To begin... an incredibly relevant roleplay for those who have been following the Regalus plotline all this time! I personally didn't partake this time, but give it a look?

---

Regulus, until this point in time, has not even briefly ceased, questioned, or talked to the Reflector, not even after passing the ruins of the church, the mysterious Gray Iti, and descending past a broken statue into the catacombs-he has not done any of this until he breaches the catacombs itself and takes a good look at the torchlit hallway. At this, he stops completely.

REGALUS: Well then.
THE REFLECTOR: is anything disturbing bothering you your majesty?
REGALUS: Yes.

Regalus turns to face the Reflector. His face remains as it was-in what can only be said to be the most neutral pose he musters with that everpresent grin. His arm stretches out at the grim decor of dead chairian and nonsensical runes, punctuated by the odd butterfly-sigil.

REGALUS:It is not so much that I figure that Maria isn’t here. Because she isn’t, obviously.
REGALUS: Venia would not trust anyone who would think of it a good idea to take her here-so obviously Chaos is here alone, and is simply capable of returning to her location.
REGALUS: It is not so much the charming character of the locale. I have seen worse.
REGALUS: So, pray tell, I will ask you… Somewhat rhetorically. Can you guess my, ah, concern, here?
REGALUS: Or does the heights of your intellect find its match in the depths of your foolishness?

He makes no overt move to defend himself, or even ready to. His arm returns to his side, and his face betrays nothing.

The Reflector smiles magnanimously, seeming to take no offense at the rather insulting comment.

THE REFLECTOR: if we had to wager your majesty, well since you are quite the important esteemed individual back in your home country…
THE REFLECTOR: perhaps you fear for your safety down in these dark dismal dank catacombs, perhaps indeed.
THE REFLECTOR: but we assure you you needn’t worry.
“THE SCION”: I’m not planning to harm you at all.

An opportunity seeming to present itself, Destiny suddenly teleports behind Regalus. As if on cue, his cufflinks abruptly decide they’re not cufflinks and proceed to, autonomously, hack Destiny to as many pieces as is possible-but nowhere near enough to stop her from shoving the poison injector into his back and pressing it all in. The Ugly Truth sinks in.

DESTINY: Though, I am more willing on that front.

Regalus does not initially react in any particular way. But the Scion can tell that he is more than aware-his eyes followed his cufflinks back directly behind him. He doesn’t twitch.

REGALUS: … That is not my concern.

Regalus twitches-then stumbles-then falls to the floor on a knee, his very being vibrating and the conceptual poison spreading like wildfire, his veins becoming sickly and black like spiderwebs. His eyes water. But he does not stop smiling.

REGALUS: … You… C-couldn't've… M-made it… More… Obvious…
REGALUS: But… I… Couldn’t… Have st-stopped you... N-now, c-could I?

Destiny steps forward, daggers at the ready.

DESTINY: As a ruler of my own, I cannot abide by one who is wholly unfit for rule. I could not refuse this request.

Destiny drives one dagger into Regalus’s back, carving through it and creating a great vertical gash. He breathes sharply in-but does not succumb.

REGALUS: … I g-guess I… F-fucked up, then… Augh...

Destiny follows up with further slashes and stabs, creating several great wounds. His breathing is pain and every stab is another yelp. Tears form. Yet, he does not succumb.

REGLAUS: … M-maria… Please… B-be OK…
REGALUS: D-don’t… Let… H-her… Have you....
“THE SCION”: You… you think you’re going to earn our sympathy, just because… just because you have a little kid?
REGALUS: N-no… I… Please… N-not her…
“THE SCION”: Venia’s a spoiled coward most of the time, but she loves that girl more than anyone does.
“THE SCION”: Probably more than is healthy?
“THE SCION”: What I’m saying is, don’t worry about it. She’s in better hands than yours.

As she speaks, “the Scion” steps on Regalus’s back. Just for good measure.

Destiny silently raises her hand, as solar energy forms within. She gathers more and more, until dozens of pellets of energy are in her palm. She sends them back and forth, as if bullets she controlled, searing Regalus’s clothes and tearing through his flesh. Some shoot straight through Regalus’s skull.

He takes one last ragged breath...

And succumbs. He remains kneeling, but no longer makes any sort of noise, and all of his skin has turned to ash from the Conceptual poison, leaving only a blackened skeleton.

A strange sound permeates the air-the sound of crab legs. Or, krab legs-Mr. Krabs rushing in, half of his upper body transmogrified into enough firearms to make a gun nut instantly go into ecstasy. It is not entirely clear how he knew to be here, as usual.

MR. KRABS: Ap, hold up lassies, just want some insurance here. Can’t ever be too careful.

Mr. Krabs promptly fires basically every gun the Spherebreakers have collected thus far at Regalus’s skeleton, reducing that to ash. Then, he flash-freezes the ash and chucks it into a portal to the void.

MR. KRABS: OK, if he survives that we sue reality.

Destiny slightly raises her eyebrows.

DESTINY: ...I would have thought the blackened skeleton combined with what we used on him would have been a good enough indication he was not coming back.
MR. KRABS: And I thought mayonnaise was an instrument. Better safe than sorry, right lassie?
DESTINY: You, sir, are one of the strangest beings I have met, and that is saying something when I have had interdimensional invaders several times.


“The Scion” dusts off her hands and smiles brightly without an ounce of guilt on her face.

“THE SCION”: That was fun! We should do more of that in the future.
“THE SCION”: ...Assassinating tyrants, I mean. Not random people… that tends to cause problems.
DESTINY: Venia was lucky I happened to be here at this time, no one else from the Pantheon would have been willing.
DESTINY: Regardless… it is done.
MR. KRABS: Now all that’s left is to retrieve the lass and then perform every potentially divine-appeasing ritual we may know of in the hope that she does not figure out we murdered her beloved father.
MR. KRABS: Young as she is I don’t think she saw him as anything more than a superhero… As completely incorrect as that is.
MR. KRABS: Also we have to tell Venia and Hannah and make sure they don’t kill each other. That almost happened. Sheesh.
“THE SCION”: Wait, um, excuse me.
“THE SCION”: What?
MR. KRABS: Oh, you know the story. Put two self-loathing people together, make them see something in the other, then make one of them do something stupid, and they’ll both hate the other almost as badly as they hate themselves.
MR. KRABS: And Hannah is basically Venia five years ago, ahahahah!
MR. KRABS: …
MR. KRABS: Hopefully the forced sleep took the fight out of them.

“The Scion” looks distinctively unhappy at this news, but she says nothing. Although it’s quite possible another of the Reflector’s Mirror Images is on their way to the house at this moment to get involved.

DESTINY: . . .
DESTINY: ...that aside, where is the little one, then?
MR. KRABS: Chaos is a room over, he probably knows everything already so that’ll sort itself out. So I think that’s a wrap then!
MR. KRABS: That’ll be sixty-seven googol credits!

A pause.

MR. KRABS: Ah, just pulling your leg, lass, ahahahahah!

Mr. Krabs promptly T-poses, before sliding into the wall and out of sight. Destiny stares at Mr. Krabs’s former position for a moment.

DESTINY: ...what the gorilla?
DESTINY: This is the first time I have seen something like this in the realm of reality.
DESTINY: Anyways, at least one of us should wake up Venia and tell her the deed is done.
“THE SCION”: ...So, do you want to move your god-realm to the future, or do you want me to start a revolution?
DESTINY: I would rather have you do simply none of that, I think I am better off never seeing something like that again.
“THE SCION”: Well, someone has to do something… but if you don’t want to be involved, fine.
“THE SCION”: You Spherebreakers are always too squeamish to do the dirty work.
“THE SCION”: But… but that’s why I exist, isn’t it?
DESTINY: My realm already gives me my fill of duties. It is something I have already given up everything I once had for. I will not sacrifice what I have, you cannot make me, and with Venia mentioning concept tech earlier, I can deduct that I am not powerful enough to survive in whatever hellish future she lives in.
“THE SCION”: I… wasn’t going to make you?
“THE SCION”: I… was just asking…
“THE SCION”: Nevermind…
“THE SCION”: I’ll do it myself.

“The Scion” turns away, the whites of her eyes very briefly flashing solid black. And then she vomits.

DESTINY: ...If you feel up to it, then so be it. You’re also not going to suddenly fall ill on me, correct?
“THE SCION”: I’m… fine.
“THE SCION”: Just let me talk to Hannah… please?
DESTINY: I’ll let you do what you need, then.

“The Scion”, gripping a wall to steady herself, walks out. Destiny waits momentarily for anything else before she warps away.

---

...Meanwhile, in the room just south of the assassination site, Chaos stands at his hot dog stand, completely oblivious to the slaughter that occurred a few tiles north. He's prepared this gigantic hot dog for his guest of honor. One that he's loaded with C4 so he can prank / horribly murder Regalus (and maybe loot him afterwards), but it really is quite the quality product.

CHAOS: ...
CHAOS: guess he's no[t] [c]oming
CHAOS: bummer

Chaos stands there awkwardly, completely unsure what to do with this absolutely loaded 'dog he has. Maybe he'll eat it himself later. Who knows.

---

Standard post coming soon!

<ROUND 292>

Eren and Maple continue their lovely chat. He explains how he's not so much dispelling the Thymecurse as he is exploiting some of its mechanics. Weapons parts sent through the Thymefield aren't affected, so if he just keeps assembling and disassembling his internal weapons... he can exploit it! Except his weapons were assembled before entering the Thymefield, so it appears to be somewhat noticing the cheese, even when assembled and de-assembled.

MAPLE: Huh? You really have that much going on beneath the surface?
MAPLE: Bleh, I don't want to imagine having my internal organs getting constantly disassembled and reassembled...
MAPLE: Though... if it hurts, shouldn't you be able to prevent the disassembly?
MAPLE: It is your body, after all! And I don't think you're using most of your innards at the moment, anyway.

When asked to show off, Eren then does his best to explain that he'd need a far, far bigger target than a simple Fell Beast. Apparently, he's meant to destroy entire landscapes and such. Maple nods, before the gears in her core realize just how insane that is.

MAPLE: W-Wait, you can destroy entire landscapes!?
MAPLE: T-That's AWESOME! But... no offense, but aren't you a little small to carry something strong enough to destroy a continent or two?
MAPLE: Like, the Tabletopians needed an entire fleet of warships to firebomb us into submission. Can you really outdo all of them?
MAPLE: Late-game power scaling is insane...

Meanwhile, Echoss does some chores! Reading over a cute handwritten list he totally wrote for himself, he does a variety of quick tasks. First, he gets some golems to transfer plants up to the roof. This doesn't take much time at all, especially when Lutea and Beluta help them along. They even spend some time setting up proper planters for everything. It's kinda cute.

Second on the list, Echoss visits Linseed. Due to the antics of... like, a couple dozen updates ago, Linseed's arms are still clipped into the ground. Anyway, does he need anything?

LINSEED: Yes.
LINSEED: My arms are stuck in the ground.
LINSEED: This conduct is fairly unacceptable.

It's surprising that he hasn't broken himself out yet. He's pretty darn strong, isn't he? Finally, Echoss does some crafting! Taking 4 Rebellion Banners, 30 Simple Fabric, and 4 Spiralfloof Floofballs to create a set of 12 Sleeping Bags. Should help with the upcoming night.

---

The Calzone continues. Has Calibri ever consumed a calzone? Who knows. Given Hangman's attitude though, they certainly haven't. Anyway, he explains to Chloe how the potential fusion might be somewhat lacking. Or generally just of a lower quality. She doesn't have anything to say regarding that, but when Hangman takes hold of the disk to reveal a cache of files, she can't help but sneak a peak. Chloe of course, doesn't understand much of anything.

CHLOE: This is...
CHLOE: Well, I assume it's some sort of combination of the three. Calibri, Verdana, and Lato.
CHLOE: U-Um, Calibri...

She turns to Calibri, not entirely interested in what the Hangman has to say.

CHLOE: What does this mean? W-What's he talking about?
CHLOE: Why would this "fusion" be necessary...?

Elsewhere, with unknown levels of adjacency, Verdana assures to Acacia that they'll be going after Spark at some point. But they'll need to know what to prepare for, among other things. But what might they need to prepare for?

ACACIA: ...What to prepare for, huh?
ACACIA: Luckily for you, the lady who was his right hand who happened to gorillaing die sorta knows her gorilla!
ACACIA: So-
HERSILIA: Is now the time to be talking about this?
ACACIA: Oh, c'mon. I may as well tell them so we can get to gorillaing up his day faster.

Hersilia sighs as Acacia picks away at her brain, saying whatever comes to mind.

ACACIA: So! First thing's first, the man's a coward. If it wasn't obvious enough already.
ACACIA: There's no way he'll fight you without a teleportation glyph to escape, and he'll probably try to kill with with artillery fire before anything else. Airships n' gorilla.
ACACIA: gorilla also has an emergency signaling device to contact every last one of his Praetorians if he's ever caught off-guard, so even if you do manage to ambush him, you'll be fighting off his army soon enough.
ACACIA: The contact device will also signal those dumbgorilla drone things that Cypress has around the Sky Labs.
ACACIA: The... "sentinels" or whatever? gorilla, I don't know. Cypress is the one who made those pieces of gorilla.

ACACIA: Secondly, his power armor.
ACACIA: It's of Tabletopian make, bought during the ceasefire. Of course, he got Cypress to modify it a bunch. Magic and tech. Cypress's entire gimmick.
ACACIA: Despite that, it's still probably vulnerable to a lot of the gorilla Tabletopian powered armor is weak to. Electric stuff. Not just like a simple lightning bolt or anything, but a focused storm of electricity to... disrupt it?
HERSILIA: I... believe that's called an Electro Magnetic Pulse. Or EMP for short.
ACACIA: Yeah, that.
ACACIA: Of course, it probably won't stay unpowered for long since Tabletopians are gorillain' nerds who develop tech all day, and it'll fix itself, but... it'll totally screw him over for a bit.

ACACIA: Third... and this is probably the biggest thing of them all, but I think he's going to leverage the Thymefield.
ACACIA: He's noticed how it's empowered things that go against you. How it boosted me.
ACACIA: I think he's had plans to abuse the field before, but seeing it affect me firsthand has probably given him some ideas.
ACACIA: So... except some serious bullgorilla, alright? Be ready for anything.

So, if killing Spark is going to go smoothly, someone may want to develop "counters" to some of these things Acacia's mentioned. Some of these probably already have properly developed answers, but it never hurts to have a backup plan or two! Plus, the more ways his days is ruined, the better!

Verdana also asks about anything that Acacia might need. She looks down at herself, and the hard floor she's "resting" upon.

ACACIA: Well... I'd like a proper gorillaing bed.
ACACIA: Or at least a goddamn pillow.
ACACIA: This is probably the worst hardwood floor I've ever rested on.

ACACIA: A-Also... y-y'know. Something kinda important.
ACACIA: Clothes.
HERSILIA: O-Oh, right.
HERSILIA: Freja, dear? Come here for a second.

Freja crawls upon the ceiling, her silk already spun into a gown for Acacia to wear. They drop it onto Hersilia, who promptly equips it onto Acacia. She says nothing more about the matter. That's probably for the best. For now though, please get the woman a mattress, at least. Give her some time to recover.

S.E.D also prepares to begin the plan to cure the heart. Though... they feel they should wait for all of their party members to be properly ready first. Looking down through the posts, it seems nobody's ready. Oh well.

---

The Scion mentions the existence of Asha to Dawn. While the Scion wouldn't really call themselves a god, they do spread diseases very well. Dawn's echoing, radiant voice reverberates throughout the Scion's head.

