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Ru Li Cheng	THE CELESTIAL EMPIRE OF YINGHUA                                                      YUJINXIANG PROVINCE                                                         PROVINCIAL CAPITAL LANGMAN                                The Warp Gate opens into a welcome room. It's been specially-constructed around the Gate, fitting it into the architecture of the area - an elegant pavillion constructed with what can only be called polite paranoia, easily-defensible with a single exit, plenty of places for weapons to be poked through, but blended together to make slits of light shine in elegant patterns on a beautiful carpet, and in some places even hidden by lovely silken tapestries. Putting on one's best face, so to speak, but still keeping a knife in the sleeve in case things go wrong.      Once through the large temple doors, the group is met by an extremely polite and extremely well-mannered and extremely deferent bureaucrat, who kneels to Ru Li before standing and ushering the group along the cobbled streets of the city. Transport has been provided, he said, to get you to the Capital. An airship with an escort, he said, from one of the great He Hou gods, for honoured visitors.      Notably, the man does not speak to any of those honoured visitors. Not once.      Ru Li said that the Emperor would be the first to meet them. Apparently, he meant that literally.      The party is led through the city of Langman, a typical port city in every sense of the word, though, granted, with a bizarre architecture consisting of lots of angles and very little curvature. Similarly, the clothing of the people who walk past is itself very angular, with lots of straight lines and very few circles.      The people are a far more mixed bag than the city. As the party is led towards the airship platform they can pick out a lot of people who have similar features to Ru Li's (obviously the people he was forged to resemble), but there are the occasional foreigners in breastplate, carrying what look like railguns engraved with runic symbols, sometimes augmented with a mechanical eye more like a standard science fiction cybernetic than Ru Li's clockwork.      Eventually, the party reaches the airship platform, on a tall tower, and gets their first look at Yinghua proper.      It's beautiful. The hills of this of Yujinxiang province are vast and fertile, covered in bright green, with rice paddies and fields of wheat all throughout. The hills stretch on, and on, and on, and from this vantage point they can see little shacks and villages dotted about, as if scattered like the rice they tend. The trees are warm, here, and brightly-coloured, all pink petals and dark red petals of a springtime unending. A great river flows through it all, cleaving through the warm land, full of barges and junks making their way along. In the far distance, on the horizon, peeks forth a single jutting mountain.
Ru Li Cheng	And, of course, there's the machine.      *The* Machine.      The Engine of Heaven is unfathomably massive. Ru Li's descriptions and pictures don't really do it justice. Everywhere in the sky, in every cloud, there are gears, and springs, and screws, and balances, and wheels and wheels and wheels. The gears range from small to immense; the springs coil and move at speeds that range from once per second to so slow it's hard to tell they're moving at all. The whole thing is interconnected with impossible precision, in ways that make no sense whatsoever and yet clearly *do* something. The mechanisms are embedded into the landscape, into those enormous, rolling hills. They're embedded in the river, turning and winding and springing through the water, inseperable.      Looking back at the actual city, it becomes clear that those gears, springs, and impossible mechanisms are embedded throughout *it*, too. Or, rather, the city was built around it. Up here, it looks equal parts like a sprawling city and a geomantic pattern, as it reaches out into the ocean water beyond it.      As the party takes in the view, a cloud descends.      It's got a gondola underneath it, open-air, like a hot air balloon.      But no balloon has ever been supported by gears embedded in the cloud. No balloon has ever been supported by a constant, quiet ticking, and nothing more.      Ru Li steps into the gondola and smiles. "It's an airship," he says to the party, somewhat pointlessly, "It flies by...I believe it generates a cloud?" He looks at the pilot uncertaintly. The pilot does not make eye contact, instead bowing his head low.      "Yes, honored god. The mechanisms draw water from the atmosphere and condense it rapidly in the style of the Engine's coolant, until it achieves a state of perpetual vaporization, as I'm certain you know."      Ah, so that's how they're getting around 'the Emperor meets them first.' By talking to Ru Li.      Ru Li smiles and nods politely as he sits down and gestures for everyone else to do the same. The gondola chairs are warm and comfortable despite the proximity to the cloud, and, moreover, very *dry*. Once everyone is seated, the pilot turns a wheel and the cloud, the gondola, the strange airship, moves seamlessly into the sky. There's no hint of acceleration, no hitching. The ride is so smooth that if not for the movements of the surroundings it would almost be impossible to know there's movement at all.      Ru Li takes a deep breath. "This is the last chance we will have for questions," he says hurriedly, "So please ask them, whatever you feel the need to know. Once we land we will be met by an escort and taken directly to the Palace; I will be taken to the Gods' Gate and you will be led to the main entrance. From there, you will be on your own; I will not be a member of the Paladins but one of the Gods of Yinghua, and will not be able to provide you with any advice."
Ru Li Cheng	As the ship moves onwards over the countryside, it becomes apparent that they are being followed. The shape of the thing following them is equal parts jet fighter and pterodactyl, with more a beak than a cockpit, wings of clockwork and flesh that beat fast enough to keep up with the ship, and a host of dangerous-looking weapons. It has no eyes, but it does have a braid of hair dangling behind it, coming off what would be the cockpit on a jet. This, then, must be the He Hou god that's escorting them. Ru Li stands and gives a polite bow, but otherwise, doesn't say anything to it.      "He Li Hou," Ru Li says helpfully, "Ninth of Nine He Hou gods, and chief of the air force."
Rufus Shinra	Rufus does not so much as bat an eye when The Help doesn't speak directly to him. That's just the way of things. Besides, he has something else to focus on: being a tourist. PORT CITY LANGMAN: "Neat." *click* RAILGUNS WITH RUNES: "Cool." *click* SCENIC HILLS OF YUJINXIANG: "Eh." *click* anyway. THE MACHINE OF HEAVEN: "Oh this is much better." *several clicks* HE LI HOU: "Selfie!" Rufus goes to get both himself and the escorting god in frame, strikes a pose, and *clicks*. With that important task done, Rufus puts away the selfie stick (for now) and focuses on business. "Alright - this Emperor. What's he like? What makes him tick, what gets his motor running?" "I mean, like, euphemistically gets his metaphorical motor running. Not the..." Rufus gestures out towards the all-encompassing Machine of Heaven. "Literal one."
Tamamo	Tamamo-no-mae is present as one part of the Paladin representation for the event, dressed in her usual formal outfit rather than having taken the option of dressing like a tourist. Rather, she is a tourist, as indicated by her use of a cell phone -- there are white-tufted, angular, orange 'ears' at one corner of its sleek protector -- to take a picture that includes her and Lilian, with the rice fields in the backdrop. She hasn't gone as far as acquiring a selfie-stick, which means the sleeve into which she afterward hides the phone again takes up a quarter of the shot.     One may think back to how she's never been spotted using a phone to communicate long distances.     Rather-rather, she's really here for the opportunity to travel somewhere picturesque with Lilian, and see the place Ru Li regularly speaks of, but it's at least plausible that either of the first two reasons are primary. Her quiet words of appreciation for the vast fields, apart from suggesting comfortably familiarity, could be taken several ways.     The lack of direct introduction doesn't go unnoticed, in her case, but after focusing her eyes for several moments on each person in turn, she gives a gentle smile and refrains from giving her own name and position. That would only make things awkward for them, so she thinks.     "This is the last chance we will have for questions."     "We will be forgiven for being foreigners of different customs, I hope. And yet, while this should be true, it would be appropriate to attempt respect of those customs that are here. Should you tell us of their expectations, we may best be prepared to respond. Ah, I do recall you mentioning that there is no precedent for guests such as ourselves, and this has created an area of uncertainty as to which treatment is appropriate... is this still the case?"
Angela	Central has been sent to Ru Li's world due to having not been out as often relative to Control and Disciplinary as of late and Disciplinary is, ironically enough, the toughest to control by Angela herself and Angela doesn't want Gebura to be overseeing this operation because Gebura is a touch crude herself. The best options she had for this sort of job are Tiphereth's team or Chesed's team and ultimately she thinks Tiphereth might meltdown a bit faster if she lets her go. She is almost there, Angela thinks, and she just needs a push. It is tougher to do all this prep back when the Script allows for more improvisation than the other times by the neccessity of the multiverse complicating matters. Central's team is composed of Nikki, Rose, and Carol. Carol, being the Team Captain, is staying at the forefront of the group. Two are wearing magical girl EGO Gear--Nikki and Carol, specifically. Nikki is wearing the Magical Girl of Love's EGO Gear and Carol is wearing the Magical Girl of Justice's EGO Gear. Rose, for now, is back to wearing the EGO Gear of the Red Hooded Mercenary and she's the most fucked up looking one of the three. A cloth has been wrapped around her eyes and they seem to be constantly dripping acidic green ooze, her mouth has been scarred up into a big wide sharp-toothed grin. Despite that scar, Rose in particular is not hiding her misery at all. Nikki made a contract with a vampire but she always had red eyes and pink hair. Carol has a gloomy disposition but she's standing up straight as if she practiced all month at it. She's the one holding the pad with Angela on it. Nikki is carrying the pad with Tiphereth. Angela directs Carol to lift up her pad so she can take a look at the sky. "Hm? Is the sky broken? The gears aren't moving at all." Angela asks and states in that order. She almost says something to Rufus but then decides she's not going to be the one to pull that particular plug. The group moves along as they are led along. They don't take pictures but the Pads are always recording and their breadth of recording is far larger than the pads make them appear. Angela can see more of Ru Li's world than Ru Li's world can see of her offic. Rose pauses to examine a blade of grass to see if there are tiny little springs and sprockets even there but otherwise doesn't delay things much. The tech level of The City is, well, unusual. The Agents are well conditioned to accept the Strange at this point but Nikki whistles in amazement at the strange cloud-gondola. The team steps on top. Tiphereth continues to look distracted as ever though for the Wonderlab Team that hasn't seen them they might be surprised that a 'child' is the equivalent of a Department Chief at Headquarters, of Central no less. "I have not forgotten the rules." Angela says. "If you have forgotten anything, feel free, but otherwise there is no need to be nervous. Someone ''will'' mess up and someone ''will'' be excellent so you should have the experience you are hoping for." When Rufus goes for the selfie, Nikki murmurs, "Dude, come on. If you can be less casually impertinent that'd be great." "He can't so just work around it." Tiphereth advises. Rose's gaze settles on Tamamo. She almost looks like she wants to ask her something.
