Ellis Company - Revision history

Apheori: +

2017-02-16T00:28:31Z

Apheori at 20:19, 15 February 2017

2017-02-15T20:19:28Z

Apheori at 19:52, 14 February 2017

2017-02-14T19:52:51Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 19:52, 14 February 2017
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	Alise and Jessa exchanged glances. Finally, Jessa asked, "How?"		Alise and Jessa exchanged glances. Finally, Jessa asked, "How?"

	"Alise said it started with a glowstone," Amalia said. "Someone activated it, set this off? These ruins are from the first world, they'll be mirrored across the realms. Find another which still has the glowstone, set it off again. The effect ~~should~~ cancel out the first."		"Alise said it started with a glowstone," Amalia said. "Someone activated it, set this off? These ruins are from the first world, they'll be mirrored across the realms. Find another which still has the glowstone, set it off again. The effect a second time may cancel out the first."

	"How do you know all that?" the other Bob asked.		"How do you know all that?" the other Bob asked.
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	She had until the end of the month. Plenty of time.		She had until the end of the month. Plenty of time.

	She rolled over and pulled the letter from her father out of her pocket. It was crinkled and worn, now; she'd ~~read~~ it ~~many times~~, but she ~~still~~ wasn't ~~quite sure what~~ to make of it.		She rolled over and pulled the letter from her father out of her pocket. It was crinkled and worn, now, but she'd been putting it off, and hadn't yet opened it.

			<div style="margin: 1em 10em 1em 5em; font-style: italic;">
			: My dearest Al,

			I know we didn't part on the best of terms, but I hope this finds you well. I still don't agree with your decision to pursue the new sciences, but if there was ever someone brilliant enough to take it on, it's you. So good luck. May you go on to create our future.

			My concern now, however, is another matter entirely. There are undercurrents in the noble circles. Something is stirring, and I do not trust the direction it is headed. Perhaps it is nothing, but should everything go utterly sideways, keep your eyes open. Trust what you see, and use that brilliant mind of yours. The politics will extend into the sciences, and there may be those vying for your allegiances even there. Choose your sides wisely, as there may be no turning back.

			Your sister got a new cat. This one is even bigger than the last one, and barely fits in the teleporters. She calls him Cuddles, and asks when you will come meet him. I have told her it may be some time, but we all miss you.

			: Forever yours,
			: Your Father, Kalphus of Amarga
			</div>

			And that was the problem, wasn't it? She didn't just have two choices, civilian life or mercenary... she wasn't a civilian. She was a noble herself, and like any noble, hadn't gone into her education to make a life for herself, she'd gone for the sake of puttering. But she hadn't gone home after, or made clear any intention to do so, either.

	{{hidden\|1=		{{hidden\|1=
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	== Past the borderlands ==		== Past the borderlands ==

	Once through the Shimmer, Alise didn't wait to see if Sargayen would stop following. If he ~~didn~~'t, it wouldn't be worth the cost, and given that he had followed this far, she rather doubted that the simple wrongness of the dead realms would slow him down any. So she didn't slow herself, instead sprinting out across the open grey hills, looking for anything, anywhere, that would not just provide cover, but perhaps outright mislead. She didn't just need to get away, but disappear.		Once through the Shimmer, Alise didn't wait to see if Sargayen would stop following. If he hadn't, it wouldn't be worth the cost, and given that he had followed this far, she rather doubted that the simple wrongness of the dead realms would slow him down any. So she didn't slow herself, instead sprinting out across the open grey hills, looking for anything, anywhere, that would not just provide cover, but perhaps outright mislead. She didn't just need to get away, but disappear.

	Nothing near the wall would do. Trees wouldn't do. She needed buildings. People.		Nothing near the wall would do. Trees wouldn't do. She needed buildings. People.
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	It was a disturbing thought, but a battle, if that truly was what happened out here, might be exactly the place she could lose Sargayen.		It was a disturbing thought, but a battle, if that truly was what happened out here, might be exactly the place she could lose Sargayen.

	The next cluster of buildings didn't look to be abandoned at all. Jutting out of the ground with severe austerity, thick and tall and dark and without doors, they seemed almost like a maze. Shiny bits glinted along the edges, a silvery line there, a not-quite-golden one there, marking odd lines through the stonework.		The next cluster of buildings didn't look to be abandoned at all. Jutting out of the ground with severe austerity, thick and tall and dark and without doors, only gaping doorways, they seemed almost like a maze. Shiny bits glinted along the edges, a silvery line there, a not-quite-golden one there, marking odd lines through the stonework.

