Orion's Sacrifice

Demiurge
Week 1, Scene 2, Action!
1: We have a lot to cover in this scene, and there will be a point where we need to pause. There is a logical transition point where I would like to break things off, but it’s possible we may not get there before we have to crash. That said, the more efficient we are about moving through the first part of the scene, the more time we’ll have to spend on the meaty stuff. Don’t be surprised if I hit the fast-forward button once or twice. (You’ll still be able to summarize your character’s actions during that time.)
2: Depending on how far we get tonight, there may be things that are violent and upsetting and potentially dangerous to your characters. (PC death is possible, though highly unlikely – unless your character has a death wish.)
3: There is a point during this scene (again, depending on how far we get) that will effectively be a “point of no return” for your characters. When we pass that point, they will be neck-deep in the SL and you won’t be able to pull them out easily. So if anyone feels iffy about the story or making a major time commitment, this will be your last chance to back out. (And there will be an easy out for you, because unlike the characters in the B Group, your characters will be making a deliberate choice to get involved.)
4: Same rules as yesterday. Try to post in 20 minutes or less (less is better) though I will not be super rigid about that during transition points (and you can expect my own posts to vary depending on how much narrative I have to drop on you.) Keep to the established posting order. Try to save non-scene-related questions for later. If you have any issues with the content, let me know.
5: As always, have fun!

Demiurge
Maddoc arrived at Patience’s farm as he said he would, pulling up in a nondescript blue Toyota rental. The marks on his arms were gone, and he carried no visible weapons. A silver chain hung about his neck, disappearing beneath the line of his grey t-shirt to hide whatever pendant he carried against his skin. It was just after lunch when he got there, and though he was polite enough to thank Patience for her trust and hospitality, it was clear that he wasn’t there to be social. Nor did he seem inclined to waste time, and if Grace and Lena were not already there, he would suggest that they be contacted right away.
Once they were all together, Maddoc followed Patience into the living room and sat down in a chair. He waited for the others to get comfortable, and if anyone offered him a drink, he’d take it (he had a soft spot for tea, but water would do fine.) Then he began to tell his story.
Before the end of the Ascension War, Maddoc had been a member of the now-defunct House Thig, Hermetic Technomancers whose innovation and ideals brought them more in line with the Virtual Adepts.  Through his contacts, he eventually grew close with influential members of both the Adepts and the Sons of Ether. This was how he became involved in the creation of Bastion: a visionary project which began as the brainchild of a Master Virtual Adept named Sam Butler, known to most simply as Luna. The goal of the project? To create another world. Not a virtual reality, but a new reality. Reality 2.0, on a test scale.
The project began with an AI. Maddoc himself had not been involved in the AI’s creation – it was technology beyond even his understanding. The AI was the center – the Will and the imagination from which the universe expanded. The mages helped to encourage that growth, coding and shaping it into a coherent reality. What began as a single simulation grew into a handful of fully-realized worlds. It was incredible – all of their wildest dreams came to life before their very eyes.
But what began as an experiment quickly grew beyond even their control. There were arguments: to some, organic evolution was the ultimate sign of success, but others worried about the unseen consequences of what might happen if Bastion ever spilled into the “real" world.
All of them feared attracting the attention of the Technocrats, and unsurprisingly, that’s exactly what happened. But there were strong security measures in place. The physical database for Bastion was well-hidden, the borders of the universe heavily shrouded and protected by an advanced guardian protocol. The Technocrats knew something was out there, but they didn’t know what, and they couldn’t find a way in. Not without the keys.
But as usual, the Technocracy proved a relentless enemy. Luna was killed, and most of the original creators either disappeared or turned up dead. Maddoc himself would probably be dead by now if he hadn’t left the project a few years ago.
It was only recently that the abductions started. They started small at first: one or two people here and there who fell into unexplained comas while plugged into their computers. The incidents were scattered all over the globe, and didn’t attract Maddoc’s notice until he heard about a group of 11 gamers who’d fallen unconscious at a convention in Toronto. That was when he started to put the pieces together. When he realized that Bastion had indeed found a way to reach beyond its borders.
He didn’t know why the people were being taken, but he could guess:
A dream that vast needs someone to believe in it.
This is what Maddoc does know:  Kalen, Ian, Sid and all of the others… their minds (their Wills) were taken to this place. And he intends to bring them back.

