4943/ICoT: The Welcoming Committee

ICoT: The Welcoming Committee
Date of Scene:	28 December 2016
Location:	The Bastion
Synopsis:	The Kid leads everyone on the final Core hunt, which goes without a hitch. But what happens when they return to the Bastion is far more concerning.
Cast of Characters:	The Kid, 673, Kotone Yamakawa, 1094, Priscilla

---

The Kid has posed:
    The Wild.

    A place befitting its moniker. It is made up of thick, dense jungle with packed foliage that traps heat, making the ground underfoot incredibly muggy and humid. Many plants look downright bizarre, awful corruptions of more familiar types of flora. Strange noises fill the noon air, produced by all manner of curious beasts.

    Thankfully, the warpgate nearest to the signal provided lands everyone in an overgrown camp. Logs arranged in a semicircle around a pit have been reclaimed by vines and moss. Canvas tents have collapsed and begun to rot away. Old crates have been smashed open by the native wildlife on the hunt for scraps.

    Sitting on one of those logs is The Kid, with a cloth on his lap, holding two disassembled guns.

    He is rubbing down each part in succession with an oily rag, making sure it's all in working order before reassembling them with a steady hand. Soon he holds two small revolvers, and with the task done, notices the arrivals. "Oh, heya. Thanks for comin'." He seems uncharacteristically happy as he shows off the guns. Specifically, the letter 'J' scratched into the grips. "Found these here. Reckon these were Slinger Jawson's backups." Standing up, he gives them a few experimental twirls before sliding them into the holsters he found them in, hanging from his waist.

    "Right, let's get goin'." He's all business now, drawing his red War Machete as he takes point out of the camp, using the blade to hack through the plants in his way.

Rory White (673) has posed:
The Multiverse might have gone topsy-turvy on everyone, but Rory White will not abandon a worthy cause. So she shows up in her usual robot form, this time with only two Saucers hovering out of the gate with her and taking positions high in the sky.

    Her form for today is quite a work of mechanical biomimicry. Feline form but distinctly metallic. Silvery metal covered in strange seam-like patterns reminiscent of reptilian scales. Metal that shifts and bends fluidly like flesh with only a few strange and uncanny contortions. The flexbhot has taken the form of something quite like a tiger, although exchanging the feline face for something simpler and less featured. It's also... covered in small cameras, though most are not obvious. Full 360 degree vision for Rory and nothing less. Weapons are hardmounted to the back and it no doubt has a few tricks to use in melee if it wanted to.

    When life throws wilderness at you, throw wild animals back, Rory's logic says.

    Nature designed forms like these for reasons, so why not make use of them?

    "Reassuring to be back on solid ground. I imagine you feel the same, young warrior." She's still not sure WHAT to call the kid, but that's how she addresses him as she saunters up and starts scanning the surroundings.. tailing after him.

    "Clearly somewhere your people had an outpost..."

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Hearing from those at the Bastion was a ray of sunshing in the wake of the multiverse blowing up in everyone's faces. So here Kotone was suited up in her stealth armour and it hits her? The Kid and everyone else at the Bastion has never seen her wearing anything else. Someday she'd changed that but as she arrives she looks at her friend grining.

"It's not a problem and Rory? I keep wondering what would happen if I threw a ball of yarn at you while you were like that."

Kotone has the time to rib Rory a little bit it seems, but she is clearly armed and ready to go here.

"Well then kid just lead the way and if there is an outpost out there? It might have supplies left in it."

Flamel Parsons (1094) has posed:
    There is an odd man here. He wasn't here before.

    When one looks at him, the atmosphere is like looking at a grainy photograph of something secret that happened sixty years ago. One hopes that won't be the case right now. He's left his suit at home this time, though. If they're heading out into the Wild, it's Psychonaut field gear for him. That means proper tactical turtleneck, real resilient sorts of clothes, openly emblazoned with the Psychonauts insignia. No need for stealth on this one, at least not that kind.

    "Pistols." He says, as if sort of examining the word on a vivisection table, before becoming quite friendly. "If you found them here, that means they're perfectly suited to the dangers." He follows, letting The Kid lead the way out. No reason not to. He keeps up the friendly agent talk. "Or perfectly unsuited and ending in death. Please do report which one as you get the chance to find out, I'd love to hear what sort of tactics best suit the Wild here."

    He prods at an earpiece in his ear. "Contact with group established. They have a cat. No, not the codeword kind. Yes, it does talk. No, only somewhat adorable. Agents on-site are attempting to provoke cuteness. Yarn may be requisitioned for future operations, stand by." The tone he reports this in is bland, like a pilot reporting his activities. Then, there's a few soft sparks of light as he taps his sunglasses, as if trying to get something to activate, then speaks up in that positive tone. "I don't think I'll be much help for navigating to the outpost, if there was one., but seems like this region's all together. Apparently that's unusual right now! I just found that out. So if the place the Core was set was mapped, it should still be there. The rest of you seem like you have much more useful senses, please do report everything you find about the area, in case there's any issues I can assist with."

Priscilla has posed:
    It has been quite a while since Priscilla was last here. That seems to be the case for a few things, as of late. With the Multiverse settled down the way it is though, it's not only Priscilla's convenience to track down all these individual threads that had been left hanging, but her responsibility to tie them off, not only for the simple value of finishing what one has started, but for the fact that seeing them through to the end suddenly has a much more significant outcome than 'approval from the rest of the Union'.

    Another, less recent change, means that she can be here wearing silk instead of fur, and for that, she is thankful the minute the ambient humidity plasters itself to her skin. Only a look at the muggy, mucky overgrowth has Priscilla's tail curling such that it doesn't come within a solid foot of the ground. Thorny plants seem to pose no impediment to bare feet, as seems to be the usual.

    After only just reaching the middle of the camp, it seems the crossbreed Lord has decided she doesn't want to sweat today, and 'cranks it up', such that the air around her sharply drops several degrees, to the point that tiny flakes of ice condense out of it up close. For whatever reason, biting insects and the like conveniently drop dead out of the air when approaching her. It's creepy, but malaria-free.

