Outside: Grass touch place

[Zefir]

[Junkyard]

In an otherwise unremarkable junkyard in a sparsely-populated area, Vigil has set up their trap. Mia, Khafir and Eun are to fake TARBot's signal here, giving the impression that he escaped Vigil and came here to get some repairs. Should Zeeland bite the hook, Wenomir will engage him directly, while Khafir and Eun try to disable his abilities. Mia can participate in combat directly or indirectly, depending on what's needed.

[Junkyard]

Mia will set up the broken robot as they planned, preparing the summy. Assuming She and Khafir and Eun worked together on the dummy robot. Since she got the general data on his movement and design, while the others focused on the disabeling method.
Mia has her weapon ready and stays ready to assist Wenomir even if it is only for a moment of distraction so he can land a blow.

[Ironsmith]

[Junkyard]

Khafir and Eun's contributions, on top of the planned virus, were a pair of pre-programmed dummy bots to go alongside the first. While it's important that Mia's resemble the real TARbot and will thus require considerably more effort, a pair of generic Systerhood thugs don't need anywhere near as much planning, especially since they didn't give either of them any combat abilities. They only need to be able to walk along and give the vague appearance of being somehow associated with TARbot to sell the story of the break-out from a distance; collectively, they represented maybe an hour of actual effort, at most, likely done between various automated tasks and code compilations.

So now a potential assailant will see "TARbot" being looked over by a pair of plastic skeletons, which appear to be trying (and failing) to repair him.

[bc56]

Forsaken Cathedral
"You overestimate your bargaining position and your skill at chess." Sapphira snarks. She makes no move to stop Miranda, just stares at her as if to ask, "what are you waiting for?"
Once she does press the button, the blast will bring the roof down on them both as the entire cave system collapses. She'll only have a few moments to run... And she and Charcoal had to travel a good distance through the cave to get here.

[Morty]

[Welmet]

Hiep, a Chosen of Journeys, is currently bound and led towards the rooster. She's not clear how this happened, not that those people know her name or true nature. Let's see...

She was in this town wearing her common identity of an itinerant worker. She chose the name Mei and hired herself as a warehouse worker. While also doing her best to see where the best entertainment is.

Right, that's how she ended up here. After a rather loud night with three men and one woman, even her legendary tolerance for alcohol had to give. And when the locals found themselves needing a sacrifice to... what was it again? Some very large bird? Well, anyway, a drunk and disorderly outsider is a convenient one. Let's see what this whole thing is about before she decides what to do.

[bc56]

Neon Forest
Kothar is sneakier than he looks. He douses his axe and creeps through the synthetic greenery towards the building. He needs to get a good look at what they're dealing with... And maybe destroy it before the defenders get a chance to respond.

[Hraithre]

[Welmet]

Indeed, it is a very bad time and place for Hiep to be an outsider with no ties to the town she's in.

While she was still sleeping off her night of drinking, something peculiar happened: the rest of the village were woken up by crow of a distant rooster. On any other day, they might have dismissed it as nothing. But all survivors of Weirding Wood went absolutely crazy. Some ran out of the door as soon as they heard it. Others collapsed to the floor, sobbing.

But it didn't end there. You see, roosters have this peculiar habit of crowing one after another. First, the bird highest in the pecking order sings, then the next, so on and so forth, until the circle is complete and the leading bird sings again.

This morning, every male bird of every species decided to join in the choir. The noise was deafening. But then, the noise died down. The expected finale didn't come. Curious and terrified, people wandered outside to see what was happening.

That's when they saw it, a single rooster standing on the top of the village's main well. People looked at it, and it looked at people. But instead of crowing, it spoke:

"Hear, hear, people of Welmet! I bring news, oh so terrible news. For sins of mankind, it has been deemed you shall be punished! Each and every one of you has been marked for death! Like the hamlet of Weirding Wood, this settlement, too, shall be erased from face of the earth! Yet, all is not lost! If you wish to avert your fate... only one of you must step ahead! Only one sacrifice! For the common good! Who of you will it be!"

People were quite stunned by the message. On another day, they might not have taken it so seriously. One brave person took off their shoe and threw it at the rooster, driving it away, its startled squawk echoing around the square. But then, the first rooster crowed again:

"Kra-Kra-Kraa!"

