Scene #6002: MISSION: The Line (6)

Owner	Pose
Starbound Flotilla	THE LINE SOUTHERN END Sunseeker's in about the same condition as when it was last left, and people have had plenty of time to finish up shopping and such. But the administrative upper structure is the site of today's visit. Let's skip over the formalities: Weapons don't need to be turned over or anything silly like that, there's no particular restriction on who out of the Flotilla's gangbunch of chums can get to come along, and the structure itself is quite simple. A sort of temple-like building with a large crystal obelisk, with traditional etched and engraved Avian stone interiors, mark the aesthetic of the path from the entrance to the holo-conference room. Kura takes those who've chosen to meet with the Engine King into the smooth-walled chamber, where the jewels that stud the interior light up. Like the lost holodecks of yore, the area fills with terrain. Specifically, a throne room of sorts. The throne room looks less like a palace's central chamber and more like a garage; racks and racks of vehicle parts and tools line the walls, while central area hoists up a singular, massive construct on automobile jacks. It looks like a combination road-hog motorcycle and the greatest muscle car ever wrought by man. The engine's supercharger bulges out of the front segment like it's an overflowing fluid. The body of it is open, constructed more like a heavy bike than a car. The back hosts exhaust systems so numerous and tangled that they look like ten metal trees trying to grow in the space all at once. It is a deep, crimson red. All four wheels are tough, heavy, and gleaming with care. The Engine King himself is sitting atop the Dragster Throne, one hand on the wheel and the other braced against the back of his luxurious seat. He is the picture of a motorhead, with a black leather jacket that perfectly manages to match a pompadour at least a foot long, maybe more. There are at least five crowns along the heavily-styled hair, encircling the pompadour, each of which bearing etched symbolism of vehicles, and many featuring a few pieces of megadiamond along their tines. His leather jacket is slung over his shoulders like the cloak of a king. His tanned skin is occasionally marked by oil; his face looks sharp enough to be technically defined as aerodynamic. He's one of the few humans around The Line, it seems. His greeting is casual. He's currently smoking. "What's your tale, nightingale? Heard a couple of you freams have been helping some fuel runners of mine goose it to the fifth. Was wondering if Kura ever get to put you on the line and I could see if you were about to be earthbound with me for the big drag coming up." Somehow, the translation effect is not going to be much help here.
Corona Arclite	Far be it from Corona to put her newest gadget to use right away ... Though while walking around it's little more than a pair of extra fancy Novakid style goggles. But it's a good way to get use to wearing them, after a little tweaking to the strap to accomidate the fact that her head isn't made of a giant bulb of stellar miasma. Tiny found herself a bike, Kotone found some stuff, and a lot of it was paid by a chunk of teammate generousity. But now the shopping trip was over and it was time to reconveine with the others to get back to business. Though it's not two steps into seeing the activation holo-view that Corona pauses and lets out a whistle. "Tarnation." Her tail flicks a few times as she grabs the goggles with one hand and pulls them up to be able to see more clearly of the throne room that looks more like her machine shop back home. "Already like this hombre's style, Ah'd feel rawht at home." As for the Engine King himself... well, the crowns are kind of tacky but we won't say that to his holo-transmission face. Is he really a king? That throne is certainly appropriately boss though. The rest of the wrench monkey assemblem certainly works.. wait, would Apex find 'wrench monkey' to be racist?.. whoa, Corona, mind wandering. Reign it back in girl. A long ear flicks as the fox tilts her head aside for a moment. Ticks fingers off as if repeating words in her head, where 'big drag' is what finally snaps into place. She leans a little closer to the others. "Ah reckon he's talkin' 'bout gettin' closer to the Treasure." That's the biggest Big Drag he'd be talking about, right?
Starbound Flotilla	THE LINE NORTHERN END Third Gear is long accessible by those who've chosen to reach this place; they'll find that certain artifacts recovered in Second Gear, as well as the help of a strange friend they've made, give them well enough acceleration to reach Third Gear of The Line's northern reaches, which means getting to one of the mobile cities therein. Over rolling fields of megadiamond that gleam with doppler-effect-shifted light, one can be sighted most easily. A hovering city that has been formed over something that looks like a huge military boat. This is more an Apex site, certainly, and it shows. It's not exclusively populated by Apex though. A number of Avians and Hylotl are present as well, and humans are scattered throughout. Even from a distance, one would be able to tell it is utterly utilitarian. Heat recyclers, almost no wasted material, and probably whatever the closest thing is to 100% clean energy that The Line has is keeping this thing in motion. It has secured entrances for cargo and returning riders, but the visitor's friend has codes in the visitor's grasp. That, or the digital defenses are inadequate to begin with. Either way, densely packed micromanaged cargo and rider receiving areas are available to make a landing at, and getting the attention of Important People is merely a matter of using that new friend of sorts, though how that will be handled is up to the visitor to the north.
Staren	Arriving through the warpgate, Staren is dressed normally -- for him, anyway. He manages to not laugh at the King's appearance -- an overly long pompadour with five crowns on it is pretty ridiculous, but not uproariously so. Initially, Staren's not sure what to say. Eventually he settles on: "So... what do you believe the Treasure does, and what will you do with it once you've got it?" He adds a quick respectful-ish 'Your highness' if the King looks annoyed at his directness and lack of formality.
Kotone Yamakawa	So here she was once more on The Line. She's come to meet with the Engine King along with Corona. She's wearing the riding leathers made from Turbo Fauna and has her goggles pushed up for the moment. She looks to the holo display and does bow to the king, after all, it costs nothing, to be polite right and she listens. Kotone's gearhead is a bit rusty given everything's gone hardcore digital on her world. "It wasn't any trouble really to aid your runners and if you're talking about the treasure? We are trying to reach it yes. I am also Kotone Yamakawa and it's good to meet you." Kotone's mind wanders a bit as she tries to think what has broken this part of the Multiverse like this? She's never seen anything quite like it and knows of no records of something like this from before the whole darn thing voimited up a few years back. She also thinks about how much work went into the King's throne, it is pretty darn impressive.