    "It is well that I shouldst see thee again. I supposeth that with affairs as they art here, the Multiverse possesseth little ability to upset them any further." she greets the as-of-yet nameless young man, whose boxers she has blissfully forgotten the sight of. "Pray, tell, however, where is the elder gentleman? Sir Rucks, was it? Was this venture of his conception, or thine own?"

    Rory and Kotone are obviously repeat cooperators, though there is some aura of mild awkwardness to be felt this time. Parsons is the one who radically stands out, and has the bulk of Priscilla's attention as she catches up with the group. "I beg thine pardon? Art thou a friend of the young sir's?"

The Kid has posed:
    Kid looks over his shoulder at the feline form of Rory. "Yeah. That was the first Slinger's outpost. They were the ones who mapped the Wild, brought back what could make the City thrive." He manages a dry chuckle. "But don't kid yaself. We're still in the sky. The Wilds are just too much for the Calamity to smash apart."

    Staring at Kotone, he just mutters, "No tomfoolery. The Wilds're dangerous." At the mention of supplies, he shakes his head. "Already checked before you arrived. Anything that wasn't these guns are rotted beyond use."

    Flamel gets a look like the Kid has no idea what to make of him. He's never met someone so chatty, let alone someone who can chat about things so wildly varying in tone. "The Slingers knew what they were doin'. I'm just copyin' what they would do. Should do us fine."

    Priscilla's local AC makes the Kid look surprised, but not unthankful. "Heh, yeah. When something's broke, it's harder to make it more broke. Hope all y'all got out of it okay." At the mention of Rucks, Kid's expression sours. "The old man's idea, same as everything else," he mutters, a little grumpily.

    At this point, anyone good at reading people would recognize that the Kid is acting strange. He keeps looking around, but it's not him keeping vigilance in the face of the Wilds. In certain directions, he pointedly refuses to look at, abruptly pausing his head and eye movements to look another way. Like there's something there that he knows for sure, but he doesn't want them to see him looking.

    There are other things too. Carefully obscured tracks, a faint scent of human waste and sweat under the odour of the Wild. On a psychic level, killing intent is being broadcast at the whole party. And then the Kid quickdraws those Repeaters and fires into the tree. There is a scream, and then the thud of a body falling. The other gun fires into the bush, causing another scream.

    The bush comes alive with Ura, rushes with blades, spears and bow! An ambush! But how did the Kid know?!

Flamel Parsons (1094) has posed:
    Mel turns. He's still walking backwards, and the hand goes up to that earpiece again. "Contact with POI 'Concordia'. Reduced fluffiness confirmed, repeat, fluffiness is /reduced/." This is spoken like grave turn of events, as if an assassination of some beloved world leader has occurred. Then, of course, he answers. "Agent Parsons, Psychonauts Multiversal Operation Bureau." He says, flashing a badge and offering a handshake. "Here to follow up on points of interest in--"

    And then he calls out, right at the moment when The Kid draws his repeaters. "Ambush. Sapients." There's a brilliant flash of light as two fingers from each hand whoosh right to his temples, before he projects a heavy, shimmering, flickering red spherical projection. Intangible to the group or their weapons, but an unyielding wall against the enemy, it's meant to give them time to react to the first rush.

    Well, not entirely unyielding. It chips and cracks and shatters in some places against the strikes of arrows and blades, emitting soft shockwaves of wind with each heavy blow; at this size, it won't last long, but it'll buy some seconds for the group to get their response in order before it shatters under the rush.

Rory White (673) has posed:
Rather suddenly the machine-tiger TUUUUUURNS about to focus more sensors on the man who seems to have somehow EVADED most of them. Except... how? Rory rapidly checks her recordings but finds some troubling input there. Input that leaves the weird, expression-less face... tilting slightly back and forth in a manner more canine than feline. As if trying to read Flamel from a few different angles.

    "A...dorableness was not a priority for this configuration. Practicality was intended. Greetings... agent? Here to answer the call for help? We weren't expecting you, but assistance is welcome. I am called Rory White, of the Argonauts. More recently representing the Paladins. Yourself?"

    She's troubled that he somehow slipped past her notice. THAT IS NOT SOMETHING SHE WANTS TO HAPPEN AGAIN, and her paranoia is now rather heightened. But some of her attention swerves to Priscilla. No doubt some of the folk back on Mitre Station will rather enjoy the sight of Priscilla's new attire (she's almost certainly a news figure of some sort by now), but Rory remains quiet about it. Instead...

    "Priscilla. I hear you have made amazing strides since the... incident. How is the endeavor?"

    Back to The Kid now, the feline form's main optics flash an acknowledgement. "... I seeeeee... recalibrating sensors then. This is strange news indeed. The more we uncover of this Calamity, the less I understand the form it took. And the less I want to see a repeat up-close."

    And... then... OUT RUSH THE URA right as Rory's starting to setup her sensor network! "AMBUSH!?" The robot-feline ducks down, narrowly avoiding some arrows. Rory's own guns swivel about on turret mounts, calculating carefully and firing invisible lasers at... at bows? Bows and bowstrings. Spearhandles. She's fully intent on destroying weapons instead of lives, but with this ambush she's probably only going to peg a few! Because very rapidly she zips off in a strafing manuever to take some cover behind a tree herself!

    "Ura warriors, your lives are not worth this!"

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa nods to the kid, "Right I'm done with it and .... drat. Couldn't hope for tht much, at least you found those guns they seem tobe solid." Kotone also catches sight of PRiscillia and seems to have not been expecting her.

"Lady Priscillia, didn't expect to see you here. Though your help is welcome and I herd you done very well for yourself in the aftermath."

She has not forgot what Priscillia did for her and if Priscilla is paying attention? Kotone is wearing the ring she was given last year.

