Scene #9273: To See The Night Sky

Owner	Pose
Petra Soroka	After the Partners' meeting in the Library earlier, Petra came up with a plan for the thing that the entire war was about. Theoretically, the reward that was worth robbing the City of the Light, that a week of fighting wasn't enough to accomplish, will finally be earned tonight, when Angela takes her first breath outside the facility that she's spent eternity in. After Petra got to the Library-- and was bemused by a sudden hug-- she spent the rest of the evening until after sunset bouncing ideas off of Audrey and Angela, until deciding that it was as solid a plan as they were going to get until trying it. The Library extends up higher than even the skyscrapers that remain standing in the darkened District 12 Nest, treelike with uncountable gnarled branches extending off the sides of the tower. Up on the roof, even the mist and clouds that could obscure their view are gone, and the City below is too dark for its glow to blot out the night sky. It is, almost certainly, the clearest view of the stars of this world that anyone has ever had in living memory. The 'roof' of the Library isn't a conveniently flat space, but there's plenty of places to sit and work. A dense tangle of branches crowns the top of the building too, spreading out and even further up, but they range in thickness from the size of a bus to the 'twigs' being forearm-width. It is, to Petra's delight, practically a platforming arena, and if she weren't in the state she's in, she would probably be happily jumping around on branches a kilometer above the ground. Instead, she's curled up in a fork of several massive branches, barely able to stand. The plan for tonight, as she explained it to Audrey and Angela, is this: Audrey warps space to try and overlap where the Tree of Light is with outside the facility, reducing the separation distance from Angela's source of power as much as possible. Then, Petra establishes a psychic link between herself and Angela, to gradually siphon the excess Light out of herself and into Angela, sustaining her while she's rapidly weakened by being severed from the Tree. It's an unconventional use of Petra's psychic power, but theoretically, it works on the same fundamental principles, so it should be possible. And it is. Audrey and Angela can both follow Petra out into the clear, chilly night air, Angela for the very first time ever. The Beauty of Ash is deployed too, crouched on a branch with its arms down between its knees for four points of contact on the branch it's resting on, slightly above where Petra is. It's possible, it just seems to suck severely for Petra in a way that's hard to place just by looking at her. Ashen faced, she shakily gets back to her feet, and reaches out a hand to take Angela's. Touching her, for Angela, evokes a warm and energizing feeling like the motes of light inside the Library, bubbling like sparks off of her skin. If Audrey happens to touch her, though, she feels ice cold and feverishly sweating, prickly like fishhook barbs embedded across every inch of her. "W-well, there we go. Sorry that your birthday present's a little late, sis."
Audrey Basque	There had indeed been a hug. Perhaps two! Audrey may even have dragged some people into assisting her for the ambush, like Hod and Angela. There were no devious machinations behind it, Audrey just felt bad Petra was having a bad day, and wanted to improve it somehow. Being able to do this was probably overall more helpful to Petra's morale than the hugs, though! The trick wasn't too difficult; bend space upward, stretching the Library's domain upward. This one MIGHT feel a bit more uncomfortable than the last time Audrey poked at the Library's spatial imprint, in that no matter how you slice it she's stretching it thinner than it normally is. It's not painful, but it's probably not unlike waking up from a nap with your back a bit scrunched up. It IS temporary though; Audrey's twists and stretches tend to return to normal after some time, as reality seeks to reassert itself. But it'll be hours, so they won't be surprised by it. Effectively this means the Library currently occupies more space than it did before; not literally (although, a bit literally) but more like its boundaries are extended. Angela should quickly stop feeling the dull sore once she gets her first step outside and gets to feel THAT. "The view from here is so nice..." Audrey says - wearing the school uniform, incidentally - as she looks past the branches and at the night sky. "You'd almost be able to forget the state the City is in for a second." She turns to look at Petra, evidently concerned. "So, this is a good temporary solution, but there's no way I could extend the Library's boundaries such that Angela could leave the immediate district around the Library, let alone the City. At least... I can't say I've ever tried something like that before." "But I'm open to ideas. And I guess, even if this is all I can manage... at least Angela can take in some fresh air. It must beat being inside all the time."
