<279>

Echoss does a variety of things. Mostly things at Magic Club! He invites Aoki over to join them, insisting that it'd be fine. The songstress pauses for a moment. A few precious seconds later, she nods, quietly integrating herself into the crowd. While Aoki gets settled into the group, Echoss praises Taeda for her successes. She smiles brightly, the mollusk on her head flailing its tentacles in a probably happy fashion as well.

TAEDA: W-Wait, I did it properly?
TAEDA: Wow! I didn't think I'd be able to do it!
TAEDA: Thank you for the guidance, Mr. Echoss!

Taeda spends some time experimenting with her lil' fossil friend, making it hover in circles around her head. Aoki, observing from a short distance, tries her hardest to replicate the movements. It doesn't quite seem to click for her. As she tries, her focus is broken by Echoss poking in. She jolts back ever so slightly.

AOKI: Oh, hello.
AOKI: I... was wondering how to do this myself, yes.
AOKI: A songstress is usually capable of manipulating mana through their voice, whether to energize an ally or sap a target of their strength, but this seems to be out of my element.
AOKI: I'm not quite versed in traditional magic, try as I might. Even my Arbormancy leaves something to be desired.
AOKI: So... I suppose I am left with no option but to humbly ask for your support.

She slides her way into the circle, ready to try and learn. Though, she also can't help but wonder how she got into this mess. Legally speaking, she's surrounded by dozens of her enemies. They seem nice enough, however. Still, this bit of nervousness crosses onto Aoki's face. She mutters something to herself, barely audible except to those who might be right next to her.

AOKI: ...Take it easy, Aoki.
AOKI: They're only the slightest bit uncouth. They're not going to kill you. They're not brutes.
AOKI: Just a few deep breaths...

In and out, ever so slowly. Hopefully someone will serve her a sandwich soon. That's usually how these sorts of outing go, correct? Echoss then gets to work on cleaning up the aftermath of R-8733's firework show, making use of Dorothy's wind magic to blow away the clouds of smothering smoke. This is launched down the hallway, where the ventilation begins to take care of it.

Meanwhile, Pionobot learns the emotion of "being flustered" as Maple flirts with him. Still a bit high on second-hand embarrassment, she almost misses Pionobot's response to how the sandwich is. It's good, though chocolate chips don't mix well with it. Chloe bobs her head, and quick to get her mind off of things, answers his question about the kind of meat.

CHLOE: Oh, that's Yggcrawler meat.
CHLOE: Maybe it's a bit fancy for a simple sandwich, but it's really good!
CHLOE: Apparently sometimes, Chairians raise them for meat. I understand raising cows for meat, but a tall, razor-blade armed thing? No thanks!
CHLOE: It's totally worth it, though. Probably.
MAPLE: I had a friend who worked with Yggcrawlers n' stuff!
MAPLE: Our livestock really doesn't gorilla around. It's pretty crazy!
MAPLE: It's not uncommon for places like that to have a Devout on sight just in case a Yggcrawler gets mad at someone n' junk.
CHLOE: G-Geez, that's scary...

Chloe can't help but imagine a timeline where cows have blade arms and were highly aggressive. The pain she'd go through to ensure burritos existed in that timeline would be immense. Elsewhere in this timeline meanwhile, Not!Echoss investigates the bathroom stall that's flooding with Thyme Matter. Peeking over, he sees... a dead Reborn. Which soon resurrects, emitting a wave of toxic gas. It then promptly drowns in the toilet again, where it will probably revive again soon. Bleh. Maybe it'd be wise to put it out of its misery.

Finally, over with Omorika, he asks her to give Cypress some time, and be willing to talk with him. Regardless of the breach of trust, what he did was justifiable. The librarian sighs, eyebrows furled.

OMORIKA: I... suppose from some points of view, what he did was justified.
OMORIKA: If only for the sake of the party, I will do my best to tolerate his presence.
OMORIKA: Will that be to your satisfaction?

Will it? Tolerance is likely a good start, at the very least. Also, Pionobot eats an energy bar. This recovers (10) HP. nom

---

The Reflector and Maxim perform a coordinated gank! Making use of the Level 3 Access Keycard, they open up the drone hangar doors. It's far from a quick process, taking about fifteen seconds from the warning siren to the bay being fully opened. Fortunately for Maxim and their new body, this process can be sped up somewhat by flinging the door open with their heavy bladed tendrils. They fling themselves forward into the now-ajar gates, slinging their tendril forward and launching themselves towards the Devout.

As the Rifleman attempts to gun down Maxim, the Reflector slides down the ladder and trips them. As the Rifleman falls, the Reflector grabs the ladder, rips it from the wall, and bashes it directly into their head. They drop to the ground, synchronized with the Devout, who now has a rather large slashmark in their chest. The two of them then begin their approach towards the engineer... who is already across the room, scrambling to deal with the door.

They reach the door at the far end of the hallway, but then realize they lack an access card! Fortunately, he knows an override procedure! He slams his toolbox directly into the keycard reader, destroying it. As it sparks and fizzes, he reaches in and touches two wires together. With a gentle hum, the door slides open, and the engineer escapes.

Well, uh. Looks like they have access to the tunnels. Great success???

---

The Calscape Journey continues! Within the Calscape, Chloe examines an image named "Hopefully" by Calibri. While it's likely impossible for this image to exist at this moment in time, Chloe acknowledges the fact that time is not only dead, but also relative. Odds are, this is perfectly reasonable in the grand scheme of things. Just like how she's able to reference media that's post 2015. Things are trippy.

She also can't help but notice that there's likely something behind the image. Well, why not take a peek? She searches for any sort of obvious way to lift the image out of the way, whether with her hands, a lever, or a sort of button. Should there be nothing of interest there, or she's not interrupted, she'll... remain put. Isn't snooping like this rude? Surely, Calibri should be around to give her a tour or something. She politely waits for him to come around.

Over at the Whispering Library meanwhile, Verdana examines the scanner. It's completed a report on how the targets died. Far as the scanner can tell, the cause of death was a blow directly to the core on each of them. Though, the wounds left behind were little more than a small nick on their bark-like husks. What's of note though, is that the Scanner insists that their sort of "disembowelment" (or whatever left them as a husk) occurred shortly after death. Blacklight takes a moment to stare into the eyes of the dead Scarlets. There's nothing much there to look at. Does that sort of thing actually work in real life? Though, it's rather notable that the eye is completely devoid of any sap filling. In fact, the Scanner says there's no sap in the body at all.

Just then, the Sleuth arrives. He drags along a Gorged with him on a collar. Is it a family pet?

THE SLEUTH: The Sleuth waves hello to his client.
THE SLEUTH: While they weren't a respectful dame like he had hoped, he can't turn down this request.
THE SLEUTH: Especially not after catching the perpetrator in the act!
THE SLEUTH: He kicks the Gorged forward.

He does just that. With its limbs bound together, it's unable to do much more than thrash on the ground.

THE SLEUTH: "So, from what I've seen", begins the Sleuth, "this here Gorged was munching on some Chairian innards."
THE SLEUTH: He ponders what he's seen. While a novice might declare this case closed right here and right now, some things didn't line up.
THE SLEUTH: Innards typically don't travel far distances from the body, and are rarely unaccompanied by the bodies they came from. It's all very suspicious. Two Scarlets would've also been more than a match for a single Seeker or Gorged.
THE SLEUTH: It's all very curious. He'd need to confirm his findings before he spoke of them to the duo, however.

He also points out a thin trail of sap that's splattered across the floor. Two small pitter patters, like footprints mark up the floor.

THE SLEUTH: He clears his throat. "These trails led to the Gorged."
THE SLEUTH: Really, he doesn't get it. There must be something he's missing at the moment.

While the Sleuth also takes a moment to fondly regard dalmatian the Gorged, who has been a good boi besides the time they ate someone, EN tells Rosie that it's likely hasn't been that long since they've previously spoken. For EN-913, it's been a few minutes.

ROSIE: FLUCTUATIONS IN THE UNIVERSAL FLUX FIELD INDICATE THAT IT HAS LIKELY BEEN MULTIPLE MONTHS- ALMOST A YEAR.
ROSIE: HOWEVER, TIME IS RELATIVE, AND ALSO DEAD.
ROSIE: PERHAPS YOU WENT AT A DIFFERENT SPEED THAN MYSELF?

...Time is weird, okay? S.E.D. also gears up for battle against the Tamaugachi, but the darn thing refuses to move. It does perk up a little as the missile barrage is primed, but that's about it. Lame.

---

Adria decides to drop a ceiling on someone. She drops an iron pin through the floor. It clinks and clatters as it bounces. Noticing the pin, the Praetorian cautiously steps over. Hannah then bashes the floor with a Sapper's Sledge. There's a loud crack as the floor gives way, a rather large cascade of metal and other items falling upon the Praetorian.

When the dust clears, Adria finds herself face to face with a room known as the "Harmonious Chamber". Looks like this is where Cypress keeps Harmonia when its not in use. From the looks of things, there's a few more Chairians around... and one of them is coming over to investigate. Heck. Got a plan?

Elsewhere, in the southern wings of the Sky Labs, Adria suggests to Marron that Venia was the one who coordinated the kidnapping of Maria. Marron tilts her head.

MARRON: ...Huh? Why would Venia organize the kidnapping?
MARRON: Surely, she didn't hand Chaos twenty dollars, and was like, "kidnap my sister in the most illegal looking way possible please".
MARRON: Like, what if that Regalus guy saw this? He'd be INCREDIBLY pissed!
MARRON: I'm... not sure what he does, but he'd probably try and make Chaos's head roll! And fail!
MARRON: She could've just asked for a proper babysitting service! Like, I could've done that!
MARRON: And my rates wouldn't be very high, either! Meanwhile, Chaos probably charged her a couple million!
ETTE: Ette's rates wouldn't be too high, either!
ETTE: I'd be sure to take good care of her, and give her lots of snacks!
MARRON: Yeah!

While Marron and Ette totally plan to begin a daycare service, Dorothy does her best to tutor Taeda. Far as Taeda knew, she was doing it right. Dorothy soon demonstrates that she needs to put more force into her actions- give it more of a push! As an air bubble forms around Taeda's face from the spell, the priestess gives it some thought.

TAEDA: The force with which you do it matters too?
TAEDA: I wouldn't have thought that mattered! Here, let me try again!

A few attempts later, and Taeda manages to lob an air bubble a short distance. It barely makes it a meter before popping, but she's proud of herself anyway.

TAEDA: Hurray! I did it!
TAEDA: Thank you for your help, Dorothy! You're the best!
TAEDA: ...I mean, everyone here is the best, but you're the best right now!

Taeda continues to practice her motions, taking into account what Dorothy showed her. Perhaps Taeda is the prodigy of Magic Club today? She must have RNG on her side.