Leyanne	Leyanne saunters into the holodeck, looking the Engine King up and down. "Your majestsy." she comments if neccessary, correcting Staren. "I wouldn't mind it. I mean, isn't the point of a race to win it, then move on to the next challenge? Racing for the sake of racing's stagnancy, unless you're doing it with mates." She adds her two cents. "The name's Leyanne Mace... most folks call me Tiny."
Orchid	"Orchid, Paladin, Maverick Hunter, and part-time rush-hour DJ," the reploid identifies herself. "Here to figure out what's going on, and just what we may want to do about things." She's in her normal combat dress, which... well, it actually works as being fancy enough for show, casual enough for comfort. "My personal preference is what will burn the fewest bridges, but I'm more of a diplomat than some."
Starbound Flotilla	The Engine King takes a heavy drag of his cigarette. Staren's the only one who's asked the question here, and he's going to give him a clearer answer than the first part; the ex-slave doesn't seem especially upset about the lack of a term of respect. "The rock's a real kookie, radioactive thing, a kick if you want to chase it. And if you eat the heat enough, it can do good for you, soups up the soul. The sweat of it, though, is when it's screaming west, some people want to goose it bad enough that they floor their whole civilization. I've seen three whole societies total themselves trying to get that thing in less than five years, man." He flicks his cigarette. "And I've seen what happens when some bad news wants to take their tank all the way to a rocket. Too many people get the royal shaft, you dig?" He gestures a bit at Leyanne. "Tiny digs it. This thing kooks peoples' minds out. It needs to /go/, is what it needs. I want to blow off that rock and get people to agitate the gravel around here, they're stuck in a rut going around the whole damn multiverse." He looks to Kotone. "What about you, babe, you planning on grabbing, or are you planning on breaking? Don't you start getting in the rut too."
Orchid	"Okay, I can see why you'd want to destroy it," Orchid says, considering the King's words. "But that just invites a new question. How do you intend to destroy it? And how do you get to the treasure to destroy it without destroying your ride? Considering that the party bus in question is carrying cities." Yeah, she's picking up, if not on the exact lingo, the mood of the way the king is speaking.
Staren	It takes a long moment for Staren to translate that. Understanding dawns, and he looks shocked. "You want to destroy it? Is that even possible? I mean... I suppose of course it is, but the amount of power you'd need to do it... I have no idea what that would even LOOK like." Staren rubs his chin. "I'm here to investigate an oddity in the Multiverse, and as always to see if any power to help people can be gained from it. You've surely already seen the military and civilian applications of things like megadiamond and hyperglass, but they're new to ME and to most of the Multiverse." Staren takes a breath. "Frankly, I was concerned when I first heard about an 'Engine King' whose entire society was feeding him the power to take the treasure... So I'm relieved that you, too, are worried by such things and aim to stop them. While I could no doubt find ways to use the Treasure, if it were split back up into its component parts, to do good across the Multiverse, there'd certainly be a lot of fighting over it in that case, and I can agree destroying it so noone can chase it anymore would make the world better than it is now."
Dexter Arkwright	Dexter Arkwright is here. He's a little late, and otherwise quiet while everyone's talking for the most part - he's still in a fancy suit, though the brace has finally been taken off his arm after a bit more time with the nanobandages. The briefcase that makes up his suit is in hand, as he hears something he clearly doesn't like. He steps forward to interrupt Orchid after she's done. "Woah, woah, woah. We're not destroying the Treasure, come on, guys. That's such a waste! We need to claim it, harness it, see what we can make out of it. If it 'soups up the soul', that's good, isn't it? A lot of potential there, and you /never/ waste potential! So what if civilizations have collapsed? Those who can't handle the pressure collapse. It's life." Staren gets a big frown from Dexter in the process. "Aren't you an egghead type of guy, Staren? Even if people fight over it, we just have to win. Bing, bang, treasure's ours. Destroying it's for quitters." The blonde rubs his hand through his hair. Hopefully someone will take Dexter's side in this.
Kotone Yamakawa	Kotone Yamakawa says "True, if there's no prize it's just running about isn't it evne it's so simple as beating the person your racing, right Tiny?" She looks back to the king for a moment. "People are stuck in a cycle of casing this thing then falling? I don't want it this sounds like something that needs to eat the street and be left behind as everyone else moves forward. I seen my own world obessed with certain things I have no desire to see this keep going and more people get fed into the engine for fuel to this thing."
Leyanne	Leyanne holds up her hands "I never said anything bout destroying it. Just reaching it, and ending the threat. I don't really care whether that's by destroying it, harnessing it, it doesn't matter... so long as it's not a threat anymore, to be honest with you guys." She nods at Kotone.
Corona Arclite	All that takes even Corona a long time to muddle through and translate. She does cringe at the mention of entire mobile cities crashing and burning, though being an engineer it may be as much at the logistics of such a catastrophic wreck as it is at the lives caught up in it. Possibly innocent ones, done in by the city leaders' fixation on the Unstoppable Force... But eventually she gets to the point of it, with a little help thanks to his agreeing with Tiny's statement. "Y'all want the thing outta here because everyone is obsessing with it, instead of racing for the sake of what racin' is meant to be, then." Followed by a nod and a jabbing of a thumb in Leyanne's direction. "Yeah. Gettin' rid of the threat first and foremost. We can hammer out the hows when we see more of what we's dealin' with."