Angela	Angela as always is perfectly willing to try a faster and less bloody solution to a problem. The Library assures her that if she collects enough of the Light BACK she will be able to leave after all--and, what's more--seize ''humanity'' for herself. She also is willing to ambush Petra with hugs, though she is a little less 'sudden' about it. Angela's personal room is one level above General Works since Angela is an otherwise personal individual, and not far above Angela's level is the 'roof'. Angela has JUST managed to wake up Hod and she needs time to prepare (mentally, emotionally) to wake up Binah of all people next. Hod has been friendly to new arrivals but isn't joining the little Witch's Trio today. But there actually is a stairway leading up to the roof access. there is a way to go through there, like an unfinished promise. Angela stalls at that door, despite Petra's assurances, a flicker of fear in her eyes. She reaches out to the door, lightly touching it--hesitantly--and then pulls the knob and opens the door. She lets Audrey go first, stepping out of the way for her. The fear stops reaching her eyes when she pushes her hand out and sees that it isn't bouncing off of anything. What if they see her, she wonders. What if they kill her. ...What if it isn't all that after all. Angela mimics taking a deep breath, closes her eyes, and then steps out into the open. She isn't immediately nuked from space. She opens her eyes and---feeling night air? She's felt that before, in the Silent Girl room, but she's never been IN it before. She can only feel the chill in one of her eyes, but she can still feel the wind and note that it's colder than normal. She looks up into the sky and watches the stars. Lilian said she deserved what she got because she wasn't one to wish for success but it doesn't matter. The Stars that make dreams come true are far away from the City epicenter but still... The stars have always meant so much to her and she never knew why. Now she takes a long good look at them, she feels a strange push to go up there and drag a star down to her. Or maybe use it to pull herself back up. Perhaps there is a reason even her EGO formed a tower. And any thought that she could settle, that she could be 'fine with this' is dispelled when she sees how much effort this is taking Petra. She takes Petra's hand and gives it a fond squeeze. "...You are working so hard, do not push yourself too much. You're still recovering too." She is fond of the care Audrey shows Petra, she can see how helpful she's been. And she wants to foster their relationship. It's the least she can do for her, for them--really--considering all the trouble hse keeps causing them because they still care enough to want to help her. "....I'm outside..." Angela says. "...And nobody is sending Arbiters after me yet... I suppose since this is still 'The LIbrary' they are either having difficulty or do not yet realize ..." She shakes her head. "I shall not speculate." She rubs at one of her eyes. "Yes... and the amount of effort it is causing is certainly no long term situation. But we may have other ways to do something about the range... Using your theory." She shakes her head and looks to Petra. "You said you had ideas."
Petra Soroka	"...And nobody is sending Arbiters after me yet..." Petra waves her free hand out at the rest of the City below, visible mostly as a dark smear with some few bright points. Trideag HQ is visible from up here, notably kept bright during the blackouts, and some small pockets where people have managed to keep the lights on, but all of it is so far below that the tops of skyscrapers are closer to seeming part of the ground than being near the top of the Library. When she tries to respond, though, it's as a telepathic thought that flickers through Audrey's mind incomprehensibly fast, only coherent to Angela. <Maybe they aren't looking. Maybe they just can't tell. Whatever it is, it doesn't matter, and we're okay right now.> Then she shakes her head and looks over at Audrey, making sure to talk out loud a hundred times slower. "We're okay for now. And we'll keep making sure it's okay." "So, this is a good temporary solution, but there's no way I could extend the Library's boundaries such that Angela could leave the immediate district around the Library, let alone the City." "Mmm," Petra makes an affirmative noise at Audrey, but it comes out through gritted teeth. "'S temporary. But I had another idea too, that's maybe a, bit weirder. I just wanted to, have one that I knew would work, because I figured getting the experience at all would be good. For Ange. As, you know, proof." Petra wobbles, and seems to consider sitting down, but keeps sticking close to Angela instead. Each inch of distance from Petra is exponentially more noticeable to Angela, swelling up like a cold empty feeling inside her, reminiscent of what she felt in the instant before she lost consciousness in Stanley's bus all that time ago. Worse than cold, she can place it abstractly as 'death', like White Night's pulses welling up from inside herself and suppressed by Petra's psychic power and presence. "And also... I think I just need... practice. It's like..." Petra trails off and stares into space for a few seconds, with a wobbly distortion of psychic energy rippling off of her that makes both Audrey and Angela a little dizzy. "I never got 'this' power studied by the researchers. There's no categorization for it, or any... real... study on how it works. From other people or from me, really. I never 'pushed' it before." "Right now, I think..." Petra starts coughing, and then hacks out a cloud of raven feathers that flutter out over the edge of the roof, drifting down. "--Shit, Audrey, can you keep those from, falling?" "Anyways. I think I just need some time to figure it out and tune it and everything. So... for now... we can spend time up here, and help Audrey with sewing, and... it's outside." She looks to the side at Angela and squeezes her hand. The Beauty of Ash creaks a bit. "So how is it? How do you feel?"
Audrey Basque	The odd psychic flicker makes Audrey wince a bit, but when Petra takes her time to follow-up with actual speech, she looks at her with ever more concern. It was bad enough Angela was making a note of it, so... When feathers go flying, she nods to Petra, stepping towards the edge and simply reaching for the feathers. Cracks and pearlescent ripples form under them, and they fall through, only to reappear over Petra's head. She's got her uniform on and the space is bent already, so this is almost effortless right now. "Is it safe, though? If you've never... experimented with this power, or had people look at it. Are you sure it's totally safe? Not just for Angela, but for you?" Petra does seem strained. She doesn't need to hold her hand to tell. While Angela settles in and they talk shop, Audrey reaches for the backpack she'd brought along, to start pulling some things out of it. Like an entire folding table, sewing supplies including a roll of shimmering, glowing white-blue thread, and an unbelievably ornate sextant made mostly of gold and onyx. And then the top of her librarian uniform, to put it on the table, a nice skirt, a white high collar blouse, and a long black cloak, the latter three items Petra helped her pick out. "Yeah. How does it feel, Angela? I can't imagine what it's like to go outside for the first time. Even if it's just the roof." It's not at all like 'stepping outside the Phantom Circle for the first time'. She really can't imagine how it is, especially since Angela went through all that suffering to 'be human'. This is like... a big milestone, right?
