The Revelers (Serial 1)

Act 2 - Chapter 32: Ari

Why does this airship have to be so freaking big? So, according to our intel, it seems they housed Cithara in a VIP suite on the upper deck. Unfortunately, we're on the lower sections comprising the storage areas, interrogation rooms, jail cells, torture chambers, secret surgical operations, and whatever nasty stuff is lurking down these corridors. Despite having a crew with us, it seems without our tour guide, Livia, we're good as lost.

"Yo," Charles barks, "I saw a bunch of hooded dudes take Livia somewhere."

"Where to?" I ask.

"She went to that elevator."

Gazing ahead, I see the elevator, but it doesn't look like it would fit all of us, especially with Samza's robot bird-woman assistant. Instead, I see a sign pointing the way to the stairwell. However, instead of getting lost somewhere, I consult Samza and Mezos, "Did Livia tell you guys where the security room could be? Maybe we can check security footage."

Mezos answers, "Yes, we can go there and check the security cameras."

Samza adds, "then we can cross-reference it with the data Livia relayed to us during the briefing."

"Speaking of security room," Mezos taps the side of his glasses. A holographic map appears before him. "It's not far. Just a floor above us and a few doors from the stairs."

"Let's get to it," Samza says.

I nod in approval and lead the way while Charles watches the rear. So far, no one is behind us, but I hear footsteps as we enter the next floor upward. Considering the loud clanking sounds, it's someone wearing heavy boots or —

"Robot!" Samza yells.

I activate Librascope and spot a bipedal robotic sentry roaming the hallway. "Hold," I instruct. I then turn to Milani and ask, "Can you hand me your shock stick real quick?"

Without saying a thing, he hands me the shock stick while I prepare for a surprise attack.

Once the robot gets close, I stab the shock stick on to the machine's camera lens-like eye.

The robot jerks and jolts as the shock stick overloads its circuits and collapses on to the floor.

Nearby guards spot us and charge in to attack.

Samza commands Garuda, "Blow them out, Robo-G!" and her mechanical familiar shoots out a strong gust of wind from its wings, knocking out guards from the end of the hall.

On the other side, Mezos conjures a relic from his books, granting a barrier, reflecting gunfire back at the offense, eliminating the opposition with their own firepower.

Charles and I take out the remaining guards with a few quick, electrifying shots from his rifle and explosive slashes from my triggerblade.

Then we proceed to the security room comprising a single workstation displaying an array of holographic security monitors within the lower decks of The Solstice Sky Labs. Some holograms show OFFLINE, signifying the cameras and security drones we destroyed along the way.

Mezos points at a particular screen. "That's Livia."

Upon further inspection, it looks like she's bound to a chair with three hooded interrogators questioning her. The monitor labels the room as INTERROGATION 9-SIGMA.

"Now, how do we get there?" I ask.

"Nine-Sigma," Milani mutters. "I was just in that room yesterday when those cultist guards questioned me. It's another floor upward."

"He's right," Mezos says, while checking his holographic map. "We need to go back to the stairs, proceed to the next floor, and it's at the end of the hallway. But before we go," he turns to Samza, "we should disable any automated security measures. I'm sure Sam and I can hack this system to do that."