Elsewhere, Hannah decides it's time to shoot the beast in the Everground. Nocking an arrow, she launches a poisoned arrow down towards the Tamaugachi. Despite it not even facing towards her, the beast immediately reacts the moment the arrow leaves her bow. With a single step, it's clear out of the way of the arrow a second before it lands in the water harmlessly. With equal grace and agility, it spins to face Hannah. It doesn't let out a bellowing roar. Instead, it merely stares. Puffs of steam spew from the three holes on the purple orb that adorns its face. Just below the orb, a mouth full of razor sharp teeth reveal themselves. They gnash and grind. Though the beast lacks eyes, Hannah's overwhelmed by the sensation of it somehow staring directly at her.

...A quiet groaning rumbles from the depths of the Tamaugachi. Suddenly, the very air around the party goes cold. The Tamaugachi remains still, but there's clear signs of movement behind it. From below, a Harpy flies up, rising up from behind the beast. It's accompanied by a variety of other Iti, ranging from Vesperia to... some sort of odd crawling creature with two long tongues extending from a bulbous sac. Silently and expectantly, it... remains to stand there silently and expectantly.

Look, they're being patient. Not every battle needs to start with the thing jumping at you.



You are accosted by...

THE TAMAUGACHI
Lord of the Abyss

PLAY - Crucifixion (Made in Abyss OST)

---

Chibi Snow Crya waves hello to the Chibi Snow Nia. It offers the Nia a snowflake. In response, the Nia pulls the Crya into a hug. They're both precious, and must be protected. That is all.

NIA: :D

---

Venia enjoys Magic Club with Nia. Though she's still covered in bees, she answers Nia's questions regarding transcendence. As for returning to "human" form, it's definitely possible. Just give it a moment, suggests Venia? Nia nods,

NIA: So... I just gotta wait, then?
NIA: I'm good at waiting! I think!
NIA: When I succeed at this, you won't need any cold resistance to have fun with me~

Nia assumes the stereotypical meditation pose, and enters contemplative meditation. She remains like this for a few minutes, before she enters a state of contemplative boredom.

NIA: ...
NIA: Am I human yet? I don't know if I should be able to tell when it happens or not.

While Nia plays Nia: Become Human, other things happen. Including the Chibi Nia and Chibi Crya hug. Even though she's causing it to happen, Nia still finds it incredibly cute. So much for meditation though. But anyway, in a windowless van in the middle of a loading zone, Maria gives her new backpack a hug. And then asks what it means to "lay low". Does it involve lying down? Chaos nods his head.

CHAOS: laying low is [t]o like, no[t] do any[t]hing so [t]he [c]ops don'[t] ge[t] you for [t]ax evasion
CHAOS: bu[t] you [c]an lie down while laying low, so you're already an exper[t]

Chaos pulls a lever on his chair. The back of the seat flings into a reclining position. He then falls backward onto the backrest, still maintaining a sitting position. Maria then asks what a "disneyland" is.

CHAOS: disneyland is [t]he headquar[t]ers of [c]orpora[t]e greed
CHAOS: i[t]'s grea[t]
CHAOS: you'd like i[t] [t]hey have [c]u[t]e animals
CHAOS: bu[t] [t]he [c]u[t]e animals are [t]here so [t]hey [c]an sell mer[c]handise of [t]he [c]u[t]e animals for money
CHAOS: i have a lo[t] [t]o learn from my [c]orpora[t]e overlords a[t] disneyland

Chaos, still sitting and / or reclining, asks Maria a question.

CHAOS: oh yeah, righ[t]
CHAOS: if i re[c]all, [c]hildren need food [t]o fun[c][t]ion properly
CHAOS: wha[t] do you wan[t] for lunch?
CHAOS: i [c]an make a mean spaghe[t][t]i
CHAOS: bo[t]h li[t]erally and non-li[t]erally
CHAOS: i usually don'[t] do i[t] li[t]erally [t]hough be[c]ause i[t] hur[t]s my feelings a lo[t]

Chaos shudders at the thought of such impolite cuisine. He has done things no responsible chef should replicate in the kitchen. But if you had to choose between following a guide by him or a guide by EN, odds are Chaos's guide would give you something edible and delicious, if a tad bit sentient.

Meanwhile, Venia does some Rose-related work. In the Forge, Venia applies a few patches to the durasteel containers. This uses up 5 Durasteel, and seems to do the job. She also investigates the other tanks for resources. They're all completely empty, unfortunately. Must've been emptied some time ago, either pre or post destruction.

Finally, she communicates with the creature in the Everground. She asks about the First Sin, and how it must've noticed his absence. They're dead at this point, though. Instead of showing any sort of grief, it shows confusion. A tendril ever so slowly extends from its body, tapping the scanner with its shaky appendage. It then taps itself on its own tendril. It does this fourteen more times, or until Venia gets it to stop somehow. It doesn't particularly seem to understand what Venia means when she says she's going to "reform the rose cult" though. Maybe it doesn't care, but it seems happy that Venia took the Starite. Which she then promptly deposits into the inventory, obtaining 2 Starite. Venia then yeets herself into the Everground, preparing to fight a large spiky boi.

---

Auth discusses London with Nana. Apparently, they manage to grow cherry trees down there, among a variety of other things. Nana seriously considers the logistics of HOW they get sunlight underground.

NANA: T-They have sunlight down there? That's nice!
NANA: B-But... how's that possible? Do they have like, big tunnels up to the surface, lined with mirrors or something?
NANA: That's how I'd do it! N-Not that... it'd be viable, or even possible for me to do.
NANA: ...I wonder if an underground cherry tastes different than a regular cherry?

Nana develops a sudden craving for cherries. Auth then mentions that he's had the scars for so long, that he's not sure if he'd like to get rid of them. But maybe it would be nice? Nana pokes them ever so gently.

NANA: I-I mean... I-I guess they look kind of cool.
NANA: But at the same time, d-don't they hurt? I'd imagine they would.
NANA: T-Then again, us Chairians don't scar easily. And most wounds can be healed w-without too much issue!
NANA: Except, o-of course, for fire damage!
NANA: Perhaps a-a burn mark is similar to a s-scar?

Then, Auth suggests that they both go and pick up the Godblossom. Nana nods politely, and carefuly stands up. She bows to the picnic partygoers as she departs with him towards the church. Along the way towards the airship, Nana's feeling the slightest bit chatty as she takes his hand.

NANA: I hope the Godblossom is doing okay.
NANA: I-I don't think I'd be able to look anyone s-straight in the face i-if it had died...
NANA: B-But I shouldn't b-be thinking about that! I should just believe that it's intact, right?

Elsewhere in the timeline, Auth attempts to coax Twig out of the vents. There's no response from the ceiling, or the vents. In fact, they seem to have gone silent. Of course, they can't go silent if they were never there at all! Or maybe they really are there. Whatever the case, they're certainly being stubborn. Again, if they're actually there.

Also elsewhere, still in this timeline (not the bladecow one), Auth serves a cup of Manabloom Tea to the Scarlet. While she hesitates to take it, she soon places her Chloe plushie on her lap. With trembling hands, she takes the cup. She gives it a gentle sip, before setting it on the ground next to her. Her breathing slows, and her shaking lessens. Perhaps she's ready to talk now?

Finally, Auth attempts to communicate with the Rebels! Let them in, let them grab some security footage, and all will be swell. Can they do that much? While many of the rebels level their guns at Auth, one of the Rebels there yells at him, running forward from his position. Not in a rude manner, mind you.

REBEL: Hey, uh. Guys, don't shoot. Let me ask the boss man. This could be good.
REBEL: One sec.

He runs towards the back. A minute or so later, he returns. He takes great caution when it comes to approaching the Author, not wanting to yell any longer. Also, it looks like he's practicing a bit of caution. Behaviors like fraternizing with the enemy are probably not tolerated.

REBEL: He says, and I quote, "the fires of revolution will not stop for the spherebreakers, and they cannot hope to stop our glorious blaze".
REBEL: I dunno, man. He's being pretentious again.
REBEL: The man bragged about the time he almost ate a fire grenade once and called it "a show of dominance and unwillingness to lose to the spherebreakers".
REBEL: But basically, he said no. Sorry.

REBEL: But I mean, I dunno about you, but I'd rather not die in a meaningless battle that'd have no clear winner.
REBEL: no offense but we'd destroy you guys
REBEL: I could like, totally try to get the footage for you. I have a friend who's really good with tech in there.
REBEL: There's no way you'd be allowed in, though. They'd totally kill you for that.
REBEL: We cool?

Are we cool yet? That's probably the best you can hope for, really.

---

Nettle responds to some of Taeda's concerns. It'd be hard to find a technique that incapacitates someone while not hurting them. While Taeda's tempted to say something along the lines of "sleep spell", she'd probably offend the magi. So, she keeps her mouth shut until she finishes.

TAEDA: Um... I get it.
TAEDA: I guess i-it is a battle, so getting hurt is to be expected.
TAEDA: I-It's just a bit s-scary, you know? Watching people get swallowed by the earth.

Taeda glares down at the ground below herself. It better not™.

---

A large roleplay session occurs! As per usually the case with these sorts of posts, I can't really properly respond to the contents within, but definitely give it a look!

---

Irongutta attends to various things! First, he praises R-8733 for his explosive performance. He bows repeatedly as the ork showers the praise upon him.

R-8733: You're far too kind, sir!
R-8733: But thank you! I worked hard to perfect the final blast there!
R-8733: Truthfully, I was hoping to have a more spectacular show, but there's only so much I can do on short notice!
R-8733: Next Magic Club, I'll try and blow everyone away with a show they'll never forget!

Hopefully, this doesn't mean "nuclear explosion fireworks". That'd be cool, but only for as long as your face doesn't melt off. Irongutta then claims a firework launcher from R-8733. It's nothing special- it's one of those fireworks on a stick, which can be handheld. Well, at least that's how it looks- one can't be sure how it'll actually work! Magnolia also eagerly claims one... or at least, gets Irongutta to claim one for her.

Irongutta and Magnolia, over in the Forge, converse about existential problems. Orks usually don't deal with such problems- usually, their day to day worries regard "clobberin' gits" and "clobberin' more gits", so odds are this is a really profound moment for all of orkkind. But as he explains, no matter what form Magnolia takes, she's always be Magnolia. Also probably as deadly.

MAGNOLIA: Do... do you really think so?
MAGNOLIA: Maybe me and my body aren't that different. J-Just because I can go about the change, doesn't mean I need to. At least, not without thinking it over lots and lots!

MAGNOLIA: But as a person, could I still be a really cool person who uses a tool to do the cutting, instead of being the... cutting?
MAGNOLIA: As long as you'll always be my buddy though, I think I'd be fine with either, though.

The friendship between an ork and his axe is truly sacred, and must be protected. Even more so than Chibi Snow Crya and Chibi Snow Nia. But not as much as Piggo. Piggo is sacred-er.

