| Scene Listing | || | Scene Schedule | || | Scene Schedule RSS |
| Owner | Pose |
|---|---|
| Arthur Lowell | >Arthur: Find out what's happening In Secundus, remnants exist of the once-expansive power of the Universal Coalition. Arthur's studies have been fruitful enough that he can find a locale in Cantio's territory, of all places at Zone 37073, a palindromic set of coordinates leading to a place called the Remnants of 199X. This obliterated nuclear hellscape, still populated by its settlements, contains a special place: A worn-down Universal Coalition bunker, farther from the settlements Cantio herself controls. Far enough that anyone can join Arthur here. "Ran some SEARCHES all 'bout what the BUSINESS is here." Arthur says, looking at his tablet. The resonance readouts remain relatively steady, but huge drops to near-zero keep happening, every few minutes... "And there was a BIG SIGNAL up in this bitch, MINUTES AFTER this started." He has to crank the heavy anti-blast system of the main doors open. Someone help him out? It takes him pushing with his whole body, back against the side of the door, to make it swing outward and open up the bomb shelter. The logo inscribed: A titanic U and smaller C, with worlds in a long string across it arranged in a wild wave. "Looks like UNIVERSAL COALITION stuff. I dunno what their DEAL is." He rambles as he wanders through, kicking open a security gate while he flips the bird to a whirring security camera. It's a small bunker, long abandoned and not even full of especially useful electronics, just rather mundane ones. Anyone got signal-scanning? They can pick up the signal Arthur's talking about pretty easily, further in through dense and cramped concrete walls and unoccupied rooms. It's like a cross between a small command bunker and some kind of weather study station, based on the regional readouts. The objective is found in a room that is labeled "SURGE MONITORING". Here, a complex 90s-era computer workstation is hooked up to a series of shiny yellow magical instruments that look like astronomical navigation. Automated equipment records the same things Arthur's tablets have been picking up. And on hefty CRT consoles, it documents: "REMOTE OPERATION SIGNAL (AUTH: HEAD ARCHIVIST)" and "MONITORING: LOCAL RES. SURGE DECLINE/SEC" With the same chart of short, steep drops. |
| Alexis | Need something heavy moved? There's a HM for that! Okay technically Pokemon has moved past having to slave one Pokemon to deal with field obstacles, but the sentiment is there when Alexis releases her Machamp to put his four arms of STRENGTH to use helping Arthur get the heavy doors open. And once they're on their way inside Alexis releases her Ampharos as well. No FLASH needed, but with both his head orb and tail bulb providing illumination the electric sheepdragon is a handy walking pair of spotlights. "Yup, this place has definitely been untouched for a while..." Well at least it's not Vault-Tech, right? |
| Kale Hearthward | "The - resonance drops," says Kale. "The warpgates are still stable, but the resonance keeps zero-ing out?" He glances up at the security camera as the group passes. He's on at least friendly enough terms with Cantio - but this place being far from her zone of control is probably for the best. "I'm going to guess we don't have long before those resonance drops become more frequent - or... longer than just momentary drops. That doesn't sound as bad as the warpgates just suddenly failing and stranding people here, but -" He shrugs. "No resonance means no... continuity... pressure... atmosphere thing. I'd guess?" Damnit, he wrote the term down, but he doesn't have his notes with him. "Does that mean we can't influence this world even a normal bit? Like - ghosts?" In the objective room, he pulls out his phone and takes a picture of the screens. |
| Cantio | The region in the desert shithole that Arthur's coordinates lead to is unfamiliar to Cantio. Sure, she's been through and around the zone a couple of times to find test subjects and get people floating around, but this is the first time she's actually seen this particular bunker. "I'm surprised I missed this giant thing... Well, not that surprised." She comments while joining Arthur and the Machamp in getting that door opened, calling out a few clones at one point to add some extra personal-space-invading elbow grease to it. "Universal Coa... hmm. That doesn't have anything to do with those other people you mentioned a while back, does it?" She snaps her fingers lightly as she addresses Arthur again, not quite able to come up with the name off the cuff before heading further in to check the bunker out. The CRT consoles are what ends up grabbing Cantio's attention, notably the parts where there's charts and drops. "Do these drops coincide with when we started doing all this? Or... No. Are these more recent?" Cantio asks, more to herself than to anyone else as she tries to make heads or tails of the data to try finding that answer herself. "I'd like to think we put in way more than we took out doing all our stuff, but a drop in local resonance could..." She glances over at Kale, then strokes her chin thoughtfully. "I wonder if all the stuff we've been doing means we've been replacing the local energy with our own. But if it's just dropping overall, then... We should be ready to escape quickly if things start falling apart." |
| Staren | It's been a relaxing if quiet day at Zone 73737 (hmm... another palindrome) until the warning about resonance reminds those here that time is up. Staren's had automated machines taking out those resources that she thinks are appropriate (and will show the Concord this was worthwhile), redistributed some to locals, and dumped a bunch on Autocthonia's doorstep as well. Syril and Knight have been set up somewhere they can try to start normal-ish lives rather than be trapped in a timeless, broken dreamworld... although, with a cache of technology and artifacts juuust in case. Although, upon hearing what this was about, and that the gates would remain stable, Knight said she's seeing this through. Staren's hovercar parks outside the bunker. She steps out, dressed in her usual for casual-but-possibly-adventure situations. Knight steps out and follows along, a black leather duster over her shirt, scarf (bluer than Staren's) and pants (same) being perhaps Apocalyptica-adjacent in style. An Ion Rifle is slung over her back and a sword in scabbard hangs at her side, but her hand is clutching something tightly in the duster's pocket. The teenager looks increasingly anxious as she sees more and more people who are clearly Elites With Powers Who Have Epic Adventures All The Time. Staren strides over to Arthur. "You actually found a Universal Coalition facility... to think there was one all the way out here the whole time? Then again, I guess anyone exploring the pre-cosmic-cucumber Multiverse could stumble on one of *my* old bunkers in lots of places." At the security camera being ON, Staren stares in shock. But, though the base is powered isn't proof it's *active*. She pulls the Scanner from her labcoat pocket and data appears on her nerd-glasses. Look, they do something! "The signal's up ahead. Gah, if only we'd noticed it sooner... I hope we don't suddenly have no time to study this..." Knight asks as they walk through the halls, uneasily, "This is really a Universal Coalition station? What do you think they were doing here?" SURGE MONITORING, the sign says. "A surge of what?" Staren's eyes scan the other signs. "Resonance... normally surges up and down here?" She tries to see if there's one of those paper tapes like an old seismology station printing out data she can look at. Or start checking computer terminals if no one else is already sitting at them. |
