Daycare Attendant intro

[dualityinjest]

Open/locked?: Open!
Who: Whoever wants to investigate
What: The daycare attendant's inglorious intro
Where: Inside the building
Why: Because his player is terrible?
Warnings: Moon being Moon. Yep. (More seriously, nothing just yet past possible violence. Let's see if anyone can get Sun to spill to them, first.)
Extra info: this bot is kinda tall. And if anyone wants to know what they sound like... :D

In one of the lower levels -- not so low as to still be flooded, but unused enough for no one to have turned the lights on lately... there was a crash, and a screech.

It wasn't the biggest crash; someone had just dropped a box of something. But the screeching... that sounded like genuine distress. It was a higher-pitched voice, probably not one anyone would have found all that immediately familiar. "No" could be made out clearly enough at first, repeated, louder and more frantically, until after a few seconds, it sounded strangled... and then it was quiet.

Dare someone investigate?

Comments

[elianne]

Eli had been hiding out down there as the floods had started drying up. Especially with Roxas gone, leaving her no one to watch her back. And she was still freaked out about...

After a few dry heaves she managed to push herself out from under the desk she had been sleeping under. She grabbed what was left of a broken chair leg and slowly made her way towards where the sound had come from.

[professorsong]

"Finally, I thought nothing interesting was going to happen this week," River said as she walked towards the sound, unconcerned seeming. She was as armed as she could be here, but where was the fun in overpowering and cowing some new arrival if that was what this was. And if it was a thief... That was a whole other kind of fun. And threatening to give whoever was trying to steal to Chell as soup fixings was an amusing idea as well.

[dualityinjest]

She didn't need to find the source of the sound of the crash; whatever it was had moved. There was the sound of mechanical creaking echoing through the halls long before she ever found the room in question. A pause, and more creaking, a few hard little sounds as whatever it was moved about against the stones....

...And a laugh. A rather unhinged-sounding little cackle, mostly breath, almost a giggle....

This didn't sound too friendly, whatever it was. And it seemed to be coming from that dark hallway down over there somewhere....

[dualityinjest]

Sure was a dark hallway she was looking down, there, in heading toward the source of the sounds. Would she find the room, before she found the animatronic? They'd gone the other way, it seemed, a few little creaky sounds echoing around another hallway past the room with its door left open, the dropped box of things lying abandoned on the ground within....

[elianne]

NOPE. Nope nope nope. She had no daggers. And no clue what the actual hopes that was, laughing. She turned and ran.

[dualityinjest]

Smart girl.

[professorsong]

She was keeping her senses open, eyes ears nose... even the floor through her shoes. Though if she felt something that way, it was probably already too late. Still. She drew her squareness gun. No one had to know it was a paper tiger. She followed the sounds that implied moving, though she did pause cautiously before crossing the door way to wait, listen. If she heard nothing in there, quick glance and oull back.

[dualityinjest]

The room seemed unoccupied, with just the half-spilled plastic crate of stuff on the floor as evidence that someone had been there. But, dark as the room was inside....

[professorsong]

She reached in enough to flick on the light, counted ten, then risked a quick look in again, Squareness gun leading.

[dualityinjest]

The light came on as it might've been expected to, in this place. Nothing out of the ordinary there.

A few things were knocked over, but they'd probably been like that already. The plastic crate was new, though... the little thing was on its side, its contents half spilled. Looked an awful lot like kids' art stuff, at a glance.

No one in the room, though....

[professorsong]

After she looked long enough to establish that she continued on. Anywhere else she'd take a flashlight, turn it on and send it spinning down the hall. Give her a chance to look for suspicious shapes and shadows. But flashlights were in short supply here.

But she could turn on lights every door she passed. If they stated going out then she'd know either whatever it was got behind her, or... there was more than one.

The Doctor was going to be sorry he missed this one.

[dualityinjest]

They didn't seem to be turning out behind her as she went. Not so far.

Another hallway split, and there off down it, there was a sound, something creaking, a mechanical squeaking. Much further down, at the end of that hall, a soft red glow reflecting off of the hard surfaces. Was someone using a primarily-infrared flashlight or something? The way it moved suggested a flashlight, at least... and then it was around another corner again, back to being out of sight.

[professorsong]

Well then...

Keeping the Sqareness gun up with one hand her other hand reached into her clothes and pulled out her sonic screwdriver. Seemed like the right place for the red setting... She aimed it at the light and...

...nothing.


Again...

...nothing.

Fine. She tried a different setting.


