Not!Echoss gets launched away by the other Yggcrawler defending the Pinati corpse.
Not!Echoss promptly ricochets off the skybox and slams into the top of the Yggcrawler so hard it gets embedded in the floor. This probably kills it but Not!Echoss is more concerned with the Pinati Corpse, which he scoops up and carries away for proper loot allocation.

Elsehwere, Not!Echoss's alt account attempts to purchase a singular temmi flake from the temmie at Chaos' shop.


Pionobot chats with Maple
"Yeah, that's fair. We'll probably figure it out soon, since Cypress has joined our team at least temporarily.
We could ask him what's up with it, maybe?"


Battle: Chemical Laboratory
Pionobot spawns in with Armistyx in Ice Mode and moves to K18. He then basic attacks Mitocyst2, before using Quickfire Phial in Fire mode to hit it again.
He then uses elemental eclecticity to swap from Igniveil to Toxiveil, and cosmic consumption to remove the Enchant:Fire.
If Mitocyst2 is dead for either of the attacks, they target the Mitosystem instead.

Remiel sees the defenses on the hangar and decides to come back later. After docking the airship, they charge into the next fight.

<Chemical Laboratory>

Remiel activates The Raindrop that Fell to the Sky, moves to E18, and self-sleeps.

Detonation Time!

Irongutta didn't want to keep his audience waiting on top of already being quite eager himself. He took cover behind R-8, peeking around the corner (and him) to watch the fireworks.

"Brace yerselves, 'cause 'ere. We. Go!!!"

With a grin spreading across his face, he activated the remote detonator.

---

Battle: Chemical Laboratory

Irongutta enters at N21 and moves up to S16. There, he casts Fury on himself and targets Pin1 with the Gitzappa Lens!

<ROUND 254>

First, some stat-based stuff...

---

Venia explains to Nia why regicide is bad. (Or at least, why it's bad in this instance.) First, he's Maria's dad. Two, he leads an entire empire and is a well intentioned lunatic. Three, he's probably thought of something like this happening.

NIA: R-Right, they're related...
NIA: That... sorta complicates things.

NIA: There's no need to be afraid of him, though!
NIA: Not with Nia by your side!
NIA: Love will triumph over all, once we find a way to weaponize it!~
NIA: Think Mari could do that?

Nia gives Venia a wink, blushing ever so slightly. The duchess also provides a theory that the Thymefield naturally boosts the strength of threats in their way. Nia does her best to ponder it. Intellectual work is far from her specialty, but...

NIA: ...That makes sense!
NIA: It'd also explain how I was like, eighty times stronger when I fought you guys.
NIA: Then again, the butterfly was also screwing with my pain sensors, so...
NIA: I dunno. But it makes sense!

Elsewhere, Maria finishes her doodle of the metal inserts for the heart-gems. Maple smiles, and gives Maria a gentle pat on the head.

MAPLE: This is perfect! I'll get to work on it right away!
MARRON: Oh, I also almost have the scarf done.
MARRON: It just needs the centerpiece... and glitter.
MARRON: Wanna help with the glitter part?

Marron, from within her cloak, produces an industrial tin of glitter. Everything is better with copious amounts of sparkles, right? While Maria likely begins eating spraying the entire room with sparkles, Regalus asks Omorika what the situation with the Sphere is like.

OMORIKA: It's been... quite dreadful.
OMORIKA: Many have died ever since the Sphere has arrived. Most of the population of Locaa is lying within the walls of the Citadel, while the military tries its hardest to protect what it can.
OMORIKA: The Sphere itself is near impossible to approach, as the amount of Iti within its outer layers is... simply put, ridiculous.
OMORIKA: And, if you got inside, the being within would use the wooden structure to crush you.
OMORIKA: The only safe way in is through the four Glyphs...

Then, Venia and Nidra decide to finish up their adventure within Yew's Mindscape...



They awaken back in reality. Yew is still sleeping soundly. Fresh in her mind, Venia quickly jots down what she can remember about the location of Magnolia's father. If she arranged an assault team, she could venture to the hidden Rose Cult base. It'd be a dangerous journey... but it'd allow her to completely eradicate the Rose Cult, and find Magnolia's father.

Despite being asleep, Yew begins to softly cackle. Veins of crimson radiate through her. Yew has levelled up to Tier 7. If one were to wake her up and use her, she'd certainly be deadlier... but with her secret out, she'd be far, far more unstable.

Finally, Venia does a bit of shopping. 2,400 Credits and 16 Samples are thrown around, to get the Arbitrary Arbiter-er, Specialized Training, and an Aspect of Magic / Void for Maple.

---

Hannah does a variety of things. Fleeing from the Crash Site, Hannah makes use of corrosives to make a clean hole through the window at (BD25). Leaping through the window, she's able to complete her escape from the Crash Site. Just to make sure nothing follows, she jams a few wooden planks into the hole she made, plugging it up.

Elsewhere in the timeline, Chi and Hannah discuss the Poison Archer. She mentions the Poison Archer's name- Yew. Hannah also mentions killing a bow. Chi freezes up once again.

CHI: W-Wait, you... f-found...?
CHI: S-Some time ago, way before the Sphere arrived, I c-came into possession of a sentient weapon.
CHI: She s-said her name was Yew, a-and I thought it was just a thematic name fitting her abilities, but...
CHI: It turned out she was a bit of a sadist, s-so...

CHI: ...May I see the weapon?
CHI: I thought I threw that thing somewhere where nobody would ever find her, s-so I doubt it's the one, but...
CHI: I... just need to be sure.

