Cups of Chaos: Remiel acts right after Maxim and Hannah, moving to F12 then using Warp Ring to reach D16 and Relinquish Will on the Ignihorn. Note: This grants the Ignihorn's +40% damage aura to anyone in Range 1-2 later this turn.

Battle: AI Labs

Irongutta spawns in at H20, buffs both himself and Destiny with Fury, and then moves to L19.

The Cups of Chaos, but not that Chaos and not his cups

Venia looks at the tower below and sighs. "... Oh dear."

The Alloy flashes its Assassination Contract at the Tama's ZoC, causing it to become able to completely ignore it-it promptly uses this ability to stand on top of the Tama's head. It's Assassination Contract also gives it Unavoidable and +50% damage, which makes punching it from this already extremely awkward and unlikely position not only a breeze even with the Tama's effective 70 DGE, but also really powerful. It retreats off to L10, not taking any Curse damage as it only moved up one tile, and chucks the Rosesplash Remedy onto Scuttletongue2, presumably not even breaking its SHP but still giving it a Flux Mutation. Preferably anything but Decayed, but what can you do?

Venia will then do a dive to K7, use Hopeful Heart to (slightly over)heal her Alloy and give her those sweet Snowfell Star buffs. She will then use her Ordo to Purge the Scuttletongue, hopefully killing it in a clean hit. Hopefully. It could get a mutation that gives +HP, but hopefully Cypress+Mari can deal with it should that occur. (Anything else won't work though, because a Flux mutated foe is Entropic and therefore is subject to the key's 'basically better Direct damage' effect on said foes.)

---

Magic Club

Venia looks at Nia meaningfully. "I'm sorry, it just kind of... Came to me. I didn't even notice that I did it myself until later... I'm not gonna be of much help on that much either way. We can go together, though. I mean, we're all Transcendents, that's something cool we have in common. Maybe it'll help with Mari's, uh, underlying issues? Let's call it that."

"As for demonstrating... I could show off something, just uh, give me a minute. Sadly I can't teach the, ahaha, the infinite good food dimension."

As she prepares... Whatever she's going to do next round, she catches wind of Adria's subversive whispering. "Oh god, you've got to be kidding me," Venia says, annoyed. "Is this urgent? I don't want to sound rude but I've been busy all day. Haven't even eaten... That reminds me, food."

Venia seems to deliberately ignore the sandwiches to pull more food out of her 'infinite good food dimension' (Nia's words, not mine), and silently sharing it with the rest of the gathered people. Mostly sushi, unsurprisingly.

---

Mariaaaaaaaa

"She's been busy every day. What's she busy with now?" Maria asks, clearly disappointed.

"... Also, what's a ladder?"

---

The Forge

I'm going to put a pause on repairing this for now, I feel like I need more than myself these days.

---

Regalus+Family

Regalus is nowhere in the Library, nor in the sewers-as far as Feynsik is concerned or aware. It's obvious he's not in this zone at all. Hannah's aerial search of the Old Pass and surrounding areas concludes that Regalus is also not at all anywhere in the area. This eliminates Regalus as being in half of the zones thus far investigated. As the Skylab is high-traffic, Regalus likely cannot be there either, leaving only the Chairian Outskirts and the Endless Gardens as potential hiding spots.

Meanwhile, no sooner does EN finish her dialogue that Rosalind promptly does stupidity and, against all probability, gets the Mechonis to start flying... Well, not really. It's more like that she somehow figures out how to get the thing going, then immediately jerks the steering wheel hard and fast in one direction with her pedal to the metal.

"WHEEEEE!"

Her joyride lasts less time than her own scream of joy, as the middle princess collides directly into the other Mechonis at top speed.

Nettle blesses S.E.D., then uses Venoveil on Venia, and retreats to F12.

The AI Labs
Woodthorne spawns in at J20 and casts Teraveil on Destiny.

Auth chuckles, slightly, in response to Nana's question.

AUTH: Well, there's ways and means around it. For instance...

Auth rummages in his many, many pockets before pulling out a highly sealed vial. At least some of it looks intended, but it's wrapped tightly in ethereal purple chains. Seems he couldn't open it if he wanted to.

AUTH: Hesperidean Cider. Rather potent potion, this is. There's a certain friend of mine who hates it when I get to go meet him because this stuff interrupts his job.
AUTH: It can heal any wounds, and it protects Neath dwellers from sunlight. Sold with a tagline that has always stuck in my head - "Whoso thirsteth and drinketh of this, so shall he never die". It's honestly an apt description.

Auth is quietly relieved when he sees that nothing has changed since the lot of them left... which means that the Godblossom is safe! Probably! He still goes over to check on it with Nana.

---

Auth, having heard the samurai crawling through the vents, attempts to crawl through the vent after him. If that fails, well... he does have the ability to control ink. He can send that through the vent, likely faster than Twig, to catch up.

---

Auth smiles, for Sythia.

AUTH: Sythia... is that your name? I think it's a good one.
AUTH: Before I get to the main topic here... now that you can communicate, is there something I can do to help you?
AUTH: It's probably best for you to at least try and get comfortable for now.

Auth is definitely going to get to Sythia's attacker, but for now he wants to make sure she's going to be okay.

---

Auth nods to Cypress' comments. The answer is actually pretty much what he was looking for.

AUTH: Quite. The fact that you don't actually appear in person is what I'm relying on, in fact.
AUTH: What I was wondering was if you had the ability to get your communications operating from here, or from nearby.
AUTH: I didn't mean to ask you to tell them in person, I wouldn't think that the rebellion would believe you if you said you were Kudan.
AUTH: I thought, however, that communicating semi-remotely as Kudan, you could get them to stand down. We're facing up against a unit head who is rather... stubborn, in his opposition to us.

Auth nods. Cypress' remote communication is an asset here.

---

Auth, moving after Remeil, moves to E8 and casts Veneveil and Quick-Purify on Daskter, then retreating to D9.

It seems im joining yet again trying

So:
Upgraded Lost Soul, it's T7 now first off
Moar Skillpoints:
+1 RES
+4 STR
+7 AGI

There we go, I guess I go in and hang at M19? I dont really know what todo

<ROUND 281>

To begin, let's do some stats! Or uh, a stat! I had a stats spoiler typed out, but is there really much of a point if I'm only managing one thing of stats? Anyway, DCCCV re-enters the game, slotting in the Lost Soul, as well as +4 STR, +7 AGI, and +1 RES! Welcome back!

