Welcome to Gaia! ::

Melvin paused in his fixation on the mermaid when Rep spoke, taking his helmet off to get a breath of fresh air and to turn off what little oxygen he still had. He didn't want to use it all up right now.

Setting the helmet down, he smiled to Rep. "I'll be careful. I've....never expected.....to see something like this." He looked back to it, staring wide-eyed in awe at it. What was it saying? Who made it? Was it a Fear creature or a creation from one? It could speak. What was that glowing power?

Again, he tried speaking to it. "Hello."

The closer he got, the more apparent it was that the creature wasn't just golden, but actually made of gold. An exquisitely crafted being, but a construct all the same. There were Fear creatures that were constructed, but what about those rune-like symbols?

There are, of course, ways to tell the power make-up of another.

The mermaid floated quietly in the air as Melvin and Rep spoke, definitely listening if not comprehending. As Kim and the others surfaced, it cocked its head and finally moved once more. At an add gesture, one of the ornate carvings began to glow as it peeled away from the chamber walls.

Moments later, a little metal fish began circling around the group. The mermaids mouth began to move, and after a few seconds, its melodious voice greeted them in English.

"Hail, travelers of the Ways. A great time has passed, our halls are empty and the larder has long turned to dust. But I do welcome you all, with what hospitality is mine to offer, to this fallen city of Atlantis."

Rep looked completely nonplussed, sighing audibly. "Oh my god." he said. "We ******** found Atlantis."

His first thought was that it had to have fallen for a reason and that reason was probably still down here somewhere. He ******** hated adventures at this point because they always ended up in something really horrible trying to kill him.

"They have weapon wards." he said. "I don't trust any of this."

A crackle of blue green electricity bursts across Kim's hand. It's more surprising than painful, and leaves her hand paralyzed for the time being as the fish swiftly flies away toward the mermaid.

Again there is a delay between her motions and the voice that sounds. "To be succinct, it fell to entropy. My name is," her mouth moves briefly, but what comes out after a long pause pis, "Helpful Guiding Servant Created by Thirdmost Master Smith, Jin Gerret S'onac. I am a..." Whay follows is a simultaneous overlap of words. They can pick out golem and robot among a few.

The mermaid turned her glowing gaze toward Kim. "The Babel is not a pet. It exists to enable peaceful communications between the peoples broken from the Tower. Please do not interfere with its function."

The fish served as a translator, and this creation was a type of robotic golem. It far exceeded the golems they had for hunter use, though he couldn't be sure if there were more advanced types being held secretly someplace else. However it stood, she was a responsive source of information.

"A guiding servant? Who did you guide? What Tower are you speaking of?"

Melvin was transfixed on the mermaid, but kept a mountain of questions to himself as he chipped away at it piece by piece. Clearly he knew he could spend countless hours and visits here, but the thing with something like this meant that he might wind up unable to find her again. Here and now was his chance - but then again.

He didn't want to loose her again. She was valuable as was this chamber. Even Babel was a fascinating device.

He'd have to send the others back while he remained to ensure they could return here. He was using Mark's trackers among the others.

"The Way?" Melvin repeated, looking back behind him to the pool before slowly looking out around them to the many colored pools. This was a post. A place for people to get from one point to another and she was the information Kiosk.

"So....all these pools are Ways to get from different destinations in Atlantis?" He asked.