Stats

Adria +2s her MP; she really needs it. She also changes her Ace spellslot into Symbiote, which synergizes extremely well with her kit. She finally replaces Spirit Blade with Exertion.

---

Post-Battle - Above The Forests/Central Labs

Adria also lands at the Central Labs, and is immediately rattled by the sound of gunfire in Chairian vs. Chairian combat.

ADRIA: W... what...
ADRIA: I-I didn't know there was a full-on war happening right now!
ADRIA: I-I only really expected monsters to be the issue, n-not warring factions!

She goes a bit pale.

ADRIA: ...I-I never was good with war...
ADRIA: I-it's fortunate that we never had to experience it back home but...
ADRIA: ...I-I don't get it... I n-never got it... and I'm never gonna get it.
ADRIA: W-why fight when i-it's so much easier and n-nicer to work together...?

At least she's not totally clueless on war. Still, it certainly doesn't do any favors for her mood...

ADRIA: ...I-I'm gonna look around.

She does so, eventually finding herself at the west entrance of Floor 3. ...Well, I say that, but it's kinda blown apart. The floor below her also seems like it'd fall apart at any minute - a method of entering the west entryway on Floor 2?

That being said, she waits before making any moves...

---

Picnic/Magic Club

Adria

Adria applauds all of the showcases. She's very reserved in her clapping, though still enthusiastic. She tilts her head curiously at Crystal's crystal demonstration and Echoss's butterfly demonstration. Though not much past that, content with only watching everything that's going on.

Dorothy

Dorothy, on the other hand, is very interested in both. But first, she has a couple more things to explain to Echoss (and anyone else interested) that she forgot to.



With Part 2 done, Dorothy moves on to crystals. While the concept is actually somewhat familiar to her, the actual creation of them for magical use was not.

She takes a small chunk of quartz herself, and starts trying to channel her magic through it to hopefully some effect. As it turns out, yes - it does have an effect. A sudden and powerful effect. That effect being that it immediately sucks out all the air from the surrounding meter around her, and store it on the outsides of the crystal, creating a vacuum for a short period of time. New air quickly rushes in to fill the gap, creating a shockwave in a loud pop.

Naturally, Dorothy drops the crystal the moment this happens. Fortunately, she's alright as she stumbles back. 100% Air Resist is one hell of a drug. She picks up the crystal again, and tries casting her own magic, using it as a battery. She aims a bubble straight upward, charging it up using the crystal.

Perhaps to be expected from the violent reaction the crystal had, the resultant cast is far bigger and more like a bubble of hurricane force winds rather than a healing bubble, which is very much the opposite effect of what she wants it to do.

When it pops, it pops quite loudly. Dorothy flinches from the loud noise.

DOROTHY: ...A-and that is why I n-never use amplifiers...

...She shakes her head to help regain her bearings.

Echoss's butterflies, however, she could see herself getting used to. She watches Woodthorne successfully pull it off, and tries it herself after receiving a butterfly.

She looks at it. Tilts it. Tries feeling the push and pull of the air as she does so. She's a bit slow on the uptake, surprisingly enough. However, eventually after not knowing what to do, she wonders if she could try and take magic from it, like that crystal battery that ended up being waaay too powerful. She uses the butterfly's motions as the sole source for gathering energy.

Suddenly, the whole thing starts to make sense, in much the same way as was described in-post. And once it starts to make sense, she immediately finds the "string" by nature of her magic. She tugs on the string mentally, and the butterfly pops. The motions required for production are... unusually simple, and don't require a lot of energy. She builds up energy in a singular finger, and casts it in a sort of "S" shape.

The result was the formation of a turquoise spirit, similar to those of the spectral Subcon Dwellers of Subcon Forest. Dorothy blinks a couple times, disoriented and distracted by the perspective change, breaking her focus and destroying the spirit.

...Dorothy clutches her forehead afterwards. It seems like that last spell gave her a minor headache. Though, odds are, it's only from that spell being a first time thing for her. Though, it's certainly an odd case...

DOROTHY: Owww... my head...

Adria hands Dorothy some water. She drinks from the cup slowly.

DOROTHY: ...U-um... I-I'll... need to try later... s-sorry...

Hannah

Hannah was still on the sidelines, away from as many people as possible. She doesn't need social interaction right now.
Instead, she watches all the magical systems being employed by her allies, and commits them to memory for later.

...She looks around for a moment, before setting her sights back on the current happenings.

Sophia

SOPHIA: Yeah, it has!
SOPHIA: Anyway, I'mma do some 'splorin'.
SOPHIA: Because 'splorin's fun!

And with that, she walks west to where the birb once was, and takes a look at the shiny.

---

Chaos Why

Adria raises an eyebrow as she tilts her head.

ADRIA: ...Paid off to do it? Who in their right mind would...

...She falls silent for a moment. She looks at the van. Then at Marron. Then back at the van. Then at the passengers. She's beginning to piece something together, from all the quizzical stares she's giving each of them. Then, her eyes widen as she comes to a conclusion.

ADRIA: ...
ADRIA: ...Marron, what does this "Venia" look like, exactly? And perhaps, do you know where she might be currently?
ADRIA: I'd like to have a little chat with her.

---

Everground

Hannah blinks as she watches a DUCK fix a robot.

This would be weird if it weren't for the fact that she was talking to the living peckpost that was Not!Echoss just a few turns ago.

...No matter. There's better things to worry about.

From the ledge of her current mushroom platform, Hannah does a pre-combat scan of the Tamaugachi, just in case more can be gotten from it.

---

...Feynsik?

...Looks like our favorite(?) dragon-ish dude is back, still stylish in that tuxedo as ever. He's back at the Whispering Library. He meanders through the front entrance, not really in any rush. He does not see Regalus. Not that it matters, as it seems he's simply looking for something to read to pass the time. Starting, of course, with the front bookshelf.

FEYNSIK: Hm...

He picks up a Chairian history book and starts flicking through it casually.

...Then, he gets a whiff up his nose. The whiff of the recently deceased.

He shuts the book rather abruptly, and fastwalks to the Concessions, where he sees two very fresh hollowed out corpses, and a band of plushies to go with them.

Face unchanging, he crouches down to get a better look at them.

FEYNSIK: Tsk, one step too late...

Once thoroughly examined, he notices the rubble coming from the east. He gets up, and wordlessly walks to where the hole is on the ceiling on the lower floor. He follows the trail up before coming to the broken bridge. Being the agile sort, Feynsik leaps across the crystals one after another before reaching the other side to get a different, perhaps better perspective on the damages done

STATISTICS

+1 STR, then redistribute all AGI to STR. Time to try this style of build out.
As Anomalous becomes Anomalous+, exclude Cripplingly Average, Liberating, Chaotic, Compulsive, and Mercantile. (This was in my last post but I think it got missed. Also I changed it a little when I had this new idea.)

---

MAGIC CLUB

"The Scion" smiles, although her eyes look rather tired.

"THE SCION": No, really, it's okay. Trust me!
"THE SCION": I know it doesn't seem worth it to you here in the Thymefield, but, um...
"THE SCION": Well, I don't want to brag, but I'm kind of like a... a... a walking catastrophe, I guess I'd say!
"THE SCION": That probably sounds overdramatic, so, um. Just pretend I didn't say that. But you get the point, right?
"THE SCION": I wouldn't be very useful without this power, so... it's okay.

---

ZONE 5.5

"The Scion" sneaks over to the unattended cart and loots it for the alloy it contains. She then scrambles back to the rest of the group like a feral animal. She steps over to Cypress and Chi.

"THE SCION": So, umm... do you think you can convince those rebels we're on their side?
"THE SCION": If not, we're... probably better off teaming up with those Legionaries.
"THE SCION": I don't think any of them are Praetorians, so they're probably reasonable, right?

---

ZONE 5.0

Back in the southern Sky Labs, the Reflector (or one of their Mirror Images? who can say at this point) approaches the Drone Hangar. Seeing the guards there, they back off and go retrieve Maxim.

THE REFLECTOR: hello maxim darling!
THE REFLECTOR: how do you feel about subduing containing some chairian soldiers?

Destiny -2s DEF, -1s MMP, -1s SKI, and invests in Opening Act.

---------

That's easy peasy! Just watch, no carrots or coal needed!

Crya briefly assumes a straight position before slowly raising her arms, hands up, beginning to conjure a snow chibi. Its features begin to take form, gaining limbs, then hair, then eyes, then hands. Finally, as it is complete, about half her height, it begins to do a little dance. After finishing the dance, Crya begins to strain, as the chibi grows taller and more slender. After it grows to normal human size, it begins to grow larger and larger, up to the size of a larger Chairian. Suddenly, Crya lets out a gasp, and it immediately shrinks back to a chibi.

G-gah! Usually making snow giants is something I can do in an instant, but it looks like that's not really possible with the effects of the Thymefield.
But anyways, look, it's a little me made out of snow!

The chibi Crya raises its arms up with cheer.

Skillpoints
Calibri: +2 KP in HP
Verdana: -1 KP in DEF (a horrified gasp is emitted from reality itself), Purify -> Cure, gain Loaded Spellbook perk

---

Skylabs - Picnic and Magic Club

The portal-shaped structure that is Calibri continues staring at his surroundings. There's a flicker from the portal as some kind of birdy emerges from within, hopping around for a moment...

"Uh, birdy... not a good idea."

The birdy turns and glances back at Calibri for a moment, then squawks in alarm as the thymefield promptly takes effect on it. The poor thing seems much slower as it dashes back inside to the safety of the Calscape.

Seems anything from in there is gonna need some touching up before it can exist properly, at least when the thymefield is still a factor.

---

The Skies Above Locaa

Verdana is flying. A long plasma trail marks his passage through the air. He doesn't really need to do that given his gravity manipulation powers, but hey, it's cool, so who cares. However, en route to go find something to do, he abruptly receives a phonecall, answering it promptly. It must be important, after all.

"Hello?"
"Hey. need to talk with you about something. It can't really wait, either."
"..."

A pause.

VERDANA: Alright, go on.
CALIBRI: ...Huh. Could've sworn the dialogue was different before...
CALIBRI: Oh well, there's other pressing concerns. Pretty important ones.
CALIBRI: Before I start speaking, there isn't anyone around who'd be bad to reveal sensitive info to, right?
VERDANA: I am literally flying through the air at high altitude. There's no way anyone's around, so fire away, as they say.
VERDANA: ...Who is they, anyway? I hear a lot of quotes from them, but it's hard to pin them down.
CALIBRI: It's a generalization.
CALIBRI: Anyway. We've got a situation at the library. Two people dead, one traumatized.
CALIBRI: All of them, Rebel Scarlets. One of the dead was named Redbud.
CALIBRI: If you want to investigate, head to the Concessions area and look for clues.
VERDANA: ...Alright. I'm on my way.