Ru Li Cheng	"Emperor Liu Shang is..."      "...young," Ru Li says finally, settling on that as an option, and that single word says a whole lot about Ru Li's relationship to the Emperor:      He's probably never met the man.      He hasn't the foggiest idea what makes the Emperor tick.      He's certainly never spoken to the Emperor, or if he has, it was ceremonial. The whole place stands on ceremony. It lives on systems and ceremonial attitudes and everything is hierarchies.      Tamamo asks a question he's *much* better suited to. "No, no longer. Bai Lu Ahan - you will meet him very soon - decided that you would be treated as equal to vassals without the expected deference or tribute. That is...the closest we have to 'foreign' at the moment," he says, his tone slightly ashamed, "But I expect that your own mannerisms and attitudes will be studied heavily to adapt you into our courtesies. The Emperor and the court do not know what to expect yet, either, so...so other than the most important rules, I do not think it will matter."      Ru Li rapidly repeats the most important rules of the court: -Don't interrupt the Emperor. Don't speak after the Emperor does until he confirms that he's stopped talking. -Bow at a sixty-degree angle to the Emperor, forty-five for the gods, and twenty for the human officials. -Don't kneel at all. If you're asked to kneel, decline and say it's rude to not look at the Throne. -Don't accept a drink or eat before the Emperor does, even if invited. Once food and drink are offered, you should eat and drink if you're able to, but if you physically aren't, you can say so and it won't be seen as rude. Otherwise at least a nibble and a sip is important.
Futaba Nuki	Futaba is in a pinch today. Why? She's not doing anything particularly new, even if it's in a new area. Meeting and mingling with royalty is just one of those things she's been trained to do, and actually doing it voluntarily for once does give her actual motivation to do it well today instead of just going through the motions. The problem, thus, is... She doesn't know whether to show up all dressed up or hide her lineage. Sure, she could just transform and solve for both things, but it doesn't feel quite right to just do that when she wants to make sure this meeting goes through without a hitch. Eventually... Coming through the Warp Gate is none other than Futaba in a flowing off-white garb with just-as-flowing sleeves, a pale green flower pattern adorning it all over, a large red ribbon tied around her waist and bundled up in the back, and her hair looking neater and browner than it ever has before. The only signs that it's still her and not some random passenger, even, are the fact that she still has that big green leaf on her head, the mask-like markings across her eyes, the tail sticking out from under that ribbon, and... "Hey, Ru Li! Been waiting long?" She still sounds and talks like herself, at least for now. Like Rufus, she tourists it up real hard, snapping pictures of all that stuff that comes into view during the ride, but she also actually tries to chat up the help and asks innocuous questions about what they're doing. Seeing Yinghua in person for the first time, naturally, has her asking fewer questions and just gawking even harder. The land is notably beautiful, of course, and she makes sure to snap plenty of pictures of everything on her phone without doing that dumb tourist thing of shoving her own face into every shot, but the real focus is on the Engine of Heaven. So many pictures, and then the gondola comes into frame and blocks it. She looks briefly annoyed at that showing up, but Ru Li moving into it makes it clearer that this is their ride. More importantly, it's another way to get more pictures, and to listen to explanations that she couldn't have possibly guessed at. "Perpetual vapor? Man... That sounds like something that'd be real useful in anyone's home." Futaba comments while inconveniently missing that whole thing about coolant, and then she turns her focus back to the matter at hand. Namely, questions. She gets quite a bit to work with from what Ru Li tells Tamamo, trying to commit them to memory at first and then just tapping them all into her phone a minute later for pre-meeting review. "Are there any other bigwigs we should be keeping an eye out for while we're there? You know, in case one of 'em tries dragging us into some weird conspiracy stuff so we..." There's a pause that might be just a little too long. "... Don't get involved in it." Once the He Hou god is introduced, Futaba puts her game face on and holds her hands together inside her sleeves while bowing her head lightly (she's pretty sure at a forty-five degree angle, but it's probably closer to forty). "Futaba Nuki, princess of the Nuki clan, member of the Paladins. Pleased to meet you, He Li Hou."
Ru Li Cheng	Ru Li's face has been slightly tinged silver at Futaba since she arrived. His response to 'have you been waiting long' was a vigorous, perhaps a bit too eager, shake of his head. Now, as she asks them about the bigwigs, he sort of refocuses and says,      "Bai Lu Ahan will be there, I suppose? He is the First of the Gods, the prototype, and the chief minister of the Empire, but I doubt he will attempt to drag you into anything like that. I do not..."      Ru Li's flush turns bright silver and gold now, from 'gosh she's kinda hot' to 'i'm genuinely embarassed by my ignorance in this field.' "...I am not overly familiar with the goings-on of the court. I will be there, but, as I said, I will be there among whatever other gods may be in attendance, and you must address me as Ru Li Cheng and never Ru Li unless the Emperor gives you leave to be familiar with me. No matter how familiar I may wish to be with you."      No, he didn't think about that one as he said it. Don't worry about it. It's probably fine.
Tamamo	Tamamo receives her answers and, really, there's no problem therein. Not for her, at least. It might be different were she a different sort of divinity, and she's bowed very little in the past several years, but having rules of politeness only makes everything easier when they're known, in her experience.     Rose's gaze settles on Tamamo. She almost looks like she wants to ask her something.     Tamamo spots someone looking miserable and scarred paying unusual attention to her. Gently, "Oh, dear. Are you hurt somewhere? Do you need healing?"
Ru Li Cheng	"Ah," Ru Li rallies after a moment, "No! The sky is not broken. Some of the gears of the Engine are simply so vast that they turn as slowly as the planet rotates around the sun. Those gears, I...I am not an *expert* in the high sciences, but I *believe* those are indeed the gears that connect the planet to the sun."
Wonderlab Trio	"Wow... Flower's never seen so much green before...."     Flower marvels-- at the city itself, for its moderate urban-integrated plantlife, long before even reaching the airship platform. The pink-haired clerk, instantly identifiable as a Lobotomy Corporation employee by their suit and red armband, tags along with Rose, who's smiling serenely while trying to keep them in check. They also wear a suit: a white, comfortably formal one, with blue-grey ribbons, rather than their EGO gear; both being dressed to make good impressions, rather than for combat readiness. Flower's hair tufts have been wetted and insistently brushed, to absolutely no avail.     "It *is* quite pretty, isn't it? It's almost like there's art going into every architectural choice, as if it's designed from the ground-up to be pleasant to look at." Rose isn't much less enamoured with their surroundings than Flower is, but they're far politer about it. Stopping just short of a leash, one hand is kept on Flower's shoulder, gently tugging them back to slow their momentum when they start to run crashing towards one of the locals to ask about their-- food, surprisingly.     "Be *careful*, Flower! If everything goes well, we might be able to stop by the bakery on the way back to the Warpgate." Then, lower, "We might be expected to eat in the Emperor's company, so there'd be even more interesting food there. I'm sure they'd love if you were curious about it."     And then, actually beholding the city and the sprawling landscape, both of them stare quietly in awe for some time, waiting for the airship to descend. "... *I've* never seen so much green before...."     Joining the others in the airship, a little more slowly than the rest due to needing some long seconds for the wonder at the entirely alien (by virtue of being pleasant, not because of the gears, though those are new too) landscape. Rose sits, but Flower continues bouncing around with excitement, first bee-lining to Ru Li. They bounce in place for a second before bowing at a very-imprecise-but-earnestly-calculated fourty-five degree angle. They might not even be clear on what a fourty-five degree angle even is, come to think of it; they only look fourteen or fifteen years old.     "Howdy-hi! Ru! Li! Cheng! Flower studied super duper hard, so you can count on me!" They fall silent only for the duration that Ru Li repeats the rules, busying themselves instead with peering over the side of the airship and then nervously backing away from it. "Are we? Eating and drinking? Will it be dinnertime when we're there?"     Meanwhile, Rose turns to Rose, smiling a little sadly at her wounds. "Oh dear. I'd recognize the Servant of Wrath's markings anywhere, after seeing her breach." A short pause, hands clasped in their lap. "She's been stable, lately."     Angela's narration proves correct, when Rose purses their lips and looks down at the tablet, hunting for any other topic of conversation. "Is that your department head? She looks even younger than Flower...."
Ru Li Cheng	"Ah! A pleasure. I am Ru Li Cheng, ninth of nine Ru Cheng gods - please, call me Ru Li, outside the court." Ru Li smiles and bows politely to Flower - twenty degrees, as he called out as polite for humans.      "Yes. Food and drink are traditional at any bureaucratic or business meeting, as a sign of trust and a topic of conversation that can be handled lightly and politely to avoid awkwardness, so there will assuredly be food."
