422/The Red Wing Speaks

The Red Wing Speaks
Date of Scene:	15 August 2014
Location:	The Homeworld
Synopsis:	A gathering in the Red Wing turns out to yield more information than Psyber expected.
Cast of Characters:	Kirito, 2, 40, Vruasa Telash, Fiora O'Brien, 219, 253, 347
Tinyplot:	When They Return

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Psyber (253) has posed:
    Most of the people arriving to the Red Wing of the Homeworld would have gotten a pretty direct invitation. Something to the tune of 'Going to Run An Experiment. Show up to Red Wing Holodecks if Interested.', and not any more specific than that.

    Psyber himself is already in the Red Wing. He had been deliberate not to cue Welcomes or Answers in to what he was doing today as he taps at the keys for the console that configures the Red Wing's Combat Simulation Deck. His idea is rather farfetched and only has a narrow chance of working, but it was at least worth a shot for Psyber to try.

    It's early evening, not that it matters much in a place like the homeworld. The various parts of the Red Wing are undisturbed save for the single console Psyber is working at. Around his neck is a USB thumb drive.

Homura Akemi (2) has posed:
    Homura is here.

    She is hovering by Psyber, transformed into her Puella Magi outfit already; small pink wings remain static on her back, apparently allowing her to hover in place like she is.

    She's holding little bells in one hand and jingling them whenever she moves any meaningful distance. In her other hand she has a pouch of sparkles that she periodically sprays around herself. Mostly towards Psyber.

    "How many people are we waiting on, again?"

Eleanor Lamb (40) has posed:
    Miss Lamb, for her part, is looking slightly haggarad tonight. A few days in Kingsmouth has taken it out of the young lady, but she's smiling a bit as she comes in wearing the Big Sister suit, her helmet under one arm. "Good evening, sir."
    She snickers a little bit at Homura, and waves to her friend. "Though this already looks... Interesting. What's the experiment about?"

Vruasa Telash has posed:
    Vruasa is also here, hovering in the air a little bit away from Homura and Psyber. There's only so much room to hover anywhere, after all. It's polite to give people their space. For his part he has adopted a posture of lying down with his hands folded behind his head. He could only look more lazy and relaxed if he were actually lounging on a chair or in a bed somewhere, and it's pretty obvious that he's unconcerned with anything that might go down here.

    There are lots of major powers in the room, after all. Why should he be worried about things going too terribly wrong in such a controlled environment?

    "Probably Fiora, but I wouldn't worry about her. She usually just suddenly decides to stop not being here just in time. Pretty fuckin' convenient ability to have, but hell, if she didn't have some convenient powers the long-term leadup to getting them would be incredibly unbalanced." He says to Homura, cracking his natural eye to look in her direction.

Kirito has posed:
    When Psyber wants to EXPERIMENT, Kirito deems it's best to show up as his more durable Avatar than anything else. Experiments, when dealing with Abstractum, have a track record of extreme danger.

    So the black swordsman wanders in just like he has so many times, with Double Fault sheathed across his back.

    Not wasting any words though, he deploys his wings and flitters over to Psyber's right side, landing about ten feet away. "You said something about an experiment?"

Psyber (253) has posed:
    "They've all more or less arrived," Psyber says to Homura, swatting at the glitter she's throwing, "I swear to you revenge is on the imminent horizon for this, Homura." He notes idly, tapping at the console. He scratches the back of his head and tries to puzzle through setting it all up, since computer coding is NOT his strong suit.

    "The experiment is simple. As Vruasa will attest, when you want to get something from the movers and shakers, you do it one of three ways. You either brute force them to fall in line, you circumvent them entirely and remove their choice, or you make them an offer too good to turn down," Psyber says as he holds up the thumb drive around his neck, "I forgot I had a bargaining chip for a little while."

    "I have determined several constant and hard facts. One, the average Abstractum user holds a deep bond to their Abstractum. Two, the entire Abstractum and Operators all rest upon a single, potentially connected, Network of information, making it all data in the system in some form. And three, Speaks has a lot more information than he lets on about."

    Psyber finally takes the drive off his neck, "This contains the partial file structure for an Abstractum taken from the memories of the Network. I theorize if I can put it into the Homeworld, the network will fill out the missing pieces and reconstitute it as a digital projection and recreation of its original form."

    He smiles a bit, "I'm going to use that as a bargaining chip to ask Speaks for some questions and information, which goes into a second theory I have that's a part of the larger picture of how this shit works."

    He pauses a moment, "Sorry, short version: I'm going to offer to reunite a man with his potential best friend, but he has to give me what I want first."

    Explaining this, he'd then insert the USB into the console and try to run the projection in the training deck.

Eleanor Lamb (40) has posed:
    Eleanor bites her lip a bit, and then looks over at the others and herself in the Sister Suit and then back at everyone else. "Well. I feel overdressed now. You said 'Red Wing' and I assumed... ah. Oh well." A little huff, and she smiles. "So, who's the friend we are going to... ah, reunite then? I have to admit you've got one over on me on that one. i really need to spend more time here, I suppose."

Kirito has posed:
    Reunite a man with his potential best friend.

    Those words strike Kirito pretty deeply. He doesn't even TRY looking at the others, but his eyes narrow considerably. To him that can only mean a very few things indeed.

    "... You've thought out the possible ways this can go horribly wrong, I'm sure... so let's hope that it doesn't." He exclaims simply, htone containing a marginal piece of worry, though it might be easily misconstrued as disapproval.

    He gulps a moment later. "This sounds crazy enough to work."

Abstractum.Net (347) has posed:
    "At the very least," Adjudicator speaks up briefly. "Something to honor and remember that friend by. Whatever the product may be, I don't think Psyber will do anything negative or offensive, anyway." The blade's given it the seal of approval of sorts.

    There's all sorts of plugs for various technologies, assorted iterations of USB and other suchlike, on the control panel. Hell, you could plug a lot of those really old cellphones into this thing. Seems to accept for external "props" or environments to be imported depending on User preference! Just gotta fuss with some weird menus.

Homura Akemi (2) has posed:
    "So you keep saying," Homura tells Psyber, jingling the bells a bit louder as she flutters to his side. Or hovers. It's not very fairy-like, sparkles and bell chimes aside.

    "That's a fairly devious plan though. How do you think he'll take it?" Speaks is... well, the Operators in general are hard to predict. Sometimes they act one way, other times another. Hard to grasp how they think, or what they really know.

Psyber (253) has posed:
    "Worst case scenario, Speaks gets extremely angry that I blasphemed the dead and he wants to beat me up, which he can't because I'm pretty sure I can take him in a fight and also this is a holodeck. Middling case scenario, this project fails and we lose nothing. Best case scenario, I pass a relationship flag like one of those Japanese dating sims and he wants to finally let Psyber-sempai in, ~iyan~." Psyber says to Kirito and Homura absent-mindedly, tapping at the keys in front of himself while he navigates the very strage menus in front of himself. He only has the partial-data and anecdotes from Speaks on what it does.

    To Eleanor, he responds, "I'm resurrecting his Abstractum from scrap data. A data-abstractum for a data-man. In theory."

    Hopefully Psyber has it all set up and he tells the simulation to run itself, hoping Speaks will sense what is happening when the data compiling finally h appens.

