Herriot Hall
The main hall of the great log fortress is thirty feet wide and at least one hundred feet long. Fires blaze within stone hearths along the walls, filling the great hall with heat and darkening its ceiling with smoke. A modest throne sits at the far end.

It didn't take long for the armor-smiths to open up the hardsuit, although the body of the pilot was reduced to a crumbling mess in the process. The uniform, tough as the material was, also fell apart, and any details were long faded. The only identifying item to come through intact were the metal dogtags, indicating the pilot had been a Lt. Nora Argentine, a Planetary Engineer with the Terran Survey Corps. Her date of birth used a non-RTR dating scheme which made it impossible to know just how old she'd been.

The shields and other decorative metal pieces haven't been hung back up, but the right arm of the mobile armor – the one with the 'lightning whip' – has been affixed to a rafter in the middle of the hall as a sign of victory over the monster. Despite warnings that the attacks may not be over, the Lapi of Fenris Gash are already starting a late-night celebration that will probably last until morning.

"Layth," Tasha says as she sits in one of the hall's chairs, turning the dog tag over in her hand as she looks at it, "I don' like this celebratin'. I mean, no' for us. We ought an' prepare to 'ead in to that cave – we're no' done yet."

"I agree. This is too early to celebrate," Layth re-iterates from where he leans on a wall, arms folded together. "There could be more of those things … or worse things. What if that creature had to report back regularly or re-enforcements were to be sent?"

Euphrosyne comes by, carrying some tankards of honey mead to pass around. "Drink up! That was quite a fight, wasn't it? What sort of demon do you suppose that was?"

"We don' know, so we can' rest, " Tasha agrees. She tilts her head, re-reading the dog-tags for what must be the sixteenth time. She opens her mouth to say something else to Layth, but is interrupted by Euphrosyne, whom she turns to address instead. "I don' think it was a demon, if we're righ' abou' it bein' from some sort o' ship. I think it was a ghost."

"I think it was a machine of some sort … and occupied by a ghost like Tasha said," Layth comments to Euphrosyne, "And it's too early to celebrate. Something that complex had to come from somewhere and we have to find that to make sure its no longer a threat. Not to metion find the missing warriors."

"Well, did you see which of the tunnels it emerged from?" Euphrosyne asks Layth, offering him a mug of drink. "Or does it matter, if you believe it came from the new cavern they found?"

Layth takes the tankard. "I did see where it came from, but I do suspect its origin was from the new cavern. We should start there first," the buck notes before taking a small drink. "Al of you don't have to go. Unless of course, Tasha wishes you to. It is possible we are simply over-worrying."

"Aye," Tasha agrees with the male Lapi. "It reminds me o' somethin' I saw in Rephidim, up at the Temple. All metalic an' strange, a bi' like one o' them Champions, bu' even more odd. An', it looks a bit like a Templar – lots o' Jupani in the Guard." She turns the dog-tag over a moment, then shakes her head and simply hangs it around her neck for safe keeping. "'As the body been given a proper burial?"

"The crumbs were swept up into a sack," the Amazonian warrior notes. "What sort of burial is required?"

"This ghost died with 'er ship, an' she kept on doin' her duty long after she passed on. What say you, to someone 'o kep on their duty even after they 'ad died?" Tasha looks between the two Lapi, curiously, "Wha' sort o' burial would you give 'em? An' as for goin' to the mines, eight I think. We'll bring m'self, Layth, Xavier, two o' the Vykarins, an' four Guardians or Warrior 'o want to come."

"The Vykarins do not fare well underground," Euphrosyne notes, and rubs her chin in thought. "I suppose a Warrior's burial then, for the remains. When did you wish to venture into the mines, daybreak?"

"In some societies it is tradition to burn the remains on a pyre and recite their deeds in life," Layth comments with a small shrug. "In others, to bury the body with loves ones. Not knowing where this one came from … it is hard to say. But … " The buck pauses and taps the side of his face. "They said this place was made when the claw of Fenris tore into the earth. And if this one was a traveler on an airship … perhaps we should climb a peak and release the dust into the air so it may soar once more," he suggests.

"Aye, daybreak." Tasha glances between the two Lapi again, and says, "We'll 'old on to the remains until we know more abou' who this person was an' where they came from. Might be we'll 'ave a lot of them to bury, an' it'd be best tha' they're together." She smiles, if sadly, and adds, "We'll depart at daybreak. I'm goin' to get some rest." She begins to stand, then pauses. "Oi, an' the Vykarins are comin' 'cause I need a sharp nose 'sides mine, an' they dig a mite bit faster than any o' us. We can't always chose where the Gods lead us, aye?"

Layth takes another drink. "I will look in on the celebration before bed. I need to be sure Xavier is not drinking too much if we intend to wake him early," he notes as he heads for the stairs, "Then I shall retire as well. I want to be rested."

---

Shortly after dawn, the spelunking team is assembled outside of a mine entrance. Aside from the warriors, Eadwig and Albinka seem the most comfortable going underground, and a local miner named Arthia begins leading them to the newly opened chamber.

"So, was 'e drunk?" Tasha asks Layth, before glancing at Xavier. "'E didn' do anythin' to embarrass 'imself, did 'e?" Walking towards the front, with Eadwig beside her, Tasha lets her right hand rest on her mount's neck to assure him he's safe here – or, at least as safe as he can be.

Aaron just glares at Tasha. "I know better than to get drunk in that sort of situation," he says.

Layth is suited up with the sword that Tasha had recovered from the armory. To compliment it, he's also packed a backpack with rope, extra flasks of lantern oil, and even an extra lantern. To Tasha, he notes, "I am not sure. He mainly sat and stared at the women present. Probably out of concern one of them may demand something from him."

The tunnels are a bit cramped for the Vykarin, and even the warriors and guardians have to move hunched over at times. The tunnels bore through cooled lava without any extra supports, and holes and gouges in the wall show where the metal was extracted. After an almost endless period (maybe an hour) the guide brings them to a collapsed wall, with a dark, open space beyond it.

Tasha's laugher echoes through the cavern halls, "Ha! Tha's our Xavier." Shaking her head, she takes a moment to check her own supplies. Rope, her armor, her whip, flint and tinder. Despite the danger, Tasha decided to not bring any weaponry for herself. "I'll use me 'ead," she insisted. As they traverse the cavern, the woman remains mostly quiet, until they reach the mouth of the larger cavern. "Is this it, then?"

Arthia nods, and backs away. No sound or breeze comes from the opening, so the chamber beyond is likely sealed off.

Layth has remained quiet for most of the trip, his attention mainly on listening what is ahead and at times, behind. "Do you wish me to go first?" Layth offers and holds up a lit lantern.

The Kerebos warriors crowd in behind Tasha, waiting for directions.

"I will," Tasha insists, holding her hand out to accept the lantern.

"As you wish," Layth says and hands over the lantern.

Accepting the lantern, Tasha holds the lightsource aloft and promptly strides in to the cave. "Oi, you all, fan out behind me when you can see! I don' wan' us caught up with no where to move," she orders.

After a few paces into the chamber, Tasha steps on something hidden by the loose dirt of the floor. It snaps with a loud crunch sound.

"Eh?" Tasha pauses, kneeling down to investigate. "Cover me," she tells the people behind her.

"She means watch for attacks while she investigates," Layth explains to the warriors before they decide to get a blanket…

"Er… oh," Euphrosyne says. Tasha brushes aside the rubble to find… a skeleton. The hand is snapped where she stepped on it, but the rest seems intact. It's another Jupani, but this time without dog-tags.

"Another dead one, looks like a Jupani," Tasha announces. "Watch your step, aye?" She stands back up, proceeding forward more carefully this time. "Nothin' to identify it."

Layth finally follows Tasha into the strange cavern. "How large is it?" he asks as he starts looking around, just before kneeling down … and out of curiosity, tries to sweep away all the dust and see what the floor is like.

The floor is rough stone, but not as rough as the mine tunnels outside. The skeleton is of an adult, and shows some scorch marks.

