In Xanadu: The Mystery Begins

Jeremie's hand flies over the keyboard, eventually finishing off the line of commands with the enter button. As he waits for the scanners to do their job, he already prepares the initialisation for his own scanner. Then again, looking at one of the screens- he puts on his headphone and decides to investigate it just a little further.

Jeremie: "I'll be right there you guys, go on ahead."

With a flash and a twirl of energy, Odd materialised on Xanadu.

Odd: Wooooo!

And then he dropped to the floor.

I lookd arond aftr I got to my feet.

Yumi: Whre are we?

Odd, Ulrich, and Yumi open their eyes to the strange artificial landscape around them, followed by Jeremie a few seconds later. Still slightly dizzy from the virtualization process, each takes a few seconds to regain their footing.

You all appear close to where you had last entered Xanadu, at the base of one of the strange towers that dot its landscape. The sky above you is a pleasant clear blue, and the lush landscape is practically blanketed in soft carpet-like moss, trees, and flowering plants never seen on earth. Only a few meters from where you stand is a bubbling stream cutting its way right past the tower, with crystal-clear water that makes a relaxing noise as it flows toward the precipitous edge.

If you visually follow the stream's path, you all see that it is being fed from a source on the plateau formed between Xanadu's two central peaks, being further fed from a rushing waterfall flowing down the side of the largest, eastern peak. On top of this peak is a tower far taller than all the rest: it is at least a kilometer tall with its top obscured by a circular, swirling cloud that hangs in one spot despite the direction of the breeze.

Aside from a gentle breeze and the sound of the flowing stream, Xanadu is relaxingly serene and quiet. Each of you look down at your somewhat-familiar avatar forms:
Ulrich is clad in the guise of a samurai, with splint mail armor and a katana in its scabbard at his belt waiting to be drawn. Yumi is dressed in the guise of a geisha, with two collapsing metal fans hidden in the sash around her waist. Odd is wearing a striking purple outfit with vertical stripes offsetting purple facial tattoos and articulated animal claws in place of his hands. Appearing in his grip is a hardwood walking cane, capped with a metal pommel. Jeremie is dressed in a rich blue tunic and striped pants, each embroidered with a repeating fleur-de-lys symbol in gold. Over this he is armored in a metal breastplate, pauldrons, and metal shod gauntlets, as well as armored greaves protecting his upper legs and knees. Tucked into a scabbard at his belt is a short sword, in the style of a Roman gladius.

Each of you are aware, from previous experience, that you can access the supercomputer from Xanadu by simply saying 'computer' out loud and sweeping your hand across your field of vision. This causes a floating, holographic display and keyboard to appear in front of any of you, allowing access to the supercomputer and its functions. The computer can also be queried verbally, and it will respond in a pleasant albeit computerized female voice.

Odd looked around. He wondered where they were.

Odd: Uh, computer? Could you show us those four maps again? With our current position?

As Odd cautiously flicks his hand through the air, the four scan images appear as floating holographic screens in front of him as the computer's voice chimes in:

Directive acknowledged Della Robbia, Odd. Retrieving latest scan suite results... Current position is 5.134 meters at bearing 287º, north-north-west of node Echo November.

Jeremie looks up at mountains.

Jeremie: " What I wonder, is what that tower does up there. Seeing its height.. Well, you know what I mean."

Obviousely he's interested in that particular tower. It pretty much appears to be the main building of this place, which means it -should- include some crucial information. In theory, of course.

Odd: I think that's Echo November up there.

He looked around the skies, searching for any sign of danger.

I lookd at the map over ther sholdrs.

Yumi: I stll don't like the looks of that red map...espclly since each Anmly is lind up with a towr name...

jeremie: "Up to that tower, I'd say."

He points towards the huge tower on top of the hill, staring up at it as he looks for the easiest path along the mountain.

Jeremie: "Assuming we can get there. But we'll never know if we don't try!"

Wings burst from Odd's shoulders. He flapped them experimentally a few times, before taking off.

Would he fly?

Code:

This is up to Secrets...

With a mere mental cue, a pair of wings sprout from Odd's back and he feels the familiar euphoric sensation as he expends his digital energy to fuel the transformation. Dizzy for a second from the feeling, he tests out the wings before flapping them, bringing him to a hovering position over the group. -1 Energy Point

Ulrich: Alright, let's get to it then. Odd, fly up ahead and see if you can spot anything.

He gestures for Yumi and Jeremie to follow him, and without the use of his Super Speed begins the trek up the side of the mountain.

With an expression of excitement covering his face, Jeremie follows the small group. He never loses concentration though - with his right hand on the hilt of his blade, his eyes spy around the environment to try and spot any suspicious activity.

Odd flew up even higher. He looked around.

Odd: No ghosts yet...

He landed on a big-fat-cable-thingy for a moment, to catch his breath.

As Odd flies up to an appreciable altitude, he is given a chance to look around Xanadu. A network of streams all fed by waterfalls from the highest peak criss-crosses the land before spilling off the sides of Xanadu into the strange ocean below. A flat area between the two peaks retains a small lake surrounded by flowering vegetation. Between Xanadu's flora, he can make out numerous small caves dotting the nearby area, from which steam rises gently upwards before dissipating.

The placid scene before him is interrupted as he glances to the west, to the farthest 'point' of the land. There, around a lone tower are what appear to be... buildings! Little stone huts or edifices arranged like a small village.

Code:

Ok, I've got it now. Sorry for the confsen...

I glncd up to see Od starng off into the distnce.

Yumi: Od? Is evrythng all right?

Jeremie stares at the horizon, as if he's hoping to share Odd's sight. Would it really be true what he says? There wasn't any village visible on the scan or anything alike. Not to mention that - creating an entire virtual world is one thing. Creating a population of AIs should be completely impossible. Unless, of course, the village wasn't populated.

Jeremie: "I'll put it on the to-explore-list, yes."

Jeremie: "The probability of that happening is even smaller than Odd's chance of getting an A. But hey, you never know."

Odd: Oy! I get A's a lot, thank you very much! Granted, they're all in Art, but still...

He started flying up towards the tower again.

Jeremie looks a bit questioning at Yumi as he continued to climb up.

Jeremie: "Why would ghosts want to live in a village? I doubt they desire a humanoid life."