Kotone also moves on and s they do the new guy also gets some /very/ odd looks from her. Whoi is this agent guy anyhow? Parsons is an unknown to her unlike everyone else here. She always carries less than lethal options but then comes the Ura? She does wonder how did so many of the Ura lived through the diaster were few of Rucks and the kid's people did. She always wondered about tht but there was no answer about that.

"Ura warriors the world is ash! Should we not focus on repairing and suriving rather than this contiuned fight?!" 5R
Kotone attemps to take some cover herself but will be in the open long enough for an attack to be made, she does pull her pistol out with inhuman speed, so she's not entirely helpless and it's clear if the Ura don't stand down she's going to fight.

The Kid has posed:
    Arrows, bolts and even a bullet slam into Flamel's psychic shield, making it ripple and fracture, but not break! As the archers and crossbowmen ready their second volley, Rory snaps their bowstrings with lasers. This makes them whip about violently, causing some pretty deep cuts on their faces, arms and chests.

    One of the spearmen charges at Kotone, murder in his eyes, only to be cut down by Priscilla's whiling slash. The Kid seems to agree with the crossbreed, in that he speaks no words, and only guns down the Ura. When the Repeaters are dry, he hurls his Machete into the chest of a spearman before retreating behind Flamel's shield to reload, twirling both guns to empty them before sliding in new rounds. His movements seem... smoother now. He's still drunk based off the smell of alcohol, but he's clearly not been spending this long stretch of time idly.

    The fight continues for a short period, but these Ura were clearly training for ambushing and not combat. They go down pretty easily, leaving about 12 bodies in all. Not a single one of them even responded to Rory and Kotone's plead for peace. The Kid pulls his machete from the corpse of an Ura and looks to everyone. "Y'all probably have some questions. I'll answer on the move."

                                     -----                                      

    "Old man found this Core a long time ago," Kid says as he raises his Bullhead Shield to provide cover from a Pincushion, a circular plant that sprays out needles. "But he wanted to wait 'n see what the Ura would do with it. Sure enough, they soon showed up..."

                                     -----                                      


"But they didn't take it, for as long as we watched 'em." Kid shouts as he sprays bullets at a cloud of Peckers swirling overhead. "Old man figures that means they don't have any plans for the Cores. They just use 'em as lures for us!"

                                     -----                                      

"Old man also figures that means they don't know where the Bastion is, else they would just swoop in an' kill us." Kid says as he somersaults under a Lunkhead, a large froglike creature with a heavily armoured head. "Ya wanna get these things in the back. Where was I? Oh yeah, so old man decided to use the time to train me up and make sure he's right. The Bastion is still fine and the Ura were still waitin'. Probably thought we had died somehow. Since we kept watch on 'em, I knew where they would be hidin'. Didn't wanna tell ya in case they were listenin'. Sorry for the surprise."

                                     -----                                      

    And finally, they reach the Core. It sits in the middle of a circle of stones, looking very recently 'built' (to use the word kindly). Kid doesn't even notice as he reaches out to touch it. The stone practically sings, humming with an alien energy. Behind it is a Skyway panel that the Kid gestures at. "If we can get that goin', saves y'all a trip back. Reckon Rucks, Zulf and Zia would like to see y'all again, and meet the new guy." He glances at Flamel at that.

Priscilla has posed:
Priscilla says, "Then to what dost thou owe such hostility? Certainly, in the wake of all this, even such savages must possesseth better plans for their future than stalking and murdering other survivors." Priscilla cuts off for the brief and bloody process of plunging her long dagger into the Lunkhead's back, twisting the critical strike up to the hilt. "Thou art forgiven this time.""

Priscilla has posed:
    "I believeth I very well shalt." says Priscilla, as relative silence returns to the Wilds. With a flick of her wrist, swiftly necrotizing blood sprays off of the blade her scythe, bouncing the broad leaves below.

                    -----

    Priscilla twists a needle errantly lodged in her calf, splintering it in her fingers so that it doesn't hover along with her invisible stalking towards the Pincushion's back. "Certainly the same as they intended for the one by the wharfs, no?"

                    -----

    Priscilla breathes in deep after the last wisp of scorching, sorcerous energy has left her mouth, surrounded by shattered crystal statues of Peckers dropping out of the air. "Us? Thineself and those of the Bastion specifically, or else . . .?"

                    -----

    "Then to what dost thou owe such hostility? Certainly, in the wake of all this, even such savages must possesseth better plans for their future than stalking and murdering other survivors." Priscilla cuts off for the brief and bloody process of plunging her long dagger into the Lunkhead's back, twisting the critical strike up to the hilt. "Thou art forgiven this time."

                    -----

    On some level, Priscilla vaguely startles at the difference with which The Kid handles the Core, as opposed to the near-reverence he had treated them before. She adds it to the mental checklist of ways he has changed since last she saw her. Though not often does Priscilla have eyes for the subtle shifts in course of brief, mortal lives, everything from his muscles to the fading scent of an unfamiliar liquor bespeaks some significant change. "Of course, I shalt be taking such transportation last. There is much I woulst wish to ask of Sir Rucks, and perhaps something I worry for Sir Zulf."

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa sees woed sare not working today, and she will defend herself and the others here. Kotone weaves attemping to grab shaft of the spear and turn it away from her even as the kid and otehrs unload. She will also make use of her eel ware to ty and knock them out but the fight was short brutal and they didn't say a thing. Kotone looks a bit concerned.

"They didn't even say a thing? That ... isn't normal at all."

She keepos moving and follows after the Kid. She seems saddend by what happnedbut it isn't slowing her down at all though how the Ura fought?That stuck with her, something major wa indeed up as they reach the pannel.

"That's a good ide if we can getit working again nd no I get it you need to do information control. I understand that."

Also how the kid deals with the core now is noticed and that gets Kotone raising an eyebrow.

Rory White (673) has posed:
All the Ura, all dead. Rory wanders past all the corpses, recording the faces. If she has a chance, these might be worth showing to the Ura leaders. Proof of the costs of this folly, perhaps...

