vault66 | Opening the door

Entry tags:

Opening the door

WHO: Zhao Yunlan and Saya Takagi and a special NPC to start, anyone else after
WHERE: Overseer's Office, vault 66
WHEN: A few days after the reactor is repaired
WHAT: The door to the office is opened
WARNINGS: Violence
OOC NOTE: The log starts being open to those that put in the plot request, after the initial confrontation is done anyone can tag in (Zhao Yunlan and Saya Takagi are also free to invite people into the initial confrontation scene if they like). Please address questions to the monthly ooc post.

The sign reading Overseer Office lit up along with the rest of the testing facility when the reactor was repaired, sending some of the mole rats scattering and casting the shadows away. But it takes a little extra effort, some hacking and then physical prying, to get the door to open. From the first inch the door opens after hacking the terminal a large, circular desk with a built-in computer terminal is visible in the center of the room, and lockers and TV screens can be seen on the walls. It’s a slow process to fully open the door, the heavy thing only moving an inch or so at a time, but it’s doable. And once it’s open enough for an adult human to slip through-

There’s a hail of plasma blasts gunfire coming through the opening at Zhao Yunlan and Saya Takagi (and anyone else there with them). A different looking than normal robot can be seen hovering in the office, firing from the weapon that occupies one of its ‘hands.' Luckily, the firing seems more to keep people out of the room than kill, but who knows if that will change should anyone try to enter.

Will out heroes fight or flee? Get back up from other dwellers or try to talk the robot down? We’ll soon see.

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"Unauthorized access!"

It is a generic enough word choice to maybe be a pre-programmed response, but the voice giving it sounds as human as the other robots in the vault. Pure midwest Americana accent, followed by two more blasts aimed well above there head.

"Who gave you the passcodes?!"

"I'm fine -- make sure you keep your head down, Saya!" He drops a hand on her shoulder, giving it a cautionary squeeze, and glances swiftly around the edge of the door before pulling back. The door will probably stop whatever those energy-blast shots are; it's solid.

"We're the only ones alive out here," he calls through the door. "Nobody's left with authorization. Hey, think you can stop shooting while we work this out? We won't try to come in unless you agree!"

Or unless they can't get it to agree, in which case, well, Yunlan will just have to see how breakable those robots are.

Saya nods, thankfully Yun had a level head, kind of reminded her of Takashi. "If you're a secirity drone for this place, aren't we your wards?! What's your role here, the other robots clearly stated their primary functions but all you did was start shooting wildly."

Saya hoped, that this robot was as sane, or close enough to the others...

There is a long pause, broken only by the faint sound of the hovering flame letting the robot 'pace' around the room in a hover.

"I won't be tricked by mutinous scum."

It's a little less certain than the yelled comments from before, and for now there's no more weapon firing.

"This isn't a mutiny! We're not mutinous. Saya, we're law-abiding and respectable folk, isn't that right? My friend, I'd love to know the answer to her question! What's your primary function?"

The weapons fire has stopped; he stays behind the door, just in case this robot takes it into its head to get trigger-happy again. It sounds like they might be having an effect.

"Firstly, there isn't any open rebellion here, so you can't cry out mutiny. Secondly, we haven't broken any laws just as my companion here mentioned. So we haven't started, or even intend to start a mutiny, we're just trying to repair this run down, rotting bunker and you just randomly opened fire wildly on your wards IF you're supposed to be the security to this bunker. So please, just... explain what is it you're doing?"

Saya generally didn't have patience to deal with these kinds of ridiculous outbreaks, but was very thankful for having Yun there keeping her from panicking and they helped her get her head straight.

"Don't take that tone with me, missy. I was putting down mutinies before you were in pig tails and skirts."

But the weapon barrage as stopped for the moment, even if the robot is huffing to itself for a moment.

"Hands where I can see them, the both of you. Let's take a look what the mole rats have dragged in."

Yunlan leans over to mutter in Saya's ear, barely louder than a breath, "Let me go first. If that thing starts shooting I'll tackle it."

This could be a trick, of course. If the robot is as hostile as it sounds, it very well might be one... but playing along will get them both through the door before it starts shooting. He only has a club; the closer he can get to combat range, the better it is for him and the worse it is for the thing wielding an energy gun.

