The Alchemist at Hell's Gates

36

^^ Deep Laboratory ^^

About sixty feet downward in the slowly spiraling staircase, I noticed the texture of the stone change, from the rough-hewn mineshaft stone to a smooth, professionally polished stone that glistened as if freshly cleaned, and I immediately went a little more on guard, stepping softer even though I knew that my footsteps were disguised by the ridiculous Stealth of 55 I currently had. (20 from my Armor, 20 from Shadow-Stride, and 15 from my Agility.)

The steps also sharply turned, up ahead, ending in a landing of the same polished stone, where a few clearly visible pressure-plates were placed all around the landing to distract from the bottom twelve steps, which were all slightly thinner than the others, and would make you trip down into the pressure plates as you walked, because you were used to the wider steps of the long stairway you just walked down; it would also distract from the magical Traps on the walls, which didn't need pressure plates to go off, just your presence. I stepped into the wall, avoiding the traps deftly, then into the room beyond the door without touching the small field of pressure plates around the exit of the door as well, in case you made it that far, and then looked up at the room I found myself in, my jaw dropping slowly in Awe.

I stood atop a grand double staircase, descending into a laboratory made entirely of Mithril and a curious silver and purple wood, with a wall of Bay Windows showing shifting views of the ocean in them, like magical screensavers, and a second floor of balconies with seating apparently placed to enjoy said views, as well as two reading/studying nooks. Under the left side of this balcony was a drafting desk made of simple wood, out of place in the Ultra-Modern laboratory, with a single blueprint laid upon it, incomplete. To the right side was a more fitting desk made of the magical metal, Mithril, and a glowing, floating computer screen with a keyboard and drawing pad for drafting and coding, connected to an unfinished Mithril Golem and a treadmill of sorts that looked like it was built for the Golem's testing. Above me was a third floor of some sort, out of view, but from the Heat that was sleeping through the floor, I imagined it was the Forge. On the ceiling, a mixture of Yellow Stained Glass, Glow-Stone, and Mithril was used to fill the room with natural-seeming light, which coupled with the windows made the room feel as if it wasn't deep underground.

But what caught my eyes first, and then held them, was what was in the center of the expansive, 100ft long room. A series of three Disks shaped like concentric circles and covered in Runes, hovering over each other, with a glowing Bronze Sphere floating above it, pulsing with arcane power.

'All good down there, Sam?' -Jack-Skellington.

'Better than good, Jack... but there's a crap-ton or traps down here, and along the stairs, as well, so leave it for now; there's no Blurry Space and no Hidden Boss our Enemies that I can see, so just take a rest for now, and I'll go back up if I see something dangerous. It's not worth screwing up our plans for today, if I know it's here, now. I can come back when I'm a higher Level, if I need to.' -Captain-Bordeaux.

'Alright, I guess... we'll wait for a bit longer.' -Jack-Skellington.

I chuckled and crept slowly further into the room, avoiding the various Traps around the entrance and approaching the drawing board, just looking at the blueprint for now; the plans were simply a very old trebuchet that was apparently was throwing a middle finger at a mirror, and if I'd approached it with material, and stepped on the hidden Rune on the ground, I would've activated the arcane effect, whatever it was, but as I hadn't done that, it simply amused me, so I wrote a reply. 'Thanks for the laugh; and the Mithril.'

Leaving that behind, I approached the computer screens, and hummed at their lack of Tower or system of any kind, beyond the keyboard and drawing pad. 'Where's your Brain, my friend?' I frowned, then looked at the Mithril cord attaching the desk to the Disks in the middle, and the other attached to the Golem. 'Ahhh... the Gestalt Sphere is your Brain... smart... I don't want to even imagine the amount of Binary you had to Code to trick that thing into working for you like this... but let's see the Results, shall we?' I smiled and sat down in the chair after checking it for traps, then tapped the keyboard to wake the screens up.