Player Plot: A (skele)ton of Work

[einspine]

Who: [AU] Papyrus and everyone else attending the expedition
When: January 7th
Where: The I.B. Magitek Tower
What: The I.B. Magitek Tower may rest on top of the ruins of Asura's temple. Thus, it's up to our heroes to investigate the tower in hopes of finding the great Eidolon within.
Warnings/Notes: Let's just say it's gonna get... topsy turvy. ;)

Everything is pre-arranged. The flight to the tower. The appropriate waivers. Naturally, everyone who accompanies Papyrus will have to sign to gain access- the Triumvirate was rather adamant about preserving the more confidential secrets within the tower, after all.

But once the appropriate paperwork gets signed away, the tower staff escorts the group toward the elevator. Though with the sheer turnout, it may take a few trips to get everyone down below.

[ooc: Info and sign ups are here!

As a quick clarifying note, here's the gist of how the temple and tower relate.

- Characters can access terminals on specific floors, which will open up stairways to an upside down and photo negative version of the I.B. tower without any people in it. Characters enter on the ceiling, which is now the floor, but must proceed to doorways that are on the floor (now the ceiling).

- The elevator does not function on these flipped floors, but it does function on the regular floors, which is what will allow them to skip around to key areas.

- For the trials, there are only terminals within three floors of the destination (as outlined in the comments).]

Comments

[topgun_textiles]

"Yeah? What's down there? I mean, I'm just hittin' buttons but maybe I did somethin' good..."

He would remain at the terminal. If anything, maybe he needed to shut it off in a hurry if something screwy happened. He even tried working the crank for the hooks. So did they grab those boxes and haul them somewhere? Hmm...

[chatwithdeath]

Blinking, she watched the hook begin to move, but she hadn't done anything. While she might not have the sharpest hearing as other monsters might either, she could hear Kanji fiddling with something.

"Are you moving the hook?"

[topgun_textiles]

"Yeah, I think they pick up the boxes, but I don't see a place or a button they can hold down or whatever."

Okay, so he can manipulate things in his room. Maybe the boxes had something inside, and he needed to drop them from a height to use a key within or whatever. Sounded like a plan. Except...

[chatwithdeath]

So he was moving the hook in there, and it was moving the hook in this room.

"Whatever you move in there also changes the room in here. We'll have to be careful manipulating one room in order to traverse this one." Not that traversal was her issue, but if they were going to move forward as a group, they needed to find the solution.

[einspine]

The first thing Kanji will notice as he turns the crank is that the hook unfurls and drops closer to the floor. It could serve well as a climbing rope, and with enough force, even be used to swing.

As for the crates- should either inspect them, they'd find that for the most part they are light enough to push. With enough effort, they could be lifted, or the device on which the hook is attached could turn to manipulate the boxes as well. Just a matter of fiddling with more knobs along the wall.

For the most part, it seems like an ordinary room, though. At least for now, the path to the next floor in the non-flipped tower is more or less a straight shot to the door.

The trick is getting there while upside down given their abilities and the supplies provided. It'll be a bit of a climb.

[topgun_textiles]

"Oh, seriously?" Weird. So maybe the other room was weird and needed to make a path to get deeper than they could before.

"Okay, uhh... I think I got a handle on these boxes n' hooks. Lemme know which ones to move and where!"

[chatwithdeath]

"Alright. Just for reference, this room looks exactly like the one you're in only upside down and reversed. As such, in order to reach this room's door, the crates have to be moved accordingly so people can ascend to it."

From what she knew of Kanji in the other world, he was fairly competent at understanding things if constructed visually or if he was able to envision them. So that should help them with this puzzle... and getting these crates into a position that everyone could utilize them. "I could climb up to provide better guidance, but I don't think he'll be able to hear me then..."

Speaking lowly, it was still enough someone else could hear her.

[neverbeamemory]

This was quickly starting to get tiresome, having to traipse from the non-flipped to the flipped room every time he wanted to check the exact alignment of objects. Even a basic map of the non-flipped Magitek Tower would have been really helpful; they could have at least had something to mark objects on.

Yet as Kanji and Naomi managed to communicate between themselves regardless, it gave the black and silver clad man time to inspect things thoroughly.

Such as how light the crates were to push manually, and if it would be possible to lift them Telekinetically and if so what the limitations were. He also took great lengths in striding from one raised platform to another, to get an idea of the line of sight from each. It was easy enough to identify the doorway they'd have to get to on the inverse side...