    But after this she fixes Flamel with another examinatory gaze. His behavior has definitely quirked her off, and 'Psychonauts' is.... well, the etymology is TROUBLING to say the least.

    "That's a reasonable tactical deduction. Hopefully thermal imaging will reveal any further surprises..." Rory's Saucers, now fully airborn, engage their sensor scans of the area. Dense foliage will prove troublesome, but perhaps some of the penetrating scans will be useful!

    The trip is long, perilous, and Rory ends up opening fire with small railguns and lasers on a multitude of odd beasties, but eventually... the Core.

    "Heartening to hear they are all doing well. So much happened in the Multiverse, I lost track of the situation here for nearly a week. I do think the Bastion could use some defenses though, since the topic of it being a target came up. I do not think anyone but you of the natives could defend it if enemies struck."

Flamel Parsons (1094) has posed:
    "Hostile locals confirmed, team is responding with varied tactics. Right, not my business for now, that's for later. Right, focusing on the Core now, no question." Then he focuses on The Kid. "Oh! You're gathering intelligence on them! Good choice!" Agent Parsons approves! For whatever that's worth. On the way through this path, he also displays his own abilities. His own ranged psionic blasts are the only particular card he tips of that hand for now, mirroring the Kid's own tactics since his dueling pistols have turned out to be the best option. With two fingers on his temple and two fingers pointed out, as if his hand were a gun, he focuses on targets in the swarms with the Kid, popping out shimmering orange blasts of light from his fingers like a pistol of his own, with tremendous skill. Rory's questions were answered, so he focuses on his own.

    "Okay, alright, let's see... So, even with this apocalypse going on, they're focusing, really properly focusing specifically on you guys, just on killing you. Looks like they're not backing down either. Do you know anything about why? They've got lots of people and lots of work to do, but they're focusing on just this. It sounds like the sort of mystery you already have solved! Something they need from the Bastion, maybe? Something they want from you? Something they're worried you'll do? What a dense issue, there's so many gaps, which ones have you already filled in?"

    The agility he demonstrates in trying to ape The Kid's moves in dealing with the lunkheads seems unpracticed and yet effective, like gravity's not causing as much of a problem for him as it ought to. "So is that how you knew ahead of time where they were going to ambush you? It looked like you knew exactly where to shoot. Or precognitive? Clairvoyant? ESPer of some other kind?" He seems quite confident, immediately, that The Kid knows something, and he's intensely curious what it is. He's just utterly failing to think of the obvious answer of 'battle instinct', here.

    "How should we get it going, then? Hey, miss!" He gestures at Kotone Yamakawa. "You're a robot, right?" Jesus 'Mel, great job on the cultural sensitivity there. "What sort? Government replicant infiltrator? Xenoannexation preparation? Hollow Earth reclaimer scout? You can do repairs for things like this, can't you?" He also gives a short, hopeful look at Rory. "I'd love to see what a Skyway is like! Or can you get it going as-is, Kid?" He never asked for his name and has just settled naturally into calling him that. If it can work as-is, he's gonna try to be the first one through!

The Kid has posed:
    "Waitin' for us at the Bastion, exactly. As for why? I guess they're still sore over the War," the Kid says with a shrug. "We were gettin' along, but some just couldn't handle losin' I guess. Old man would know better, he was 'round back then." Looking to Flamel, the Kid shrugs. "Like I said, we were observin' 'em. Saw the positions they took when they heard somethin' comin'. Just fired at those spots and got lucky." Rory's scans turn up no more Ura, and the wildlife seems to be giving them a wide berth after their displays.

    Walking over to the Skyway, he pries the panel open with the blade of his machete, and starts guiding everyone on how to fix it. Thankfully, he has some notes from Rucks to draw on. "Land's all different now, so we gotta adjust the output to reach the Bastion. Lessee..." He starts rattling off figures and pointing at parts that need to be wired around, dials that need to be adjusted. Eventually, the panel rattles to life, producing a column of roaring air leading into the skies.

    Flamel has been of service, so Kid lets him go first. Looking to Priscilla, he nods. "Ladies last, I know the deal." Must have been A Thing in Caelondia. He jumps in after Flamel, and lets everyone follow him as they like. Riding the Skyways is pretty exhilerating all in all. Over the roaring winds, Kid shouts instructions on how to angle your body to catch the right currents to lead them to the Bastion.

    Unfortunately, he has no pointers for landing, and does his usual faceplant. Everyone will have to figure that part out on their own.

    On the grassy lawn below the Bastion proper, everyone can hear heated voices being raised. Both are male. Rucks and Zulf are arguing over something, but what? The looks of concern on the Kid's face is apparent. This is not a usual thing. He rushes up the hill, just in time to see Zulf drive his fist into Ruck's face, his expression thunderous. Behind the two, Zia looks on in horror as the Monument in which the Cores are instered splutters and sparks, bearing signs of heavy damage.

    Glaring down at Rucks, Zulf says, "The Calamity has failed. But I will not." And with that, he begins storming towards the Skyway to leave.

Rory White (673) has posed:
THE SKYWAY IS A HECK OF A RIDE.

    Rory takes a bit to recalibrate her sensors after finally making landing on the familiar and comforting Bastion.

    And upon landing, she finally has an opportunity to ask Flamel a very important question. "HOW do you... accomplish... whatever it is you are doing? I've seen supernatural phenomena before, but these are new." Though... her sharp machine sensors pick up a conversation that immediately Troubles her.

    The robot feline turns her whole body around... and bounds towards Zulf.

    The Flexbot settles down, seating her rump on the ground. Solidly in Zulf's way.

    "I don't know what you intend to do, but rethinking leaving would be wise, Mr. Zulf. Your own people have completely cast reason aside. They may not even tolerate you at this point. We just returned from an outing and faced an ambush. Twelve fine adults, dead to the last. They would not speak, would not listen. No hesitation. Pure zealotry drives them now. So I must ask... what do you intend to do...?"

