Maple hops off the crates to go find Cypress
"Shouldn't be too hard to find him, he's sticking with us so he'll be in the like, one corridor's worth of the Labs we've actually explored probably."


Echoss+Chloe
"Hm, if we want to have a proper meal up there, we should probably make some food first. Make sure we have enough should some of the others decide to join us on our little picnic, yes?"
Echoss pauses for a moment.
"Ah, hm... I don't... actually know how to cook very well. Everything I've made before has been with another avatar looking things up in a cookbook at the same time.."


Chemical Lab

Destiny moves after Remiel to E18 and quickly whips out her Daggers, using Hookshot on Ohmnic 2 and landing on B14 before retreating to to D13 and using Phase Shift with Phosphite 7. She begins to Observe Mitocyst 2.

The CLNSR moves north to J12 before using Foam Bomb at L7.

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

The healing waters do have great healing powers, but they have their limits ultimately. You can’t bring one back from the dead, as once a person dies their body can no longer accept a soul, and, well, all things considered, dying is not that hard for… erm, mortal beings.
Egh, That term feels so condescending to use.

Crya then notices that she too has emptied her teapot on top of her cup. She puts it down and to the side.

Well, this tea party of sorts was quite nice, and I guess we could discuss more some time later! I don’t really have anything else to ask, though. Nothing that comes off the top of my head, at least. I guess we could talk about magic some time, as staves made me think about potential differences in magic, but I think that might be better for some other time when we can brew a little more tea! I don’t have much to do for the time being, though, so if you want we could talk about it for a bit.

If Taeda decides to continue the conversation, Crya stays. Otherwise, Crya wanders off to do her own things, stuff like reporting the situation to the other Pantheon gods.

(Remiel acts before Destiny.)

Remiel moves to I14 and self-casts Exertion from their Shifting Rune, getting a new Modifier in the process. They swing at Phosphite7 with a Basic.

(25-25), +20% damage from Dreamscaper, +80% damage and +10CRT from Exertion. 30% weakness.

Chemical Labs

Move Order for this round: Remiel, then Destiny, then Reflector, then Nia's movement, then everyone else.

Nia moves to N15. She doesn't act immediately but this'll trigger the Glacier Drop, and thus normal movement resumes.

Venia moves to O13 and activates Affidavit Adjudication! She spends 480 SP to move Phosphite 1 to M11, Phosphite 2 to M12 L11, and Phosphite5 to T10. None can fly, and therefore all three will take the full effect of the Chemical Waste when their turns roll around. This also activates Unrestrained Power. She then proceeds to triple-fire Unexisting Force to ping off Needles 2 and 3, and then slaps a bit of extra damage onto Mitosystem2. She, and Nia through Friendship Force, gain three stacks of Force accordingly. Then, Venia casts Glacier Drop on J4.

She then calls in the artillery-using the first (free) Overclocked use of the RAC! She spends 3 CP to fire 3 Light Laser Turrets on Needles 2+3, putting them precariously low, and outright deleting Pin 2. Then, Venia utilizes the Twin Railcannons to fire upon Mitosystems 1 and 4, as well as Phosphite 7.

Venia retreats to P14 and hat-pings Mitocyst12 away, then uses Heart's Desire to swap spaces with Nia. (It spontaneously gains Wallhack, because apparently this needs buffing.).

Nia takes Venia's finished turn as her cue to target another Glacier Drop on N6. She then chugs a Stardew potion to restore some of her MP while retreating to Q15.

Meanwhile, Chloe waits for Auth to move, then moves to H10 and cuts Mitocyst4 down to size. She retreats to I8 and makes sure to use some Echo stacks on herself to keep healthy.

Pionobot, by given permission, moves to J13 and fires another Aerobeam northwest, turning east on L11 and then north on M11. This should cause it to hit Phosphites 1&2 as well as Mitosystem1 twice.

---

Niaaaaaaaaaaa

"That's just it, uh, the Thymefield boosting Acacia will mean we can, like, forget about her, ah, dainty physique. I mean, Hersilia took far more punishment than she rightfully should have, and uh, and she wasn't much better than Acacia at taking hits last we met," Venia says. "I'd be willing to bet that, that she's either far more tough than she should be, or, uh, or that she has some sort of ace in the hole, meaning that getting to her without the rest of us would be... Would be super-risky."

"... That is where Electrophorus comes in," Venia says. "We've been blowing up her barriers, so she'll expect either Cypress and some Legionaires, Rebels, or us. Uh, not a half-ton of angry death snake with extra Iti aside swarming her. It's basically the same as what you suggested, except instead of any of us it's something that Acacia can't instantly annihilate-unless she does, but in that case it's still a win as then Electophorus is dead and we get to see what killed him without being the test dummies."

Venia pauses. "...Uh. Assuming that just isn't a terrible idea."

---

Chi

"I see," Venia says.

"... Everything's been stressful, hasn't it," Venia says, opting to sit down next to her. (In case it wasn't obvious, she has wisely not retrieved Yew from the inventory so this is alright.) "Near-genocide, tyrranical dictator, psycho poison woman, accepting help from known enemies, the slow and steady feeling that nothing is going to end well for all your power to try and change that... I mean. That's a lot, just to sort out.

