TSC - Chapter 6: Reactions (3) - The Crash

Chloe had been completely unaware of what had happened to Eryn and Lily. She had been forced to wait outside and her curiosity which would have driven her inside was superseded by a sharp pain she felt in the back of her head. She wasn't sure if this was an illness or something more but her vision slowly wained into darkness. Slowly, she could see pinpricks of lights piercing the black. Then, as she turned her head, she could the earth she lived on; however the landmasses were a little different to what she knew. Her eyes followed a craft that could sail through the stars. She could hear sirens and screaming. The vessel then crashed with a volatile force, causing shockwaves and dust clouds to cover the earth that she could see. She could hear  a voice in her head cry and sob, tinged with the chinking of glass. She felt a pain running up her arm and soon the stars and the planet disappeared from view and her arm dissolved in, with Valma's aura enveloping it.

Valma had been brought over the sound of Chloe crying. Her eyes were dry however, and she told Valma she hadn't been crying and looked upo the secret keeper with supicion. Valma was instantly bored and therefore ignored her, now only wanting to play more games and learn more secrets. The voice inside Chloe's head uttered Be quiet child, with Valma responding  accordingly. It now had questions about the voice, why it could hear it and what the voice was. Chloe was now very confused, she had been feeling for quite some time that parts of herself were slowly slipping away, being taken by the voices in her head. Valma's reaction was probably also imagined, a product of whatever was in her head. Regardless, in hopes of getting Valma to be quiet, she told it of the vision she saw. Valma suddenly started to access a historical database, to which it was surprised it even had. It's aura changed, taking on a pale golden hue, although it now seemed to have a partly reflective quality. Its voice also changed, it didn't speak like a child, it's voice was more mature but also more synthetic with crackling undertones. It instantly stopped spinning, the illuminated obelisks and scriptures on its surfaces now in a dim light. Alert. Transdimentional Gravimatrix Drive initiated. All personnel prepare for shift. Valma stopped for a second, her tonal qualities adjusting slightly. Warning, failure in Transdimentional Stability Coils. Warning emergency engine shutdown unable to engage. Alert, catastrophic engine failure. Alert,  gravity lock on celestial body will not disengage. Warning,  impact on celestial body imminent. Likelihood of vessel remaining intact upon collision; less than zero point one. Alert to all personnel, contingency nine three one has been initiated, prepare for an emergency shift . Valma then screamed, as if every part of her being was being destroyed and resembled over and over again.  The screaming  soon trailed off but  was replaced with even more questions, Valma was partly sure it was there at the time of the crash but did not know how, nor did it understand where this knowledge had come from. Valma turned to Chloe for answers.

Unable to find anything of worth to tell Valma, she stared down at her wooden box hoping Valma would eventually become bored. She traced her fingers over the blood that had soaked in when suddenly the crystal panel lit up asking her to connect. She knew what to expect, and followed its instructions leaving Valma trying to figure out what was going on by itself. She called for Eryn who did not reply, then for Lily who did not respond either. Valma casually mentioned she saw hands dragging Lily beneath the floor before she heard Chloe crying. This was not a good sign, nor were the blood splatters, the split mercury and the range of scientific and alchemical devices and notes sheh ad stumbled upon in the room.  The sight of the it didn't sicken her, it was almost as if she couldn't see it.  The flower the device showed was something that she had not seen before but the locator and the description provided lead her to a plant with metallic leaves and fleshy petals. The box fired its two ceramic needles into the stem of the plant followed by a third from Valma, who was now excited about going on a trip. She asked what the destination was and without a reply Chloe connected, in hopes of loosing Valma and its aggravating habits.  

At Mezzo's Margaret was looking over a selections of sketches she had sent for. When Eryn arrived with the burned man and the two strangers, he noticed half of the parchements were scrunched on the floor. They were designs for a new synth box, preusmabley new storage for her lunch. She quickly questioned Eryn as why he had returned without Lily, as she was the owner of the room they wanted to use. A fact they could have bypassed with Chloe, but neither women were with them. He defended himself, saying that he and Lily were still associates and needed the facilities fast.  Margret tutted and lobbed they keys at him before turning back to the sketches, throwing another design in a crumpled ball to the floor.

The safe room had been just as Eryn had left it. The chair was still in the centre of the room, with ropes  attached, Mephisto's blanket was on the floor in the corner, and both the bloodstains on the brickwork of the window and the large spill on the wooden floor had soaked in. The two men Eryn had  met  looked at each other with worry. They both knew they needed the research that the girl Chloe had but she was not here, and the blood on the floor made them only think the worst.

Eryn grabbed his hostage by his black coverings, an identical match to Zarik, the image of his corpse now flashed before Eryn's eyes. He tied the man up and prepared for the interrogation, trying to imitate what he had caught out the corner of his eye with Lily and Styenbeck. He summoned his courage and lit his halo only for him to be hit in the head with metal object that had been flung into the room from the window. This was much to the surprise of Ecition, who had seen Chloe and a metallic pyramid appear out of thin air. He had accompanied his Ricora while she had been feeding on the hand print on the window and now had the urge to leap out himself to investiage the plants around CHloe.