Zwei	<<Now this is more like it!>> \|\|These are the movements of someone who intends to win.\|\| <<Yeah, seriously. This area is full of wackos who just throw stuff at a wall until it sticks or it blows up.>> \|\|The 'Queen' appears to be significantly qualified. Allowing her vassal to live has been fruitful.\|\| <<Almost more like 'rescuing' really. You know how bloodthirsty those types get.>> \|\|The question is whether to bring the Flotilla aboard this venture.\|\| <<Ehhhhh . . .>> \|\|When we have won.\|\| <<When we've won.>> <<"Wow! Just look at this place! This is on a whole different level than the Engine King! I guess it just takes a certain level of smarts to really see the beauty of the Line, huh?">> Weiss says aloud, following the particular samurai that Zwei had captured and then spent a day interrogating^5^5^5 medically treating. Though it had spun a story about having seen the light and wishing to change sides after witnessing the warrior's righteous power, upon actually seeing the operation, its mind(s) is pretty quickly made up. Since drawing attention is sort of the idea, Weiss sits atop Asche's shoulder as he stomps around the glassy flats,coming in as something like the substitute for the mecha the Hyotl had lost to the battle earlier. <<"So you're really important, right? Who's your direct boss? I want to see about getting you a replacement after that misunderstanding before, and it'll help if I'm there to make sure they're not too harsh on you for losing it to a giant pile of muscle-headed lunatics, right? It's not an easy thing understand unless you actually know them. Besides, I have all the video proof!">>
Starbound Flotilla	"Blowing it off is easy, man." The King chuckles and gives his first big, proper grin. "That thing's all about absolutes. If you want the Treasure to stack up a total, all you do is match its speed, beat its speed, and then get the next section of track set to exclude its platonically ideal nature with a little burst of intense stabilization with a bit of high-fidelity observation." Very, very briefly, the Engine King's lingo went from being a hot-rodder to being some kind of exotic energies and exorealities professor. Apparently that pompadour isn't too tight for his brain. "Just gotta lay a patch and then /lay a patch/, you dig?"
Starbound Flotilla	Dexter gets a look from the King. Bushy brows collect on the upper shelf of his face, furrowing in a harsh and negative way. "Nah." He says, simply. "You're not getting with it. It sounds like a blast, until it's your world diving nest-first into hell. It's a road hazard, it's not near boss enough to cancel those tombstones, and I'm gonna be clutching it right out of the road, clyde, and that's a fact." His tone goes from friendly to stern, and even sounds... regal, despite his weird modes of speech.
Starbound Flotilla	The King flicks something out of a pocket -- a comb, of course -- and adjusts his pompadour casually while he talks to Kotone and Corona. "You're hip to it, babes. Fixation's unhealthy, and this is a real fixation. I want this thing agitating gravel straight into nonexistence at this point; I think if twenty years of this hasn't turned up anything but stacked-up corpses, it's time for it to split. Glad hearing you might be earthbound for this." He points the comb at Tiny, but not in a threatening way (as if one could threaten with a comb). "But I don't see any way it'll stop pulling in pain if you grab it instead of burying it, Tiny." He seems to finish up his hair now. "Any chance I can count on you to help me pop a clutch and close this?"
Corona Arclite	By the time the Engine King has finished with that Corona has already gotten her C-Pad open and fiddling away with the various settings and imputs on the device. "So somehow we need to pass... less of an object and more of a constant in a force of nature. And throw the metaphysical equivilent of tire spike strips in front of it." She starts to pace a little back and forth while the device continues to bleep bloop blip in response to her adjustments. "This is going to take some time to computate." In much the same way she's gone fully into Southern Fried Genius Serious Mode. "Somehow pull this off and Newton, Einstein and Hawkings will all be rollin' in their graves!"
Staren	Staren looks to Dexter. "There are plenty of other ways to help people in the Multiverse. Trying to get this thing, which already has people who are more knowledgeable about it fighting over it? It'd be like... hinging a plan for helping people on being able to collect all the Dragon Balls and make a wish. Better to instead go around the Multiverse finding things that are underutilized and underrecognized and recognizing and using them. I'm not saying it's absolutely the wrong thing to do, and if getting the Treasure were the only way to make the Multiverse better I'd be all for it." Staren shakes his head. "But I don't believe it is. Besides, we don't even understand how to split it back up into its pieces. It may not even be possible. In its current form, the treasure is... well, maybe not useless, but it's not worth fighting over." Staren turns back to the King, pauses to understand, then looks amazed. "HOW? You're talking about... altering the nature of reality around it to make it cease to exist! How can you possibly do that?" Staren starts pacing around in a circle. "Althooough... we know there's something in the multiverse, that allows platonic ideals and other concepts to impose their form on physics and matter with their own particles and logical rules. Could it be possible to do this in reverse? Destroy things that are too high-concept to be explained by the interaction of simple, fundamental forces? You're talking about an extremely powerful anti-magic weapon..." Staren looks to the King again. "I'm sure the exact workings are top-secret, but if there's anything you can tell us about the process... there might be ways we can use it for good!" Staren glances to Dexter with a grin. "See? The TRUE treasure isn't The Treasure -- it's the workings of the weapon that can destroy it! With such processes... well, who knows! We have yet to discover what we could do with them!"
Leyanne	Leyanne looks thoughtful and listens. "Stupid idea." She says, thoughtfully. "Instead of destroying it... why not... move the mega - no tha is a stupid idea." She continues to think. "Destroy it, harness it, like I said, so long as the threat is done." She shrugs, with a bit of a sigh, listening to staren. "When you put it like that, my plan doesn't sound as dumb. What about moving the megaplanet away from the object?"
