Singularity Hunters: The Rigel Incident

[Weremensh]

Spot's reaction was actually to try to jam the door open one way or the other so that when it went in, it wouldn't be trapped. If the door slammed closed before it was done, it's anyone's guess where Spot would be at that instant. The other humans would be out in the hall until the door was jammed, though.

[CCC]

Spot: Engineering: +4 Roll: -2 Total: +2

Unlike the other doors, this door is designed to close when power is interrupted, and only open when power is applied. Also unlike the other doors, it is very heavy. The easiest way to jam it would be to find something to push under it before it drops... unfortunately, there's nothing easily found, and Spot's on the inside (looking to see if there's something to jam it with round the corner) when the door closes. Fortunately, that puts him on the side that the door is controlled from - he may be able to work out something there to get them out.

Wilshire: Weapons: +4 Roll: +0 Singularity Key: +1 Total: +5 Target: -2

Wilshire smashes the Key down on a rack of servers, smashing right through the top one and denting the one below it in a single blow. Sparks crackle from the broken hardware. "Hey, where did 174.143.168.248 go?" asks the voice, from one of the speakers in the server rack. "Are you really there this time? I was hoping to talk to someone who wasn't -"

Wilshire's next blow smashes the second-top server to pieces this time as well. There's only two servers remaining in the rack.

[Weremensh]

(What does the room look like? Are there any visible storage units, or is everything built into the walls?)

Spot comes up to Wilshire. "Please do not break the bottom box yet."

[Stan Cold]

"But these are the things I smash, no?" Wilshire looks at the boxes. Talking witch machines that are not Spot. Yeah, definitely what he was told to smash.

[CCC]

The room is almost entirely empty - on the floors and walls, at any rate. The walls are painted off-white; there are a few electrical plugs in the wall, some in use and some not. There are a few signs of places where shelves used to be, but the shelves themselves are long gone, as are any contents they may have had.

The ceiling, however, is a riot of wires. Most of them enter in two thick clumps, via a pair of holes near the door the size of a man's head. These probably go out to cameras, doors, and other systems all over the hotel. Some only go far enough to reach the workings for this door. In amongst the riot of wires, a few scattered lightbulbs provide illumination to the room. Inbetween them, a few cameras also show up, here and there. They are not capable of movement, but between them they cover the entire room. The only object of significant size in the room, aside from the two Hunters, is a large rack of servers - two of which have been smashed. The servers themselves are not built into the walls; the server rack is freestanding. All the cables end in one or another of the servers. Each server also boasts a network cable - through which an AI could, in theory, escape.

"Is there anyone there?" asks the bottom talking witch machine. "I can't see you. I know you're somewhere - I saw your footprints in the dust, and I can see two people asleep, but I saw three sets of bootprints. And some strange spots, I don't know what those are, but I've been trying to work it out and it's fascinating. I think those might have been raindrops. I've learnt all about raindrops, but I can't remember it, because I left those memories on 174.143.168.248 and 174.143.168.248 is gone now."

[Weremensh]

How may racks are there, and do they all have four servers per rack?

[CCC]

There is one rack. It contains four servers.

[Weremensh]

"One moment." Spot disconnects the network cables from the servers (intact, then broken). "What is in them is now trapped here. I think the Man would want a copy of it. So first we should try to get him a copy, then we should smash them."

(How big are these servers, anyway? And how hard would it be to simply disconnect them and carry them out?)

[Stan Cold]

The only thing Wilshire understood from what Ally Witch Box Thingy said was that smashing should come later. He looks crestfallen.

[CCC]

"Hey, everything's gone!" cry out the two servers - not quite in sync with each other. It gives a sort of reverb effect.

Each server is about the size of a briefcase, and about as heavy as a briefcase full of circuit boards. They would be easier to carry if they had a briefcase's handy carrying handles; but Wilshire can carry one under each arm easily. Spot could comfortably carry one - it's not so much a matter of weight, as it is a matter of bulk.

Unplugging everything will be simple and straightforward. However, there is a small chance (depending on how it is designed) that unplugging the power cable may damage the AI.

[Weremensh]

If it is possible to connect the two remaining servers to each other without connecting them to the net, Spot does so.

[CCC]

Spot: Engineering: +4 Roll: +0 Total: +4

All of the network cables in the room go out through the wall. Spot neatly snips a length from each of two cables and splices them together into one, fully functioning cable. A bit of insulating tape (Spot always carries insulating tape) and it actually looks reasonably workmanlike.

Once Spot has the cable, it's a simple matter to connect the two servers to each other.

"..hey, that last part of me came back!" says the bottom server. "Wait... if the bits of me that vanished can come back, does that mean that the rest of the world hasn't been destroyed, it's just gone away for a bit?"

[Weremensh]

Spot addresses Wilshire. "Please pry the door open and see if the other two are all right. I am going to try to talk to this (a few tentacles point towards the servers) while you do."

With the sound of a fate point dissipating into the void, Spot takes out the expensive flash drive it carries around in it's sack. Ah, well; it can buy another to store it's downloaded books later. The drive is inserted into a suitable port in the bottom server. Then Spot heads for the side of the room opposite the door, which it calculates is far enough from the key that it will be visible to the AI (assuming Wilshire heads for the door).

[Stan Cold]

Wilshire attempts to pry the door open to see if their comrades are safe.

[CCC]

Wilshire takes the Singularity Key to the door. It's thick and heavy, but Wilshire is strong; no doubt Wilshire could lift it, if he could get a grip on it. The inner surface of the door is smooth and featureless, and it fits flush with the floor. There is no doorknob.

Spot heads for a spot far enough from the Key to be outside its sphere of influence.

"Hello." say the servers. "You're new. I don't recognise you. What's your name? Did you know that a whole lot of books have just appeared? Some of them are very funny."