DAWN: DO NOT BE SO HUMBLE.
DAWN: YOU ARE SCION, GODDESS OF DECAY.
DAWN: THIS WOULD MEAN THAT ASHA IS THE GOD OF ALL GODS. YOUR MOTHER.
DAWN: PLEASE, TAKE ME TO SEE HER. I MUST GIVE HER MY APOLOGIES FOR HOW I HAVE BESMIRCHED HER NAME, NOT RECOGNIZING HER BEAUTY AND GRACE.

...If Asha is the Scion's mother in any timeline, this raises many questions. Mostly because the Scion is not named "Marsha", and also because there'd probably be some sort of time travel involved. It is best not to dig too deep into this.

Elsewhere, the Scion cleans up some corpses, while the Reflector hands the copies of the Self-Defense Rifle over to Wattle. He barely gives them a look-over, instead immediately handing them over to his troops.

WATTLE: Ah, the MK-1 Fieldrifle.
WATTLE: Or, as it's more commonly known, the Self-Defense Rifle.
WATTLE: Cypress manufactured these for civilian use. He sent them off to Omnite for field testing, as well as to bolster the town's defenses.
WATTLE: I suppose they were left behind when Omnite was abandoned, however. It'd explain why you have these now. It'd also explain why we're yet to get our field results back.

WATTLE: Though these are civilian grade, Cypress's touch means that these are far better than my team's mass-produced Splinter Rifles.
WATTLE: These will do nicely. As for your payment... the weapon is all yours.

The Scion is given the Prototype: Blink Blade! Now that's a shiny piece of kit. Though, it seems like it'll be a rather difficult weapon to get used to. Perhaps someone might want to equip it?

Then finally, Omorika continues through the Omtose Phellack. The Thaumaturge muses on how the Reflector's experience on Sussui reminded him of his past. Of what was once lost. Hoisting a tablet to the sky, they create a facsimile of a tower that's been carved into the tablet. Omorika slowly steps forth towards the recreation, listening as the Thaumaturge spins them a tale of ancient history. Of the Jaghut, and the T'lan Imass.

With another wave of their hands, the Thaumaturge creates an army of ghostly images. Skeletal warriors, weapons brandished. Though the Jaghut were powerful magi, they were solitary. And so, the T'lan Imass destroyed them. They would track down the sorcery, and destroy its source. Before the Thaumaturge even points it out, Omo's quick to bring up the similarities.

OMORIKA: It's almost like a parallel history to our own.
OMORIKA: A proud race of spellcasters, who fell to flames brought from afar. The beauty of magic could not fend off the hordes, whether technological or... simply unending in number.
OMORIKA: I can certainly see the similarities, and why you might've brought me here.
OMORIKA: Though, there are still bits that are yet to fall into place.

She throws a small block of wood out from her robes, morphing it into a chair. She sits herself down, pondering the connections.

OMORIKA: Of course, I can sympathize with the plight of your people. I assume that you are one of these Jaghut, yes?
OMORIKA: Though they are mostly gone, they sound... utterly fascinating.
OMORIKA: But where perhaps, did the T'lan Imass come from? Were they of the Jaghut's planet, or did they come from offworld? And why might they have wished to extinguish the Jaghut? Simply for their magical potential?
OMORIKA: Or was it perhaps a rivalry of sorts, like between the Chairians and the Tabletopians?
OMORIKA: In addition... a skeletal-type being like that surely must be animated by magic, correct?
OMORIKA: Necromancy is not unheard of here on Sussui. Did the Tellann create magical beings to extinguish magic? Surely, there is a sort of hypocrisy there...

OMORIKA: Ah, but... the similarities of our histories cannot be a coincidence.
OMORIKA: Are they perhaps, related to the reason that yourself and the Reflector have come to Sussui?
OMORIKA: To prevent the same tragedy from occurring, perhaps?

Is she off the mark? Probably. But it can't hurt to theorize.

---

While Dorothy and Ette continue to be a ball of sad, Sophia continues to work around the church. As silence falls upon the church, she can't help but freak out a little, her body shaking with each step. When she finishes up her cleaning and sits herself down next to Sythia, there's the audible rush of air near her ears. A muffled cacophony of sounds assail her ears- barely loud enough to be heard, but she can make out various sounds. Creaking wood, the rhythmic sound of a broom sweeping, howling wind.

Now, Sythia has broken out of her trance, eyes fluttering open. She notices Sophia playing with two stuffed dolls. In response, she takes hold of her Chloe Plushie, and controlling it with one hand, makes it wave to the two other plushies. Though Sythia was trembling earlier, her body has calmed itself. Her expression too, is far more calm.

Elsewhere, Adria runs through a quick inspection of the exosuit, while Chloe continues to get a feel for the controls. Once Adria gives her the thumbs up, Chloe also returns a thumbs up. She holds down the power button, and with a series of azure flashes, light surges throughout the main console and the restrains around Chloe's arms and legs. Ever so cautiously, Chloe raises a leg. The restraints around her leg move with her. With a sudden jerk the exosuit's leg moves, maintaining balance as Chloe precariously balances mid-step.

CHLOE: E-Eek! T-This is... kinda w-weird!
CHLOE: B-But... hold on. I-I think it's balancing well enough! M-Must be Cypress's engineering or w-whatever!
CHLOE: I'm gonna try walking. H-Here's to hoping I-I don't explode!

Chloe finishes her stepping motion, the robot following in suit. There's little in the way of complications, besides the general feeling of disconnect a machine like this might give the user. Emboldened by this small success, Chloe begins to pace around in a circle. The hum of energy and pulsing hydraulics fills the room as she makes the rounds, slowly growing faster and more confident.

CHLOE: Weeee!~
CHLOE: Adria, this is great! You've gotta try it!
CHLOE: It's just like walking, except you can't feel your legs, and you've just kinda gotta believe!
CHLOE: I think!
CHLOE: I don't have a point of reference for this, gonna be real!

She slips her arm out of the harness and de-powers the machine. Chloe hops out, landing with a roll. A bit of a pep in her step, Chloe motions for Adria to hop in.

CHLOE: I wonder if we could give this thing a weapon?
CHLOE: Like... a big heckin' sword! There's no better pair than giant robots and swords!
CHLOE: Okay, maybe "cheese and meat" is just sliiiightly ahead of it, but that's like, an unbeatable combo.
CHLOE: Anyway, give it a shot! I'll go see if I can fashion anything together!

While Chloe begins to plan out and hammer together a gigantic sword from spare Iron Ingots, an Adria clone decides to do some crafting! To begin, she hands 32 Samples to Nia! She smacks the Alpha Drive with the foam hammer she made with Maria, and it spontaneously upgrades itself into the Beta Drive. With a gentle lob, Nia passes it to Adria. Then, taking the Beta Drive, a Heavenly Regalia, a Platinum Ingot, an Electrum Ingot, 2 Arkalloy, a Starite, 2 Crystalline Conduits, a Nanostorm Drive, some Gacha Trash, and 50 Crafting Credits, they create the Moonshocker Drive! They equip this, reorganizing their stats as they do.

Finally, Adria also spends some time investigating the runes. Or uh, rather, she gets Mari to investigate the runes. She shrugs, browsing over Adria's notes. A grin breaks out across her face.

MARI: The "real" me wouldn't know gorilla about this sorta stuff, but I've been in Chaos's head!
MARI: In fact, I've actually gotten to learn how these runes work thanks to my time there. Suck it, "real" me!
MARI: But anyway, let me see...

She traces her finger across the paper, occasionally breaking contact with the paper to type a few things into her arm-mounted console. Mari gently nods her head.

MARI: Okay, are you familiar with programming?
MARI: Basically, runes are like programming, but gorillay. There's no IDE or anything. Just magic.
MARI: Three main parts to the rune. The material, the main symbol, and the outer symbols. All Chairian runes work this way.
MARI: In fact, I believe the "Glyphs" we're seeking out are actually types of runes. Do they actually have any real distinction? Probably not, but they're cooler I guess.

MARI: First off, the material the rune is carved into has some significance.
MARI: Typically, you'd want to carve runes into things like gold or silver- things that conduct magic well. Silverwood probably works, too. It's just that it's wood, and that'd get rough.
MARI: Whatever the hell this rock is, it's very conductive to magical energy. Let's just assume it's like, a Tier 7 material. So any rune made of this will amplify its power by a butt-ton.
MARI: To teleport someone across stupid distances, this is probably required.

MARI: Second, the main symbol. That generally designates the type of power contained within.
MARI: I believe the symbol itself really doesn't matter, but it's like, an indicator of sorts. This weird-gorilla symbol indicates that it's a "teleportation" rune. Creative, I know.
MARI: Runes are basically items that have been infused with a lot of magic, so this is basically a teleportation scroll but a rock.
MARI: Of course, you can't exactly incorporate a scroll into a construction, so... y'know.
MARI: If you want to edit what the rune does, you're probably best dispelling its magic somehow and casting a new spell into it. Your own teleportation spell, maybe?

MARI: Then, for the outer symbols carved around the main glyph... those are "triggers". Each of these designates a circumstance in which the rune should unleash its stored magic.
MARI: The enchanting process for the outer runes is kinda weird, but there's this whole syntax for how one should enchant a rune.
MARI: For instance, these outer runes designate that this rune should be triggered upon being administered an electrical shock.
MARI: There's also another rune that dictates an activation when it receives some sort of "magical signal", but hell if I know what that's related to.

MARI: And yeah. Runes. They're kinda cool.
MARI: Any questions?

...That may be more comprehensive than what Adria expected. mari is not a trash girl she's best girl

---

Cluster grenades for Magnolia! Upon hearing his master's approval of the idea, he jots something down on a notepad. That'll be a project for later! But, could they maybe swipe the blueprints for the primary weapon? R-8733 nods. But how to go about that?

R-8733: Hmm...
R-8733: I bet that we could probably access the plans from Cypress's office!
R-8733: Or maybe we can try and explore the Security Hub? Weapons are technically "security", right?

R-8733: Though, I heard that the plans for the Nightmare got split in two. Into weaponry, and other specifications.
R-8733: Apparently, somebody broke into the Tabletopian fortress and stole half the plans. On their own, too! Destroyed a whole carrier in the process.
R-8733: How does cutting a plan apart work, though? It's a digital file. It's hard to just cut that in half.
R-8733: If you ask me, that doesn't make any sense! Unless they took a USB stick and hit it with a big axe like Magnolia.
R-8733: Yeah! That's probably what happened!

...Someone should explain that's now how a USB stick works. But maybe there's someone they can talk to about the primary weapons, then? Or maybe it really is on the systems. Who knows?

---

<SECURITY HUB, ROUND 4>
I thought that'd take longer. Huh.

Anyway, with the server banks secured, and the Chairians KO'd (or worse), the Oracle waves over Eren, USB stick in hand. He tosses it to them. Ideally, Eren snatches it out of midair. Or maybe they awkwardly let it drop to the ground.

ORACLE: Alright, got your footage!
ORACLE: Took a bit to find, but it should be everything you need right here.
ORACLE: I haven't taken a look myself yet... but we'll have our own copy!
ORACLE: I'll be sure to send this to Kudan. Perhaps he'll know how to best use it?
ORACLE: I'm thinking a huge, Locaa-wide PR wave. Except it's all defamation. And he can't sue us for it, because we're rebels!

ORACLE: ...Anyway, uh.
ORACLE: You might want to get moving.
ORACLE: You've gotten what you've wanted, and we... kinda need to secure this area. Again.
ORACLE: But really, guys. Thanks for the help! We'd be goners without you.

Spark's Footage obtained! The ultimate in blackmailing technology. Use this, and Spark's reign could be completely disassembled! In theory, anyway. Getting through to the people might be hard. Also, with the Security Hub cleared of threats, it's completely possible to clear the lockdown now! Onwards, to the bottom! To your deaths!~

Stats

+1 MP

---

Recollection Lake

Because this is now covered in "Hannah Wakes" a few posts down, I've gotten rid of this bit. See the big RP there if you wanna see.

---

Echoss

One of Dorothy's ghostly avatars still remaining floats over to Echoss's location. While slow, it can at least take a direct path there. Once there, it's tail taps his shoulder.

DOROTHY: U-um... Mr. Echoss?
DOROTHY: Hannah and Venia g-got into a big fight...
DOROTHY: It... um... g-got bad enough that t-they had to be... put to sleep. Y...yeah...

DOROTHY: T-they're, um, resting i-in the house right now...

---

Hannah

...Hannah's asleep. While normally I wouldn't mention this (because it's usually uneventful)... it should also be noted that Hannah's started crying in her sleep.

Wonder what's causing that...

---

Calscape

Sophia reads down through the file and blinks.

SOPHIA: So wait.
SOPHIA: Lemme get this straight.

SOPHIA: You guys were created by someone to beat up the Butterfly after a fusion.
SOPHIA: But there are three distinct "people" involved in it.
SOPHIA: And that made things harder.
SOPHIA: So like, why do it at all?
SOPHIA: Like Chloe said, I mean, was it really needed at all?
SOPHIA: You guys are totally capable fighters on your own.

---

Distant Chapel

okay i was not expecting this uh

By the time Sythia exited her trance, Sophia has made the science owl ride on top of the beefy boi known as the mountain goat. Sophia notices the chloe plushie relatively quickly, and makes the science owl wave to it.

Sophia herself, though, seems a little... embarrassed? Her cheeks were flushed pink, and she was kind of awkwardly staring at the scene. She doesn't really seem to know how to continue.

SOPHIA: Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...

She glances left and right a few times, checking if anyone else was around.

SOPHIA: I-I... I'm not really... u-used to this, um...

...After a short moment of silence, Sophia abruptly changes the subject.

SOPHIA: S-so, um... what was that silence-y thing you did?
SOPHIA: That was cool... a-and a bit creepy...

---

Central Labs

Adria nods.

ADRIA: Okay.
ADRIA: It shouldn't be too wild for me, I'm more or less used to things like this.

She climbs in, slipping her arms and legs into the harness. She gets a feel for them before turning the thing on. She takes a step, getting a feel for the exosuit and it's stability. She walks around a bit within the confines of the room before moving the arms around a bit, making sure not to hit anything with them.

Assuming the basic functionality was all good, Adria decides to see how agile it was. She tries wiggling her leg a bit to see how quickly the exosuit adjusts, if at all. She does the same for the arms. If at any point it sounds like she's putting too much strain on it, she stops.

She then tries running a few steps. It probably wasn't meant to run. Probably. But best to make sure.

Once she's done, she returns the exosuit to the bordered-off area and powers it off. She takes note of her findings.

---

Mari

Adria listens to Mari's entire explanation with great interest. She also seems to be taking more notes as she understands more and more.

ADRIA: Hm, when you put it like that...
ADRIA: ...yeah, it does make a lot more sense! It's like a sort of magical circuit board in that sense.
ADRIA: Except instead of a board, wiring, and code, it's a magical material, drawings or carvings, and physical patterns. But they function surprisingly similarly.
ADRIA: Maybe I should have participated in Magic Club after all, haha...
ADRIA: Though, I suppose the only problem now is the magic itself... maybe I'll try and get Dorothy to help with that?
ADRIA: Maybe.

ADRIA: ...You know, maybe the magical signal is a sort of long-range wireless signal of sorts?
ADRIA: The psychic crystals linked to the wearer output an electrical signal, so the only logical explanation would be a remote activation for the magical.
ADRIA: But... why a remote activation? That's a bit strange, don't you think?
ADRIA: It might be linked to something to forcibly call the Praetorian back to their leader should they specifically request it?
ADRIA: It's archaic if you ask me. There's plenty of room for improvement. Like using actual communication and related tech instead of a forced activation. But I digress.
ADRIA: At this point it's only speculation. I'd need hard evidence and I doubt I'm getting it anytime soon.