Venia breathes in. "I've been dealing with a lot of my baggage here. I've done things I don't care to admit doing, I've had to resist the call of the void more than I care to name... I... Sometimes I feel this gnawing emptiness, not even hate or rage or sadness but this hollow feeling, the total absence of anything worthwhile to my name. I don't even know if I'm going to succeed-I put on a brave face and all, and we've done excellently even in the worst cases. But every new foe's a new nightmarish thing and I keep worrying that the next pack of Iti, the next well-equipped Legion or Rebel patrol, the next surprise Rose Cult ambush, is gonna be the last one... I don't really feel this profound sense of victory, just the knowledge that the next one's going to be worse than the last. And I know that if we screw up we're all going to die for real-most we can do is turn back the clock on a recent death, but if we all kick the bucket... Well... Even then it requires us catching it. A lot of us have just... Vanished into thin air. I don't know where they are or what they were doing, or what got them, if they're not just lost. And I just, have to keep on going."

Another breath. She starts smiling, a little. "... But I've kept trying. We've saved a ton of lives, rescued a few from unthinkable deathtraps, rescued more from Iti ambushes, once from a rebel bomb, slaughtered Eliti after Eliti and basically expurged a lot of their nests, took down a member of the Zabuton, took down almost all of the Rose Cult, we took down their god, twice, and made it run for the hills! We've got allies from all sorts of folk on Sussui and beyond who're down with our cause-we've got, like, two members of the Highchair on our corner. No, wait, three-the Sleuth, we rescued him of all people, he's basically sane... Or, as sane as he was before the Psi-Godmodder got his grubby hands on him, we literally saved him from something the Psi-Godmodder did."

"... I'm not sure what it is that's got you down. I just figure it's the stress of everything, but given you're a doctor, people are probably alive instead of dead because of you. It's... Stressful, to deal with all of that and more, but I guess all you can do is just do what you think you have to-what you think is right-and stick with it. Right?"

"I don't know if that helped, but I'll give you your space, OK?"

Venia, barring any questions from Chi that she clearly wants answered, leaves in peace.

---

Mariaaaaaaaaaaa

As Maria pins all the metal heart containers together (all in one place on a corner of the scarf), Regalus considers Omorika's questions-or appears to be. His left eye is twitching a little.

"I am Emperor Regalus Hemmors. So it is 'your majesty,' and nothing else," He says, calmly. "Venia is one of my duchesses. I had intended she didn't come herself, given her suicidal temperment, her importance, her pre-existing health conditions, the environment neutralizing a great many of her advantages, and, the many times this whole 'time travel to save sussui' scheme has failed before by others... And she did anyways! Ah, youth. She's such a bother to deal with, between it being those years and her being an especially sensitive case, but given the proper spur, she does appear to be remarkable! I'm only here myself to ensure my daughter is safe, of course-I sent her here temporarily, after all. I especially do not wish to have her around for the finale. Just a precaution."

He still smiles.

---

I have an addition with having too many characters and its a problem

"Rebecca... Hemmors," She says, giving Chloe respectable space, as if she was some kind of live tiger about to pounce her. "You've met my little sister, Maria, already. She's doing alright, right?"

Preventative Measures

---

Hannah - Skylabs

As Hannah stares out into the vast sea of clouds, mostly free of outside distraction, she thinks and occasionally mumbles to herself. Alone with her thoughts.

Loneliness... that was at the forefront of her mind. Alone in her ravenous desire to take out those who had stolen her home island from its original occupants. Alone here, and very capable of unintentionally botching interactions with others. The only possibly real friend she ever had was Dorothy, and even then she's beginning to doubt herself on that one. Hannah wonders if she should just give it up already and go friendless... "...No... no, that's not it..."

No, she has to keep trying. Even though she just failed pretty horribly back there. And now she has her doubts about Dorothy too... was she afraid of Hannah? She might be. But... "...Ugh, I hope not..."

To her, it almost feels like she's missing something. Something key. But what would that possibly be?

...Hannah gets up and decides to take a walk around the interior of the Skylabs, hoping to catch any interactions between the other Spherebreakers around the place. Going through the entrance...

A dude with purple horns... looks like royalty... and something about that smile just feels off. It likely wouldn't do her any good to chat him up. Though she does overhear from Omorika that they're related to Venia in some way, which cascaded the conversation into some incredibly unusual territory, which set off a bunch of red flags in her head. Hard pass... but it might be best to keep these things in mind.

She then wanders past Maria, Maple and Marron doing stuff together. Honestly, she was kinda jealous. Maybe she could learn a thing or two from listening in. Maybe.

After a few minutes of skulking by the Receptionist's Hall, Crya and Taeda catch her ear, though it seems like she just missed the bulk of the conversation. Oh well. Might be fine to listen in for another minute.

Hannah walks further inwards, taking a brief glance at Hersilia. She sighs; peck knows what internal damages she caused to the poor girl... she shakes her head quickly for a second, then moves on. No time to get hung up on details like that.

Further in still... the smell of the remains of an oil fire. She wanders over, and looks down the hall. She questions the everything being burnt as opposed to a tiny fraction of the barrier as a whole like the last bomb, but she guesses whatever works, works...

