tie this to …" and he looks around for a sturdy part of the buildings structure, or an object substantially heavier than Herman and below the window opening.

- Herman -

(responding to OOC Montage [ref])

The reporter —autograph in hand— blows you kiss as you descend from the news helicopter into the broken-open window on the top surface of the leaning skyscraper.

You can see your friends and companions (or 'work associates') below, clearing and rigging a landing zone for you. They look a little puzzled by something when you drop the rope in, but communications are impossible in the wash of the helicopter's rotors and you can't hang around.

As you descend, a moment before you reach the building and the broken window, you remember that there is a very distinct and purposeful PORTAL at the base of the tower. This serves as the transition from one reality to another, and you have not passed through that 'portal'... some Arcane sense warns you about the 'invisible' barrier and you have a split-second to remedy the situation and avoid a long slide down the outside to the mangled base of the tower.

It is a magical barrier, and a magical portal, and you are a magic man! You can ... probably?... make your own entry to the magic realm... right? You can do magic! ... sometimes?

• Do you try to magic your way in? If so: What energies do you channel though your mind and body to try end up on the same ... 'wavelength' as Arthur and Fiona? What is that like?

What do you do?

I frantically signal the helicopter to abort by looking at the reporter and giving him the thumbs down and yelling "ABORT, ABORT" as loud as I can whatever good that will do. That and I drop the crowbar and the hammer cos that will hopefully make it obvious I am not getting in the building this way.
After the copter lands me and I am away from the propeller wash I am on the radio, "Change of plans. I can't get in that way, there seems to be some other barrier surrounding the building. Seems like the only way in is the front door the way you guys got in. So I guess you better not wait for me."

- Arthur and Fiona -

You see the rope snake out from helicopter as Herman starts his flashy entrance, it is perfectly lined up to drop right through the hole left by the missing window, and you stand aside so as to be close enough to provide aid but not so close you get whipped by it ...

... Except that the rope does not reach you. It was definitely long enough that it should have, but, with a slight sizzle, it just seems to vanish at the height of the window, not pooling up there or sliding off, just ... not existing on this side.

Herman looks down and seems satisfied with what he sees! As though he thinks the rope is safely on the 'ground' where you are. He starts his descent before you can issue a warning. Fortunately something tips him off to the danger and he stops himself in time, signalling to the chopper to pull up. As the chopper lifts away you see rope 'appearing' at the bottom end where it meets the window.

Herman radios in and you arrange to meet downstairs, by the portal.

What do you do?

- Herman -

"You still owe me." The reporter calls with a barely hidden smirk when you are on the ground again.

The portal at the base of the tower seems to be the only way in, and presumably the only way out of the break. If narrative causality has anything to say about it, the nexus of power will be at the top, as far away from the exit as possible, just 'to make for a better show', you are pretty sure this is the case even before you step inside and see how mundane the ground floor is.

As you would expect in a building that has been tipped by 45°, everything has slid down to your side of the tile floor, the reception/security desk rests by your elbow as you stand in the V at the bottom.

You have a minute or so before your two companions reach your position.

What do you do?

Does this building have a central atrium all the way up? or is there only the two/three story lobby mezzanine? Cos the beanstalk idea worked great for Jack (and Bugs/Porky) Could it work here? [Is what my thought bubble says]

- Herman -

Only the lobby has a mezzanine floor around it that you can see. Above that is the ceiling (which is the floor of the 'second' story). There is no way to get from the mezzanine to the higher floors.

A central stairwell and elevator shaft links the ground floor to the one above.

What do you do?

Actually where (what floor) is the elevator? How high could I get up the elevator shaft with my hypothetical beanstalk? I assume the door is open or I can crowbar it (since I picked back up the one I dropped earlier.)

Cause if the elevator is at least 5 or 6 floors up I am gonna arcane me a beanstalk.

Herman pries open the elevator door on the first floor and peeks in with the flashlight. Apparently he approves of what he saw. He steps back, closes his eyes and concentrates. He squats and then slowly stands and also pushes up as if doing a deadlift in slow motion and then squats again to repeat the motion, he does this whole bit three more times.

Under his breath Herman says, "come on baby, Papa needs a happy, tall ,leafy beanstalk."

