Arius considered the Enginseer's hypotheses a moment. The study of the empyrean was dangerous and all but forbidden, even among the elite of the Adeptus Mechanicus. In such study inevitably lay the dangers of corruption, as the past had proven.

"Agreed. In addition, I propose destruction of all biological samples at the conclusion of this exploration."

 "While laudable, this precaution will not illuminate what transpired here with the Omnissiahs Light. I concur with the impulse, but propose biological decontamination be enacted upon all personnel, followed by the transfer of all samples - sealed - to Chief Kennek for analysis with this section remaining sealed until the conclusion of their analysis." Tesla counters, perhaps more adventurously than Arius.

"I do not believe this vessel likely holds the facilities to conduct such research in a safe manner. Re-sealing of this section is undesirable. It requires purification. Too long has the hallowed machine been bereft of ministration. To leave once more may well anger the Machine-Spirit." Arius accented the last statement with a firm tap of his power axe-turned cane on the floor.

 "A point of contention, but one that is resolvable. Neither of us is biologis-qualified, and therefore proper assessment is in the hands of Chief Kennek. In the event that they concur destruction of all samples will be undertaken. In lieu of this, purification of this area is entirely justified." Jak contends, laying out a path that neatly threads the needle between 'knowing what is going on' and 'burn the blasphemer' - which is nice.

 On the assumption that that assessment holds, Jak opens communications with the Chief Chirurgen and awaits a response 'ping' from the nearest wall-mounted vox as they head for the padlocked door.

OOC
Hi Guys, where do you wish to proceed from here, I got a little confused.

Also a reminder that there are statis chambers on this vestal and also you do have Biologis Adepts working in the Hospice Servitorium.
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This message was last edited by the GM at 09:37, Fri 23 Dec 2022.

OOC: Jak is going to pass all the auspex-scans of the corpses to the Chirurgeon because he's a PC and then they're going to go pop the padlock on the recyc chamber, because that's lower-risk than breaching the sealed area while he looks over the scans and tells us how much trouble we're in. ^_^

The padlock is easily dealt with and the doorway to waste plant FP22 grates on unlubricated hinges as it is swung open, sending a wash of stinking effluent flooding across the floor causing near panic in the cult guard and void farers. The mess only covers half of the space before slowing to a trickle but the room beyond the door is still eight inches deep with the stuff as it laps against the raised lip of the door opening.

Undaunted by the sight or stench the servo skulls buzz quietly as the enter the chamber and begin scanning, soon reviling a split effluent pipe as the cause of the problem but reviling another in that the chamber had only filled to the level it had because any additional material had been exiting the chamber through a grill in a wall panel and ending up emperor knows where.
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 "This of course, is why voidsuits are issued." Tesla states as he carefully judges the torrent flowing out through the opened door and then steps back to just beyond the point where it will cease to flow, then monitoring the take from the servo-skulls and emitting a sighing series of binary-cant excoriations of previous generations of adepts.

 The voidsmen are tasked to helmet up and - assuming volatile vapour levels within the chamber are safe for repairs - sent into scan and repair the split effluent pipe (which service will in fact grant them certain modestly increased privileges, not that Jak is going to tell them that) and open the grill, so that a servo-skull can go and find out where the outflow has been going.

 The second team, meanwhile is called up to summon a fluidic harvester (or 'shop vac') on the monorail and begin to clean up the mess so that it can be poured back into the tank and the machine put back into service.

 That leaves a still-clean Tesla to turn to Draccius and ask "This leaves only the sealed chamber. Pending an update from the Chirurgeon regarding the cadavers, do you wish to breach the chamber now?"

The gap behind the grill where the effluent had been draining away is only four inches wide and contains several vertical cable runes, some of which are unsecured so not enough room for a servo skull.
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"Additional assistance in aethetic matters may be warranted. An examination by the ship's astropath may be prudent before proceeding. In addition, you may wish to inform your Lord-Captain of our hypotheses."
As the ship's Enginseer Primus, this was definitely Jak's bad news to bring in Arius' opinion..

 "It seems premature to do so before a consultation with the Chief Chirurgeon. At the present moment, I have only a tentative hypothesis, absent evidence to support it. Analysis by one of the Astropathic Choir does have merit however. I continue to believe that contagion from the Immaterium would have prioritised damage to the Geller node, but there are possible countervailing arguments." answers Jak, while reports are coming in from the hovering skulls - notably including the difficulties regarding the grill.

 That is going to require cleaning the area up and dropping a probe on a cable-line to see what's going on down there, although there's little doubt in the organic parts of Teslas mind that what they're going to find is going to be pretty horrible.

 "The chirurgeon has indicated a desire to directly analyse the remains. I have declined to despatch them for the moment, since I do not wish to risk the spread of any hypothetical contagion. I will contact the astropath."

Jacklyn tapped her microbead as she descended on the elevator down to the Techpriest's deck "++Alright, I'm in the elevator on the way down, you said there was some sort of warp-tainted material you couldn't identify?++" She said over the vox as the elevator slowed to a stop and she stepped out, stretching a bit "++Anything, in particular, I should be worried about down here beyond that?++"

 There is a truly foul aroma issuing from the hall out of which Jak and (presumably) Arius exit, the former Tech-Priest explaining as he approaches "Not exactly. This section was sealed against intrusion and there were mysterious deaths here. The bodies have been sequestered and we are concerned about the possibility of biological or psionic contagion. Your expertise was therefore sought. I trust that you have worn a sealed suit, Choir Master?"

She nods and taps the faceplate of her armour "Aye, void ready, once the helmet is on." she glances around the hall as she walks over to greet the two, grumbling under her breath as she puts down the faceplate to cut off that foul stench "Ugh, that Is horrid..."

