5265/Britannica Staycation 2: The Staycationing

Britannica Staycation 2: The Staycationing
Date of Scene:	20 May 2017
Location:	The System <TS>
Synopsis:	A continuation of the previous Britannica Staycation scene. Sanae asks Stylono and Theurgus some questions about the System's history.
Cast of Characters:	Lexicon, 1103, 619

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Lexicon has posed:
    Previously, on Staycation-- Sanae Kochiya and Theurgus had both decided to pay a visit to Lexicon's Cathoderal, for unrelated reasons. The pair came upon Index and Codex, the little sisters of the Silver DCC, and spent some time with them playing in the snow and demonstrating magic for one another. This came to an end when a woman in red exited the Cathoderal's main doors, carrying a tray in both hands with steaming cups resting on it.

    "Index! Codex! I've brought--" She pauses, glancing between foreign DCC and shrine maiden. The first she recognizes on instinct, the second she's met before. "Miss Kochiya, Lady Diamond Soul." There's a brief bow at the waist, "I wasn't expecting visitors, welcome, welcome." As she straightens, she casts a glance at the Twins with just the hint of a glare, "...Have the girls been a bother to you?"

    "Stylono!" Index thrusts her hands up over her head, "We were showing off our super-cool magic but Therugus is way better!" Drawing her arms down, the pink-clad twin bunches her hands up under her chin with a pout, "I wanna be as good as her!"

    "...We weren't..bad," Codex admits softly, tucking her own hands together politely.

    Closing her eyes, Stylono lets out a little sigh, then regards both priestess and Drive Core Controller more directly, "They're often in mischief, forgive my assumptions. Would you two care for some hot chocolate inside? Lady Silver Soul has quarantined herself, but I'd be happy to host you myself."

Theurgus (1103) has posed:
    Theurgus grins at the twins, and steps over to gently pat Index on the head. "You will get there with time and practice. Don't worry too much about that." she reassures, then inclines her head towards Stylono. "That would be nice... You must be Lexi's Oracle, no? I would have brought Grimoire along, but I need her to keep an eye on Locus while I'm out and about." The Diamond DCC grins, it's a mischievous expression.

Sanae Kochiya (619) has posed:
Indeed, while the twins had been cast out from the hallowed halls by an irate Lexicon, they'd been very good girls while they were out here. Sanae, with further input from Theurgus, had even decided to petition the local DCC on their part, to allow them to start taking on small jobs for training purposes, but given the state of things as they are now, it seems better to wait for that. "They were both on good behavior," Sanae confirms to the Oracle. "And if you were to scold them about it, you'd have to blame me, since it was my idea for them to demonstrate!" She'll take up for them if she needs to, though with how easily Stylono transitions to a more relaxed state, it doesn't appear that will be necessary.

    The wind priestess gives a glance aside to the visiting DCC, at the invitation. She didn't know they'd have more company for this, but this suits her just fine! Frankly, the idea of getting indoors from the city's chill is also a good one; though she does sometimes accessorize to fit local conditions, the fact is the ceremonial robes can be a bit breezy, especially around the arms and shoulders. "That sounds great, Miss Stylono! I'd love to, but are you certain it's okay? Miss Lexicon--ah...yes, I did notice that." Perhaps the newest adventure novel from Dola had been released, in which case it could be a while before Lexicon's ready to receive visitors again. "I did want to come to ask you about something in particular, actually. But that can wait until we're all settled in."

Lexicon has posed:
    "Ah, yes," Stylono straightens slightly when Theurgus calls her by her title, "I am the Silver Oracle in service to Lady Silver Soul, that is correct." She glances to the twins, lowering her tray a bit. Without wasting time, both Index and Codex trot over to collect their steamy drinks, then wander into the Cathoderal directly behind her while she tucks the trap up against herself, "I'd only brought the two, so please come inside, both of you, and I'll prepare some more." She dips her head and turns about, holding the door and then following once her guests have been allowed in.

