| Read any good books lately? | ||
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| Summary: The Thespians go to visit a book store. How quaint. Who: Coop, Liyara, Yoiko Hax, Kylie Griffin, "@̏͐[ͦͣ͒=̈́̈́̍̑͐͆ḡ͛̂3͑̉͗̽,ͦͫ̽͛ͭ8d̅ͤ]͌\̂&̆ͣ̈ͩf̔͛̔bḃ̒̀͌̆̿ͮ=ͯ͑ͦ͒̆̏̈-͂qͯ̈̔̚]/̔hk̾ͬ͂͐ͣ%̃f̈́͂͒̃g̈́̅̍ͨ", Crux When: May 17th, 2024. Where: The 24*7, The streets of Mabase, Ray's Occult Books       |
But I admit I've been away. Far away. Between the woke romance of our two female thespians (that's not an abbreviation of "the lesbians" you uncultured swines) and the sappy anime of Little Watcher Girl and Captain Lightbulb, I needed to step away. However, rather than leave you, the dear reader, in the dark. How about we recap a few things, eh? After all. You'll never figure out my plan if you've forgotten all the work I've put into laying it out and carefully tooling over every finite detail… Now, where to start…? If I go all the way back to the beginning I'm just spelling it all out for you. That won't do. Maybe just an overview will be best - such as, The Devil has been busy rebuilding Hell in his own image. No, I don’t mean he's making it look like a giant robed ghoul with horns! He was the head honcho, the one in charge of Twisted and now he's back to being hated and feared. So he's been busy rebuilding things like the utopia he tried to make Mabase. He may have even gotten a little tip of a certain someone who might have reincarnated and be busy raising a little Hellspawn of his own. Alessa, you ingrate. Not Pepito. Keep up. No, this won't do at all. It's too…. Impersonal. I'm just regurgitating information. Such as the Maniac sitting and being good for so long that his brain checked out leaving him sitting and starring for hours on end at the dismay of the demons who are meant to carry out his instructions on the damned. I could have jazzed that up. Maybe told it from his perspective. "Sitting atop a throne of skulls, the Maniac drooled slightly on himself as he watched the ongoing mundane judgments paraded before him." But of course the problem with that is you start getting invested in him and then we forget the story we're actually here to read. If we're going to just spew out knowledge, why would we stop with a recap? Maybe I should just start giving away all the dark and spooky secrets of Twisted that you pea-brained idiots haven't even bothered to start asking questions about. Like, why do the irons built by Medical Mechanica not have any doors if they where built BEFORE they had the technology to create tunnels into N.O. space or even before they stole the ability to create pocket dimensions from little Mary Sue and her clearly original fog gimmick. Did it occur to anyone that they exist to contain something so terrible and horrible that it had to be sealed away but powerful enough that each one could be used to literally flatten a planet? The answer of course is no because no one has time for ten year old plots and stories that sputter out into nothingness. No one cares anymore about the little demon girl who ran a coffee shop or the abused imp that was forced to cross-dress. No one spends a moment wondering about the forgotten reaper with the cute little bow who haunted the Cathedral in Truce or what else the fountain being in the center of Mabase might imply. I've pushed and I've poked. I've started people down quests that seemingly go nowhere simply because no one bothered to start asking the right questions - so it's not MY fault things have stagnated, it's YOURS. You little muses reading your little tales and bragging about the size and girth of your logs. YOU'RE the reason things haven't gone anywhere as of late. And what of it? Why am I bothering to even begin this incessant rant on this lonely Sunday evening when I could be spending my time getting some of that long sought after rest that I can never seem to get enough of? Because there's a story that needs to be told. Why else would the Lesbians be getting ready to go back to Twisted and use their considerable abilities to break into one of the irons prepared even now to smooth out the wrinkles in existence? Yes, this time I called them that on purpose. You may have your cookie. Of course they won't make it inside. I've seen to that. The little Mary Sue crawling around in the literal brains of a locked scene has made sure they won't get in until the Dragonmaster remembers he's left a scene on pause. But trying to get through that barrier should lead to some entertaining situations. By the way, do you know what's required to activate one of these view-blocking irons? A hand large enough to wield it… - - - - As the ding from the door chime echoes through the basement garage, Harold "Coop" Cooplowski drops his sandwich and makes a run for the exit. In this case a pneumatic hose which somehow sucks one upwards into the frozen yogurt cooler of the 24/7 which he managed to build one day out of some old vacuum cleaners and the old Fizz-Wizz machine before they changed out the flavors. Zipping upwards and defying the pull of gravity, Coop waves to his lost sandwich mournfully but to make himself feel more macho he pretends he's waving at his giant mecha robot the M.E.G.A.S. instead. "I'll get you back up and running