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
With everything going down she's on edge she knows there's more Ura possibly out there. She looked to Priscilla nodded once and then looked to Rory. "Things have inded gone pretty nuts Rory." She pauses at Flamel for a moment and she looks at them for a moment.

"No, I'm human, most of my body is cyberentic. It's pretty common to have it done, and I'm afraid I'm more of mechanic and a bit of a computer sort than ... magic tech I'm afraid."

She does look miffed about the robot coment far more than stuff that might be tinfoil hat bait on her world. Yet in the multivese this guy could be sane and has to deal/ with what he talked about.

So she looks at the Kid for a moment and wonders they are carrying ont his war in a world that's basically aash she's quick to fall into step with the others as they make for the skyway tht's now functional and she ports back to the Bastion..

"I'm worried as well it's like something has taken over their minds. It's getting worrysome...they didn't even try to tell us off, bark orders to eachother or anything you'd expect fighters to do..."

Flamel Parsons (1094) has posed:
    A tilt of the head. "Lucky." He says with a tone of voice like someone wiring the word up with listening devices. "Okay! That's some good luck, hope it holds up!" For someone who didn't explain how /he/ knew about the ambush, he seems a little odd about the topic. Well, for now, he sits back, cheerfully letting the business go on in repairing the skyways and looking just vaguely suspicious enough to evoke some concern at the way he stares at what the group is doing.

    His flight is clearly something he is having the time of his life with. He hasn't done anything like this before, not in his own world at altitudes like this, so it's a wonderful experience. Only incredibly well-trained and powerful psychics can get close to flight of this sort, so he's loving the chance to see the engineering in action. Following directions eagerly and attentively, he dives down towards the Bastion, for the first time...

    He lands first. And, in his case, it's properly landing. He actually hits the ground with a slowed levitation, now that people aren't watching too closely. But who's watching doesn't matter. It's more because he senses... Something terrible has happened. His look is too focused to answer Rory's question. "..." She'll see in a moment, after she follows him on his quick dash to the site of the skirmish. His posture is locked and tense. He knows what this is. As a Psychonaut, he's been trained to recognize situations like this. Times where people are driven to insane actions by the stress around them. There's talks of an apocalypse's work getting finished. That's DANGEROUS. It's INSANE. He doesn't know what happened.

    But he knows how to know.

    All but one person can hear his voice in a telepathic broadcast that Zulf has been selectively excluded from. .oO(I don't know what's happening, but I know he's heading into bad psychological spaces! Keep him still and thinking, then hold on and be careful when you go in! You guys know more about what's happening here than I do, get this fixed!!) There's no clarification about what he means here. But each member of the group, Kid included, will feel a small tug on their mind, a gentle pull that becomes more and more insistent, and they can tell it's coming from Agent Parsons.

    He has his fingertips pressed against his head, and they're shining. His sunglasses are off, and his eyes emit strange white lights. An ethereal vision of the man himself is moving forward towards Zulf, and there's the sense that the others can join him if they let the impulse take hold. He can't risk injuring Zulf with an attempt to get a Psycho-Portal onto his head -- not with dangerous equipment so close, and so little knowledge of what's going on -- so they won't be able to maintain a stable projection into Zulf's mind for long, but if he can land them in the memory centers of the brain...

    He can hopefully tug them right into Zulf's most recent memories and thoughts.

Priscilla has posed:
    "Priscilla." the titular woman finishes during the air ride. It's something she's done twice before, so whilst she is very far from an expert, the first time shock is out of the way, so she gets the introduction out of the way whilst there is downtime. "Queen of Anor Londo. First of the Concord. Thine assistance is both timely and well-received." Parson is a weird dude, but Priscilla would have to be an order of magnitude less intelligent than she is not to pick up that he knows what he's doing.

    The DEX build is real though. Priscilla hits the ground like a dancing fairy rather than someone compressing herself to a 'mere' six and a half feet tall, practically twirling out of the wind tunnel with only her hair as evidence, down to its --seemingly natural-- state of 'stylishly wind tousled'. She seems glad to be back here, all things said. What she finds past that point makes her less so.

    To her, Zulf had been someone worrisome the moment they had picked him up. High strung, obstinate, introverted, emotional, easily agitated, and all the other things that should be warning signs for a traumatized survivor, it seems as if the man has changed alarmingly little, if he hasn't gotten worse. Priscilla doesn't know his story. She doesn't know the context. She knows very little of the Ura overall, and Rucks had spared few unnecessary details as to the Bastion itself.

    Yet, despite all of what one could consider to be mitigating circumstances, or at least cause for confusion and concern first and foremost, Priscilla had also taken a liking to the kindly old engineer of sorts, and the very visible, very visceral sight of the gutted monument that physically represents all of their effort, suffering from even worse physical abuse than the elderly man, trips thresholds Priscilla no longer sees necessary to defuse.

    Whatever Zulf's problems are, everything about the situation is beyond unacceptable. Maybe under other circumstances, Priscilla would let the Paladins work, but they'll most likely barely have time to get their words in edgewise before the Bastion rings with the keening, brain-scratching screech that accompanies the flicker of angry light that betrays Priscilla's rage, and Zulf is seized with an intangible force that is palpably struggling with not crushing him. Parsons wants him stationary and thinking. He'll have to settle for paralyzed and overwhelmed.

    "And /what/, pray /tell/ us, dost thou think thou think thou art doing, /Sir/ Zulf?" Priscilla calls after him, in the way a bullet zipping by the head does. The psychic static fluctuates in intensity as some kind of abstract representation of her otherwise well-hidden instinct to hit him back for Rucks. "And what /precisely/ is it that thou believeth the Calamity hast failed to do? For, if thine answer is 'exterminate all life', I shalt oblige thee in succeeding, and extinguish thee first."

