tesla_bot | Tesladyne: Every Day's an Adventure!

The door that opens is a free standing frame on a small plywood dais at the focus of a tremendous amount of cabling and particle emitters. The whole area smells of ozone.

Tesladyne's high energy physics department (Advanced Topology Division) is marked by a school of design that thinks things should be able to be cleaned with a pressure washer - painted cinder block, tiles floors, scorch resistant counters, wire reinforced glass and plenty of drains. Decorations lean towards lolcats, and mock safety signs saying 'Do not look at laser with remaining eye'.

There's a calendar open to December 2010 and a clock that says it's about 10.

"Right it's still morning," says Robo, "Watch your step, it was easier to raise the door three inches than to cut down all the equipment by that much."

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

basic_powers

Whoops indeed. Tyler's got a tentcle waiting on the inside there. First one to get picked off there is corn-row girl, who screams very well as she's yanked upwards to the top of the pipe-maze. And second to get picked off in the darkness is Mr. I-wear-capris, as he tries to escape harassment by the shoggoth that ate Tentacleman and a screaming mimi.

And man....you thought the shoggoth's method of movement was weird BEFORE eating someone...

Well. Let's just say Fetishman is probably going to want to sit out the next exercise if he gets seasick easily.

From:

tesla_bot

The lab is on an island, so there's been some filtering.

"Everyone be calm! How hard can it - umphrg!"

"And that's why you don't tempt Murphy, Hammond."

Or shoggoths. Ah well. The remainder, all seven, have managed to clear the maze in one group of three and one group of four.

The group of three has a series of stepping platforms over a ball pit.

The group four has a chainlink fence to climb. On the same level as the three shoggoths under the bridge.

From:

basic_powers

One of those three shoggoths have fed recently. You can tell by the shape struggling inside of it as it moves along like Fetishman's shoggoth. Which has two victims inside of it now. Poor Hammond, he didn't deserve it, but he asked for it when he tempted Murphy's wrath. All four shoggoths are now after the group of four. For two of them, the chain links don't matter. They can pass right through them. The other two start climbing.

The group of three at the stepping platforms have probably noticed the tentacle attempting to lash out and grab them. HIT THE DECK! The end is in sight!

From:

tesla_bot

The group of three eye the tentacles and the platforms warily. Those things have REACH. The plan appears to be to have two of them take the hits and try and get one of them to safety. Before a gray and lurching Clarkson stumbles up behind them anyway. There's a bit of a scuffle and they'll have to hope that one sacrifice will do for the tentacled god.

The quartet is not quite so well organized and just goes for a mad scramble.

"Well, they're moving faster today, that's for sure," says Phil, "A little more mist in the ball pit. For atmosphere."

From:

basic_powers

"Sounds good," Tyler replies, sitting back in the recliner as his tentacle nabs up the sacrifice of the spare wheel.

The group of four...maybe if they would have had some strategy, they wouldn't have become shoggoth kibble. One's nabbed by the single-victim shoggoth near the top.

"AAAAIIIGH!"

Another is caught and tied to Fetishman's shoggoth through the chain link fence. Sheeeee doesn't look to happy about this.

And the last two? Well. There's two volkswagen bugs of monstrous appetite and formless eyes waiting at the bottom of the fence for them.

"...I'm so hiding behind you when she gets loose." Tyler informs Phil.

From:

tesla_bot

"That's fine," says Phil, "I'm hiding behind Robo."

What? Whoever can take gunfire gets to be the one who takes the hits.

Robo's slipped in the back in time to hear Phil's comment.

"And I'm hiding behind Jenkins. Are we about ready to start unwrapping them?"

"As soon as the last two that are trapped make up their minds."

From:

basic_powers

"Nevermind, the two shoggoths on the floor got impatient." Tyler answers without looking away from the screen to Robo.

"GROWMPF!"

From:

tesla_bot

"Delightful. Tyler, feel free to call everything off. Phil, bring the lights up."

Robo takes a moment to rub his hands together with a touch of glee.

"What do you have planned for the finale boss?"

From:

basic_powers

"On it." Tyler grins, punching away at the Gameboy that Mad Science had it's way with. All around the course the shoggoths retreat back to their starting places in thick, VERY quickly moving rivelets of ooze, tentacles stop moving and the black screaming mimi's dissolve back into the pipework.

At Phil's question there is a very puppy-eyed look towards Robo, with a grin that really should belong on Jenkin's face.

Can he play boss, can he play?

From:

tesla_bot

This is why Robo makes a much better uncle than a father.

"Let me get them lined up first," is what he says, "There's no point if they can't see."

That said, Robo heads back out to get everyone cleaned up, or at least wiped off, and in a position watch a proper demo.

From:

basic_powers

And in the meantime, just to be fair, Tyler's going to show Phil how to activate the putty constructs, while activating a beacon for his own shoes.

No point in beating their time if he's not facing the same obstacles.

And once that's taken care of, Tyler climbs out of the blind in the tire-pile and trots his way out in front of the group, grinning.

From:

tesla_bot

Robo is standing on a smallish box to get above the crowd. Tentacles are moving jerkily in the background, but improve rapidly.Phil has excellent video gaming reflexes.

