On her second trip to Nova Heart to work her ADMIN job, Viper enters the PAC (Purification Airlock Chamber) and checks over her PPE to see if it was tampered with, but thankfully everything is the same as she left. It looks like no one’s even touched it. Everything in the PAC looks the same as she remembers though she can hear some talking coming from the lab from her coworkers. After equipping her PPE and getting blasted by the incredibly bright purification light, she notices Leo and Artemis chatting.
Leo waves with a friendly smile to Viper, "oh hey, glad to see you again."
Artemis, aka ADMIN Betelgeuse, is over at the desk and, aside from a very simple wave, doesn't speak. Part of him seems annoyed about something.
Viper steps into the room as she takes her place next to Leo as she starts working, "Nice to see you too" then mutters "Betelgeuse doesn't seem very happy today"
Leo sighs and nods, "Yeah, I can't exactly blame him though. He got called into Spark's office earlier, something about past projects coming to bite him in the ass."
Artemis, noticing Leo talking about him within earshot groans, "She's new here. I doubt she needs to know about.. our past."
Leo insists and asks, "Are you sure? What's the worst that could happen? Nova's not exactly known for good shit, let's be completely honest he--"
Artemis snaps and tilts his bearded head towards the ceiling, "Nimbus, silence. Cameras."
Viper seems to get the idea as she nods and resumes working, glancing at the door she didn't get to go into last time with curiosity
The job today seems a lot easier than usual. On a screen on the wall near the machinery that processes Stardust, a percentage of material required steadily goes up. It's around 78.48% and slowly rising consistently. The door over in the corner, the one that seems to be holding something starry and pitch dark, remains closed. Oddly, Viper isn't the only one glancing at it. Artemis is as well, looking confused. "What... is that back there? Nimbus?"
Nimbus, aka Leo, shrugs, "I have no idea. I was just told to stay out of there. It’s sus."
With knowledge that the material percentage is steadily rising, Viper confirms that the cameras are most likely on and recording. Artemis squints and mutters something under his breath, then he snaps his fingers. One of the cameras of the three found in the Laboratory suddenly stops and the light shuts off. This camera is the one closest to the mysterious door. Viper smirks as she gets up to deposit the stardust, deposits it and checks if she's in a blind spot of the other cameras
It's definitely a blind spot. Oddly, instead of a percentage increasing, Viper notices the screen showing a simple smile.
: )
It's there for a split second before showing a number again, now up to 85.69%
Viper takes the chance to walk over to the door and open it, hoping that there isn't something horrible on the other side
The door opens easily. Looking in, it's empty. No stars, no pitch black darkness. Just very normal.
Too normal even.
Viper seems hesitant but slowly steps through the door.
It's a very normal storage closet. There's a metal shelf with nothing on it. Why it's behind a locked door is anybody's guess. Viper blinks several times and seems confused as she checks the room to make sure that there's no secret lever or button as she mutters "The fuck?" There's nothing but a normal closet. Everything is fine : ). Viper looks incredibly confused as she steps out of the room and closes the door behind her
Upon closing the door, she notices both Artemis and Leo are watching her. They're not moving though. The walls in the room are no longer white, instead adopting a more crimson tint. The screen showing the percentages simply shows a smile. A weird song seems to be playing on the speakers, very strange. It's almost... electronic in quality, glitchy too.
Viper blinks several times as she walks up to Leo and waves her hand in front of their face. He seems to be frozen in place. For a split second, Viper could've sworn he smiled widely, but it quickly returns to a very neutral face. Viper jumps slightly as she moves her hand away and walks around the room, looking for anything especially noteworthy. The room looks very red and glitchy. She hears something in the room that sounds almost like a hundred old printers printing something at the same time, but it almost sounds like a voice. It kind of sounds like it's saying: "Welcome to the Null Void." Where it's coming from, it's unknown, but it's all around her. Only Viper is able to hear it. The windows looking outside do not show the usual clouds and instead a completely dark void with what seems like speckled white stars just floating there.
Viper looks around in confusion as she asks, "What is the Null Void? Who are you?" she seems incredibly tense, either out of fear or expecting a fight
"The Null Void," the printer sounding voice speaks, "is my domain, Viper Stryker. Be not afraid, I do not wish harm. I only come with a warning."
Viper raises an eyebrow as she asks, "What's the warning?" she still seems incredibly tense, not exactly trusting that this isn't a trick
"The End is coming and Project Hypernova nears completion. Beware the Light of Order!"
Viper feels something poke her face and she finds herself on the floor with a concerned Leo and Artemis standing over her.