Well there was almost some grunting. I mean Herman is visualizing and at the same time literally willing a beanstalk into existence. Of course this involves a lot of core work (gotta keep up the pilates) which ain't gonna be obvious while wearing '*** Institute' (tm) overalls. If it his hoodoo worked you will hear a susurrus, that is, the rustling of (hopefully) big leaves coming from the elevator shaft. And if it really worked you will see big ole leaves sticking out of the elevator shaft that is now open.

- Herman, Fiona, and Arthur -

Up from the pit of the elevator a beanstalk grows. Were there beans spilled down there at some point in the past? Did it grow out of the detritus that has collected over the years? Did it spring fully-formed from the mind of one man? Hard to say.

The elevator shaft is now filled, as far as the eye can see, with ropy vines and massive leaves. The vines should make the shaft an ideal route up and down, though the leaves are a bit of a hindrance.

What do you do?

"… Damn" says Arthur. He briefly grips Herman's shoulder. "Nice work!"

He looks "up" the elevator shaft. It's dark and leafy up there.

"Fi, how many floors do you think we should go?"

- Fiona -

Your scanner's range is insufficient to pierce 30 stories of concrete, but you are pretty sure the 'heart', as you think of it, is not situated in the first half-dozen floors or so, maybe even the first full dozen. You shake the scanner and peer at it, there are strange readings closer than that, though, some above as well as those below in the dark.

The elevator beanstalk creaks as it continues to grow. It will provide a much easier path up the building. But skipping floors has its risks as well as its benefits. You know, from your previous jaunt into a break, that they can be unstable and may have a time-limit before they ... turn bad. But the people voluntarily going into the dark and then turning into goblins (you don't know if that part was voluntary, surely not?), as well as the knowledge of the regenerative abilities of the salamander are all fascinating. But, more importantly, who knows which tidbit of data could prove vital to your success. In a role-playing-game, the party having fore-knowledge that the troll or hydra needs to be fought with fire can make all the difference to whether they will or end up as hydra-poop.

• How high do you climb the beanstalk? Anyone should answer.

What do you do?

Fair enough. This is pretty neeto. Up we go.

You all make your way up the spiral beanstalk. It turns out that, when a elevator car is not there, the locking mechanism on the outer elevator doors is pretty obvious —at least to anyone with experience manipulating devices— and it needs next to no effort to slide the doors open against the spring that makes them close.

You skip the first two doors, as they have already been explored by some of your party, and peer into the fourth floor (not counting the mezzanine). Stark bright light shines in from the top-side windows, and the bottom-side windows are dark but intact.

What do you do?

- Fiona -

Thankfully there are no signs of divided office workers among the office-dividers that have piled up in the bottom V. And, as below, no traces of any injuries on this floor.

The light from the windows above you seems quite intense! And, a little fiddling with your scanner suggests it is slightly out of phase with the expected sunlight. Maybe the UV filters on the windows are messing with your readings? Or maybe Herman saw something from outside?

What do you do?

- Herman -

Now that you think of it. There is a certain ... smell to the light? If that is even possible. It is not Ozone, but puts you in mind of that sort of effect.

A bean-pod —it is fruiting already!— flops out as you open the door, conveniently pinning it open so it does not spring closed and lock you out again, and you can use it to climb out and take a look around.

What do you do?

Arthur is experiencing climbing up an elevator shaft that is crowded with a big vegetable and lit only by flashlights. He is not loving it. So when Herman gets the door open, Arthur eagerly looks out over his shoulder. That makes it a little crowded with Fiona also trying to scan stuff out the door. So Arthur pulls back into the beanstalk's leafiness.

Ok so this floor is all "open-plan" with cubicles and therefore everything has fallen down by the dark, ground-side windows. No exceptions that Herman can see, before going down to root round in the pile of cubicle and office detritus? Or does he even need to climb out to make this determination (are there any blind spots the the elevator door vantage)? But if he needs to climb out to make this determination he will.

Also and this is a little late, but "Herman" has just had the thought, Hey, did we look for clues on the building directory in the lobby?

- Herman -

Did you look at the building directory? Did you notice anything particular about the names? Why does that detail come back to you this time?