---

<THE CUPS OF CHAOS, ROUND 1>
What's this? It's another vertical battle, yay! As a general note, DO NOT MOVE NORTH. A passive that belongs to the Tamaugachi, the Strain of Ascension, will absolutely liquidate you. So, it'll be a constant downward battle! With every drop downward will be more Iti. Also, don't think you can just fly and attack the Tamaugachi from above- the link it has with the abyss gives it a flawless ability to avoid attacks it can sense from above! So, either attack it from the sides, or below! The latter might be hard to pull off, but maybe you'll find a way to do that.

But most of all, beware the Fourth Nail! If it stacks up too heavily on a target, they'll likely instantly die. Even then, it'll deal constant, powerful poison damage until its dispelled. Fortunately, there are Evervines scattered around the arena, which yield fruit that can cure the poison. Manage the Fourth Nail, and perhaps you can grab victory!

Magic Club:
Echoss blinks as Dorothy conjures up not just one or two but eighteen mini avatars, and is able to control three at once. He claps softly, but enthusiastically at her display.
"VERY impressive Miss Dorothy. Most folks without experience in controlling multiple bodies at once can't handle making more than two or three at once, let alone controlling that many.
...do you have any experience with this kind of thing in the past? I suppose probably not but you have definitely proved exceptional just now."

Echoss chuckles at Venia's remark. "I would be rather surprised if I somehow qualified for a reincarnation cycle of any kind.
Regardless, that does make sense. Considering your direct control of the maids alone, it doesn't surprise me that you can control this many. I was just rather surprised at the method by which you misinterpreted the spell itself."

Echoss smiles and nods at Taeda
"Of course! Besides the possible preexisting affinity, you are a competent caster in your own right and a quite disciplined individual besides. I had faith in your capability."

In response to Aoki's request Echoss shakes his head.
"It's not through any fault of your own, this spell is rather... unusual in a number of different ways. Very very few people would be capable of casting it without having a teacher or some kind of instructional material of their own. The technical reasons are complicated, but suffice it to say that it was something of a trade off in return for the low energy cost and versatility."
Echoss notices Aoki's nervousness and gestures at the food.
"Would you like something to eat or drink? It seems we've brought significantly more than strictly necessary, I'll hand you some of whatever strikes your fancy."
Once Aoki has something to munch on, and has eaten enough to be ready for magic instruction, Echoss continues.
"Alright, this spell requires a... rather unusual method of teaching." He creates another butterfly in his palm, and it flutters over to Aoki.
"It can be cast in a number of different ways, if your vocal magic can work through humming or similar low effort expressions, feel free to use that."
He then gives the explanation of how to "unravel" the butterfly he gave to the others, explaining the information input and 'loop'.


Pionobot nods in response to learning about yggcrawler meat.
"I mean, cows aren't as dangerous as yggcrawlers, but they're still dangerous. Even after being bred for thousands of years to be more docile and easier to farm.
I don't know the exact numbers for your Earth but, a few hundred or more people get killed by cows every year on most worlds that have them.
And pre-domestication cows are even worse. You ever see like, a buffalo stampede? That's the kind of animal cows are descended from.
Like, it's still not yggcrawler bad but it's not like it's risk free for humans either."
He thinks for a moment.
"Then again Earth doesn't really have anything on par with the fauna you find on magical worlds like Sussui. The yggcrawlers seem kind of tame compared to some of the other stuff we've run into honestly.
Never thought I'd run into a 9 foot tall murder beaver, yet here we are."


Not!Echoss:
Not!Echoss sees the reborn constantly drowning and reviving. He sighs and decides that it would be best to put it out of its misery, and uses a full action to execute it.
...but not before giving it a swirlie.


Central Labs:
Pionobot nods in response to Omo.
"I can't ask for more than that.
I'd honestly be surprised if you still totally trusted him after a reveal like that, as long as you can stay calm enough that the party stays functional until the universe is saved...
Well, beyond that it's not my business anymore. I don't know you two well enough to have the right to intervene."


Regalus(?):
this will have stuff when I work it out with other people involved in this.

Old Pass - Southern Tower



With the big talk out of the way... it's time to get on to important things.

HANNAH: ...So, um... what are we gonna do about finding him?
HANNAH: I can't get even remotely close anymore. He knows my face, so he can easily pinpoint me.

Michaela shrugs. She has no idea either.

SHELLY: ...To be honest, I don't know either.
SHELLY: Odds are he could easily figure out that I'm related to you by blood.
SHELLY: If either of us were to go looking for him, we would need extreme stealth, along with remaining outside his detective vision range...
SHELLY: Hm...

They both start tossing options around, but none of them seem to land. Ground based, mountain-based, watching the royal family from a considerable distance...

...Hannah's gaze falls on the telescope. She gets an idea.

HANNAH: Y'know... I had Sophie make that glider earlier for that rebel base escape, and I have a stolen Locust costume available to use.
HANNAH: If I pair it with a telescope, I might be able to get an aerial lay of the land. There's a really good structure for a runway out here, too, so I don't need to go back to base to take off.

Shelly thinks on the proposition for a few moments.

SHELLY: Well... from what I've seen it's powered by electricity and air crystals, so altitude is very likely not an issue.
SHELLY: But how would you use a telescope while on that thing?
HANNAH: A Mirror Image. One flies the glider, the other scouts. We'll both have the costume on.
SHELLY: ...That could work, yes. Let's take it up with the others once we get the opportunity. See what they think.
SHELLY: At the very least, we would need to let them know.
HANNAH: Okay.
HANNAH: I don't think anyone else stuck around, but we should check anyway. D'you mind going?
SHELLY: Likely for the best. I'll see what's down there.
SHELLY: In the meantime, keep a look out for any interlopers.

Hannah bobs her head, and stands on lookout, using the telescopes to her advantage.

Meanwhile, Michaela returns to the basement, looking for anyone who might have decided to stay behind.

---

Battle - The Cups of Chaos

Hannah gets a notification on the Scanner. She reads down through it. She nods, and gets equipped.

((For this battle only, use this build with accompanying character readout: Scavenger!Hannah))

Once she's geared up, she walks to the edge of the mushroom she's on, and taking the dive.

Hannah leaps down at (E4), where she notices a fruit. After a quick scan, she sees what it is.

HANNAH: Huh... interesting. Seems very useful.

She picks the fruit, and leaps to (H4). She selfcasts Sword Beam and Vampiric Venom, and starts working on that overheal and damage by giving the Vesperia a good, long-ranged stabbing. She doesn't retreat, letting gravity take her to (H11).

...She gives a nasty glare to the Tamaugachi.

HANNAH: This'll be cathartic. How about a little more?

Hannah pulls out a Shard of Madness, activating Thymebent Mode.

---

Central Labs

Adria only needs a look at the mech nearby, and what the Praetorian was doing with the nearby terminal. Thinking fast, she sends a small flying drone up the break in the floor. Meanwhile, Adria decides to be sneaky, hiding behind the cart to avoid direct line of sight. She searches the inventory for some sort of tranquilizer. There's anesthetic, but there's very little of it. Best not use it. So she improvises.

Using 7 Psychoid Leaves, 7 Fresh Manabloom, and a Reverie Fragment, along with a few wire scraps and iron, she manufactures a device that should knock someone out like a light by singing softly into it while it's pointed at the target. Very simple, but effective. It uses a fused mix of the Psychoid, Manabloom, and the Reverie Fragment to sleep the target, and the iron and wire scraps are formed into a weak battery.

She waits for the Splintershot to get closer, before gently, quietly humming into the device. Psychic waves wash over the Splintershot, hopefully putting them to sleep.

---

Southern Labs

Marron & Ette

Adria blinks when she hears another name. Regalus? Is that Maria's father? Also that's a name that sounds very on-the-nose...

Regardless, Adria remains steadfast in her observations.

ADRIA: See, what I find interesting about this is that nobody here would reasonably want to do it without any good reason.
ADRIA: At least, I don't believe so.
ADRIA: I feel like Maria and Chaos have somewhat of a bond formed, strange as it may be... perhaps he outright waived the cost of babysitting.
ADRIA: He's strange, but he's not mean. That, I could tell.
ADRIA: However, the way you spoke of Venia... it suggested that she cares very deeply for Maria.
ADRIA: Perhaps she was in danger, and Chaos was the only person that would keep her completely safe.
ADRIA: I have no idea what the danger could be, but... that's my guess.

Venia

Adria gives Venia an understanding nod.

ADRIA: Ah, my apologies. Please, take your time.
ADRIA: Oh, but where are my manners? I'm Madelyne Adria. Or just "Adria".
ADRIA: It's a pleasure to meet you!

She politely bows. Considering that Chairians were around it could be seen as indecent to handshake.

Calscape ft. Sophia

Sophia, being a totally responsible girl, checks out the cool-looking gun. She gets a good look at it, walking around and getting a proper look from all angles. Or at least, as many as she can while it's still on the rack.

She then tries to lift it. It's known that she has considerably more strength than an average girl, or even an average adult. Lifting an adult walrus in one hand with no issue automatically puts you above the average.

But is she strong enough to lift the gun? Who knows!

Dorothy

Dorothy responds to Taeda first

DOROTHY: Y-you're welcome!

She responds to Echoss's praises with a blush and a nervous smile.

DOROTHY: T-thank you!
DOROTHY: A-and, weirdly enough, sorta? I-I think I got split in two w-while fighting the Husk?
DOROTHY: D-dunno if that counts...
DOROTHY: N-nothing outside of that, though...

---

Feynsik

Feynsik leaps across the Thyme Crystals to get to Omorika's Office, following the trail of destruction.

While it would be obvious to check the glyph chamber first, Feynsik first checks for signs of someone jumping out of the office. A patch of grass stepped on, recently-broken glass, any other structural damages... anything that might tip him off.

ZONE 5.0

Before the engineer can escape into the Sky Labs and go alert someone, the Reflector transforms into a small, swooping bird. Probably some sort of falcon. Anyway, they fly through the tunnel and crash straight into the engineer's face before expanding back to full size.

Actually, does their mass change when they shapeshift? How does that work? Mysterious abound.

The Reflector picks themselves off the ground, where the engineer they just tackled is.

THE REFLECTOR: no no no absolutely no alarm sounding friend!
THE REFLECTOR: now well as i see it you have two choices here.
THE REFLECTOR: you can go to magic club and hang out with miss aoki and hersilia, or well or you could lie unconscious very asleep in the drone hangar instead.
THE REFLECTOR: what will you decide? a fascinating decision point no?

---

ZONE 4

On a random hunch, "the Scion" goes on a walk through the Rosen Catacombs, looking out for any Regalus-shaped individuals as she does so.

Skylabs - Picnic and Magic Club

"..."

---

The Whispering Library

Blacklight, despite being a shade, frowns enough to be visibly identifiable as a frown as he notices the severe lack of eyes remaining in those eye sockets. Something seems a little odd to him about this. Once the Sleuth comes over and presents his findings, things only get weirder.

BLACKLIGHT: You're telling me a Gorged single-handedly took down two Scarlets and drove a third into a panic.
BLACKLIGHT: ...
BLACKLIGHT: No, that doesn't feel right. Too many doubts. More than I would normally experience despite being made of them.
BLACKLIGHT: For one thing, the Gorged is alone, and we would surely notice if there were more Iti around.
BLACKLIGHT: For another, let's examine the bodies again.