Kirito has posed:
    Kirito makes a really disapproving face at Psyber's use of that comparison. He is apparently no fan of the dating sims... that is just bad taste, Psyber!

    "I hope you don't run into a bad end."

Eleanor Lamb (40) has posed:
    Eleanor's eyes brighten up, and she smiles. "Oh, well. That's fairly reasonable. I mean, as a tool of technical extortion." She's wiggling a bit, peeling out of the Sister Suit as she waits now.
    Though, she looks over at Kirito. "I'm assuming that's a 'dating sim' joke, but from context I doubt we'll see one of those. I think we've built up at least... some manner of good will around this place to get a measure of trust from the Operators."

Abstractum.Net (347) has posed:
    Psyber loads the holo-Abstractum.

    Almost immediately, it is present in the Red Wing. The simulated thing floats for some time in front of him, allowing him to take it. And then, there's a lengthy pause, where nothing at all seems to happen. And then, of course, the holographic projectors cause Mr. Speaks, the young, athletic, tanned fellow with short hair and the traditional Operator's suit, to flicker into existence in front of Psyber.

    "Iyaaan." He says sarcastically, in a deadpan monotone.

    Then he crosses his arms. He has an eyebrow raised, just slightly. "It is a rare day when anyone surprises me. Even rarer still when I find joy in the surprise. An imitation in information, perhaps, but I still appreciate what you have brought to me, though it is very definitely not what you think it is." He says in his usual firm tones.

    The blade itself, for its own part, is completely silent, though, strangely enough, the heavy sword's crossguard, which bears the Abstractum's own eye-gem, seems to be looking around in a manner that seems quite aware, examining the group.

Homura Akemi (2) has posed:
    "Good job, Psyber, you made an Operator squee like a stereotypical school girl in love," Homura says, before she finally lands, pink wings dissipating. She shunts the bells and pouch of sparkles into her hammerspace casually, and moves in closer to look at the holo-Abstractum, then Speaks.

    "So, what is it called? And did you consider it a he, she or it?" Straight to business, although it's more because she's curious and wants to know what they should be calling the weapon. Any more important question can be fielded by people not her.

Eleanor Lamb (40) has posed:
    Elle huffs as she gets out of that armored suit, brushing off the flight-suit looking armor underneath. A moment to properly reaffix Utopia, and she shuffles over as well, smiling. "If it's not what we think it is... Is it not an Abstractum? I mean, not as we know it, maybe?"
    Eleanor looks over at Psyber and Homura, biting her lip. Goodness, time for question hour with Mr. Speaks once again.

Kirito has posed:
    Kirito's aggravation at this parodical behavior goes unshown. He does twitch a little, but for the most part, right now? He's listening, and paying attention, eyes widening and gaze softening throughout the ordeal... ".. Or it's a different Abstractum?"

Psyber (253) has posed:
    "You can feel free to tell me what it is, if you like." Psyber says, taking the sword in his hand and examining it. He doesn't think a hologram will have the same effect as holding two Abstractum at once would in reality. He then simply tosses the sword to Speaks, "Yours to keep if you want to give me answers to a couple questions."

    "I try." He says to Homura, adding, "I have to build up to my ultimate challenge some day," He adds mysteriously, tiredly cracking his neck and saying, "So. Down to business."

    "I had a theory. It boils down to this: I know how I think and act. I know there are prior incarnations that filled the role I fill right now. The Predecessors. Now, after the first or second me, I think one would have figured out you all persist between cycles. And my quirk is that I constantly, well..." He looks around the room as if gauging if he should say it.

    "I plan as if any given mission will kill me. Therefore, I think the other mes would have too. They'd have left messages in the system, compilations of research or important notes to be given to future me. A snowball of information growing through time. You're the one that can withhold information, so you'd be trusted to know what it would take for me to be ready." He takes a deep breath, "So, Speaks. Do I have any backlogged messages I should know about?"

Fiora O'Brien has posed:
    If Fiora was a bitchy, spiteful god, she would potentially just have deposited a folgers coffee tin with a shop broom and a red wig.

    In fact, for a few minutes, there simply was a folger's coffee tin sitting on a counter with a red wig on, but it was quite out of the way.

    Finally, Fiora returns. Wearing a white apron over her clothes and having a bandanna tied over the top of her head keeping her hair back. "Sorry. Unlike SOME people, I actually can be late to things. Sorry. Are you... ... You know what, I'll just watch. That sure was /some/ sound I just heard Speaks make." The goddess of Void comments, peeling oven mitts off her hands.

    She smells decidedly like dinner.

Kirito has posed:
    Kirito is left gasping, shocked, at Psybers sudden request,. THAT is a line of crazy he wouldn't have ever seen coming. The boy makes a somewhat bothered face. He should be able to think like that... why has his insight dulled so much since the Sword Art Online incident?!

Ariel (219) has posed:
Ariel arrived a little late to the party, but not too much. As such, she sat out and watched for a while... and pout when the 'Abstractum' turned out to be something not quite what she and Psyber had hoped. Well, she's not sure what Psyber had hoped, exactly, but SHE had hoped for more for /other/ reasons.

The fact that Speaks showed up, though... that has her squinting. Her tail swishes, and she nods to herself. Then she chirps brightly, "Hi, Mister Speaks." Very... brief, for her.

Abstractum.Net (347) has posed:
    "Your Precursor did a great deal to try to ensure future cycles would see a better chance. The parts of his work that They did not destroy, the Network self-purged. It is agressive in doing so. The resetting process that it does prevents Them from ever damaging it permanently with data, though I have ensured that some will survive." Mr. Speaks says. He's caught the blade and is thoroughly examining it, the way someone with a new sword would look at the sharpness and balance. "As for what this is, I will tell you that it is an Abstractum. But it is not what you think it is. More than that would violate privacy that I choose to respect. What it was to me was important enough for me to greatly appreciate this gesture. But what it is to you is simply not what it is."

    "I will not tell you what your Precursor and Predecessors wished to convey to the future." Mr. Speaks says. "Not because I do not wish to, but because of what it would mean for how you meet the decisions you will find later. There will be decisions that you will be required to make, each and every one of you. And while your predacessors and Precursor would have wanted to make them with much deliberation, that is not how you will arrive at the best decision. In fact, it is how you will find a much, much worse outcome."

    "But I am not an unfair man. There is something else I can offer to you. One little bit of memory I have of your Precursors. And a bit of education that you have missed out on that they received. Specifically about the power that you will come into possession of, and what it is capable of. not what you wished to know about before. But perhaps a consolation prize. I would hate to simply take the gift and offer nothing in return. And as all those present today are at the forefront of Shift, it might be especially relevant."

Psyber (253) has posed:
    Psyber narrows his eyes a bit, slowly thinking over the information, "What it is to me, right now, is a chip on the table to exchange for information. Whether it becomes more in the future or not is up to fate, I guess. Or the dude that can see through time," He jerks a thumb towards Vruasa lazily.

    Psyber looks towards Ariel and carefully reaches out a hand, patting her on the top of her head as his manner of greeting and reassurance to her. He sighs a bit and then says, "So the message I'm getting is that the optimal choice is not the best choice?" He asks, carefully, trying to feel out the right way to phrase it, "That it's more about the spirit behind our decision than the hard math? If we go the most optimal route, we're essentially ruining ourselves?"