soon. Just you wait." The inside of the 24/7 is suddenly filled with the sound of human fat on glass as Coop realizes he's snacked one too many today and nearly suffocates pushing open the cooler door only to fall flat on his face. With a soft click the shelves behind him snap back into place revealing nothing more than expired half-melted ice cream labeled as "low-fat Yogurt" to keep people from digging around. Pealing himself off the tiled floor, Coop calls out to the latest customer, "Be with you in just a minute!" Across the room Yoiko Hax enters, presumably with Liyara in tow. "Look. If I learned anything by studying and living in the 21st century for a bit, it's that you can't do anything role play related without Cheetos and Mountain Dew. It's a fundamental law. We can't get those things on the station, thus we have to come here. I don't see why this is annoying you." As if in response to what little he's overheard, Coop nods his head sagely. "It's true." He mutters, "Dungeon Masters Guide, 1st Edition Revised - page 203. Always have Cheetos and Sodas on hand. The more caffeine the better. Aisle 2, by the way." Yoiko raises an eyebrow but gives him a warm smile in response, "Thanks!" With a bit of a skip in her step she makes her way to the chips and starts grabbing some day-glo orange bags. "Like I said, we're gonna re-write our character sheets. It's the only way. Besides, what's the worst that happens? We get overly caffeinated and roll around in my sheets another night?" Coop is heard knocking over a display of lighters at the comment. "Besides, I'm pretty sure those weird dreams where just from being in artificial gravity again. Stop worrying about them."
It's not particularly hard to get Liyara to follow someone. Honestly. You just have to know or stumble upon the trick. Something that sounds new, and like it's either exciting, challenging, or an opportunity for her to show off how amazing she is? Well, you're done. Curiosity may kill the cat, but it has a harder time with draconic sorcerers. Of course, like any proper dragon or housecat, Liyara demurs like she was born to it. "I still fail to see the appeal of this roleplaying," Liyara lies effortlessly, glancing around the 24/7 and taking every inch of it in with that perfect recall of hers, "why would I want to pretend to be someone else when I am already perfect?" Her flaunting and deflection hide the fact that Liyara greatly enjoys portraying other people, but in a very different context than that of a game. And it always has to end with "Surprise, I was a dragon all along!" or else where is the fun in that? Look, she has to be bad at something. It's not going to be rules-lawyering, everyone who's spent five minutes talking with her knows that. She glances at Coop when he nods and offers a specific quote. Her eyes glass over for a moment, as if she's reading something just out of sight. "Strange, I though the back of the books was where they kept the appendices," she states in a matter of fact way that is both designed to undermine Coop and showcase that she doesn't get the joke. She's above all of this. Clearly. Can't you tell just by looking at her? She tosses her hair once, just in case, and it billows briefly in a non-existent breeze before settling down. None of this fronting stops her from following Yoiko and raising an eyebrow as she effectively gets to be a chips and soda carriage device. "You've been listening to the tuning fork too much. I'm telling you, nothing good comes from that lout and his feathered cap, imaginary or otherwise." Another lie, that, though this one is... quite defensible.
The Commander lets out a brief groan and gives her head a shake at Liyara's words. "Look, I don't mean literally. Although I'm sure there is some reality where we're just text on a paper and a few seconds with a pencil could change our lives dramatically." She ponders that another moment after saying it out loud. Surely she knows someone who could actually make that happen in passing…? She shakes her head again realizing that path only leads to madness. "Look, you and your fork buddy, " She knows exactly how that sounds and peeks at Coop to confirm as much, "come from what I'd describe as a rich fantasy world where people explore dungeons and fight dragons. Thus I related things to D&D. What I mean is like changing our fate - taking advantage of the way our contrary physics react in this weird little rock." As she says this she makes her way to the counter and drops her arms full of stuff to eye Coop again. "You know what I mean, right? Surely you've seen people from other realities show up and defy all logic from whatever world you come from?" Coop raises an eyebrow. "Look, lady. I just work here. If I wanted to talk about the fundamental nature of the universe I'd just go find the biggest jock and have him start punching me now. Besides, brains don't get you nowhere 'round here unless you count getting chopped up by the Icehouse killer." Yoiko simply stares blankly a moment and then turns her attention back to Liyara. "Do you want anything else while we're here? We've kinda got unlimited money at the moment. Just don't ask me to explain how it works or we're gonna be here for the rest of the day."