Angela	Angela says, "Ah, they are simply turning too slowly. Thank you, Ru Li." Rose looks the other Rose. They have the same name as her so she couldn't help but be curious. They seem to be levelheaded, Rose isn't sure she can claim the same anymore, but she does say, "It's sure something isn't it?" to Rose. "...Nah, this wasn't Wrath's doing. Not directly. This is just from mental corruption." She points to the blindfold covering her eyes and then pulls her hand down to point at her horrifying mouth. "This was a Gift from the Red Hooded Mercenary. This is what it looks like when she likes you." Rose seems to smile at them. "Glad Wrath has calmed down. I was part of the team that took her down on the Outside." She extends a hand towards Rose, offering to shake theirs. Tiphereth's eyes slant towards Rose as they speak to her. ''Is that your department head? She look seven younger than Flower.'' "I'm just that capable." Tiphereth answers back and is about to say more but Angela dives into that momentary pause between sentences--she is adept at that sort of thing, finding the natural breath between thoughts and sliding herself in between. They aren't momentary for her. "Tiphereth has a condition from an Accident a while back. She looks younger than she is but she is capable. You can rely on her." Angela says. "I see your Team Captain was not sent along this time." This makes sense to Angela because Catt didn't seem like they were suited for such meetings. Carol leans into Flower a bit and says, "Nice job. Seeing just how beautiful the other worlds can be never gest old, huh?" She smiles at them, in spite of gloomy disposition. "Next time there's a mission to Sapient Heurestics, you should try and get a pass to go. They'd love you there." Rose seems happy at Rose's interest and is still talking. "But thanks, with how the facility is, everyone kind of has to quickly move on. Me included. The corruption was an accident, too, nobody's ''really'' at fault. Mostly."
Lilian Rook	"My my, they certainly know what they're doing. When was the last time I saw a Warpgate with a proper chokepoint? One that I wasn't involved in consulting on, at least."     Oddly, Lilian doesn't seem as if she's being sarcastic about that. The gorgeous light pattern, from the practical architecture put to good use, gets a slow look-around and a note of interest from her, but the fact that it's set up so that unwelcome visitors can be immediately shot from all sides on the spot wins a sound of approval. "How nice, to be familiar with the sort of people we're dealing with. I'm almost fond." she says.     Though the base temptation is always to carefully research the local fashion and dress accordingly (or emphatically dress Exactly The Same as she tends to roll her eyes at), Lilian is far from ignorant of the role she and the others have here. Nailing the look will only tell people that she's trying to needily curry favour at best, or hide something about her origin at worse. Even though (some of) the group may be held in high esteem, their role is ultimately already pre-decided as the Other. The curiosity. The secret third thing. They're people that the locals have a dire need to see and know, and so Lilian sees herself as far better off as representing herself in accordance with that expectation: perfected and framed as a representative type-speciment; an ambassador of her kind, exotic and a little exciting, but ultimately Just Like You in all the ways that matter. She has experience with that.     Black is western formal, but wine red is one of Lilian's colours that fits the context of the culture better, so it takes primacy over white and black. Silk is something ideal to show that she has, but breezy linens form half the inner layers of her dress anyways, white visible under splits and folds. Neck fasten and bare shoulders and arms are an intentionally modern departure, as is the diamond window at her back, revealing some of her immaculately detailed gold (heavenly) ink tattoo.     The floral pattern of her clothes is out of personal resonance; primarily lillies, but with ash, hazel, and cherry blossoms on the branches that run asymmetrically across. Hair up, but let visibly long at the sides over her shoulders, pinned with white-gold and diamond to match her always-hairpin, earrings dripping with tiny gems. A little bit of red eyeliner, a little darker lipstick, but nothing for her scar. She couldn't help but painting her nails in that jet black and dusty gold pattern she favours. Night Mist's pendant is nakedly worn over her clothes.     It's a stronger choice to wear bits and pieces of Lady in Black on purpose. It's unclear whether it feels comfortable to her, or she intends for it to express something, but the countless interlocking mirror-black plates and woven bands of !metal that couldn't be assembled-- or donned-- by human hands are just barely present; a sort of corset-function-sash analogue (with an actual sash over), over her throat and collarbone where jewellery would go, in place of sandals for footwear, adding a couple of inches of height, and boldly over her write wrist and hand, up to the base of her fingers and partway up her forearm, so as not to be easily mistaken for a barbarian cybernetic.     The black compliments fair skin and vivid dress, certainly, and the tiny flashes of gold, like shifting seams as she moves, fall into pallet, but what seems to stand out more, when surrounded by unfathomably vast and complex divine machinery, is the way it --with pieces too fine to clatter-- ticks like immaculately fine watchwork when she moves; almost, just almost, some alien cousin.
Lilian Rook	Lilian certainly finds it a little interesting that the man kneels to Ru Li, after what she's brushed up on of etiquette. "I have no questions to ask, but I have one request." says Lilian. "Even as you hold your tongue, don't try to deny whatever it is that you might think, please. If something should go wrong, if someone should misstep, pray silently and strongly for their good fortune."     §Couldn't hurt to have a cheat sheet.§     "Sixty for the emperor, forty-five for gods, twenty for human officials. Decline to kneel before the throne. Don't strictly lie before the one god." says Lilian, counting off on her fingers. Ru Li is already helping, so she terminates it with "And so on." A glance goes to the bizarre ptero-jet. "I don't mind. It's only natural that he should keep watch." she says. "After all, I am, very much, staggeringly dangerous~"     It'd sound more like a flex if she didn't meaningfully glance at Rufus.     "I might say it later, too, but . . . Surrounded by all of this, I finally have to wonder why your 'barbarians' aren't interested in it." Lilian says. "You've told us before, about the result and not the phenomena. I thought it merely academic at first, but seeing it for myself, I can't help but feel as if I wouldn't be able to settle for that. I can't understand passing up the opportunity to denude something so beautiful." she sighs. Then glances at Tamamo. "Who doesn't wish they could peel back the trappings of the world and take it unto themselves?"
Ru Li Cheng	"I could not say," Ru Li admits to Lilian, "Truthfully, I do not know the mind of the barbarians. You would have to ask one of them. There are plenty of them at Langman, where the Warp Gate exits - it is, coincidentally, the only place barbarians are permitted in the country. If I was to guess, it would probably be...that they were more concerned with more military matters? But I do not know."
Lilian Rook	"Then we'll agree to disagree on 'military matters'." Lilian says, breezily. "Despite what pragmatism and compromise might exist, I've always believed more in warriors than soldiers. Logistics win wars, but only in lieu of heroes."     What an effect, when she's sidling in for Tamamo selfie time, too.
Ru Li Cheng	The journey is as fast as the wind - literally, in fact, if everything about the cloud-ship is as the pilot said. They sail over the green and bountiful hills, over the beautiful rice paddies and sakura-petal trees, following the path of the river the whole time. The mountain that peered over the horizon grows closer and closer, until it is clear that it is not just a mountain that was peeking over the horizon but a falling river, pouring from the sky, perpetually.      That, then, is the Capital.      "Huahei," Ru Li says quietly, "The Three-River Capital. The Imperial City. The center of the Empire."      As the ship travels the mountain grows bigger, and the scale of it becomes more obvious. It isn't just a city but a province unto itself, sitting in the center of the three rivers that spill off it, artificial farming platforms built upon its sides, vast water-wheels turning the engines of industry, buildings attached to and graven into the gigantic mountain itself. As they grow closer they can see people bungie-diving into the waterfalls with spears in hand, and returning with fish on spears. They can see farmers pulling their wares towards mechanical elevators that will raise them to what is probably the market level.      At the peak of it all, an enormous palace, of staggering, impossible beauty, built so seamlessly on the mountain that it cannot be determined if it was carved from the rock or built. The palace roof catches the water and divides it into the three rivers, and as the ship ascends, the party can see people scooping the water and pouring it into old-fashioned barrels and casks.      Finally, the cloud docks among other opulent gondolas, at the edge of the palace grounds, which themselves wrap around the mountain and channel the water, covered in flowers and trees. Strangely, though this mountain is tremendous, it is neither cold nor hard to breathe - in fact, it's warm, and comfortable, probably through some alchemy or another.      The party is met by a host of attendants in black clothes with silver inlay. Unlike the people in Langman, these people are dressed opulently. Though their clothes bear a lot of straight lines, they have patterns that are recognizable as latticework, and are of much finer silk. They don't speak, but they do bow forty-five degrees to Ru Li, who bows to them in turn.      Ru Li turns and looks the party over, and takes a deep breath. "We part here," he says, "I apologize. Please follow the attendants. They will escort you directly to the Court. I will see you inside."      And then he heads off, along one of the gardens.      The attendants bow, and sweep their hands, and begin walking as a crowd around the group. Behind them, near the airship, He Li Hou lands, an eerie giant metal-and-flesh bird watching them eyelessly as the party is escorted up to the doors.
Ru Li Cheng	The palace doors swing open unbidden, massive but swift, precisely mechanical and well-cared-for. The palace itself is filled with fine art, with ink-paintings and poems and tapestries hanging on the walls, a silken carpet that's comfortable for bare feet or slippers (most of the palace staff appears to be wearing slippers), statues...it's what you'd expect in a palace, if a bit more...organized. A bit more well-kept.      A pair of guards with old-fashioned halberds stand before double-doors. The party is kept waiting precisely no time at all - the halberds rise, the doors swing open, and the Court awaits.      The Throne Room is massive. It contains an entire senate. There are representatives from all of Yinghua here to convey thoughts and opinions and advice to the Emperor and his advisors. Candles hang in the air, supported by clouds, microcosms of the airship gondola the party rode here, flickering in different colours depending on the region. There appear to be five distinct colours of candles above the representatives, probably correlating to the region they're from.      At the far wall is the Throne. It is enormous. It is mechanical. It is shrouded, very slightly, in mist, which is almost assuredly from the waterfall above - and indeed it appears to be connected to that waterfall, and perhaps even the Engine itself, by gears that work their way up the wall. It gives the impression of otherworldliness breaching into the real. Flowers are set around the foot of the raised dais in intricate patterns that form a pathway for the Emperor to walk on.