Patience Mason
The farm, of those gathering in the bright early afternoon only Grace had been before. She had born witness to the curious counter nature of the place in comparison to its owner's uncanny and memorable persona. It is a small thing this farm, with enough acreage for a decent amount of livestock, being cows, chickens and a few pigs, the rest of the space given over to a small field of mixed vegetables, and the homestead complex itself.
The complex was old, one might hazard a guess at its origins being in the early 1940's the house with its wrap around porch and a large covered veranda and its fittings and design aspects suited to the era. A barn and silo stood nearby, painted a bright and cheerful red and filled with a variety of farm equipment and feed for the animals, as well as the seeds and necessities for Patience's various crops.
The one item in the outside which might draw the eye is an old stand alone windmill, or at least what might have once been one. It is apparent that the structure had undergone serious modification, the height seems greater then necessary, and the scaffolding up which one can clearly climb seems pointless on a windmill, a cluster of scientific equipment sits perched at the top on a wide platform, and curiously enough, a small metal plank extends from the side.
But back to the house, its old red brick foundation was a elegant little thing, as those present stepped within they would encounter pictures, both old and new, some of people who seemed dressed in clothes from the turn of the century onward, others of landscapes and other things, regardless someone liked their photography.
The living room itself is set with two couches and two chairs, all surrounding an old empty fireplace, the appointments evoke an older era, much as the owner did, the vintage furniture obviously refitted and fixed by someone with a skilled hand.
Patience herself had welcomed them all in, offering in her own way, water, tea or juice, a small tray of baked bread and cheese was present...because well, hospitality was a thing, and Patience seemed to care about it, even in the face of dire portents as those carried by Maddoc Orion.

Grace
Grace was at the farm when Maddoc arrived, because she wouldn't be anywhere else when the promise of information about her friends is to be had. She is all ready to get on with things. In fact, she doesn't allow much in the way of polite social chit-chat once he arrives, trying to cut to the chase.
And when he finally does start opening his mouth at last, Maddoc turns out not to be the backwards Hermetic that she originally assumed. Grace sits down with the man as he describes a dream project that still sounds like science fiction to her. The capabilities of Master magi are just that astounding. At points, her eyes grow wide. At points it seems as though Grace is listening to a particularly interesting audiobook, until she catches herself. This Bastion took her friends.
"So the Union saw Bastion as a threat, and then immediately killed anyone who could actually do something about it? Sounds about right," Grace says, in heavy sarcasm mode.
"What kind of 'dreams' are they having? If they're going to other worlds, then what sorts of realities are they experiencing? Are the safeties off?"
Of course this is Grace, and of course she will batter him with questions until there are none left.

Lena Reilly
Lena is skeptical going into this.  Which is not to say she's hostile; she is, but not specifically at Maddoc.  Her anger issues over this whole thing have been well-documented at this point and she's itching to get her friends back safely...and probably unleashing some wrath when she gets her chance, if it's possible.
The point is, when she rides her bike up to Patience's farm she's coming off with a critical eye and ear already in place.  She isn't automatically assuming that Maddoc's full of shit but she's also not planning on hanging on his words or accepting them as gospel.  She doesn't take off the leather jacket but unzips it, showing the black T-Shirt underneath.  A pair of black pants and her ever-present sneakers finish the ensemble.
When it's time, she waves off any offered refreshments and takes a seat to listen.  There are deep frowns throughout...thoughtful, mostly.  A few scowls, particularly at mentions of the Technocracy and generally at Bastion in general.  It's not that she doesn't believe in the possibility of AI, obviously.  But when does that ever go well in sci-fi?  That's her experience around it.
"How do we get there and what will we face when we do get there?"  That's her only question right now.  More may come.

Demiurge
Grace's response regarding the Technocracy's tactics elicited a wearied expression from Maddoc. He was old enough to have seen more than his fair share of senseless tragedy at their hands, and though he didn't offer up any of those stories, there was a sense that this was an old wound. How many people had they lost? How many glorious dreams torn apart?
Grace and Lena took their turns asking questions, and Maddoc looked between the two before resting his gaze upon Lena.
"You misunderstand. I came here today because I thought you deserved to know the truth. Going there... trying to stop this. It's a huge risk. I can't in good conscience ask you to put yourselves in that kind of danger."
To Grace, then: "It could be anything. There were over fifty worlds the last time I was there. And they're all just as real as this one."