    He crosses his arms and then shuts his eyes, thinking, "I will accept your offered information in exchange for you keeping that. But I wager others will have different questions for you after. Perhaps unrelated to the matter at hand."

    Psyber does look up at Adjudicator on his back and ask it quietly, "That sword, Jude. Do you feel any connection to it? Can you interface with it at all?"

Vruasa Telash has posed:
    "You could just have me abuse my time powers on your behalf." Vruasa asides to Fiora, completely seriously. He's spent the entire time drifting around seeming to be half-napping, but he has been paying attention. If only a little bit. It's only now that he actually stops acting like a lazy shit though, dropping down into a standing float and crossing his arms over his chest. He has a distinctly aggravated expression to him, but before he has the opportunity to chew Psyber out, Speaks puts a bullet in any notion that what was desired would come to pass.

    One eye closes again, and the Knight of Time adjusts the glasses he's wearing so that he can look at the CAPTCHA code associated with the simulated abstractum. While he does so, he speaks, "The optimal patterns of events that make up a healthy timeline isn't the ACTUAL optimal pattern of events that people engage in. It's a game of give-and-take that appears arbitrary but provides motivations, roadblocks, and temporary failures along the way that lead to an overall net positive end."

    "Attempting to optimize your experience by avoiding major pitfalls or exploiting the exploitable to a maximum degree is ultimately a fool's game. Strategy guides to existence are only helpful in limited circumstances." He continues, shrugging exaggeratedly. "It may seem counterintuitive, but doing things the hard way is usually the best way."

    Having said all this, Vruasa casts a scrutinizing gaze towards Speaks. "Are you my SPIRIT ANCESTOR or whatever all this bullshit is? Because you're treating this the same way I would." He poses no further questions, for the time being. The troll is willing to hear what will be offered, without pushing the matter. For now.

Eleanor Lamb (40) has posed:
    Eleanor's face turns pensive, as she murmurs, and waits. She's still processing the idea that she's been here 'before' so to speak. She had gathered as much about Psyber, but... this is his time right now, and the Sister just kibitzes quietly over her radio.

Fiora O'Brien has posed:
    "Forefront of shift? Sorry, buddy." Fiora offers quietly, shaking her head and brandishing Hecate from Nowhere.

    She can do that, she's Void, don't you judge her.

    "Hecate and I have never shifted on-HEYYYYY. You're not just ignoring me, are you? God, that would be so like... Oh well. I won't turn down advice on the behalf of everyone else. Even if it doesn't apply to me, it's probably good info." She admits, calming herself down.

    This isn't her circus. These aren't her monkies. It's okay to not be the Target Audience.

Homura Akemi (2) has posed:
    "Cryptic as always."

    Homura glances towards Fiora.
    "You could have brought us some."

    It's just a way to say hello. She would not expect Fiora to cook dinner for everyone present here, though would not complain if she did. Food is food, after all.

    At least she's not ignoring her!

Ariel (219) has posed:
Ariel smiles at the headpat, and... then she blinks topaz eyes. What Speaks says makes her smile a little more, but it's a strangely wary look. Still, she shakes her head. "Actually... no. I don't have a specific question. I think Speaks knows me well enough! I've always gone by feel." It hasn't stopped her from poking at things, but curiosity in itself isn't bad.

"So... it doesn't surprise me," she says as she looks at Speaks. "I mean, what's the best choice isn't always the right one, right?"

Psyber (253) has posed:
    To the annoyed look he gets from Vruasa, Psyber shrugs slightly, "Good or bad, it's what I'd do if I knew another me was going to come along. Compile the research, put it somewhere I thought was safe, hope it made it to me in the future," Psyber says with a neutral look on his face, turning to look at the troll.

    "I'm not saying it's the smart decision, but it's the one I know I'd make. So I decided to look into it." He adds, "I suppose this could be considered part of that give-and-take of failures and setbacks that you just described, couldn't it?" He points out.

Vruasa Telash has posed:
    "Yeah. But so is drinking yourself senseless and then expecting Jesus to take the wheel." Vruasa responds, with a shrug.

Kirito has posed:
    "... Something building on Shift." Kirito's interested by that, but like before, he doesn't really see to be too vocal about this. Better to mull over the details than rant about things he doesn't fully follow yet. Other people are doing plenty of that.

    "Alright, that'd definitely help."

Psyber (253) has posed:
    Psyber waves a hand lazily at Vruasa, "Cut me some slack. We can't all know perfectly how time looping works."

Fiora O'Brien has posed:
    Fiora just shrugs. "It needs to get slow and low wonderful for another... I dunno, maybe six to eight hours. And I don't let Vruasa skip past the simmering stage. Good food is prepared over a long period - the /anticipation/ is half of the flavor. Maybe I'll bring some by so you can have a serving later. Good food is best shared, if I remember correctly."

Vruasa Telash has posed:
    "It's less a matter of time loops and more a matter of good decision making. I don't think this is a time loop really." Vruasa pulls a WHITE BOARD out of his sylladex, draws a straight line, and a few dots to indicate the 'precursors', along with a dot at the approximate 'now' position to indicate their present existence. There are some arbitrary end points for the conclusions of earlier cycles represented by X's along the timeline, but they're all a part of a single thread of existence.

    "Could be wrong, tho'." He scratches his head, "The timelines of people attached to this bullshit have ended up pretty fuzzy. The Man and Woman are like a fucking tumbleweed of interactions. I'm not sure how to quantify them."

    He looks towards Fiora and remarks, "You say that like you've forgotten whether or not it's true."

    That she forbids him from abusing time powers to skip cooking periods goes unremarked on. Vruasa isn't inclined to complain about it at least, evidently.

Eleanor Lamb (40) has posed:
    Eleanor looks over at Fiora. "I can only assume a stew of some kind, then. If..." And then the whiteboard comes out, and Eleanor brightens up.

    "Vruasa, how often do you have to diagram out what you're going to do, if you have that ready at hand?" A merry grin.

Psyber (253) has posed:
    "Alright, alright, you're right." Psyber concedes to Vruasa, putting up his hands in a defensive manner, "In the purely objective fashion, you are correct and I should have consulted you first." He looks over the white board, inspecting it vaguely, "I tried to ask for information I shouldn't have."

    "But it was the only lead I had at the moment that I thought could pay out, I had to work it towards SOMETHING," He says in his own defense to the troll, "Even if it wasn't the information I wanted in the first place."

Abstractum.Net (347) has posed:
    "It's..." Jude says, shifting uneasily. "It's a simulated Abstractum. It's filled in a lot of the blanks, but... The Homeworld shouldn't be able to do what it's doing here. I'm confused. It... Smells like an Abstractum, I guess the word would be, but it's definitely not."

    Speaks turns to Vruasa for a moment. "A long time ago, I treated it the way Psyber does. Your Precursor is the one who convinced me the best path was otherwise."

    Ariel gets a nod. Fiora gets a shake of the head. "Your broom has ensured Shift does not occur as it does for the other Users and their Abstractums. Shift, for you, will inevitably occur. More than that, I cannot say. The broom has extracted an agreement on the matter from me." He then does a quick series of motions that look like warmup exercises, as if limbering up.

    "Now, we shall begin." He says. "I shall teach you the markings and meanings of the Shift categories you shall be able to access. And, unlike the good Doctor, I shall be entirely forthright about them."