Liyara balks at Yoiko's words. "There is no world in which I am anything less than this. I am fairly certain I exist in all timelines, just not WHEN I exist in all timelines." The confidence she states that with is staggering - considering there's absolutely no way anyone could verify her statement as true, it's quite a leap. "Though, admittedly, I am probably the best version in any of them. It's not their fault, even I almost wasn't me." She glances to Coop, then back to Yoiko. "Fine... show me these books and explain your idea further. I'm not foolish enough to dismiss an idea just because I don't understand it yet." She loads all of her stuff on the counter next to Yoiko's, and then looks around. "...Infinite money is only helpful if there are things of value to purchase." Her head snaps back to Coop. "You don't have any enchanted weapons, legendary artifacts, or..." She looks thoughtful and then traces a fiery sigil in the air that is the spitting image of a green lantern ring she saw in a comic book, then snaps her fingers and the flames flicker green just long enough to clarify the intent. "...One of these, do you?" Nooone has any of those things for sale in a convenience store, Liyara. If we could take a few moments and have an aside from this pair, it would behoove the reader to note that there is a more than passing chance that at least one edition of these sourcebooks will actually have Liyara's home in it, depending on which books Yoiko collected. Now, this is mentioned, dear reader, not to point out an amusing coincidence, but to warn you of the consequences of introducing such material to her. Not that anyone reading can stop this train, but you still have time to get off at the next exit. For once she gets going on the lore of her homeworld, Liyara is unlikely to stop ranting and raving for some time, and when most people talk about an angry person spitting fire, it's usually not so literal. Or in other words, dear reader... there be dragons ahead. "...Perhaps a small aurochs for the road?" There is no such thing as a small aurochs, Liyara. Really.
Once again staring blankly, Yoiko looks to Liyara's leaps of logic as her mouth hangs open, twitching as she tries to form words that never come. Instead she just raises a hand to cover her own eyes, "Why do I always fall for the ones with egos? What does that say about me? Am I a terrible person?" Before anyone can assume she's expecting an answer, Yoiko lowers her hand with a roll of her eyes, "I never said anything about books!" She gestures towards Coop frantically, "He did! I only know about table top games in passing!" Coop raises a brow mid-way through ringing up their order. "Look, I already said I didn't want any of this nerd stuff. If you need magical do-dads and old books, go to Ray's. This is just the 24/7." Yoiko slowly nods her head at his words, handing over a credit card with a UFP logo on it. "Liyara? Babe? This is a mini-mart. Like a small market. They sell…" She reaches deep into her knowledge of fantasy settings, "…food and refreshments for long voyages. They don't sell any weapons more threatening than a cheap pocket knife." Holding it up to the light, Coop blinks calmly at the credit card. "Darndest thing. I swear there's no chip in it but it picked it up anyways." The Commander snatches it out of his hands and pockets it into her tool belt. "See? Don't ask me to explain. It just works. Future-magic." The last bit was meant as a joke so she smiles mischievously at Liyara only to sigh a moment later realizing she'll probably take it seriously…
There's a long, drawn out stretch as Liyara just looks back over her shoulder at Yoiko, followed by a slow smirk. "Confidence is an attractive trait." She says in response to Yoiko's question, as if remarking upon the weather. "Doubly so if earned." The redhead just looks from Coop to Yoiko for a moment, like she's sizing them both up. As if she hasn't already done plenty of that. Then there's a delighted laugh. It's musical, but also more than a little haughty. Imagine if Naga's laugh was somehow pleasant. "I know what a convenience store is, Yoiko." ... Wait. Was she messing with them? Oh, that's not good. It's already hard enough to follow her with their disparate approaches to analyzing reality. "Just driving home the point that there isn't anything here for me, is all." Nevermind, it's worse. Her sarcasm doesn't translate. This is going to be a rough ride, isn't it? "...I confess some confusion, though. What exactly IS your plan?" The dragoness watches the exchange with the credit card and notes it silently. Money hasn't really been a problem for her here, she can take or earn what she needs fairly effortlessly, and get brontosaurus ribs from the UR if she needs them. That was, admittedly, a surprise. But not an unpleasant one. Unfortunately, nobody just "sells" magical artifacts or reality altering powers, magic or otherwise, here. At least not that she's encountered. Back in Neverwinter and Waterdeep, there were shops a plenty where she could buy scrolls that were effectively weapons of mass destruction. It seemed a bit much power to concentrate in the hands of mortal capitalism, which is why she so frequently... took charge of them for safe keeping. It was the only ethical thing to do. If you ask her, anyway.