Angela	Angela waves to the City, mimicking Petra. Her eyes are naturally drawn to Trideag HQ because it's one of the few buildings still with power. Of course, Angela has heard about the blackouts but she hadn't really thought about them as real until now. She can SEE it, but she can't GET there, she knows. Lilian might be that close by and yet... ...Does she really want to serve this City? No. But LIlian had said there might be likeminded people out there, possible friends, the kind ones that she's never gotten to meet. She looks towards Petra as she telepaths in her direction. She gives her a small nod. It doesn't matter now. This is slow for Petra too, she knows, but she's been handling it so well lately that it hasn't been on the forefront of her mind quite as much. Angela feels a strange coldness in her body which is strange because she doesn't normally feel it. As it abates as Petra moves closer to her, Angela instinctively steps in closer and takes her hand in her own, needling the fingers together. "Is it harder on you if I am closer to you or easier?" Angela asks. "...But you're right, this is proof there is some validity to the hypothesis, but any human experiment is bound to be messy and require repeat tests to confirm stability." Petra wobbles and Angela looks to her, "Ah--We can sit--" Petra starts coughing and hacks out raven feathers. "Petra--" Angela says. "...If you are coughing out feathers that is a sign of Corrosion, at the very least you should sit down." That feeling, Angela thinks, she feels like if she moves too farther she'll just die so she intends to juist sit right down there and there, pulling Petra along. "It is a nice night and if we are star gazing it is easier to do on the 'floor'." How does she feel? "Warm when you are close, like dying when you step even a little away from me." Angela says. "Not very different from normal. But to see the sky..." She doesn't seem to have words for it. "You can do this whenever you want, can't you? Look at sights like this. Does it still feel incredible the second and third time? The seventeenth? Hundredth?" ''Is it safe though?'' "It almost certainly is not safe." Angela says. "Though corrosion can radically alter the body without, technically, harming it--but corroding too much does fundamentally harm you in other ways." But Audrey asks her to put it to words once more. Angela closes her eyes in thought. She somehow manages to take her time despite how quickly she thinks. "Excited and terrified. You can really compare yourself to the cosmos when you have a sightline to the sky."
Petra Soroka	"Is it harder on you if I am closer to you or easier?" "Easier," Petra responds immediately, as if the alternative isn't even worth considering. She leans her head against Angela's shoulder, half for closeness and half for support. Petra catches the feathers out of the air when Audrey redirects them, and closes her fist around them. She stares at them, poking through her fingers, for a few seconds, and then just stuffs them into the pocket of her librarian uniform. "Didn't want any kind of weird bullshit where, one of those feathers drifts down somewhere into the City and then someone fucking, like, sees it and gets some sort of psychic vision quest to kill Angela at any cost. That shit happens too much around here." "Are you sure it's totally safe?" Petra stares at Audrey for a few seconds, then twitches her lips into a pout. "It's my power. It's..." She shudders again, and urged to sit down by Angela, she pretty much just collapses on the spot, propping herself up seated with her back against a branch. "It's corrosion, but it's, like... induced. I think it's just because the Light's a lot stronger than anything else I'm used to handling with my power, so the... the channels aren't..." She holds up her hands, pulling Angela's along with one of them, and tries to mime out something that's fundamentally impossible for humans to understand through some silly little gestures. "It's like veins, or bubbles? And surgery, and welding. Usually the psychological depressurization of something like this would just kill me instantly, or anyone, but if I sort of squeeze it and match up where the diffusion points are, then it's just like... holding it. And then aiming it. You know? And the Light sort of burns, but it's also alive, so I should be able to control it." The wind blows across the roof, and the sudden chill makes Petra sniffle. Then she sneezes, and a tuft of raven feathers bursts out of the skin around her neck. "Ouegh. I-I... anyways, it's just... it's not dangerous. Or, it's dangerous, but I don't want it to hurt Angela, so it won't. The researchers could help explain and refine things, but, it's only mine, anyways. I just didn't want anyone poking at it." "Does it still feel incredible the second and third time? The seventeenth? Hundredth?" Shivery and drained, Petra leans against Angela and looks up at the stars. "... Depends who I'm looking at them with. It feels pretty nice this time." Her eyes gradually fall from the unfamiliar spread of stars overhead, to look at Audrey. "Right?" Then, "And I promised I wouldn't, make you do all that alone. Just sort of, adjusting, at the moment." Petra pinches one of the feathers at her neck between two fingers. With a grimace, she plucks it out, the wound left behind weeping a droplet of blood. She sighs, then perks up again. "Oh-- oh, Ange. We should take a picture. To commemorate it."