Arthur eases out the door onto the 45° inclined "floor". The gecko gloves and blade feet are a little slippery on the commercial-grade office carpet. He's trying to move around the elevator box to see what's topside.

- Arthur -

You clamber round the outside of the elevator shaft to the 'top-side', where you can rest. The light from above is bright, making you squint. A helicopter passes overhead... no, not a helicopter or even a bird or a plane, but a butterfly.

Were it not for the glass and frame of the window giving you a clear sense of depth, you would swear it was right in your face, it is so large. Looking close you see it has the beautiful face and body of a person... a human person, since it is proving necessary to make that distinction today.

The butterfly-winged person sees you watching and seems to realise that you are also a person, or at least, human shaped? humanish? humanoid? they can not be sure, nevertheless they fly down to speak to you, but splat against the window —just like a bug. They don't seem to be familiar with 'glass' and look confused by this force-field keeping you apart. They say something that you can not hear through the double-glazed window and gesture for you to come out and join them before flitting away with a graceful backwards somersault.

What do you do?

Arthur considers a moment, then adds, "Should I break the window to get out there and see what it wants? I don't know if we'll understand its language, though."

Next floor, same as the last... not much to see from your vantage point in the elevator shaft. Same for the one above that.

The one above that one —they are not numbered, so it is becoming easy to lose track— is completely dark, top and bottom. The glass is broken and rocks and soil have encroached right up close to the elevator shaft, and are easily visible in your torch light.

You all hear the sound of fighting from below, in the caves.

What do you do?

Checking Herman's understanding: So outside the elevator shaft, on the down/ground side of the higher level, there is now semi "earthlike" terrain instead of (or in addition to) carpet?

- Herman -

Below where you hang, the windows of the building have crashed into what looks like a cave system of rock and earth, you can see broken glass and twisted metal window-frames covering the ground.

From outside this was probably one of the sections where the windows appeared broken. From inside there is a whole cave system encroaching on the office space, this was not apparent to you before you entered the portal.

What do you do?

- Fiona -

Your scanner can not pierce the layers of concrete to pinpoint heart of the break. That is still out of range.

It does show significant energy discharges from the direction of the presumed fighting.

What do you do?

- Herman -

You all could probably climb down the rocks.

What do you do?

Arthur sighs. "Fine, let's get into trouble," he agrees. He follows Herman down among the rocks.

- Herman -

Your trailing vines facilitate getting down to the highest rocky section, but from there it is harder to descend the uneven surface both safely and quickly. Maybe being a rotten egg is not the worst you have to worry about...

Actually, speaking of 'rotten eggs', there is a smell, it seems to be from up ahead (below) and is getting stronger as you approach. Then your foot slips and contacts something squishy, and when you shine your light into the hole you stepped in you see a body. You have just trodden on one of the office workers. They are definitely dead, though you can't tell at first glance if it is from the fall onto the rocks or if something else killed them, there is a lot of blood.

What do you do?

Herman thinks, "ewwwww" and "this shit's getting real."
Herman says, "errr guys I am seeing blood and bodies over here."
Herman extracts his leg from the hole and continues slowly and carefully towards a rendezvous with Fiona and Arthur.

- Fiona -

Once you arrive near the spot Herman pointed out you see that he was indeed correct. There are bodies (plural) scattered in the crack in the rock. There is not much decay, but at least one has ruptured and spilled viscera and fluids on the rocks, this could be the source of the stench (do you know what the inside of a body smells like?).

What do you do?

Arthur listens for the sounds of fighting. How distant are they? "We're supposed to be investigating," he reminds his companions, "not getting into a battle royale."

- Arthur -

The fighting continues, but it is nigh impossible to judge distance from echoes in the dark and winding caverns. You do think you see a dull flash of light around a corner, far enough away that it would be outside the perimeter of the building, but not as far as you wondered in the caves below.

What do you do?

"Are they still moving?" Arthur asks. He chuckles nervously. "Maybe I watch too many horror movies."

- Fiona -

You did spend a little while studying the salamander that came back from the dead, though most of your time was taken up with the glowing mushrooms. You did determine that the salamander's regenerative healing factor was not directly linked to proximity to the mushrooms since it still healed while away from them and in the dark.