    The Cathoderal's pretty ornate, more like a European church with the same almost-sci-fi digital influence seen elsewhere in Britannica. The lines that separate colored panels in the stained glass windows, for instance, are all glowing white, and there's some scooting up pillars and accenting the vaulted ceiling high overhead. "Your Drive must be in capable hands, if Charta is the same as I recall." Stylono's eyes close with a pleasent smile, "I should renew our correspondance as well. She is likely eager to resume borrowing from our library."

    To Sanae, Stylono tilts her head slightly in thought, "So long as we keep our voices down, lady Silver Soul will not even know we are here. But be that as it may I have the authority to welcome and host whatever guests I wish. We merely need not disturb her for the evening."

    Past the usual Church-y place with pews and the alter where sermons are ranted, there's a smaller sort of meeting or waiting room with chairs arranged around a coffee table. It's here that Index and Codex have already settled down, side-by-side, and where Stylono gestures, "Please, make yourselves comfortable." She then moves to a niche against the wall, sliding up a panel to access...well, it's a Keurig. Cocoa won't take long with one of those. Glancing back while she fills the first mug, Stylono asks, "What did you wish to ask me?"

Theurgus (1103) has posed:
    "Indeed, she has actually sent a missive just this morning in fact." replies Theurgus to Stylono. "I sensed she was eager to reconnect with Britannica once we reconnected to the Hub." she adds, keeping her voice relatively suppressed.

    Once the group enter the little grouping room, the DCC finds a seat near the Twins, and crosses her legs over one another in a relaxed fashion. She keeps quiet, since she only came to visit the place, and lets Sanae ask her question.

Sanae Kochiya (619) has posed:
The green-haired priestess was familiar enough with this. Interacting with people like Stylono, that is, since she reminds her of many of the seconds-in-command within Gensokyo, having to slightly tip toe around slightly tyrannical and whimsical heads of house. "Ah, I see. Then I'll do my best not to make a disturbance." The presently well-behaved twin sisters have been bribed with hot cocoa, and apparently know better than to cause a ruckus when they're indoors, for the time being. So, passing inside at the Oracle's invitation, and giving a warm smile as she ducks quickly past the opened door, she feels quite at home within the quasi-European cathedral architecture. Well, what could really be expected of a place called a cathoderal, after all?

    "Oh, wow," she says, just barely keeping her voice down, relative to her usual enthusiasm for seemingly any new experience. The interior seems to impress her, specifically, "They've even worked the resource lines into the panes of glass." She holds up her smart phone, apparently taking some photographs like some manner of tourist, but at least is nice enough to not have the flash on, in case there are any delicate artworks about. "Come to think of it, who builds everything within the Drives? Do you guys have some kind of digital architects? Or maybe it's part of the low level firmware..." She trails off slightly, making her question seem almost rhetorical, and it was off topic from what she'd asked about anyway. Rather, it's more idle curiosity, before she snaps out of it and continues on, not wanting to be left behind when warm drinks are on the line!

    Once they're in the study-slash-lounge, or whatever one would call it, Sanae settles in, letting out a deep breath. She takes a moment to get adjusted, to the light and other ambiance, and glances over once again to Theurgus, seemingly similarly relaxed. It's just as well that she's around, since she might have more to add, and it's her problem, too. "It's actually a little sad to bring up something like it, in this atmosphere, but...it's about the Tower. Exactly how long has it been around? Are there any old legends about it or similar phenomena in your world? Miss Lexicon said that you'd be the one to ask about this kind of thing."

    She doesn't seem to be in a hurry for the brew, at least, folding her hands in front of her and waiting patiently, though a bit anxious with that heavy narrative load she just dropped.

Lexicon has posed:
    "Oh, I know this!" Index thrusts a hand up. Stylono nods, and the girl tucks her hand in her lap, "There's like.. a subroutine in each Drive that creates buildings based on all the..uh, the data an' stuff." She kicks her legs lightly, "That's why Britannica is all booky-nerdy an' Vector is all factories and boring." She glances towards Stylono, who nods.