Starbound Flotilla	Orchid's last question is answered by a gesture around. "The Refinery's how I plan to get near enough on it, babe. It's the Fuel Ark I used to be enslaved at. So long as it feeds my rocket here, the Dragster Throne, with the enriched fuel while I'm down the halfpipe, I can flat out straight to the end of the Line." He pats his car like it's a treasured child. "Ever see a plane get refueled in mid-air? Dig that, it's the idea." He revs the car briefly, as if to punctuate what he's saying. "As for how I reach speed?" He winks. "Hot-rodding." He says that word with the weight of an atomic bomb. Somehow it sounds exactly like a real answer that will work. The man's car looks like the kind of thing that could accelerate to hundreds of times the speed of light using a proper combustion engine and a freeway.
Corona Arclite	Corona Arclite doesn't stop in her thoughtful back and forth, still working her analyzer with one hand even as she holds up the other. "Maintaining fuel conveyance in mid-transposition is easy. Just need to be sure the systems can keep it flowing fast enough to not clog the workings at superluminal speeds. That's a problem more of logistics."
Dexter Arkwright	The Engine King gets Dexter frowning even sharper at him. "Is that a fact? Well, it's a fact that I'm going to claim the Treasure, so you'll have to see about that. You're getting ahead because of /us/, hipster, so don't even think we can't do this without you." Dexter practically spits, before turning to Staren. "Not possible? Staren, we're the /Concord/! I joined up because you guys understand that's not a thing! We haven't even tried to claim it, considering breaking it before we've even reached it, because a bunch of do-nothings without the potential are incapable of grasping it. /We're/ fantastic!" The idea of the gun briefly has Dexter's eyebrows rising...but it's not enough. "Sure, but they're not mutually exclusive! You can have both the Treasure-destroying gun and the Treasure! We can't know if it's possible to split the Treasure until we do, and I adamantly /refuse/ to destroy it. That's nothing but a waste." Dexter turns to the group, reaching a hand out. "Come on, one of you has to agree with me. We're great enough that we can do more with this than they can! If you want to make a weapon that can destroy the Treasure, fine, but don't /actually/ destroy the Treasure. We should be trying to find a way to harness it instead." The blonde's a little desperate. Hopefully someone here will have his side?
Orchid	"In-air refueling requires matching speeds," Orchid says, humming to herself. "Staren's got some good points there. At least about the chances for beating the locals to the prize. On the other hand, getting the fuel via rocket packets or something... No, a rail gun, use the mass of the refinery as reaction mass. But what about the rules of the road. Will your rocket be dealing damage to those too close? And will you need to clear a path while getting up to speed?" There's a part of her afraid that the hot rod is in fact equipped with an Orion drive. As far as Orchid is concerned, destroying the treasure is an acceptable result, as might be just destroying the Force, the Object seems much safer.
Riva Banari	Riva's been quiet all this time, thinking, considering, pondering, an unusually serious expression on her face as the Engine King makes his case. "Don't get tied up, Staren." She comments offhandedly. "Your thoughts are going off the rails like a crazy train." She gestures to the holographic projection. "Do you know what's going to happen if you destroy the Treasure? That's an incredible amount of power, and if it gets shattered, all that power's going to have to go /somewhere/. Do you have a plan for that? I don't want to see the Line get wiped out in some kind of... speedpocalypse. Pedalgeddon? Something like that." She waves a hand. "Also, one more point. The Treasure didn't kill those people. the Treasure didn't force them to destroy their civilizations. People chose to do that themselves. The Treasure doesn't have a mind of its own, as far as I know. I'm not sure if I agree with you. It seems like you're blaming the finish line for people going off the track." She shrugs. "The Treasure wasn't meant to be like this. You know that. Everyone knows that. If it was fixed, split apart, then people could just... take it /away/. Keep them from coming into contact again." She looks unconvinced. "That said, just destroying it might be the fastest way to deal with it." She shrugs. "I'm not a philosopher or a genius. I'm just a painter."
Starbound Flotilla	The Saint of Glass doesn't trust Zwei for good reason, but Weiss' overwhelmingly optimized social abilitiy is enough to convince him to begrudgingly give access; he'll not even make any trouble if provided his own means to speed ahead and confirm returning. Signaling for the area to unlock, he docks, and barring some interference from Zwei, heads in to speak to some of the Apex aboard. Zwei will notice some rather intense stratification between individuals; those with more exposure to that unusual radioactive force seem to have more diverse and specialized roles, while those who have none or very little are relegated to unskilled work or more tedious labor roles. An Apex woman wearing an administrative jumpsuit immediately heads in, delivering a sharp salute that the Saint of Glass returns. "Your Eminence, the Priestess needs a report, she was told you--" "I was. Ready another velocity kit to my parameters." "Yes, Your Eminence. Will you be delivering your report?" "I will. These two will be joining me." "Your Eminence?" "Let them through and give me a full comms suite." "Yes, your Eminence. Right this way." If Zwei intends to follow along, the setup will be rather similar to most holoconferencing suites she's familiar with, though optimized for efficient data transfer rather than gaudy displays. A smaller chamber, a standardized thing, off a main corridor heading away from cargo. Everything projected within is monochromatic. The woman on the other end of the holoconference, wearing formal robes and a low hood, is displayed is kneeling with her head down in front of what appears to be some kind of medical pod. "Glass. Speak." "I wasn't able to stop them from reaching Third Gear, Your Holiness." "I know. Tell me about what I haven't learned yet." "Full combat report transmitting." "Understood. I'll review your performance." "Thank you, Your Holiness." "Explain the pair you've brought." "They want to speak with you." "Then they will." The Priestess is attentive, if Zwei wishes to speak to them.