"My plan…?" Yoiko's voice pauses as she grabs the bags from Coop and makes her way towards the door (deliberately ignoring trying to figure out where her sarcasm levels begin and end). "Well, it's kinda…. 40% whim and 20% thought admittedly. I'm hoping luck will fill in the rest." She pushes open the door and winces at the perceived sunlight. "You wanted to get out there and see what's outside Mabase. My tech and your magic seems to have unexpected results. I figure we put our heads together, figure out how to get the ship I built in the apartment outside, and then we see where that road leads us." The Commander lifts up the bags of snacks, "This is just some junk food to get us going. It absolutely doesn't help but humans are convinced it does - so why not?" She glances around at the occasional cars going up and down Fukuoka Court and Twisted Street and tilts her head, thinking about Coop's comment regarding Ray's Occult. "What do you need for your magic, anyways? Like do you actually need scrolls and dusty old books or do you like, pull them out of the air or something?"
The question isn't something Liyara was expecting, but being the headmaster of an arcane academy produces a great number of rote responses, one of which starts up right away. "Well, you see, mortal magic in Toril generally relies upon the weave, a generalized magical under layer to reality that...." She slows down, and tilts her head to one side for a moment. "....If I want to cast spells that aren't very specific types of fire magic, I need to harness the magic inherent in a proper universe, and not this isolated pocket cut off from the rest." She huffs a little, and then crosses her arms. "All universes have magic, but not all of them have the weave, and trying to call upon it in a location without the weave can have unpredictable consequences. As per our little telepathic conundrum earlier." Right, where she accidentally admitted an incredibly minor aesthetic preference that she seemed unusually embarrassed to let slip. Dragons are weird. "...So I either need to go somewhere infused with the weave, like my Solace Bole." Liyara has previously identified that as the grove within her magically growing tree. "Or I have to brute force it by meticulously reproducing the exact design of the weave involved in the spell, and then powering it with my own, highly magical, blood." Oh. Well. That sounds exciting. Liyara looks back to Yoiko, and then shrugs. "...It's like if there were universes where different physics just rendered your phaser inert, or worse, made it fire beams of anti-matter instead. More caution was warranted, and I didn't excercise it. A mistake, if you will."
The blonde woman shrugs as they start making their way North along Fukuoka Court. Luckily the foot traffic is rather light today making the walk a bit easier. "Mistakes happen. I can't tell you how many time I jumped into something head-first on impulse without even considering that it was dangerous." It takes a moment but suddenly she lets out a slight giggle at a particularly note-worthy example, "Like, we should probably be more worried about carving ourselves into billions of tiny pieces and throwing them through a black hole at the speed of light, but teleporting is so much easier than trying to navigate a ship through and the insane math involved." Crossing her arms a moment, the Commander lets out a sigh, "So you need this magical weave to pull magic from. Some places have it, and some do not. You can use your blood as a quick substitute, so it's gotta be something relating to the planet or the nature of the universe itself. Like it's written into your DNA. That also explains why you can create a battery like your Solace Bowl to store that energy." Yes, she said Bowl not Bole. She doesn't know what a Bole is so it's either a Bowl or a Boole. "So an old occult library filled with documentation from all the intersecting worlds in the area wouldn't help you. So much for that clerk's suggestion." The blonde woman gives another shrug. "Otherwise that wasn't a bad idea. I was hoping some of that random luck might be kicking in when he brought it up."
Liyara actually slows to a stop when Yoiko admits that maybe tearing themselves apart at the atomic level and photocasting themselves in a slingshot orbit around a black hole is dangerous. Her jaw actually drops open a little bit, and she stomps her foot and flails her arms up in the air. "Oh, NOW it was risky, now that we've murdered ourselves twice." Her tail thumps on the ground behind them, and she lowers her arms after a moments and crosses them under her chest, intentionally framing her assets while she pouts. It's a choice. "Next time we're using magic like the gods intended." ...There's not enough time in the day to go into what's wrong with that statement from Yoiko's perspective, probably. "... And yes, the weave exists in most crystal spheres where people worship Mystra or Mystryl or whatever she's calling herself this week." Crystal spheres? Mystryl? Ok. "...And a good guess, but my blood is elemental magic in pure form. It's not from Toril or from ... well. Not from the prime material plane." Is that what she calls her universe? "... It's complicated. Just think of it as a power source, not a pattern. The pattern has to come from my sigil tracing." But wouldn't that leave room for mistakes? "...It's a very time consuming and error prone process normally. I wouldn't recommend mortals, even brilliant ones, try to do it with any speed." Doesn't she do it within only ten seconds or so? ... Oh, right, she's bragging again. She does that. When Yoiko mentions an old occult library, Liyara's eyes light up, and she bites her lip, squirming just a little. "Well. There's no guarantee that it wouldn't have anything useful." Oh no. She floated the possibility of finding a library when she was on the station, too. ...It's probably nothing. Probably.