"Lemme look," Tasha replies. She holds out the lantern and sweeps it as she looks around, then she takes to the air to try and get a birds-eye view of the mysterious cavern.

Flying up is tricky, since the cavern is only around fifty feet high. It extends for some distance though, until the light reflects off of something metallic.

"It's a natural cavern, at least," Layth notes when he stands and dusts off his hands.

Euphrosyne asks Layth, "How can you tell?"

"It's no' so tall a cavern," the Vartan calls out from the air, trying to avoid flying in to the ceiling or anything hanging from it. "I'm no' seein' much … except … Oi! Wait, I see metal! SHINY metal!" Without waiting, Tasha flies towards it, the lantern marking her location like a beacon light.

"It doesn't look carved," Layth offers Euphrosyne. And when Tasha flies off, he sighs, noting, "We had better follow her." And with that, the buck follows after her.

The rest of the group follows as well, the Warriors and Guardians moving quietly. The Vykarin make plenty of noise however. By the time they catch up to Tasha, the ceiling has sloped down some, until it ends at a smooth wall of scorched metal.

"Hull?" Layth inquires as he goes to touch the metal wall.

Tasha stands in front of the wall, transfixed by it as she runs a finger along its surface. "Oi, it ain't nu hull I ever saw, 'cept maybe Rephidim's flagship or the Temple itself," the Vartan answers with a hint of reverence.

"Well, where do the armored ghosts come out then?" Aaron asks.

"LLook for a seam," Layth offers … then goes looking for just that. "If wwe don't find anything, then we need to check the tunnel I saw the thing come from."

"I wonder 'ow big the whole thing is?" The Vartan walks along the length of the wall, letting her finger run across it as she searches for a seam. Then again, she may just want to touch the largest piece of shiny metal she's ever seen.

Everyone starts tapping and running their fingers around the wall. Gyes is the first to report, "I think I have it." He's found a very slight seam near the left end of the wall that outlines an oval shape the size of a door.

"Of course … then the question is how you open it," Layth points out and heads towards Gyes. "Do you see any handles?"

"Just the seam," the Guardian reports.

Tasha pause sin her search, walking over to Gyes and peering at the oval he found. "Good question. Hrr." She leans over and knocks on the door, yelling, "Oi, let us in!"

"Try poking it with those tags you found. Maybe they act as some sort of key," Layth suggests from where he stands near the warriors. "Or maybe there is a keyhole for them… "

"I'm wearin' one," Tasha insists, as she continues to knock.

"You're wearing a keyhole?" Layth asks, confused.

The door doesn't sound like metal when knocked on – it makes almost no noise at all. Eventually, though, there's movement – the door sinks inward slightly and makes a hissing sound. It slides to the right about an inch, then stops.

Aaron takes a few sniffs at the opening, and says, "Well, I don't smell anything dangerous… at least, nothing I recognize."

"Don' be daf-" The Vartan blinks when the door begins to open, then says, "See 'ere? It listens to me." When the door abruptly pauses an inch in, she frowns. "Well, it's somethin', innit? Try an' pry it open."

"Careful," Layth warns, "In my caravans, there was rumored places of 'dead air', where it has been closed for so long the air had gone still and deadly. Grave robbers would suffocate upon entering."

Aaron sneezes suddenly, and when the Warriors turn to look at him in alarm after Layth's warning, the buck just says, "Sorry… dust."

"Tha' so? Well, let's open i' up some an' let it air out a bit. Anyone bring a blanket? We'll use it to push air inside," Aldara Tasha suggests.

"If this is the way the ghost came, it can't have been closed for too long," Euphrosyne reasons, and jams her sword into the opening to try and pry it open further. After a bit of struggle, the door finally slides open the rest of the way.

"The thing didn't need to breathe," Layth points out.

Tasha nods to Layth. "Ghost don' breath, 'far as I know. They're dead, aye?" She plugs her nose before sticking her head inside the door, holding the lantern out. "We still ought an' push some air in 'ere," she adds, sounding nasally.

"And if there aren't any holes on the other side, air won't flow through. So, yes, it might be wise to try and push some air in," Layth agrees. "Did anyone bring a shield?"

The chamber behind the door is the same size and shape. About six feet deep, it ends in another door – although this one has a circular window in it – and the walls seems to made of quilted pillows, or at least something that resembles such.

Layth gets out the spare lantern he brought and fills it with oil. In a minute, and a few strikes from the flint, he has it lit now too, brightening the area a bit. "Do you see any candles inside to light?" he asks.

"I see … pillows?" Tasha pulls her head out, gesturing in to the room. "It's go' like … pillows. Pillow-walls, pillow floors. Pillows! I thin' it's some kind 'o lounge room," she explains. "Nothin' in there to light."

Suddenly, a dim light comes on just above the inner door. It's weaker than the lamp, but visible and red.

"Can the other door be opened?" Layth inquires as he peers in the strange room.

"Only one way to find out, aye?" Tasha shrugs a little, then begins trying to enter the chamber. "I wan' two Warriors to use shields or wha'-not to push fresh air in 'ere, Layth, Aaron, an' two Warriors follow me." She clambers inside, her hooves touching the pillows, which she frowns at perplexedly.

"She wants to die with her harem," Layth says in deadpan to Aaron before he follows Tasha into the strange room.

It's a bit crowded now with everyone in the small room. "Now what?" Aaron asks.

"Now we mess wit' the the next door," Tasha answers. Being the first in, she's also the closest to the ominous red lit door. She looks up at the light, frowning a bit. "I won'er if the ship's soul is awake now, an' it's lookin' at us? 'Ello? Ship? Fenris? We're 'ere to put you at rest, let us inside, aye?" She waves a hand at the light.

The light doesn't seem to react. But there might be a glimpse of motion behind the porthole.

"Well, tha' didn' work." Tasha squints at the eye, and while doing so, notices the potential movement. "Is someone inside 'ere? 'Ello?" She lowers her head and tries to squint a look through the porthole.

"I have no idea what to do next. Does anyone have any ideas what this room may be?" Layth asks.

Something moves again, and a set of red and green 'eyes' peers through the window at Tasha – just like the eyes on that powered armor…

"Uh oh," Tasha says suddenly, using a hand to wave everyone back. "Everyone get out as fast as you can, without makin' too big a fuss. I see another ghost," she warns.

The Warriors back out quickly, with Aaron on their heels. Unlike the smaller Lapi, though, the take up positions on either side of the open door with weapons ready.

Layth backs off after the others leave. His eyes remain focused on the small window. And … the buck actually draws out the bronze sword.

"Oi you too, Layth, an' me," Tasha insists, without actually looking back to see Layth is actually leaving. She backs away from the window, keeping an eye on the lights beyond it. "I don' wan' to 'ave to fight somethin' like tha' in 'ere, pillows or no'."

"It was too soon to celebrate," Layth comments to no one in particular. "And if there are more … then another may come this evening."

From outside, a slight whining sound can be heard coming from the opened door now.

They glowing eyes continue to stare out from the window, and the inner door rattles a bit, but it doesn't seem like it's going to open for the 'ghost' either.

"Who are you?" Layth practically shouts at the window.

Tasha backs out of the room, moving to stand central so that the creature can see her but that she's ten steps from the actual door. "Well, are you comin' or no'," she asks the armored ghost beyond the door. "Don' keep us waitin'!"

The whining gets louder, and the outer door suddenly jerks free and snaps closed.

"… that may mean we should leave now," Layth comments to the others. "And perhaps collapse the tunnel into this place.

"How do we collapse a tunnel though?" Euphrosyne asks.

"Well." Tasha's tensed muscles loosen some, and she stands with a hand on her hip. "I think it's tellin' us to go, bu' we can'. Those things'll still be in there, an' if we seal it all up now, it'll jus' be someone else's problem in a generation or two, aye?"

There are more whining and clanking sounds, so low that only the Lapi can hear them. And then the outer door starts to open again.

"That is not good," Layth observes as he crouches down, sword ready. The muscles beneath his fluff of white and gold fur visibly ripple as they tense.

