Difference between revisions of "Sovereigns game"

A fragment of the Garden of Remembering

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== The Job ==


Reset. Where are we even going with this?
The job: heist, some item/artifact
* held by powerful folks with lots of resources in vaults/with securtiy, need to infiltrate things, can get in past open floors of museum/casino/staging area/whatever
* folks might be the Magi, but probably aren't, because that would really complicate things later and also they really like keeping things in-house and thus would be rather hard to infiltrate. Probably some random other gang or corporation, or an operation by a specific bureau.
* have plan for getting past security, need to get crew/get rest of crew back from random holidays or out of prison or another totally random job they were already doing, or stuff, and figure out the details of everything else
* job is kind of sudden and high priority and they need to beat anyone else there


== 0 ==
The opening: planning and all the stuff to actually do the heist
* They do the heist. They make it in. There's some unnecessary drama about all the over the top security, and some conflict with head of security guy.
* The item is already gone, head of security guy shows up absolutely pissed and everyone expects him to arrest them, but then he turns out to have been their totally adorable mechanic Khalemi, and their other inside source all along. Is absolutely pissed that she fucked up the security, because she was actually trying to make it good specifically so this ''wouldn't happen''. Everyone is a bit surprised, because the security guy was actually some pretty good acting on her part, and also why was it a guy?!


Instantiate. The wide room. The grand hall. Visitors Center to the right, gift shop attached. Some cafes, probably; this is civilisation, after all. Hallways leading off. Wide doors. Staircases. The entire second floor is a conference venue. This is the base floor of the Atlas Tower of the Magi. There are five towers in total, rising above the great city covering the plains, between the forested mountains. Seres, Gorgon, Torrent, Calcutta, and at their center, Atlas, the main one. The tall one. There are other floors below this, but they are not typically open to the public. The floors above vary. Most of the libraries have hours. The restaurants, the overlooks, the gardens, these are all open when they are open. Anyone could probably walk into one of the meditation chambers at any time, if only they knew where they were going, and as long as they didn't make trouble, nobody would likely mind.
Ensue: the plot. Hunting down the folks who stole the item. It's important, yo. Brains of their opperations, criminal mastermind Cithandra, won't say why, but it is, and they need to get it back. Things go sideways at some point. Comnen, usual point guy, talky person, swagger and all that, gets taken out of the running, and Cithandra has to take direct control of everything and more than being a general mastermind, turns out to be really, really scary as direct boss. Also really suave and sophisticated. But scary-like.


Nissa is in the base now, getting coffee, or whatever their local equivalent is. Whatever ''her'' equivalent is. Something sticky and unpronounceable. Boba. She's that kind of student, not that most of the folk around her would take her for a student. She's not really dressed like one, but nor is she dressed like a master. Mostly she's just dressed like a random person, surrounded by random people, and chatter filling the space. Her head tails are drawn back, snaking down her back in thick tendrils, tense.
Somehow they get Comnen back. Hijinks ensue throuhout. Sokar does his thing taking random side jobs all the way through, which turns out to be a really good cover at least two times in a row when security people ask them just what the ''fuck'' they're doing here.


She's uncertain, cautious. Doesn't know what she can do, or get away with doing. Though here there is anonymity in the masses, it, too, is dangerous. Open.
Ending: they get the item.
* Item is a key to a vault of scary group ..., which they open, and find... an alien girl?!
* Having no idea what the hell else to do, they take her with them as they head out into the stars for their next adventure.
* Also said alien girl probably wasn't at all what Cithandra was expecting either, but whatever.


She finds a table, sits down, pulls out a tablet, pulls up some spells. Their forms hover over the table, the accompanying text appearing on air, backed at times in opaque white, at others in nothing. She reads them carefully, mouthing the forms, trying to shape them in her mind, converting them as she goes. There are rooms set aside for exactly this higher up. Quiet rooms. Fireproof rooms. Rooms with serene views and carefully constructed soundtracks and no distractions, painstakingly designed to facilitate learning and retention, checked out ahead of time and carefully recorded.
=== Setting organisations ===


Nissa doesn't want facilitation, but most especially she doesn't want to be tracked. She wants the real world, ''her'' world. She wants to learn in the same chaos and cacophony she'll be using it in, as she has alwyas used it. And now she delights in being able to do this in the open, around people, even though she's now more afraid than ever.
Somewhere in the background there's references to at least some of the three main scaries, which may or may not show up as clients hiring the crew at some point or other:
* The United Worlds, the massively bureaucratic galactic republic where everything mostly just goes through random bureaus regardless of what the politicians from all the random systems actually say
* The Magi, a quasi-religious guild of space wizards that basically force all magic-capable people they find to either join them or die (or maybe just be cut off from the magic, which is also horrible for them?)
* The ... which turns out to be this horrible mysterious organisation that experiments on monsters (aliens) for ''reasons'', and is a good chunk of why so many of the aliens are humanoid (or elven?), because they actually started out as humans/elves or were previously much more alien and then engineered into hybrids. This is definitely not commonly known and will not come up for awhile. Is probably known as a major source of biotech through some front, and is in fact possibly really only known for that at all, publicly.
: Probably run by a group of dark wizards, or something.


Her fingers spark, and she shakes it off onto the table. That wasn't even remotely related to the spell she was running through. She peers at the notes, flicking through the pages with her straw - has she stumbled upon something else, perhaps?
Other random groups that occur:
* Citheldryn: a myserious organisation that has embassies on random planets and isn't entirely clear what its purpose is, where it came from, or anything. Also very unclear where any of their money, of which they seem to have a lot, comes from. Is generally suspected of just paying off the UW bureaucracy to ignore them.
* Syndicate: a major crime guild that somehow has never actually been connected to any crimes, officially. But everyone knows they do crime. They do crime.
* The Right People: not exactly a group so much as just random people who think the UW/Magi, in particular, are dumb, and do their own thing. Gnerally includes any gangs/other unlawful factions not actively at war with each other, as well as quite a few underground non-Magi wizards. Syndicate is not really a part of this, but sometimes involved.
* Various other guilds, gangs, corporations, cabals, and planets doing various things throughout
* The border worlds, which may or may not have any seat in the UW itself, and often go totally ignored by its bureaus/forces, and thus may wind up ''really'' doing their own things


The problem is, Nissa is brilliant. Among the Magi, she's considered a prodigy, a sensitivity to the Source unlike anything they've seen before. But it's not true. What the masters take for raw power is much the same as they have themselves: years of experience, discipline, and inevitable efficiency. She's not a nexus of magical power, but simply a master in her own right, of her own methods. She fakes it with theirs. She hamfists the spells, and doesn't even have to pretend confusion at some of the ways they cast them. So far, they've bought it.
=== Crew ===


And that's the problem. She doesn't cast the way they do. Her discipline is different from theirs. And different, when it comes to magic in the Commonwealth, means illegal.
* Comnen - probably actually owns the ship, boss as far as everyone is concerned, prefers smuggling jobs but also has history as a merc and will do heists etc if someone else figures out the details. Presents himself as a ball of swagger and confidence, and puts all this swagger and confidence to use to hold the crew together, along with just generally being awesome.
* Cithandra - suave, sophisticated, and above all, absolutely gorgeous and elegant criminal mastermind behind a lot of the jobs, sometimes tells the crew the full plan, sometimes... not. Also generally doesn't actually come across as particularly criminal or mastermind, and usually just suggests random things offhand, and then finances random parts of it, as the rest of them put the details of the operation together...
: Overtly, she's just this rich lady who hired the ship to take her with and finances them because she was bloody ''bored''.
* Sokar - main pilot, keeps taking on these totally ridiculous side jobs whenever they get to a new system, much to everyone's annoyance. Possibly turns out that this tendency was ''precisely'' why Cithandra hired him.
* Khalemi - medic, tech handler in general, bot operator, very good with security systems and distributed operations, completely lost whenever she has to do anything hands-on. Also apparently a pretty good actor... when acting a man. Can't act out other women for the life of her.
* Jonas - some sort of 'public relations'
* Torkora Ma - wanton thief, possibly another sort of 'public relations'
* Nissa - young underworld wizard with a very peculiar view of how magic works, uses it to fix random stuff, very nonchalant about absolutely everything, with a particular skill for going completely unnoticed as she just walks right into pretty much anything unquestioned




Several of them really don't get along with each other, but do have the professionalism to keep overtly expressing it to a miniumum while actually doing the job (well, usually). Will get very annoyed when they have to fix things for each other, but generally make a point of doing it precisely so the other survives/makes it out/whatever so they can actually berate them about it...


Instantiate. Elsewhere. Ciphreya: another city, another world, another galaxy. Civilised, but differently. This is much smaller, and isolate. A sanctuary in crystalline architecture, away from the troubles of the rest of the universe. They consider themselves the apex of development, here, the heart of a monumental organisation. They're right, to a point. Their influence is huge, and spans across the local clusters. Beyond that point, they're not so right. It's too far away. They don't even know what's out there. The void. The abyss. Dark beyond of the known universe. Other civilisations, perhaps, with other apexes. They haven't made contact, and the gods have been vague to a fault.
== Screenplay? ==


But their gods back them. Their gods are among them. That makes it all right. Right?
<screenplay>


Rahah doesn't think so. She wants everyone to just leave her alone, let her grow up, play, make friends and be ridiculous. She's only six. She's a god, or at least the reincarnation of one, or so everyone keeps insisting. She doesn't want to be a god. She wants to be normal.


She's incarnated as a Deresi, but passes for Nissai: an elf apparently in her adolescence, adult proportions, but lanky, short. Intellectually, she learns quickly, and speaks well, but moments betray her age frequently. Her control over her magic betrays her most of all. A teenager would be able to cast a light without setting it on fire. A teenager would actually know how to cast in the first place. But everything Rahah tries comes out wrong. She can't shape the spells at all. Mostly she can do tricks with force, pushing and pulling at a distance. Sometimes she manages to control the flow of raw energy: not magical, but kinetic, thermal, magnetic, or perhaps simply the very processes behind them. There's no shaping this. It's like making poetry out of Assembly; it's simply not what it's for.


So mostly she doesn't. She pretends not even to be a caster at all. It's easier than to admit the truth: as Deresi, her connection to the Source is different. She is her own source, her own nexus. And so the general hatred and mistrust of Deresi passes her by, but so, too, do opportunities. Opportunities to learn and grow. Opportunities to understand.
NISSA
There's a magus here.
(she gestures in a direction)
Somewhere thataway. We should be careful.


SOKAR
How do you tell?


NISSA
They're practically glowing with power.


The Source. One of the lingering mysteries of the universe. Every great civilisation has, if they progressed far enough, tried to tap into it at some point on a global scale. It is, after all, a source of power, a connection between worlds, the exception that makes Darstaddian physics work. Like the ambient matter that holds galaxies together, it is the ambient energy that pulls all forces together, and so it is used to power entire civilisations, to reinvent travel, to rebuild the foundation of the very concept of existence. The downfall of many, in time, has been taking this too far. The cenva, the first ones, remade their very selves upon this, and thus unmade themselves. The gods were reborn of these fragments. The Artiil, the humans, launched themselves into the cosmos on the tails of their own destruction, losing their homeworld, but not, at least, their own being.
Sokar gives her a sudden, worried look.


To engineers and architects, it is but another tool, another constraint, to use and work around.
NISSA
Oh, don't worry. They're very bad at what they do, totally uncontrolled, so it's really easy to sense them. I'm much better than that.


To casters, those born with an innate sensitivity who choose to pursue its more personal application, or who have it engineered into them later in life, it is a wellspring of power and madness. Most remain at the surface, only pulling small amounts, shaping them according to established templates, for simple things: to ease the day to day, complement other skills, perform some tricks. They stick to the known, written spells, and never go too far. But some delve deeper. The madmen, the visionaries, the sorcerers. These are inevitably the pioneers, those who discover its applications, who write up the theorems that form the basis for new spells, and for the more global applications of the civilisations themselves. Some of them become gods. Many destroy themselves. Others skirt disaster at every new reach, only to find themselves changed no matter how careful they were, for it always changes its users, the more so the deeper, the darker, they go.
SOKAR
If you say so, kid.


There are speculations as to how deep it goes. There are speculations as to there being another side: a dark side, an existence far stranger, that mirrors our own, perhaps, or something else entirely. But these are only speculations. There are no hypotheses, not that can be tested.


Even the gods don't know, save, perhaps, for one. The biggest one of all. The Spirit of the Universe. She's not even a god anymore, not really, but she was, once. Long ago. Before she changed. Maybe, just maybe, she reached that other, darker, side. Maybe this was what changed her. The Deathgods, after all, call her their ''Dark'' Sister. But she doesn't speak with mortals. She doesn't even speak with most gods anymore. The Deathgods act as her liaisons on the rare occasion she deems anything worth communicating, and she doesn't accept questions.






The man sits down across from her, and Nissa looks up in surprise. It's Damorin, one of the Magi masters. "I missed you today," he says. "You need to practise."


"I know," Nissa replies. "I'm sorry, I just got caught up in the theory."
JONAS
Shit, how old are you, anyway?


"I'm surprised," Damorin says, smiling. "Usually those with your sort of power want to skip past all that. Tend to think they don't need the theory."
NISSA
Mmm, I dunno. Maybe 10ish?


"Oh," Nissa says. She hadn't considered that. For her, theory was everything - she would have said she was a mathematician, first and foremost, and a mage really only as a practical application. That is, if she'd had anyone she could confide in about this at all. She didn't. That was the problem. That was why she'd finally gone against all the advice of her underworld associates and gone to the Magi, presenting herself as a confused young girl awakening to strange new powers.
JONAS
What...
(turning and yelling toward Comnen)
BOSS! The kid is really a kid!


"No, no, that's a good thing," Damorin says, shaking his head, apparently reading her worry as completely ordinary concern. "You'll need the theory more than any, if you're to truly control your power."
COMNEN
(showing up)
Yeah? So?


JONAS
So... she's like, really, really young!


Nissa just smiles, looking vaguely cute.


COMNEN
Yes...?


She's not sure what to do about it, but it's a major concern: the reason she doesn't show up to the lessons is because it's just so ''hard'' to cast things wrong. It's exhausting. She doesn't actually have that kind of power.
JONAS
Like... a ''kid''. Why're we puttin' a kid in all these... situations?


"What's wrong?" Damorin asks.
NISSA
Is it really ''you'' putting me in these situations? Is it?


Nissa doesn't know what to say. The truth is out of the question. She doesn't have any good lies on hand. The only reason they thought she was a prodigy was because she'd screwed up when she came in. Put too much into the tasks they'd assigned to test her.
COMNEN
She's a fucking squid, man. They're weird.


Unaffiliated magic is illegal in the Commonwealth, but it's hardly safe in the Union, either, the neighbouring militaristic state with which an uneasy truce is maintained purely out of necessity: an all-out war would devastate both parties, and leave the galaxy in ruins. So, being from the Commonwealth herself, she'd joined the Magi, the Commonwealth mages, and tried to get along with their particular approach. She'd thought it'd be freeing, to openly practice magic. Instead she'd found it utterly stifling.
He turns and leaves.


"What I mean to say is I can do all that already!" Nissa says, feigning incredulity. "Why do I need to go to these lessons? They're pointless."
JONAS
But... but...


"Really?" Damorin asks. "Show me a common star."
NISSA
(now looking a bit annoyed)
Squid. Yes, that is... ''exactly''...


Nissa holds up her hand and a pinpoint of light appears above it.


Damorin nods. "Make a purification."


Nissa gives him a slightly surprised look, and then pulls up the spell on her tablet, before shaping it out, mostly according to the instructions, adapting it slightly to her own manner of casting. She drops it over the table, and it immediately sparkles, clean.


"You need to know the spells," Damorin says, frowning. "That won't work in the field."


Nissa tries to hide her own surprise, and apparently pulls it off. He hadn't noticed the difference. Had he? "Why would I need to clean something on the spot without time to look it up?" she asks. "What possible situation could mandate that?" What she also doesn't mention is that she already has another cleaning spell that she knows well - a much less pristine version with a more variable scope. Hers looks natural, unlike this. Like cleaning by hand, it takes multiple passes, multiple castings, to make anything sparkle. She uses it daily when no one's looking, to avoid having to clean things up by hand.
SOKAR
I got us a new job.


"I can think of a few," Damorin says.
COMNEN
What... the fuck?


"Okay, fine," Nissa says. "What do you want from me?"
KHALEMI
...again?


"Come to the lessons," Damorin says. "Practice with us, and complete your basic training. You're young yet, but with patience you'll get the independence you crave."
TORKORA MA
Are we stealing something?


"Okay," Nissa says. She's not as young as they think, but what they'll forgive of a twelve-year-old is far more than they might of seventeen. And she doesn't look her age. She'd always resented this, when she lived on her own. Now, though, here, it's her armour, her saving grace whenever she goes too far, says the wrong thing. She's just twelve. Doesn't know what she's talking about. That's all there is to it.
SOKAR
Naw, naw, this is just a strict pick up, drop off.


Damorin smiles.
TORKORA MA
You say that like that's not exactly how stealing things works...


KHALEMI
What's the catch?


SOKAR
No catch, just passengers.


Twenty yaks. Twenty yaks had stampeded the corridor when they opened the portal. Rahah stares at the mess below, dumbfounded. She's perched atop a doorframe, clinging to a bit of wall trim. This wasn't what she'd expected. Jerindal, hanging from a light fixture further down, also stares. This wasn't what he'd expected, either.
COMNEN
How is that not a catch?!
We're already sitting on stolen cargo, and we still have to catch up...