Mari asks if she has any more questions.

ADRIA: Hm... a few, actually.
ADRIA: How complex can these runes feasibly get? Is it based on how much space you have on the material itself? From the looks of this one small rune, it appears to be relatively simple.
ADRIA: Perhaps because it is. It's just a teleportation rune after all.
ADRIA: And does the amount of material have any bearing on the strength or other properties of the rune?
ADRIA: I'm guessing it's also possible to "link" one rune to another in various ways, much like in programming. Is that the case?
ADRIA: You also mentioned the outside runes are a bit strange syntax-wise. Is it just like you won't know what you did wrong if it does something you don't want it to, or?

Adria seems very keen on listening. Almost as if she's considering something else alongside the runes.

---

The Scion + Other

Fortunately for The Scion, one of Dorothy's dweller spirit avatars was floating near where Hannah was sleeping. Interestingly, she was put in Bass's room.

The avatar floats over to The Scion.

DOROTHY: T-thankfully, um, n-nobody's hurt...
DOROTHY: Ph-physically, a-anyway... you can t-thank Ette for that...
DOROTHY: I-I... guess someone t-told you, already...

DOROTHY: B-but... I don't wanna see a-anyone hurt anyone else to, today...
DOROTHY: I-it scares me... a-and Venia scares me... I don't wanna see a-anyone angry... o-or sad...

DOROTHY: ...I-I'm getting some people together to, to talk with Hannah... n-not too many, though...
DOROTHY: I-I've already got people coming, so... um...
DOROTHY: B-but I... guess you could just eavesdrop? I-I don't think anyone w-would mind...
DOROTHY: B-but... thanks for coming, anyway, I... I appreciate it...
DOROTHY: A-and I think... Hannah would t-too...

--POST "Hannah Wakes"--

Before Dorothy could let The Scion in, Hannah shakily tells Dorothy something...

HANNAH: p-please... don't... d-don't leave me...
DOROTHY: ...I-I wouldn't. N-not now... not e-ever.
"Us kids need to stick together"... r-right?

Hannah silently nods, finally gently embracing Dorothy. Dorothy hand Ette's present over to Hannah where she gently opens it, making sure not to rip the paper. Probably not something people would expect from Hannah.

Dorothy's avatar floats over to The Scion once again.

DOROTHY: U-um... you, you can come in now...
DOROTHY: S-sorry about that...

The Sleuth is hired to scan a Darkmorph and go pester Cypress about maybe adding the bios for the Darkknights and Zabuton since the cat's out of the bag on his alleigiance.
Eren drops a skillpoint into MP.


Echoss and Star:
Echoss contemplates, but no answers are forth coming, Star asks to spar.
"Ah, not myself at the moment. I am somewhat... indisposed at the moment.
Give me just a moment, and I can give you something to try your equipment against."
Echoss quickly swaps one of his spellslots to Incantation and churns out a quick Standard Construct with average stats, it appears to be a sort of animated training dummy made out of bits of dirt and wood. It takes up position and Echoss steps back.
"...Perhaps I should have asked if you had a particular request on shape or style. Oh well, I can make another one easily enough if needed."


Eren and Maple:
Eren shakes his head.
"You'd think so, yeah, but I've been having a hard time using everything since I landed on Sussui. Not the thymefield though, it's almost like... like I'm wrestling with someone else."
Eren blinks a bit then winces.
"Yeah it's been a... strange few days."

Eren seems a little nervous/sheepish about Maple asking about his firepower.
"I... yeah. There's a lot of pretty impressive tech and magic out there.
I'm made with really high end stuff, so even the haphazard design results in scary stuff. Weapon of Mass Destruction and all...
I got in a fist fight with a god once. That was a fun weekend."


Linseed:
There is a pause from Echoss.
"Your... Give me a moment."
Echoss casts Zillycharm on himself, granting him wallhack and thus the ability to see through the door.
...Yep Linseed's arms are stuck in the ground. Echoss sighs.
"I apologize, give me a moment. How did this even happen?"
Echoss forms a small set of butterflies that seem a little... brighter than usual. He casts zillycharm on them and they flutter through the door as a group.
"Hold still a moment, please. It might be mildly unpleasant if you move too much."
The butterflies flutter down around where Linseed's arms are stuck in the ground, and then burst, unleashing small beams of light. Where they strike the floor it splinters and cracks slightly, until the entire small section crumbles away. If Linseed tries to twist to break his cuffs or similar, he meets no success, instead merely feeling like someone punched him on the spot he got himself or the cuffs hit (and he also gets another exasperated sigh from Echoss).

Once Linseed is no longer held in place by Not!Echoss' noclip shenanigans, Echoss speaks up again.
"Is there anything else you require? I apologize for the lapse on our part."


Post-Battle:
Eren winces as a bunch of the legion get nuked in one go, including several unintended deaths.
He walks back over to the Oracle in the wake of the battle ending.
"Sorry, we are... usually a lot more on the ball than this. I don't think we've killed that many people in one go before."
He then receives the footage from the oracle, who muses on what to do.
"That definitely sounds like a good idea...
Hm, you know, considering we have two-plus members of the High Chair who were personally threatened into cooperating and then narrowly saved from being killed by Spark's actions...
Well, we're in contact with Kudan now. Maybe we'll be able to help out with that press release..."
Eren nods when the Oracle mentions that they should get moving.
"Alright then. Judging by the stark absence of reinforcements things might not be going too well for you guys outside though. Also the others are probably going to want to pick through things a bit more.
There anything else you all need assistance with?"
The Oracle mentions extra dirt on Spark and Eren grins a wicked grin.
"Hey, you know what? We've got a little bit before we finish filing out.
Want me to show you some of the footage we asked for? Such as, say... Spark ordering his praetorians to assassinate Cypress for "Rebel sympathies"? Or how about just before we came in here where they threatened to incinerate the AI Labs workers for, and I quote, "slowing down our progress"."
Assuming the Oracle says sure, Eren pulls up to the terminal, and plugs the information hardrive back in and with surprising speed and skill for someone who's never used LOCAAn technology before brings up the scenes (scientists first, the assassination attempt on Cypress, even Spark trying to nuke Acacia)


To-do List:
Also maybe chat with Creation?
If the Xavier drone hasn't been talked to by the time Security Hub is done, Eren can do that.
Also hand the Subspace Grocery Box to Cypress when he heads back to the house
Gibbet needs to be upgraded to full party member.
Sleuth hire again.

Destiny +1s her MP.

Destiny walks over to the Oracle.
Your companion sleeping in the corner has a pretty high level Keycard from the looks of it. Considering we did a great amount of the legwork, consider it an additional part of our truce? I'm sure you could find alternative means of access.

If the Oracle gives the go ahead, Destiny takes the Level 4 Keycard off the Informant rather sneakily and puts it in the Inventory. However, if the Oracle refuses, she simply shakes her head and walks away.

STATISTICS

Scion +1 AGI.

---

ZONE 0 - STAR

Star eyes the training dummy and engages Sol Aeterna in hammer mode. They take a swing at the dummy and connect, for... mediocre damage.

STAR: Hmmmmmmmmm no, not, not enough Flourish

Wings of rainbow bifrost emanate from the armor on their back. They leap forward, running across the walls of the dueling hut in circles before swooping into full-blown flight. In a devastating blow, they connect with the dummy, slamming its head off in a fiery momentum-powered burst.

---

ZONE 0 - SCION

"The Scion" rushes into the house from Regalus's killing. Past the other "Scion" that is coming from the Forge. Look, time travel with mirror images makes everything weird. She immediately storms into wherever sleeby Hannah is being kept (probably with Dorothy also there).

"THE SCION": Is she... please don't tell me Venia hurt her...
"THE SCION": If she did, I-I'll... I'll...

She stares at Hannah, tears budding slightly in her eyes, and balls up her fists.

"THE SCION": She's... she's crying, in her sleep, and,
"THE SCION": I just... want to tell her it's okay, but I c-can't even touch her...
"THE SCION": I can punch Venia in her stupid face, but... you probably don't want me to.
"THE SCION": ...
"THE SCION": ...Please... just come get me when she wakes up.

Dorothy asks "the Scion" to step out of the room.

"THE SCION": Fine. But... but... don't you dare make her feel worse about herself for whatever happened, okay?
"THE SCION": I'll... be outdoors.

---

ZONE 1

"The Scion" awkwardly smiles.

"THE SCION": Um... yeah, I guess... if you say so...
"THE SCION": But... I don't know where Asha is.
"THE SCION": Maybe you could take a tour of our house and try to find her?
"THE SCION": As long as you don't attack anyone with your light powers, hehe... People don't like it when you do that.

---

ZONE 4

"The Scion" doesn't seem super happy with Venia's late thanks.

"THE SCION": Um. Ok.
"THE SCION": See you around...

---

OMTOSE PHELLACK

"The Thaumaturge" turns the edges of his mouth upwards grimly.

"THE THAUMATURGE": Yes, I am of the Jaghut. I es(aped the purges entirely due to (han(e.
"THE THAUMATURGE": I was imprisoned by one of my old (olleagues after a disagreement between us on the nature of his work.
"THE THAUMATURGE": Imprisoned, lu(kily for me, in an extremely se(ure lo(ation. I remained there for hundreds of thousands of years.
"THE THAUMATURGE": As for the T'lan Imass--yes, they were native to our world, whi(h has gone by many names but has never had one sti(k.
"THE THAUMATURGE": They were not always undead (reatures. The Imass on(e walked the world in flesh, hunting beasts and sitting around the fires they would (onjure with their own brand of magi(.
"THE THAUMATURGE": Now their very distant (ousins, humans, are the most (ommon spe(ies on the planet. From my most re(ent frame of referen(e, at least. Time is immaterial when one (onsiders universal positioning, but I prefer to keep some illusion of linearity, for my own sanity.
"THE THAUMATURGE": And then we have the (entral question. Why eradi(ate my entire spe(ies? Was it simply jealousy, or some greater rivalry that has no true origin?

"The Thaumaturge" laughs.

"THE THAUMATURGE": Of (ourse not.
"THE THAUMATURGE": It was be(ause we enslaved them.
"THE THAUMATURGE": Not all of us, of (ourse. As I said, the Jaghut were a solitary group. We had seen the so-(alled ills of so(iety and wanted none of them.
"THE THAUMATURGE": But there were always ex(eptions. Perhaps the individuals the Lord of Hate so feared when he (alled for an end to our gatherings.
"THE THAUMATURGE": Jaghut Tyrants.
"THE THAUMATURGE": They bent the Imass to their will with magi(al power and for(ed them to (onquer in their name. They (laimed to be gods and stripped the Imass of any other religion.
"THE THAUMATURGE": A man I knew briefly on(e said that a Jaghut Tyrant (ould destroy a (ontinent if they wished, and that a Tyrant with an Imass army by their side (ould (hallenge the gods and kill half of them. I believe that he was right.
"THE THAUMATURGE": Most of us opposed the Tyrants, but we did not do nearly enough to stop them. We shunned (ooperation or interferen(e. We (laimed it would (orrupt us.
"THE THAUMATURGE": It is no wonder the Imass hated us so.

As he continues, his voices grows sharper and more serious.

"THE THAUMATURGE": The Imass knew full well that they would be(ome monsters.
"THE THAUMATURGE": Their warm, passionate selves stripped into (old-fire weapons with a singular purpose.
"THE THAUMATURGE": For those who parti(ipated in the Ritual of Tellann, it was worth it. To make sure our kind would never produ(e a Tyrant again.
"THE THAUMATURGE": Anti-magi( and ordinary magi( are not so opposed as you believe, where I (ome from.
"THE THAUMATURGE": They are not quite the same, true. But negation, Otataral, has its presen(e in the Warrens just like the fire of Tellann or the i(e of Omtose Phella(k. Or the darkness of Kurald Galain.
"THE THAUMATURGE": My kind is naturally attuned to i(e, and the Imass to fire--and negation in their undeath, for their vi(ious purpose.
"THE THAUMATURGE": But the latter did not (ome naturally to them. Talents (an (hange.
"THE THAUMATURGE": Would you (onsider it too far of a stretch to apply the same logi( to the Tabletopians' te(hnology? Yes, I suspe(t you would. It bears little resemblan(e to arborman(y.
"THE THAUMATURGE": Ex(ept that it requires ingenuity, fo(us, and a will to master the universe's innate for(es. But I digress.

"The Thaumaturge" looks pointedly at Omorika.

"THE THAUMATURGE": I think you see the (rux of my argument now.
"THE THAUMATURGE": No party (an remain blameless in a war that lasts for millennia, Miss Omorika.
"THE THAUMATURGE": I am not asking you to forgive the tyrant Ikea, or the spe(ifi( Tabletopians who dropped fire on your homes.
"THE THAUMATURGE": I am asking you to give (ypress, and his Tabletopian allies in the rebellion, a (han(e.
"THE THAUMATURGE": Do not be(ome a monster so that you may slay one.
"THE THAUMATURGE": We enslaved the Imass, and so they wiped us out, and took their own mortal lives in the pro(ess.
"THE THAUMATURGE": Tabletopia burned you, and so Spark seeks to plunge them and all of Sussui into darkness.
"THE THAUMATURGE": There lies only death that way.
"THE THAUMATURGE": We must all work to move forward.

Stat changes

Calibri: +2 STR, -1 SKI, Limit Breaker perk, -1 SPC
Verdana: +1 SPC, Hidden Force -> Shield Slam (fun fact, as he has 34 DEF, Verdana's shield slam deals (22-23) base Crushing damage, and he has both the Galahad's Shield and Shield Throw modifiers.)

---

Zone 5.5 - Central Labs - Security Hub

"...Welp, that was quick."

Calibri shrugs. Then he... ponders what exactly he could be doing. After some pondering, he determines that his position should probably be updated.

Also, he analyzes the contents of the foob. After all, that could be useful foob.

---

Zone 0 - The House

Verdana decides to take down some notes as Acacia speaks, glancing up at her and down at the paper in alternation to make sure she knows he's still listening.

VERDANA: ...Artillery fire from airships, teleportation glyph to escape (we made a countermeasure to that one already), reinforcements from Praetorians and... Sentinels?
VERDANA: No idea what those are, I don't think any of us have seen them yet. Hopefully we do before having to fight them.
VERDANA: ...Magitech power armor, can be disabled by EMP, good to know...
VERDANA: ...And the thymefield, because of course that thing keeps getting in the way. Don't know if we can bypass that.
VERDANA: Well, we can, but only for certain pieces of equipment and resources. Not people...

Verdana makes a sad noise after that last remark, evidently lamenting his depowered state. Thankfully, he perks back up again in short order.

VERDANA: Thank you kindly, miss Acacia~!
VERDANA: Now then, proper bed, proper bed...

The albino turns around, immediately notices the couch, and faceplants into it while trying to move about. After a moment of just lying there, he pushes himself up and hops over to the back side, facing Acacia once again and concentrating.

VERDANA: If you'll just allow me a moment and a bit of trust...

He proceeds to use Guiding Hand, or some equivalent, to telekinetically lift Acacia (and by extension Hersilia) into the air and carry her over to the couch, harmlessly setting her down without her needing to move so much as a muscle.

VERDANA: There. Couch. It's like a bed, but... not a bed.
VERDANA: If you'll just allow me another moment...

Verdana suddenly cannonballs off to one side, somehow doing so with enough force to land at the entrance to the bathroom, which he walks through like a normal person. In there, he uses the sink to wash off some old Ette's Floof, dries it with a hairdryer that is actually just a badly retextured quick mesh of a Searing and Squall cluster, stuffs the cleaned floof into a Fireproof Silkweave, and probably successfully creates the Comfy Warm Pillow.