...Oh? Dare you bring her to see Yew? Anyway, Hannah then gives Chi a present of some poisons. She nods, accepting the vials. She stashes them away for later examination.

CHI: I'll... do my best with these.
CHI: Y-You know, the main reason I made such heavy use of poison was because I knew how to treat it.
CHI: Yes, m-most would call poisoning your foes i-incredibly unethical, a-and it is, but...
CHI: I really didn't have anything else I could use to face my enemies, a-and I knew how to cure e-everything I could apply, s-so...
CHI: Y-You get it, right?

Chi's breathing has gotten quite frantic. She clutches her chest.

CHI: L-Look, talking a-about this is really o-overwhelming...
CHI: T-Try as I might, I really c-can't keep calm...
CHI: I-I... need to l-lie down.
CHI: I-I'm sorry...
CHI: M-Maybe a blanket would b-be nice...

...Chi slumps against the base of the building behind her. Her morale has dropped to 0%. While she won't leave, you'll need to improve her mood to convince her to fight anyone.

While Chi sulks, Adria smashes together a Ventilation Pipe using 4 (0) Iron, a Cloud Cannon, a Shock Crystal, and 12 (2) Wire Scraps. Using this device, she quite effortlessly manages to vent the house of smoke. Taeda doesn't understand a thing of what Adria just did.

TAEDA: W-Whoa! How'd you make that?
TAEDA: I don't understand much about electronics, or machinery. It's all quite foreign to me!
TAEDA: I wish I could've been of more help, but... thank you for your creation, miss Adria!

While Taeda admires the machine (and straps a pillow to it to muffle its rumbling a little), Boshi hurls another harpoon at the Woodreaver. This one doesn't quite get stuck in it like the other two, but still nips it for (10) damage. He then decides to perform what could only be referred to as "extreme fishing", pulling out a Railgun and blasting the waters. (30) damage! A large plume of water rockets into the sky, droplets raining around the area. Blood fills the water, but it seems the Woodreaver is still standing! It turns away from Boshi, and begins rocketing away from him at surprising speeds. After it! Before it gets away!

---

The Reflector attempts to hack a console! They input the name "Kudan" into the terminal. While a real password would likely have many more numbers, symbols, and wAcKy CaPiTalIzAtIoN, we here at Chairheir Studios don't believe in proper internet security. So the hacking attempt succeeds.

WELCOME BACK, COMMANDER.
INITIALIZING DESKTOP DISPLAY...

...Your standard PC desktop appears, complete with icons and a full-color, high-rez display. Of course, given that this is a forum game and I'm lazy, I'll represent it to you in a textual form.

DESKTOP CONTENTS:
1. vedfolnir_control.exe
2. comlink.exe
3. favors.txt (PASSWORD PROTECTED)
4. password_hint.txt
5. sphere_plans.png
6. sphere_scans.png

>Please input a number:

After all, the universe is written in DOS! Right?

---

Crya and Taeda continue their teatime. Sunburns. Aren't they weird? Apparently sunburns don't involve being lit on fire, to Taeda's surprise. They've also developed ways to protect against it.

TAEDA: Huh, weird!
TAEDA: I guess it makes sense that they'd have something to deal with the sun since it hurts them.
TAEDA: That's not something you'd see around here!

Crya then goes on that she doesn't really know what Taeda might find unusual. She's very in touch in her people, so all she can really think of is religious traditions, and... something about the god of fire. The priestess nods slowly and carefully.

TAEDA: A-A god of fire, h-huh?
TAEDA: T-That seems... w-well, dangerous! I'm sure he's a nice person, b-but... well, you know!
TAEDA: We don't have many blacksmiths around here. That's probably not too surprising, given our weakness to fire.
TAEDA: Those who do take up the art take great precautions to avoid being burned, as one mistake might end your career!
TAEDA: Fortunately, we can do plenty of the work "remotely" by manipulating wood to manipulate the hot coals and burning metals, b-but accidents happen, you know?

TAEDA: I wonder if any of our smiths would be worthy of the God of Fire's blessing?
TAEDA: N-Not that we'd a-accept the crest, t-though! That'd hurt. A lot.

As Taeda pours herself another thing of tea, Crya asks about the two faucets in the bathroom back at the House. Taeda is quick to clarify, though most of her attention is devoted to trying to not spill any tea.

TAEDA: Oh, the second faucet?
TAEDA: Most places only have the one for water, but those who can afford it often install a second faucet for fertilizer!
TAEDA: I've taken fertilizer baths a few times. Us Devouts can't get them very often, but they do wonders for the body!
TAEDA: A-Although... I'm sure most humans- or even goddesses- would find the smell rather lethal!

...Crya is given the delightful mental image of bathing in a mixture of dirt, nutrients, and possibly literal gorilla. Perhaps it'd be best that she avoids that faucet.

---

A rather long post happens. I'd advise reading this storypost yourself! As a result though, Echoss seems to have recovered? Perhaps he'll join the fray again soon? Additionally, Echoss (and I guess by extension, Pionobot) has obtained the right to obtain a Level 3 trait! Claim it whenever you wish.

...Which he does. Now. Nice!

---

Auth continues about his day. Taking Nana by the hand, the two wander throughout the Everground, soon finding the ladder that'd lead them out. Auth then asks her a question- where'd she live before?

NANA: U-Um, I didn't live anywhere important...
NANA: S-Somewhere near the Royal Gardens is a humble town named Lilac...
NANA: It's the primary agriculture district for Sussui, and is known for its beautiful flowers!
NANA: Fields of flowers, far as the eye could see! Some for beauty, but many had magical properties!
NANA: I wish you could see it!