Ru Li Cheng	The Emperor is indeed young, and he looks...bored. He's handsome, in a sharp way, a highborn handsomeness that at least says that inbreeding among the nobility isn't a problem here. It says that, despite his bored face, the dynasty is healthy, and probably strong. His hair is dark, his eyes are dark, and he's...well, he's an ordinary man. Nothing divine about him.      It's the man at his side who is doubtless divine. Long hair the color of quicksilver. Skin as pale as snow. Bright gold eyes. A single, long scar, as if from a burn, marrs the otherwise-flawless beauty of his face, which is itself partially hidden by his large black-and-silver robe. One of his black-gloved hands holds a parchment; the other is tucked behind his back. He stands at the base of the dais, on a ring of flowers of his own.      There are a number of other flower rings on the floor, near the throne wall. Most of them are empty, but Ru Li Cheng is there, dressed in probably the most spectacular clothes he's ever worn. His hair is done up in a ponytail with a golden ribbon tying it together, slightly femininely draped around his shoulder; he's exchanged his simpler robes for similar black-and-silver as the other god, and his eyes are bright and glowing in a way that they never have been before, a small exertion of divinity.      Finally, the Emperor stands. He parts the mist with a flick of his hands and walks down the dais.      "So you are the ones who necessitated the word 'foreigner,'" He says, his tone even, "I am Liu Shang. I am the Emperor of Yinghua, the Will of the Engine of Heaven, closest to the divine while still of mankind."      "You may speak," the Emperor says, and the quicksilver-haired man steps forward and bows, twenty degrees.      "I am Bai Lu Ahan, first of the nine Bai Ahan gods of Yinghua." He straightens. "It is my honour to be second to welcome you to our country. This is Ru Li Cheng, ninth of the nine Ru Cheng gods of Yinghua. You are familiar with him."      Ru Li bows despite knowing everyone in the room (sort of), another twenty-degree bow.      "Tell me," Bai Lu Ahan says, "What do you think of our country?" An innocuous, simple, yet loaded question. What's he looking for? What kind of answer?      He's the one you can't lie to.
Rufus Shinra	"Alright. Hey. Don't worry about, we'll make a good impression, alright?" Rufus goes to clasp Ru Li on the shoulder in a way that'd be more appropriate if this wasn't literally their first meeting. "We've got this." Rufus takes in the sights on the way through the palace, and resists the urge to take photos of all of the artwork and treasures. (He'll do that on the way out instead, if there's a chance.) He especially resists taking photos of the whole setup for the throne. Do they have a gift shop here? Then Rufus remembers that they didn't have a word for 'foreigner', so probably not. Rufus approaches, and bows to the emperor at the requisite sixty degrees. Then to Bai Lu Ahan, at forty-five degrees. And to Ru Li, at another forty-five degrees, though with a brief smirk on his face on the way down. "What do I think of your country..." says Rufus, after standing back up straight. "... I think..." He lifts his hand, extends his thumb... and flips it upward. "It's great!" "If I were you, I'd want to go start having tours, yeah? It'd be a shame to not show it off more. The Engine of Heaven you've got here is truly a marvel. Haven't ever seen anything like it." "And your Gods? Heck yeah. People travel for days to go see things like them but that don't move - the Gods don't move, I mean. Throw in the mythos - I mean, the story about their creation, and you'd get people coming from *galaxies* around." "And the palace - whew, the *palace*." Rufus gestures broadly. "Where do I start with the *palace*. I'm pretty sure I could fill a whole day just looking at everything here." "It's a bit of a shame you don't allow foreigners in. Even if you don't care about the economic benefits, we're far, *far* from the most interesting people you'd get coming through here." That last part is at least partially directed emperor-ward.
Wonderlab Trio	"This was a Gift from the Red Hooded Mercenary. This is what it looks like when she likes you."     Rose giggles lightly, covering their mouth with their hand. Evidently other-Rose's scars don't phase them that much, which makes sense for an agent. "I'm sure it's better than if she *didn't* like you. When I was new, I and another agent took turns managing White Lake. They got its gift; I got nearly turned into a bird." "Glad Wrath has calmed down. I was part of the team that took her down on the Outside."     "Oh, you were?" Rose takes Rose's hand, and now that they're relaxing a bit, it's clear some of their politeness was stiffly professional rather than ingrained muscle memory. Not so much that it rests unfamiliarly on them, just not the most comfortable way for them to act. "*Hopefully* we never have to deal with that kind of breach again. But if we do, you'll be able to count on us to be there, too." "I see your Team Captain was not sent along this time."     Rose doesn't seem entirely convinced by the excuse, or the following shift in topic. Cutting off Tiphereth, and then cutting off Rose when they might've tried to ask more questions, puts a slightly hesitant look on their face, but they smoothly acquiesce to the unspoken demand. "Shasha tried to convince Captain Catt to come along, but they weren't... entirely enthusiastic about leaving the facility for a meeting with royalty. Maybe next time, I hope. *Flower* was delighted to be invited, though." "The corruption was an accident, too, nobody's ''really'' at fault. Mostly."     Taking that slightly the wrong way, Rose nods, leaning their head back and lacing their fingers together to stretch their arms out in front of them. They close their eyes, a sigh implicit in their voice. "Feathers of a Wing, huh?"     Once Rufus is pointed out, and says something besides taking selfies, Flower perks up at his voice and scampers over, bubbly at another sound they recognize. "Oh wowow! You're the buddy-pal from the radio earlier! It's Flower!" He never gave them his name, after all, but Flower still seems thrilled at the recognition. "Seeing just how beautiful the other worlds can be never gets old, huh?"     "Ahhh...." Sparkly-eyed, entranced by the growing waterfall in the distance, Flower takes a bit to respond to Carol. "Flower's never even seen another world before. Not with my own eyes. It's...."     Flower sniffles, then rubs the back of their hand against their eyes. They sound dazed when they continue, with the mountain looming higher and higher, little details of life integrated with the gears of nature coming into visibility all over it. "It's really, super mega wowsers. It's so pretty."
Wonderlab Trio	"Surrounded by all of this, I finally have to wonder why your 'barbarians' aren't interested in it."     Turning to Lilian, away from leaning their chin on their palm to watch the hills rolls by, Rose hums, tapping a knuckle on the side of the airship gondola. "Most people are willing to ignore the mechanisms driving any world, aren't they? Plainly visible or not, beautiful or not, they tend to fade into the background when you have to navigate them every day. 'Why should I think about it today, when it'll still be around tomorrow?'" A thoughtful frown, breaking eye contact to look up at the cloud supporting them. "It's only once they feel like it's important *today* that they start questioning it."     Then they smile again and extend their hand to Lilian, even standing up as a minor show of respect. "Dame Commander. It's a pleasure to meet you in person, we've talked on the radio?" Flower hears this, turns away in the middle of their conversation just to point and announce, "Rose. Rose. Flower. Lily!"     Even Flower is somewhat cowed by the displays of regality and formality. Rose doesn't have to fight quite as hard to keep them in line, walking through the palace, and they're the one that's more comfortable leading the way behind the guards, for Flower to follow. By now, on the mountain itself and surrounded by the centuries-soaked dignity of the throne room, it's passed the point of being stunningly beautiful to the City-bound employees, and crossed into being overwhelming. Flower seems practically numb.     Both of them bow, sixty degrees as proper. With Flower temporarily stunned, and, almost certainly, not being the appropriate one of the pair to speak, Rose answers the god's question themselves.     "It's the most beautiful place I've ever seen. I'm honored to have been welcomed to visit, and to be greeted by the Emperor and you." That's all true, in an objective sense. There may be places Rose likes the look of more, but the artistic beauty of Yinghua is incomparable to anywhere in the City that Rose has been. "I'm Rose, representing my team, and this is Flower, our associate. We represent Lobotomy Corporation, along with the other agents here."
Futaba Nuki	"Sounds like someone real old, then... Well, most of 'em are probably gonna be older than most of us here, huh?" Laughing lightly, Futaba takes a moment to clear her throat, then recalibrates with a more dignified and quieter chuckle that fits her current outfit way more. She wrinkles her nose at that sound a moment later, though, then takes a deep breath to get her head back into the right mindset as Ru Li explains how to address him properly. "Got it. Ru Li Cheng, nothing shorter without express permission so we don't overstep anything. Can't make it too obvious you're our favorite here." She teases with one of the last few easygoing laughs she can afford for now, although she can't help but raise an eyebrow at Ru Li's last comment as she- "Think the Emperor would give us leave for that?" -gives in with one more instance of screwing around before getting her game face back on. Smile, but not too much. Move steadily, not too fast to look like she's in a hurry, not too slow to look like she doesn't give a shit about other people's time. She's done this enough times that it's routine, but it still just feels weird doing so in front of Ru Li, Lilian, Tamamo, and Angela and her Agents. They've seen her enough times without this kind of production put in that she's still feeling kind of self-conscious about it! At least Rufus, Flower, and Rose are new faces. She greets them with practiced bows at twenty degrees, even if they're not officials. She still has to take pictures on the way up, of course, although she's a little more subtle about doing it with the phone wrapped up in the tip of her weirdly-proportioned tail rather than using her hands. It's kind of gross looking, but it thankfully disappears when her tail goes back to looking like a normal tail instead of one with a phone poking out of it. "There's so many more people here than back home..." "Air's pretty warm. I could take a nap out here if we didn't have business to take care of first." When it's time to split up, Futaba already has the bowing angles memorized. She goes twenty-ish for the attendants that come to greet the group, then forty-five-ish (closer to forty-seven) for Ru Li. "Understood. Thank you for your guidance, Ru Li Cheng."