---

The Reflector PM's the GM. Or QM. There's no Godmodder here though, so let's just say GM. Apparently, they're trying to go and head to the first floor of the Central Labs. The universe collectively nods, and decides to dispel the whole maze gimmick because honestly it seems kinda silly and slow. All of a sudden, the engineer they're pinning down speaks up.

ENGINEER: hey uh i'm not sure where you're going
ENGINEER: but to reach the central labs, just head north
ENGINEER: then when you hit the first intersection, head left
ENGINEER: then north again
ENGINEER: find a way to squeeze through a rubble blockade that's situated at the next intersection
ENGINEER: head north, then head east for a sec when you can
ENGINEER: run past all the iti nests
ENGINEER: north again
ENGINEER: walk through the conveniently located death puzzle as one does
ENGINEER: and hey presto you're there!

ENGINEER: so uh
ENGINEER: can you let me go now?

This sounds both more complicated than navigating a maze, and way less. Should they follow the Engineer's directions, they will in fact, come upon a rather thick wall of rubble and debris. It's probably at least a meter thick far as they can tell, and toxic chemicals are constantly being sprayed against it from a series of broken pipes. Getting through might be hard.

Elsewhere, the Scion decides that they're going to investigate Zone 1. While it's an arduous process, they only manage to investigate... a third of the zone: the northern third? Searching it all in a single action seems a bit unfeasible, really. Especially when you're dealing with an entire forest, instead of a properly-mapped catacombs. Now, perhaps if you had a method of aerial observation like Hannah did, you'd have better luck. That also tends to help expedite the process.

---

Magic Club continues to be in session for Echoss. But first, we interrupt this program to bring you updates from the Sleuth! For 100 Credits, he has obtained the data for both a Scuttletongue and the Tamaugachi!

>Codex Updated!
>Codex Updated!

Anyway, picnic. Echoss assembles a simple, lean sandwich for Aoki. She humbly accepts the sandwich, before destroying it within a matter of seconds. All that remains of the sandwich are a few crumbs, and a spare crust.

AOKI: ...My apologies if that was an unsightly display.
AOKI: I am always... rather hungry. But I will not ask for another.
AOKI: I-It would be... unhealthy. Surely, they would discipline me.

...She glares longingly at the remaining sandwiches, before snapping back to attention as Echoss explains what she might've done wrong. Perhaps she tried to modify it too much? She ponders this for a moment.

AOKI: That... may be the case.
AOKI: I tried to manifest something that would be "showstopping". Something like a graceful... swan? I am unaware of that is exactly, but I have heard that on the human's planet, it is a rather beautiful creature.
AOKI: But perhaps I have not mastered it yet. It should only be a matter of time though.
AOKI: Now, allow me to try again.

She begins to hum once again, going for a more modest, graceful pace. Sparks once again form above her head, before the coalesce into a small songbird. It lands on her head. It opens its beak to sing a melody, before it loses cohesion and breaks apart.

AOKI: Ah. Hm.
AOKI: Can... can I not make it sing? Or did I do something else wrong?
AOKI: The beautiful, free songbird is characterized by its song. A songbird without a voice is... worthless.

She stares down at the blanket, before clearing her throat.

AOKI: A-Ah, perhaps "useless" is the wrong word.
AOKI: I am just musing. Nothing is wrong, I-I assure you.
AOKI: So... yes. What have I done wrong?

While she ponders that, Echoss explains to Chloe and Maple that a cow can totally trample you to death. Or slam you really hard. After all, most of the animal is muscle. You are eating the strength of the beast. That's metal as hell. Chloe tilts her head.

CHLOE: I've been eating muscles this whole time?
CHLOE: Huh, I never really like... considered what I was eating, for some reason.
CHLOE: And I guess if one cow can provide so much meat, that's a lot of muscles... and a lot of power.
MAPLE: The mightiest beasts always have the best cuts of meat!
MAPLE: That's just how it is!

Maple begins to wonder just how good a dragon or something like that might taste. She opens her mouth to ask a question regarding that, then pauses.

MAPLE: ... Oh, hey! Random thought.
MAPLE: What's your name?

MAPLE: I-I mean, you're like, a Pionobot. But I think we've established that you're like, way cooler than all the other Pionobots!
MAPLE: And if this Piono guy is questionable at best, and you're not questionable at best... then maybe you're not a Piono! And if you're not, it'd be weird to call you such!
MAPLE: Maybe you're more like a... Tyrone, or something!
CHLOE: ...Eh? Piono's a questionable guy?
CHLOE: Wasn't he like, hero of the Second Godmodding War?
CHLOE: ...Tyrone's a good name, though. I like it.
MAPLE: Well, it's a bit more complicated than that.

MAPLE: But...yeah! Maybe-Piono, any ideas?
MAPLE: It should be something cool! Heroic!
CHLOE: I mean, a name doesn't need to be cool.
MAPLE: Yeah, but who'd want to listen to the "Chronicles of Bob"? No offense to Bob, but from the get-go that sounds super-duper lame.

Maple of course, means no offense to any Bobs in the audience. Even if she's right. Finally, Not!Echoss decides to pester Maxim. He yeets two salves at the injured Devout, stabilizing them. From there, he extracts his own bones to produce high-quality bone shards, which are then flung at Maxim. It takes all of four bone shards for Maxim to attempt to retaliate, flinging a bladed tendril at his attacker! It rips into Not!Echoss, attempting to yank him back! This unfortunately only returns some odd sort of pink goop.

Not!Echoss continues to pester Maxim with more bone shards. Exactly three bone shards later, Maxim grabs the nearby just-healed Devout, and yeets them at Not!Echoss at maximum speed. Why throw a bone shard when you can throw an entire SKELETON? Except, Chairians don't have skeletons. Awkward. Still, they're sending a message.

---

Daskter makes a weapon! Combining 8 Assorted Elite Chairian Weapons, 2 Hyperprocessors, a Nanostorm Drive, and 6 Crystalline Conduits with his Command Banner, he makes... a gun! The Commander's Carbine, specifically. How does that work? I dunno.

---

Calibri and the gang continues their day. First, in the Calzone, Calibri totally threatens to headpat Chloe. She instinctively takes a step back when he raises his hand, with the swordswoman not knowing that he wasn't aiming for a headpat. She's then informed she's allowed to take the sword.

CHLOE: Ooh, I can keep it?
CHLOE: Thanks! I'll take good care of it, don't you worry!

She sheathes it, before giving her scabbard a cute lil' pat. Chloe then wanders into the... let's call this the "living room", where she remarks that the layout seems similar to that of the Spherebreaker's own home base. Calibri confirms this.