...nothing.

she put it away and listened carefully. She had gotten no information but it had made a lot of noise. So now she had to be careful, see what the result of the noise might have been.

[dualityinjest]

The red glow at the corner of the hall swept back around, the mechanical creaks growing louder again. Whatever it was had heard, and it was coming back. It didn't take long; it wasn't moving particularly slowly. The source of the dim flashlight-like glow came into view... it was a pair of something round and red, something which hovered around six feet up in the air... then ducked down to about four. Then back up to five, as they turned away, covering the back end of the hall in that dim red glow, just barely well enough to show her what seemed to be the silhouette of a big circle... and was that the top part of a figure, just below it? Someone wearing a mask, one with two huge glowing red eyes, perhaps? They were too far apart to have been covering eyes in a face with a human size and layout. Maybe they were just on either side of their eyes? ...But the figure just below seemed far too small, from what little was visible of it, for it to have been an adult human. A child on stilts, maybe? But it wasn't moving like a child....

She didn't have much time to get a better look; the thing turned, and both red spots then swung around easily in view... it was looking right down the hall, in her direction. And began heading her way, too, the creaking sounds resuming as it ducked down, back to a little less than four feet up... what was it?

And that cackle, high and breathy, sounding so entirely unhinged....

The two red eyes -- they had to be eyes, right? Or head-lamps? -- amid more creaks and mechanical sounds, ducked a little lower still... and then went up to the ceiling, to stay there at that height as it continued its way down the hall toward her. Was whatever this was... now on the ceiling, next to the wall?

What was going on? Whatever it was, she probably didn't want to stick around for it to get all the way down the hall to her.... Not with that little hint of a strained, hoarse-sounding giggle, as if under its breath.... That was no mere child. Probably.

[mist_the_point]

Foulques had found himself somewhat on edge after the incident with Eli and the lamp, and that feeling of something being amiss- well, moreso than usual- had persisted. In a way, it was almost a relief that another strange incident happened. An oddly tinny high-pitched voice that became a strangled noise and suddenly and rather ominously fell silent was something that definitely warranted investigation.

He drew his spear, but merely to have it out, not holding it at combat ready as he approached the area from which the noises had emanated. "Is anyone there?", he called. "If so, show yourself!"

[professorsong]

Her mind was ticking through known creatures it could be. She was guessing more mechanical, but it was no guarantee. Eyes glowing was probably not Cybermen, but they were constantly iterating. So not impossible. But the lack of tell tale sound and the movement also spoke against Cybermen.

Not Daleks, at all. Not a chance.

Carrionites were possible, she supposed. She'd want light if it was. Dæmon? Maybe. Not likely, but possible. Could be Drashings. Not her first time dealing with them, she could hope that was what it was. Because she could handle them without a gun. There were a few people here she could feed to them to distract them...

The eyes were far enough apart for Hath, but Hath eyes didn't glow, and there wasn't any of the tell tale sounds she expected. A shame, the Hath could be reasoned with.

The eyes were too small for an Ice Warrior unless they changed more than she expected in the last few thousand years. Too quiet for Jadoon. Which was just as well given she was a criminal. She didn't exactly have anything on her that would fell one. And there was rarely ever just one. And they wouldn't stop until they ended her, since there was nowhere to turn her in to.

Too tall for Ood. Ood could go either way really. But if it was an Ood.

No good. Too many options even before she considered something she'd never encountered. She needed a better look at the whatever it was. Even if that gave it a better look at her.

She reached into a room as she passed it, flipping on the broken lights. Only half went on, but half was better than none. She darted to the next room and flipped the switch. Good, they all worked. And she remembered that there was a break in the wall between this room and the next. Perfect. She darted into the well lit classroom and ran for the partially concealed break, then turned, her back to the shadowed opening. Hiding the fact that she had an escape route.

She leveled the squareness gun and aimed it at the doorway she had come through, at the height the eyes had been last. Speaking of eyes, hopefully hers wpuld adjust first...

[dualityinjest]

No answer came at first; the place was quiet. Whoever had screeched, whoever had potentially been in trouble, they weren't in the immediate area... or at least, not obviously so.

There were a few echoes, however, from much further off down the halls: metallic creaks and squeaks, audible evidence of poorly-maintained machinery of some sort. Maybe he should follow the tiny lead in that direction?

And if he didn't, that was fine too. The sounds were getting more obvious as whatever it was was getting closer again. They'd found a dead end in that path, and were returning.