NANA: A-Although, I haven't b-been able to return s-since we evacuated...
NANA: A-And then I was conscripted...
NANA: I hope my town is d-doing okay...

Nana sighs. She quietly clings to Auth as they return to the surface, and remains quiet. Elsewhere, Auth thanks Chi for the information she was able to provide. He then apologizes for being a burden. Chi waves her hand towards him dismissevely.

CHI: Hm? No need to apologize.
CHI: S-Sure, it is a bit stressful, having these questions piled upon me, but... you guys do want to help, right?
CHI: Cypress and I want to do everything in our power to help the people, and if this information helps you... then that's great!
CHI: Ask if you need anything, alright?

Finally, Auth waves goodbye to Atalus. He waves goodbye in return, before returning to his totally-not-poisoned tea. Mmm. Delicious.

---

Not!Echoss accidentally flattens a Yggcrawler. They get ricochet'd off the skybox, and pancakes the Yggcrawler. They promptly despawn due to their y-scale being set to 0. With both Yggcrawler's eliminated, Not!Echoss is free to pocket the Pinati!

From the body, various things are found!

• x1,000 Credits
• x32 Samples
• x40 Crystalline Conduit
• x10 Nanostorm Drives
• x4 Hyperprocessors
• Chibi Steve (Trinket)

Not!Echoss also makes various black market deals to obtain a Temmie Flake. Smells like cardboard. For unknown reasons, Marron begins to salivate. Elsewhere, Pionobot suggests to Maple that they could ask Cypress what's going on with the storage.

MAPLE: Yeah, we could!
MAPLE: Let's go ask him! Right now!
MAPLE: Or, uh, when we can!

When is a good time to go and accuse someone of emailing things to the Rebel army? Who knows?

---

Irongutta decides to detonate the bomb! Beep! With a series of flashing lights, the bomb primes itself. R-8733 snaps on his sound-cancelling headphones. Cypress taps a device on his head, metal shields warping into place around his ears. With a fiery flash, the bomb rips in two! The moderately-shaped charge focuses a gigantic plume of flame into the wooden barrier, easily tearing through it! Blazing oil is then launched about the room, lighting ablaze and preventing Acacia from regenerating the barrier.

R-8733: That seems to have done it!
R-8733: Sidenote: EVERYTHING IS ON FIRE.
CYPRESS: ...Slight problem.
CYPRESS: Still. Required effect: achieved. Fire suppression: required.

...Yeah, someone may want to deal with the blaze before it goes out of control.

---

...Elsewhere, Cypress begins to attend a meeting. Nothing explodes, so odds are it's going rather well.

---

<CHEMICAL LABORATORY, ROUND 2>
Oh no.





You are accosted by...

MITOSYSTEM
The Infinite Menace

MITOSYSTEM
All Consuming Sludge

PLAY - Second Trumpet (Lobotomy Coroporation)


So. A few more bodies to deal with now. Also, Electrophorus has broken into the room. In response though, the Player Cap has gone up! Have fun dealing with this hellhole! Electrophorus was not intended, but I am a slave to the random number generator. Just... try and kill some of the Mitosystems? Their aura buffs are going to be a huge concern, especially if the Mitocysts keep on multiplying.

For above update:

Crystal replaces Salvation with Intimidation, and puts 2 SKP in AGI.

Yew

Venia, when she finally finds herself forcefully removed, looks at Yew's still-unconscious form, and cautiously picks her up and takes her into the inventory.

"...I'm taking her to Chi."

Cue exactly that.

"Doctor Stella Manchineel," Venia says, as she approaches Hannah and Chi. "... I sent Hannah your way to ask about the Poison Archer because I confirmed, beyond doubt, that she was Yew thanks to... Uh, basically reading her mind and being trapped in a memory of her attempted murder on Acrea," Venia starts. "I'm coming to you now for two reasons. First, I figure that you may be the most knowledgeable-and the most fitting-to deliver judgement of Yew. I feel it's very personal with you, I think. If you don't want to do that, uh... I'll make my own judgement call, but I'd figure you'd want a say."

"Second... The reason why I was invading the mind of a serial killer turned magic bow... God that sounds crazy when you say it like that," Venia says. "Uh. We were searching for the person behind the source of the 'Whispering Items,' basically. Mostly to find a method to revert them back to normal. Long story short, we got the answers. Er-hem... I now know why and how Yew Taxus, the Poison Archer, escaped custody. Yew Taxus, at some point prior to her imprisonment, made a pact with a major figure of the Rose Cult, known to us only as Yulania, who is by all accounts the only major leader of the cult left at large. He had managed to disguise himself as a guard for her prison, and then ripped Yew's soul from her body-the body subsequently rotted into tiny bits indistinguishable from dirt in the cell. Yulania's crime here alone is heinous enough, but then there's the fact that the Whispering items rarely have inherent locomotion, and a few innocents have been trapped in these items as well. The whole thing has to be shut down."

Venia adjusts her jacket a little. "We've found Yulania's hideout. I'm going to get a few things into place, and then we're going to raid it and put a stop to his 'services.' I'm hardly requesting you come along, but, uh, I figure you'd at least want to know we're going to bring him to justice, uh, given his relation to the case-and given our antics yesterday, uh, that'd be literally every major leader of the Rose Cult taken out. He's the last. That'd, uh, that would stop that particular menace to Sussui basically for good. Wanna join?"