Audrey Basque	Not safe. Corrosion. Audrey frowns a bit. Audrey actually stops unpacking for a second; she looks over at Petra and Angela, unable to really express anything but concern for them. Then Petra outright stares at her-- and seems stubborn about the whole ordeal. "O-Oh. I-- y-yeah, it's yours, just... it looks..." Audrey deflates and drops it, especially as Angela suggests sitting. "We can-- yeah, let's sit down. And let's relax. This won't be hard, it's just long. With three of us, it'll be a lot less long. And since everyone here likes the stars..." It should help relax. Does it ever get old? "Looking at the sky never gets old for me. I'm sure everyone has something they feel that way about. Flowers, the ocean, maybe just mountains. Every night is like a different sky. In subtle ways, usually, but if you listen real closely, it's always different." Petra looks at her, and Audrey manages a smile, despite the concern oozing so clearly from the surface of her thoughts it wouldn't take a psychic to pick up on it very, very clearly. "Right. They're especially pretty tonight. And quiet, too. I can't feel any ill portents right now." Or, none that matter, anyway. Audrey reaches for the sextant, adjusting it while Petra is talking about taking a picture. There's little clicky dials and nobs on it-- but she seems to know exactly what she's doing. "I'll set this up once we have our selfies done~. It's really pretty, you'll see."
Angela	''Some sort of psychic vision quest to kill Angela at any cost.'' "They can't help it, I have that effect on people." Angela says with her typical dark humor. "If they kill me it'd be the most important thing they've ever done." Easier for her too, when they are closer, Angela thinks. And it's easier for her too... And not just in the friendship way, of course... then it might be a similar situation as to ''range'' straining Petra more the farther away she is. Much better than the Eggpack, though, even if she still finds that contraption strangely endearing. Petra pulls her hand up along with her and An gela stoically performs the little gestures as well with her own hands simply to be supportive. #-1 FUNCTION (ANIS) NOT FOUND "I do not want you to sacrifice yourself for me, especially not for something like a ''test''. But if this progresses much farther we should call off the test until you recover." She pauses and just in case Petra is ready to protest ''that'', "If you die my hope goes with it and also I'd probably literally die too." She has been thinking about Petra's words beyond just miming along with the gestures. So the light burns too...is that it. Hmm... ''It feels pretty nice htis time.'' Angela smiles. "Then I am doubly glad we could watch the stars." She winces sympathetically as she plucks a feather out of her and adds, "Perhaps we could make a little ornament out of it..?" She suggests. "The feather I mean. But--" Angela hadn't come prepared for taking photos. She half expected this to not work. But Audrey! Audrey is prepared! ''Looking at the sky never gets old for me.'' Angela says, "...It is too early to say for me, I suppose, but I do not think it would get old for me either." But she can't really confirm it. And she's not sure that's quite right either. Looking at the stars feels nice, but she can't help but feel a soft lamentation at their distance. "Perhaps learning more about them will make it easier for me to understand." Ill portents... She's heard of those being read in the stars. She sort of isn't sure if she'd want to know about those though.
Petra Soroka	In agreement with Audrey, Petra looks up at the sky, easing back into a more relaxed posture beside Angela. "The stars kind of are the prettiest things in the universe, I think. I've seen a lot of... unique places, but..." But most of them were with Cinder, at least the ones that come to mind immediately, and Petra's voice trails off into dry nothing. "They can't help it, I have that effect on people." Petra closes her eyes, and a little imperceptible shift in the transmission of Light between her and Angela feels almost fluid for a moment, like hot blood. "Well, when they come, they'll all fall helplessly before your last and greatest dark general. They don't stand a chance. The most important thing they'll do is bring back a little more Light for you." "I do not want you to sacrifice yourself for me, especially not for something like a ''test''." "I'm not gonna die," Petra scoffs, rolling her eyes. The scoff leads into another coughing fit, and this time she catches the feathers she retches out of her mouth before they can get taken away by the wind. They go into her pocket without elaboration. "I'm not gonna die." "Hokma still being asleep means... well, who cares. It's not-- nothing's going to go wrong. And I'm not tempting fate because we've literally got a fate-temptress right here. I have to push myself or nothing's going to get done. So...." The Beauty of Ash leans over without Petra inside it, lowering one of its arms to be in reach of Petra. She grips onto a facet of the thinner end near its hand, and puuuulls herself back to standing, bringing Angela with her. Leaning against the Beauty of Ash, there's a prickling ray of radiation-like feeling that lenses through her and across the hardlight mech, feeling like an angular sweep of the same hollow sensation left in the aftereffect of her mech's cannon. Propping herself up with her elbow, she fishes out her phone, and holds it out to capture herself leaning against Angela, Audrey beside them, with the canopy of massive branches and the night sky in the background. "So this is just the first time of infinite, so it'll be fine, okay? Alriiight, cheese!" After the picture is taken, Petra immediately wobbles and the smile slips off her face. She collapses back down to the roof, grey-faced and ill-looking. "O-okay. Next step's gonna be... trying to get some distance, but not for a-- not for a minute. Can't have it be that, if we stop holding hands when out somewhere, you instantly, fucking die. Insane, fucked risk. --Oh, wait, it's harder to stand because of the additional distance, isn't it?" "Anyways." Petra turns to Audrey, scuffling around on the ground to rotate. The clicky sextant absolutely enthralls her, even when her hands are a bit shaky and some feathers are poking out from the cuff of her uniform. "So the other plan was. Your part in it, I mean. Is you tapping into the Tree of Light with your magic, and sort of... opening up a point of power where I could hit it with the Beauty of Ash. Like... to recharge the battery, kind of thing. That way I'll be the one responsible for, distance."