CHLOE: Ah! I was right!
CHLOE: I can't blame you though- it's a good house, right?
CHLOE: And, if the layout's the same, I bet that if I go this way...
CHLOE: Pow!~

Chloe heads through the door at (H12), fully expecting to enter a hallway that leads to a patio of sorts. She does not find this.

CHLOE: Okay, so maybe it's not an exact replica.
CHLOE: Like, who would put a couch on a patio? It'd get all moldy and gross, and... bleh.
CHLOE: This room does have an outdoorsy touch to it though, so maybe I'm not like, totally wrong.
CHLOE: I wonder what's outside...?

Walking right up to the window, Chloe takes a look at the outside world, drinking it in. She tries to get a feel for how the trees are. Is it different from what she might normally see around the Spherebreaker's own home, or is it perhaps a touch more exotic? Mindscapes tend to be weird places, after all.

CHLOE: This room's nice and peaceful.
CHLOE: That couch is also... mighty appealing, gotta say.

She looks from side to side, before throwing herself on the couch. she comf. While Chloe relaxes, the crimefighting duo of Verdana and Blacklight continue their investigation. With the sap-stained weapons they found, they conclude that their killer may have made use of Relinquish Will, or some other sort of similar spell. They really hope that the killer hasn't visited the gardens, either. Maybe it'd be worth checking in on them, though?

---

Darkside produces an absolute chonker of a post! To begin, miss Michaela decided to write a note, which they leave for the Scion. Once that's done, they meet up with Hannah, who has summoned a Mirror Image of themselves. They then begin a survey operation of the Old Pass, with Mirror Hannah and standard Hannah taking to the air, and Michaela watching over what she can from the tower.

From the air, combined with the earlier scouting attempts from the tower, it soon becomes clear that Regalus is nowhere to be found in the Old Pass. Sweeping by the caverns reveals little in the way of disturbances- no spiders have been agitated, nor are there a surplus of unusual bodies. This leaves Zones 1 and 3 as potential hotspots, then. Perhaps they can take their glider elsewhere? It'll be a lengthy flight, but it'll be manageable.

Elsewhere, Adria ties up the Splintershot with a simple set of iron cuffs. She also opts to pin the cuffs beneath a chunk of Starite as well, from the cart. That'll hold them. Adria then heads south somewhat, taking a look at the machinery. Could she potentially disassemble or decharge Harmonia before the Chairians hack the machine? The machinery seems like it'd be easy enough to disable... in a destructive manner, anyway. Charging systems, ammunition loaders, and the launch system. Though, there doesn't seem to be any options down here to directly drain Harmonia's resources. Perhaps they could be repurposed, though? It might take a bit of creativity to do so.

Adria then sends over a drone to communicate with Cypress. It explains the situation to him, and then asks Cypress if there's a way to temporarily disable Harmonia. He nods.

CYPRESS: ...Situation noted.
CYPRESS: Can remotely shutdown. However, issue. From here: limited. Can only toggle. On. Off.
CYPRESS: AI Lab: better. More complete control. Toggle. Also, disassemble. For maintenance.
CYPRESS: Or rather, terminal. South of AI. Main control module.

CYPRESS: However. That location. Likely now warzone. Proper hacking: long. Takes effort.
CYPRESS: For now. Another option.
CYPRESS: May help. Take this.

Cypress hands a USB stick to the Drone. Hackdrive obtained! This appears to be a reusable item of sorts.

CYPRESS: Designation: "Hackdrive".
CYPRESS: Tabletopian device. Hesitant to use. Until now. Secret's out, anyway.
CYPRESS: Uploads virus. Access location: terminals. Most are compatible.
CYPRESS: Central labs: secure. To some extent. Sentry guns, available. Built into floors. Walls. Ceilings.
CYPRESS: Device: exploits loopholes. Controls devices.
CYPRESS: Use responsibly.

Elsewhere in the labs, Adria theorizes to both Marron and Ette that the whole situation involving Maria centers around her father, Regalus. A kidnapping orchestrated by a loving caretaker, and a negligent father sending their daughter to a very, very dangerous death planet. Marron shrugs.

MARRON: W-Well, I don't know!
MARRON: I already have enough on my plate, and barely enough time to deal with some... conspiracy theory!
ETTE: The things on Marron's plate are all fun things she wants to do with Toaster later!
MARRON: N-Not true!
MARRON: ...O-Okay, maybe true!

ETTE: But... I think you're right!
ETTE: Maria really likes her father, so I don't think he's doin' this to be mean to Maria.
ETTE: Because otherwise, Maria wouldn't like her dad, right?

...At least Ette is taking this seriously. Marron meanwhile, is too busying dwelling on gay. Finally, over in the Library of Notruina, Feynisk continues to investigate the area. Popping into the Twitching Chamber, they take a look around. There's nothing really of note around here, unfortunately. A quick poke around sewers also reveals nothing, other than a bunch of mollusks that are having a rave. So really, nothing out of the ordinary. They report back to the Sleuth, telling the Sleuth that they may want to take a look around themselves. They nod.

THE SLEUTH: As detailed in the text above, the Sleuth nods their head.
THE SLEUTH: While they doubt they'll find anything out of the ordinary, it wouldn't hurt to give it a look.
THE SLEUTH: They say nothing as they leap across the broken bridge, and into the room.

They do so, managing to land directly in the trapdoor. They fall a considerable distance and down a staircase, but it seems they're okay anyway. Cool.

---

Destiny purchases Elite Training! They are now elite. Specifically them. Also, this costs 100 Samples. Mmm. Crunchy.

---

Venia has a few nice snacks at Magic Club. As she does so, she suggests to Nia that they could get together with Mari and try and work these sorts of things out together. Nia bobs her head.

NIA: Huh, alright.
NIA: I guess Mari's been a stormy lady for longer than we've been... other types of stormy ladies, right?
NIA: Technically, she's an expert. Also kinda cute.
NIA:

She also explains that while she can demonstrate something, she cannot teach Nia the magic of the infinite good food dimension. Nia pouts.

NIA: Aw.
NIA: You're just holding out on me, aren't you?~
NIA: But I get it.

Venia then reaches into the "infinite good food dimension". Nia (mentally) drools over the thought of more soosh.

NIA: Oh, waitress!~
NIA: Could I please have an order of them... rolls?
NIA: Please and thank you!~

While Nia presumably snacks on some sushi, Maria asks Chaos what Venia's been up to, in a generally distressed slash annoyed fashion. Chaos ponders this.

CHAOS: well, iir[c], she's doing some planning
CHAOS: she plans [t]o murder your d-

Chaos cuts himself off. Nope.