    There's a sudden rush of glowing red lines up Speaks' right arm, all the way up to his eye. They are blank, plain lines, clearly a generic simulated example. "This is the marking of Shift Category 1, otherwise known as Inscribe Shift. Your concept reaches such weight and strength that, channeled through your Abstractum, it inscribes additional force onto your concept's intersection in this reality. It is the Shift with which you are most familiar; it is also the easiest to reach, the safest, and the most commonly executed, even by those who could otherwise tune themselves higher. It lacks discomfort and disadvantage. Use it freely; there is no downside to its activation."

Vruasa Telash has posed:
    "Ugh. It's not even a temporal thing. I don't expect you to consult me over shit like this, that's fucking ridiculous." Vruasa gripes at Psyber, while drawing something on the white board he brought out. It appears to be an answer to Eleanor's question. The answer is a hand performing a rude gesture, which he pointedly turns around to face Eleanor and waves it around enthusiastically at her. The answer is evidently, 'Quite often.', though in this particular case it wasn't really meant to be all that complicated.

    He just wanted to use the white board.

    Despite his extended exchange with Psyber, the Knight doesn't seem particularly enthused with 'winning' that argument. The fact of the matter is that he himself has made quite a few mistakes along the way, and it is his instinct as a troll to optimize situations in his favor if possible. Indeed, it is this that brought about his plan against the Black Queen.

    Therefore, despite his objections, Vruasa can't muster too much sincere aggravation OR fulfillment out of talking the whole thing out. Chances are he'll have some world class fuck-ups somewhere down the road.

Eleanor Lamb (40) has posed:
    Eleanor sticks out her tongue at Vruasa, and crosses her arms as the lessons start with Mr. Speaks.
    The first step of Shift she knows pretty well, bust Psyber and Mordred are the only ones she's really caught using really advanced Shift so far. She rubs at Utopia and murmurs. "Then I shouldn't feel bad about pushing myself to that point. I was worried before, when it was explained that the Shifting of your Abstractum could lead to... unpleasantness."

Psyber (253) has posed:
    Psyber actually laughs at Vruasa's reaction to his concession, giving him a big smile. The half-angel, at least on some level, attributes Vruasa being so in his face on the topic to be the troll's back-around-ass-sideways way of expressing some concern Psyber doesn't fuck himself over somehow. So he takes it with a pretty good nature, all argument aside.

    "I still can't promise I won't pull this shit again and frustrate you, though," He adds as a chipper sidenote, crossing his arms and looking towards Speaks as he begins demonstrating the first level of Shift, "Oh, so you actually know more ab-" He pauses, narrowing his eyes at Speaks as a thought occurred to him. His expression shifts back to normal a moment later, "Sorry, brainfart. So that's the first level of shifting. I think the highest I've reached so far is three-ish."

Abstractum.Net (347) has posed:
    A large, thick, solid circle of stone-like mass forms, hanging in the air in a ring behind Mr. Speaks' back. It's about four feet wide, while the ring itself is fairly thick. The whole thing has a vaguely divine feel to it. "This is the marker of Shift 2, otherwise referred to as Halo Shift. It causes the dynamic manifestation of a conceptual emission point, one that exerts your force on this reality by way of your Abstractum. A larger target for your Abstractum since the ring is part of its manifestation, but in one-on-one combat or noncombat uses, this is irrelevant."

    "Mild discomfort is experienced by the Abstractum for some time due to the sheer strength of your concept. Almost all will accept it ass a necessity. A majority of cycles go through their entirety without knowing that the Abstractum suffer any discomfort at all."

    "We reach the more substantially interesting facts at Shift 3."

Homura Akemi (2) has posed:
    "The Abstractum feel discomfort when Shifting higher?"

    That's new.

    That is very new.

    Homura had assumed that any grunting or groaning done by the Abstractums mid-Shift would have been standard battle discomfort. Not caused by the Shift, just caused by the battle in general. But higher levels of Shift explicitely cause discomfort? Might almost make some people feel bad using it, now.

Ariel (219) has posed:
Ariel listens, and she quickly gets a distraut look when informed that Shift 2 is uncomfortable! "Ah... I /started/ with Shift 2! I'm sorry, Diea!" Of course she'd apologize! Though she hasn't used Shift hardly at all since then. That does make her curious. "Um... what does starting at 2 mean, anyway? Miss Fairchild seemed to think it was important, but I just thought I needed it more because I was weaker."

Psyber (253) has posed:
    Psyber looks over to Ariel as she says that, "Come to think of it, my first Shift was up to level 2 as well. When I fought Samael, she blew a hole through me. I skipped right over the first level and went to Halo Shift." He hadn't thought about it until the Unicorn girl brought it up as a thing of note.

Abstractum.Net (347) has posed:
    The blade in Mr. Speaks' hand cracks, a vicious series of deep lines cut into it, like magma trying to boil up from below the surface. A rush of red light under the surface that can be seen below. The blade itself seems ready to explode at any moment... "Shift Category 3. Threshold Shift." Mr. Speaks says, flourishing the blade slightly, drawing an intense rush of red fluid energy through the air. "Two only causes discomfort. This causes actual pain. It is useful for emergencies, or high-need situations. Best not deployed casually. Your concept reaches the peak of what can be channeled by your Abstractum. Less than a third of your true force, really. Rather sad when you think about it. It'll leave your Abstractum with some substantial pain for a while. They can deal with it, though."

    A look to Homura and Ariel. "Unease, discomfort, wrongness. Not outright pain, but..." He gestures to Diea. "The cloak can explain, I imagine."

    Diea looks up with a comforting expression. "Ariel, don't be agitated about this. Feeling a little bad is better than what we were trying to stop, I'm sure! If it makes you feel better, I can promise to make sure we don't Shift any farther than what we need to."

Ariel (219) has posed:
Ariel pouts again... but she lays her hand over Diea. "All right. I don't like hurting you for the things I'm doing, but... I said I'd trust you, Diea, so I do. Just don't go any further than we have to. I'm kind of skittish about even using Shift 1 though... for other reasons I guess."

Abstractum.Net (347) has posed:
    "Now, I don't have any data that didn't come from the Precursors to let you see what the next ones are. So why don't I pull up a few memories, hmm?" Mr. Speaks snaps with his free hand, and suddenly he's... Kirito! Or no. He looks like Kirito plus something like three years or so, with a sleek, subtly-present NervGear-like structure built right into his head, black as his rather modern outfit. There's an unusual element to him: His left arm, from parts of his shoulder down, has been replaced by some kind of Seed-world-type avatar manifestation, presumably some kind of advanced cyber-reality prosthetic replacement. The red lines and halo are still quite present.

    "Your Precursor, Kirito, I once had the privilege of seeing reach Shift Category 4, known as Break Shift." Mr. Speaks says, using the Kirito-Precursor appearance. He holds out the cracked blade, and it EXPLODES, like a shell over some high-pressure formation. What's left is just the Core Matrix and a rush of brilliant red fire in the shape of a sword. "The entire Manifestation has to be consumed for this process, leaving you with no Manifestation for your Abstractum until the Core Matrix can regenerate one. However, for a limited time, you'll be able to exert your influence very, VERY directly. But with the Abstractum no longer able to filter some of the flaws of your concept out of reality..."

    Mr. Speaks leaves that to the imagination of the group.