Verdana visibly frowns, which is a bit pointless since nobody's there to see it, then he turns his flight trajectory towards the library. He soon touches down nearby, wandering inside with his weapon at the ready...

Zone 2: The Whispering Library

Verdana pointedly ignores the loading screen text, walking into the library. He passes through the entryway without comment, takes a right at Reception, pushes through the Ruined Hall and Upstairs Detour, wanders along the Grand Hall Overlook, and gazes down at the Concessions area. Soon, he finds the dead bodies. He frowns again, a dark gaze flickering through his eyes...

Rather literal, as it turns out, since a black smog soon peels off from his body. It's hard to see, but the smog soon coalesces into a dark humanoid figure, roughly shaped like Verdana himself but far less... "real", so to speak. It's debatable whether or not anyone not named Verdana could even see this being.

VERDANA: ...What do you want?
BLACKLIGHT: I felt like commenting. You rarely let me do anything, surely I can have some right to the occasional comment?
VERDANA: There's a reason I rarely let you do anything. You're not part of me. You're not meant to be doing anything.
BLACKLIGHT: Now that's a little rude, isn't it? Heheh... Just like dear old quote-unquote dad.
VERDANA: ...

Verdana makes the sound of someone who is not happy with how things are going, wandering to the edge of the balcony and hopping down. He lands near the fallen bodies of Redbud and the other Scarlet with a thud, taking out a scanner to perform analysis on the way they died. At the same time, perhaps it'd be best to call in some backup...

He reaches for his phone again, manifesting it in his hand. First contact, better call in someone qualified. With a quick dial, he rings up the Sleuth, who would receive a call regardless of phone status somehow.

VERDANA: Hello. This is urgent.
VERDANA: We have a double murder case here in the library. Concessions room. Trace the signal if you have to.
VERDANA: The bodies are two Scarlets. One of them was named Redbud when she still lived. That... worries me.
VERDANA: Whatever we're dealing with here, it's dangerous enough to kill a named character without warning. Be on guard.

After that, he hangs up. Then, he decides to dial another number... And the shadowy entity near him scoffs.

BLACKLIGHT: Seriously? What's the Author going to do, write a eulogy?
VERDANA: As a matter of fact... First, attempt a resurrection. It might still be possible. Eulogy if that doesn't work.
BLACKLIGHT: I don't know, they look pretty perma-deceased to me. Look, their insides aren't just outside, they're GONE.
VERDANA: I know. But Auth managed to save Nana's life way back when. Maybe a miracle can happen here too.
BLACKLIGHT: Suit yourself. But we both know there's no miracles to be had here today.
VERDANA: I hope you have some way of helping other than snark and doubting.

A pause. The phone dials up the Author, who like the Sleuth would promptly receive the phonecall even if he doesn't have a phone. How that works is anyone's guess.

VERDANA: Hello. Auth.
VERDANA: I'd like it if you came to the library. We've got some recently dead people here.
VERDANA: Two rebel scarlets. One named Redbud. The other is unnamed.
VERDANA: If you're capable of pulling a miracle to save them... They'd appreciate it.
VERDANA: If not, you're probably the best fit for being a funeral director anyway, so...

Verdana trails off. He hands up. Then, he suddenly just SCREAMS, Friday Night Funkin' Phase 3 Whitty style. He has no idea why he had to do that, but really, it's a good way to let out frustration so what the hell else would he do? The shade of Blacklight claps sarcastically beside him. There's a bright flame burning in Verdana's gaze as the conversation continues.

BLACKLIGHT: Bravo. Good job alerting whoever killed them to the fact we're on their trail.
VERDANA: ...If I were feeling more normal, I'd protest against your snark again.
VERDANA: But to tell you the truth, Blacklight? I want them to know I'm coming.
VERDANA: I want to see the fear in their eyes as I track them down and kill them.
BLACKLIGHT: ...Huh. That's pretty merciless by your standards.
VERDANA: Mm... No. The most merciful thing I can do is spare the world from the fate of putting up with them any longer.
BLACKLIGHT: If that's how you see it. By the way, you might want to check for signs of life.
VERDANA: I... Huh?

The fire building in Verdana's eyes suddenly flickers out. Blacklight brought up a good point. These two corpses... They're only two. Maybe there's someone around. He takes some time to look around, then confidently makes a decision. With Blacklight's specter hovering by his side, Verdana strides through the grand hall, heads to the zone marked Exhibition, then concentrates...

VERDANA: There should be someone around here. I'm sure of it.
BLACKLIGHT: Blind confidence will only get you so far. How can you trust it's not the killer lying in wait?
VERDANA: I'm way tougher than a Scarlet! I'll be fine.

Blacklight makes a sound of pure disgust at Verdana's confidence, but still follows along as Verdana promptly floats into the air, touching down at Pop's Hideout. Naturally, he discovers the Scarlet hiding out in there.

Awkward.

Thankfully, Blacklight has the common decency to hide himself away for now, just hovering off the balcony and looking around in case something might be lurking in the shadows. Meanwhile, Verdana slowly approaches the still-living Scarlet, trying to not look like a threat.

VERDANA: Um... Hi? I'd ask if you're okay but that's... pretty obviously not the case.
VERDANA: I... feel like I should probably make sure it's safe around here first, huh.

He gently casts a Cure on the Scarlet to heal whatever unknown wounds she might have, also giving her a Divine Shield in the process. Then, he sits down nearby. His body seems to emit a strange warmth and kindness that should help ease the poor thing's nerves, and he's doing his best to offer her a friendly smile.

VERDANA: So... Can you tell me about what happened? It's okay if you don't want to, that must've been a rough time.
VERDANA: It's going to be okay now. I promise.

---

The House

You know what, might as well get this placeholder eliminated quickly.

EN has now got nothing to do. She decides to amble around for a bit, internally celebrating the success of pulling off a banana fraud heist, then wanders outside to go do things there. Once outside, well, there's a few people to talk to right now. Firstly, Rosie, since, y'know. Familiar.

"...Ehh... hmm."

Beat.

"Ey Rosie. Much been goin' on this past few... 'owe'er long it's been? Feels like it'd been a bit. Since we last chatted, ah've managed t' buy a banana off o' Chaos wit' monopoly money, an' tha's 'bout it."

Then, she takes a look around to see what else is happening. By my calculations, and by calculations I mean "going slightly back further into the thread", Rosalind is out here inspecting the vehicles, despite the map showing her as not there. Might as well speak up to her, right?

"Ey there, whoe'er y'are. Ah s'pose ya wanna ride one o' these... Pretty sure one o' those Mechonis thingies still 'as fuel in it, so as long as ya've got proper safety gear an' all, go ahead, ah s'pose."

After that, EN takes a bottle of pure ethanol out of... somewhere, then chugs it all in one go.

---

The Everground
And then there's S.E.D!

He's dead.

As the shell of a drone remains where it landed, napalm and nuclear waste slowly leaking out of random gaps in its body, there's movement from somewhere inside. A panel is pushed up from the top, then the panel slides away, something clambering out of the drone. But given how relatively small the tracked entity was, this pilot can't be any kind of human, not even a midget. So what is this being?


IT'S A DUCK.


The duck makes several irritated sounds, one wing slapping against the surface of the drone's hull, then he hops out entirely to take a look at the wreckage. Then, after a moment spent staring, he pecks at another part of the drone, revealing a toolbox that is swiftly removed and opened up.

Taking out a rather comically oversized wrench, the duck somehow holds it in one wing, the handle pivoting around roughly the midpoint of said wing. Ignoring how that is physically impossible to pull off, the duck gets to work, opening up different parts of S.E.D's wrecked body and revealing severe internal damage.

The nuclear waste appears to be coming from a reactor buried in the middle of the drone. Naturally, that's the first thing the duck works on fixing, giving another device a firm whack with the wrench, then opening that device and taking out some strange crystalline object. Upon replacing the object with a new one from the toolbox, the crystal promptly fluctuates inside its container, the nuclear waste around S.E.D being sucked up off the water's surface and into the device, then disappearing completely. It seems the crystal is being used to cheat away the considerable amount of waste that would otherwise have no place to go.

After that's sorted, next priority is the shielding generator. That thankfully is much simpler and safer to fix, just requiring some surface parts to be fitted back on. Not even a single replacement, yet the generator is soon up and running smoothly. Granted, the duck has to turn it off to keep working, but that's no issue. Not yet.

Next, all the weapons systems. A lot of them have been severely damaged by the ascension, though thankfully there was no nasty accident, if one counts "hazardous flammable materials leaking everywhere" as a perfectly fine thing. The duck is a rational being, and so does consider that bad, thus promptly chucks away some ruptured munitions which explode somewhere in the depths below. Sure, that's not good for the reserve supply, but it probably wouldn't be worth firing damaged missiles and the like. After some more minor adjustments to fit the weaponry back on and reload it, it's good as new and ready to go. Mercifully, the harpoon gun didn't need any adjustment, and the harpoons are safe enough to use.

Finally, the mobility, including treads and propeller. The duck gingerly peels the treads away, having to mend some nasty damages by discarding shattered tread plates and fit new ones on. The propeller blades have come off the worst of anything in this whole ordeal, which is bad since those can't be replaced easily. The duck resorts to some drastic measures to get those fixed, pulling out a roll of some kind of sticky tape and wrapping that over the propeller blades until they've been reattached as best as can be managed.

If one thinks about it, they may realize that the propeller blades were, quite literally, fixed with duck tape.

After all that, S.E.D is back in operational capacity. Sure, the armor is a bit dented here and there, there's still some parts that could do with a polish and a repair job, but right now there are more pressing concerns, such as the arrival of the Tamaugachi. The duck clambers onto S.E.D, then pauses for a moment, remembering something crucial. He turns to face Hannah, staring her down in as serious a manner as can be managed by a duck. Then, he speaks.

"Do not speak to anyone of what you have witnessed."

And with that, the duck is gone, back in S.E.D and ready to resume where he left off. As S.E.D recovers, it shakes its head as though shrugging off a nasty headache, then returns its attention back on what's about to happen. It aims upwards as though considering a return to the portal, but remembers something nasty happening...

As such, it turns downwards, noticing the Tamaugachi. There's an audible click as the drone prepares several missiles, but aside from that, nothing.

TLDR: S.E.D revives with the help of a trained duck's advanced mechanical knowhow.

