Power.......................OK Authorizations.......OK Primary Coolant Systems.....OK Secondary Coolant Systems.....ERROR Connection to Maintenance Systems.......OK Waiting for response from maintenance team.......................................................... HUMAN ERROR DETECTED
Maintenance teams not responding, verify that they are at their duty stations. POD 1....Nominal POD 2....Opened POD 3....Nominal
The doll looks at me with what looks like a perpetually amused face. "Hello there, Divine Maiden?" "Divine Maiden? Why would you call me that?" She only stares at me, her eyes saying that it should be self-evident why. I haven't changed any while sleeping in that thing as far as I can tell. "Your awakening triggered alarms." She gestures at the way I came in. The door is slightly ajar but won't budge. "I used another way." Presumably to get in.
"I saw your work." She gestures at one of the corpses. The corpses of undead don't really decay like normal bodies, I think. Not to mention it's pretty cold down here, so it's not really a clue for how long I might have been frozen. "You can lift it." It took me a moment to realize she meant the alarm and not the corpse.
"Where'd all my weapons go?" She looks around, I'm not sure she's genuinely looking around or just doing a bit. She shrugs. "Something took it all?" She doesn't even seem to know what I'm talking about, or is playing dumb. She must have noticed my doubt. "It'd be very foolish."
There's definitely something off about the way she talks, but it would be foolish to steal my things and then wake me up. "You could look around," she helpfully suggests. "I don't have a choice, do I?" Even with her face an unmoving mask, her eyes smile. "That's how it goes."
Lockdown's been triggered. Seems that a desperate mob followed the cardinal's daughter and now no one else is getting in. I'd hate to be the one who has to tell him that happened. At least I'm not gonna be one of the first ones up. It'll be someone else's problem.
It was the Empress that divined the way to make gods manifest from our faith. It was through her that we had the means to protect ourselves from the privations of those who wish to take all that we had. Even now, as our enemies recklessly destroy everything through the misuse of what she has given us, she grants us the means to weather this storm. We must make the sacrifices she asks of us; it is our divinely appointed duty. Anyone found deviating will be dealt with accordingly.
She's waiting by a vaguely familiar vehicle. "Are you with LV-4?" I finally think to ask and she shrugs. "Never heard of it." That's odd. "So you're by yourself?" And that has her shake her head before shrugging after she thinks for a moment. "I, alone, ride this. This vehicle follows LV-13." If she's never seen LV-4, it makes me wonder how many Vessels are out there. We head out and it's a much lonelier trip than it was with Lupa. We never actually see LV-13 itself. It seems that it's normal for her to not drive up to it unless she's found something worth bringing there, and I don't count. Asking about it, she simply said, "I am called Hermit." Her tone made it sound like this should explain everything, and I guess it does.
She has me hold up a map as she looks it over. Fortunately there's nothing on the road for her to hit. Hard to tell how long we were on the road but eventually the radio starts up and they ask her to retrieve... some kind of car part or something? Hermit seems to know where to look, though.
interlevel teleports