That seems more like a property of the salamander —you know 'normal' ones can regrow tails, and possibly limbs— so, hopefully that tendency to come back to life does not extend to these people... though, on the other hand, since the salamander looked like it was healing quite well, maybe that would be a good thing for these poor souls?

What do you do?

- Herman -

In order to know what is going on, you follow the sound of fighting. Keen as you are to meet a butterfly elf, you are to be disappointed, those sounded pretty, but what you see as you round a corner has nothing pretty about it. A giant ... thing with many, many legs, is rearing up, over the heads of a bunch of short people, you may have suspected 'children' if it were not for the misshapen forms and over-large heads... and the crude spears.

One of the short people —these are probably the 'goblins' your companions told you of— turns and shouts an angry-sounding admonishment at you when your light falls on their tableau. You can not understand a word of it.

What do you do?

- Herman -

The shouty goblin looks relieved when you back away and take your light with you, it turns back to the fight, just in time to pay the price for its intention and get its head bitten off by the mandibles of the horrible, many-legged thing. Too many legs for a spider!

What do you do?

- Fiona -

Given how the sample cells grew, so long as you keep some of each you may not end up losing anything... not that you can judge this since this is the only time you have done this.

Any extensive science on the bodies will take time, time that you might not have.What do you do?

- Arthur -

The centipede flinches as ichor sprays from the point your bullet strikes. The goblin's crude spears were unable to reach past its legs effectively, but you wounded it... But how much?

- Herman -

Your shots ricochet off the centipede's chitinous armor as it scurries away, it lets out a screech of anger and pain which echoes back from the invisible walls of the cavern.

The goblins chase after their attacker.

What do you do?

- Herman -

You counted ... [4 < x < 9] ... goblins, but there may have been two or three times that many outside the cone of your light.

- Arthur and Herman -

• Do you follow after the goblins to deal with the centipede threat? If so: Do you follow at speed, or cautiously and risk falling behind?

What do you do?

- Fiona -

There are many dead bodies, some more gruesome than others.
• How many are you slathering in salamander goop?
Do you recall, at this time, that they, apparently, beat each other to death?

What do you do?

- Herman -

The centipede fled as fast as it could, and it was rather fast —though, thankfully, not directly scaled up from the relative speed of a normal-sized centipede— and the surviving goblins ran to follow it.

Their shrill, garbled, voices are getting indistinct in the dark and windy passages, all alike.

What do you do?

Fiona has just finished binding the possibly-soon-to-be-resurrected bodies with zipties (which I am pretty sure Mr Frankenstein did not have:) when Arthur and Herman arrive back. Maybe it would have been a good idea from the beginning to have the team's medical officer... um, medic ... on hand for medical experiments, but this is weird science, so who knows.

The salamander took a while to regenerate, and that was with its own cells, so far you can not see anything happening where the foreign cells contact the human ones.

What do you do?

- Fiona -

It is dark in this cavern, you have not seen any glowing mushrooms in here. But then, you dragged the salamander away from its mushroom nest and it still healed.

Presumably you set up work lights (from your Tech Kit) so you could see, from where you were working on the mushroom, if it started to move?
• Do you leave a light source here with the bodies (or do we call them 'the experiments'?):

What do you do?

Arthur nods to Herman. "Now that we're fully assembled, please, lead the way," he says. "I'm here for protection and first aid, not direction."

The goblins chasing the centipede were moving at a pretty pace. There are drops of ichor from time to time, so you know (or suspect, (there might be another injured beastie out here)) you are on the right track. This trail is all you have, the goblins leave almost no footprints, they are probably impossible to track with your current abilities. Along the way you pass the sight of the fight, there is a goblin lying there, quite dead, its head missing.

If you want to catch up to the action you will need to move fast, sacrificing 'safety' and 'backtrackability', or you could take it slow and risk losing the group in the maze of dark tunnels.

What do you do?

Arthur keeps up, blades cutting in and kicking up dirt from the cave floor as he jogs. His flashlight is in his hand, his gun is in its holster.