Viper blinks several times as she groans, "I've really gotta stop drinking so much monster...." then stares at the two "Did one of you poke me?"
Leo gulps, "w-well, you passed out after you went to open the door. We got scared and tried to wake you up. Honest!"
Artemis nods in agreement. Viper notices for the first time that his usual gruff look has dramatically softened out of genuine concern.
Viper rolls her eyes, "You know what at least you made an effort." She sits up as she looks around to make sure the room is back to normal.
The room is back to its normal white. Viper notices that the screen near the Stardust vat is at 100%. No glitches, no weird music, just two guys worried shitless about their coworker's sudden knock out. It's nighttime looking through the windows, but not that weird floating star night time.
Viper huffs in relief as she stands up and dusts herself off as she mutters "Alright well i've learned that the Null Void is very red and very spooky"
Artemis chuckles for a moment, not believing Viper, "hahah--" which gets overtaken by intrigue, "w-wait? It's.. real? That.. can't be though."
Leo looks confused, "wait what do you mean? Isn't that wha--" He stops realizing the cameras are on again
Viper makes a shushing motion as she walks back over to her station and resumes working
The job is largely done. About 20 minutes later, two people enter the lab, people Viper recognizes as Chandra and Spark. Chandra just looks thrilled to be there with audible huffs and a supremely sour look on his face. Spark, on the other hand, walks around the lab and smiles widely, "Wow! Good job you three, you did excellently. Phase 1 of our goal is complete and we've already begun Phase 2. Things are progressing rather well."
Chandra sighs, "yeah because you hired them. Shouldn't you at least clue them into what we're doing?"
Spark shakes his head, "At a later time. Project Hypernova will continue as planned."
Viper smiles and nods at Chandra and Spark, "I'm assuming that it'll be explained in a meeting?" she looks entirely normal as if she never stepped into the Null Void
"Correct. We will be having another meeting soon in which I will be clueing everyone into our goals. Until then, just know this, what you three have done has cut the time needed to progress by 300%. What probably could've been done in years, will be done in less than 3 months. Guaranteed. With Hypernova being developed as well, we will win." He smiles.
Chandra just fucking. Groans. He gestures to Viper as she feels a note appear in one of her PPE's pockets, as if saying "check note after work."
Viper smiles as she nods as she remarks, "That sounds amazing, i'm very excited to hear about the goals and the projects and how I can help achieve them" she gives a subtle nod at Chandra, understanding the gesture
Artemis and Leo nod in agreement.
Before Chandra and Spark leave, Spark says, "You three deserve some time off. Consider the next month's salary on us as a bonus. We'll let you three know when the meeting begins. You'll want to be there for this." Then they disappear. Artemis and Leo head back into the locker room first ahead of Viper as the light in the PAC turns red.
Viper waits for the light to turn green as she quickly removes the note and reads it. The tightly folded note she finds has instructions from Chandra: seem to be instruction regarding the card reader that apparently lets her investigate Nova at her own pace. There's also something stating to meet at Chandra's office using this method. It seems easy enough, just requires a couple scans of her card in specific directions to unlock debug mode for the teleportation system. Soon enough, the PAC empties and she's able to leave
Viper heads into the PAC after stuffing the note into her pants and after being disinfected she takes off all of her PPE and looks around to see if there's a card scanner in this room out of curiosity There is no card scanner in the PAC unfortunately. She'll need to leave the building and scan the card the way the note directs her to. Viper sighs at the lack of a card scanner as she takes her normal route to leave then turns back around to face the card scanner on the arcade building and follows the direction on the note, slightly tense at the thought of knowing this amount of information
With the scan done the new way, specifically sliding the card twice to the right, once to the left, and then another twice to the right, Viper is presented with a new touchscreen that seems to pop up behind the scanner.
|
NOVA HEART INCORPORATED [please select an option] |
Viper rubs her hands together and decides to open the about menu, can't hurt to learn a little more information.
|
ABOUT: VERSION NUMBER - 1.0 |
The About screen then bounces back to the main debug menu.