CHAOS: she plans [t]o murder your... sadness.
CHAOS: yeah
CHAOS: she's planning some[t]hing fun for la[t]er
CHAOS: yeahhhh.
CHAOS: it'll be almost as fun as [t]his board game we're going [t]o play

Chaos opens the box for Snakes and Ladders, placing it on the floor of the van.

CHAOS: so basi[c]ally, ladders are a so[c]ial [c]ons[t]ru[c][t] solely made for [t]his game we're abou[t] [t]o play
CHAOS: you roll di[c]e, move forward [t]he value of [t]he roll
CHAOS: land on [t]he [t]ail of a snake, you slide down its body
CHAOS: land on the bo[t][t]om of a ladder, and you climb up i[t]

CHAOS: bu[t], here's where i[t] ge[t]s in[t]eres[t]ing
CHAOS: land on [t]he head of [t]he snake, and you engage i[t] in [c]omba[t]
CHAOS: slay [t]he snake and you ob[t]ain five soul poin[t]s- [t]hese are impor[t]an[t] for rein[c]arna[t]ion and filling your overdrive limi[t]er, bu[t] i'll explain [t]hose when we ge[t] [t]o [t]hem
CHAOS: if you die, you go here

Chaos flips the board over, revealing the black underside of the board.

CHAOS: [t]his is [t]he void
CHAOS: on[c]e you are in [t]he void, you [c]anno[t] leave un[t]il you appease [c]haron
CHAOS: keeper of [t]he void

Chaos places down a miniature of Charon on the board. Maria wouldn't know this, but it's actually a figurine of Hatsune Miku with a Glock 17.

CHAOS: [t]o appease [c]haron you need [t]o work re[t]ail
CHAOS: every [c]us[t]omer you serve is one gold- each [c]us[t]omer you slay is one gold and one soul poin[t]
CHAOS: get five gold and you [c]an use your soul poin[t]s to rein[c]arna[t]e on the [t]ile you died on, ge[t][t]ing more s[t]a[t] boos[t]s [t]he more soul poin[t]s you spend

CHAOS: bu[t] anyway
CHAOS: every [t]ime you make i[t] [t]o [t]he end of [t]he board, you ge[t] [t]wo hundred gold, and re[t]urn [t]o the beginning
CHAOS: when you die, you lose all of your money, unless you s[t]ored i[t] in [t]he bank whi[c]h [c]an be found every [t]wen[t]y five [t]iles
CHAOS: [t]he goal of [t]he game is to amass five hundred gold, [t]hen kill [c]haron and [t]ake over [t]he void
CHAOS: nobody in [t]he his[t]ory of [t]his game has ever defea[t]ed [c]haron
CHAOS: bu[t] you [c]an [t]ry

CHAOS: aaaanyway, fill in [t]his [c]hara[c][t]er shee[t] and we [c]an begin

Chaos hands Maria a three-page long Snakes and Ladders character sheet. Ancient magic causes the sheet to glow a faint crimson. This can only ever end well. Will Maria understand the game? Probably, at least until Chaos reveals the truth of the Overdrive Limiter, and the curse of the Magical Girls. But really, it's quite simple until then.

Elsewhere, in the Forge. Venia laments to herself how she'll likely need more than herself. On cue, Nia pops up behind Venia, grabbing her from behind.

NIA: Veeee-nia!
NIA: Want some help here?
NIA: I may not be the smartest, but I have an oddly specific amount of knowledge on random bits of high-end equipment!
NIA: You can thank the Butterfly for that!~

Finally, Rosalind decides to go on a joyride in her Mechonis! However, these controls... what the hell are they, exactly? She manages to get the aircraft to take off... and manages to ride for all about two seconds before crashing directly into the ground in front of her. Fortunately, she crashes landing-gear down, so all that happens is that the landing gear / rails / whatever breaks and falls apart. The rest of the Mechonis is rather okay. Before Rosalind can do much else, the airbags activate and slam directly into her face. Ow. At least she's safe.

---

Auth explains more things about London to Nana. Apparently, the reason he hasn't burned up until this point (or died in a puff of logic) is the magic of Hesperidean Cider! Nana takes a look at the bottle.

NANA: T-There can be a potion that powerful?
NANA: A-Amazing! What's it made of? I... I think my sister would like whatever was used to make it, if possible.
NANA: She'd like it a lot, I think!

Soon enough, they arrive at the chapel, Going inside with the provided key, Nana hops on over to the planter. She sits down next to it, and equips an optic of sorts.

NANA: A-Ah! It looks healthy! No damage, no nips, no cuts...
NANA: I-I mean, if it had those, it probably would've vanished by now...
NANA: And look!

As these things usually do, the Godblossom has spontaneously multiplied into three. Nana ever-so-carefully extracts the three flowers from the ground, before immediately burying one of them once again. She beholds the two perfect specimens, holding one in her hands. Her eyes shimmer in its radiance.

NANA: I-It's s-so... b-beautiful!
NANA: A-Auth! We did it! We really did it!
NANA: Ah, I'm so happy!~
NANA: I-I'd celebrate, b-but... first, we need to put it away, a-and carefully!

Nana gently stashes the two non-planted flowers in the inventory. Once she's done that, she stands up, grabs Auth's hands, and begins jumping up and down before pulling him into a hug.

NANA: There we go. Now we can celebrate.

While Nana rests in Auth's arms (or vise versa), Auth continues to work on catching Twig. While he can't worm all that fast through the vents, his ink can! It shoots through the vents, and soon enough, Twig's crawling stops. Far as he can tell (how does he sense these things, anyway?), he's grabbed the perpetrator! Now to yank them back! Or maybe just talk to them from there. Who knows.

He also simps smiles for Sythia, happy to see her "talking". Now that she can speak, is there anything he could do for her? She clutches the tablet, the text destabilizing as tears of sap build up around her eyes.

SYTHIA: (...C-Can you... help them?)

...Have fun explaining that they're pretty irreversibly dead! But... if you can get her to properly calm down, maybe she could tell you something valuable. Finally, over with Cypress, Cypress notes that he's actually counting on the fact that the Rebellion doesn't know exactly who Kudan is. Could he potentially communicate with the Rebellion? He nods his head.

CYPRESS: Ah. Much more logical.
CYPRESS: Likely require communicator. Rebel radio unit? Best choice. Minimal suspicion.
CYPRESS: Other methods: viable. Not the best. Rebels: expectations. Rebel radios: encrypted. Secure. Verified.
CYPRESS: Thank you.

Seems simple enough. Give him a communicator of sorts. A rebellion-made one would work best, for various potentially non-sensical reasons.