| Ishirou | Ishirou has come out because this was rather strange. Of course, there is a lot of jargon, and Arthur is good at throwing capital W words, so right now Ishirou is more about trying to catalog these for later reference and/or clarification. His own work at the Unending Factory goes pretty well...except for those random strikers holding signs saying 'This can not continue.' He can detect the signal as well, but it's simply there and Arthur is already focusing on it. The moment there is a computer, with potential /data/ about the /mysteries/ about Secundus, he reaches a handout and attempts to hack the computer remotely, attempting to see if he can get any interesting data out of it without having to try and use its outdated interface. He just makes a disgusted face at the monitor. |
| Rhongomyniad | "It seems simple enough," the King of Knights states in her even tone, "If the big signal occurred before the instability; it stands to reason this signal initiated said instabilities." Once the door has been pried, she steps forth. Her fur-lined mantle parts around one arm, which extends out and produces the glowing core of the Divine Lance. Unusually, it does not wrap itself up in the metallic bands of its outer skin-- rather, the Lance remains in its form as pure light, acting as a light source. "Alternatively, the resonant energies are being consumed by something. And, in turn, each time some is produced, it is once again seized." Her eyes shift towards Arthur, "Were you not here in search of someone? A queen, as I recall." |
| Tamamo | Tamamo arrives in her usual appearance (having yet to prepare beach things, and this being the wrong area, in any case) to see, and hopefully understand, whatever it it is that Arthur was talking about. Having little to do but listen, for the moment, she keeps in behind Ishirou. |
| Lilian Rook | Lilian arrives via her typical appearance as well, though certainly atypical in 'appearance'. In addition to her recent stocking fad, a glove has surreptitiously appeared on her right hand, and the less noticeable effort has finally gone towards applying ample concealer to finally erase all evidence of her scar, reasons unknown. It does not take a genius to figure out why she's here; it's the same one as why she even came at all. |
| Arthur Lowell | ==> "Naw, naw, you still got that OEUVRE." Arthur rambles to Kale, working the soreness out of a shoulder. A grateful nod to Alexis, before he goes back to rambling at Kale. "Just... I guess I don't know what happens with the OEUVRE-RESONANCE EXCHANGE? Shit's fucked. This is WEIRD SCIENCE." Following Staren, they get inside the source chamber. Cantio gets a chance to get at that data, and Staren's right: A little printer has been printing a long sheet of information into a bin for god knows how long. From the look of it, the drops only started about an hour or two ago. But the huge amount of Resonance seems to have been a slow rise dating back at least a month. And, notably, when Staren gets to a segment of the bin that looks to be at least a year or two old, there were smaller rises several years back. No connection with the Warpgate breach, though a small waver did occur right when Arthur broke through with his beta disk. Rhongo is right. And even someone who never uses computers can easily check the printouts. "Looks like the SIGNAL started... COUPLE MINUTES AFTER?" Arthur marks the spot on the readout. Looks to be after at least two of the drops. Ishirou's hacking effectively takes over the console, giving him access to all its equipment, though that's not much to say. He can refine the data, but all it does is measure the regional resonance, like a barometer. Still, it does let him note a network connection from far, far away. It is authenticated under credentials for someone called "The Archivist". >==> The sound that happens when the next Resonance drop happens is like a very, very tiny earthquake. Everything jostles and flickers ever-so-slightly. The Resonance indicators plunge to a low waver, stay there, and don't rise for another several seconds. Now, instead of erratic dips, the readout has irregular spikes. The Archivist, that unknown presence on the other side of the connection, hasn't noticed the hack, and only slightly noticed Cantio's examinations. It's like they're operating the desktop remotely. On the CRT display, they start to study smaller microsurges. Here, small jumps at certain moments in time: Arthur's entry, pitched battles in the Staren-Kale Conflict, moments in the Autocthonian Marshes Usurpation, the Paladin Reinforcement Wave, the few days of the Great Expansion, the Huffman Naval Maneuvers, and other major events. On the other end, the Archivist seems to draw no conclusion, not understanding what happened. They keep examining the data over and over... Studying the region to try to find out the cause. That is, to try to find out that the expedition is there, and has been amplifying the Resonance so much. |
| Kale Hearthward | "Ah, weird science." Kale nods sagely. "Welp, this is all up to you nerds, then," he says, and goes to find a spot of wall to lean against. "Let me know when you find-" The resonance drop happens. Kale takes off like a *shot*, making a frame-perfect jet boot activation and just *booking it*. He returns a moment after the quake stops. "What the heck was that?" |
| Alexis | The majority of the terminology goes over Alexis' head. She mostly came into this to help Staren with exploring the new regions, she stayed out of the conflict between her and others. Alexis has enough of those in her lifetime. But that explorer's itch is what has her here now, even if she doesn't understand all the ins and outs of what has been going on. Or choosing not to. It's hard to tell how much is just her sticking to exploring and how much is purposely obsfucating. It's not much of a shake and a flicker, but being someone oftern around creatures that can make the earth move much more forcefully Alexis reflexively shifts her stance to balance herself. Even though the shaking doesn't get to be that bad. "Yeah, a lot of this is over my head too." He's no longer needed at the moment so she re-pokeballs the Machamp. The Ampharos stays, in case they need the lights still. Or an extra source of electricity. |
| Staren | At least *some* of the elites look like teenagers, which seems to put Knight a little more at ease. > Holy shit it's Queen Arturia! You can recognize the voice! "Ah, uh, a pleasure to finally meet you, Your Majesty." 'KNIGHT of STORMS' nervously bows while making a sort of curtseying gesture with her duster. Once told she can stand up again (or after the party has started to move again) she also sees Arthur and takes a moment to greet him. "You're Arthur Lowell, right? I just wanted to say, thank you. If not for you, Syril and I might have been stranded in Wonder forever, with no idea time was passing in other worlds." She'll attempt a handshake if allowed; There's a split second of confusion if he goes for a fist bump instead before she matches it, and she'll at least try to keep up with a complicated dap. At the resonance drop, Knight's hand goes to her pocket again, and she's moving to stand in a doorway or under a table when it stops. Staren gives Arthur a concerned look. "Is this something like, a lack of resonance to power the oevre means the world is going to fall apart, or something?" She scans the papers. "Every marshalling and clash of forces is generating a lot of resonance. I guess conflict's not just inevitable but necessary, huh...?" Staren observes sadly. Watching the remote-controlled terminal, it's pretty clear that whoever's controlling it is trying to understand these anomolous events. "Shit, we've been spotted. ...Wait, is that a bad thing, or a good thing?" |