Audrey Basque	Angela casually joking about her death, at Petra's prompting, definitely makes Audrey feel a certain way. There's humor in it, but knowing the whole City would love nothing more than to carry this out, also makes it feel like... tempting fate? Audrey's superstitious, you kind of have to be to dabble in astrology at all. Not about everything, of course, but it comes with the field. "Mm. I'd rather neither of you die for any reason, really. Just promise if it becomes too much you'll say so and we can step back inside, Petra?" Audrey states, not willing to fully let go of this. But she can't keep the gloom on her face, Petra wants a photo. Audrey gives her best big smile as Petra snaps the shot, though resumes a concerned frown the moment she collapses back onto the roof. Oh, to be a healer right now. ... she probably could be. Astrology featured pretty prominently in various medical Traditions. But it'd be a lot of work to learn from scratch. Not impossible, but... hm. "Oh... that's..." Could it work? Audrey glances down, past the floor and at the tower-- conceptually, not physically--, squinting a bit. "That would be... risky, you'd be striking and draining the heart of a Place of Power. If I'm off by even a bit, it might lash out, or you might set it off-- and if you're off by even a bit, I couldn't predict what would happen." That's not a no, that's a stressed maybe. "We'd need to triple check every preparation, and I'd refuse to do it without some kind of healer here with us. Like... Kukuru?" Kukuru sounded like a very potent healer-type. With a click, Audrey lets go of the sextant, which now floats in the air in front of her. She gently guides it up, overhead, its lens angling up towards the sky as it starts whirring a bit. It starts sucking the sky in; not literally, but in the sextant's sudden light, the sky does seem dimmer. A fully 3D map of the visible sky forms around it, shimmering dots and lines connecting stars into constellations. Like a projector, the eyepiece end of its lens beams the map into 2D form, onto the floor for the time being. It's extremely detailed; there's more stars and swirls of celestial dust on the projected map than are visible in the sky. "So... here's the trick. I'm going to use this to project the stars onto the cloak. And I'm going to kind of, blur the line between the sky and here. What we want to do is to trace the map, which will lock the sky onto the fabric. I'm simplifying, but it's not that hard. I've got enough thread and there's different sizes of needles for how comfortable you are." It's the perfect 'sit around and keep talking' kind of activity. And doing the entire cloak would probably take her hours alone.
Angela	''Your last and greatest dark general.'' Angela smiles again at that. She likes this side of Petra. "The greatest. You are the best dark general I've ever known." She is not above such romanticism even if she's not prone to it. She is more comforted placing it on others than indulging herself--but that doesn't mean she's absent it. You can't get along with Love, and see sisterhood with her, without at least being something of a romantic. Angela had her romanticism torn from her--not the other way around. ''I'm not gonna die'' Angela quirks her head at Petra, especially since she frequently talks about how she won't make it to twenty five, a day--of course--that's closer in Angela's mind than farther away. It's true. Hokma being asleep means there will be bound to be difficulty ''fixing'' her if she breaks but she points out, "My body is becoming gradually less than he designed--seemingly with the more 'Light' I collect. While I doubt I've changed enough that he couldn't repair me, I could lose my eye at this point, at least--Though if I am capable of eating now than it seems likely ... Well, I haven't taken a look, exactly, but it could still be quite unpleasant in the future if I have to rely on Benjamin for fixes. I'd rather avoid tempting fate--at least until normal rrepairs--or healing--can suffice." She wonders if she should pose for the camera. She thinks about it, but is loathe to do the heart sign as it'd demand that she let go of Petra's hand. So she just offers the camera a ''thumbsup''. Angela has to rely on grim humor sometimes just to move into the next day. It helps her deal with it. It is not an action of prevention or a cure but something closer to a treatment plan. "I do not intend to die either. At the very least, I should live first." Angela says. "Of course, as I told you, Librarians are not allowed to die." "...Like a battery... If the Light is what sustains me, then a 'Light Battery'... Haha, I'm solar powered." Angela ''says'' Haha she doesn't laugh. ''If I'm off by even a bit...'' "I trust your skill." Angela says. "Please understand that I have no issue placing my safety in your hands-- ... but that does not mean I would not want to take precautions and careful testing. ... And my trust is not simply because of your power rating or academic achievements." She trusts Audrey because she thinks Audrey would take her well being seriously. That's more important than being a 'Doctor' or whatever. The sky map appears, Angela breathes in a brief sharp intake of air--the stars, for a moment, reflecting in her own eyes if dimly because of the color...She marvels at it. "I see... Impressive." Angela says. "We can discuss complexities later, but .... Locking the sky into fabric.. You make it sound like one of the old fables."
