Boshi, having nothing of importance to do, slips to the south past the Rebels in the Armory. He proceeds to raid all of the abandoned outdoors market stalls for usable materials. He then heads to the South Guard Tower. Seeing that the door's locked, he butchers the three seekers nearby, forms them into a heavy ball, sets the ball down next to the door, and then slams the ball into the door with his golf club. Once inside, he loots the Chest; specifically, the "coating" near the bottom of the chest.

---

...The Revolution Radio in the Inventory begins picking... something up. It's unclear what it is, but whatever it is, it's having a hard time connecting.

---

...Bow Kid was carried out of Acacia's House. She's still asleep, but chances are she'll be freaking pissed when she wakes up...

Sophia, meanwhile, was enjoying a bowl of Chocolate Porridge. She still doesn't know anyone else is there, but she's clearly enjoying the food.

...Mustache Girl makes her way back to the Absence Mines; down into the depths of Sussui we go again!

Toast (in the recent past) considers Marron's request.
"I think I might have some clothes that you could wear. They're a bit small for me... but maybe they'll be your size?"
She digs out a dull blue zip-up hoodie, a black longsleeve made of a warm, stretchy material, and a pair of denim jeans.
"You can probably wear something underneath them if you get cold. Sorry I haven't really got anything... cute. Never really needed to dress to look good."

"Now, uh, I gotta get changed so... don't look."

Toast herself changes into an aviator jacket (wearing the red shirt with weird text beneath), and a pair of jeans with thermals. Plus boots.

~~

"So... crepes. What are those?"

~~

Toast spawns wherever, moves to K3 (moving through the bottom edge) and uses Static Overcharge on the Vilebaron, before retreating to K20 (top edge).

She then gains some random spells.

Marron also joins in on the battle, because heart bracelet is nice.

Hex enters the Yume battle!
N17 spawn, move to R15, casts Fury on himself..
A timeclone of Hex, yeets himself into the Absence Mines, laser drill at the ready.
Meanwhile, Astrec drags Couchtron through the zones, through fire, Yggdrasil, rivers, and other hazards, all the way to Zone 4, preparing it for the Caravan Battle. Then, he sets up the Confetti Sentry and Furniture Flinger as well. Finally, he then runs aaaall the way back to the house, grabs the Laser MG, and pulls it all the way to Zone 4, adding it with the other prepared weapons.

Leaf, who is now in the kitchen, helping herself to a bowl of sugary porridge, smiles as Chloe greets her.

Leaf: Oh, hiya!
Leaf: I don't think we have, yeah…

Leaf seems a little awkward as she gently shakes Chloe's hand, as though she's unfamiliar with the gesture. As Leaf holds her hand, Chloe would feel a pleasant tingling feeling. She smiles.

Leaf: I'm Leaf. Nice to meet you, Miss…

Leaf waits, presumably for Chloe to tell her her name. After she does so, Leaf continues, idly tapping her index fingers together, seeming slightly distracted… or sleepy.

Leaf: I'm new here, but not… here. If that makes sense.

She pauses.

Leaf: Long story, but basically I warped here and can't get back because my magic is being weird.
Leaf: I was kind of… lost in the forest for a day and a bit. Usually I can kind of… warp through forests really easy, but again. Magic is being weird.
Leaf: I ended up finding my way out, and being ambushed by those Iti things… then Mister Echoss helped me defeat them and led me here.
Leaf: He and EN caught me up on what's going on. With the sphere. A-And how the universe is gonna die if we don't kill it...
Leaf: So I figured I'd do my best to help~!

Leaf keeps an enthusiastic tone, although her faint worried expression is enough to indicate that she's terrified of what's to come. Nevertheless, she gives Chloe a sweet smile, as well as a fair bit of time for her to respond, while also taking the time to recollect her composure a little.

Leaf: S-So… I take it you're one of the warriors of the team?
Leaf: I hope I can be helpful, since I'm not great at fighting or anything, but…
Leaf: I'm sure I'll figure it out.

A wolf girl with ash-grey hair bats away a few branches as she steps out of the forest, growling, her maroon cloak having a few leaves and sticks stuck to it. She’d come to this planet on a very important job, but already things were going the wrong way. She had warped here with a few allies, but they were nowhere in sight. What’s worse is that she felt… weak. As though her powers had been drained by something.

With an annoyed sigh, she continues to explore her surroundings, arriving at what appears to have been some kind of camp, though judging by the large amounts of damage, there’s been a fight here recently. Still, signs of life are good. With a nod, she begins looking around, trying to find anyone else.

Laranei: Anyone alive over here, or did people decide they’d rather die than meet me?

Laranei hears someone chuckle at this, seeming to be behind her.

Ziah: People didn't decide that, we just cleared this place earlier.

Laranei spins around as she hears the voice, looking around for the source before finally finding it. There, perched atop the wreckage is Ziah, his bow in one hand, and a notched arrow between two fingers on the other, which loosely grasp the string. The bow is lowered for the moment. He grins faintly. Although he doesn't seem hostile, he's on guard, should things go awry. As she spots the bow, Laranei pulls out her own weapon, pointing it below Ziah. For now. Ziah's expression fades slightly, before returning, confident as ever.

Laranei: And who might you be? Some kind of ruffian? A bandit, perhaps?

Ziah shakes his head, beginning to glow gold.

Ziah: An ally, I'd hope. Ziah.

Laranei frowns at the golden glow surrounding Ziah, gripping her weapon more firmly as she glares at him for a moment.

Laranei: An ally? What reason would I have for allying you, ‘Ziah’?
Ziah: Well, mostly that I'm not alone.
Ziah: ...okay, I'm alone at the moment, but you know what I mean.
Ziah: I've never seen you around… what's your name?

Laranei thinks for a moment as she listens to Ziah talk. If he did have allies, they would probably not appreciate it if Laranei fought him, and she wasn’t sure how much she'd been weakened when she arrived. So, she decides to not fight. For now.

Laranei: My name’s Laranei. I only just arrived here.
Laranei: I’m here on important business, none of which is yours.

Ziah grins at this, wondering if he might be able to gather enough information to take a lucky guess.