---

<THE CUPS OF CHAOS, ROUND 3>
You're probably in a good position to get some slaps in on tthe Tamaugachi! Well, most of you, anyway. Be sure to do what you can to damage it! It'll probably be heading further down, so don't worry too much about getting cornered. As for those of you higher up... it may be time to get moving downwards! Also be sure to save Venia, so she doesn't get dragged away by a Harpy. That'd be unpleasant.

<AI LABS, ROUND 2>
The enemies have all buffed up... but so have you guys! Got a plan to jump and absolutely destroy them? I hope you do. The Ender Glyph could be a viable option, but are you willing to use that here...? Who knows? Just be super careful with the Halberders, since they can one-shot you with their buffs. Like, everyone. Even EN-913, if she was here. But whatever the case, you need to get moving- otherwise, things will get messy as the Hack Progress increases!

Continued reminder that there are beetles monitoring all of Zone 0

NPCs:
Chloe is hired on two slots for getting Samples
Omo researches Bileprincess Bag

Terrence + Rebecca:
One of Glimmer's beetles buzzing around notices Rebecca, and soon after a green hummingbird approaches, transforming into a hologram of Terrence.
"You doing okay over here, miss?"


Splinters:
A small, unassuming beetles flies through the Endless Gardens. There's nothing special about it, really. It looks pretty, I suppose, someone who enjoys collecting bugs might like to have it.
What is absolutely undetectable from the outside, is that it's actually one of Glimmer's surveillance beetles, even if it just looks like an ordinary bug.
It flies its way in through the boughs of Scale Yggdrasil, and past the watchful eye of the praetorians, before settling down in an out of the way spot near the 'core wood'. Prime splinter area. Where none of the praetorians can see it, there's a cracking sound as a number of yggdrasil splinters are scraped off and slotted into the group inventory, at the cost of the beetle. Should the praetorians come to investigate, there is nothing to be found but a chunk of wood that broke loose, presumably after being damaged in the fighting that took place two days ago.


Magic Club:
Aoki is concerning Echoss:
Echoss furrows his brow as Aoki looks longingly at the other food.
"...Miss Aoki, if you don't mind me asking what exactly does 'disciplining' entail in this case?
...and for that matter when's the last time you've had an appointment with an accredited medical professional not under the direct gaze of your employers?"

This goes further as she talks with having trouble with the songbird. He's definitely getting worried.
"...
Alright, so, you see how the ones the others have created make no noise aside from the sound of the air they displace while moving?"
Echoss points to the various other critters conjured by the others.
"What you're conjuring here is not a summon or familiar. Think of it as... an avatar. An extension of yourself, similar to how a god might manifest a lesser image of themself to their followers.
While extra features can be added, that takes the extensive work that... well, I noted that modifying the spell doesn't work well for those not intimately familiar with its inner workings so we'll gloss over that.
I believe your issue here is that you wanted the songbird to sing like... a songbird. The spell is keyed to you, and who you are. The color wasn't even something you had to think about, yes? Likewise, trying to give it its own voice would be... well it'd require modifying the spell to include sound conjuration. If it is to speak or sing in its current form, it will do so with your voice."
He stops again.
"Miss Aoki are you sure you're okay? You're rather reminding me of... other people I know."

Pionobot chats with two cute girls.
Pionobot winces when Chloe says "wasn't he like the hero of the Second Godmodding War" but otherwise doesn't comment.
"I... I guess I do probably have a name.
I'm not just a pionobot anymore, and I'm pretty sure I've actually been like, doing things before Sussui.
I... Don't really remember what it's supposed to be?"
He rubs his forehead.
"I guess. It could be like...
It's Eren.
...yeah. I think... Eren might be right."


Not!Echoss bullies an Eliti.
Maxim throws an entire devout at Not!Echoss. Not!Echoss skillfully switches from throwing bonechips to juggling them with one hand, catching the devout with the other. He continues his juggling routine as he electric slides across the floor over to the downed rifleman and picks him up too. Not!Echoss promptly sinks through the floor, taking the NPCs with him. All of this happens in like 2 seconds, so unfortunately Maxim is unable to appreciate the memes, but that's okay because Not!Echoss comes back. Lots of him come back.
Not!Echoss duplicates begin to pour in from the walls and ceiling, attempting to dogpile on Maxim. Maxim obviously fights back, but with each Not!Echoss that collides with Maxim (or is successfully attacked at range) it explodes into a puddle of Oobleck aimed right at Maxim.
Eventually the Not!Echoss shaped (does Not!Echoss even have a shape?) oobleck balloons stop coming. But by the time they do Maxim (and like a large chunk of the room) has been thoroughly doused in the sticky green semi-fluid.

...Not!Echoss sinks down from the ceiling at the reception desk on the main floor, setting down the devout and rifleman up against a wall. He leaves a throw pillow under each, pats them on the head, and after a bit of thinking leaves a mint under each pillow.


Battle:
Maple talks about "dispensing justice" and Pionobot nods, gripping Armistyx resolutely. She then winks at him and he tries very hard to hide a blush. He's starting to wonder if using a more humanlike form was a mistake, regardless...
"S-sure. Good luck. Though you don't need it really, do you?"
Pionobot moves after the Ender Glyph is used.
He moves up to H14, smacks Morph1 in the face with a searing bomb, then basic attacks them. This should result in a down but not a straight up instakill because the fire damage came before the downing. After this Pionobot retreats North one tile and swaps to TRIDENT-SCYTHE (piercing)

Then he notices something. Pionobot turns over towards the Saint and casts a quick air spell to make himself heard across the sounds of the legion getting utterly annihilated.
"What the heck are you doing here? Aren't the saints supposed to be the most devout adherents of Lord Helix? The god who's responsilbe for all that's right and just in the world?
You literally just watched these two psychopaths decide to incinerate innocent civilians for... being mildly uncooperative? Not working fast enough?
Do you just think you're justified in being here because Helix hasn't taken his blessing off of you yet or something? Lemme tell you something buddy it's called a 'test of faith', I wouldn't want to be the cleric who has to look their god in the eye and say "Yes, these self-important gorillaholes incinerated a room full of innocents while I sat there and watched, but in my defense there were foreigners in the other room and they seemed more interesting".
Do you?"



The Return of the TODO List:
Buy Rapid Response research next round.
We need a lot of low-tier straight damage consumables (Searing Bomb replacements, Clockwork Bombs, Fragapple Grenades, and Crystal Bomb Shells are the most obvious, but near equivalents would work as well. Important thing is being able to be used for cheap extra damage for kill confirming)
We need more Shocktip Coating. If people have ideas for things equal to the shocktip and webmix coating (item applied weapon enchant) then making those would also be really appreciated since we basically just need it for swapping off disadvantageous elements more than switching to good ones.
Glyphs need to be examined
Ping me on discord if there's something else you think would be useful.