	The last hill blocked her sight of Sargayen completely. It was perfect.		The last hill blocked her sight of Sargayen completely. It was perfect.
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	They were grey, she realised as she waited. All grey. Was she grey? She'd never even thought about it.		They were grey, she realised as she waited. All grey. Was she grey? She'd never even thought about it.

	She held up a hand and looked it over. She looked more white than grey, here.		She held up a hand and looked it over. She looked more white than grey, here. As she sat, she wondered who these people were. Were they dead? What was this building for? What were they waiting for? What did the lines on their robes mean? How did they make them so shiny?

	As she sat, she wondered who these people were. Were they dead? What was this building for? What were they waiting for? What did the lines on their robes mean? How did they make them so shiny?

	Sargayen burst around the corner-door in a whirlwind of noise and smell. Dead leaves blew in with him as he came to a stop, staring down the room, disturbing the people in it as they looked back at him disapprovingly, as he eyed each one in turn, looking, looking, looking for Alise.		Sargayen burst around the corner-door in a whirlwind of noise and smell. Dead leaves blew in with him as he came to a stop, staring down the room, disturbing the people in it as they looked back at him disapprovingly, as he eyed each one in turn, looking, looking, looking for Alise.
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	"You'll need robes," the guy said, ushering her toward somewhere else in the building. "For identification. We'll set you up with a squad later."		"You'll need robes," the guy said, ushering her toward somewhere else in the building. "For identification. We'll set you up with a squad later."

	"Right," she said, and followed. She was starting to be able to think straight again, and as a result, she was starting to worry a little as to just what she was getting into. Still, it seemed safe enough ~~at this point.~~		"Right," she said, and followed. She was starting to be able to think straight again, and as a result, she was starting to worry a little as to just what she was getting into. Still, it seemed safe enough<ref>By Ellis Company standards. Ellis Company standards would probably be regarded as suicidal by most other folks.</ref> at this point.

	~~Safe by~~ Ellis standards~~, at any rate~~. Ellis standards would probably be regarded as suicidal by most other folks.

	"Whee," she said quietly.		"Whee," she said quietly.
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	He nodded, and went onto the next.		He nodded, and went onto the next.

	They moved out as a block. Alise fished out a bag of fireballs and tied it to her belt, her fingers sifting through the ashes. Half full. Good for maybe a few hundred. She hadn't bothered to restock for the Sargayen assignment. Hadn't seemed worth it.		They moved out as a block. Alise fished out a new bag of fireballs and tied it to her belt, her fingers sifting through the ashes. Half full. Good for maybe a few hundred. She hadn't bothered to restock for the Sargayen assignment. Hadn't seemed worth it.

	On the other hand, most folks usually only had maybe five or ten fireballs on them at any given time, but they weren't Ellis. They weren't insane. They didn't try to plan for all the worst possible situations, because they didn't make a practice of winding up in all the worst possible situations.		On the other hand, most folks usually only had maybe five or ten fireballs on them at any given time, but they weren't Ellis. They weren't insane. They didn't try to plan for all the worst possible situations, because they didn't make a practice of winding up in all the worst possible situations.
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	Ellis Company tended to survive everything, but there was a reason for it: practice. Practice, and, subsequently, preparation. Bring as many fireballs as you can, even if you're just buying cantaloups. Bring heals even when you're on an assassination job. Bring a blade even when you, personally, can't use it; the heavy blade in the party might need it, and they can use it to save your arse.		Ellis Company tended to survive everything, but there was a reason for it: practice. Practice, and, subsequently, preparation. Bring as many fireballs as you can, even if you're just buying cantaloups. Bring heals even when you're on an assassination job. Bring a blade even when you, personally, can't use it; the heavy blade in the party might need it, and they can use it to save your arse.

	It helped that fireballs in bulk were actually pretty cheap, so the company would just order a few thousand and leave them in the closet.		It helped that fireballs in bulk were actually pretty cheap, so the company would just order a few hundred thousand and leave them in the closet.

	Maintenance didn't appreciate this, of course, but Maintenance wasn't about to argue with a band of 50-some mercenaries armed with several thousand fireballs, either.		Maintenance didn't appreciate this, of course, but Maintenance wasn't about to argue with a band of 50-some mercenaries armed with several hundred thousand fireballs, either.