Patience Mason
The information does not seem to startle Patience as she takes it all in, learning of Maddoc's involvement in the project, of house Thig and the Sons of Ether involved. In truth she might well of heard of the project, in rumours and gossip picked up here and there, but at the time it had meant little to her, but now...now she listened with a poised and directed interest as the situation was laid out before them.
Bastion, home to an AI of unknown capabilities, of unknown dimensions and power, who was at the very least able to pull the minds of people from this reality...into another entirely.
By the time this was revealed Patience paid little heed to her own food and tea, the whole of it forgotten as she chewed on the idea instead, the look on her face spoke of the movement of gears and pistons [were she made of them] within her mind as she began to consider their options.
Both Lena and Grace are full of questions, and Patience's gaze moves from one to the other, before settling on Maddoc once more and inquired.
"Negative Maddoc Orion, the concurrent risk assessment algorithm based on available and extrapolated data indicates that four additional individualized personages actualized within this alternate relativistic state is minimal, when factors such as continued escalation and societal distress levels are acquired and actualized. Current data points indicate and extrapolate that the frotean reality indexed as Bastion will continue to acquire and sublimate additional personages paradigmic and otherwise at an exponential rate..such exponentiality cannot be permitted to actualize."
She paused looking at the others once more. "The incumbent experience data housed within my noospheric synaptic logs are specialized and suited to the precise particulars of this frotean convergence. Such utilization could and should be appropriately categorized as criminal negligence if not utilized."
"Actualize within the indexed frotean relativistic state Bastion..will occur."

Grace
"And I can't in good conscience sit here and do nothing while my friends are in that kind of danger," Grace says, mirroring Maddoc's statement.
"Patience is right. Based on your numbers, this thing is going to go asymptotic soon if we don't do something. It'll swallow this world. Which... It would be one thing if this were a choice people could make," Grace says, and her eyes are flitting things as her mind churns.
"It sounds so ouroboros-like. The universe swallowing it's tail. I wonder if this has happened before."
There are programs out there called quines -- programs that create copies of themselves. Some that do so in loops and iterations are called ouroboros programs, because programmers are not all ignorant of mysticism, even the Sleeping ones. It would make some kind of bizarre sense, if the universe is a simulation itself that it's simulations all the way down, curving around on itself. Maybe this is more akin to a life-cycle than anything else, bigger still than a personal issue involving their friends and a few club-goers.
But Grace is loath to take a stance like that just yet. She might not see Kalen with his mind again. She might lose Sid for real this time. And that's not going to happen.
She looks to Maddoc with conviction and her eyes as sharp as her resonance. "If we can do anything to help, we're going to."

Lena Reilly
"Yeah...what they said," she says, looking at him dead in the eye.  "You misunderstand me, Mister Orion.  I'm not asking to come along with you.  I'm telling you I'm coming with, and they've anted up too.  If you try and stop us than we'll just use everything you've just told us to find a way to rescue them on our own."
Remember when Lena was a nice, calm, gentle woman who kept herself always friendly and reserved?  Ahh, nostalgia.  But even if that was just last year, it might seem like a lifetime ago from the way she's sitting.  Leaned forward, elbows on her knees, staring at Maddoc with a complete lack of fear or reservation.  This is Lena 2.0.
Grace and Patience pretty much laid out the reasoning, so she lets their comments stand.

