Crossover Escape: Gotta be more than Lucky to survive

1.25 Undue influences

Luca spent the entirety of the next day comparing symbols and glyphs while studying the map trying to see whether any paths would be likely to intersect. Luca wanted to avoid as much as possible encountering other teams in the cube until the last minute. As other people were a factor that created one too many variables as far Luca was concerned.

After the first day of research Luca ruled out two paths the clearly seemed to meet up near the beginning and two more, he looked at and suspected they would intersect. Going back over information and making notes of anything new Ghost sent him. Tails hadn’t been able to get into the infirmary the first day because it had suddenly been filled with teams and members had started fighting amongst themselves. It was interesting when Luca considered the size of the entrances and pathways beyond, he felt like they were meant to be individual entrances where people would meet along the paths as they went. Though that supposition made no sense under what could cube before if it was set for individuals into teams?

Luca shook his head and moved on. He was going to start comparing the glyphs when he recalled that Rӓv was supposed to have gotten the original video from the into clip and Luca turned to look at her and Holly.

Luca stared at the thing on the table between them for a long silent minute before deciding that he wouldn’t comment. Though right as Luca decided that Tails returned to the suit. Tails stopped in the doorway and stared hard at the thing on the table. Luca opened his mouth to try and cut off the comment he could see waiting to come but was not fast enough.

“What the hell is that? I thought you were building a spider. That looks like a mechanical cockroach… with a jet pack.” Luca winced as the sentence went on and just when he’d thought it was finished when Tails trailed off, he tacked on the last bit. Rӓv’s head turned by inching degrees so that she stared at Tails. Holly at least just looked non-plussed at the comment as opposed to Rӓv’s borderline homicidal.

“I’m sorry? Did you help make it? At all.” There was a sugary sweetness to Rӓv’s voice and Luca promptly turned away pretending to be focused on his tablet.

“No, and I’m glad I didn’t”

Luca flinched again, he expected that sort of thing from Ghost normally Tails wasn’t that suicidal. “Then you can just not use it, you don’t need your eyes anyway,” Rӓv snarled.

Luca shot from his seat and over to the pair as they moved at each other. Luca grabbed Rӓv’s wrists and then swung his legs up around Tails neck rotating his body he brought all three of them to the ground. There was no real damage done but it did start the pair. Rӓv normally had a temper but it tended more towards the snarky murder rather than physical violence. While Tails would normally never get physical with a team member.

Luca rolled back to his feet and looked down at the pair who were slightly dazed on the floor. “Feeling better guys?” Luca asked with raised brows.

“That was weird I have no idea where that came from.” Rӓv shook her head as she clambered to her feet while Tails flipped up with a frown.

“I remember thinking that the roach looked weird, but I really didn’t intend to say anything.”

Luca nodded. “I expected Rӓv to say something more along the lines or it crawls on the roof and carries the light I didn’t realise we wear suddenly fashion critical.” Holly snorted out a laugh and Luca offered a lopsided smile over his shoulder in response.

Rӓv nodded sharply as she moved back to her seat. “It was two hard to make eight articulating legs we wouldn’t have gotten to six if it weren’t needed for the roof grappling. We added the booster in case it needs to cover holes or something.”

“It’s very functional just a little lacking in positive aesthetic, I blame the time deficiency” Holly explained as he looked between the three of them with curiosity.

“Anything else feel off?” Luca asked as Ghost slipped into the room. Ghost looked at the roach drone and opened his mouth only to have Tails slap his hand over it.

“No feel fine now, just felt irrational mad earlier.” Tails looked up as he thought before he responded slowly. Rӓv offered a nod in agreement. Luca realised that the out of sync effect was not dissimilar to the trance effect that had ensnared people when everyone had left the cube the previous day.

“I haven’t noticed anything, Ghost, Holly?” the pair shook their head as Ghost seemed to realise now was not the time to make a joke. Luca stared at the other two and then went out on a limb and asked, “Did you do anything distinctly different from the rest of us yesterday?”

“No?”

“I don’t think so I was hacking” the pair responded one after the other.

“No that’s not right when we turned to race down to Luca and the others you bounced off the cube edge, directly touching its walls,” Holly interjected while he looked squarely at Tails. Tails blinked in surprise and then nodded his head admitting the matter.

“Still, Rӓv didn’t touch the pyramid so –” Tails was cut off when Ghost spoke.

“Da she did. Not paying attention round corner, stumbled and brush hand against wall.”

The room fell silent Rӓv appeared equally shocked but the new bit of information while Luca felt like groaning. They’d all been wearing gloves and full clothes so that meant the effect occurred through protection wouldn’t that put them at risk just walking down the paths.

Tails obviously reached the same conclusion as he straightened his spine and then spoke, “when I hit the wall, I brushed my arm on it letting the shirt ride up so a silver of skin on my wrist touched the cube itself. Did Rӓv had skin contact or through the gloves?” Tails directed the question to Ghost since Rӓv hadn’t even noticed the incident and so would be of no help on the matter.

“She took off left glove to use tablet.” Ghost said succinctly. Luca breathed a sigh of relief, maybe just maybe it was only skin contact  that caused problems. He hopped so because he had no solution otherwise. They could not afford random emotional fluctuations during the contest itself.

“Everyone be sure to cover up properly before we go in then. Rӓv where are the original video files you took from the mountain network?” Luca turned back to his original intended question as the room re-settled. Ghost gestured that he was going back out while Tails moved to the side of the room and sorted out the medicine, he’d ‘acquired’ before moving over to join Luca in research mode.

“Sent you the link” Rӓv responded as a ping came through on Luca’s tablet. Luca nodded and then as Rӓv and Holly settled into going over the finer programming details and bug testing the drone he opened the first video file.