Further left still, she sees the Chairian Trio. She thinks it might not be best to try and talk to them right now. Might cause worse relations and she's pretty sure nobody wants that.

Slipping past the trio, Hannah approaches the door. Hearing sounds from behind it, she loiters around the side of the door, listening in to the conversations as best as she could. If she hears no more than legalese, she shrugs and moves back right.

She enters the Broke Room. And, to her surprise, a vent had been dislodged earlier. And judging by the work on it, it was also by one of the other Spherebreakers. Her curiosity gets the better of her, and she climbs up into it, braving the sheer cold, eventually popping out the other end. Looking around and seeing everything looking like Rebel tech, and the teleporter that requires a... Level 4 access card? Wait, didn't she see doors that required that level of card somewhere before?

...The medical wing. Of course. She exits through the vent the same way she entered, and stops by the medical wing doors. Looking at them, they'd be extremely tough to corrode, if not impossible. So she might need to find another way in. Wondering if there were any more vents nearby that could take her to the other side, she takes a look around, circling around the walls she has access to and through the Shifting Storage in search of a vent to crawl through. By now she's forgotten all about her initial goal...

---

House - Adria

Adria nods at Taeda when she asks if Adria was an engineer person. "Something like that. Really, I took up plenty of other professions during my first few years after schooling, but robotics, esoteric sciences, and engineering are the ones I stick to most often."

"...A lot of my kind do, actually."

...She stops on that thought for a while, thinking on it to herself. She snaps back to it soon enough, however.

After spraying down the walls, ceiling, and attempting to do the floor but failing, Adria pouts. "Hmmmmmph... scorched. I suppose replacements are needed. The same goes for the door, that thing is very damaged too."

Taeda asks if she could borrow the machine after the sphere is gone. Taking a quick look at the washer... yeah no, that thing was a rush job. It could become unstable if used too much. "M-maybe not this one right now, but when we get the time to do more things with it, I'll make it much less noisy. Without using pillows."

...She shuts off the machine as she remembers something. "...You know, we've been here for a while now. We might want to go back and check on the chapel, if for no other reason than to make sure I'm there to help with the planter's technological stuff when the others return. That is, if they haven't already come back."

"Should we put this on hold for now and check up on the place, dear? We don't have to go if you don't want to yet."

If Taeda wants to go, she nods, and leads the way back towards the chapel. If not, she nods, and begins pulling up the seared floorboards with an iron crowbar.

---

Boatshi

Boshi, noting that the shark was swimming away, sails his ship in such a way as to corner the shark into the more shallow waters. Then, he quickly makes another harpoon out of Iron and Durasteel, a nasty looking barb on the end of it to keep it in, tied to a sturdy rope. He loads it into the railgun and fires at the shark's body, hoping to stick it with the harpoon. He quickly ties the rope to the boat after firing the harpoon and sticking the shark, sailing toward the shallows.

STATISTICS

The Reflector +1s their SPC to gain the coveted enchant weapons on trait use thingy. At long last.

---

ZONE 5

The Reflector opens up #4, the password hint.

---

BATTLES: CHEMICAL LABORATORY

After Destiny's turn, the Reflector's Shield Burst activates, hopefully attaining the coveted pentakill. The Reflector then moves to H11 (ignoring the Phosphite's ZoC with the power of it not technically having flight), shoots Needles1 with a Light-element Elemental Blaster, and casts Mirror Image targeting I11.

The Chemical War
Daskter advances to (M13) and unleashes another Singularity on (S12) on Mytosystem2

Rocketeer fires an Elemental Splitshot at Mitosystem2.

< BATTLE ACTION >
Bauhaus moves to P16, Warp Rings to T16, and fires Dawn of Existence to the North, using the Ice element.

Lab:
Move to Q7.
Warp Ring to S5.
Loot canister.
Psycho Link Mitosystem1 to Mitosystem4 (initial type).
Power Nap self.
Sheep counter self.

"...I should probably get out of the crowd before another Area of Effect attack hits- that and to reposition to attack the incoming Mitosystem."

Brutishace advances to M15. Learning of an opportunity to deal a good amount of damage, he blasts S12 with an Uncanny Valley-Powered Drain Life, damaging both the second Mitosystem and the third Mitocyst and healing any of his allies who may be damaged.

Auth nods.

AUTH: I think that sounds like a plan. It sounds nice.
AUTH: I'm looking forward to it. I'd say it might not be all that unfamiliar, my own home intentionally doesn't use much in the way of advanced technology. We still have a paper ledger for loans and returns...
AUTH: I'd suggest upgrading it, but something about that feels wrong.

Auth thinks about his own place of current residence, laughing slightly as they arrive at the Church... to find nobody there.

AUTH: Mm. Rude, but... they did their job, I certainly can't blame them for going and looking for something else to do.
AUTH: It doesn't looks like anybody had the bright idea of trying to break in. Let's get that Godblossom planted, then go... somewhere else.

Auth brings the Godblossom out of the Inventory again, and checks it to see if it's still doing okay. Then he waits for Nana, the nominal expert here, to give some suggestions as to what to do next.

---

Auth thinks for a minute, curious.

AUTH: While such a thing might be an interesting experiment, I know what anaesthetics work on... most of the outsiders here. I was asking to make it easier to treat my Chairian allies, truthfully. I think we have all of that stuff... except for Serena petals, where might we find them?