After that quick craft, he returns to Acacia's side, offering her the newly-created Comfy Warm Pillow.

VERDANA: And there, a pillow. We didn't have a spare that I knew of, so I had to hand-make one just now.
VERDANA: ...Does that count as a second gift? Mayyyyybe. But that's not too relevant, so, ehe. Enjoy~!

---

The Old Pass

"..."

Loading.

---

The Everground

S.E.D waits for a moment, idly turning and "looking" at the other people in the room, one treat lifting up at the front and lowering again repeatedly. It's practically tapping its foot with impatience, except given S.E.D has treads instead of a foot, it can't quite do that properly. Hopefully people will be ready soon.

Lily pops back into existence.

VolatileLily0058: uhh... hey! im sorry for going missing for so long
VolatileLily0058: but yea i got the devs to send me back here! finally!!
VolatileLily0058: they took a while to get back to me so i was stuck managing events for awhile ._.

Lily sighs at the thought of her unpaid day job as she fumbles with her weapon.

VolatileLily0058: anyways, where were we? >_<
VolatileLily0058: man i really must have missed a lot of stuff!!
VolatileLily0058: um... right! the devs did tell me a bit about the mechanics for this "quest"
VolatileLily0058: so at least i know a bit? ahahahaha

She tentatively allocates 4 skillpoints into DEF, 1 into HP and 3 into MP

Things only happen if they're done, and starting is always the hardest hurdle, isn't it?

---

Easy to start with, concluding the Security Hub.

AUTH: Yes... quite. I had a feeling that if you went in for it alone, that the casualties would be more severe than they are.
AUTH: I am rather displeased about the opposing fatalities, but I suppose they happen. I don't think I could have suggested that we hold back.

Auth considers the suggestion of a "PR wave" from the oracle.

AUTH: He wouldn't be able to sue you, correct. But not because you're rebels, but because what you're showing is true.
AUTH: If you have the equipment for such a campaign, please go ahead. We are planning to do something similar ourselves. Coordination may avoid stepping on toes, as it were.

Before anybody really realizes, Auth has healed the (mostly minor) wounds of the rebels and has resuscitated as many Legionnaires as were in the room and is forcing them out of the Security Hub, along with comments along the lines of "Out, out, all of you out".

As for the informant... Somebody else can try to convince him to surrender his access card, or failing that just steal it.

---

Since Acacia has returned from death and appears calmed, Auth slinks away to the fridge. Marron made a request, after all, so let's pretend that there was chocolate milk in there and Auth prepared some for Marron.

AUTH: Here, Marron. For you.

Auth then looks down to Acacia, and thinks...

AUTH: When we're finished here...
AUTH: Acacia, you should go upstairs and use the bedroom on the far side of the hall. I think it's probably for the best that you take a proper room while recovering, I doubt barracks will be conducive to your recovery.
AUTH: Hersilia, I think you should probably go with her. It's probably for the best that someone has an eye on her, in case she needs anything. Just call if you do need anything, and somebody will be there.

---

And now for a more important(?) thing: Parabola. Auth nods to Nana when she asks if those are the apples he mentioned. They are, indeed. Auth silently takes flight and plucks one from the tree, and takes another if the snakes at the foot of the tree don't stir.

AUTH: Quite right. I can assure you that they are, in fact, apples. Quite shiny, no? If you cut them open you'll find they resemble a normal apple.
AUTH: Perhaps a large apple.

Auth offers the apple to Nana to hold onto, as he steers the boat down the river to the second major point of the journey. Perhaps in the interest of time, Auth seems surprised when he notices the canopy of the jungle open up, and the river's tributary brings the pair to a place Auth seems to recognize... seeing as he's taking the mirror up.

AUTH: I wasn't expecting them to be this close, although it's rather fortunate. This is where I would normally operate in Parabola. I brought the mirror to Sussui here so I know it goes somewhere safe.

Nana may see a man with the face of a squid approach, and burble something utterly incomprehensible... to anybody but Auth, apparently.

AUTH: Glad to know. Where's the mirror that doesn't go to the Adulterine Castle?
AUTH: I have something I need to place nearby.

More burbling.

AUTH: Got it. Thanks.

Depending on what Nana's doing, they'll probably be back soon-ish.

---

Auth waits for everybody to be ready to heal the Remnant now, so... maybe this ought to be a doc.

Thank you to Adria and Ire for helping make this!

Stat Changes
-1 HP, +2 DEF

RP: R8 - Central Labs

"Might be worth checkin' out the Security Hub first and see if we can find wot we're lookin' for."

Irongutta raised his eyebrows in surprise as R-8 recounted how the Nightmare's plans were split in two as well as how one half was apparently stolen.

"Split it up, eh? Well 'owever they did it, I guess they didn't want the plans fallin' into the wrong hands. Or in our case, the roight ones!" Irongutta chuckled, fantasizing about having the plans in his possession for a moment.

"Still, if half of it got stolen like ya said then it could be just about anywhere on this planet. Maybe if we're lucky we'll bump into the git responsible for stirrin' up so much trouble by themselves! Either way, let's go check out the Security Hub an' see if we can find anythin'."

He started walking but then paused for a second. "Wait, wot's a USB?"

---

At the Security Hub, Irongutta rolled up and looked the room over. Seemed like whatever action happened there was just wrapping up. In the corner, he noticed a terminal. "Jackpot! C'mere R-8, this might 'ave those weapon plans."

Stomping his way over, he nudged the Oracle out of his way and took a look at the computer terminal. After a moment, he turned to face his protégé with a puzzled expression. "Er, you'll 'ave to help me navigate this thing."

<ROUND 293>

Stats! But without a spoiler! I am a god of chaos.

Adria: +1 MMP
Destiny: +1 MMP, Astral Ring upgraded to Star Empress' Circlet
Scion: +1 AGI
Calibri: +2 STR, -1 SKI, -1 SPC. +Limiter Breaker.
Verdana: +1 SPC, Hidden Force -> Shield Slam
Irongutta: +2 DEF, -1 MHP

---

Sophia and Sythia have a chat, kinda? Though Sythia doesn't really speak, she skillfully moves the Chloe plushie with one hand while performing some minor woodmancy with the other. The Chloe plushie wanders over to a newly-morphed in wooden drum. A stick morphs in next to the drum, and begins to rapidly smack the wooden drum. Though this doesn't actually make much audible noise, it causes the Chloe plushie a deal of distress. She bends forward, covering her ears with her hands.

The Chloe plushie kneels down, and puts her hands together. For a brief moment, the total silence that Sophia observed earlier sweeps over the room again. The stick continues to whack the drum, making absolutely no noise. The Chloe plushie, no longer distressed, sits down and motions itself to take a deep sigh. Soon, the silence fades, and Sythia morphs the drum out of existence. The Chloe plushie then stands up, and bows. Did... that really answer anything? Who knows.

Anyway, in the Central Labs, Adria pilots the mech! After getting a quick feel for the thing, she's easily able to pilot it around! Testing the legs and arms, it seems that it adjusts at a reasonable rate. The technology is certainly doing its job. She then tries running around the labs, leaving the bordered test area-

CHLOE: W-What the heck?

An energy field manifests right in front of the mecha, and Adria runs directly into it. She bounces off with minimal harm to herself and the robot. The barrier vanishes about as quickly as it appears. Perhaps a bit dazed, Adria staggers back a few steps. Examining the bordered-off test area, Chloe pokes it with her sword. There's no response. She shrugs.

CHLOE: W-Well, that explains why the Pin never ran at us like a reasonable killer robot.
CHLOE: I guess the stripes on the floor aren't just for show. Test material might not be able to leave the area until otherwise authorized.
CHLOE: I mean, it makes sense, but it's... kinda annoying.
CHLOE: Any ideas to take this barrier down? I don't see a functioning console anywhere...
CHLOE: And why'd it let us in, and the thrown scientist out...?

Chloe notices a moderately busted console that lies just near the marked off area. Perhaps that was once used to control the barrier? Of course, given that it's moderately devastated, it won't really do much good for anyone. Adria can't help but feel that once they solve this, they'll get full use of the Exosuit for... whatever it is they feel like using it for. Probably horrible, horrible violence.

Then, elsewhere in a less science-y building, Adria discusses runes with Mari, taking notes as she does so. Mari beams ever so slightly with pride when she sees that Adria's actually taking notes. She thinks of it as a "magical circuit board", to which Mari nods.

MARI: A circuit board, huh?
MARI: Yeah, I guess that works too. Whatever helps you visualize it in your head.
MARI: But yeah. Get a mage to help you work with this.
MARI: Omorika, maybe Nia, or one of your friends? Hell if I know.

As for the magical signal that the rune receives, Adria theorizes that it's a long-ranged wireless sort of thing. Why would they need a remote activation for the rune system? That seems kinda extreme.

MARI: Huh, maybe.
MARI: Though, this can only actually warp someone to one specific location, specified by the spell.
MARI: I'm pretty sure that retreating Praetorians don't directly teleport to Spark's side. That'd be a pretty gorilla design decision.
MARI: Like, what if Spark's in bed or something? Does a big armored guy just teleport in above him, and crush his wooden bones?
MARI: I bet it warps them to not only a safe location, but a location where they could immediately deploy to Spark's side.
MARI: Maybe like, a secret base full of drop pod tech or something. That's what I'd do.
MARI: Teleport troops to safety, then if required, they can fire themselves elsewhere.

MARI: If only we had a device that'd teleport us there so we can blow it up, y'know?
MARI: Not that I'm suggesting that we do that, it's just that it'd be an awful shame if we filled it with landmines, and rigged them to explode the next time someone warped away...
MARI: Wink wink, nudge nudge.

While doing exactly that would probably be slightly on the meaner side... uh, I'll let you guys consider whether that's even a good idea or not. Anyway, Adria then asks a few more follow-up questions about runes. How complex can they get? Does the material affect the properties of the rune? Can runes be linked? Also, apparently the outside syntax gets a bit weird?

MARI: Whoa, geez. Slow down a bit. One at a time.
MARI: Anyway.
MARI: One, runes can get as stupid as you want. Assuming you have enough space on the rune to engrave something.
MARI: Two, the rune material matters quite a bit. Materials that don't conduct magic very well may just be duds, or even explode instead of functioning. Good materials can improve the efficiency of the spell, and maybe even allow for multiple uses.
MARI: Three, nothing's stopping you from linking things together in a circuit-type format I guess. Not sure what you're planning.

MARI: And finally, as for the syntax... look, I'm not an expert.
MARI: I think you've gotta like, equally space the runes or something. So if you have like, four subrunes that do one thing, and four that also do another, you better arrange them in a nice pattern.
MARI: Symmetry or something. Otherwise, it might not work or trigger properly. I dunno.
MARI: I think also like, if you have multiple rings of "triggers", then you can do AND / OR clauses? If the outer rings conditions aren't met, then the inner ring will be tested, and so on.
MARI: This rune has two rings of "triggers". The outer one just tests for the electrical current, while the other one is searching for that signal.
MARI: I... think that just about covers everything?

Mari shrugs. Hopefully whatever Adria is thinking about pulling off, it'll be fun!

---

Echoss and Eren do a lot of stuff. First, the Sleuth is hired to go and seek out a Darkmorph. Cypress is then asked to go and grab the scan data for the Darkknights and Zabuton, but...

CYPRESS: Require scan data. It's the rule. My apologies.
CYPRESS: Universal law. Rather odd.

But anyway, at least for the Darkmorph, >Codex Updated!

Elsewhere, Maple asks Eren about firepower. How does he fit all that firepower into him, anyway? While she doesn't get an answer to that, apparently Eren has gotten into a fistfight a god.

MAPLE: Y-You got into a fistfight with a god!?
MAPLE: ...
MAPLE: Did you win?

Maple only asks about the important things here on Project Thymium. Anyway, down a floor, Echoss casts Zillycharm on himself and some butterflies, using them to free Linseed from the ground. He's silent as the butterfly mass works, not even offering an apology by the time he's freed from the ground. When asked what he wants, he's very blunt about it.

LINSEED: This device on my head. Get it off.
LINSEED: It is awfully annoying. Humiliating.
LINSEED: Do you treat all of your prisoners this way?
LINSEED: The cuffs are not required, either.

He does still have that Faraday cage on his head. Maybe it's about time it was taken off? It is slightly rude to bind someone already in prison. Sure, it is blocking a tracking beacon within his head, but what's the Rebellion gonna do with that? Their leaders are all captured or recruited. Maybe show him some kindness. This totally won't backfire.

Finally, over with the Oracle, Eren explains that he doesn't think the party's killed so many people in one go before.

ORACLE: It's amazing you manage to usually not kill people, really.
ORACLE: Typically, suppressing people without lethal force tends to be difficult. It's hard to imagine that killing everyone is an outlier.
ORACLE: How do you do that, anyway?

Eren then mentions that they likely won't have many more reinforcements coming in, so staying here likely won't be the best idea.

ORACLE: We'll be clearing out soon, anyway.
ORACLE: There's too many defenses here for us to deal with here, even though we took the Security Hub.
ORACLE: Seriously, the defenses downstairs are insane. Even if we didn't lose several men to the Termites or other defenders, the number of guards down there is unbeatable.
ORACLE: Sure, with access to the security systems we COULD trigger a bunch of turrets, but that won't even cause a group of Praetorians to blink.
ORACLE: If we didn't know better, one might think that Spark's thinking of holding their last stand here!

Finally, Eren offers to show the Oracle some of the footage that they retrieved here just now. He nods, giving the go ahead. A quick montage of Spark ordering the execution of Cypress, attempting to incinerate the scientists, and literally murdering Acacia with his own hands.

ORACLE: ...Helix.
ORACLE: I can see why Spark wouldn't want the footage getting out.
ORACLE: Does this mean that Cypress and Acacia are no longer "kill on sight" targets? Maybe we should talk to Lord Kudan about pulling them into the fold...
ORACLE: Or, at least Cypress, anyway. No idea how we'd revive Acacia.

ORACLE: Wonder how we should use this stuff, anyway?
ORACLE: Random broadcast? Public PSA? Viral video of Acacia getting murdered?
ORACLE: ...Who knows, really.

I mean, there's likely been worse things that have been spread online. But, getting the Rebellion to not kill Cypress or Acacia... that'd be pretty big, right?

---

Destiny asks about a keycard. Can they take the Level 4 Access Card from the Informant? The Oracle shrugs.

ORACLE: I mean, if you want.
ORACLE: We sure as hell didn't give the card to him, and he also tried to compromise our defensive efforts.
ORACLE: Feel free to take it.

Destiny pickpockets the card, but legally! Level 4 Access Card obtained! Maximum hacking power is now yours! Or uh, the party's. Taking a look, it seemed this belonged to... Chaiere. The former Chair God, which is a weird name for the leader of Locaa, but whatever. Guess they never threw the card out after he perished. One can't help but wonder if Spark has a similar card.

---

The Scion recommends to Dawn that they try and find Asha. Is... is this the greatest idea? Dawn seems to think it is. They float yet higher above the ground,

DAWN: YES. I SHALL SEEK OUT MOTHER.
DAWN: WHY DON'T YOU JOIN ME? WITH OUR HEAVENLY POWER, THE TRIP SHOULD BE NEAR INSTANTANEOUS.

Regardless of whether the Scion agrees to join Dawn, they soon take off at... incredibly underwhelming speeds. Though it certainly is quick for something of the size and scale of Dawn, Chloe could probably outrun it if she felt inclined to. As they hover towards the house, Dawn suddenly begins to accelerate dramatically. Light bends around Dawn as they surge forward through space and time, emerging near the house. Their radiant light bathes the house, illuminating it in pure, uncontrollable cognitohazard. Though who look outside and towards the golem may feel their eyes spontaneously combust, but in the mental plane.