Kotone Yamakawa	Kotone Yamakawa gets all the information she needs she knows of fixations like her world's own on cybernetics she'd be dead without but the continuing fixation could lead to ruin. She's seen worlds where it had such as Rory's homeworld, or the world Skynet's from. "Or pulling out their hair at us depending on the world." She grins a little bit at Corona on that one she does get it's going to be getting into an area she's not so versed it but she's down for this. "It's been girding up worlds and somehow the Union and the Feds missed this insanity. We need to clean it up far as I'm concerned about it she looks at Dex for a moment. She looks at Dex for a moment "I have seen things people were so confident they could control it, and then it destroyed them their nation or even their world. Look I'm a mechanic and vehicle designer who fell into all this insanity has been trying to keep going ever since myself. What I do know is a bad bet when I see one." She gives Riva a look in turn too she's not going to take joy in what she wants to do but the risk of keeping it around is too much, too high, to her.
Starbound Flotilla	The Engine King squints a little at Staren, not sure what to make of him. "Kiddo, not sure if you're going to be earthbound on this bash, but you've helped enough I can give you a little if that's the washington you're after." He leans back and gestures with one hand. "Half the point of the Treasure is, it's Immovable. Observe it close enough, and Heisenberg's gonna bring heat. Find out enough about /where/ it is, and it can't /not/ be going; the more you know position, the less you know velocity, because velocity stops being real. When something comes up with a real law, if you're gonna make that scene, you gotta bring your own law to the law fight. Hit it with a law. You need perfect timing though, and you better be faster than what you're after." The logic is exactly what you'd expect a car mechanic to use, but on a quantum level. It's not a general-purpose antimagic, but it IS spoken with expertise. He bushes up his pompadour a little, as if to emphasize the contrast with his quantum physics knowledge.
Corona Arclite	Corona stops mid-pace as her ears snap up, and then turns with such sharpness that you can almost hear the whipcrack as she jerks her arm out to point at the Engine King after his last spheal. "I REJECT YOUR REALITY AND SUBSTITUTE MY OWN!"
Orchid	Orchid looks at Riva, and shakes her head. "The treasure is acting as an attractive nuisance. By drawing so many here, it draws them into a conflict, which only feeds on itself." At the king's explanation, she nods again. "To know it so precisely, I see how that could work. And to know it that precisely would require... well, basically touching it with an electron microscope, almost. Which precludes an observation platform so far away for the relative distance change to be zero." She rolls her eyes a little at Corona... but she's smiling at it.
Starbound Flotilla	"It's Immovable, half the point of it. If it was /just/ Immovable, you could sack it in a pocket universe to move it around, but it's also Unstoppable." Then he looks at her and considers the second plan, tapping his fingers against his chin... "You know, that's not a sour plan. I can't dig a hole in it, Tiny." He says, nodding firmly. "But I don't got the machine for it. If you find a way to do it, you've got my promise I won't sweat for the thing." The only problem is how impossible it is to teleport the entire multiverse at once. That's a legitimately clever third option, albeit one that sadly will never get to pan out.
Leyanne	Leyanne looks thoughtful and also joins the pacing group, going slightly cross-eyed as the King explains hardcore quantum physics in /her/ language. "Sorta like dialling in things on a dyno. If you're going for pure power, you start losing sight of all your pressures as you chase the bigger numbers. Just... the other way around." She also looks ar Riva. "Have you /seen/ the weather patterns either side of the Line? If you look at the sat footage, the effects actually reach /both poles/ of the fuckin megaplanet." She listens to the King, wracking her brains. "Youd either need to... ring the megaplanet in engines, firing in sequence at the right moment to push the megaplanet away, or... basically every teleportation-capable mage in the known multiverse working together, and it'd probably kill a horrific number of them."
Starbound Flotilla	Kura's looking a little uncomfortable, still in the room. Dexter's words are sounding like a far more reasonable, down-to-earth version of the zealotry that has been seen elsewhere. The visible discomfort on the Floran's face, combined with the tenseness on the face of the King, easily display the fact that Dexter will find much more support for his plan elsewhere. It's likely that the Empress and her Priestess have some way they intend to harvest the Treasure, if he wants it, but for now, what the King and Kura have for him is tension and anxiety, respectively.
Zwei	<<Dang.>> \|\|I chose an important one.\|\| <<Well I'd hope he would be, considering the hyperglass mecha and all the screaming about the lineforce and all.>> \|\|That is a terrible phrase.\|\| Zwei certainly doesn't mind some efficiency in transit here. They're present to get a job done, after all, not socialize for fun. Having expected the title of 'Saint' to be more floral than practical, they are pleasantly surprised to see the amount of credential authority it seems to afford here, and how easily it skips past checks. They'd been prepared to smooth things over with an ornery boss causing trouble flor losing this 'velocity kit'. A holoconference room is annoying though. It'd make sense someone this important wouldn't be hanging around third gear, but it makes it so that Zwei can't analyze their neural patterns, and the image fidelity isn't good enough to read microexpressions. \|\|Reallocating 75% power, Weiss-side processing.\|\| <<"Greetings. You don't seem to be one to waste time, so I'll be brief.">> says Weiss, approximating a generic sort of respectful bow, and taking on an entirely different, quick, blank, professional tone, considering Zwei hasn't heard anyone string more than a dozen words together in sequence this entire time. <<"As your report will detail, I originally came to the Line in pursuit if the Treasure like the others. Now that they've thrown in with someone who wants to halt its progress however, I've reconsidered. The heart of the Line is only valuable so long as it moves, and without its radiance, my very reason for being here is pointless. It is abundantly clear that your aim is both nobler and more practical than the rabble I've divorced from.">> <<"I have significantly more experience with, and data on, those newcomers than you do. I can assure you that they will inevitably become the Engine King's only real shot at ending the Line so far. Because it is absolutely imperative that they be stopped, I need the cooperation of this installation in resource allocation, and the cooperation of your personnel in reaching Fifth Gear. There are certain materials I've brought along that are highly receptive to the Line's energies, which your people will find highly agreeable. I have no ultimate motive but to study the Line as it is, and so I need not ask anything materialistic beyond the practical.">>
