RuneScape Forum Archive | The Quantum Floors

Myra Patata

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“Floor tiles...” Yes, that’s what they were, but they were no ordinary floor tiles. Fin took a look at the one he was standing on. It was much brighter than the rest, as if it was lit up. Thok’s tile had the same case, and so did the tiles with the other four lying on top of them. It was like the tiles themselves acknowledged their presence by lighting up. Fin took a step onto a different tile. This tile lit up immediately, while the previous tile cooled down to look like all the others.

Curious, Fin reached into his money pouch and pulled out one gold coin. He then threw it onto one of the tiles further away. That tile too, lit up.
“They seem to be working like pressure pads,” Fin thought to himself, “but these ones are highly sensitive.”

Fin bent over to take a glance beyond the tile he was standing on. The other tiles together displayed an endless universe, with celestial bodies that he had only seen so close with a telescope, and not even that clearly! It was as if he stood on a glass platform much further away from Runescape than anyone could imagine. He even doubted that he was on the plane of Gielnor anymore.

The room itself had a faint blue illumination. Fin remembered this from somewhere. It was like the atmosphere that he had seen with Ariane in the old Wizards’ Tower – somewhat mystical, somewhat magical and all-around mysterious.

30-Nov-2012 11:49:06

Myra Patata

Posts: 147 Iron Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

A soft voice whispered resoundingly throughout the floor, “E equals emm cee squared”. Fin couldn’t understand it. He thought it came from Thok, but Thok’s mouth was shut, and his face was just as puzzled as Fin’s. The whisper was like something he heard constantly in the Occult floors. But at least he somewhat understood that language. The one he heard now was completely foreign to him. It seemed to whisper again, and Fin strained his ears to hear the words, “Wave function*. He understood both those words, but they did*’t seem to go together. He tried to think of the ocean waves. Did they have a function? He only remembered enjoying floating on his back as the waves carried him as a child. Was that a function?

By now, everyone else was awake, yet the room was as silent as when they were unconscious. They looked all around them, amazed.

“This is incredible,” Ash started, gazing through the floor. She was too shocked to say anything else.

“That it is,” Dionysius replied, after a while, taking his glasses off, rubbing them and putting them back on. He smiled when he knew his eyes weren’t just tricking him again.

“Wait a second...” Kuradal interrupted, her voice alert, “Where are our binds?”
Fin looked down and realised that all he had were the clothes on his back. The rest of the team realised the same thing.

“Binds? What binds?” Thok asked, still with his sword on his back.

“We always pass our equipment to the smuggler for safe-keeping,” Keith replied,

“and he’s...not here right now.” He was right. The smuggler was nowhere to be found.

The team looked at each other like they had entered a new era of stupidity.
After a moment of silence, Thok laughed, “Haha! You adventurers are funny,”

“Gee, thanks,” Fin grumbled.

“That’s alright, adventurer,” Thok continued cheerily, “Thok lost his sword to a boss once, but then punched everything and showed the boss who was the real boss, then Thok got his sword back.”

30-Nov-2012 11:50:04

Myra Patata

Posts: 147 Iron Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

“So you think that if we punch everything that moves, we will get our equipment back?" Keith asked, with only a truckload of sarcasm.

Thok, failing to detect this, replied, “Thok does not think. Thok knows.”

“Alright, fine then,” Fin snapped, “We’ll have to get started anyway – binds or no binds.”

It was then Thok noticed something on the floor, mostly because the tile under it was lit up. It was a small object, about the size of a fist, and it was covered in rust. Nobody took much notice of it, so Thok picked it up and stuffed it in his old trophy bag.

There was only one door in this room, blocked by a large wooden beam which seemed to be stuck to the wall. The paths of light on the walls seemed to acknowledge its presence, integrating themselves onto it like it was part of the wall as well. Fin walked towards the bar and attempted to lift it off the support. Using all of his strength, he exerted a full upward force on the bar, but in vain. He tried harder, making his veins protrude through his skin. He started to sweat, to pant, but the bar would not budge. Fin’s friends knew that if Fin was not strong enough to open something, none of them were.