---

Nia is the bomb, but not the one that went off just now

Venia smiles at Nia's commentary. "I think that uh, that the Butterfly is a league of its own, and the Thymefield's just, uh, ignoring it instead, but I bet that might also be going on-"

Further discussions will have to wait given the bomb blew up just then and there. The raging fire that results is probably the real issue at hand. "Nia! Uh, yeah, let's clear out that fire before it kills anyone, shall we?"

Venia opts to not repeat the last time she tried to douse a flame, and instead reaches into a distortion and pulls out a plain-up fire extinguisher, as well as a maid armed similarly. The two close the distance on the fire-perhaps too close a distance-and immediately begin hosing everything down with the extinguishers.

Only after every last inch of flame is quelled, only then does Venia stop. "... OK then, uh, now we can use the last bomb on, on the final barricade whenever we're ready, but, uh, I think we need to have a bit more than just an explosive entrance, uh, as cool as that already is," Venia says. "... Yeah, I know. We can set up, uh, set up some sort of trap-something that can fire back into Acacia's face or at least make her waste time so she can't followup. I don't want another bus hurled at me..."

Venia pauses a bit, thinking-what could take that abuse from Acacia and live afterwards? Acacia, not only empowered by Cypress's bio-magitech, but also the thymefield...

...The thymefield empowering her... Like Hersilia, like Omorika under Lucid's influence, like... Other eliti? Perhaps they're not as fearsome without it-

"Electrophorus!" Venia shouts. "We can lure him in with the bait that we robbed from the informant two days ago, and the thing's effective range is gigantic, it nearly matches Acacia's own from recorded information. It's risky, but its an opportunity to take both down at once-and we can ensure they start by fighting each other too! Acacia will be able to deal with Electrophorus in its current weakened state, but when it splits apart into Phosphites, then we can roll in while she's overwhelmed. It may be our best shot at taking out both-and if anything might be even easier than taking them on separately!"

"... But, uh. This sounds, uh, pretty crazy. I'd just like to, uh, sound off here, and, like. See if this won't get us all killed, and is actually decent. Like, that's a pretty significant level of risk."

---

Mariaaaaaa

"I love sparkles!" Maria shouts, as she giddily reaches into the glitter and starts spreading it all over the scarf. "Ette's gonna have a super-sparkly scarf, there's gonna be so much sparkles she's gonna drown in it!"

Regalus, meanwhile, absorbs Omorika's information with extreme intent and... Well, someone's probably realized that his grin seems omnipresent at this point. "Pardon me-what you've said is already quite illuminating, but, I was slightly more referring to why you are here, now, in this particular location. Judging from your language, though, I presume that at least one of the Glyphs needed to get into the area is located here in this laboratory, and you are attempting to break past those wooden barricades I saw ahead to obtain the Glyph in question, correct?"

---

Hey

Rebecca's nervous standing around doesn't really impede anyone from going in after, nor does it hinder Chloe and Echoss returning from upstairs. "Ah, sorry... What happened? Is everything alright?" She says, voice surprisingly deep and gruff for someone that looks like a female cartoon.

---

Battle: Why Does This Lab Even Exist

Venia replaces Incantation with Glacier Drop. No time for summons, maybe just enough for glaciers.

Venia and Nia spawn in at K20 and J20 respectively. Venia uses Vigil to get Ordo, then Nia uses the Luminous Rose effect to gain Ordo herself, both as bonus actions. Nia is asked to use Glacier Drop on E12, and to eat a bag of sliced fruit.

Meanwhile, Venia waits for Remiel to give her Exertion, then takes a step to K19 and immediately fires a Purge on Mitosystem1, then uses the Luminous Rose to re-gain her Ordo, before scan-pinging the Mitosystem. She finishes up by chowing down on another bag of sliced fruit.

...Venia doesn't look like she's perfectly healthy now. "God, god, this place, this place makes me sick... Kill, kill everything, quickly!"

Not!Echoss hires Nia to make mistakes
Specifically, he hires her upgrade service to upgrade the temmie flake and a bob epic pop.


Pionobot and Maple
Pionobot nods.
"Yeah I don't see why not!
People are wandering around this area a lot, so I guess we should go looking?"


Echoss:
Met be Rebecca at the top of the stairs, Echoss looks over at Chloe, not sure who the newcomer is, then looks back.
"Ah, nothing major. Just a personal issue that's now been ironed out."


The Chemical Lab
Pionobot shrugs, and activates his trait, firing an ice-element aerobeam North, which turns East at K14 (should be stopping on the tile it hits the Pin)

Brutishace decides to step out of the shadows and return to the party!

Looking for opportunities to support them, Brutishace heads to the Chemical Laboratory, spawns in at M20, and moves to P20. If the second Mitocyst isn't dead, Brutishace finishes it off with his Necrotic Arcana Pistol, healing anyone around with Soul Siphon if need be.

BATTLES: CHEMICAL LABORATORY

The Reflector flies to C15 and activates their special, Shield Burst.

---

ZONE 5

The Reflector inputs the number 6 into the console. Then, they ask Ire how he's feeling. Does he want to do number 5 this dop as well? Up to him. No pressure, seriously.

Destiny makes CLNSR fly over to J15 and uses Foam Spray once again. She observes and shanks Mitocyst 3 in that order after Remiel attacks Mitocyst 3. The Divine Watcher moves to L11 before Pionobot acts.

