Lower Core

Information
Lower Core is a dungeon in Sockscraft 2 made by Startacker, and is the second dungeon on Sockscraft 2. It features combat as a major mechanic, with firearms in particular as a focus. The Dungeon can be accessed once a week by using a Singularity Shard as the Dungeon Key, and is available from Star to give to Comet. Players have one try to complete the dungeon- if you die, you must wait another week.

Description
Lower Core is a large, austere structure built to harvest stardust for use in Project cores. It consists of at least two areas; the Dig Site and the Lower Core proper.

Dig Site
The topside "entrance" to the dungeon is an archaeological site located at -7162, 164, near the western world border. A badge is located in the back corner. The Dig Site is also populated with six NPCs, all of which are previous Startacker characters. They offer a few lines of dialogue upon interaction.

Aoede
Aoede (ay-oh-eed) is a pale human with dark hair and clothes holding the Trinity Aspect. She stands at the foot of the scaffolding to the left of the room, below Halo.

Lore
Aoede is a Voided Soul, the identity that was created when Mist performed the Creation Ceremony and rewrote Nebula's personality. The axe she holds is the Trinity Aspect, the same weapon Nebula used to kill Sophie. She is an entirely different person from Nebula with none of their memories, having been given a set of false memories by the universe when she was rewritten. She is from Florida, and when not doing archaeological work, she has a part-time job at Outback Steakhouse.

Dialogue

 * I hope you are faring well. The group here is remaining posted, if you ever need the shelter.
 * I can't recall how I ended up here, it happened in a bit of a blur. I'm glad I've got a group that can help me out.
 * I've been having the weirdest dreams recently, they all involve this same axe. It's all strange.
 * Regardless, I hope you can catch some rest here.

Carme
Carme stands at the entrance to the building, welcoming players inside.

Lore
Carme is a chaos god, previously appearing on one of Socks' Hardcore Hell streams as the overseer.

Dialogue

 * Well met, I'm not surprised you found this place. You should head inside and meet the rest of the group.

Comet
Comet stands in the middle of the site next to the teleporter for the dungeon.

Lore
Comet is a Spark of Life Voided Soul and council member of the Void Council. They are also Star and Halo's sibling.

Dialogue

 * Fair greetings, traveller. We've been studying this area and what potentially lies beneath it, if it is even beneath...
 * Currently, we're still trying to figure out an effective way to access the lower parts of this structure.
 * We don't have anything concrete yet. Maybe check back later?

Halo
Halo stands on top of the scaffolding in the dig site, looking out the window.

Lore
Halo is a Spark of Life Voided Soul and a retired member of the Void Council. They are Star and Comet's sibling.

Dialogue

 * Wish I could give you a warmer welcome, but I've been more on guard than usual...
 * Some figure has been watching us from the treelines. I'm not sure what their deal is, but it doesn't give me much confidence.
 * This whole place makes me uneasy. Tread lightly, okay? There's no telling what else could be here, and I don't care for anymore corpse duty.

Nova
Nova stands at a workstation to the right and serve as Lower Core's shopkeep.

Lore
Nova is a living memory, whose existence depends on what other people think and remember of them. Their face is occluded by a shadow as a result of mixed memories creating an unfinished appearance.

Dialogue

 * Say, have we met before? You seem awfully familiar... Ah, sorry, it's rude of me. Well met.
 * If you find anything from around here, I'd be more than happy to take a look at it.
 * Oh... weird request, but could you keep me in mind? No big reason for it, but it'd give me some peace of mind...

Star
Star stands at the entrance to the dungeon, and provides Singularity Shards as dungeon keys once per week.

Lore
Star is a Spark of Life Voided Soul and a member of the Void Council, alongside Comet. They are Comet and Halo's sibling.

Dialogue

 * Did this structure also catch your eye? We're not sure who built this, but it must've been for something important.
 * I'm not even sure when this was built! Our dating equipment has been giving us wildly different timeframes.
 * The only way that could happen is if the materials came from somewhere that was timeless... how exciting!
 * Comet's been working on projecting into what lies beneath this structure. You should talk to them.

Tutorial
Once you've entered the dungeon, the main area is opened up to you, with a brief tutorial. Players start in a small room, with a lectern and a chest containing 12 Steak, a Dungeon Biscuit, and the Service Weapon. PROJECT 378 PROTO15 YOUR SERVICE WEAPON

TO FIRE YOUR SERVICE WEAPON, EFFECTIVELY PULL THE TRIGGER (DEFAULT MOUSE2) UNTIL PROJECTILE IS DISCHARGED FROM THE WEAPON. BE PREPARED TO RESIST RECOIL FROM WEAPON DISCHARGE.

YOUR SERVICE WEAPON HAS TWO MODES TO IT: PIERCE AND SHATTER

TO SWAP BETWEEN EITHER MODE, VIOLENTLY SWING THE WEAPON IN ANY DIRECTION AND THE SERVICE WEAPON WILL AUTOMATICALLY TRANSITION TO THE OTHER MODE.

First Area
After the tutorial, players are led to a brief parkour section. There are barrier blocks above white areas of concrete on the floor below that players can traverse. Failing to land on the barrier blocks means that the player will restart at the beginning of the section. Additionally, there are targets for players to hit with the Service Weapon, which makes certain things change (e.g., adding barrier blocks where there were none). These targets are timed, meaning the player must traverse the parkour under a certain time. A ticking noise will be played to denote the end of the timed sequence. PROJECT 378 PROTO15 ADDENDUM IF YOU FEEL AS IF YOUR SERVICE WEAPON HAS A "MIND OF ITS OWN", PLEASE DISREGARD THIS FEAR AS IT IS COMPLETELY TRUE. YOUR SERVICE WEAPON IS YOUR COMPANION. TREAT EACH OTHER WELL.