Two yaks, all that's left, stand around amidst the mess. They forage a bit at it. They chew on the potted plants.
KHALEMI
Yeah, that does sound a biiit dodgy.


Two yaks is enough for the two young elves to remain clinging to their perches above them, afraid to make a sound.
CITHANDRA
And passengers will be a very nice way to ensure nobody checks for stolen cargo when we stop off. Isn't that right?


The much older elven man who marches in a moment after, however, is not afraid to speak at all. "What, in all the worlds, happened here?" he demands loudly.
SOKAR
Uh... is it?


The two yaks stop munching to watch him yakily.


"Don't!" Jerindal squeaks. "You'll spook them again!"


"Really? That's all you have to say for yourself?" the man says. "And you, Sovereign," he goes on, turning on Rahah. "I would have expected better of you."


"Er, better than what, exactly?" she asks. "This was all an accident."


"Yeah, dad, this really wasn't what we were trying to do." Jerindal says.
The passengers turn out to be: two magi and a kid, a priest, a random couple, and three guys they're all mildly certain would also fall among the Right People.


"So what exactly ''were'' you trying to do?" Jerindal's dad asks.
Comnen glares at Sokar.


"Er," Jerindal says, starting to panic. "You know. About that? Yes."
COMNEN
''These'' are the passengers you managed to come up with?!


"Leave," Rahah says.
SOKAR
You know, maybe I am starting to think this wasn't such a good idea.


"Leave?" Jerindal's dad asks.
NISSA
Well, I'm going to need to be careful.


"Leave Ciphreya," Rahah says. "We were trying to get away. I mean, I was. Trying to get out of here. Anywhere but here. So we opened a portal. Jerindal was helping me because he's really good with magic, but it's not his fault. I talked him into it. It just... it worked, sort of, but then a herd of yaks came out and... um..." she shrugs blankly, looking sheepish, trying to cover the lie. Jerindal is basically the only friend she has. He'd insisted on going with her, just so she wouldn't be entirely alone, even though he was actually fairly happy here. And she'd needed it enough to not say no. "It didn't really... work?" she finishes, lamely.
COMNEN
What exactly happens if you aren't?


Jerindal's dad stares at her. "Jerindal," he says, still looking at Rahah. "Room. Now."
NISSA
Depends.


Jerindal drops off the light fixture and runs away, giving the yaks a wide berth.
COMNEN
On?


Rahah drops down as well. She stares up at Jerindal's dad defiantly, mostly just because she is so short, and that's the easiest way to look when looking up without looking totally pathetic.
NISSA
Depends.
(quietly)
We might need that priest.


His name is Jerdalim. He's a member of the Hadris Citheldryn Arbitration Committee, the closest thing they have to a ruling body here. Or the closest thing in lieu of her, the supposed Sovereign. Not that they'd listen to a child. Maybe when she grows up they will, but somehow, naggingly, she suspects they'll to find a way around it then, too. It's been a very long time since the god has ruled here, and it's a far different organisation now.
SOKAR
...what for?


"Why?" he asks.


"Because it's absolutely stifling here!" she says. "I can't do anything, I can't have friends, whenever anything goes wrong it's always their fault and they take the fall, even when it's not! I'm the sovereign, the god, so I have to be perfect, and yet I'm a child and you won't even listen to me or let me do anything or anything! You can't even make up your stupid minds!"
</screenplay>


"That's not how it is at all," Jerdalim says. "You just need to grow up, that's all."
== Old stuff ==


"You won't let me grow up!" she yells.
Possibly some stuff that happens later...


Jerdalim gives her a somewhat confused look, and starts to say something.
{{ hidden |


Rahah turns and runs away.
LATER STUFF, I DUNNO.


It's the wrong way. The way the rest of the yaks went, full of damage... and yaks. But she keeps going anyway, stubborn anger and fear and confusion driving her on as they hop away in surprise at the tiny ball of bushy hair and tears rushing past them. Why did she actually say all that? She doesn't know. She does want to get away, of course, but it's not that important, is it? They respect her so little already, and she knows this won't help, but... but she doesn't even know. It's all a mess, her whole life, and she doesn't know how to deal with any of it. She doesn't even have a dad, like Jerindal does. He lost his mother when he was very small, but she'd never had any parents at all. Been born from a seed of her own creation, she was told. Something she'd set up in a previous life.
Reset. Where are we even going with this?


She doesn't remember any of it. Previous lives, being a god, any of it. And yet that is the entire cause of everything wrong now - her past selves setting it all up for this - and so she resents them terribly. That they were all ''her'' only makes it that much worse, somehow.
The Hadris Citheldryn reaches out to the Magi of the galaxy of Edo for the overt purpose of establishing relations between like-minded organisations. The practical reason is slightly different - they have no agents among the Magi, and yet they are the pushers behind the Commonwealth. They do have agents among the Union. Becoming a Lord there is easy.


She curls up in a dark corner, past the destruction and yaks, past the people going on about their lives as they pass from place to place, and winds up amidst the dust of the empty rooms beyond. She cries into her knees, not knowing what else to do.
The Citheldryn is an organisation of watchers and keepers, dedicated to the preservation of knowledge, protection of the cosmos, and on a smaller scale, enabling travellers from more advanced societies to more safely interact with those that might otherwise be considered unwise. They rarely get involved in local politics, but if they do show themselves, it is as a mysterious local faction, a neutral country, a group of charter houses. Maybe they present themselves as interested primarily in hunting monsters and curtailing the supernatural, maybe they are nothing more than a local embassy for some foreign power that's basically completely forgotten about the local presense, and never does anything.


Edo is one of the artiilie settlements gone wild, a galaxy primarily inhabited by humans and the humanoid aleakin, with populations of saakma and kriss thrown in. Few elves.


* Artiilie: ancient humans.
* Aleakin: anime girls with giant eyes, tentacles for hair, and four arms. Technically not actually girls as they're all hermaphroditic, but they ''sure look it''.
* Saakma: octopus-like things. Have tentacles instead of legs. Have tentacles instead of arms. Have tentacles on their heads. Eat pretty much everything, especially the more decomposed it is. Related to the aleakin, vaguely. Also hermaphroditic.
* Kriss: giant spider mantid crab people. Have way too many growth stages that all look totally different to keep track of, and nearly as many genders. It makes sense to them; nobody else even tries to keep track. Generally when others run into an alien thing they don't recognise they just assume it's a kriss at some random stage.


The Arbitration Committee of the Hadris Citheldryn does more than arbitrate. They also review proposals, among other, even more boring, tasks. Most of the proposals up for consideration now are fairly standard, and this one, submitted by a member they don't know, probably some recruit from the galaxy of Edo itself, fits right in with the rest.
Three primary factions:
* Commonwealth - republic of worlds with stupid politics, policed by the Magi. Relatively more representation of the common folk than in the Union, but mostly run by various corporations in practice. Control the left half of the galaxy.
* Union - feudal dictatorship run by the warlock Dark Lords, who constantly feud. Progression among the Lords generally achieved by being biggest bad in general vicinity, and constant backstabbing. For common people it's just tiresome and for the most part they just ignore it. Control the other left half of the galaxy.
* 'Right People' - not really a faction, so much as a loose assortment of criminals and people who just don't care about the stupid feud between the two empires. Grey Systems in the neutral zone between the two left halves sometimes claim to be 'among the right people'. Some Commonwealth corporations also officially involved. Also connected via dark net, etc.


The proposal is essentially thus: establish formal diplomatic relations with the Magi of the Edo Commonwealth. It makes some solid points. The Magi are organised, and generally peaceful, unlike their Union counterparts, a loose consortium of warring warlocks who basically run the Union. The Magi safeguard various powerful artefacts, and it would be valuable to ensure these artefacts remain in good hands. The Magi are relatively enlightened, unlike most of the very competitive factions even in the Commonwealth itself. It would be worthwhile to share knowledge and practices, and learn from each other. There's little to lose from a diplomatic mission as a cover for a more thorough evaluation.


The committee deliberates. They don't bother to meet up, just read through it as they get to it and submit their comments online, replying to each other as need be. Standard practice. Consensus is established tricklingly, until nobody has anything more to add, and the proposal is put in the approved queue.
== 1 ==


The main character of the story is small, not like how a child is small, although she is a child, but like how a half-size statue of a full-grown adult is, as a half-size statue, smaller than a full-size statue. Today, she's in disguise: firstly as a person who is simply not nearly as small as she actually is, and secondly as a person who is simply someone else who isn't her.


Her name is Rahah. She's an elf, she's very, very young, and she is, to her considerable irritation, apparently the reincarnation of a god. She doesn't want to be a god, she wants to go to other planets and hit monsters with a sword. But instead she is, and as a result, people won't leave her alone or let her do anything dangerous or go anywhere where dangerous things might happen. They tell her this is because she's too important, because she could get hurt, or, her personal ''lease favourite'', because 'hitting things with swords is uncivilised'. But really, Rahah just wants to go hit things with swords anyway. She doesn't want to be civilised. Civilised is boring.


Rahah gets a notification, and pulls it up warily on her handheld. Strangely, it's nothing bad. A proposal she submitted almost a year ago under another name, almost as a joke, just to see what would happen, has been approved.
So today, she's changed her appearance and put on a pair of hoverskates that make her at least appear to be at eye level, maybe, to a merely ''short'' person. Her name is now Sjerdami. And Sjerdami is signed up for a 'diplomatic mission' to another galaxy. There probably won't be any opportunities to hit things with swords on this 'diplomatic mission', but maybe she'll get lucky, right? She hopes she'll get lucky.


She stares at it blankly and wipes her eyes, the glow of her handheld illuminating her face, and the dust, and the empty room around her. She hadn't expected this. And yet she'd had a plan with it, sort of. She'd chosen Edo specifically: it was a big galaxy, heavily populated, ''not'' of the elven worlds, and not Artiilie, and yet full of magic. Somewhere, perhaps, that she could disappear. Or be someone else. Or... what? She doesn't remember. It was a half-baked plan from the start, and now it's almost entirely gone.
At very least it'll get her out of this place and away from her overbearing guardians who only want the best for her.


Sort of.


Rahah - no, Sjerdami - gets to the hangar where the ship is to find everyone else apparently already there, and getting yelled at. Some of them are wearing uniforms like hers - dark and glittering and masked - but a lot of them are just wearing random clothes. She scoots over and hangs behind the bulk of the group, not trying to draw attention. Not show her guilt. Sjerdami's real. Of course she is.


Nissa goes. She plays the game, starting over, continuing by her own rules. She attends the lessons, even the ones conducted by the masters she ''really'' doesn't like, and goes through the motions, casting the spells. She doesn't even try to do as the masters instruct anymore, simply casting them all her own way, translating them to her own understanding of magic, but even still, none of the Magi seem to notice the difference. She's not sure why: she can see it plain as day. But they simply applaud her apparent talent and tell the others to look at how she's doing it, follow her lead.
The woman in charge, Tersulles, doesn't seem to notice, and continues to try to yellingly coordinate the group, getting progressively more tired-sounding as she directs folks about, loading the ship, sorting out roles. Most of them aren't actually doing much and just sort of stand there regardless.


And it seems to work. Somehow some of the other students ''are'' learning by watching her. Or do they only think they are, and this is still enough to inspire them to succeed regardless? A sort of magical placebo effect? Nissa isn't really sure, but the Magi approach does seem very much based in feeling, so it would make sense. Hers is more about mapping the perceptions to predictable patterns, like the mathematics of music, playing out in impeccable beauty.
"Stop, stop, stop!" Tersulles says loudly, "Everyone just stop."


It's in her physics classes that they show surprise. She's very good, a very quick study. She's doing her best to not betray the fact that she knows it all already, of course, but this is very basic stuff. Mechanics. Simple energy. Introductory fields. She wiles away her time mapping more complex concepts back to the Source, and the Source to the very same mathematics as the rest, and sometimes they glance over her shoulder before she realises, and see the equations on her screen. Usually she's just staring blankly, thinking, and so they take the blank stare to mean she doesn't actually know what she's looking at and ignore it. But then someone catches her making some connection, writing down a counterpoint or progression, finishing a proof.
Everyone just sort of stops, aside from the people who were already stopped, who continue doing exactly what they had been doing.<ref>Nothing.</ref>


Nissa isn't even sure what it's for. She just followed the maths to the logical conclusion, intending to test it out later. She's just about to go back to staring blankly at it when she realises she is being watched, someone is standing over her, and she looks back suddenly, up.
Tersulles takes the opportunity to count heads, winds up short, looks a bit concerned, and then comes around and spots Sjerdami.


Master Callas is staring down at her screen in wonderment. "I don't believe it," he whispers. "You've solved Alacro's Theorem."
"Oh, stars, would you not stand in back when you're that short?" she says exasperatedly.


"Huh?" Nissa says blankly. She has, genuinely, no idea what he's talking about, but then she runs a search and pulls up the theorem itself. It's familiar, all right. Not exactly what she was working on, but very close. This isn't something she'd counted on at all, someone recognising what she was doing.
"Sorry!" Sjerdami says.


"Do you mean to say," Callas says slowly, "that you came up with all of that, start to end, on your own?"
"Is this your first mission?" Tersulles asks, marginally more kindly.


"Uh," Nissa says, pulling up her version next to it. "I just found this on an image board. It's not even the same..." She starts to point to one of the differing bits and then stops, realising her mistake, as usual, all too late. "Oh."
"Er, maybe," Sjerdami says.


He's not even looking at her tablet anymore, just her. "Come with me," Callas says.
The woman turns back to the rest of the group. "Anyone else new too?"


The rest of the class is staring, watching, trying to figure out what's going on. They're oddly quiet.
"Is that a problem?" a guy says from somewhere in the middle of the lot.


Nissa gets up, follows him. The class watches in utter bemusement as they leave, tense with anticipation.
"No, just... who are you?" Tersulles asks, shooing people out of the way.


He takes her to his office. "All right," he says. "Let's put it up on the board."
The guy, now visible, waves.


Nissa glances between the board and her tablet, considering how best to connect them, and then doesn't. There's something amiss with this, something niggling that she can't quite place. She grabs a stylus instead, and starts rewriting it out, referencing the tablet, trying to figure it out as she goes.
"Right," she says. "You two, make a note. If we ever pair off, don't pair with each other. Make sure you wind up with someone more experienced."


It's fairly normal, as far as she can tell. Straight maths, mapping into the Source.
"But she's so cute and tiny! Why can't I?" the new guy asks.


And then it occurs to her, all at once, why all their science is stuck. Why the stagnation, why none of the maths have moved on past a point, for so long: that's where the theorem stopped. It's leaving out the Source. They are leaving it out of all of it. Magic is as much a part of mathematics as force or energy, and yet nobody is using it.
Sjerdami glares at him.


She's quick enough to not say anything, maintaining her blank expression, just pausing as she goes, glancing back up at what she's already written. There's no way she could be the first person in a thousand years to realise this. Not in a galaxy this big. Not on both sides of the divide. What happened to all the others?!
"And how would you like to be called 'cute and tiny'?" Tersulles demands.


She writes out the next line, changing one key thing from the proof in her notes.
"Well, uh," he says, "it's okay? I mean, people do it all the time."


She changes the following line to be a progression from that, and continues on, propagating the change through the rest of it, until she gets to the end, and closes the proof. She steps back, pressing her tablet to her chest, screen inward.
"And you're just straight up admitting this?" someone else asks.


This doesn't make any sense. It's utterly insane. And yet that feeling in her gut, that great seeping dread, it tells her that she's right, against all logic.
"Okay, I did not need to know that," another person entirely says.


Callas nods, reading through it, and then just stops. "Wait," he says. "How'd you get this? From Sade's induction to..." he points between the previous line and the one Nissa had changed. "That's not right."
"Er, why do you assume we know what we're doing even if we have done this before?" another woman asks in the middle of all of this.


"Er," Nissa says, trying to sound as clueless as possible, "you can't do that?"
"Everyone, please!" Tersulles shouts, putting up her hands. "Stop. You're like cats!"


"No," Callas sighs, but he chuckles regardless. "Still, this is very good, especially at your age."
"Cute and fluffy?" someone suggests, and receives a withering glare for his comment.


"So what... can you do there?" Nissa asks.
Finally everyone stops, and Tersulles conjures up a console and activates overlays on everyone. Suddenly all their names are hovering above their heads for everyone to see, colour-coded in blue, purple, and red, with a small amount of status data as well.


Callas write out another line, slightly different from the changed line, and then just stops. "That's it. That's all you can do. That's the problem," he says. His replacement matches her original. Except unlike his, hers had continued right on from there.
Sjerdami looks up worriedly, but hers just says 'Sjerdami' like it's supposed to.


"Oh," Nissa says. Apparently she'd only barely caught it in time. Or something. In time for what, though, really? What is the deal with that feeling, that terrible dread about all of this?
"Now we know who everyone is," Tersulles says. "So if you want to continue making annoying comments, I ''will know who you are.''" She goes on, losing the threatening tone, "Colours mark your general roles: red's guards, blue's aids, and I and Keke Ama are apparently purple."


The Magi talk about following their feelings often, speaking of the Source guiding them, and up until now Nissa has always just sort of nodded along, not really understanding, figuring it went hand-in-hand with their weird casting in general. But is this what they meant? Is the Source guiding her now, keeping her away from something terrible?
"So what's purple?" a guy named Varras asks.


She gives Callas an uncertain look, masking her fear in confusion.
"We're the ambassadors," Tersulles says slowly. "Which you should know if you've read the brief." She pauses. "How many of you have read the mission brief?"


He shrugs. "We should get you some proper maths classes," he says.
Three agents raise their hands, including Sjerdami and the other newbie, whose name is apparently Lhorys. Then, very hesitantly, another hand goes up as well. This hand belongs to Keke Ama.