 "There is an organic reclamation station which has been leaking into the hull spaces for an undetermined period of time, through a fractured pipe." Tesla explains as he guides the Astropath (once she's sealed up) through their explored section, showing her the chair-shrines and the bodies (msg #43 & #45), "No sabotage appears to have been performed on the Geller node in this section, so I do not suspect wilful immaterium corruption, but prudence - and Exploritor Draccius - calls for your judgement to be rendered on the area."

She gagged a bit as the stench took a few moments to cycle out as her suit switched to its own internal air supply, her voice slightly distorted as it comes out through the voxcaster on her faceplate. "Well... they certainly got the stench of certain warp entities correct, but let's see what I can glean from these guys..." She said as she focuses, her missing eye glowing a pale blue as she sees beyond the material realm, looking for any signs of warp interference, Daemonic or otherwise.

Ooc:
19:17, Today: Scarlet rolled 19 -- 3 degrees of success using the Warhammer Test system with a target number of 52.  Psyniscience .

Explorator Draccius failed to understand the obsession with a mere burst pipe of effluent. A more pressing matter was at hand, and the reason the astropath was called for. His rough static-laden artificial voice directed the astropath to the matter at hand..
"The leakage is irrelevant. Multiple rooms were found in similar configurations of stacked furniture and decomposed bodies. The observation of ecclesiarchical and Mechanicus wards attached to this section's sealed entrance and the absolute absence of any lifeform leads us to the hypotheses of a possible presence of a empyrean entity. Your analysis is required."

Scarlet examines the rooms with the pyramids of furniture, adding a chair to a pile of tables at one point, then removing it.

She frowns deeply as she continues tinkering with the stacks and seeing how they react, shaking her head in concern as she does so. Eventually, she stops and pulls away, shaking her head worriedly as she turns to the techpriests. "I cannot detect any particular warp entity currently, however..." she trails off as she looks back at the deliberate stacks "The warp was undoubtedly involved in some way or another during the creation of these piles, either from a psyker on the side of those residents who died here or from a Warp construct of some kind." She shifted nervously as she spoke, before continuing "These piles, they're quite effective psychic blanks, even just 1 item of a different type significantly reduces its effectiveness as a warp dampener, while I obviously have no proof about the mindset and intentions of the dead, its too... deliberate to be a coincidence that they stumbled upon a psychic block like this, so I can only theorize they were purposely making a Psychic block for some reason"

The Explorator turned to his Enginseer counterpart.
"Hypotheses: A psychic damp in direct proximity to the Gellar Field generator may cause disruption of the Gellar Field's operation."

It was an estimated guess. The factual knowledge how a Gellar Field actually worked was long lost to the Imperium. For now the Mechanicus considered it was enough to know that it did and that ship-producing forge worlds retained the rituals on how to construct the devices.
This message was last edited by the player at 12:17, Fri 30 Dec 2022.

 In truth, there is absolutely no reason for Draccius to care about the shattered pipe and the effluent - it is more properly the concern of the ships Engineseer Prime to be concerned about such things, since there's no knowing what secondary disasters are waiting in the depths to be uncovered as a result of the build-up of corrosive fluids and potentially flammable gasses.

 And of course, it's become very evident as a result of this expedition that Explorator Tesla is an absolutely helpless addict when it comes to problem-solving and repairing things... Which is probably why he got this job.

 "This is a non-zero possibility. The individuals present here remained alive for an extended period and made no effort to breach their containment or sabotage the Geller node, but absent an analysis by the Chirurgeon, we shall not have further information on their status. Attempts to duplicate the psychic barrier phenomenon in other locations will be worth attempting at a later date however." he states, turning to Scarlet "We have a set of seals to breach to continue the investigation. Are you willing to remain to provide assistance?"

 Assuming a 'yes', then the two teams of Voidsmen are left to work on the damage and the security team is led off to the heavy sealed section.

Scarlet sighed softly, but nodded to Jak's request, she wanted to go get a hot bath and sleep off the wear and tear of being shot at, but she knew this was more important "Sure, why not, It's not that hard of work" She comments as she follows the two techpriests, giving a soft yawn as she checked the air gauge on her suit, should be good for a few more hours, but you never knew with these sorts of things.

The mechanicus complete their survey of the sealed off area, enacting long overdue rights of maintenance, replacement and repair and are confident that all is working within acceptable parameters.

Not so clear cut are the other mysteries, why there are no insects or rodents? Why the inhabitants left behind when the area was sealed starved to death in their make shift psychic barriers when within apparently easy reach of food and water? And what causes the drag marks in the dust, as it is observed that fresh trails have been made after the investigators have passed through, there are many places where foot prints have been smuggled by drag marks passing across them.

The question is, in what state should the area be left, should it be sealed up again, reopened and restored to original purpose or something in between?
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As far as Arius Draccius was concerned their hallowed duty to the Omnissiah demanded that they reclaim the hallowed machine. And perhaps sending in some expandable menials to clean up the area would uncover further clues in time..

 Taking Arius's advice on-board, Jak does exactly that.

 A small group is put together to reclaim the section, while another is tasked to investigate just where the grill that all the... 'fluid' goes to went. The former team includes several extra militia-trained individuals and is the subject of fairly regular health-checks by the medical staff, with admonishments to report anything remarkable that may come to pass during their time of service there.

 In addition, a regimen of twice-a-shift check-ins is implemented and a couple of servo-skulls with recording devices despatched to monitor the area for signs of anything unusual - a precious resource, yes but since this is going to be a test-bed for the procedure to unlock other sections, one invested rather than expended.