-------------------------------

Crya pauses for a moment after Taeda mentions the fertilizer bath.
...Ah. Definitely doesn’t sound like something I would do for sure. I have created special healing springs, though. Their water is protected by the Natural Elements Foundation and is given out for medical purposes such as treating more serious wounds such as those caused by magic bolts or blunt weapons. In certain places the springs are turned into public baths. Ircolces was built nearby one so it’s a pretty popular destination for humans all over. My patron city of Creci has the largest and most popular one, however! It’s something that the citizens have pride in there.
Anyways, if there are so few blacksmiths, I’m sure they must be working very hard! Making weapons to supply an army is no simple feat. I’m not Ignis himself, but I am sure that he would respect those who took up the art for their bravery.

Remiel moves to H19 and basic-attacks Mitocyst3. +20% damage from Dreamscaper.

Immediately after Venia spawns, thunder crashes above her as Remiel targets her with Exertion. The rune on Remiel's face shifts as they get a new Modifier spell.

Skylabs - Hannah

"T-that... describes it perfectly, actually..."

"I... found it jammed in a Harpy's nest deep underground... that, uh, c-couldn't have been where you threw it, at first..."

She nods in understanding. Best to know your own poisons before you try and cure them. Especially if you don't want anyone affected by them dead.

Another chill runs up Hannah's spine as she watches Chi crumple in front of her. Perhaps interestingly, she seemed to feel kinda cruddy about what she just did. She takes a step back, anxious and afraid that she screwed up irreconcilably. Her voice and hands were shaky. "L-look, I'm... I'll just... l-leave you alone for now..."

She takes out the one Blanket they had in the inventory, and sets it aside for Chi, hoping Marron wouldn't notice its absence. She turns around soon after, and walks away.

...Of course, she runs into Venia along the way, and Hannah immediately freezes stiff. But upon realizing she was going to go to Chi, Hannah speaks up. "N-now's not a great time, Ven... I... I screwed up. I kinda, um... stressed her out a ton..."

"I-if you still wanna talk to her... well, I... guess I won't stop you. Just, uh... m-maybe don't do what I did a-and not dump a ton of info on her all at once?"

"I'm... I'll just... g-go now."

Hannah pushes her uneasy self past Venia, moving to the western tower and sitting over the far ledge, idly staring out at the great sea of clouds rolling past the labs. So many thoughts run through her head as she sits...

---

House - Adria

Adria giggles as Taeda straps a pillow to the machine. "Why, you're welcome!"

She takes another look at the creation, getting another little chuckle out of the pillow. "Believe it or not, this is among one of the more basic things I've ever made, but... well, anything more complicated would need more stuff. Though, odds are, you could make this with purely magical materials if you try hard enough!"

"Though, in more basic terms, it uses airtight components to seal in the air flowing into it and uses a powered fan to suck the air through one end of the hose and out the other. With the addition of that water pack thingy it can also be used as a pressure washer, letting the user effortlessly wash away stubborn dirt and grime."

She looks towards the room Chloe and Echoss were once in, remembering that it was still... messy, to put it lightly. "...Or, in that room's case... ash and soot. I think we should get that room cleaned up soon. I wouldn't want that room smelling of ash when I go to bed... I don't think Chloe would either."

"I think it would be best to show you rather than just tell you."

She pulls the device along, unraveling the hose as she walks to Chloe's room. Right, the door needs to be replaced too... she gently opens the door, making sure it doesn't fall over. It's probably cooled down enough by now.

Bit by bit, she takes out all of the burned furniture and sets them aside, assuming they don't just crumble to dust. After getting all of the damaged stuff out, she twists the nozzle of the hose a certain way, pushes a button on the actual device, and turns it on. The tiny crystals, acting as water, begin to spew out of the nozzle at high speeds in a thin water jet (though not too thin). Adria begins to wash down anything in the room that she could. It might take a while before she's done.

Once done with the actual cleaning, Adria turns the device back into suction mode and starts sucking up the residue. It exits the same way the smoke did, except liquid instead of gas. How clean this would actually make the room remains to be seen.

---

/working

+2 skillpoints to HP!
----
"That was certainly a big battle." Bauhaus wipes the sweat off his brow. "Do you do this often? Because it feels like you do."

He hears a crash somewhere in the east wing of the Skylabs.

"Something bad's happening over there." Bauhaus points somewhere to the east wing of the Skylabs. "I'll be right back! Probably." He runs away.

<BATTLE: CHEMICAL LABORATORY>
ELEMENTS: ICE / AIR
Bauhaus spawns at K20, and charges up Dawn of Existence.

The Chemical War
Daskter moves up to (L19)
The Rocketeer follows to (M19)

Daskter hits (K15) with a Creation Singularity. (Benefitting from Cherub's passive and Manafuel 2) then they give the Rocketeer a bit of a Pep Talk (cape passive)
The Rocketeer proceeds to fire some rockets at Mytosystem 1 (or Mitocyst 8 if 1 dies) with First Strike (benefitting from Daskter weapon(not if targetting 8), Pep Talk)

Resistances not included

"Oh, not again!"

Brutishace hisses in fear at the Electrophorus currently bearing down on his position. To prevent himself from getting fried due to his Electric weakness, he quickly repositions to M20. With nothing better to do but the first Mitosystem bearing down on the party, Brutishace uses Twin Jolts on the thing to hope to help bring it down.

Chemical Lab
Power Nap Taeda.
Ask Taeda to use Helix Totem on Nidra.
Move to Q14.
Warp Ring to Q10.
Sheep Counter Needles3.
Last Dream Needles3 with Cuteness Overload (Ice).
Retreat to Q11.

Fire!