The Skylabs: Magic Club

Woodthorne arrives at the picnic sometime before Echoss begins his demonstration, looking at what's going on before speaking up.
"Sorry for interrupting, but I hope you don't mind me joining. I'm not exactly too confident with magic, having only really started using it shortly before joining the group, but I'm definitely interested in learning more about it!"

Woodthorne then listens to Echoss as he begins his butterfly demonstration, and follows Echoss's instructions. Although he typically focuses on the earth itself (or Gaia in this case) to obtain the power for his magic, he figures that focusing on the butterfly would still work. After a few moments, he makes the subconscious realization that despite being a manifestation of magic, the butterfly itself seems to radiate magical energy, as if it was itself a source. His focus shifts to an attempt to draw upon its power. A magical "thread" appears and he pulls it, causing the butterfly to 'pop' as Piono described, and filling him with an understanding of how to use his method of magic to perform the desired effect.

Using Echoss's advice and his new knowledge, he then casts the spell. A very slight breeze heralds the materialization of a forest green thrush in Woodthorne's palm. The unexpected shift of perspective surprises him, and the bird disappears almost immediately.

"Woah! That is... disorienting."

Now prepared for the effects, Woodthorne manages to keep his concentration on the second attempt. The thrush looks around, cocking its head, before it suddenly leaps into the air and perches onto his shoulder.

The Central Labs

Woodthorne steps off the ship and into the terminal. Noticing the skirmish taking place down the hall, he frowns and moves closer to the room, preparing for trouble but not yet engaging.

==RESPEC==
Crystal swaps to his Modifier build!

Link here for easier swapping.:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1xSq...id=0&range=A965

That means, practically:

HP 10 MP 9 STR 15 AGI 8 INT 6 SKI 15 DEF 1 RES 5 SPC 14 MOV 0

Perks: Limiter Breaker, Alter Reality

Items: Mana Manipulator, Biometal Helmet (Slashing, Crushing, Electric, Water), Mk-2 Augmented Psiplate (Piercing), Operant Emblem, Astral Sigils (Light)

Spells: Sol, Toxin Coating (Aching, Ensnared, Weaken), Cherry Energy, Familiar

For starters: Yato takes a point out of HP, and a point out of RES, and puts all 4 points into STR, to hit 24 and up Watchful Eye by one tick.

Craft.inprogress.maybe.

Asha is unfortunately completely unaware of what marmalade is.

"Some kind of fungal jelly maybe? I think Auth made them around Christmas, so maybe he knows?"

She waves at Auth, trying to get his attention so he comes over.

"Hey Auth, you made this orange stuff, right? What is it, and does it taste good?"

Hearing Auth's assurance of "I wouldn't have brought it if it didn't taste good," she decides to smear some onto a sandwich and give it a try. I haven't had marmalade myself, let alone marmalade with supernatural ingredient, but Asha probably enjoys it!

~~

Nettle takes the long trek to the picnic, hearing there were a few other people heading there. She's surprised by the number of people, but undeterred- especially upon hearing people expositing on their magic.

NETTLE: I see you are all enjoying yourselves with your magic, so allow me to share my own.
NETTLE: You already know my skill in woodmancy, but I have other talents you don't know the details of.

She raises her hand and clenches it towards her. A low rumble reverberates through the ground as roots form into a body. It's not very realistic, but it will likely do for her purposes.

NETTLE: My magic uses the mana of those who are too weak to defend it from me.
NETTLE: As anyone who has fought with me can attest, this usually means those who are incapacitated, unconscious, injured, or simply weak in the first place.
NETTLE: As a fight continues, I store that mana such that my threshold for what constitutes as 'weak' grows, until it reaches a point where everyone is weak in comparison.
NETTLE: You might think I am boasting to make a point, but again: anyone who has seen me in battle knows this to be true.

With a wave of her hand, roots wrap around the "body" she made, pulling it shallowly underground. The hole made quickly seals over- but it notably leaves some gaps where air can pass through.

NETTLE: Using the mana of the dying might seem macabre, but the truth is that it is kinder than anything else.
NETTLE: Despite my reputation, I have never killed anyone.
NETTLE: The mana I take will never be enough to permanently affect the original owner, and by using some of that mana to remove them from the battlefield, they will be safe from further harm.
NETTLE: It's pragmatic. Removing potential liabilities allows us both to use our abilities to the fullest- without needing to worry that someone is caught in the crossfire.

She bows lightly, before rejoining the others at the picnic.

Auth nods to the things Nana says. All of them are... basically true. He doesn't usually live in London, but it is a place deeply familiar and deeply ingrained into his being... so it's somewhere he could easily call home. Auth isn't exactly sure how he wants to answer the question of what London is like, though...

AUTH: London... is complicated.
AUTH: I'm having difficulty putting into words what it's like, actually, especially because I'm not sure how much to sugar coat. Kidding, at least about the sugar coating bit.
AUTH: I mean, on the one hand, it's a place where murder is sport, people regularly set themselves ablaze attempting to learn a certain language, and creatures that inhabit dreams are constantly trying to take over reality.
AUTH: On the other hand, that whole "death" business is rather impermanent, it's where I've seen some of the greatest creativity and ingenuity sprout, and... there's something of a determination in the people. A powerful camaraderie among most, and there's opportunity for even the most broke of prisoners to become incredible, prominent people.
AUTH: As I said, complicated.

Auth thinks for a moment...

AUTH: As for personal stories? There's plenty of those.
AUTH: Not all of them are even in London itself - a friend of mine once, a Zee-captain, once asked for my help with an expedition she was planning in the Elder Continent. It was a right mess, but very good fun.
AUTH: We went out to scout some ruins for future expeditions, we'd heard that a kingdom out to the far south was overrun with a strange fungus and we had some hopes to do something about it. It was... an interesting experience trying to get there, all in all.
AUTH: Then there was that time I was obliged to help set up a Church in the far West of London, and I'm still unhappy with the Great Hellbound Railway for making me do that. Lazy bights...
AUTH: I'm mostly upset because it was very specifically a church, but they probably wouldn't have believed me if I told them why I didn't want to do it.
AUTH: I only have heard of one other... thing that can be construed as a vampire in London... and even then, not really. That story is... mostly secondhand, for better or worse.

Auth pauses as Nana exclaims that he doesn't know how he learned it...

AUTH: Well, perhaps I worded it poorly. I remember how I learned to use the ability, but I don't know how I came to acquire it.
AUTH: I've come to a suspicion recently, however - I think it might be a corruption of dormant Blood magic.
AUTH: For a Chairian comparison... I think it might be closer to manipulating sap? But it carries connotations of being closer to being what Morphs do, I think, in this circumstance.
AUTH: The shapeshifting being what put the idea in my head. As for how that happened... heritage, plausibly. Best I can guess.

Auth sighs, and shrugs. He wasn't expecting it to work... but he wouldn't lie about being a little disappointed that it didn't.

AUTH: The cuts on my arms? Haha...
AUTH: Afraid they've built up over a long time. Things just kind of... happen. Most of them were from a very long time ago...
AUTH: I almost lost both arms and my sister almost lost her legs because of that night. Almost, mind. The worst of the scars are further up. I mean, not all of them are from that day but I'd say most of them probably are. I think that's about as close as I can get before I mentally revisit it, though, and if I do that I'm going to be useless until tomorrow.

Auth then has a mental wave...

AUTH: We ought to head back to base soon, though. Like, ASAP. I think the Godblossom should be about ready.

---

Auth considers Aoki's question.

AUTH: It wouldn't surprise me if that was exactly the reason they left you.
AUTH: Hell, the Legion has done far worse than abandon some of their higher ups recently.
AUTH: As for not being fit for combat... I'd say that most people probably aren't, ultimately. It might come as a bit of a shock, but fighting tends not to be in my temperament. I hate doing it, and I'd hate to see people get more hurt than necessary as a result.
AUTH: Being... I don't think fighting is something someone should enjoy.

Auth nods to Aoki's question. He'll be there soon enough to get her out.

AUTH: Yup. Yell if something happens, somebody will come running to help out.
AUTH: Returning here is also not a bad idea, if you can.

Auth watches Aoki leave, then scratches his head. He was dead certain Twig was there just a moment ago... where could he have gone now? He focuses his senses - particularly his hearing. In theory, there's nobody else around, so if anything in this room makes a noise, he'll hear it and check if it's Twig sneaking around.

---

Auth, somehow, despite not having a phone or anything like it, receives a phone call.

AUTH: Moshi moshi. Mm hmm... Ah. Ah. That's...
AUTH: I'm on my way.

Auth runs full-tilt towards the Library, diving off high-things and flying to get there faster. He knows where Redbud and her Scarlet troop was... they should have been safe where they were, what with the Perception Filter. There's no way...

He takes a sharp right into the side corridor where the bodies are... and has his heart sink. He, naturally, recognizes Redbud and her friend by sight... but he was sure there was more. A survivor? He hopes to god not a traitor.

He isn't sure who else is around yet, and so begins to perform as much of an autopsy as he can without needlessly disturbing the bodies - looking for signs of trauma, to indicate a cause of death. Examining surroundings and the body itself to indicate a time of death as well...

Auth, having some experience with souls, too, draws out a long metal tuning fork... or, perhaps more accurately, a Spirifer's Fork, to determine if the souls of Redbud and her friend are still persisting. They're unlikely to have long, if they are... unless they've been otherwise stabilized, which it should detect some kind of residue of. Auth appears to be examining whether or not a resurrection is even possible like this.

Once he has as much information as he can accrue from the area, he goes looking for the person who called him in to start with, Verdana. He spots him with a Scarlet, scared out of her mind...

AUTH: Oh... gosh.

Auth, quietly, walks over to them. The Scarlet might remember him from earlier - having healed Redbud. He recalls... that she might not be able to talk so well. He searches the inventory... and withdraws the Thought-to-Text Slate. He taps Verdana on the shoulder, and as close as is comfortable, offers the slate to the Scarlet.

AUTH: Hey... do you remember me?
AUTH: We want to help you... if you're having trouble speaking, please feel free to use this instead. Just think of what you would want to say, and it'll appear on the slate.
AUTH: We need to know as much as we can before we can do anything for anyone.

---

In a more light-hearted tone, Auth turns to Asha when she asks him what the bright orange thing in the jar is.

AUTH: It's marmalade. Orange and apple. If you're not looking for something sweet, don't have it - sugar is a huge part of marmalade, it helps with stabilisation.
AUTH: And combatting the tartness of the ingredients. It's quite strongly flavoured regardless.
AUTH: I wouldn't have brought it if it didn't taste good, though. It's not the first time I've made it, but it's the first time making it outside of my normal set-up for it. I am under the impression it turned out well.

Auth looks like he wants to append something onto the end of that, but elects not to.