Certainly, he could just Levitate to the doorway in the flipped Floor 10 - but what about Floor 11 afterward? That point that Papyrus made earlier about using Slates to communicate through versions of these floors was becoming apparent as the only way for this to be solved efficiently.

"I wonder-" Sephiroth stood directly in front of the doorway on the non-flipped side and looked up at the ceiling, offering a quick glance in Kanji's direction to make sure the other was hearing him. "If it's not just a case of climbing the hook line here-"

[waningsigns]

[There definitely wasn't a child standing next to Naomi a second ago, but now there is. Frisk waves with a polite little smile, then makes a face at all the boxes on the ceiling. They've gotten real rusty with the whole solving non-memorized puzzles thing, but hey, no time like the present.]

[They vanish again, teleporting rapidly around the inverted stairways to get a few more angles on it before reappearing at Naomi's side. They open their mouth to speak, then jump a little when Sephiroth talks. Geez, where did he come from? they wonder, completely ignoring the fact that they also appeared unexpectedly.]

"Rope could work, I guess? Seems a little... simple."

[einspine]

The group was certainly off to a good start. By arranging the crates and the ropes just right, they could theoretically create a path through which it would largely be a matter of careful leaps and climbs. The ropes, at least, would help those incapable of teleporting, wall climbing, and floating.

Now it was just a matter of getting everything in place before they pressed on, and doing so on the subsequent floors if they so desired.

Floor 11 featured similar objects, in addition to a few scattered switches on the floor and two curious hatches on the ceiling. Interestingly, it seemed these crates and switches bore elemental emblems. A flame, a lightning bolt, a raindrop, and a snowflake, while the crates came in an assortment of colors- red, blue, yellow, and white. If they glance to a wall, they will find a monitor that reads: "Each element has a corresponding weakness. In studying magic, it is important to recognize those weaknesses."

Floor 12 presents further ropes and crates, but there are now two additional switches, and the switches are spread across the room. A black switch rests to the far northeast, a white to the northwest. A blue switch under a raised walkway, a red against the wall. Yellow at the center, and blue to the south. Additionally, black and white crates can now be spotted with the other colors.

On the I.B. Magitek side, there's not much to see on Floor 13. It lacks the raised walkways of previous floors in favor of more level ground. Though the hooks and crates remain, it's oddly plain. Even more so than Floor 10.

Sephiroth would find that the crates were light enough to push manually. With enough physical strength, they could even be lifted and carried.

[topgun_textiles]

"Upside down and flipped..." He took a second to think. The door would be up in the air in the other room, so he needed to create a way they could cross the room without falling, and be able to brace against and open the door.

He looked to Sephiroth and Frisk.

"I never did too well in PE... I'm pretty crappy with rope. I think the box bridge is our best bet."

He started with the cranks. "Can you guys make sure the hooks grab onto somethin' with the boxes? ...uhh... Doc, could ya web the last box and stick it up against the bottom of the door like a platform? If the whole thing's upside down we'd just be opening the door into open air in the next room with nowhere to go, right?"

[chatwithdeath]

"I can do that. Frisk, do you mind guiding the hooks until I get back?"

Whatever happened in the previous room happened in the inverted room so it would make more sense to go back and place the crate in there. Even if it didn't, the crate would still be above the door, leaving it able to be opened.

So, she'll return to the other floor with Kanji and Sephiroth, but then walk back into the room to start moving one crate over to the door.

[neverbeamemory]

All the powers through the Jobs here and still no one can climb a rope?

He'll keep that immediate thought to himself, though certainly didn't help his overall opinion of those other offworlders who'd been brought here. Still, it's not like this puzzle was going to solve itself, or only with his own effort.

"Sure," He answered Kanji, but then quickly followed with another question. "We need to think a little farther ahead though; how we're to coordinate the next floor if the control for all three is all from here?"

For all he knew, it might not be, but it's worth putting it out there. In the meantime, whichever hook Kenji moves first, Sephiroth will drag a crate out to meet it and try to attach the hook in such a way that it will lift and stay flat on top. The plan being platforms to easily lead to the door.

[waningsigns]

[Frisk gives a thumbs up, staying rooted in the best position they can find for keeping an eye on the situation and staying within hearing distance so they can direct things. Although, that'll be difficult if they're too far apart...]

"Doubt we could shout across the floors. Text?"

[They wave their iMog slate for emphasis.]

[topgun_textiles]

"Slate out!" He just propped it up within arm's reach, no problem.