[dualityinjest]

The sounds grew closer, and an instance of strained, completely unhinged cackling accompanied it as well. And closer... footsteps were near impossible to make out; this thing's feet were apparently rather quiet, or at least weren't to be heard over their general creaking and squeaking... but it hardly mattered; their distance was fairly simple to estimate. They were pausing here and there after turning the corner, growling frustratedly but quietly to themselves, and continuing on, getting ever closer.

And then the thing, the strange seemingly pale-faced menace, peeked into the room she was in. It didn't last but a very fleeting moment -- almost no sooner had it stuck its head into view, down near the floor, than it jerked right back out of sight, making angry, pained sounds, voice seeming a bit strangled.

"Naughty," it chided, lurking around just outside the doorway for another moment. The sounds it made went up, and to the other side of the door, the reflection of those red eyes against the opposite wall of the hallway betraying its location further, if River could make it out still, despite however well her eyes had adjusted to the classroom's lights. It was up high again, perhaps on top of a bank of lockers... and after a moment, there was another sound of movement, the red lights sweeping away... and then it leaned down barely into view from the other side of the hallway, trying to get a look without getting the room's bright lights directly in its face.

But it was at just the wrong angle to see her, even out in the open as she was -- its eyes weren't visible, just the side of its face, which tilted away from her, a pale off-white. ...And then the thing's whole head spun, as though it were some sort of nightmarish pinwheel confirming at least that the rest of it was dark, rotating on its center point as it jumped along the top of the lockers it was crouching on, returning back toward the way it'd come a little, to get a better look into the part of the room River wasn't in, and ending up out of sight, as it did so.

"Hide away," it said, more a hoarse whisper than anything.

And then sounds of movement again -- it was going past the room she'd hidden in, not having found her, to continue its search elsewhere, hopping along the tops of the lockers as it went, avoiding the floor. It paused outside the next room down, the sounds quieting again but present; it must have hopped down to go peek inside that one, as it wasn't yet lit. She wouldn't have time to ambush it in there, though; it wasn't doing much more than looking, and then continuing on its search.

Another creaking giggle... whatever this was, it might be wise to let it pass by her.

[professorsong]

Unhinged cackling. Unsurprisingly her first thought was the Master. Unhinged and the Master went together as well as The Master and Cybermen, really.

She waited, watched as it inspected. Tried to do the same. Not enough of a view of it though. And then it...

Seemed to move on.

Oh no it was not going to do that.

But knowing it didn't like the light? She could work with that. She slipped her squareness gun into her holster. She made her way slowly to the door as she did, in case it was both a trick and a trap. As she moved she pulled out what looked like a vial of perfume and sprayed it over herself.

Suddenly she was in an elaborate hair style bedecked in small mirrors, and mirrored earrings. She drew out her sonic and held it over her head. She calculated the angle that would hit the most mirrors in an ideal way and turned on the sonic. She walked out of the room, following the sound with her disco ball head torch.

She knew she had a better chance against whatever it was than most of the people here. Certainly more than the kids. So it was down to her. Besides... it had been a while since she nearly died. She was due a little excitment.

[mist_the_point]

His eyes narrowed in suspicion at the lack of a proper answer, and he shifted his spear into combat ready position as he advanced into the dark. He moved slowly to allow his eyes to adjust as they might; Duskwights had better night vision than their Wildwood cousins, but not by a great deal, so even he could make out very little in the heavy shadows.

[dualityinjest]

Whatever it was... was apparently going to help him find it by meeting him partway. More creaking mechanical sounds were coming from down the hallway... but so was a soft red glow, as though from an oddly-colored candle: soft and dim, at least at that distance. But it was growing a little brighter as the source of it approached, a little more defined... not a candle, then, but a directed light source, like a flashlight. A small, weak lantern? Just a dim one, and at a distance... which was closing.

The thing neared the corner, the mechanical squeaks growing louder... and seemed to pause a moment, the red light aiming around a little more thoroughly, inspecting the hall. There wasn't a lot to see in this particular corner, the way the previous flooding had swept so much of the trash here further indoors and down to the lower levels, or at least into the corners another hall or two down. And whoever or whatever was swinging their lantern around seemed to be satisfied with it as well, and moved again--

--Moved up. With another handful of creaks, the light source went all the way up to almost the ceiling, as though whatever this was was had jumped up onto the top of a locker bank.

And then it proved that that was exactly the case, something sliding out from around the corner, something that the light reflected off of to reveal roundness, some sort of... small shield? With two glowing red circles on the orbs set into it.... a mask, of some sort? If he could make out the details, that was.