The Fall

Daskter gets the Igniborn to swap places with him (it moves to E12 while Daskter takes their spot or D11, it can go do its action normally afterwards) then he blasts the tile just to the west of the Tama with Creation Singularity. Manafuelled 2.
Applying Command Buff, and a Pep Talk to the Vanguard.
Daskter gives their Manabloom Biscuit to Nettle.

Vanguard moves after Nettle.

The Vanguard was sadly unable to do a First Strike. Undeterred, it leaps on top of Tamaugachi and strikes vertically across it.
They proceed to Risposte for the inevitable attack.

Battle - The Cups of Chaos

Considering her lack of targets to the left, Hannah decides to go right, away from the crowds. She waits on Venia to move her to (P7), and activates Shadow Blend, obtaining Swift2. She runs to (S11) and gives the Pillager a good stabbing. She fires an Ultra Laser Pointer south to hit the Pillager. She doesn't retreat, allowing herself to fall.

Maxim will move to (R11), pick the fruit there, move down to (R12), and abuses Hannah's Sword Beam to stab the Pillager. They don't retreat, thus falling.

The Pillager is now trapped between Hannah, Maxim, and Cypress.

---

Hannah's Scouting Mission

Hannah, noting the general lack of activity in the Old Pass, hecks off. She puts the glider into full power, and glides to Zone 3. She makes sure to remain at a distance from any Legion encampments where possible. Good thing the Telescope will allow her to watch the base of Scale Yggdrasil from a safe distance; that's probably the most dangerous area, even for a flier. Though, from so high up, she may just look like a bird to the Chairians below.

Zone 4 is still on general watch duty thanks to Michaela.

---

Library

Feynsik merely shrugs upon finding that the library was a complete dud. However, in the off-chance the culprit doubles back for some reason, Feynsik walks to the entrance of the zone and stands guard. Unusually, the dragon closes his eyes, as if sensing the world around him through some other natural means.

He remains still as a statue, an iron claymore planted firmly into the ground in front of him.

---

Central Labs

The drone takes the USB, and warps it back in time to when it's needed in a soft yellow glow.

>Thank you for your assistance.

>We may be able to make a few additions to the systems to discharge electricity safely.
>Miss Adria has created similar systems in the past. Installation as well.
>We will see if she can pull it off once more should the need arise.
>May the timelines be kind to you, Cypress.

The drone buzzes off, back down to Adria's position. It seems they've already received the memo.

ADRIA: ...Hm. Alright.
ADRIA: While I sketch up a design, can you check the room behind me?
>Certainly.

Adria uses a piece of paper to sketch up a design for a discharge mechanism, should it be required.

In the meantime, H-47 (the drone) flies itself to the door to Machining and Fabrication. A yellow hardlight hand projects itself from one of the drone's "guns", and grips onto the handle. The drone opens the door however it was meant to be opened, and heads inside.

---

Southern Labs

Marron + Ette

ADRIA: Fair enough. Really, I never expected to get into such a thing today either.
ADRIA: But that's life, I suppose.

As Ette responds, Adria tilts her head, putting her hand to her chin, and thinking.

ADRIA: I...hope that's the case, Ette. That it's just negligence, or something of that level of reasonability.
ADRIA: And, yet...

She shakes her head.

ADRIA: ...No. I'm going to get concrete answers before I go any further.
ADRIA: If only my tracking equipment would work down here. I'd have answers already...

She muses on how much easier it would be if she had said equipment.

Venia

Venia's annoyance was palpable. That much was clear to Adria. With that being said, this time she intends to push just a bit harder. ...Okay, maybe a little more than a bit. She frowns, her tone suddenly much more serious. Yet, at the same time, concerned.

ADRIA: It's primarily about Maria.

When Adria inevitably gets a reaction, she continues.

ADRIA: I simply have a few questions. And I'm sure you'll have some for me as well.
ADRIA: You have experience in "avatar control", as Echoss put it, yes? It should eliminate the need to leave the event.
ADRIA: Meet up with my Timeclone at the designated location (in front of the Broke Room), and we'll discuss in further detail.
ADRIA: And yes, I plan to cut to the chase once you're there, in case you were wondering.

Adria returns to her spot. From behind the rubble near the Broke Room, the aforementioned Timeclone waves over to Venia. Once she notices, she pops back behind the rubble (though not at all trying to hide). She's leaning on the door to the Broke Room.

Calscape

SOPHIA: ...Um. Oopsie.

Sophia gently puts the gun back on the rack, making sure to turn any sort of safety on before she does so. Though that does give her inspiration for a new project...

Her shenanigans in weapons testing done, she decides to actually go to the house. On the way, she gets immediately distracted by the Goleyeath looking lonely. So she does exactly what one would expect of her and sits next to the Goleyeath for a while.

Hannah

Over in the Chemical Laboratory, Hannah decides to take a few samples of the various chemicals and mixtures strewn about the place. Seems nobody was gonna stop her. At the very least she's safely contained in protective clothing.

Skylabs - Picnic and Magic Club

"..."

Calibri decides to stop being a portal. This means he turns back into a humanoid person. Somehow, that doesn't actually close it. After doing that shift, he thinks for a moment, then decides to borrow one of the foodstuffs. Namely, a sandwich. It disintegrates in his hand.

"Okay, that still behaves as expected."

---

The Whispering Library

Verdana and Blacklight have pretty much wrapped up their contributive ability in the library. But before they go, there's a few more things to settle. Verdana hands something over to the Sleuth. At least, he tries to. If not taken right away, he lets go of the object, which hovers in the air. It appears to be an... airhorn?

VERDANA: If something happens, sound this twice and say the magic words.
BLACKLIGHT: The magic words are "wait this isn't deodorant".
BLACKLIGHT: ...I wish I was making this up. But no. Apparently that's something he's so sure you would never normally say that he chose it as the code phrase.
VERDANA: Anyway, we're going to the Endless Gardens. Nobody else sent any surveillance that way, and it's populated enough to be cause for concern.

With that, Verdana turns into a motorcycle and speeds off. Blacklight rolls his eyes, then turns into a pitch-black sidecar, because that's the most appropriate metaphor that comes to mind right now.

Zone 3 - The Endless Gardens

A fancy white-and-red motorcycle with a pitch-black sidecar and no obvious rider pulls up to the entrance of the Endless Gardens. It remains there for a while, then the motorcycle shapeshifts back into Verdana, while the sidecar returns to being Blacklight's wispy phantom form.