You follow the sound of goblins through the maze of dark tunnels, your lights casting weird, darting shadows on the walls. At one point you think you catch a glimpse of a goblin, but it darts away quickly, almost as though trying to avoid you.

But your legs are longer, and, after a while, you catch up. Suddenly the narrow narrow corridors open up and, as you climb over a berm and slide down the far side you in the action.

• Herman, it sounds like you are in front. Give us an Insight roll to judge your awareness of the situation and see if you can avoid immediate trouble.

- Herman, Fiona, and Arthur -

It seems you have run right into a trap. It front of you the last goblin goes down, writhing in pain from a centipede bite, and calling for help in pitiful tones.

On the plus-side: You have found the centipede nest... But that also means you have found the nest of centipedes, one of them is quite badly hurt by Arthur's shot, another two definitely sustained injuries from the efforts of the goblins. It is hard to tell exactly how many there are (count the legs and divide by 100?) probably half-a-dozen of the things.

You are surrounded.

What do you do?

- Herman -

There is a whuff from behind you as a centipede drops from above, between your party and the tunnel you came out from. Your torchlight does not reveal any other passages out, but you think you can feel a breeze, so you are probably not in a dead-end...

What do you do?

- Arthur -

You unload a whole clip at the centipedes, but a combination of their armor and their unpredictable movements make it hard to have much of an effect. You gun's slide locks open, just as you reach to reload there is a searing pain in your (non-dominant) arm and it goes numb, your flashlight starts to slip from your grasp. You can still hang onto your gun, but can not get to your spare clips to reload, it is nothing more than a weak club till you can remedy this...

More concerning is the numbness, somewhere in your medical training you recall that centipedes are poisonous ... though that only matter if you eat them, they are, unfortunately, also venomous, and you seem to be envenomed...

What do you do?

Seems like a time for magic. The image comes to Herman of Tweety sitting in a bird cage while Sylvester is looking angrily plotting how to eat him. He is visualizing the bars of a cage big enough to protect the humans (but not so big that we can't squeeze our way out). He closes his eyes, clenches his butt cheeks, grunts. Says dramatically, projecting to the universe, the gods etc (channeling wonder twins power) FORM OF A BIRD CAGE!!!!

Herman tries...

Herman has poof-icated an anti-bug cage into existence and it surrounds the party, keeping the centipedes at bay. The cage is round, 3 meters in diameter and the top is domed maxing out at 3m. The bars are vertical and have at most a 15" horizontal gap and are 1/2" thick. The dome begins at 2m height. Its made out of metal and seems be powdercoated barbie pink in color (though in this dimness you wouldn't know it). Herman doesn't know what metal it is though, since the magical vibes don't extend to metallurgical specs; but hopefully it will be strong enough to keep the bugs away.

Now Herman breaks out his glock and takes careful aim at the nearest centipede.

Errr Arthur I mean.

Fiona still has some ingredients to add —and the solution first has to come up to temperature, and, possibly more importantly, must not exceed that narrow temperature band or it will be destroyed— when, distracted as everyone is with medical stuff, you all miss that one centipede has wriggled through a small gap in the cage above and drops down between your party members.

What do you do?

- Herman -

Bullets seemed less-effective against the hard carapaces of the centipedes, maybe a firm boot can crack their armor? The thing is the size of a medium dog, and five times as long. There are what appear to be two spikes on its tail, but you don't know if they are dangerous, if they are stingers or just sensors.

The centipede does not seem to be bothered by the light of your headlamp, it is possible it can't sense the light, or does not know what it means.

What do you do?

- Herman -

The centipede is incredibly quick, as your foot descends upon it it squirms to the side and around, tripping you and turning to bite. You see in great detail that 'bite' might be an inaccurate term, its mouth-parts clamp down you, but it is actually the legs, right up front, just behind the mandibles that spear out to pierce your flesh and deliver the venom that coats them.

The venom-sacks, however, look a little dry after the fight with the goblins. If you are lucky it might not have enough left to significantly affect you (See Fortune rolls [ref]).

You also see a crack in its carapace, the goblins did some damage before they went down.

You can pin the centipede down and give Arthur a perfect line for a clean stomp, he should then be able to finish it right away, but you might get bitten again if he can't act in time.

What do you do?