	Alise wondered vaguely if there was any particular reason individuals couldn't carry around several thousand fireballs, or if they just didn't because it seemed excessive. It didn't feel like it'd be excessive here.		Alise wondered vaguely if there was any particular reason individuals couldn't carry around several thousand fireballs, or if they just didn't because it seemed excessive. It didn't feel like it'd be excessive here.
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	"Save your magic," the leader told her at one point.		"Save your magic," the leader told her at one point.

	"~~Aye~~," Alise said. ~~"Don't worry~~, ~~fireballs are cheap." Lasers were~~ more so. Simple triggering event, and pow. But how to explain that, she didn't even know. It'd taken her completely by surprise when she'd finally done the calculations, and she'd even understood the maths.		"My magic is fine," Alise said. Fireballs were cheap, and lasers more so. Simple triggering event, and pow. But how to explain that, she didn't even know. It'd taken her completely by surprise when she'd finally done the calculations, and she'd even understood the maths.

	He looked skeptical, but left it at that.		He looked skeptical, but left it at that.
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	The others were all standing and sitting around amidst the bodies of the last fight, mostly hostiles, but this time there were friendlies among the fallen, too.		The others were all standing and sitting around amidst the bodies of the last fight, mostly hostiles, but this time there were friendlies among the fallen, too.

	"What happened?" she asked finally.		"What happened?" she asked finally. "How... am I alive?"

	"Mahalist," Bob said. "He came right at you, tried to take you over. Probably saw you as the biggest threat, since your magic is so focussed relative to the rest."		"Mahalist," Bob said. "He came right at you, tried to take you over. Probably saw you as the biggest threat, since your magic is so focussed relative to the rest."
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	They marched on, or in Alise's case, floated vaguely on.		They marched on, or in Alise's case, floated vaguely on.

	Even the exploding nose didn't dent the god. Again, Alise couldn't help feel a bit disappointed, but this time she had sort of expected it. It didn't matter. She skittered about and soared, flying forward at impossible speed, breaking all manner of imagined barriers.		Even the exploding nose didn't dent the god. His nose just sort of got better. Again, Alise couldn't help feel a bit disappointed, but this time she had sort of expected it. It didn't matter. She skittered about and soared, flying forward at impossible speed, breaking all manner of imagined barriers.

	Behind her drone, the god still followed, soaring after, breaking the same and more.		Behind her drone, the god still followed, soaring after, breaking the same and more.

Apheori: Updaaaate

2017-02-14T07:07:39Z

Updaaaate

Show changes

Apheori: Changes

2015-08-25T03:45:24Z

Changes

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Apheori: +

2015-03-01T17:02:04Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 17:02, 1 March 2015
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	She nodded and followed closely as they made their way back out of the frog-folk village. This time, none dared get in their way.		She nodded and followed closely as they made their way back out of the frog-folk village. This time, none dared get in their way.

	~~They didn't bother to call it in.~~

	== Motto I ==		== Motto I ==
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	Quite a few hours later, it occurred to her that perhaps she should go back and eat and sleep and do all the things living people tend to do, as well as find out what day it even was at this point. Being in this place with its strange physics and rules and life seemed to put her needs on hold, she had found, but it still seemed like a good idea to get back and eat. And sleep properly, without tape in her hair. And everything.		Quite a few hours later, it occurred to her that perhaps she should go back and eat and sleep and do all the things living people tend to do, as well as find out what day it even was at this point. Being in this place with its strange physics and rules and life seemed to put her needs on hold, she had found, but it still seemed like a good idea to get back and eat. And sleep properly, without tape in her hair. And everything.

	When she passed back through the Shimmer, the ~~day was fading into dusk~~.		When she passed back through the Shimmer, most of the afternoon had passed.

	== Exams ==		== Exams ==
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	It seemed there were only questions and no answers.		It seemed there were only questions and no answers.