Futaba Nuki	Everything about Futaba's demeanor changes as the group is led in. Instead of gawking and snapping pictures like she was on the way up, she practically slides along the ground with light steps through the palace. Noticing the slippers, she does have to cheat a little with her transformation to change her heels to slippers, but it's all done under the cover of that off-white garment that almost obscures them, anyway. The timing of the group's arrival and the guards' halberd-lifting makes it really hard for Futaba to resist whistling reflexively from being impressed by the efficiency of it all. She really wants to try those things, too, but she knows she has to behave. Instead, she closes her eyes and nods briefly, both to acknowledge them and to stop herself from looking at cool big weapons, then heads right on in! Twenty degrees. Forty-five degrees. Forty-five degrees. Twenty degrees. So much bowing, but it's part of the process. If she hadn't known the Emperor was the Emperor, Futaba would almost mistake the way cooler looking guy next to him for the Emperor, but luckily... She gets to cheat with advance notice and also the Emperor introducing himself directly along with Bai Lu Ahan. The latter's appearance is particularly striking for her, too, and after that conversation on the way up, even Futaba has to take a moment to stare at Ru Li for a little longer before finally bringing her hands together in her own greeting once the Emperor gives his permission to speak and Bai Lu introduces himself. "I am Princess Futaba Nuki, current successor of the Nuki clan, member of the Paladins. On behalf of my people, thank you for gracing us with this meeting today." She introduces herself with that practiced tone, then dips into multiple bows. Sixty, forty-five, forty-five. She's gotten the hang of the angle by now. The question from Bai Lu has her considering her next words carefully, still deliberately not glancing around at everything surrounding her so she can continue looking proper. "I think this all looks like a truly enviable empire. Healthy workers, ample land, loyal attendants, an extravagant palace, all blessed with so much talent keeping everything together and maintaining the Engine of Heaven." It feels so weird talking this way, but it's necessary, and it does at least let her gush a bit about what she's seeing just as a sort of release valve. "If not for my own people being so different, I could only hope we could build something this grand."
Angela	Rose jolts a bit, not expecting Tamamo to actually speak to her. She bites back the urge to go 'Doesn't it look like I'm hurting in plenty of places?' since that's no way to talk to Tamamo and even less of a way to talk to Tamamo in front of the Dame Commander. She instead says, "Yeah, if there's...a convenient time, if you...can." She gestures to her face. "Lobotomy Corp said that it's because the barrier between myself and my EGO vanished and it's the sort of thing that's hard to go back from." Rose brings a hand up to her mouth when Rose shares their own take. "Glad you were able to get out of that situation without too many extra feathers." Rose being like this is actually encouraging to this Rose and is putting her more at ease. She likes them. "Yeah, hopefully. Two are other world's problems now but at least that means they won't meet up all in one place and cause real problems." Angela bobs her head to Rose. "Understandable. Sometimes meeting wealthy elites can be a bit disquieting for some Agents. Reasonably. But these are different worlds." ''Feathers of a Wing, huh?'' "Feathers of a Wing." The Agents more or less agree at almost the same time. "Understood." Angela says to Ru Li. "We'll endeavour to not cause you trouble." Her gaze slants towards Lilian Rook approvingly before bringing her hands behind her back even on the video screen. The team continues on. Angela, despite never meeting the Head and probably never going to meet the Head, is not surprised to see that the Emperor is a boring man. It usually goes that way, doesn't it? That's what she expects the Head to be anyway despite the Head being the most mysterious entity in The City. Angela is determined to not embarrass Lilian and the more Lilian complains about people on Banter the more Angela is determined that her Agents not fuck things up. The Agents all bow in the same order. Emperor, Gods and Ru Li last. And then they straighten up. They remain silent until The Emperor says that they may speak. So do Angela and Tiphereth actually. ACTUALLY they remain silent until after Bai Lu Ahan speaks because he gets in there before any of the Lobotomy Corp crew can say anything (except Angela, who declined to). ''What do you think of our country?'' Angela is an AI that can lie but she doesn't need to lie about a question like that. "Your diplomat has performed excellently at his duties but worries a lot." Angela says. "I am intrigued by the Great Engine and I find the landscape beautiful almost to the point that I feel I am taking advantage of you as it is a level of richness I am deeply unaccustomed to. The ride over was largely peaceful. I have never been on a gondola before so it was quite the experience." She doesn't even think to clarify that she's never been on a gondola ''like that'' before either. "I cannot help but be a bit suspicious of lands so opulent due to the nature of my own homeland. More than that, I would have to see more of your country. It seems careless to settle on an opinion so soon but if Ru Li is representative of the community then I am confident all will be well." Angela may have held back some thoughts by neccessity but she is being truthful as she understands it though it may be apparent to someone who can read lies that it's certainly a calculated truth, even the part about being a bit suspicious. The Agents don't speak up on the matter, apparently believing that Tiphereth and Angela are the ones with the authority to speak for the group.
Tamamo	'Who doesn't wish they could peel back the trappings of the world and take it unto themselves?'     "That does seem a very human ambition," says Tamamo, her precise meaning a mystery. "I wonder if they are likewise accustomed to this scenery, to the point of not thinking upon it? Or is it, perhaps, that they are doing so, in their own way?"     There's not much time for selfies, but all her photos with Lilian are valuable. She'll have to pick which ones to share on the account a Paladin tech set up for her, later. For now, the phone's going away, back into the same, wide sleeve.     'Yeah, if there's...a convenient time, if you...can.'     Though she can't recall ever having met Rose (nor Rose) before, and isn't particularly involved in the affairs of Lobotomy Corp agents, Tamamo responds with an easy, "Of course. It would be no trouble."     It's harder to ignore things when they're right in front of you.     With an, "Mm, of course," she leaves Ru Li, where 'see you later' would have been technically correct, but it's more like 'see you soon.' They're only separated for a little while, and hardly given enough time for Tamamo to come up by Lilian's shoulder and direct her attention to the farmers or the fishers. Long-distance eyesight isn't among her special powers, so it's with some strain that Tamamo tries to make out the details. "There -- oh! He succeeded. And yet, that one failed. Will they pull themselves slowly up...? Oh, no, of course, those above them may do so."     She's quieter once they're in the palace proper, maintaining no more than elegance of stride and appearance. Having not passed a place by which she saw any change footwear, neither does she change her own, even on the carpet, though the cleanliness of the street is the practical factor in this, as opposed to that of decorum.     It's when the emperor stands and descends that Tamamo's eyes just-perceptibly widen in surprise. She takes this moment to perform the sixty-degree bow, precisely calculated, as instructed, with her hands hidden in opposite sleeves and held before her. There wasn't a mention of timing, in this case, but of course, the emperor wouldn't be expected to be bow. In her experience, he wouldn't be expected to stand, or to move at all, either. It's a simply matter to return a bow given to her, which she likewise does.     "I am known as Tamamo-no-mae, Chevalier of the Paladins, bunrei..." a word that likewise hardly ever translates easily, far more so than 'foreigner,' "...of Amaterasu-omikami, She of the Pale-Gold Face, Goddess of the Sun, having descended one axis of the world in Kunlun, and arose to find another. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance."
Tamamo	The time she spends thinking isn't notable in her speech. It's partly a quickness for it, and partly the practice of measuring out her speech while performing the work invisibly. It would be understandable if they were asked to speak of themselves, but they hadn't been requested such, explicitly. It would be understandable if they were asked for general thoughts over food, when that aspect of culture may be taken as part of the query -- as Ru Li said, it makes for an easy topic. There's something a little too bluntly intentional about opening straight off with the question in the middle of this court setting, though that doesn't reveal to her mind whether it's seeking to discover positive or negative impressions.     Rather, it could even be... hm, no, a man with such an appearance wouldn't be so indirect while fishing for incomplete answers, and gods tend to have more difficulty in hiding themselves, rather than less.     For her own part, she's hiding plenty, but that's because she's fine with being classified together with 'humans.' Her eyes aren't glowing, and her tails aren't flowing flames. She isn't requesting a forty-five degree bow, either -- there wasn't so much as a hesitation or a narrowing of her eyes before returning her deeper bow to Bai Lu Ahan. There's no need to ruin the very purpose of such polite expectations by surprising people, when it's the betrayal of an expectation that people notice most.     "From that which these ears have heard, and that which these eyes have seen, though the latter is the lesser of the two, I think this a prosperous and well-ordered nation, with care for life and beauty. I am made curious by some of that which I see, though I expect most foreigners to focus upon one aspect that is of less concern for me, for the materialization of a phantasm is a grand, but not severe, difference between 'here' and 'there.'"     Her lack of elaboration upon several words that could very probably have been given significant capital letters is purposeful without being gratingly deliberate in delivery.