Staren	Staren looks at Dexter. "It's useless in its current form. You just want it because you know other people want it. You don't even have a plan as to how you could /possess/ or /use/ an object that constantly moves around the superplanet at unstoppable speed. There is magic and technology out there we can actually USE, but you want to make enemies, kick over hyperglass castles, and show off how big we are just for the sake of what, exactly? And for crying out loud, you think the time to TALK about such a plan is when we're in a holoconference with /someone who will be one of your biggest enemies if you do this/?! Holy shit, I'm Staren and even /I/ have more subtlety and deception in me than that!" Staren sighs. "I'm disappointed in you. But if you come back with an actual plan, that somehow accounts for all the shit we don't even know yet about the treasure, and explains how we can not only win but avoid destroying a bunch of societies in the process and HELP people with the treasure, know that I'll listen." Staren takes a deep breath and turns back to the King. "Okay, I KNOW that quantum mechanics isn't supposed to work that way. Physics just describes the state of things." And then, for a second, he's a little housecat. With black fur and wearing a miniature bandana around his neck. And then he's back. "But it's a map. Not the territory. You can point at me and shout 'You just violated conservation of mass! And how the hell did you go on THINKING with a tinier brain, and how did every one of your vital processes continue with the perfection required to not have severe health consequences!' and yet, I fail to disappear in a puff of logic, or explode, or fall over dead. If you're driving somewhere, and you're using an old map that doesn't account for a bridge being washed away in a flood, you can shout 'BUT THERE'S SUPPOSED TO BE A BRIDGE HERE!' all you want, at the top of your lungs, until they fill up with water and you drown, but the truth is there isn't a bridge." Staren takes a deep breath. "Quantum mechanics is _incomplete_. It is not a full model of the multiverse. There are places where its 'laws' do not hold, and this doesn't mean 'the world is wrong', it means the map is." "Are you seriously hinging your whole plan, and the future of the Line, on pointing at the Multiverse and shouting 'Hey! That's WRONG!' and hoping that the workings of the Multiverse will go 'Oh, sorry, our bad' and destroy the treasure?!"
Dexter Arkwright	Dexter can sense he's not wanted, but he doesn't leave before replying to Staren. "No, I'm disappointed in /you/. An actual plan is supposed to be the job of the scientists! I have an actual plan, and that's that we find those who know how to separate it and work with them! I don't care if this lowlife hears us, he's useless if he hasn't already destroyed the Treasure. But you're a /coward/!" Dexter actually huffs as he says it, starting to move towards the door. He doesn't actually think anyone will follow him. "Because it might not be worth it, or might 'cost too much', or something inane like that, you're just throwing away the possibility of getting it so that you can destroy it. Because it 'causes too much fighting' and won't do enough good. How do you know? Maybe an unstoppable object is what we need to take out meteors! Or an immovable object will make the perfect barrier, a shield to protect everyone! I'm sure if you /tried/ wracking your brain you'd find many uses for it." Dexter barely knows Staren but clearly his attitude for the scientist has gone down. "But have it your way. I'll go find someone who'll listen to reason." And then, Dexter storms off without waiting for a reply. He's going to head to someone who can help him, probably either the Flotilla or the church, and ask them where to go from there.
Starbound Flotilla	"The Treasure and all its wailing already clears that road, babe. The Freeway in the middle is reserved by that heat, and it's ringed by the Fuel Arks. I don't have to worry about totalling anyone in front of me 'cause there won't be anyone in front of me -- not for long, anyway, the only person hitting that road with me would be the Empress, and that cold bitch can suck a tire." He gets out another cigarette, clearly stressed out just thinking of his hated foe. Who knows how long they've been at each other's throats.
Leyanne	Leyanne looks at Staren, and listens. "You got a better plan?" She looks at Dexter, listens to his tantrum and shakes her head, flipping him off with her left hand. Which then begins to spin at the wrist, the emphasize the point of 'sit on it and swivel'. "I mean... I'm open to ideas. My plan is defeated by scale so... well... whatever we can think of."
Riva Banari	"I'm not sure what that has to do with what I said." Riva replies to Leyanne. " Riva then turns to Orchid. "So? So does /every/ legendary treasure in the multiverse. People risk themselves because they want to reach for more. They want to become greater than they are. Is ambition a crime? Everyone /wants/ something." She turns to point to the Engine King. "Even he does! There's nothing wrong with that! He wants peace! To put an end to the Treasure! That's legit. But people fight over /anything/. Even what to put on pizza." She pauses and asides, "Chicken bacon ranch with double onion, by the way. Pineapple doesn't belong on pizza." Riva folds her arms. "Anyway. I'm not against the idea. I said that in the first place." A pause. "Soooooo, nothing is on the Freeway, you said. No one gets in the way of the Treasure, right? It's just the Treasure and anyone insane enough to try to make a run for it?"
Starbound Flotilla	Riva gets a solemn headshake from the motorhead at the idea of foisting responsibility primarily onto the people. "Mmmh. Baby, I dunno, I just can't stomach the idea of cubes being that wrong inside on their own. It's too sour for me." He takes another drag of the cigarette. "People are good. I wanna believe people are good to their bones, and the only thing that messes 'em up, the thing that makes them real shucks, is what's going on on the outside. Doesn't really matter if I'm wrong or right here, I don't really think I can take being wrong about it." For a moment, he seems about as melancholic as anyone's gotten to see.
Orchid	"Fair," Orchid says to the King. "And if someone was there, and you didn't hit them, the treasure would." She shakes her head at Riva. "Ultimately, this isn't my call, but I'd support an effort to destroy the treasure on this plan. If it works, yay. If it fails, there isn't much cost in aiming an observer. At least not cost in lives."