DAWN: ASHA. WHERE ARE YOU?
DAWN: YOUR CHILD WISHES TO MEET YOU.

It is unclear how Asha would be capable of having this thing as a child. Finally, back in the Omtose Phellack, lore. As it would seem, Mr. Thaumaturge is one of the Jaghut. Survived through virtue of being imprisoned for a couple hundred thousand years. Omo raises a finger.

OMORIKA: ...Hundreds of thousands of years?
OMORIKA: Do you happen to be immortal? While the working of immortality vary from creature to creature, like whether it's the simple inability to age, or the true inability to die... how did you hold out for so long?
OMORIKA: But... that must've been harrowing. My condolences.

She then learns more about the T'lan Imass. Though they were native to the world of the Jaghut, they were not always some sort of undead type creature. Once a very similar sort of creature to the standard homo sapien, they were the slaves of the Jaghut. In Omorika's mind, more uncanny connections manifest themselves.

OMORIKA: More parallels.
OMORIKA: Some historians believe that Chairians and Tabletopians were the same species, with two distinct "castes".
OMORIKA: The working class of Tabletopians, with their durable bodies meant to handle hard labor with ease.
OMORIKA: Then, the royal Chairians. Their feeble bodies, though not accustomed to work, had mastery over magic. They would lead the people from castles formed by the Tabletopians.
OMORIKA: Of course, this agreement wouldn't have sat well with the Tabletopians. As part of the theory, they split from the Chairians and began our eternal, never-ending war.

OMORIKA: The "working class", the Imass.
OMORIKA: Then, the "royals" of the Jaghut.
OMORIKA: Though the circumstances of both sides are quite different... I'm sure you can see the parallels?

She learns of how some "tyrants" enslaved populations of the Imass, turning them into hordes of brainwashed warriors. And soon, to fight against this, the Imass turned themselves into undead monsters to prevent the rise of another tyrant. The Thaumaturge notes how the Imass were naturally attuned to ice, and the Imass to fire and undeath. Though, the latter of those connections did not come naturally. Talents can change. Then, the question is asked. Would it be too far of a stretch to apply the same logic to the Tabletopian's technology?

OMORIKA: I... suppose it wouldn't be wrong to apply the logic.
OMORIKA: Though, I would not say they align perfectly. The Tabletopians defied the universe's innate forces of magic, branching off into their own art.
OMORIKA: But the ingenuity, focus, and the will you spoke of... it's certainly there.
OMORIKA: Again returning to that theory, the Tabletopians supposedly took to developing technology in order to counteract their general lack of magical ability.
OMORIKA: The Chairians of old, not requiring such "frivolous" things, instead furthered their magic more and more. Only recently has technology become commonplace for us Chairians.

This soon brings the Thaumaturge of their point. No party can remain blameless in an endless war. Though she is not being asked to forgive Ikea, or the Tabletopians that laid waste to her home... she should at the very least, give Cypress and his Tabletopian allies a chance. She grits her teeth, turning away from the Thaumaturge.

OMORIKA: Y-You... think it's that easy to do?
OMORIKA: My entire life, my people have fought the Tabletopians.
OMORIKA: Friends, family, l-lovers... I've lost them all to the Tabletopians.
OMORIKA: A-And, Cypress... I considered him a friend for t-the longest time. I gave him my trust.
OMORIKA: Y-You can't just expect me to... turn a blind eye to all of this.

OMORIKA: But of course, I have been told by the Spherebreakers to give Cypress and his murderous goons a chance. Because that is what I must do for my people, and those of my kin that remain.
OMORIKA: Very begrudgingly, I have been giving his troops... not my trust, but the ability to operate. For as long as the Sphere stands.
OMORIKA: So.
OMORIKA: What more do you want from me?
OMORIKA: Do you wish for me to apologize to Cypress for my words? To put away all the harm that his people have done to mine, and pretend it never happened?
OMORIKA: If so, tell me why I would owe that liar anything.

...What to say?

---

Calibri investigates the food at the Skylabs. The unattended lunch in the Security Hub appears to be a set of two burritos! Score! Though... something about them gives off an incredibly menacing aura. Perhaps they were left untouched for a reason? Or maybe it's just the fact that the meat is not meat-colored. That's meat, right? Is... is this even edible? Only one way to find out, and that's to take it.

Meanwhile, over in the Calzone, Calibri reminisces about the Origin's Embrace in the place of the Operative. It was their experience with fusion, and given that it was a fusion with Chloe, one could only imagine it was rather nice. Chloe however, can't help but blush when she gazes at the memory orb. She sees part of herself in a fantastical dance of flame.

CHLOE: W-Wuh? M-Mindscape me... f-fused with him?
CHLOE: T-That's just... I-I'm not gonna explore t-that, okay?
CHLOE: To reach s-such a stage in their relationship in r-record time...
CHLOE: O-Other me has game!
CHLOE: M-Meanwhile, I got rejected b-by...
CHLOE: N-Nevermind!

Then, with the information out of the bag, Hangman decides to bid adieu. They yeet a noose out of the void, coiling and morphing into a wearable amulet. Those who witnessed the beast known as the Gallow would probably be a bit hesitant to use such a thing. Chloe equips a pair of tongs, and very carefully drops them into this mindscape's inventory.

CHLOE: So was he here just to tell us about the fusions?
CHLOE: But why would such a thing be so important?
CHLOE: L-Like, it'd be important to you and your brother, b-but... why us? I don't get it.
CHLOE: O-Or... was he also here for something else, too?
CHLOE: If he was trying to shake our trust in you... he didn't do that, that's for sure.

Calibri then brings up the issue of loot. The various things they found... what to take? The GM probably wouldn't be happy if all of those items got to leave. Which is exactly correct! So, what to take?

CHLOE: Hmm...
CHLOE: Sophie, what do you think?
CHLOE: I myself am interested in this sword I found.
CHLOE: I wanna see it at its best, y'know?

She does a cute lil' flourish with it, twirling herself around as the sword spins around both her arms. She's really gotten good at swordplay these past few days, hasn't she?

While Chloe amps up her style, Verdana takes note of what Acacia's had to say. Artillery, Praetorians... Sentinels? Acacia baps her face with her hand.

ACACIA: Didn't like, Spark send a few of those towards your airship?
ACACIA: I rarely forget about THINGS THAT TRY TO TAKE MY LIFE.
ACACIA: Or uh, successfully take my life, I guess.

He then takes Acacia off to a proper bed. Or uh, as usually is the case, a couch. Lifting her over to the couch with Guiding Hand, she's gently set down. Though she's clearly unhappy with this arrangement, it's not like she can do much about it. A Comfy Warm Pillow is then fabricated from 6 units of Ette's Floof and 2 Fireproof Silkweave. This is plopped beneath Acacia's head.

ACACIA: Not a bed. But whatever.
ACACIA: I guess this works.

Acacia stews in... comfort.

---

Lily re-exists again! What's going on? Fortunately for her, she's re-existed within proximity of Mari, who waves to her in a non-enthusiastic manner.

MARI: Oh, hey.
MARI: Welcome back.
MARI: Basically right now, we're at the center of the Sky Labs. Same island, probably the same building, but... more north of where we were.
MARI: The last Glyph remains here. If we dig down some distance, we'd probably find it.
MARI: Oooof course, there's like, a lot of heckin' nerds between us and the glyph.

MARI: So, tell me.
MARI: Does your game have any particularly shiny AoE spells? That'd be rather handy.

Mari grins ever so slightly. While she has no idea of the power scaling of Lily's game, maybe Lily could pull out something rather lethal?

---

Auth does a few things! First, he asks that if the Oracle has the equipment to perform said "PR Wave", then they should probably do it. The Oracle however, shakes their head.

ORACLE: We've considered that before, but there's a snag.
ORACLE: Kudan states that they could potentially override the network without much difficulty if he spent the time to develop a device.
ORACLE: However, there would only be one chance to get communications out. The Citadel's own staff would not be smart enough to counteract us overtaking their communications, so they would likely shut down their whole network.
ORACLE: So, whatever message we do get out should be short enough to be fully broadcast before getting shut down, and powerful enough to immediately turn the tides.
ORACLE: Though, this new footage might be just the thing we need.

Auth also spends some time healing up Legionaries, and shooing them from the building with a broom. Elsewhere, over at the house, Auth gets Marron a glass of choccy milk. Her face lights up a little. Placing the glass on her plate-like chest, she also obtains a long straw so she can enjoy the drink without sitting up.

MARRON: Thanks, Auth!
MARRON: I needed this.
MARRON: slurp

Once Marron's drink is all squared, Auth arrives near Acacia. He informs her that once she's able to, she can go and occupy the bedroom on the far side of the hall. While Marron and Asha might be unhappy to find someone squatting in their bed, they'd probably understand. Right?

ACACIA: Why not just like, carry me now then?
ACACIA: A proper bed would beat this damn couch, that's for sure.
HERSILIA: Ah, Acacia. Freja could take you there, if you wish.
HERSILIA: I could also come with you, if you'd like somebody by your side.
ACACIA: Uh, alright.
ACACIA: I g-guess we can share a bedroom together.

ACACIA: ...
ACACIA: W-Wait a sec-
HERSILIA: H-Huh?
HERSILIA: N-Not what I expected, b-but... that's incredibly forward of you.
ACACIA: Y-You are perfectly aware of what I meant!
ACACIA: J-Just... take me b-before these i-idiots g-get any ideas!

A heavily blushing Acacia allows herself to be loaded onto Freja, where she's carried upstairs. Hersilia follows along, neither of them returning downstairs. Soon enough, with the comfort of a proper bed, she's quick to doze off into dreamland. Hersilia takes the floor, not entirely keen on sharing a bed with her superior just yet. Not that she intended to, anyway.

Meanwhile, over in Parabola, Auth plucks Nana an apple from the mysterious, probably snake-infested tree. She catches the apple as he throws it down to her, eyes practically glittering as she beholds the beauty she's obtained. Or perhaps she's not so much admiring its beauty, as much as potential alchemical properties. Or maybe just its taste. Who knows. It is pretty, though.

NANA: Hurray! Ah, I wanna dig into it... but I'm not sure if that's a good idea.
NANA: Besides, if I'm gonna eat one, I'd like you to prepare it first, Auth!
NANA: E-Especially since it might kill me i-if not prepared properly.
NANA: T-Though, not that I'm really sure of how one might make an appetizing apple dish.
NANA: M-Maybe we could b-bake an apple pie? I-I'm not much of a baker, but maybe you are?

Hesperian Apple Pie, the potential new competitor to the cider. As Nana continues to admire the apple, Auth continues to sail down the river. The jungle soon opens up, and the flow takes them to a place that Auth appears to recognize. Nana opens her mouth to ask a question, but then something appears that causes her to ditch that old question and instead go with the new one.

NANA: I-Is that a squid!?
NANA: A-Are there really individuals that roam the streets of London at this very moment with the faces of squid?
NANA: P-Perplexing... b-but I guess to him, us people made of wood seem as weird as I see him!
NANA: I-Is that a "him"? I-I dunno. Squids.

Nana sits quietly as Auth does... something? I dunno.

---

Hannah wakes up! I'd recommend giving this a read yourself. There's not much for me to touch on, but like many of our roleplay documents, I always advocate for reading these. They good.

---

Irongutta and R-8733 discuss the plans of the Nightmare. He suggests that the two of them bust into the Security Hub and see if they can find anything. He nods, and the two immediately go along their way. But, as they walk, Ironguita asks- what's a USB?

R-8733: It's like... the computer's version of paper. I think.
R-8733: I've never seen one before, but it's something you put computer documents on!
R-8733: I think you put files onto a USB with a device called a "printer".
R-8733: I'm a pyrotechnics expert. Not a computer expert.

Mari cringes on a metaphysical level. Eventually, the duo arrives at the computer, Irongutta nudging the Oracle out of the way. But... the terminal is too much for him! He stares at R-8733, asking him to navigate the computer.

R-8733: Alright. I'll get my best men on it!
R-8733: ...That's you, random rebel person!
ORACLE: ok
ORACLE: I'll... see what I can do.

Browsing through the Security Hub's vast databases, they find... only traces. While there is a file conveniently labelled "DOU_PLANS.pdf", it's... empty. Completely empty. File revision history shows only one thing.

ORACLE: Uh.
ORACLE: It looks like the file you're looking for was... compromised?
ORACLE: Completely wiped. I'm guessing someone copied the files somewhere else, then deleted them.
ORACLE: Apparently, this only happened a few days ago, too.
ORACLE: I don't think I can attempt recovery, either.

ORACLE: Footage does show that Spark was here a few days ago. The timelines would line up as well.
ORACLE: Maybe he did it?

Uh. Very suspicious. Kinda hard to imagine how he'd use it, though.

---

Anyway, that's it for today's update! Perhaps it's time to release the lockdown, then go downstairs and have a fun party with the forces at the Dream of Unity's base? The Glyph will then be just down a floor! Nothing will go horribly wrong when this occurs. Nope.

FYI, the battle at the foot of the Dream of Unity will be infinite cap. Just so you know.

Sleuth is hired to scan a darknight.
Cypress should research Antimagic Cannon
Not!Echoss pays Nia to continue commiting crimes. Specially upgrading the Nia Nia Nia and Temmie Crimelord Meal.


Echoss and Star
Echoss blinks and applauds lightly for Star's display of destroying the training golem.
"Very impressive! You are indeed well skilled as you said before.


Eren and Maple
"I mean, yeah. He wasn't one of the super powerful cosmic gods, it was a version of the Earth mythology god Thor. We met in a bar, he got drunk and started smashing things, I had to knock some sense into him.
It... actually isn't as interesting of a story as you'd think. The rest of the weekend was nuts though, winning a barfight against a god of thunder was probably the most normal thing that happened."


Linseed
Linseed can almost feel the unamused glare through the door.
"Let us take a step back, Hickory. You seem to be under a false impression of the situation you are in.
To be quite honest if I were you I would just be glad we hadn't been more thorough in disabling you. Perhaps in a similar manner you seem to be fond of inflicting on your own prisoners?
Either way, the hospitality you have received, such as it is, is not granted out of some ulterior motive but because we saw fit to put in the effort to hold you in a less demeaning fashion.
If you would prefer we removed all of your augmentations with insufficient facilities, then I suppose we could remove the cuffs, but we are not stupid, we just have standards. Likewise with the helmet.
Until such time as Pomme and Kudan agree to come pick you up without bringing a siege with them, or such time as the Zabuton signs off on a ceasefire so our two groups can stop wasting time shooting at each other instead of Spark and the Sphere, you will remain here, and the measures ensuring you stay here instead of breaking out and trying to kill us will remain as well."
Echoss pauses.
"I've heard from the others that we finally managed to establish communications with the other Zabuton. I could ask if this channel is ongoing as opposed to just singular, and if so I do not think it would be difficult to talk with them."