The blonde woman lets out a laugh as Liyara not-so-subtly suggests there may be something to the idea after all. She looks up at the apartment complex on the far side of the fountain, but gestures in the opposite direction. "I know it's over by the mall, so we should head that way." Moving her bag from one arm to another, Yoiko lets out a momentary sigh from the weight. "I've never been there myself, but I know that old commercial they show late at night. The one that always comes on after that stupid Devil May Cry ad?" Another cheerful laugh escapes her. "I love that one so much." She lowers her voice trying to imitate Dante poorly, "I don't want your damn business!" Another laugh, "All the while Stayin' Alive is playing in the background for whatever reason. Oh, it's too good." She hums the tune a little as they pause for the crosswalk light to change. "Ugh, how does that ad go? I'm usually too busy laughing at the Devil Guy to pay attention." Yoiko lets out a soft sigh, "…something about due to the," she makes air quotes with her hands, "dimensional resonance of Twisted they have access to every book in existence? Sounds like a load of crap to me, but it might be fun!" Walking quietly a moment she tries to give her red-headed friend a chance to talk but can't help but blurt out, "Besides, I think Ray's one of the Ghostbusters. That movie is AMAZING."
"Lead the way then, my fair-haired flame." Liyara winks and then intentionally starts ahead, completely negating her statement that Yoiko should lead. Why is communication so difficult with her? As they walk, she confesses. "I don't have a television - that would require obtaining some sort of domicile, and electricity, and a television." She explains, as if these things are obviously self explanatory. "...Then I'd be setting down roots here, and I've always planned to help get people out of here, one way or the other." She's already found a few ways, but unfortunately in spite of trying to come off like she's forged no connections, she hasn't scarpered off at the first sign of freedom - she told people here that she would help them get home and she meant it. A promise is a promise. "A dragon's debt is always paid." She says simply, and then her tail swishes behind her as they walk. "...Commercial sounds like fun. Every book in existence is certainly quite dangerous, though. I hope it's an exaggeration. I wouldn't want a copy of the Book of Vile Darkness or the Nether Scrolls floating around." ...Whatever those are. "... What's a Ghostbuster?"
Ahh, yes. Your narrator here again to save us all from a disparaging scene where the blonde with the slug spots tells the red head with the wings in detail about the cultural icon that is the movie Ghostbusters - completely breaking the unwritten rules of RP and discussing someone's life as though they where placed on this planet just to entertain. Of course on one hand the awkward nature of the conversation does have some merit, and I'm sure Liyara's "scribe" (as he had one of his characters refer to himself) would find it helpful to know the specifics of what they talked about, but where is the fun of that? No, let's just skip this part and get straight to the next scene. Besides, as a pair of wise men once said, "It's a fact. Positrons don't react like that. You built a laser grid with no safety switch and Walter Peck was right, that's some shady shit." The door opens with a too familiar jingle as a small bell is rung, much as the same was true for all old shops. Ray's Occult is a dusty place filled with books the likes of which only exist in old movies as we enlightened few know that any book can be acquired somewhere on the internet and read digitally - otherwise it's not worth reading. Of course Ray Stantz would say otherwise, and that's exactly what got him started and has kept him going all these years - to catalogue those that the world had forgotten. Upon the glass case being used as a counter sleeps an old black and white cat known as Pagan. The pride and joy of one Kylie Griffin, a creepy gothling who runs the shop when Ray and his partner Egon Spengler are out chasing shadows and missing extremely important moments like this one. Oh, but what could they have learned from me, dear reader? What indeed… Yoiko holds the door open for Liyara, and only releases it once the dragonborn woman's tail sways in behind her. "…but of course it's Twisted, so all of that really happened somewhere. Isn't it exciting??" Hearing her voice, Kylie peeks her head out from the back office. "Welcome to Ray's Occult. There's books and stuff. Feel free to browse." Clearly her attention is strongly focused on something else. A series of electronic chirps can be heard before Miss Griffin steps out fully holding a smoking piece of electrical equipment like a rotting fish. "I don't get why Ray keeps these old shoe polishers around. Not a single one has worked right since I've been here." She drops it on the countertop to Pagan's dismay and sighs at the two women. "You need help with anything?"