They get back, only to find the rest of the class gone.
Tersulles stares at the other ambassador worriedly.


"I suppose this is why you don't leave a pack of twelve-year-olds unattended," Callas says.
"Wait, so there was a brief?" Varras says.


"Well, not without an explanation," Nissa says.
"Usually is," an elderly elven woman, Tull, says.


"Relax, child," he tells her. "I got overly excited, that's all. You didn't do anything wrong."
"But you didn't read it either?" Varras asks her, looking a bit relieved.


Nissa isn't so sure about that. She isn't so sure at all.
Tersulles sighs. "I must honestly wonder," she says, "What those who hold our organisation in high regard would think if they saw this."


== 1 ==
"Oh, we're totally professional," Tull says. "We just need to put on our professional faces first. Isn't that right?"


A call for participation is announced, like any other. Diplomatic mission to the Magi of Edo. Primary roles: two ambassadors, three assistants, five guards. Secondary role for all: investigation. Rahah signs up as a guard, under yet another name, this one with agent clearance. She has a knack for names, and the access required to add them. She covers it up by adding a bunch of others, too, going through the request queues and performing evaluations like it's all totally normal. The guidelines are straight-forward enough. She's pretty sure she's doing the real ones right. Nobody has sent her anything complaining, or done any mass reverts.
"Unequivocally," an Amanstani says. "Arbitrator, come on. Tell us what we need to know to pretend to be professionals."


She changes her form for the occasion, pushing herself to the limits of her shapeshifting abilities, which are, admittedly, pretty limited. She changes her facial structure as much as she can, which turns out to be slightly, makes her skin paler, her hair sleek and black and long, no longer the bushy brown mess that had stood out so much. The addition of horns and a tail mark her as Unezca now, a demonic elf, and the deep blue scales pointing her arms and legs and framing her face only solidify the look. She's still short, a patent midget, but a pair of hoverskate boots adds a few inches, even when they're turned off. On, levitating her rather off the ground, they add well over a foot.
Tersulles gives everyone a moment just to see if they care to continue to irritate her before going on. "As you all would know if you had actually read the brief," she says irately, "this is a diplomatic mission to the Magi of the galaxy of Edo. I will be acting as primary ambassador, with Keke Ama as secondary. You all will be our assistants and guards, and generally pretending to be real professionals." She glares around at the group. "You all remember which you signed up to be, right?"


She won't be able to change her form again for a few weeks, at best. But it should be enough. Now, with her boots and black Ciphreyan guard uniform, weapons on her thighs, hair pulled back in a tight knot and swinging braid, she doesn't even recognise her own reflection. The girl in the mirror, she looks too adept, too organised. Too old.
The agents nod.


"Oh, I am surely mad," she tells herself, plonking her mask on top of her head. Her voice is different, too, deeper, raspier, changed with the rest. It's all little things, really. Easy things, adding up.
"Sure," Amanstani says. "I'm a guard, right?" Her name is in blue, though, clearly marking her as an aid.


She puts on a shield, affixing the small blue gem to her forehead, right above her brows, like a piece of jewellery, and a faint glow spreads over her form before disappearing. It doesn't look utilitarian, but it is. That the colour of the gem perfectly matches her scales is entirely by design.
Tersulles ignores this. "Because if not, again, you're coloured accordingly," she says. "The main thing you'll be doing aside from that is observing the Edo while we do this. See what stands out. See what feels off. There may be undercurrents in their worlds that we do not yet know, and it is your job to follow up on them." She pauses. "That being said, this is a low-priority mission. Should things go... awry, simply get out. Retreat to a safehouse. ''Don't everyone get killed or come pester me about it, or pester me about getting killed.'' Any questions?"


She goes to the hangar, meets the rest of the party at the ship. Some of the others are wearing uniforms like hers, but a lot of them are just wearing random clothes. She hangs behind the bulk of the group, not trying to draw attention. Not show her guilt. She's real. Of course she is.
An apparent Tenenbaume raises a hand slightly.


Stuff is coordinated. The woman in charge gets progressively more tired-sounding as she directs folks about, loading the ship, sorting out roles, and Rahah realises it's Tersulles, a member of the Arbitration Committee.
"Yes?" Tersulles asks.


"Okay, okay, fine," Tersulles says loudly, "everyone just stop."
"Awry how?" Tenenbaume asks.


Everyone just sort of stops, waiting for Tersulles to do something else. The arbitrator takes the opportunity to count heads, winds up short, looks a bit concerned, and then comes around and spots Rahah.
"Awry," Tersulles responds slowly, building up almost unto hysterics, "Wrong. Problems. Catastrophic failure. Anything from and up to rabid squirrels to imploding planets. Completely overreacting regardless of the situation is fine, as long as you remember your fellow agents and don't get them killed. Please, do not get them killed. Or me. I will be very upset if you get me killed on what is supposed to be a low-priority, low-risk mission to peaceful words."


"Oh, stars, would you not stand in back?" she says exasperatedly.
Tenenbaume raises his hand again. "How completely is 'completely overreacting'?" he asks.


"Sorry!" Rahah says.
"Like if we implode the planet in reaction to rabid squirrels," Tull suggests.


"Is this your first mission?" Tersulles asks, marginally more kindly.
"That seems excessive," a guy whose name is apparently just 'Aa' says.


"Er, yeah," Rahah says.
"Exactly!" Tull tells him.


Tersulles turns back to the rest of the group. "Anyone else new too?"
"We do want to avoid excessive loss of life, damages, or anything up to or including starting a war," Tersulles replies, regaining her composure.


"Is that a problem?" a guy says.
Tenenbaume raises his hand again. Tersulles just stares at him.


"No, just... who are you?" Tersulles asks, shooing people out of the way.
"Define 'excessive'."


The guy, now visible, waves.
"Gods take me now," Tersulles mutters. "You're not cats. You're... somehow worse. I'm herding something ''worse than cats''."


"Right," she says. "You two, make a note. If we ever pair off, don't pair with each other. Make sure you wind up with someone more experienced."
== 2 ==


"But she's so cute and tiny! Why can't I?" the new guy asks.
They finally get all the pre-launch stuff sorted out, load themselves into what turns out to be a much bigger ship on the inside than on the outside, and launch it, rather lazily, into space.


Rahah glares at him.
They drift vaguely away from the planet. Rahah... er, Sjerdami, stares vaguely, and quite literally, off into space out the large window. Aa is in a poofy armchair piloting. Tersulles has locked herself away in an office where nobody can bother her. Mostly everyone else is just sort of hanging around.


"And how would you like to be called 'cute and tiny'?" Tersulles demands.
"So we getting going, or what?" Keke Ama asks.


"Well, uh," he says, "It's okay? I mean, people do it all the time."
"You wanna drive?" Aa says, getting up. "Here, you can drive. But when you accidentally take us sideways through space into another universe, don't go blaming me..."


"And you're just straight up admitting this?" someone else asks.
Keke Ama gives Aa an uninterested look. "No, I just want to know if we're getting going or not at some point."


"Okay, I did not need to know that," another person entirely says.
"Yes, Ama," Aa says. "We are. At some point."


"Er, why do you assume we know what we're doing even if we have done this before?" another woman asks in the middle of all of this.
"Okay," Keke Ama says. "When?"


"Everyone, please!" Tersulles shouts, putting up her hands. "Stop. You're like cats!"
"After I sort out the calculations?" Aa says.


"Cute and fluffy?" someone suggests, and receives a withering glare for his comment.
"Okay," Keke Ama says.


Finally everyone stops, and Tersulles conjures up a console and activates overlays on everyone. Suddenly all their names are hovering above their heads for everyone to see, colour-coded in blue, purple, and red, with a small amount of status data as well.
Aa and Keke Ama stare at each othe for a moment, and then Aa sits back down.


Rahah looks up worriedly, but hers just says 'Sjerdami' like it's supposed to.


"Now we know who everyone is," Tersulles says. "So if you want to continue making annoying comments, I ''will know who you are.''" She goes on, losing the threatening tone, "Colours mark your general roles: red's guards, blue's aids, and I and Keke Ama are apparently purple."


"So what's purple?" a guy named Varras asks.


"We're the ambassadors," Tersulles says. "Which you should know if you've read the brief." She pauses. "How many of you have read the brief?"
{{ setup |


Three agents raise their hands, including Rahah and the other newbie, whose name is apparently Lhorys. Then, very hesitantly, another hand goes up as well. This hand belongs to Keke Ama.
== 0 ==


Tersulles stares at the other ambassador worriedly.
Instantiate. The wide room. The grand hall. Visitors Center to the right, gift shop attached. Some cafes, probably; this is civilisation, after all. Hallways leading off. Wide doors. Staircases. The entire second floor is a conference venue. This is the base floor of the Atlas Tower of the Magi. There are five towers in total, rising above the great city covering the plains, between the forested mountains. Seres, Gorgon, Torrent, Calcutta, and at their center, Atlas, the main one. The tall one. There are other floors below this, but they are not typically open to the public. The floors above vary. Most of the libraries have hours. The restaurants, the overlooks, the gardens, these are all open when they are open. Anyone could probably walk into one of the meditation chambers at any time, if only they knew where they were going, and as long as they didn't make trouble, nobody would likely mind.


"Wait, so there was a brief?" Varras says.
Nissa is in the base now, getting coffee, or whatever their local equivalent is. Whatever ''her'' equivalent is. Something sticky and unpronounceable. Boba. Her daily fix. Others around are doing much the same: workers, visitors, those with business and those touristing. The workers and the ones on business pass through quickly, but the tourists linger, milling around in one great mass, and Nissa lingers among them, fading from notice.


"Usually is," an elderly Nisai woman, Tull, says.
She doesn't need to do this anymore. For once she's ''supposed'' to be here, sort of. But old habits die hard.


"But you didn't read it either?" Varras asks her, looking a bit relieved.


Tersulles sighs. "I must honestly wonder," she says, "What those who hold our organisation in high regard would think if they saw this."


"Oh, we're totally professional," Tull says. "We just need to put on our professional faces first. Isn't that right?"
Instantiate. Elsewhere. Ciphreya: another city, another world, another galaxy. Civilised, but differently. This is much smaller, and isolate. A sanctuary in crystalline architecture, away from the troubles of the rest of the universe. They consider themselves the apex of development, here, the heart of a monumental organisation. They're right, to a point. Their influence is huge, and spans across the local clusters. Beyond that point, they're not so right. It's too far away. They don't even know what's out there. The void. The abyss. Dark beyond of the known universe. Other civilisations, perhaps, with other apexes. They haven't made contact, and the gods have been vague to a fault.


"Unequivocally," an Amanstani says. "Arbitrator, come on. Tell us what we need to know to pretend to be professionals."
But their gods back them. Their gods are among them. That makes it all right. Right?


Tersulles gives everyone a moment just to see if they care to continue to irritate her before going on. "As you all would know if you had actually read the brief," she says irately, "this is a diplomatic mission to the Magi of the galaxy of Edo. I will be acting as primary ambassador, with Keke Ama as secondary. You all will be acting as assistants and guards, and generally pretending to be real professionals." She glares around at the group. "You all remember which you signed up to be, right?"
Rahah doesn't think so. She wants everyone to just leave her alone, let her grow up, play, make friends and be ridiculous. She's only six. She's a god, or at least the reincarnation of one, or so everyone keeps insisting. She doesn't want to be a god. She wants to be normal.


The agents nod.
She's incarnated as a Deresi, but passes for Nissai: an elf apparently in her adolescence, adult proportions, but lanky, short. Intellectually, she learns quickly, and speaks well, but moments betray her age frequently. Her control over her magic betrays her most of all. A teenager would be able to cast a light without setting it on fire. A teenager would actually know how to cast in the first place. But everything Rahah tries comes out wrong. She can't shape the spells at all. Mostly she can do tricks with force, pushing and pulling at a distance. Sometimes she manages to control the flow of raw energy: not magical, but kinetic, thermal, magnetic, or perhaps simply the very processes behind them. There's no shaping this. It's like making poetry out of Assembly; it's simply not what it's for.


"Sure," Amanstani says. "I'm a guard, right?" Her name is in blue, though, clearly marking her as an aid.
So mostly she doesn't. She pretends not even to be a caster at all. It's easier than to admit the truth: as Deresi, her connection to the Source is different. She is her own source, her own nexus. And so the general hatred and mistrust of Deresi passes her by, but so, too, do opportunities. Opportunities to learn and grow. Opportunities to understand.


Tersulles ignores this. "Because if not, again, you're coloured accordingly," she says. "I also want you to observe the Edo while we do this. See what stands out. See what feels off. There may be undercurrents in their worlds that we do not yet know, and it is your job to follow up on them." She pauses. "That being said, this is a low-priority mission. Should things go... awry, simply get out. Retreat to a safehouse. ''Don't everyone get killed or come pester me about it, or pester me about getting killed.'' Any questions?"


An apparent Tenenbaume raises a hand slightly.


"Yes?" Tersulles asks.
The Source. One of the lingering mysteries of the universe. Every great civilisation will, if they progress far enough, try to tap into it at some point on a global scale. It is, after all, a source of power, a connection between worlds, the exception that makes Darstaddian physics work. Like the ambient matter that holds galaxies together, it is the ambient energy that pulls all forces together, and so it is used to power entire civilisations, to reinvent travel, to rebuild the foundation of the very concept of existence. The downfall of many, in time, has been taking this too far. The cenva, the first ones, remade their very selves upon this, and thus unmade themselves. The gods were reborn of these fragments. The Artiil, the humans, launched themselves into the cosmos on the tails of their own destruction, losing their homeworld, but not, at least, their own being.


"Awry how?" Tenenbaume asks.
To engineers and architects, it is but another tool, another constraint, to use and work around.


"Awry," Tersulles responds slowly, building up almost unto hysterics, "Wrong. Problems. Catastrophic failure. Anything from and up to rabid squirrels to imploding planets. Completely overreacting regardless of the situation is fine, as long as you remember your fellow agents and don't get them killed. Please, do not get them killed. Or me. I will be very upset if you get me killed on what is supposed to be a low-priority, low-risk mission to peaceful words."
To casters, those born with an innate sensitivity who choose to pursue its more personal application, or who have it engineered into them later in life, it is a wellspring of power and madness. Most remain at the surface, only pulling small amounts, shaping them according to established templates, for simple things: to ease the day to day, complement other skills, perform some tricks. They stick to the known, written spells, and never go too far. But some delve deeper. The madmen, the visionaries, the sorcerers. These are inevitably the pioneers, those who discover its applications, who write up the theorems that form the basis for new spells, and for the more global applications of the civilisations themselves. Some of them become gods. Many destroy themselves. Others skirt disaster at every new reach, only to find themselves changed no matter how careful they are, for it always changes its users, the more so the deeper, the darker, they go.


Tenenbaume raises his hand again. "How completely is 'completely overreacting'?" he asks.
There are speculations as to how deep it goes. There are speculations as to there being another side: a dark side, an existence far stranger, that mirrors our own, perhaps, or something else entirely. But these are only speculations. There are no hypotheses, not that can be tested.


"Like if we implode the planet in reaction to rabid squirrels," Tull suggests.
Even the gods don't know, save, perhaps, for one. The biggest one of all. The Spirit of the Universe. She's not even a god anymore, not really, but she was, once. Long ago. Before she changed. Maybe, just maybe, she reached that other, darker, side. Maybe this was what changed her. The Deathgods, after all, call her their ''Dark'' Sister. But she doesn't speak with mortals. She doesn't even speak with most gods anymore. The Deathgods act as her liaisons on the rare occasion she deems anything worth communicating, and she doesn't accept questions.


"That seems excessive," a guy whose name is apparently just 'Aa' says.


"Exactly!" Tull tells him.


"We do want to avoid excessive loss of life, damages, or anything up to or including starting a war," Tersulles replies, regaining her composure.
The Magi of Edo are casters, tapping into the Source and bending it to their will, and as much, bending themselves to it. They remain at the surface. They speak of distancing themselves from fear, letting go, and yet they fear its depth and do not let go. Those who do are deemed fallen, to the deep, to the dark side, and they are hunted down. The Source must be regulated. Its casters must be regulated. This is the mandate of the Magi, and they enforce it mercilessly within Commonwealth space.


Tenenbaume raises his hand again. Tersulles just stares at him.
Beyond, in the Grey systems, they exert their influence in other ways. Beyond those, in Union space, they have no influence at all. There, deep casters reign as Dark Lords, creating order and progress out of controlled chaos as they each delve further into their own power and madness, fighting each other, each trying interminably to come out on top, united only by their common hatred of the Magi.


"Define 'excessive'."
Throughout it all, on either side, are the Right People, the underground, the dark net. Thieves and smugglers, unaffiliated casters, undiscriminating traders, and ubiquitous problem solvers. Those who consider themselves not so much above the law, as simply... to the side. Both sides, as it were, in many cases. For the casters, it is a precarious position - safer than openly taking a stance as a Lord in the Union, and more free than joining the Magi of the Commonwealth - but to be discovered is usually a death sentence in either case. To the Lords, the unaffiliated are all potential enemies (as opposed to other Lords, who are simply enemies), and must be purged. To the Magi, they are undoubtedly fallen, and must be purged.


"Gods take me now," Tersulles mutters. "You're not cats. You're... somehow worse. I'm herding something ''worse than cats''."
But they do it anyway, because the options are all terrible.


Nissa did it anyway because it's all she'd ever known.


And then one day a friend had said, "I wonder what we could do if we could get inside the Magi."


