"Beats me." Vergil responded, shrugging. "I don't think even back then I knew, as I can't really measure distances from inside an enclosed space." he commented. They were descending for a good few minutes, and Vergil was able to hear everyone speak, and was particularly impressed with Triste's ability to vanish. "Heh... bet that comes in handy for more than one function." the gecko chuckled here, smirking. "Augments are useful... surprised I wasn't augmented to be honest with you... unless of course my mental abilities are an augment in my brain." He tapped his skull now.
After what seemed like maybe three or four minutes, the elevator finally stopped, and then did nothing as the power was cut, plunging the group into darkness. "Uh..." was all Vergil said before the customary "ding" sounded and the doors ominously slid open, revealing a dimly lit corridor stretching on ahead of them. The walls were stone, and sported carvings of ancient buildings and spires that rose to the sky, many pyramidal in design. The carvings were primitive, but still had a certain artistic quality to them that Vergil couldn't help but admire. "Well... let's go." Vergil nodded, starting off at the head of the group and unsure what else to say.
The floor was cold to Vergil's bare feet, and it definitely felt as if no one had been down here in awhile. A brighter light could be seen ahead of them, shining at the end of the tunnel. It drew the gecko forward, like a moth to a flame. Perhaps it was because he didn't like the confined space down here, or perhaps he wanted to get into a more well-lit area, but the gecko quickened his pace down the corridor.
At the end, the tunnel widened, and opened up to reveal a sizable room, much better lit than the tunnel. The source of light however was a mystery, as surely it couldn't be natural light filtering this far down. But nonetheless, beams of what looked like natural light poured in from holes in the ceiling, illuminating several murals on the walls. "Get a load of this!" Vergil gasped, eyes wide as he looked around the room. The murals depicted various things, including what looked like cities and paintings of everyday life from this old civilization. But the dominating feature was the mural in the center. The paint still looked as if had been applied yesterday as a great representation of a massive aerial battleship dominated the entire wall. It ran Vergil's blood cold to see its gray sides, angular and sharp, like knife blades conjoined together by a massive pyramidal structure in the middle of it all. Well it was more like two pyramids joined at the base, one right side up, the other upside down. But it was definitely the central structure of the ship. Painful flashes suddenly entered the gecko's mind, and he clutched his head, closing his eyes and bending over a bit. "Agh! Dammit!" he uttered, trying to shake his head to clear it.
"That's it..." he pointed. "That's what we're looking for." The sheer size of the mural was awe-inspiring, but Vergil noted too that the smaller murals in general were extolling the civilization's accomplishments... including their military conquests, which appeared quite brutal, and very prominently displayed.
Beneath the central painting, Vergil could see a computer console, and beyond that, two heavy steel double-doors led deeper into the facility. To their left and right were doors as well, but much smaller than the ones in their front. "OK... let's see..." Vergil said softly, approaching the console now. Before he could even touch it, it sprang to life, clicking and beeping at him in what Vergil could only assume was some sort of computer language. A garbled voice sounded out, but Vergil couldn't recognize the language. As he glanced down at the command prompts on the screen, he sighed in an exasperated fashion. "Uh... I don't suppose any of you computer whizzes can reprogram this thing to speak English?" he asked hopefully.
Looking behind him at Axel, Vergil nodded at the rat. "Axel... can you get any energy readings behind these doors?" the white gecko inquired, an uneasy feeling washing over him now.
"Sleeping off a high?" Tony asked here. "Yeah... I guess I could settle for that. Huh... well Corona's been pretty fantastic so far. A lot of opportunity here, and it's a lot safer than Lanthae was too. Lanthae you only had designated areas for the rich, and sure, to an extent Corona's got that too, but it has a lot more areas you can walk around in without fear of being mugged or jumped by some drug dealer." he commented, smiling dryly.
As the elevator reached the 200th floor, it opened to reveal a suite just as pleasant as the lobby, almost 3,500 feet below them. Plants grew out of the floor, kept healthy through some sort of biological process contained within the very heart of the building. All the nutrients were fed into the greenery from conduits that ran upward, and sunlight was provided through a glass ceiling directly above their heads.
Another reception desk (this one marble) greeted them at the exit of the elevator, with a female human secretary busily tapping away at a computer. She didn't even look up at first to acknowledge them, nor did she need to, as standing before them was a dignified looking blue skinned gecko. He wore a confident smile on his face, but it was warm as well.
"Tony Stracci! In the flesh! It's so nice to finally meet you!" Mace Sardolemuel extended his hand warmly in greeting, his natty business attire looking sharp on him, but he was always wearing a slightly dress-down style too, as if he saw this meeting as a more casual affair.
Tony heartily shook Mace's hand, and responded. "Yes! It's great to meet you as well, Mr. Sardolemuel!"
"Oh please, call me Mace!" Mace replied humbly, as if he were no big deal. "And this is?" he asked, looking at Soren.
"Ah yes, one of my most trusted legal attaches..." Tony didn't name Soren though, in case the human wanted to present his own false name to Mace as Mace held out his hand for Soren.