"Everyone, this is Tyler. He's possibly Jenkin's illegitimate child from a different timeline and he is going to show you how it's possible to run the course. You three," here Robo gestures to the stepping stone trio, "The reward for a job well done being another job: You're all zombies after Tyler."

From:

basic_powers

"Nice! Hey Clarkson, where's the zombie makeup?" One of the stepping stone trio grins.

Tyler is just vibrating and waiting to get going before tugging on Robo's pantleg to whisper to him. "Have the ones not playing turn their boots in. Don't want them to catch onto how the shoggoths followed them too easily."

From:

tesla_bot

"Point. And turn your boots back in if you aren't on the course. You don't get to keep those yet."

There's some grumbling while the bin the boots came from is refilled and hauled off.

"You ready Phil? On three."

Hope Tyler's on the starting line.

"Three!"

From:

basic_powers

He doesn't even bother to look behind for the shoggoths, Tyler knows that they have got to be forming up right behind him. It's a quick trot, notably -not- a sprint that takes him up to the climbing wall.

Tyler is staying calm and rationing out his energy. Good thing too, cause the climbing wall is a little unfamiliar for him, but he does make it to the top.

From:

tesla_bot

It is excellent progress by Tyler.

"Go get 'em tentacle!"

"That's Phil, Clarkson you nimrod."

The peanut gallery is in fine shape and Phil is certainly doing his best to appease them with swipes from the first tentacle.

From:

basic_powers

Tyler's been dodging tentacles for the last year and a half, off and on. He's learned a trick to it, if any of the peanut gallery pick up on it.

He watches the tentacle, sees where it draws back to, and when it lashes out, THAT is the direction he lunges towards, leaving the attack to overshoot him by a foot or so. Using this technique, he makes it to the swinging-tire bridge, just in time for Phil to unleash the screaming mimis.

Take notes class, this kid isn't trying to actively BATTLE anything.

From:

tesla_bot

The shoggoths fall through the gaps as before without anyone handy to play skeleton but in addition to the mimis, Phil has also taken the time to hit the strobes, the dimmers and the fog machines. No favorites are being played here.

Pipe maze next.

From:

basic_powers

Whough, it's a LOT harder with the strobes going off now to see things. Tyler's reasonably certain that he has left the shoggoths some ways behind but that is NO reason to stop and look behind.

Now comes the part where Tyler keeps thinking on his feet, as he's not going through the pipe maze. Playground gymnastics come mightily into play as Tyler makes use of small size and the many pipes, the tentacle tries to strike at him more than once, but clever use of the pipes as a quick get away and defense prove most useful. He's not making that good of a time though, the screaming mimis often throw him off balance, leaving him to swing holding onto the pipe to make another pass.

"...I woulda thought of that." Hammond mutters for a moment.

From:

tesla_bot

Don't feel too bad Hammond, none of the adults came up with it in time.

The zombies, being proper slow stumbling examples of the type, aren't an issue on the pipe maze. They are, however, in the pipe maze. Which makes this the highest concentration of tracers for the shoggoths to home in on.

"He's outsi-" Ah. The one with the baseball cap has had it stuffed in his mouth.

"Shut it Jake. Nobody needs you or your internet habits out here."

Well that's some aggression that won't make it to Tyler.

From:

basic_powers

You know what, the zombies are totally helping Tyler right now. Because all four of the shoggoths have made it out from under the bridge by climbing on top of each other, and are now coming for the zombies inside of the maze.

"BLRRGLLLRRRAAAUR!!"

"FUCK! SHOGGOTHS!" One of the zombies promptly declares as one of the shoggoths takes a lunge and misses. They forgot about the shoggoths didn't they?

Tyler's almost out of the pipe maze now folks.

Edited Date: 2010-12-04 12:33 am (UTC)

From:

tesla_bot

Eh, they did but they'll get by. The shoggoths are herding them towards the other end of the maze anyway.

"GROWMPF!"

"Faster Jimmy!"

Or not. The question now: Did Tyler out think three panicked men in face paint and a quartet of pseudo-abominations out of Lovecraft, or did they get lucky and end up at the right exit to the pipe maze?

From:

basic_powers

No, no he did not. He was more focused on getting through the maze to the point he knew he'd have the best chance of getting across. The Stepping Stones ball pit.

However as soon as he realizes he's out of the maze and where he wants to be...he's also noticing the zombies and their shoggoth entourage.

NOW is the time to sprint for the ball pit and dodge every zombie on his tail.

From:

tesla_bot

Three shoggoths slumping, two zombies lurching and a shoggoth with zombie.

Also a tentacle from above. Phil isn't even trying to be subtle, that sucker is out and swinging back and forth. If Tyler can time it right it's literally just a hop, skip and a jump and he's out.

From:

basic_powers

That is IF he can time it right...so, why not BUY some time? As he flattens himself against the stepping stone to avoid a tentacle swipe, he grabs up two of the balls from the pit. Then Tyler rolls onto his back and sits up.

Zombie number one, Zombie number two?

-ponk!- -ponk!-

Headshots for both of you!