Ziah: Guess not, Miss Laranei. Mind telling me a bit about yourself, or is that none of my business, either~?
Laranei: Well. It isn’t until you tell me some things about yourself, maybe then I’ll let you in on some things. Let’s trade, shall we?
Ziah: Sure, uh… what do you want to know?
Ziah: Don't have much to hide, so.
Laranei: How about you start with telling me what you’re doing here?

Ziah pauses for a moment, before pointing to the sphere.

Ziah: See that massive orb in the sky? We're here to destroy it.

Laranei looks up, going slightly pale as she sees the sphere. She wasn’t entirely sure, but that was most likely the object she’d been sent to destroy. It was bigger than she imagined it to be. Way bigger.

Laranei: You’re here to destroy that…?
Ziah: …hopefully, yeah. Otherwise the universe kinda ends and that's not fun.

Despite hiding it behind a slightly mocking, confident tone, an obvious, genuine layer of fear lies beneath as a base for Ziah's words. Laranei, in turn, frowns. She could tell that Ziah wasn’t as confident as he sounded, and she had to admit she was rather… worried as well.

Laranei: Right… so we’re here for the same thing, it seems.

Ziah slowly puts the arrow back into his quiver, tilting his head.

Ziah: Oh? That makes sense, I guess.
Ziah: We could always use another fighter on the team, and you seem…

Ziah looks at Laranei's gun, still trained below him as he speaks.

Ziah: Equipped, and eager to battle… to put it one way.

Laranei can’t help but grin as Ziah looks at her gun, putting it away with a smile.

Laranei: Yeah, I was told there could be enemies, so I took my gun with me. After all, you can more easily get what you want with a kind word and a gun than with just a kind word. Tell me about this team of yours?
Ziah: Uh, right.
Ziah: We're a team of misfits and… slightly-less-chaotic misfits, dedicated to cracking that thing in the sky open and saving the universe.

Ziah grins, placing his hands in his pocket as he shifts to be sitting on the wreckage.

Ziah: I like to consider myself an especially chaotic misfit, but hey, I can be serious.
Laranei: Misfits, huh? Well, at least you’ve got enough sense to have a good goal in life. What’s so especially chaotic about you anyway?
Ziah: Very destructive luck capacity.
Ziah: I think so, at least. It feels like my luck's been drained more since I got here.
Ziah: What's your deal, though, Miss Laranei?

Laranei remains silent for a moment as Ziah asks her what her ‘deal’ is. She briefly considers answering fully, but in the end decides to leave that for later.

Laranei: My deal? Well, Fire-related things. So if you annoy me, you better hope you’re fireproof.
Ziah: Huuh… most people on this planet are made of wood… as is the entire planet, actually.
Ziah: Maybe be a little careful around… literally everything?
Laranei: ...I’m not taking orders from you. And even if I was, isn’t that obvious? Like, it’s made of wood, of course I’d be careful, do you really think I wouldn’t be?

Ziah shrugs, yawning softly.

Ziah: Just letting you know, is all. We've got a few native friends, so…

Laranei huffs, then nods.

Laranei: Fine. Are people here friendly, or are there more things that want to kill me than not?
Ziah: Oh, there are so many things that want to turn you into a corpse. Usually they don't succeed, but that doesn't mean they aren't dangerous as gorilla.
Laranei: Right. So it’s safer to assure something wants to off me than not?

Ziah pauses as he chooses his next words very carefully.

Ziah: ...in a sense, but that doesn't mean you should go around killing everything because they might be a threat.
Ziah: You'll get a sense of what's an ally, and what's a murderous creature, soon enough.
Ziah: ...sometimes it's hard to tell the difference with how some people in the team look, it's really weird.

Laranei chuckles, nodding at Ziah’s explanation.

Laranei: Right, so the best way to go about things… is threaten first, ask second, shoot third?

Ziah grins, shaking his head.

Ziah: Look, don't worry too much. You'll get the hang of it.

Laranei sighs, then nods.

Laranei: Alright, sure, whatever. You gonna introduce me to these ‘allies’ of yours?

Ziah nods, stretching out as he hops off the wreckage.

Ziah: Mm… if you promise you are an ally, and you’ll try to stay out of trouble?
Ziah: Not an order, just… a request. From a friend.
Laranei: Yeah yeah, I promise. And I’ll try to not create trouble, though if trouble comes to me, there’s not much I can do, is there?
Ziah: Heh, guess you’re right…
Ziah: Follow me, alright?

Ziah begins to head for reception, keeping an eye on Laranei as he does so. Laranei does indeed follow him, putting her gun away as she trails behind him a short distance away.

Ziah: So… I believe you were going to tell me about yourself, Miss Lara?
Laranei: Was I…? I guess I said I would… Well, my name’s Laranei, I have a gun, and use lots of fire. Is that sufficient information?
Ziah: Well… you've told me that already. Why are you here, what's your background, that kinda stuff.

Laranei sighs, shaking her head.

Laranei: I already told you why I’m here, I’ve been sent to break that sphere thing, did you forget already?
Ziah: R-Right…
Laranei: Me and two others arrived here to destroy it, but we all arrived at different places on this planet, I guess?
Ziah: Two others? You do know this is a universe killing orb, right?
Laranei: Yeah, but we weren’t aware that we’d get our powers sapped, otherwise three deities would have been fine.

Ziah's eyes widen as he grows curious.

Ziah: Deities, huh? Didn't tell me about that bit, before.

Laranei shrugs, but grins.

Laranei: I didn’t? It’s just a minor detail anyway, really, didn’t care enough to tell you.
Ziah: Right…
Ziah: And… these other two deities?
Laranei: Ryo and… uh… some other girl. I forgot her name. What about them?
Laranei: They’re not really my friends, by the way. Don’t get any wrong ideas.
Laranei: I was forced to bring them along.
Ziah: I guess that… answers my question.
Laranei: What was your question anyway?
Ziah: Just wanted to know their names… what're their, uh… things.

Laranei laughs as Ziah struggles with terminology.

