The Temple of Artemis(Pre-Event/Intro Thread)

[Albert Wesker]

Something was wrong.

Sounds were the first thing to go. Static flickered in his audio receptors, kicking up errors and muffling noises, as if rapidly retreating down a narrow tunnel from the source of the ruckus. The scene grew more and more dull, colors bleeding out to leave the entire scene washed in monochrome and shadows. Colonel brought one hand to his head, his balance deserting him with a rough stagger. Everyone in his group turned an odd look toward him, and even the mighty king Bowser arched an eyebrow at the sudden display.

"Hey, man, you alright there?"

Zack. His voice sounded warbled, as if from behind a curtain of water, or a great distance away, despite standing only a few feet to his side. Colonel responded in the negative, shaking his head with a brief, "Systems acting up..." His attention was snatched by the approach of the koopa bearing copies of the reports Bowser had ordered passed out. And as the beshelled turtle-man held it out...Colonel flickered, like a lightbulb going out, and burst into a spray of Omnilium, phasing rapidly out of sight as he all but fell through the ground.

And then he saw nothing but swirling colors amid a field of blackness.

His internal systems and orientation sensors fought against everything to right his awareness of what, exactly, had befallen him. Dozens of system checks and queries as to his predicament flashed across his internal HUD, blinking red and white in concern and warning. And then two things overrode everything else quite clearly: that he was falling, and that his systems were compromised. To what extent, and in what way, he had no idea.

Logical sense started to re-assert itself, and then he touched down on solid ground. He stumbled at the landing, winding up in a crouch, one hand splayed on the ground for balance. It felt very much like the stomach-turning sensation of passing through the nexus gate. Before he could even rise properly, he was greeted with the simple words, "Greetings, Champion."

What in the name of...?

The soldier navi listened intently. He needed information, and if this Teucer was going to give it so freely, he wasn't going to turn it down. It sounded like quite the predicament the fellow had ended up in. He needed help finding these so-called relics to free his spirit. That sounded easy enough. It would be a lie to say that Colonel was anything but understandably irritated at being so unceremoniously yanked from his former task to be deposited here and essentially forced to participate, if what he was surmising was true...but it wasn't as if he could turn down the request, in good conscience, now that he was here.

"Understood," he said, flatly and simply. That was all that needed to be said, and the spirit seemed satisfied with this answer, turning back to its work.

As the spirit resumed its search for others to assist it, the cybernetic soldier turned his focus away to the rest of the area as a whole. Ancient stonework. Probably of a Grecian style. Reminded him faintly of many of the countries he'd visited with Baryl in their line of work. It hinted at how long Teucer might have been waiting around to be freed from his predicament.

Regrettably, it seemed not everyone was so willing to help. It was understandable, being angry at just being pulled here so abruptly, and in such a fashion...but as the spirit quickly pointed out, doing so as no small feat. How great must this hero's power have been, even in death?

Enough that at his current level of strength, the so-called 'perfect navi' didn't much like his chances if it came to blows. He would take the less insane route of escape, and assist him with this goal of gathering the relics.

It was only right, after all.