YOU MAY HAVE ALREADY NOTICED THAT YOUR SERVICE WEAPON IDLY REACTS TO YOU. PERFORM SYSTEM CHECKS TO ENSURE PROPER HANDLING AND DISCHARGING OF THE PROJECTILE.

THIS IS NORMAL.

At the far end of the parkour section, there is a target that must be triggered with the Service Weapon. There is also this informational text: PROJECT 0 YOU CURRENTLY FIND YOURSELF IN THE LOWER CORE. PROJECT 0. BUILT TO HARVEST THE NECESSARY MATERIALS FOR OUR PROJECT 1  AND PROJECT 278 CORES.  PROPER STARDUST IS NEEDED TO EXTRACT AND COMPRESS INTO THEM. THE UNITS OF THE REPLICAS THEMSELVES ARE COMPARATIVELY UNIMPRESSIVE, USING A LESS CONCENTRATED QUARRY OF STARDUST. REGARDLESS, THEIR COMPLEX MACHINERY IS SOMETHING " DEAD HAND " TAKES WITH GREAT HONOR. WE HAVE TAKEN THE UNIMPRESSIVE MATERIAL WE ARE ALL MADE OUT OF AND CREATED ARTIFICIAL LIFE OUT OF IT. FOR THE SOLE PURPOSE OF CREATING LIFE.

Main Area
Players will then be brought to a large arena of polished deepslate bricks, suspended in the air above a stark white floor. Players must use the dual modes of their Service Weapon to combat the hordes of Strays scattered throughout the arena. Targets are featured again, with timed sequences. Players must hit the targets in order to trigger platforms of weathered copper blocks to appear for traversal around the arena. Again, the ticking noise will play to denote the end of the timed sequence. After a few sequences, there are two arenas (one small, one larger) filled with Strays that seem to spawn consistently for a short time. Take care that you are at full health and/or saturation and your Service Weapon is switched to the mode you feel most comfortable with before entering. Additionally, there are two secret books located in the arena space, both written by the Replica Star. Book 1 singularities the rising sky never falters ...where am i? i shouldn't be here. no one's told me who i am. i'm not sure i'm intentional what am i? who decided for this blank faces keep walking by i don't know them they're my friends. reality is faltering the radio fails helivism is no reality for anything and yet i am   who am i?  someone get me out of here [405 METHOD NOT ALLOWED] ...why did i say that when am i? Book 2 i'm not sure what this is i think it's not for me. it feels familiar. who is this? it's so cold but it's not. it's perfectly temperate but i feel like i'm sweating. what is this place? who am i? am i intentional? i know what humanity is like i'm not it though. why? what? where am i? how am i?    [409 CONFLICT] ...there it is again was that intentional? am i broken? how does this happen to someone? wonder if there's an exit [416 RANGE NOT SATISFIABLE] don't look for me. i'll find you first. [422 UNPROCESSABLE ENTITY] Upon completing the second arena, players must fall down a small floating stalactite with a hole in the middle to reach the end.

Items/Rewards
After completing the dungeon, players are awarded 2-7 SoxBux and at least one Incomprehensible Object. There is also a Badge: #71 Lower Core.

Completing Lower Core without falling into a pit rewards you with another badge: #72 Bat. Finding each secret rewards you with additional badges as well, #73 Service Weapon - Shatter and #74 Service Weapon - Pierce.

Shops
Nova maintains a shop at the dig site, where players can trade SoxBux and Incomprehensible Objects (the dungeon's custom currency) for items.

Walkthrough
While Lower Core starts off relatively calmly, the pace and brutality in which enemies spawns quickly ramps up near the end of the dungeon. Effective use of the Shatter mode is a must to keeping yourself in check while utilizing your other items to keep your health in check. While fighting the various Strays, avoiding their shots by using walls to fire Shatter shots around can make quick work of most enemies you'll encounter.

Every area in the dungeon does not require you to kill every enemy to progress. If you are able to, it may be better to sprint past a group of enemies rather than engaging with them. On top of that, falling off the map if you have enough health to survive the drop will set you back to a respawn point that may be safer.

High Acrobatics levels can be a reliable tool to get through Lower Core. Being able to deflect arrows can prevent damage and the slowdown that comes with Stray's arrows.

In short, utilizing effective cover and ejecting from unfavorable scenarios can put you above the numerous Strays that can very quickly overwhelm. As you only have one life total, keeping yourself alive is the utmost importance.

Trivia

 * Should Lower Core have not been finished on time, Star would have had to make "Negative World This Guy's Negativity Reversed Tower".
 * The reason Aoede is from Florida is because Serpy said so, with Star following the Yes, and... rule-of-thumb.
 * The design and aesthetic of the dungeon takes heavy inspiration from Control. The Lower Core itself heavily resembles the Oldest House, and the main arena looks much like the Astral Plane. The Service Weapon is named and inspired after the Service Weapon in Control as well.
 * Stun, Magazine, and Fallout are Project 1, Project 278, and Project 424, respectively. However, the Service Weapon being Project 378 PROTO15 and the Lower Core itself being Project 0 indicates that Replicas are not the only things that can be Projects.
 * Badge #72 being a Bat is a reference to Lower Core's development where bats would commonly spawn within the dark pits and set off the placeholder redstone. This culminated in an attempted killfield for just the bats, but ended up killing every entity within 200 blocks of it.