Laranei: Domain, you mean? Like how my domain is fire?
Ziah: Uh… that, yeah.
Laranei: The hunt and rain respectively. Why are you asking?
Ziah: Just curious… think they'll join us if we find them?
Laranei: Ha! You kidding?
Laranei: They’ll probably just chicken out and go hide in a hole or something.
Laranei: Not that I'd be surprised.
Ziah: Huh… how come you're joining us then? Even if your power has been drained so much?
Ziah: Not that I'm complaining.
Laranei: Because I’m not a coward, maybe?
Laranei: I might be weaker than I was, but I can still gorilla stuff up with my eyes closed.
Ziah: You seem pretty comfortable in your own abilities.

Laranei scoffs, stretching out as she continues to follow Ziah. By this point, they're at the four pillars of the approach.

Laranei: I am a deity, you know?
Laranei: Or did you forget that already, too?

Ziah shakes his head.

Ziah: I'm not that forgetful. I just meant… even after having your powers weakened, you're still confident.
Ziah: I think it's kinda cool…

Laranei grins, moving a bit faster to catch up with Ziah.

Laranei: Hey, I’m not a coward, so why would I not be confident in myself?
Laranei: Like I just said, I can still gorilla stuff up, so what’s stopping me from gorillaing gorilla up?

Ziah nods, smiling faintly as the two exit the reception, heading back to the house. It begins to come into view.

Ziah: We're just about there.
Laranei: …That’s your base?
Ziah: Yeah… why?
Laranei: ...I was expecting something… more?
Laranei: Something more impressive…
Laranei: Not just… you know…
Laranei: A house?
Ziah: I mean… we fought for this house and reclaimed it from the iti, which are those purple creatures you might've seen already. Made by the sphere.
Ziah: Well… I didn't, but the other Spherebreakers did.

Laranei tilts her head, apparently in confusion.

Laranei: …Spherebreakers...?
Laranei: Really, that’s your… group… name?
Ziah: Well, y-yeah… that's our shared goa-
Laranei: So you’re just naming yourself after your goal?
Laranei: No fancy name or anything?
Ziah: It does the job, I mean-
Laranei: ‘Group’ does the job also.
Laranei: Just because it does the job doesn’t mean there’s no better options.
Ziah: Look, I didn't name it. It's just easier to say than "our team" every time…
Ziah: …
Ziah: Maybe not easier, but it's a lot more catchy.
Laranei: ...right. Whatever. So this is the Spherebreaker Hideout then.
Ziah: Wouldn't call it a hideout so much a… base of operations, but yes, it does belong to us.
Ziah: It's got sleeping areas, storage, crafting stations, breweries…
Ziah: Um.
Ziah: ...kitchen?
Laranei: Right, so you’ve basically got everything one could need.
Laranei: I guess that’s a good thing, at least?
Laranei: Coming from a group named Spherebreakers, anything's impressive…
Laranei: How big is your group anyway?
Ziah: A little over twenty breakers strong, last I remember. People seem to randomly show up out of nowhere.
Ziah: …
Ziah: Like you, for example.

The two reach the house. Ziah stays outside for the moment as he continues to talk to Laranei.

Ziah: Should I, uh… leave you to your own devices, or is there anything you need in the meantime?

Laranei thinks for a moment, before shrugging.

Laranei: I think I’ll stick with you for a moment.
Laranei: Always nice to have someone around to answer questions.
Laranei: Or do things I don’t want to do.
Ziah: I mean, to clarify, I'm not your servant or anything like that.

Ziah opens the door, holding it open for Laranei. Laranei, in turn, simply chuckles, stepping inside.

Laranei: Says the person who is holding a door open for me.
Ziah: That's…
Laranei: That’s something a servant does, isn’t it?
Ziah: …
Ziah: Do you want something to eat, master~?

He grins, a teasing tone to his voice. Laranei simply chuckles.

Laranei: That’s very polite of you, but I’m not hungry right now.
Laranei: I’ll inform you when I am.
Ziah: Suit yourself… I'm getting something to eat, though, so.
Laranei: In that case, get me some too.
Ziah: You gonna come eat at the table, or…
Laranei: Or…?

Ziah sighs.

Ziah: Just come? I'm pretty sure people are in there, so it'd be nice for you to introduce yourself.
Laranei: ...right. Sure. Lead the way.

Ziah nods, heading into the kitchen. Laranei follows him, looking around the house as she does so.

---

Laranei joins! She has a gun! She shoots stuff with Fire! Thanks to both Ziah & Tazz for helping me.
5th Sheet from the Top. The other characters here are Ziah's, not mine.

Summa spawns into Q13 in the Nexus, and simply guards on the tile. She seems rather annoyed at this.

"You know, when I came along, I was expecting some action."

==LOGISTICS==
Nezira applies a point to her SKI!

==BATTLE==
Nezira spawns at K19 in the Yume battle and casts Proximity Burst at Seeker 3, or Seeker 6 if that would hit more Dream Iti. She then scans Yume with a Quick Scan, gaining 2 MP, 2 Samples, and applying Attack Analysis. She doesn't apply Observer Eye.

Irongutta decided to let Piggo wander around the house just a little while longer before he left for the Old Pass. He still needed to do some last minute preparations anyway.

The Ork was on his way to the staircase to the basement -- it's sorta become his corner as of late -- when he witnessed Auth tumble backwards down the staircase. This caused Irongutta to burst into laughter at Auth's misfortune, which was certainly loud enough for the poor guy to hear at the bottom of the staircase.

Irongutta continued down the stairs, his laughter settling into the occasional snicker now. Lo and behold was Auth on his back at the foot of the stairs.

"Bahaha! Good one, bookboy! I'm surprised ya didn't crack that big 'ead o' yours on the way down!" Wiping away a tear for extra effect, he stepped over Auth and kept walking towards the workshop area. He fiddled with a few things on the messy table and pocketed some random odds and ends.

"Well, since ya ain't dead, maybe ya could be useful an' tell me who that was that spooked ya so bad? She's a new face to me, that's wot, so I wanna know."

<ROUND ONE-HUNDRED FIFTY-FIVE>
CO-GMING INITIATIVE: ACTIVATED

...But first, more stats. Gotta do it so the Co-GM's can do their job properly! Doot doot.



And there. Now, on with the (highly delayed) show!

