itp: good decisions

[rebells]

Who: Various enterprising folk!
Where: The former Uvi lair, and the island above Aimintas
When: Day 64-66, or thereabouts
Open/Closed: ota! there is a coven-house meeting afterward for anyone who can't make it up to see on their own.

[Hopefully you waited for the rain of spiky . . . Elto bones . . . to die down before heading out, but there's a mysterious underwater explosion to be investigated, and a possible link to Palai magic and the barrier, too.

Time to find out what happened?]

Comments

INITIAL EXPLORATIONS

[rebells]

[Where the Uvi lair used to be is . . . just gone. Only tattered remnants of seaweed and chunks of Uvi remains are left to indicate that people once lived here. There are also more of the mysterious spiky structures floating around in the water. Otherwise, though, it's quiet. Eerily so.

If you head out to the island, on the other hand, you'll find that it's unchanged, although perhaps it looks a little different by nightfall. The barrier is still there, too, as barrier-y as ever.

What might be notable, however, is that if someone brought up one of those mysterious spiky structures up to the island, placing it close to the barrier elicits some sort of . . . static reaction. Intriguing?]]

[splinten]

[This was a brilliant idea, and Jay is wrong about everything. Dirk reached out to Jake, part of him remembering their time on LOTAK and LOMAX. It's an adventure, quite possibly with ruins. Who better to have at his side than his best bro? And he wanted to believe in some small way that doing things like this would help them be best bros again, to find that rhythm and comfort, to fix some of the fault lines that now wracked their relationship. Piece by piece.

So as they soar up into the water, Dirk is calm. And he isn't exactly surprised by what he finds: the seaweed, the strange spiky objects. A lack of life.]

All we need is some skeletons and a gas mask and we'll have be on memory lane. Taking a real cruise there. Pulled on our helmets and stepped onto a scooter. Local kids are waving at us as we ride by. We're familiar on this lane. The memories go both ways. We're thinking about getting a mortgage here.

Yeah.

[potentite]

[Well, that's one way of putting it. A very Dirk way and he has to admit, it's very familiar, even if none of them had underwater planets. It's the same basic idea of lingering death and decay.]

Goodness gracious, looks like the Uvi found themselves in a real pickle. What happened here...?

[Despite how flippant it sounds, the first thing he does is flit closer to look for survivors.]

[rootandbranch]

[after a few moments, there's a sense of life and an echo of "noise" in the water; but it's coming from below them as Jake continues to search, not from the wrecked mass of seaweed. undirected telepathy is dicey at this distant, but the explorers may catch the barest echo of a couple of words--]

--where are they--

[visibility is very bad in the roiling mess that's left of the Uvi stronghold, and the telepathy is uncertain enough at this distance (Geir's not trying to talk to them) that it's hard to tell whose voice it is, or whether it's in their ears or their minds. in their super creepy murder surroundings, it might be possible to leap to an equally creepy explanation.]

[rootbound]

[the mental carry of the reply doesn't help that impression, distorted by mood and distance into a low, angry, drawn-out mutter]

--death--

[THANKS VERN.]

[rebells]

[A few hours after the good decision crew does their thing, Jay will meet Moon and Yukari outside the coven's house in Aimintas. He looks up at the watery sky and the island above, before glancing back at Moon, directing his next question to her:]

Are you ready to go?

[One of the Elto magic centers lays by his feet. He's heard that they react with the barrier already from Dirk and Geir, but he wants to see for himself.]

MEETING / THE FOLLOWING MORNING

[rebells]

[The following morning, a telepathic message from Jay would have directed coven members to the front of the house where the coven is staying. He's standing out there, at the front of whatever group of people has collected, and will greet newcomers with a silent wave. One of the Elto bone structures lies at his feet.

When the group seems settled, he speaks.]

Hello.

In case you were wondering what yesterday's commotion was about, the Uvi are dead.

[He'll get right to the point.]

The explosion we witnessed the aftereffects of appears to have destroyed their home completely. Only fragments are left. We believe the cause is these . . . [he motions to the bone structure] reservoirs of power that dropped from the sky after the explosion. They emit the same energy as the barriers the Eltos make and the barrier that surrounds the island above Aimintas.

[Here he pauses, looking unsettled for a moment, before pressing onward]

There's more to be said about these structures, but that's not why I've called you here today. Most of you know about our attempts to take down the island barrier. We're planning to collect these structures and use them as a source of power to counteract whatever is powering the barrier--for that, in addition to people who can fly and manipulate water, we'll need some method of moving the things without touching them, because they emit a shock that gets stronger when more than one of them is clustered together. And we'll need to develop some method of bringing them to bear against the barrier, because I don't think throwing them at the barrier is going to work.

[He shrugs.]

Your assistance with this matter is entirely optional, of course, but it would be appreciated. I don't know about you, but I'd very much like to know what's behind that barrier.

[bulletbiter]

I had some resistance to lightning. I'm not sure if it's retained right now, though. May I?

[ Julius indicates the bone structure on the floor. Given that Aragami are resistant to most stuff, it should at least work somewhat. ]

[rebells]

Oh? Go ahead and try it; the shock from one is manageable.

[bulletbiter]

[ Picks one up, watches the sparks dance across his palm. ]

I should be fine.

[rebells]

[He smiles slightly.]

So you are. That should make things a little easier, if you don't mind doing some carrying.

[lunala]

Maybe we could balance them against the barrier somehow. [She isn't sure if that's possible, but it's a thought.] Or maybe someone could float them. Can anyone do that?