Tasha looks on the verge to say something else, but she pauses, muzzle open, as the sounds commence again. Slowly her eyes turn back to the door, then she's right back in to tenseness, wings out and ready to fly again at a moments notice. "Get ready everyone, 'ere it comes!"

Once again, the door jams after moving a few inches, but this time armored fingers grab it from the inside and push it the rest of the way open. Out steps another armored figure, but this one is in much worse condition than the one fought previously. There are missing plates in the metal skin that expose cables and piping here and there, and the left hand is missing its fingers. The arms don't have the same bulging outer portions either, nor does it have wings.

"Who are you?" Layth repeats to the strange creature.

"Looks like a smaller one," Tasha whispers to the others. In a louder voice, she asks, "Oi, yeah? Who are you?"

The figure moves haltingly, and with lots of grinding noises. It turns its head to Tasha, and a burst of static comes from it. "M-m-moth-th-th-er," it stammers out, in a voice that sounds like nothing living.

"I didn't know you had children," Layth comments to Tasha. His eyes never leave the odd suit, though.

"Oi, I didn' know I 'ad children either," Tasha replies, sounding all the more perplexed. "Do I look like someone it knows?" She glances to the creature, and begins stepping forward. "Do you know me? 'Ave you lost your mum?"

"I-I am M-m-mother-r," the suit announces. Then lifts its good hand and points at Tasha. "Auth-Auth-Authorizzzz-ation Code."

"I think it wants another code, like an 'IFF' or somethin', like the other one. I don' know wha' kind of code to give it, though," Tasha whispers aside to the Lapi, knowing they ca hear her despite the distance between them.

"What's it say on the dog-tags," Aaron whispers back.

Tasha quickly pulls out the dog tags she stored around her neck, looking them over quickly. "Lt. Nora Argentine … Planetary Engineer … Terran Survey Corps. Then there's some signs I don' know, with 'er birthday," she answers in a louder voice, looking up at the mechanical suit to se if that appeases it any.

The armor makes some whirring sounds, and then steps aside. "Auth… ority Rec-c-c… bzzzrt".

"I'm amazed that worked," Layth comments as he visibly relaxes and slowly stands. "But, now that we got past this one … what do we do?"

"I thin' tha' means it worked?" Tasha hesitantly steps forward, keeping her eyes firmly affixed to teh sight of the mechanical monstrosity. "I guess we can … go inside?" She cautiously begins stepping around the suit, giving it a wide berth as she heads for the door.

Layth returns his sword to its scabbard and follows after the Vartan. To the other Lapi, he shrugs a slight bit.

The red light is still glowing in the padded room, and the inner door is still closed as well.

"Maybe you have to close the outer door before the inner one opens," Layth suggests. "It seems it couldn't get through that door until the oter one closed, anyway."

"Worth a shot," Tasha agrees. "Everyone but two Warriors inside, I wan' someone out there to open tha' door if it come sto it." The Vartan crams herself inside with the others, taking up a position by the door again.

With a bit of twisting, Euphrosyne manages to catch the edge of the door and pull it shut from the inside. There's a click, and then the light above the other door turns green.

"Oi, green! Tha's go' to mean somethin'!" With an "oof," Tasha puts her weight against the interior door and begins to try and open it.

The door slides open just as Tasha puts her weight against it. She catches her balance though, rather than fall straight through into the next room. Overhead light panels flicker on, showing… a vault full of armored forms, each one standing inside it's own alcove. Cables connect them to the walls, and restraints keep them from falling over. Some of the alcoves are empty, and many of the suits of armor looks they've been cannibalized.

"Tasha, what do you see?" Layth calls out from the smaller room.

"Wha- … Oof, oi, got to watch my step, I do." Tasha remarks from inside the next room. After taking a moment to straighten, she looks up, and up, and around until Layth can hear her exclain, "Oi! Layth! Look at this! It's a room full o' 'em! It's like they're sleepin' or somethin'!"

"That is not a good thing," Layth notes quietly as he now evers the room and peers around. He reaches up and brushes back his lop ears. "Wow," is all he manages to say. And then at a grim thought, he looks to the floor and looks for trails in dust to indicate where the original one may have taken its captives.

Euphrosyne and Doreen push through to take up defensive positions around Tasha, just in case.

"They're shut down," Aaron says, knocking on the partially disassembled chestplate of one.

"Shut down of what?" Tasha walks over to another one of the devices, standing on her tip-hooves to peek inside. "They're sleepin'? See anyone inside yours?"

"It's hollow," Aaron says, and bangs on the chest again. "You can hear the echo inside."

"Really?" Tasha knocks on the suit she's chosen, then puts an ear to it. "Huh, it is! It's like some sort o' … giant metal armor suit. Like, wha' the Champions wear. Jus' … It's different. Coul' be their all 'aunted." A pause, and she adds, "See if there's anothe rroom 'ere, this don' look like the last o' it."

Layth moves out further into the room, frowning. His interest seems to not be in the suits there … but in the missing alcoves.

Two of the alcoves are empty, except for some dangling cables.

Layth goes to the empty alcoves and peers inside, looking … well, for anything really. Notes, blood, anything.

Aaron pauses at the door opposite the entryway, and looks around again. "The first one we saw outside was complete, but that last one all of these have pieces missing. Do you think they were taken apart in order to fix up the first one?" he asks.

Stepping away from the suit she was investigating, Tasha begins to slowly walk around the room, looking for doors, hatches, or any signs someone has been along this way. "Keep an eye out, aye? If this is a ship, this might be somethin' like the crew quarters, or the berth. If tha's so, then the deck is somewhere above us, likely, an' any engine or cap'n's quarters will be elsewhere."

There aren't any signs of recognizable activity in the chamber. No scents, garbage or even strands of hair and fur.

"Do ships have prison cells?" Layth asks Tasha, "Because if they do, we should look there for survivors."

"This door here doesn't have a light," Aaron points out. The door itself looks different from the last one – less sturdy and with little effort made to make it seamless or airtight.

"The thing had to have taken the warriors somewhere," Layth mutters and steps away from the empty alcoves. He heads towards Aaron.

Tasha glances towards Aaron, asking, "If they were taken apart to make the one outside work, then maybe the one we passed on the way in did it?" She turns to fully face him, walking to his position. "I 'ope there's no trick to this one. Let'ssee … " She reaches forward and tries to open it.

"With a broken hand?" Aaron asks. The door opens at Tasha's touch, like the others. Beyond is another room, this one with lockers on one side and racks on the other, although the racks themselves are empty and there isn't a clue as to what they once held.

"I can smell Lapis," Aaron says after a moment. "Other than us, I mean."

"Tha's a mystery, aye. Maybe there's more 'ere than just Mother an' the Lt." Entering, Tasha pauses to look around, but is interrupted by Aaron's comment. "You do?! Which way? An', start searchin' these … I think they're storage? … an' see if we can find anythin' useful." Tasha does what she orders, turning to try and open a nearby container.

"Which way are the Lapis? I'll go look while Tasha searches here," Layth offers to Aaron.

"Uh," Aaron says, and points to the door at the end of the chamber. "That way, I suppose, since we haven't passed them."

"No, you're stayin' with us," Tasha insists as she peers at a locker. "They've been 'ere a while now, an' there's no use rushin' in – who knows wha's with 'em? We 'ave take this slow an' steady, see what we're 'ere against, an' see if we can find anythin' that might 'elp us. Remember, they speak Standard, aye? Might be they left notes."

Layth nods slightly to the other buck, then heads cautiously down the corridor towards the far door. His nose twitches a bit and his ears focus forward as he listens for movement. He pauses and glances back towards Tasha, saying, "It is unlikely anything we find here we will be able to use, even with notes, Tasha. And I did not say I was rushing anywhere, I said I was going to look. Look meaning, see what lies up past this door and if there are any threats. Rummaging around in here will certainly alert anyone to our presence, you realize."

A search of the lockers reveals a few more uniforms that start to unravel when handled, but nothing else. No notes or tools.