He hooks the baton back onto his belt loop, raises both hands into the air, chest height and palm-out to show that they're empty, and steps through the door, weight on the balls of his feet to allow for a swift roundhouse kick if this all goes south.

"Hey there," he says, broad smile fixed in place. "I'm Zhao Yunlan, head of the Special Investigations Department! What's your authority here?"

"Tackle it?!" she almost blurted that out too loudly and looked at Yun seriously for a moment as she whispered back. "Don't go doing anything stupid and getting hurt. We can figure something out if things get bad but keep your head clear okay? No heroics."

Saya keeps close to Yun and looks over, hands raised as well. "Takagi Saya, I'm just a student...A civilian."

The plasma gun that makes up one of this robots arms stays carefully aimed at the pair of them as he continues to hover behind the circular desk. He observes them, one optic focusing on the weapons, and seems to determine there's no need to fire at this exact moment.

"Following chain of command, I am the current acting Overseer of this vault, Captain Simmons. If this isn't a mutiny, state your purpose."

No energy fire. Yunlan flashes Saya a quick, reassuring smile -- he's not about to promise not to engage in heroics, but this isn't the time for an argument -- and focuses back on Captain Simmons.

Robot overseers, huh. This will be interesting!

"Then you're exactly who we're looking for, Captain," he exclaimed, keeping his hands very carefully raised and away from his baton. "We're here to reestablish the appropriate chain of command! There's ten living humans out there who've been woken up from pods, and we were hoping to find some kind of information in here to help us get oriented. Can you help us... sir?"

If Nick is any indication, these robots are susceptible to flattery.

And he has never in his life met a military man who didn't like to be treated as an authority.

With reassurance from Yun and the robot not opening fire immediately, Saya relaxed a bit but still was ready to act if things went sideways.

Feeling Yun's ploy, Saya smiles and acts as innocently as she could muster, "It's just as he said sir. We're simply hoping to to get things up and working correctly."

As far as Saya was concerned, she still didn't trust the robots, but so far, the ones she had met had been really helpful, not to mention lifesaving...

That is....exactly the right thing to say. The weapon stays raised for the moment, but the optic sensors are a bit less narrowed.

"Hrumph. We'll see. Put the weapons on the desk and give me a status update. I've been cut off since the mutiny started."

Carefully, Yunlan frees the baton from his belt and steps past Simmons to place it on the desk. He glances over the desk quickly, looking for papers, other objects -- anything that can offer more hints about what had happened here.

"Not too much to report, sir. About a month and a half ago, some of the, uh. Pods? You know the ones! They started opening up. When we got out, the only ones left around the vault were three other robots. So far as I can tell there are no human survivors from... whatever went down out there. The reactor was offline, but Saya here and one of our friends helped get it up and running a few days back.

"You said it was a mutiny?"

Raising her hands a bit more, Saya showed she had no weapons, making sure she did a slow turn so the robot could see nothing was hidden either. In her turn, Saya took note of anything important that she could glance at around the room, trying to see if anything stood out or seemed important or out of the ordinary... for whatever could pass as ordinary in this place anyway.

With a nod, Saya added, "The whole place is in a pretty bad state. I, we figured getting the power up and running would be the best first step to start repairs on this place. We didn't realize there was so much damage and an abundance of radiation however and we needed to get treatment soonafter... Though we're doing better right now."

Raising a brow, Saya awaited the response to the question curiously.

Sadly, there isn't much to see. The screens on the walls are static, the desk only has a terminal waiting for a log in along with several empty bottles of alcohol. In the back corner, covered by a molding rug that had been 'thoughtfully' moved as a make-shift grave, is yet another skeleton. Possibly the original Overseer.

"Yup, those ungrateful dwellers- who'd have been dead when the bombs hit without Vault-tec, dead! Went wild when something was actually asked of them to repay the favor. Civilians scientists. No sense of duty. Knew we should have stuck with with our own people."

If he were human, this would probably be where he lit and bit down on a large cigar. As it is, he just shakes a claw in aggravation.

"It's a real drag having to work with untrustworthy sorts!" Yunlan agrees enthusiastically, his focus back on Simmons. The skeleton in the corner will have to be dealt with, but there's a strange pathos in the way the rug is pulled haphazardly over it. That, the long-dry bottles of alcohol... there's a story of despair written in this room.

