"Hello there, Divine Maiden." Hermit's voice comes through the terminal loud and clear. "You're at the tower." "Yeah, and it looks like the front door is wide open." "The system draws monsters." There's a word of warning in her voice. "It will require fighting. There is an alternative." "There is?" "It is spoken of. The map shows nothing."
"So look for another way in or go straight in fighting?" "Those are your choices. Get in, activate it." There's a pause as Hermit searches for the right words. "My part is here. Whatever I may find. It shall be yours." "You really think it can help us find this Nightfall?" "A more accurate map. Such would be useful." "If we made our best guesses on where stuff is now, we'd just get lost." Who knows what all the divine entities running amok have done to the area. "That is exactly so. Good luck, Divine Maiden." "And you stay safe." I hang up after that. The last time I had to mess with beacons or whatever it didn't go very well. Hermit wouldn't lead me astray though.
It's the main way in, why don't they replace the damn door so that it stops breaking down and locking us in? I don't even get how it can work this way that it keeps people IN instead of OUT. We're all sick of being stuck in here when our shift's over until someone else comes up. You could at least let us wrap up our shift early so we can be ready to go when the next one comes in.
There's a switch on this terminal to turn on the transmitter. I flip it and then try to contact Hermit's terminal. She responds in just a moment. "It is still offline." "But I just turned it on over here. Is something up on your end?" There's a pause as Hermit does her tech stuff. "My connection is stable. Let me check schematics." Another, longer pause. Fortunately, we're not in that much of a hurry, the Night should still be a while away. "There is a breaker. It is higher up." "All the way at the top?" If it was anywhere else, Hermit would have been more precise. "That is correct, beloved." I could almost hear how proud of me she is. "Alright, I'll fight my way up there." "May they fall swiftly." That won't be hard to see to.
This message is to inform you that your recent database searches for [Redacted](identified as your daughter) and [Redacted](sensitive procedure) and [Redacted](Redacted) have been flagged as suspicious. You are to report to your supervisor as they will be assigning your initial penance as well as further information on what your new assignment will be. Failure to report by [DATE OUT OF RANGE] will be seen as grounds for immediate sacrifice.
Records indicate that you have been making excessive use of the food court. This is punishable as per your contract under section 64-H. Your options for penance are as follows. Limit your use of the food court to once daily, and orders are to not exceed 1500 calories. Make prayers to the God of Abundance three times a day, 4 days a week. These prayers must be performed while having not eaten for at least 8 hours prior. See your supervisor immediately to inform them of your decision so that they may monitor compliance and make any necessary adjustments to your schedule.
You have been marked as leaving the facility at unusual times. For lingering on site past your shift, you will be required to perform rituals as disclosed to you by your superior.
The manipulation and use of corpses in the Empire predates the God of Life and Death. Drug Eaters are one of the most common precursors, but many types of undead were created through other divine entities and rituals. However, these types of undead all shared a common weakness. The original mind did not survive and intelligence was limited as a result. You could have Class B-HGs stand guard somewhere or attack a flank, but they could not scout an area and report back their findings or make command-level decisions.
The God of Life and Death, and the Dolls created through sacrifice to it, represents an unprecedented leap in intellectual capacity over any previous form of undead. While memory loss is common, many useful skills survive, and most importantly, the intelligence and will to execute ambiguous and high level tasks. In the next chapter, we explore how this change has affected command structure in the modern Imperial Army.
I know this stuff is for protecting the facility from foreign invaders and dissidents, but can't we store the psychoactive missiles somewhere else? At the very least store them in something that blocks whatever the hell they do. I don't buy the line that it only has a lasting effect on enemy god stuff and dolls. I've been getting chased by those things in my dreams and I swear I hear banging from where they're being kept.
I need to bring those fliers down! Even if I got this thing running, they'd just chase me the whole way back down.
Here we go. The breaker's been flipped and I can hear the hum of this beacon or whatever it is.
Unfortunately, either because of the storm or the beacon, I can't seem to call any terminals. I give it a few more tries, but there's no response. There's a lot of ways things could be going wrong, but I can't stand sitting here hoping it clears up.
The storm only seemed to be getting worse as I made my way back down. I was ready for the wind to try and blow me off the outside path.
We regret to inform you that due to dissidents compromising the Sanitation god in your region, we can no longer provide waste management services to your location. We no longer have the staff to continue service, but will notify you if we become able to resume service. Thank you for your understanding.
interlevel teleports