"I'll stay here just in case, then. If there's trouble, gimme a holler," he answered Sephiroth in kind, focused on maneuvering the hooks and working to visualize the place in the reversed position.

All the while he looked for something to indicate there would be screens for the different floors, so that he may switch controls to each in kind. Maybe Sephiroth was onto something.

[einspine]

Fortunately, there were screens on the walls, and if he flipped through the menus, he would find top down maps of the subsequent puzzle floors. And the objects therein.

Right down to the crates with elemental symbols and the colored switches. How intriguing! In theory, he could likely manipulate the controls for the gear from afar if he so wished- in fact, subsequent floors would also feature similar control screens.

Which meant they had a few options: they could work from afar and try to operate based or the maps, they could fan out, or perhaps a bit of both. They did have their slates, after all.

[ooc: As a side note, I fudged the elemental weakness cycle like the dorkus that I am. So, with that in mind, let's assume that the colors and switches, instead of relating to fire/ice/lightning/water instead are fire/wind/ice for floor 11, with 12 adding light and dark themed boxes/switches to the mix as originally planned.]

[chatwithdeath]

Any elemental puzzles that had to be addressed would come later for Naomi. She was preoccupied climbing on the door, moving onto the wall above and bringing the crate along with her. Of course, she paused, laying down a base of web to hold the crate when she finally positioned it, for the initial stick.

Once all set, she moved it into place and proceeded to secure it more. If it did change the other room, she'd leave it; if not, it was a matter of claws cutting through.

[neverbeamemory]

For now, his Slate would stay where it was, snugly tucked into a small inner pocket of his leather trench-coat. Didn't want to risk dropping -or worse, breaking- it, while he was hauling crates around to meet with the hooks Kanji was maneuvering. Once it seemed that the boxes were in the correct positions, Sephiroth would stride for a moment to Kanji and the terminal to see how it looked from those screens.

"That should do it, perhaps?" Before heading directly for the stairwell back into the reverse room to check it from that perspective. He'd have been fine climbing the hook-ropes, but the idea was to get them all into the next room without any trouble.

Once satisfied, with or without some minor adjustments, Sephiroth then pulls out his Slate and texts back to Kanji.

Looks about right in here.

[topgun_textiles]

Cool! Thanks. Gonna get started on the next floors. Looks like it's just some color matching.

Lightning bolts were yellow, ice was blue, so on and so forth. So he would start by placing the lightning on the yellow switch, keeping his ears keen for any sort of feedback.

Whatever was at the end of this hall had to be important if folks had to do all of this. Imagine having to routinely check the floor...

[einspine]

As Kanji places the blocks on their corresponding switches, he would find at least some sort of reactions on the monitors. By the looks of it, some hatches opening and leaving ladders of sorts. Those on the actual corresponding floors would see that these ladders extended from ceiling to floor, giving travelers yet another means to maneuver through the inverted space.

How convenient!

[topgun_textiles]

"Holy shit, I'm doin' stuff!" Take that, teachers at his school! Kanji Tatsumi's solving a thing!

Go for it, guys, I'm almost through with Room 2. I'll catch up once everything's set.

[chatwithdeath]

Crawling around the crate, testing to make sure it was secure, Naomi took out her own slate.

Crate's secure. Is it 'above' the door in there?

[topgun_textiles]

Yup. Locked in tight. Does anything else need to move in there? I'm just finishing up the second room.

Had no idea I was a freaking puzzle master!

[neverbeamemory]

I'm going in.

This time, he managed to send a text to the whole party.

Didn't seem that anyone else was going to take point so it might as well be him. As a precaution, Sephiroth makes sure that Illusionist is switched in before working his way up to the next room; if the crate that Naomi had positioned would hold his weight, he reckoned it'd hold everyone else that had come along with them. If not, at least he could levitate to halt the fall.

We've got ladders; path seems clear

[einspine]

Indeed. The combined puzzle solving thus far had led to a stable path for the adventurers to pursue. With some well positioned ropes, crates, and the ladder, they'd find the progression to the end growing clearer and clearer.

Fortunately, for Sephiroth, the crates held just fine. So far, so good, in that respect.

Once Kanji readied the third floor on the path, it'd just be a matter of reaching the end where they'd hopefully find their first key.

Of course, on the inverse side, the formerly plain Floor 13 would hold more than machinery, crates, and hooks. As a matter of fact, there seemed to be a small arrangement of chests in a square- nine, to be exact. All identical.

This was one puzzle not easily solved by the machinery topside, but surely the key would be worth any potential mimic tomfoolery.