	When they got back, ~~they submitted their reports and got paid. The~~ debriefing was oddly formal, but largely uneventful. Jessa fell asleep at the table, Amalia and the Bobs smiled and nodded, Martel snarked, and Alise glowered vaguely, eyeing the nobles involved suspiciously and wondering vaguely why they cared so much about this. Given that they also cared a great deal about particularly fluffy dogs, however, she wasn't exactly concerned.		When they got back, the debriefing was oddly formal, but largely uneventful. Jessa fell asleep at the table, Amalia and the Bobs smiled and nodded, Martel snarked, and Alise glowered vaguely, eyeing the nobles involved suspiciously and wondering vaguely why they cared so much about this. Given that they also cared a great deal about particularly fluffy dogs, however, she wasn't exactly concerned. Ultimately, they submitted their reports and got paid.

	Then they got back to the hall and split. Alise crashed on a sofa because that was what she was doing these days. Yes, they had beds. No, she didn't care. Sofa was softer anyhow.		Then they got back to the hall and split. Alise crashed on a sofa because that was what she was doing these days. Yes, they had beds. No, she didn't care. Sofa was softer anyhow.
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	Martel woke her to hand her an earpiece. He winked. Not understanding on account of still being mostly asleep, she said, "nug," put it on, and went back to sleep.		Martel woke her to hand her an earpiece. He winked. Not understanding on account of still being mostly asleep, she said, "nug," put it on, and went back to sleep.

	= ~~Gaping hole~~ in the ~~plot =~~		== Motto III ==

			Waking up for real in the early morning, Alise got up, did her usual, and stared out over the Great Hall, wondering what she was even doing, where she was going. Was there a point to all of this? Did she even have a future worth considering, or would it just be drones and jobs until she finally got herself killed?

			It wasn't worth much. All in all, she felt oddly listless.

			It was a bit like Ellis Company, really. It had no real purpose, either, no real point, just acting as a layover while folks figured out what they wanted to do, or if they wanted to do anything. It was fun and laid back and full of Bobs, but was that really enough to make a proper company? They had no core leadership, no real direction, not even any active recruitment beyond a single sign with an arrow. They didn't even have a proper motto.

			Perhaps their motto should have been 'Going nowhere quickly'.

			Below, mercenaries and citizens alike milled about, even at this early hour. Some were simplyhanging around or cleaning or doing general administrative stuff, but others moved with true purpose in their strides. Places to be, things to do, not just a meaningless job that wandered vaguely into the realm of interesting before suddenly just ending, but something. Something... more?

			What would make it more?

			She didn't even know.

	...		...

Apheori: /* Beginning */ ...

2015-02-27T04:49:00Z

Beginning: ...

← Older revision		Revision as of 04:49, 27 February 2015
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	Their messengers binged, but it was just Martel wondering what the shades was taking them so long.		Their messengers binged, but it was just Martel wondering what the shades was taking them so long.

			Alise chucked in an experimental fireball. It fizzled and disappeared.

	Finally Alise clasped the crystal and summoned, not casting upwards like usual, but instead bringing the drone to form in her hands in front of her.		Finally Alise clasped the crystal and summoned, not casting upwards like usual, but instead bringing the drone to form in her hands in front of her.
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	Alise glowered at her and then half-heartedly tossed the drone into the room. It drifted lazily forward, powering up as it fell, then shooting straight... up? The shard had changed, and she could no longer see the drone from where they were, but it was still there in her mind, still close, still moving, navigating nothing she understood.		Alise glowered at her and then half-heartedly tossed the drone into the room. It drifted lazily forward, powering up as it fell, then shooting straight... up? The shard had changed, and she could no longer see the drone from where they were, but it was still there in her mind, still close, still moving, navigating nothing she understood.

	She panned it around in a slow spiral, sensors detecting nothing, no imminent collisions, no walls, suddenly walls, ceiling, shimmer, imminent collision, and she brought it up suddenly, tracing walls, ceiling, more walls, but this room was empty, no glowstone here. She turned it back toward the shimmer, but the shard shifted before she even got there and suddenly it was another room, this one full of bones, piles of bones, piled up over decades at least. Nothing here. Cursing herself for not implementing any sort of hover, she flew in circles as the rooms shifted and changed, the shards of reality cycling through ~~the~~ various variants of the room.		She panned it around in a slow spiral, sensors detecting nothing and everything all at once, probably no imminent collisions, possibly no walls, suddenly definitely walls, ceiling, shimmer, imminent collision, and she brought it up suddenly, tracing the boundaries, walls, ceiling, more walls, but this room was empty, no glowstone here. She turned it back toward the shimmer, but the shard shifted before she even got there and suddenly it was another room, this one full of bones, piles of bones, piled up over decades at least. Nothing here. Cursing herself for not implementing any sort of hover, she flew in circles as the rooms shifted and changed, the shards of reality cycling through various variants of the room, some all at once, some in series.