| Kale Hearthward | <J-IC-Scene> Kale Hearthward says, "Hang on, did you say that conflict generates resonance?" <J-IC-Scene> Staren says, "Well, we certainly generated a lot of red, at any rate." Kale carefully considers this. "Hey, keep watching the monitors," he says. Then he goes up behind Staren and goes to yank on her tail as hard as he can. |
| Rhongomyniad | "A few minutes after," Rhongomyniad lets out a thoughtful sound, her eyes lifting to the monitors once more. Her gaze drops then to the printouts, placing her free hand beneath one as it spills its papery contents. "Then the order of operations is reversed. This signal may be some sort of alert to resonance levels decreasing--" Rumble. The King shifts her feet slightly when the ground moves, keeping herself upright with little trouble. Her gaze drops from the papers to the ground beneath her feet. Her eyes travel to Kale when he returns from his panic, "Related to the resonance, I would presume. Remain vigilant, but do not panic again." When addressed by Knight of Storms, Rhongomyniad turns slightly to regard the girl more directly, "I am no more your King than you are my Knight. Steady yourself for what is to come." Her gaze lifts to the monitors, "I am uncertain what approaches... but it will doubtless necessitate a calm and measured response." |
| Staren | Knight just nods, her grip tightening on whatever's in her pocket as she's suggested to steady herself. <J-IC-Scene> Staren says, "And I suppose you can say our race to establish our territories led to blue and green building up faster than they otherwise would have..." <J-IC-Scene> Staren says, "Although, on another level, with all that Oevre stuff--" Staren's in the middle of speaking when she yowls like one would expect a cat to do when its tail is yanked, before whirling on him and trying to pull her tail away if he's still holding it. "Hey! What the HELL, man! You don't just pull people's tails! That's *attached* to me, it *hurts*!" |
| Kale Hearthward | Kale lets go of the tail. "Hey, I told you to watch the monitors," he reprimands Staren. "You'd better hope someone else was watching, or we'll have to do that all over again." |
| Tamamo | Tamamo ends up taking Lilian's right arm at some point. It's fine if she needs it for something else, since she can always slip out and return while being 'barely noticed' to 'unnoticed,' if she needs to, but it makes Tamamo more relaxed to be there. Unfortunately, she still doesn't understand much of what's happening. There's a clear connection between certain events, but she's stuck on a more basic question. "Is Resonance different from that which was invested in establishing the connections between the territories? Ah, but I do not mean the warpgates when I speak of 'lines of travel' so much as the actual motion of people and things between lands. Or, rather, was it a product of those establishing actions, the creation of 'supply lines,' that in turn created the Resonance?" She leans over a bit. "As to what these mysterious things are, do you know, Lilian?" |
| Staren | Staren gives Kale a confused look, then rolls her eyes when she realizes what he's getting at. "Ugh." Carefully curling her tail *under* her labcoat so it's harder to just grab, she... does closely examine the last few seconds of paper tape to see if Kale yanking her tail actually generated resonance. |
| Alexis | Alexis jerks back at the screech of surprise from Staren. "I fail to see how yanking her tail figures into anything with the monitors, that's just rude." Behind her Ampharos clutches his lightbult tail in his flipper-arms like it might be next. |
| Ishirou | "POD, run continuous scans and save the data. Compare the data before, during, and after the spikes," The floating box with arms next to him beeps in acknowledgment, as Ishirou himself seemed to be busy. There was a connection, someone else. He looks towards Arthur, "Does anyone named 'The Archivist ring any bells?" he asks. Ishirou will also transfer what data is here onto the POD for later, while also pushing through the network to try and get into the computer at the other end of things. From there maybe he can see where this Archivist is connected to, or at least see what is on his side of things. |
| Cantio | That's a whole lot of data! Cantio tries to absorb as much of it as she can, although parsing any of it is still giving her trouble. "These drops... They're probably not a result of what we've been doing, if they only started this recently." She guesses, shrugging lightly at Tamamo's question after a moment. "Although... Someone or something probably noticed the drops, so that lines up with the signal timing." Stepping back to let Ishirou handle the HACKING duty, Cantio tries to mull over all that data again before being interrupted by the slight shaking and flickering. When that happens, she keeps her eyes moving between the data indicating the smaller surges and her drone, seeming largely unconcerned with her own safety in favor of just trying to absorb MORE DATA. "That must be what's causing the signals! A drop in resonance..." She looks over at Rhongomyniad, tilting her head back briefly to just kind of stare at her before remembering where she is. "... But if someone's seizing the resonance with each surge like that just now, then... They must have noticed all the resonance we've been generating out here." She shrugs at Staren's question. "It really doesn't tell us if they're dangerous or not, though, but..." Cantio taps a finger against her chin again, pausing to snicker at the tail-pulling before watching the readings again. "Shall we risk it? We won't find out if we just hide now because someone dangerous /might/ come looking for all this." |
| Lilian Rook | "Beg pardon. Oeuvre-Resonance exchange?" This seems to be the part Lilian seizes on. "Exchanged for what? Each other? If that's the case then our generation of Resonance should steadily accumulate into additional oeuvre pressurization, shouldn't it? If we're not tapping Resonance out of Secundus, like mining a limited resource, why should there suddenly be what feels very much like a critical mass reaction?" Lilian thinks about it for a second longer, then shakes her head for Tamamo. "No, of course I don't. But I think, at worst, this level of conflict should do nothing more than stabilizing the causal resilience of the expeditionary area, shouldn't it? That is, if it's being converted to oeuvre. And at such an enormous rate all of a sudden. But then why now?" A glance at the monitor. "And did you not plan on ever telling your little friend that we were here, Lowell? You know more about this group than we do. It seems odd that it'd take them two weeks to still not know where we are; activity measurable across Sector Zero wouldn't even take two days. This place is a dump. Are you sure the Universal Coalition is even still active? Is Secundus? You haven't been dicking about on the back end, have you? I know you were running tests." |