Irongutta covered his ears as the explosion went off, spraying the newly-made hole in the barrier with burning oil. What he didn't prepare for was for the fire to quickly evolve into a raging, out-of-control blaze. "Uhhh... surely it's fi- no wait, this ain't good at all actually."

Battle: Chemical Laboratory

"Zog! They just keep comin'! And ain't that wormy one supposed to be dead already?"

Deciding it'd be best if the initial Mitosystem was the first one to get clobbered, Irongutta moves all the way to M16, unimpeded by the Thyme Matter. There, he slashes at Mitosystem1 with devastating force!

If it happens to die, Irongutta will use Magnolia's Dance of Destruction to hit Mitocyst4 as well.

Auth chuckles, slightly, at Nana's comments about her home.

AUTH: I don't know why you're talking about it like I'm not going to be able to see it at some point.
AUTH: Truth be told, "Primary agricultural district" sounds pretty important. With a name like Lilac, I can only imagine that it'd be quite beautiful.
AUTH: I'm near certain that after this is resolved, we can go back there.

Auth smiles reassuringly.

AUTH: I'm certain that it's holding up okay. I'm pretty sure it's far enough away to be... less affected by this.
AUTH: Don't worry. And either way, I'm sure we'll be back soon.

Auth hugs Nana, as they return to the church. Should something spontaneously happen between where they are and the Church... well, it'll be fine, probably.

---

Auth nods to Chi, as her assurance that she's alright.

AUTH: I see, so long as you're holding up okay.
AUTH: We do want to help. Or, well, I do, and I believe that many of the Spherebreakers share my... altruistic philosophy.
AUTH: I think this information helps. Or, well, it sates my curiosity, and much of that knowledge helps me come to understand your people better which will... probably help me help better.
AUTH: Oh! That's right! I did have an extremely relevant question. What, if anything, do you use as anaesthetics? If you find someone that's been severely wounded, what would you do to help?
AUTH: I needed to conduct an operation earlier which, should I need to repeat it, will benefit from such a thing.

---

Battle Action! Auth moves to L20, and uses his weapon skill, applying Swift to Daskter, Venia and Bauhaus.

<ROUND 255>

---

Venia approaches Chi, explaining what she’s learned about Yew and Yulania. She’s far from attentive, still curled up near the eastern turret. Still, Venia chatters on. First, she figures that she’d be the best to deliver judgement upon Yew. Chi nods gently.

CHI: I-I’ll… take a look.
CHI: B-But… if I-I’m going to talk to her a-again, m-maybe I should do it later…
CHI: I-I’m just… n-not… up to it, r-right now.
CHI: Sorry...

She perks up a little as Venia explains how Yew managed to escape custody. Her body never really escaped, but her soul managed to escape through Yulania’s gauntlet.

CHI: Someone came to… “rescue” her? And her body was destroyed?
CHI: T-That explains why she never resumed her killing spree a-after somehow escaping…

CHI: And… you found her creator’s hideout?
CHI: I-I… well, t-that’s great, but…
CHI: My f-fight has never been with the Rose Cult. It’s awful that they transform people into weapons, y-yes, and I’d like to stop them, b-but…
CHI: I don’t r-really think it’s my fight. My fight’s always been with Yew...
CHI: I-If you want me to help, I’d be glad to h-help you, but… this isn’t my battle.

Elsewhere, Nia and Venia put out a fire! Venia summons one of her maids and begins going after the flames with twin fire extinguishers. Nia meanwhile, charges up Super Soak, firing it directly into the flames. Given that this is an oil fire, this creates a gigantic fiery explosion that makes things AT LEAST three times worse.

NIA: ...Venia.
NIA: I’m… not a smart woman.
NIA: Just so you know.

...After a long, long time (and Nia being handed a fire extinguisher), the fire has been slain. With the flames quelled, Venia mentions that they could blow through the final barricade whenever they need to. Nia nods, and chimes in when Venia mentions they need some sort of trap, after she mentions using Electrophorus.

NIA: Electrophorus seems kinda dangerous, but… I have an idea!
NIA: Acacia’s kinda frail, right? Sure, she could probably kill us in one hit, but we can beat her up real quick, too!
NIA: So, while we cause a big distraction with a big, flashy entrance...

Nia throws a trio of incredibly gentle punches into Venia’s cheeks, vocalizing her own sound effects.

NIA: Bam! Thwack! Wha-pow!~
NIA: I sneak in behind her, and knock her out with a few punches!
NIA: I-I mean, maybe I’m not the best person for that, but you get it, right?
NIA: We’d need someone who could punch a tree without breaking their fingers… or y’know, a blunt weapon.
NIA: Got a frying pan? Or a better idea?

...Nia continues to pester Venia with a bunch of gentle punches. They don’t hurt.

NIA: ...This is kinda fun.
NIA: bop bop bop

Meanwhile, a few rooms away, Maria begins to coat the scarf in a thick layer of glitter. Marron helps spread it out as Maria inevitably creates a few piles of the stuff all around the place. The scarf’s looking pretty complete at this point. Marron just needs to install the metal heart gem holder things. She slides them to Maria.

MARRON: So… just place these where you want to put them.
MARRON: I’ll stitch them into place when you’re done.
MARRON: Got it?

While they do that, Omorika continues to answer Regalus’s questions. At this point, Omorika is taking a bit longer between sentences, pondering on every other word.

OMORIKA: ...Yes. We are attempting to access a Glyph in this location.
OMORIKA: The barricades do not have anything to do with the Glyph. They are merely an obstacle in our path, as there is a woman behind them who wishes to stop us.