“I can’t believe it!” Fin exclaimed, sitting exhausted with his back to the wall, “I’m quite sure if strength had levels to it, and I was 99, this bar would need one of 500.”
“Ten times more strength than you, adventurer?” Thok inquired. He wasn’t a huge fan of counting. “I can do that.”

Thok stepped forward and placed both his hands on the bar. Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes as the rest of the team watched in anticipation. Then suddenly, he thrust his head forwards directly into the bar, breaking in cleanly into two halves. One half would have dropped on Fin’s foot if he hadn’t jumped up in amazement.

“What...was that?” Kuradal stuttered. “That...was Thok’s mighty forehead,” came the booming reply.

30-Nov-2012 11:51:04 - Last edited on 30-Nov-2012 11:52:22 by Myra Patata

Myra Patata

Posts: 147 Iron Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

Ash regained herself and said, “You know...it’s actually much easier to just lift it off...”

Thok showed nothing but a blank stare for a moment before mumbling, “Oh...”
But the job was done, and Fin opened the door. A strange, buzzing sound intercepted them as a floating, white ball bobbed up and down within the next room. There was only one more door opposite of them, and this strange white ball was blocking it. The entity itself was rather noisy, letting off a volley of buzzes and zaps. It reminded Fin of lightning. Strange purple sparks flew out of it often but always disappeared before they touched the ground. Fin noted that the tile below it was lit up too, so the floor couldn’t have worked on pressure, for the entity was floating.

Thok took a few steps towards it, when suddenly, he turned back face to face with Fin with a somewhat surprised look on his face. It was as if he was forced to turn. Thok’s sword slipped off his back and hurtled straight toward the entity like the sword had a mind of its own.

“Not again!” Thok exclaimed, “Give Thok back his sword!” The sword was now within the strange orb, floating along with it. The creature did not acknowledge Thok. Thok, fuelled with a new form of rage, charged straight toward the beast.
“Wait!” Fin shouted, but Thok did not listen, and upon laying is hands on it, A loud, distinct ‘buzz’ could be heard, and Thok jumped back, yelling in pain. He then inspected his hands closely.

“Are you okay, Thok?” Kuradal asked as the team rushed up behind him. She took a quick glance at his hands. There was no sign of injury.

“Thok’s head is fine but everything else feels woozy,” Thok sulked. This was the second time in his life that he had felt defeated.

30-Nov-2012 11:51:57

Myra Patata

Posts: 147 Iron Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

The strange voice, almost in a whisper, returned to haunt the team, saying a strange word over and over that nobody could catch. The team was in a slight panic, and they ignored the strange voice. Fin, who was annoyed at the commotion that made the already next to inaudible voice completely inaudible, raised his arm and yelled, “Shush!*

The room felt silent again, except for the buzzing sound emanating from the creature which could not be helped. Fin listened closely to the single word the voice had been repeating until now: *Electron”. After Fin had heard it, the voice immediately stopped.

“Electron...” Fin thought, “What does that mean?”

Thok looked at the creature again and thought to himself, “Man was right. Even Thok will go mad in this place.”

Kuradal, who had the most experience with killing such creatures, started, “I have seen this type of creature before. I do not know why, but they have a specific weakness to water.”

“Does anyone know where we can get some water?” Ash asked, looking around.

“I’ll check the previous room,” Keith replied, doubtful. Almost immediately, he saw a bucket of water on the floor in one of the corners of the room, filled to the brim.

“That’s strange...” he thought. He was quite sure that he had surveyed the room thoroughly before they proceeded. “I must have missed it,” he thought, “objects don’t just appear out of nowhere.”

Keith returned to the room with the bucket in his hands, much to the surprise of everyone else. “You mean you actually just found that?” Ash asked. “Yeah...” Keith replied. The team tried to hide their expressions of puzzlement. Keith handed the bucket over to Thok, who looked at him in disbelief.

30-Nov-2012 11:53:22

Myra Patata

Posts: 147 Iron Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

“You think this puny bucket of water...will kill that?” Thok exclaimed. He was not about to admit that a bucket of water was more effective than him at killing creatures. “It cannot work,” Thok laughed unsteadily, “I’ll prove it to you.” Thok tipped the bucket over the creature, causing it to crackle and pop as it lost its energy to the ground. All that remained was Thok’s sword in a puddle of water.
Everyone else looked away while Thok knelt down, picked up his sword and continued onward while grumbling inaudibly to himself.