| Arthur Lowell | >==> Arthur chats up the Knight, giving her plenty of attention with the daps and pounds and suchlike, his classic handling of this. Bam! Between rambles, he answers Staren: "Nah, I mean, doesn't look like it's falling apart...?" Back to chatting the knight. No perceptible bump in the Resonance overall, though after extensive zooming in, it's there. The printers are starting to wind down, the spikes are growing less and less frequent. And, oddly, every Syndicate tablet reboots simultaneously. Tamamo receives her answer, after a time. If she looks, she'll find that the local regions still have their connections. Yet, a number of functions have been completely disabled... What was, remains. But it no longer seems to be possible for the system to manipulate them. Who is The Archivist? "Some guy from the Universal Coalition. My dad knew him. Knows him? He's a DAD-FRIEND." That's all Arthur knows. He shrugs helplessly. Cantio asks if it's a good idea to alert them to the presence here. Arthur ponders that for a bit... Until Lilian asserts that it ought to happen. Well, after the exchange. "Yeah, you bring the OEUVRE, they got the RESONANCE. But is that really a..." His voice trails off. "This feels more like..." Like faltering. Slowing down. Arthur wanders to the console and jiggles the mouse at Lilian's prompting. He starts clicking around. Eventually, he clicks on a searchbar and just types, "HEY ASSHOLE." On the other end, the Archivist stops. There's a short delay. And then an audio line opens up. A video call is sent. The voice that comes through is filtered through what sounds like crystaline structure. On the video feed, the Archivist is wearing some kind of scholarly robe with a set of modern tactical armor embedded in the torso. Shining white rectangles form eyes under a face that appears to be covered in ice. Mechanical wings shift and churn in discomfort behind him. "Salutations. You have not authenticated with Universal Coalition credentials. Please state your Zone affiliation and your intentions." A short pause. Two pale fingers press up to the ice, sink through, and adjust the glasses up the bridge of his nose, before it returns to that icy faceplate. "This facility has not been in active use in some time. This is a notable coincidence. Do you know something about the anomalous Resonance Surge timeline I am recording?" |
| Alexis | Alexis asides to her Ampharos "If anyone tries to pull your tail feel free to taze them." So apparently the best way to find the guy Arthur was looking for was to just use the system and call him out. 'HEY ASSHOLE' being far from the rudest sounding greeting she's heard Arthur use. Though huh. Ice mask. Kind of reminds her of those ice cube wearing penguins she saw the last time she visited Galar. She's still rather out of her depth, but familiar dealing with Weird Shit of the Multiverse(tm) in general, so she just folds her hands behind her head and watchs how all this plays out. |
| Kale Hearthward | "Huh. See, it did do something," says Kale. "I was right." The tablets reboot. Kale pulls his out, to check on it. "Hmm..." He pokes at it a few times. "These still working?" He picks one of the zones that were under his control, and types in a quick command. >tz/zone/name 87798=Pulling Staren's Tail Zone "... And... no confirmation message?" He doublechecks the listing. "Yeah, no change... Are we locked out?" |
| Rhongomyniad | Audio from the machines, now. Rhongomyniad returns her attention to the screen depicting the Architect's unique appearance. Her right hand lowers, the glowing spine of the Divine Lance disappearing as she does so. The mantle closes in around her body shortly after, no longer held open. "It would appear that we are investigating the same thing, Sir. Although on our end, it appears less a 'surge' and more a 'flatline'." Her gaze shifts sidelong towards Kale when he inspects his tablet and announces its unresponsiveness, then returns to the screen, "Systems are failing on this end. Mayhaps you are capable of shedding some light on the matter. Is Resonance being relocated, perhaps? Piped elsewhere to a party known or unknown to you?" |
| Tamamo | "Is this truly part of the 'known lands,' in this case?" Tamamo says, to Lilian's mention of Sector Zero. "Or rather, is it as if another place was now connected, that had not been? It does seem to me as something rather foreign, to the extent I can claim anything to be other than foreign, after only these few years of touring new worlds. Rather, perhaps we, ourselves, are 'foreign,' to that Universal Coalition. I do not recall hearing much said, of them." Thinking about it a bit more, "Perhaps it was not that something suddenly occurred, but that these two weeks are as long as something could fail to occur. The frequent shifts must have created ripples of some kind, no? The balance -- that is, the stability of these places was somewhat poor, I should think." |
| Cantio | Arthur's not certain. Cantio looks between him and Lilian as they start talking about the OUEVRE thing, recalling some of the more basic and vague things about it before giving up on trying to guess and just turning to Arthur directly. "That's that thing with the... Uh. Imposing our reality on this place at an inflated rate, right? Or was that the gravity thing..?" It's still escaping her, and she's refusing to look at her tablet's notes for whatever reason. Eventually, though, she sees the message on the search bar and bites her lips in trying not to snicker again. There's a light jump, though, when someone actually sends a video call over and reveals... Rectangles. Armor beneath a robe. Wings. Something that sounds like bureaucracy. With a fair bit to lose and a lot more to gain, she clears her throat before smiling politely at the strange while standing in that way fancy people do with one hand over the other hand's wrist at her waist, elbows slightly flared out. "Cantio, controller of House of the Deadmeat. It's good a pleasure to meet you." A practiced bow of the head, and then she goes right on with that controlled tone to keep her curiosity covered as best she can. "I'm here for research and testing purposes. Or I was, anyway, until things started going..." She nods at Rhongomyniad's mention of things flatlining. "That way. Do you have any ideas what might have caused it? And... Do you happen to know if this area is more or less stable than it was before the surges?" |
| Ishirou | Ishirou takes a moment to look at the figure on the screen. This seems to be an 'Arthur talks to a father-friend about what the heck is going on'. Instead, he starts trying to reach the long-range connection point and trying to find a location. Then maybe look at the information he has. This is very important to Ishirou. |
| Staren | Knight is happy to chat, though a bit surprised that time is being taken out of this to do so. She's a bystander in a magical girl world who's gotten caught up in things like the dreamworld of Wonder, a friend who's a blind pyrokinetic werewolf, the deadly arcade game Wild Side (holy shit you just cannot escape Death Games in any dimension, huh???) and being friends with the roboticist who created the evil gynoid Marina CX-4; said roboticist actually then turned out to be the reincarnation of someone from Syril's world, who helped both of them evacuate when their worlds were frozen in time by something none of them understood; They ended up on a fantasy world, and then.. she doesn't remember how they got to Wonder from there. But hey enough about her boring life, she's curious what sort of adventures a *real* Elite has, someone who's punched through from one Multiverse to another must have achieved all manner of great things! When the Syndicate tablets reboot, Staren pulls hers from her labcoat pocket and frowns. She fiddles with the tablet for a moment. "Dammit, we're locked out. How much longer before the Archivist kicks us out or otherwise tries to... end our meddling, do you think?" Arthur makes contact. The Archivist calls. And Staren hears a voice she hasn't heard in such a long time. Knight is just watching what she expects to be a Serious Authoritative Announcement, but Staren's jaw has dropped as she stares. "NATHAN HALL?!" It, uh, it takes her a moment to recompose herself. Others have started speaking, so... it seems the cat is out of the bag. "We're from another dimension. Well... Another Multiverse, really." She takes a breath and nods. "Staren Wiremu. Acting as controller of Wonder, though I didn't set out to be... we were just... exploring, and researching. Conflict resulted as we're from mixed factions in our own Multiverse. We did not intend harm... in fact, we've tried to give aid to the people of Autocthonia, and were hoping to find a way to stabilize the awful situation in the Anarchy Server." "...I could tell you about things we did in our own Multiverse, but I don't know if any of it would mean anything to you. ...It's quite a surprise to hear your voice again, General. Although I suppose Secundus is full of surprises, with alternate versions of our parents running around..." "Oh, um. I'm from the Concord, in our Multiverse. Well, I was once part of the Union... well, that's a long story. I'm sure you've encountered your share of long stories, if you're anything like ours was." |