Liyara tilts her head as she squeezes by Yoiko into the shop, her tail dragging along the ground for mere moments before the dusty nature of the shop causes her to lift it up. She glances down at it with a look of distaste, then coughs once as they enter. This isn't to say the place is actually dusty enough to be worth coughing - Liyara is a judgemental and sometimes rude person, so she very well may be coughing just to make a point and cast aspersions on the store. "Not every story can be real..." She murmurs, still having a bit of a hard time with it conceptually. She didn't seem to have any difficulty accepting that Star Trek was real... maybe it's easier for her if she sees it. The visual medium of shows and movies are a lot more immersive, after all. "Well, I would hope there are books." The dragoness says, glancing over to Kylie. She realizes that the young woman is paying attention to a smoking device rather than her, but decides not to let it rattle her. That has become worryingly common since Liyara arrived here. "...Well, what's it do?" She asks, looking at the smoking device, her eyes occasionally glancing over at the shelves full of books. She quietly traces a sigil in the air behind her, and then pricks her own palm to let some blood flow into it and power a detect magic ritual. It will let her see everything in the room that's magic, as well as what kind of magic it is and how strongly it is magic. Well, anything not guarded by specific anti-detection measures like herself, anyway. She'd better hope Ray keeps the really good stuff in the back, that sounds like a recipe to blind yourself in a place like this.
"...The Dragon and the space Barbie are back in Twisted, some cat-creature is talking with a senshi, and ... ... is that raccoon flying a tank?" My question is rhetorical. I can very clearly see one "Rocket Raccoon" piloting some sort of flying tank that did not exist five minutes ago. I place the blame on the girl in the gunner's seat, Dani Moonstar. She seems like the type to be at fault. It's good to know things just by looking at people. I turn my view back to Lain, my golden eyes lidding, partially hiding the swirling flecks of black within. "What just happened? A moment ago they were still in their little tree thing, and nothing was happening on Twisted." Lain seems like she might answer questions, and even though I feel like this has already been explained to me, I still don't get it. Pretending to know more than you do works great on people. Not so great on infinite repositories of knowledge that identify as a kid. So I ask.
With a tilt of her head, Lain smiles. "Life. Good or bad; imagination will run wild when given half a chance." The young woman's outfit has changed once again. This time she's wearing an orange tank top and a baggy pair of brown carpenter jeans. It's as if she can't decide how she should look. Patting her pockets down a moment the girl looks worried, then with another smile she produces a cap modeled off of the bear pajamas she'd worn briefly. Pulling it down over her head, Lain lets out a soft giggle - another reminder of the child she was never quite allowed to be. True to form the cap is a brown bear head complete with little ears. "Also a moment ago is a moment imagined, or have you forgotten our new timeline? Unless you've been watching the people of Twisted too." Falling into character, Lain gets a wishful look in her eyes and excitedly claps her hands together, holding them tightly to her chest. "Please tell me you're a watcher too! It's been so lonely as of late!" - - - - Kylie gives a shrug to the winged girl's question. "What's what do? This thing?" She points towards the smoking device on the counter. "It's a Psycho-Kinetic Energy Detector, or as Dr Venkman calls it a 'PKE Meter.' Do you know anything about the theory of Free Neutron Flux?" She notices the glazed look in Liyara's eyes but raises an eyebrow at what she assumes is interest in Yoiko's. "Okay, so spiritual energies produce psycho-kinetic valances. When a spirit manifests it ionizes atoms so quickly that neurons are ejected into the air - thus free neutrons. The PKE meter is supposed to detect those fluctuations to home in on a ghost as a way of tracking them. The problem is the nature of this place itself is chalked full of neutrons. It's like this whole rock of a world we're living on was inside a giant containment grid. There's too much background radiation and the meters just fizz out and start smoking." The gothic woman lets out a sigh, crossing her arms to lean on the counter. "I've spent a lot of time studying Dr Spengler's research. It's how I ended up meeting these guys and getting a job here. So anyways, what do you ladies need? I've got a near photographic memory for this place so whatever you're looking for I can probably save you the time and tell you where to get it." Yoiko inches closer to the counter, wanting desperately to get a look at that PKE meter and more so to see what's inside it, but instead of speaking up she glances over at Liyara since she's the one wanting to look up magical tomes and what-not. The last thing she could have possibly expected in that moment was to see her newest fling back lit in a blinding explosion of light. Because let's face it. Dr Ray Stantz is too absent minded to hide the good stuff in the back, only the dangerous stuff. Meaning the magical force of a bomb would likely hit Liyara if she tried to detect magic. After all, it takes a lot more than science to deliberately move a piece of New York City across dimensions and onto Twisted. It also takes magic, some incredibly powerful talismans, and an engineered dimensional vortex tethered to the very building itself. Just how do they have any book you can imagine? Because the building itself has been forced to exist everywhere at once… - - - - Lain suddenly cries out in pain as Liyara's spell erupts across the city of Mabase. In a brief moment the shattered remains of Twisted seem to collapse onto itself and balloon out across the multiverse in a spectacular flash of pink light. The young girl can feel her own timeline being burned like a roll of negatives tossed out into the sun. She drops into a ball, pulling her bear cap over her face and screams! - - - - Somewhere deep within the Medical Mechanica factory a quiet "ding" can be heard, not unlike the sound an old microwave makes when the timer runs out. The room is black and in the darkness seems to go on forever. With a click and a hum a series of florescent lights flicker into existence shinning light over a room full to the brim of monitoring equipment. This was the moment they where waiting for. One by one the equipment roars to life letting off a vibration that echoes through the facility, agitating everything inside. The vibration spreads and echoes until it becomes a triumphant roar. The heat from all the equipment running at once blasts out of the factory filling Twisted with a dense layer of steam that blankets everything in hot fog. As quickly as it starts, everything inside the factory shuts back down again save for a single display in that again darkened monitoring room. It's screen reads, "N.O. DETECTED - PORTAL ACQUIRED. CONNECTION WITH ATOMSK: 100%. ACTIVATOR EN ROUTE."