Demiurge
Grace's mention of ouroboros earned her a bright flicker of Maddoc's pale eyes - something like both surprise and approval, and were it not for the heaviness of the matters being discussed, he might have smiled.
(She was more right than she knew.)
But this was not the moment for a philosophical discussion. Patience, Lena, Grace - they were not so much offering to join the expedition as demanding it. Maddoc looked between them - at their stern, determined faces - and put a hand up to his mouth. A line of tension appeared on his forehead, and he closed his eyes in silence.
Seconds ticked by.
Finally he opened his eyes again. "If we make this a fight, we'll lose. You need to understand that. All we can do is try to change the course of things. And where we're going, there are no roadmaps. Not even for me. We'll be jumping in blind and trying to swim our way to the deepest part of the ocean. There's a very real chance that we may never make it out. That nothing we do will make any difference. I hold responsibility here. It's a risk I'm willing to take. If you insist on coming with me, I won't stop you, but this can't be a decision you make lightly."
He sighed and stood up.
"Please take some time to think about it. I can't promise you that I'll be able to protect you there. If you're sure, then make whatever arrangements you need to, because I'm leaving tonight."

Patience Mason
Patience had already said her piece, there was no changing her intentions, of not for those that she knew, then for all those others who had gone before, and the billions still present in this reality.
Maddoc of course, tried to dissuade them once more, tried to convince them that this was likely a one way trip, that it was only he who should have to bare this burden, despite his own words and Patience broke her firm look and offered him a reassuring smile.
"Such aural dissemination is a series of synaptic cycles that would be more efficiently allocated to the actualization of a systemic and procedural thesis regarding potential obstacles, system error's and objectives into which this frotean relativistic existence will manifest upon our trans-dimensional movation." She offered him a nod, and gestured about. "Should any unmodified and unaltered materiel be required from this habitat structure such access is granted in equivalency of administrative levels." She said this both to Maddoc and her fellow's.
"Addendum? By which particularly and concise methodology will our translative movation occur? Direct molecular dissassociation and reconstruction? Noospheric trans-substantial transmission? More esoteric methods such as neuro-chemical dismemberment and surplantation?"

Grace
"How do we try to change the course of things? How do we reasonably affect things from the inside? You said there was security?"
Grace will likely never run out of questions, but at least she's keeping them to three at once. Maddoc's not getting a wall of words. But she does want to know what the plan is.
And then, having asked her questions, she pulls out her laptop and boots it up. Make your arrangements, he says, like that's going to be simple. At least she can do it all from here, no? And the sooner she can make sure Ginger's cared for, the better.
And also, there are messages to leave on Ginger to let everyone know that they're all going to go off and be big damn heroes or something. Or something. And if reality starts getting swallowed, you know they failed. Sorry. Seriously -- what is appropriate to say?

Lena Reilly
"I don't need time to think about it, Maddoc," she says.  She's not even angry right now; determined and hard, but not angry.  "Time isn't going to change my opinion any.  It's not going to change what I need to do.  The only thing that time is going to do is delay our finding them, which could mean more risk to them."
"Exactly how will we be entering," is her question.  "Phyiscally, via a mindscape, or something else?"

Demiurge
"We'll be going in the same way the others did. I have an object that will help transmit our Wills across space. So yes, a mindscape. Your bodies will be recreated there, but in this reality, you'll need someone to look after you. If there's anyone you can call, that would be preferable. Otherwise I can send a message to 911 and have the paramedics pick us up."
(And wasn't that an appealing possibility? To end up comatose in the hospital alongside Kalen and the others.)
When Grace asked her question, Maddoc regarded her with a solemn expression. "If you change the storyteller, then you'll change the story. She's more human than you realize, but I don't know if she'll listen. I honestly don't. All we can do is try."
Finally Maddoc glanced at Patience. "One of these days, if there's time, you really have to explain to me how you ended up with such a fascinating speech pattern."
And he really did seem interested, but now wasn't the time to follow up on such things.
"Give me a moment. I'll be right back."
The Hermetic left the room to go outside and rummage about in his car. As he did this, the others would have time to begin making their arrangements. Passing on necessary information. Finding someone to feed the chickens. Figuring out what was to become of their empty bodies once they left.
When Maddoc came back, he held a rolled scroll of paper in his hands, and he crouched down on the floor to unfurl it in front of them. On the paper was a sketched image in the shape of a mandala, with layers of worlds leading in toward the center. Some of the worlds were labeled with little question marks. Most of them were empty.
"This is how Bastion is laid out. Each reality is distinct from the others, but there are links in the chain. It's only through those links that we'll be able to travel between worlds. I have the key that will get us through the front gate, but after that... we'll have to find out own way. Grace, you mentioned an ouroboros..."
Here Maddoc reached down past his shirt to draw out the pendant hanging around his neck. It was a symbol of two snakes (one black, one white, with red and green eyes) swallowing each other's tails. A two-headed ouroboros.
(And maybe, if any of them had a great memory for children's stories, they might even feel a glimmer of recognition.)
"I don't know what the gateways will be exactly. A door or an object. But they'll be marked with this symbol."