| Lilian Rook | Lilian beholds Kale yanking on Staren's tail. She ruminates on this sagely for a few seconds. Then, with a knowing smile, she says, "Hearthward. Just so we're clear. If you pull Tamamo's tails, I'll add your hands to my collection. Okay?" She does look at the actual chart, then respond to Arthur. "I'm certainly giving up nothing of my own, and definitely not exchanging it for some colour-coded magic beans used exclusively for bullying the Concord very very slowly." she huffs. "That's a function of Sector-- no, the Superplanet, isn't it? Not us. So, we're discussing a catalyst reaction, are we not? Are the two--" Tamamo pitches her suggestion. Something suddenly occurs to Lilian. "Between oeuvre and resonance as a background substrate, which is the higher pressure? Which one flows into the other? There's a clear answer to that, when you put a portal on the ocean floor and another above someone's head, no? We've brought one into Secundus, but Secundus hasn't spilled Resonance out into Sector Zero, isn't that correct? Doesn't that imply one dissipates or is absorbed or pushed out by the presence of the other?" Lilian beholds the Archivist. She glances at Arthur, mutters something about 'insolent boys' and 'again'. "Yes, hello, I'd like to cut to the chase, since I'm fairly certain I just felt reality flicker. That would be this precocious imbecile's fault. He's been doing his own studies on the Resonance substrate of this planet with some godawful system in place for making it usable to us. Anything that happens is, of course, his fault, and he takes full responsibility." Lilian pops open a process on her smart device and furtively types into a soothing apple red application window. LRook: Hello. LRook: What does it feel like when a chamber compresses? LRook: Not 'recompresses'. I know that one. LRook: Compresses. Overpressure. A positive normacausative constant. |
| Arthur Lowell | The tablets are indeed stuck, unresponsive to certain commands. If one examines closely, they now say: "READ ONLY". The Archivist's head bobs slightly. There's a slight gleam, as opaque white rectangles give way to stoic, gray eyes. Rhongomyniad is looked at. A security camera nearby shifts. "Saber. No, Arturia-type Lancer." His voice is flat and emotionless. "That is extremely rare. The flatline is not unusual. Regional Resonance Surge (RRS) is semi-common. Local resonance surges do not persist in the same zones indefinitely. It is simmilar to a storm, or to a summer season and its heat." What Ishirou finds on the secure-but-not-that-secure network endpoint is, apparently, fragments of a current and past library. Manuscripts and old literature from Sector Zero. There's a lot of archived data here, from an era where the Multiverse was consumed by some kind of conflict involving factions called "Union" and "Confederacy". The records abruptly cut off and make no mention of the Concord, Paladins, and Watch, picking up in a variety of intensive studies on Secundus and its Resonance. He looks at Staren. He just makes a weird, worried noise, studying her for several seconds. Then: "You grew your hair out." Those rectangles flicker short blinks. "Of course you were part of the Union. I was too. You said you have arrived here from there." He handles the words carefully, like radioactive material. In slow, stoic motions, he stands, leans out of frame, picks up an old, dented metal case, and extracts from it an *ancient*-looking Multiversal radio, carefully cared for over years and years. He holds it up to his ear. "Njorun Station Infinite Library, Head Librarian is on-station. Do you read, Infinite Library?" Empty static. "Infinite Library of Njorun Station, this is Nathan Hall, Head Librarian, authenticating, Charlie-Oscar-Zero-Six-Lima, code Kilo-Echo-Echo. Respond if able." A long pause. "Infinite Library, do you read?" "..." He puts the radio back down and shakes his head. Another of those noises. There's a long silence, like he's processing something, but his expression won't change under that thick frosted ice. He focuses on Lilian's question. "The Regional Resonance Surge Cycle (RRSC) is an artifact of the nature of this type of reality, and is not caused by or affected by any individual we can identify. Do not be alarmed, it does not pose a risk that is more substantial than what I believe to be your home reality." He peers closer, his icy faceplate retracting in a surge of mist for a moment, while he adjusts his glasses. "That would be the father of my friend Adrian. Or, subjectively for you, his son. I will need to make contact with him shortly." |
| Staren | Staren's ears twitch at the familiar Worried Noise. > You grew your hair out. Staren takes a relieved breath. So it IS the same Nathan Hall. She runs a hand through her hair. "Eh-heheh, well, it's more than that... Turns out when I decided to stop going back and forth, I picked the wrong one." Nathan attempts to reach the old Multiverse radio network. Her face falls as she wonders how many times he's tried that. Has he... been trapped here? "...The Union is gone. Or if that's tuned to the broadband, that's... well, that's come back, but it's on the back of a new system Tony Stark made after the Multiverse reorganized." "...It's your home reality, too. ...I'm sorry. All this time, I thought you'd retired and gone back to... I'm sorry. If we'd known, we would have looked for you." |
| Tamamo | Tamamo is politely ignoring the tail-pulling. Frankly, it's more surprising when birds and cats do get along, as in the case of those hell youkai. At Lilian's promise to Kale, Tamamo gives the latter a slightly apologetic smile, as of one who might be willing to heal a post-punishment injury, but wouldn't deny that it was deserved, under the circumstances. It's that particular level of 'slightly.' She thinks about Lilian's mention of ocean floors and portals. "Would that mean that this place has 'low pressure,' for having allowed our entrance, yet spilled little of itself outside its own borders?" She spends a bit studying the Archivist, but she suspects that it would be rude to ask about the ice. He's surely aware of it, and has taken appropriate steps for his condition. Surely. |