Petra Soroka	"Just promise if it becomes too much you'll say so and we can step back inside, Petra?" Petra rolls her eyes, which doesn't look very convincing when the calamus of another feather pokes out from between her lips. She pulls it out and stuffs it into her pocket before responding. "I promise, I'm not going to literally die for no reason. I have plenty of good reasons to die, I'm not going to waste them by being stupid when there's a way to be safe just a few steps away." "If I'm off by even a bit, it might lash out, or you might set it off-- and if you're off by even a bit, I couldn't predict what would happen." "Well, if Carmen lashes out at me, then I've got some fucking words to say to her too." Petra grumbles, shifting forwards to sit on her knees so she has a better view of the sextant as Audrey fiddles with it. "Honestly, if baiting the Tree into trying to kill me is what it takes, then I need to get ahold of her anyways." Petra pauses and reconsiders the sensation of the Light as she's experiencing it right now, and Angela's Distortion both in her own and Angela's experience. "... Maybe not, actually. That part might not be a good idea." "Kukuru... would be happy to be included, I guess. Would it really be the kind of damage she could deal with, though? Her stuff works with, like, nanomachines, so if I get psychically exploded or whatever, she's kind of--" Petra cuts off and screws up her face like she's about to break down coughing again, and then a few tense seconds pass where her aura ramps up to prickle and itch like needles under skin. Then she opens her eyes again, a little teary from effort, but with no extra feathers. "See? I'm handling it. I guess, there's no harm in having Kukuru around. And it'd make her happy." "... Haha, I'm solar powered." "Like Superman," Petra says, as if that means anything. Realizing that it doesn't she waves her hand, forced into exposition by trying to make a joke. "He's an Elite that lives in a world next to the one I was born in. I thought he was lame, but he's super famous. Hey-- actually, come to think of it, are comics my thing or Hod's thing?" "What we want to do is to trace the map, which will lock the sky onto the fabric." "Oh... wow...." Petra's struggles with maintaining the coherence of her psyche through the outgoing tide of Light are momentarily forgotten. She gapes at the display, running her fingers through the three-dimensional projection of the sky like it's water. "That's so pretty..." "I feel like... how do I say this. I feel like there's something that's so... special, about these sorts of long magic traditions-- I mean, Traditions especially, but I've seen a few things that have the same feeling off your world. That, like... there's something so concretely rooted in the truth of the nature of the world and humanity, in magic that's been passed down for so long, because that sense of 'magic' is always intrinsic in the, um, in the thing before there's any real spells, or anything. Looking at this, and looking at how well we can see the sky out here, and everything, it's like... of course it's magic. You can feel that it's magical, just like people ten thousand years ago did, because that's just natural for your... 'spirit', I guess." Petra reaches out to accept a needle to get started, but first, she has to unclasp some of her Silver and wrap her wrist in some of the metal, to stabilize it against her occasional tremors. "Alright, then, let's get to work."
Audrey Basque	PHONE: Phoning Petra Soroka, Audrey Basque, clearly trying to change the subject, "... do you think people look at us and think I'm some kind of noble and you're the knight protecting me?" PHONE: Petra Soroka says, "Oh-- oh my god, that's really cute. M-maybe? Maybe, actually. People might recognize me from the battle before, but...." PHONE: Petra Soroka says, still rambling, because apparently Audrey's subject change hit a particular Mark, "I-I mean, not that I'm a knight properly or anything, but I do try to take that role you know? I think it's pretty cool to-- to champion someone in a fight, or be that sort of, lone defender to exiled or traveling nobility, or... you know!" Audrey giggles at the thought of Petra as a dark general, only because she's been exposed to an entirely different side of Petra. "I don't know. Noble knight suits you quite well too, Petra. I can't imagine you wearing big, thorny black armor like that. That cute outfit you already have though...!" It gets Audrey's mood back up a bit, especially after Petra insists she has "good reasons to die", and that she's totally fine, for realsies, ignore the feathers. "But alright. I'm going to need all the books you have on the Tree of Light, and a full lecture on it too. I don't want to come at this blind. This might take some time to prepare, but if you think it'll work... I trust you two." Not that it's her decision to make. It's Angela's, really. She's the one taking the greatest risk here. You make it sound like one of the old fables. "Well, on my world at least, most of those fables are written accounts of real things people could do. The greatest lie ever told to humanity is that the fantastical is fiction. It let us Enlightened hide our existence for a very, very long time," Audrey explains, as she begins placing the cloak under the projection, and adjusts the sextant so that the projection is mostly contained on the cloak. She nods to Petra, with an enthusiastic mhm! "The oldest Traditions are always fascinating to look at because of precisely that. Multiple peoples, separated halfway across the world, developing similar beliefs and systems by looking at the world around them. Each a bit different, painted by their culture, but when you peel the paint off, the same symbols and truths show up. Imagine if electricity was invented by five different people, on the same day, in five different ways."
