Terra Nullius: Session 17 - The Reactor (Part 1)

Key Points:

The remaining Runners arrived at the steel gates of the Mana Reactor in Quiet Mountain...

Many members of the group still mourned the loss of Trajan.
The gate was activated remotely, so without scaling it, it would be difficult to get past it.
Klein knew of a secret mountain passage through a crevice that would lead to a maintenance tunnel of sorts.

After Kembu and Roan discovered a security camera, Managirl disabled it (almost falling off part of the mountain in the process).
The group donned protective filter masks while Klein equipped a gas mask.

Opening the maintenance entrance revealed a sewer tunnel of sorts. A river of mana flew through the middle with mana being stuck to the walls, the walkways, and the ceilings.

Klein shared that the mana can burn the skin if directly contacted with it, and prolonged exposure can result in mutation and death.

Klein attributed these to "ghosts in the machines", but it was actually revealed to be Mana-Nui. A strange, almost primordial mana elemental, this creature seemed to be born of this muck. The group was hesitant as his appearance, but when he presented himself as a friend, the group became more opened to him. Klein was entranced by his uniqueness.
Mana-Nui revealed he hadn't seen any people down here, but he spoke of terrible creatures (amongst them something called brain-lions).
Mana-Nui seemed able to alter his appearance, and gave an impression of one of these creatures (making most of the group sickened).

Klein shared her concern that some of the specimens of Project Rebirth may have escaped.

Project Rebirth seemed to be an effort on Genesis's part to recreate several extinct species. She worked on it on-again and off-again, but was never a head researcher on it.
She claimed that species from Project Rebirth were moved here along with her when she worked at the Quiet Mountain facility.
Along with Project Rebirth, other dirty secrets of Quiet Mountain are thought to be here.
The history of Quiet Mountain was that it was a far away facility where work too dangerous for the city of Babylon could be performed. Many generations ago, a terrible accident occurred here that shut down the facility. It was reopened sometime during the last decade and parts of it have been receiving upgrades during that time, but the official records state that Quiet Mountain is currently abandoned. Klein's intel from the hengeyokai claim that her research (for a project yet unshared with the group) is being used here in the past six months.

Manu-Nui joined the group, invited by Klein to do so.
Discovering a manhole cover leading up, the group proceeded into the facility proper, leaving behind stalking brain-lions.
After exiting a maintenance closet, the group discovered several key factors about this facility...

The doors use card readers and the cards are color coded. Only the right cards can get access to certain areas.
The group seemed to be on the south end of the facility, where there was numerous options to choose from for exploration. Amongst them, there were three hallways, numerous jet back card rooms, a game room, and a lounge.
There was also an anti-gravity lift that acted as transportation between the different levels of the facility. Due to the power being out on the southern portion, the lift wasn't working over here.
Managirl found a deactivated repair robot, opened its innards, and looted two gems from it.
When checking the hallways, the group discovered bones, bits of rags, and vegetable husks along with a violet card. Above these signs, there was a living, breathing darkmantle (a flying octupus creature) that descended upon the group to attack them after they made noise. Before it could do any real damage, Roan, Kembu, and Managirl killed the creature.

Something about the combat triggered dormant issues within several key members who had succumbed to the first stage of mana radiation (Kembu, Managirl, and Del. It should be noted that Manu-Nui is naturally in the first stage of it himself.)

Kembu found that his wounds were naturally healing on their own...
Del could sense the pain and physiology of others around her on an empathic level.
Managirl find a deep light within her wanting to shine, and she temporarily released it in a blinding dazzling ray that blinded the entire group.

Managirl felt sick after her outbreak, and Manu-Nui nursed her and rocked her from side to side a bit until she was comforted.
The group prepared to explore the rest of the facility--with the med-bay in mind for cures to their illnesses and the security facility for a higher level keycard.

Current Objectives:

Terra Nullius