Upon approaching the door, Thok could hear strange sounds coming from the next room. Opening it, the team immediately saw two hill giants, an earth warrior, a skeletal mage and a cave slime. The door on the opposite end had an eye above it.
“Guardian door...” Fin *tarted, but everyone already knew what that meant.

Thok charged in with his sword in the air, feeling the rush of adrenaline that he had not experienced in a long time. He first attacked the hill giant, instantly killing it. The rest of the team caught on as he attacked the others. Rushing in with no weapons or armour, they had to resort to punching and kicking.

“That’s right, adventurers!” Thok cheered, “You are showing the might of Thok!”
Very quickly, all the monsters in the room were dead or re-dead. Fin immediately ran to the next door and opened it to reveal another guardian door. “This is going to be fun,” he remarked.

The team followed a chain of rooms which were all either guardian doors or key doors. Thok and Kuradal left the job of keying to everyone else; they were more specialised in killing everything that moved.

Though the team did not have their binds with them, they were thankful that the monsters were not that dangerous, and Thok had his sword. Nevertheless, they all shared a few laughs; they were relieved to see something familiar on this unfamiliar floor.

30-Nov-2012 11:54:31

Myra Patata

Posts: 147 Iron Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

About twenty rooms in a chain of gut-busting later, Thok charged through the door and almost decapitated the smuggler who was walking about. He stopped just in the nick of time.

“What you doing here?” Thok asked, surprised. The team rushed up behind him looking at the smuggler just like they looked at the glowing orb in the second room: perplexed.

*I...don’t know,” the smuggler replied with his regular shifty eyes, “I was just looking after the base of the sixtieth floor when suddenly, there was a rumble and the room started to vibrate. Soon it became bad enough that the floor cracked open beneath me while a lack of oxygen due to the disrupted ventilation system made me pass out. The next thing I knew, I was in this freaky room with something that looks like a destroyer.”

The smuggler pointed to the centre of the room where a gigantic power beam was emanating from the ground, going as far up as the team could see, as if there was no ceiling. Dionysius was the first to recognise it, “I’ve seen that before in the Wizards’ Tower. It’s even the same colour.”

Both Fin and Dionysius knew which tower he was talking about: The first one. “Come to think of it,” Fin started, knowing Dionysius could read his thoughts, “The ruins of the first tower and this floor look strikingly similar.” Everyone knew what he was suggesting, but could not comprehend how these two things were linked.

“This place is more developed and intricately designed, though,” Keith remarked, “If anything, this came before that.” The team was inclined to agree.

Ash, remembering that little sarcastic remark Keith made a while ago, asked the smuggler, “Do you happen to have our binds?” Keith shot a glance at her while Dionysius grinned.

“Actually, yes,” the smuggler replied, pointing to a large sack in the corner of the room, “They’re right over there.”

30-Nov-2012 11:55:26

Myra Patata

Posts: 147 Iron Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

And so, Thok was right once again, like he usually was. Fin and Keith took their Hexhunter bows and shared whatever amount of arrows they could find between them. Kuradal took her Primal maul; Ash, her Primal spear; for Dionysius, a Celestial Catalytic Staff. They next took their armour and spent some time putting it on. Thok, with no armour to start with, was inspecting the strange power beam at the centre of the room.

Just as they finished arming themselves, they heard a yell from Thok. Turning around, they saw him ascending within the beam at an alarming rate. He seemed to be enjoying it. Screaming with joy like a child on his first trip down the playground slide, Thok faded away into the distance high above them.

With less thinking and more impulse, Fin ran and jumped into the beam, which carried him upwards ju** like he did to Thok.

“We might as well,” Kuradal started as she stepped into the beam, “It’s not like it could get any weirder.” Her figure rocketed up in a confident pose.

“Now that looks like fun,” Dionysius remarked, jumping into the blue beam, “See you at the top, or wherever this goes!”