"Oh I'm sure anyone knows we're 'ere, after all Mother saw us walk in," Tasha replies. She shakes her head, then nods to the next room. "Nothin' 'ere anyway. Let'shead on together." And thus, she heads after Layth.

The corridor beyond the door slopes upwards. The floor is some sort of hard rubber, with horizontal ridges to provide extra traction. At the far end is another door, and the corridor rises enough to put that at a level above the ceiling of the last room. The lighting here is dim, coming from red strips along the side of the walls.

"The floor looks like it was molded somehow," Layth notes as he scrapes his toe claws along its surface. "Very strange. But then everything in here is. I wonder if the red lights are some sort of emergency or warning light."

"They don't give off any heat," Aaron notes, taking his hand away from one. "That's… disturbing."

"Oi, this is some ship," Tasha remarks as she proceeds up the ramp. "I don't know 'bout that, Layth, bu' it reminds me of the Temple of Rephidim. They 'ave lights like the one's back there, an' a lot o' metal in the main halls. I think maybe it's somethin' like that." The woman pauses to kneel down and put her hand near a light, frowning. "Oi, they don't! It's like … magic! Bu', the Temple priests tol' me it's no' magic. Wouldn't say what it was, though."

"Maybe like the insects in swamps that can make themselves glow. Perhaps someone squeezed the contents of the bugs into a tube," Layth offers with a small shrug. His nose twitches as he sniffs the air and heads towards the far door.

"Temple magic," Aaron says. The Amazonians crowd in, and each one has to touch the light strip to confirm the oddness. "So, this is a ship of the gods?" Euphrosyne asks Tasha.

The door at the top of the ramp is like the previous one, and doesn't appear to be locked. There's not window in it to see what lies beyond, however.

Layth isn't wanting to open the door quite yet … so he pushes one of his ears against it to listen.

"Or, wha' was it they said … "Silence, girl," an' "it is a mystery beyon' your ken, girl," an such." She looks up, standing from where she touched a light. "It jus' may be. Accordin' to legend I 'eard, the Temple is of the gods too, it is. Came along some time ago, durin' something called the 'Expedition.' Wha'ever it is, I've never seen its like – no' like this." She moves to stand with Layth, sniffing at the air."

Listening to the door doesn't give any indication of what's behind it, but Layth can hear the sounds of metal straining, as if the ship is still settling – or being slowly crushed by the mass of the mountain atop it.

"Buckling sounds. The structure is slowly collapsing, perhaps," Layth tells the others as he lifts his head away from the door. "I cannot hear anything else."

"There's a big bronze statue of the First Ship in Freedom Park," Aaron says. "It's supposed to have brought us all here, somehow."

"Aye, somethin' like that. Maybe this is the 'second ship?'" Tasha takes a moment to slowly look around, as if really seeing the ship for the first time. "If it is, it's somethin' like … an … arc-o-logical discovery, it is. It's a sacred place." She glances towards the door, then shrugs a little. "We 'ave people to save an' ghosts to lay to rest, let's get goin'."

"As you wish," Layth says, then opens the door leading to the next area of the ship. Before walking through, though, he looks through.

The door opens into a large chamber. It has the same rubberized floor and dim lighting, and is nearly as large as Herriot Hall, if a bit more crowded. To either side of a central walkway are large metal cradles holding heavy looking machines – most of them have wheels, but they are metal and have articulated tracks linking them together. Some of the nearer machines show signs of having been partly disassembled, with inner workings exposed and small parts strewn about beneath them. Under each of the cradles is a metal surface with seams outlined in black-and-yellow striping and the ominous warning 'No Step' repeated at various points. A podium covered with levers and buttons accompanies each cradle as well, and the image of a stylized wolf's head is emblazoned on each of the held machines.

"Wot's all this then," Tasha asks, poking her head in next to Layth's. She leans against him as she looks around, frowning in puzzlement. "Are those … wheels? An' that's … I dunno wha' that is. An' that says," she points at the stripped floor for the Amazonians, ""no step," an' I'm inclined to do wha' it says – you all should too."

Layth walks near to one of the partially disassembled machines and checks to see how dusty the parts are … to get a guess at how long ago it might have been dismantled. He does, however, heed the no-step warning and doesn't walk under them.

"That is a wagon," Euphrosyne says, pointing to a cradled machine with a big open bed behind an enclosed cabin. "But it would be too heavy for a Vykarin to pull. Why make such a thing?"

There isn't any dust to give an indication of the passage of time. Everything is fairly clean, except for some spots of petrified grease – one of which is in the shape of a Jupani hand.

"It's like some kind o' metal cart," Tasha remarks as she steps inside and moves to inspect one of the vehicles. She looks over her shoulder to Euphrosyne and answers, "Maybe it's for, oi, ceremonial purposes? A big metal cart to show the glory o' the gods? Might be the servants o' these gods were stronger than even Vykarins an' Amazonians. Tha' metal suit sure was strong."

"I do not think these have been touched in a long time," Layth comments and backs away from the machine. "And if these are carts of the Gods, perhaps they can move on their own."

"Like the metal suit?" Tasha turns back and squints at the cart in front of her, trying to make sense of it. "S'got my 'ead on it, anyway," she adds, stepping so she can show her head in relation to the cart's symbol.

"The Technopriests do bring out that… thing… of theirs for parades," Aaron notes. "The one that moves by itself and has that awful steam-powered organ on it."

"I 'ate tha' organ," mumbles Tasha.

"Well, it has a Jupani head on it, not necessarily yours," Layth points out.

The warriors and guardians have spread out a bit, occasionally poking things with a sword or spear. Doreen leaps up and grabs onto something hanging from the ceiling: a mobile crane that runs on rails attached to the ceiling. She swings back and forth from a dangling chain.

"Well I didn' mena mine as in mine, jus' tha' it's like mine," Tasha insists. She backs away, blinking and looking up as she hears the jangle from the crane. "Oi! Doreen! Wha' are you doin' up there?"

At the far end, Gyes calls out, "I found their Vykarin!" The machine he stands next to has legs instead of treads, and does actually look vaguely like a giant Vykarin, if one ignored the 'head' made mostly of glass, with a seat inside.

"It doesn't move," Doreen notes. Despite her swings, the square base of the crane stays locked in place, despite being on rails. Eventually the doe gives up and drops back to the ground. She gives Tasha a somewhat abashed look. "Sorry."

"Jus' be careful," Tasha warns the doe, patting her on the shoulder gently. "We don' know wha' any of this does, an' the las' thing we need is to offend any o' it and get it to move against us." She gives the woman a little smile, which comes off a unintentionally toothy, and then Tasha's walking off to look at the metal Vykarin. "It's 'ead 'as a seat in it," she exclains, ears shooting up.

"You should be more careful, Doreen. What would you have done had that thing broken free and fallen?" Layth asks the doe, though not unkindly. He heads towards the artificial Vykarin, curious now.

The hulking 'Vykarin' stands on two large, splayed feet and legs that resemble those of a bird more than a Vykarin, even though it's squatting down. The arms are longer than those of the shell-wolves, and one ends in a big metal pincer while the other has some sort of long drill attached to it.

"It could be a mining machine," Layth offers after a bit of peering at the odd thing. "The drill for rock, the pincher to move things."

"Why did they not use it to escape their stone tomb then?" Euphrosyne asks. "And how… how did it all get inside of a mountain?"

"The mountain could have grown up around it. Ir it was buried in an eruption," Layth offers and then shrugs. "I am no historian, so, I would not know."

"Tha' does look like a drill, alrigh'. I've seen things like tha' on the ship, for borin' 'oles an' such. Bu', if it is, why no' use it to … " She nods along with Euphrosyne's words, adding, "Well, sounds li' the whole thing fell out o' the sky. Maybe it jammed itself in 'ere, or crashed an' the mountain fell on it."

"Well, may as well see 'ow it works. The places seems to like me, so I'll give it a go. You all might wan' an' move back," Tasha warns. Then, she begins trying to open the head of the metal Vykarin.

The bubble-head has a clearly defined door, with a mobile stairway rolled up to it. The transparent door even has a recognizable turn-handle, which opens up without any fuss.