| Alexis | There's a familiar yet long unheard sound. Alexis lets out a soft sigh of her own at seeing the now outdated radio unit, and the attempt at using it. "Sorry, dude. Place has long been gone. And it's counterpart. And the groups that once called them home... Though it's nice to see an old familiar... well, can't literally see your face, but you get the idea." The most she gets out of that is that the place isn't going to fall apart or blow up. So that's good. She lowers her hands from her head to take out her own tablet. Similar lack of response, even thought she hadn't built herself up like others had. It looks like peoples' ability to claim land and influence things under ownership has been halted, but the lack of response of the tablets. She shrugs, stuffing the tablet back in her pack. Rests a hand on her side. "This is pretty weird, even for me. But not weird in the usual disturbing what's going to screw up next sort of way, I guess. Though things are very different from when you... left?" Close enough. |
| Ishirou | Ishirou was connected and does a decent job being subtle. Instead of kicking the door down and stealing everything, he starts going over the data and starts a data upload. He'll get what information he can, and hope that people keep this Nathan Hall busy. Could he just ask? Sure, but he's also sort of distracted by unrestricted access to data. Some people get dollar signs in their eyes, Ishirou just gets books. He does focus his efforts on trying to get information about Secundus first. Anything else he can get is secondary. Also, this Nathan Hall is a friend of Staren's...so... Okay, maybe he shouldn't judge him too harshly because of that. "So why are you just monitoring Secundus?" |
| Rhongomyniad | "You speak of Servant classes; my apologies. I failed to properly introduce myself," the King of Knights shifts her stance slightly to face the camera as it focuses on her directly, "I am Rhongomyniad, the Tower that Shines at the End of the World. Artoria Pendragon is but one title I wield. Know that I am not a Servant. I stand before you as a Divine Spirit, avatar of the Holy Lance whose name I bear." Her mantle parts, a hand lifting to rest a curled finger beneath her lip in thought, "And so this is not an uncommon occurrence, very well. My concerns are satisfied, for now." She reaches down into her mantle to produce her own tablet, thumbing at it for a moment one-handed. While it is, as the others, unresponsive, her remark is seemingly unrelated and also directed at Arthur himself. "When you stated I would receive a tablet, this is not what I had expected. There is a good deal more silicon and a good deal less clay than what the King of Heroes has introduced me to." |
| Kale Hearthward | Kale taps at the tablet some more. "Hmm." There's a lot of talk of some old factions. It's beyond Kale. "So - um, the tablets are locked, I'm guessing our Overe isn't going to have its full effect," he says, mispronouncing it. "But - does that mean... the lands here have stabilized? The gates aren't going to just collapse like we thought they were?" |
| Cantio | The Archivist mentions the old times and some other things Cantio isn't familiar with, and then he mentions something that doesn't quite line up in her head. "If the resonance surges usually happen, then... You mentioned the anomalous ones before. Even if the regular ones aren't affected by anyone, I think those timelines might be..." There's a brief moment of hesitation as she looks towards everyone else in the room. Eventually, she weighs against being too cautious. "... A result of what we've been working on out here. Building up places, expanding control over different territories, fighting over them. Research, too, since there were some expectations that our connection to this place wouldn't last forever." Cantio pauses again, then waves one of her clones over before sending them outside just in case things start melting out there while everyone's in this bunker. She turns back to Arthur afterwards, nodding at Tamamo's mention of pressure. "Even if no one person's influence would be enough to trigger it, would multiple influences all coming in at once do the trick? Something on the level of... Er." The last thing the Archivist mentions gets her furrowing her brow again. "... Would our influence have the potential to affect a low pressure system so much that it might as well be like a new reality affecting this one?" |
| Lilian Rook | Lilian's arm slides down inside Tamamo's so that her hand can wiggle its way into hers. "If the level of Resonance keeps dropping over and over a short time after our activity ceases, then you could compare it to that. I'd compare it to something entropic, like heat generating from friction --sparks from steel-- that cools afterward, but Lowell seems insistent it's a process of exchange rather than binding and decay." "Come to think of it, wasn't there some sort of experiment involving red green and blue things in the Soft Expanse? You told me about it. You were there." "This type of reality?" Lilian repeats back to the Archivist, in the tone of one inquiring as to the state of a gressorial nuclear armament. "Subjective son, I'm fairly certain. With all due respect to whatever your rank and station is, does it make a difference? He's the one who can answer any questions as to how we all ended up here and what became of all that Resonance we . . . harvested? Bought? Catalyzed? And where it's gone." She contemplates his wording a while longer. "Regional cycle. That implies that this kind of thing happens both locally and repeatedly. Do you expect another two weeks of Resonance being so overabundant that it becomes detectable again, somewhere else, sometime soon?" Lilian examines her app window out of the corner of her eye, tapping away, waiting, then furtively minimizing it. Her fingers lace with Tamamo's. A tense little squeeze of reassurance taken. PKore: Hey Lily-R!! PKore: You've been in overpressure, haven't you? My bedroom! PKore: Did you really actually forget~? PKore: It's like... a heavy, secure warmth. PKore: A long summer day you can barely stand but never want to end. PKore: Heavy like old books and boys who are taller than you. LRook: First, that's taken wildly out of context. LRook: Second, if that's all I wanted to know, I'd ask Dylan. LRook: Third, what happens when it's dialed up? LRook: The component of the active shift. The change incurred by the liminal threshold. LRook: Specifically does it feel like a quake? PKore: No? PKore: Wait PKore: The old ones used to. The new chambers are smoother. PKore: Why are you asking, Lily-R? LRook: It's either Lowell's fault or Wiremu's fault. LRook: I'm not sure which is worse LRook: I'll be fine. I have Tamamo. |
| Arthur Lowell | >==> Arthur laughs a bit at the tablet joke. "Well shit, at least it's still a good map, yo!" Staren receives a nod from the Archivist. "I understand. Glad to hear you have established an improved self-understanding." Always wordy. The head turns. One speaks up, and is recognized. "Alexis." A long pause. "You did not change." A simple, stoic nod. Maybe there's relief under there? It's not clear. It's impossible to see through the frosted ice beyond those rectangles of light, and the body gives no sign of emotion. But less relief about what news Alexis and Staren have given. He swallows, and it takes a few seconds for him to speak up. His breathing changes its pace -- it doesn't get faster, per se, but it changes. He slows it down on purpose. He won't move, but he seems to be struggling with something... Until he gets ahold of himself. "I understand." It's all he can say. Same stoic monotone as ever. "I hope that the loss of the Union has not affected the larger sector negatively." He moves to pick up the headset again. Another call to make? He pans through long-ago pre-set frequencies. None of them catch. Pause. He places it back down. When he sets it back into the case and closes it, there's a very slight tremble in his shoulder, and it disperses nearly immediately. He clears his throat. Tamamo isn't asking him, but he answers her, and Kale. "This