Crimson Valley

Though Alex had no idea what the droid's obvious error message meant, but everyone could tell something went wrong. "Hey Claire? I think you broke the poor thing. Is there a receipt to it somewhere around here, or do we just scrap it? I think this metal could fetch us a nice price." Despite the fact that the droid would probably be unable to tell, but he was joking the whole time and just didn't know what to do in this situation. He had never worked with fine machinery like this... or machinery at all come to think of it. "No matter, we can't just leave it here... but I don't feel like bringing it to Eru either. Bah, the thing probably thinks I wanna do it harm by this point."

He would look at Ouros after Leyline spoke up. "See? She's obviously not a mass-produced unit... then again, it's not like I knew that soooo, fair enough?" Admittably, he was acting a bit too weird about this situation, but one could not hold it against him as he was stuck talking between a robot and used-to-be living blood. He then turned back to Leyline "It's fine by me if you want to co-operate, but don't expect grade-a camraderie. I'd also advise asking Claire and Ouros... that's probably the most important part." He had no reason to refuse it. Something as less prone to human mistakes as the android would be useful to have around.

Alex would let out a laugh at Leylin's attempts at acting human. Kinda felt like a child trying to learn how to talk. "Ah, you're a innocent little killer-robot. Well, I'm ready to go if you guys are. The tower is intriguing, I am curious, and we aren't getting any closer to powerful by standing around!" Alex would merrily march around the place, waiting until Claire and Ourobaras were ready to leave for Vern'Octos.

Considering his options of exploring as it stood, Alex decided to pay a visit to the Crimson Valley. The place was all that was to be expected. Grassy, bit technological ruin-ey, and strangely empty feeling. Well, it was no matter, even if Alex was to find that there was nothing of too much note here, it would still be a good thing to know.

After making sure that Phobos is on his face, Alex started a thorough search through the area.

Finding a cave blocked by what he hoped to be natural causes, Alex immediately got into inspection mode, trying to find the golden middle way between clearing the rocks out fast and not threathen his safety too much. Once that was done, he departed inwards, using his detection range to look for any irregularities in the walls, ceiling and the floor, as well as to see whether or not anything was waiting for him on the way ahead.

Alex had arrived to what seemed to be the perfect reading spot, and immediately wondered whether or not this was created as a part of Project Utopia. Or maybe it was what sparked the project in the first place. He would absorb the atmosphere for a bit before acting further. He would carefully touch the water, and unless something unexpected happens upon doing so, he'll dive into the pool and explore what's beyond there. This was a place where Fraydex immunity was going to prove incredibly useful.

Admittedly, though inconsequential, the constant drownings were quite irritating. Had it not been for the beatiful scenery around him, Alex would be on the brink of getting ticked off just about now. Well, it was the method he chose, there was no use fretting about it's issues. Eventually, he would have arrived at a... what to call it... haven? Or perhaps an alcove? Bah, unimportant details. What was important now was the exposed woman in the area.

Her connection to this place was clearly more than superficial, and her calming aura was both a blessing and a curse. Alex felt his woes fleeting away, but his goals seemed to be this way as well. He wondered if the aura could cause him to lose his own sense of purpose.

"Greetings, miss. I sincerely hope I am not interrupting you, for that would be unfortunate. My name is Alexander Wyatt, a curious man in an interesting world." He spoke, unsure whether or not his words would be heard, and later responded to.

The eyes were mesmerizing, distracting, yet closing his own eyes was out of the question for Alex. It would be disrespectful to the woman. He had to resort to will itself in order to keep focus. "It is no wonder, for I myself had drowned several times getting here. Say, Eirene, is it of your own volition that you stay here, or are simply unable to leave?" He asked, wondring about the female's origin.

"No, not really. And even if so, I doubt I'd find it inside myself to stay here. Not that I lack the patience or anything, but I'm too curious of a man to settle down. Though I might try to recreate something like this at the place I call home. I doubt it will ever be quite like this place, but the imperfection will only motivate me more to get it right." He took of Phobos, feeling a bit more real again. He felt that if he was to wear to mask long enough, he'd probably feel more natural in the altered state. "If you don't mind me asking, what kind of being are you, Eirene? I presume you're not a normal human. If human at all." He would take a breath. "All my apologies if I sound rude."

"Ah, is that so? Well then, I shall sincerely hope to see you again after I leave. But that can wait for now. I'll spend some more time here, think about things. Ones past and soon to come.' Saying that, he would spend some time in the garden with Eirene. He had no idea how much time had passed, but it was unimportant. And so, Alex put on Phobos again, and after bidding a farewell to Eirene, he left the cave and continued his explorations.

Eventually, he would have found a strange mound, and immediately grew suspicious of it's purpose. "Father, I would like to implore about this mound, specifically whether or not this could possibly be a seal for some manner of being." He called for Death, for exploring this mound further could have spelt trouble for more than just Alex himself.

Alex's suspicions did not completely fade with Death's statement. Even something as common as Spawn couldn't be completely considered alive. It was not a long shot to imagine something horrible could escape those specifications as well. If anything was going to happen, then he needed to steel his resolve. He took a breath and then exhaled, imagining that he's expelling all doubts. "That would be desirable." He answered Death.

As Death shattered the stone, Alex entered the tomb, and in the following moments, became unsure whether or not to regret this decision. This situation seemed similar to the concept of vampires in the old world's stories. "To think such beings roamed the Earth even before the Darkness came. I suppose you were not kept here for being good samaritans. So? Want a rundown on how things have changed, or are you the type which prefers senseless violence?" After his experiences with Death, Alex did not have trouble keeping his calm in presence of these men. "Nevertheless, I'd advise against attacking humans in this day and age. I am oblivious to the specifics, but there seems to be a fearsome forfeiture for said act." Or so he had inferred from a certain thing Ourobaras mentioned.

"Well, I already suspected that I'd find something like you on here after Father said that there's nothing living here. And yes, Teras is still 'kicking'. I presume you're ghouls then? At least that's what I've gathered from the information provided to me." Alex hadn't exactly dropped his suspicions of the two men, but they seemed less untrustworthy now. "Can't really give you a specific year, since my mond is a bit all over the place when it comes to time. But do note that medicine and technology in general has advanced by leaps and bounds, and dead people are generally harder to find. By this point, it wouldn't be an overestimate to say that Dullahans have been the prime cause of proper death these days." He would go on to explain the Darkness to them, and introduced himself afterwards.

Desperation came off these two more and more thickly by the second. This led Alex to assume that these two were probably from a time where corpses came in batches. Times of a plague or war, perhaps. He couldn't help but sigh. "How about asking Death? He may be able to figure out a way out of your... predicament. Either that or you can try your luck in the city of Eru. A battle has occured there recently, and the ones beyond saving may not have been cleaned up yet." It was all he could think off. Resorting to roundabout ways was going to be inefficient.

Alex sighed again. These two were tough customers. "Then maybe you should try to win over his favors. No matter. Eru does indeed have a graveyard, well, it's more global than that, I suppose. Though I do not think people will appreciate if you start digging out graves. Your best chances seem to be by the means of making a deal with the city's upper government. So, if you wanna give it a try, I can take you to there." He made them an offer. He wanted to stop by Eru by some point anyway, so he might as well take this as an excuse to do so.

Alex felt kinda bad for the poor departed that had to bear that. He couldn't possibly imagine what kinda torture it would be, being a soul, having to watch as your body us so unceremoniously desecrated. Thankfully, this was not the case for whoever had their remains here. "Let us go then." With that, Alex departed from the tomb along with the two ghouls, and unless Death had anything important to say, they would leave for Eru.