<278>

Whoa. That's... a lot of large, large posts. Though, there's nothing to do but begin the process, isn't there?

---

With Echoss and Pionobot, a wide variety of things occur at Magic Club! Pionobot sits down next to Chloe and Maple, the latter of which scooches over to get a bit closer to him. He thanks them for their kindness... and then calls them both cute. Chloe quite predictably blushes at the complement.

CHLOE: A-Ah, um... y-you're welcome!
CHLOE: A-And... t-thanks?

Maple meanwhile, leans against Pionobot, shifting a lot of her weight onto his shoulder.

MAPLE: Cute, huh? Cute's good!~
MAPLE: You're pretty cute yourself, y'know! But in like... a cool way? Yeah!

Despite none of Maple's flirting being directed at her, Chloe's fluster gauge rises by a large portion. Then, with Maple still leaning up against him, Pionobot consumes cookie/sandwich. The suboptimal combination of flavors is... suboptimal. He soon removes the cookie from on top of the sandwich, placing it down on the blanket in front of him.

CHLOE: Is the sandwich good?
CHLOE: I went off with Echoss to get most of the sandwich stuff.
CHLOE: A-And... n-nothing else of interest happened there! N-Nope!
MAPLE: Huuuuh? You sure about that?
CHLOE: A-Absolutely! Nothing a-at all!

As Chloe simmers down with a sip of cola, Echoss waves over Aoki to the picnic. Apparently, there's plenty of food to share? Aoki tilts her head. Eh? A picnic? It looks incredibly plain to the likes of her... and yet, it's utterly fascinating! But at the same time, it's populated by all sorts of ruffians. She's pretty sure somebody here was responsible for poisoning her, probably. It's all a bit hazy... but she is kinda hungry.

AOKI: A... picnic?
AOKI: The food looks... adequate. But would I really be allowed here?
AOKI: I... suppose I shall accept your kindness.

With a careful, and yet still dazzling stride, she moves around the fountain and sits herself next to a Chairian woman, who immediately grows green in the cheeks upon realizing who's sitting next to her.

NANA: O-Oh my g-gosh! Y-You're... Aoki!
AOKI: Yes, it's me. Hello.
NANA: A-Ah, u-um.... wo-o-oah...

Unable to properly put together any words, Nana holds out a napkin to the songstress. It trembles there in place, leaving Aoki clueless for a few brief moments.

AOKI: Ma'am, are you alright?
AOKI: You seem to be... shaking.

Is she a fan? That'd probably be the case. Though, she's never seen anyone have a reaction quite like this. She then finds herself watching Echoss give a demonstration of some sort of... butterfly-based magic? She watches as a priestess, some other sort of magus, and some being she can't really describe properly try their best to learn the magic.

Taeda intensely stares at the butterfly she holds in her hands. Were she a pyromancer, her gaze would likely be enough to set the poor thing on fire. There's a faint hum of light from the devout's eyes, and as the butterfly pops in her face, she jolts back and panics. She's quick to regain composure though, and tries to focus on what Echoss said. From somewhere behind her, a white-shelled mollusk manifests and hovers towards her. It lands on her head, and Taeda smiles.

TAEDA: Ah, Mr. Echoss! It worked! Look!
TAEDA: A-Although... it's not a butterfly.
TAEDA: Did... did I do something wrong? If I did, it's a happy accident, though!

Pat pat. Taeda pets her new illusory mollusk thing. Aoki watches on in awe. Could she do that? Dare she ask? Though she doesn't say anything, the look on her face makes her intentions clear enough.

Elsewhere on the map. Echoss stashes away the Transcendancy Chamber, while someone who isn't his counterpart loots a sink full of Powerade. Powerade Sink obtained! Powerade begins to splash across the floor from where the sink once was. It is unclear why the plumbing is like this, or why there's so much goddamn Powerade.

Finally, Pionobot deals with a few things in the Central Labs. She tells off Omo for her comment, stating that Cypress managed to hold out for a surprisingly long time. The librarian sighs.

OMORIKA: I suppose... you have a point.
OMORIKA: Still, how typical for it to fail the moment we arrive.
OMORIKA: I just... all this time, he'd been hiding this from us.
OMORIKA: Why would I trust him?

Then, heading down to Cypress, he asks if the security logs are where he thinks they are. At the security hub, right? Cypress nods.

CYPRESS: Assumption: correct. Be cautious.
CYPRESS: However, opportunity. Pincer attack. Security hub: defenses. Automated turrets.
CYPRESS: Could be utilized. Likely shooting Rebellion. Won't last long.

With that in mind, Pionobot takes a few steps forward. He conjures a shield, which appears just in time to deflect an incoming rifle round. Pressing forward, he says hello to the team of snipers that's taken position on a balcony.

GUM: oh hey, it's you guys
GUM: sup. how do you do? sorry for shooting at you back at the big tree
GUM: orders, y'know?

GUM: also sorry because i'll probably need to shoot you after this
GUM: again, orders
GUM: but for now, i'm down for whatever it is you're offering
GUM: anyway yeah we won't shoot you

Pionobot rockets forward across the gap, towards the Rebels. Both Railsnipers in the area are caught reloading, and are unable to take him out as he approaches. Pionobot lands, and greets the Rebellion forces, telling them to stop shooting for a sec. Due to the only actual gunners being the reloading Railsnipers, they... actually oblige! He has a request- don't destroy the security footage! One of the Griefers stares at him.

GRIEFER: Um, okay?
GRIEFER: I'll... hop down and tell them for you, I guess?
GRIEFER: Weirdo.

Hop. Down the rope the Griefer goes. Will Pionobot's message actually be conveyed? Who knows? He then backflips off towards his side, where the Railsnipers have finished reloading. They take midair shots at him! While one of them misses, the other rolls a very solid critical hit! That's what we call "unfortunate". Fortunately, due to being out of battle, this only blows away (20) HP. May want to get that checked out before engaging in any combat. He then slams into a bench, destroying it. Perfectly good taxpayer dollars went into that bench. You monster.

---

Venia does a variety of things! Venia decides to name the "blind" Rose Cultist "Bandage". The shrug.

BANDAGE: okay.
BANDAGE: i do not care what you call me
BANDAGE: i would just prefer you don't get in the way

He pulls out a cloth, and begins to brush and polish the machine. It must be radiant! Even if he can't see how radiant it is. As he works, Venia pulls out the Encyclopedia of Madness. Absorbing 5 Flux from the inventory, an eye shoots from it to examine the Mold! After a few moments, the eye receeds back into the tome, a few passages of text appearing in the book. Head over to the Mold to read it! She also wanders the room, finding Rose Cultists to purge. All in all, she manages to find and liberate 6 living cultists. It's something.

Elsewhere, Venia and Nia travel to Magic Club. Nia's opted to just wear her usual outfit, mostly because she doesn't have anything nice to wear on an outing like this. The two huddle together, though not all that close. Nia's a bit too cold to the touch to make cuddling a viable prospect. While Venia does her best to learn Echoss's magic, Nia spends time fiddling with herself.

NIA: Oh, Venia! Speaking from experience, can you like... control yourself well?
NIA: Like, I know Mari isn't a stormy storm all the time. Think I could find a way to make myself... less cold?
NIA: So that, y'know. We can french n' gorilla without me giving you brainfreeze!~
NIA: Hm...

Nia waves her arms around. She accidentally dismisses one of her arms, causing it to disconnect from her body and fly across the room. It splats into a pile of snow across the ground. Fortunately, Nia is able to replace it near-instantly.

NIA: N-Not sure what I did there, b-but that wasn't right!
NIA: Hm, maybe I can like... edit myself, to make... snow that isn't cold? Or more stable?
NIA: I dunno.

Venia then suddenly consumes herself with a swarm of bees using Echoss's magic! Nia snickers.

NIA: Huh, it seems you really are sweet like honey!
NIA: I can beelieve that. You certainly know what all the buzz is about, it seems!

Nia gives Venia a wink. Like in her emote, a large snowflake manifests next to her eye, which flies off to the side before melting upon the ground. Also, since she's in the area, Venia tosses 120 Credits to Marron to create a sort of HP regeneration trinket. Seeing that Venia was bees, Marron creates the Selfmend Hive! She then effectively throws a beehive over at Venia, which... bounces off her in a soft fashion on impact. It's a plushie bee hive! Filled with plushie bees! It's kinda cute.

Venia also makes a variety of purchases! With Cypress, she spends 1,000 Credits for the Drop Pod Coordinator, and then assigns him to work on the Discharge upgrade for the Shock Therapist. In addition, a few research projects appear for the Drop Pod Coordinator! Mari is then asked to research the Capacitor upgrade for the Shock Therapist. 1,200 Credits and 16 Samples are then spent on Tier 5 Upgrades for Nana, and 30 Samples on researching the Air elemental gear for the Elemental Blaster.

120 Credits are then given to Mari to create Rabadon's Deathcap, which she promptly equips. She opts to leave the last slot open, in case someone wants it. Omorika then hands her Amethyst Kimono over to Nia, asking her politely to redesign it. For 120 Credits, Nia produces the Stargaze Kimono!

Finally, over with Maria... she opens her present! Ripping into the paper, they pull out a backpack! It's handmade, and shaped like a Spiralfloof. The outside is about as fluffy as a Spiralfloof would be, yet also treated to withstand weather and the elements! It's also heckin' cute. Spiralfloof Backpack added to the inventory.

CHAOS: do you like i[t]??
CHAOS: i[t]'s from e[t][t]e
CHAOS: made wi[t]h humane me[t]hods sin[c]e she knew you'd like it more [t]ha[t] way, probably.
CHAOS: a[c][t]ually i don'[t] know if you [c]are abou[t] [t]ha[t] or no[t]
CHAOS: poin[t] is i[t]'s [c]u[t]e

CHAOS: bu[t] anyway
CHAOS: sin[c]e you're s[t]rapped in
CHAOS: le[t] us depar[t]

Chaos presses a button on the radio, activating it. On cue, the windowless van rumbles for a few seconds. Chaos then floors it! The van begins to ascend upward, floating through one of the holes in the ceiling.

CHAOS: nex[t] stop: brazil
CHAOS: or uh
CHAOS: nex[t] s[t]op: [t]he un[c]aring void

The van begins to float forward, away from the Sky Labs. Maria can see the clouds woosh by the speeding aerial van, her seatbelt keeping her snuggly in place. Once they reach a suitable distance from the sky labs, everything outside of the van suddenly goes dark. Where are they?