Blacklight gestures to the fallen bodies of Redbud and her friend. At least, he probably gestured. It's hard to tell when he's literally just a shade.

BLACKLIGHT: The killing method doesn't line up with a simple Gorged's work. They've been hollowed out. Desiccated, too.
BLACKLIGHT: Also, the organs got dragged quite some distance away. As opposed to, well, being eaten right there and then.
BLACKLIGHT: It doesn't make sense for a Gorged to do that. While it obviously has been eating the organs, I think it's just an opportunistic scavenger.
BLACKLIGHT: One that may have been framed by something else. Or someone else.

It's at this point that Verdana, holding the scanner, wanders over to join Blacklight and the Sleuth, eager to share his findings. He holds the scanner in a way for all to see.

VERDANA: I've got some results on how they died!
BLACKLIGHT: ...I mean, the literal disemboweling made that perfectly clear already.
VERDANA: Well, that's where you're wrong. At least, according to the scanner, you're wrong.
VERDANA: Cause of death - they took a blow to the Core. Both of them.
VERDANA: The wound left behind was small, apparently, but quite fatal. The disemboweling happened afterwards.
VERDANA: ...I'm glad I'm not physically capable of throwing up in my mouth, by the way.
BLACKLIGHT: Charming.
BLACKLIGHT: Unnecessary information aside, combine that with the evidence of sabotage on the Booster Greaves and the lack of an Eliti...
BLACKLIGHT: Plus the perception filter apparently doing jack to stop whatever it was...
BLACKLIGHT: I am currently least doubtful, which is my equivalent of most confident, that we're dealing with a someone this time around.

Verdana blinks, but isn't really sure how to take that. He hasn't quite connected the missing dots yet. Possibly because he doesn't have all the answers.

VERDANA: I don't know who it could be.
BLACKLIGHT: What I'm getting at is that we can rule out the idea of this being an unfortunate run-in with some local wildlife.
BLACKLIGHT: But I'm sure we can narrow down who might be responsible if we go through who we all know, eliminating the people who wouldn't do this.
BLACKLIGHT: ...Eliminate remove from the list, not eliminate kill. Apologies if that came out of left field, but I doubted I could leave my statement there and not have it joked about.
VERDANA: I got what you meant the first time, don't worry.
VERDANA: ...
VERDANA: Hold on, we should be tracking people down, not speculating on their identity!

Blacklight facepalms in an "how did I overlook that" manner. At least, probably. It's hard to tell with shades, their details are kind of weird. Either way, once he un-facepalms, conversation resumes.

BLACKLIGHT: Very well. If we're to track this person down, where would they be likely to go?
BLACKLIGHT: I doubt they'd remain anywhere near here, it would be too obvious...

---

The House

"..."

Loading.

---

The Everground

S.E.D senses that there is a battle imminent. Time to battle... It'll probably only get one battle, but hey, a little bit of time in the spotlight is something. Besides, the ones who would normally do it are occupied in other ways. Might as well take the glory since none of them will, right?

S.E.D sheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1q3T...dit?usp=sharing

Battle: The Cups of Chaos

S.E.D spawns at H2, starting its battle action by gravity shifting for flight, then trundling to H6. It then turns its main gun downwards, opening fire with a basic attack at the Vesperia. After that, it retreats to I7, still firmly locked onto the wall.

The Cups of Chaos

"Alright, sucker. Come on!"

Venia does a quick respec: -2 AGI and -1 MHP, +Anomalous. Her banlist is Compulsive, Deviant, Polymorphic, Fractured, and Decaying.

Venia spawns in at F2, drops to F4 accordingly, activates Kickstart My Heart, and Incants a Beast at G4-which, will logically drop to G11.

This particular beast looks almost minimalist-like a metal geodude, a big sphere with two chiseled arms and a nasty glare at that Tama fellow over there.

Alloy stats here.

---

Magic Club

"Venia Praefortis. Charmed." Venia says to Adria.

Venia turns back to Nia, who probably hasn't managed. "Not yet. I'm sorry-maybe it'll just be something you figure out? That was, uh, kind of me. Maybe Mari would be more useful?"

"... Did we join late? Anyone else demonstrating?"

---

The Forge

Venia sighs. "Of course, nothing. Well, anyways, this requires significant restructuring to work properly and safely, so excuse me while I make some necessary alterations."

Venia first inspects the remnants of the torn out pieces with a sketchbook, drawing into place the most likely components that Yulania had torn out from both their general placement and the shapes of whatever's left, plus the shape from the holes in the more generally dented Rosetainted metal. Then, after taking a picture of the mold itself, uses the Gaiameld and a Terraform scroll to eject all the Rosetainted metal from the structure, leaving nothing behind except the Gaiameld to reshape the mold with. Then, using the picture of the mold plus the sketches of the internal components she just took, she superheats and reforges the mold entirely from Sanctified Alloy.

I think it's obvious that she's going to deviate from the original design.

---

Mariaaaaa

"I don't like mean things! But I like sphaghetti" Maria says. "And this Disneyland place sounds super-weird. And I thought taxes were unavoidable or somethin'! Just like death, or Venny."

Apparently Venia is really good at hide-and-seek, or something.

"... Venny! I wanna see Venny. I wanna play with Venny! I came here to play with Venny but I haven't been able to do that and every time I ask she's super busy! I wanna play with Venny, where is she?"

---

Regalus + Family

You haven't found the Emperor yet... Also it's clear he didn't come here. There are no signs of anything happening here since the last time anything of note happened here-IE, no signs. It is now *very* clear he did not come here, and by extension, probably not the Twitching Chamber either. You may or may not be wasting a lot of time here.

Disregarding this conundrum, Rosalind cheerily accepts all the 'safety gear,' clearly fixing to get going. "Oh, oh, thank you, miss, uh. I don't know your name. I am the second princess of the Sanguine empire, Rosalind Hemmors! It is very pleasurable to meet you, miss person who's name I don't know!" She says, shaking EN's hand with perhaps a little too much vigor. "Bugs are my friends! All bugs. They're spawned in something I would think is like my stomach! Of course, nobody sees that because of my pretty princess dress but I assure you that they won't sting unless I tell them to, it's nothing to worry about."

Thus satisfied with her own explanation, she immediately resumes at a somewhat slower pace. Like, maybe a sixthieth of a second slower compared to the pace she was at before. She's already got the engine going again.

At least she'll most likely survive her own stupidity(?).

Nidra uses 2 points to add a buff level to Last Dream.

---

Cups of Chaos
Enter at G2.
Use special on Scuttletongue1.
Use sheep counter on self.
Double basic attack Harpy5.
Power Nap self.

Crya rushes up to Nia, pointing at the two chibis.

Ohmygodlookatthemsocuteaaaaaaaa-

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

Destiny kicks down the door to the AI Design Lab, engaging whatever Legion is in there.

Nettle switches Upheaval (gasp) for Elveil (Poison and... lets say Light). She also bops a skillpoint into INT.

~~

Nettle shrugs at Taeda.

NETTLE: I don't care if the technique is scary- if anything that would be a good thing.
NETTLE: I don't harbor any sympathy for the Legion. In fact, they are right to fear what I can do.

You can practically taste the spite in her voice. She relents slightly with her venom, seeing that she's making Taeda uncomfortable.

NETTLE: If it helps with alleviating your own fear, I could demonstrate on a living subject.
NETTLE: Assuming they don't resist too much- as my usual targets are unable to- they should return completely unharmed.

It's a rather strange way of trying to make Taeda comfortable, but Nettle can be a strange woman.

~~

Asha, a turn late, carefully places the marmalade sandwich in Marron's mouth at her request. She seems a little apprehensive at doing so, as if she'll do it wrong and smear it over Marron's face. Or Marron will like, bite her hand or something. Even Asha has to admit the latter seems far less realistic.

"So... what do you think?

~~

Nettle joins the Cups of Chaos battle, spawning at H2. She drops from there to H7, Blesses Adria with Paradise Lost, then uses Venoveil on herself.

Auth considers the statement Nana says about Sunlight...

AUTH: "Have sunlight" down there is a rather strong way of phrasing it. It's more like they... effectively bottle sunlight, and bring it down there to grow trees and other plants.
AUTH: Sunlight is highly dangerous for most people in the Neath, so they can't bore tunnels to get light down there. They send people up to the surface regularly to keep supplies high, I think.
AUTH: There's a place like that down there, though. It's called Aestival, it's got a gap in the roof of the Neath above it. People effectively turn to dust if they stay there too long.

Auth pauses for a moment, as if he's reconsidering the phrasing of that statement... but he decides not to. At this point, he is able to discuss how scars work.

AUTH: Well, that's the thing. A scar is, for humans, as healed as moderate to severe injuries get. They don't really hurt. At least, not actively.
AUTH: I think a burn is actually far more severe than a scar, honestly. At least, in terms of the damage they represent. I suppose most wounds we actually treat with magic get healed far better than what the body's natural processes are able to perform. Maybe scars heal under magic...
AUTH: My instincts say that a scar is counted as a healed injury, though.

Auth nods as he helps Nana up from the picnic. He waves goodbye to everyone as he departs with Nana... and then a copy of him walks in from somewhere just out of sight. Seems here's leaving a Specter to help keep an eye on things. But his focus is definitely on Nana.

AUTH: I'm almost certain that the Godblossom is fine. We probably would have heard something about it if anybody who wanted to hurt it got remotely near, right?
AUTH: Don't stress. It'll be okay. Have a little faith, right? We put up plenty of defences against anything that might come near.
AUTH: Nothing will have happened, knock on wood.

Auth uses that last phrase to dispel the inevitable jinx that such positive assertions usually carry.

---

Auth focuses his senses, listening for the samurai again. He listens for the echoing of the vents, and feels his way through the room. He definitely wants to find a way into the vents, at the very least.

---

At the same time but also at a completely different time, Auth is with the Scarlet. She appears to have calmed down a little bit, at least. Probably enough have clear trains of thought.

AUTH: How was that? Feeling a little better now?
AUTH: If you're feeling up to it, we'd like to know what happened. We're doing our best to work out what happened ourselves, but you'd know what happened better than we could work out, I suspect.
AUTH: If it takes you a while, it's okay. Just do your best for us, and we'll do our best to help you.

---

Auth considers the counterproposal by the Rebel speaking to him. He thinks about it deeply... seems that, immediately, they're not going to be able to get inside. He has a bad feeling about that.

AUTH: I would like to say yes to that arrangement, under most circumstances I would be fine with accepting your offer to pull up the footage and bring it to us.
AUTH: But I have a very bad feeling about it. It's not proof of anything, and I most certainly can't prove it, but I have a feeling that asking your friend to pull the footage off the drive is going to put them in quite disproportional danger.
AUTH: Do you mind if I consult with my party about what we should do? We're at something of a stalemate either way.