The bone-rattling sound was enough to convince even the staunchest skeptic of the gravity of the situation.

And that is why they're taking Hiep to the woods, you see. She's to be the heroic sacrfice. Or does she not want to be?

[Ironsmith]

Forsaken Cathedral
"You overestimate your bargaining position and your skill at chess." Sapphira snarks. She makes no move to stop Miranda, just stares at her as if to ask, "what are you waiting for?"
Once she does press the button, the blast will bring the roof down on them both as the entire cave system collapses. She'll only have a few moments to run... And she and Charcoal had to travel a good distance through the cave to get here.

[Forsaken Cathedral]

beep!

ba-BOOM!

Fortunately, there's some time between weakening the support pillars by knocking out large chunks of them, and them finally giving way and collapsing under the weight of the roof. Time that Miranda uses to rush back out to the exit, giving Charcoal a not-at-all subtle push toward the ravine they came through. "MOVE!" She yells, the cave crackling behind her as chunks of ceiling come down.

[bc56]

Forsaken Cathedral
Charcoal has a few moments to get up and run after Miranda before, well... Rocks fall, everyone dies. The tunnel they passed through is too long to escape out of in time. The last thing Miranda will see is the hail of rubble and dust, feel a sharp pain in her head, and then...

Darkness.






Or is it?
A light, faint at first, then brighter, illuminates ahead of Miranda, revealing a long tunnel wide enough for two people to walk side by side. But even before she has time to start exploring her surroundings, a pair of strong hands seize her shoulders from behind and drag her off to the side, into what must be a concealed room. A door shuts behind her with a soft thud.
A click, and the warm glow of an incandescent lamp brightens the room. It resembles an office. There's a desk with two cushioned chairs, one on either side of it, as well as old, well-worn bookshelves. Unusually for an office, there are three doors, not counting the one Miranda was just marched through. "Miss Cortez, have a seat. I wasn't expecting you here so soon." The speaker is the void-skined, star-haired, autumn-winged divine being she met at the party, the one who called himself "the Prophet" and who Sekhmet called "Lord Fate."

[Ironsmith]

]Outside Space And Time[

Miranda is still dazed when she finds herself standing in front of the being, reeling from the assault of sights, sounds, and sensations that followed in the cave's destruction. There's a certain dissonance in her surroundings that's more than a little disorienting; how did she get from a collapsing cavern to... wherever this place is?

...Oh.

...Huh. For some reason, she was expecting more clouds and Greco-Roman architecture. Unless this is that other place.

"I... I'm sorry, I don't think we've... met, properly." Miranda says, doing as she's been told and slowly setting into a seat. "Officially, at least. I mean, I was there, but I wasn't really involved in that conversation... I think. It's a bit blurry." She winces and taps the spot on her head where the rock had hit her. "...I must've gotten concussed or... something." She says, with an apologetic little smile. "Are we... er... where I think we are?"

[bc56]

Outside Space and Time
"Yes, miss Cortez, I'm afraid you've died. Most people call this place Limbo, if they're aware of it. But only a very small minority of the dead wind up here. You should consider yourself lucky." Fate gestures behind her. "Under normal circumstances, you would just continue down that passage behind you and reach whatever afterlife you're destined for. However, I've pulled some strings because, in all honesty, you're useful to Sekhmet, my Chosen One, and that means you're useful to me." He pauses for dramatic effect. "Feel free to turn around and walk out if you want. Far be it from me to force you out of your eternal rest. But if you're interested, I have options by which you could return to the world of the living." he gestures to the three doors behind him.

[Rebonack]

[Neon Forest]

Sneaky time!

Our heroes begin creeping through the tall grass toward the massive tree in the distance, an activity that Khannie is rather instinctually comfortable with. Now she just needs to resist the urge to leap out of the grass at someone.

She can probably manage.

Probably.

The machines gathering the 'fruit' from the vines don't pay them any heed, which is probably good. They have nothing to do with their job so why should they pay attention to a pair of people creepin' around in the tall grass?