Tamamo	Tamamo is only very passively ignoring Rufus, in that she doesn't have a reason to focus on him and there's something in his suggestions of shameless commercialism that feels unpleasant without giving her a good reason to interject. Still, it's convenient for her that he gets on to the very thing she said 'most foreigners' would notice. In a way, they're almost agreeing.     As for the several present agents, apart from making that casual process to check into what she can do for Rose (very likely a lot), she elects to avoid being swept up into their pace. Yes, Flower is being cute, which is normal for a child and possibly suicidal for a LobCorp employee, but there are too many other things to focus on just now, even apart from focusing on accompanying Lilian.     "'Lily,' hmm...?"
Lilian Rook	Silently, Lilian is extra glad she didn't go with black as her base colour when she sees the palace staff. Her choices appear to be on point otherwise. The rivers splitting over the imperial palace actually hold her attention for an unusually long time; a tic of distractedness from a woman who is always scanning everything but faces in her environment.     'Most people are willing to ignore the mechanisms driving any world, aren't they?'     "Indeed they do." Lilian replies. "Just as their entire lives are swallowed up by the black hole that is 'tomorrow'. The day that never comes, where they'll begin everything they need to do and achieve all of their dreams." She sighs, unable to help just a little one. "You're being awfully polite about something we both understand. Don't you dislike them even a little bit for having to be threatened to finally look outside themselves?"     'Rose. Rose. Flower. Lily!'     Apparently that's endearing enough to get a tiny smile from Lilian. "It is. I'm glad you like it. Do you happen to like roses as well?"     'Dame Commander. It's a pleasure to meet you in person, we've talked on the radio?'     "The pleasure is mutual." says Lilian, in her picture perfect way. "You've chosen an auspicious time to meet face to face."     '"That does seem a very human ambition. I wonder if they are likewise accustomed to this scenery, to the point of not thinking upon it?'     Lilian, oddly, smiles more broadly at that note of sideways approval. "I wouldn't know. I'd like to imagine that everyone stops to really think about something they see all the time, now and again." she says. "I'd understand them much better if they did."     ...     The throne room is not at all what she expects. She'd been ready for the mortal opulence of colour and craft; an orchestra of fine materials and fine handiwork in a whelming display of wealth. The throne, instead, does something Lilian-analogous to taking her breath away. She can't help but look where it blends and enmeshes into the machinery, with the Emperor as the joining point. She watches it even before the senators in the room. Even before the god.     Something about a 'pilot seat' softly, fondly, passes her lips.     Sixty degrees exactly. One hand over the breast is an intentional twist; western enough she feels comfortable with it, and obliging Ru Li's request that she not do everything carbon copy accurate. She successfully holds down the quirk of her lips at 'you may speak', and effortlessly nails forty-five for Bai Lu. "I am certainly honoured beyond words to be received in this company as well." she says. Her voice carries shockingly well without raising it. Amidst the line of Elites, she seems to glow without emitting any light, as if many others were drawn with less detail. "I am." she confirms, about Ru Li. "And thus I have been furnished with a high opinion of your country; your realm, from out of his admiration."     The question isn't quite what she expected. She's certainly about to find out if he knows, or suspects, Ru Li told them about his power. But thankfully, it's an easy one for her to answer. She could give any number of blandly factual statements about its vastness and beauty, but she'd already spilled the beating heart of her investment outside the doors. Diplomatic is fine; the Paladins stand to gain from mere politeness, or so she reasons. But the time she'd pass up a core question like this is over half a year behind her.
Lilian Rook	"I hadn't fully grasped it from Ru Li Cheng's description alone, but seeing it for myself was enough to know. 'Country' does it a disservice." Her eyes have drifted to the gears again. Her fingertips habitually brush the edge of her scar. Her wrist and knuckles softly tick with the minute collisions and gold-glinting exposures impossibly fine !metalwork. "This place is the world. A country is driven by material needs and popular sentiment. This civilization is driven by the objective principles of creation. The wish to strip bare the cloth of nature and love the meshed ontologies of existence; it's far more human than I'm used to. A place suitable for the forging of gods, I suppose."     Her eyes flick back Emperor-ward, short of where would be disrespectful. "Dame Commander Lilian Isabelle Rook. Paladins Chevalier. Winter Bloom of Humanity. It would be my honour to satisfy what interests would summon me here."
Ru Li Cheng	There's a murmur of quiet discontent as Rufus speaks. The assembly doesn't even like the *idea* of letting foreigners wander around as they please, let alone giving *tours*. The Emperor's eyebrow rises, slightly - there's at least something to this restless young man and his desire to see more than the palace he lives in, even if this palace is *extravagant* and luxurious and glorious. Then again, maybe he was just impatient, asked to sit and wait for people to travel all the way here. Who knows how long he's been sitting here? How bound up is *he* in the system that binds Ru Li?      Bai Lu Ahan's eyebrow rises in an exact mirror of the Emperor's. "Do you permit foreigners," notably, Bai Lu Ahan does not fumble over the word, nor pronounce it as anything but neutral, "Into your home so casually? The idea has been debated many times, but I am afraid you would need to convince the Clockmaker heretics to silence their preaching before we were willing to open the way for even slightly less restricted travel." Oh-ho. So he *does* want something, or at least, thinks that Rufus might be able to solve or handle a problem for him.      "I-"      The Emperor speaks, and Bai Lu Ahan goes silent without so much as a gesture. So even though he might appear to fit the 'real power behind the throne,' he's a god bound by rules just like Ru Li. Even he doesn't have enough clout that he couldn't be punished for breaking courtesy.      "I would hate for my palace to become full of barbarians. How would you solve that problem?" A pause, before the Emperor remembers, "You may speak."      Bai Lu Ahan lowers his head slightly at Rose. "Thank you for your kind words. Your...Corporation. You are...traders?" Again, a neutral tone, studiously neutral, four hundred years of practiced neutral. "Ru Li Cheng, are you aware of the nature of their business?"      Ru Li speaks. "Yes, Bai Lu Ahan. They handle entities called Abnormalities, which share some traits with living stories. My-"      "Living stories," The Emperor says, and Ru Li goes silent mid-word. The Emperor paces along the flower-path thoughtfully. The room is quiet for a minute before the Emperor finally says, "Oh. I was just thinking, what a strange idea. I wonder if they would be capable of handling Rust, as well."      At that, a whole bunch of people suck their breath in through their teeth. Ru Li is among them. Bai Lu Ahan is not. His face is impassive, fixed on Angela's screen. Finally, the Emperor seems to remember his own manners, waves his hand, and says, "You may speak."      The room erupts into quiet murmurs. Bai Lu Ahan says, calmly, "I had not intended to bring up the Rust until our meals had arrived."      "I was thinking aloud, that is all," The Emperor says, dismissively, and then says, "You may speak."      "Thank you." Bai Lu Ahan turns back to listen to Futaba and Angela.      "Yes. Different." Bai Lu Ahan considers this, as if contemplating an object in his hand, looking down at his parchment. Then he casts a look at Ru Li Cheng, who studiously avoids his gaze. Bai Lu Ahan looks back at Futaba. "Are you...disorganized, beyond the Gate? Unable to cooperate?" No judgment in his tone. Probing, but neutral.
Ru Li Cheng	When Angela speaks, though, there's genuine shock on *everyone's* face. The Emperor, Bai Lu Ahan, and all of the courtiers, their eyes widen as what they clearly thought was a picture on a tablet speaks. Ru Li Cheng hides a smile behind his sleeve.      The Emperor strides past the flowers and gets right up to the group. No one protests. He reaches out, as if expecting them to hand Angela's tablet over - though not with anything like outrage. It's awe on his face. Fascination. *Curiousity*. Indeed, Bai Lu Ahan strides forward, too, looking over the Emperor's shoulder (he's quite tall).      "What is this?" The Emperor asks, "Is this a means of communication?" He slips out of his own formal speech for a moment, "I've heard barbarians have ways to speak on the wind but never *moving pictures* that can speak to you, let alone across worlds."      Then he puts his formal speech back on, and says, "You may speak," and starts walking back towards the throne.
Ru Li Cheng	Bai Lu Ahan does the same. "You are not wrong to be suspicious. Any country that claimed to be flawless would be the laughingstock of the world." To this, a couple attendants laugh. The Emperor laughs, and everyone stops laughing, and then he says 'you may speak' and the chuckles continue. Bai Lu Ahan permits himself a smile. "I will not tell you that our lands are perfect. But I will tell you that we stand at the apex of this world, and that, for the most part, we handle our own problems without trouble."      For the most part.      When Tamamo introduces herself, shockingly, the Emperor does bow. So does Bai Lu Ahan, and so does Ru Li Cheng. "You, then, are the foreign Maintainer," Bai Lu Ahan says, confirming something Ru Li called her a while ago. "It is my first time greeting a Maintainer God, even from another land, in person. The honour goes first to the Emperor, and then to me. Thank you for gracing us, and your thoughts are flattering."      So it's not 'the idea of other lands having gods' they object to when they're talking about heretics.      "While those not of Yinghua are, obviously, not under ordinary circumstances permitted to wander, I cannot in good conscience deny a Maintainer and her entourage a permit to walk about the city. Ru Li Cheng, assemble a permit." The Emperor waves a hand. "You may speak."      Ru Li, for once, actually demonstrates his own divine ability. With a wave of his hand he summons his pen (which has a blade on the other end). With a gesture, someone hands him a parchment and holds out a tray with glittering silvery ink. In a heartbeat the paperwork is done, and he presents it to the Emperor, who produces a glorious stamp and applies it to the scroll. The parchment is then handed off to Tamamo (by Ru Li), and Ru Li returns to his place.      Bai Lu Ahan glances at his own parchment again. "Since you have spoken so brightly of us now, I look forward to hearing your thoughts after you have seen more of the Capital." Not even sending a guard. Confidence in their own city. Or, they're going to be watching anyway. Hard to tell.      When Lilian speaks, Bai Lu Ahan's lips purse into another smile. "Your insight does your organization great credit."      Food is brought in - along with an entire table, and chairs. The table is a fine woodwork; the chairs are comfortable and assuredly hand-crafted; the food is warm and inviting. More food and drinks are passed out amongst the people above by the attendants. The Emperor sits back on his throne, and food is brought to him, and he drinks and eats without a second thought. The food is a mix of expected Chinese-esque fish dishes and some very surprising meat and wheat elements, including a shocking amount of bread (which appears to have been mixed with rice for an interesting texture not unlike whole wheat) and a bit of unexpected potato.      Bai Lu Ahan sits with the group, as does Ru Li. While Ru Li eats very nervously, Bai Lu Ahan eats with supernal grace and manners, carefully wielding chopsticks for precise portions in precise motions. The sound of him ticking is slightly less audible than Ru Li, but it's still there, if one was to listen.      "Then, since your insight is strong, I will speak plainly," Bai Lu Ahan says calmly, "We have in fact brought you here to explore your capacity to handle the threat known as the Rust. It is something dangerous to the gods, and thus, we cannot assign our He Hou gods to deal with outbreaks without risk. You, as heroes, are doubtless powerful, but not susceptible to the Rust as the gods are."      "Of course this is not a favour asked lightly. The Empire is willing to discuss potential expansion of its relationship with your organizations in exchange for this assistance."