---

Packo, between bouts of tears, chats with Ette. He wants to think he's been nice...

ETTE: (Y-You have been nice!)
ETTE: (Even sis is okay with you, and she generally hates people!)
ETTE: (N-No offense to sis, of course!)

ETTE: (A-And you made that bread, a-and I think everyone liked it...)
ETTE: (You've also helped a lot in combat, a-and I think everyone appreciates how selfless you've been there!)

He also expresses doubts about what he'll do after destroying the Sphere.

ETTE: (...I-I don't actually know what I'll do, either...)
ETTE: (I assume Sis will be going with Toast- I mean, I'll probably go with her, but...)
ETTE: (...U-Um, I really can't help you there. Sorry.)
ETTE: (I wanna, but... I-I don't know what I could do!)

When the explosion happens, Ette doesn't leave Packo alone like what he might want- instead, she hops along, following him. I'd tell you what happens once you visit the area... but I'm afraid only Piono can answer that.

---

Echoss does a lot of things except it's not actually a lot I'm just used to saying that he's doing a lot of things and this link has gotten entirely too big. First, he chats with Bass, who apparently hasn't moved since last night.

BASS: nah i'm good
BASS: to be honest i just sorta forgot what i was doing because i was tired
BASS: i stood there thinking about what it was i was meant to be doing for a few hours
BASS: and then i eventually realized it was daytime, but hey i'm pretty decently rested now
BASS: also did you say food

Bass suddenly vanishes, and reappears at the kitchen. Elsewhere, Echoss chats with the servant. He's mostly hysterical, but manages to formulate a response to the Butterfly. He probably thinks he's crazy talking to a Butterfly, but he's just gonna roll with it.

SERVANT: Oh, everything is FINE.
SERVANT: We've only lost one of our best fighters to a bunch of random people who showed up on the planet.
SERVANT: We're so amazingly screwed that I can already feel the Iti eating my toes.
SERVANT: ...Fortunately, I don't have toes, because an Iti already ate them!
SERVANT: ISN'T THAT GREAT!?

SERVANT: At this rate, we're going to lose Lady Omo as well!
SERVANT: EXCEPT WE HAVE! She's gone full traitor!
SERVANT: I AM ABSOLUTELY CONVINCED THAT THE UNIVERSE IS SPECIALLY AND SPECIFICALLY POISED TO SCREW US OVER AS A RACE, AND THAT IS NOT FINE AT ALL.
SERVANT: NOTHING IS FINE.

SERVANT: RANDOM BUTTERFLY, PLEASE SOOTHE MY WORRIES
SERVANT: BECAUSE THERE IS NO AMOUNT OF ALCOHOL THAT COULD DROWN OUT THIS gorillaSTORM THAT IS OUR COLLECTIVE LIVES.
SERVANT: Also, my name is Alatus, if that helps.
ALATUS: ANYWAY THANKS FOR LISTENING TO ME VENT, BUTTERFLY THAT IS LIKELY A STRESS-INDUCED HALLUCINATION
ALATUS: I AM VERY GRATEFUL FOR YOUR PRESENCE IN THESE TRYING TIMES!

...Neat???

Anyway, Echoss also takes some time to do normal actions. This involves tossing 10 Thyme Matter at the wall to fix it up with wallpaper, because it's a decent adhesive or something. He then tosses 10 Cobblestone, 5 Refined Wood, 5 Uniform Logs, and 5 Clay at the damaged corner of the house, fixing it!

To top this off, he does some errands. He loots 10 Hot Pockets from Chaos... or they'd be Hot Pockets if he didn't manage to will them into Pocket Warmers.

CHAOS: ...how'd you do [t]ha[t]?
CHAOS: ...wai[t], i [c]an'[t] ea[t] [t]hese

Chaos pops one into his mouth, and eats it.

CHAOS: a[c][t]ually [t]hey're s[t]ill pre[t][t]y good
CHAOS: yeah [t]ake [t]he res[t]

...9 Pocket Warmers obtained! He then loots 13 Red Sap and 2 Fragapples from the Town Square, 4 Bags of Fresh Fruit from breakfast, and then the Portal Salvage! That last thing consists of 6 Plasteel Ingots, 6 Durasteel Ingots, 12 Joltwire, 12 Wire Scraps, 1 Thunderous Regalia, and 2 High-Powered Coolers.

---

Venia does more stuff than Echoss this time. Who woulda thunk? Anyway, she begins by talking with Cypresss, noting how the explosion happened.

CYPRESS: ...A fused mind? How very interesting. Seems... outlandish. Opted selection: disbelief.
CYPRESS: Butterfly sighting noted. Coincides with report. Unknown person: Hemlock. Probably nice person.
WATTLE: She's the Chairian downstairs who runs the checkpoint at the garden.
CYPRESS: Random guess: accurate? Noted.
CYPRESS: Explanation lines up. High tech. Radiation. Makes sense. And yet, unsure. Are you trusted? Unsure.

She also asks how Acacia is. Despite possibly literally just calling them untrustworthy, he obliges to tell her how things are going.

CYPRESS: Acacia's status: interesting.
CYPRESS: Bark granting: successful. Rejection levels: high. Subject is unwilling. As expected. Mediation administered. Helps subject's stability.
CYPRESS: One noted anomaly. Wattle, please explain. Too little words.
WATTLE: Certainly, my liege.

WATTLE: Acacia has taken a passing interest in Cypress's tech. We've learned it from her brief moments of lucidity while under sedative magic. Not full knockout- just something to reduce how... "repulsive" her upgrades feel until she gets used to it.
CYPRESS: Subject destroyed medbay. Sedatives were required.
WATTLE: ...Right.
WATTLE: Despite actively seeking to remove her sections of modified bark, she's been asking about potential "upgrades".
WATTLE: ...We believe she either wants more cybernetic upgrades- which seems unlikely- or she wants some sort of technological upgrade to her equipment. The latter is far more feasible.
WATTLE: We're not quite sure what she wants, or if this is solely induced by her sedatives, but it is something of note.
CYPRESS: Exceptional report. Thanking subordinate: Wattle.

Cypress's robot bows towards Venia.