Viper takes mental note of the information then taps Target Location Select, skimming over the locations for anything that looks majorly important for a moment.
| [Please choose a location. If Desired Location is not on the list, please use CONTEXT SENSITIVE CUSTOM INPUT MENU for more options] ----------- >NOVA TOWER ENTRANCE HALL >NOVA COMMANDER'S OFFICE >LEADER CHANDRA'S OFFICE >CULT LIVING QUARTERS >ADMIN QUARTERS >NOVA AGRICULTURE >NOVA CHEMICAL TESTING (PAC) >CHAMBER OF THE LEGENDS >NULL VOID TESTING ZONE >AMATERASU'S BEDCHAMBER >SUPERNOVA ARCADE >AUSTRALIS ARCHIVES >BOREALIS MUSEUM OF LEGENDS >SOLAR SANCTUARY >LUNAR ROBOTIC LABS >ADMIN ANDROMEDA'S OFFICE |
Viper takes note of a couple locations in her phone then selects Chandra's office
In front of Viper, a blue and black swirling portal opens up for her. On the screen, text reading: [LEADER CHANDRA OFFICE - PORTAL OPENED] is seen.
Viper takes a deep breath and steps inside the portal. Chandra's office is perfectly suited to him, very dark marble and woods with books lined up on the shelves on both sides of the office. Not much light is available in the room, as the little bits of light available are provided by flaming candles. A large window looks out into the starry freshly sunset evening sky. Chandra is staring into the ether outside when Viper steps out of the portal. With a soft voice and without turning his chair around, he says, "Ah, I was beginning to wonder if you would take my offer."
Viper snickers as she answers "Well you did give me access to something i've been dreaming of, I had to gather a little information"
Chandra chuckles as he turns his chair around, "Of course. I figured..." He grumbles a little bit almost like he's cursing under his breath, "Someone connected to... her would be best suited for this task." Chandra clears his throat then with a bit more gusto, he replies, "Come take a seat, we have much to discuss." There are two leatherbound chairs in front of his desk that face him and the curtained window looking out into the moonless pitch dark sky. Some stars can be seen from it suggesting how high up in the tower they are.
Viper nods as she steps forward and takes a seat in the chair as she asks "Her? This isn't the woman I'm thinking about is it?"
Chandra looks disgusted for a moment before relaxing his gaze, dropping it to the floor, "It is. You know exactly who I refer to. Our relationship is urgh. Complicated. But at the same time, I know you have her best interests. Regardless, I do have some information for you, some intel if you will. Items that even I, co-Leader of Nova Heart and sect leader of Heavens' Domain, do not agree with. Before I proceed, do you have any updates for me? And do not worry, I've exhausted all points of counter-intelligence in this room. No camera, no bugs, and no way to spy on us are available in here."
When he says complicated, you notice he clenched his fists rather intensely. It appears talking about her triggers something volatile within Chandra.
Viper listens intently and sighs as she thinks for a moment, "Do you know anything about that door in the chemical testing room? Cause uhh...it took me to the Null Void" she seems slightly nervous
Chandra looks bewildered from hearing about her experience. He quickly writes something down on his notepad you see before you. You also notice there are no computers or anything remotely electronic in this room, probably connected to his promise of no errant counterintel. "Wh-What? You.. that cannot be. Null Void Testing isn't even performed within Nova Tower. Are you certain you've encountered Malfunction?" He asks with a sense of confusion in his voice.
Viper seems slightly more nervous at Chandra's reaction then responds "I mean everything was red and I heard a very computerized voice talking to me....and it told me that the end is coming."
For the first time you've seen him, Chandra seems more awake than ever, almost as if freezing cold water was just poured down his spine. He stands up, walks to his bookshelf, and picks out a binder to refer to. Returning to his desk, he opens it up and skims through a few pages before responding in an immediately calmed voice, "That's... different, I suppose. The End... hm, is that what he's calling it now? It was Project Hypernova before."
Viper nods as she responds "Well he also mentioned Project Hypernova...what is Project Hypernova? If I may ask"
With a deep breath taken, Chandra goes to close the curtains perhaps just to make sure absolutely no one can witness this conversation. Then, he speaks, "Simply put, it's his plan to take over Capital City. His plan can begin at any point, but right now, his goal is remove any kind of opposition before proceeding. This project is multi-faceted and has many failure points, but he is certain that he can complete it. With the removal of Creatures of Legend, the defeat of my sister and her lovers and allies, and the full brainwashing of our citizens, he believes he can finally complete the goals his father started ages ago with the Magical Explosion. Frankly, I think he's fucking stupid, but what do I know? I just lead a stupid cult that I don't even want. I cannot just leave my post, however."
Viper listens as she nods along to his explanation then smiles as she asks "However?"
His voice goes fully monotone and raspy while staring into Viper's soul. "However, it would be my death. Which, granted, I deserve. I've long accepted it ever since I was murdered ages ago. Being revived by him was the worst thing that could have happened. Simply put, if I leave or if the truth that I've long since defected comes out, I will be no more. Do you understand Viper? I want nothing more to do with Nova Heart, I want to see him fall, but I cannot be a hero here."