CHAOS: zone [t]ransi[t]ion
CHAOS: mos[t] people un[c]ons[c]iously walk [t]hrough [t]hese loading zones
CHAOS: bu[t] i [c]an see [t]hem jus[t] fine

Chaos slams the breaks. The van screeches to a halt, floating in a seemingly infinite void. It's a bit chilly, but the van's inner heater is keeping the interior warm enough.

CHAOS: i[t] is now safe [t]o un-sea[t]bel[t]
CHAOS: we'll need [t]o lay low here for a bi[t]
CHAOS: bu[t] [t]hen we [c]an like, go [t]o disneyworld or wha[t]ever i[t] is li[t][t]le girls like [t]o do

...Maria is now free to head around the van. It's surprisingly spacious in the back, but how much is there to do? I mean, there is a group of four Spiralfloofs in the back. That alone could probably keep Maria entertained for hours while Chaos figures out how to drive through the void, to Disneyworld or something.

---

The GM screams into the ceaseless void, dealing with their third gigantic post in a row. Anyway, Adria explores the west entrance of the Sky Labs. She sneaks her way through the area, not drawing any gunfire. Soon, she arrives at her intended location, taking a look around. The floor below her is incredibly rusted and damaged. A few good blows and she could cause the floor tile to fall. Far as she can see through cracks in the floor, there's also a Praetorian down there. In a one on one battle, they'd still be a huge pain to take on. Could she find a way to take them out, too?

Dorothy then showcases her wind magic once again! Or continues her presentation. One of the two. She does her best to explain the technique at hand. Every bit of air has a bit of energy on its own. This can be manipulated. Creating a bubble, she yeets it towards Echoss. It pops on his face, making a satisfying little sound. Taeda does her best to try and mimic her motions, but she can't seem to get the hang of it. She can feel the energy, but as she waves her hands in slow, rhythmic motions, she fails to do little more than bat it out of the way with her hands.

TAEDA: Oh, um... Dorothy?
TAEDA: Could you please help me out?
TAEDA: I'm... not really sure what I'm doing wrong. Can you tutor me?

Tutoring? Could Dorothy do that? In the meantime though, she also experiments with the other sorts of magic on display. Crystal's... crystals, Echoss's butterflies... it's a good time. Though, her head begins to hurt soon enough. Taeda is quick to respond with a cup of tea.

TAEDA: Dear? Are you alright?
TAEDA: Here, have some tea! It'll help with your head!

Elsewhere, at some different point in the timeline, Adria asks Marron what Venia looks like. Marron does her best to explain.

MARRON: Uh, y'know.
MARRON: Tall, stupidly thick, has black hair that also sorta looks like Joycons...
MARRON: Oh, she's also a water elemental.
MARRON: I'm surprised I need to describe her to anyone. She's like, pretty much a leader figure?
MARRON: Nia's also like, always following her around. So look for her, too!

MARRON: ...So, uh.
MARRON: Are you gonna tell her that Chaos kidnapped Maria?
MARRON: Because there's like, literally no way she'll be able to catch him.

Especially since Chaos is in possession of a flying van. Small issue. Meanwhile, down in the Everground, Hannah tries to scan the Tamaugachi. However, it looks like proper combat will need to be initiated for that to actually work, annoyingly enough. Or maybe the GM just thinks he already has a lot of work on his hands.

Also, Feynsik arrives! I doubt I'll ever be able to spell that name without looking it up every time! He decides to investigate the situation, checking out the hole in the floor, just before the bridge. From the looks of things, it wasn't something that punched down multiple floors: something punched straight up through multiple floors instead. It also looks like it was strategically placed to avoid as many interruptions in the path as possible. It also does seem to be angled in the slightest: to the north-east, perhaps? Odd.

---

The Scion has a few friendly chats. Over at Magic Club, the Scion proudly calls themselves a "walking catastrophe". Chloe bobs her head. Sorta like Nia, although not in a "hella gay" sense. But, she wouldn't be very useful without this power... so it's okay.

CHLOE: U-Um... is that something to be proud of?
CHLOE: But... I guess this is your power, and without it... it'd be hard to fight.
CHLOE: Just please don't use it unless you need to, okay?
CHLOE: Like... don't use it here at Magic Club. Or you'll just get hurt more.

Elsewhere, in another sheet, the Scion sneaks over to the unattended cart. As they begin to unload the materials, a railgun round whizzes their way! It narrowly misses them, and they're only able to obtain 10 units of... some alloy, before being forced into cover. Upon further examination, it's called Arkalloy.

CYPRESS: Arkalloy. Originally Tabletopian design. Can manufacture here.
CYPRESS: Lightweight, durable, expensive. Used for starships. Weaponry: considered overkill.
CYPRESS: Do whatever. Will be useful.

...Shiny! Elsewhere, the Reflector asks Maxim if they're down to go and kill some people. They bob their head. Murder is fun! Yay!

---

Crya builds a snowman! She creates a snow chibi that's roughly half her height in size, which promptly does a cute little dance which somehow doesn't end with it exploding violently. Though she's not able to make it as big as she'd like, Taeda is still impressed anyway.

TAEDA: Aah! That was really cool!
TAEDA: It's really cute, too!

Taeda appreciates the chibi snow Crya from a distance. Seeing this sight, Nia creates a lil' chibi snow Nia, which waddles over to Crya. What will happen? Will the two of them hold a dance party? Will they form a beautiful friendship? Or, will they have a snow war? Find out next time on Sparked's Posts!

---

Ire screams, but is not heard. Also, Calibri, EN, Verdana, SED, AND ALSO SOMEONE NAMED Blacklight do things. That is a lot of people doing a lot of things with a considerable amount of text each. You may exceed the limits of my mental processing power at some point.

But anyway, within the "Calzone" as I'll call it, Calibri asks if Chloe would be interested in seeing her own mindscape. She shakes her head from side to side.

CHLOE: Thanks, but no thanks.
CHLOE: While I am curious, I'm also not curious enough to have people poke around inside my head, y'know?
CHLOE: It makes me uncomfortable, to say the least.

Then, some distance north, Chloe is allowed to enter the house. The door slides open after her knocks. It takes about twenty seconds for her to realize that nobody opened the door, and nobody is coming to receive her visit. A shame. She was hoping there'd be like, a cool mindscape butler thing. Oh well. She steps through the ajar doorway, and into a lavishly decorated lobby. Following the prompts from the text, Chloe finds herself drawn to the paintings to the north side of the room. She gives them a nice look. Maybe Calibri commissioned some self-portraits? Do people do that nowadays? She really doesn't know.

Elsewhere, not within the Calzone, Verdana arrives at the Whispering Library! He, along with Blacklight, begin their investigation of the area. Murder bad, mystery good! Murder mystery, probably ultimately neutral! To begin, they call up the Sleuth, as the scanner crunches numbers on what exactly happened to the two Scarlets. On the phone, he notes the location where the murders occurred.

THE SLEUTH: The Sleuth clears his throat. "Toots, listen. I can barely understand a word you're..."
THE SLEUTH: The Sleuth investigates his model of phone. It's not a cellphone, nor is it actually up to date. The audio quality is awful.
THE SLEUTH: It is also unclear how his phone is being powered. A mystery he may wish to investigate is the one of his phone.
THE SLEUTH: But, he believes he has heard the words "double murder case". That is far more interesting than the single, already solved murder case he was attending to earlier.
THE SLEUTH: The Sleuth hangs up the ph-

Dial tone. Hopefully, he'll arrive soon. Eventually, the Scanner returns Calibri some data! It confirms that yes- these are Scarlets, and provides the appropriate statblock. Thanks, scanner. It still is calculating how the Scarlets died exactly, though. It's a bit confused on that. Maybe explicitly check up on it next round?

Finally, scrolling around the map, Verdana notices that there's a surviving Scarlet! They ask her what happened. She trembles and quivers as Verdana approaches, saying nothing. A plushie of Chloe is held tight within her arms, and she squeezes it like it'd banish this scary man if she squished it hard enough. Regardless, she doesn't say anything. Not a peep. He also casts a healing spell upon the Scarlet. She winces as some of the cuts on her body close up. Guess it stings a little.

Elsewhere, and elseperson, EN-913 heads outside to chat with Rosie. She also chats with Rosalind, but that's not my place to respond. Anyway, EN asks Rosie how long it's been. She responds... fairly quickly.

ROSIE: GREETINGS, MOTHER.
ROSIE: IT HAS BEEN A DAY SINCE WE'VE LAST SPOKE. ROUNDING APPLIED, OF COURSE.
ROSIE: IT IS GOOD TO SEE YOU AGAIN.

Finally, down in the Everground, a duck appears! Winging it, it quacks together a few repairs upon the fowl-fated machine. Soon enough, S.E.D is in eggcelent condition! As suddenly as it appeared, the duck vanishes. S.E.D is revived! With their mobility restored, S.E.D. floats an incredibly short distance up out of the pool of water they got themselves marooned in, and preps a salvo of missiles. Shiny. The Tamaugachi twitches slightly as S.E.D moves. Should we be concerned? Nah. When has an Eliti ever killed anyone, anyway?

---

Woodthorne attends Magic Club! The cluster of blue squares representing players too, is beginning to get out of hand. He watches Echoss's demonstration, and manifests a thrush. I think that's a bird? A google search confirms that it is a bird, and it's quite a nice bird. I like this bird. Taeda, who has only just managed to summon a mollusk herself, looks on at the bird in awe.

TAEDA: Whoa! A lil' bird! That's really cute!
TAEDA: I've never seen one like that on Sussui before. Is it from another planet?

Earth is truly the most alien place in the universe.

---

Asha obtains marmalade! With Marron, she theorizes that it's likely some sort of fungal jelly. Marron's face scrunches up as she imagines this repulsive substance.

MARRON: M-Mushroom jelly?
MARRON: I-I know Londoners have some i-interesting tastes in food, b-but that's going a bit far, isn't it?

Still curious, Marron listens in as Asha asks Auth exactly what this "marmalade" thing is. As he happily explains, it was made with oranges and apples, and not mushroom jelly. It's also really quite sweet! Marron watches as Asha slathers it onto a sandwich. It glistens beautifully against the bread. With a bite, she's overwhelmed with a succinct sweetness. This is soon followed by another bite, and Marron's curiosity.

MARRON: Ooh! Can I have a bite?
MARRON: If it's sweet, it's gotta be good! Right?

Marron opens her mouth, waiting expectantly. As she awaits sammich, her eyes also turn to watch Nettle's presentation. Apparently, Nettle's abilities allow her to make use of the mana of those too weak to stop her from using it. Typically, this means those that are injured. This mana is then stored, allowing her to easily take down stronger foes. And apparently, she's never killed anyone. Taeda somehow, has doubts. She's seen her in action, and she's terrifying. To her, anyway.

