NTR Quest 27 -Academy- Experiment

“We're going to need to figure out what these things are, obviously. Any ideas?” You asked. The statues were spaced evenly every twenty feet or so down the hall right up to the next fork with more empty metal 'skeleton's in between. Their posture was immaculate with their metal limbs pointed down at their side. The torso portion's chest and rear were both poking out in ways only the skeleton could support. It was attractive in an otherworldly sense.

“I have some ideas. Texts describe defense mechanisms. This may be one of those or it may simply be another crude attempt to imitate decour.” Serane explained candidly.

Esther idly inspected the statues, as well. “Defense mechanisms for what? The school? The building?”

“It makes sense that the school would have some defenses deep inside... If there were something valuable to find.” Merit offered.

“How astute, my Beastwoman companion.” The Seraph complimented. Merit beamed proudly at Esther, who became more annoyed as her observations were downplayed. Serane withdrew a long needle and a pearlescent stone from her coat pockets. It looked like a sewing needle and a round, polished black rock.

“This school is the most complete example of Angelic architecture I've seen. To think they would hide it away like this instead of sharing it with interested minds.” The Seraph clicked her tongue lightly as she pushed the needle into the statue with some effort. Serane's fingers tightened and strained to push it deep into the statue's breast. Once inside she held the needle with one hand and rested the stone near it with the other. It began to glow and show swirling colors not unlike the test you took at the Jobber's Guild.

“What is all that?” You asked.

“Core assessment.” Serane answered simply without looking away. She was concentrating on deciphering the swirling colors. The tool did not show a clear picture, but instead a rough set of indicators that required expert analysis. The group offered her silence so that she could work.

“Interesting...” She muttered before glancing up at you.
“These statues are 'alive.'”

Aiden gasped. “We should help them.”

“I agree completely.” Merit added, much to the prince's surprise.

“Hold on hold on!” Esther raised her little hands.
“If they're alive, are they... Conscious?”

Serane smiled approvingly at the Goblin. “There is that Goblin intellect. There is no 'thought' connected to them. Their core has been transformed in most physical aspects. The mental is not 'changed' but instead absent, as though it was take or moved somehow.” She looked to the other statues. “Based on the similarities between all of them in breast and hips sizes and builds, I wonder if they were assimilated into  a standardized form? It certainly looks that way.” She began to slowly draw out the needle.

“A standardized shape?” You asked curiously.
“What about the head? What's inside that helmet?” Based on the size and phallic shape, it could conceal a head. Little good that would do, as Serane stated specifically that the mental faculties were no longer present within the Core.

“Nothing.” Serane confirmed.
“Just the main 'body', and that is used more for...” She was thinking out loud at this point.

“Power.” Esther asserted.

“Oh?” Serane quirked her head to one side, leveling an impressed gaze on the Goblin.

“There's a legend among craftsmen that Cores, given the right methods, can be used as a source of power. We have artifacts. National treasures and materials that seem to show consciousness but no one has ever found a way to recreate anything like them. It's the grail of Corechemy to figure out how.”

Serane grinned. “The 'Three Great Questions.' Transmutation. Energy Creation. Immortality.”

You looked down at Esther with a raised brow. She shrugged. “What? Yeah... Anyone would want an answer to any of those questions. They're the foundation of ingenuity. Magic is a dead end, but understanding any one of those questions would bring about a new age.” She leveled a suspicious gaze on Serane.
“A lot of knowledge for some Elf nurse.”

Serane ignored the accusation and rested a hand on the thing's shoulder. “Transmutation.” She squeezed it, showing how the skin had become a different, stronger material in line with the skeleton. She illustrated it additionally by holding up her needle and showing it bent and warped near the end. The hold had already closed.
“Immortality... These could potentially remain here forever.”

“In what state, though?” You rolled your eyes. The others shared your criticism.

“Small details. Finally... Energy creation. These things have a pulse. They are inactive but the torso powers the skeleton. I wonder how efficient it is...” As Serane squeezed the things shoulder once more it's metal, skeletal hand swung up suddenly and mirrored the grip on the Seraph, but far stronger. Serane crumbled as her own shoulder was squeezed. The woman cringed and gasped as the large shut eye opened into a rolling metal eye. It stopped to center on Serane.

“Ow ow ow!” She yelped.

“Hey!” You stepped forward, only to be flung back by the statues strength. Before you could properly prepare and react it dragged Serane back kicking and screaming by the shoulder. You knew the woman was not weak. She was powerful, yet the thing managed to effectively handle her easily.

