-[ prismic △ sanctum ]-

[SHIVERS]

The red sphere didn't seem to have any visible effect on what it touched, or anything around nearby that you can see.
The machine itself just looks like a metal ball, about the size of your head, with a split at its center. You think the split is lit with a red glow, though it's difficult to tell through the red tint of the surrounding sphere.

You continue down the alley, nearing the wall now, and duck behind another dumpster.
After a little while, the machine passes through the fork again, in the same way as before: coming from the right and leaving to the left.

You want to make your way down the fork - noting to yourself that you should stay away from the red light - but you aren't sure which direction you should take; left or right.

You take a moment to think it over.

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MAPCURRENT ROOM: ALLEYWAY

[knux400]

Let's head down the left fork, towards one of the H things. The Red Ball of Death™ seems easy enough to avoid as long as we keep track of it and duck behind objects when necessary.

[seppawku]

go for right and trail it so we dont run face first into it otw left

[SHIVERS]

The next time you see the red ball pass, you stand up from behind the dumpster and follow it along the left path as quietly as possible.
You make sure to give it a wide berth, and it doesn't seem to notice you at all.

The path has another fork not far up ahead.
The machine makes its way around to the right, so you head to the left once again, shortly finding yourself at a dead end with a strange ladder.

The ladder itself isn't all that odd; it's black and metal, like one you would find leading down from a fire escape. However, it leads up into a metal hatch at the bottom of a large cube of brick wall jutting from the side of the nearby building, just big enough for a person to reasonably fit inside.

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MAPCURRENT ROOM: ALLEYWAY

[knux400]

How fast is the red ball going? Did we have to jog or sprint to keep up with it?

Anyway, let's head up the ladder and push open the trapdoor carefully.

[seppawku]

does the hatch look like it’ll be noisy? tho ig not much choice regardless!

[SHIVERS]

The red ball wasn't moving very quickly, and you were able to keep up with it previously simply by walking at a brisk pace.

You climb the ladder and open the hatch as quietly as possible.
It's not very quiet, the hatch is old and heavy, and creaks as you open it.
You pause after the hatch noisily opens, but hear the sphere pass by once again, seemingly on its usual route.

Fairly confident it isn't following you, you climb through and shut the hatch behind you.

The room you find yourself in is lined with black tile and sloped inwards slightly, all directions leading to a hexagonal grate in the center, presumably a drain.
There is a pool one floor above you, which you have no trouble figuring out upon looking through layer of glass that separates the pool water from the room you're in.

It's hard to make out much else in the above room thanks to the constantly-moving water obscuring your view, but the pool itself is indoors and seems ordinary, resembling one you might find in a cheap hotel.
The pool room lights are the only source of illumination in this room, as well, making it fairly dim.
You find yourself watching the light swirling on the floor from the pool ripples, which is oddly calming.

Just ahead of you, past the length of the pool, is another hatch on the floor, identical to the one you just climbed through.

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MAPCURRENT ROOM: BACKUP DRAIN

[knux400]

Are any of the tiles wet at all? Can we see any sort of locking mechanism on the ceiling that might allow it to open and let the water through? Once we're done investigating, let's continue cautiously through the hatch on the other side.

On a semi-related note, how well do we think we would do in water? Do we need to breathe?

[SHIVERS]

None of the tiles appear wet or even damp in the slightest, and you can't see any way to let the water through from above.

From what you know of botleys, they don't need to breathe and are mostly waterproof, as long as they aren't submerged for too long. 
However, there is a non-zero chance that you may be an atypical model, or just modified in some way. 
It'd be very helpful if you could remember more, and you hope you do soon. In the meantime; the less chances taken, the safer you'll probably be.

You open the hatch and descend the ladder, shutting the hatch behind you.



Once on solid ground, you check the room.
There's a chain link fence just next to you, surrounding a padlocked hatch on the floor in the corner, though the fence's gate is wide open.
Looking down the hall, you see a set of double doors far at the end.

Overall, the hall is very rudimentary and not kept up well, looking like it's purely for utility purposes.
Dust and dirt line the corners while rust coats most of the metal in the room, including the ladder you just descended, the fence, and the other hatch on the floor.

Though, the padlock on the hatch looks brand new.

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MAPCURRENT ROOM: MAINTENANCE ACCESS

[knux400]

Does the padlock need a key or a combination? Proceed cautiously (honestly you should just do everything cautiously at this point) to the double doors and peek through.

[seppawku]

^
figure out what the padlock takes to keep in mind if we can come back, and approach the doors

[SHIVERS]

You push back the gate and kneel down to inspect the padlock.
It's got a small keyhole on the bottom, and the padlock itself is highly reinforced.
Someone definitely didn't want anybody getting in here.

With that out of the way, you open the double doors quietly and peek through.



The area outside is open to the sky, though you can't really see it through the doors.
It's dark, it's raining, and you can hear what sounds like rushing water very close by. Possibly a river? It's hard to tell.
The doors lead out to a platform of some kind - one that's deep black in color, making it quite hard to see - though there's a bit of lead-up to it, a short bit of 'hallway' (if you could even call it that with how short it is) leading to it. This makes it difficult to see anything else other than the black platform, the rain falling onto it, and dim light from somewhere above; moonlight through stormclouds, you guess.
In front and beside the platform, everything just looks black.

Not seeing any danger, and wanting to investigate, you push the door open and step outside.



You walk out onto the platform and take in the view, and lose your breath.