As our heroes get closer they'll be getting a better view of it. Every now and again a slot will open up in its trunk, magenta light pouring out of the cavity, and allowing one of the flying basket-bots to enter. The OTHER thing they'll see when they get close are... well...

They LOOK like they were probably guards at some point.

Roughly humanoid looking... tree golems? Except made of the weird cybernetic tree stuff that all the things down here seem to be composed of. They're completely covered in vines and don't look like they've moved in a very long time.

[Wolfbane]

The Triple B

Anri blinks.
"Um. I've...never actually tried to go for anything not human-ish sized. I might need someone's wish to go really nutty. Maybe it's because of my frame of reference?"
Plenty of djinn have stories about quite unlimited shapeshifting. It's possible Anri doesn't have any limits and she's simply never realized it. She just needed a wish from Lydia to get her groove back.
"Oh. Well, after spending a few years on spider legs I guess I just sort of...find it boring? Or maybe I'm not comfortable on human feet anymore. Or perhaps it's just my nature. I'm told my ancestor had at least a hundred different guises. Apparently she had trouble settling on any of them for very long."

The Triple B

Lydia considers the point for a moment before conceding it and giving a slight nod. "Fair enough. I can't really say too much from my own experience given I've only three shapes to my name, but why not give it a try regardless? Try to be as small of a pixie as you can be, or a one of those large twenty foot tall giantesses." She offers before pausing and looking around. "Well, not in here if at least if you want to try the latter. I do quite like my club."

[bc56]

Neon Forest
Kothar turns back and meets Khannie's eyes. He points left. Then he points to himself and points right. Then he slips towards the right guard, hefting his axe into position to leap out and strike at its legs as soon as Khannie makes her move towards the other one.

Hopefully she understood the hand signs.

[Earl of Purple]

Welmet

The noise of a rooster that big attracts attention, and not always in the way one might expect. Somebody heard, and motivated by curiosity, they've decided to go investigate. She's a young woman, just shy of twenty, and mostly human with red hair, pale skin and green eyes, three chitinous protuberances emerging from her back to frame her head, resembling the 'horns' of an elephant beetle. She's wearing a blue jumpsuit with a crude repair to the sleeve and the yellow number 120 on the back, with a pair of intimidating pauldrons strapped over her shoulders. Her feet are clad in sturdy boots, and a personal computer is clamped about her left wrist. Hanging at her waist is a disc-mace with a head of fire agate, deep brown and shimmering with flashes of green and gold iridescence and a seven-chambered revolver, and she walks with the aid of a spear made from a bit of ornate iron fence shoved into a piece of wood, though the iron glows red-hot it doesn't burn the wood.

The computer on the former Vault-Dweller's wrist is clicking slightly, though she's turned the volume down so it's not too distracting. She'll stop a distance away as she sees the crowd bearing a woman towards the gigantic poultry, but doesn't intervene immediately. She's not entirely sure what's going on, so she'll attempt to find someone to ask. Hopefully there's a few bystanders not joining in.

[Rebonack]

[Neon Forest]

Creeping closer through the grass, our heroes get a better look at the inactive golems. They're blocky looking, vaguely humanoid things made from panels of a rick chocolate colored wood with circuitry lines of magenta and emerald and burning orange running through them. Most of their form is sanded smooth, but a multitude of tiny twigs extend from their shoulders. A panel on their chest seems to depict that same strange altar or pillar or statue that they found in the initial room, maybe a symbol of some significance? It's flanked by a pair of large glowing emerald circles. They have a thick neck with a notable nose-like protrusion on it with a roughly round head with a single closed eye in the center. They're about twice as tall as Kothar, which is pretty impressive.

They're works of art, honestly.

Too bad they're likely to try to murder our heroes.

The machines react as our heroes draw close, lightning up and rising to their feet, ripping away the vines clinging to them as dust and dirt cascades from their ancient forms, their eyes igniting with baleful orange light. Khannie opens fire on one of them with her pistol from a distance, but the projectiles splash against a flickering emerald barrier with little effect, the paired green circles on their chest flaring with each impact. Kother's axe is slightly more effect, though the flame and divine power are both warded away by the shield in spite of the axe blade chopping into the machine's leg.