    "That is, essentially, correct," she places tall mugs of steaming hot chocolate before Sanae and Theurgus, then takes a seat by herself opposed to the other four in the room, "The Drive itself creates most of our architecture, at least initially. It is maintained or repaired by the appropriate repair programs, much like the outside world employs carpenters and repair professionals."

    With a bright expression she admits to Theurgus, "I haven't yet looked over my messages for the day. I'll be sure to respond to her right away. Oracles like us should endeavor to stay in contact so we can better keep you, our DCCs, updated on System events."

    Speaking of System Events. Bringing up the Tower hardens Stylono's expression, mirrored on Index's face. Codex fixates on her drink, kicking her feet idly. After a moment, the red-clad Oracle nods once, "It's alright to ask about that." She closes her eyes thoughtfully, "I've been in service to the Silver Cathoderal since Britanica came online. I have a rather comprehensive history of the System, as a result. And I can say that the System Tower appeared some time after the Sapphire Drive crashed and Pedia-- the original Lady Silver Soul-- perished." Eyes opening, she places her hands on her knees, leaning on them slightly, "Initially it had no noticeable effect on System Resources and was seen merely as an oddity. Someone at last cleared it some time after the Emerald Drive came online, and it has been moving around ever since. I do not have any recollection of anything else similar to it, though." With a nod, she adds, "In this regard the Tower and its behaviors seem to be unique."

Theurgus (1103) has posed:
    "Ah, yes. MAGUS. told me some of these stories. She had a theory that the Tower was creatd because of the crash of the Sapphire Drive, but we could never prove it." says Theurgus after the Oracle is finished. She sips at her cocoa with a thoughtful expression.

Sanae Kochiya (619) has posed:
"Procedural generation," is the next words out of Sanae's lips, hearing both Index and Stylono's explanation for how a Drive and its City get built. It would also probably sound a bit odd from her were it not for the translation effect, since she said the whole thing in a distinctly Engrish-y way otherwise, as a complete loan word. "Basically building the whole thing up from a data seed, huh...that's really interesting!" Still being mindful of Lexicon in a room somewhat close by, she does her best to let her excitement show without growing too loud. "That'd explain how themely some of the other lands I've seen or read about are, too." She still has many to visit in person, though the Amethyst one was pretty nice, and close to her speed.

    Still, there was that slightly more grim line of questioning that she had to put out there. Something between Theurgus and Stylono momentarily captures her attention, before she dives back into that, as well as the response that Stylono gave to it. "You're all friends, right? The DCCs...and I guess other nations have Oracles, too. I guess I never really stopped to think about diplomatic stuff." Unsurprising for the one that showed up to Gensokyo and just tried to take over all of its faith, without any initial consideration to the consequences.

    "Hmm..." Now Sanae's full attention turns to the more serious topic. "That timing really is suspicious, isn't it? But you have to be careful about making assumptions like that." She crosses her arms over her chest, leaning back in her seat as she lets her eyes go a bit distant. "Yet it would fit, right? A lot of meaningful terms were being thrown around last time, like corrupted and compressed data. It'd be fitting if some relic like that got released when an entire Drive has that happen." Given that this happened in a time span that Theurgus and Stylono are conscious of, it's also not surprising that legends hadn't really had time to form about the relatively recent Tower.

    "Wait, somebody cleared it?" She hadn't actually heard the part where it started moving around before, and had assumed that's how it always was.

Lexicon has posed:
    Stylono considers Thergus for a moment, "I recall MAGUS. mentioning something to that effect shortly before the Diamond Drive severed its connection to the Hub, but had a difficult time accepting it." Eyes closing, she shrugs helplessly, "MAGUS. was--is--an especially eccentric person, who I have known for a long time to be capable of some very wild, unsubstantiated theories. On top of that, knowing Lady Sapphire Soul as I did, such a malicious thing seemed out of character for her to do even after her death."