Auth listens to the disclaimer Chi is legally obligated to give... then chuckles a little.

AUTH: Maybe you've never seen them, but...
AUTH: I'll put it this way: My father used to be in the business of medicines, and he once, jokingly, said to me that the art of medicine is just carefully poisoning yourself to induce certain effects.
AUTH: In a more serious form: The only real difference between a medicine and a poison is dosage. Where I come from, the most common painkiller, which is available for next-to-nothing to basically everyone, can still kill someone if they consume like four packets of it. A ridiculous dose, but someone will have done it.
AUTH: I'm guessing that those orders probably come from someone who's either seen it happen or knows somebody who has.

Auth shrugs.

---

As for a battle action... Auth moves to I16 and casts Curaga on I12.

Battle: Chemical Laboratory

Irongutta stamped his foot, clearly a bit upset that his targets were already dead when he got there.

"Oi, no fair! Leave some o' the slaughter fer us ya thievin gits!" Irongutta complained, making his point by waving Magnolia around a bit.

Whipping around, he stomped off in the other direction to R13, gaining the full benefits of Unstoppable Force! At full speed, he used his momentum to cleave Mitosystem2.

<ROUND 256>

Pionobot and Maple go off on a journey to find Cypress! Their journeys take them to the western wing of the southern bit of the Sky Labs (this is confusing). They pass the trio of Salix, Willow, and Clausa, arriving at the outside of the Aviation Labs. Maple peeks through the window, taking caution to make sure she’s not seen. She turns back to Pionobot in a second.

MAPLE: Ah! He’s in here!
MAPLE: It looks like he’s having a meeting or something?
MAPLE: Weird place to have a meeting, though. It kinda looks like a gymnasium of sorts.
MAPLE: It looks like fun!

MAPLE: So… think he’d mind if we barged in? I can't hear what he's talking about.
MAPLE: I mean, he probably wouldn’t, but those people with him might be annoyed.
MAPLE: I’ve never seen soldiers like the ones that are with him.
MAPLE: They look… shiny! Are they like… the royal guard?
MAPLE: I don’t know why else they’d be wearing gold n’ junk.
MAPLE: ...I want a golden armor trim! It’d be incredibly cool!

Elsewhere, back at the House, Echoss decides that in order to have a proper lunch, they should make something. Chloe nods, giving him a smile.

CHLOE: Great idea! It’d be fun to make something ourselves!
CHLOE: I-I mean… I’m not the best at cooking myself, but the two of us working together can probably pose as one moderately competent chef, right?

CHLOE: So… what should we make?
CHLOE: I’m thinking burritos!~
CHLOE: Although, we need to think about the others, too!
CHLOE: Besides, we had that for lunch yesterday.
CHLOE: Like… Marron doesn’t like meat, right? Maybe we should make something that caters to everyone.
CHLOE: Mac n’ cheese? Some sort of pasta? A… salad?
CHLOE: ...Don’t say salad, please.

salad

---

Crya and Taeda finish up their tea time. Placing their teapots and teacups aside, they wrap things up. Taeda stands up from the table, and bows towards the goddess.

TAEDA: It was an honor, miss Crya!
TAEDA: When we meet again, it’d be fun to discuss magic. Maybe I could learn a few things from you…?
TAEDA: Or maybe we could meet again when someone hosts that “magic club” thing again.
TAEDA: See you later, miss Crya! May Helix be with you!

...Taeda probably fails to comprehend how weird her parting statement might be to an actual goddess. She bows once more out of courtesy, collects the teacups and the two teapots, and gently places them into the inventory.

---

Venia chats with a variety of people. First with Nia, she explains how the Thymefield would likely make Acacia immune to a sneak attack. Or at least, far harder to knock out. Nia frowns. There goes her plans of becoming a professional fighter.

NIA: Aw. Stupid plot, always getting in the way of my fun...
NIA: But I guess sneaking up on her would be risky, anyway. Plus, maybe she has buddies?

NIA: I guess Electrophorus is our best plan, then.
NIA: Poor electric snek. He's gonna get so freakin' mulched by Acacia, that we won't even be able to identify his body.
NIA: ...Or uh, her body?
NIA: Does it have a gender? The snake, I mean. I know Acacia's gender.

Nia is entirely unsure as to exactly what Electrophorus is. It's made up of multiple segments, each of which is its own creature. Are all of those segments the same gender? And if not, what gender is Electrophorus exactly? Can they even be given a gender? Smoke begins to spew from Nia's ears. This is a far more complex situation than whatever Mari is.

Elsewhere, Venia sits down by Chi's side. She does her best to sympathize with her. Chi's had to deal with a whole lot of stuff, from dictators to psycho poison women. Venia's had to deal with some pretty insane stress, too. But despite all of this, she's been able to save and help so many. And, since Chi is a doctor, more people are probably alive instead of dead. She frowns, and shakes her head.

CHI: I-If only that w-were true for me...
CHI: W-What I've done has caused untold p-pain for the Chairian people.
CHI: I-I've... I-I've turned m-my own people against o-one another.
CHI: I'm hardly a doctor any more, am I?
CHI: I've caused so many to die.
CHI: Even if Locaa survives the Sphere... I-I don't think I could ever make up for what I've done...