Assuming that that rebel says that it's fine for him to go back and ask, he flies up to where Cypress and Chi are, and speaks quite quietly. Auth might not have all of the specific evidence to prove that Cypress is a member of the Zabuton, but his mental acuity lets him pick up on certain pieces of evidence that would indicate that. Such as Omo's sudden change in demeanour.

AUTH: Cypress, need a favour. You're probably the only one who can get us into the Security Room without a fight, and without blowing any cover that people may be maintaining.
AUTH: Do you have access to certain gear of yours? We want to get the rebels to let us in to get security footage, since... well, I think the legion is probably going to break into security as soon as somebody tries. We really want to avoid letting the footage get destroyed, so we're wondering if it's possible for you to get them to stand down, somehow.

Auth is, naturally, attempting to find the best solution that does not involve a fight.

---

Speaking of fighting, Auth drifts to the Cups of Chaos battle. For this fight only, he alters Perseverance from Fire/Light to Fire/Poison. His variable resistance is also set to Poison.

Auth spawns on E2, drops to E4, harvests the Evervine and casts Veneveil on himself.

Character Stuff
How long has it been? A year?

+6 Defense

The Dropping Battle
Daskter drops from H11 to spawn a Construct: Vanguard right to their left G10.

Settings. Basic Attack Crush
Magic Weakness 30% Air
Magic Resist 10% Poison.

<ROUND 280>

Stats! Oh noooooooo

---

Echoss attends to matters of the magic. The magic club. There, he praises Taeda, calling her a competent caster. She blushes a gentle green as her conjured mollusk jumps down into her arms. She gives it a gentle hug.

TAEDA: Aw, thanks!
TAEDA: I couldn’t have done it without you, though!

She then watches as Echoss responds to Aoki. The spell he’s trying to teach is unusual for a variety of reasons, and many would be unable to cast it without a tutor of sorts. It’s complicated, really. Then, noting her nervousness, offers her something to eat. She nods in a slow and polite fashion.

AOKI: That would be appreciated.
AOKI: A sandwich, if you’d please. One with a single slice of meat, and plenty of greens.
AOKI: I am… not allowed to consume anything overly sweet or fatty.
AOKI: It’s not for medical reasons or anything of the sort. Usually, I am told off for consuming anything that could potentially damage my appearance.
AOKI: So, if you’d please...

If she’s given a sandwich that matches her description, she’ll wolf it down with surprising voracity. Once that has been polished off, she’s quick to focus her attention towards Echoss’s teachings. She takes a butterfly, and with melodic, practiced humming, the butterfly unfurls. She focuses on the feeling, analysing the information. Of note is that she’s awfully fast in doing so, finishing her analysis in a few seconds. Was it proper…?

AOKI: I’ll give it my best shot.

She hums, going from a quiet whisper to a graceful crescendo. There’s a burst of sparks above her head, but nothing manifests.

AOKI: ...Hmph.
AOKI: I’ve trying my hardest to focus upon the subject, but I’m not sure what I’m doing wrong, exactly.
AOKI: Is it incompatible with my methodology of casting?

While Aoki ponders this, Pionobot notes to Chloe that Earth’s cows aren’t exactly harmless either. The swordswoman is the slightest bit doubtful.

CHLOE: Huh? But cows seem so peaceful!
CHLOE: How could they kill someone?
CHLOE: I mean, I guess they’re pretty big, but...
MAPLE: I haven’t seen a cow, but they can probably like, run you over and then... fat you to death.
MAPLE: With their fat.
MAPLE: Just cuz’ it’s big, doesn’t mean it’s slow!

He also notes that he never thought he’d run into a nine foot tall murder beaver. Maple snickers to herself.

MAPLE: Nine-foot tall? That’s nothing!
MAPLE: I’ve heard rumors of a really, really big Fell Beast!
MAPLE: It’s like, the size of a house, but a bit bigger! Two houses!
MAPLE: Everyone calls it the Fell God.
CHLOE: ...Grima?
MAPLE: Huh? What’s a Grima?
MAPLE: I don’t know if the beast- or uh, “Grima” exists or not, but… who knows? It probably has a basis, right?

MAPLE: ...Also, it has like, huuuuge wings, and breathes fire!
CHLOE: Okay, now you’re just messing with us!
MAPLE: Hahaha, yeah!
MAPLE: I mean, I hope I am!~

The two share some hearty laughter with one another. Also, Not!Echoss gives the Reborn in the toilet a swirly. This is really rude, and then they die. rood

---

Hannah begins scouting for Regalus. There’s also a whole mother-daughter conversation, but as per usual I usually can’t respond to those sorts of things. Hannah heads up to one of the cathedral towers, trying to watch what she can from there. Though, she can’t even see the house from up here, telescope or not. (I mean, she might, but it’d be a little speck.) It’s all really quite far away. Is this the best place to stake a lookout from?

Adria also (temporarily) switches builds! While I’d load it into the character sheet, that’d be a huge pain so I’ll just leave a link to your sheet in the battle readout. Once I’ve loaded that, anyway. She also decides to activate Thymebent mode, which totally won’t turn out horribly. NOPE.

Adria then decides to go take out a guard! She sends a drone through a break in the floor, before heading off to hide behind a cart. Then, deciding she'll need tranquilizer, Adria throws together 7 Psychoid Leaves, 7 Fresh Manabloom, and a Reverie Fragment. This creates the ultimate blunt a suitable tranquillizer. This is then combined with a few Wire Scraps and Iron Ingots, creating a device which can be hummed into to suppress a target.

Still behind the cart, she hums a gentle melody into the device. The Splintershot immediately falls over, smashing against the metallic floor. That'll hurt a bit, but oh well. The... "Melodic Snooze" as I'll call it, enters the inventory. Looks like it's good for one more use. With them out of the way, now what?

Elsewhere, Adria explains to Marron that she thinks that not only did Venia organize the kidnapping, but that Chaos probably did it for free. That latter thing seems to shock the seamstress more than the former.

MARRON: W-Wait, there's no way Chaos would d-do something like that for free!
MARRON: Isn't h-he like, evil? Possessed by the Chaos Butterfly? And worse yet, he's a CAPITALIST.!
MARRON: There's like, literally no way.
ETTE: People can be nice when they want to!
ETTE: I bet Chaos would do it for free.
MARRON: There's no way! Actually no way!

MARRON: But... why would Venia organize this, anyway?
MARRON: Maybe she's in danger. But from who?
MARRON: Regalus, I guess. But I'm pretty sure he loves his daughter.
MARRON: Then again, he also did send her to this highly dangerous planet.
ETTE: That's just negligent!
ETTE: Chaos should adopt Maria. That way, she'll always be safe!

Marron gives a blank stare towards Ette. Regalus would probably go slap the ex-puppet for something like that. Finally, Feynsik decides to hop into Omorika's Office to investigate the situation there. Though, far as they can tell, Omorika was the only person in there as of recently. While yes, the room is an unholy mess from the battle that happened a few days ago against Lucid, it's a consistent unholy mess.

But really, there's glass everywhere. It's hard to tell if anything is recent or not. Though, Omorika was here recently. Perhaps she'd know a thing for two? Anyway, further investigation reveals nothing much of interest. While there were signs of someone having been around the main library, there's little to indicate that they went to the main office.

---

The Reflector becomes birb. They soar through the hallway and flying tackle the fleeing engineer. They're driven right into the ground! Before they can shake themselves free and escape, the Reflector morphs into their normal form, properly pinning them down. They're then presented with a dilemma: either go and visit Magic Club, or just be left in the Drone Hangar.

ENGINEER: i'm not even a named character leave me alone
ENGINEER: c'mon man someone already stole my id card
ENGINEER: it's been a bad day
ENGINEER: why do you want to be down here, anyway?
ENGINEER: these tunnels are not up to regulation

...Looking around though, these tunnels really are large. Seems like they're mostly maintenance tunnels, built as needed to provide essential services to various locations of the Sky Labs. It also seems like once upon a time, there were electronic maps down here. Where are they trying to go, anyway? That'd probably allow the GM to properly generate something. Maybe they'll stumble upon a few goodies along the way, too.

Also, a quick stroll through the Rosen Catacombs reveals no entities that are Regalus-shaped. Well, there is one cultist that tries their damned hardest to look like Regalus just to throw them off, but they don't actually have a point of reference as to who Regalus is. It's unclear why they're even trying.

---

The Calsquad does a variety of things! First, within the Calzone, she finds a sword hiding behind a painting! She decides to grab it and take a closer look, holding it in her hands. Though it's rusted, it feels good when she swings it. Then, she notices that Calibri's behind her.

CHLOE: A-Ah! I-I'm not stealing anything! I-I just wanted to look!
CHLOE: S-Sorry...

...Though, far as she can tell, Calibri is fine with her taking it. She decides to carry it with her as she heads around the house. Calibri notes that there's a library to the east, and a living room to the west. Libraries aren't really her thing, so she decides to head towards the living room.

CHLOE: Huh, y'know... I've been wondering.
CHLOE: This place kinda looks similar to the house we're currently hunkered up in. Abies's place, y'know?
CHLOE: Like, even the fountain outside was pretty similar! Save for the t-posing version of you, b-but that's a minor difference!
CHLOE: Did you model this place after the real world?

Chloe can't help but wonder if there's still a nice couch to sleep on. God does she love that couch. Elsewhere, in the Library, Blacklight discusses what might've happened with the Sleuth. Obviously, a Gorged couldn't have killed three Scarlets. The bodies also don't resemble that of a Gorged's attacks. The Sleuth considers these things carefully.

THE SLEUTH: The Sleuth is unsure what to make of these findings.
THE SLEUTH: As he said, the bodies have suffered damage that a Gorged wouldn't inflict.
THE SLEUTH: Perhaps, he thinks, the Gorged never found the bodies at all.
THE SLEUTH: Perhaps the culprit intentionally fed the innards of the Scarlets to the Gorged.

THE SLEUTH: "Ah, look at this." The Sleuth gestures to the equipment of the hollowed-out Scarlets.
THE SLEUTH: He traces his fingers along their blades. There's traces of sap upon them. Fairly recent, too.
THE SLEUTH: Could this have been an act of self-defense? He doubts it. But how odd.

He has a point. Though, there's not too much sap on the weapons. Must've been a weak, or somewhat hesitant blow. Still, one might remember that the Scarlet who's currently hiding away was injured.

---

Venia and Nia vibe at Magic Club. Venia suggests to Nia that perhaps this whole "transcendence" thing will just be something she figures out. Also, maybe go ask Mari? Nia pouts in the general direction of Venia.

NIA: I mean, I guess I could ask Mari.
NIA: I kinda want you to teach me though, y'know? Spend more time together.

Venia then surveys the area. Is anyone else presenting?

NIA: Uh, hm...
NIA: Well, there was Dorothy and Mr. Firework Guy.
NIA: I think people choose to go present out of their own volition n' junk.
NIA: I'd show off my stuff, if I was a biiiit more confident I wouldn't accidentally de-limb myself mid performance. Multiple times.

