This QuestX follows the aftermath of the Winter Solstice Event that was hosted in the Winter of 2020, in which Cates, Bailey, and TJ2 tried to host a dinner party for the Winter Solstice with Mr. D. During the prepping time for the Party, Cates, Son of Hephaestus, was alerted by phone of a disturbance at one of his old bunkers from back in the day when he worked for the League of Machines and Monsters. Quickly dismissing himself, he went to double-check whether or not his security systems were bugging out or not. The night began with our Camp Director, Topher, briefing us on our missing items, and most importantly that the Shield of Apollo remained missing as well. “Without the Shield of Apollo,” Topher warned, “we will not make it back to Camp Half-Blood Austin in the park.” In hopes that the missing objects may have shown up at Cates’ League Bunker, Topher called Cates to report in on it. Joining Cates was Bailey, Child of Apollo, much to Cates’ surprise. The two of them were gifted a flashlight from Apollo, a “tool” given to them through Topher, a Son of Apollo. This enhanced flashlight was to help them gain visibility in the dark bunker, without the monsters spotting them, as they could see the light but monsters could not. Despite searching for it for years, the League Bunker was hidden in plain sight, as a garage in a residential neighborhood. As he recounted his previous time with the League, Cates told us that he had been checking off a list of his old bunkers since the Winter Solstice, but that he had not checked this location out yet. Approaching the entrance, Cates and Bailey crouched up against the wall, peeking the camera over so the campers on this Quest could help them get a bird’s eye view. Duffelbag the Smiley was pacing the entrance, the Shield of Apollo slung across their back. Taking the approach of hiding behind a flower pot, Cates and Bailey poised for the attack to sneak in. Due to the potency of magical artifacts like the Shield of Apollo, the footage here froze on Cates’ end, the image of Duffelbag looming over the camera stayed frozen for minutes. Once the call connection was reestablished, Bailey and Cates were already inside the bunker, scanning for anything out of the ordinary. While Bailey nervously watched every angle, Cates took the opportunity to go down memory lane, fondly picking up objects and inspecting them with pride. The first object he picked up was an Animus Tracker, a device used to track down a demigod’s animus in order for the League to take it. Looking it over, Cates recounted that the device was better at tracking werewolves rather than Animi and that, to be honest, “werewolves were more useful.” Bailey and Cates passed an old automaton, a husk of what a demigod’s Animus would be put into back when the League was active, as well as a painting that grotesquely detailed what it looked like to have your Animus stolen. The painting showed a southern belle all dressed up slowly decaying into a skeletal creature, flesh hanging off her cheekbones. After the painting was spotted, the call mysteriously dropped, leaving us to wonder about the true power of the painting itself and what it could possibly mean for us. Once the call returned, Cates and Bailey noted that they had found Talos Bugs, small insect automatons used for surveillance by the League and Camp Half-Blood Austin alike. The problem? They found more than Cates had left behind. The two walked around looking at other objects such as “Stompie” the tiny skull of a creature that “gets smaller every time it’s killed”, a worm-like creature that could slowly eat a monster whole, and a spiny wooden helmet prototype that “saved League members from one injury… but not the other.” Finally, the two approached a table with three objects on it. Bailey seemed particularly interested in the object that looked like interlocking pieces of metal; however, Cates ignored them for the sake of talking about the old League Transmitter and a solid brass skull with Central American etchings on them. Turning around, the two noticed that the interlocking metal pieces Bailey had asked about had gone missing, and the Weeper was slowly creeping behind Bailey with it in its hand. As the Weeper shuffled away with the object, Cates admitted that the object was an Animus Battery, an extremely concentrated way to hold a demigod’s animus in order to convert it to power. Scrambling to hide from the Weeper, Bailey and Cates discovered that the Weeper was holding a hand-drawn “TO-DOO” list which included the symbols for a metal-looking face with a checkmark by it, the animus battery, and what looked like a brain with eyes coming out of it. At the bottom of the list, written in scratchy handwriting was “4 RICKTUS.” Assuring Bailey and the campers that the Animus Battery needs an adapter to even work, Cates headed up towards the attic space of the bunker to look for it. Climbing up, Cates was greeted by the Weeper, who chased him down the ladder, but not before he got the Animus Battery back. Passing it to Bailey, the two of them ducked down next to the old automaton. As Bailey tried to get back up on their feet the hand of the automaton grabbed onto the Animus Battery, slowly shambling up to life. Grabbing Bailey by the hair, it dragged them outside into the entrance. Using their quick thinking, Bailey blinded the automaton with their flashlight, leaving it to fend for itself. Meanwhile, Duffelbag and the Weeper crept closer to the Automaton, desperately trying to grab the Animus Battery. Once they failed to obtain it, however, the two Smileys quickly turned on Cates and Bailey, chasing them back into the Bunker. The call dropped again here due to the intense lockdown safety protocol instilled by the League, and in the downtime, campers quickly theorized about what the Smileys were up to with their list. Some theories included a new Smiley army as well as a kind of “Frankenstein” experiment going down. While we do not have any evidence to support those theories, rest assured that the following patrols and quests will be on the lookout. Finally, Cates and Bailey returned for the debrief, in which Bailey made rounds throughout the perimeter of the bunker as well as the attic space. After giving us the all-clear from the Bunker, the two of them left for the evening. Topher left us off with the notion that without the Shield of Apollo, our borders will not be prepared for Camp in the park, and that we must be on our guard, especially with the Shield in the hands of Smileys. With a grocery list for disaster and a missing barrier shield, the following Questers to come have the work cut out for them!
Submitted by: The Archivist, Indiana Ward