It spun, the two red light sources circling an assumed center and ending back up where they started... and as it did, the thing up there gave that breathy cackle and moved again with a few more little squeaks, sliding a too-small-looking foot around the corner onto the doorframe just around the other side as a too-long-looking hand -- an armored, gloved hand? -- grabbed the corner of the wall, another on a ridiculously long-looking skinny arm reaching up to somehow find purchase on the uneven ceiling.

It came forward, its lower half twisting, its other leg swinging around, poofy, shiny vinyl pants reflecting the red glow brightly, and seeming partially lit from within, yellow stars visible among the blue and black of its folds. Another cackle, and its head -- its mask? -- spun around again the other way, and back upright again, and this thing was around the corner fully, balancing somehow at the top of the wall, its feet on top of the doorframe, its hands pushing up against the ceiling....

Whatever this thing was, it seemed to be playing around or something.....

[mist_the_point]

Whatever it was seemed vaguely humanoid in shape from what he could discern, albeit skeletally thin, though its movement reminded him more of a spider. The creaking and clicking of its movements meanwhile, suggested something mechanical. Some sort of mammet, perhaps? Unlike standard mammets however, it lacked any sort of endearing traits and instead seemed vaguely menacing, a fact reinforced by its breathy cackle. Luckily the faint glow parts of it had gave away its position in the dim hallway.

"If you think you can evade me by climbing the walls like an insect you are sorely mistaken," he said. He angled his spearpoint subtly upward in the creature's direction. If it thought to spring upon him from above, it was likely to regret the action. "If you can speak as well as laugh, come down and do so. Who are you?"

[dualityinjest]

It swung its other leg back around again -- having done so twice now, it was clearer that whatever passed for a waist was able to rotate rather freely after all -- to take another step closer, rather than keeping its feet in the same order as a biological being might. That was another meter closer, the head spinning around fully once more, and then another step, still closing the distance between them.

"Naughty," it hissed. There, something about the voice was familiar -- to a careful ear, it might have even been the same voice -- the same voicebank, really -- as was used earlier, screeching in alarm about something. But this wasn't the way it'd been used before... here, it was lowered, gravelly, growling the words more than trying to be understood all that well. "Someone needs a time out!"

Rather than stepping across the locker banks again, the thing launched itself forward, landing only a few yards away from Foulques there in the hall, eyes circling one another as its head spun once more, the thing crouching low as it slid to a halt on the stone floor against the wall... and then sprang forward toward him, arms outstretched, heading high.

On the plus side, he knew exactly what its trajectory would be -- that was one very high and quick jump, one that would would probably leave it sailing well over his head, especially if he were to duck. It seemed to want to reach down to grab him from above, though, and with arms as long as it evidently had, that might not be the hardest thing for it to do.

Clearly, this mechanical menace didn't know what it was up against....

[dualityinjest]

The thing, whatever it was, was crouched down on top of the lockers opposite a door down, pulling itself back up from having peeked inside... and the mirrored light caught its attention. It tried to turn its big flat head to see what it was that'd caught its attention, only to make a strangled sound and turn away as it flashed right into those red eyes, and looked away quickly, both hands up to shield its face.

But it was enough to get a better look at it -- an off-white crescent moon for a face, cartoonish as it was. The red parts had most definitely been eyes... and now that it was looking specifically away from her, making pained little sounds, she could see the exposed wiring and PCB on the back of its head, scuffed silvery metal, ball-jointed short pipe-like segments for a neck, smoothly-defined if oddly-proportioned outer shell -- armor? -- sections between its joints giving a solid structure to its body. And those puffy pants... shiny vinyl, under the ruffled sash. The pants looked to actually be pastel, where the light hit them, but that was almost certainly due more to the brightness of the reflected light, wasn't it? Was it some sort of clown costume it was wearing, including what had to be a long, triangular night-cap sort of hat?

It was a machine, one that moved rather fluidly, if oddly. One that seemed to hate getting light shined right in its face. But, given that its vision was presumably adjusted to see in the dark by its own dim red flashlight functions, maybe that was understandable.

"No lights," it hissed, voice sounding like it should've been higher, but had lowered to as much of a growl as it could manage. It began to pick itself back up from where it'd dropped lower in its crouch on top of the locker banks, readying to make its getaway.

[professorsong]

"So you can talk," she said. "Alright, let's make a deal. You talk, I'll talk, and the more I like what you're saying, the lower I'll dim the lights. Fair?"

Oh she wished she could tell her mother about this one. Starship Isle, indeed.