	Some weren't rooms at all, but woods, or ruins, or a vast cavern deep underground.		Some weren't rooms at all, but woods, or ruins, or a vast cavern deep underground.
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	Another.		Another.

			A whole jumbles of rooms.

	A room with a glowstone.		A room with a glowstone.
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	"Probably is," Jessa said. "Time's weird between the worlds."		"Probably is," Jessa said. "Time's weird between the worlds."

	"~~Blaaah~~," Alise said.		"Blaaagh," Alise said. At least the dead lands had a consistent conversion factor. She had no idea what was going on here.

	She saw another glowstone and dove at it, knocking it off its pedestal, but this didn't actually achieve anything before she was in another room, with another glowstone. This time she fired a missile at it, and it exploded right on cue, taking out not only glowstone, but the entire room, drone included.		She saw another glowstone and dove at it, knocking it off its pedestal, but this didn't actually achieve anything before she was in another room, with another glowstone. This time she fired a missile at it, and it exploded right on cue, taking out not only the glowstone, but the entire room, drone included.

	Alise rubbed her head at the sudden loss of perspective, and stuffed the summoning crystal back into her pocket. She needed another weapon for her drone. Something smaller, good as a backup or just an alternative. Lasers, maybe.		Alise rubbed her head at the sudden loss of perspective, and stuffed the summoning crystal back into her pocket. She needed another weapon for her drone. Something smaller, good as a backup or just an alternative. Lasers, maybe.
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	"So... lunch?" Jessa asked, getting up.		"So... lunch?" Jessa asked, getting up.

	Yeah.		"Yeah."

	== Later ==		== Later ==
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	On the way, they talked and discussed the nature of reality, the nature of the worlds, but while they all knew different things, none of it added up.		On the way, they talked and discussed the nature of reality, the nature of the worlds, but while they all knew different things, none of it added up.

			It seemed there were only questions and no answers.

			When they got back, they submitted their reports and got paid. The debriefing was oddly formal, but largely uneventful. Jessa fell asleep at the table, Amalia and the Bobs smiled and nodded, Martel snarked, and Alise glowered vaguely, eyeing the nobles involved suspiciously and wondering vaguely why they cared so much about this. Given that they also cared a great deal about particularly fluffy dogs, however, she wasn't exactly concerned.

			Then they got back to the hall and split. Alise crashed on a sofa because that was what she was doing these days. Yes, they had beds. No, she didn't care. Sofa was softer anyhow.

			Martel woke her to hand her an earpiece. He winked. Not understanding on account of still being mostly asleep, she said, "nug," put it on, and went back to sleep.

	= Gaping hole in the plot =		= Gaping hole in the plot =

Apheori: /* Beginning */ +

2015-02-26T01:01:25Z

Beginning: +

← Older revision		Revision as of 01:01, 26 February 2015
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	"Different worlds," Jessa whispered. Suddenly she exclaimed, "You don't think that's where the other rock folk came from? They were all here in their own worlds when suddenly boom they all wind up here?"		"Different worlds," Jessa whispered. Suddenly she exclaimed, "You don't think that's where the other rock folk came from? They were all here in their own worlds when suddenly boom they all wind up here?"

	"That's exactly what I'm thinking," Alise said. "Parallel events in different worlds converged here, and ... oh, of course. Of course there wouldn't be other versions of us here trying to figure it out."		"That's exactly what I'm thinking," Alise said. "Parallel events in different worlds converged here, and..." she stopped, looking confused. "Oh, of course. Of course there wouldn't be other versions of us here trying to figure it out."

	"What?" Jessa asked.		"What?" Jessa asked.
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	== Testing ==		== Testing ==

			Alise stared into the room of shimmer shards disconcertedly. The more she thought about it, the worse of an idea she realised this was. It wasn't just that she would be throwing strange magic at an unstable anomaly that was already throwing the very laws of physics out the window. It wasn't just that she was in essence going to be sending a piece of herself into who knows what, who knows where. It wasn't even that, odds were, she'd just get cut off from the drone as soon as she went in with it, nor that there would likely be no room to even fly the thing around in the first place, so even if the drone did get through in one piece it'd most likely just crash, or have no way to actually do anything on the other side, anyhow. Nor was it that if she did manage to set off the... event again, there was no telling what might actually happen to them in practice.