CHI: Um...
CHI: Y-You probably d-don't know what I'm t-talking about...
CHI: I-It's... complicated, a-and I d-don't...
CHI: I d-don't know what's r-right anymore...

Chi's breathing is slow. She barely looks at Venia, her eyes only fixated on the concrete roads below. Soon, she flops over to the side, curled up in a ball, wrapped up in a blanket. The saddest sushi roll.

Just a few paces north, Regalus twitches as he considered Omorika's question. He is Emperor Regalus Hemmors, and he absolutely must be referred to as "your majesty". Venia is a duchess, and he is here to protect Maria. Omorika tilts her head. Something's not adding up.

OMORIKA: Pardon me, Regalu- erm, your majesty.
OMORIKA: If you wished to ensure your daughter's safety, why would you send her to a planet such as this?
OMORIKA: It seems you're aware of the situation on Sussui to some degree, and while I am unsure as to what you mean by "time travel to save Sussui", surely it should've been obvious that this was far from the best place to send Maria.
OMORIKA: She has been threatened many times by various hostiles, from agents of the Chaos Butterfly to the rampant hordes of Iti.
OMORIKA: Surely if you had to send Maria off somewhere, you could've hired a nanny?

OMORIKA: ...Unless you had a specific reason to send her here, of course.
OMORIKA: I am not doubting your wisdom, your majesty. I am simply curious as to why you would send her here.

Omorika's skepticism grows at a steady pace. Regalus lookin' kinda sus. At least Maria and Maple are having a good time. Marron sows the metal containers onto the scarf at the requested locations. She also helps spread the glitter around in an even fashion, using a... butterknife. There's probably a better tool for that, but I like the mental image. Marron gives the scarf a lookover. It's really quite the pretty piece.

MARRON: Hey, Maria? I think we're done.
MARRON: Unless there's something else you want on it. I'm all ears.

Finally, back at the house, Rebecca stands a fair distance from Chloe, telling the blonde her name. She nods as she gives her a smile, not quite noticing how nervous Rebecca is to merely stand near her.

CHLOE: Rebecca, huh? It's nice to meet you!
CHLOE: And... you're Maria's sister? Ah! I had no idea!
CHLOE: She's doing fine, don't you worry!
CHLOE: She's the cutest little thing, and we're all doing our best to protect her.

CHLOE: There's also this big fluffy thing named a Spiralfloof, and she's made friends with it!
CHLOE: We call him Cushion. Maria would be glad to show you him!
CHLOE: ...Wonder where he is right now, anyway?
CHLOE: Probably sunbathing on the roof, if I had to guess...

If Chloe knew Maria was at the Sky Labs at this moment in time, she'd probably be freaking the hell out. And probably so would Rebecca, if she knew what the Sky Labs were.

---

Hannah explores the Medical Wing. Or at least, tries to find a way into the Medical Wing. Surely enough, there's a vent on the northern side of the hallway. She scrambles up into the vent, and takes a look to the right. While yes, the ventilation seems to extend on that way, it's abruptly blocked off by a durable looking metal plate. Perhaps it's Gaiameld? It's a different type of metal from the rest of the ventilation, so odds are this is a new addition. It's also been wielded to the innards of the ventilation, too. What to do about this?

Down in the House, Adria explains to Taeda that yes- she was an engineer of sorts. She specialized in robotics and engineering. Apparently, a lot of her kind do. Taeda raises her hand.

TAEDA: Of your kind?
TAEDA: Do lots of humans do this sort of thing?
TAEDA: ...Are you a human? You look like Chloe and the others, at least to me.

After Adria sprays down everything, she notes that they'll need replacements. She also notes that she really shouldn't borrow the washing machine- at least not until she improves it!

TAEDA: Huh? You're saying that you could make this even better?
TAEDA: Wow! And I thought it was already amazing!

Adria then notes that they might want to go and return to the chapel. Taeda bobs her head up and down.

TAEDA: We probably should.
TAEDA: Auth and Nana might be mad if they found out we left out positions there...
TAEDA: H-Hopefully they understand we had to deal with an emergency!
TAEDA: We can fix up the floorboards when we get back. I don't think Chloe will be using her room for a few more hours, anyway.
TAEDA: Let's go!

The two of them begin back towards the chapel. Along the way, Taeda fashions herself a walking stick from a fragment of wooden debris, morphing a little helix shell at the tip of the handle. The two arrive in a timely fashion, and notice that the door's ajar. A green blush crosses Taeda's face.

TAEDA: U-Um... I think they made it here before us!
TAEDA: W-What do we do? H-How will we explain our sins?
TAEDA: Hm...

Taeda's inner gears begin to turn. Perhaps Adria could help her out, or help her calm down? Meanwhile, out on the not-so-open not-seas, Boshi maneuvers his vessel to try and corner the shark in shallow waters. It's tricky to keep up with the shark, but thanks to its injuries, it's very possible. Then, preparing one more harpoon (using 1 Durasteel), he loads it into the harpoon gun, and fires! There's a meaty sound as the Woodreaver lets out a final groan. It flips over and dies, its carcass floating upon the surface. Boshi hauls it aboard. +1 Woodreaver! This'll probably taste amazing... or be a good source of materials. Hell, why not both?