Grace
Grace rubs at the bridge of her nose. This reminds her of something. Watch for the signs of the snake in your daily life. The bandit is in possession of the key and will also try to take from you what you need to continue.
"Fuck. Really? I'm surprised Bastion isn't really named Ghostwheel," Grace says, looking up from her typing. "I suppose the Fallacy of Impulse doesn't mean anything to you, does it? If so, beware of bees and poisoned cups is all I gotta say."
So... being cryptic about the cryptic probably isn't going to get her very far, but damn if this doesn't all sound strangely familiar. Maybe this is what that forum was trying to prepare her for, in its mysterious way.
"I know someone we can trust to take care of our bodies, if he'll be willing to help out again as much as he did last time. Doctor Luke. I'll call him."

Patience Mason
And here was the problem with being the 'outsider' other then the other women in the room, or individuals already involved in this convergence Patience Mason had no one she could call, no one that came to the immediate fore of her mind. Her lips pursed at that but she got up, moving to check a series of numbers she had available to her.
One of them had to be worth the time, because a hospital? That was an impossibility.
But then Grace made a suggestion, a Doctor, and Patience nodded as she gestured around them. "There are several compatible horizontal REM accommodator's within this habitat structure, our movation should be minimalized and such remote geographical locality will be our distinct and acute advantage."
But then Patience moved outward, this would be a particular kind of translation, one that required her to prepare her mind, more then her body and such preparation was a long and arduous thing for the likes of Patience.
She would leave food for the others, and would leave a radio on the living room table before saying. "I am ascending to the Aurora for an indeterminate approximate number of temporal unit's, aural contact may be obtained by utilization of this short wave broadcasting unit, or by direct physical movation in a atmospheric direction on the atmospheric phenomena powered H20 movator." Her hand gesturing in the direction of the wind mill.
And then she was moving, for the door, and places beyond.

Lena Reilly
She nods a little when Grace mentions Luke.  She remembers the situation well, which is to say she doesn't remember it well at all but the memories are strong.  She was still coming down from the whole thing at the time, after all.  Still, he helped her recover and she doesn't hold him any ill will.
"Luke will work.  I'm going to update Ginger, let everyone know."  Which is exactly what she's doing, as well as a few other messages.  One that says she may need to cancel a few gigs, another to Alicia to let her know what's up.  That lets everyone she needs to know know.
Then Maddoc is back and laying it out.  It isn't linear, but Lena thinks in a non-linear manner so she gets it.  She nods a little bit here and there, takes note of the symbol.
"All right.  Well, we'll figure it out when we get in there."  There's only so much they can prepare for outside, after all.  At least she knows that, short of a soundless room, she'll have access to her own foci.

Demiurge
Maddoc looked at Grace like he had no idea what she was talking about. For a moment it seemed as though he might respond, but then he just shook his head and tapped the sketched "map" with an outstretched hand, pointing directly at the center of the mandala.
"North leads to the center. That's where I'm heading. To the AI. It could take... months, years, to find the others on our own. It would probably be useless to try, and we'd be wasting time we don't have. The gateways... they're an imprecise mode of travel, but without the other keys, it's the only one we have available to us. Just remember, face North to go inward, and it'll jump us to the next cycle."
He paused after that, looking around at the others. "I don't know what we'll find there. The security system should leave us alone if we have the key, but I can't be sure of anything anymore. If it shows up, don't try to fight it, just run."
Patience was already preparing herself for travel. The others were well on their way to doing the same, and Maddoc had given them only a fraction of the information they were likely to need, but it was enough for now. Enough to make sure they were prepared. And there was only so much information a person could take in at once.
So with that, he set about preparing himself for the ritual they were about the undergo. It was an interestingly archaic and simple process, considering the man worked with information and technology. Perhaps after a certain point one grew beyond the necessity of devices.
He meditated in the living room while he painted his arms with ink, painstakingly etching new symbols onto his body and his face. When he was done, he would need to do the same to Lena, Grace and Patience. The effect was done to tether them all together. To form a link between them so that they could travel as one.
When he was done, the enochian sigils glimmered with a faint white hue - as though a signal had passed through them. Then it was time to do what they'd gathered here to do, so they made their way into whatever room Patience deemed appropriate and laid themselves out. Luke would be notified of their positions, and of what to expect when he arrived later.
When they were ready, Maddoc took out the ouroboros pendant and held it in his hand. Then he whispered, "Tu, was du willst."
The pendant lit up, and then the world went black.