This chamber is massive, at least five stories tall, possibly more, you're not even sure you can see the top.
And it's even longer than it is tall, like a colossal hallway.
More impressive, though, are the rushing waterfalls spanning the entire length of the corridor, both sides pouring down into a black abyss somewhere below.

You look up, only to end up wiping the rain from your face.
You try again, shielding your face, and are given a view of a pitch-black, empty sky.
Moonlight does helps slightly, making it so the corridor isn't entirely dark, but it does nothing to--

A sudden boom of thunder and lightning overhead startles you, not merely from the noise, but the view:
The split-second splinter of light crackling through the sky illuminated the murk just long enough for you to take in the monumental, swirling stormclouds looming high above.

Fear strikes you for a moment, ringing in feelings of smallness and isolation in this strange place for the first time, but you quickly try to shake it off and steady yourself.

You catch your breath.



You know there's more to explore here - namely, the ladder somewhere behind you - but something catches your eye before you search.

A couple of stories higher than you, far in the distance on the other end of the corridor, there's another platform.
It's similar to yours, and through the darkness, you can just barely make out... a figure.

Someone, or something, standing near the edge of that platform.



You want to take just a few steps forward to look closer, though the platform is slightly precarious.
There's no railing, and the black marble is slick with rain, but the edges of the black marble have holes and ridges should you lose your balance.
You're also not very close to the edge yet, and the platform has plenty of room left for you to walk forward a bit more.

You're fairly certain you can do this safely, and you're... extremely curious.
This may be the first - or only - other person you'll see in this place. 
...But you're hesitant, still.

Should you take just a few steps forward to get a closer look?
Or play it safe, and ignore the figure on the other platform?

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MAPCURRENT ROOM: WATERFALL CORRIDOR

[seppawku]

get a closer look... it’s risky but i don’t think we can pass it up, we haven’t seen anyone else yet

[knux400]

Take a few steps forward (but not too many so we don't fall into the abyss) and wave at the figure.

[SHIVERS]

You take a few steps forward, making sure not to get too close to the edge, and wave at the figure.
You don't see any movement, but at least now you can get a closer look.

Shielding your eyes from the rain, you squint.



It looks like... an aerosoul, you think.

They're a good deal taller than you, and just... bigger in general. 
More than a little imposing.

And you think you spot deep violet eyes on... what you assume are their hands... which seem to be staring at you.

...So an aerosoul is a fairly safe bet, although you can't make out the morph, or really any--
Lightning strikes, and a gust of wind howls, causing a significant amount of water from the falls on your right to veer off and slam against you, blinding you as it tosses you off-balance.


You gasp.


You panic.


On instinct, you let your body drop hard, landing on your bottom on the platform, which you grip as best you can.


When you feel safe enough, you wipe your eyes to find that you only moved a couple of feet from where you were standing, and you aren't near the edge at all.
You're relieved, and feel a little silly for getting so worked up.
You stand back up and check the figure, only to find that they've disappeared.
Glancing around the corridor, you don't see them anywhere, which is more than a little concerning.





Settling on the fact that the figure is nowhere to be found for now, you turn around to scan what you missed before, now that you've got the chance.

There's indeed a ladder to what is now your right, which leads up a couple of stories (by your estimate) to a ledge that runs along the west wall; above the small entrance hallway you came through earlier.
It's very narrow, but just wide enough that you believe you could safely crawl across it.

At the ledge's middle, there's a square hole just big enough for you to crawl into.
You can't really see anything inside, but it looks like a tunnel, or possibly an open vent.

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MAPCURRENT ROOM: WATERFALL CORRIDOR

[knux400]

...Considering the wind and the lightning, maybe the hole is a little safer. Let's go that way.

[ಠ_ಠ]

before you enter the hole, take a look at how many floors the building youre in goes up. if you can get to the roof you could maybe signal for help or get a good view of the surrounding area

[SHIVERS]

Just like you were able to see before, you estimate about five stories up, if you count the floor your on as the first.
Though, it's difficult to tell exactly.
You don't see any way onto the roof at all, and judging by how inconsistent this place is with itself, you're not sure how much being up there would help, if there even is a roof.

You climb the ladder in the corner and dismount at the top, taking great care to make your way across the small ledge to the hole, climbing inside once you reach it.

It doesn't seem to be a vent, or at least not like any you can imagine; it's not made of metal, but rather some kind of white, heavy-duty plastic... you think.
Not finding anything of particular interest inside, you crawl your way through it, taking turns when you reach them.



Eventually, the hole just seems to... end, with just a wall of similar material presenting itself in front of you.
On second glance, however, you realize the 'wall' doesn't meet the edges of the tunnel seamlessly.
You push at it experimentally, and find it slides forward.

After enough pushing, the large plastic cube gently dislodges itself from the end of the tunnel, leading out into a plain concrete room.
You climb out into it, stretching your legs now that you have the chance again.

There's only one way forward:  an adjacent hall that seems to end with a fancy-patterned curtain instead of a door.
With no other way to go, you make your way down the hall.



As you near the curtain, you hear something.

...It sounds like music. 

A piano being played, you realize.



You tilt your head to listen, confused, and hear footsteps alongside the music.
They grow closer, your body tensing up at the sound. 

A large shadow appears in front of you, just beyond the curtain.
It moves forward away from you a few steps, then stops.

You freeze in place, unsure of what to do.
You don't hear any further movement, but you can still barely see the shadow ahead of you past the curtain.

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MAPCURRENT ROOM: ???

[ಠ_ಠ]

throw open the curtain and tackle the shadow

[knux400]

Does the shadow look like the figure we saw earlier? In any case, let's not attack just yet, although be ready to fight should the need arise.