Psyber (253) has posed:
    Psyber goes back to watching Speaks. He furrows his brow a bit, silently unhappy that Adjudicator did not let him know that Shift 3 had hurt him. The sword can probably tell from his posture that Psyber is very displeased at this new information. Everything from here on is new information, and a surprised look comes over Psyber's face as the new form of Speaks is Kirito, "So Category 4 is... I see." He runs a hand under his chin, wondering just how much Speaks will show them today.

Homura Akemi (2) has posed:
    Kirito's Precursor certainly looks... unique.
    But at least, similar, too.

    Curious as she is, Homura won't ask about hers right now.

    "Wonder what Samael would think about past-you," she innocently jabs towards Kirito, before glancing Speaks up and down, and then asking: "What about you, Speaks? How far have YOU Shifted, if you don't mind revealing such a number? Or if you don't feel comfortable talking about yourself, how about Burden?"

Vruasa Telash has posed:
    "I find Shift 1 uncomfortable by itself, personally." Vruasa pipes up, setting down on the ground and standing properly. "It makes me more like a Seer of Time than a Knight of Time. It's useful, but the double edged sword is that I know too many variables about what is supposed to happen. It does mix in some interesting tweaks. I suppose that I must take some of the stress on myself as well, since Ulixes is integrated with my cybernetics when we do that." He glances down towards the compass on his chain. "Is that about right?"

    He looks towards Speaks now, currently taking the form of a Kirito-like being, "You must gradually become more of a caricature of yourself. We've been told, I believe, that Pure users have far fewer filters and limitations than Abstractum users. Are they able achieve higher actualization levels of their own concepts than Abstractum users, or are the limitations similar? For that matter... how does a multi-Abstractum user interact with Shift?"

    It's been a while since multi-abstractum users came up. Vruasa is pretty certain nobody has thought about those for a long while. They've only really seen the one, and he'd denied having engaged in such activities fairly strongly. Because of that, it's a bit of a thought out of the blue.

    Some people might have forgotten. But Vruasa hasn't.

Ariel (219) has posed:
Ariel has only one important question of her own. "Does every Abstractum in use today have a single Precursor? Is it a one-to-one relationship, or a one-to-many, or could it even be a many-to-many or many-to-one." It's easy to forget that she has a lot of technical knowledge crammed into her head.

Eleanor Lamb (40) has posed:
    "Personally, If I could reasonably hold myself at Shift One all the time... I might just do that. It's so much quieter." Elle chews on her lips, as she watches the new demonstrations and new information, Kirito-sprit, and the sudden blast of Shift 4.
    A look over at the others, as they ask most of the obvious questions. "Is the effect different for the different colored Abstracta? Most of the full shifts I've seen so far have been Red-type, with the exception of Ariel who is... ah, very special indeed." She looks at the others. "How does the Shift change the nature of Concept when it is not Combat-oriented?"

Abstractum.Net (347) has posed:
    The pseudo-Kirito looks to Homura. "I can only show you Category 3 without calling up external memory data." He says, simply, before Ariel gets a tilt-headed curious look. "Your Precursor is that concept with which you can create Resonance most effectively. The rules are not nearly so clear-cut. Perhaps two people might resonate with the same concept, or one might in such a way that demands exclusivity. The rules are ambiguous."

    Vruasa gets a quick and easygoing explanation. "A top-level User's end-potential power vastly exceeds that of the Pures. The Pures have many advantages in their earlier stages, however." He says. "It is simply a matter of the consequences therein." Then a harsh look and posture. "I'd suppose they have more thorough filters, so their Shift Categories last longer to greater effect. I wouldn't know. If I see anyone who's done what you're talking about, I do what I can to kill them or shut them away."

Kirito has posed:
    "The flaws... of your concept." Kirito takes a step back, gulping lightly as he mulls on that one, and still in awe over the demonstration nonetheless. He eyes Double Fault over his shoulder. "We've managed a Shift once. It was the first type, wasn't it? The Redshift?" He asks, still learning this whole Abstractum dealie!

    "That looks more than a little painful for the Abstractum. I can't imagine that used for anythingless than the final boss... e-er, so to speak."

Abstractum.Net (347) has posed:
    "Your Precursor used it out of necessity only once. Lethal force was required. It is not my place to say if the effects, in the end, were lethal, however." Mr. Speaks says, frankly and honestly.

    Then he seems to move on. "Eleanor Lamb, I once had the rare chance to see your Precursor and her Abstractum reach Shift Category 5." Then, abruptly, he's no longer looking like Kirito, but rather a tall woman in a bulky and yet form-fittingly sleek diver's suit with a rounded head. With an echoy, now-female voice, Mrs. Speaks says, "It is a fitting, suitable example for Category 5's means of manifesting." The Shift-4'd Eleanor Lamb precursor has one hand made of burning, blazing blue light to go along with the vivid blue glow from that helmet and the lights that go up her arm. "Shift Category 5 is otherwise known as Concomitant Shift. At that point, you begin to manifest elements of your identity in new external physical forms in reality." The gushing blue fire seems to travel up her arm, to her back, and behind her, forming a semi-humanoid figure in fire around her halo. The silhouette is quite similar to an Alpha Series Big Daddy; it puts one huge hand over her shoulder and bellows a low, aggressive whale-like sound.

    "To answer your question," Mrs. Speaks says, to Eleanor Lamb, "You will find that the three chromarchetypes will gradually cease to strictly limit your concept, just as they will cease to defend it against certain shortcomings. But you will find things tend to focus as they used to. After all, back then, it was just an amplification, even though it accounted for shortcomings. It does not account for shortcomings past three. At this level, your Precursor found the voices to be quite a bit louder than normal. The spirit of her father, as you can see, took it upon himself to be loudest of all."

Vruasa Telash has posed:
    "Oh? What about George Burden?" Vruasa asks Speaks, not quite recalling the details of Burden's own imprisonment. He may have denied it, but they'd definitely seen him using multiple abstractum in that one recording.

Psyber (253) has posed:
    "So as the level of shift increases, the difference between Colors in Abstractum begins to obfuscate in lieu of the difference in their representative concepts? Is that what you're saying?" He asks in regards to the answer to Eleanor's question. Beyond that, he simply watches the new form of shift.

Eleanor Lamb (40) has posed:
    Eleanor's eyes go very wide indeed, as she lets out a frakly awed breath at the sudden display from Speaks.
    She'd really like to have some sort of cogent and rational response to the rest of what Speaks says and really it's been stored away for later perusal and analysis.

    But it's awfully hard to speak in a very rational voice when you're crying. "G-Goodness. I... alright, that's... oh..."

Homura Akemi (2) has posed:
    All these names.
    Homura pulls a little notepad down and writes them.

    Although she also...
    "Claire, I assume you're recording just like everyone else, right? Just in case we need to replay or reaccess all of this."

    Speaks' answer did not go ignored either-- sounded like '3' to Homura. She decides to follow up with another question, more idle chit-chat than anything, while waiting for the next one.

    "Our Precursors, out of curiosity... were they all from the previous Cycle, from multiple Cycles at random, or do we have one in every Cycle?" The point of origin hasn't been very clear so far; they are 'prior incarnations' in some sense, but Speaks hasn't said if they were all around at the time time, or strewn through the eras and Cycles.