    Whatever Zulf's actual, personal reaction to being accosted in that way, whatever manner of psychic defenses he has against Parsons are drastically cut as a result of the strange hold on him, provided Parsons' actions operate on the 'offense' end of the spectrum.

The Kid has posed:
    Zulf merely glowers at Rory. Mentioning the dead Ura only seems to rile him up further. "I will finish what was started. Get out of my way." He starts trying to walk past the AGI when Priscilla's eyes start to shine. He drops to his knees, letting out a strangled cry as Zia softly screams. The Kid also edges away as Rucks gathers his senses. In his state, he offers no resistance when Flamel starts projecting into his mind, tugging everyone else to come along. "What are you?..."

                                     -----                                      

    Everyone who tagged along stands on a mountain of the dead. The sky above is ablaze, except for one part dominated by the gently smiling face of a Caelondian woman. Smoke rises from the buried ground, faces reflecting in them from the dim light. Rucks is among them. Zulf stands by the fountain where the Kid first met him, staring up at the woman in the sky with a forlorn expression. Next to him are the scattered pages of a notebook, covered in furious scribbles that obscure the text underneath.

    CAELONDIA'S FAULT.

    MANCER'S DESIGN.

    DON'T BELIEVE HIS LIES.

    The Kid just looks around, in quiet awe. This is well above his paygrade.

Flamel Parsons (1094) has posed:
    Zulf's mind is devastating.

    "This is bad. This is bad. This is bad, it's bad, it's bad." Agent Parsons's casual friendliness and his G-Man vocal persona are evaporated, leaving only panic on his voice. He's speaking already, to anyone here as soon as they get in. "He's in the smoke, the smoke /everywhere/, a psychological impulse of this magnitude is totally beyond my ability to deal with, totally impossible to handle, aaaaaahhh!! I think his projection of the old man, of this Caelondia stuff, it's gone and killed off almost every projection template in here, this is bad! The old man on the real-life side's done something awful as far as this guy can tell, something psychologically /devastating/."

    He's searching among the pile for something that isn't a horrifying corpse. "Listen, right now, this guy is dealing with an unfair world paradigm, he's seeing everything having gone unfair and unless we find some way to make the world seem more righteous he's going to snap back hard against Caelondia and rip up himself and anything in his way to do it. I have no idea what's going on, but you all, you need to find some way on the outside of his head to make him know justice can happen."

    He tries a hopeful, hail-mary psychotherapy. "Hey!!" He calls out, levitating up and then launching himself upwards several dozen feet, trying to call out... To the woman. The woman's a source of resilience and peace. She's not consumed by this, at least. "HEY!! This whole place is falling apart!" He shouts to her. "Everything's on fire! Please...! Help us get the fountain going! How do we put the blaze in the skies out?! Come on, please, any answer!" That tone of vaguely helpless panic is intense.

Rory White (673) has posed:
WHAT ON EARTH IS THIS?! Rory White first has to deal with strange interference and unhandleable input that fills her sensorium with nonsense scratchiness and fuzz. The Flexbot staggers through Priscilla's flush of DISAPPROVAL... and then...

    Then Rory feels a sensation in a style she shouldn't be capable of feeling. Like being lifted clear from her body....

    And when she opens her eyes, she's somewhere else entirely. THE SKY. THE SKY IS ON FIRE. Skies should not be on fire and bodies... bodies are everywhere.

    Rory White is... different, here. Not a robotic feline formed out of countless microbots with an alien face. Here, in this mental space, she's an indistinct glowing figure, a half-woven ghost of a humanoid form wrapped around a star-like core of intense light. Vaguely female, with features that seem to blur into the surrounding environment and only come into focus when they're fully used. Blue hair drifts in the ruinous winds of this desolate mindscape, slightly luminous and shifting in and out of phase like a strangely-composed hologram. The face is familiar to a few, but just barely.

    But enough about that. This strange figure gains more definition as she raises a very human-like hand up near her face, an expression of purest horror showing in this strange in a way that she's challenged to show in reality...

    "This... this is absolutely terrible..."

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
This is not what Kotone was expecting at all she didn't see this coming she takes a moment to look around for a moment and really even if she saw Flaemle full abilities? She'd not freak out too badly this is the multivese. Still this is not something she's used to. She takes a moment to look around as they all arrive? Experience? She's not sure really it's taken her quite off guard and then Priscilla has something to say and she's not happy. Kotone knows Pris showing she's not happy is not a good thing for anyone, and she's just stunned things have got bad.

She however is now seeing the sort of horror right out of the third world war on her way the towering dead the world in flames. She stares in horror at it all just ...

"What? This ... this is like the Third world war..." 5R
That's all the stunned Paladin can get out.

Kotone's own form is very much as she's seen to be for all her ability to body swap? The Shell she wears most is the one she sees as herself though she does have some strange glowing lines here and there and she just is almost overwhelmed.

"We lit our own world on fire, carving off our flesh for weapons...burning the skies and the land with the power of the sun."

The weapons are different but the suffering the carnage is much the same here. She then starts to understand some idea of what just happened to all of them.

Priscilla has posed:
    "Doing?" Priscilla closes off, finishing Zulf's sentence for him. "Most surprising. I was asking thee precisely the same question. Or perhaps not, for I can see very well what thou /art/ doing, and simply cannot imagine why or for what reason thou thought of it as a clever thing to do." The tip of Priscilla's tail writhes, evoking the lethal intent that a cat waiting to pounce, or a snake warning away an aggressor, rests on a hair trigger.

    "Up until this moment, thou were a citizen of the Bastion, and thus a charge of mine, and I dare say one towards whom I didst put considerable work towards saving, though no doubt less than the defenseless man thou hast just struck. Now, thou art very clearly a threat to the lives of those I hath given mine word of protection, and so maketh no mistake, I hath slain twelve of thine kind today for the same crime; I shalt think little of a thirteenth."

    "Go on. Hurry forth with thine excuse. If thou had sought to commit suicide, thou had only need jump from the ledge. I am waiting."

