7082/Guide to an Uprising

Guide to an Uprising
Date of Scene:	13 February 2020
Location:	The World R:2
Synopsis:	I4 does some research on the problem of Haseo, and meets a mysterious man...
Cast of Characters:	7015, 7132
Tinyplot:	Loop Zero
Tinyplot2:	Last Illusion

---

Haseo (7015) has posed:
     The Eternal City of Mac Anu. A city in perpetual sunrise. Or perhaps, sunrise. It's hard to tell, given that the warpgate seems to spawn directly inside a building, though the large opening leading into the main plaza allows more than enough orange hue in to make that it isn't midday apparent.

     There's no chance to explore however, no chance to get acquainted. It seems someone has been waiting.

     A white trench coat, a pair of tinted glasses, and a large unwieldy container strapped to the man's arm stand out the most about the person. There's also the fact that there's a mysterious aura about him, he seems to stick out more than most of the other players, though they seem to ignore him regardless outside of the occasional glance and acknowledgement.

     "You're from the outside, correct? I was beginning to worry."

     The man speaks in an overly friendly voice. It's not genuine, but at the very least, it's pretty apparent he doesn't mean any ill will. He approaches I4, closing the distance to make conversation less awkward.

     "Ah, but forgive me. Perhaps I'm too quick to assume, but... This /is/ about Haseo, isn't it? We don't get many outside visitors here otherwise."

I4 (7132) has posed:
The 'Login' portal allows I4 to come in as if he was supposed to be here, though he stands out more than other players.  Then again, with the amount of 'custom' attire in 'The World' people might not overly notice other than to make blog posts for annoying investigators to look into later.  Fortunately, I4 was smart enough to not stick around long enough to get investigated, or so he thought.

The blindfolded android considers the friendly man a bit, as he asks him a question, followed up by a more interesting question.  The closer distance makes things easier to talk about, though I4 isn't sure how the man could have known about his attempts at investigation.  Is the man an ally of Haseo?  He would have to be careful in navigating this because if he messed up, it was Shyra's world on the line.  It was...her that would pay the price, more than she already had.

Near him, a small black box with arms floated, seemingly regarding the two of them.  While I4 talks, it attempts to get more information on the man by the usual scans.  Perhaps trying to filter out disguises or anything that might point him as a member of the Concord.  

"I suppose I would want to know who is asking about my business.  After all, I could have just heard about an entire world that is actually inside a video game.  Did you know that my world does not have virtual reality setups like this?  The humans there are far more interested in physical pleasures than artificial ones.  I mean, one could argue that, to an extent!  Oh where are /my/ manors, I am Inspector 4, Model 31C.  I4 for short and my friends call me Foureyes."

Haseo (7015) has posed:
     "I see. I see. Very fascinating. Had I the time, I'd love to learn more about your world. A world of technology and magic combines two of my passions you see. Unfortunately, I have a very important role to play you see, so I'm a bit too busy these days..."

     The man adjusts his spectacles as I4 scans. Ovan's huge. Like, not in the height sense, though he's also huge in that department. His data is massive, bigger than a character in an MMO has any right of being. It's also, strangely reminiscent of Haseo's own nonsense code, though it's clearly different, even if it isn't quantifiable by any sane human or AI.

     The scan is unfortunately, however, unable to make heads or tails of what's hidden inside the strange arm container. Not because it's some weird gibberish code, but because it seems specifically designed to stop pesky people from peaking at what's inside it. I4 probably gets the sense that's probably for the best.

     "Anyway, I can tell you're concerned. But you needn't worry, while I'm a friend of Haseo's. Some may my relationship is more akin to an older brother. But I digress, it's clear the business he's has gotten himself into isn't productive in the slightest for either you or myself, so you've come seeking answers, and I've come to provide them."

I4 (7132) has posed:
"Unfortunate, it would be interesting to show my world off to someone interested in a blending of such things.  Well, do not let your work consume you, I find that humans that do that tend to not have very happy experiences in life.  Many get focused on one thing, and all other choices seem to wink out.  Usually comes back to cause lament later on in life.  Though that's what I read a lot, and watch media based on humans."

The data is recorded and saved for later, this has a lot of questions.  In fact, because of the SECRET there, I4's curiosity about the arm is even more enticing, sure he shouldn't push his luck, but right now...well, he wants to know.  The POD focus' it's attention on the arm while I4 speaks calmly.

"So you are like an older brother to Haseo.  Am I to assume that you find his current actions to be disruptive?  Would this be because it's dangerous to him, or to you?  I can not disagree his current situation is bad for the world in question, especially what he has admitted to wanting to do..." a pause, "However, I suppose if you are offering answers...what I need is a way to bring Haseo and distract him, something to focus his attention away from anything else for long enough to try and sever him from the thing he's gotten himself into."

Haseo (7015) has posed:
     "Disruptive to whom? Well, I'd be lying if I didn't say it's throwing a wrench into some of my own goals. Though, perhaps it is a bit cold of me to admit, but it's not because I have any concerns for his actions. In fact, one could say he's playing the part of the 'Terror of Death' quite well."

     The Steam Gunner laughs wryly at what he just said, lifting and repositioning is sealed arm to make himself more comfortable.

     "But, again, this is no time to ramble. I'm pushing my luck as it is being here. So, a way to distract Haseo?"

     There's a pause. At this point, the man didn't seem to have problems speaking, but now he seems actually lost in thought.