Finally, Hannah pokes her Biowitch's Dress. The powers of BALANCE™ allow her to consume no materials when modifying the item, causing it to not be busted. Balance has been restored to the universe. Or at least, that's what'd I say if Project Thymium wasn't fundamentally imbalanced. Whoops.

---

The Reflector opens up entry 4 on the computer. It's a very simple, plain text file. Six words.

The password is your true name.

...That cannot be a very good password. The game also loads the desktop display again, just so you don't need to go back a page to look at it.

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

>Please input a number:

Oh, they also +1 their SPC. While this effect won't affect them in their current battle, it's nice to have, right?

---

Auth continues about his day. At the chapel, Auth agrees to Nana's plan of visiting her howntown. She beams happily.

NANA: Great! It's a date, then!
NANA: O-Or, is a d-date the proper term? I-I don't know...
NANA: Maybe w-we should make sure the place is still standing b-before we have a d-date there. Hehe.

When they arrive at the church, Auth is slightly bothered to see that the girls have left the church to fend for itself. But for now, all they need to do is plant the Godblossom. Auth pulls the Godblossom from the inventory, still attached to its helixian planter. Nana stares at the helix statue.

NANA: U-Um...
NANA: H-How are we going t-to get the flower out of the statue?
NANA: To transfer the plant, I-I'll need to try a-and not damage the roots... a-and it'll be hard to do that with the statue in the way.
NANA: Hopefully Lord Helix understands w-what must be done t-to preserve the flower...

It seems that Lord Helix must die. Or uh, the statue of him must die, anyway. Or perhaps you can find a smart way to not harm the statue? Maybe Taeda would appreciate the statue if you don't destroy it.

Elsewhere, Auth asks Chi where he might find Serenea petals... only for him to suddenly remember that there's roughly 27 Serenea flowers in the inventory. He recalls that Nana gave him the seeds earlier, and they were grown into beautiful flowers. Nana also occasionally drinks tea made with the petals as well. He then shares a story with Chi about how his father said that medicine is really just carefully poisoning yourself. She giggles.

CHI: I'd like to think we're more careful than that... but you're not really wrong!
CHI: Everything is lethal if not taken in moderation. This even applies to non-medical products, like... water.
CHI: Of course, I'd think most people don't consume multiple gallons of water in a single day!

In a distant subreddit, the Hydro Homies rustle uncomfortably.

---

<CHEMICAL LABORATORY, ROUND 4>
The Mitosystems have almost been cleaned up, but now you need to deal with a few reinforcements! Also, there's a fair chance the Phosphites will be leaving next round, so perhaps it'd be worth focusing them down? But then the Mitocysts might get out of control once again. Also, Chloe got decked. She'll need a medic, and maybe some comforting.

Destiny moves to J16 and uses Heat Death on L4.
By my command, you beasts shall know the absolute limits of reality!

CLNSR moves back to J14. The Divine Watcher floats to K10.

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

Crya stumbles apon Chi all sad and burrito'd up.
Oh, gee, you don't look so hot. Lemme see what I can do...

Crya digs through the inventory a bit before finding out they have Ice Cream.
Oh! I'll give you this. It's called Ice Cream, if you didn't know yet. It's a sweet treat we humans like.

Crya hands the bowl of Ice Cream over to Chi.
...uh, any other things you like to eat? I'm pretty good at cold sweet treats, so I could probably whip up something of that kind if you wanted!

Remiel moves to L13 and Abductions Phosphite7 to M12.

Battle: Chemical Labs

There's a plan. Anyone in the plan has priority to move first, and move in this order, though I don't include every detail of the move so see their actual posts, please.



Venia bonus-action applies Ensnared4 to the two Phosphites once Phosphite7 is dragged to M12, then waits for Auth to complete his action. When that happens, she starts her action and moves to N14, point-blanks Phosphite1 with Material Transfer and sends all the HP to Brut, and then retreats to L14-this use of a damaging action gains her a stack of Heart. She then pings Phosphite1 with Hat and then burns as many stacks of Heart as necessary-more likely than not all 7 that she currently has-to down Phosphite1.

---

Chi

"Well, not telling me what's up makes it kinda hard..." Venia says.

As Chi flops to the floor, Venia picks her up, bundle at all, barring resistance. "Not here. I think our house would be better for this... Lunch, you need food."

Venia goes through to the basement, up the stairs, and casually places Chi on the dining room table. "Sorry, I'm busy as usual, I'll be having lunch on the run," Venia says, inevitably posited with the question of whether or not she's eating. "She's had a bad day."

---

Mariaaaaaaaa

"A spur, of course," Regalus says. "Believe me-I'm aware of the myriad apparent risks. I'm also aware that Venia was also aware of the risks, and clearly didn't care enough to avert coming here directly, so, clearly, those risks were totally imagined and it it safe to bring her anywhere! So I decided to acquiesce to my daughter's demands to see Venia again by sending her to Sussui!"

"Truth be told with you-I would find it uncertain that Venia would do anything short of rush into a fight to satiate her depression-induced deathwish without some sort of leash. Maria is the leash. People do care for Venia, but Venia only believed Maria and their relationship is very close. Venia would do anything for Maria, and knowing her like I do, I truly mean anything. So, naturally, I just had to remind her what she was fighting for. And given her track record when she's got her priorities in order, why, I was certain of her safety the minute she arrived!"