"That is likely not wise," Layth offers Tasha as advice. But, other than that, he doesn't try to stop her. Instead … he moves to the OTHER side of the room.

Aaron shows a little more faith in Tasha… and just moves to the middle of the room.

"None o' this is wise or safe, Layth. Bu', if we're goin' to do anythin' 'ere, we ought an' see to it all. If this is a digger, it could be used to 'elp us with all this rock – or doors," Tasha replies. The handle is turned, and the woman holds her breath.

The chair inside is clearly not made for someone with wings… but there is an opening between the seat and the back for a tail, at least. There are armrests, and the one on the side with the door is pivoted upwards so it isn't blocking the seat. Two curved pillars are attached to the top of the seat as well, with some sort of boxy structure at their ends covered in controls. The whole thing looks like it would swing down almost into the pilot's lap.

"You may want to mov over to me, Master Lightfoot," Layth comments to the small buck. "That think might explode."

"The walking armor didn't explode," Aaron points out, but takes a few more steps backwards, until he bumps up against Gyes.

"The walking armor did not have an excitable woman trying to control it," Layth points out.

Tasha wriggles inside until she plops in to the seat, her tail in the tail hole, and her wings splayed out uncomfortably to either side of the seat. "S'not made for wings," she complains from inside the cockpit bubble. "An' I'm no' excitable!" After a bit of looking around, Tasha tests the overhead controls before pulling her wings tight and trying to draw them down over her lap. "It's comfortable for bein' 'o knows 'ow old," she adds, "'cept the wings part."

Layth's nose twitches again as he sniffs the air, trying to catch the scent of Lapis Aaron had noted earlier. He does keep an eye on the monstrous machine, though … in case Tasha makes it go berserk.

Touching the panel mounted on the overhead arms causes them to swing down. Tasha must be shorter than the regular pilot, since the bars stop well above her shoulders. The armrest swings down as well, and Tasha can see two pistol-grip controls on the ends, each studded with knobs and buttons. The panel before her lights up – although the lights are mostly red and flashing. A clear panel above the control block begins displaying all sorts of warnings and failure alerts as well.

"Well it's lightin' up," the Vartan announces as she leans forward to try and read the screens. "Mostly sayin' … warning this an' warning tha'. I think it's broken." To test her theory, she reaches over and nudges the control stick forward. "I 'ave to get an airship with a chair like this."

Aaron looks to Layth, and then gestures with his chin towards the large double-doors at this end of the bay. They're much larger than the ones they've passed through so far… large enough even for Konstancja the Vykarin to pass through easily. They don't really look like they can opened manually though.

Nothing happens at first, and then the control stick breaks off the armrest completely.

Layth starts making a slow arc around the room, towards the huge doors. right now, though, he can't really risk taking his eyes off Tasha in the huge machine. He'll look for some sort of wheel to open the huge doors when he gets over to them.

"Well, I'll take tha' as a sign," Tasha says with a sigh. She tosses the stick out the opened hatch, announcing, "It's broken all-righ'. I'm leavin' it alone." She reaches to push the controls back up over her shoulders.

The bars start to move up, then get stuck. Something goes 'snap' behind Tasha, and the whole seat suddenly falls loose, dropping her to the bottom of the bubble in a spray of plastic chips.

There isn't a wheel near the large doors, but there is a panel with some lit buttons on it. There seem to be two sets of buttons marked 'open', 'hold' and 'close'. The ones on right side glow green, but the left side glows amber.

"Wha-" thud "Oi, ow!" Tasha flails, trying to right herself, wings akimbo in the fallen chair. "I get it, I get it! Warning, danger, error – broken! I'm sorry, now lemme out o' 'ere!" She ducks and tries to wiggle out and, if possible, climb out of the cockpit. "An' nevermin' abou' 'avin' one o' these chairs!"

Just to be safe, Euphrosyne holds the ladder steady while Tasha crawls out of the bubble. "Real Vykarin are less fragile," she notes.

"An' 'ave more in their 'eads," Tasha agrees. She climbs out in a clatter of plastic flakes, looking disheveled and a bit sore. Once down the ladder, she rubs her behind and glances back at the machine. "Everythin's fallin' apart aroun' 'ere."

Frowning at the glowing buttons … Layth makes a guess that green buttons mean they work … since red has seemed to indicate so far things are broken. Aber tends to be the same feel as red, so … With a shrug, the buck presses the green 'open' button … then hurridly backs away fromt he door in case the armies of darkness pour out. Or the door tries to fall on him.

"Well… it's old," Aaron points out.

Amber lights begin flashing all around the frame of the big doorway, and then the right panel begins to slide open slowly. It doesn't make it completely, though. At the halfway point it stops and the 'open' button flashes amber.

"'Ard to believe so much amazin' creations could break like this, bu' tha's 'ow it goes," the Vartans tells Aaaron. She walks over to him and asks, "Do I 'ave any o' tha' seat stuck in my tail?"

Layth creeps slowly back towards the door. Frowning, he presses the 'hold' button now. Maybe that means the door won't just randomly close later. who knows with this place.

Aaron has a look, trying to distinguish plastic from the usual bits of shiny junk. "Uh… I don't think so," he reports.

The 'hold' button is still green, and pressing it… doesn't do anything, but doesn't cause anything else to change colors either.

"Tha's good," Tasha tells Aaron, before she pats his head and walks on. "Is anythin' workin' over there, Layth? The machine's no' goin' anywhere 'cept to piec- … Oi, you opened the door? Good job, that."

"The door works, somewhat," Layth calls back to the others. Then he does something dangerous … he tries to put his head into the open panel and look around in what may lay beyond.

Tasha keeps walking towards Layth, eying the walls and machines as she goes. A few bits of plastic clatter from her fur anyway, despite Aaron's inspection.

The door may be jammed, but the opening is still over four feet across – plenty wide enough for a Warrior, and even for one of the armored suits. Beyond it is a corridor as wide as the doorway, which seems to be divided into section by heavy reinforcement arches. The lighting in here is yellow, and the walls have wide, opened doorways as well. Over the one to the left is the word 'geo', and to the right is 'zoo'.

"What is a zoo?" Layth asks as he fits himself through the jammed doorway. "And what is a geo?"

"A zoo is where they keep foreign animals," Aaron notes. "A few nobles have them up on Rephidim, and the Emir is planning that big public one too."

"Then I suspect that is where the warriors are. I imagine to that thing we looked like foreign animals," Layth reasons out. "We should look there first."

"A zoo's somethin' they keep weird animals in," Tasha answers along with Aaron. "It's somethin' for rich people, an' the like. You see 'em being crated off the docks now an' then." The woman reaches her boyfriend and pauses, looking past him at the dark corridor. "Is tha' what your nose says, Layth?"

Aaron sniffs first, and says, "I smell Lapis, but… it also smells like some parts of the Temple. Chemicals I can't identify."

"More what my mind tells me. As strange as the creature looked to us, we must look equally odd. Let us check there first. If it is a dead end, so be it. If not, then we may be able to rescue a few," Layth notes, then starts towards down 'zoo' passage.

"I agree," Tasha tells Layth. She moves to follow him, then walks beside him. "'Course, if it is a zoo, wha' sort o' zoo would a ship o' the gods carry? Lapi, bu' … wha' else? Warriors!" Tasha lifts a hand to gesture forward, "Get ready for anythin'. Everyone else stay close if you're no' fightin'. This could get messy."

It turns out that Layth was half-correct. The room at the end of the short passage is large, with several shiny metal tables and work surfaces, and an entire wall of glass doors with racks and racks of glass tubes behind them. On each of the three tables is a body wrapped in a transparent covering: the bodies of the slain Guardians, from the looks of it. Their chests and other areas have been stripped down to the muscle, presumably where their armor hand been burnt into them.

"Ugh," Aaron says, reflexively covering his mouth and nose, even though there's no smell of death or decay in the room.

Layth … actually looks a little ill. "It looks like they were being examined," he says grimly. He does, however, manage to move closer to inspect the bodies a bit closer.