And then the robots start fighting back.

At once their 'heads' lift off into the air and begin laying down withering bolts of energy. The energy bolts cause little in the way of harm, but they can stun and paralyze, which can potentially be just as bad. The golem closer to Kothar reaches out and attempts to seize him should he find himself dazed by the flying drone's stunner. The other golem begins plodding toward Khannie with surprising alacrity while it's companion drone fires on her.

[Gold]

[Junkyard]

In the distance, the unmistakable blare of a Q2B siren can be heard. The sound gets closer and closer until its source is finally revealed: a large, modern-looking red firetruck (more specifically a ladder truck) that pulls into the junkyard and comes to a stop, headlights shining upon the fake TARBot and Systerhood thugs as the siren winds down.

The engine, and lights, turn off as the driver's seat door swings open. Nobody steps out yet, but a megaphone-boosted voice begins barking "Hey! You two! Step away from the blue robot! That's a fire warning! So, walk away and leave him there, or you will get set on fire! I'm not fucking kidding!"

[Ironsmith]

Outside Space and Time
"Yes, miss Cortez, I'm afraid you've died. Most people call this place Limbo, if they're aware of it. But only a very small minority of the dead wind up here. You should consider yourself lucky." Fate gestures behind her. "Under normal circumstances, you would just continue down that passage behind you and reach whatever afterlife you're destined for. However, I've pulled some strings because, in all honesty, you're useful to Sekhmet, my Chosen One, and that means you're useful to me." He pauses for dramatic effect. "Feel free to turn around and walk out if you want. Far be it from me to force you out of your eternal rest. But if you're interested, I have options by which you could return to the world of the living." he gestures to the three doors behind him.

]Outside Space and Time[

"...Hm." Miranda holds a hand to her chin, already quite perplexed by the idea. This "Limbo" already contradicted quite a few things she believed about the afterlife, and as such, put her in a bit of an awkward position. Would moving on from here to the great hereafter be right? She might have many more years ahead of her, or this might actually be her time to go, in which case taking Fate's offer would be wrong, and-

Okay she's not sure if that's the concussion or not, but she's already got a huge headache.

Miranda lets out a little sigh and closes her eyes. Okay, new approach. Forget what the right thing is. As long as she's operating for the right reasons, she's doing okay, right?

And she knows what the right reasons are, yeah?

"...I don't think I'm done helping Sekhmet yet. Or anybody else in the Nexus, for that matter." She says quietly. "So tell me, what do you have in mind?"

[Junkyard]

In the distance, the unmistakable blare of a Q2B siren can be heard. The sound gets closer and closer until its source is finally revealed: a large, modern-looking red firetruck (more specifically a ladder truck) that pulls into the junkyard and comes to a stop, headlights shining upon the fake TARBot and Systerhood thugs as the siren winds down.

The engine, and lights, turn off as the driver's seat door swings open. Nobody steps out yet, but a megaphone-boosted voice begins barking "Hey! You two! Step away from the blue robot! That's a fire warning! So, walk away and leave him there, or you will get set on fire! I'm not fucking kidding!"

[Junkyard]

The two dummy-bots stare at each other for a moment, silently communicating. Is this guy for real? Does he not notice that they're robots and don't have much to fear from a fire?

Of course not. That's not genuine concern. That's an attempt to scare them away from their prize.

The two turn back to the firetruck and, in perfect sync, chorus their reply to the driver.

"Sod off."

[bc56]