form of reality, by necessity, lacks essential coherence-preserving structures. You could call it a lack of pressure, but various resources should remain transmissible through the point of access you made use of." He pulls out a hefty book, paging through it, glancing to Lilian. "RRSCs may last as short as weeks and as long as months. Afterwards, investments and cultivation of regions enter a 'status quo' with which you are likely familiar." He looks up from the book. "If Sector Zero is at all similar to how it was when I found myself ejected from it, its pace of development and change may be less than one tenth of the pace within this type of reality under conditions of a Resonance Surge. That is the value of the Resonance, which becomes plentiful during a Surge. Regarding the concerns of your resources: They now exist in a more directly tangible form, for physical extraction or traditional development. They have solidified. No longer Resonant, but resonated, past-tense." Cantio asks the more relevant questions. He closes his book. "So your development and use of the Resonance is the cause of the anomalies. Understood. Noted regional instability is regarding the resonance, not the warpgates." He says, firmly. "I can say with confidence that anything you heard about losing connection from the father of Mr. Lowell -- that is, 'Arthur' -- was wrong. However, there will no longer be available access to plentiful Resonance." "In short, your connection to this world will remain. However, your ability to manipulate, harvest, and learn from Resonance as you have for the past," He peers off to one side, at a monitor. "Three hundred and thirty six hours, will be seasonal." He looks back to the camera. "It seems your access to Secundus will be indefinite. And if you so choose, your future here will cyclically feature more of what you have now already encountered." "I have need of some time alone." His head slightly inclines to look at the case in front of him, but only slightly. "Further contact will be forthcoming. You will be alerted to the location of the next Resonance Surge." |
| Arthur Lowell | Ishirou's findings are limited by broad. The Archivist has been travelling to a wide, wide variety of Zones, trading information for more information, building up a library of data about day-to-day life. However, notably, a lot of this is dedicated to the study and tracking of something referred to as the "Onyx Tower", which seems to have unusual effects in particular Zones based on proximity. There are also some heavy encrypted files, referred to only by names like "POI 1" and "POI 2", at least three of which have incredibly intense study done on them judging by the sheer volume. Possibly worth following up and trying to find these Points of Interest in another future cycle? |
| Alexis | "People manage as they do." Alexis holds her arms in a sort of shrug. "You know what they say about how much things change, how much they stay the same." She tilts her head a bit, hair swaying with the motion. She still doesn't get all the terminology, or try to. But she gets the general impression. "So this is, like, only at certain peaks of activity. When it needs help balancing everything back out or something... That's the thing I've heard all night that makes the most sense." She pats her pack with one hand. "Guess we'll just have to hold onto the tablets until then." |
| Staren | > I hope that the loss of the Union has not affected the larger sector negatively. Staren shakes her head. "It's doing alright. It's... it turns out the theories that if we stopped fighting that endless open war, things would generally be better, were right." > RRSCs may last as short as weeks and as long as months. Afterwards, investments and cultivation of regions enter a 'status quo' with which you are likely familiar. "You're saying that... the worlds are more flexible, like they aren't completely unified, until after the surge? Or..." She taps her chin. "Do you mean, the way worlds seem to not change for a long time..." her eyes widen. "The way my own hasn't... I went back in time 14 years and it'd barely changed... Something's wrong with its resonance?!" Or... or apparently it has to do something with resource extraction. So these parts of Secundus are now stable, but there will be... new regions. New fights. Part of Staren is sad that the exploration ends for now... but honestly, she's been struggling after the first few days to keep up the pace, so it's kind of a relief that she can rest without missing out. And the Archivist is about to close the connection. "Nathan? It was good talking to you again. I hope... I hope you're okay. If you're not, feel free to reach out. I've always wanted to help others." And then she smiles. "Hey... you want to see something cool before you go?" She walks up to the camera, holding out her tablet, and displays +bbread 26/142. Her eyes start to water a bit. "I'm bringing them back. I brought them back for this. I'm going to encourage the Concord to make more like this. So... In a way, your legacy will still benefit us, and through us, the Multiverse." She smiles. |
| Tamamo | Tamamo's asked about the Soft Expanse. "Oh, yes, there had been such a thing, and it has been somewhat on my mind, these past few weeks. I would like to, once more -- ah, but that is not important, just now. To again reach out to certain parties may wait. Unfortunately, I know little of the intended use of those brightly-colored items, though I gained the impression that they were meant to be weaponized. Or rather, it had been made clear that they could be formed into weapons, and toward what other uses they might be put, I received more mystery than forthcoming explanation, to my recollection." She thinks about it a bit more, while squeezing Lilian's hand, fingers comfortably interlaced. "The creation or, perhaps, the formation of these items was quite strange. It was that strangeness that required the Soft Expanse, wherein such strange things might occur." Nathan Hall mentions something, and Tamamo nods, though it may not have been the same topic, intentionally. "Yes, they were not yet solidified, I think. How they might be worked by a craftsman's hands, I did not discover. If these are much the same, I should be interested in seeing how they might be molded, and toward what ends." |
| Staren | The version of the post on the tablet still has the introduction that isn't being updated every time: .------------------------------------------------------------------------------. | Salutations! | | | | Due to it being a REALLY GOOD IDEA, I have decided to encourage the revival | | of the ancient Union Crisis Reports! This is based on whatever I could | | remember to include at the moment, but I encourage you to send me | | corrections or simply comment with them, as well as to post your own Crisis | | Reports with any ongoing matters of interest you are aware of that I left | | out! | | | | -Staren Wiremu | '------------------------------------------------------------------------------' |
| Kale Hearthward | "... so... it's permanent?" Kale perks up. "Well - that's quite a thing. Just - being altered by our actions the normal amount, that's more than fine..." He taps at his tablet a bit, poking through the read-only-mode data in it. "Thank you. I'll look forward to hearing from you again about these... seasons." |