TAEDA: A-Ah, um...
TAEDA: I've seen you shove lots of Chairians in the ground during combat.
TAEDA: A-Are... are they okay? I-I think you do it to avoid needing to kill them, b-but wouldn't that hurt?
TAEDA: Surely, pulling someone underground must be hard...

In terms of the NPC crowd, doesn't seem like there's many more questions. Taeda appears to be somewhat afraid, as if Nettle might take offense to this. Is she considered "weak"? Could she get ground-yeeted? Hopefully not.

---

The Author tells Nana what London is like. Well, not exactly. There is no one word that can summarize what London is like, except "batgorilla crazy", and even then that's two words. Two... actually surprisingly accurate words now that I think about it, but still. Stuff's crazy, man. Simply put, Auth describes it as complicated. Where murder happens for sport, and death doesn't really exist.

NANA: S-Sounds scary...
NANA: B-But... as long as there's hope, t-that's good! Right!
NANA: L-Like, London seems both scary, a-and kinda lovely?
NANA: I wonder what sort of things grow down there...

Auth then gives a few brief summaries of things he's experienced. An expedition to the Elder Continent. Setting up a church in Really Far West London. Nana does the Cute Anime Girl Headtilt™.

NANA: E-Elder continent? T-Tell me abou-
CHLOE: U-Um, if you ask about these sort of things, it'll become a rabbit hole, and you won't be able to stop asking!
CHLOE: Plus, it's like, all nightmare fuel!
NANA: N-Noted!
NANA: S-So... um...

Eventually, the topic drifts to Auth's magic, and how he doesn't actually know how he learned it. However, he did learn how to use the ability- just not how he got it. He theorizes that it might be some sort of blood magic. Think of like, manipulating sap. Nana stops to think for a moment.

NANA: Manipulating someone's sap, you say?
NANA: N-Nobody's ever been recorded to do that. Even the most experienced Morphs need to be careful to not juice themselves, since they can't directly manipulate their own sap...
NANA: I-I wonder what you could do if you could do that? Maybe M-Maxim did something like that to me when he t-took over m-my body?
NANA: Maybe y-you could like... control people.
NANA: ...I don't like this train of thought.

Nana shudders. But still, with nothing else to go off of, she assumes that Auth's right with his theory. As for the scars on his arm, there was apparently a night where Auth almost lost his arms, while Alicia almost lost of her legs. Nana bites her tongue, hesitating for a few moments before speaking.

NANA: U-Um, I won't ask a-about what happened that night.
NANA: I-It sounds a-awful, but I'm glad you're okay...
NANA: Maybe we c-could fix them up, though? I-I'm not sure about how your biology works e-exactly, but maybe we can try and cure the scars?

Strange, though. She thought they'd be related to his powers. Auth then mentions that they should probably go and pick up the Godblossom. It's likely ready by this point. While she'd normally be shocked to hear that the flower is already ready for harvest, she's long since learned of the Thymefield's time-altering properties. So, she bobs her head. Should Auth start moving out, she'll follow.

Meanwhile, over in the Aviation Chamber, Auth does his best to look for Twig. He listens for whatever sort of sound he can. Then, he hears a creak from up above. The ventilation shafts! It's always the ventilation shafts. Looking around more, it seems like he threw one of the vent covers down into the foam pit. It's not really clear how he got in there, though. There's no walls near that particular vent, and it's like at least 15 meters up in the air. It's a tall building. Maybe he has some ninja techniques or something.

Finally, over at the Whispering Library, Auth arrives. As he meets with Verdana, he comes across the Scarlet from earlier. One of Redbud's friends. Remembering that she's likely unable to talk, Auth equips the Thought-to-Text Slate, passing it over to the Scarlet. Does she remember him? While the tablet seems to work, all it can convey is an absolute jumbled mass of text. It's completely indecipherable, and the text on the slate seems to be overwriting itself every few seconds. If this is going to work, she'll probably need to calm down first. Got anything to help with that?

---

As a bit of an extra thing, R-8733 finishes preparing his "magic"! Figuring that it's probably fine to fire this off indoors, he shunts a large tube of fireworks into place, a fair distance away from the party. Magnolia, still in Irongutta's possession, watches on eagerly.

R-8733: Ladies and gentlemen! I would like to present to you, the most potent form of magic!
R-8733: Art.
R-8733: While not strictly magical magic, art in itself is a magical thing!
R-8733: And while some may use paintbrushes, I use the humble... bag of black powder.

He pours some black powder into the tube. That's almost certainly not how fireworks work, but he's a trained professional. It's probably better not to question him.


R-8733: I will present to you, the art of explosions!
R-8733: Watch in awe as the sky- or uh, room, lights up with a majesty of colors the likes of which us Chairians have never seen!
R-8733: As for the rest of you outsiders... you might've seen something like this before, I don't know.
R-8733: But whatever, it's gonna be great!
R-8733: Ready! Lighting the fuse!

He lights the fuse with a little lighter he carries around, before running for cover. Peeking out from behind a nearby exhibit, he waits for the fuse to go off. In a few seconds, there's an ear-popping "BANG" as a single rocket flies from the tube, a stream of green sparkles following it. It flies up a fairly short distance before exploding into a shower of green sparkles. While the usual sort of firework would certainly light the entire room on fire, that certainly hasn't happened here. Must be a special mixture.

A few more rockets follow in quick succession, painting the room with a dazzling display of red, green, and yellow blasts! There's a brief pause after what must've been the tenth rocket. Smoke fills the air, wafting out of the building through various holes in the glass-roofed ceiling. Holes that weren't part of the construction plan, and were more of "recent additions". Suddenly, a rapid-fire salvo of eight rockets fire outward, exploding into the colors of the rainbow in quick succession.

R-8733: BIG FINISH-

R-8733 levels his grenade launcher towards the firework tube. With a thump, a bomb spirals through the air, slamming into the construction. It immediately explodes into a burst of multi-colored flames, quite like a gender reveal party except with more than two defined colors. The mess his presentation made is... concerning, to say the least. But it certainly was beautiful! Still, someone's gonna need to get this smoke to clear- it's a bit suffocating.

R-8733: Anyway, this concludes my presentation, "Art is Magic".
R-8733: After the show, you may ask me for your own personal firework launchers, so that you too, may experience the joy that is an explosion.
R-8733: Thank you.

He bows, and returns to the picnic blanket. There's a smattering of applause from the crowd, as well as a round of coughing. But anyway, with that, the update is complete! Continue your exploration of Zone 5.5, and see if you can't commit some crimes! Get into combat! Ruin someone's day! It'll be a good time, we swear!

Magic Club:
When Aoki questions whether she'll be welcome, Echoss nods.
"Of course. Regardless of other people trying to paint the spherebreakers as ruthless invaders, most of us are here to try and help. There's food to spare and it's pleasant to make new acquaintances, so you're welcome for as long as you'd like to stay."

Echoss raises an eyebrow at Venia covering herself in bees.
"I believe that's the first time I've seen someone make that particular mistake on their first try.
I am, admittedly, rather impressed."

Echoss looks at Dorothy, concerned.
"Take your time, you did well. If you decide you want to learn it fully I think you'll have it down fairly soon."

Echoss smiles at Woodthorne,
"I don't mind at all, this spell isn't exactly indicative of magic as a whole, but it'll still be useful I believe."
Woodthorne gets the spell down...
"Very well done! You seem to have your basics down at least."

Echoss notices Nana's freakout about Aoki, and furrows his brow. Is she... Oh well, it's not important at the moment.
Echoss smiles brightly at Taeda casting the spell.
"You did absolutely nothing wrong. In fact out of everyone here it seems you're the only person to get it right on the first try.
Very well done miss Loblolly!"
Echoss looks over at Aoki.
"Would you like to try your hand Miss Aoki?
If you have magical experience of your own it shouldn't be too hard to at least learn the casting."
Echoss pauses for a moment.
"Ah, pardon me for asking, but you wouldn't happen to be an idol would you?
Sorry for the intrusion, I just realized I recognized your name from my research prior to arriving on Sussui and was curious if I'd made the correct connection."
Once she answers, Echoss nods his head (assuming she answers yes) and then gestures for her to come join the circle of people learning how to make their own not-butterflies.
"Thank you, I appreciate your honesty.
Now then, would you like to learn the spell I've been teaching the others?"


Dorothy shows off wind magic
Echoss nods as he watches Dorothy's demonstration, then follows her advice, keeping his hands still until the energy is gathered and pushing the wall of wind out. He completely misses the dummy but the air wall still works.
He bobs his head
"Thank you, I believe I've got it down now."

Echoss tilts his head at Nettle's explanation, clearly intrigued.
"Well now, that's very interesting. I might be interested in learning exactly how you accomplish this at a later time, that's quite a useful feat."

R-8 you hooligan
Echoss claps for the fireworks display, but then mutters under his breath as the smoke fills up the room. Using the air magic technique he just learned from Dorothy, he motions a breeze through the picnic area, moving all the aerosol contaminants down the hallway where it won't bother anyone.

Pionobot isn't used to being flirted with.
Pionobot still feels awkward for his unsolicited compliment, but then Maple leans against him and he freezes up for a moment before forcing himself to relax.
"I yeah, tha... thank you.
Heh, thank you."
He still looks totally unsure about how to handle getting a compliment back himself.
Chloe asks him the question and he takes the out.
"Yeah! It's good.
I just uh. Don't recommend putting chocolate chips in your ham and cheese sandwich."
He looks at the sandwich.
"Actually what kind of meat's on this, it's really good."
Pionobot does raise an eyebrow at Chloe's suspiciously specific denial, but decides it's not his place to push.


Not!Echoss is a Criminal:
Not!Echoss decides that instead of cleaning up the powerade spill, he will instead break the sacred law of gendered bathrooms, and peaks his head up over the wall of the stall where thyme matter seems to be flowing out.


Central Labs:
Omo
Pionobot shakes his head.
"Saying you should keep trusting him the way you did before is probably a bit much to ask, but keep in mind...
He kind of had reason for it.
Look at you, you're one of the single closest people to him, and you went straight to burning hatred upon finding out.
Imagine how the rest of LOCAA would react.
Imagine what you'd have done if you found out before all this crap with the Sphere.
Heck, Spark would've skipped straight to incinerating him instead of the whole "blackmail until I can dispose of them" deal he actually went with.
Regardless of the breach of trust... you can't say it wasn't justified.
Give it some time, and be willing to talk to him when you can. Some people keep secrets for worse reasons than this."

Gum
Pionobot nods at Gum.
"Yeah I get it.
Assuming this works though you might have second thoughts about the source of those orders before the end of the day."