     "Let's see. There's quite a lot of ways, unfortunately, only a few of them are on the table. In this instance, you're best bet would be Tri-Edge."

     He reaches into his coat pocket to remove a photo, a move completely done for flavor, given how their inventory works. It's handed to I4.

     The contents are pretty simple, a strange, patched together zombie man in red clothing. Perhaps the most stand out thing about them is their weapons, or how it seems they're clearly poised to attack with murderous intent to whoever took the photo.

     "I take it this is good enough, yes?"

I4 (7132) has posed:
I4 seemed to stare at the man for a while, before deciding to try to decipher the meaning of the words were not going to be fruitful while he was also trying to get information on Haseo from him.  For whatever reason, this man wanted Haseo to 'play his role'.  More to the point, he seemed to indicate that he would be in danger by staying here for too long, so the more they got off topic the less time he would have to get an answer.

"Tri-Edge?" he asks, looking at the photo given to him for a while.  I4's sensors move to look over the photo, committing every bit of it to memory.  "He looks...feral?  It looks like a person, but I don't see even a glint of humanity in its dead features..."

"So you are saying that a report of Tri-Edge would drag Haseo out from his world, and into this one?  From there, I imagine, it's up to us to make the bait seem real...unless you know a way to actually summon Tri-Edge up?"

Haseo (7015) has posed:
     "Summon Tri-Edge?"

     They laugh. It's fully genuine. Perhaps it's at the absurdity of the question, or maybe it's actually funny, though whatever the case, it has them amused.

     "Well, it could be as simple as that, but who knows? If you doubt your ability to lay a convincing enough trap however, you could wait a bit and see what happens. According to some online rumors, apparently just saying the man's name enough times within a short period can invoke him. Though, much like every rumor of this type, it's of the 'you can't watch the kettle or it'll never boil' variety."

I4 (7132) has posed:
"I see, well I suppose I will have to do what I can to lay a convincing trap.  Thank you for your time, sir!" I4 says with the most boundless optimism he could muster.  Right now, not knowing exactly where this man lay, he couldn't quite lay out his own agenda.  Then again, everyone has their own agenda.  

Not knowing them is the problem.  He could at least do some of his own research on this Tri-Edge, and see if he could find something, or at least lay his own convincing trap.  

Sigh, why are these things always more complicated than they seem?

Haseo (7015) has posed:
     "Please, don't worry about it. I think you'll find the way you'll want to lay your trap at the 'Delta: Hidden Forbidden Holy Ground', for the record. But I'm wearing out my welcome here. So if you'll excuse me...I have to make sure of something. I enjoyed our little chat, for what it's worth."

     They turn around, giving the android a final wave goodbye with their back facing them before.... Logging out? Warping? Rings of light spin around the Steam Gunner before his model fades away. It's hard to say what it is he just did, but it's clearly something outside of the game specs

I4 (7132) has posed:
I4 watches the man leave, obviously whatever he was it was outside the normal system parameters, and not unlike Haseo's little...whatever it was thing.  The first thing to do was to check out this area and see just what was there.  Getting a layout of the land was the first step to setting a trap.

Assuming that nobody else came there...hopefully, nobody else came there.

Haseo (7015) has posed:
     The name gives the idea of what kind of place it might be, but in case there was any doubt, it's a massive church. A cathedral if you will. There's no enemies. There's no even way to get a good scan of the area. Trying to map it at all just gets you a weird error message.

ITEM CANNOT BE USED HIM

     At the very least, it's a straight forward area. The closer one gets to the cathedral, the louder the sound of music gets. A chant, noticably in german.

     It seems the mysterious white coat man wasn't lyring when he said what he needed was there. At the end of the cathedral, there's an empty pedastel, one where something was clearly meant to be placed, but that's not the important detail. The important detail is the large triangle mark on it, something defacing the graphics and is clearly outside of the scope.

     Perhaps, the most stand out detail about this 'sign' is that it clearly leads somwhere, and if I4 were to spend time trying to get it working, he'd eventually realize his missing an item.

I4 (7132) has posed:
I4 warps into the strange area, looking around as he approaches the cathedral itself.  It's...foreboding?  There was a sadness surrounding this place, or at least that would be what the graphics and the song seemed to strongly deliver the feeling of.  Maybe it was because it was sacred or something?  

Walking into the cathedral itself, just made the music louder.  An interesting change to how the game normally does graphics.  Still, he walked towards the central portion of the room, until the sign etched upon the heart of this zone was there.  

Walking towards it, he looked towards the POD.  "Scan lets see what we can find out here," he commands, looking at the slash a bit longer.  It was pulsating...like cancer?  An infection?  It was definitely /wrong/ and it definitely didn't belong here.  

-This appears to be a portal to another area, it can not be opened normally.- The POD says before I4 stood up and raised a hand to it.  "Well, then we'll force it open."  The data around the room shifted to the view of I4, as he attempts to force his way through the gate.  Of course, over time...well, the strange data starts closing itself off, becoming recursive protection.  He can see that there was a keyhole, or maybe something that was just missing for the hack to be successful.

Of course, attempting to force it just gets him back to the same spot.  After some time, he disconnects, with a grunt.  "Well, this is going nowhere.  POD?"  

The POD chimes in, -We appear to be missing something that allows the program to activate, and the gate to work properly.  You can not hack it because the program itself seems incomplete, and trying to force data in would be dangerous and may cause the program to malfunction.-

"Guess we could start to set up a trap..."