Post-Battle
The oracle asks Eren how the Spherebreakers avoid killing people so often.
"That... is kinda complicated. There's a bunch of factors though. A lot of us have experience with adventuring, and differences there from military training lend better to nonlethal takedowns. We also tend to critical wounds after any given battle so people who haven't died before the fight ends don't die after either. Auth especially. I've heard he's got that 'battlefield saint' reputation and he definitely lives up to it from what I've seen.
We have advantages most of you guys don't, so we're trying to make use of them to try and actually make things better. From the sound of things you don't get Outsiders who do that very often, LOCAA doesn't need us screwing things up again."
Eren's brow furrows when the Oracle mentions the defenses.
"...He actually might.
We have all the glyphs except the one the Legion is holding downstairs, and Spark still has no idea where we're holed up. And with how much he's been flaunting his love of warcrimes today... well if we can get the message out the Legion guards just letting us in the Citadel to take down the sphere seems a lot less silly than it did even just yesterday.
Either he makes his stand here, or he makes his stand with his back to the Sphere."
Finally mentioning the High Chair.
"If you guys take them off the hit list you should remove Omorika too. Spark abandoned her to be eaten by iti in the library without reinforcements, on pain of incineration if she returned.
Acacia... might be alright? Some of the others kind of came into the fight expecting something like this to happen, they've got a method lined up, so if it works she'll probably be okay and willing to call out Spark for murdering her."
How to use stuff.
"Hm, not sure. We should talk with others, and we know how to contact the Zabuton ourselves now so I guess we can collaborate. If nothing else, that's... three High Chair members willing to back it up. Plus whoever else we have whose reputation might help.
...depending on how good your guys' surveillance and recording is and how much time we have on the broadcast it might be good to show footage of just how bad things have been for the Legion before we've rolled through any given area too. Spark's been seriously squandering the lives of the soldiers and showing people that would be a real hit to his appearance of legitimacy too.
Also: if we can send it to everyone in the Labs somehow before we storm the last Glyph chamber we can probably avoid more unnecessary casualties.


Through time duplication Eren makes his way up to the top floor. Hate splitting my timeline so abruptly like this (especially since stuff might change in that area.) but we should try and clean up the zone.
He glances over at the drone, but heads over to the two legion snipers first. He waves Gum over as he performs some minor healing magic and first aid on the other sniper.
"So, uh... Sorry for not bringing this up here until after the fight was already over but I've got something to show you."
Eren pulls out one of the minicomputers the party seems to just have on hand now given we've been suddenly recording things and the like and plays some of the recorded footage of the montage for Gum and the other sniper.
"This is what we went to talk to the Rebels about before. We needed to try and get into the security hub without the databanks being destroyed.
Couple of Praetorians broke in to try and do said destroying while we were in there but...
Well as you can see we have it anyway. Figured I'd let you two know since according to the party chatter Spark tried to have his praetorians hunt down and burn some civlians for just sorta... talking to use the other day. Sorry if that means you two are going to be in danger because of the earlier chat."


Just Monika
Echoss pulls out the party scanner and sends a message to Creation.
>Hello Creation, I am rather surprised to see nobody else in the party has contacted you yet since repairing the Sleuth, but I am unfortunately not coming to talk to you myself.
>Yet anyways, I will likely do so before the end of the day.
>Would you perhaps be able to patch me through to Miss Monika? A promise was made to check on her, and it seems like it was broken.
>I think it would be best not to abandon her indefinitely like she has been before.


To-do List:
Also maybe chat with Creation?
If the Xavier drone hasn't been talked to by the time Security Hub is done, Eren can do that.
Also hand the Subspace Grocery Box to Cypress when he heads back to the house
Gibbet needs to be upgraded to full party member.
Anti-Spark measures

Perk Swap because I just remembered

Adria swaps Loaded Spellbook for Protowell Seeker.

---

House - Basement

Because it was missed last round...

Before Dorothy could let The Scion in, Hannah shakily tells Dorothy something...

HANNAH: p-please... don't... d-don't leave me...
DOROTHY: ...I-I wouldn't. N-not now... not e-ever.
DOROTHY: "Us kids need to stick together"... r-right?
HANNAH: ...y-yeah...

Hannah gently embraces Dorothy. She must be feeling a little bit better... probably still not by a whole lot though.

With the lull in activity before The Scion comes in, Dorothy hands Ette's present over to Hannah. She gently opens it, making sure not to rip the paper. Probably not something people would expect from Hannah, but hey, she's tired and still very upset.

DOROTHY: O-oh, it's...!

...Whatever she found in there made Hannah crack the tiniest of smiles.

...

Dorothy's avatar floats over to The Scion once again.

DOROTHY: U-um... you, you can come in now...
DOROTHY: S-sorry about that...

...

The Scion enters. Ette's probably gone by now. All Hannah could give in return is an apathetic sigh. Meanwhile Dorothy gives The Scion a look that effectively conveys "same".

HANNAH: oh... hey...

A low, long-winded hum.

HANNAH: it... it's fine...
HANNAH: it's happened before
HANNAH: similar thing, different people
HANNAH; i got over it
HANNAH: ...

Hannah falls silent. Dorothy looks at Hannah's face, frowning.

DOROTHY: ...
DOROTHY: ...N-no, there's... something different this time...
DOROTHY: ...

DOROTHY: ...W-what... kind o-of nightmare was, was happening while... w-while you were, um, sleeping?

...No real response for a while. Then...

HANNAH: ...
HANNAH: s-she... killed everyone...
HANNAH: everyone i knew
HANNAH: i was... a-alone...
HANNAH: a-and then came after me...
HANNAH: i ran
HANNAH: i-it was... h-hard to run...
HANNAH: it... it felt like...
HANNAH: i-i was... abandoning... abandoning e-everyone...
HANNAH: a-and my body felt... h-heavy...
HANNAH: i-i could... could see... w-water puddles a-as i... left footsteps
HANNAH: f-felt myself turning into... w-water...
HANNAH: saw myself turning...
HANNAH: heard myself...
HANNAH: ...

With each passing second, Hannah's voice fluctuates more... and despite her attempts at keeping her cool... the bottle shatters, face contorting to match, and she starts bawling into Dorothy's shoulder, pulling her exponentially tighter than what Dorothy herself had done. Dorothy worriedly pats Hannah on the back, hoping she didn't accidentally do something horrendously wrong...

HANNAH: waaaah...
HANNAH: i don't... i-i don't...
HANNAH: i don't like thiiiis...
HANNAH: i-it huuuurts...

Dorothy rocks Hannah back and forth in her arms to try and soothe her.

DOROTHY: I-I... I shouldn't have... m-made you, you experience... that a-again...
DOROTHY: I-I'm sorry...

Dorothy lets her apology sit for a bit while Hannah cries into her shoulder. Her clothes are already stained wet.

DOROTHY: ...I-I'm... glad to be your friend, y-you know...
DOROTHY: U-under that cold shell is... is a kind person. A reliable person. A-a person who can care, c-can feel, can understand...
DOROTHY: ...can dream.
DOROTHY: A-and at the same time has... t-the inner strength to... to see those dreams t-to the end.
DOROTHY: A-a dream to make the world... a-a better place to live, live in.
DOROTHY: Y-you've learned how to take... different paths for... for um, different... things.
DOROTHY: W-without hurting people, i-if you can.
DOROTHY: W-without wanting to hurt people.
DOROTHY: B-but always trying to help make lives... b-better, no, no matter the method.

DOROTHY: Y-you aren't a bad person. You were never a bad person.
DOROTHY: Just... j-just a little... misunderstood.

DOROTHY: Hannah...

The duo sits on the bed in relative silence.

---

Calscape

Sophia nods at Chloe's choice. As for her own choice... she looks at the Amulet.

SOPHIA: I want this one!
SOPHIA: I dunno what I'll use it for but I want it!
SOPHIA: I think we could probably take two things...
SOPHIA: So the sword and the amulet?

SOPHIA: ...Also, can I have a copy of those files? I wanna have auntie take a look at 'em.

...Meanwhile the Chibi Sophia decides it's had its fun and wanders off. She sits next to the Goleyeath. The size difference is noticeable, as is the Chibi's different body type.

Maybe she'll be acting as its friend? And since it's probably not going to be taken, she sets the Large Eye on her head.

---

Distant Chapel

Sophia watches a bit more closely this time, intrigued as the Chloe Plushie does it as well. Or maybe it was just Sythia manipulating it behind the scenes? It's hard to tell. Sophia's still a little confused.

SOPHIA: So it's a... meditation?
SOPHIA: Can... can anyone do it? Is there a secret to it, or...?

Sophia blinks.

SOPHIA: ...I-I'm probably asking too many questions. Sorry.

---

Machining

Adria bonks off the barrier. Though a little dazed and taken aback, she's quick enough to recover and stabilize the mech.

ADRIA: Well, that's... something.
ADRIA: Hang on, I'll try to cut off the power supply. That should shut it off real quick.

Adria turns off and climbs out of the mech. She approaches the damaged terminal and rips it open. She follows the wiring from the console all the way to the power supply to the barrier.

Taking a pair of wire cutters, Adria snips the wiring coming from the power supply. Unless it's a rune, in which case she takes it for herself to study.

After doing this, she marks the spot where the wiring was snipped or the rune was taken with a piece of orange tape and a bright yellow cap to stop people from accidentally electrocuting themselves on it, then heads back into the mech to test if it can pass through.

---

Mari

Adria nods along, filling out pages of notes as she listens.

ADRIA: ...Yeah, I suppose you are right on that one...
ADRIA: I remember a few from when I attended Magic Club... a name here and there.
ADRIA: I haven't had the pleasure of meeting the former, Nia I've just talked to to upgrade a-...
ADRIA: ...Wait a moment.

Adria pulls out an old Alpha Drive and the new Beta Drive. They should certainly look very familiar to Mari.

ADRIA: You designed the original one of these, didn't you?
ADRIA: I must say, you did a remarkable job! I would have expected having a generator in a handheld electric weapon to be cumbersome and heavy, but somehow it's neither of these things. Energy conversion on being hit is also something I've been wanting to try for a long while now on something other than a bulky shield.
ADRIA: With that being said, I also noticed a note saying you weren't... exactly in an ideal environment for this line of work when you sent it. It shows, unfortunately, though I can't fault you for that.
ADRIA: ...Also, I hope you don't mind that I modified it a bit.
ADRIA: I have no idea why we have multiple but let's just roll with it.

Adria pulls out the Moonshocker Drive she crafted. It might look somewhat familiar to Mari but the design is very different, using light instead of electricity to hurt things.

ADRIA: I took a few creative liberties with it. For starters I wanted a Light weapon instead, so I added a variation on the converter I used for my crossbow to assist with that, turning an electrical signal into a light signal with equivalent intensity.
ADRIA: I've also generally upgraded the interior components with better ones - circuit boards, processors, wiring, you name it - and re-programed them to function as similarly as possible.
ADRIA: I've also added some AI to it, connecting it to my personal AI companion, H-47, to assist with minor adjustments that need to be undertaken.
ADRIA: That's about it, I believe. The general functionality is the same, just-

She blinks.

ADRIA: ...I went on a tangent again. Um. Sorry. Anyway...

She goes on to the speculative part of the conversation. They probably teleport to some secret location somewhere with drop pod technology. Adria shrugs.

ADRIA: Unless they have medics in that secret drop pod location I doubt it would work all too well, especially if mortally wounded.
ADRIA: I'd bet it's in that Citadel building I've heard about and seen from the house.
ADRIA: Which complicates some matters. Especially if we were to teleport explosive-like things into there. I've also been hearing that a lot of civilians are hiding in there, away from the monsters? Or am I misremembering?
ADRIA: That doesn't mean we can't still use it, though. Perhaps as an entry point for a little sneaking around, disabling things from the inside as the rest are distracted out in the front lines.
ADRIA: Even if it is a drop pod system, taking it over would be a better long-term use of our resources. We'd then disable the receiving rune to make sure our enemies wouldn't be able to come back while we have free reign.
ADRIA: We do have Spawn Point after all.

ADRIA: ...Now that I'm thinking about it... an anti-magical bomb might do it. It wouldn't hurt anyone, and it'd disable a lot of magic. It'd need to be incredibly large to do anything of note though.

Once Adria finalizes her notes, she sends them over to her drone to store them for later. Once what's done, she puts the physical copies of the notes away.

ADRIA: Always good to have spare copies.
ADRIA: ...But I think that's everything. Thank you so much! And, um, sorry about the barrage of questions.

She looks Mari up and down.

ADRIA: Hm...

She wordlessly nods as she hands a card of sorts to Mari. It's a sturdy hardlight business card encased in a sturdy unidentified metal. It's incredibly lightweight and thin, and even then it's collapsible for further compactness. Judging from her previous creations, it's probably able to dissipate excess electricity exceptionally well.

ADRIA: My business card. In case you wish to contact me later down the line.

Adria sticks around in case Mari has any questions.

Zone 5.5 - Central Labs - Security Hub

Calibri observes the burritos.

"Man, those are sus."

He decides to swipe them regardless, but due to their suspicious nature, he decides it would be worth quarantining them in a different part of the inventory from the regular burritos. He also decides to run a quick scan on them for the sake of identification and potential replication, since who knows, maybe suspicious burritos will come in useful much later.

Now, onto the outside area. Calibri decides to watch for a moment and check what the Fellbeast is doing. Then he decides it's probably something that needs to be taken care of. First things first, he knows that the Rebellion sometimes use those, given Fell Riders exist. But what to do here... Clearly the best thing to do is inform the nearest Rebel.

"Hey, uh, there's a Fellbeast down there. That belong to anyone?"

If it does, or one of the rebels immediately claims it, he makes a mental note not to go after said Fellbeast. Otherwise, yeeting time, mostly through empowering himself, then dropping down from the sky and immediately hitting said Fellbeast with a fat Exertion.

Once the Fellbeast isn't a problem anymore, then it's time to harvest some stuff from the Statitree, preferably with a long stick to avoid accidentally stasising oneself.

---

Zone 0 - The House

Verdana just watches Acacia go, musing to himself.

VERDANA: ...She seems like an interesting lady.
VERDANA: Hmm...

A pause. Then, his eyes blank out momentarily before resetting to their normal appearance, and he quickly racks his mind searching for a way to recall how the resurrection ritual worked. Silence reigns...

VERDANA: A different method? Are you sure...?
VERDANA: ...
VERDANA: Well, if you insist. But what...

He trails off, turning away from everyone else nearby, not explaining a word of what he's up to. After some rummaging around, and noticing that the Infinite Shadow is missing a description for some reason, he suddenly bolts off, zooming down the stairs to the basement. On the way past a certain room, he glances inside to acknowledge Alatus and Gibbet.

VERDANA: Oh, hello in there! I take it you're busy with that room...
VERDANA: If you hear some weird noises from outside, don't pay them any mind.
VERDANA: I'm just preparing something for someone else.

Then, he moves over to the Workstation Prime, focusing for a while and manifesting Reisz's Cell onto the table. After that, he pulls out some analytical equipment, getting to work with several goals in mind...

Primary objective: Analyze the resonance of Reisz's Cell to identify how it relates back to her. It should do so, since it came from her.
Secondary objective: Identify any anomalous details of note. Look for a way to begin reconstruction that does NOT involve cloning/biological manipulation since those methods wouldn't work on a non-biological object.
Tertiary objective: Prepare for takeover from the person who's actually supposed to be doing this.

---

The Old Pass

"..."

Loading.

---

The Everground

S.E.D begins spinning in place to pass the time. It also remembers something mentioned earlier, and begins wondering if this event will indeed be document-worthy. It wants to get this sorted so that everyone can do... whatever it is they plan to do as a pseudocelebration.

ZONE 0 - STAR

This RP seems like it's probably over.

---

ZONE 0 - SCION

"The Scion" tentatively steps her way into Hannah's room.

"THE SCION": ...H-Hannah?
"THE SCION": It's, um, me.
"THE SCION": I... I heard... what happened.
"THE SCION": I... almost went to slap Venia, but, well, um. Th-that probably wouldn't have made anything better, would it...
"THE SCION": ...
"THE SCION": ...I want to give you a hug, but... but... I can't even... can't even do that, can I?
"THE SCION": I really am useless at this... hehe...
"THE SCION": Giving you ways to kill someone instead of just doing it myself, and when someone tries to kill you I can't even help...
"THE SCION": I-If you do want me to do anything, just... ask. Okay?