“It's dragging her towards the empty one! We have to do something!” Aiden called out. You could have acted faster. You could have potentially gone overboard to save her but you were as resolved as she was to experiment and the darker side of you that had been cultivated up until this point wanted to see what was going to happen. Serane stared at you, looked into your eyes and at the very last moment as she was shoved into the empty frame fear turned to understanding. She was still scared but there was a muted tone of respect in the way she looked at you as the hood fell over her head.

It was quick. Very quick. The rim of the smooth helmet hid her head and made contact with her shoulders to immediately begin spreading out over her skin. Her clothing sunk into her skin and became smooth as the change progressed, as though everything was simply being absorbed. Her arms flailed for just a moment until her hands and feet were pulled into thick, flat rings that caused both to disappear. They tightened and began to roll up her arms and legs, gradually consuming them until finally they rested around the upper arms and thighs, just like with the others. Once that was done, the cage was in full control of her motion. Her torso ceased fighting and began to simply stand at attention as it transformed in it's entirety to match the other statue. Because Serane was a shapely woman her breasts and hips reduced slightly, while her soft body tightened into something more athletic. The eye on her helmet opened and the new statue, along with the old stared at the group. It was an expressionless eye. No sign of anger or anything. It was just wide open, staring. The pupil moved rapidly to appraise each and every member of the party.

“This is bad!” Aiden called out.
“Is she gone?”

You felt guilt, but not a lot. You were about to nod in confirmation when Esther cut in and stated in a  shrill tone.
“I don't think so!”

“What?” You questioned hurriedly. The two figures were moving back down the hall towards you all in a smooth gait that lacked any explosive movement. They were steady-moving creatures. You remembered that even as it shoved you back it's arm barely had any speed in striking you despite retaining quite a bit of force. You got the impression that if it was able to grab something it was probably over for whatever fell into it's grip. Thus, if they were impossibly strong and sturdy they would not need to be fast.  

“Those rings... They're like the portable portals!” She explained.

“Seriously?” You squinted to look at them. Your thought was that the limbs were consumed into the rest of the body, but the rings certainly did look familiar.

“If we can grab one of those open skeletons and pull the rings off I can track the end point.”

“What then?” You critique.
“Run down a maze of corridors?”

“I hate to agree with you on this, but you're right. As much as I'd like to save her, it's dangerous. We should retreat,” Aiden uttered, angling back where you all came, already. As he did, though, he noted that the giant eye was searching below it. Merit had only just managed to remain out of it's line of sight and was backing towards you all.

Esther chuckled. “Why do you think we have to run down the maze?”

“No riddles, Esther!” You warned, circulating Aura through your body in a manner that Charli taught you.

“Fine... If we know the end point of the portal devices we can use bent space to get there immediately. In theory.”

You exhaled deeply, noticing the Eye behind you, as well. “Only way is forward. Either we get to this 'end' point or we get to safety. It's our best shot.” You motioned Merit forward.
“Come on. You and me.”

“Of course.” She smiled and hopped forward, landing beside you.

Your strength surprised you as you stepped forward and with one explosive movement knocked one statue back into the other. Instead of falling over like ragdolls one braced the other and pushed her forward. Merit hopped up, spun and kicked it skillfully into the wall with what at first seemed like a painful cracking and crumbling sound. You stopped feeling bad when you noticed the stone had cracked before the statue. The one that had been Serane continued forward. They moved methodically, as though capture was an inevitability within whatever instinct drove them. It was something you felt you could take advantage of.
“Let's go through!” The others followed you while Merit watched the one she had taken care of. They slipped past Serane's statue as you avoided it's iron grip and knock it off to the side, rather than attempt to damage it. Esther stopped in front of one of the empty skeletons as more up ahead began to shift to life.
“Is this really worth it!?” You ask.

For the Goblin it was rhetorical. “It's one of the big questions!” You rolled your eyes and gripped one of the rings tightly. It was a flat, runed ring with a shimmering metal plate covering one side. It was what made it look like a cap on the statues limbs. As hard as you tried you could not separate the two pieces of metal. Then Merit approached.
“Keep a firm grip.” She requested.

“Sure.”