CYPRESS: Analysis complete. Remaining task: secure. Advisory: leave area. Soldiers: not receptive. Likely to shoot.
WATTLE: Forgive me for my insolence, but...
WATTLE: ...She is the enemy, right? And she's taken one of the Glyphs.
WATTLE: Why don't we round her up and shoot her? Or perhaps, take her hostage until the enemy returns the Glyphs to us? There is only so much she could do against you.
CYPRESS: We could. I suppose. But also no.
WATTLE: Why not?
CYPRESS: ...Well you see, I-

His voice glitches out for a moment. He's silent for a few seconds as he reboots the system.

CYPRESS: Reasons are... Complex.
CYPRESS: Please don't shoot. Unideal for everyone.
WATTLE: ...Alright.
CYPRESS: Still stressing importance. Leave area. Consequence: probable death. On both sides. Please leave.
CYPRESS: Via teleportation. Soldiers around elevator.
CYPRESS: Thanking entity: Venia. Your presence: unmentioned.

He awaits any sort of response from Venia. If there's not much she has to say, odds are he'll be heading for the Elevator to deliver some news down to his troops. About a zone's distance away, and a couple dozen meters lower, Maria goes to wake up some people. While Nana leaves with minimal resistance due to already being awake, Taeda poses some considerable stubbornness.

TAEDA: I-I don't wanna wake up...
TAEDA: I'm s-still exhausted f-from yesterday, a-and I'd like t-to rest a bit longer...

...Taeda doesn't leave her room. Maybe give her a few more minutes? Anyway, she also goes off to pester Mari into waking up. It doesn't take much effort for Maria to wake her up. She's immediately put off by the yelling, throwing a pillow at the source of the noise.

MARI: OH MY GOD SHUT UP I'M AWAKE DAMN IT.
MARI: Why can't some people just goril-

It takes Mari a few moments to process that she threw the pillow at a little kid. Fortunately for her, she was off the mark, and the pillow sailed over her head- were Maria much taller, that pillow would probably nail her square in the face.

MARI: ...Oh.
MARI: It's... a kid. Cool.

She's incredibly irritable, showing frustration as Maria asks her questions. She (probably) considers just tasering the child, but opts to just go and calm herself with a cup of coffee before answering her. The coffee certainly helps with her mood, at least!

MARI: Okay, so:
MARI: My name is Mari, I'm basically a storm elemental, and I'm a scientist, NOT a super hero!
MARI: ...Even if being one might be cool.

MARI: So... you're like... Venia's sister, right?
MARI: Talk about irresponsible, keeping a child on this planet...
MARI: Anyway, hi. Sorry for yelling at you.
MARI: Just... don't wake me up like that again, alright!? It's annoying.

After that brief annoyance, Mari heads upstairs. Elsewhere, a Hat goes and gathers things. +25 Green Sap, +5 Blue Sap, and +5 Yellow Sap! A random maid then descends into the Projector's ladder, into... the generic infinite map maze? There's an Explorer in here, though. In fact, he seems somewhat familiar. All very curious.

Venia then creates the Hands Free Paper Portal with... sure, I'll allow the 100 Sheets of Paper and the single Eldritch Orb. That's a lot of paper. It promptly stores itself into the inventory, as Keiko should probably confirm that they want to equip it.

---

The game notes that nobody has short posts anymore. Also, Calibri. He keeps on chatting with Mindscape Chloe through the Mindscape Radio. He notes visiting in person.

MINDSCAPE!CHLOE: ...You sure you wanna do that?
MINDSCAPE!CHLOE: Working with Chaos might be a huge hassle... and I'm not sure if he really accepts visitors or not.

From there, he talks about how the actual Chloe's doing at the moment.

MINDSCAPE!CHLOE: Oh, good!
MINDSCAPE!CHLOE: I mean, I had a feeling she'd be doing alright, but... always good to hear.

MINDSCAPE!CHLOE: ...Hm, I wonder who the actual me in interested in- kinda of a weird thing to think about given who I am, but...
MINDSCAPE!CHLOE: I wonder if she'd like Oppy? From what I know though, she seems a bit different than me, somehow...

She remains on the line, probably wondering if there's anything else he'd like to talk about. On a different floor, Verdana pets a floof, nearly losing the rest of his post (somehow) to just how fluffy it is. He does however, manage to gravity spell the Pionobot to the couch. He also ends up dragging Ette and Packo along with him, before investigating the State at the fountain. As he probably suspected, it's 100% a Trickster.

EN then also decides to spend some time greeting people. Taeda however, seems to mostly be ignoring EN.

TAEDA: I-I'm so tired...
TAEDA: I-I'm also not all t-that hungry, sorry...

Nana meanwhile, is already heading upstairs.

NANA: Hm? Breakfast? That's nice.
NANA: A-Also, I guess I've been getting along well with Auth?
NANA: His mother suddenly appeared, and she seems kinda scary...
NANA: I wonder if he's anything like that, secretly.

EN also opts to chat with Mari. She calls her "Cutes".

MARI: oh my god
MARI: If you call me that unironically- or hell, even ironically- again, I will gorillaing electrocute your gorilla.
MARI: Alright? Alright.

She wordlessly heads upstairs afterwards.

---

Catherine goes to commission something from Marron. The universe cannot fathom as to why she's here, but alright.

MARRON: I have a name, you know! It's Marron, damn it!
MARRON: And who the hell are you!?
MARRON: ...I mean, I guess that doesn't matter. Sure, I'll make your-

...The game produces an error message, as the party doesn't seem to have enough Credits.

MARRON: ...Actually, you can't pay me, can you?
MARRON: I mean, Chaos already doesn't pay me enough so... yeah, you're gonna need to go and look for quarters under the vending machine or whatever.

MARRON: So, are you his mom, or whatever?
MARRON: He's... been doing alright, I guess.
MARRON: I wouldn't really know much more, besides the fact that Chloe kicked his butt during that duel, and he's been pretty handy in combat besides that...
MARRON: Yeah. I don't really know how he's doing. Why don't you ask him, or something? I'm not his mom. YOU are!

---

Letsid plays Tag with Ette! And by that, we mean she quickly tags her, runs off, then casts Force Glyph on the Trellis to prevent her from following.