NIA: Ooh, maybe you could go up and show off something?
NIA: I don't actually really know how you work! It'd be cool to learn!
NIA: ...Or can you actually teach us the things you know? I dunno.
NIA: Can I have access to the infinite good food dimension? I want in.

...Is that really magic, though? Maybe Nia's just has the munchies. She grabs a sandwich and a cookie, alternating between bites on each of them. How does food go through her system like this, anyway? Does she even need to eat? It still tastes good, thou-

NIA: Ooh, weird!
NIA: I can taste food despite being made of snow!
NIA: That's a good sign, right? I dunno.

Elsewhere, down in the Rosen Catacombs, Venia works with the Mold. Utilizing the Gaiameld within the structure itself, as well as a scroll of Teraform, Venia ejects all the Rosetainted Metal from the structure. This all falls into the inventory- 10 units of it. Then, taking 10 units of Sanctified Alloy, she replaces all of the Rosetainted Metal.

Finally, over in the Loading Zone, Maria notes she likes spaghetti. This pleases Chaos greatly. He will make a spaghetti when he has the time. Or he can microwave that trinket he keeps in the inventory. Does he have a microwave, though? He can probably just buy one. From himself. Also, apparently just like death and taxes, Venia is unavoidable.

CHAOS: venia has a saying based af[t]er her?
CHAOS: dea[t]h, [t]axes, venia
CHAOS: lady is large spooky

Maria then spam-asks Chaos where Venia is. She wants to play with Venia. Where is she? Chaos begins to sweat.

CHAOS: uhhhh
CHAOS: venia is
CHAOS: busy
CHAOS: bu[t] if you wan[t] we can play some[t]hing
CHAOS: we [c]an play games [t]ha[t] will [t]es[t] our skills
CHAOS: like snakes and ladders

Snakes and Ladders. The ultimate competitive board game. Little does Maria know that Chaos is the number one player on the Snakes and Ladders global leaderboard. But he has this feeling that Maria isn't going to be happy here. He'll need to think of a plan, and fast. An angry Maria will result in an angry Venia. And that means she might ask for a refund. Even though she got it for free, that'd be a stain on his soul. He must provide quality service.

Or die, probably. Which would strand Maria in the void between zones, so that's probably not a good idea.

---

Crya dies of cuteness overload. She ded. In addition, Destiny makes their way towards the AI Labs at a rapid pace! The Praetorian outside- apparently a Royal Magus- watches Destiny's approach. Quick as they can, they throw up a wall of earth, and make their way into the labs. As Destiny scrambles over the wall, she can hear them yelling from the other room.

PRAETORIAN: Everyone! Prepare yourselves!
PRAETORIAN: We'll need to make due with what information we have now! The Spherebreakers have arrived!
PRAETORIAN: Begin the hacking process!

From beyond the door, there's the shouts of a Chairian man. Rushing up to it, Destiny kicks the door right off its hinges... and according to the battle map, some of the wall goes with it, too. They witness the Magus throwing a scientist to the floor, while the other members of a science team look on in horror.

SCIENTIST: W-Wait, y-you can't upload the virus now!
SCIENTIST: W-We're yet to deactivate the firewalls! It can be bypassed, b-but the upload will take an incredibly long time to-
PRAETORIAN: There's a WHAT?

There's the crackle of flames as a pulse of crimson fire splashes across the scientist's coat. While the coat doesn't catch alight, and likely prevents most of the permanent damage, it's still enough to get the scientist to scream in pain.

PRAETORIAN: Damn it!
PRAETORIAN: Had you hurried up and actually obeyed us, we might not be dealing with the Spherebreakers now!
PRAETORIAN: But instead, you had to stall!
PRAETORIAN: Once we're done here... I'm going to personally execute you and your whole team for treason against Chairheir Spark.
PRAETORIAN: Or maybe...

Harmonia begins to shake and clatter.

PRAETORIAN: ...Perhaps we'll let your boss's pride and joy light you up?
PRAETORIAN: Sure, it might not have any conventional flame weaponry... but I'm sure we'll find a way to cause a spark.
PRAETORIAN: For now, you can watch as we eliminate every last one of the Spherebreakers.

Many Legionaries scramble into position, and begin to hold a rather narrow chokepoint. A barrage of bullets and spells forces Destiny back into hiding in the hallway. Bleh. Getting through there will be a pain, and will likely take some good effort. But, looking at Harmonia... do they have the time to take it slowly?

- = S T R I F E ! = -

---

Auth explains London's "sun' to Nana. Apparently, they ship in sunlight from the surface, since the sun is dangerous to those who live in the Neath.

NANA: W-Wait, if the sun is dangerous to people who live there...
NANA: H-How are y-you alive, e-exactly? We've b-been out in the sun a lot on our a-adventures!

Nana sincerely hopes that Auth won't explode in a puff of logic. As they continue down the road to the Godblossom (assuming that Auth hasn't exploded, anyway), he assures Nana that nothing bad will have happened to the flower.

NANA: Well, i-if you say so...
NANA: I guess I shouldn't be worried, s-since we have those defenses set up and all.
NANA: And what would the Iti w-want with a dusty old church, a-anyway?

Soon enough, the two of them arrive at the chapel. From what they can tell, nobody's visited the place since they left. That's nice. Maybe Nana didn't need to be worried in the first place anyway.

Elsewhere, in the Aviation Chamber, Auth does his best to listen for the samurai, listening to the echoing of the vents. If he focuses really, really hard, he can hear someone's gentle breathing. As for a way into the vents... there's the vent missing a grate up on the ceiling, which he can likely fly into. Though, one might wonder if he can squirm through the vents properly or not.

Next, elsewhere in this same timeline, Auth is conversing with the shaken Scarlet. Holding the thought-to-text tablet towards her, the Scarlet reaches her right hand out. Ever so gently, she places it against the tablet, her other arm still clutching the Chloe plushie. Text forms on the tablet, though there's still plenty of senseless noise mixed with it.

SCARLET: (S-Sythia.)

...Is that her name? Judging by Zone 2's map, that seems to be the case. It's progress, at least. Finally, over at the Central Labs, Auth considers the Rebel's counter-proposal. While it's a nice gesture, he can't really be sure that his friend will be safe while he gets the footage.

REBEL: i mean i think my friend can use a computer without getting fried
REBEL: they were ex-skylab staff, they're sorta good with tech unlike a lot of us
REBEL: but yeah go ahead and talk with your friends
REBEL: we're not going anywhere
REBEL: yet

With permission to leave obtained, Auth flutters over to Cypress. He asks him for a favor- he's likely the only one who can get into the security room without a fight. Cypress raises a finger.

CYPRESS: Slight issue.
CYPRESS: I led rebels. However, remained here. In the labs.
CYPRESS: All communication: remote. Long distance. Never shown face.
CYPRESS: Unlikely they'd recognize. Impossible to convince. To them: Highchair. An enemy. They don't know. Cypress. Kudan. One and same.
CYPRESS: So, cannot visit. In person, anyway. Likely outcome: combat.
CYPRESS: Any suggestions? Will help however.

...Who just leads an army without showing their face? Then again, Linseed and Pomme were there to handle the in-person sort of leadership. It's all a rather complicated situation though, isn't it?

---

I processed posts in the wrong order! Weird. Anyway, Nettle explains her ideology to Taeda. She really does not scare if people view her technique as scary. Rather, she thinks that's a good thing. No sympathy for the Legion. Taeda shakes her head.

TAEDA: U-Um... why do you dislike the Legion so much?
TAEDA: There are plenty of Chairians who are fighting just because they want to defend their homeland...
TAEDA: L-Lots of them don't support the Sphere, or anything! T-They're just fighting to survive!
TAEDA: Aren't they your people, too?

Taeda also doesn't seem to care much for Nettle demonstrating on a live subject. That'd scare her more than anything, she feels. Elsewhere, over at Magic Club, Asha carefully slots the marmalade sandwich into Marron's mouth. She vocalizes a little "nom" as she bites down onto the sandwich, ripping a chunk off. Her face lights up, a gentle blush taking her. She pokes her head out of the quilt of coziness, looking towards Auth.

MARRON: Auth! This is really good!
MARRON: Can you share me the recipe? I wanna learn how to make things like this!

She then recedes back into the quilt, rubbing her head up against Asha's organic arm.

MARRON: Thanks for the bite, Toaster!
MARRON: I should feed you something nice, too!
MARRON: But if I'm gonna do that, I'm gonna bake it myself!

The duo is rather comfy. They're really not learning too much about magic though. But maybe being comfy transcends the need for knowledge.

---

<THE CUPS OF CHAOS, ROUND 2>
Oh boy. That's a large Saturation Needler. That'll certainly be a LARGE PAIN if you stick around, so probably get out of there! But there's the issue of properly DPSing the Tamaugachi, too. Do you get moving to escape from fate, or try something else to get in some damage? Whatever the case is, DON'T MOVE UPWARD. That'll only end badly.

<AI LABS, ROUND 1>
This is an interesting fight. The enemy likely won't be moving from their position, so you'll be approaching them! Your ultimate objective is to prevent Harmonia from getting hacked, because otherwise it'll jump you and probably ruin your day. Break into their line and smash their computers to stop the hack! Or properly hack their computers. That'll work better.

(For the above update, sorry this is so late)

Stats:
+2 STR
Special rework, hopefully less broken this time (see below)
Mana Manipulator: 3A, 6A, 10B (along with the corresponding damage/tier increases)


Cups of Chaos:
Remiel spawns in at H2 with trait active (dropping them to H10), meditates if possible, and basic-attacks the Vesperia.

ZONE 5

The Reflector mentally informs the DM that they're trying to use these tunnels to navigate to the first floor of the Central Labs, as Cypress implied was possible. Just to see what's down there.

---

ZONE 1

"The Scion" decides to search for Regalus here next, wandering around seemingly aimlessly while keeping a sharp eye out for anything suspicious.

---

ZONE 0

The Reflector, or at least a mirror image of them, comes down the basement stairs to see Cindy heading east. Whether to go through someone's room or to investigate Linseed's cell, none of that area is really anything an outsider should be accessing. The Reflector taps her on the shoulder.

THE REFLECTOR: well hello excuse me ms. cindy was it yes?
THE REFLECTOR: i would like to kindly politely ask you to refrain from entering that area.
THE REFLECTOR: you see well everything contained there is private property property of various spherebreakers, some of it rather dangerous indeed!
THE REFLECTOR: we would all well at least i would feel much safer if civilians and outsiders like yourself remained in common areas not private ones.

---

BATTLES - AI LABS

"The Scion" spawns in at H20 and moves to H19. She consumes her Flux Mutation for Ordo with her action, then uses the RAC to activate the Calypse Cannon from tiles H9 to L9.