Angela	Despite the eyes and mouth seeming to be similar scars, they are actually quite different. The scarred fanged mouth is sort of plastered on, like someone stitched it onto her face--not LITERALLY, it is a manifestation of the collective unconciousness 'gifted' to Rose's mouth. Among her psyche, the Red Hooded Mercenary and Rose are decidedly seperate even if it's occupying the same space. The eyes, however, might be trickier. The barrier between Rose's identity and that of the Servant of Wrath were broken down entirely for long enough that Rose IS part Servant of Wrath now, as much of who Rose is as Rose herself. Rose bobs her head to Tamamo but seems content to not disrupt matters by pressing it now. Angela doesn't inquire about 'Clockmaker heretics' but Tiphereth seems to recall an old anxiousness from the term. Angela is starting to think that it must be difficult to have a normal conversation if the Emperor has to say 'you may speak' at the end of every sentence. The Emperor seems to feel so as well. Angela has a small bit of sympathy for that. Angela doesn't react to the mention of Rust though the Agents seem varying levels of confused about the term. Angela is NOT however, expecting the shock of mass communication--or, really, long distance communication--Angela is only transmitting here right now. Angela's head turns towards Ru Li--he can't hide that smile fast enough. Her eyes stare at him with the platonic and elemental form of 'We Will Talk About This Later'. The Emperor extends a hand, Carol is not exactly a dumbass but she has to hand off tablets a lot and so she just sort of ends up offering the tablet without thinking about it. ''I've heard barbarians have ways to speak on the wind but never *moving pictures*...'' Angela waits until she is given permission and then says, "My apologies, Emperor. I was not aware this is new technology to you. I would have come in person--Indeed I would have preferred to--but I cannot leave this facility so this is the only way I can engage the Outside worlds." This is true, Bai, though the 'My apologies' is a bit of a polite statement she is hoping there are no offences here for a variety of reasons. "This is a wireless communication tablet. There is similar technology in other worlds but there are additional functions unique to these devices. They are not rare in the greater multiverse." She nods to Bai Lu Ahan and reassures him, "Rest assurd, our world is nearly as far from perfect as you can get. But it sounds like you have problems and Lobotomy Corp is happy to assist other Worlds with their problems. Ru Li has been a pleasure." 'Ru Li has been a pleasure' is only half true but it's probably already obvious to Bai that she is presently a bit annoyed at him for not warning her of this outcome but the true part is that generally and previously has found him almost TOO pleasant. Angela's hand twitches lightly at the mention of what Abnormalities TRULY are but it's ultimately not too big of a deal if an outside world far from her own knows about it. She has to gamble. She is desperate. "We may be able to assist with The Rust. If nothing else, we excel at observing unusual phenomena and deriving answers about that phenomena through repeated observations, scans, and interaction." Angela isn't sure if she'd be susceptible to the Rust. Indeed, she knows nothing about it outside of what can be presumed from the name. That makes it an ideal subject of study.
Angela	Angela watches all the bowing for a spell. She doesn't comment on it at the time but her eyes half lid as she sees the excess formality. Tamamo's words on the matter are ringing through her head. As well as... Would you like to have someone bow to you once, just as a treat? Angela ignores this. Just as she turns her head away from the food and brings her hand to her forehead. She steadies her breath. She Should Have Expected A Feast. She should have mentally prepared herself. Oooh... Are those dumplings? And duck confinit? You haven't had either yet have you? If you're not careful you might drool and that'd be very cute... So very cute... Even though it has been ~centuries~, you can still remember that day as if it were yesterday. Angelasteps away during the Feast and Tiphereth steps in with a, "We send teams out into the Multiverse in order to lend a hand and make friends." She says. "Happy to do it." Not that either of them will be in danger for it. The team is capable of eating politely--albeit energetically. They eat as if this is their last meal, they take their time, they openly comment on how GOOD it all is.
Tamamo	If Tamamo is surprised, she elects not to show it, this time. She accepts the permit, making it disappear like so many other items do, and says, "For indulging my curiosity, you have my gratitude."     She doesn't mention what she'll do in return, since they've already mentioned wishing to hear her thoughts again, and she's not about to make it transactional. She doesn't mention she would have been perfectly fine without that recognition, both because she really would like to go play tourist after Lilian was clearly taken with the place, and because it would be an impolite return to the respect she was shown.     Briefly, she remembers another time, in a land ruled by gods and a king more god than man, when recognition of her divinity had opened doors. 'Entourage'... well, it's not as if they aren't.     When it comes time to eat, her manners should be a surprise to no one, even if most of the people here have never actually met her before now. Perhaps some will be surprised to see someone taking care not to actually show the part where they take a bite, but that's one thing those long sleeves are for. That aside, it's clear she is quietly enthused to try at least a little of everything, being less reserved in making comparisons to dishes familiar to her and identifying ingredients and guessing at spices. She's very likely to be wrong about the latter, but is pleasant about correction.     She's not, after all, a god of cooking. It's just something she enjoys as an expression of love -- of which she's also not a god.     This isn't the place to do an examination of Rose's EGO barrier problems -- was that what she said? Tamamo's never looked too closely at their equipment -- so that will have to wait. What she can do, and does, is reach into her sleeves to draw out a tiny cloth pouch, the end closed with string, and offer it to her. It smells, mostly, of lavender.     "For now, keep this with you." It's a healing charm, of course. Though an 'ordinary' one by Tamamo's standards, that merely means that it's only pseudo-miraculous in its ability to restore even wholly destroyed flesh overnight and maintain one's health. It won't, on the other hand, break any curses.
Futaba Nuki	"Disorganized?" Futaba repeats after Bai Lu Ahan as she closes her eyes, letting that implied 'sort of' linger as she considers how to actually answer both of those questions in a way beyond just 'yeah constantly'. She's lucky enough to get a little break and distraction from her delayed answer, then, when Angela speaking up throws everyone into momentary disarray. Taking a cue from Ru Li, Futaba too covers her mouth with her sleeve to hide her own snickering. Thankfully, she's calmed down by the time the Emperor and Bai Lu Ahan both move to get a better look at Angela's tablet. Perhaps sensing Ru Li's smile, Futaba just gives him one of those slightly-lidded eye-smirks from just above her sleeve, inhaling once before lowering her sleeve and returning to her previous polite smile. "To answer your question, Bai Lu Ahan... Broadly speaking, yes. There's many countries on the outside, many rulers, all with their own..." She blanks out for a second. Keeping it together this long is still kind of rough. "... Designs and ambitions. They can even be quite selfish, but that is where larger factions come in." She gestures at everyone that she had arrived with. "Even though all of us might have different ideas of what proper rulers and goals are, we can still cooperate to accomplish greater things than we could on our own. Protecting our people, extending aid towards others, and... Making things better in general." Exhaling finally, Futaba settles back in to listen to what's actually going on around Yinghua and the Gate, and then to eat when the food arrives. In contrast to her usual way of eating, she's taking her time with the food and drink brought out today. Utensils are actually used properly, she takes small nibbles of things to get a good taste of each item (and know which ones to get seconds of later), and even the drinks are sipped quietly instead of being chugged to help the food flow more easily. "The Rust... I've heard of the word, but I would imagine this is not the conventional sort of  rust we've likely seen back home. Our expertise stretches far and wide, though, so you could not have found a better source of assistance by calling us here today." Sure, it's a little boastful and aggressively pushing towards everyone else's intellect, but it's something Futaba already believes in completely based on who's already here.