Aside from the areas where the armor was cut free, it doesn't like the bodies were autopsied or dissected. Something about the covering material must also act as a preservative, since there isn't any sign of decay either.

"Nasty," Layth comments and backs away, then shakes his head. "I do not wish to linger here."

"We'll bring them back with us for burial," Euphrosyne says, even though Gyes and Endre both look slightly queasy. Doreen is looking through the drawers and cabinets instead, pulling out all sort of odd tools.

Tasha grimaces, ears laying back. "Oi, bu' by who? Tha' suit?" She glances around and, upon seeing that no one else is volunteering to go look, slowly steps forward. "It's like they're wrapped in some kind o' … stuff." She pulls out her whip, then uses the butt of it to poke the material.

"Skymetal knives," Doreen announces, although the knives she finds are rather small. Everything else has a surgical look to it as well.

"No cages," Aaron notes, looking at the racks of tubes behind the doors. The material gives a bit under Tasha's prod, being somewhat elastic.

"No, surgeons tools," Layth explains to Doreen, "I've seen simliar, but not in metal, before. The were used in some of the fhighting areas to clean up burst skin from combat before stitching."

"Aha, carnoran," the apothecary says, after staring at the tubes a bit longer. "They were just collecting blood, not entire animals. How bizarre. But those surgical tools would probably be worth a fortune in Abu Dhabi or Nagai City."

"I don' like touchin' anything 'ere too much. We can decide wha' to do with the tools later, when we return for the bodies." The Vartan woman backs away from the bodies, then turns and walks towards the glass doors. Carefully, she reaches to open one up and look inside at the cyliners.

As noted, the cylinders – each about the size of one of Tasha's fingers – hold dried blood. Each one has a label, but they're covered in black lines that vary in thickness instead of words or numbers.

"Agreed. This doesn't encourage me that we will find any of the others, living, though," Layth admits. He moves back towards the door and waits patiently for the others to finish their explorations before going back and taking the 'geo' door.

"Maybe there's vampires 'ere," Tasha remarks as she closes the container door. "If you're all done, we'll 'ead on to the 'geo' part."

"We haven't found signs of the Warriors that were taken yet," Aaron points out. "They were taken alive after all."

Across the hall, the 'GEO' lab resembles the 'ZOO' one, with only the the equipment being different. The racks of tubes are here, each filled with dirt or dust or soil.

"Looks like bits o' rock. S'pose this is a rock zoo," Tasha says as she squints a look at the containers. "If there's rocks 'ere, might be some are valuable or some-such. I say we sort 'em out later, after we do what we came 'ere to do."

"Animal samples, and this must be plant samples," Layth reasons out in the next room. "Very strange. Maybe this ship just … explored and cataloged things."

"Maybe it's an apothecary ship," Aaron suggests, half in jest.

"Like some kind 'o adventure ship?" Tasha shakes her head, stepping away from the containers and walking back in to the hallway. "Wha'ever it is, it's a strange one. Beautiful, bu' strange. Anyone see anymore exits?"

Layth heads back to the hallway now as well. "Not as of yet," he says and looks around the hallway a bit more.

"There're more sections of corridor," Aaron notes. The next section is a bit of a repeat of the first one though, with labs marked "BIO-1" and "BIO-2" full of strange machines and racks of dried plants and tubes full of… water, apparently.

"This looks like the plant an' … water zoo, I guess," Tasha says, gesturing at the twin nooks from the center of the corridor. "I don' think this is all. We 'avn't found the deck, an' there's go' to be crew quarters an' a cap'n's cabin aroun' 'ere somewhere. Oi, an' if this is anythin' like those new steamships, it'll 'ave an engine room, too."

"It must be some sort of exploration ship, designed to just, well, catalog things. why else keep such an ordered library of samples?" Layth notes as he follows along. "It does not seem to be a combat ship at all."

"Who would they be fighting anyway?" Aaron asks. The next section of corridor is different. The door to the right is closed, and labeled "SIFRA". To the left, instead of a lab, there is a railed, spiraling ramp that ascends to another level. At the very end of the corridor is a smaller closed door, labeled "AVIONICS".

Layth pauses. "Sifra? I've heard that name before. Was that not the name of the early civilization of our world?" he inquires and looks around the group.

"Or a cargo ship," Tasha agrees. "I'm no' seein' a cargo deck anywhere, an' if there was one, it'd be aroun' the loadin' area – which I'm thinkin' was back the way we came." In the next area, Tasha looks around at the doors and runs a hand back through her hair. "Sifra, avionics, an' a staircase." To Layth, she shrugs, but does suggest, "If that's wha' they call people like Lapi, maybe they're in there?"

"Yeah, First Ones… or older than the First Ones, according to some," Aaron says, eyeing the door with apprehension. "Probably crystal artifacts. Dangerous stuff."

Dangerous or not, Layth tries to open the door to peer inside.

Tasha turns to regard the door a moment, then follows Layth. "It's all dangerous. Bu', jus' to be safe, we'll enter in pairs."

Unlike the others, this one has some sort of locking mechanism between the two halves of the door. It has a square face, with sixteen symbols arranged in four rows of four.

Layth … not knowing what any sort of code would be … hits random buttons.

The entire pad begins flashing red after the first few buttons are pressed.

Instead of hit buttons, Tasha frowns at the door, then reaches and pulls out the dog tags she's wearing. She speaks the name of their owner, then adds, "Open up!"

"So much for that," Layth comments rather flatly.

"ENTRY DENIED," reports the now familiar mechanical voice.

"Want me to chop it off?" Doreen asks Tasha.

Layth … almost makes a rude gesture towards the door. But instead, he shrigs, then suggests, "Let us try the stairs."

"Yeah, when doors talk back at you, it's probably best to leave them be," Aaron suggests.

"I guess so! We'll 'ave to come back later, I s'pose." She shakes her head at Doreen, insisting, "We don' know wha'll 'appen if we attack the door. The ghost of this place might take offense, an' we don' wan' tha'. Let'slook aroun' more – maybe there'll be a key. If all else fails, we can try an' open it after we 'ave wha' we need 'ere." The woman glances arounbd, the points towards avionics. "Let'stry there before we go up the ramp."

"Do you have doors talk back to you often?" Layth asks Aaron. He then nods to Tasha.

"I don' think slammin' is talkin'," Tasha quips, laughing as she heads for the door marked Avionics.

"Not on a regular basis, no," Aaron says quietly to Layth. "But that voice belongs to 'mother', and I've met plenty of them. They're scary."

"Tha' gives me an idea," Tasha says as she tries to open the door. "I'm goin' to try it once we're done in 'ere."

"You have a strange fear of women," Layth comments to Aaron quietly, "I am sure we can find a cure for that while we are in Amazonia." With that, Layth heads towards the 'avionics' area.

The door to the avionics bay is like the first ones they encountered, and can be opened by sliding it to the side. Inside is a dark room, the walls made up of black panels. There are a few blinking lights, but little else. At the end is another door, labeled "MOTHER".

Unlike the outer door, the inner one has no handles or other obvious means of opening.

"Xavier has epxerience with mothers, let him try to open that door," Layth offers.

"Anyone 'ave any idea wha' this room's for," Tasha inquires as she looks around slowly. "I've never seen a ship with a room o' … black walls before." She wanders over to a wall, running her finger along it until she reaches the door labeled "MOTHER." There, she pauses, frowning thoughtfully. "You wan' an' try it, Xavier?"

"Do I have to?" the Lapi asks. "That's the name that other suit mentioned. I think it's the ghost."

"Well, if you are too afraid, I can try," Layth offers.

Aaron steps aside for Layth.

"We'll go together, Layth," Tasha insists. "Ghosts are my affair, aye?" She doesn't sound terribly thrilled about being charged with ghosts, but she steps forward to join Layth anyway. Not finding any handle, she says, "I'm goin' to try somethin'." A pauses, and she raises her voice, asking, "MOTHER?"

A light goes on over the door, almost blindingly bright after all of the dimness of the ancient ship.