Ariel (219) has posed:
Ariel listens, ears turning and perking. "Mn. I think it's more like the filtering process kinda... slots concepts into those three colors." She nods, then smiles to Speaks about his answer. "Thanks, that does clear it up. So it's more an inspiration than a hard and fast rule."

Of course the demonstration of 4 and 5 leave her clutching Diea again, though this time she doesn't cover up the cloak's eye. "Mister Speaks... previous cycles have defeated Them, you said, but not Ended Them. So... does that mean they survived? The Abstractums and people?"

Kirito has posed:
    Kirito's expression is hardening again. When he signed up for this, he hadn't considered that he'd have to exchange a companion's pain for power. He didn't mind enduring pain himself, but putting that on his allies?

    His aloof demeanor cracks, and for the moment, boyish fear shows in the teen's eyes. With them wide and worried, he looks over his shoulder at Double Fault...

Fiora O'Brien has posed:
    "With each of these changes, each progressive shift, it seems like the Abstractum becomes less and less prevalant. Also, it seems like shift 4 and 5 are sacrifice plays in all but action - if all of the abstractum's manifestation is consumed to power the user... How long does re-generation take?" She wonders, a scowl trying to work its way onto her face.

    This information isn't really pertinent to her, but A CERTAIN HECATE HAD DECIDED TO SHUT HER OFF FROM INFORMATION BEHIND HER BACK. HUFF.

    "Also, what sort of /durations/ do these transformations have?"

Homura Akemi (2) has posed:
    Grimly, Homura comments to Ariel: "I think it means they pushed Them back, and then They returned and won regardless. Like all those stories where the heroes can't kill the great evil, so they seal it away for the future to deal with, and once it breaks loose it's the first story all over again."

Abstractum.Net (347) has posed:
    "Anyone." Mrs. Speaks says, with a firm tone, to Vruasa. Then right back to Psyber. "Chromarchetype will gradually cease to assist or detriment you. Your flaws will no longer be accounted for. But your strengths will no longer be limited." Homura gets a brief shake of the head. "Your Precursors each came from the First Cycle, the only one in which I could directly participate alongside them. Between now and then, you have had many predecessors, who have been in many cycles. Your predecessor is simply the one with whom you Resonate most."

Psyber (253) has posed:
    "Can you tell immediately who our Predecessor is? Or do you observe us and wait until we shift or take actions?" Psyber asks, wondering if predecessors are an accounted part of their programming in the system. Burden seems to recognize them too, so he's very curious if this is a quantifiable process or something else.

Homura Akemi (2) has posed:
    "So does that mean you're someone's Precursor? And Burden? Or are you Homeworld folks excluded by some luck of the draw?" Homura asks, and without delay, chains with another quick question: "And just for my own understanding-- when you say Precursor, you refer to the First Cycle, but when you say predecessor, it just means any of the past Users who have resonated with the same Precursor as me?"

Abstractum.Net (347) has posed:
    "External figures, exterior entities... The Users took to calling the strange apparitions of Concomitant Shift 'Familiars', but I think that sounds a little too much like someone's cat." Mrs. Speaks says, as the ghostly half-figure of the bulky diver flares a brilliant yellow light shaped like a porthole from its head. "These manifest your will and identity directly into reality... But as such, can often be hard to control, making your flaws and poor decisions worse by far."

    Then he seems to focus. "Vruasa Telash, your precursor was a good example of what can be done in the midst of Shift 6, known as Environ Shift." He snaps again. A shift-5'd Vruasa, heavily aged up, covered in futuristic plate armor, with some kind of regal-looking Carapacian as his Familiar, blasts into full Shift Category 6. The result is that much of the room appears to be torn away. The bow of a titanic spaceship cis currently occupying the same room, as if it crashed much of the way in, like some kind of reality marble just got halfway set up in here. Ariel's question gets a somber shake of the head. "No, they did not survive. The Threat is created by you, those in this reality. When They were killed but not Ended, those within that reality simply created Them again, and eventually failed to even kill Them."

    Fiora gets many nods. "This girl is quite astute. At some point, the Abstractum becomes secondary to the process. You naturally exceed its capacity and your concept reaches incredible heights as a result. But your Abstractum is now more a passenger than a partner. They are saturated with your concept so much that, in many ways, they could be said to become part of you, rather than their own distinct entities. Though for this, and the next Category, if you can still find the core..." He gestures to the compass around Adult Vruasa's neck, and then out, vaguely.

    "In any case, they tend to last only a matter of minutes. Spend to long in them, and you tend to move down... Or up. I'll explain that momentarily."

Eleanor Lamb (40) has posed:
    Eleanor has managed to fish some tissues out of a pocket, and is busy trying to wipe her face as she manages to squeak out an answer. "Ah, we see,... us, here, but how much variance was there between these people and us now? Are we talking concept, or was there really a Big Sister in a diving suit way back when... I... how abstract was that?"

Psyber (253) has posed:
    Psyber takes on a shocked look at the Environ Shift, peering around as the room is stripped away and the different-looking Vruasa is brought forward. The half-angel shifts uncomfortably in his footing as they approach the higher levels and he sees more people. This is getting more than a bit awkward in his eyes as the scales go higher and the manifestations become more personal. He's growing more withdrawn and quiet, observing and falling silent.

Vruasa Telash has posed:
    "You have to be joking. You think there won't be a Big Sister who looks back at you and asks the same question, eventually?" Vruasa Telash asks of Eleanor, smiling his fangy and threatening smile at her. It isn't MEANT to be threatening, but it is pretty difficult to take it any other way with all of those... teeth. He turns his attention back towards Speaks, frowning a little at his familiar. That doesn't look like the Moderator. Looks more like one of the royalty. What a load of bullshit, he thinks to himself. There's no way he'd...

    Hm.

    Then again, he did fight alongside the White Queen the once, and if he'd asked it might have kept happening. Vruasa had avoided it because it would inevitably mean her death, the odds of fate being stacked against the Prospitian Royalty, but still... seems pretty improbable. He sighs, reviewing the recording of what was just shown to them.

    Too bad they don't age. It would've been pretty awesome to get that huge. God damn. Maybe they can figure out a way to temporarily turn off their lack of aging or... something.

    "What kind of strain does that put on the Abstractum relative to the one that looks like it blows them the fuck up?" He asks, gesturing to the overlay of the 'reality marble.'

Homura Akemi (2) has posed:
    At the appearance of the older Vruasa, Homura edges closer to inspect him, before turning to the real one. "It's odd, isn't it? To think the First Cycle had people as varied as us." On the note of aging, she hms.

    "Why don't you find someone with a potion or elixir of youth and invert it with your alchemiters? You'll just have to figure out the right dose, AND you'll have the elixir of youth to reverse the process if you ever get tired of being huge and buff."

Abstractum.Net (347) has posed:
    The weird adult-Vruasa here gives another headshake to Homura from his place on the ship's bow. "We are Precursors to none, much like Burden. It is not because of luck, but simply fact. More, I feel it is not best to say. But yes, you understand the terms correctly. Your Precursors are the ones with whom I am most familiar. Your Predecessors, you likely already know from excursions into the Fragments."

    He looks now to Psyber. "We make educated guesses." He says, simply. "You tend towards similar activities." Eleanor also gets a somber sigh. "Much variation. Their actions, while often echoing your own, have no bearing on what you do. They were prone to betrayal, internal conflict, and petty feud. The various cycles saw many casualties of internal conflict."