Nissa investigates, but finds nothing. She searches for common Source algorithms, and finds nothing. She writes exploratory comments on discussion boards, and comes back to find them deleted. She starts to be more careful, doesn't write up her own where anyone can see, only when she's alone, or somewhere safe. She pays precise attention to exactly where the accepted maths cut off.
And Nissa had said, "How? They'd kill us the moment they knew what we were."


And her friend had said, "Only if we tell them. Just fake an awakening. They'd probably make you join."


{{ hidden | 1=
"And what about you?" Nissa had asked.


Are these always so... disorganised?
"You know I'm just kidding, right?" he had said.


Naw, this one's just starting out a bit bad because it was put together so quickly. You didn't hear this from me, but I hear Tersulles needed an excuse to get offworld, something about her mother in law? So she just kind of rushed it along, and hasn't even slept in several days, on top of everything else.
"But could it work?" Nissa had asked.
And everyone who showed up, well, nobody takes low-priority missions that seriously to begin with, and I guess the timing must have been a bit weird because nearly everyone's a smartass for some reason.


How would the timing do that?
He'd nodded, slowly. "You look the part," he'd said finally. "Just act like you're ten years younger and I think everyone would buy it. Need some creds to back it up, but..."


No idea, but this isn't normal, is all I'm saying.
"I can get those," she'd said.
You should get some sleep yourself, you know. There's no telling when we'll get there.


"Don't I know it," he'd said.


{{ Maths | 1=
He sits down across from her now, slipping into the table, pulling out a newspaper, not really paying Nissa any apparent attention as she stirs her drink absent-mindedly with a straw.


"That's the problem," Nissa says. "Nobody in Edo knows these maths. They're not published. They're not used. They doesn't exist, as far as we're concerned."
"How's it going?" he asks, still looking at the news.


"So?" Aa says.
Nissa snorts and covers it with a quick drink. "Well enough, I suppose," she says, not looking up. "What are you doing here?"


Nissa shakes her head incredulously. "So it's been over a thousand years since anyone's made any progress, and nobody's come up with any of this? That's just... it's statistically impossible."
"Just checking the news," he says.


"What are you saying?" Rahah asks.
"Mmm," Nissa says.


"I don't know!" Nissa says desperately, but gestures back to the board. "But I mean, this is right, isn't it?"
"Not very good at noticing what's right under their noses, most folks," he says.


"Yeah, looks solid to me," Aa says, reading over it again. "I'd have to reference it back to manuals to be sure, but..."
"Nope," Nissa says. "You know that paper's two weeks old?"


"What's it used for?" Nissa asks.
"I'm still catching up on recent events," he says.


"Looks a lot like... some of the shield mechanics stuff?" Rahah suggests, though she isn't quite sure herself. She's used some of that before, but using something and actually learning it are entirely separate matters. She frowns. "Actually if you're starting out with this..." She writes out a different line next to one of the earlier ones, setting it all up. "Continue in the same vein..."
"Anything interesting?" Nissa asks.


They all stop and write out the progression together, filling in various bits.
"Well, there is one thing," the old human says, finally putting aside the paper and leaning forward, and Nissa does the same, the tentacles on her head perking attentively. "I hear they've got a new batch of apprentices around here," he says dramatically. "Some of them might even be... the right sort."


"Yeah," Aa says when they're finished, stepping back. "This, I recognise. This is what you do to make an invisibility field. Plug that into the energy matrix, that maps the flow of magic in order to negate perspective on everything behind it."
Nissa rolls her eyes.


"And this stuff," Nissa asks. "It all involves magic?"
"But no, not really," he says, leaning back. "Just the usual."


"Yeah," Aa agrees. "I'd... say so, based on what we've looked at so far."
"Tease," Nissa says.


Rahah gives Nissa a confused look. "Are you suggesting there's some sort of conspiracy in Edo to keep magic and technology separate?" she asks.


Nissa shakes her head. "I'm not..." she says. "I don't know, but in the Commonwealth... but I mean, whatever is going on..." She looks desperately between the two agents, totally confused.


"We need to get to the bottom of it," Aa says.
Twenty yaks. Twenty yaks had stampeded the corridor when they opened the portal. Rahah stares at the mess below, dumbfounded. She's perched atop a doorframe, clinging to a bit of wall trim. This wasn't what she'd expected. Jerindal, hanging from a light fixture further down, also stares. This wasn't what he'd expected, either.


"Yeah..." Rahah agrees. "Whatever it... is."
Two yaks, all that's left, stand around amidst the mess. They forage a bit at it. They chew on the potted plants.


"Well, yeah," Aa says. "That's why we get to the bottom of it."
Two yaks is enough for the two young elves to remain clinging to their perches above them, afraid to make a sound.


"To figure out what it is," Rahah says.
The much older elven man who marches in a moment after, however, is not afraid to speak at all. "What, in all the worlds, happened here?" he demands loudly.


"Yeah," Aa says.
The two yaks stop munching to watch him yakily.


"Yeah," Rahah agrees.
"Don't!" Jerindal squeaks. "You'll spook them again!"


"Yeah," Nissa says, relieved.
"Really? That's all you have to say for yourself?" the man says. "And you, Sovereign," he goes on, turning on Rahah. "I would have expected better of you."


"And we all just agreed with each other agreeing with each other," Aa points out.
"Er, better than what, exactly?" she asks. "This was all an accident."


"Hey, boss lady!" Rahah yells at Tersulles.
"Yeah, dad, this really wasn't what we were trying to do." Jerindal says.


}}
"So what exactly ''were'' you trying to do?" Jerindal's dad asks.


{{ arbcom (original) | 1 =
"Er," Jerindal says, starting to panic. "You know. About that? Yes."


Veloriun Comb - guy with bubbles
"Leave," Rahah says.
Masassa Anali
Tersulles
Shichiri Miusuke
Hadallis Ran Akore
Naije - a cat
Kanunn
Jerdalim


"Leave?" Jerindal's dad asks.


<screenplay>
"Leave Ciphreya," Rahah says. "We were trying to get away. I mean, I was. Trying to get out of here. Anywhere but here. So we opened a portal. Jerindal was helping me because he's really good with magic, but it's not his fault. I talked him into it. It just... it worked, sort of, but then a herd of yaks came out and... um..." she shrugs blankly, looking sheepish, trying to cover the lie. Jerindal is basically the only friend she has. He'd insisted on going with her, just so she wouldn't be entirely alone, even though he was actually fairly happy here. And she'd needed it enough to not say no. "It didn't really... work?" she finishes, lamely.


INT. Ciphreya: Arbitration Committee chambers - day
Jerindal's dad stares at her. "Jerindal," he says, still looking at Rahah. "Room. Now."


It's a wide room, with more windows overlooking the city, but from higher up, here. A large horseshoe-shaped table takes up most of the space, the opening facing the door. At it (or on it) are seated the Committee, of various species: VELORIUN COMB, MASASSA ANALI, TERSULLES, SHICHIRI MIUSUKE, HADALLIS RAN AKORE, NAIJE, and KANUNN. Several other seats are empty. A few of them are talking. Others are working at data pads. Masassa Anali is at the head, looking imposing and somewhat irate at her pad. Tersulles is staring off out a window, tapping a pen on her nose. Naije is a cat, and sitting on the table. Veloriun Comb has what looks suspiciously like a bottle of bubbles in front of him.
Jerindal drops off the light fixture and runs away, giving the yaks a wide berth.


Jerdalim goes and takes his seat. The others glance at him enquiringly, and he sighs and gestures toward the door.
Rahah drops down as well. She stares up at Jerindal's dad defiantly, mostly just because she is so short, and that's the easiest way to look when looking up without looking totally pathetic.


Rahah enters a moment later, and stops uncertainly at the opening of the horseshoe.
His name is Jerdalim. He's a member of the Hadris Citheldryn Arbitration Committee, the closest thing they have to a ruling body here. Or the closest thing in lieu of her, the supposed Sovereign. Not that they'd listen to a child. Maybe when she grows up they will, but somehow, naggingly, she suspects they'll to find a way around it then, too. It's been a very long time since the sovereign god has ruled here, and it's a far different organisation now.


Masassa Anali stands.
"Why?" he asks.


MASASSA ANALI
"Because it's absolutely stifling here!" she says. "I can't do anything, I can't have friends, whenever anything goes wrong it's always their fault and they take the fall, even when it's not! I'm the sovereign, the god, so I have to be perfect, and yet I'm a child and you won't even listen to me or let me do anything or anything! You can't even make up your stupid minds!"
Sovereign. On behalf of the Arbitration Committee of the Hadris Citheldryn, welcome.


RAHAH
"That's not how it is at all," Jerdalim says. "You just need to grow up, that's all."
Hi. Sorry I'm late and smell like a yak.


MASASSA ANALI
"You won't let me grow up!" she yells.
(sitting)
I am pleased to inform you that your proposal to initiate formal diplomatic relations with the Magi of Edo has been accepted.


RAHAH
Jerdalim gives her a somewhat confused look, and starts to say something.
(brightening up)
In full?


MASSASSA ANALI
Rahah turns and runs away.
There are matters to discuss, of course. Questions to be answered.


NAIJE
It's the wrong way. The way the rest of the yaks went, full of damage... and yaks. But she keeps going anyway, stubborn anger and fear and confusion driving her on as they hop away in surprise at the tiny ball of bushy hair and tears rushing past them. Why did she actually say all that? She doesn't know. She does want to get away, of course, but it's not that important, is it? They respect her so little already, and she knows this won't help, but... but she doesn't even know. It's all a mess, her whole life, and she doesn't know how to deal with any of it. She doesn't even have a dad, like Jerindal does. He lost his mother when he was very small, but she'd never had any parents at all. Been born from a seed of her own creation, she was told. Something she'd set up in a previous life.
Who will lead this venture?


RAHAH
She doesn't remember any of it. Previous lives, being a god, any of it. And yet that is the entire cause of everything wrong now - her past selves setting it all up for this - and so she resents them terribly. That they were all ''her'' only makes it that much worse, somehow.
I covered that in the proposal. I'll be taking a team of agents-


NAIJE
She curls up in a dark corner, past the destruction and yaks, past the people going on about their lives as they pass from place to place, and winds up amidst the dust of the empty rooms beyond. She cries into her knees, not knowing what else to do.
(interrupting)
You?! You are a child.


Veloriun blows some bubbles. They drift colourfully over the table. Nobody acknowledges them.


RAHAH
I am a qualified agent of the Citheldryn.


Naije snorts a laugh.
The Arbitration Committee of the Hadris Citheldryn does more than arbitrate. They also review proposals, among other, even more boring, tasks. Most of the proposals up for consideration now are fairly standard, and this one, submitted by a member they don't know, probably some recruit from the galaxy of Edo itself, fits right in with the rest.


SHICHIRI MIUSUKE
The proposal is essentially thus: establish formal diplomatic relations with the Magi of the Edo Commonwealth. It makes some solid points. The Magi are organised, and generally peaceful, unlike their Union counterparts, a loose consortium of warring warlocks who basically run the Union. The Magi safeguard various powerful artefacts, and it would be valuable to ensure these artefacts remain in good hands. The Magi are relatively enlightened, unlike most of the very competitive factions even in the Commonwealth itself. It would be worthwhile to share knowledge and practices, and learn from each other. There's little to lose from a diplomatic mission as a cover for a more thorough evaluation.
You lack experience. This would be your first mission.


RAHAH
The committee deliberates. They don't bother to meet up, just read through it as they get to it and submit their comments online, replying to each other as need be. Standard practice. Consensus is established tricklingly, until nobody has anything more to add, and the proposal is put in the approved queue.
Because you won't let me go on any!


KANNUN
(talking over Rahah)
She raises a valid point. She passed all her qualifications. We have little reason not to let her go.


NAIJE
She is the reincarnation of the sovereign. Her endangerment is reason enough even besides.


KANNUN
Rahah gets a notification, and pulls it up warily on her handheld. Strangely, it's nothing bad. A proposal she submitted almost a year ago under another name, almost as a joke, just to see what would happen, has been approved.
Bring her as an agent. Protectors will accompany her, and can sequester her in the voidship if needed.


Shichiri shrugs.
She stares at it blankly and wipes her eyes, the glow of her handheld illuminating her face, and the dust, and the empty room around her. She hadn't expected this. And yet she'd had a plan with it, sort of. She'd chosen Edo specifically: it was a big galaxy, heavily populated, ''not'' of the elven worlds, and not Artiilie, and yet full of magic. Somewhere, perhaps, that she could disappear. Or be someone else. Or... what? She doesn't remember. It was a half-baked plan from the start, and now it's almost entirely gone.


HADALLIS RAN AKORE
I see no harm in it.


NAIJE
I suppose...


A bubble lands on Naije's nose. She hisses at it.
Nissa goes. She plays the game, starting over, continuing by her own rules. She attends the lessons, even the ones conducted by the masters she ''really'' doesn't like, and goes through the motions, casting the spells. She doesn't even try to do as the masters instruct anymore, simply casting them all her own way, translating them to her own understanding of magic, but even still, none of the Magi seem to notice the difference. She's not sure why: she can see it plain as day. But they simply applaud her apparent talent and tell the others to look at how she's doing it, follow her lead.


RAHAH
And it seems to work. Somehow some of the other students ''are'' learning by watching her. Or do they only think they are, and this is still enough to inspire them to succeed regardless? A sort of magical placebo effect? Nissa isn't really sure, but the Magi approach does seem very much based in feeling, so it would make sense. Hers is more about mapping the perceptions to predictable patterns, like the mathematics of music, playing out in impeccable beauty.
But...


SHICHIRI MIUSUKE
It's in her physics classes that they show surprise. She's very good, a very quick study. She's doing her best to not betray the fact that she knows it all already, of course, but this is very basic stuff. Mechanics. Simple energy. Introductory fields. She wiles away her time mapping more complex concepts back to the Source, and the Source to the very same mathematics as the rest, and sometimes they glance over her shoulder before she realises, and see the equations on her screen. Usually she's just staring blankly, thinking, and so they take the blank stare to mean she doesn't actually know what she's looking at and ignore it. But then someone catches her making some connection, writing down a counterpoint or progression, finishing a proof.
Who do you want to head this up, then?
 
Nissa isn't even sure what it's for. She just followed the maths to the logical conclusion, intending to test it out later. She's just about to go back to staring blankly at it when she realises she is being watched, someone is standing over her, and she looks back suddenly, up.


JERDALIM
Master Callas is staring down at her screen in wonderment. "I don't believe it," he whispers. "You've solved Alacro's Theorem."
Tersulles?


Tersulles glances over at him enquiringly, twirling her pen.
"Huh?" Nissa says blankly. She has, genuinely, no idea what he's talking about, but then she runs a search and pulls up the theorem itself. It's familiar, all right. Not exactly what she was working on, but very close. This isn't something she'd counted on at all, someone recognising what she was doing.


JERDALIM
"Do you mean to say," Callas says slowly, "that you came up with all of that, start to end, on your own?"
You're our best diplomat.


TERSULLES
"Uh," Nissa says, pulling up her version next to it. "I just found this on an image board. It's not even the same..." She starts to point to one of the differing bits and then stops, realising her mistake, as usual, all too late. "Oh."
Oh, very well. But since you volunteered me, you get to sort out the paperwork.


}}
He's not even looking at her tablet anymore, just her. "Come with me," Callas says.


{{ party |
The rest of the class is staring, watching, trying to figure out what's going on. They're oddly quiet.


INT. Voidship: main chamber - night
Nissa gets up, follows him. The class watches in utter bemusement as they leave, tense with anticipation.


They eventually get going, piling into the main chamber. Aa is in a poofy armchair piloting.  Tersulles is seated at a table pointedly ignoring everyone else. The others are mostly just standing around, the walls around them acting as windows to the city falling away from them outside. The chamber is otherwise full of sofas and tables of very random heights, with some screens floating midair.
He takes her to his office. "All right," he says. "Let's put it up on the board."


They quickly get out into space, and Rahah stares out at the dwindling planet in fascination.
Nissa glances between the board and her tablet, considering how best to connect them, and then doesn't. There's something amiss with this, something niggling that she can't quite place. She grabs a stylus instead, and starts rewriting it out, referencing the tablet, trying to figure it out as she goes.


A moment later, the stars blur and disappear.
It's fairly normal, as far as she can tell. Straight maths, mapping into the Source.


KEKE AMA
And then it occurs to her, all at once, why all their science is stuck. Why the stagnation, why none of the maths have moved on past a point, for so long: that's where the theorem stopped. It's leaving out the Source. They are leaving it out of all of it. Magic is as much a part of mathematics as force or energy, and yet nobody is using it.
(miming utter horror)
Oh gods what is this we're in space how how how is that even whaaaaat?


She flails a bit to emphasise her point.
She's quick enough to not say anything, maintaining her blank expression, just pausing as she goes, glancing back up at what she's already written. There's no way she could be the first person in a thousand years to realise this. Not in a galaxy this big. Not on both sides of the divide. What happened to all the others?!


Tull just stares at her.
She writes out the next line, changing one key thing from the proof in her notes.


KEKE AMA
She changes the following line to be a progression from that, and continues on, propagating the change through the rest of it, until she gets to the end, and closes the proof. She steps back, pressing her tablet to her chest, screen inward.
(stopping)
You people are no fun.


AA
This doesn't make any sense. It's utterly insane. And yet that feeling in her gut, that great seeping dread, it tells her that she's right, against all logic.
This'll be a few hours, kids. Get comfortable and stop freaking out our resident Tersulles, please.


Tersulles looks up, and then hastily goes back to her pad.
Callas nods, reading through it, and then just stops. "Wait," he says. "How'd you get this? From Sade's induction to..." he points between the previous line and the one Nissa had changed. "That's not right."