Layth winces a bit and tries to shield his eyes from the light.

"Oh yeah, that's how a mother looks at you all right," Aaron notes.

Tasha squints, shielding her eyes. "Oi, MOTHER? Is tha' you? We came to speak with you," the woman offers.

"You have fallen on your head too many times," Layth mutters to Aaron.

The glare subsides, somewhat, but now there are two ghostly hands floating in the air before the door, each one making a different gesture.

"It wants to play games?" Layth has to ask.

With a groan, Aaron says, "It's Formal Silent Sign. I know common Silent Sign, but… Formal is tricky."

Tasha blinks, tilting her head. "Tha' looks like Savanite-talk," she murmurs. Shaking her head, she asks in a louder voice, "MOTHER, do you speak Standard?" She then repeats the question in every language she knows.

The glowing hands remain in place, and there is no other reply to the questions.

Layth pushes Aaron forward towards the hands. "Then if you can speak to it, you must," he tells the other Lapi. "Woo the MOTHER like you woo'ed Calli's mother."

"I think it means… uh… Challenge Key," Aaron says after a moment. "Password. It wants a password."

Tasha turns to the other and shrugs. "I don' speak 'andsign. It's all up to you, Xavier." She steps aside to let layth push the Lapi forward, then frowns up at the image. "Maybe we ought an' leave it alone."

"Without knowing the password, I think that's a good idea," Aaron agrees.

"Yes," Layth agrees, and heads out of the room.

"S'like tha' door, s'pose," Tasha agrees. She steps back, then turns to walk towards the entrance. "Let's'ead up the stairs."

Layth is outside, waiting near the stairs. When the rest of the group comes out, he starts up the stairs now. Again his nose twitches as he sniffs the air for more Lapis.

Tasha suspects Layth had a run in with one of those 'open sesemi' doors.

The rampway leads up to another side-room along a corridor. Unlike the lower one, this corridor makes an effort to look… homey. The sectional supports are made to look like carved wood, and the walls are covered with murals of fantastic looking cityscapes, pastoral scenes, and what might be views of outer space. It isn't as wide or tall as the lower deck, but seems to extend further forward. Between each faux-wood archway is a door, with the murals covering the walls in the longer stretches between arches.

Layth stops and can't help but look to the murals in facination. "They had excellent artists," he concedes. "Are these real places, or fantasy?"

"May as well be fantasy to us," Aaron notes. "We'll never see them." The Lapi sniffs, wrinkling his nose a bit. "I think the Warriors were taken this way. There's… well, it smells like the outdoors, do you notice?"

Tasha stares at a cityscape, shaking her her in bemusement. "I 'ave no idea. I've never seen anythin' like this. It's a city – made o' metal! The land o' the gods mus' 'ave metal everywhere, homes of gold and' steel, like Vartan Paradise." She decides, if they take anything, she'll try and take this picture to Captain Eyeshine and another for her mother. "It does?" Tasha sniffs at the air, trying to scent the outdoors.

Layth sniffs again. "It smells … fresher," he comments with a roll of his shoulders. He starts walking down the corridor, though rather slowly.

There's a scent of open water, like the shore of a lake, and trees and other growing things. It's almost convincing… but isn't quite fully natural.

"I won'er if the deck is expose somewhere, like to the open air an' an outdoor field?" The Vartan sniffs again, then frowns a little. "It doesn' smell quite righ', though, like it's … no' real."

"Jupani like the outdoors, maybe it's to make them feel more comfortable?" Aaron guesses.

"I suggest we walk the length and knock on all the doors. Maybe the Lapi are up here," Layth suggests as he gets close to one door. He reaches out and raps on it firmly.

"Well, I do feel more comfortable," Tasha admits to Aaron as they walk along. "If I 'ad to guess, I'd say the crew lived in this part. It reminds me o' passanger ships an' the passanger areas. Crew quarters weren' as nice, aye." She glances at all the doors, then announces, "Let'sspread out, two people to a door, an' check 'em one at a time. Layth an' I'll start. Pair up!"

The door has a plaque on it, reading "F. KOHLER" and slides open at the knock. Inside is a modest-sized room, larger than a typical airship berth. The walls have the same wood-paneling look to them, but instead of a window there's a flat, blank glass square on the far wall. A bunk and storage space line one wall, and a desk the other, along with doors leading to a closet and a small bathroom.

The desk has several framed pictures propped up on it.

Layth peers in, nose twitching as he sniffs around. The first thing he does is look towards the bed, to see if its occupied by a corpse, someone living, or nothing at all.

"Oi, these are the nicest quarters I've ever seen. I sleep on a hammock with the crew," Tasha mummbles to Layth. "I'd say this was the Cap'n's quarters, bu' there's so amny o' 'em." She follows the man inside, moving towards the desk to pick up the picture frame and have a look at it.

The bed looks as if it's never been slept in, although given the age it probably wouldn't be safe to actually sit or lie on. The photograph in Tasha's hand shows a dark-furred Jupani in a blue uniform, flanked by two humans, all of them with their arms around one another and standing before an ornate stone building. The other two pictures on the desk are of an older Jupani couple, and of a human girl, also in uniform, but smiling warmly.

"What was the name on that necklace you found? We might find her quarters," Layth suggests as he goes to peer in the bathroom.

In the center of the bottom part of the wooden frame in Tasha's hands is a button.

Tasha finds herself blinking, but not from the oddity of the pictures. The crew may be strange, seperated by time and technology, but there's a connection. On a level, Tasha recognizes people like herself, crewmen of a doomed ship, the smiling faces of ghosts. "Oi, Layth," Tasha whispers, biting her lip, "it gets me, it does. The Lapi were bad, bu' … they remin' me o' people I know. They look so 'appy … " She sniffs, then pokes the button.

"This ship is a living journal to a time long gone. In a thousand years, explorers may be doing the same then they walk through our former homes," Layth says. "All things come, all things go. It is the way of the world."

"WHOOOO! We are OUTTA HERE!" yells the human on the right, as the photo comes to life. "Goodbye academy, hello space!" the other human says, making a V-sign with his fingers. The Jupani grins happily, and starts to say something before the first human interrupts, "Except for Freddy here! Top of his class, Karnor Elite!" "Yeah dude, you're Expedition material!" "Shut up, you'll jinx me," the Jupani finally says, then waves a hand. The image freezes, and resets back to the original shot.

Tasha makes a cross between a wheeze and a snort, then blinks off some tears. "It jus' gets me," she repeats, voice wavering. "Could be Eyeshine, or me mum, or me. I ju-" When the picture bursts to life, Tasha nearly drops it, wings unfurling and tail shooting out in surprise!

Layth jerks around at the sudden nose … and slams his head into the door jamb. "Ow," he grows and holds the side of his head. Making his eay over to Tasha, he asks, "What did you do?"

Aaron suddenly runs into the room, followed by Gyes, yelling, "What was that!? Are you okay?"

Still rubbing his head, Layth points at Tasha. "She did something," he mutters.

"Ghosts?" Gyes ask, looking around with his short-sword drawn.

"It's a 'aunted picture," Tasha all but yells, holding the frame as far from her as she possibly can. "I jus' poked this," she pokes the button again, "an' it started up!"

"What?" Aaron asks, and picks up the picture of the woman. He finds the button, and the woman starts talking. "I know five years is a long time to wait, Fred, and you'll be surrounded by all those brainy Karnor babes, but here's something to remember little ol' Jill by… " Then there's some weird music, and the sound of a zipper, and Aaron's ears shoot up, his jaw drops, and his eyes grow to nearly twice their normal size.

"I think Aaron found … a sexually haunted picture," Layth notes when he sees the obvious signs of Lapi male … excitement.

Aaron stabs at the button again, and the sound stops. But his expression doesn't really change. "By the First Ones… there's… a selection of… this Fred person really was a lady's man… wait… and a man's man too from… "

"Are they some sort 'o … machines?" Tasha watches Aaron and his picture, then she laughs! "Oi, I don' know if we ought an' be seein' tha, Xavier. I think these are some sort o' … memory machines, aye? Or … " She looks at her own picture frame, then shakes her head. "Le's move on." She puts the picture back down, then puts her arm on Xavier's shoulder, tugging him. "Let'sfind Lt. Nora Argetine's room."