Corona Arclite	Corona is just going to ignore the bit of heat being spat between faction-mates. Other than a bit of a yipping laugh at the 'planning is the job of scientists' remark. "Com'n, if everythin' could be planned out science wouldn't have a job no more." Besides that though she's keeping on the matter at hand (and maybe a mental note to keep an eye on Dexter, because Paranoia). Mostly she's keeping her focus on the rest of the exchange, jabbing a thumb in Staren's direction. "He's right, you know. Quantum Mechanics is a field full of holes still..." There's that whipcrack finger point again, though this time just straight up. "And maybe some of them big enough for us to get a supercharged hotrod driven through! Both literally and metaphorically speaking. We can't shout at the universe to change... But that don't mean we can't -make- it change." She lowers her hand to rap the back of it against her device. "The Treasure already warps things askew in the general understanding. M'be we need to worry less about the HOW an' just figure out how we can also exploit it to our own advantage. Y'know." Corona half-turns to gesture at the Dragster Throne. "Like tailgatin' for the slipstreamin' effect."
Starbound Flotilla	The King snaps at Corona when she mentions the fuel conveyance. "You got it, baby. Mass accelerators, all kinds of 'em. We mix up what kinds, depends on the weather and the terrain. It's all logistics, and I got cubes running the gas to make those logistics add up. Was hoping you ginchiest cats would help with that, for the right long green and a good cause, if the bash was razzing your berries enough."
Staren	Staren folds his arms and looks skeptical. "'Razzing our berries'? Really? Are you just making these up now?"
Starbound Flotilla	"That's why you time it right. Gotta get just ahead of it -- where the heat hasn't caught up -- then point the scope. Get it?" The King says, making a broad, easygoing gesture at Orchid's explanation about things like electron microscopes.
Starbound Flotilla	"It's a tough road. You're seeing why I'm sticking with my solution here, you dig?" The King makes a bit of a sad laugh at Leyanne, nodding at her understanding of the issue. Yeah, it'd be TOUGH to make this superplanet-scale issue get solved! Seems that's why he's so focused at this smaller scale... Relatively, anyway.
Riva Banari	Riva nods. "People /are/ good. I agree with you on that. But nothing exists without its opposite, right? The Line is an example of that. Even good intentions cause bad things to happen!" She shrugs. "Hell, happens to me all the time. But I'm not here to convince you otherwise, man. I want to believe that too." She sighs. "I really do." She looks away for a moment. "So... If the Treasure takes a defined, exact path across the superplanet, are you sure we're not doing this backwards? What if you don't have to be faster than the Treasure? Just fast enough to put something in the way that will take care of it on the next lap? Maybe Orchid can get her scope on the thing, and we can get enough info to, I dunno, do the piano wire trick on it or something, Angle it just right and maybe it'll blast the two parts of the Treasure apart. Then you could find a way to destroy it a lot more easily, right?"
Orchid	Orchid chuckles, nods. "I think I could help with that. I've got some skill with telemetry systems, getting the right information to the right people. Up to the instant weather information from distributed surface stations, and such. And yeah, we need to think orbital mechanics here. Start 'in front' of it, and let it catch up. Same with the fuel." Okay, so while Orchid isn't as good on theory, she IS good on the engineering, application, and logistics side.
Starbound Flotilla	The Priestess' head cocks slightly sideways. Her position of prayer shifts, but only slightly. "Greetings." She replies appropriately. "You mean they're allying with the heretic. Unfortunate. A good time to reconsider." She looks slightly more up. The woman under the hood is an Apex of some kind, but it's hard to see anything more than her neck over the hologram. "You're wrong about one thing. The heart of the Line's powers can be preserved and refined if it's stopped. The will of the Empress and the Church of the Holy Combustion is to reach it and split it. We want to take its blessings and forge a nation of enduring power and prosperity." Her posture grows slightly more focused. "You're not wrong. You know more about the intruders than I do. If you want to help, your help will be valued and rewarded. Those willing to brave the Line for the Holy Combustion are worthy of its fruits. We can allocate fuel and materials for velocity gear allowing you to operate in Fourth Gear." "Your Holiness, really? After they helped the--" "I believe the Empress would will it." "Their interest is purely selfish. Should we trust them?" "No, we shouldn't. We should give them opportunity." "Understood, Your Holiness." "Fifth Gear access materials are too rare and valuable. You want a collaboration, as do we. That means earning mutual trust. We will give you what you need to reach a Fuel Ark called the Refinery in Fourth Gear, and the information you require to find what you need there. It belongs to the heretic, and it's well-defended. I advise bringing allies, ours or yours. Make your own decisions. Saint of Glass, guide and assist them. Change your defeat into victory, and be saved by the power of your own might and skill. May the fire bless you." "Yes, Your Holiness. May I serve it well." The Saint of Glass gives a deep bow. Whatever questions of trust there may be, Weiss won't detect any disloyalty. The Priestess remains in her position of prayer, but is still attentive, if Zwei has more to ask of them.
Starbound Flotilla	"Quantum physics isn't supposed to be cool about something roaring around at hundreds of Cs. And then when it happens the wrong way, relativity comes to shoot it down, unless you take a step on the side. There's plenty of proof physics bites back if you bite too hard into it." The King says, closing his eyes and taking the last drag of his cigarette. "You can violate the right kind of physics, sure. You pack your bags and take it with you. But if you start putting physics' peepers hard onto the business, it starts noticing. Ever wonder why giants aren't blood donors? Push the gaps enough, something snaps." He snaps his fingers to emphasize it. "Just like the two-slit electron experiment. Take the road out from under it, the Treasure's gonna have to stable the horses. Best plan I've got, and I've seen it work on the bits and pieces that come off the heat." He gives an easygoing shrug, a confident gesture, seeming to not take what Staren's said about this to heart. As for the commentary on his slang: "Don't be a square." That's not a 'no'.