}}
"Er," Nissa says, trying to sound as clueless as possible, "you can't do that?"


{{ heist (original) | 1=
"No," Callas sighs, but he chuckles regardless. "Still, this is very good, especially at your age."


INT. Gorgon Tower: training room - afternoon
"So what... can you do there?" Nissa asks.


A class is going on. It's a large room, but they're not really using the space: several apprentices are standing around a master Magi, DAMORIN. One apprentice, NISSA, is off the side, leaning against a wall.
Callas writes out another line, slightly different from the changed line, and then just stops. "That's it. That's all you can do. That's the problem," he says. His replacement matches her original. Except unlike his, hers had continued right on from there.


MASTER DAMORIN
"Oh," Nissa says. Apparently she'd only barely caught it in time. Or something. In time for what, though, really? What is the deal with that feeling, that terrible dread about all of this?
Hold the shape in your mind - picture it, know it, feel it.


A few of the apprentices look confused. A couple start making the shape of a ball with their hands. Nissa just remains as she is, watching.
The Magi talk about following their feelings often, speaking of the Source guiding them, and up until now Nissa has always just sort of nodded along, not really understanding, figuring it went hand-in-hand with their weird casting in general. But is this what they meant? Is the Source guiding her now, keeping her away from something terrible?


MASTER DAMORIN
She gives Callas an uncertain look, masking her fear in confusion.
(nodding)
Now make the shape with your hands. Feel it fill them - guide the energy to become.


The apprentices shape out a ball. Some of their hands fill with light. One of them draws his light up and tries to throw it at the ceiling, but it fizzles out first. Another, ZHANA, has nothing happen for a bit, before her hands suddenly catch fire. She shakes them out, trying to get rid of the fire, and then starts screaming for help.
He shrugs. "We should get you some proper maths classes," he says.


APPRENTICE ZHANA
They get back, only to find the rest of the class gone.
Agh agh ow agh get it off get it off!


Damorin hurries over to the burning apprentice and grabs her hands, putting out the fire and healing them.
"I suppose this is why you don't leave a pack of twelve-year-olds unattended," Callas says.


APPRENTICE ZHANA
"Well, not without an explanation," Nissa says.
(staring at her hands)
Ow.


MASTER DAMORIN
"Relax, child," he tells her. "I got overly excited, that's all. You didn't do anything wrong."
(turning toward Nissa)
Nissa?


Nissa holds up a finger and a point of light appears over it.
Nissa isn't so sure about that. She isn't so sure at all.


MASTER DAMORIN
== 1 ==
Good.


He turns back to the others.


MASTER DAMORIN
Let's all try that again. Know what you want, and form the shape in your minds...






Nissa investigates, but finds nothing. She searches for common Source algorithms, and finds nothing. She writes exploratory comments on discussion boards, and comes back to find them deleted. She starts to be more careful, doesn't write up her own where anyone can see, only when she's alone, or somewhere safe. She pays precise attention to exactly where the accepted maths cut off.


}}


}}


{{ hidden | 1=


Are these always so... disorganised?


INT. Gorgon Tower: training room - late afternoon
Naw, this one's just starting out a bit bad because it was put together so quickly. You didn't hear this from me, but I hear Tersulles needed an excuse to get offworld, something about her mother in law? So she just kind of rushed it along, and hasn't even slept in several days, on top of everything else.
And everyone who showed up, well, nobody takes low-priority missions that seriously to begin with, and I guess the timing must have been a bit weird because nearly everyone's a smartass for some reason.


Nissa turns around in surprise. Damorin has a hand on her shoulder, looking concerned.
How would the timing do that?


The other apprentices are all gone.
No idea, but this isn't normal, is all I'm saying.
You should get some sleep yourself, you know. There's no telling when we'll get there.


MASTER DAMORIN
Are you well?


NISSA
{{ Maths | 1=
Yeah, sure. What...
(she looks around)
How long was I...?


MASTER DAMORIN
"That's the problem," Nissa says. "Nobody in Edo knows these maths. They're not published. They're not used. They doesn't exist, as far as we're concerned."
The class just ended.


NISSA
"So?" Aa says.
Oh. Uh...


MASTER DAMORIN
Nissa shakes her head incredulously. "So it's been over a thousand years since anyone's made any progress, and nobody's come up with any of this? That's just... it's statistically impossible."
What were you doing?


NISSA
"What are you saying?" Rahah asks.
(turning bright red and looking away)
Nothing. I... nothing.


Damorin frowns.
"I don't know!" Nissa says desperately, but gestures back to the board. "But I mean, this is right, isn't it?"


MASTER DAMORIN
"Yeah, looks solid to me," Aa says, reading over it again. "I'd have to reference it back to manuals to be sure, but..."
I understand your desire to move on to more advanced magics, but the rules are the rules. You must complete your basic training.


NISSA
"What's it used for?" Nissa asks.
Why? I can do all this already. It's just... basic stuff. I could not show up at all and still ace the tests.


MASTER DAMORIN
"Looks a lot like... some of the shield mechanics stuff?" Rahah suggests, though she isn't quite sure herself. She's used some of that before, but using something and actually learning it are entirely separate matters. She frowns. "Actually if you're starting out with this..." She writes out a different line next to one of the earlier ones, setting it all up. "Continue in the same vein..."
But you do. And you must. For control.


NISSA
They all stop and write out the progression together, filling in various bits.
I have better control already than some of the advanced apprentices.


MASTER DAMORIN
"Yeah," Aa says when they're finished, stepping back. "This, I recognise. This is what you do to make an invisibility field. Plug that into the energy matrix, that maps the flow of magic in order to negate perspective on everything behind it."
True. But your impatience does you no credit, either.


NISSA
"And this stuff," Nissa asks. "It all involves magic?"
At least you understand. Some of the masters just get so mean about it. It's not my fault this all comes so naturally!


MASTER DAMORIN
"Yeah," Aa agrees. "I'd... say so, based on what we've looked at so far."
You are a Magi, Nissa. Your power is your burden, and you must shoulder it as such. If your power is greater, then so your control must be even more so. Where others may scrape by with acceptables, you must exceed, or you place us all at risk. Do you understand?


NISSA
Rahah gives Nissa a confused look. "Are you suggesting there's some sort of conspiracy in Edo to keep magic and technology separate?" she asks.
Uh...


MASTER DAMORIN
Nissa shakes her head. "I'm not..." she says. "I don't know, but in the Commonwealth... but I mean, whatever is going on..." She looks desperately between the two agents, totally confused.
You don't need to follow the lessons exactly. But show up. Witness how the others learn. Practice yourself. That will still be worthwhile.


NISSA
"We need to get to the bottom of it," Aa says.
For things I could do in my sleep? How can that...


An explosion shakes the tower, and a somewhat horrifying creak rumbles through its frame a moment after.
"Yeah..." Rahah agrees. "Whatever it... is."


Nissa nearly falls over before quickly recovering herself. Damorin sticks out a hand to steady himself, and cocks his head.
"Well, yeah," Aa says. "That's why we get to the bottom of it."


NISSA
"To figure out what it is," Rahah says.
What was that?


MASTER DAMORIN
"Yeah," Aa says.
I don't sense anything.


NISSA
"Yeah," Rahah agrees.
Warlocks?


Damorin gives Nissa a look, and then hurries off toward the door. He sweeps a hand in a circle off to his side, summoning a disk under him, which lifts him a bit off the ground.
"Yeah," Nissa says, relieved.


Nissa runs up and hops on the disk as well as it carries him off.
"And we all just agreed with each other agreeing with each other," Aa points out.


"Hey, boss lady!" Rahah yells at Tersulles.


INT. Gorgon Tower: exploded area - late afternoon
}}


The area is somewhat exploded, with chunks of things and various whatnots around, but nothing terribly structural seems damaged. Wounded people are also around, with Magi healers tending to them. A few are outright dead.
{{ arbcom (original) | 1 =


Master Damorin and Nissa fly in through a window, Damorin standing confidently in place and Nissa sitting next to him clinging kind of desperately to his legs, totally ruining the effect.
Veloriun Comb - guy with bubbles
Masassa Anali
Tersulles
Shichiri Miusuke
Hadallis Ran Akore
Naije - a cat
Kanunn
Jerdalim


Damorin glides over toward some folks who don't seem so busy as the others. One of them is a bit singed.


MASTER DAMORIN
<screenplay>
(stopping in front of them)
What happened here?


Nissa stops clinging to his legs as soon as the disk stops.
INT. Ciphreya: Arbitration Committee chambers - day


SINGED GUY
It's a wide room, with more windows overlooking the city, but from higher up, here. A large horseshoe-shaped table takes up most of the space, the opening facing the door. At it (or on it) are seated the Committee, of various species: VELORIUN COMB, MASASSA ANALI, TERSULLES, SHICHIRI MIUSUKE, HADALLIS RAN AKORE, NAIJE, and KANUNN. Several other seats are empty. A few of them are talking. Others are working at data pads. Masassa Anali is at the head, looking imposing and somewhat irate at her pad. Tersulles is staring off out a window, tapping a pen on her nose. Naije is a cat, and sitting on the table. Veloriun Comb has what looks suspiciously like a bottle of bubbles in front of him.
(gesturing really big with his arms)
Like boom.


NISSA
Jerdalim goes and takes his seat. The others glance at him enquiringly, and he sighs and gestures toward the door.
We figured that much out already.


SINGED GUY
Rahah enters a moment later, and stops uncertainly at the opening of the horseshoe.
Well, like, I dunno. Everything was normal. And then boom.


MASTER DAMORIN
Masassa Anali stands.
No sign of anything amiss prior? Anyone acting suspicious?


SINGED GUY
MASASSA ANALI
No, man, it was normal. Normal!
Sovereign. On behalf of the Arbitration Committee of the Hadris Citheldryn, welcome.


NISSA
RAHAH
Someone could have put an explosive down before and...
Hi. Sorry I'm late and smell like a yak.
We're in the wrong place. This was just the distraction.


Damorin guides the disk on away from the others.
MASASSA ANALI
(sitting)
I am pleased to inform you that your proposal to initiate formal diplomatic relations with the Magi of Edo has been accepted.


Nissa barely manages to avoid yelping and clinging to his legs again.
RAHAH
(brightening up)
In full?


MASTER DAMORIN
MASSASSA ANALI
I agree. But from what?
There are matters to discuss, of course. Questions to be answered.


NISSA
NAIJE
I dunno, if you were blowing up Gorgon Tower, what would you be trying to distract from?
Who will lead this venture?
What's rather distant from here and generally full of magi?


MASTER DAMORIN
RAHAH
Many things, I fear.
I covered that in the proposal. I'll be taking a team of agents-


NISSA
NAIJE
What is all that and has anything warlocks might be after?
(interrupting)
You?! You are a child.


MASTER DAMORIN
Veloriun blows some bubbles. They drift colourfully over the table. Nobody acknowledges them.
Why do you suspect warlocks?


NISSA
RAHAH
You don't sense anything, I don't. No intent, no malice. Nothing. Aaaaagh.
I am a qualified agent of the Citheldryn.
(she cowers down on the disk a bit, clinging to the edge)
It's like there's nobody here, and the only way you get that is if you're actively shielded. Why would anyone not magic shield themselves?


Damorin nods, but Nissa is not paying any attention whatsoever to him, and instead squeezing her eyes shut and barely managing to avoid panicking.
Naije snorts a laugh.


MASTER DAMORIN
SHICHIRI MIUSUKE
Very good.
You lack experience. This would be your first mission.


NISSA
RAHAH
(opening an eye)
Because you won't let me go on any!
So that leaves a few obvious options, right? The council, the archives, engineering, that thing nobody ever talks about in Seres Tower.


MASTER DAMORIN
KANNUN
Let's take a wild guess and check the archives.
(talking over Rahah)
She raises a valid point. She passed all her qualifications. We have little reason not to let her go.


He zips the disk back out anther missing window.
NAIJE
She is the reincarnation of the sovereign. Her endangerment is reason enough even besides.


Nissa shrieks and grabs his legs again.
KANNUN
Bring her as an agent. Protectors will accompany her, and can sequester her in the voidship if needed.


Shichiri shrugs.


EXT. Magi compound - evening
HADALLIS RAN AKORE
I see no harm in it.


They fly out over the open air between towers, headed for an even taller, bigger tower, rising quickly to regain the height they'd previously lost. All of the Magi towers are much taller, fancier, and bigger than the surrounding city, but this one, the Atlas Tower, is the tallest of all.
NAIJE
I suppose...


It's a bit like Nissa's dream vision, but much windier, and for this she spends the entire time clinging to Damorin.
A bubble lands on Naije's nose. She hisses at it.


Damorin raises a hand as they approach the Atlas Tower, and then opens a portal through the wall. They zip in through it and the portal closes behind them.
RAHAH
But...


SHICHIRI MIUSUKE
Who do you want to head this up, then?


INT. Atlas Tower: archives - evening
JERDALIM
Tersulles?


The archives look normal enough: shelves of books, scrolls, and other things cover the walls. Tables with terminals take up much of the rest of the space.
Tersulles glances over at him enquiringly, twirling her pen.


Damorin and Nissa glide in through one of the side rooms out into the main room, before Damorin finally dismisses the disk and drops back to the floor. Nissa falls on her arse and just sits there in relief for a moment, looking around.
JERDALIM
You're our best diplomat.


NISSA
TERSULLES
Well, nobody's here.
Oh, very well. But since you volunteered me, you get to sort out the paperwork.


DAMORIN
}}
Shh. Listen.


They stand and sit, respectively, in silence for a moment. The soft buzz of the terminals fills the silence, covering other sounds in the structure of the building: a vague creak as the structure shifts, sounds of mechanical parts, and plumbing. Footsteps in another room. Breathing: one heavy, one rapid, one perfectly, deadly calm. Another, slightly less calm. Heartbeats. A voice. The rapid one.
{{ party |


LIRIEN MAYASU
INT. Voidship: main chamber - night
We're in, master.


Nissa glances up at Damorin inquiringly.
They eventually get going, piling into the main chamber. Aa is in a poofy armchair piloting.  Tersulles is seated at a table pointedly ignoring everyone else. The others are mostly just standing around, the walls around them acting as windows to the city falling away from them outside. The chamber is otherwise full of sofas and tables of very random heights, with some screens floating midair.


MASTER DAMORIN
They quickly get out into space, and Rahah stares out at the dwindling planet in fascination.
They're here. Three of them.
(he glances down at Nissa, smiling slightly)
Warlocks.


NISSA
A moment later, the stars blur and disappear.
(starting out kind of happy and then just sounding disappointed)
Uh... oh.


MASTER DAMORIN
KEKE AMA
You may follow, but stay back, and keep a shield ready.
(miming utter horror)
Oh gods what is this we're in space how how how is that even whaaaaat?


Damorin heads off toward the sounds.
She flails a bit to emphasise her point.


Nissa follows after him, brightening up considerably.
Tull just stares at her.


KEKE AMA
(stopping)
You people are no fun.


INT. Atlas Tower: collections - evening
AA
This'll be a few hours, kids. Get comfortable and stop freaking out our resident Tersulles, please.


Tersulles looks up, and then hastily goes back to her pad.


}}


Lirien Mayasu is opening a case.
{{ heist (original) | 1=


Yoishe is kneeling by the wall, holding herself perfectly still.
INT. Gorgon Tower: training room - afternoon


Dazroth is holding a glowing blue sword to Yoishe's throat.
A class is going on. It's a large room, but they're not really using the space: several apprentices are standing around a master Magi, DAMORIN. One apprentice, NISSA, is off the side, leaning against a wall.


Horgon is standing a bit off to the side, holding a very large gun like a cherished child.
MASTER DAMORIN
Hold the shape in your mind - picture it, know it, feel it.


Damorin stops at the doorway, and Horgon cheerfully points his gun at him.
A few of the apprentices look confused. A couple start making the shape of a ball with their hands. Nissa just remains as she is, watching.
 
MASTER DAMORIN
(nodding)
Now make the shape with your hands. Feel it fill them - guide the energy to become.


HORGON
The apprentices shape out a ball. Some of their hands fill with light. One of them draws his light up and tries to throw it at the ceiling, but it fizzles out first. Another, ZHANA, has nothing happen for a bit, before her hands suddenly catch fire. She shakes them out, trying to get rid of the fire, and then starts screaming for help.
(grinning)
Looks like it's a party!


YOISHE
APPRENTICE ZHANA
Damorin...
Agh agh ow agh get it off get it off!


Dazroth silences her by moving his blade slightly closer. A tendril of smoke rises off the edge.
Damorin hurries over to the burning apprentice and grabs her hands, putting out the fire and healing them.


DAZROTH
APPRENTICE ZHANA
Shhh, my sweet.
(staring at her hands)
(to Damorin)
Ow.
You would be wise to come no closer. Let us finish what we came to do, and there will be no more suffering.


MASTER DAMORIN
MASTER DAMORIN
And what is that, exactly?
(turning toward Nissa)
Nissa?


Dazroth smiles slightly.
Nissa holds up a finger and a point of light appears over it.


Nissa pokes her head in around Damorin.
MASTER DAMORIN
Good.


NISSA
He turns back to the others.
Hi. Can I watch?
 
DAZROTH
Of course.


MASTER DAMORIN
MASTER DAMORIN
(warningly)
Let's all try that again. Know what you want, and form the shape in your minds...
Nissa...


NISSA
Hey, if he's fine with it...


Nissa scoots inside and stops a short distance from Lirien Mayasu.


NISSA
Whatcha doing?


Horgon gives Nissa a considering look, and then points his gun at her, instead.


LIRIEN MAYASU
These cases are rigged to remove all items if they detect improper opening. I need to find the correct methods working backwards and then execute them exactly.