The Lapi just puts the picture frame back on the desk, face down.

"I'm afraid to try the bathrooms," the apothecary says.

Layth just shakes his head. "It all doesn't matter, though. All of this … echos of the past. voices lost to time and events that no longer matter," he comments quietly as he pushes back his lop ears. "Let'sleave them to rest in peace," he adds and slips out the door.

"Oi, Layth, they matter," Tashsa insists as the party walks out. "They migh' no' be alive, bu' they matter." In the hallway, she pauses to look up and down the hallway, then waves people to spread out. "Search the rooms, try an' find Nora Argentine, or a big room tha' looks to belong to someone importan'."

The officers rooms are further up, past a galley and the officer's mess. Nora's room is a bit larger than Fred's, with two desks. One has one of those transparent screens on it, and the other has transparent schematics of the T.S.S. Fenris rolled out on it.

"Still no signs of the others," Layth comments when the group finally reaches Nora's room. Instead of going to the desk, Layth goes to look into any sort of lockers if he can manage them open. "Maybe the suit just somehow … erased their bodies."

There are lockers full of clothes, although they're in ragged shape. There also books, made of the same odd plastic material as the schematics.

"Could be," Tasha agrees as she steps inside. "I'm wonderin' where all tha' bodies are. We only foun' Nora Argetine, bu' from all these rooms, there were lots o' people on this ship." The woman walks towards the table, taking a moment to look over the collected objects before she picks up the schematics. "There's some sort o' map 'ere. It looks a bit like a ship design … " She holds the schematic up to the light, trying to make sense of it.

Layth flips through one of the books idly, looking to see if he can ready any of it at all, and if any of it makes sense. "Maybe they abandoned ship and went out into the world after it crashed. Perhaps Nora stayed behind to try anf fix it," he offers.

The material actually starts to light up as Tasha holds it, bringing out more detail. The first book Layth finds is titled, "Silent-Ones Technology: Analog Optical Processing as a means of overcoming Sifra Matrix Anomalies."

"For their sake, I 'ope so," says Tasha. "Do you think one o' 'em might 'ave been an ancestor? Wouldn' tha' be somethin'?" Tasha tilts the schematic to the side, rotating it to try and get a better angle. When it lights up, her ears shoot up, but she doesn't almost drop the item like last time. "Oi, thanks," she tells what she suspect may be ghostly help. "I think we can use this 'as a map."

"I have no idea what this means. Who were the silent ones?" Layth comments as he holds the book upside down next. "If so, maybe it was that 'Fred'. From Xavier's expression, you share similar hobbies… " he notes in complete deadpan.

The longer Tasha holds it, the more things begin to appear on the schematic. A tiny green dot labeled 'N. Argentine' appears in one of the rooms shown on the upper deck, and several more show up further aft, in a large room labeled 'Infirmary'. Names begin to appear next to those dots as well.

Tasha guffaws at Layth's joke, tail wagging. She continues to study the map, head tilting. "'Ey, look at this Layth, it's shwoin' me somethin'." The Vartan turns around and walks the map over to Layth, pointing. "'Ere's Argetine," she indicates her location, "an' 'ere's … lots o' other people."

Aaron explains, "The Silent-Ones are the ancient Savanites. They… well, depending on who you ask, they used to either rule the Savan and kept the Nagai as slaves, or else… well, there are lots of stories, okay."

Layth wanders over to look at the map. "Maybe that indicates where living people are. We should check the 'infirmary'," the Lapi suggests. He closes the book he was trying to read and just sets it on the desk.

Doreen touches the clear screen on the other desk, and it lights up. The Warrior quickly jumps back and looks like she has no idea how it happened.

The considerably less jumpy Layth … just looks over to the now lit screen.

"Might be bu' … Argetine isn' 'ere: jus' 'ere necklace." Tasha reaches between her breats and pulls out the dogtag, dangling it. When the Warrior jumps back, Tasha's head turns suddenly, then she moves to fully look at the screen. "Wha's 'appenin' now?"

The square of glass pulses with light. "Good day, Lt. Argentine," the screen speaks. "You are currently 5,475,212 days overdue for check-in. Please report to the Infirmary for treatment."

"Maybe that necklace makes it think you are Nora," Layth suggests.

"The armor at the cave seemed to think so as well," Euphrosyne notes.

"Might be your right – or somethin' else," Tasha agrees. Appraching the monitor, Tasha says, "'Ello … you! Um, are you … " the woman's eyes scan the room, as if expecting a ghost to materialze and continue the conversation, " … Do you know where the others are? A bunch o' Lapi an' the crew o' this ship?"

Layth taps on his fingers for a moment, trying to work out just how many years that would be. "Good Gods, that's … I think , fifteen thousand years. The ship is that old?" Layth says, looking shocked.

"Good day, Lt. Argentine," the screen repeats. "Tonight's videocast is 'The Day the Universe Went Mad' beginning at 1900 hours in the main galley."

"That can't be right," Aaron notes. "By Temple reckoning, the Expedition was Year Zero, 6106 years ago."

"I … " Tasha glances at Layth, eyes widening. Taken aback by the age of the ship – an age Tasha can't even count to – she stammers, "Well … um … thank you … you." She turns to the others and shrugs a little. "I think we ought an' find the cap'n's cabin, an' then go to this 'infirmary.'"

"Unless they're wrong," Layth notes, "Or this ship crashed long before the 'expedition' came." He shrugs slightly, "Let'sgo to the infirmary. We can debate dates later."

"Infimray first then," Tasha agrees. The woman walks for the door, still holding the translucent schematic.

Layth dutifully follows along. "So, what happens in the bathrooms on this ship," he asks Xavier as an aside.

Aaron just shrugs. "I'm not finding out. There are certain things I really don't want talking to me while in use… "

"You have no sense of adventure," Layth comments.

As the group moves, so does the little green dot labeled 'N. Argentine'. This makes it easy to find the Infirmary, which is to the aft, just before a large 'Upper Hangar Bay' sealed off with heavy looking double doors. Like the labs below, there are a lot of shiny metal surfaces here, and innumerable cabinets and drawers and oddly shaped beds and strange devices. There is also the wall of glass doors again, only this time the tubes are much larger, standing floor to ceiling on some sort of conveyor system. And in each one floats a body. Some of the tubes are full of dark liquid, and others clear. The ones at the front contain the bodies of Amazonian Warriors.

Layth's eyes go big and he hurries over. He tries to open the doors leading to the tubes so he can access one of the tubes containing one of the Amazonians. "Do you think they still live?" he says to the others.

"I… " Aaron starts to say, but then things start moving behind the door Layth is pulling on. The tubes begin to rotate on a track, bringing new ones forward. Some are full of dark, foul looking fluid, and others are clear enough to show the remains of Jupanis, along with some intact ones. It stops when an empty tube comes to the front, The door opens, and the front of the tube lifts up. The mechanical voice then says, "LT. NORA ARGENTINE, PLEASE STEP INTO YOUR TUBE."

Inside, Tasha has to squeeze her eyes shut to tune out all the shininess. "Oi, I'm never forgettin' this place," she whispers. Once recovered, she follows the others to the row of tubes, brows narrowing at the image of all encased Amazonians. "They migh', bu' don' open them jus' yet. We don' know wha' this is or wha'll 'appen if we-" She pauses when the machine jumps to life, rotating the pod around to stop near her. "Ummm." Tasha glances at Layth, then Aaron.

"If it works off that necklace, you could just put the necklace into the tube," Layth suggests, "But then we do not have a way to get past the guard outside. Maybe you should go into the tube and we work out how to get you out again later. Or … perhaps we can awaken one of the other Jupani. I think I saw some that were still intact … maybe that means they're still alive… "

"It's not like it can force you into the tube," Aaron says. And then, of course, there is the sound of the hangar doors opening, and an ominous, heavy footstep outside…