Viper listens while seeming slightly unnerved at the stare and sighs as she nods "I understand"
"Wait did I-- oh, uh." Chandra blushes in embarrassment and turns his head away, "my apologies, it's a very bad habit of mine. Well, do you have any questions for me? I cannot promise I have all of the answers, but I'm sure I have at least one or two. And thank you for assisting me with this."
Viper snickers as her expression returns to her usual slight smile then nods as she asks "Is there anyway I can interfere with the plan without it being obvious? Anyway at all?"
"Unfortunately, not really. The majority of Project Hypernova, the creation of a drug capable of debilitating the Creatures of Legend and rendering them incapacitated is complete. He is likely slowly spreading it throughout The Outskirts as we speak. As for the next step, I am unsure what his plans are. There are three potential routes:
1. Amaterasu, his greatest weapon. I'm not entirely sure who or what Amaterasu is, nor do I know what he is planning.
2. The Defeat of the Sun and Moon, his greatest enemies. That would be your lovers specifically.
3. The Mass Brainwashing of Capital City. This one, I am also unsure what his plans are for it. Perhaps this information will come to light."
Viper thinks for a moment then responds "If and when information regarding the brainwashing comes to light I will make sure I figure out a plan to stop it"
Chandra nods. You notice usually terribly gloomy demeanor has decreased dramatically. Perhaps all he really wanted was someone to believe him. "Thank you. Knowing Spark, I imagine information won't be hidden for long." He then pauses for a few moments while reading his binder when something comes up, "Oh! Right, this is important. If you talk about this with them, be careful. I cannot guarantee this is a fact, but knowing Spark and the other more technologically savvy ADMINs here, there is a chance that my sister's mind may be compromised. I do not know computers myself, so I cannot say this is for certain. I can imagine Spark is taking precautions so that his plan doesn't fall through. Just."
He pauses for a few moments taking some time to breathe, then he responds - again staring, "I hate my sister, but. Unfortunately, her mind is our greatest asset in this war. Her mind holds the secrets to this world. Why do you think every fucking ASSHOLE in this Gods forsaken city wants her dead or in their control? Why do you think I've attacked her in the past? We're fucking DRAWN to her and I will NEVER understand why. No matter what you call her: Moonsetter, Luna, 6969, Alphaprototype, stupid ffucking cat woman with four souls in her. She's. Maybe what this world needs. I'm tired." He then notices the staring returned and eases off, especially knowing who he's speaking to, "I'm tired of giving a shit! I'm tired of being affected by her! I.. I'm sorry."
Viper listens to him as she nods, "Unfortunately her mind is compromised but I'm trying to keep her in the know of everything that's happening, I can understand being upset over someone constantly affecting you, I can relate to that but trust me, i'll be using her mind to it's full potential and making sure I keep her safe" she seems to start smiling as she talks about Luna.
"Thank you," he grins, "I can tell talking about her makes you happy. What is it that draws you to her?" Chandra then stutters and mutters, "If that's private, I uh don't need to know."
Viper shakes her head as she answers, "She's honestly one of the nicer people i've seen around here, just being around her makes my day better along with the obvious things...her beautiful face...just her everything..." she smiles widely as her thoughts start to drift
He actively listens to Viper's rambling. Kind of almost enjoying hearing some positivity for a change, but he'll never admit it. Regardless, he checks the time and says, "well, thank you agreeing to meet with me. Glad to know I picked a good person for this. With that card method, you have unfettered access to Nova Heart, and also basically all of Capital City at your leisure. Just be careful out there. If Spark or someone else finds out about this, I don't know anything about it. Understand?"
Viper nods as she smiles and responds "You know nothing, I figured this out by accident"
Chandra gives Viper a bright smile, a genuine rarity for him and one somewhat reminiscent of Luna's. "Thank you, I must prepare for my next sermon. Come by the Heavens' Domain Cult Chambers if you ever want to see what I'm forced to do. Until then, I'll be seeing you." The portal back home opens back up on his word.
Viper smiles back at Chandra as she gets up and heads towards the portal, "Well...I hope you have as much fun as possible with that, i'm gonna compile everything i've gathered today and summarize it for Luna" she pauses a step away from the portal for a moment to make sure Chandra doesn't have anything else to say otherwise she enters the portal
He waves with a smile, "Take care Viper." When she enters the portal, she gets sent back to behind the arcade in Fairview.