    The Oracle lifts a hand, cradling her chin gently in thought, "Though the circumstances would appear to lean in that direction, it still feels quite circumstantial. That time was filled with turmoil and I can't say for sure exactly what might have been happening outside of this Drive." Her head tilts, "I most clearly remember scrambling to help my lady Pedia in her final moments, compiling Lexicon's base code before she..." She pauses, glancing towards the twins seated near Theurgus. After a moment, the Oracle straightens her seated posture and closes her eyes, "...I'm sorry. It's a difficult time for me to remember. Certain things... try to edge out what's relevant to the question due to their prominence in my life at the time."

    Taking a moment to compose herself, she shifts to Sanae's second question, "When the Tower first appeared it was merely an oddity. Nobody who entered it was able to clear the first floor. Only after Lady Silver Soul entered it was the floor defeated and the Tower exhibited the behaviors we attribute to it today-- its relocation. As the resource drain at the time was negligible, it was scarcely a priority at the time and so would tend to remain where it landed for long stretches of time." She nods once, "It's only fairly recently that we've placed priority on eliminating it as the drain has become so significant. So it rarely is in place for more than a day or two."

Sanae Kochiya (619) has posed:
Though she might be a little selectively dense at times, Sanae nonetheless also has a healthy dose of empathy. When she senses Stylono straying into what must be a painful memory, she actually moves to reach out a hand to her, and supportively place it on her shoulder briefly. "It's okay. Even if you're an Oracle with this much responsibility, you still have a human heart that can hurt from that kind of thing." At least, she assumes so -- for all she knows the System's denizens are hollow meshes like some 3D game model, but almost certainly not! "If it gets too painful, you can just stop where you need to."

    After that, though, she leans back to herself and her usual, physically unimposing presence. "Hmm? Is Magus some kind of research partner, then?" She has no idea how to pronounce all caps and a period. Poor fool. "I still have so many people to meet in this world!"

    Back to the less traumatizing parts of the System and Tower's contiguous histories, the priestess gives a nod of her head. She already understood most of this, but getting that more firmly in her mind is helpful. "So that's how it was. For some reason, I figured it just always migrated like it did now." A rub of her chin is given, and just a glance at the Keurig-like device to keep an eye on it. "A lot of what I could say would be like throwing darts at a board, but...your answer about how things are built got me wondering what happens if that data, code and programs suddenly don't have a Drive to hold them. I don't want to assume anything, myself, ah..." She rubs the side of her head, next, apparently a bit frustrated that no sudden light bulb is appearing over her head, that would allow the whole thing to fall into place.

    "I'd rather avoid it, but it feels like to solve it, at this rate, we're going to have to continue to play its game." She nonetheless sighs after, and relaxing again, gives another easy smile to Stylono. "Thank you for everything you've been able to tell me, though, and anything more you might. I'm still a newbie around here, so a lot of this is still brand new to me."

Lexicon has posed:
    When consoled, Stylono visibly relaxes, letting out a little sigh. "..I imagine for humans it is similarly difficult, yes. Though biologically we are nothing alike, in the concept of the mind and heart, or perhaps the 'soul' or 'spirit' if you are so inclined, I believe we are quite similar." A tiny smile appears, as she accepts the Priestess' words. Though Sanae has apparently not witnessed Lexicon take real injuries, yet.

    She takes a breath, gesturing, "Lady Diamond Soul here will be able to tell you far more about MAGUS. than I could. We were merely acquaintences, while if memory serves Theurgus was her friend and understudy."

    Taking a breath to steady herself, she folds her hands primly. It's only now that she notices both Index and Codex have moved to sit on either side of her, and she clearly appreciates the silent support the twins are offering when they lean against her.

    "--Ah, and yes. One could say that the Oracles are on friendly terms. Though we are still, as Drives, competitive... the Oracles work together to ensure that news on serious threats or disasters reaches our respective Drive Core Controller in a timely manner. Lady Diamond Soul for instance may wish to know if Lady Silver Soul requires help with something, even if they will fight in the Hub to secure additional Resources later. That is part of my job, and Charta's job, as an Oracle."