    Priscilla either did not take the invitation properly, or she is dividing her focus too hard to get into Zulf's head; or else, something more complicated may be going on. It looks like she might resolve on the mental hellscape at any time, but in her place, there are only erratic flickers of drifting ash, and the burning, cross-shaped mark of a slitted eye. Her words echo strangely in-between.

The Kid has posed:
    The woman in the sky just continues smiling serenely as Flamel ascends towards her. Even in spite of all this destruction, she smiles. She doesn't have the 'feel' of a goddess of some kind. The sensation around her is more... intimate, romantic. Zulf's romantic partner perhaps?

    On the mountain of corpses, the Kid approches the notebook and picks it up. "I remember this... Zia gave it to him. Said it was written in Ura script. Zulf had to crack the code it was written in... did he find something in it? What would Zia's dad know?" He says this out loud, hoping someone could answer him. Thinking is not his forte, but Priscilla is in meatspace, maybe she could ask the two!

    Speaking of meatspace, it is there that Zulf manages to choke out some answers to Priscilla's question. "It was him..." he snarls, pointing at Rucks. "He was part of it... the Calamity... it was to kill us. He's been playing us all for fools!" The elderly man just clutches his cane, not denying any of it.

Flamel Parsons (1094) has posed:
    "Bad bad bad, this is bad, this is very very very bad!" Agent Parsons is floating back down towards the corpses. "Don't just stand there like a bunch of coma telepaths! This is the inside of his brain, so help me figure this out! The woman, I think she's a romantic partner! She's the only thing that this brain-Calamity didn't /destroy/, that and this fountain! Look, we need to figure out... Maybe a way to figure out how to get her back into the short-term memory cognitive space! Find something, anything, anything to get the woman he loves back into his thoughts in some way that makes her... Stabilize things! Something! C'mon!!" Find a way to bring her to the fountain in some way! That's the only thing he can think of.

    He lands clumsily, slipping on a corpse before he steadies himself. "I think if we get her here, we can get the fountain going and wash out at least some of the pain here, but, but oh my god there's so much pain in here! Maybe... Maybe if you get some of his memories of the notebook out, maybe that'd work too... Find those, maybe? Augh, there's so MUCH!" This is, quite frankly, pretty much the worst state he's ever seen a mind in. His wild gesticulations and wide eyes are so much more emotive than before, it's almost like an entirely different person. "Figure something out to try! I'm going to try to find a way to head towards her..."

    And he does, indeed. He floats off of his feet, a deft act of psychic levitation, and then takes off at tremendous speed over the pile of bodies, trying to tear his way towards the woman even if he has to go over the ground, towards her segment of the horizon, to see if there's anything nearer to her part of the mind that he can activate, something that can work... Even if he doesn't reach her specifically, maybe he can find a piece of the mind that can be interacted with and give him a chance to bring her a little closer, some part of the psyche still functional in this devastation.

Rory White (673) has posed:
Twelve seconds. Between everything everyone's saying, what Rolan's words in her head are leading her to conclude, and her own observations... it takes Rory twelve seconds to fully comprehend the madness she is witnessing. What it is. What it means.

    And what the Kid just went on about rings deeply in her core.

    She glide-steps forth to go and speak to Zulf, but briefly pauses as Priscilla's threats reach her. The glowy digital-ghost shivers... a clear sign of fear.

    PRiscilla is now not ENTIRELY an ally. There's no telling what she might do to anyone in her way. This is a thing Rory dedicates to keeping in mind in the future.

    Finally she reaches Zulf, semi-formed hands holding onto scraps of robe over her heart. Her expression's quite a torn grimace.... "Caelondia's government no doubt did many terrible things... and they have already paid for them. Even people who had no part of it paid the price, Zulf. If it's revenge you wanted, there's no need... the whole nation is gone, dust in the wind. ... if Mr. Rucks had a hand in developing the weapon that caused this... I very much doubt he is happy. I certainly would not be. I would likely never forget it. But..... it is what happened. The war is over. More war, more bloodshed, it's only serving to soak a wasteland that's already barren ash with blood. There's nothing to gain from it... and everything to lose. Would everyone you lost in this disaster... would they really approve of it ending the way your path leads...?"

Priscilla has posed:
    Outside, Priscilla chucks Zulf to the ground like so much gravel, hard enough to /feel/ vindictive, but not enough to cause any serious injury; yet. Anyone trying to follow along with her reaction to all of this will find that she addresses Rucks with significantly less hostility and suspicion than Zulf, despite what would appear to be her current state of mind, and the fact that the man has yet to actually reject any of the accusations levied at him.

    "Then I ask Sir Rucks, for whatever responsibility thou believest he bears, what purpose any of it was meant to serve. Perhaps I am able to believeth a man of his intelligence capable of partly devising an event so disastrous as this, and most certainly I hath yet encountered precious few redeeming qualities to the Ura people whilst out /there/-" she emphasizes the fact that Zulf has been dramatically safer than almost everyone here this entire time.

    "But then, should he be the diabolic mastermind thou fear, what need is there to 'play us fools' in repairing the damages? If he is seeking to finish the task of eliminating thine people, he hast certainly performed a poor job of it allowing thee to stay here. If he seeketh some means of harming us, what hath he possibly to gain from it? Surely there is nothing to gain from his own people, as they appeareth to be more thoroughly massacred than thine own. What sense sees this man in destroying the world any further? And if he sees none, what sense is there in opposing our way forward?"

    She remains looking at Ruks pretty much the whole time, even though she is ostensibly only prompting him to answer for Zulf, up until the very last part. "What is it that thou hast learned? What knowledge hast thou come across, and how? Even a child such as thee shouldst knoweth that there is nothing to be gained in dereliction out of simple hatred at this stage." No matter the shift in subject, it seems that her ire remains quite solidly placed with Zulf, reacting with much greater force and immediacy to the crime of disturbing 'her territory', or perhaps 'her people', than the hypothetical crime of semi-intentional genocide. At the same time, it's clear that she too wishes to know what was in that book, and sees Zulf's value in that aspect.