NISSA
By scoping it out with magic?


LIRIEN MAYASU
Yes.


NISSA
INT. Gorgon Tower: training room - late afternoon
Cool.


</screenplay>
Nissa turns around in surprise. Damorin has a hand on her shoulder, looking concerned.


}}
The other apprentices are all gone.


{{ Credit (original) | 1=
MASTER DAMORIN
Are you well?


<screenplay>
NISSA
Yeah, sure. What...
(she looks around)
How long was I...?


GUY
MASTER DAMORIN
Sovereign. This may be of interest to you.
The class just ended.


The guy holds out a golden card.
NISSA
Oh. Uh...


RAHAH
MASTER DAMORIN
What is it?
What were you doing?


GUY
NISSA
Currency. Credit, specifically.
(turning bright red and looking away)
Nothing. I... nothing.


He hands Rahah the card, and she turns it about, catching the light on it.
Damorin frowns.


GUY
MASTER DAMORIN
You just tap that to pay, most places. Spend it on whatever you want. We have plenty.
I understand your desire to move on to more advanced magics, but the rules are the rules. You must complete your basic training.


RAHAH
NISSA
How much is plenty?
Why? I can do all this already. It's just... basic stuff. I could not show up at all and still ace the tests.


The guy smirks.
MASTER DAMORIN
But you do. And you must. For control.


GUY
NISSA
Plenty. Just... if you want to buy a planet or something, do let us know first, okay?
I have better control already than some of the advanced apprentices.


Rahah looks at him in surprise, and then the card.
MASTER DAMORIN
True. But your impatience does you no credit, either.


Tersulles sighs disapprovingly.
NISSA
At least you understand. Some of the masters just get so mean about it. It's not my fault this all comes so naturally!


MASTER DAMORIN
You are a Magi, Nissa. Your power is your burden, and you must shoulder it as such. If your power is greater, then so your control must be even more so. Where others may scrape by with acceptables, you must exceed, or you place us all at risk. Do you understand?


</screenplay>
NISSA
Uh...


}}
MASTER DAMORIN
You don't need to follow the lessons exactly. But show up. Witness how the others learn. Practice yourself. That will still be worthwhile.


{{ Pick up job (original) | 1=
NISSA
For things I could do in my sleep? How can that...


<screenplay>
An explosion shakes the tower, and a somewhat horrifying creak rumbles through its frame a moment after.


INT. Somewhat seedy restaurant - day
Nissa nearly falls over before quickly recovering herself. Damorin sticks out a hand to steady himself, and cocks his head.


Rahah and Nissa sit down at a free table and look around a bit in bemusement.
NISSA
What was that?


A HOLOGRAM of a generic waitress pops up on the table.
MASTER DAMORIN
I don't sense anything.


HOLOGRAM
NISSA
Anything to drink, ladies?
Warlocks?


RAHAH
Damorin gives Nissa a look, and then hurries off toward the door. He sweeps a hand in a circle off to his side, summoning a disk under him, which lifts him a bit off the ground.
Uh, yes. We'd like... drinks.


NISSA
Nissa runs up and hops on the disk as well as it carries him off.
Yes.


HOLOGRAM
Could you please repeat that?


RAHAH
INT. Gorgon Tower: exploded area - late afternoon
Drinks.


HOLOGRAM
The area is somewhat exploded, with chunks of things and various whatnots around, but nothing terribly structural seems damaged. Wounded people are also around, with Magi healers tending to them. A few are outright dead.
Item is not found on the menu. Would you like a list of all available items?


NISSA
Master Damorin and Nissa fly in through a window, Damorin standing confidently in place and Nissa sitting next to him clinging kind of desperately to his legs, totally ruining the effect.
Are any of them full of bees?


HOLOGRAM
Damorin glides over toward some folks who don't seem so busy as the others. One of them is a bit singed.
Could you please repeat that?


A well-dressed but somewhat scarred man, COMNEN, slips into the spare seat.
MASTER DAMORIN
(stopping in front of them)
What happened here?


COMNEN
Nissa stops clinging to his legs as soon as the disk stops.
I understand you have a job for me.


HOLOGRAM
SINGED GUY
Could you please repeat that?
(gesturing really big with his arms)
Like boom.


COMNEN
NISSA
Shut up.
We figured that much out already.


HOLOGRAM
SINGED GUY
Could you please repeat that?
Well, like, I dunno. Everything was normal. And then boom.


COMNEN
MASTER DAMORIN
Bottle of vodka and five glasses.
No sign of anything amiss prior? Anyone acting suspicious?


HOLOGRAM
SINGED GUY
(brightly)
No, man, it was normal. Normal!
Coming right up!


NISSA
NISSA
Five?
Someone could have put an explosive down before and...
We're in the wrong place. This was just the distraction.


COMNEN
Damorin guides the disk on away from the others.
You have anyone else coming?


NISSA
Nissa barely manages to avoid yelping and clinging to his legs again.
No?


COMNEN
MASTER DAMORIN
Oh. Well, whatever. You looking to hire me or not?
I agree. But from what?


NISSA
NISSA
Well, yeah, maybe.
I dunno, if you were blowing up Gorgon Tower, what would you be trying to distract from?
What's rather distant from here and generally full of magi?


RAHAH
MASTER DAMORIN
You any good at transporting... questionable items?
Many things, I fear.
 
NISSA
What is all that and has anything warlocks might be after?


COMNEN
MASTER DAMORIN
You know that's basically my entire job description, right?
Why do you suspect warlocks?
A totally legitimate transport enterprise, of course, but sometimes with problems. Solved. In the process.


Nissa nods skeptically and looks at Rahah for help.
NISSA
You don't sense anything, I don't. No intent, no malice. Nothing. Aaaaagh.
(she cowers down on the disk a bit, clinging to the edge)
It's like there's nobody here, and the only way you get that is if you're actively shielded. Why would anyone not magic shield themselves?


RAHAH
Damorin nods, but Nissa is not paying any attention whatsoever to him, and instead squeezing her eyes shut and barely managing to avoid panicking.
Er, we don't really get out much.


COMNEN
MASTER DAMORIN
And what exactly did you want me to do?
Very good.


NISSA
NISSA
Pick up and transport.
(opening an eye)
So that leaves a few obvious options, right? The council, the archives, engineering, that thing nobody ever talks about in Seres Tower.


COMNEN
MASTER DAMORIN
And the problem?
Let's take a wild guess and check the archives.


RAHAH
He zips the disk back out anther missing window.
The pickup is from the Atlas Tower of the Magi compound, and the transport is kind of in... Union space.


Comnen stares at them blankly.
Nissa shrieks and grabs his legs again.


COMNEN
(finally)
What.


NISSA
EXT. Magi compound - evening
We'll get the item to you. We simply need a pickup after.


COMNEN
They fly out over the open air between towers, headed for an even taller, bigger tower, rising quickly to regain the height they'd previously lost. All of the Magi towers are much taller, fancier, and bigger than the surrounding city, but this one, the Atlas Tower, is the tallest of all.
Wasn't there a... situation there not a few days ago? Some sort of robbery then too? Did that have anything to do with you?


NISSA
It's a bit like Nissa's dream vision, but much windier, and for this she spends the entire time clinging to Damorin.
Why? Does this worry you?


COMNEN
Damorin raises a hand as they approach the Atlas Tower, and then opens a portal through the wall. They zip in through it and the portal closes behind them.
Yes?


RAHAH
It's okay. They like us there.


NISSA
INT. Atlas Tower: archives - evening
No they don't.


RAHAH
The archives look normal enough: shelves of books, scrolls, and other things cover the walls. Tables with terminals take up much of the rest of the space.
(giving Nissa an annoyed look)
 
Well, they like ''you''.
Damorin and Nissa glide in through one of the side rooms out into the main room, before Damorin finally dismisses the disk and drops back to the floor. Nissa falls on her arse and just sits there in relief for a moment, looking around.


NISSA
NISSA
(uncertainly)
Well, nobody's here.
Er...


Rahah gives her a worried look.
DAMORIN
Shh. Listen.


RAHAH
They stand and sit, respectively, in silence for a moment. The soft buzz of the terminals fills the silence, covering other sounds in the structure of the building: a vague creak as the structure shifts, sounds of mechanical parts, and plumbing. Footsteps in another room. Breathing: one heavy, one rapid, one perfectly, deadly calm. Another, slightly less calm. Heartbeats. A voice. The rapid one.
Okay, look. The initial thing wasn't us, wasn't even related to us. This is just another thing. You show up, pick us up. If we don't show up in an hour...
(she turns to Nissa)
It is an hour, right?


NISSA
LIRIEN MAYASU
Huh?
We're in, master.


RAHAH
Nissa glances up at Damorin inquiringly.
The parking permits. They're an hour, right?


NISSA
MASTER DAMORIN
Oh, yeah.
They're here. Three of them.
(to Comnen; catching on)
(he glances down at Nissa, smiling slightly)
You'll have a permit and stuff. Just show up, park, and we'll come out to you. If we don't come out before it expires, just leave.
Warlocks.


RAHAH
NISSA
Perfectly legal.
(starting out kind of happy and then just sounding disappointed)
Uh... oh.


COMNEN
MASTER DAMORIN
How are you getting me a parking permit, exactly?
You may follow, but stay back, and keep a shield ready.


RAHAH
Damorin heads off toward the sounds.
Let us sort that out.


COMNEN
Nissa follows after him, brightening up considerably.
No, really. Not everyone on my crew is strictly legal, if you know what I mean, so it's going to have to be a real permit.


NISSA
No, no, it's real. We're Magi. Sort of. It'll work. I mean, it might be stolen, but...


Comnen sighs.
INT. Atlas Tower: collections - evening


COMNEN
(skeptically)
Do you even have credit?


Nissa looks at Rahah uncertainly.


RAHAH
Lirien Mayasu is opening a case.
Yes.


COMNEN
Yoishe is kneeling by the wall, holding herself perfectly still.
I'll need 50 thousand.


RAHAH
Dazroth is holding a glowing blue sword to Yoishe's throat.
Okay.


COMNEN
Horgon is standing a bit off to the side, holding a very large gun like a cherished child.
Half of that up front.


RAHAH
Damorin stops at the doorway, and Horgon cheerfully points his gun at him.
That's fine.


Nissa gapes.
HORGON
(grinning)
Looks like it's a party!


COMNEN
YOISHE
(surprised)
Damorin...
Well. Then I suppose we have ourselves a deal.


</screenplay>
Dazroth silences her by moving his blade slightly closer. A tendril of smoke rises off the edge.


}}
DAZROTH
Shhh, my sweet.
(to Damorin)
You would be wise to come no closer. Let us finish what we came to do, and there will be no more suffering.


{{ Pickup (original) | 1=
MASTER DAMORIN
And what is that, exactly?


<screenplay>
Dazroth smiles slightly.


INT. Atlas Tower: collections - morning
Nissa pokes her head in around Damorin.


NISSA
Hi. Can I watch?


DAZROTH
Of course.


MASTER DAMORIN
(warningly)
Nissa...


EXT. Atlas Tower: lot - morning
NISSA
Hey, if he's fine with it...


Comnen is standing outside his ship, having a smoke. A ROBED MAGI approaches him.
Nissa scoots inside and stops a short distance from Lirien Mayasu.


ROBED MAGI
NISSA
Evening.
Whatcha doing?


COMNEN
Horgon gives Nissa a considering look, and then points his gun at her, instead.
Hey.


ROBED MAGI
LIRIEN MAYASU
What brings you here?
These cases are rigged to remove all items if they detect improper opening. I need to find the correct methods working backwards and then execute them exactly.


COMNEN
NISSA
Job.
By scoping it out with magic?


ROBED MAGI
LIRIEN MAYASU
Oh?
Yes.


Comnen shrugs.
NISSA
Cool.


COMNEN
</screenplay>
Didn't ask.


The Magi nods and goes a bit past to look out over the view. There's a view.
}}


The door to the Atlas tower opens and Rahah and Nissa run out, Nissa manhandling a large floating crate, and Rahah lagging a bit behind.
{{ Credit (original) | 1=


The door closes behind them, and then reopens a moment later.
<screenplay>


A RUNNING MAGI comes out after them.
GUY
Sovereign. This may be of interest to you.
 
The guy holds out a golden card.


RAHAH
RAHAH
Shit shit shit shit shit!
What is it?
 
GUY
Currency. Credit, specifically.


Rahah runs faster, getting ahead of Nissa, and then, weaving her arms over her head, casts to hurl the crate up and over them at Comnen.
He hands Rahah the card, and she turns it about, catching the light on it.


The running Magi chasing them throws a ball of lightning, which Rahah ducks.
GUY
You just tap that to pay, most places. Spend it on whatever you want. We have plenty.


COMNEN
RAHAH
(backing up)
How much is plenty?
What the...


The crate nearly hits a the ground a few meters in front of him, before its levitating supports get it back up again, and it slides toward him.
The guy smirks.


RUNNING MAGI
GUY
Hey!
Plenty. Just... if you want to buy a planet or something, do let us know first, okay?


The robed Magi stops the crate with a wave of his hand, draws his sword, and advances on Rahah and Nissa.
Rahah looks at him in surprise, and then the card.


ROBED MAGI
Tersulles sighs disapprovingly.
Stop.


NISSA
(slowing)
Oh crap...


Rahah pulls out one of her weapons and makes a sword with it as well, not stopping.
</screenplay>


Comnent pulls an earpiece out of his pocket and hastily puts it on.
}}


COMNEN
{{ Pick up job (original) | 1=
Sokar. Sokar?


He fiddles at the earpiece a bit.
<screenplay>


COMNEN
INT. Somewhat seedy restaurant - day
(backing toward his ship)
Sokar!
...fuck. Right.


The robed Magi stops and gestures a symbol in the air in front of him, and a beam of light spears down out of the sky at Rahah.
Rahah and Nissa sit down at a free table and look around a bit in bemusement.


The running Magi chasing them nearly grabs Nissa, but she twists away and retaliates with a blast of pure force, shoving the Magi back.
A HOLOGRAM of a generic waitress pops up on the table.


NISSA
HOLOGRAM
(recoiling)
Anything to drink, ladies?
...oh gods. I just did that. I just did that!


Rahah holds her sword up over he head, turning it into a shield, which absorbs the force of the beam as she runs through it.
RAHAH
Uh, yes. We'd like... drinks.


COMNEN
NISSA
(yelling at Nissa)
Yes.
Hey, girl! Get your crate!


Comnen turns and runs into the ship.
HOLOGRAM
Could you please repeat that?


Nissa startles and recovers herself, finds the crate, and runs for that, instead.
RAHAH
Drinks.


The robed Magi moves to block Nissa's path, but Rahah jumps at him, drawing her other weapon too, attacking all out with two double-bladed swords, forcing him to fend her off instead. He parries and ripostes with his sword, and then knocks Rahah back with a blast of energy when she blocks with one of her swords.
HOLOGRAM
Item is not found on the menu. Would you like a list of all available items?


Rahah shoots at him instead, and dances around him as he whips a chain of crackling lightning at her, still guarding with his sword.
NISSA
Are any of them full of bees?


ROBED MAGI
HOLOGRAM
Stop this nonsense. I have no wish to harm you.
Could you please repeat that?


RAHAH
A well-dressed but somewhat scarred man, COMNEN, slips into the spare seat.
Yeah, well...


Rahah jumps back, swinging the swords at him and turning them on and off as needed, but he deflects each attack with a flick of his fingers.
COMNEN
I understand you have a job for me.


Nissa gets to the crate and shoves it back toward the ship, and then gives chase after it.
HOLOGRAM
Could you please repeat that?


The robed Magi jumps toward Nissa, and Rahah jumps in front of him, blocking his path, swinging her swords in tandem. He knocks the blades aside unnaturally quickly with his own sword, and turns it into a thrust right at her, which she blocks with one, but only barely. He presses the advantage, pushing both his sword and Rahah's plasma blade closer to her face. She turns off her spare and braces it against the other in attempt to push back.
COMNEN
Shut up.


Nissa shoves the crate up the ramp into the ship, just as it starts to take off, and jumps onto the ramp after it.
HOLOGRAM
Could you please repeat that?


NISSA
COMNEN
Rahah!
Bottle of vodka and five glasses.


Rahah dodges to the side, letting the sword fall past her, and then swings back at the Magi as he comes around for another one-handed swing as well, black flames tricking down his free hand, and a series of impossible swings and parries and blocks ensue as the flames begin to build.
HOLOGRAM
 
(brightly)
Nissa gathers up a ball of swirling energies in her own hands as the ship continues to slowly rise.
Coming right up!


NISSA
NISSA
(insistently)
Five?
RAHAH!


Rahah jumps up, sailing into the air, and the Magi throws the black flames after her. She casts her swords out to the sides, forming the blades into a shield around her even as she continues to rise, and the flames hit a moment later, exploding over this bubble.
COMNEN
You have anyone else coming?


Nissa hurls her own ball of energy down at the Magi, and he drops to the ground, covering himself in a shield. The running Magi hurries toward him.
NISSA
No?


Nissa grabs Rahah and yanks her onto the the ship's cargo ramp as well, and they run inside.
COMNEN
Oh. Well, whatever. You looking to hire me or not?


NISSA
Well, yeah, maybe.


INT. Shades Softly: cargo hold
RAHAH
You any good at transporting... questionable items?


Nissa and Rahah find themselves in a cargo hold full of random stuff, past an inner door for the airlock. The crate has bonked into a heap of stuff and stopped.
COMNEN
You know that's basically my entire job description, right?
A totally legitimate transport enterprise, of course, but sometimes with problems. Solved. In the process.


