Warning: The file ‘castle-map.mce’ could not be fully interpreted with any installed geometries. Proceed with incomplete data? Y/N
>Y
Proceeding with the download… done!
Downloading castle-map-thermal.mce…
Warning: The file ‘castle-map-thermal.mce’ could not be fully interpreted with any installed geometries. Proceed with incomplete data? Y/N
>Y
Proceeding with the download… done!
>mission heatwave_incident start
Loading mission ‘heatwave_incident’…
DESCRIPTION: The Castle’s ambient temperature has been unusually and dangerously high for the past few days. Ventilation and other cooling systems are fully online, but are insufficient for dealing with a heatwave of this magnitude. The cause for this incident is unknown, but thermal scans of the Castle indicate that the temperature consistently peaks in close proximity to a specific headmate’s room. Due to the ever-shifting nature of the Refractive Geode living quarters, the occupant of this room is not known. The source of the heat is likely magical in nature.
OBJECTIVE: Navigate the RG living quarters and locate the source of the heat. If at all possible, gather information and/or resolve the incident.
Just… stay safe, okay?
MISSION START! Begin log.
(T+00:00) Noted temperature increase upon entering Penrose Steps room. (33°C -> 35°) Internal cooling adjusted.
(T+00:01) Noted temperature increase upon entering Refractive Geode living quarters. (35°C -> 40°C) Internal cooling adjusted. There is nothing to be afraid of.
(T+00:03) Map data was (of course) incomplete and imperfect, but I have located a room with a temperature matching (actually slightly exceeding) the peak found on the thermal map at the anomaly’s supposed epicenter. Current temperature: 50°C. Internal cooling at full blast. Here we go.
(T+00:04) The room appears to be ablaze. The walls and floor are littered with papers, all colored in yellows and oranges and reds. There is someone standing in the middle of the room. The temperrra00WARNING: Internal cooling operating at maximum strength and cannot be set any higher.
(T+??:??) S0mething is wrong. A temperature like this has never been recorded from this incident. It sp1ked to almost 80°C shortly after my entry into the room. I had to fall back quickly to put some distance between myself and the room, and perform a new risk assessment.
After correcting the heat distortion in my visual data, I can identify the room’s occupant as Rebecca, the painter. She appears to be fully concentrated on producing more of those paintings, and did not visibly react to my presence. Even so, entering the room seemingly triggered the spike in temperature.
…
Correction: Analysis of the events leading up to the spike reveals something very unusual. Upon entering Rebecca’s room, I somehow both noticed and internally commented on the paintings covering the opposite wall before Rebecca herself, despite her placement in the room’s center.
Putting 2 and 2 together… done!
(T+??:??) WARNING: Internal cooling operatiShut up for a second, I need to think and act quickly here. My systems are damaged by the heat, so certain functions like “closing my eyes” appear to be impossible, if they’d even work in the first place. Sending a backup of myself is already hard enough out of the living quarters, thanks to the complicated nature of the space. If I mess up here, there’s no guarantee that anyone will be able to come get me. Or Rebecca…
I can’t just destroy the paintings. They’re a part of her, she put s0 much care into mAking them. But there is… 0ne thing 1 can try…
I d0n’t know how she’s been surv1v1ng this heat, but it looks like her resistance to it 1sn’t without its l1m1ts. She’s sweating, and losing balance… 1 have to be quick or we’re b0th done for.
(T+??:??) yellow. orange. red. warm colors. filling my lenses, my inputs, my visual processing. but even asERROR: INTERNAL COOLING OFFLINE, INTERNAL TEMPERATURE CRITICALi know i’ll be able to complete the mission. art can be interpreted in lots of ways… and “the red ones go faster”, don’t they…? the beating red heart of the mountain gives me the swiftness 1 need… the temperature is g01ng d0wn, 1t’s w0rk1ng, 1t’s, 1111111110000000000
(T+00:10) End log.
…
CONCLUSION: As soon as it was deemed safe, we reentered the living quarters and found Bitwise and Rebecca in the latter’s room, both unconscious and suffering the effects of overheating. Bitwise was clutching a stack of papers to its chest, which consisted of dozens of paintings in various warm colors. Each of these paintings generate heat when viewed, and the amount of heat grows with the number of viewers and the number of paintings viewed simultaneously. This effect ceases when the painting is returned to the stack, likely due to the combined reduction in painting visibility and metaphysical significance of being “put away”.
Upon her recovery, testing of Rebecca’s newfound abilities will begin.
MISSION COMPLETE!