Outside Space and Time
"I have three possible options. Since you died in the Nexus and not in my world or the Depths, I have a bit more leeway here. There's no divine compact tying my hands."
He turns around in his chair and points to the first door, made from a rich red wood. "Option number 1: thanks to the incident at that party where we met, you've got a little bit of succubus in you. I could leverage that and pop you out as a fully fledged succubus in the Depths. As you're already aware, being a succubus colors your thoughts and alters your judgement. And your mission would be lost. A new expedition would need to be sent forth."
He points to the next door, a bright white. "If you don't want to damn your soul (and I wouldn't blame you), I could use my influence to twist causality a little. Rewrite the last 10 seconds or so so that you survive. I can foresee that it would leave you in a very dangerous predicament, but you might be able to salvage the mission. The downside is that you would owe me one. And not in the casual sense. Time is not something to be abused lightly. You would have to be branded and swear a binding oath to repay that debt when the time comes."
Finally he points to the last door, a vibrant leafy green. "This is a strange one. If not for my contact with the Nexus, it wouldn't be possible. One of my priests in the Nexus contracted a fae mask that transformed her into a sort of land spirit. I could pass on a copy of that to you. It would be simple, in that state, to complete your mission. And much like becoming a succubus, immortality and magic power would be granted to you. But also like a succubus, it would alter your mental and physical state. And I am not familiar enough with it to explain the exact nature of those changes, although I can provide a summary. I am told that it is curable, if difficult to do so."
He pauses.
"Feel free to take as long as you like and ask questions. We're outside the passage of time here, so you don't need to worry about what's happening in your absence."

Neon Forest
Kothar raises his shield, deflecting the energy bolts off its polished surface harmlessly into the ground. Since the heads of the constructs are flying around, he decides to target those instead of the bodies. He can easily evade the lumbering headless beast as he leaps for its hovering face to chop at it with his axe in a vicious blow arcing with holy power that illuminates the cave in stark white light.

[Ironsmith]

]Outside Space and Time[

Well. That first one's got to be right out, hasn't it? Maybe it's her upbringing talking, but Miranda's not keen on anything that could be appropriately described as "damning her soul". If nothing else, turning into a full-fledged succubus was exactly the sort of thing Sapphira was offering her... and that's sort of soured it as an option.

Which leaves just the other two. Rewind time to survive the event, but go right from the fire and back into the frying pan, and in debt to boot, or take on a whole new soul-mushing thing (that she might be able to remove later) that promises to radically alter her identity? Neither of those sound great, but telling which is worse (and therefore which she should actually take) is more difficult than it rightfully should be.

Although it doesn't take her long to find a criterion that might simplify matters.

"...If I were to go through this door," She begins, pointing to the green one, "what happens to Charcoal? She was stuck down there with me. Would she be all right?"

[bc56]

Outside Space and Time

Fate smiles. He seems to like that question. "She would be crushed under several tons of rock. Now... That sounds worse than it is. For a succubus, dying means she'd reform in the Depths. It would be painful, but brief, and it's not the first time she's been killed." He gestures back to the white door. "And to answer the unspoken question, if you choose that option, she'll live, but be stuck in the same situation as you."

[Ironsmith]

]Outside Space and Time[

Well... so much for simplifying things.

Miranda pauses for a moment, sitting in her chair with her chin on her fist. "...I know it probably sounds pretty clear what I should do, then." She says, eying the green door. "But... let me tell you something about the world I come from. In the past hundred years or so, medicine's gotten to be really, really good. To the point that nobody really dies of natural causes anymore. If you catch a deadly disease, we have medicine for that. If you get caught up in a deadly accident that leaves your body in shambles, we have medicine for that. If your organs start failing from sheer age... we have medicine for that." She lets out a little sigh. "We can treat just about everything... except for this." She points at her temple. "When we get old enough, our brains start to go. And while we can do things to mitigate it, we can't stop it. It's a long, slow slide into just... nothing. Our bodies stick around, but our minds just..." She blinks blearily and sits back in her chair. "...Losing my identity... that's very much like dying, isn't it? So I've got four options in front of me; die, die, go into debt and maybe die, or die." She says, gesturing to the door behind her, then the red door, then the white, and finally the green. "...That's... that's not a choice at all, is it?"

[bc56]

Outside Space and Time

Fate takes a deep breath. An expression of sympathy crosses his face. Miranda might get the sense he knows exactly what her worries are. "You are valuable because you are you, and that's not so easily lost as you fear. And you are strong of heart, clever, and willful. You didn't let yourself be corrupted by succubus venom, or by Lizzie. And you are resourceful. You've escaped tight situations before with life and limb intact." He smiles encouragingly at her. "I fully believe you can handle any of these situations and come out on top. Take the door you want. Don't worry about what someone else might think of your choice."