A Plan
Pionobot climbs out of the bench, grumbling about the smoke pouring from his shoulder, and devours a Nutrient Snack Bar to replenish his missing HP.
He starts to head back to the docking point, since right now he's healing up and can't do a thing... where he runs into Auth.
"Hey! Auth, Do you think you could help me with something?
Current situation entails Rebellion and Legion fighting in Security Hub, between them and inbound saboteurs from Spark, footage of Spark's coup de tat earlier today between Acacia and Cypress could be in danger.
Basically, there's camera footage of Spark trying to assassinate Cypress in the Aviation Chamber, and then everything he did in the firing range. I was thinking that if we could get that footage and shared it around we can get a lot of people to stop shooting at us when we head into the Citadel tomorrow.
But, we have to get in there first. Do you think you could get everyone to stop shooting up the place long enough to grab the footage? I don't want to get so caught up in fighting through everyone that Spark blows up the footage."

ZONE 5

The Reflector and Maxim approach the Drone Hangar. Noting that the ladder was being heavily guarded last time thanks to Hannah's infiltration, the Reflector whispers the details of a plan to Maxim. Here's what happens, assuming things go off without a serious hitch.

The Reflector, standing by the top of the ladder, silently counts to three. On the given mark, the Reflector swipes the level 3 access card into the bay doors. Maxim, in heavyweight mode, yanks aside the bay door with a tendril and leaps down, crashing through like a bulldozer. As the rifleman frantically turns around to try to get a shot off on Maxim, the Reflector, casually swinging from the ladder a moment later, trips the turning rifleman, then grabs the wooden-looking ladder and slams it into the soldier's head. Meanwhile, as the Devout bolts up from the console, Maxim tendril pulls her over and slashes her unconscious. (Not dead, at the Reflector's insistence that it would "look bad" to the other Spherebreakers. Maxim isn't very happy about this, but some stabbing is better than no stabbing, right?)

The Reflector raises an eyebrow at the engineer, who's clearly not a combatant. They could try to make a break for the console and activate the drone, but after seeing what just happened to the other two, is that really a great plan?

THE REFLECTOR: let's not turn this into an altercation a skirmish a full blown massacre do you not think?
THE REFLECTOR: all we need from you is free access to the tunnels a simple an easy request.
THE REFLECTOR: simply take your comrades here to another part of the skylabs and well we will not accost you any further.

Skylabs - Picnic and Magic Club

"..."

Yeah I don't know what I can do here.

---

The Whispering Library

Verdana continues observing the Scarlet, briefly glancing at Auth after his arrival, then awkwardly returning his gaze to the Scarlet again. He briefly contemplates what to do, since his healing spell has helped patch her up, and Auth is probably better known to her. Since Blacklight's phantom state is likely nigh-unobservable to most other people, any conversation between them is going to have to be managed very carefully to make sure the albino doesn't come across as insane.

VERDANA: ...Hmm...
BLACKLIGHT: Something on your mind?
VERDANA: Just deciding what to do now...
BLACKLIGHT: I see. No rush. I'll go check on the bodies.
VERDANA: ...Actually, whoever was responsible for... all that is probably still around. I'll be on guard.
BLACKLIGHT: It is decided, then.

Verdana briefly glances behind him, then glances at Auth.

VERDANA: You can handle things from here, right? I'll not be too far away in case something happens, don't worry!

He does his best to offer a reassuring smile, then turns and moves to BD18, a decent distance from the Scarlet. As he overlooks the nearby area, keeping watch like a sentinel, he checks the Scanner to see if it's done compiling an answer on how those Scarlets died.

Meanwhile, Blacklight's phantom form drifts down to the fallen bodies of Redbud and the other Scarlet. He pauses for a moment, looking down at them with repulsion, then crouches to get a closer look.

BLACKLIGHT: Perhaps neural or visual information would be better... assuming there is anything to read.

He takes a close, intense stare into their dead eyes. Assuming they, y'know, have eyes. He hopes he can get a good look at the last thing they each saw before they died... Though he doubts he would receive anything useful from doing so.

---

The House

(Chronologically happens after Tazzpost)

EN turns and nods at Rosie in acknowledgement.

"Huh. Ah... Might wanna be roundin' down a bit. Or roundin' more precise. Feels like 's been only, ehhh... couple o' minutes? Couple o' 'ours? Somewhere in 'tween o' tha'? Hard t' say."

Then, she turns to watch Rosalind. Despite being the epitome of horrible ideas herself, even EN can tell this is probably going to end badly if she doesn't intervene in some way. Thus, she decides to intervene, wings popping out of her back as she flies an incredibly short distance over to the Mechonis.

"Now jus' wait a sec, 'fore ya end up crashin' tha' there thin'! One, safety gear. We got spare stuff in th' inventory, ah'm sure it'll 'elp."

EN opens the inventory to show Rosalind some things to acquire. Mostly the standard gear, and with EN "subtly" trying to make the high RES gear more attractive so that her newfound conversation partner might get decent shielding. But really, if it's good enough for a tank, it'd probably be good enough for a civilian.

"Anywho, two. Slow down wit' th' controls, ey? Neither o' us know wha' those buttons do, jus' take yer time wit' 'em and figure out wha' does wha'. Ya've turned it on, 'ow're ya gonna turn it off once ya be done?"

Beat. EN's voice briefly drops the accent entirely.

"...Three, what is with all those bugs? I'm aware they're not hurting anyone, but it's a little strange and disconcerting."

---

The Everground

S.E.D is ready for battle, but it feels that it is not the appropriate initiator of battle. So it spends the round hyperfocusing on the Tamaugachi. Several of those missiles lock onto the creature, already calculating flight paths and necessary adjustments in order to home in directly and make sure they hit it where it hurts. Of course, unless the Tamaugachi is the kind of thing who responds to a Watchful Eye by moving, that probably won't make it go anywhere.

Central Labs

Adria, surprised she drew no fire (might be because of her more casual look compared to many others), notes the Praetorian near the barrier. If she could get him over to the damaged floor... maybe she could knock them out with a roof collapse. Make it seem like an accident, but not actually killing the person.

She drops a single iron pin down the cracks, making a few loud and satisfying clinks as it hits the floor, and prepares to break down the floor with a Sapper's Sledge once the Praetorian's underneath. She's as patient as she needs to be.

ADRIA: S-sorry about this...

With one fell swing, the floor breaks into rubble, hopefully landing on the Praetorian before they can react.

---

Southern Labs

Adria

Adria bobs her head at Marron.

ADRIA: Thank you for the info. I haven't had the chance to meet Venia yet, so that's why I asked.
ADRIA: And no, I am not going to tell her, primarily because I think she already knows.
ADRIA: Simply put, I think she was the one who paid Chaos off - given she'd go through hell and back for her, I'd think she did it for a good reason.
ADRIA: And I'm about to ask why.

...

Meanwhile, at Magic Club, the Adria there immediately notices Venia now that she has a description of her. She remains polite as ever.

ADRIA: Sorry to interrupt, ma'am, but are you Venia, per chance?
ADRIA: I wanted to ask you something. Though... perhaps we should move away from the noise of the picnic.

Dorothy

Dorothy takes the tea graciously.

DOROTHY: I-I think... this a-always happens when... when I first t-try a spell for... um, the f-first time...
DOROTHY: Th-thank you...

She takes a few sips of the brew. Then she drinks the entire rest of the cup in one. The heat and sweet taste must have done some good, considering she now looks just as lively as before the headache. Maybe she had just cast a bit too much magic? Or maybe cast the magic too hard, who knows.

She tries the "butterfly" trick again, summoning it via that same "S" shape motion as before, summoning a small turquoise Dweller Spirit. It flickers for a moment as Dorothy adjusts to the perspective addition, but soon stabilizes. Being a ghost, it slowly floats up to her shoulder and settles there for now, hopefully away from any cherry-like fruits

DOROTHY: ...I-I did it!
DOROTHY: ...I was a-afraid it would be too d-disorienting, but...
DOROTHY: ...M-maybe another?

She does the same motion, making another specter. It too flickers, about the same amount, before it too floats up to her other shoulder. She does it again, and again, and again, until she's hit seven around her headspace and they're no longer flickering on summon.

DOROTHY: Oh, woah. This... is actually s-super easy!

A couple more. Soon enough she's created a solid 18 of them. She starts trying to control each of them, and nearly all of them immediately short out, leaving only three. She shakes her head, mildly disoriented from the disappearances, but not in any real pain. She's able to move those remaining three around fairly effortlessly.

That being said, she ends up running one into a wall, where it's discovered that she could move hers through solid material, likely thanks to the type of magic that was used in their creation. Of course, the inside of a wall was disorienting, so that one gets lost.

She practices a bit more, now able to twist and curve the bodies of the specters every which way; a spiral, an arc, a straight line, one gets dispelled because it was tied into a knot, another gets dispelled from being tied in a bow... possibilities! It seems she's able to command up to five in this way after a bit of practice.

Once she's all practiced up, she gives Taeda a bit of tutoring.

DOROTHY: O-Okay! Let's see...

She watches Taeda attempt to cast the bubble spell, to minimal avail. Dorothy notices the problem; the energy charging wasn't a problem for Taeda, but the motions and forms for casting were.

DOROTHY: A-ah, when casting after building... building energy, you r-really need to... push the spell! So instead o-of this...

She does the charging motions for her healing bubble spell at her normal speed, and then demonstrates what happens when the spell doesn't have enough motion behind it. She gives it a very gentle push, and it just breaks apart like nothing was there in the first place.

DOROTHY: ...d-do this!

She charges the bubble again, but instead of gently nudging it, she gives it a good shove from behind in one quick, fluid motion from charging position. It flies into Taeda's face, enveloping it, allowing for easy breathing for a bit, then popping.

DOROTHY: Rhythmic m-motions like what you were doing are... m-more advanced.
DOROTHY: It needs a lot of m-muscle memory, a good sense of flow, b-better quality air movements than what's here - GOOD music (pecking clowns...), n-natural sounds, things like that - a-and lots of practice.
DOROTHY: T-that stuff took me so long to learn...

She waits by her new understudy's side until she's able to cast a spell using this method.

Sophia

SOPHIA: Tiny berry bush!
SOPHIA: Are they poisonous?
SOPHIA: I wanna have one if not!

If not, she plucks a berry and noms it. If so, well, she doesn't.

Following that, Sophia wanders into the testing ground, and looks around at the various weapons available. Maybe there's an umbrella gun somewhere, who knows.

Hannah

...She's gone. Huh. Though soon enough, the camera catches up as Hannah walks into the Chemical Laboratory. Wearing suitable clothing for a job, she decides to get a few... samples of the various chemicals.