"I have a med kit," Arthur answers Herman, "but my whole left arm is numb, like asleep, really asleep. Like it was injected with … yeah, centipede venom I guess! I think there's a couple vials of generic antivenon and a few syringes in the kit, if you can inject me in the left deltoid it might help."

- Herman and Arthur -

Quick shouted conversations are fine for making plans, but first aid in the middle of a fight will give the centipedes time to act with impunity. It may be better to focus on the task at hand and deal with getting medicines out of your packs, loading syringes, and administering injections once you have a moment to breath.

Herman: Do you hold the centipede down so Arthur can try stomp it? You will risk another bite if he can not act fast enough, but, with your aid, he can end the immediate fight.

What do you do?

Herman valiantly grapples the writhing centipede, showing hitherto unseen reserves of strength. With it immobilised, Arthur is able to line up a boot just right and drive it through the exoskeleton and crush the head. They are actually not all that tough, it seems they just require a bit more mass than is in those .30 bullets.

You have bought Fiona a bit of time to continue her science project, but you are not out of the woods yet, if one could get through others could too.

What do you do?

You don't know what the centipedes are complaining about. Fiona's concoction does not smell that bad. But they sure don't like it, and back off from the bars, slithering away into the dark. You think you have made enough to keep this type of beastie away for the the duration of your stay in this break, hopefully it does not offend everyone else.

You have a moment to tend to your wounds and plan your next step.What do you do?

Herman and Fiona are tired and battered, but unhurt, the centipede bite was stopped by Herman's armour. Arthur has two puncture wounds in his arm, they are not serious, aside from the venom, and he probably should get an antibiotic when you get home, but, with the medicine, sensation is returning enough that he can use his arm again, even if it will be a bit sluggish for a while.

It is unlikely the centipedes have a habit of luring people to their nest, this might be a one-off event given the unexpected arrival of goblins and your party. Aside from centipede... er... residue and leavings, there might not be anything other than what the naked goblins brought with them. This does not seem like an ideal place to Scrounge [rules], but if you take the time, you might find something to make it worth your while.

What do you do?

"Sure, let's head back up." Arthur motions to Herman to move on out of the centipede nest.

You leave the site of this massacre and head back out the way you came. The centipedes repellent seems to work, and they avoid you, so you have a clear walk back out of the caves and towards the offices where the workers fell.

It hasn't been long enough for definitive results vis-à-vis people back from the dead, but it sure looks like the salamander goop has been absorbed into the wounds and like they are closing up or filling in. You could hang around and see how it goes, or you could plan to come back and check. Tempus fugit, after all.

What do you do?

Arthur follows. His left arm has stopped tingling thanks to the antivenon injection.

Two floors up the layout changes from cubicles to offices. The elevator opens into a long corridor, lined with oak (or faux-oak) paneled doors.

At the far end of the corridor the window is broken, like something large smashed though it, taking most of the frame with it. Below that you see a long drop onto the road where you parked your van.

What do you do?

Pointing down the readings are completely normal... like 'our-world' type levels of normal, though Herman may get the faintest suggestion of an energy field like the one that 'prevented' him from getting in from above/below.

To get readings from above you would need to climb out of the elevator shaft and around the central complex. With the open air at the end of the corridor that is a scary prospect, falling would not be good for your health.

What do you do?

Herman digs around opens a pack of cards, finds a joker and says, Let's see if this is interesting., and then flings out of the elevator so the group can observe what happens when/if it hits the end of the corridor.

... flings the card that is

Even at a 45° slope down, flinging a card across half a building is no mean feat, but Herman manages it.

...

There is a flash of light and the card is disintegrated.

Arthur is gripping the belt of Fiona's jumpsuit. With a bit of anxiety.

The corridor looked fine, the card was safe enough till it tried to exit out the window to the real world... but getting fried by whatever energy field is there is only slightly worse than the fall to the asphalt many stories below. Going out the windows below would have been disastrous anyway. The cave systems were outside the frame of the building, though, so who knows.

From the underside of the elevator/stairs column there is not much for the scanner to see. Last time, the interesting readings were coming from above.

The beanstalk is getting thin, but it still snakes its way further up the elevator shaft.

What do you do?