[Ironsmith]

]Outside Space and Time[

Miranda takes a deep breath and nods. "...Part of me was thinking that, yeah." She says with a small smile. "But I think I needed to hear it come from someone else. Thank you." She stands and steps toward the white door, reaching for the doorknob and stopping before her hand actually touches it. "...Would you mind answering one more thing, before I go?" She asks, looking back at him. "It's something I've always been a bit curious about. Did you know what the outcome of this meeting would be?"

[Rebonack]

[Neon Forest]

See?

Now that's the way to do it. Use the golem as a spring board to leap up and AXE the flying drone! The hovering machine doesn't zip out of the way QUITE fast enough and gets clobbered with the smite, sparks of incandescent white blasting from it as it rolls away through the air trailing a wisp of smoke that smells strongly of burning wood.

Turns out the drones aren't protected by the force field the body projects.

The drone rights itself in mid-air, stabilizing quickly, as that orange glow in its 'eye' turns a few shades more red. This time around it fires a continuous stream of burning light at Kothar! Looks like it has decided to move to more lethal means. The body, meanwhile, spreads its arms wide and gives a deep, reverberating trumpet that echoes through the synthetic forest.

Probably calling for more friends.

Khannie, meanwhile, decides it would be best to not make things easy and promptly splits in three. One of her doubles moves to confront the golem's body with baton and pistol in hand while the other two begin circling around the flying drone. The drone's stunner beam is fired randomly at the illusion nearest the body and WHOOP it passes right through it. The actual Khannie fires back in kind while the drone's attention is elsewhere, sending a bitterly cold black mass wreathed in purple flames hurtling toward it.

Definitely not the sort of magical assault a paladin would tend to use.

[Hraithre]

Welmet

The noise of a rooster that big attracts attention, and not always in the way one might expect. Somebody heard, and motivated by curiosity, they've decided to go investigate. She's a young woman, just shy of twenty, and mostly human with red hair, pale skin and green eyes, three chitinous protuberances emerging from her back to frame her head, resembling the 'horns' of an elephant beetle. She's wearing a blue jumpsuit with a crude repair to the sleeve and the yellow number 120 on the back, with a pair of intimidating pauldrons strapped over her shoulders. Her feet are clad in sturdy boots, and a personal computer is clamped about her left wrist. Hanging at her waist is a disc-mace with a head of fire agate, deep brown and shimmering with flashes of green and gold iridescence and a seven-chambered revolver, and she walks with the aid of a spear made from a bit of ornate iron fence shoved into a piece of wood, though the iron glows red-hot it doesn't burn the wood.

The computer on the former Vault-Dweller's wrist is clicking slightly, though she's turned the volume down so it's not too distracting. She'll stop a distance away as she sees the crowd bearing a woman towards the gigantic poultry, but doesn't intervene immediately. She's not entirely sure what's going on, so she'll attempt to find someone to ask. Hopefully there's a few bystanders not joining in.

[Welmet]

There aren't a whole lot of bystanders around - those who did not wish to join the procession either turned tail and fled or locked themselves inside. The group escorting Hiep does stop and stare at the former-vault dweller when they spot her, though. Her clothes are a bit unusual, but otherwise she'd fit right in... if not for her eclectic collection of weapons.

The villagers eye her in nervous silence. They really didn't expect another outsider to pop out of the woods right at this moment. When she makes no move to stop them, they tug Hiep and continue on their way.

Ahead in the woods, there is a large clearing. It wasn't there yesterday. Something felled the trees in a fifty meter radius and collected them in a big pile on a nearby hill. On that hill, the giant rooster now stands tall, casting its shadow on the people as they approach it, the morning sun shining from behind it. The sky is still of ugly red and grey hues due to smoke from the wildfire that claimed Weirding Wood. Massive crimson eyes glare at the humans expectantly.

[bc56]

Outside Space and Time
"Yes, I knew what would happen ahead of time. No, it doesn't invalidate your free will. I advise you not to think too hard about it, that way lies madness." Speaking of which. "Your hand, please." Not waiting for a reply, Fate takes Miranda's left hand in his. "Do you, Miranda Cortez, solemnly swear that at the appointed time, when an agent of Fate comes to you for help (you will know when it happens), that you will aid that person to the best of your ability until their task is completed, and so fulfill your debt to me?" Presumably she will, she agreed to it a moment ago. If she does swear the oath, Fate will release her wrist, leaving a faintly glowing white mark encircling it. He gestures to the door. "You're going to return to the moment just after you press the detonator. I strongly recommend you grab the artifact off the statue before running out of the room. It will make the next part easier. Good luck."