The silver-haired advent just shrugs. "I've been watching since I changed out of my work uniform, but I don't s--" "A psycho-kinetic..." Liyara's eyes glass over a little, like she's reading things noone else can see, but then shakes her head. "Never heard those words arranged in that order bef-" A scribe somewhere glances at a screen, reading the description of a bookstore. "...What's the metaphysical word for 'oops'?" Back in the bookstore, Liyara yelps, a thoroughly undignified sound, as she sees into an infinite number of bookstores at once, which are also just this bookstore, and her pupils dilate to tiny points. "Tiamat's tits!" She curses, just comprehending enough of what she's seeing to get an arm up. "Yoiko, get behi--" Outside of Space-time, Crux raises an eyebrow. "Oh, how cute, she triggered some kind of 𝕆𝕙 𝕊𝕙𝕚𝕥!" Golden eyes open wide, and both the pupils and the black flecks within dilate. "Not again!" -҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉ ℍ𝕒𝕧𝕖 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕣 𝕓𝕖𝕖𝕟 𝕙𝕚𝕥 𝕓𝕪 𝕒 𝕦𝕟𝕚𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕤𝕖? 𝕀𝕥'𝕤 𝕡𝕣𝕠𝕓𝕒𝕓𝕝𝕪 𝕒 𝕤𝕥𝕦𝕡𝕚𝕕 𝕢𝕦𝕖𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟. 𝕆𝕗 𝕔𝕠𝕦𝕣𝕤𝕖 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕙𝕒𝕧𝕖𝕟'𝕥. ℙ𝕖𝕠𝕡𝕝𝕖 𝕕𝕠𝕟'𝕥 𝕘𝕠 𝕒𝕣𝕠𝕦𝕟𝕕 𝕘𝕖𝕥𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕤𝕝𝕒𝕡𝕡𝕖𝕕 𝕓𝕪 𝕦𝕟𝕚𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕤𝕖𝕤. 𝔹𝕦𝕥 𝕡𝕣𝕖𝕥𝕖𝕟𝕕 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕒 𝕞𝕠𝕞𝕖𝕟𝕥 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕙𝕒𝕧𝕖. 𝕀𝕞𝕒𝕘𝕚𝕟𝕖 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕒𝕣𝕖 𝕒𝕟 𝕚𝕟𝕗𝕚𝕟𝕚𝕥𝕖𝕤𝕚𝕞𝕒𝕝𝕝𝕪 𝕤𝕞𝕒𝕝𝕝 𝕘𝕣𝕒𝕚𝕟 𝕠𝕗 𝕤𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕚𝕟 𝕒𝕟 𝕚𝕟𝕗𝕚𝕟𝕚𝕥𝕖𝕝𝕪 𝕝𝕒𝕣𝕘𝕖 𝕞𝕚𝕒𝕤𝕞𝕒 𝕗𝕚𝕝𝕝𝕖𝕕 𝕨𝕚𝕥𝕙 𝕢𝕦𝕚𝕟𝕥𝕚𝕝𝕝𝕚𝕠𝕟𝕤 𝕠𝕗 𝕤𝕨𝕚𝕣𝕝𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕘𝕒𝕝𝕒𝕔𝕥𝕚𝕔 𝕔𝕝𝕦𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕣𝕤, 𝕤𝕦𝕡𝕖𝕣𝕞𝕒𝕤𝕤𝕚𝕧𝕖 𝕓𝕝𝕒𝕔𝕜 𝕙𝕠𝕝𝕖𝕤, 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕕𝕒𝕣𝕜 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕒𝕟𝕥𝕚-𝕞𝕒𝕥𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝕟𝕖𝕓𝕦𝕝𝕒𝕖 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕔𝕠𝕦𝕝𝕕 𝕕𝕖𝕤𝕥𝕣𝕠𝕪 𝕖𝕟𝕥𝕚𝕣𝕖 𝕘𝕒𝕝𝕒𝕩𝕚𝕖𝕤 𝕚𝕟 𝕒 𝕔𝕠𝕝𝕝𝕚𝕤𝕚𝕠𝕟 𝕤𝕠 𝕧𝕒𝕤𝕥 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕒𝕝𝕝 𝕝𝕚𝕗𝕖 𝕚𝕟 𝕒𝕝𝕝 𝕦𝕟𝕚𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕤𝕖𝕤 𝕨𝕠𝕦𝕝𝕕 𝕤𝕥𝕣𝕦𝕘𝕘𝕝𝕖 𝕛𝕦𝕤𝕥 𝕥𝕠 𝕔𝕠𝕞𝕡𝕣𝕖𝕙𝕖𝕟𝕕 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕞𝕒𝕛𝕖𝕤𝕥𝕪 𝕠𝕗 𝕚𝕥. ℕ𝕠𝕨 𝕚𝕞𝕒𝕘𝕚𝕟𝕖 𝕒𝕝𝕝 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕓𝕖𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕣𝕠𝕝𝕝𝕖𝕕 𝕦𝕡 𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖 𝕒 𝕟𝕖𝕨𝕤𝕡𝕒𝕡𝕖𝕣 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕦𝕤𝕖𝕕 𝕥𝕠 𝕤𝕝𝕒𝕡 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕚𝕟 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕗𝕒𝕔𝕖 𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕨𝕖𝕣𝕖 𝕒 𝕓𝕒𝕕 𝕕𝕠𝕘. 