---

ZONE 5.5

"The Scion" baps the newly created Seekers with her staff and heads east on Floor 2, towards Level 4 Research: East.

---

OMTOSE PHELLACK

"The Thaumaturge" scowls.

"THE THAUMATURGE": For as long as the Sphere stands.
"THE THAUMATURGE": And then what, Miss Omorika?
"THE THAUMATURGE": Will you ex(ise (ypress from Lo(aa and banish him ba(k to the (ountry he was banished from to begin with?
"THE THAUMATURGE": Will you pursue your long-awaited vengean(e against the Tabletopians?
"THE THAUMATURGE": Will fire rain down upon them, as it rained upon those you (ared about?
"THE THAUMATURGE": Do you think that will make you happy?
"THE THAUMATURGE": You resent (ypress for lying about his origins to you. You (laim that makes him untrustworthy.
"THE THAUMATURGE": Then, answer this. What other (hoi(e did he have?
"THE THAUMATURGE": Do you think your dear leader Spark would have a((epted (ypress had he told the truth from the beginning? The man who now plans to unleash all manner of monsters on Tabletopia and risk annihilating the planet in the pro(ess?
"THE THAUMATURGE": (ypress (ould not return to Tabletopia be(ause he was half-(hairian, and well-known there. And the only way he (ould survive in Lo(aa was by lying.
"THE THAUMATURGE": "His people," as you put it, despise him just as mu(h as your people would had they learned the truth. Although (hairians are (ypress's people almost as mu(h as Tabletopians are. He blends magi( and te(hnology to save lives on both sides.
"THE THAUMATURGE": He has fought harder than almost anyone to keep Lo(aa safe. If he is a sleeper agent or(hestrating your downfall, he has done an astonishingly bad job at it.
"THE THAUMATURGE": He de(eived you on(e, to keep himself alive. Resent that if you must, but re(ognize its ne(essity.

He takes a breath before resuming.

"THE THAUMATURGE": As for his "murderous goons," I (an only assume you refer to the Rebellion.
"THE THAUMATURGE": In(identally, the Tabletopians we observed working with the rebels were mostly te(hni(ians and (yberworks. The murderous element of that group seems to originate with Linseed and his followers.
"THE THAUMATURGE": Who, I might remind you, are (hairians.
"THE THAUMATURGE": The Tabletopian firebombers and (hairian murderers (an both be punished for their (rimes. But do not impli(ate entire nations, lest you impli(ate yourself as well.

He stares Omorika in the eyes with deadly seriousness.

"THE THAUMATURGE": When the Sphere is gone, obviously, the Rebellion will no longer exist.
"THE THAUMATURGE": But a new High(hair will, and there is a fair (han(e you, (ypress, or both will still be members of it.
"THE THAUMATURGE": I worry about Lo(aa's future. I worry that we entrust someone who will drag it ba(k into war with Tabletopia out of grief instead of trying to prevent tragedies like the ones you went through.
"THE THAUMATURGE": For anyone. Not just (hairians.
"THE THAUMATURGE": This endless war (an end one of two ways.
"THE THAUMATURGE": Either people like (ypress try to find a way to negotiate a pea(e, or people like Spark and Ikea burn every last one of their enemies to ash.
"THE THAUMATURGE": That first way is not easy. I know be(ause I wat(hed my people su((umb to the se(ond.
"THE THAUMATURGE": But unless you (an distan(e yourself from your hatred, you will invite the se(ond.
"THE THAUMATURGE": And from what I have witnessed and heard, over and over, revenge feels far less satisfying when you are done ena(ting it. Simply... hollow.

Crya decides to descendTM into the heart of the Everground, and using jets of snow to control her descent going to AD279, aka the bottom right most vein of Eversteel. She reaches out and sends tiny lines of ice through microscopic crevices in the Eversteel. After a moment, these lines of ice permeate the structure of the Eversteel, and she promply expands them to mine the Eversteel into more transportable chunks. She collects said chunks of ore.

Auth adds another point to his HP! That's pretty useful.

---

Auth was talking to the oracle, nodding along with what the Oracle says about that transmission. Sounds like everyone's going to have to save it for the best moment.

AUTH: I suppose that's to be expected, given that they've driven out what I would suggest is their primary tech support.
AUTH: Ah, well. Best to save it for the perfect opportunity, I suppose.
AUTH: On the topic of taking Cypress and Acacia off the kill list, if my opinion matters much, I would suggest that is probably ideal. For the record, Acacia's resurrection has already taken place. I doubt that she will have much interest in working with Spark, given her reactions post-resurrection.
AUTH: Definitely ask Kudan about it, though.

Auth can't exactly verify that statement at present, but he's hoping that the Oracle will just take his word for it. Maybe what Eren said to him earlier will be relevant to this. Auth's poker face is impenetrable, obviously, because he's trying very hard not to laugh right now, given his knowledge.

---

With Acacia gone, Auth's work in the house is done. He decides it might be a good idea to fly up and see Lutea and Betula anyway.

AUTH: How are you both doing? Sorry about the rush of getting you out of there, we weren't expecting the Legion to target you.
AUTH: Have you settled in okay? I had meant to deliver these, that you asked for, earlier...

Auth offers to Lutea the Glacialstem and, assuming that the others say it's okay, a vial of Godblossom extract. Not the flower itself... yet.

AUTH: Sorry it took so long to hand these in, we've been a little busy.
AUTH: On a tangential topic, can you think of anywhere that might be good to grow a tree at some point? I'm going to have the seeds to a special apple tree to hand soon, and I'm thinking about where it could grow.

Auth knows little of the lay of the land, so he'll ask Nana (later) for her opinions too.

---

Auth watches as Nana marvels at the apple he collected from the tree. He's glad that Nana can tell how precious this thing is... or, at least, he thinks she can.

AUTH: I think I can prepare it. The recipe for cider is a secret anyway. It probably won't kill you, though.
AUTH: I've had some experience with people who've eaten them raw. I'd describe the experience as... half-way between a religious epiphany and a sugar high.
AUTH: It ends up with a lot of really intense, but really beautiful poetry over the walls and the person experiencing a strong aftertaste of apple, according to my friend who ate one once.
AUTH: I'll see what I can do about making it into something nice.

Auth is evidently already thinking about it. He nods to Nana's question... it seems to have a very familiar phrasing.

AUTH: Mm hmm. There are, indeed. I hired some to help the camp maintain its stability.
AUTH: I don't think he was that surprised to see you, when I spoke to him it seemed like he wasn't worrying too much about it. The language is a little hard to interpret sometimes.
AUTH: The camp reorients itself every so often, and I wanted to make sure that the mirror back went with a particular pair of mirrors...

Auth leads Nana into the camp, where she would pass, among many other things, several children, a large and regal tiger, a confused-looking cow, and a dog. Auth passes a mirror that leads to a very regal-looking room, showing what appears to be a large, albiet empty dining room in black and red, lit gently by quite a few candles. He seems to have a thought.

But before that, he takes Nana to a pair of mirrors laden with frost, and he places the mirror back to Sussui nearby.

AUTH: I'm putting the mirror around here because I've advised people not to travel to the places the frozen mirrors lead to.
AUTH: Probably for the best that travel in and out is limited. Now...
AUTH: Mind waiting here for a second? I'll be right back.

Auth then dashes back into the camp... and returns with a small tub and a spoon.

AUTH: Here. I'm a little worried that you probably didn't enjoy the adventure that I brought you on.
AUTH: So I decided that I should get something I know you can definitely enjoy, if nothing else.

The container is ice-cold, despite being pre-the-invention-of-freezers, and should Nana open it she'll find that it's full of a bright red sorbet that smells strongly of fruit. Auth indicates that Nana shouldn't worry about it melting, and that it'll keep frozen basically forever.

<ROUND 294>

Echoss has a polite conversation with Linseed. He explains to Linseed that the hospitality he's receiving is not due to some ulterior motive, but because they felt this effort to hold him in a less demeaning fashion was required. Also, unless they get rid of his augmentations, they can't really get rid of the cuffs.

LINSEED: I understand.
LINSEED: I am being treated to a standard that you see fit.
LINSEED: I will also be held here until Pomme and Kudan arrive to assist.
LINSEED: As they view me more as a liability, it comes to my understanding that I will not be leaving this place.
LINSEED: We will see about that.

LINSEED: These are the bedrooms of your base, right?
LINSEED: From what we know, the house of Abies did not possess such rooms.
LINSEED: Given the nature of these rooms as well, it would be fair to conclude that we are not far underground.

He does not seem interested in the slightest in talking with the other members of the Zabuton. He does however, appear to be rather interested in the construction of his cuffs. Is he scheming? Who really knows.

Meanwhile, Maple learns from Eren that while yes, he did fist fight a god, it really wasn't that interesting. Maple nods, totally understanding the power scaling here.

MAPLE: Alright, alright.
MAPLE: But I wonder... did you win thanks to your skill, or did you overpower him?
MAPLE: Like, if you two were to fight under the influence of the Thymefield, what'd happen?
MAPLE: Whiiiich leads me to my next question- think you could take me in a fight?~

She gives a wink towards Eren, gently placing her balled-up fist against his chest. She makes a little "pow!" sound with her smiling lips.

MAPLE: I'm just kidding, though.
MAPLE: We're already doing plenty of fighting with the Iti n' Spark and junk.
MAPLE: But, once this whole situation's sorted, we should spar! Hero versus heroine!
MAPLE: Just... maybe don't destroy a planet on my face, okay? I need my face to do things.
MAPLE: Then after we spar, we can go get drinks or somethin'!
MAPLE: And- look, what I'm saying is, I wanna hang out with you later.
MAPLE: You cool with that?

The sacred request to hang out. Truly, Eren is blessed. Then, over with the Oracle, Eren explains how the Spherebreakers usually avoid murder. They're mostly experienced adventurers, and that generally helps with non-lethal takedowns. Add in a lot of healers, and that helps minimize deaths.

ORACLE: Hm, alright.
ORACLE: The fact that you're capable of winning with such overwhelming force probably helps with things, too.
ORACLE: Many of the Rebellion's battles with the Legion are more tooth and nail. Far closer skirmishes than anything, which leaves little room for anything like "restraint".
ORACLE: Add in fire weaponry, and... it's not pretty.

Eren also mentions that perhaps they could team up. Collaborate to send a really good message that'd totally destroy Spark. The Oracle nods.

ORACLE: I mean, I'd be down for that.
ORACLE: I'm sure all of the men here would be willing to work with you as well, given the heroics and skill you've displayed.
ORACLE: As for our surveillance and recordings, well...

One of the Oracle's drones fly over, into Eren's hands. It's about the size of a basketball, and somehow as light. It must use Gravcore in its construction or something. A LED display on it begins to display... incredibly low resolution footage of various events. Seriously, he can't even tell what's going on.

ORACLE: ...We, uh, may want to get that on a screen.
ORACLE: These things aren't meant to play video at all.
ORACLE: But point is- we've had eyes on many, many Legion settlements and fortifications.
ORACLE: If you want footage, you've got it!

ORACLE: Also, if you want to send it to the guards downstairs... we don't need to broadcast it all over the labs.
ORACLE: We can just show it to them. Drop a television screen on them or something.
ORACLE: Rigging it with explosives afterward is completely optional.

Anyway, Eren then continues to do a lot of things, jaunting up a floor to talk with Gun and the other sniper. He has something to show them, which he does so as he tends to the wounds of the unnamed sniper. Gum considers the footage rather carefully, wincing when Acacia gets stabbed by Spark.

GUM: oh, damn.
GUM: old man does some serious damage.
GUM: guess i should probably shoot him before he shoots me for the traitorous act of talking with you guys
GUM: also because i think at this point, he deserves it, since he made the sphere and all, y'know?

GUM: but one way or another
GUM: i guess i'd get out of work, which is a plus
GUM: maybe i'll be able to spend more time with my girl

Echoss then sends a message to Creation. Did he get a response? Who knows? There's probably a place to look for this sort of thing.

Ah, in addition! The NPC's are commissioned to do a few things. Cypress begins work on the Antimagic Cannon, Nia upgrades the Nia Nia Nia and the Temmie Crimelord Meal to the NIA NIA NIA and the Temmie Mafia's Special Spaghetti. Then finally, the Sleuth scans a Darkknight.

>Codex Updated!

---

Hannah opens a present! Within, she finds a smol lil' doll of... herself! Dressed in a red felt hood and made of cotton, this doll of Hannah is cute, cuddly, and armed with a simple bow and arrow. These too, are made of felt. A small smile adorns her plush face, complementing her black button eyes. It's also, of course, a trinket. Hannah Plushie obtained!

Meanwhile, over at the Distant Chapel, Sophia asks Sythia if what she's doing is a sort of meditation. Can anyone do it? The Chloe plushie, still being controlled by Sythia's deft hands, nods her head up and down to each of Sophia's questions, save for her comment about asking too many questions. In response to that, it shakes its head. She then makes it walk forward, and hug Sophia's leg. It's arms are nowhere big enough to fully wrap around Sophia's leg, but she's doing her best.

Down at Machining and Fabrication, Adria snips some wires connected to a broken terminal. Unceremoniously, the barrier shuts down. While Adria was disabling the barrier, Chloe took the moment to hop back into the saddle. Manning the machine, she passes the safety barrier before hopping on the spot. She motions to hi-five Adria, stopping her hand a generous distance away from her. Safety first, right?

CHLOE: We did it! Hurray!
CHLOE: Now that we have a giant robot, there's only one thing left to do!
CHLOE: Weaponry!~

Chloe picks up the gigantic iron sword she made earlier. It's roughly the size of one of the robot's arms. So really, while it's probably a dagger in the grand scale of things for a giant robot, that's still one blade nobody would want to get hit by. Throwing out a few blocks of wood as a test dummy, she cleaves right through a freshly-formed wooden pillar.

CHLOE: Do you have any clever ideas for armaments?
CHLOE: I think we've gotta go all the way! Rocket launchers, chainsaw swords, plasma cannons... everything!
CHLOE: ...Except that'll take a long time, so I'll just settle for like, a sidearm.
CHLOE: Sword and gun? Sword and shield? Sword and... another sword?
CHLOE: Any ideas?

Anyway, Exosuit added to the inventory! It appears to be a reusable item. Chloe also prepares what she calls a "Module" for the Exosuit. It's a simple external shield generator she threw together with a couple of crystals, a battery, and the power of being a girlboss™. Try making modules for yourself? The Exosuit could end up being quite powerful if used right!

Finally, Adria continues her chats with Mari, but gets sidetracked when she remembers that Mari was the original developer of the Alpha Drive! Mari can't help but smirk when she sees Adria's brand new version. Is she... proud?

MARI: Oh damn, that's a nice piece of kit.
MARI: Sure, I'm mostly saying that because I made the initial model, but you've done a nice job with it!
MARI: This is why open source work is cool. You have a cool thing, then someone else decides they make it cooler, y'know?
MARI: ...Though, the reason it's so light is because it's literally just a generator. The fact that it functions as a weapon is... well, part of the design, but it's a bit unwieldly because of that.
MARI: Ever try to kill someone with a whole freakin' crate? It's like that, but the crate shoots lightning.
MARI: Unideal circumstances, y'know?

Mari bobs her head as Adria goes over her improvements. She shakes her head when Adria apologizes for going on a tangent.

MARI: Hey, don't apologize for saying tech gorilla.
MARI: You might need to apologize to someone else for that, but I love tech gorilla.
MARI: While I'm not one for light elemental weaponry, I can respect the decision. I'm just a zappy sorta gal. But other than that... those are some pretty solid improvements. I'd probably do the same. Probably.
MARI: I mean, I'd probably actually attach a proper weapon to it first of all, but still. Good improvements.