“And hold still!” She added in a chipper tone. As the statues closed in behind her she jumped up and kicked down from behind your head to pick up full momentum. A kick that would have without a doubt killed you collided with the skeleton. With your grip firmly around the plate the metal ring separated and remained in your hand while the metal frame bounced down the hall and tripped the two statues up. You tossed it to Esther quickly and began running ahead to clear a path while Merit brought up the rear. Aiden helped as best he could by hindering the statues with small, localized blasts that did not manage to knock them back at all; they did temporarily prevent them from proceeding forward.

“I got it!” Esther announced quickly.
“Turn right!”

You rounded the nearest right-hand bend and the scenery shifted to that of a wide, circular space with foreign architecture and odd things you had no reference for, aside from a grouping of tables. Twisted black tubes covered the walls like roots. They all gathered at the top of the chamber only to begin to fall down onto a central device that almost looked like a creature curled up with a humongous mouth open wide on one side. On it's other side were piles of empty rings.

“H-hey!” You heard Serane's voice.

“No way!” Esther cackled excitedly.
“Am I great, or what?”

You looked up to find a flesh-toned set of attractive arms and legs moving at a steady pace towards the groaning structure. They were hooked onto a line that fed into it's large opening. Like a mouth it was gaped, waiting to consume anything that entered it. You reasoned then that the bulk of it that looked like some curled up blob of a creature was a stomach and the rings... Serane's head, arms and legs were steadily being pulled towards it.
“Do something!?” She begged. You rushed over as fast as you could, only to find that your were too late for part of her. The darkness of the 'mouth' gobbled up her arms and legs before quickly spitting out a set of the rings onto the pile. There were hundreds which showed just how much the facility had consumed. You grabbed her head off of the line, at least. She stared up at you indignantly.
“My my... We do have a lot to talk about.”

“Do we? I saved you. I know your secret. You're a defenseless head.”

She glanced around approvingly and would have offered a short not if she could. “You... Bring up good points.”

“You think there's a way to get your body back?”

“Mine? Probably not... But they are all the same.”

“Same species?”

“No.” Serane clarified.
“Just... Same. Like a template. I don't even know if the body is compatible with this head anymore. But what other option is there?” She let out a little scoff.
“To be frank, if my body is not doing ANYTHING for me right now I do not know how exactly I could be alive, so...” She trailed off. You reasoned that it was a difficult topic to mull over for her.

“What are you suggesting?”

“She's suggesting.” Esther butt in.
“That we deactivate the two-way connection. Her head pops back onto 'her' body and what happens happens.”

“If I could nod I would. I am very impressed by you, my Goblin friend.”

“Yeah yeah... Give her to me. I'll work on severing the connection.” Esther offered. You tossed her the head somewhat haphazardly.

“Yes, we can talk in the meantime.” Serane offered.

You left the two and began to explore the room. There was far too much to be able to take in everything. You felt like a team could spend years here and only begin to unravel what it all meant or did. Even you felt like you could only fully take the different apparatus's in one at a time.

There was the devouring thing. It ate Serane's limbs and spat out the metal rings. What did it do with the matter it ate? It's 'waste' showed that it had likely consumed the spare limbs of at least a hundred explorers before you all arrived, but what happened to it all. It also put into perspective just how many statues existed to defend the deeper halls. When you were not in a rush you were allowed some time to inspect it more completely. It was a misshapen device like an exposed stomach. The thing had a lipped mouth on one end and a hole on the other where the rings could fall from. The body of it was large and bulbous and made from a different, more solid and smooth-looking stone than any of the types you had observed so far. On the side there was a break in the smooth walls where you saw hundreds of sequenced, bright stones beneath a far bigger, round reflective stone. At the top the 'stomach' connected to the winding black roots that spiraled up into the ceiling. You walked to the wall and felt one of them. Empty, as though they were meant to carry something.

You continued exploring and found the tables with implements that looked foreign, yet also vaguely familiar. Something that looked like calipers, only they were made out of an odd material with shell-like flourishes designed into the side. There were suspended, twisting horns that were clearly containers of some sort. You wiped the dust off one to see that it was a type of glass that did not feel cool to the touch like you were used to. It was also lighter than glass when you tried to pick it up and flexed in your hand. Other than those basic implements you saw what looked like an injector laying at the center of the work-station. It glowed faintly.

The last interesting thing was a pod where all of the black roots lead into. They were bracketed into the wall in a circle around the opened pod. Within it sat a similar but different-looking skeleton to the ones you had seen outside. All of these things seemed connected. You felt oddly driven to figure out how. There was no question that you were wishing to experiment. The only question was who your next subject would be.