Corona Arclite	"Sometimes it's almost better to not know everything about something." Corona goes back to click-clacking on her device. "Logistics, sure. Ah can work on some computations now, but Ah gotta see what we're working first hand with the Refinery before Ah can solidfy anything. Don't wanna tread a road yer peeps have already driven, after all."
Starbound Flotilla	"If you're in Fifth Gear on the Freeway, you're running a heavy drag, or you're gonna eat street, baby." The King says, pushing his pompadour up on one side, addressing Riva's question. "That's just a fact. It'll cook anyone in the halfpipe, fourth gear or fifth gear, with all that heat, unless you're going fast enough or you've got a hood on." "But standing in front? You wanna make that scene, you'd better have stones like two wrecking balls. That thing will paste you between gaps on a circuit clock, the timing's too much to keep up with, and so is getting peepers on position. Would have to get the word from the bird on that baby with position precision shorter than a planck length."
Zwei	\|\|That may be the most intelligent thing anyone has said thusfar.\|\| <<Which of the two?>> \|\|Not to place blind trust that all who seek the same thing, seek it for the same reasons.\|\| <<Well, that's basically just smart for not trusting me, I mean.>> \|\|Then those who simply do what I ask without expectations are simply the wisest of them all.\|\| \|\|"And saved you from an impending death blow, I might remind you."\|\| Asche interjects with a bass rumble that brooks no argument. <<"It's just gear. If you're looking to /preserve/ that power outside of its 'natural habitat', It'd certainly be a lot more convenient. Either way, the second I glimpsed that truth of the Line, I decided I'd have nothing to do with bringing it to an end. 'Heretic' might be a suitable word, in connotation.">> Weiss pauses, as if it takes Zwei more than negative metric prefixes of seconds to reach a decision. <<"Fourth Gear has to come before Fifth Gear anyways. I have something in mind. Ideally, it'll make it the rest of the way on its own. If all it takes is divorcing heretics from their misguided fuel, then . . .">> <<"I'll need a lot of hyperglass. Oh, and the most radioactive thing you can part with. Strip it out of a velocity kit if you have to. Heck, strip two.">> \|\|"Likewise, any small quantity of liquid Erchius. The rest may likely be pulled from the Ark."\|\| <<"I think even you'll be impressed with what some creative veneration of the Holy Combustion looks like. Besides, if that's all it takes to see where I'm going with this, well, you know you want to~">> \|\|"I anticipate the Saint desires his overdue victory as well."\|\|
Staren	Staren feels a little bad for having to take such an adversarial tone with Dexter. He MOSTLY agrees with the guy. But... He softly comments, "...If no price is too high, than how can you say you want the Treasure to help people with it? What if the price is hurting everyone in the Line to get it? Or starting more wars?" Staren turns back to the king. And he IS wondering about the giant blood donor issue. Concord R&D will look into that, for sure! The answer cannot possibly be that the giants start dying if you ask about the physics of their blood and how big their blood cells are. Unless a particular group of giants is under an extremely specific and esoteric curse to that effect, but it seems extraordinarily unlikely to be true for ALL giants. And if it is, he'll have learned something. Something that will save giant lives in the future! "...I see. Well, best of luck on it -- I suppose the ultimate test is to try it and see if it works. If it doesn't, we may have to try other things though." He turns to Riva. "The treasure may not have forced anyone to kill their civilizations. But you can't force the civilizations to think differently either, unless you intend to kill them yourself so they don't think at all." He looks to Leyanne. "Moving the superplanet -- IF it's somehow possible -- may mean that the Treasure just tears holes in it. And if it goes inside, who knows WHAT'S going to happen -- the superplanet is inside itself, after all, because the Multiverse is weird. And even if nothing else happens, people will just chase it in spaceships instead."
Leyanne	Leyanne nods a little, thinking. After a while she goes a bit cross-eyed, and her cybernetic eye flickers a few times. "Ow. I think I just broke something in my brain tryina think about that." She says. "I... see... this is why I just stick to chasing the rush and helpin' folks. Leave the big stuff for people who're good at thinkin' big... I try it and before long it starts to hurt."
Starbound Flotilla	"When it's logistics, I just need some solid earthbound people able to get me the fuel to start with. You've got a good pair of runners there, right? Hexane still hanging with? Get that to me, that'll be what I need." The King says, flicking that cigarette again. "And if you can help with the Treasure-killer, more's the better. You seem like the kind of people who'll be a good help for it." That's Orchid, Leyanne, Corona, Kotone, and co. Maybe Riva too! He hopes. "There's long green in it, plus a chance to do some good, and a real big bash. That's seemed like it's been enough to keep you along for the ride, so I hope it'll stick for a gig. I know Hexane will be glad you helped. Stick to it, and you'll have a good time, I'm sure. If you want, I'll get your Linerunner geared for merging to Fourth, and see you at the Refinery. How's that for illuminations? I'll be hoping." Looks like that's about settled when it comes to resolving this. The Engine King looks like he's got some other business to deal with, but there's time for last farewells if anyone has them!
Starbound Flotilla	"Hmmm. I can give hyperglass equivalent to two standard Velocity Gears." The Priestess mutters, nodding. "Heat-blasted megadiamond has high radioactive energy, low decay time. Opposite for hyperglass -- you'll need to pick which one you want. Saint, requisition what she needs. Erchius can be given. We only allow Combustion-cleansed Erchius to be stored, you'll find it more effective for reaching high speed. That's what can be spared from the war effort. Succeed in a strike against the Refinery and you'll have the fruits of greater trust. May the fire bless you." That's settled. The Saint of Glass straightens his back. "Alright. We've work to do." He says, in a dutiful and determined tone.