𝔻𝕠 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕘𝕖𝕥 𝕚𝕥 𝕟𝕠𝕨? 𝕆𝕗 𝕔𝕠𝕦𝕣𝕤𝕖 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕕𝕠𝕟'𝕥. 𝔹𝕦𝕥 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕤𝕙𝕠𝕦𝕝𝕕 𝕥𝕣𝕪. 𝔹𝕖𝕔𝕒𝕦𝕤𝕖 𝕤𝕠𝕞𝕖𝕠𝕟𝕖'𝕤 𝕓𝕖𝕖𝕟 𝕒 𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕪 𝕓𝕒𝕕 𝕕𝕠𝕘. -҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉ "Lain?" Crux turns to look to the girl-goddess next to him, and he's practically blinded by what he just saw, but he still tries to gaze down her temporal trail to see what's happening to her. "You aren't allowed to die, you're literally the only person I can talk to." Yes, as usual, the Advent has sussed out that the appropriate response to a very serious situation is Sarcasm. Good job. Way to go. Did I mention he's an idiot? -҉
It is devastating. It is incomprehensible. It is multiversal in scope and perhaps even in damage. But it's still just the surprise round.
It's literally infinite. And it's nothing compared to the size of her ego. The light - the magical impact - the multiversal fucking collapse and expansion... literally stops upon contact with her outstretched palm. "𝕹𝖔. 𝕵𝖚𝖘𝖙 𝖓𝖔." The voice is a powerful rumble, the shaking of all things, and here, in connection with a single magic point that connects to an infinite array of other magic points in an infinite array of other book stores... the word-shaped thunder echoes through all of them. "𝕴 𝖉𝖔𝖓'𝖙 𝖍𝖆𝖛𝖊 𝖙𝖎𝖒𝖊 𝖋𝖔𝖗 𝖜𝖍𝖆𝖙𝖊𝖛𝖊𝖗 𝖙𝖍𝖎𝖘 𝖎𝖘. 𝕾𝖔 𝖓𝖔." Everywhere, across every timeline in every universe, the disaster just sort of stops expanding. It doesn't... go back together. It doesn't re-ravel or un-burn or anything so neat and tidy. It just... stops. It holds still. The force is abated. All of it. Physics be damned, and they most certainly are. She reaches back behind her, and traces her fingers backwards in a precise pattern through the fire-blood still hanging in the air, undoing her detect-magic ritual as though her own ritual were an attack on herself and she's deflecting it, because 𝖐𝖆𝖗𝖘𝖍𝖔𝖏 𝖆𝖗𝖓𝖆𝖍𝖐. It doesn't undo the other consequences of what she did, but at least she doesn't have to look at them anymore. | |
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