Anyway, the two of them then go on to talk about speculation, bombs, and the Citadel. Adria suggests that the secret "drop pod site" that Mari is speculating about would be somewhere in the citadel.

MARI: That'd make sense. Why make some fancy off-base site when you can just make it on-base?
MARI: But... yeah. We can't exactly blow up civilians. If this were a video game, I'd totally be down for nukin' some digital civies, but it's not.
MARI: An anti-magic bomb, though. That's a good idea.
MARI: Cypress has those like, anti-magic fields n' junk, right? What if that, but a bomb? The system seems fairly flexible if he can put it into a gun, so let's just put it into a bomb.
MARI: Or we can like... teleport a sabotage drone in? Smash the drop pods. Spray paint funny things on the walls. Spam obscenities in voice chat. Good things.
MARI: Taking it over though... is probably out of the picture. If it's deep in enemy territory, holding a stronghold there would be suicide. And if it wasn't, it'd still take a lot of manpower to hold. Manpower which we... do not have.

As the two of them finish up, Adria hands Mari a business card. She's the slightest bit bewildered as to how to actually contact Adria, given that she's probably from another planet or something. Do phones work cross-system?

MARI: Huh, thanks. I'll be sure to give you a call later.
MARI: Always nice to see someone with the same passions, y'know?
MARI: It's been nice chatting with you. If you wanna work on some sort of sabotage project, hit me up!
MARI: ...Or like, we can just do that now.
MARI: Since we're here.

They are here. Maybe now would be a good time. Sabotage friends!

---

Calibri obtains sus burritos. As it turns out, the sus aura was not due to their disgustingness, or lethality... but to how immaculate these burritos were. Though the colors are awkward, far as Calibri can tell, these burritos were scientifically engineered to be the best damn things in the galaxy. Nothing else can, or ever will compare to these burritos. Eat them responsibly, because nothing else will taste good afterwards. Engineered Burritos obtained!

Come to think of it, that's probably why they were abandoned, and left untouched. Maybe it's for the best?

Elsewhere, Calibri decides to rip an Exertion out on a Fell Beast! But... he finds himself unable to will up the power to do so! It seems that the universe intends for problems to be solved in ways other than "threaten / destroy targets with exertion". It's sorta like being constipated, but in the... spell slot? I have no idea how to describe this feeling.

Then, over in the Calzone, Chloe asks as to what Hangman's intent was just a few moments ago. Calibri responds with what's effectively a shrug in verbal form. Is it weird that he can't figure out the motives of what's literally himself? Chloe shakes her head.

CHLOE: Nah, that's not weird.
CHLOE: Like... I mean, I guess it's kinda different, but do you ever just like, think about how you got to where you are today?
CHLOE: Why did your brain decide "I should go through a portal to an alien world", instead of calling the cops or something?
CHLOE: Sometimes, we can't really know why we think things, or why we like things, and all that jazz.

Eventually, Chloe claims the Rusted Sword! She hums a "dah dah dah daaaaah" to herself as she hoists the weapon above her head. The Rusted Sword and the Electric Amulet are both added to the inventory. It... seems like Nia can bypass them? Though, she'll need to use Flux to do it, since they're weird and come from a Mindscape.

CHLOE: Oh, Cal.
CHLOE: Think we should get going?
CHLOE: I wouldn't blame you if you wanted us to leave, especially given that we just saw... that.
CHLOE: No offense, hopefully.
CHLOE: But... it's been fun! Thanks for showing me around!

Chloe gives Calibri a quick hug. Squish. That's the hug sound, right? I dunno.

Finally, Verdana slaps Reisz's Cell onto a worktable. Grabbing some analytical equipment, they look over Reisz's cell. The GM brushes up on Transistor lore, and decides that Verdana comes upon one notable finding. These Cells appear to be part of some weapon in the inventory- namely, the Resistor. As it turns out, that usb-stick-sword thing is Iti in origin. It... may not strictly be part of Reisz, interestingly enough. Cells originate from the Resistor. Perhaps there's a way to work with it? As for how to re-create Reisz... perhaps the secret lies in the Resistor. But with its improper name, there's no way it'll be able to do something like spawn an entity... right?

---

The Scion adventures into Level 4 Research! Easily trampling over a few measly Seekers, the Scion advances eastward. This part of the lab appears to be dedicated to Fusion weaponry research... and nowadays, a lot of Thyme Matter. They're not researching the Thyme Matter. There's just a lot of it.

Then, over at the Omtose Phellack, the Thaumaturge scowls at Omorika. What will she do the moment the Sphere falls? Would she pursue vengeance against the Tabletopian people? With a distant, empty glare, the librarian's eyes pierce through the Thaumaturge.

OMORIKA: ...Yes.
OMORIKA: Ever since the End War, ever since everyone I've cared about was lost to the flames...
OMORIKA: I've wanted nothing more than to get back at those gorilla.

OMORIKA: E-Every night still, I relive the hell I witnessed back then. T-Though it hurts, my resolve is strengthed, d-day after day.
OMORIKA: I-It's... what they deserve. All of them. E-Every... l-last one o-of them. I'll make t-them pay.
OMORIKA: A-And... i-it'll make me... h-h-happy. Content. S-SOMETHING.
OMORIKA: R-Right?

Her gaze turns towards the ground. If looks could destroy planets, I'm sure the Omtose Phellack would be okay anyway. Soon, the Thaumaturge mentions a new Highchair that will rise from the ashes of the Sphere. She will likely be upon it. Or perhaps, Cypress. But, the Thaumaturge worries for Locaa's future. Will the new Highchair drag both worlds into war once again? Or will they find an end to the war? With shaky breath, Omorika speaks.

OMORIKA: T-There... can't b-be an end to this. C-Can there?
OMORIKA: A-All our lives, w-we've been fighting. Chairians and Tabletopians.
OMORIKA: W-Why would they show u-us peace now? W-Why s-should WE show t-them mercy?
OMORIKA: I-If the Sphere w-were not such a t-threat to our people, t-then perhaps I-I would be staunchly on Spark's side...
OMORIKA: A-And... I-I would... c-c-claim t-the vengeance t-that I...

Tears drip from Omorika's eyes, green blotches staining the snow.

OMORIKA: ...W-WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME!?
OMORIKA: I-I WANT THEM DEAD! A-ALL OF THEM!
OMORIKA: A-And yet, I-I am a coward. N-Nobody should n-need to feel t-this pain that I, t-that all of us feel. Not e-even those Tabletopian s-scum!
OMORIKA: I... I-I don't think I could k-kill them all. E-Even if it's what my h-heart desires, I-I could not raise my hand to s-strike them down, t-to set them ablaze...
OMORIKA: W-What I need to do i-is overcome myself. T-To find the will to destroy t-them! Right?
OMORIKA: N-NO! T-That's not what I need! I-I... c-can't...
OMORIKA: H-How can I just... l-let go of... T-THIS!? A-All of this?

Omorika's tears silently splash across the snowdrifts, resembling. patches of grass just barely jutting through the grass. She then falls to her knees, The wooden cloak she incanted dematerializes, bursting into ash-scarred splinters that scatter across the white expanse. Her breathing is heavy, plumes of white mist drifting into the frigid winter air. She says nothing. Perhaps now's the time to resolve this.

---

Crya mines a bit of Eversteel! Or uh, she tries. Though a pickaxe might not work against the Eversteel, what about blasting it apart from the inside? Worming some ice into microscopic cracks in the vein, she expands the ice to shatter the ore from the inside out! Though the ore budges and bends... it refuses to crack! At least, until Crya puts a bit more muscle(?) into it. The vein explodes from the inside, launching 20 ore chunks into the inventory.

---

The Author does a bunch of things! He asks the Oracle to ask Kudan about removing Cypress and Acacia from the kill list. Also listening to Eren's suggestion to remove Omorika from the list as well, he nods.

ORACLE: Makes sense to me.
ORACLE: But yeah, I'm gonna ask Kudan. All of these decisions must go through at least one member of the Zabuton.
ORACLE: Especially ones of this caliber!
ORACLE: Though, with Linseed missing, and Kudan generally being the busy type, that leaves Pomme as the only available Zabuton member.
ORACLE: We... need better infrastructure.

Meanwhile, over in the house, Auth pokes both Lutea and Beluta. How are they holding up? Though Beluta says nothing (as per usual), and Lutea is completely out of breath, she gives a thumbs up.

LUTEA: W-We're fine, thanks to you guys!
LUTEA: I-It's... been a long day, t-though. I d-don't have the stamina f-for these sorts of t-things...
LUTEA: G-Gardening's fine, b-but not so much running and hauling...
LUTEA: And my adrenaline's run out, t-too...

Up on the roof, Lutea takes a seat. She flops backward against the slope of the roof, limbs spread wide. She still however, has the energy to receive the gifts that Auth has for her. The Glacialstem, and... a whole vial of Godblossom Extract! Lutea's adrenaline suddenly shoots through the roof once again, her eyes sparkling as she beholds the heavenly majesty of Lord Helix's labors.

LUTEA: Y-You're just going to give me t-this!?
LUTEA: W-Wow, I-I... I don't know what to s-say! You're the best! Thank you!
LUTEA: Most apothecaries would kill t-to get their hands on this, you know?
LUTEA: I-I'll put this to good use, I swear!

She immediately gets to work brewing, talking to Auth as she begins her process. With the techniques she's using, one might mistake her for one of those scam artist "natural remedy" people, if these potions didn't have a tangible in-game effect. Where might the Author go to grow a tree? She tilts her head.

LUTEA: U-Um, hmm...
LUTEA: I'm not familiar with the land around here, but make sure that the tree's not too close to any building, and that it has ample room to grow! Otherwise, the roots might be forced to break through the structure, and that's not good for any party!
LUTEA: Also make sure to not grow it in the shade of another plant, or it might not get enough sun or water!
LUTEA: If you're looking to really speed up the growth process though, I think you can use one of those Terra Reviver units we have outside of our greenhouse.

Finally, over in what I think is Parabola, Auth explains the effects of the Hersperian apple as he remarks he'll make it into something nice.

NANA: H-Huh? An apple c-can do that?
NANA: I-I've heard of plants that cause psychotropic states, but n-nothing like that!
NANA: I... kinda want to try one. Raw.
NANA: A-Assuming it's safe, o-of course!
NANA: But I think it'd be better suited to whatever you're making!

She hands off the apples to Auth, who probably pockets them, but in a more sophisticated manner. Auth then explains the squid people. He hired them. Auth truly has his way with many kinds of outsiders, doesn't he?

NANA: Wow...
NANA: I didn't think such people existed! I wonder what sort of other beings live in London?
NANA: Maybe like... people made of gemstones? Or perhaps there's a sentient, talking race of Sapsqueals!
NANA: N-Not that... a-a place like that would have Sapsqueals.

Auth then vanishes off into a mirror, telling Nana to stay put for a few moments. She obliges, sitting patiently with both legs tightly pressed against one another. When her partner returns with a tub of sorbet and a spoon, she can't help but (internally) drool.

NANA: W-Wow! This looks great!
NANA: I-Is it similar to that "ice cream" stuff that Crya brought t-to the picnic? That was really good!
NANA: Cold, sweet things... they're great!

She swipes one bite with her spoon, a bright green blush crossing her face as the flavors spread throughout her mouth. The rest however, can be saved for later. She stows it away in the inventory for later consumption. She then leaps up from her seat, pulling the Author into a hug.

NANA: A-Ah, just so you know, e-even though it was scary... I-I enjoyed this trip!
NANA: Going new places i-is always scary, b-but I can count on you to keep me safe!

She remains like this until the Author does something about it. Maybe he could escort her out of Parabola if their journey is done?

---

That's all for this update! Perhaps we can start some battles this update, and approach the end of the line for Zone 5? Those Iti in the Eastern Wing are looking mighty interesting in particular...

Echoss and Star:
RIP guess it's over, sorry for not being interesting, serp.


Linseed:
Echoss sighs.
"You know I think it's honestly quite clear why they consider you a liability.
I would recommend staying put unless you fancy being chained to the floor altogether, if you make keeping you with reasonable accomodations an untenable proposition then our plans will change as needed."
While zillycharm is still active, another Echoss butterfly (this one dully colored and unilluminated) slips to the Northwestern corner of Mari's room and then through the wall under Linseed's bed, hiding in the supports underneath it. If Linseed tries to break his cuffs or otherwise start busting out of the room (or somehow finds and smashes the butterfly), it should be noted on the map/in the response to my post for that round.
This is just a temporary measure though, Echoss will need to sleep again tonight. But that's for when my post is less hueg


Eren and Maple:
Eren is thankfully saved from the need to answer whether or not he thinks he can take Maple in a fight (she'd totally wreck him by the way) by her asking if he'd like to hang out.
Eren blinks and nods to try and hide his slight blush.
"...yeah. I think that'd be nice.
My lifestyle hasn't really been conducive to making long-term relationships up to this point. Maybe it's about time to change that.
I...
Yeah. I'd like to hang out later."


Eren and an Oracle:
Eren grins at being shown the drone.
"Nice! Guess that means all we need to do now is figure out what we're going to put in the broadcast itself. We'll talk with the others once we get out of here.
...Hey, mind if I ask your name? Feels kinda rude to spend this much time talking about our plans for properly ruining Spark's life and not actually introduce myself even if we don't run into each other again, my name's Eren."
The idea to drop a tv screen.
"Might want a couple of screens, gotta make sure at least some of 'em land where there's no Praetorians around to smash them. No explosions though, the goal's to reduce casualties and if they think it was a trap it undermines our point."


Eren and some Snipers:
"I mean, Spark's got until the end of tomorrow at most before we kick him in the head for trying to end the world and killing people for kicks and giggles.
Now that we've actually got footage we can pass around hopefully we can get there without fighting our way past the Citadel guard...
Either way, unless you wanna join up with the Spherebreakers yourself Spark'll get bonked without you having to get in harm's way.
Also according to the others we're letting other folk stay at our base until things blow over if they're at risk of Spark incinerating them for talking to us? If you need a place to stay until we kick Spark's teeth in I guess that's on offer, but stay safe either way alright?"


Just Monika:
>It has been a while, hasn't it?
>Or, well. It's been a while for you, I don't believe I ever met you myself. I was elsewhere in the catacombs when you attacked the party.
>My name is Echoss, though I suppose if you're a metacog as the others say you may already know that.
>Regardless, better to introduce myself properly.
>As for the armor, I haven't used it personally, though it seems to serving several of the others quite well.
>I don't know how many of us know it came from you however, and I myself am not completely certain in identifying it as the NULL. Correct me if that deduction was wrong.
>We had to purchase it from YV, so your delivery may have gone awry.
>I am doing... alright. It is a bit hard to monitor myself at the moment, but nothing seems to be direly wrong for now at least.
>What about yourself? I hear that The Operator said he would be taking you as an apprentice, is that going alright?


To-do List:
Set up broadcast info! (Talk with Cypress, Aoki, Acacia, and Omorika especially.)
Also maybe chat with Creation?
If the Xavier drone hasn't been talked to by the time Security Hub is done, Eren can do that.
Also hand the Subspace Grocery Box to Cypress when he heads back to the house
Gibbet needs to be upgraded to full party member.
Make sure party prep is ready.
Properly seal up Linseed's room so he can't try to dig out.
Anti-Spark measures (anti-magic in progress, have anti-artillery to deal with airstrikes and conventional artillery support, signal blocking to prevent Praetorian or Sentinel summoning, lots of EMP options, be ready for BOSS)