The only problem was that the scientists were around. It'd be awkward for her to take stuff while they were around. So she joins them in giving the hive a good walloping with a mop.

Don't ask why.

---

Everground

Hannah, mildly upset that the scan didn't go through, decides to just get on with it. She nocks an arrow, pulls, and releases, sending a poisoned arrow flying towards the Tamaugachi. She quickly switches to her spear once she has its attention, and remains on guard.

---

Feynsik

FEYNSIK: Hm. How predictable.

Feynsik takes the long way up to the Bridge of the Fallen. Seeing that the holes stop there, he looks to the bridge. And far across it. He doesn't seem to be looking at the door to Omorika's Office. Rather, he seems to peer through it. He can't see through it, mind, but he has suspicions on who's behind that door.

Crya's snow chibi notices Nia's snow chibi. It comes over to say hi, waving its arms up and down. It decides that they should be friends, and forms a small snowflake from its palms, holding it to chibi Nia.

Magic Club

Venia nods at Echoss's commentary on her bees. "I mean-sometimes I wonder if you were my past life or something like that. Having multiple of 'me' running around isn't anything new, so it's fairly easy to use. I'd have done spiders, but they can't fly. And, uh, flying spiders would probably make Chloe die of fright," Venia says, mildly smirking.

Venia turns to Nia to answer her question. "Given that you're already in a body of your own design, almost literally, well, I figure you can probably reshape your body given materials. For returning 'human,' it's definitely possible-It does feel kind of like wearing a stiff set of clothes though. I haven't had to think about it too much, just kind of settled in. Maybe give it a few minutes? I've heard tapping into the elemental part is more tricky, what with us formerly not being elementals."

"As for ice that isn't cold... I mean, I think I'll just have to stock up on cold resistance, but like, that's a lot easier," Venia says, with a smile.

Venia then notices Adria, and hears her request. A faint pang of irritation crosses her face-can't she just have a few more calm minutes with her precious snowflake? "... Really now? Midway through Magic Club? Is it urgent? I can make time later-almost literally."

Venia finally notices Nia and Crya's chibi ice copies. "... That's so adorable, eeee!"

---

Mariaaaaaaa

"... I love it!" Maria says, looking at her newest fashion statement.. She'd probably put it on but she's sitting, so she settles for hugging it.

Maria clearly finds the ride up exiting as anything, but the stop in question seems to puzzle her. "Mister Chaos, why do we have to 'lay low?' Is it like, laying on the ground? And why here? ... And what's a 'disneyland?' Sounds funny."

---

Regalus

Feynsik looks through a door. Unfortunately, Regalus isn't behind it. Between this and the rest of the Library now being pretty rife with activity, it's fair to say that he's unlikely to be anywhere in the main library right now, though this doesn't quite cross out the sewers. Or the Twitching Chamber, but that seems unlikely.

---

The Family

"Thank you!"

She immediately leaps directly into the cockpit of the fueled Mechonis, notably without any safety gear whatsoever. She probably just heard that spiel as 'yes.' She presses various buttons and switches various knobs, all of which do nothing-but somehow, she still manages to start up the engine, and its roar to life clearly excites her.

... It might occur to you that Rosalind may not have any clue how to actually drive this thing, and is about to do so with no regard for the lessons. Maybe stop her before she crashes?

Not much to say on the other two, they're still roughly doing what they were doing before.

---

The Forge

"I'll be making some renovations to this mold here," Venia says.

Venia begins checking the tanks for any leftover materials to start with, before beginning repairs by patching up the Durasteel container.

The Everground

"The first sin? ... You must've noticed their absense, right? They're... Dead, gone now. I assure you that we have made certain that it definitely was what they wanted, courtesy of close confidants, but all the same, I figure that he probably meant something to you. Uh, assuming I got the relationship right here."

"What I'm really looking for is at the bottom here, but there's this... Nasty specimen below that's making progress especially dangerous. I'm not sure how you can help, and I'm not asking you to-I believe we're more than capable of dealing with it. But, I hope you don't mind our goal... The Rose Cult, what they've been doing-I'm trying to bring them back to the light, and I'm, uh, well... I'm really succeeding! I'm not sure what kind of help you'll need, but I promise you, one day I'll make sure you can get it."

"... I'll need to get going, thank you for the Starite and your time."

Venia's maid taps the Starite. Given its psionic properties and ability to reshape, Venia simply shapes the metal out of the rock, and plops the few units into the inventory.

Then, the battle below presumably begins-Venia responds by equipping a small parachute and descending to the platform below the fourth layer in a controlled descent, depositing the Starite into the portal.

Auth thinks for a minute. Nana actually hit a phrase that he thinks is a good fit for London, so he smiles.

AUTH: I think you've hit it. It's a bit scary, but honestly, I think it's kind of lovely in its own way.
AUTH: What grows there... in London? Mushrooms, mostly. The Department of Parks and Game spends a lot of money to get trees to grow underground, and it's kind of dangerous to get sunlight underground like that.
AUTH: They get Cherries to grow down there somehow, which I'm quite impressed with and happy about.

Auth laughs loudly when Chloe interrupts Nana's questioning. He seems to think that Chloe's objection is quite hilarious.

AUTH: Now, now, it's not quite that bad! There's bits of it that aren't nightmare fuel, I swear!
AUTH: It just happens that being dragged deep underground by bats happens to also carry plenty of nightmare fuel!
AUTH: There's ways to do things about nightmares... like fight them.

Auth makes a hand gesture - "something like that". He isn't really sure himself, of how to describe it.

AUTH: I'm not really sure how to describe it, to be honest. I don't know quite how to relate it... but I can vaguely insist that I don't feel like I have the ability to control anything outside of my own body.
AUTH: Or, er, anything that isn't mine.
AUTH: I think it probably is closer to what Morphs do... but in the context of... being a meat-person.
AUTH: The concept of manipulating other people is also extremely discomforting to me.

Auth closes his eyes and sighs... he's the sort of person who would hate to do something like that to other people. He smiles as Nana says that she won't press him about that part of his history.

AUTH: Much appreciated. "Awful" feels like a huge understatement, but maybe that's just because of how young I was at the time.

Auth looks down to his arms when Nana suggests healing the scars...

AUTH: Maybe? I'm not sure. Part of me feels like it's probably... I dunno. They've been there so long it would feel odd being rid of them. It's kind of hard to explain what I mean.
AUTH: But at the same time... maybe it would be nice to be rid of them.

Auth nods. And then, afterwards, he nods again.

AUTH: Let's go pick up the flower. We definitely want to pick it up before something bad happens.[

Auth offers a hand to Nana as they start to head out.

---

Auth has, successfully, heard where Twig is. He, himself, flies up to the ventilation, looking for an opening. Even as he gets close, he raps on the vents.

AUTH: Excuse me! We're here to get you out of here, but we can't do that while you're hiding in the vents!

There's not much he can do until Twig shows himself.

---

Auth rummages in the Inventory... calming Manabloom tea? He prepares it, and offers it to the Scarlet.

AUTH: Alright... here. This should help, I think... sorry, there's too much noise to help right now.
AUTH: This is gonna sound rough, but we need you to calm down so we can work out what's going on. We'll do our best to help you, once we know what's going on... but, well, we need to know. We can't work it out yet.

---

Auth runs into Pionobot. With a request. He's happy to listen to that. He isn't really sure what... anybody else is doing. After hearing the request, he nods.

AUTH: Sure, I can ask them to let us through to grab that.
AUTH: I think it's a good trump card to have in our possession, and maybe the Rebels would agree? I hope so, I don't really want to fight them.

Auth then decides to flit over to the second floor of Central, floating above the Rebels standing in front of the Security Office.

AUTH: Excuse me! I'd like to make a request of you!
AUTH: I know that our factions do not entirely get along, but I believe that we can come to an agreement on this ground, as we all oppose Spark.

AUTH: Some of you may be aware that Spark was in the area earlier today. We have reason to believe that there is footage of him in the security office which you are guarding, which reveals what he did while he was there - notably, attempting to murder members of his own Highchair - some attempts which were even successful.
AUTH: If we get caught up in fighting right now, it is highly likely that Legionnaires will be able to take the opportunity to steal into the office and destroy what is going to be a valuable weapon, in terms of morale, against the Legion. Or, perhaps even worse, it will be destroyed by accident in combat.
AUTH: Thus, we request that you allow us to enter the office, at least long enough to collect the security footage from the Firing Range, where Spark was not so long ago.
AUTH: We do have something of a common enemy in Spark and I am sure many of you would prefer not to be hurting anyone - what we wish to collect will likely devastate the ranks of the Legion if it is spread, without anybody needing to be hurt.

AUTH: If you feel it necessary, you can offer reasonable conditions to entry, even. We are quite sincere about the urgency of the recovery of this footage.

Nettle responds to Taeda's concerns.

NETTLE: You would struggle to find worthwhile techniques that can incapacitate foes without hurting them.
NETTLE: I don't go out of my way to pull them down harmlessly, but I am at least restrained enough to prevent them from sustaining permanent damage.
NETTLE: If I was to keep them down there for too long, it may exacerbate any existing injuries and threaten their lives.
NETTLE: Fortunately for them, I'm not a sadist.

Taeda is absolutely free to doubt this. With a few erratic twists of Nettle's hand, the roots return to the ground, leaving behind the broken paneling they burst through.

Credit to Irecreeper, The Serpent, Pionoplayer, Sparked, Adria, and Crystalcat for this RP.

Magic Club

"That was amazin' R-8!" Irongutta, enthused by the explosive art display, cheered louder than most. "Especially that last one. Havin' a big finisher is always important and ya really delivered! And ya left behind that satisfying smoky smell." The Ork took in a healthy whiff of the smoke-filled air before Echoss blew it away with a bit of air magic. Of course, he couldn't resist coming over to ask R-8 for his own fireworks launcher. "I 'ave got to get me one of these, 'specially when they are so well-made! I'm sure Magnolia would enjoy it too."

---

The Forge - Magnolia

Irongutta silently regarded Magnolia's worries. It wasn't often that he put any thought toward such existential problems, if at all. Still, he knew he had to say something to try and console her.

"Well, I think yer still Magnolia wotever form ya take, roight? In fact, maybe your axe body and your new one aren't all that separate? Maybe they're just two parts of the whole you."

Still, she seemed concerned about not being able to cut heads off and generally kick butt. Irongutta simply smiled. "Hah, you kiddin'? Even in a normal body you'd be as killy as ever Magnolia. I can promise ya that one." If Magnolia had hair, he'd probably ruffle it right now. "Wotever happens an' wotever ya choose to do, I'll always be yer pal."