MISSION: ANALYZE STRANGE MASKS

[awakeningwill]

[There's a robot on the camera with two rather grotesque looking... heads? Both of them isolated in thick, futuristic-looking glass tubes for study.]



[For those unaware, Zero will fill them in:] These were left behind after the monsters in the lake and underground bunker were defeated. Their function is... unknown.

The results have come back from Dr. Freeman's lab, and as far as he can tell, these masks are extremely old... most likely ancient. Their exact age is unclear, but their composition matches no known substance. They are organic, however.

Whatever they are, these... 'masks' are definitely connected to the anomalies happening in this city. If anyone else has come across clues in their investigations, or have any relevant knowledge, contact me.

= = =

It's absurd that I should be talking about this as a sidenote, but I'm sure you've all seen Dr. Eggman's latest declaration on the network. With an army that large, he's likely to take advantage of any chaos or unrest that happens in the city by unleashing it on us all. The more people he captures, the more he can add to his ranks with the Roboticizer.

We need to find his base, destroy his machines, and free the animals trapped inside them. With the Egg Carrier downed, it won't be as easy to find as before... Is there anyone who can track his signal back to him, or covertly scout for his location?

Comments

[SPOOKY lab times!]

[trustycrowbar]

That isn't possible. You can't reanimate something that's dead.

[But that leans on a particular assumption that he isn't completely sure of: Were these things really dead? There have been enough zombies in his line of work to teach him that the line isn't as clearly defined as he once thought it was. His doubt is apparent, by the way he gives the tube a long, lingering stare...]

[...BEEPBEEPBEEP--]

GAH, JEEZUS! [Visibly spooked, he lurches away from the tube and against one of the printers, then takes a look at what it has to say.] ...Another temperature spike in the solution. Those magnetic waves are coming faster.

[awakeningwill]

[Zero's not sure what that means, exactly, but it certainly doesn't make them sound dead. With the two of them here, it makes him certain that there were still more masks out there somewhere, probably at the source of the other anomalies at FDC. How many there were in total, it was impossible to say. Still, it all had to be linked somehow...]

These can't be all of them. Do you think the masks could be affected by their proximity to each other?

[trustycrowbar]

They're basically really slowly microwaving the water.

[He looks between the two masks.]

Yes. Absolutely. These two had always been together, but even moving them across the lab has given me different readings. They're... resonant, somehow. If I had to guess, I'd say that there's one, maybe two more waves that would reinforce each other like these two do, and two more masks to go with them.

[awakeningwill]

[So, did that mean there were at least four masks? It seemed like a rather fitting number, somehow. But that meant their work was only halfway done - and who knows what gathering all four masks would reveal.

Or maybe unleash was a better word.]

The question is, whether this resonance is harmful. What would happen if we had more masks?

[trustycrowbar]

The frequencies would propagate, but I'm not sure if we'd see any kind of critical mass.

[In other words, he doesn't have a clue.]

Where were these masks found again?

[awakeningwill]

One was picked up from the dragon monster in the lake. The other, by a mechaniloid snake in the underground bunkers. When they were defeated, their bodies dissolved completely, leaving behind only the mask.

[Freakin' mysterious. The masks didn't even resemble the monsters that dropped them.]

[trustycrowbar]

Sounds almost like they were put there just to leave the masks behind...

Hey, do me a favor, and let me know if you find out anything else. Together we might just be able to get to the bottom of this.

[awakeningwill]

Of course.

It could be that any future anomalies are the cause of monsters with masks. The moon may very well be one of them. How we tackle that one, I'm not sure...

[Does this mean they have to go to space? Because Zero doesn't have a great track record of going into space. And yet somehow he knows how to pilot a space shuttle]

[trustycrowbar]

Oh yeah. The moon.

[He isn't sure how the two things could possibly have to do with one another, but he's got a thing to say about this too. However, he seems to be a little reluctant.]

By the way, I've got some good news and some bad news. I did some measurements. The planet's center of gravity is shifting... that would probably explain all the earthquakes and shifting seas.

That's, uh... that's the good news.

[awakeningwill]

[There was a brief, incredulous silence.]

...Uh-huh.

[How was that good news? What planet did Gordon come from that this is the kind of discovery that would constitute good news? Certainly, it was a step up from no news, but Zero was really going to regret asking:] And what's the bad news?

[trustycrowbar]

[A planet full of radiation and suck, Zero.]

The bad news is that the center of gravity is shifting for a reason. I don't think the moon just LOOKS bigger than it is.

I think it's actually moved out of its established orbit.