In no particular order / priority (NPC orders):
Chi moves to L20 and Prepares Salve.
Maple moves to L19 and casts True Heroine's Blades. She uses a bonus action to use the Hackdrive to activate the Concealed Turret at E6.
Nana moves to H20 and idles.
Chloe moves to L20 and casts Sword Beam.
Omorika moves to J22 and casts Incantation, summoning this Construct at J20 (named whatever she pleases):
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Ula...#gid=1015216644.
Its basic attack is set to slashing, and its weaknesses and resistances are set to crushing / dark and slashing / piercing / electric, respectively.
Omo grants it Empowered4 for three rounds.

NPC stuff:
Sleuth is hired to scan a Scuttletongue and also the tamaugachi since we entered the battle with that and it's likely gonna be too close a fight to actually get to scan it normally.


Special note:
Following the events of the conversation in the big chapel RP, Glimmer has set up her beetles all throughout Zone 0. Everything is being actively monitored and any sudden events or normally "silent" events or things should be noted both on the map and in the updates.


Magic Club:
Echoss chuckles at Taeda's comment.
"Maybe so, but you still did most of the work.
I'm glad I had the opportunity to teach you this."

Echoss nods at Aoki's sandwich request, and starts assembling the sandwich.
"Ah, strict managers then?
That's a shame, it can be rather difficult when appearance is tantamount above all else.
Hopefully at some point you'll have the opportunity to live for yourself more than you do now.
Regardless,"
He hands Aoki the sandwich.
"Here you are. I hope you don't mind, we don't have many sussuian native vegetables in our selection here so these may not all taste exactly the same as you're used to.
They should have about the same nutritive content, however."

Echoss strokes his chin after Aoki's failed casting.
"It shouldn't be. From what I can see and hear your magic isn't too far removed from standard melodic casting variants, it should be accounted for just fine.
Are you sure you didn't reflexively try to modify the casting beyond what I explained? Like pouring more mana into one casting than required instead of casting it multiple times at once? It doesn't take on the spot modification very well if you don't know specifically and exactly what you're doing."

Echoss nods at Dorothy.
"Hm, that's just once so it probably doesn't count.
Either way, well done!"

Echoss chimes in on Nettle's comment asking for a volunteer.
"If the others are willing to allow the demonstration, I could act as your volunteer. I am both capable of opening my mana up to use without injury, and able to free myself from your technique should I not actually be injured yet. I believe that makes me an ideal candidate for it."

Pionobot chuckles at Chloe and Maple's comments.
"Well yeah, they're mostly peaceful. But they're peaceful because they were bred not to trample you to death if you look at them sideways.
All the best cuts of meat are muscle, you don't eat the fat straight. It's used in like, lard and stuff but the actual meat cuts are the muscle.
Which means that most of that 6 foot animal is muscle. Heavy muscle. And when they get up to full speed they move half again as fast as professional sprinters. You're basically getting hit by a car specifically angling itself to injure you."

Pionobot laughs at the description of 'Grima'.
"Well if I ever see a giant beaver wearing a dragon cosplay I'll be sure to warn everyone in the area."


Not!Echoss hears the sounds of Genocide Route and disappears out of the bathroom. Phasing in from the ceiling of the Drone Hangar, he applies a pair of salves to the downed devout, hopefully stabilizing them without waking them back up.
He then backs up to the wall behind the hangar bay door, pulls some bone shards out of his own bones, and begins flicking them at Maxim.
Presumably, Maxim takes issue with this, rounding on Not!Echoss. Not!Echoss continues flicking bone chips across the room at Maxim.

Then, when Maxim tries to kill Not!Echoss, one of the following things happens.
If Maxim tries to get to Not!Echoss more slowly, Not!Echoss simply keeps their distance, moving around the room to stay on the opposite side of it from Maxim, flicking bone chips all the while.
If Maxim is in heavy mode and attempts to use tendril pull, the tendril latches on to a piece of Not!Echoss, only to retract having acquired a miniscule piece of ink-like goop instead of actually pulling Not!Echoss to Maxim. Not!Echoss continues flicking bonechips.
If Maxim is in light mode and attempts to use tendril pull, the tendril launches through Not!Echoss's flesh and hooks. Maxim launches forwards only for Not!Echoss to spontaneously disintegrate, revealing that Maxim hooked not Not!Echoss but the wall behind him, crashing face first into the wall at top speed.
If Maxim rushes Not!Echoss, Not!Echoss disintegrates as above, Maxim realizing that someone has greased the floor a few seconds too late and crashing headlong into the wall at top speed.

In either of the latter two cases, Maxim hears a faintly fading blown raspberry afterwards.


Battle:
Pionobot slides into the room behind Destiny and hears the Praetorian immediately after.
"Wow, first you guys try and assassinate Cypress on the mere suspicion that he's working with the Rebels.
Then you straight up murder Acacia to scapegoat her for Spark failing to kill us back in the South wing.
And now you're going to incinerate the researchers because... I dunno because you're just gorillaholes I guess?
Honestly I thought we were going to need recordings or something but at this rate everyone's going to figure out how eager you are to burn down LOCAA just so you can drown all of Sussui in Iti for some poorly conceived revenge plot without our intervention."
He glares at the praetorian, his eyes flaring with an ominous red light. He seemingly unconsciously swaps to phlognosticator-scythe.
"You seem to like fire a lot, though, for a bundle of matchsticks.
You wouldn't mind if I gave you a bit more, right?"
He suddenly stops and shakes his head, swapping to SternDisapproval-scythe (it looks like a mask that radiates a feeling of immense disappointment)
"Hmph, not this time. You freaks are seriously making me consider violating the whole 'avoid casualties where possible' thing the team's got going though."

Battle actions:
Pionobot acts after Irongutta
Pionobot joins in with armistyx set to Earth at K20, casts Eagle Eye on himself and Irongutta, then moves to M20

NPCs to call in are Omorika, Chi, Maple, Chloe, and Nana.

The ITI battle

Daskter moves to (E11) and explodes (creation singularity) B16 (htting only the pillager). They also eat one of their cookies.

Vanguard moves to (D9) and Risposte. They drop down and proceed to first strike slash at the Pillager if the action is valid.

Crafting

Skylabs - Picnic and Magic Club

"...You know, I should really do something out here at some point. I feel like it'd be... awkward, though. The whole turn-back-into-a-person thing might be a little uncomfortable when there's still people wandering around inside..."

Portalibri pauses.

"Actually, is that realm inside me? Or part of me? Or something else? That raises several questions..."

---

The Whispering Library

Weighing up the evidence, something the Sleuth mentioned stands out to Blacklight. He frowns a little, at least his shade does the approximation of a frown. It's hard to tell since shades don't have much in the way of 3d figures.

BLACKLIGHT: ...Traces of sap. Interesting discovery.
BLACKLIGHT: Interesting... and concerning.

Verdana blinks.

VERDANA: Concerning how?
BLACKLIGHT: This may be a leap in logic, but I think we're dealing with a Relinquish Will user.
VERDANA: ...!?!?
BLACKLIGHT: Hear me out.

Blacklight performs the "ahem ahum" of attention getting, then continues speaking. Hopefully he's onto something here...

BLACKLIGHT: The weapons we are inspecting here have traces of sap on the blades. Obviously, that indicates they have been used to injure Chairians.
BLACKLIGHT: It's possible the murderer stole the swords and used them to kill the Scarlets, but if that was done, there would be more sap. There is no practical reason to hold back when you want someone dead.
BLACKLIGHT: Furthermore, we have an injured Scarlet to the north, hiding away on a balcony. Auth is currently tending to her, don't worry. She did have light injuries on her.
BLACKLIGHT: The logical conclusion is that those swords were used to injure that Scarlet. One might wonder why it would be necessary.
BLACKLIGHT: If there's one thing I can safely say, the people here are... generally sound of mind enough to not go berserk on each other out of nowhere. Especially on friends.
BLACKLIGHT: My theory is that whoever our perp is, they used Relinquish Will or a similar spell to hijack control over the living Scarlet, used her as a tool (Blacklight shudders in disgust) to murder the other two Scarlets, and performed the disembowlment and feed-to-random-Gorged as a way to dispose of the evidence.

There's a pause.

BLACKLIGHT: Just a theory, though.
VERDANA: I see. At least we can guess what the... perp(?) will do in a fight.
BLACKLIGHT: Any progress is good progress.
VERDANA: If that's the end of your theory, then can we get to the part where we find the perp and... deal with them?
VERDANA: Calibri's keeping me up to date on what other people are doing. With "The Scion" combing the Outskirts and Hannah monitoring the Old Pass, if our perp has fled there, they'll likely be discovered.
VERDANA: I don't think they'd make it to the Chairian Capital, not without some serious shenanigans.
VERDANA: We've almost performed a full sweep of the Library, too.
VERDANA: If the perp doesn't double back to an area we just looked over, then the only place we haven't checked is the Endless Gardens.

Beat.

VERDANA: I sincerely hope the perp didn't go there. With all the Chairians around, it would be a disaster...
VERDANA: Hemlock, Carrot, Lutea, Beluta... Better visit them soon. Just in case.

---

The House

EN notes to herself that there's something called a Sanguine Empire, that this person she's talking to right now is called Rosalind Hemmors, and that said Rosalind's bugs are... rather oddly formed, if she heard that correctly. EN processes this information quietly, taking the handshake fairly well, then brushing aside some of her own hair before responding.

"Huh. Ne'er 'eard o' a Sanguine Empire before. Prolly somethin' from a way-off timeline... Tha' aside, ah'm EN-913, usually called EN, an' ah'm one o' th' higher-level employees at th' Engietech corporation. Tha' might naw sound like much, but, ehhh... Kinda a multiversal affair kinda thin'. E'en if thin's 're gettin' a little... bad fer th' company lately."

She trails off, then glances over once she realizes Rosalind is back on her joyride attempt. Maybe best for her to stick close... Good thing EN doesn't need a Mechonis to fly. She has her own wings, after all.

"...Anywho, feel free t' start tha' up. Ah'll be right wit' ya."

---

The Everground

S.E.D performs a quick self-analysis check, determining that mobility has been impaired and that there's something interfering with other systems. After a moment of processing this information, it decides the best course of action is rectifying things by kicking its arsenal up a notch... And also get out of the way of that big attack, that's a good idea too.

S.E.D trundles to K7, then pauses for a moment to orient its weaponry. Once it does so, it casts Incendiary Missile Swarm on Harpy1, directing the resulting Empowered4 + Focused4 to S.E.D itself if possible, or to... whichever ally in range 1-3 asks for the buffs if not possible. After that, it retreats to L7, safely out of the line of fire.

While hanging out on the wall, the drone notices Mari and Cypress all the way at the other end of the battlefield. The drone turns to look in their direction, then does its best approximation of a wave. Assuming all goes well, it should be able to come over and help them out soon.

Battle - The Cups of Chaos

Hannah glares up at the stack of people standing on top of her. She's somehow carrying three people on her head without much of a sweat.

HANNAH: . . . I- what.
HANNAH: I'm not even mad! This is just impressive!
HANNAH: I was gonna call it stupid, but this actually works really well!
HANNAH: MAXIM! Toss me a Raspberry Pastry! You won't regret it, trust me!