"...But now that is no longer necessary," Regalus adds. "I see very little reason to continue to-"

"Daddy! I made a pretty!" Maria says, holding up the scarf. "I made a birthday present for a friend!"

"Oh, how wonderful!" Regalus says. "Isn't that wonderful? Isn't she such a wonderful little princess?"

---

Other things I shouldn't be doing and yet I set myself up for doing them anyways why me why

"Ack, uh, I already had breakfast, so, uh..."

She just slides out of the way of Echoss and Chloe and keeps a distance that is more than respectable, moving away like she's in a room full of barbwire.

BATTLES: CHEMICAL LABORATORY

The Reflector flies to C14 and drops a very point-blank Suffocating Hatred (taunt) on B16 to make sure the Mitocyst is preoccupied.

The Mirror Reflector flies to D11 and does the same at C13.

---

ZONE 5

The Reflector attempts to check if item 3's password protection is attempt-limited. If it's not, or if they have at least a few attempts to spare, they enter "Cypress," just to get the cheeky answer out of the way.

The Chemical War
The Plan is followed.

Daskter moves after Venia applies Ensnared to the Phosphites:

The rockeeter moves to (K17)
They move back to (K16) then they unleash another Singularity on (M12). (Manafuel 2)
They proceed to eat another of their biscuit, and give the Rocketeer another Pep Talk

The Rocketeer reacts after Venia uses Material Transfer.

If any Phosphites survives, the Rocketeer blasts it. If they're still alive, activate Overlock and blast them again. (Vet 3 buff+Pep Talk+Command)

If not, The Rocketeer prepares an Overlock. They unleash a multishot at the Pillager then finish with a basic attack on the Pillager. (Vet 3 Buff+Pep Talk) (Secondary attacks are Lamia then destroyer1/2 if the Pillager dies early in the multishot somehow)

Hannah - Skylabs

Hannah expected some sort of roadblock in the vent, but nothing of this caliber. She wonders if she should either try to go through or around the plate blocking her path. She decides to try and go around first, melting through the non-plated top part of the vent and climbing through. Perhaps she could get a better look at the situation.

...Wait, why is Dorothy here?

Sensing that someone was less than okay at this moment in time, Dorothy wanders through the portal to the Skylabs. How she got there without attracting attention is anyone's guess, but she's here now. She peers out over the side of the airship to see Venia and some other Chairian she doesn't know the name of chatting, and a Mirror Image of Hannah silently listening in on them while out of their view. And it was that Chairian that she sensed wasn't doing so well; curled up in a blanket, laying on her side, and just looking sad.

With her target acquired, Dorothy makes her move. She hops down from the airship, and quietly slips into the eastern tower, to a spot where Chi was behind a wall in relation to her. She makes sure nothing else was around (save for the splinter spitters), takes a deep breath, and starts smugdancing. Notably, it's a fair bit slower and more tranquil than the standard fare; slower in relation to previous acts for sure.

Slowly, but perhaps not unexpectedly, Dorothy projects a weak, slowly expanding aura of calmness around her, snaking around the wall and reaching Chi (and probably Venia as well). It's translucent enough to not immediately grab anyone's attention, but a very faint rainbow glow emits from the aura, and an incredibly soft, quiet version of Peace and Tranquility could be heard from Dorothy's location.

After a while in the aura, those within would likely feel slightly less tense and stressed. Not enough to completely wash it all away, but perhaps enough to think more clearly. Dorothy keeps it going for as long as needed, paying attention to nothing except the dancing.

...

Well, until she feels a poke on her shoulder from behind, breaking her focus pretty badly as she stumbles forward. The voice behind her speaks as she whirls around. It's Hannah. Or at least, a Mirror Image of her. "Hey, er, Dorothy? What're you doing?"

"N-N-Nothing! Nothing a-at all," she responds, still startled and shaken. "J-just... practicing!"
"...Out here?"
"Y-yeah, it's w-windy and quiet and... s-stuff! G...Great for practice! ...Y-yeah!"
Hannah rolls her eyes. "Alright, sure. Just letting you know that Chi and Ven moved."
Dorothy's eyes widen, taking a peek out at the other two's former location. Sure enough, they were both gone, away from the Skylabs as a whole. She seemed... shocked at this revelation. "...O-oh..."
"Yyyyeah."

"...So what was that about, anyway," Hannah asks. Dorothy nervously looks around, seeming very unhappy with this outcome, anxious frown and all. "...I j-just wanted to help..."
Hannah nods, resting a hand on Dorothy's shoulder, as if to comfort her. "Yeah, I get it. A bit more than you think."
"B-but I don't get it. I w-wasn't doing anything wrong!"
"...R-right?"
Hannah ponders for a moment. "Well... at least I don't think so. I don't get it either. But, it kinda seems like some of the stuff we do is kinda... taboo, or something. At least to some people."
Dorothy stares blankly at the spot. "...I-I still don't get it."
"..."