OMORIKA: Ah, sir. A few questions for you.
OMORIKA: I don’t believe I’ve learned your name yet.
OMORIKA: And… pray tell, what is your business here? You don’t seem to be with our group, given your questions.
OMORIKA: All I know is your allegiance with Miss Praefortis.

Finally, over at the house, Rebecca bumps into Chloe and Echoss as they head upstairs. Chloe tilts her head towards Rebecca. Such a gruff voice, and from a new face.

CHLOE: O-Oh! Hello!
CHLOE: There was a bit of an… accident? I-I’m not sure how to describe it…
CHLOE: Everyone’s okay, though! We’re actually off to go get lunch.

CHLOE: So… who are you?
CHLOE: I’m Chloe Elem. It’s nice to meet you!

Maybe Chloe and Rebecca will become lunch buddies? The future is full of prospects!

---

Maple and Pionobot decide to go and find Cypress. Maple hops off the box, landing next to Pionobot. She springs forward, beckoning for him to follow.

MAPLE: Alright, then! Let’s go!
MAPLE: I have literally no idea where he is, but I know we’ll find him!
MAPLE: Let’s gooo!~

...Seems she lacks the foresight to simply ask anyone if they know where he is. Elsewhere, Not!Echoss asks Nia to go and make more mistakes- specifically, he wants her to work on a Temmie Flake and a can of Bob Epic Pop.

Expending exactly 0 Credits, Nia produces two accursed products. One is the Temmie Cake, a large pile of cardboard shreds that smells like vanilla. It’s not too interesting…. Yet. Second is the Pop Epic Pop, which seems to be another soda can, veiled in glitch energy.

NIA: ...This is the weirdest lunch I’ve ever made.
NIA: I’m not gonna eat it. Even if I’m kinda hungry right now.

---

The Reflector gathers information on the Sphere, pressing buttons 5 and 6 at the same time. They’re both about the Sphere, so I can legally process them both at once without it being much of a pain! Ahem…

Both documents are actually their own scans of the Sphere. Every image shares the same general layout of the Sphere. It’s a gigantic wooden orb, tunnels scattered all about with the occasional large chamber, and a colossal borehole at the bottom, leading to the core. The outer layers seem completely inhospitable, covered in thousands of wooden spines. And of course, thanks to the Chairheir, each and every one of those could be manipulated to impale someone.

The document labelled “sphere_scans.png” is actually a collection of a dozen scans of the Sphere, with the first being helpfully annotated and labelled. Taking a look at the scans, it seems that the layout of the Sphere is infinitely changing… except for a few elements, helpfully noted in that first scan.

Labelled on the Sphere are a few key rooms, which never seem to change size, shape, or location. The tunnels and rooms near the center of the Sphere don’t move, as well as the gigantic borehole at the bottom. Notes scribbled across the document theorize that the “wood density is too high to alter with ease”, making the inner rooms nearly impossible to edit. Meanwhile, the Borehole is just an essential part of deploying Iti to the surface, so that can’t be altered, either.

Meanwhile, on the “sphere_plans.png” document, there’s a familiar scan, this time rendered in a blueprint sort of form. Scrawled in the lower-left corner is the name of the blueprint: ”Project Thymium” There are various proposed constructions all across the Sphere- large magic-fueled engines, heavy “Throne” class cannons… everything that’d be required to transform the Sphere into a living(?) battlestation. There’s even mentions of incendiary devices that’d be used against the Sphere to stop it from morphing itself to destroy the implants. And, not too far from the center of the Sphere itself, is a small room with the symbol of four glyphs doodled upon it.

However, apart from the blueprints themselves, there are other scrawlings and notes. First, a batch concentrated near the borehole. “Getting all four glyphs may be impossible. Thus, entering the Sphere safely will be impossible. There is however, an alternative method of entry. It’s incredibly foolhardy and has an incredibly high probability of failure, but it may be our only shot. Should our other plans fail, we may be forced to fight out way up through the borehole. If we make use of airships and incendiary weaponry, it should be possible… but the constant stream of Iti through there will most likely kill us.”

There are also crossed-out sections located around the Sphere in equal intervals. Near one of them is more text. “It was unlikely to have worked anyway, but the bombs were rejected by the Sphere. Worse yet, Spark found them. I fear he may be on to me.” There’s also a doodle of a Tabletopian battlecruiser to the side. It too, is crossed out. “Kallax would never lend me a warship. Besides, outside weaponry would not be effective against the Sphere. Construction of a battlecruiser is also, for obvious reasons, impossible. At least, not within the short timeframe we have.”

...What to make of these?

---

Crya learns of fertilizer baths. It’s kinda gross, at least to her. Crya then mentions something she’s created, though- specialized healing springs!

TAEDA: Healing waters? How marvelous!
TAEDA: Imagine how much different life would be if you could heal yourself by taking a bath!
TAEDA: I’d imagine that people would be far more reckless with that knowledge in mind, though…
TAEDA: Still, the benefits most certainly outweigh the cons!

Crya then compliments the blacksmiths of Sussui, who must all be working very hard to supply the demands of an entire army. Taeda bobs her head.

TAEDA: They all work their hardest, I’m sure!
TAEDA: If we didn’t have mages among our ranks though, I think it’d be impossible to supply the entire army.
TAEDA: It really helps that all a mage needs is a wooden stick! I mean, it’s usually more complicated than a simple “stick”, but you get what I mean, right?

Taeda giggles to herself as she polishes off the last of her tea.

