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

[rivalsolarbeam]

[Hello Mr. Robot. There is an antsy Venusaur.]

Oh... there's, uh, another one.

[awakeningwill]

[Perhaps Bulba could feel the intense, laser-like stare of Zero's robot eyes drilling into him.]

...Where is it.

[rivalsolarbeam]

[HE CAN FEEL IT.]

... I can go get it.

[awakeningwill]

Bring it to the lab.

[That was an order.]

[rivalsolarbeam]

[Geez louise.]

O...kay. I'll be there soon?

[BRB grabbing the mask from the realm of vague handwaving territory.]

[rivalsolarbeam]

[Later, a golden ray of sunshine shuffled into the lab in Bulba's hands and it was really ugly.]

[Really ugly.]

Hello?

[awakeningwill]

[A robot was here, no less piercing and stern in person. He stared at Bulba, then at the... thing in his hands.]

This is it?

[It looked... well, less fleshy than the other two.]

[rivalsolarbeam]

[But also way shorter than Bulba was expecting. (Which had no bearing on the potency of the laser eyes he undoubtedly possessed.) Bulba blinked as he looked down at the robot, and then at the mask.]

Yes. It's not quite as grotesque, is it?

[awakeningwill]

[At least the tiny, miniature robot man was staring at the mask now, instead of at Bulba. He gestured for it wordlessly, wanting to look it over in his own hands. It looked carved and painted, but was it made of something like wood or stone?]

...How did you get it?

[Considering the fight it took to get the other two, surely this one hadn't simply fallen in Bulba's lap.]

[Action, in da lab.]

[trustycrowbar]

Zero... It's safe to say that these masks are some of the creepiest damn things I've ever seen.

[And that's saying something, coming from a guy who's had to fight a giant psychic cyborg space fetus. Gordon stands up from the microscope screen, giving the pattern of pores on it a mistrustful glance.]

I wish I could tell you more. They ARE organic, but there are leather and bone masks out there; this is something different. These are more like... a cross between fossils and taxidermy trophies. These things came from actual creatures, but they're not decaying. It's like they're individually frozen in time, or something.

[Video]

[mach_n_roll]

Diiiiid I hear something about breaking Eggman's stuff? Is it that time of year already? Hahah, I hope he got me something nice this time. That Egg Carrier business last time was SO last decade.

[That's this way of volunteering, Zero.]

[video]

[drawin_on_trees]

[There's nothing but a scream from Skull Kid.]

[itsjustrats]

I guess it's safe to say that nobody should wear them.

[Labby lab times]

[awakeningwill]

[Well, that didn't tell them much, but it was a bit better than the giant question mark that was there before. For rather obvious reasons, pretty much anything organic was already far out of Zero's realm of knowledge, so Gordon was the best shot he had at understanding any of this.

Needless to say, he was frowning suspiciously at these masks.]

You make them sound like they could come alive...

[awakeningwill]

[Oh. It's you. The one who pretty much single-handedly threw the idea of a covert mission into the Egg Carrier out the window. The fact that he took all of this so lightly really got on Zero's nerves, but to the casual observer, he was as stone-faced as usual.]

You're... Knuckles's friend. The loudmouth.

Is there any way you could scout Dr. Eggman's location without alerting him to your presence? [As in, quietly?]

[awakeningwill]

[Uh... what was he supposed to do about this?

Look, Zero's not the best with kids.]

...

What's... wrong?

[awakeningwill]

That wouldn't be very smart. [Understatement delivered via deadpan.]

We don't even know what their purpose is, yet.

[rivalsolarbeam]

[Well good. Bulba certainly wouldn't mind the mask getting lasered instead. He handed it over without a fuss.]

Um... There was a huge creature in the forest... Though it felt a lot more like a miasma, really. A few of us went to investigate all those moths but they led us to it. This was what ended up being left of it once it was taken down.

[awakeningwill]

[Zero rarely ventured into the forest, but from the sounds of it, this monster was something unlike anything that normally lived there.]

Have there been any disturbances in the forest since then? What happened to these moths?

[mach_n_roll]

[Ugh, seriously? Well, if it keeps Eggman out of the hospital this time, then he's all for it.]

[...What? He's his rival, he's not heartless.]

If that's what you really want, but I don't see why I can't just get in, destroy the factory, and get out like I always do.

[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.

Video post as well

[will_be_god]

I wish to study these...beings in person. I trust you will permit this.

[Private.]

[machomonotreme]

I have no clue where his base is this time. And being as he has no chaos emeralds - least, I don't THINK he does - I got no way to really track him.

You get someone to figure it out though, you know I'm in. We got enough trouble, what with monsters and masks and earthquakes and red moons. We don't need to deal with his crap on top of it all. You want to make a move, I got your back.

[drawin_on_trees]

Nooooonononono... Those aren't supposed to BE here! Those things are bad news! Just... make 'em go away!

[itsjustrats]

Going on past experience with ancient masks, they're probably crammed with evil magic. Or booby-trapped. Or, you know, both.

So how secure are those thing you're keeping them in?

[jfc don't steal the evil masks, Garrett.]