“I am not going in that,” Ash stated flatly, but just as she finished, Keith came up from behind her and pushed her in. She swore constantly at him during her ascent, to which Keith replied, “You’ll thank me later!” Keith then jumped into the beam himself.

The smuggler, now completely alone, did*’t find the atmosphere so festive anymore, so he ran into the beam, yelling, “Hey, wait for me!”

With the last figure disappearing into the beam high above, the soft, voice returned to the floor, mumbling the words that nobody was there to hear, “You are now leaving the ground state...”

30-Nov-2012 11:56:14

Myra Patata

Posts: 147 Iron Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

Part 3 – Teamwork

“What a ride!” Fin thought to himself, as the beam carried him endlessly upward. At the rate he was going, he should have reached the surface by now. Then the familiar voice spoke, as if right into his ear, whispered, “Energy level two.”

Fin was undoubtedly startled, but within a split-second afterwards, he stopped. Looking around him, he could see that he was in another square room. Thok was standing around. Having a quick mind, Fin moved out of the way before Kuradal rose through the ground, followed by Dionysius, the still annoyed Ash, Keith and the smuggler.

The room itself was so different from the previous level, yet it looked like home. Though it had the same walls, the endless floor and the celestial ceiling, this room wasn’t empty. It had three tables with some food, low-grade equipment and arrows on it. In another corner there was a spinning wheel and a runecrafting altar. Opposite that, there was a furnace with anvils as well as a sink. Another corner boasted a light-blue portal. Upon seeing it, Fin checked his backpack to find a blue stone. In the middle, there was a summoning obelisk. The only thing missing from the room was an exit-ladder. Fortunately, Thok had his gem ready in case anyone wanted to leave.

They were no strangers to this, but what Fin could not comprehend was how there could be a prepared base when nobody had ventured here before. Reading his thoughts, Thok added, “Fremmeniks don’t know about this base. If it was built, it was not by Thok’s men.”

The smuggler, trying to make himself at home, took his usual spot next to the obelisk. He felt better already.

Then, Thok said something unexpected, “Thok needs to rest for a while.” The team seemed puzzled at first, but it was understandable. The floor could be a mental toll for some.

So it was arranged that Thok would wait at the base until he had enough energy to continue.

30-Nov-2012 11:58:27 - Last edited on 30-Nov-2012 11:58:38 by Myra Patata

Myra Patata

Posts: 147 Iron Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

“One more thing, adventurers,” Thok continued, “If you find cleaning cloths, Thok wants them.”

“Cleaning cloths?” Ash asked, with an eyebrow raised.

“It’s for...personal reasons,” Thok replied with his shifty eyes.

“Alright then,” Fin said, “Let’s get started!”

The experienced team, rehearsed in floor raiding as they had done so countless times, began by taking some food and equipment, which they sold to the smuggler to buy rune essence. They then proceeded to the runecrafting altar where they made law runes and cosmic runes. Two doors led out of the base, so Fin, holding the GT, took one path, while the rest of the team took the other.

Soon enough, the latter reached a three-way path split.

“I’ll path the east,” Kuradal said. Likewise, Dionysius declared, “I’ll path the west.”
That left Ash and Keith to the remaining door. On that path, a yell was suddenly heard which echoed throughout the floor, “GTGD”. Kuradal and Dionysius ignored this, since they were still pathing. Ash and Keith had to decide who would take the current path.

“I’ll path,” Keith said, so Ash did a GT to help Fin with the Guardian Door. The room Fin and Ash were in split into two separate paths, Fin told Ash which one he was taking, so once the monsters were defeated, Ash ran to path the other.

Fin passed by the Crimson corner door, which he gated while saying, “Cco gated.” The path was not complete, so Fin continued running along it with the GT.

Ash, on her path, reached a room with green and yellow tiles on a square in the centre. Deciding that yellow was her favourite colour that day, she flipped the tiles over until only two green tiles were left, but when she tried to force the green tiles over, nothing happened. Puzzled, Ash tried again. Still nothing happened. It looked as if she had to solve it without forcing any tiles. “This will take a while,” she grumbled.

30-Nov-2012 11:59:25

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The Quantum Floors