TAEDA: Mmm…
TAEDA: This was fun, y’know?
TAEDA: Anything else you wanna know about us Chairians?
TAEDA: If not, well… that’s fine!
TAEDA: Maybe we could have another tea party later?

Another tea party, huh? Is that what this ultimately was? It certainly was nice, though.

---

Bauhaus invokes the forbidden art of HP += 2. And so it is done.

---

Hannah freaks out in front of Chi. Or at least, she does a little. She shares an understanding with the doctor regarding her choice of poisons, but experiences a chill as Chi crumples up against the building.

Shaky, Hannah tells Chi that she’ll be leaving her alone for now. She gets the slightest bit of acknowledgement in the form of a quick nod. Then, pulling out the one blanket in the inventory, she tosses it over Yew. She swaddles herself in it, gaining +40% Ice Resistance and a +6 to Comfort. Hannah then wanders off to the western tower, sitting over the far ledge.

Elsewhere, some vague distance from the Sky Labs, Adria chuckles as Taeda straps a pillow to her cleaning machine. She then explains to the priestess that what she made here is actually a fairly basic construction, at least when compared to what she’s made. The priestess’s face lights up. How is something like this basic when she can barely understand it?

TAEDA: Whoa! That’s really cool!
TAEDA: Are you like an engineer lady? Or what is your job, anyway?
TAEDA: B-But, continue! I wanna hear more about it.

Adria gives a simple explanation on how it works. Airtight components, powered fans, and a power washer…? Taeda can’t make heads or tails of it. Taeda continues drawing a blank, at least until Adria motions towards Chloe’s room. It’s a bit of a mess. Perhaps she could give Taeda a live example.

Wheeling the machine into the room after cleaning out all of the seared furniture, Adria begins to spray down the room. While the stone walls and ceiling are easily cleaned, the wooden floorboards are beyond saving. Looks like it’ll need to be refurbished. Still, besides that, the room looks far better than before.

TAEDA: Could I borrow this thing once the Sphere is gone?
TAEDA: We do a lot of cleaning work… and this’d make things way easier!
TAEDA: I mean, maybe I’d need to put more pillows on it so it wouldn’t bother everyone, but… it’d be a huge help!

TAEDA: Oh, also! If you want help with fixing up the floor, I’m your girl!
TAEDA: I can morph up some planks for you, and also set them up, too!
TAEDA: You’d need to help me rip out the old floorboards, though.
TAEDA: I’m not strong enough to do that by myself...

Home renovations with Taeda and Adria. Should be a good time!

---

Auth and Nana return to the church. The trip back there is uneventful, besides the duo needing to take a trek around a pool of Thyme Matter that lingered from when they slew the Mobile Home. Along the way, they chat about Lilac, Nana’s hometown. Auth ponders to himself that it must be quite beautiful.

NANA: It really is!
NANA: Vibrant flowers as far as the eye can see, with blossoming trees around every street corner…
NANA: It’s not very technologically advanced, but it’s second to none in terms of sheer beauty!
NANA: I should show you my place when the Sphere is gone. It’s kinda quaint, but I think you’ll like it!

They return to the church to find a fresh set of heavy locked wooden doors. Fortunately, there’s a key in the inventory, which they use to get in. The church is conspicuously vacant. Nana stomps her foot.

NANA: H-Huh!?
NANA: W-Where’s Chloe and the others? W-Weren’t they meant t-to be watching over t-the church?
NANA: I mean… i-it looks like they did their jobs well enough, b-but…
NANA: I-It’s irresponsible to leave, e-especially when something a-as precious as a Godblossom is at stake!
NANA: Hmph.

Nana huffs, pressing forward to take a look at the work the group did before they so rudely left. A quick examination causes her to loosen up a bit- maybe it was fine that they left? Still, though. How irresponsible!

Finally, at a point in the timeline before Chi freaked out, Auth questions Chi with a somewhat urgent question. What does she use as anesthetics? Chi produces a bottle from a pouch she carries around.

CHI: Now, I’m not sure how well this works on your kind, but this typically does the trick.
CHI: It’s a solution made from ice elemental crystal powder, yellow sap, and I believe the Serenea flower’s petals.
CHI: When ingested, it causes a Chairian to enter a sort of… “hibernation”, of sorts. They won’t be conscious or feel anything for at least an hour.

CHI: ...Side effects include loss of leaves if the target is under the effects of this for more than three hours at a time.
CHI: And of course, there may be the usual side effects of headaches, bark rot, coughing up sap, and also death… but I’m required to say that by law.
CHI: I don’t think this has ever killed anyone.
CHI: In fact, I need to state that for just about every drug I use, but I don’t think they ever induce those effects?
CHI: I think it’s for legal reasons, but I’m not a lawyer.

Side effects of Project Thymium may include grids, gay energy, and indoctrination into the cult of the Chaos Butterfly.

---

Cypress continues his meeting. Tense legalese is being thrown about the room. It's all quite boring, as no knives are being pulled.

---

<CHEMICAL LABORATORY, ROUND 3>
here we go again



You are accosted by...

MITOSYSTEM
The Otherworldly Blight

PLAY - Third Trumpet (Lobotomy Coroporation)



Thanks to the ability of the Mitocysts to combine, all four Mitosystems are on the field! This will prove to be INCREDIBLY PAINFUL, if only because the Black-Cored Mitosystem is on the field. Make that a priority target... but also perhaps go after the split-up Electrophorus? Destroying all of the current Phosphites would be a big blow to its overall HP pool. Have fun!