COMNEN
Nissa nods skeptically and looks at Rahah for help.
(over the intercom)
Are you idiots on? If so, shut the door and get up here!


RAHAH
RAHAH
(putting her weapons away)
Er, we don't really get out much.
What?


Nissa bonks a large button by the door, and the door closes and the ramp retracts.
COMNEN
And what exactly did you want me to do?


NISSA
NISSA
(sounding resigned)
Pick up and transport.
This way, I think.


COMNEN
And the problem?


INT. Shades Softly: cockpit
RAHAH
The pickup is from the Atlas Tower of the Magi compound, and the transport is kind of in... Union space.


The cockpit is a cockpit with windows, screens, and consoles. A pilot and copilot seat are in front, with two seats behind them. Comnen is in the pilot seat, taking the ship rapidly up into the upper atmosphere.
Comnen stares at them blankly.


COMNEN
COMNEN
Nice of you to join us. Now strap yourselves in before things start to get interesting, eh?
(finally)
What.


NISSA
NISSA
(taking the seat behind him)
We'll get the item to you. We simply need a pickup after.
Interesting how?
 
Rahah takes the copilot seat and tries to figure out the buckles for a moment before getting it.


COMNEN
COMNEN
No way your Magi friends aren't reporting that. We have a few minutes, maybe, but... ever run from cops, girls?
Wasn't there a... situation there not a few days ago? Some sort of robbery then too? Did that have anything to do with you?
 
They slip into a lane of ship traffic headed offworld.


NISSA
NISSA
Er... no?
Why? Does this worry you?
 
RAHAH
Is it fun?


COMNEN
COMNEN
(yawning)
Yes?
Tremendously.


They get further out into space without much issue over the next few minutes. Comnen mostly just sits there letting the ship drive itself.
RAHAH
It's okay. They like us there.


NISSA
NISSA
Rahah?
No they don't.


RAHAH
RAHAH
Hmm?
(giving Nissa an annoyed look)
Well, they like ''you''.


NISSA
NISSA
How screwed are we?
(uncertainly)
Er...
 
Rahah gives her a worried look.


RAHAH
RAHAH
Well, as much as my people aren't going to be terribly happy about this, we did just formally break off all relations anyway. Yours are probably going to be double annoyed.
Okay, look. The initial thing wasn't us, wasn't even related to us. This is just another thing. You show up, pick us up. If we don't show up in an hour...
(she turns to Nissa)
It is an hour, right?
 
NISSA
Huh?


An incoming transmission causes something to notify, and Comnen flicks the button to turn it on.
RAHAH
The parking permits. They're an hour, right?


TRANSMISSION PERSON
NISSA
Transport address e695.db43.2158, you are witnessed and registered for illegal activities. Return to port now for proccessing.
Oh, yeah.
(to Comnen; catching on)
You'll have a permit and stuff. Just show up, park, and we'll come out to you. If we don't come out before it expires, just leave.


COMNEN
RAHAH
(bonking at the button)
Perfectly legal.
Ah, shut up.


TRANSMISSION PERSON
COMNEN
Transport address e695.db43.2158, excuse me? Return to port, or you will be disabled. This is your final warning.
How are you getting me a parking permit, exactly?
 
RAHAH
Let us sort that out.


COMNEN
COMNEN
Oh, I'm sorry, did I hit the wrong button? What I meant to say was...
No, really. Not everyone on my crew is strictly legal, if you know what I mean, so it's going to have to be a real permit.
(he leans really close to the mic)
GO FUCK YOURSELF. WITH A FISH.


Comnen hits the correct button this time, silencing the comms.
NISSA
No, no, it's real. We're Magi. Sort of. It'll work. I mean, it might be stolen, but...


NISSA
Comnen sighs.
(scrunching up a bit, uncertainly)
Er... that... shouldn't we do what they say? They know the ship, there's not...


COMNEN
COMNEN
(leaning forward and shooting them out of traffic)
(skeptically)
Nah, this happens sometimes. Rejig the paint, set a new registry address and they'll never know it's us. Course we need to get out of their worlds first, buuut...
Do you even have credit?


The police boats start shooting at them, and Comnen dances the ship about, evading.
Nissa looks at Rahah uncertainly.


NISSA
RAHAH
What, it's that easy?
Yes.


COMNEN
COMNEN
(sarcastically)
I'll need 50 thousand.
Sure, if you know what you're doing! And can even get really unlucky...


His words are punctuated by an explosion as something actually on the ship gets hit.
RAHAH
Okay.


COMNEN
COMNEN
(wincing)
Half of that up front.
...and wind up with a registered bad one.


A crew of some sort, CITHANDRA, pokes her head in as Comnen wheels the ship about in yet another direction.
RAHAH
That's fine.


CITHANDRA
Nissa gapes.
Boss, did I just hear a...
(she notices Rahah and Nissa)
Who are these... people?


COMNEN
COMNEN
(yanking the ship in another direction)
(surprised)
Job, Cith!
Well. Then I suppose we have ourselves a deal.


CITHANDRA
</screenplay>
(barely clinging to the doorframe)
And you didn't think to possibly consult your crew before endangering us all?


COMNEN
}}
They had a parking permit. Didn't seem that dangerous.


CITHANDRA
{{ Pickup (original) | 1=
(sarcastically)
Oh, well if they had a parking permit...


COMNEN
<screenplay>
(he glances at the monitors before choosing the next dodge)
'Sides, I didn't want to wake you.


Comnen is still flying very erratically, while the police boats continue to try to shoot them down.
INT. Atlas Tower: collections - morning


Cithandra loses her hold momentarily and winds up half-sitting on Nissa. She grabs onto Comnen's chair instead.


CITHANDRA
You really thought this flying, and I shudder to even call it that, you thought it wouldn't wake everyone on board?


COMNEN
Dammit, Cith, can we have this conversation some other time? Say, when I'm NOT trying to keep us all from getting killed.
And sit down, for fuck's sake. Inertial dampening's only so good.


He drives them on in squiggles, vaguely approaching another large planet.
EXT. Atlas Tower: lot - morning


Another crewmember, JONAS, yells from somewhere further back in the ship:
Comnen is standing outside his ship, having a smoke. A ROBED MAGI approaches him.


JONAS
ROBED MAGI
Ey, what is going on?!
Evening.


Someone else yells something incoherent.
COMNEN
Hey.


Cithandra manages to get herself into the remaining seat, and activates the ship-wide intercom.
ROBED MAGI
 
What brings you here?
CITHANDRA
Everyone, please remain calm and strap yourselves in. It seems we've taken a job, and as long as we don't all die from it first...
(she shoots Comnen an irate look)
...things should calm down shortly. And then we'll get paid.
(turning off the intercom)
Also we should probably pick up the rest of the crew before we leave, yes?


COMNEN
COMNEN
One thing at a time!
Job.


He takes them into the planet's rings, dodging hunks of rock and ice and... other things at very alarming speed. Stuff blurrs past as they zig and zag between things.
ROBED MAGI
Oh?


NISSA
Comnen shrugs.
How are you not hitting everything?!


COMNEN
COMNEN
(pulling his hands off the console)
Didn't ask.
Magic!


CITHANDRA
The Magi nods and goes a bit past to look out over the view. There's a view.
That's not him. That's the Shades doing it.
We solid, boss?


COMNEN
The door to the Atlas tower opens and Rahah and Nissa run out, Nissa manhandling a large floating crate, and Rahah lagging a bit behind.
If we see anything big enough, yeah...


RAHAH
The door closes behind them, and then reopens a moment later.
(pointing a bit to the side)
There.


COMNEN
A RUNNING MAGI comes out after them.
What? Where?


RAHAH
RAHAH
You just need something bigger than the ship, right?
Shit shit shit shit shit!
47 seconds, 18 degrees off, no, 23 degrees off...


Comnen gives her a skeptical look, but directs the ship in the general direction.
Rahah runs faster, getting ahead of Nissa, and then, weaving her arms over her head, casts to hurl the crate up and over them at Comnen.


COMNEN
The running Magi chasing them throws a ball of lightning, which Rahah ducks.
Ah, I see it.
(gesturing)
On my mark, hit that button.
 
They squiggle a bit around things, and then a rock slightly bigger than the ship suddenly looms up in front of them and they rapidly slow.


COMNEN
COMNEN
Mark!
(backing up)
What the...


Rahah smacks the button, and the rock explodes in front of them.
The crate nearly hits a the ground a few meters in front of him, before its levitating supports get it back up again, and it slides toward him.


Comnen yanks the ship to a stop.
RUNNING MAGI
Hey!


Cithandra pulls a lever, and the ship suddenly goes dark, everything turning off all at once. Even the artificial gravity goes off, though a few minor things stay on.
The robed Magi stops the crate with a wave of his hand, draws his sword, and advances on Rahah and Nissa.


KHALEMI
ROBED MAGI
(over the intercom)
Stop.
Boss? What in the world is going on?


COMNEN
NISSA
(replying)
(slowing)
Oh, nothing, my dear, just evading the law of the worlds.
Oh crap...


Cithandra unclasps her seatbelt and heads back into the rest of the ship, guiding herself along expertly.
Rahah pulls out one of her weapons and makes a sword with it as well, not stopping.


KHALEMI
Comnent pulls an earpiece out of his pocket and hastily puts it on.
(over the intercom)
Should I put out some bots?
 
Comnen sighs, considering.


COMNEN
COMNEN
Yeah, give us a full scrub. Let's go with... Destiny's Reach.
Sokar. Sokar?


KHALEMI
He fiddles at the earpiece a bit.
(over the intercom)
I'm on it.


Comnen turns and starts typing at a red screen. The ship is totally dark around them.
COMNEN
(backing toward his ship)
Sokar!
...fuck. Right.


RAHAH
The robed Magi stops and gestures a symbol in the air in front of him, and a beam of light spears down out of the sky at Rahah.
So... now what?


COMNEN
The running Magi chasing them nearly grabs Nissa, but she twists away and retaliates with a blast of pure force, shoving the Magi back.
Now we wait. Khalemi's going to put out some bots to scrub the hull, make us look like a different ship, and I'll reset the registry address, and then...
(he gestures vaguely with a hand)
Sooner or later someone not cops'll come near here, we follow them out, essentially.


NISSA
NISSA
Sooner or later? So how... long does that usually take?
(recoiling)
...oh gods. I just did that. I just did that!
 
Rahah holds her sword up over he head, turning it into a shield, which absorbs the force of the beam as she runs through it.


COMNEN
COMNEN
Usually under a week. Give or take.
(yelling at Nissa)
Hey, girl! Get your crate!


NISSA
Comnen turns and runs into the ship.
What?!


RAHAH
Nissa startles and recovers herself, finds the crate, and runs for that, instead.
We really don't have that kind of time.


COMNEN
The robed Magi moves to block Nissa's path, but Rahah jumps at him, drawing her other weapon too, attacking all out with two double-bladed swords, forcing him to fend her off instead. He parries and ripostes with his sword, and then knocks Rahah back with a blast of energy when she blocks with one of her swords.
That's how long it takes. If we want to get out of this system, we have to look legitimate, and that means not randomly coming out of these rings right after the ''same kind of ship'' just illegally went in and supposedly exploded.


NISSA
Rahah shoots at him instead, and dances around him as he whips a chain of crackling lightning at her, still guarding with his sword.
(standing up)
I have a better idea.


ROBED MAGI
Stop this nonsense. I have no wish to harm you.


RAHAH
Yeah, well...


Rahah jumps back, swinging the swords at him and turning them on and off as needed, but he deflects each attack with a flick of his fingers.


NISSA
Nissa gets to the crate and shoves it back toward the ship, and then gives chase after it.
Hidden. They will not be able to find us with their technology, or their eyes.


The robed Magi jumps toward Nissa, and Rahah jumps in front of him, blocking his path, swinging her swords in tandem. He knocks the blades aside unnaturally quickly with his own sword, and turns it into a thrust right at her, which she blocks with one, but only barely. He presses the advantage, pushing both his sword and Rahah's plasma blade closer to her face. She turns off her spare and braces it against the other in attempt to push back.


Nissa shoves the crate up the ramp into the ship, just as it starts to take off, and jumps onto the ramp after it.


NISSA
Rahah!


Rahah dodges to the side, letting the sword fall past her, and then swings back at the Magi as he comes around for another one-handed swing as well, black flames tricking down his free hand, and a series of impossible swings and parries and blocks ensue as the flames begin to build.


COMNEN
Nissa gathers up a ball of swirling energies in her own hands as the ship continues to slowly rise.
(over the intercom)
New plan, kids. Get the basic scrub done and make sure you're all on floor in ten minutes, and we're heading out.


KHALEMI
NISSA
(over the intercom)
(insistently)
Have you been eating those beans again?
RAHAH!


Rahah jumps up, sailing into the air, and the Magi throws the black flames after her. She casts her swords out to the sides, forming the blades into a shield around her even as she continues to rise, and the flames hit a moment later, exploding over this bubble.


Nissa hurls her own ball of energy down at the Magi, and he drops to the ground, covering himself in a shield. The running Magi hurries toward him.


Nissa grabs Rahah and yanks her onto the the ship's cargo ramp as well, and they run inside.




INT. Shades Softly: cargo hold


 
Nissa and Rahah find themselves in a cargo hold full of random stuff, past an inner door for the airlock. The crate has bonked into a heap of stuff and stopped.
CITHANDRA
(to Comnen)
And you didn't think it was perhaps relevant that the ones hiring you were Magi? That that might make things a little more dangerous?


COMNEN
COMNEN
Why would that possibly make things more dangerous in Commonwealth space?!
(over the intercom)
Are you idiots on? If so, shut the door and get up here!


Cithandra just stares at him.
RAHAH
(putting her weapons away)
What?


CITHANDRA
Nissa bonks a large button by the door, and the door closes and the ramp retracts.
You mean besides what just happened?
 
COMNEN
Well I didn't exactly expect that.


NISSA
NISSA
(holding up a hand)
(sounding resigned)
For the record? Neither did we.
This way, I think.


RAHAH
Honestly had me or that Magi not been trying desperately to not actually kill each other, one or both of us would probably be dead.


NISSA
INT. Shades Softly: cockpit
Er, what?


RAHAH
The cockpit is a cockpit with windows, screens, and consoles. A pilot and copilot seat are in front, with two seats behind them. Comnen is in the pilot seat, taking the ship rapidly up into the upper atmosphere.
I mean, I'm totally rubbish in a real-life fight, but flailing madly has won me a few even in-game, so...
 
You got two dumarses attacking each other with magics and swords and weird-arse other things, how in the world could that possibly end well for either if they're actually trying to kill each other? Think about it.
COMNEN
Nice of you to join us. Now strap yourselves in before things start to get interesting, eh?


NISSA
NISSA
What were you trying to do?
(taking the seat behind him)
Interesting how?


RAHAH
Rahah takes the copilot seat and tries to figure out the buckles for a moment before getting it.
Distract him.


NISSA
COMNEN
And him?
No way your Magi friends aren't reporting that. We have a few minutes, maybe, but... ever run from cops, girls?


RAHAH
They slip into a lane of ship traffic headed offworld.
Stop me from doing something really regretable, probably.


NISSA
NISSA
So basically we just pissed off the good guys. For no real reason.
Er... no?


RAHAH
RAHAH
Possibly. We'll have to see what's even in the box first, of course...
Is it fun?


COMNEN
(yawning)
Tremendously.


They get further out into space without much issue over the next few minutes. Comnen mostly just sits there letting the ship drive itself.


Union space
NISSA
Rahah?
 
RAHAH
Hmm?


NISSA
How screwed are we?


RAHAH
Well, as much as my people aren't going to be terribly happy about this, we did just formally break off all relations anyway. Yours are probably going to be double annoyed.


An incoming transmission causes something to notify, and Comnen flicks the button to turn it on.


TRANSMISSION PERSON
Transport address e695.db43.2158, you are recorded and registered for illegal activities. Return to port now for proccessing.


They open the box. A glowing, not quite right object is inside. It looks a bit like a glassy seed.
COMNEN
(bonking at the button)
Ah, shut up.


They all sort of stare at it a bit.
TRANSMISSION PERSON
Transport address e695.db43.2158, excuse me? Return to port, or you will be disabled. This is your final warning.


COMNEN
COMNEN
So what is it?
Oh, I'm sorry, did I hit the wrong button? What I meant to say was...
(he leans really close to the mic)
GO FUCK YOURSELF. WITH A FISH.


RAHAH
Comnen hits the correct button this time, silencing the comms.
I have no idea.


NISSA
NISSA
It's a seed.
(scrunching up a bit, uncertainly)
Er... that... shouldn't we do what they say? They know the ship, there's not...
 
COMNEN
(leaning forward and shooting them out of traffic)
The fuck you hire me for? This is normal. Rejig the paint, set a new registry address and they'll never know it's us. Course we need to get out of their worlds first, buuut...


JONAS
The police boats start shooting at them, and Comnen dances the ship about, evading.
A glowing one.


NISSA
NISSA
A glowing seed.
What, it's that easy?


COMNEN
(sarcastically)
Sure, if you know what you're doing! And can even get really unlucky...


His words are punctuated by an explosion as something actually on the ship gets hit.


COMNEN
(wincing)
...and wind up with a registered bad one.


</screenplay>
A crew of some sort, CITHANDRA, pokes her head in as Comnen wheels the ship about in yet another direction.


}}
CITHANDRA
Boss, did I just hear a...
(she notices Rahah and Nissa)
Who are these... people?


{{ Infected hand (original?) | 1=
COMNEN
(yanking the ship in another direction)
Job, Cith!