Angela	''If Carmen lashes out at me, then I've got some fucking words to say to her too.'' "Carmen wouldn't lash out. She wants humans to be more able to live freely, acting tyrannical is anathemic to her goals. She's more likely to pout than punch." Angela says. "...She is not really in a position to inflict that kind of harm anymore anyway." She studies Petra carefully. No more feathers come--nobody else would be able to walk that thin line between corroding entirely and staying oneself for so long, right? ... She already has her eyes, The Beauty of Ash already has feathers. She worries if the reflection becomes too much like her then maybe... "I am not exactly ready to invite Flamel back right now either. The level of pressure this world puts on him..." She trail off. "In any event, his solutions have a tendency to be extreme, at least that I've seen." Angela has always felt the Light, to the point that she doesn't really feel it's there. It's actually easier for her to feel it through Petra--and that agony when she pulls away. That ebb and flow of existing. Like it's flickering, or the bulb is... "But I have no objection to letting Kukuru be happy even if it's just by indulging her a little. She has been very consistently determined to help me even through very un-Kukuru like situations." And she does at least remember what Lilian tells her which is better than most in Angela's view. ''Like Superman'' Angela stares at Petra noncomprehedningly. Are comics--she has no idea. "Well she certainly hasn't met this Superman. I've never heard of him. I bet he isn't that super." She nods along with Petra's observations on traditions of magic. Yes, she thinks, the classical magic just feels ... fascinating. EGO certainly has some technical variables to it all, but it isn't really the same as like this. Abnormalities might be Stories but this is science more than art. And Angela is feeling more inclined towards art as of late. "Petra feels more knightlike than most, and I think she'd wear a cape and suit of armor well--I suppose the people of Elibe would know better, of course, than I would." The idea of visiting Lucius is inspiring to her. All the dragons she knows eat people or are generally sour, she only knows one dragon that she has any sort of positive feeling for and that's because the dragon is also a librarian. But Fae seems strangely perfect? And they have real magic books. "...The experts in the process--at least ones still alive--would be Hod, Yesod, and Malkuth. They were the actual researchers involved, after all. Benjamin knows machinery, but he does not know about the Light--he had no hand in the design of my mind--though he might know a little just from being that close to Ayin and having to design systems to interface with it." She frowns thoughtfully. "But Hod would be better than a book but--" A thought occurs to her. "...Ah, but there are Carmen's notes. They are a little messy, but I can provide those to you if you'd like. They were still in Ayin's office." ''Most of those fables are written accounts of real things people could do.''
Angela	"Tie a rope to the moon and pull it to bring it closer to the world so we have seven days in a week? Even we have stories like that but it's difficult to imagine them as real--especially since we don't have that sort of 'magic'. ... Least as far as I know. Every ounce of power this world has--was no doubt built on blood and sacrifice. I cannot imagine other Wings being any kinder than Lobotomy Corp." She imagines they'd tear her apart before killing her to study her components or just throw her to the Head. Wings are fine with cheating but they no doubt would enjoy the risk even having her corpse would bring them. "If I can help with sewing, I'd be happy to as well." Angela ends up moving closer as Petra does. "But I will be very, very cautious."
Petra Soroka	"Noble knight suits you quite well too, Petra." It's obvious that Petra remembers the same conversation when Audrey says that line. She chokes and immediately turns pink, trying to hide her face behind her hands (and an extra Angela hand held in hers). The heated feeling of energy flowing from Petra's skin into Angela's fluctuates for a second, then ratchets up slightly, feeling like it's suffusing Angela's body with warmth. "Th-that's--! I-I don't know about 'noble'! You-- you know, I actually do have evil-looking black armor, with-- oh, you haven't seen me use Sting Silver before, have you? That's my Kamen Rider armor, and it is black and menacing." Petra huffs. 'Cute', though..... Petra doesn't protest by insisting that the outfit they're making for Audrey is cute too. It is, obviously; and there's a kind of lighthearted joy in dressing up for adventures like this that Petra is thrilled to have someone else who's willing to do it with her, but there's a catch in Petra's mind that stops her from blurting it out, and it isn't something as simple as 'embarrassment'. Rather, compliments from Petra towards a woman are inherently impure, in a way that Audrey has already been afflicted by far too many times for either of their comforts. Even platonic affection from Petra is a form of defilement, and to spare Audrey from having to endure more, Petra holds back the words before she says them. "Petra feels more knightlike than most, and I think she'd wear a cape and suit of armor well--" She's still flustered by the suggestion, though. Partly, at least, it has to be because of her inheriting Lilian's own fixation with the idea, and feeling like any comparison to Lilian is an enhanced compliment in its own right. But Petra's attachment to the idea is strong even when the thought of Lilian carries more negative feelings than usual, like right now. "W-well-- I can make armor with the morphmetal too. Remember that time Xion and I beat up Proudpick? A-and... with a cape, though...." "But alright. I'm going to need all the books you have on the Tree of Light, and a full lecture on it too." "... Man. On the Tree. I don't really know... if there is... much of anything, really. Some hypothetical information at least." Petra wobbles her hand, unsure. "It's kind of the first time it's ever happened. And it only happened a couple months ago. Everyone who studied it got their brains blasted ten years ago or is dead. Maybe Mom's notes will have something, but... even then, those are from a decade and a half ago, and she never saw the Tree." "...She is not really in a position to inflict that kind of harm anymore anyway." "Ange..." Petra says slowly, pausing in her stitching. "... I'm still pretty sold on the idea that the Pianist was her. At the very least, she's kind of fine with a lot of incidental harm." Petra winces, and plucks a few more feathers out of the skin of her wrist. Little spots of blood stain the cuff of her sleeve, and where she pulled out feathers on her neck, they've rolled down into the collar of her shirt even after she wiped them away. "Ech. I could build a whole fucking bird out of this." "If I can help with sewing, I'd be happy to as well." "Mhm! We might be a bit slow, but... I don't mind spending the time. We'll just have to finish before I keel over dead."