    And then, talks with Vruasa! "To become subsumed into your concept will leave the Abstractum partially trapped within for some time. It depends on the expenditure of force, the Shift categry, and the time spent in Shift. But it is somewhat painful, and you will find it best to avoid. It takes mere days for an Abstractum to recover its full form. It can take much, much longer for them to extricate themselves from your concept."

Ariel (219) has posed:
Here's where Ariel nervously fidgets. "Well..." She pauses, as if searching for words. "Burden explained it once that as you go up, it starts to become too easy to hold it. I guess when you and your Abstractum merge like that, it uh... accelerates your conceptualization, huh? So it's easier and easier to slide into further Shift."

She frowns. "Do they really offer that much power though? I mean... it..." She falls silent and shakes her head.

Vruasa Telash has posed:
    "That kind of thing is expensive, and Fountains of Youth tend to be double edged as hell." Vruasa says to Homura, gesturing vaguely as he goes. "It'd also be weird if we didn't all do it, because we've all been basically the same for ages. I dunno..."

    He looks towards Fiora, "What do you think?"

Eleanor Lamb (40) has posed:
    Eleanor's reaction to Vruasa is... pronounced. She doesn't remember getting that close. "There aren't going to be any more like me, Vruasa, not once I... ah... fn." A finger is pointed in the troll's face as Elle tries to reel that anger back. "Just... we'll talk about that, maybe, at some point where I'm not REALLY... like this."
    A breath. "Sorry."

Abstractum.Net (347) has posed:
    "It is quite similar to what you call aura, made manifest." Mr. Speaks says, staring full-on at Ariel. "There is little in this world that is more powerful than to redefine the world through simply saying 'I AM'."

    Then, Mr. Speaks snaps again. This next one looks more like Homura. The hair is longer, she looks a fair bit older and taller, and with a much more mature sort of magical girl inspired outfit, heavily militarized with weapons and armor strapped to it. Mrs. Speaks as Homura Akemi's precursor has what looks like an elegant little girl in a flowing white dress as her Familiar, and her witch barrier shines around her as an Environ.

    "Shift Category 7 is the last safe category. All other Shift categories cause no permanent, lasting harm or risk the equivalent of death for you or your Abstractum. Appropriately, Category 7 is what was called Terminal Shift." Gushes of red fire rush over the Homura-Precursor now, her familiar consumed in the rush of energy as her barrier swarms over and around her. Parts of her limbs are saturated in it, taking on the "unreal" properties of a witch's body on parts of her face, her lower body, half her torso and one of her arms...

    It seems much like her concept is EATING her physical form.

Ariel (219) has posed:
Seeing the Terminal Shift is... disquieting. Not like the others weren't terrifying too, but now Ariel appears to be contemplating. She's staring hard, but those who watch can see how her ears are laying flat and her tail is still, instead of fidgeting like she normally does.

"Risk... how big of a risk are we talking?"

Homura Akemi (2) has posed:
    "If I could grow up to look half that good..." Homura muses, not wasting any time to inspect 'herself' closely. The red flames cause her to back away by reflex, and then to watch carefully. "It does seem unpleasant. Given I'm already playing with powers that threaten to consume me and replace me by a grotesque reality warping monster, it's probably better I try not to reach that stage."

    To Vruasa, she does idly say: "I suppose so. Youth isn't free. And it might be odd to be the only adult in your group of eternal teenagers."

    "So the Precursors. Were you friends? Acquaintances? Enemies? The First Cycle seemed to have a war independant of the war against Them happening, you must have pretty interesting stories to tell."

Psyber (253) has posed:
    Psyber stares at the Terminal Shift. In his mind, he mulls over the implications. Who were these people that pushed themselves so far. What did they gain from it? What was at risk to cause them to push farther than this and into the danger zone? The half-angel quietly stares.

Fiora O'Brien has posed:
    "So... Terminal shift is the last 'safe' shift, and it looks like that? Look, I'm going to be honest - I'm starting to become more and more glad that I skip out on this. I already do this. My concept is not something I'd really thing would play nice with the universe..." Fiora murmurs, before looking up at Vruasa.

    "We can always look like that, you know. But I don't really feel like changing how I look. I've looked like this forever. Do you really want to look way older? I mean, older you looked cool, but..."

    Fiora just kind of smiles vaguely. "We're fine the way we are. Isn't this whole thing an object lesson of that? Becoming more than what you are is destructive and dangerous."

Vruasa Telash has posed:
    "Heheh. Well, it's awfully tempting, and I'm a little more reckless than you are." Vruasa answers Fiora, his form shimmering momentarily to be replaced with the figure of his grownup self, as shown by Speaks. "But you are right. It's not as if we don't have the ability to do something like this to begin with. Still..." He returns to his normal appearance, grinning fangily. "I'm not going to make a permanent change that clashes so much with the rest of our pantheon."

Abstractum.Net (347) has posed:
    Ariel gets a grim look from the partially witched-out old-Homura. "At 8, it becomes more difficult to come back than to keep going. And once you hit 10, it is only a matter of time before you hit 11, and neither you nor your Abstractum come back." She says, simply.

    Another snap, and now, Homura's replaced by an image of Ariel, aged several years and covered now in crystal growth that has replaced many of her limbs. The strange crystal growth all over her seems to be mirror-like, always reflecting the faces of her allies around her, while her environ seems a combination of idyllic grassy hills and harsh, powerful crystal towers with high volumes of colorful insect-like fairies and butterflies and suchlike flitting around them.

    "So we called this level Cascade Shift, because it was the prelude to a cascade." The multicolored fire around her rushes over her as her halo shatters, consuming her entire body in rainbow fire and the crystaline structure that pulses like a heart, rendering her almost completely inhuman (well, even more inhuman than before), only the humanoid shape remaining. Parts of it seem to shimmer in and out of reality, flickering as Ms. Speaks communicates through her in a simulated voice.

    "The Abstractum's fully merged with the User at this level, you'll need conceptual surgery to extract it, if you can even pull yourself out of Shift at all." She says. "The idea of the physical form decays in this state. The longer you spend in it, the less likely it is you'll have all your parts if you're able to come back."

    Homura gets a shake of the head-mass. "They were a lot of things to me." She says, simply. "There's a lot of stories I could tell. But it is best if I don't. This cycle isn't my story. By the time all this is dealt with, my hope is that my story won't have mattered."

Ariel (219) has posed:
Ariel shakes her head at Homura's question, but she isn't paying it much attention. "Mn..." Frown. "Is that what happened to her? She started using those shifts and had to be pulled out and... lost herself?" She asks that, then immediately shakes her head again. "Don't answer that."

The unicorn mumbles as she steps back, "I already have reasons not to use Shift. If I actually need it I don't think I want fear to hold me back. Not fear for myself anyway."

Psyber (253) has posed:
    "I'm not sure I want to see what comes next," Psyber says in a half-quiet tone, more muttering it to himself and awkwardly ringing his hands together, playing with the black glove he now wears to conceal his right hand and the Command Seals it bears, largely so that he doesn't have to focus on Ariel. Seeing her like that is disturbing for him. Probably not as much as it is for Ariel, but an unpleasant sight, "So once you pass 7, it's like a blaze. You either burn down through the other forms back to 0, or you ignite upwards and speedline through 8, 9 and 10."