VERDANA: Ah, the gardens. It's been a while.
BLACKLIGHT: I don't see the appeal.
VERDANA: It's some parts nature, some parts the pretty displays. Look around, there's flowers everywhere!
BLACKLIGHT: I see the flowers. I still don't see the appeal. They're just decoration.
BLACKLIGHT: Besides, we don't have time to stop and smell the roses. Our culprit could be anywhere.

Verdana pauses, then nods, wandering over to Hemlock's desk.

VERDANA: Hi there! I don't remember if we've met before. I'm Verdana, I'm with the spherebreakers.
BLACKLIGHT: I'm Blacklight, I am functionally the same person except I'm the parts of him he doesn't want to acknowledge.
VERDANA: Eheh... Anyway. Have you seen any suspicious people around here recently? Anyone who doesn't look like they belong?
VERDANA: ...By which I mean not aligned with the spherebreakers, in case that wasn't clear.

---

The House

"..."

EN watches as Rosalind successfully crashes the Mechonis into the ground. Brilliant. After the airbags go off, the robotic lass chuckles to herself, then goes over to get a look at the potential damages, both to the craft and to Rosalind.

"Naw offence, y'ain't seem too good wit' th' whole flyin' thin' yet. Maybe take it a wee bit slower, yeah? Th' landin' gear's a bit outta use at th' moment, so ah'd prefer y'ain't take off on tha' one jus' yet, least 'til ah can patch tha' up. Shoul' be able to' rig somethin'..."

---

The Everground

S.E.D performs brief battlefield analysis, and determines that there is a few problems of note. It decides to deal with the most obvious problems in the only way it really can. Namely, S.E.D backs up to P5 and blasts Harpy1 until that harpy is dead, investing the rest of any shots into injuring Harpy2. Hopefully, its current position can help block Harpy3's avenue of exploration.

AI LABS

TURN ORDER:
Scion -> Zahlia -> Destiny -> Pionobot -> Irongutta -> Chi -> Omo -> Blademaster -> Woodthorne -> Maple -> Nana -> Chemist -> Eph

"The Scion" uses the Ender Glyph. She moves to I14 and casts Living Plague on Halberdier 2, with Manafueled2, Ordo, and Elemental Mastery. She copies the plague to herself with her trait. Then, as a bonus action, she activates the Violence Virophage, spreading the plague and Slow2 from said Halberdier to Halberdier 1, Morph 2, and Splintershot 2. She retreats to I15.
At the end of her turn, the plague spreads from Halberdier 1 to the Extinguisher, from Halberdier 2 to the Royal Magus, and from Splintershot 2 to the Saint, breaking their Divine Shield.

At their places in the turn order:
Chi teleports to M14, applies Paralytic Abasia, and shoots the Royal Magus.
Omo counter-hacks the terminal.
The Blademaster teleports to F14 and basic attacks the Extinguisher that is now there.
Maple teleports to I14 and basic attacks the Extinguisher.
Nana teleports to N14, throws a Cinderfruit at Morph 2, and basic attacks them.
The Chemist moves to K14 and basic attacks Splintershot 2.

---

CRAFTING

Somewhere in the timeline, "The Scion" takes a break from her Regalus scouting to do some crafting. She takes a cluster of ten Everground Flowers and squeezes the pollen and sap from them, then crushes up ten Darkmatter Clusters and mixes the resulting powder into them before bottling the result. The mixture is a coating that, when applied to a weapon, cloaks it in shadow that saps the target's strength.
(Shadowshot Coating x?: Applies Enchant:Dark to the user or a target within Range 1 for three rounds. While active, applies Weakened... 1? 2? when hit by the target's attacks.)

---

ZONE 1

"The Scion" realizes that covering this entire zone on foot is pretty slow. To solve this issue, she takes out a hook, climbs up to the treetops, and pulls out a pair of binoculars, surveying the area from there.

---

ZONE 5

As Not!Echoss pulls off his patented oobleck technique, the Reflector (who had been intending to return anyway to stabilize the Devout) dashes back into the room, leaving the engineer to go do whatever. They don't seem like they intend to raise an alarm.

THE REFLECTOR: oh will the two of you CUT THIS OUT!

When the goop settles, Maxim is perfectly dry, having been sheltered by the Reflector's protective dome. Not!Echoss still gets away with the bodies, of course.

THE REFLECTOR: if the two of you cannot go five minutes without antagonizing the other well i have no idea what i will do no idea whatsoever but i do know what someone else of me might do and let's say it is not pleasant!

The Reflector grabs Maxim by the hand and somewhat forcefully tugs them down the tunnels, following the engineer's instructions to get to the rubble blockade.

Unfortunately for the world, I've returned and I still exist.

Ziah, now Ephram, or Eph if that's easier on battle tokens, crawls his way out of the endless void of the inactive sheets after being there for a year. This causes him to be mute from shock until I feel like doing roleplay.

He equips the Fervent Emotion perk and puts the other 4 skill points into MP, because he has a feeling he'll be eating through mana points like they're MnM's.

Speaking of bite sized chocolate treats, Eph enters the AI Labs battle, taking Chloe's place (I'm sorry Chloe.) He spawns at L20 and moves to N13. Eph pops a use of the Helix Relic before casting Glitchtype Last Dream on Splintershot2. After this, he attacks the Magus as a bonus action, which probably does nothing, but free damage is free damage. I forget if Eph can retreat after doing the bonus action attack, so if he can, he retreats to M12. If not, who cares.

Also, I lied, this has nothing to do with chocolate. Also also, Eph realizes he should have an extra spell slot because of his weapon and slots in First Aid.

I hope you're having a good day, Ire. ^-

(Also Eph will move after The Chemist.)

Cups of Chaos
Channel Magic between the Tamauga and Remiel
Toss pillow to Daskter.
Power Nap Daskter.

Destiny, under the influence of the Ender Glyph, moves to G14, then Phase Shifting with the Extinguisher. Activating Starstrike and using Phantom Blow, she strikes down Splintershot 1.

Battle: The Cups of Chaos

These actions are taken under the presumption that Venia is free from the tyrranical grip of the harpy. "Thank you!" Venia also waits for Auth to toss a Mutagen Capsule at the Bizark.