| Cantio | 'So your development and use of the Resonance is the cause of the anomalies. Understood. Noted regional instability is regarding the resonance, not the warpgates.' "That's my guess, at least, since the timeline seems to coincide with bigger battles and incidents with huge resonance spikes." Cantio replies, bringing out her own tablet from this whole thing to keep her hands busy rather than having to stand around awkwardly with her hands free. "If it was just the appearance to the warpgates, then it would have happened more when we showed up and then when several others came to join us in the... Thing." He mentions that being able to access this area will be seasonal, drawing another curious look from Cantio. "Is that a function of how this place's resonance surges function? Or is it more for... Stability, I guess? I can't imagine all these anomalous surges being... Er. Good for long-term stability, anyway." Kale's raised interest catches Cantio's attention as well. "That does sound rather interesting, too. You wouldn't happen to know if we'd be encountering the same regions, would we? Or if the people we find here would be the same ones?" She keeps her expression neutral again as she asks that. It definitely has nothing to do with her plans for future testing. |
| Alexis | Alexis chuckles a bit as Staren shows off for a moment. Then raises a hand in a sort of half-wave, half-faux-salute. "Yeah, good to know you're still out there geeking. We'll see you another time." |
| Ishirou | Ishirou files that away for later. Towers, huh? They might be interested in the future, or at least for research. He'll copy any data he can get, and save it for a later detailed examination. This was useful, he thinks and disconnects from the network, though he does insert a back door for easy access for later. You know, for...more data. "Thank you for your data!" Ishirou says, being friendly. |
| Rhongomyniad | "I see," Rhongomyniad states with a curt nod, "Hence the earlier comparison to storms. Then we shall await the next storm season for further studies." Her eyes travel to the Knight of Storms, pausing for a moment, before the King of Knights turns from the cameras. She seems to be satisfied with this answer, returning to the entry of the bunker with her white mantle flowing behind like a ghost in the dim light of CRT monitors. |
| Lilian Rook | 'I hope that the loss of the Union has not affected the larger sector negatively.' Lilian recognizes enough of something in that utterly inexpressive tone that she sort of wishes she hadn't. An uneasy smile works halfway to her lips. "You could say we grew out of it. 'Forever' isn't the only valid way for a thing to be. Sometimes the time for it is over, and we have to be something truer to who we are now. I'm sure it was starting to get ill-fitting by the end, wasn't it? So rest assured, it's in better hands now. Healthier ones, suited to carry the responsibility." Lilian raises her other hand and stares into it as if she expects an answer to be written on her palm. She slowly clenches and unclenches her fingers, listening the anomalous glove creak as if it could tell her something. Her fingertips fall to the sword pendant around her neck. "Well, that's what I felt compelled to say, for some reason. I don't know how true that is. I wasn't there. But I get the feeling that a 'me' who was . . . wouldn't be as well-off. I'd feel a little sorry for her." She looks back up. "So whenever you feel ready to move on, start a new chapter, and see what the world looks like to you on the other side of all this, you'll come too, won't you? For some reason, I'm sure I know some people who'd love to have you. Even if it's just for this study. The flow of . . . molten reality. A passion project? We have room for those now, you know." Lilian sighs, and brushes her hair back in a vaguely familiar fashion, taking on a more easy half-smirk. "Well then, if it cools down enough to pry out of the mold that quickly, then it's all the more imperative I secure as much of it as possible next time from the clutches of those who don't deserve any of it~ I hope you keep score. I plan to be at the top." She turns to Tamamo, lowering her voice. "That's perfect. But let's try and keep that to a limited run for now. They owe you a favour, don't they?" |
| Staren | Tamamo mentions colorful artifacts. Knight pulls the object from her pocket to look at it and it becomes a metal card, with the symbol of a hurricane embossed on it, looking like it would be right at home as part of a Kamen Rider's henshin device or the like. It's cracked, a broken artifact of power recovered from the 'dungeons'. Staren has clearly greebled magitech bits all over it. Rhongomyniad's comment about storms makes her jump a little and look up, putting the card back in her pocket. "Huh?" Quietly, she mutters, "Uh... I have a name," then says more audibly, "it's just... everyone was using titles. The Archivist, the HEIR of TIME. I didn't..." she kind of trails off back to muttering, "well, the situation was kind of confusing before, using two names is awkward so I just..." Lilian speaks up, and Staren's ears perk up and she quirks an eyebrow at 'we have to be something truer to who we are now' and nods. (Knight is still muttering to herself and doesn't notice.) Staren then looks back to the screen, watching Nathan's reaction to Lilian's invite... and furrowing her brow slightly at Lilian saying she'll be fighting for territory next time. Crud. Lilian managed what Kale couldn't, desiring Autocthonia alone for her own inscrutable reasons. If Lilian wants all of the next resonance surge's territory... it's going to be a much more difficult fight for Staren. |
| Arthur Lowell | The Archivist seems relieved. It's hard to say. Maybe he shifted just a little back in his chair. The others assure him that all is well. He nods steadily, evenly. "It continues to endure. Good." He looks at Staren, as if he were examining her, reading her. A short nod. He'd like to see something cool! He looks to see old formats, the mediums he approached this all from years ago. Years and years back... His near-emotionless nature doesn't change. But at least his words show a good response to the kindness. "Thank you, Staren. It makes me glad to know that the good I did remains in effect, somewhere. I hope you will continue it." He looks to Cantio. More ineffable neutral-chatter. "I believe it is a necessity of the formation of this area. If there was too much, it would collapse. If there was not enough, Resonance would have no release system, and emerge destructively." He looks at Lilian Rook. No, *really* looks at her. "I understand. That is something that is very good to say, because it is also good to know. I think that I would want to know that." Does he? He looks down to the case. "I will see about another chapter. And further study." Is all he says. It's hard to crack that ice, but it's harder not to give her some acknowledgment. Under his breath, he mutters, softly: "'There is a black tower, and one day, you will go there...'" He shakes his head. "Farewell. Please await further contact." The signal cuts. There's nothing left of interest here. |
| Cantio | "So what we're doing could be called... Environmental protection of sorts, if we consider Secundus as one of.. Many of... That. That's really good to know." Cantio murmurs with a thoughtful noise coming out of her, clearly not an indication of her planning to spin that into something down the line. She raises an eyebrow when the Archivist mutters to himself, but she doesn't address it. It's not clear if she heard him or not, but she does nod at his parting words. "Good bye for now! I'll be looking forward to hearing from you again later." Only when the feed cuts does she finally breathe a sigh of relief. "Alright... So it doesn't look like anything's exploding outside, at least. That should give us plenty of time to gather our stuff and bring it back. Um... But while we're still here..." "Should we do something to celebrate?" |