[rebells]

Perhaps . . . .

[He frowns, thinking. Will they need someone to direct the magical energy, or will proximity be enough?]

I don't know anyone who has that kind of power. Although that doesn't mean there isn't someone.

[lunala]

If there's nobody, we can just improvise! [Yeah! The best kind of plan!]

[rebells]

[O-oh no, cute.]

We'll figure something out. We have a number of skilled individuals here.

[alphonse]

[Al's taken a spot sitting on the floor, mostly so the others won't have to strain themselves to look up at him. It's kind of funny; the last time they went after the barrier, he'd gone from being dubious of the idea--and any potential retaliation it could bring on the Palai--to watching attacks bounce off of it with disinterest. At this point he can't say he's not equally curious to see what lies behind, and if they're careful to disrupt rather than destroy, this plan could work.]

I can probably handle small amounts of them without getting hurt. [The Uvi are, of course, a reminder not to get too cocky with assumptions of immunity.] I'll experiment with seeing how closely we can keep them together--if we can insulate them, I can make something to carry them in that'll let us bring more up at once.

[More hauling for the dragons? Well, they'll figure it out. For now, there's another order of business to bring up while everyone's together. Real privacy doesn't exist when your host slaps a mind reading device on you on day one, but it still feels better to have the discussion when they're all face-to-face. Hands resting on his knees, Al leans forward, his tone darkening considerably.]

We know Qri wants them too.

[Clearly he doesn't plan on doing her any favors, but the question remains: should they actively be trying to keep the structures out of her hands?]

[rebells]

That seems like a good course of action. Thank you for your help with this.

[Polite, affable. His gaze sharpens when Al gets to that next part, though.]

We do. [He glances around the crowd significantly.] Obviously I can't control what other people do, but I think at the very least, we should consider that we're in a position with very little leverage as it is. I wouldn't advise giving up what we have so easily.

[alphonse]

[On his own, Al would probably take the gamble of defying Qri just to see if it pushes her into action. As it is, though, he recognizes that he's coming from a uniquely desperate situation and that he has to take the interests of the group into account. He won't advocate for anything extreme unless the others are fully on board, but where he stands on the matter is probably quite clear.]

Not to mention that these things rightfully belong to the Palai. And that this much energy could go a long way when it comes to protecting them in the future. All we know about what Qri plans to do comes from Genette, and so far I haven't seen a reason to believe it would be anything good.

[rebells]

[He nods.]

Genette seems to think it is. But that isn't sufficient reason, in my opinion, since I don't know what the basis of her belief is.

[deem]

She does want them, but I can't say that's my priority.

[And anyone who can invade their heads on a whim likely knows this. 9S has a particular set of priorities and they don't as yet include appeasing someone who has given them no directive and may well have seized Pod 153 and Pod 042 as some kind of bizarre collateral for a power she's supposedly given him and 2B.

Between diagnostics and observation, he's seen nothing to indicate there was any such exchange, save for having the same rings embedded into them as in the humans around them.

He lowers himself to sit beside Alphonse, though it somewhat negates the benefit of the guy having crouched to begin with. By now, he's accustomed to that suit of armor towering over him anyhow]

If you can insulate them, that'd make transportation a lot simpler... Julius and I have been working on a flight unit, and a power source was the only real problem we ran into.

[Parts comparable with ancient technology weren't enough to stop him, but the lack of a way to power what they were building absolutely was. It had even made it impossible to build a barrier system encompassing the entire city]

The locals're okay with the bones being used for city defense, so I don't think they'd mind.

[alphonse]

It might take some trial and error to figure out how to handle them, but I'm sure it can be done. And you know... the more of these things we put to use, the easier it'll be to keep them away from Qri.

[He's not sure hoarding them alone would do the trick, since taking things from the coven is the whole basis of how she operates. Integrating the structures into Palai tech might not protect them from her either, of course, but even forcing her hand that much would be a pretty big confirmation of character.]

Do you think they're powerful enough to help with your barrier project too?

[lunala]

[Moon reacts with confusion to the way everyone is talking about Qri and the bones.]

Of course we'll use them for the barrier first if that works out, but what's wrong with giving them to Qri? Oh, I did ask the Palai about it, and they don't seem to mind us taking them and using them. [She can understand that being an issue! But Moon is a trusting person.]

[alphonse]

[The question's a reminder that not everyone is as ready to label Qri as the villain, and his voice softens accordingly.]

We have no idea what she'd do with them. Maybe Genette's right and it wouldn't be anything bad, but as long as Qri's refusing to talk to us we can't know what her real intentions are. All we really have to go on is how she brought us here against our will, and I don't think it's asking too much to need some answers before we turn more power over to her.

FURTHER EXPEDITIONS / BONE HAULING

[rebells]

[So some members of the coven, at least, will be found bringing bones to a place just outside the city. They have a few people capable of moving the bones without touching them, and 9S and Alphonse are rigging up some kind of insulation/carrying system, with a little help from you, perhaps.

Once a load of bones is properly secured, there are the dragons, again, and the old dummy-submarines to take them up, with a little help from people who can manipulate water. Maybe you were helping with this effort, or maybe you can find a way to tag along?]

[rootandbranch]

[Geir can be found with wings mantled over the familiar submarine shell that he carried up the last time; anyone using their powers to move the bones around, or even just hauling them physically, may feel the slightest bit refreshed when they come into his line of sight so he can concentrate on them.]

Are we putting the bones and the people who want to come up in the same carriers? I don't think we should.