<screenplay>
CITHANDRA
DAZROTH
(barely clinging to the doorframe)
Don't touch him directly. The contagion may spread.
And you didn't think to possibly consult your crew before endangering us all?


RAHAH
COMNEN
Right. But if it's magical in origin, could not magicking it do the same?
They had a parking permit. Didn't seem that dangerous.


DAZROTH
CITHANDRA
Do you not use safeguards?
(sarcastically)
Oh, well if they had a parking permit...


RAHAH
COMNEN
(a bit surprised, but quickly covering)
(he glances at the monitors before choosing the next dodge)
They may only work against known vectors.
'Sides, I didn't want to wake you.


SANTANA
Comnen is still flying very erratically, while the police boats continue to try to shoot them down.
That's a good point, really. We still don't know how the plague was spreading.


The others start discussing this.
Cithandra loses her hold momentarily and winds up half-sitting on Nissa. She grabs onto Comnen's chair instead.


RAHAH
CITHANDRA
(quietly)
You really thought this flying, and I shudder to even call it that, you thought it wouldn't wake everyone on board?
Comnen, were you shielded?


COMNEN
COMNEN
Yeah. I thought you said this would protect me? That stuff went right through it!
Dammit, Cith, can we have this conversation some other time? Say, when I'm NOT trying to keep us all from getting killed.
And sit down, for fuck's sake. Inertial dampening's only so good.
 
He drives them on in squiggles, vaguely approaching another large planet.


RAHAH
Another crewmember, JONAS, yells from somewhere further back in the ship:
What happened? Was there a flash or anything?


COMNEN
JONAS
(shaking his head)
Ey, what is going on?!
It went all dark. Just all over. And then my hand...


RAHAH
Someone else yells something incoherent.
Hrnng...


Rahah takes his affected hand at a distance, holding it up by magic, and inspecting it, indirectly, with more of the same.
Cithandra manages to get herself into the remaining seat, and activates the ship-wide intercom.


The discussion around the rest of the cubicle dies down a bit as folks watch.
CITHANDRA
Everyone, please remain calm and strap yourselves in. It seems we've taken a job, and as long as we don't all die from it first...
(she shoots Comnen an irate look)
...things should calm down shortly. And then we'll get paid.
(turning off the intercom)
Also we should probably pick up the rest of the crew before we leave, yes?


COMNEN
COMNEN
Well?
One thing at a time!
 
He takes them into the planet's rings, dodging hunks of rock and ice and... other things at very alarming speed. Stuff blurrs past as they zig and zag between things.


RAHAH
NISSA
I... have no idea.
How are you not hitting everything?!


DAZROTH
COMNEN
Not related to the plague?
(pulling his hands off the console)
Magic!


RAHAH
CITHANDRA
It's unlike anything I've ever seen.
That's not him. That's the Shades doing it.
We solid, boss?


Comnen manages to avoid snarking at this, but only barely.
COMNEN
If we see anything big enough, yeah...


RAHAH
RAHAH
It's like...
(pointing a bit to the side)
There.


But though she clearly recognises something, she doesn't finish the thought, instead hastilly dropping Comnen's hand and leaning away.
COMNEN
What? Where?


</screenplay>
RAHAH
You just need something bigger than the ship, right?
47 seconds, 18 degrees off, no, 23 degrees off...


}}
Comnen gives her a skeptical look, but directs the ship in the general direction.


{{ Hopeless (original) | 1=
COMNEN
Ah, I see it.
(gesturing)
On my mark, hit that button.


<screenplay>
They squiggle a bit around things, and then a rock slightly bigger than the ship suddenly looms up in front of them and they rapidly slow.


COMNEN
COMNEN
(turning to the guy behind him)
Mark!
Agh, these people are hopeless.
 
Rahah smacks the button, and the rock explodes in front of them.
 
Comnen yanks the ship to a stop.
 
Cithandra pulls a lever, and the ship suddenly goes dark, everything turning off all at once. Even the artificial gravity goes off, though a few minor things stay on.
 
KHALEMI
(over the intercom)
Boss? What in the world is going on?


The guy behind him turns out to be Dazroth.
COMNEN
(replying)
Oh, nothing, my dear, just evading the law of the worlds.
 
Cithandra unclasps her seatbelt and heads back into the rest of the ship, guiding herself along expertly.
 
KHALEMI
(over the intercom)
Should I put out some bots?
 
Comnen sighs, considering.
 
COMNEN
Yeah, give us a full scrub. Let's go with... Destiny's Reach.
 
KHALEMI
(over the intercom)
I'm on it.
 
Comnen turns and starts typing at a red screen. The ship is totally dark around them.
 
RAHAH
So... now what?
 
COMNEN
Now we wait. Khalemi's going to put out some bots to scrub the hull, make us look like a different ship, and I'll reset the registry address, and then...
(he gestures vaguely with a hand)
Sooner or later someone not cops'll come near here, we follow them out, essentially.
 
NISSA
Sooner or later? So how... long does that usually take?
 
COMNEN
Usually under a week. Give or take.
 
NISSA
What?!
 
RAHAH
We really don't have that kind of time.
 
COMNEN
That's how long it takes. If we want to get out of this system, we have to look legitimate, and that means not randomly coming out of these rings right after the ''same kind of ship'' just illegally went in and supposedly exploded.
 
NISSA
(standing up)
I have a better idea.
 
 
 
 
NISSA
Hidden. They will not be able to find us with their technology, or their eyes.
 
 
 
 
 
COMNEN
(over the intercom)
New plan, kids. Get the basic scrub done and make sure you're all on floor in ten minutes, and we're heading out.
 
KHALEMI
(over the intercom)
Have you been eating those beans again?
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
CITHANDRA
(to Comnen)
And you didn't think it was perhaps relevant that the ones hiring you were Magi? That that might make things a little more dangerous?
 
COMNEN
Why would that possibly make things more dangerous in Commonwealth space?!
 
Cithandra just stares at him.
 
CITHANDRA
You mean besides what just happened?
 
COMNEN
Well I didn't exactly expect that.
 
NISSA
(holding up a hand)
For the record? Neither did we.
 
RAHAH
Honestly had me or that Magi not been trying desperately to not actually kill each other, one or both of us would probably be dead.
 
NISSA
Er, what?
 
RAHAH
I mean, I'm totally rubbish in a real-life fight, but flailing madly has won me a few even in-game, so...
You got two dumarses attacking each other with magics and swords and weird-arse other things, how in the world could that possibly end well for either if they're actually trying to kill each other? Think about it.
 
NISSA
What were you trying to do?
 
RAHAH
Distract him.
 
NISSA
And him?
 
RAHAH
Stop me from doing something really regretable, probably.
 
NISSA
So basically we just pissed off the good guys. For no real reason.
 
RAHAH
Possibly. We'll have to see what's even in the box first, of course...
 
COMNEN
You don't know?!
 
 
 
 
Union space
 
 
 
 
 
They open the box. A glowing, not quite right object is inside. It looks a bit like a glassy seed.
 
They all sort of stare at it a bit.
 
COMNEN
So what is it?
 
RAHAH
I have no idea.
 
NISSA
It's a seed.
 
JONAS
A glowing one.
 
NISSA
A glowing seed.
 
 
 
 
</screenplay>
 
}}
 
{{ Infected hand (original?) | 1=
 
<screenplay>
DAZROTH
Don't touch him directly. The contagion may spread.
 
RAHAH
Right. But if it's magical in origin, could not magicking it do the same?


DAZROTH
DAZROTH
Now you know how I feel.
Do you not use safeguards?
 
 
COMNEN
RAHAH
Er... sorry.
(a bit surprised, but quickly covering)
They may only work against known vectors.
 
SANTANA
That's a good point, really. We still don't know how the plague was spreading.
 
The others start discussing this.
 
RAHAH
(quietly)
Comnen, were you shielded?
 
COMNEN
Yeah. I thought you said this would protect me? That stuff went right through it!
 
RAHAH
What happened? Was there a flash or anything?
 
COMNEN
(shaking his head)
It went all dark. Just all over. And then my hand...
 
RAHAH
Hrnng...
 
Rahah takes his affected hand at a distance, holding it up by magic, and inspecting it, indirectly, with more of the same.
 
The discussion around the rest of the cubicle dies down a bit as folks watch.
 
COMNEN
Well?
 
RAHAH
I... have no idea.
 
DAZROTH
Not related to the plague?
 
RAHAH
It's unlike anything I've ever seen.
 
Comnen manages to avoid snarking at this, but only barely.
 
RAHAH
It's like...
 
But though she clearly recognises something, she doesn't finish the thought, instead hastilly dropping Comnen's hand and leaning away.
 
</screenplay>
 
}}
 
{{ Hopeless (original) | 1=
 
<screenplay>
 
COMNEN
(turning to the guy behind him)
Agh, these people are hopeless.
 
The guy behind him turns out to be Dazroth.
 
DAZROTH
Now you know how I feel.
 
COMNEN
Er... sorry.
 
</screenplay>
 
}}
 
{{ End thing (original) | 1=
 
<screenplay>
 
A courier hands a package to Rahah and leaves.
 
Rahah opens it. It's some sort of note, and she skims through it quickly.
 
Nissa leans over.
 
RAHAH
It's from Dazroth.
 
NISSA
What is it?
 
RAHAH
(handing the note to Nissa)
An invitation.


</screenplay>
</screenplay>
Line 1,670: Line 1,956:
}}
}}


{{ End thing (original) | 1=
<screenplay>
A courier hands a package to Rahah and leaves.
Rahah opens it. It's some sort of note, and she skims through it quickly.
Nissa leans over.
RAHAH
It's from Dazroth.
NISSA
What is it?
RAHAH
(handing the note to Nissa)
An invitation.
</screenplay>
}}


{{ Metadata | 1=
{{ Metadata | 1=
Line 1,753: Line 2,016:


}}
}}
}}
}}

Latest revision as of 23:52, 27 August 2018

The Job

The job: heist, some item/artifact

  • held by powerful folks with lots of resources in vaults/with securtiy, need to infiltrate things, can get in past open floors of museum/casino/staging area/whatever
  • folks might be the Magi, but probably aren't, because that would really complicate things later and also they really like keeping things in-house and thus would be rather hard to infiltrate. Probably some random other gang or corporation, or an operation by a specific bureau.
  • have plan for getting past security, need to get crew/get rest of crew back from random holidays or out of prison or another totally random job they were already doing, or stuff, and figure out the details of everything else
  • job is kind of sudden and high priority and they need to beat anyone else there

The opening: planning and all the stuff to actually do the heist

  • They do the heist. They make it in. There's some unnecessary drama about all the over the top security, and some conflict with head of security guy.
  • The item is already gone, head of security guy shows up absolutely pissed and everyone expects him to arrest them, but then he turns out to have been their totally adorable mechanic Khalemi, and their other inside source all along. Is absolutely pissed that she fucked up the security, because she was actually trying to make it good specifically so this wouldn't happen. Everyone is a bit surprised, because the security guy was actually some pretty good acting on her part, and also why was it a guy?!

Ensue: the plot. Hunting down the folks who stole the item. It's important, yo. Brains of their opperations, criminal mastermind Cithandra, won't say why, but it is, and they need to get it back. Things go sideways at some point. Comnen, usual point guy, talky person, swagger and all that, gets taken out of the running, and Cithandra has to take direct control of everything and more than being a general mastermind, turns out to be really, really scary as direct boss. Also really suave and sophisticated. But scary-like.

Somehow they get Comnen back. Hijinks ensue throuhout. Sokar does his thing taking random side jobs all the way through, which turns out to be a really good cover at least two times in a row when security people ask them just what the fuck they're doing here.

Ending: they get the item.

  • Item is a key to a vault of scary group ..., which they open, and find... an alien girl?!
  • Having no idea what the hell else to do, they take her with them as they head out into the stars for their next adventure.
  • Also said alien girl probably wasn't at all what Cithandra was expecting either, but whatever.

Setting organisations

Somewhere in the background there's references to at least some of the three main scaries, which may or may not show up as clients hiring the crew at some point or other:

  • The United Worlds, the massively bureaucratic galactic republic where everything mostly just goes through random bureaus regardless of what the politicians from all the random systems actually say
  • The Magi, a quasi-religious guild of space wizards that basically force all magic-capable people they find to either join them or die (or maybe just be cut off from the magic, which is also horrible for them?)
  • The ... which turns out to be this horrible mysterious organisation that experiments on monsters (aliens) for reasons, and is a good chunk of why so many of the aliens are humanoid (or elven?), because they actually started out as humans/elves or were previously much more alien and then engineered into hybrids. This is definitely not commonly known and will not come up for awhile. Is probably known as a major source of biotech through some front, and is in fact possibly really only known for that at all, publicly.
Probably run by a group of dark wizards, or something.

Other random groups that occur:

  • Citheldryn: a myserious organisation that has embassies on random planets and isn't entirely clear what its purpose is, where it came from, or anything. Also very unclear where any of their money, of which they seem to have a lot, comes from. Is generally suspected of just paying off the UW bureaucracy to ignore them.
  • Syndicate: a major crime guild that somehow has never actually been connected to any crimes, officially. But everyone knows they do crime. They do crime.
  • The Right People: not exactly a group so much as just random people who think the UW/Magi, in particular, are dumb, and do their own thing. Gnerally includes any gangs/other unlawful factions not actively at war with each other, as well as quite a few underground non-Magi wizards. Syndicate is not really a part of this, but sometimes involved.
  • Various other guilds, gangs, corporations, cabals, and planets doing various things throughout
  • The border worlds, which may or may not have any seat in the UW itself, and often go totally ignored by its bureaus/forces, and thus may wind up really doing their own things

Crew

  • Comnen - probably actually owns the ship, boss as far as everyone is concerned, prefers smuggling jobs but also has history as a merc and will do heists etc if someone else figures out the details. Presents himself as a ball of swagger and confidence, and puts all this swagger and confidence to use to hold the crew together, along with just generally being awesome.
  • Cithandra - suave, sophisticated, and above all, absolutely gorgeous and elegant criminal mastermind behind a lot of the jobs, sometimes tells the crew the full plan, sometimes... not. Also generally doesn't actually come across as particularly criminal or mastermind, and usually just suggests random things offhand, and then finances random parts of it, as the rest of them put the details of the operation together...
Overtly, she's just this rich lady who hired the ship to take her with and finances them because she was bloody bored.
  • Sokar - main pilot, keeps taking on these totally ridiculous side jobs whenever they get to a new system, much to everyone's annoyance. Possibly turns out that this tendency was precisely why Cithandra hired him.
  • Khalemi - medic, tech handler in general, bot operator, very good with security systems and distributed operations, completely lost whenever she has to do anything hands-on. Also apparently a pretty good actor... when acting a man. Can't act out other women for the life of her.
  • Jonas - some sort of 'public relations'
  • Torkora Ma - wanton thief, possibly another sort of 'public relations'
  • Nissa - young underworld wizard with a very peculiar view of how magic works, uses it to fix random stuff, very nonchalant about absolutely everything, with a particular skill for going completely unnoticed as she just walks right into pretty much anything unquestioned


Several of them really don't get along with each other, but do have the professionalism to keep overtly expressing it to a miniumum while actually doing the job (well, usually). Will get very annoyed when they have to fix things for each other, but generally make a point of doing it precisely so the other survives/makes it out/whatever so they can actually berate them about it...

Screenplay?



NISSA
There's a magus here.
(she gestures in a direction)
Somewhere thataway. We should be careful.
SOKAR
How do you tell?
NISSA
They're practically glowing with power.
Sokar gives her a sudden, worried look.
NISSA
Oh, don't worry. They're very bad at what they do, totally uncontrolled, so it's really easy to sense them. I'm much better than that.
SOKAR
If you say so, kid.






JONAS
Shit, how old are you, anyway?
NISSA
Mmm, I dunno. Maybe 10ish?
JONAS
What...
(turning and yelling toward Comnen)
BOSS! The kid is really a kid!
COMNEN
(showing up)
Yeah? So?
JONAS
So... she's like, really, really young!
Nissa just smiles, looking vaguely cute.
COMNEN
Yes...?
JONAS
Like... a kid. Why're we puttin' a kid in all these... situations?
NISSA
Is it really you putting me in these situations? Is it?
COMNEN
She's a fucking squid, man. They're weird.
He turns and leaves.
JONAS
But... but...
NISSA
(now looking a bit annoyed)
Squid. Yes, that is... exactly...





SOKAR
I got us a new job.
COMNEN
What... the fuck?
KHALEMI
...again?
TORKORA MA
Are we stealing something?
SOKAR
Naw, naw, this is just a strict pick up, drop off.
TORKORA MA
You say that like that's not exactly how stealing things works...
KHALEMI
What's the catch?
SOKAR
No catch, just passengers.
COMNEN
How is that not a catch?!
We're already sitting on stolen cargo, and we still have to catch up...
KHALEMI
Yeah, that does sound a biiit dodgy.
CITHANDRA
And passengers will be a very nice way to ensure nobody checks for stolen cargo when we stop off. Isn't that right?
SOKAR
Uh... is it?





The passengers turn out to be: two magi and a kid, a priest, a random couple, and three guys they're all mildly certain would also fall among the Right People.
Comnen glares at Sokar.
COMNEN
These are the passengers you managed to come up with?!
SOKAR
You know, maybe I am starting to think this wasn't such a good idea.
NISSA
Well, I'm going to need to be careful.
COMNEN
What exactly happens if you aren't?
NISSA
Depends.
COMNEN
On?
NISSA
Depends.
(quietly)
We might need that priest.
SOKAR
...what for?

Old stuff

Possibly some stuff that happens later...



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Am I still flanking from inside the frog?