ETTE: (H-Huh? No fair!)

Despite Letsid's pretty blatant cheating, Ette pursues anyway, puppet rolling off the roof instead of climbing down the Trellis. This actually saves quite a bit of time, allowing her to get a bit closer to Letsid. She keeps chasing her, not really having much success.

ETTE: (You aren't allowed to use magic in Tag!)
ETTE: (It's super against the rules!)

...It still does not seem to be going very well for Ette.

---

Boshi does some looting. He raids all of the outdoor market stalls, pilfering them for usable material- basically, interesting things! 3 bottles of Chairian Brew obtained! Hand Cannon (Trinket???) obtained! 25 Wire Bits, 5 Joltwire, 5 Circuit Boards, 2 Small AI Cores, and 2 Electro Manaetic Pulse Emitters! 12 Small Helix Fossils, 5 Helix Totems, and 3 Holy Dew obtained!

...As he passes the Totem, he can't help but get a feeling that something's watching him. This doesn't stop him from butchering some Seekers, though! He then slams the Seekers into the wooden door... but the door is apparently too hard to give to something as squishy as a Seeker. Rather, the ball of Seekers bounces off the door.

...Suddenly, Boshi's vision blurs, just for a moment. Red laces the edges of his vision. When his vision clears up, something's... put the Seekers back together. In fact, it's formed them into a Seeker Sphere. They occasionally pulse with crimson energy, but they seem normal enough? Also, Mustache Girl re-visits the Absence. She too, feels like she's being watched...

---

Toast gifts some clothes to Marron. She seems unsure at first, but also excited.

MARRON: Huh. I've never actually worn a hoodie before.
MARRON: Or jeans.
MARRON: ...Really, I've only ever worn my old outfit.
MARRON: I'll try it on!

The two of them get dressed, each facing away from the other as they change. Now that she's dressed, it's apparent that Toast's clothes are a bit too big for her, but it still looks nice enough... and certainly better for cold weather! She keeps the hood down and the zipper unzipped, and fixes up her hair ribbon and scarf. She twirls around to show herself off.

MARRON: Huh. It feels a bit more restrictive than what I usually wear... but it's nice.
MARRON: Thanks, Toaster!

MARRON: Also, I like the jacket. It's definitely more "cool" than "cute", but I think it suits you nicely.

Elsewhere, in the same timeline but just a bit further along, Marron explains the concept of crepes to Toast.

MARRON: ...Never had a crepe? You poor, poor girl.

She giggles at Toast, before launching her explanation. Marron seems to salivate a little as she describes the dish, but she's quick to wipe it off.

MARRON: So basically, you know pancakes? Crepes are pancakes, but really big and thin.
MARRON: Then you put really nice stuff into it, like fruit, or chocolate, or maybe something more savory if you're up for that, and fold it in half!

MARRON: ...
MARRON: Actually, it's basically a breakfast-y burrito.
MARRON: You'd probably like it. Here, I'll get it started!

Marron begins the cooking process, whipping up a crepe batter with alarming efficiency. It's currently unclear how Toast will help without burning down the kitchen. Marron could probably walk her through the cooking process though.

---

Hex tosses himself into the Absence Mines. He feels a deal less watched than Mustache Girl, but still watched nonetheless. He also decides to take Couchtron and the Laser LMG to Zone 4. (Taking the former leads to Pionobot being dumped on the floor.) He succeeds... but Chloe seems unhappy.

CHLOE: W-Wait, you can't just take the gun! Or the couch!
CHLOE: The gun isn't even repaired... a-and Couchtron is a couch! He's probably not made to deal with the elements too well!

Unhappy Chloe is unhappy.

---

Leaf shares a nice, early-morning breakfast discussion with Chloe. Hah, I avoided using the word "chat"! Except not really! Anyway, Chloe introduces herself, shaking Leaf's hand.

CHLOE: Heya! I'm Chloe Elem!
CHLOE: It's nice to meet you too!

She listens intently as Leaf outlines what's happened to her- how she arrived on the planet and such. Chloe fiddles with her spoon as she listens, occasionally stopping to take a bite of porridge. Once Leaf smiles at her, Chloe takes a moment to speak.

CHLOE: I guess your story's basically the same as mine!
CHLOE: I warped here looking for my brother, and then I got chased down by some Iti, and then I got... stranded.
CHLOE: I was actually here for about a day or so when everyone else found me. We're both pretty lucky, aren't we...?

Leaf then asks if Chloe's one of the warriors of the team. Chloe ponders this for a moment- she's never really considered it that way.

CHLOE: ...I guess I'm a warrior, yeah.
CHLOE: I-I mean, I wouldn't think of myself as a big, muscular brute... m-more of like, a valiant knight, o-or something!
CHLOE: It's kinda funny how I've gone from "helpless chick with a sword" to a pretty good fighter within a few days, actually...

CHLOE: Anyway, you shouldn't worry yourself too much!
CHLOE: I'm sure you'll be a great addition to the team~

Chloe finishes up her porridge, seeming satisfied with herself.

CHLOE: Anyway, I've gotta get going.
CHLOE: We're hunting this spooky creature named "Yume"!
CHLOE: It's making a big mess of the Endless Gardens, and I- or I guess we- can't sit idle while it chews up the place!
CHLOE: See ya!

With that, she thanks Marron for the meal (which prompts a confused reaction from her), then heads off to the Endless Gardens, gear at the ready.

---

<THE NEXUS, ROUND TWO>
Good progress so far! A few of you have been put to Sleep, so watch out for that! There's also been a few cases of silence, so be wary of that, too. This battle really doesn't seem so bad- just keep dealing with Yume's assistants! I mean, I say that, but god knows that I'm going to attempt to murder all of you soon. Just you wait.

In the previous round, people went to go investigate an explosion at the dueling hut.
Those who rush out to find an old party member, who vanished abruptly as the party began exploring the Royal Library; Piono. Or rather, Pionobot. His robotic nature, which was only revealed to a handful of people prior to his disappearance, is now in full visibility because his right arm has been totally blown off, revealing the... well, there's no wires. The technology is strange and alien, seemingly even well beyond Xavier's tech, but it's still almost certainly technology still.
Pionobot himself is unconscious (or dead, hopefully unconscious) and lying face down in the small scorch crater in the dueling hut. Surrounding him are a handful of blasted Iti corpses. A few of them are in small enough pieces that you can't totally tell but you're reasonably sure the total pack was something like 4 or 5 seekers and nothing else.