Hannah pulls her friend a little closer. "...You tried. That's all that matters, really."
"...I think you should ask someone about it. Unlike me you've got a pretty clean record."
Dorothy nods, though it seemed kinda hollow and confused. "Y-yeah..."
"I-I wanna sit for a w-while."
"That's fair. I... think I'll join you."

The two exit the tower, and sit down on the edge of the island near it. The two seem content with being near one another. I suppose that's one of Hannah's fears gone and out the window.

---

Boatshi

"(A fine catch. Tonight we dine like royalty.)"

...Ironic that there's actual royalty back at the house. Not that he'd know right now.

Boshi's pretty much done at the lake, so he ails over to the Silverwood near the lake and starts cutting more of it down, continuing until it's all gone. Once finished, he sails off back to port, making a mental note about where the fishing hut was, in case something were to happen tonight.

That is some incredible foresight on his part.

Once docked back at the Peaceful Riverbank, Boshi shoves all three of the boats into the inventory. Yes, all of them. Even the shoddy raft from three days ago. Even the boat he just patched up yesterday. Maybe someone would find a use for them.

Now, the big question: does he return home to prep the shark for eating or does he just casually fish a bit more? Hm...

---

House area - Sophia

Bored of searching the library for books to read (she did find a couple books on sewing and stuff, but nothing that really caught her eye, and also she was hungry), Sophia decides to just exit the library, waving goodbye to the three Scarlets in the library as she heads out.

While it takes a while to return home, the trip was pretty ordinary. When she returns, she catches a new person in the window as she walks to the front door. Large green goat horns... pretty strange, but she's seen weirder. She heads inside.

And boom, another new person, just next to the stairs, with similar-looking green horns. Seems like Chloe and Echoss were around there too. She excitedly waves to the trio, and skips over to them. She certainly seems a lot more energetic than yesterday. "Hihi!"

She takes a look at the newcomer, Rebecca, with interest. "Wh-" Unfortunately, Rebecca skedaddled before she could say much more. "...Aw."

Adria

As they walk, Adria ponders on what Taeda brought up regarding her appearance. "Now that you mention it... we do look very similar to humans, yes. And I'm not entirely certain whether we are the same or completely different species..."

"Despite our time-based magitech and how far it has progressed over the years, for whatever reason it has consistently been impossible to go back to our origin point to even look at how it was back then. E-every time we try we just see... static? Yes, static, that's the word."

"It's really bizarre, to be honest. No written records are known of, either. We'd need to take DNA samples to see if we're at all similar to humans; whether we may have evolved from them somehow; and... t-that might prove difficult, for moral and ethical reasons..."

She shakes her head. "Oh, but look at me, rambling on. Let's keep going."

As they reach the chapel door and see it ajar, Adria looks at where she placed her note. From the looks of things it wasn't even read. She sighs. "They missed my note, didn't they... maybe I shouldn't have put it so out of the way. Hmph..."

She turns back to Taeda, noting her anxiety. She gives her a warm smile. "No worries, dear. I can handle it."

Adria clears her throat, and steps in. "Hellooooo!~ We're baaack!"

Once she's fully in the door. She also immediately notes the inevitable reaction of annoyance, frustration, both, or perhaps neither. "Our apologies for leaving this place unattended for a bit. We heard an explosion back at the house, and we all went to investigate in case it was an emergency. It turns out it was from a person named Echoss, who I'm reasonably certain you have already previously met. Me and Taeda came back after cleaning up some soot and burn marks in Chloe's room, but Chloe stayed behind with Echoss to look after him for a bit. Oh, and I think also have some lunch."

"...W-we really should have brought lunch on the way back, huh?"

She sighs, suddenly craving lunch. Boo. "A-anyway, what's next?"

Not!Echoss sneaks over to the chair trio, completely invisible thanks to his rank 100 sneak skill. He pickpockets Cypress, stealing the profferred keycard, before vanishing into the ether of the inventory where he deposits it.
Not wanting to leave Salix empty-handed, Not!Echoss places an "IOU" into Salix's right hand equip slot as he disappears more fully.


Maple + Pionobot
Pionobot takes a look through the window after Maple.
"Hm, the soldiers in there look they're legion. I don't think Cypress is working with us openly, given how much most of the chairian groups seem to hate our guts.
Just sorta walking in might be bad for him.
Situation: possibly tenuous. My analysis is that our best option is to wait and see.
...maybe we could chat with those other three folks back out in the hallway? They seem like they're familiar with us already."

Then Maple makes her comment about golden armor trim. Piono's eyes suddenly brighten up.
"Oh! I could probably do that! If we've got gold in the inventory anyway.
And uh... as long as the thymefield doesn't take issue with me doing stuff again."



Chloe + Echoss, with guest appearance by Sophia
Echoss is about to say something, still uncertain about Rebecca, but she leaves abruptly, so he turns to Sophie instead.
"Hello there Miss Sophia, you seem to be doing much better today."


Chloe + Echoss, but a little later
"Well, any good picnic has options, mhm?
Burritos are a good option, pasta as well.
Maybe we could also make sandwiches too? It's easy to make a lot of those in different kinds.
From there we'd just need drinks."


Chemical Lab
Meanwhile, Pionobot waits for Daskter to complete his action, then moves to O14 and fires an Aerobeam Northwest, turning North on M12 and turning Northwest on M6.