[Team Dragons, Part 2]

[floatingplot]

[You have escaped. Congratulations, surely all your problems are over and you can return to your apartments- Oh, wait, no.]

Comments

[dontshootthemessenger]

[ She circles back around to watch it, slowly turning. ]

[eagnafeoite]

...A space program...[His riding skill will apply to that!]

If it still works, that's our best bet. Look for tall towers with rockets attached, hopefully a command center'll be close so we can get in.

[And it'll be big enough.]

[dontshootthemessenger]

What is a "space program"?

[eagnafeoite]

...Um.

[Oh, gosh.] Basically, a couple decades ago--at least in my world--people tried to reach the stars. So governments put a lot of money on ways to get up there. They also do a lot of research on space and stars and the nature of the universe in general.

[Thank you, Grail, thank you.]

It looks like the vehicles they were trying to get to space ended up being their last hope at being able to get out of this place. Down at the bottom of the ocean like this, they'd never get any help...eventually, supplies would run out, too.

They either escaped, or they all died here.

[dontshootthemessenger]

Oh. That is very sad.

[ She does attempt to sound sincere, but. Pain. Also dragon. She circles away from the screen and turns to look for something else. ]

But I do not think we should try to reach the stars from here, no. Everything is too broken down and I am not a mechanic.

[eagnafeoite]

If I can get in the seat of any machine, I can figure out how to use it. If any of them are still working, it's our best shot to get out.

They said they were modifying them to just break through the ocean. Even if the water wasn't terrible magic burny water, the pressure down here would definitely crush me flat before we ever got anywhere, never mind me drowning. I can't speak for what it'd do to you, but I don't think it'd be pleasant.

It's worth trying, anyway.

[floatingplot]

[Another screen, crackling...

Current events feed corrupted, substituting commercial...
Get your miracle magic cheap! The wonder substance that can make you resistant to any danger our new home might pose to you, Magic-S! One injection and all your worries will be gone!]

[dontshootthemessenger]

I am not a sea serpent, so I cannot swim very long. Though I do like to, just, I would rather not in this water.

[ Tiredly, but looks for some sort of space station or something idk I've never seen one before... She does blink at the commercial, though. ]

...Injection?

[eagnafeoite]

[Rider's keeping an eye out for something that looks space-station-y.]

...Drugs. I wouldn't trust it. Nothing good ever comes from something promising a miracle.

[floatingplot]

[You've found the space station--

No, you've found the wreckage of the space station, the metal collapsed from some failed attempt. The dome is, after all, intact.

Current events feed missing, replaying older entries...

The marine vessel program has been attacked by terrorists believed to be supporting the Servants. While they have yet to make a statement about it, [Static] no survivors.]

[dontshootthemessenger]

[ ...Well, there goes that plan. She flaps down, landing on a sturdy part of the wreckage. ]

Should we go inside?

[eagnafeoite]

...[Eyeing it.] Well, if there's any more clues to what happened, it's worth checking.

[dontshootthemessenger]

...I just want to go home.

[ But, looking for an entrance on the roof, if possible. ]

[floatingplot]

[The roof has no entrance, but there's a shattered screen buried in the wreckage.]

[dontshootthemessenger]

[ Pauses with interest, pushing the stones out of the way of the screen. ]

[eagnafeoite]

[Sliding down to try and remove more debris from the screen and see if he can't get it going!]

Finding out what happened may be our only way out.

[floatingplot]

[The screen flickers to life.]

Captain's Log
4/11/1405

Our station the Hopefin had finally departed the airlock. We had risen up towards the surface. We believed we would see the sky again. But just as we passed high enough to have real hope... explosions rocked our vessel. A recorded message said to be from sympathizers of the Servants declared what they had done. Our God was wrong, and we could not be allowed to return to the surface to cause more war. We would all perish together.

We impacted the dome around the city, and to my unimaginable horror, broke through. As we fell, I had hoped the station would plug the hole it created, but it was not to be. Fortunately, what sages remained were able to patch the hole, but doing so cost them dearly. This dome is now... our very last.

Everyone underneath perished. Some from the water, others from the crash of the ship itself. Even on the ship... I have always had a hardy constitution, and I believe it saved me this time. No one else was so lucky. I have been in the hospital since that crash, though I return now to the site of it to see the ruins of our final hope once more. There is no more material, no more energy, no more manpower. We will indeed perish down here, drowning in our own despair-

Error, low power. Error, low power. Please insert [static]-

Welcome to [static] space station tourist board, where would you like to go?

[The power is almost out.]

[dontshootthemessenger]

[ Reads, tilting her head. ]

Where is there to go?

[eagnafeoite]

...The Hopefin, maybe.

[Poking at the board.] Or the project to get to the surface at all.

[floatingplot]

[The board replays:]

I have been in the hospital since that crash, though I return now to the site of it to see the ruins of our final hope once more. There is no more material, no more energy, no more manpower. We will indeed perish down here, drowning in our own despair-

Error, Hopefin cannot be found. Error, Marine Vessel program discontinued in [static]...

[That final bar of power is flickering.]

[dontshootthemessenger]

[ what does flickering bar mean :|a??? ]

...The hospital?

[eagnafeoite]

...What about the crash site? Or maybe the launch site, since they're probably close to each other...[Thinking!]

Since I don't know how, um, comfortable you'd be in the hospital.

[floatingplot]

[The screen pulls up a map.

The launch site is marked X, and you are on it. This wreckage of a building is all that remains.

Notably the map that comes up shows you that in the centre of the city is a large temple, and that temple?

Is marked with a gate symbol.]

[dontshootthemessenger]

--Oh, perhaps there... I think I recognize that symbol.

[eagnafeoite]

It's worth looking at, it certainly seems important.

[WELP climbing back on.]