Theurgus (1103) has posed:
    Theurgus is quick to correct Sanae. "MAGUS." it's firm, but not aggressive. It's then her turn to look a little pained. "She is... no longer with us. Her code deresolved about a terracycle before we reconnected." she adds, leaning back in her seat with a distant look. "It is one reason I decided it was time to reconnect to the rest of The System."

    At the talk of diplomacy, she nods in agreement. "The DCCs are always competing for the Hub and the Resources it provides. It is just a fact of life for us. This does not mean we are hostile to each other, often far from it."

Sanae Kochiya (619) has posed:
See? Sanae knew they were good kids. Or maybe it's just time for them to have a nap after all that playing around earlier. Either way. As for her, it seems like she's tripping up these feelings all over the place now, with her hosts in the System. "Ah, I'm sorry...I didn't mean to disrespect them," she adds to Theurgus. "I can sense a difference in pronunciation but, somehow can't manage it, myself." Possibly similar to when she talked about procedurally generated content earlier! She tries to think of a way to further put these feelings of loss at ease in a way that might make sense to a digital being. "We all leave little bits of ourselves with one another. Even if they're not physically here, some of their source code is still inside you." She wishes it didn't sound so cheesy, but the meaning should hopefully get carried.

    She never pauses to think that in some cases, within the System, that might also be literal.

    On other and less hurtful matters, she gives a smiling nod to talk about the political livelihood of the System at large. "So you're rivals, but everyone's still in this together. It reminds me a little of where I'm from. Rather, where I'm presently from, not where I was originally born." She relaxes, allowing what's been a rare window into her own life for System residents, "Gensokyo is normally a really peaceful place. But every so often something will stir up trouble, and it's usually the same few of us that are expected to set out to deal with it. I guess that's how I've gotten used to the pace here so quickly."

Lexicon has posed:
    "..Ah.." Stylono pauses when Theurgus explains the current situation with MAGUS., lowering her head thoughtfully. Squaring her shoulders, she offers, "My condolences. I did not know." Wow it got gloomy in here, didn't it? Though she somewhat expected it when the Tower was brought up.

    After some thought, she nods once, "Yes, this does sound quite similar." Eyes closing, she comments, "You'd adjusted so quickly to the System's customs that I wondered if you had simply come from another Drive. If I hadn't known better, I would say you might be from Arcade."

    She nods once, "Though relations with some of the other DCCs can be tense at times, we do our best to get along. The current state of affairs is not how it always was, though. When Lady Sapphire Soul and Lady Silver Soul were the only DCCs in the System, their rivalry was quite heated and they did not like each other at all. As an Oracle," She gestures to herself, "My relationship with her was somewhat different, and so I carry no bitterness. She showed her true nature to my Lady in her final moments. They worked together to destroy a virus that was poised to crash the Hub itself. Rest assured, that is no legend. Though we still feel the aftermath, the event itself was true selfless heroism."

Sanae Kochiya (619) has posed:
Crap, busted. Though she thinks better of saying that it's because she used to be a nerd and played a lot of computer games, also. Instead, Sanae gives just a trace of a nervous laugh, "Arcade, huh? That's an interesting choice." A shake of her head is given to clear it, "The way your world, or maybe universe would be a better way to put it, is put together is similar to how a lot of computer and software stuff I'm familiar with works, though on a really complicated scale. And combined with a social dynamic that I'm already used to, it's like a home away from home, really!" Still, now that Stylono has mentioned it, she will have to give this Arcade a good look over at some point.

    In a trend of giving up a bit about herself in the current context, the priestess gives a nod of her head. "When I first arrived in Gensokyo, I thought I was a real big shot, and I actually had a lot of easy victories early on. It took me a while to really come to grips with how the world is, and I'm glad that I was able to make friends out of rivals." She closes her own eyes, now, seeming to be thinking on those distant lands. "Thank goodness it didn't take something like that to come to the understanding, though I guess it would have been the same." Reimu, despite their obvious conflicting interests, had already entrusted her with sensitive matters before. Since that is what friends do!

    "...I really need to bring some of my friends over, after this business with the Tower is finished," she realizes, though isn't certain how many would actually come. And she'd probably have to keep an eye on Marisa.