Venia's Alloy will use the Autoloader on Venia herself, removing her Reloader on Purge. Venia herself will consume a Holy dew, knocking her Nail stacks down to 3. She then self-casts Hopeful Heart on herself to gain Ordo, overhealing to both HP and MP, and another stack loss, down to 2-and then down to 1 when the Valor Catalyst kicks in. (OK technically the Valor Catalyst goes first but w/e). Then, Venia uses Hope Rides Eternal to helpfully shunt Hannah to P7, before herself moving to H7, and using Purge on the Bizark and hoping it didn't get like, Decayed or something. 2/3 for Flux Royale, 3/4 for Good Life Decisions. (Hopefully.)

The Alloy, meanwhile, will Sprint to J14, dropping to J17.

---

House

Venia takes a lightning-quick detour to flash the Gray card at the white question mark Eliti in the house trying to fiddle with Fog Lanterns, semi-careful to not gaze the thing directly in the eyes. Mesmerising eyes are bad for the free will.

---

Forge

"Oh! Nia!" Venia says. "I was... Trying to repair this. Without Fluxblood. But difficulty aside we're kind of short on materials... We need to get, elemental clusters... Possibly more Structured Matter, about the one thing I could think of for the fifth tank. And Livingwood-which, isn't something we have anything of. Maybe Order Singularities too... A lot, basically."

"Few things I believe we need are super-precious. Need advice on it. Uh, Nia-can you get Auth here, please? I need his advice on how to fine-tune the process."

---

Mariaaaaaaa

Maria looks really confused at all these weird character sheet things, and everything else, but seems distracted enough as she starts filling them out, still quite obviously disappointed by the lack of Venia.

---

Regalus & Company

The Scion, scouting atop a tree in a forest... You know what, I'll let Ire handle this. Probably better of me to do that.

The Reflector visits Cindy! Who is several steps to the East of where the Update Terminal insists she was, but not exactly doing anything far as can be told, and just walking. She seems quite... Not there, not even bothering to look or turn at the Reflector even as she talks. "... Mmm, yes, I see, I'll be going then." She promptly one-eighties and leaves the hallway.

Meanwhile, Rosalind lays on the ground quite disoriented as EN talks about safety and restraint and all the things she should probably apply when learning to steer a giant mech. "... I want to do that again!" She says, clearly not understanding her lesson. Maybe you ought to just tell her no?

Rebecca, meanwhile, leaps out of her skin at the Hummingbird talking to her. Literally, cartoon-style and all. (It's mercifully temporary.) "AHH! Ah! Uh. Please d-don't, s-scare me, l-like that," She says, clearly unsettled. "I'm, I'm fine. I'm fine! Perfectly fine, th-thank you for asking." She says, clearly looking quite the opposite. Maybe it's just serious nerves?

... There's a patch of freshly-dug dirt underneath her feet.

The Forge

Irongutta continued his conversation with Magnolia, reassuring her that she'd be just as deadly as a person.

"Well, of course ya would! You'd be a dead 'ard cuttin' machine! Er, so to speak. Plus I'd never mind havin' an extra set of 'ands around whenever I'm buildin' stuff, heheh. The point is that if ya go through wivv it, I'll be there to make sure yer just as deadly as always. Hell, even deadlier than that!"

---

Battle: AI Labs

Irongutta activates his special, WAAAGH!, becoming all fired up! He also applies a Webmix Coating to Magnolia to apply Enchant:Poison.

Charging over to I13, Irongutta makes a brutal swing at Halberdier 1.

Auth nods, faintly.

AUTH: Mm hmm. Hesperidean Apples are pretty hard to come by... but I'll see what I can do.
AUTH: I almost certainly can't get any before we destroy the Sphere though. I would argue that they are of a similar level to Godblossoms. Which makes sense given that they usually grow in close proximity to one.
Auth: Although... maybe...

Auth seems to be considering something deeply. He's almost certain that bringing one is impossible right now, but at the same time, maybe there's some chance. He puts the cider away as he thinks about this, almost walking into the Church as he follows his mental path. He comes back to his senses soon enough to avoid making... too much of a fool out of himself, though. He quietly follows Nana into the church where the Godblossom was kept...

And looks on with just a little relief that the flower turned out okay. Just as he knew that it would be. With the Godblossom comfortably safe and out of the way...

AUTH: I'm glad. I had no doubt that they were going to be safe, of course, but such confirmation is always a relief.
AUTH: I think you and I are in close proximity of more live Godblossoms than anyone else has ever been, Nana.
AUTH: Now that they are safely aside...

Auth was about to start thinking about what their next plans where when Nana takes his hands excitedly. He smiles, a little more than before. He's quite happy to see how gleeful Nana is that such important flowers turned out perfectly. He happily hugs Nana, her excitement is almost contagious as it comes to the godblossoms.

---

Having located Twig, a lot of ink surges forth, creating Auth's upper body in front of him. He also blocks off any other exit routes he can think of. Other than backwards, of course.

AUTH: You've been quite difficult to catch, you know. I don't know if you heard me from where you were, but as I was trying to communicate, we're going to be helping you evacuate.
AUTH: So if you would be so kind, could you please return to the aviation chamber so we can help escort you to someplace relatively safe? Because right now, it's definitely not here.

---

Cythia asks the question he was fully expecting to get when he asked his own...

AUTH: I'm sorry. Insofar as I can tell, the extent of their injuries and the time that has passed...
AUTH: It will take nothing short of a true miracle to undo what has been done. And for all the things I can do, I do not believe I can work the sort of miracle needed for that.
AUTH: I'm sorry. I truly am. If there was something I knew I could do I would have done it in half a second.

Auth sighs, softly. He tried to break the news to Cythia as gently as he could, but without sugarcoating the fact that they're currently beyond saving, as far as he knows. He considers it for the best that she's made aware that they are well and truly gone. He decides not to press for more information after giving that response, Cythia is probably going to go back to being emotional after getting that information.

---

Auth had the Revolution Radio ready, operating under the assumption that Cypress might ask for something like that.

AUTH: Sure thing. We've got one of those, I think.
AUTH: Will this do for what you need? We probably have the ability to look for more, if it's not.
AUTH: We, uh, cracked the thing open, I think. The security is defeated, to memory, so I don't know whether or not it will be appropriately secure for them at this point.

---

Whew! Battle action time.

Auth pelts the Bizark with a Mutagen Capsule, and then moves to B8, and then casts Quick Purify on Nettle, and Veneveil on Remeil.

Zahlia opens up hidden sliding door on the wall she's leaning on and reappears next to a Halberdier. Pulling the Kusabimaru free from its sheathe, she winds up for a massive blow and follows it up with a quick stab. Pulling the katana free from the Chairian's chest, she moves back down the hall.

Action Summary:
Use (Backstage and Back Again), teleport to L14
Move to K13
Cast Exertion
Basic Attack Halberdier2
Retreat to J16