Audrey Basque	Petra's sudden reaction doesn't go by unnoticed by Audrey. If anything, she's happy to be the one ribbing, for a change-- Petra had had the upper hand for a while now, it was about time for a quick switchup. "Hmmmm... no, no, I definitely remember the discussion being about being a champion, and defending the innocent! Quite noble, as befits a noblelady's knight," she says, with a hint, a smidge, the tiniest splash of coy joy. Whether she means herself, or Angela-- or both-- as the noblelady is left to Petra's interpretation. Since she doesn't know much about Carmen, she decides not to get involved in that-- but she notes it's related too the Pianist, somehow, and the Tree, and the Light, and... "mom"? So much to learn about this City and its recent past alone. "Notes would be better than nothing. I could, but I'd rather not, poke blindly at a space seemingly as powerful as the Tree, especially with your lives and goals at stake. I think... my skill is up for the task, but I want every advantage I can get. I owe it to you both not to mess up." She looks at Angela pensively, on the matter of fables. "I don't know about the Moon being pulled closer, but... those stories, usually, have at least a piece of truth in them. I mean, our Moon is..." She stops herself. "Erm. Well. Let's just say it's nice to be able to stare directly at the one you have here, without being reminded of warnings and stories." Blood and sacrifice, though... "Yeah... that sounds like this City alright." Happily, she moves closer to Angela and Petra so she can help Angela pick up the art of sewing. It'd be rude and boring to have Angela just stand aside the entire time! And it might give her something to try other than cooking.
Angela	"Capes, are--I imagine--trickier to work with in reality--I mean Lilian doesn't wear one--but they are stylish--and even potentially useful in the right environments...#-1 FUNCTION (ANIS) NOT FOUND Plus, frankly, Angela does feel oftentimes like Petra is a knight protecting her though in this case it's less because she's a noble and more because she's a ''caster''. Different sort of environment. Magical girls can be knights too, of course, but that's like two whole different fields. She can wear a nice suit of armor and a cape too, obviously, as part of that. "...Ah I should check in with Dimo too." She adds it on the pile of her enormous to do list. She smiles at the memory of Petra beating up a squirrel. "I remember."Of course she does. It's not an unfond memory. Aidan grinds at her even more than Sarracenia, frankly, mostly by virtue of seeming to forget what she says to him half the time, often not long after she said it. Angela hates being ignored and will send a robot to 'helpfully' remind you why she shouldn't be. It is, for some reason something of a trigger for her. ''those are from a decade and a half ago.'' "True. The fact is, there isn't really research on the Tree of Light itself because it was not really supposed to exist. There is, however, research on EGOs. I know you want to be cautious, but I do not believe that avoiding experimentaiton entirely is possible." ''I'm still pretty sold on the idea that the Pianist was her.'' e"....I know but ... It could just as easily be..." She does not finish that thought. "...An accident. If it is similar to my own moment of ... Corroding, then it's also possible he did not actually have what it took to withstand it. Even if Carmen ''chose'' him, that does not mean she wanted him to do what he did. It's hard to imagine... WHY anyone would want that." Angela cannot even imagine! "Random mass slaughter of civilians--what would she even gain?" ''I could build a whole fucking bird out of this.'' "Morbid, but creative." Angela says. "I am not sure if plucking will 'slow the process'--So ... as long as we finish before that point." She gives Petra a squeeze of a hand at 'Mom'. Angela uses 'Carmen' more than Mom but it is how she sees her. "I do appreciate your caution, however." She tells Audrey. "Let's say that Lobotomy Corp had many stories about very brilliant people taking very stupid risks because they thought it would push science forward." Stories have a bit of truth to them. "Then it is good we have Hod now to study literature. We'll need to know much about the truths hidden by faeries as we would the truth hidden by history."_ Angela is a quick learner, but is overly cautious by nature. She won't make mistakes, but she does look to Audrey a bit more than she might need to. But she doesn't seem to mind it. She won't let this City scar her, she promises herself, as much as she can prevent. She just hopes it isn't already too late.