Wonderlab Trio	"Don't you dislike them even a little bit for having to be threatened to finally look outside themselves?"     Rose's eyes flicker away, masking a shadow of discomfort, whether that's directed at Lilian or at 'them'. "... It wouldn't change what I have to-- want to-- do for them, either way. If it's human nature to be turned inwards, then I'd rather soften the world outside so that it's more bearable to look at its workings. I, of all people, can't blame anyone for being complacent." [ansi(243,"Do you happen to like roses as well?")]     "I like Rose--s!" Flower points excitedly at Rose again, then drops their hand to their side. "Rose showed me a pic once. Of the flower," Points to themselves, "Called 'Rose'." And so on. "But Flower's never seen the flower in person, haha!"     Emboldened by the smile, the acknowledgement, approval, and general sense of 'good opinion' that was instilled in Lilian from the radio, Flower slips in for a hug, arms squeezed around Lilian's waist. "It's so~o good to meet you in person, Lily! You're a real bigshot; you're too cool, and even cooler now!" Information specialist, after all; and with Lilian's online reputation being boosted by the Red Mist herself, it's no wonder. Now, in the throne room, "I was just thinking, what a strange idea."     "Ru Li Cheng is correct. We... manage and maintain them," Rose falters for a second, the words 'care for' coming to mind, but ultimately discarded. "So if you might request our aid with anything otherworldly, we have both experience and equipment for that."     Their goal, as was explained to Catt in a briefing that they handed to Rose, is to built trust and rapport. Offering help freely, though somewhat against the ethos of the City, would, presumably, come back around with a vague sense of value to the company. HQ or O-5681's Manager would likely handle that, but Rose can't help but wonder. Even less comprehensible to them was the leave given to discuss their capabilities and the Abnormalities in worlds beyond their own; company orders that so thoroughly defied the company policy that they have to imagine something bigger is at play.     It leaves a strange taste in their mouth. If asked to elaborate on details, they wouldn't quite be sure what to say, but they aren't.     Once food is brought out, Flower finds something to focus on that isn't the oppressively important air of the throne room. Their efforts at eating politely are clumsy at best, like they're even somewhat unused to the concept of 'sitting at a table to eat', but their enthusiasm levels spike up to the point that it barely matters.     Gesturing at dishes and rambling (after swallowing, at Rose's repeated reminders), questions stream out of them, from the fairly mundane "What's this pink fish? Did it get spear-caught by those dangly guys on the waterfall?" to the more esoteric "Is most of this food gotten from farmsies on the mountain? Is it more or less of a special treat if it's imported from somewhere far away? How do imports get alllll the way up the mountain?" to the cheerily banal "I like your hair. Do the tufty-spikes move when you're happy like Flower's do?"
Wonderlab Trio	Rose, meanwhile, actually engages with the political request, eating their food slower and more carefully. There's a sense of being 'pulled upright' to their posture, when sat down at the table, like an external force that's making sure they slide into that professional demeanor when talking business.     "By 'threat' what would you describe its nature to be? Monsters, with physical forms that can be put down and contained? The first thing that comes to mind with 'Rust' is some sort of... creeping plague." Even with all their misgivings about the duties of Lobotomy Corporation in this dynamic, Rose can't help getting invested in the topic, dabbing at their lips with their napkin between sentences. "One of our duties, as Lobotomy Corporation agents, is identifying and analysing new threats to create management protocols for them. Even if it's been too dangerous for any of the gods to gather information on their nature, we would have the tools to manage; but, of course, I defer to your knowledge, whatever you might have to offer us about them."
Lilian Rook	Lilian's eyes follow the Emperor on his way to the tablet. Towards Angela.     Her social-political acumen is nowhere near four hundred years of polish, but it is extremely refined. She lets no emotion show beyond respectful fascination smoothed semineutral.     But there's no hiding the way that her eyes don't avoid, but fail to find, his face. No one has ever told her. The way she stares through him out of the corner of her vision for the enhanced motion recognition in her periphery is so slight, but very present.     As much as she'd like to answer on behalf of others she feels less capable of explaining the Multiverse, though, she does intend to actually follow what decorum she can. Bai Lu's smile is met with one of her own, both pleased in him, and at the mutual wavelength between them; and a little with herself. "I'm both elated and humbled to hear that." she says. "The Paladins did consider it would be a disservice to send only inexperienced or unrefined examples of our organization to this occasion." What a phenomenal four-fifths truth.     It's a good thing she's so skilled at those, because the pressure of that lie-sensing threat is what she feels most strongly upon her ordinary phrases. Automatic places no one would reasonably tell a mistruth. It's more straining than she thought, not to lie by saying something ordinary. 'Humbled' was cutting it close; an extremely polite way of saying that she's happy she got a Good Score, really.     Sitting down to eat is a welcome relief; especially that the Emperor starts promptly. It's a performance she knows well. Sitting close by Tamamo is automatic. Chopsticks are something she's used to from recent years of being involved with her world's Japan. Polite eating and drinking was drilled into her as a literal child; she thinks twice about some habits, but decides again to let Ru Li's advice stick, and allows a pinky here and there, drawing the line at reordering the sequence of utensils and plates to fit; they're particular about order here.     Enjoying things with Tamamo-- offering and opinion and sharing portions if she can get away with it-- takes her mind off the fact that she's just a tiny bit jealous. She, too, though, might have thought about Ishtar once or twice.     'Then, since your insight is strong, I will speak plainly.'     "I'm actually quite relieved to hear that." Lilian says. "It did seem odd to me that the Emperor himself might merely be curious. Which is to say, I did already wonder." All true. "I can tell a great deal from that name. And the fact that you've chosen to rely on outside humans rather than your own; even your own mortal heroes, perhaps." she says. "Would it happen to have something to do with the Engine? Or its derivations. Something that would be inappropriate for the Emperor's citizens to address." A morsel of meat disappears. The amount of time she needs to chew it is jarringly little.     "I'll happily lend you my ear. I have some experience with 'existential threats'." True. "Rather, whether it's a matter for warriors or not, I'm very confident in my problem-solving abilities." True. "What else might you tell me about the Rust? I imagine there must still be significant dangers, even if I am human." True.     "Oh, but please excuse me if I seem excited! Working with or around the divine machinery of reality isn't something I'd take lightly. Being able to even see it, never mind touch it, is all very new to me." Too much. Just below a half-truth. Of course, I'll understand and respect any particular restrictions you may need to apply, so long as they're forewarned." True. "I'm not so egotistical as to think I'd know better." True. "I am, regardless, a member of humanity, after all." How is that possible? There'd been no lie when she stated that earlier. "Even entertaining talks with the Paladins would be something I'd enormously apprecaitive of." True.
Ru Li Cheng	Bai Lu Ahan, to his credit, is remarkably patient. It probably comes of being four hundred years. He answers all of Flower's questions evenly, with no hint of annoyance. He names the fish, explains the spear-fishing tradition, clarifies that the food comes from all over the Empire with different provinces having different specialties, explains the difference between airships used for travel and airships used for mass transport, and with a slight smile confirms that, no, his hair does not move, but that he appreciates the compliment.      Futaba's explanation of the factions gets a slight frown. "This world is not unified, either. There are barbarian rulers and vassal lords who are not part of the Empire; you came through Yujinxiang, so you already saw some of them, I have no doubt."
Ru Li Cheng	And so, finally, the topic comes around to the Rust itself. Bai Lu Ahan holds up his hand, and it opens, showing some of the divine clockwork-flesh merger within. It starts glowing silver as he picks up one of his chopsticks and begins to draw in the air.      He draws a long, elegant serpentine shape, sketching gears around it. The chopsticks leave a trail of silver behind them that hangs in the air. Then, it starts to move as Bai Lu Ahan narrates.      "You have heard us mention the Maintainers. They are the natural gods who maintain the Engine of Heaven, the gods who were not made by human hands. They are distant things, celestial, and we glimpse them only from time to time, present company excluded." He tilts his head at Tamamo respectfully.      The serpentine shape begins to move through the gears. It grows little arms, working to keep the moving gears going. "We know that they have names, and individual identities, though they do not speak to us often. We know this because three thousand years ago, one of them decided to..."      The serpentine thing stops as Bai Lu Ahan says, "Stop doing what it was supposed to."      Ru Li suddenly is looking very intensely at his plate and eating very quietly as Bai Lu Ahan continues, "It declared itself Tiantang-Zhi-Xia, the First Under Heaven, and came down from the heavens in the province of Zhengzheng." The serpent descends as the ink suddenly runs a rusty brown color, upon a mess of mountains. "And when it broke its purpose, it decided that the Engine could be...manipulated." The serpent coils around a gear.      The gears start moving in reverse. Backwards. The drawings of the springs stop moving, or dangle loosely. "That is the Rust. It is the corrosion of the Engine, spawned from an arrogant god that believed itself supreme, that believed it had designs greater than the Engine, that believed that it held the Will of the Engine."      "That is why, as Ru Li Cheng has no doubt told you, no gods will ever take the throne of Yinghua." Bai Lu Ahan points the chopstick downwards. "Because a god usurping the will of the Engine has produced elemental, existential chaos."      He flicks his hand upwards. There's a brief ticking sound from within his wrist. "What once was Zhengzheng is now Xiu, the desolate place. Within it, there is no light, no sound, no gravity, no wind, no rain. It is a place that has no consistency whatsoever. The laws of the Engine are broken within it - and the things that live within it are themselves chaotic and nonsensical. It is potentially infectious to the gods; it is dangerous to humans. If it was simply a martial issue, we could solve it with mortal heroes, but the Rust is an existential threat." Bai Lu Ahan sets the chopstick down, and the glowing, trailing silver and brown pictures disappear. "Since you are from outside our existence, we are hoping that the threat of non-existence and non-sense will be lesser for you. We already hold back the tide with enormous military force at the gates, to the north, but we are hoping you will provide an avenue to solve the problems more..."      Bai Lu Ahan purses his lips. "Permanently."      "I am delighted to hear that you are, at least, equipped to study it in ways that we cannot. It is my hope that, unlike those who study the Rust here, you will not be corroded, since you do not follow the laws of our world and have expertise in studying such things. Then you will be able to share your insights and allow us to handle it more effectively if you cannot eliminate it yourselves." He picks up his chopsticks and resumes eating.