Demiurge
When they came to, the four of them were in a barren grey landscape. The ground beneath their feet was bare, and the sky was flat and dark. A soft layer of rain showered down onto their heads, and it was this that would bring them fully into wakefulness. The air and the water felt cold and dreary. Like a world only half alive - which is what this was. Not Bastion, but the half-world that had grown up beyond its gates. (Not unlike the Penumbra.)
They were alone here, but all four of them had made it. Maddoc blinked as his eyes adjusted to the new plane, then raised his head to take in the monolith that lay before them.
It was a wall, huge and flat and towering. The surface of it was black and reflective, like obsidian. At the base of the wall lay a white door to which there appeared to be no handle or keyhole - just a flat stone surface. But there was a circular imprint in the center - so small you could barely make it out. (Just the right size for a pendant.)
"There." Maddoc's voice sounded with an odd echo when he spoke. "That's the door. Are you ready?"

Patience Mason
Patience had returned a little while after her departure, now dressed in more comfortable clothing, something in which her body to could while away the hours [days, weeks, months] and hopefully not become to sore ridden. it helped that she lived here, that her wardrobe was here.
But that is nothing in comparison to what came beyond the black, they awoke with the rain falling upon their faces and as Patience sat up she took in herself, then the others, and finally the boundary of Bastion. If they were not at the point of no return yet...then they would be shortly.
She rose to her full height then, pushing her now loose hair out of the way, slinging the wet locks over her ear before nodding to Maddoc "Affirmative, proceed with direct noospherical integration with Bastion." She stated as she stepped up to the door and looked at the others, to Lena and Grace.
A smile was all she offered, reassuring, almost as if she'd been here before, seen and done all of this in the past....

Grace
Preparations having been made, Grace allows the Adept of the Order of Hermes to draw his symbols, as strange as it felt to be so touched. She has trouble with it at times, trying not flinch or jerk.
Lying down on the bed feels so strange. She might never get up again, Maddoc says.
Tu, was du willst.
Grace looks around at the rain and black, hoping this isn't where the rest of them were sent. A blank rainy canvas? Looks incomplete. But Maddoc explains that they're not quite there yet, and she just nods at him when he asks if she's ready.
Ready as she'll ever be to willingly hop over into another universe on a rescue mission.

Lena Reilly
Lena doesn't question anything that Maddoc has to do in order to get them across.  She may have been skeptical of him, but only out of necessity.  Now that they're counting on him to get them inside she sets that aside and gives him implicit trust.  After all, if he is trying to screw them over it doesn't change the fact that they're probably going to get inside and that's where they need to be.
For a woman as afraid of touch as she is, she doesn't stress the idea of modesty.  When Maddoc needs to paint them she doesn't protest, just strips off her jacket and (if needed) whatever other clothes are needed.  She waits patiently, though he can probably pick up a twitch--not quite flinch, but almost--the first time he touches her.  She can't help it; some fears you just don't get over.  Her eyes stay lightly shut, her mind going to a meditative place as he does it.
And then it's time, and everything goes black.  When they awaken again she starts up, looking around with a frown.  She hates being in landscapes, to be truthful, but it's where they have to be.  She looks around at Grace and Patience, then nods to Maddoc.
"Let's go."

