AREA: DORM TD-19

[awakeningwill]

[The video feed turns on. A somewhat familiar face came onscreen, though most would only recognize him as 'that broken robot that Knuckles was keeping on his couch.' Looks like he's fully functional again, and possessing the same emotive range as he did while offline.]

I'm Zero. Starting now, I'll be on security detail.

[There was a pause. It seemed like he was more or less finished with introductions, but there was something else on his mind kept him from turning off the camera. After a beat, he continued.]

The database tells me that Knuckles is no longer here.

...

There's someone else... There was a blue reploid that called himself X. I need to know what happened to him.

...Thanks.

[End transmission.]

Comments

[forgetbeam]

Are you the only security that was hired? The recent problems have been more than any one person can handle!

[Although really he's impressed that anyone at all was hired...]

[awakeningwill]

...No one told me about these incidents. I just noticed the vacancies and thought I should help.

I seem to remember there used to be more security personnel for this school.

[forgetbeam]

Unfortunately, staff and teachers leave without warning and without replacements all the time! It was probably due to a complete lack of security that this happened in the first place!

[And not because of two morons falling underground and provoking bugs. NO SIR...]

But you haven't heard? The school was attacked by a monster only revently! And before that, infested by small shadow creatures!

[awakeningwill]

Hard to say. The people at this school seem pretty tough, nonetheless.

I was only informed about the monsters after I took up the post... But I'd like to know more.

What's your name?

[forgetbeam]

My name is Kiyotaka Ishimaru, a senior.

[And nothing more. WEEP.]

I'll tell you everything I know! Unfortunately, I only heard tell of the monster itself after the fact. But I have seen the shadow creatures first hand! They are small, round things that cluster in groups, and they can take on the form of statues to fight! I heard they turned into other things during the attack, too.

[awakeningwill]

You're the head of the disciplinary committee Gordon mentioned?

So, you've been in the tunnels. Tell me every detail you can remember... do they have any weaknesses?

[forgetbeam]

I... was, yes.

[HE WILL NEVER RECOVER.]

They burn easily, but using fire carelessly does more harm than they ever could! But they can be lulled to sleep through music and don't like bright lights! They clustered in the shadows and inside machinery when they were above ground and chewed through a good number of wires, but it's hard to tell whether they were feeding or just mindlessly destroying things.

[awakeningwill]

[That was... troubling, considering Zero was machinery. Maybe this warranted further investigation towards their habits, but it didn't bode well. At least he had the Fire Chip though, it covered one weak spot pretty thoroughly.

He wanted to ask about the 'was', but maybe later. More mission relevant business first.]

You've seen them bring these statues to life, correct? What kind of statues are they?

[forgetbeam]

[He glances up just briefly while he tries to recall the details. It's good to feel useful and dutifully relay information like this. HE'S DOING A GOOD JOB.]

I have only seen it happen once, with a statue of a short mustachioed man beneath the school. When they were like this they were aggressive and could shoot fireballs. I have heard there are even more statues beneath the school, so there's no telling what else they could do if they decided to take the form of one of the others!

[awakeningwill]

So, they gain new powers once they take on a statue's form... Hn. [Even more troublesome.]

I need to bring data on the statues back to Gordon to analyze, but if what you say is true, it won't be easy - especially if they feed on machines.

[Zero looked deep in thought... maybe this warranted some more hands on testing. He didn't see a lot of other options right now, with his limited pool of knowledge.]

...I'll take a look for myself, first.

[forgetbeam]

Right. Be careful down there!

[NOT THAT HE'S SCARED TO OFFER TO GO BACK DOWN WITH HIM OR ANYTHING BUT HE JUST

has

a thing

he has to do

yeah.]