Verdana attempts to lift him up using gravity powers but something sparks in the robot. Pionobot appears to be waking up for a second, only for Verdana to get launched backwards out of the dueling hut (thankfully not through a wall) by a powerful grav pulse apparently originating from the still not-properly conscious Pionobot. The Pionobot sparks and convulses as it falls back to the ground, and purple smoke rises from its torso.
Ette and Packo (presumably) opt to just carry Pionobot back into the house manually. This receives no resistance, and Pionobot is quickly back within the confines of the home.


Elsewhere, a certain servant is panicking.


Actions:
Down in the basement, one of Echoss's butterflies flutters over the portal and presses the glyph to the Airship, allowing the mollusk in the basement to re-enter the wilds. The portal is then properly closed and the butterfly flutters back to its post.

Echoss's pacing seems to have taken him further from the house. While he's not moving as quickly, he still seems to float amongst the ruined houses of the village, muttering to himself.
Eventually, he comes upon the town square and notices the statue. He glares at it and scans it quickly. As per the verdict from the previous round, it is shown to be a trickster. Echoss raises his arm and clenches his fist.
"Perhaps you'll enjoy a little" he yelps as his arm starts to release a puff of purple smoke and he bats at it. "Now hold on I did something just like this yesterd-" Echoss stops when he realizes that there's another light behind him. A large golden portal of some kind has appeared.
"...Hm. That would explain a bit now wouldn't it... It's fine, it's fine. I have time." He looks up and raises his arm but is distracted by what sounds like a semi-truck honking it's horn. "Oh good grief."
Echoss hits the deck as a full-szied white and grey semi truck launches itself out of the portal right before it closes, sailing through the air and right through the trickster, which splatters instantly. The semi truck smashes its way through one or two dilipidated buildings before driving off into the forest. The distant, though thankfully oddly quiet, explosion and accompanying cloud of smoke say that it doesn't make it far though.
Echoss rolls over onto his back and rubs his eyes. "What a way to start the day. No more trying to cheese the thymefield with extra portals back home I suppose. I probably shouldn't have done it in the first place."

Echoss looks over sideways, and sees the locustgrowth tree. He pulls out an iron ignot or two and slams it into the shape of a safe container, and then launches some kind of golden harpoon into the tree. It shudders and shakes, but doesn't quite disintegrate just yet. Then he yanks on the chain and the tree does disintegrate, but all the locust growth pulls into the chain as if magnetically attracted. Echoss twists and the harpoon and chain move into the iron container. Locustgrowth collected. Hopefully.

Echoss wanders over to the dueling hut and slumps against the wall. "Should I... No. I said I wouldn't. I'm staying."

==BATTLE==
Nezira remains where she is and scans Zweet 1 with a Bonus Action (accruing 2 samples, 2 MP, and 10 SP), before casting another Proximity Burst on it.

RP: Venia

Venia ponders if there's anything more to say to Cypress. "... I guess I'll check it out when we meet again. Good seeing you Cypress, and good hearing Acacia's... Well. Uh. I'm not sure I call that 'fine' but... You're doing what you can, and that's what matters."

Venia then wordlessly teleports away.

---

RP: Maria

"Sorry," Maria says as Mari gets irritable, tone apologetic. "... I'm Maria, I'm a princess! From the future! I'unno what that really means but I know its cool. Venny was my sister but then my real dad and mom and sisters came and now I am a princess, and Venny is a dutch-is, which is like a princess but a bit less like a princess. And I'mma go on an adventure today!" Maria says, wand pointed skywards. "We almost have like the same name and I think that's really cool. I like you."

EN approaches and chats, and Maria is there, listening. She pouts when she hears Mari's nickname. "I wanna be called cutes! I wanna be called cutes," Maria says. She turns to Mari as she curses. "... Miss Mari, I'm not allowed to say those words, they're naughty wo-waitaminute!" She turns back to EN, and points directly at her lack of pants.

"Miss that isn't allowed! You can't be goin' around without somethin' there, that's illegal! That's illegal! You're banned!" She shouts. "Baaaaaaaaaned! Banned! I'm a princess, and I'm banning you!"

A pause.

"I'mma find a hammer, so I can ban you with it." She says, wandering off.

A few minutes later, Maria re-approaches EN (coincidentally at the breakfast table), a small hammer from Workstation Prime in hand. She presses the hammer against EN's lack-of-a-crotch. "BANNED!" Maria shouts. "I'unno what it means, but you are BANNED, FOREVAH!"

She goes back downstairs to return the hammer before returning upstairs to sit next to Mari, who she's clearly latched onto as a cool person.

"I banned her." She says, grinning ear-to-ear.

---

Projector Maze

Venia's voice directs itself at the Explorer. "Why are you here?... I believe I may already have at least an idea of what to do, but its an experiment. I'd recommend you leave, though. Like. Now. Nothing made by those Rose Cultists is safe. Nothing. It isn't worth it, whatever it is."

Venia('s maid) proceeds to march through the maze. She uses her knowledge on which buttons faced which direction on the projector above to 'move' in accordance with the buttons she pressed on the captcha. As there was no clear indication on which face was facing which direction, I'll make moves based on two assumptions: North is the first button, and the 2nd button is 90 degrees clockwise from the first. With this done, she moves South, then East, then South, then East, then North, then North again, then West, then South, then North, then East, then North, then South. She then exits the ladder if there is no apparent effect.

If there's definitely no apparent effect, she will repeat these directions, tilted ninety degrees. If this has no effect, she tilts these directions a hundred and eighty degrees. If this still does not work, she tilts them two-hundred and seventy degrees.

The order she pressed the buttons in: 3-2-3-2-1-1-4-3-1-2-1-4. Just in case you forgot.