Grace
[Awareness!]
Dice: 5 d10 TN6 (1, 4, 4, 5, 7) ( success x 1 )

Lena Reilly
[[Per+Aware, Uncanny Instincts]]
Dice: 7 d10 TN6 (1, 4, 5, 6, 6, 8, 9, 10) ( success x 5 ) Re-rolls: 1

Patience Mason
[Per+Aware]
Dice: 5 d10 TN6 (3, 3, 6, 6, 7) ( success x 3 )

Demiurge
They began to move toward the door with Maddoc at the head. As the four of them drew near, he pulled the pendant from around his neck in preparation.
They were almost there. Almost inside.
That was when Lena felt the presence of something at their backs. Something silent and hidden in the dim shadows of the rain-drenched landscape. Its resonance crawled up her spine like the scent of a hunting predator. Vigilant, Lethal, Relentless.
She'd remember how that being felt when it took the people in the club. Vast and omnipresent. This thing was a different kind of vast, its presence potent and deadly and calculating in a way that was somehow both animal and machine. And as it drew near, it became a near-overwhelming presence.
The others felt it too. First Maddoc, then Patience, then Grace. And when Maddoc felt it, he froze in place with a look that said he both knew and feared the thing that lay behind them. When he turned around, it was there, standing in the rain: a massive grey dire wolf. One of its eyes had an odd reddish cast to it. When it tilted its head, the eye glowed.
And it growled.
"Leave," it said. "You are not welcome here."

Patience Mason
The resonances felt at their backs was the not necessarily a thing of nightmares, but it was enough to make most anyone's blood run cold. Patience felt the quickening of her own heart as she slowly turned to regard the large beast, the dire wolf who, if given provocation might well bite one of them clean in half with that maw.
She cast her gaze quickly to Maddoc, looking to see how he was reacting, and the look on his features told her everything she needed to know about the situation they had entered into.
"Standard Sentinel program iconography, defender, warrior, savage annihilator of the unwanted. Correction of statement, implicit, we are not welcome here. But our personages are immediately and concisely required to ascertain, catagorize and initiate necessary relativistic adjustment to acquire and align a harmonious and efficient system integrity.." She would state smoothly.
"Such direct actionable objectives are wanted only ten point three two two percent of all actual temporal references, but necessary within ninety eight point nine nine ad infinitum."
Couldn't hurt to negotiate could it?

Grace
Grace, the last to feel the presence of the wolf, first notices the reaction of the others. When they turn, so does she.
And comes face to face with the wolf. Right. Well then. It's not the first time she's come to look upon a giant monster. Recently, she cussed out a hydra. So, she manages to tamp down the instinctual fear that wells up inside. It's not just directly attacking them. It's speaking first. That's a good sign.
"We're not here to hurt either you or Bastion," Grace says, raising her hands slowly. It's the truth, right? Maddoc said a fight would be a loss. "We're here to help. We're not even close to being a threat to you. As Patience said, consider us... maintenance. We have the keys and an administrator. We're not exactly interlopers."
It's hard to say what the effect of arguing with a security protocol might be, but Grace suspects it has at least some level of intelligence. That which is intelligent may be reasoned with, right?

Lena Reilly
It's a charge, that feeling.  Her sixth sense firing on all cylinders, hitting her like a splash of cold emotion to the face.  It makes her stiffen, her whole body tensing as she's overwhelmed with that terrifying mix of Resonance, and there's a moment where she looks very afraid indeed.  She lets it course through her and in fact is a little overwhelmed by it.  She is getting better with all her emotions, but fear?  That one is still very trick for her.  And she turns around slowest, her eyes at the right corners of her eyes as she turns in that direction to face down the wolf.
She takes in a breath.  Lets it go.  Grace and Patience do some explanation.  For her part, she just watches.  This is all in their minds, but that makes it no less dangerous.  It does give them flexibility in the rules of reality.  She's not acting yet though; she merely stands there in solidarity and lets the other two speak.  Even digital wolves can probably smell fear and she'd rather not draw attention to herself when the others have taken the lead at the moment.