Abstractum.Net (347) has posed:
    Mr. Speaks doesn't really give the group much time to react to this before he immediately progresses. Psyber's precursor is already in Shift Category 8, a wing-covered humanoid mass wielding a titanic sword of fire, with an Environ that seems like a massive court with titanic, sweeping pillars that rise far up. The burning red humanoid body speaks quickly. "Shift Category 9 was rarely achieved, and less than five recoveries were ever recorded from it. It is the penultimate declaration of absolute personal identity on the world." The red fire gushes up in a massive geyser that consumes the precursor-Psyber's entire body.

    What comes next is outright biblically angellic. The gushing red light turns into a titanic multi-layered sphere of fire hundreds of holo-projected feet across, huge halo-esque rings churn and spin within and around and within it, strange, mind-breaking geometric shapes twist and undulate in a central mass within the body while eyes and wing-like extensions of the form make it hard to see where one part of the body begins and the other ends.

    "THIS IS THE SHIFT LEVEL THAT COULD BE BEST TRANSLATED IN YOUR CULTURE AS 'SUM SHIFT': THE DECLARATION, 'I AM'. THE PENULTIMATE ENFORCEMENT OF IDENTITY AND CONCEPT UPON THE WORLD." Mr. Speaks' voice can be heard deeply, and from all angles.

Homura Akemi (2) has posed:
    "Your story, irrelevant?" Homura frowns at Ariel-Speaks.

    "The road that leads somewhere is as important as the destination. Though people stop to admire the waterfall, if there was no river, no shores, no banks, no flow, there would be no waterfall at all," she says, a bit louder than intended, before realizing she was actually speaking, not musing. "Erm. Sorry. Something someone I know told me before. Or... I think he told me something like this, at least."

    Ah, well. She'll ask Kenshin later for a refresher.

    "Either way, Speaks, I'd like to hear them one day regardless. Maybe when it's all over you can write a book. But don't discard your story into the depths."

    Finally, she pays attention to the actual form of the Shifted Ariel. It really does look like it's taking her over and out of control. And then... well, Psyber goes all-out real Angel.

    Yeah that's... that's Biblical alright.

    Homura's stuck somewhere between admiration and discomfort right now, but it'll probably pass eventually. Hopefully.

Eleanor Lamb (40) has posed:
    Eleanor swallows, and pales at the demonstration.
    A look over to Psyber, and then back to the Abstractum. "Oh dear. I can see the... appeal of that sort of exertion... I guess. But..."

Psyber (253) has posed:
    "Jesus shitfuck Christ." Psyber says as he sees the new form, wincing a bit and raising a hand up to shield his eyes from fire mostly out of reflex without realizing the fire wouldn't actually hurt him on the holo-deck. The half-angel waves the hand, "Couldn't it be less Shit From Outside and more... I dunno, ANYTHING ELSE?"

    Inwardly, he's still happy the Scar isn't represented in this godawful mishmash. He doesn't even want to imagine that. He heaves a heavy sigh. Well it's a powerful looking and sounding Ace in the Sleeve, at least.

Kirito has posed:
    ".... that probably kills you for sure, doesn't it." Kirito hisses out with some very noticeable fear, edging back and away from the heavenly horror...

Abstractum.Net (347) has posed:
    Speaks replies briefly to Kirito. "DEATH, OUTSIDE OF EXTREMELY UNLIKELY RECOVERY METHODS, IS CERTAIN. YOUR BODY IS COMPLETELY CONSUMED IN THE PROCESS; A NEW ONE MUST BE PROVIDED WHEN YOU COME BACK FROM SHIFT, AND YOU CAN ONLY SURVIVE FOR SEVERAL HOURS BY HOUSING YOUR CONCEPT WITHIN YOUR ABSTRACTUM'S CORE MATRIX." The massive angel's undulations make it clear it's SAYING what those words are, but it's way too bright to look at head-on for too long.

    "ENTITIES OF THIS NATURE ARE WHAT SOME ARE REQUIRED TO BECOME IN ORDER TO ACHIEVE THEIR GOALS. THE VAST MAJORITY DO NOT RETURN. INSTEAD, THEY PROGRESS TO SHIFT 10."

    And then, everything's back to normal. There's nothing here! Just the Red Wing on its default settings. It is, in fact, ominous quiet, and only slightly darker than normal.

    "Shift Category 10 has no manifestation. You could best define it as a 'wish'; you become a part of what reality is, at least for some time, and exert your will directly on the plane of this universe. Then, inevitably, you pass on, to Shift 11, in which your concept and your Abstractum exert so much pressure on reality that it simply flattens and, theoretically, becomes part of it."

    There's a small, quiet, "Ding!"

    "And that's all the levels of Shift that there are." Mr. Speaks can be heard saying now. "Now, are there any last questions?"

Psyber (253) has posed:
    Psyber squints as he prepares for the horrors and visions of Shift 10, only to find that it is nothing. Psyber frowns a bit and wonders if his prior incarnations came back from 9, or if they went to 10. He knows what his wish would BE at Category 10, at least at the moment. But that's a different topic and not wholly relevant.

    He frowns a bit and then decides to ambush Speaks with an off-topic question, "Do you ev-" He cuts the words off and thinks about it. Nah, better to save the question for a more opportune moment, "I don't have anything left to ask. Thank you, Speaks. This was most enlightening. I hope that Abstractum projection proves useful for you and for us at some point. It was well worth this trade."

Homura Akemi (2) has posed:
    "Psyber, please never turn into a Biblical Angel," Homura requests of the half-angel, still a bit shaken by the sight. Whether or not she is used to those sights, thanks to Witches, doesn't make it any less of a Thing to behold.

    And then, to Speaks. "I have one, sure. Samael. What was she to you?"

Vruasa Telash has posed:
    "How deep into Shift has George Burden gone?" Vruasa asks flatly, as he orbits around Fiora like she is a tiny planetary body. He has a rather sleepy look to him again, but he is actually busily working on something. Is that a miniature printer in his hand? Why, it is, it is. It's printing something now as a matter of fact. On a topic related to what Homura has to ask, the Knight of Time tosses a fuzzy image of the device locked around Samael towards Speaks.

    "And what the hell is that thing?" He asks, sharply.

Abstractum.Net (347) has posed:
    "Samael is insane and evil and completely unredeemable. She is also critical to the process of ending Them." Mr. Speaks is completely open about this matter. "Why, I cannot say."

    Mr. Speaks is back in time to get Vruasa's picture. He exmaines it as he answers the first question. "Dr. Burden has his own unique arrangements." And then he examines this photo more thoroughly. "Well it looks like Samael to me, but I suppose you mean the clamping part That's a trap. It traps Them." Thanks for the help there, Speaks. It's clear there won't be any progress on THAT front.

Psyber (253) has posed:
    "Do you ever regret your part in creating her?" Psyber asks him, finally. He held back the question before, but if the others are pressing, he sees no reason not to ask it, "Do you regret what you did back then? Did you even believe in her in the first place?" Psyber asks this question as if he was asking it to himself as well, "How far did she push before you finally gave up?"

Abstractum.Net (347) has posed:
    "No regrets. After all, it is not as though I am going to ever have any chance to repeat what I did in the first place." Mr. Speaks says, with a flat sort of tone. "As for ever giving up, you misunderstand what I ever intended in the first place. Not what she has done now, but certainly nothing she is a disappointment for."