			But all of that? All of that was really putting her on edge.

			She sighed and glanced down at the crystal in her hand.

			Next to her, Jessa smiled helpfully.

			Alise gave the girl an annoyed look.

			Jessa shrugged. "I bet it explodes," she said.

			"Not helping," Alise responded.

			They stared into the weird abyss.

			Their messengers binged, but it was just Martel wondering what the shades was taking them so long.

			Finally Alise clasped the crystal and summoned, not casting upwards like usual, but instead bringing the drone to form in her hands in front of her.

			Jessa poked it. "Cool," she said.

			Alise glowered at her and then half-heartedly tossed the drone into the room. It drifted lazily forward, powering up as it fell, then shooting straight... up? The shard had changed, and she could no longer see the drone from where they were, but it was still there in her mind, still close, still moving, navigating nothing she understood.

			She panned it around in a slow spiral, sensors detecting nothing, no imminent collisions, no walls, suddenly walls, ceiling, shimmer, imminent collision, and she brought it up suddenly, tracing walls, ceiling, more walls, but this room was empty, no glowstone here. She turned it back toward the shimmer, but the shard shifted before she even got there and suddenly it was another room, this one full of bones, piles of bones, piled up over decades at least. Nothing here. Cursing herself for not implementing any sort of hover, she flew in circles as the rooms shifted and changed, the shards of reality cycling through the various variants of the room.

			Some weren't rooms at all, but woods, or ruins, or a vast cavern deep underground.

			Some weren't anything.

			There was no order to it that she could make out.

			Another room.

			Another.

			A room with a glowstone.

			She came around to fly at it, but then the room changed again and the glowstone was gone.

			More rooms.

			Next to her, Jessa yawned loudly and sat down, and Alise realised she might as well do the same. This was going to take awhile.

			"How long have I been at this?" she asked, still flying circles through another set of rooms, some more or less real than others, some full of strange things, some on fire, some devoid of all colour, some feeling like death itself, or whatever death would even be to a drone's sensors.

			"A few minutes," Jessa said blandly.

			"Feels like longer," Alise said.

			"Probably is," Jessa said. "Time's weird between the worlds."

			"Blaaah," Alise said.

			She saw another glowstone and dove at it, knocking it off its pedestal, but this didn't actually achieve anything before she was in another room, with another glowstone. This time she fired a missile at it, and it exploded right on cue, taking out not only glowstone, but the entire room, drone included.

			Alise rubbed her head at the sudden loss of perspective, and stuffed the summoning crystal back into her pocket. She needed another weapon for her drone. Something smaller, good as a backup or just an alternative. Lasers, maybe.

			"Something happen?" Jessa asked.

			"I blew it up," Alise said.

			"Oh," Jessa said.

			They watched the broken room, looking for changes, but it was all the same. The same missing wall. The same shimmer on the floor. The same shards coming in and out of focus, shifting, showing visions of a hundred other rooms, and a hundred thousand.

			Then, suddenly, it stopped. The room just stopped being broken all of a sudden and they didn't even realise right away that they were looking on a normal room, solid, stable, unchanging, bouncing their lights back consistently and solidly, because broken had become normal and this didn't even register as normal, it was just another form of abnormal, an abnormal normality.

			Alise blinked.

			"Wait, what?" Jessa said.

			Then it actually sunk in and Alise said, "Oh."

			Jessa added, "Well, okay."

			"Yeah," Alise agreed.

			"So... lunch?" Jessa asked, getting up.

			Yeah.

			== Later ==

			They called it in. They had lunch. They started the long hike back down out of the mountains, back to the civilised lands, back to the carts and the train that would take them home.

			On the way, they talked and discussed the nature of reality, the nature of the worlds, but while they all knew different things, none of it added up.

	= Gaping hole in the plot =		= Gaping hole in the plot =

Apheori: /* Beginning */

2015-02-23T23:03:27Z

Beginning

← Older revision		Revision as of 23:03, 23 February 2015
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	== Upstream ==		== Upstream ==

	Calling it in, nobody had any better ideas.		Calling it in, nobody upstream had any better ideas.