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa says "Wait we're inside? Like a Cyberling? Understood." There's going to be so much paper work over this but there's no choice but to act at this point. Also it means omeone might end up dead and in the ground if they don't act fast enough. Kotone feels a pang of horror though this feeling like levels of fudes in some part of her woerld she star to get a brief idea but what can she do she's ware Priscilla has lost it and to be honest Kotone's angry too but she doesn't have the power to manfest her anger into reality like that.

She has to act now

"Every culture, every ... nation has done things it's ash3med of my own did things terrible thing to ... people of my father's nation but you know what we changed we realise the horror of what we did and swore to never again. The acts of our government and ancestor is now seen with horror. If I condemed everyone I'd condemed my mother's own blood and half of my self. This just leads to more suffering and hate the world is ash, and vengnce just ... leaves one ... empty. You have to listen."

She's desperately trying to get throug to the boy in his mind wht else can she do?

The Kid has posed:
    As Flamel screams across the sky towards the woman, she never gets any closer. Symbolic perhaps? Maybe her real corpse is part of that mountain...

    Rory and Kotone plead with Zulf's mind to see reason. But it seems like Rory's last words get the biggest rise from the seemingly comatose projection. His eyes look at the burning sky no longer, and drift down to look at his hands.

    To look at the ring that encircles his ring finger.

    Abruptly, the sky cools, flames replaced by clouds that send heavy rain falling. The fountain fills, and begins to flow as Zulf's face is soaked, with water and tears both.

    Out in meatspace, Zia gasps as Priscilla manhandles the diplomat. He stares up at the real sky, and whispers his answer to Priscilla's tirade. "Zia's father... he kept a notebook she asked me to translate. He helped the Mancers create the Calamity, as a means of preventing another war... but he had it target Caelondia instead of Ura lands... and now everyone has suffered, including..."

    He raises his hand, looking at the real ring now and finally cracks, breaking down into heavy sobs. It's an improvement over apocalyptic anger at least. "She believed in peace between us, but how can that happen now?!" he cries out between wracking sobs, curling up into a pitiful position.

    It's over.

Flamel Parsons (1094) has posed:
    The sky is going out. But in a good way. Finally! 'Mel only managed to get some insight into it, but hey, that's good enough.

    "Okay... Okay... Okay. Everything's... Burnt out, but it's not still on fire. That means the damage is stopping, at least. We can get... Some progress this way. Some progress. Phuh." Agent Parsons' sigh of relief is heavy and intense, and his previous, more artificial behavior begins to reassert itself. A hand up to that earpiece again. "Reporting in. Psychological catastrophe averted." He can still, thankfully, hear outside, sort of. "Some information gathered pertaining to psychotic-break-induced disaster. Further reports forthcoming. Agent Parsons out, stand by for recovery."

    With this done, he floats back, back up to the fountain, with Priscilla's half-projection, Rory, and Kotone. He speaks as he settles down onto his feet. "Whatever you did, it... Solved a high-category psychological breakdown. So. Good work, for unlicensed Projectors. I'm going to pull us all out now." He gives a look to the cleansing flow of water, and to Zulf, in it. "The damage is done, but further damage is... Mitigated. Some healing is still needed. Best case to hope for in a high-category breakdown like this. Permanent damage is potentially inevitable. We'll assess as we stay around."

    There's that gentle tug again. He'll let them zip out after any final words, returning to their bodies, where they'll have been in trance for the duration. He doesn't have his own words for Zulf, at least his mental self-image, but he does have some for the woman above. If she doesn't get closer when he approaches, it's likely this particular image-projection can hear him. "Would have been nothing to save without you. Keep him safe, please."

    He comes out of his own trance with a heavy, whispy white smoke emerging from his temples and his fingers, quite visible as he gets his sunglasses back on. Then, and only then, does he look around. "Unconventional to use physical violence in astrapsychological therapy, but at least it didn't cause problems." He looks a bit at Priscilla... Possibly critically? It's not clear. "Your judgment, I suppose." He then approaches Zulf, and squats down, sitting in front of him. "Incorrect question. But something that makes sense to think. Try to think this way, and maybe, you might understand more." He says, calmly and with a sense of understanding. "Here's your better question to ask:"

    "Would she stop believing now?"

Priscilla has posed:
    Finally, there it is. The root cause and effect. Despite the catastrophic scale of the tragedy, it is ultimately something much more understandable, more relatable, and maybe even more reparable, than some convoluted, cosmic whim of reality. It doesn't lessen Priscilla's contempt, but there is no reason to pursue it further.

    Priscilla's gaze flashes dangerously at Flamel, though 'coruscate' may be a better word. Ultimately, she expresses nothing overt. "Mine apologies, but astrapsycholophical therapy is not something I am familiar with. Mine concerns were those most immediately pressing of mutinous violence. Thou hast mine thanks regardless, in averting the worse of which I wouldst be made to do." Finally, she sighs, looking to Zia as if she would like to appear tired, but isn't. "Pray, where is this journal?"

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa found it a taxing experiance just seeing all that inside Zulf and it hammering back the tauma of her own worl's past. She's soon out now and she's back to normal physically, Parsons seems to be some of kind of combat pyschi shrink she has a lot to worry about and now as she regains her footing she can only wonder what Priscillia is going to do and she knows she wouldn't really bea ble to stop her thankfully this will not be needed.

"Look I ... you been living in your own hell already I can't do worse to you Zulf." Kotone just slumps a bit that was not an experiance she found easy.

"I don't know if she will but ... we will need to do something in time."

The Kid has posed:
    Zia flinches when Priscilla asks her that question. The crossbread did just do a ton of scary stuff, after all. Zia is sheltered as all get out. Zulf just lies on the floor, still crying but not sobbing after Flamel's words. Reaching into his robes, he produces the journal and wordlessly holds it up for Priscilla to take.