If none of these work, Venia uses the Flux Detector to follow the largest source of Flux in any given direction for the whole of the maze, assuming there is any. If this proves fruitless, she opts to just wait with the Explorer a bit.

---

Zone 4

Venia re-materializes in Zone 4, roughly in the snowy pass. She detours to the winding cave, retrieves Couchtron and the laser machinegun, glares at Hex, and uses a temporal rewind to put them back in their proper positions. She then opts to just walk up to the rebel in the snow and give him a friendly greeting.

"Waiting for the Legion's caravan to ambush them?" Venia says. "... I mean. That's what we were planning on doing. Just getting rid of a load of unintended interruptions beforehand," Venia says.

"Uh, my name's Venia, of the Spherebreakers. May've heard of us. What's your name? And how'd you wind up with the Rebellion?" She asks.

She watches the Rebel carefully, in case of any signs of secretly messaging the rest of the rebels.

---

Battle: The Nexus

Specta has given me permission to command Summa for this action. She sleeps until Hex nails her in the face with a Cinderfruit (unless she doesn't), in which case she wakes up, and assumes that it was the mysterious Zweet thingy that caused that. She struts up to P12, swings the Silver Maria out, and brings down the good old DORIYAH upon Zweet2 before retreating to R14.

---

Other

-Venia needs the Together passive on her list of triggered passives. So should Marron and Nia.
-Megabark Wall needs to stop looking like a negabark wall dye to Echoss'es earlier efforts.
-There's a still-downed Chairian Legionaore in Sequoia's lake...

Boshi equips the Hand Cannon in place of the Pink Ninety. As a result, he -1s his STR and +1s his SPC, obtaining Point-Blank Break on his Trait. That should be super helpful.

---

...Boshi looks at the Totem. Heeere we go again with the entropy bull.

He walks over to the newly-formed Seeker Sphere. He takes a Mortar Shell and 2 Uniform Logs. For some bizarre reason, he forms the logs into a barrel, pries open the mortar shell, and empties the shell's contents into the barrel. He seals off the barrel, and puts it right next to the Seeker Sphere.

Then he takes out a small splinter from the logs, and ignites it with a non-descript fire weapon. He then tosses it onto the barrel. And, surprise surprise, it explodes, likely setting off a few alarm bells from the north. This kills the Seeker Sphere and probably the door too.

If it blows up the door, he books it inside and loots the Chest's interesting contents. When that's done, or if he fails to blow up the door, he gets the heck out of dodge before the entropic gaze sets in. Preferably back to the other side of the wall.

---

...MU gets the feeling she's being watched. And she knows exactly what's doing the watching. It's basically whatever the heck was connected to that eyeball. Great, she got some stupid monster on their tail now.

Not wanting to be up on the same level as the eyeball monster anymore, MU backflips down the nearby hole, grabbing hold of the vine as she nears the bottom.

Seeing that the Netwyrm Head was very much in the way, she sneaks over next to it, being wary as to not wake it. Soft steps, little noise. Slipping quietly into range to drop a Mortar Shell down its throat along with an Aurora Crystal. She then sets it ablaze; the intense heat from the head literally being on fire is enough to detonate the Mortar Shell and coat its insides with Aurora Crystal powder and chunks, should it somehow still be living.

Either way, she takes a step back to avoid getting damaged by anything.

---

Upstairs, in the Hat Tent, a certain bow-wearing child begins to stir from her sleep...

---

The Revolution Radio continues to emit a static-y sound as something attempts to get through...

With his crafting done, Brutishace sneaks over to the market stalls to investigate the weapons. He's about to dislodge a weapon, when he hears a large squad of Rebels from around the bend. He quickly snaps to the wall, pistol pointed forwards. Brutishace notices The Man beside him- he's glad to engage the rebels in a group. He smiles at The Man, encouraging him to go forwards and strike.

The Man kicks down the door to the Town Armory, does a Max Payne-style jump to the side which turns into a roll mid-way through, falls flat on his face, and stands back up, pointing his dual guns at the group of rebels.

"Alright, everyone, put your hands in the air! This is a raid!"

Nidra puts a point in SKI and prepares to join the Armory fight.

Toast looks intimidated by the speed at which Marron prepares the batter.
"W-Wait, do I have to do that?"
She looks at one of the eggs, and tries to crack it into a pan. Somewhere along the way there's a miscommunication between her head and her limbs, and the egg is absolutely crushed within her crystalline hand.
"Well, gorilla."
Bits of eggshell and egg sort of seep into the pan from her hand. Good thing it wasn't her left hand at least. Egg doesn't go well with electronics.

~~

Toast moves to J16 and channels her Wild Magic to cast Hailstorm (with Spite) at J12. This hailstorm is gonna be a Tempest. She then retreats to H18.

Her trait spells reroll themselves.

Adrian moves to G14, and brings down his Key onto Screamer1.

The Breaker moves to F14 and stabs Rainga1.

Letsid thinks of all the times she played tag...
**Flashback 1**
"No fair Lessi! You are too fast!", sound the distant cries of Disney, her (former) playmate. Letsid finally reaches the bike hidden behind a shrub and mounts it in a practiced manner, accelerating even faster. Soon she can't hear Disney anymore.
**Flashback 2**
Speedman, her self proclaimed rival tries to catch Letsid in a giant mecha, rampaging through the city while the heroes try to stop him. As she is about to be tagged, and the car wrecked, she changes place with a genetically engineered clone she bought from the black market (using phase shift) and then enters the sewers stealthily while Speedman finds out that he accidentally killed "her". (He never found out the truth)
**Flashbacks end**
... and finds herself not guilty of breaking the rules, quite the opposite. She is playing perfectly fair.
She did not even prepare any clones, cars, bikes, teleporters (wait scratch that one, she actually has a portable Tellyporter), or incredibly sticky substances en mass... the list goes on.
Letsid perks up. The Tellyporter!
But someone could get hurt... she scratches the idea.
All that thinking manouvered her to the toilet... as she is being approached, she casts force glyph, imprisoning herself in the toilet but then casts phase shift to switch places, dealing the teleport damage to the force glyph. "YAAAAAHOOO!!!" she runs away.

Woodthorne casts purify on The Author, removing only the debuffs on him.