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Here is a demon. The demon is in his swimming pool.
He doesn't swim naked, so he takes the summon anyway.
demon cam vs the clam planet
from_scratch
Successive layers of shielding are melted, shattered, or otherwise wrecked. Cam approaches the portal in an expanding cloud of diamond shards and molten metal.
But approach it he does.
The Enemy retreats, eventually.
But approach it he does.
The Enemy retreats, eventually.
from_scratch
Once he's close enough to get a good look at what they're shooting at him with he shreds it, interpolating it with air.
Some of the weapons thusly treated just fall apart; others violently explode, taking out what's left of the rearguard.
On the other side is... a very recently-abandoned industrial complex of some kind, situated in an open field under an unnervingly low sky. If he cares to look, it's reasonably obvious how the aliens were constructing their ships here to be passed through the portal in pieces and then assembled on the other side. The portal itself was extremely well-guarded until just now, but there are no aliens left.
from_scratch
Huh.
Cam takes to the air, takes pictures, disintegrates industrial complex bits, and looks for where the aliens may have scurried off to.
Cam takes to the air, takes pictures, disintegrates industrial complex bits, and looks for where the aliens may have scurried off to.
It's a good thing he took pictures, because as soon as he gets the wrong industrial-complex bit, it violently explodes, and this causes other parts of the complex to violently explode, and a few minutes later when everything is done violently exploding, the dust settles and the entire interior of this smallish Sphere has been almost completely scoured of objects. There's just a layer of bedrock left at the very bottom.
Luckily, Cam can fly, and the lack of anything else whatsoever makes it really easy to spot the two other portals available. Presumably the aliens went through one of those.
Luckily, Cam can fly, and the lack of anything else whatsoever makes it really easy to spot the two other portals available. Presumably the aliens went through one of those.
from_scratch
Of course someone does! That's promising. Cam hauls the rest of the way through, takes a few pictures, disintegrates weapons.
This Sphere is larger and differently decorated, full of weird stringy sculptures that hold up surprisingly well when things start violently exploding.
from_scratch
Cam wonders if they're made of Real Physics or Actual Substances, but doesn't let this wondering distract him too much from indirectly blowing shit up. These aliens are really fond of their self-destruct mechanisms.
Aren't they just.
Soon this Sphere is empty of everything but weird art and portals. There are five, this time, counting the one he came in through.
Soon this Sphere is empty of everything but weird art and portals. There are five, this time, counting the one he came in through.
from_scratch
Cam is going to need to make a map. He starts a map. He goes back and sticks his head through the other fork out of Ex-Industrial-Park.
from_scratch
Of course he does.
Do these aliens want to talk if he makes a speaker and yells at them?
Do these aliens want to talk if he makes a speaker and yells at them?
from_scratch
They're really not making this much of a fight. Seriously, guys.
How many portals out of here?
How many portals out of here?
Six!
It's going to be a bit of a maze. But not nearly as bad as it could be, if the aliens keep helpfully destroying all the obstacles every time he gets near them.
It's going to be a bit of a maze. But not nearly as bad as it could be, if the aliens keep helpfully destroying all the obstacles every time he gets near them.
from_scratch
It is very helpful of them!
He thinks he's cleared enough of a buffer zone to go back and notify the clam planet people though.
He makes a new comm. "Hey there!"
He thinks he's cleared enough of a buffer zone to go back and notify the clam planet people though.
He makes a new comm. "Hey there!"
from_scratch
"Hi! So the aliens really, really don't want to talk. They want to shoot ineffectually at me and then blow themselves up. A lot. There's a maze of spheres past the next one - it forks into two, and then one side's got five and one's got six, haven't gone farther than that yet. Do you have anything resembling a guess of how long it would take me to convince all these aliens to self-destruct?"
slash-of-gold
"That's likely to depend on how many there are, and we've never been able to determine that beyond 'always more'," says Azair.