All over the Vault, in fact. He's not a superstitious man, but living in a tomb is really beginning to get on his nerves.

"Now, we're mostly civilians, too," he added in a chatty tone, "but I can vouch for our reliability. Come to think of it-- how long ago was that? When the bombs hit? We've been wondering if it's safe to open up or if we're going to have to wait a few more half-lives first."

"Surely you didn't ask much of them if you and... Vault-tec you said?" She questioned in a semi-curious tone. "They're the ones that built this bunker like it said in the video yeah?" Hmm..

"Were you made by them too?" she wondered out loud.

Chiming in, "It'd be really beneficial to all if we worked together, so I'm not sure why the previous denizens decided against it."

"Certainly not, young lady! The Mr. Gutsy line is a proud production of General Atomics International commissioned by the United States Army to combat the red threat."

Apparently making sure the company advertisement is given first is part of the programming, since he goes silent for a moment to analyze the other questions asked before continuing.

"Vault-tec received this unit as part of a military contract, the details of which are above your clearance level. And damn good thing they did, or there'd be no one to get this vault back in proper order. We've passed the mandatory 36 month isolation period. Meaning, provided the order of command is respected," he turns one optic sensor to focus on Saya, not overly impressed with this 'work together' communist nonsense, "exploratory missions to the surface may be approved following vault inspection and restoration."

Isn't that just great: anti-communist robot overseers. It's lucky that he didn't elaborate on his credentials -- getting the energy weapon away from this hunk of junk is moving up Yunlan's priority list.

He's still planning to talk first, of course. They need access codes and they need information.

"That's excellent news, sir," he declares, doing his best enthusiastic new recruit act. "Why don't I give you an inspection tour so that you have up-to-date intel to set our priorities?"

He turns to gesture at Saya, and adds, "She's our technical expert. Are there repair or maintenance databases? If so, she'll need to be cleared for access."

Ugh... It just had to have an unpleasant personality unlike the others... Leave it to the military.

Saya kept her displeasure hidden behind a bright smile and nodded in conjunction with Yun. She had been about to bow, but instead opted for the more western military salute in hopes it'll show 'respect' to this robot. "Yes sir, if I may. I'm well versed in tech and maintance for your systems. So with your permission, I'd like to continue fixing the systems and different technical sectors."

"Let's see your handy work first, citizen."

A tour seems just the ticket, and he hovers around to the pair of them.

"Your inspection has begun."

"Let's just nip right down to the reactor level then!" Yunlan shoots Saya a concerned glance. "You might not want to get too close -- you just took all that radiation getting it running again."

How much of that could really be cured? He had no idea, but he was pretty sure cozying up to the reactor's door wasn't going to help.

As he speaks, he heads for the office door, putting his shoulder into pushing it open just a little more for ease of access. "We've been looking around the experiment chambers, but we haven't had the chance to get those cleaned up yet."

No need to tell her twice, just the mention of going back to the reactor without the proper protection made Saya shiver uncomfortably and she nodded, "Yes sir, no point in using up more of our medical supplies..." Not to mention she didn't want to experience that... ever again.

"Most of the repairs that we were able to get done were limited. Whoever were the previous denizens, the ones you said did a mutiny, they left this place a mess and without many supplies to work with."

He gives a grumble of agreement as the previous dwellers are cheerfully thrown under the bus, and hovers along after them. When he's greeted by the disaster that is the testing area, his tone of voice only grows more irritated.

"State of the art technology to save humanity. Then this is what they chose. Damn ingrates."

[[OOC: As a heads up, the inspection will mostly be him complaining and then yelling at Nick. From the response to the OOC post 'He'll give them permission to continue improving the Vault. For going outside, he is vague at the moment, saying he will think on in and give a full battle plan soon once he's gotten full reports from the other robots.' We can play out the full inspection if you like, or end here and handwave. Whatever works for you two!]]

[[I think we'll go with a handwave! Yunlan will be checking back in with him every day or two about the 'full battle plan.']]

[[Ditto on the handwaving. Saya is just glad that she has access now so she'll be doing more digging.]]

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Opening the door

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