			== Testing ==

	= Gaping hole in the plot =		= Gaping hole in the plot =

Apheori: /* Beginning */ +

2015-02-22T08:13:37Z

Beginning: +

← Older revision		Revision as of 08:13, 22 February 2015
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	== Motto I ==		== Motto I ==

	Later, once they were back in the open jungle, Alise asked, "How the ~~fuck~~ did we even survive that?"		Later, once they were back in the open jungle, Alise asked, "How in the shades did we even survive that?"

	"That should be our motto," Martel said.		"That should be our motto," Martel said.
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	Then Alise reconnected and said to the others, "Five minutes, remember. I'll call in five minutes from now."		Then Alise reconnected and said to the others, "Five minutes, remember. I'll call in five minutes from now."

	Then she ended it again and put the messenger away, though she also checked her watch~~. 42~~.		Then she ended it again and put the messenger away, though she also checked her watch.

	"We'll be fine so long as we don't touch anything," Alise told Jessa. "Come on." She scooted down a few more doors, tossing balls of light off the walls. Some stuck. Some bounced.		"We'll be fine so long as we don't touch anything," Alise told Jessa. "Come on." She scooted down a few more doors, tossing balls of light off the walls. Some stuck. Some bounced.
Line 688:		Line 688:

	Jessa blinked, then said, "Why would the other worlds have yous at all?"		Jessa blinked, then said, "Why would the other worlds have yous at all?"

			Alise frowned. "Why wouldn't they? I mean, if they're..." she stopped. She had almost said 'if they're the same', but why would they be?

			Jessa was staring at her. "That's just it," the girl whispered, "they're all different. Every one of them. Even if they have different versions of you, they'll all be completely different too." Jessa glanced back into the room, and then said in a tiny voice, "You won't see them in there. You just won't."

			"You've met them, haven't you?" Alise supposed. "Other... Jessas."

			Jessa just stared at her.

			"Er," Alise said.

			Jessa stared into the room. Their lights outside only kind of illuminated it. The shimmers looked a bit like a kaleidoscope sometimes, normal others.

			"I'm getting another idea," Alise said.

			Jessa gave her a worried look.

			"It's either slightly better or significantly worse than the last one," Alise went on.

			"That's not very reassuring," Jessa said.

			Their messengers binged. Jessa jumped, then grabbed her messenger and stared at it uncertainly.

			"Er," Alise said, then answered, "Sorry, hi, we're still alive, unless you're calling from not entirely the right world, in which case I have no idea whether or not whoever you were trying to call is actually alive or not, because we're probably not them."

			There was an entirely too long pause, then Martel's voice said, "What?"

			"It's a shatter," Jessa said. "A place where the worlds collide. There were too many rock people because they weren't all from this world. We tracked ours here, but ours and a whole bunch of others must have left after."

			Martel said, again, "What?"

			"So, you know the thing we thought was probably behind this, the exploding glowstone?" Alise said. "It wasn't there. Instead we found a room full of all the wrong worlds."

			"You know," Martel said, "It's been more than five minutes."

			"Yeah?" Alise said.

			"It's been nine," Martel said.

			"Sorry," Alise said.

			"We got a bit distracted," Jessa added.

			"By a room full of shatter," Martel said skeptically. "Tell me you didn't try stepping through it."

			"I don't think they'd be talking to us if they had," a Bob pointed out.

			"I was going to try flying in my drone," Alise said.

			"That is a terrible idea," Martel said.

			"Can you close the shatter?" Amalia asked.

			Alise and Jessa exchanged glances. Finally, Jessa asked, "How?"

			"Alise said it started with a glowstone," Amalia said. "Someone activated it, set this off? These ruins are from the first world, they'll be mirrored across the realms. Find another which still has the glowstone, set it off again. The effect should cancel out the first."

			"How do you know all that?" the other Bob asked.

			"Are you seriously giving me an actual reason to try flying my drone into that mess?" Alise asked.

			"Well, that makes sense," Martel said.

			"It does?" a Bob asked.

			"No," Martel said.

			"It does," Jessa said, then added, much more quietly, "I think."

			Alise glanced at Jessa, then said into the messenger, "Um."

			"Yes," a Bob said.

			"Sure," Martel said.

			"It will work," Amalia said.

			"Let's call it in, first," the other Bob said.

			== Upstream ==

			Calling it in, nobody had any better ideas.

	= Gaping hole in the plot =		= Gaping hole in the plot =