Demiurge
When Patience and Grace spoke, the beast snapped its head to look in their direction, and it opened its jaws in a low, tongue-curling snarl.
"Liars. I know why you are here."
That was when Maddoc stepped forward, the pendant raised in his hand to brandish before him like a white flag.
"Wulf, I am Maddoc Orion. You know me. My friends and I mean no harm. Let us pass."
When the wolf moved, it was lightning-quick and terrifying. A sudden leap and a snap of its fangs that sent a bone-snapping echo across the dreary landscape. This was a warning, and likely all they were going to get.
"Liars! Murderers! Yes I know you, Orion the hunter. You're here to kill us, just like all the others. Give us the key and go. Now! Or I will tear out your spine!"
It cocked its head at an almost impossible angle and the red eye glowed again, dangerous and unhinged. Maddoc took a step back with an expression of dawning horror.
"...What happened to you?"
Clearly, whatever he'd expected from the security system - this was not it. But his question wasn't likely to receive an answer, and they were out of time. He knew better than anyone what this creature was capable of. He understood their chances. And he knew exactly how close they were to the door.
(Sometimes in life, you have to make a split-second decision that you will never be able to take back.)
"You want it, come take it."
At that, the wolf leaped forward. And Maddoc reached back and tossed the ouroboros to Patience, shouting "Go, now!"

Patience Mason
The program made flesh was not responding, its own code corrupted, its own data base filled with viral code....or at least that is how Patience imagines it. Maddoc knew it more then any of them, he had known this protocol, this creature in another time and he balked from it in horror and disgust.
In the next moment the ouroboros is being tossed, a decision made,  a fate sealed. Patience catches the talisman reflexively, and though her she is smart, quite smart really. She hesitates, it is for a moment though, and only one. A brief frown flickering across her lips before she turns, her gaze slowly tearing away from Maddoc as her feet carried her toward the door.
"Movate!" She cries, the sound frustrated, distressed, unhappy. But she does it anyways and so she hurtles towards the door, the symbol held out before her, already lining up with the doors indentation.

Grace
When the wolf cried out that they were liars, Grace backed away. Not making any sudden movements, still holding her arms up in a gesture of submission, she still edged toward the door.
The thing was intelligent. That and insane.
She watches as Maddoc makes his sacrifice, watches as Patience grabs the key, and she is already running for the door by the time Patience tells them all to move.
Sacrifices like Maddoc's aren't meant to be wasted, after all.

Lena Reilly
This is why Fear is not a bad thing.  Fear motivates you and makes you cautious when you should be.  If Lena were fearless, she would throw herself forward with Maddoc in order to help buy Patience and Grace--the two more technologically-minded of them--the time to get away.  She would think it was worth it to try and give Maddoc a fighting chance and eliminate any remote chance that he wouldn't be enough to stop them.
But with Fear?  Well.  FUCK THAT.  And she's not proud of it, but she moves the second Maddoc shouts, running right alongside Patience who she lets get ahead only because she's got the key.  Other than that one caveat, her feet pound on the grass and she runs like the devil him (or her)self is nipping at their heels.

Demiurge
If Lena had asked, Maddoc would have told her not to waste her life. Not to let this be any greater a sacrifice than it had to be. It was a relief when the three of them took off behind him. A relief because he knew there was still a chance, no matter how slim, that people's lives would be saved.
Maybe a part of him had known this was how it would end. He was as much culpable for this as the unseen enemy who'd created this monster from the program he'd helped to design.
And Wulf was right about one thing: Maddoc had not chosen his name casually. He was a hunter. There was no chance of this ending in any way other than his defeat, but he could give them time. Only a little, but hopefully enough.
The others would feel a wild surge of electricity at their backs as Maddoc met the wolf head-on. It prickled the hair on their arms and necks and filled the air with ozone and the scent of singed fur. The wolf fell, shaking its head in temporary confusion, but it was up again a moment later, and this time its jaws found their mark.
Maddoc didn't want to scream - didn't want to distract the others from their task, but he couldn't help it. He beat the wolf with his fists and struck it with another bolt of raw energy, but the thing had him and it wasn't letting go. Its jaws tore into his flesh, ripping open a gaping wound in his side before it knocked him to the ground.
Back at the door, Patience pressed the key into the niche in the white stone. For a second, nothing happened. Then the door... did not so much open as vanish to reveal a watery gateway. The last thing the three of them heard before they stepped through the gate was the sound of the wolf ripping out Maddoc's spine.
(Just as it had promised.)
And somewhere far away, the body of a man who'd named himself after a famous hunter died quietly in his sleep.
Then the world shifted and went dark again.