Neon Forest
That's a concerning thing to see your traveling companion doing. But Kothar is busy with the fight. He hunkers down against the beam of light and angles his shield, hoping to reflect it towards the golem body.

[Morty]

[Welmet]

Hiep/Mai stares up at the rooster, bleary-eyed. It doesn't take much to notice that she looks annoyed and hungover, not terrified as you'd expect a person to be.

"Seriously? You people want to feed me to a giant chicken?" she asks.

[Junkyard]

Wenomir waits, out of sight. He'll see how the situation plays out before jumping into action. This might give them information about their target.

[Rebonack]

[Neon Forest]

Having a mirror shield, or equivalent, is always handy when you're dealing with annoying magical energy attacks. Though it's questionable whether the attack is magical or not. Honestly with this kind of tech it can be hard to tell.

Regardless!

The beam is reflected at the golems body, causing it to pause and shield itself with that green barrier forming a disc shaped wall intercepting the beam. The drone just keeps firing.

Khannie's projectile bites into the other drone, causing it to frost over with black ice. And then the follow up attack strikes. Where before the black flames froze the second burst of ghostly power strikes the drone like a sledgehammer blown! Large chunks shattering and scattering across the grass.

The golem chasing Khannie immediately breaks off the pursuit and raises both hands above its neck, strands of emerald green energy darting out to lash onto the damaged drone and yank the fragments back to itself. Then all those twigs on its shoulders come alive with magenta light as they begin patching the drone back together.

"It's fixing the head thing!" Khannie yells as she fires a few more times, both projectiles quenched by the disc of repulsive force the golem projects.

[Ironsmith]

Outside Space and Time
"Yes, I knew what would happen ahead of time. No, it doesn't invalidate your free will. I advise you not to think too hard about it, that way lies madness." Speaking of which. "Your hand, please." Not waiting for a reply, Fate takes Miranda's left hand in his. "Do you, Miranda Cortez, solemnly swear that at the appointed time, when an agent of Fate comes to you for help (you will know when it happens), that you will aid that person to the best of your ability until their task is completed, and so fulfill your debt to me?" Presumably she will, she agreed to it a moment ago. If she does swear the oath, Fate will release her wrist, leaving a faintly glowing white mark encircling it. He gestures to the door. "You're going to return to the moment just after you press the detonator. I strongly recommend you grab the artifact off the statue before running out of the room. It will make the next part easier. Good luck."

]Outside Space and Time[

"I do so swear." Miranda confirms, standing patiently and waiting for Fate to do as he needed to in order to make the oath binding. Presumably, the mark around her wrist was it.

After hearing when, precisely, Fate intended to return her to, Miranda gives a little nod and opens the door. "...In case I wasn't clear... thank you, lord Fate." She says with a little smile before stepping through.

[Thursday Violist]

[Dysphotic Swamp]

A swamp in perpetual twilight, with very murky water and heavy spots of dark fog.

...

Somehow, Seraphina found herself here.
She was looking for HALO. But the road signs lied to her, and led her astray with their sweet, cruel whispers.

She sighs.
Ugh.
The ground is soggy.
She climbs a thick tree, and sits on one of its lower branches, so that she can have a place to sit and rest. The ground definitely isn't an okay place to sit, unless you want to get swamped.
She looks over the wilderness, wondering how she's going to get out of here. There's still signs around, but they haven't seemed to helped at all recently.

The woman leans against the trunk, and rests. Takes a break. Once she's done, she gets up a little higher to see better...
Over that way to the north, there's...what looks like a dragon corpse. Glowing with luminescent blue mushrooms.
And over to the west, the air looks yellowish.
Down to the south....is that a statue she can see? But it's mostly broken apart.
Might as well check the east, too:
No, wait she regrets looking that way. Corpses hanging from a tree, dripping with something black.