Maxim and Hannah go before Remiel. AKA, Super Mega First.

Maxim tosses a Variety Fruit Pastry (Raspberry) to Hannah. This grants her Mending12, but more importantly, Enlightened5 and 20 SP. This SP is enough to fill Hannah's SP gauge! They also toss Symbiotic Growth on Hannah. Maxim waits until Hannah's done before doing anything else.

Hannah moves to (I10) (to catch SED in the Special's radius), getting a little nauseous, but taking no damage. She pre-emptively uses Radiant Core to dispel her Armorpierce and place it on top of (J11).

HANNAH: Time to show you what I'm made of!

Hannah uses her Special! SED, Maxim, Remiel, Daskter and his Vanguard, Nidra, Nettle, and Venia's Alloy are caught in the radius!

Scrap shield generators and dropped Tamaugachi Quills surrounding the tower vanish in a puff of shadow. They reappear, though not in the forms they once were. Weapons become augmented with the quills' points, giving them extra sharpness. Shield generators that were once deactivated and lost turn themselves into wristbands, which attach themselves to the wrists of the recipients.

Those targeted are buffed with the following:
Armorpiercing + Armorpiercing (Total: AP4): SED, Maxim, Alloy, Vanguard
MSHP + MSHP (Total: +6 MSHP): Remiel, Nettle, Daskter
MSHP + AP (Total: 2AP, +3 MSHP): Nidra

Hannah herself uses the leftover material from the massive buffing spree to augment her already phenomenal armor. Hannah gains Guardian5 and +16 MSHP for 3 rounds!

To cap everything off, Hannah Warp Rings to (M11).

HANNAH: ...What, you're expecting me to react to the poison?
HANNAH: Hmph, small stuff! I'm fine!

Maxim, meanwhile, leaps to (L8) and uses Tendril Pull on Harpy 4. They warp to (R10), and swap to Heavy Mode.

---

The Old Pass

Nobody's around downstairs. Oh well. Michaela takes out a pad of sticky notes. Must be the one she used prior to the reveal. She writes something on it with an odd-looking feather quill from a creature not of this world; the plumage is an icy blue and black, and the shaft is a pale green.

She pulls off the sticky note once finished, and sends it to "The Scion", given that Hannah at the very least trusts them enough... but wait, how? It disappears into seemingly thin air...

...the note pops straight into "The Scion"'s hand. It's obvious that it's Shelly's handwriting.



With that out of the way, Michaela returns to the top of the tower. Hannah was on lookout, but perhaps fortunately has found nothing. Instead she's taken out a map and marked stuff on it. A map of the zones she's best off going to, in a set order. Another Mirror Image sits by her side. They both have their Locust costumes on.

From the looks of things, they're going to be going in a reverse zone order, starting with the current zone (Zone 4), then Zone 3, then Zone 1. She's marked down potential anti-air dangers under each of the zones. Zone 3 is the most dangerous, as some of the Legion are present in Scale Ygg. Other than that, there's high winds and cold temperatures in Zone 4, and proximity to the Citadel for Zone 1. There's also the global threat of Rebels, Tabletopians, or Iti potentially ending up on her tail, though given that she's so fast and nimble on the glider it likely won't be much of an issue. Only real danger are AA guns.

Michaela sits next to the two.

SHELLY: Ready?
HANNAH: Ready as I'll ever be.
SHELLY: Good. Take this.

She hands Prime!Hannah a small earpiece. She briefly takes off her Locust's hood to slot it into her ear. She pulls it back up.

SHELLY: There should be a suitable runway out front. Let's move, before hell knows what shows up.

The two Hannahs nod. The trio head downstairs and through the door, taking one of the telescopes with them. They meet up near the Crest. Hannah 1 takes out the glider. Michaela adds more room to the glider using some Silkweed. Hannah 2 makes a few pre-flight checks. Hannah 1 attaches the telescope to the glider proper, to prevent it from slipping out, thus rendering the operation worthless.

Once everything's set up, Prime!Hannah moves the glider to (AS30), facing East. She gets in, with the Mirror Image taking her position at the rear, where the telescope is. Michaela stands to the side. She gives Hannah a reassuring nod.

SHELLY: Good luck, Pilot. You'll do great.
SHELLY: I'll keep an eye out down here.

Both Hannahs give Shelly a thumbs up as the engines start at low speed. The Hannahs run to get a good start. They lift off the ground rather soon, and the glider pulls itself up, flying over the gate and vertically up the mountain on the other side. They increase their speed as they go fully vertical. Once they hit a very considerable height (easily far out of Regalus's detective vision range, and only a blip when directly looking at them), they start going horizontal again.

Now properly in the air, Mirror Hannah starts scouting out the Old Pass for any Regalus-shaped bodies.

...Michaela, meanwhile, returns to the Southern Transept Tower. She packs up whatever Hannah left behind, and pulls the remaining telescope to her side, peering out over the Old Pass periodically. In the meantime, she starts reading through a novel.

---

Central Labs

Adria catches a glimpse of Destiny rushing in to fight. She overhears the Praetorians spouting info about a virus, and the sudden shaking and clattering of Harmonia, a war machine robot of sorts. She's equal parts fascinated by the machine and disgusted at the Praetorians' blatant abuse of power. She doesn't quite have the heart to fight them head-on like the rest of her team.

ADRIA: C-Curses...

...Knowing that the Splintershot she slept would wake up at the sound of any major ruckus, Adria grabs the sleepy Splintershot's arms, pulls them behind their back, takes out some simple yet sturdy iron cuffs and attaches them to the sleepyhead's wrists, locking their hands behind their back. She moves them to the cart, and pins the cuffs under one of the Starite bits.

Adria walks south of the battle area (out of sight of the enemy combatants), and takes a look over at the Machinery controls. Perhaps she could safely partially dismantle or fully de-energize the robot before it even has the chance to be used against her allies, all the while not angering the owner of this thing.

Speaking of said owner, Cypress receives a visit from a tiny spherical-ish robot drone with a propeller helping it to hover. Said drone is a sleek dark grey with an LED-style screen for its front face. It's showing a pair of "|"s for eyes, each a peppy violet. Attached are two small light laser cannons on either side, perhaps as self-defense, perhaps for some other purpose.

Either way, it flies over to Cypress, and starts speaking to him. Its robotic tone is unlike any of the other robotic things the pary has met; it sounds very lady-like, except with a bit of that robotic sound still present.

>Identifying...
>Identified as "Cypress".
>I am H-47. An AI employed by Miss Adria. This drone is one part of a significantly larger temporal network.

>You are familiar with Harmonia. A large Chairian-like robot noted as being your Magnum Opus.
>Miss Adria has uncovered where it docks. She crashed through the rusted floor. North-West of here.
>However. Legionnaires are currently attempting to seize control of Harmonia through usage of a malicious virus.
>They have taken over the AI labs. They are currently threatening the wellbeing of the scientists housed within. Along with forcing them to disable the security systems imposed on Harmonia.
>One of our allies has recklessly charged in. Forced them to activate the virus prematurely.

>Miss Adria is opportunistic. She has taken control of the machinery surrounding Harmonia.
>So she has a proposal. She wishes to temporarily physically disable Harmonia. Is there a way to safely disassemble parts of or discharge energy from Harmonia without incurring permanent damage?
>Alternative methods would incur significant property damage. Including but not limited to to:
>Computer terminals. Harmonia. Miscellaneous laboratory equipment. Lives.
>Guidance would be appreciated.

The drone hovers in place expectantly.

---

Southern Labs

Marron

Adria doesn't really have a concrete answer to give regarding Chaos. So she goes with her best guess.

ADRIA: Perhaps I should clarify... he may have made it free through no more than a technicality.
ADRIA: Inject a bit of weirdness and... yeah.

Adria then ponders the second portion... indeed, it was negligent. Even by Temporian standards she was too young. Not to mention frail, as most kids her age are.

ADRIA: A negligent father... what in the world was he thinking, sending her here...

ADRIA: And... is it just me, or are you two feeling like there's much more boiling beneath the surface?
ADRIA: It's lining up almost... too well in my head...
ADRIA: The "kidnapping" orchestrated by a loving caretaker... a negligent father sending her daughter to a dangerous planet...
ADRIA: Moreover the choice of "kidnapper" being simultaneously powerful and weird... not to mention Maria blatantly being a part of a royal family, thus meaning her father is likely also the king or emperor...
ADRIA: Something's going on. And it involves her father.
ADRIA: Am I making sense?

---

Magic Club - Adria

Adria looks on at the place where demonstrations occur. Indeed, there was very little in the way of demonstrations going on.

ADRIA: Hm...
ADRIA: Fireworks, huh? Aren't fireworks not very conventionally magic? Or even safe for indoors?
ADRIA: ...Granted, nobody seems at all hurt. Maybe they're magic fireworks after all.
ADRIA: Don't think our tech would count as magic.

She turns to Venia, and keeps her voice low.

ADRIA: Meet me near the crashed airship East of here later. I'll get out of your hair now.

Adria indeed gets out of Venia's hair soon after, returning to her old spot and sitting back down.

---

Broke Room Door

An Adria appears in the East hallway, just outside the Broke Room. She leans up against the door patiently.

---

Magic Club - Dorothy

Dorothy smiles gently at the praise, before sitting back down where Adria was.

---

Calscape

Sophia notices the training smartie. As it turns out, yes, Sophia does in fact know how to gun. Someone should remind themselves never to get on her nerves if they want to exist.

Anyway, she points the gun at the smartie and fires.

---

Chemical Laboratory

Hannah walks around the Laboratory, looking through the various chemicals supplied in the tanks. Teleportatium, the Antidote Slash Poison, Ambrosia featuring half a Seeker, the tank simply labelled "no", and the big tank.

Wonder what she's planning...

---

Library

FEYNSIK: Certainly good at sending people on wild goose chases, eh?
FEYNSIK: Pah. May as well make extra certain.

Feynsik takes a quick pop down to the Twitching Chamber, just to make absolutely sure. Unless it for some reason bears fruit, he leaves very soon after.

He hops back across the crystals, back to the bodies where the Sleuth was waiting.

FEYNSIK: Significant structural damages East of here. May wish to take a look for yourself, but the culprit is not in the Library proper.
FEYNSIK: Ended up sending me on a wild goose chase. Perhaps you'll perform better.
FEYNSIK: I'm checking the sewers next.

Barring anything stopping the tuxedo dragon, he walks off to the sewers. He doesn't expect to find anything walking around down there save for a few mollusks. But better to make absolutely sure the culprit is not around any part near the library.

Destiny buys Elite Training before going into battle.

Destiny jumps into the AI Labs battle at H20, moving up to G19 and using the Drop Pod Coordinator at F19, summoning a Chemist.

Cups of Chaos
Play Perseverance.
Move to F15.
Power Nap Daskter.
Basic attack the Pillager twice.