Ignition (MTG/Multicross, Planeswalker PC)

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[X] (Miscellaneous Compromises)
[X] You're the best person to represent yourself. You're both the leader of your faction and the person who has the least difficulty with planar transport.
[X] The Agni lead from the front.

You absentmindedly shake scattered shards of wood out of your sleeves while considering your answer. You're careful not to think about it for too long and just go with the best answer you can come up with in five seconds.

"Why work through an intermediary when I'm the best person to represent myself? I doubt any other Agni will ever come here, but I'm both the leader of my faction and the one who has the least difficulty with planar transport. My family also leads from the front; why should anyone have to go where we fear to tread?"

You shrug and turn your full attention back to the drone.

"Incidentally, I do have much of the entertainment media of multiple Earths," you add. "Ones which weren't invaded by aliens, although their timelines don't perfectly line up with this one. Not sure if that'll cause problems later. I can send over some of it if that would help me prove my identity."

You frown as a thought occurs to you.

"Admittedly, there is an upcoming disaster on one of them that might qualify as an alien invasion, but the 'aliens' are humans and it's more of a scavenging operation than a military effort. It's weird."

Two people speak from the drone at once, forcing you to review your memories to identify the different questions.


There's a moment of silence as the two stop to let the other continue. You decide to show off a little and answer them before they can speak again.

"I can actually answer those two questions at the same time. So, first of all, you have to understand that Earth is weird. It's the only world I know of that's found in multiple universes and humans show signs of evolving from lesser creatures on each version of Earth. However, the humans of Earth most definitely did not achieve space travel and expand out into their universe despite being found there in a universe near this one. It gets even weirder when we get into the history of that particular universe: humans have a tendency to achieve feats of technology indistinguishable from magic, almost completely destroy themselves, and rebuild our technological and industrial bases from scratch.

"It's gotten to the point where the relics of old empires are threatening and destroying our own, which is where that one not-quite-invasion comes in. In a nutshell, a madman masquerading as a scientist decided he needs some unstable power generators for some purpose of another, attacked the containment convoy, and is letting the reality-warping Jewel Seeds drift to another Earth. That universe is going particularly slowly compared to nearby realities, so I have time to prepare for that inevitable mess, but I do need to prepare."

"The individual or individuals in contact with this group have replied," Mom informs you. "They're requesting additional footage and the authentication codes for any local cameras and drones. The Pilgrims seem willing to provide them."

"That sounds promising."

"Does this Earth fall under your rule, then?" Evangel asks curiously. You can't tell if it's feigned or not.

"Mmmm, no, not really. It hasn't entered the trans-dimensional stage just yet and another two superpowers already have footholds there. I could probably make a pretty good case for getting them to join me, but I'm against overextending and offering protection we can't easily implement, so I'll just let the Time-Space Administration Bureau or Belkan Empire handle them."

"Is this Bureau a government agency of some sort?"

You consider pulling a chair out of Agneyastra before deciding against it. Sitting atop the tree you toppled seems like an OK compromise, so you do so. The conversation has become much less stressful now that it's turned into more than a briefing than just getting them to avoid shooting you.

"Nope, full-fledged superpower. Basically, they're the guys who seal every relic of past civilizations, including the ones that might be useful. Belka isn't nearly so paranoid and I've already convinced Empress Olivie to come in and pummel Jail, the instigator of the whole generator disaster. Long story short, Jail tried to kidnap Olivie's daughter for some reason or another and she's wanted to kill him ever since. It's a win/win for everyone except him."

"Why intervene in this world now instead of earlier?"

"An outside party has connected to the drone," Mom reports. "Their identities cannot be confirmed."

You force yourself to smile as soon as Evangel finishes speaking. You try to make it look apologetic rather than happy. Smile for the camera, Jade.

"Access to this universe was impractical until literally just yesterday. For now, be aware that your world and its problems are not my only responsibility, unfortunate as your situation may be. I can help you help yourselves, which I know you've heard before, but I can't just show up and solve all your problems. I also can't negotiate with the 'Elders' to get them to back off; they're literally undead and only body-snatching humans is keeping them alive."

There's a moment of silence before someone utters the inevitable "What?" You cheerfully pounce on the opportunity provided.

"Undead, ghosts, whatever you want to call them. In a nutshell, most creatures only have a couple body-swaps available before their souls can't handle continued reacclimation to new bodies and they die. The Ethereals shredded their own souls to get rid of some eldritch infections, lost pretty much all their remaining swaps in the process, and basically need to force formerly-ensouled bodies to accept them. It leaves their vessels as withered, dying husks and they're understandably unhappy about this. Weaker soul magic, weaker constitutions, a need to swap pretty much every day, and, um, about two thousand humans dying weekly for that purpose. About half of those bodies are being shipped off-world to the other Ethereal group."

"If our universe only became accessible yesterday, how did you learn all this?"

Your smile becomes rather more genuine and maybe a little smug. You can't help it; weird though your abilities might be, it is nice to bask in your accomplishments.

"Trade secret. What people don't know about can't be blocked; it's hard enough as it is."

A new voice issues forth from the drone, that of an aging, brisk female. Her German accent still lingers despite thirty years of working with a particularly diverse group.

"You mentioned limited numbers of 'body swaps.' I assume no method of repairing souls has been found as of yet?"

Her name bubbles up from the depths of your memories. Barring some sort of voice changer, it looks like the Pilgrims were talking directly to XCOM, who are themselves taking your appearance very seriously. You think the woman might be the head of the Avenger's science division.

Hello, Doctor Vahlen.

"Nope. The Ethereals are looking for one. They think they're making progress, but again, two thousand people weekly. The price of their research isn't a good one."

"If a vessel is killed and subsequently repaired, does that still consume a 'swap?'"

The corners of your lips move further upward. You think you know what she's getting at.

"If someone is killed, their soul is basically launched out of their vessel by force as opposed to being carefully extracted. So, yes, being put back in a repaired vessel after that would still cost them a swap. The Chosen are a bit of a scary example in that they've managed to eke out about a dozen swaps instead of the standard four, but I think it's tearing their souls apart in the process. Destroying their Soul Obelisks, or the pillars their souls are housed in, would basically be a mercy at this point. I can't tell if the insanity of Chosen is because of who the Ethereals selected or just because of what's been done to their souls to give them so many vessel swaps."

"Mmm," Doctor Vahlen acknowledges noncommittally. "You mentioned having copies of most entertainment media found on other worlds, meaning you can copy information on a mass scale. Does that include their scientific research?"

"Almost certainly more of it than we want to give them, Jade. I would not object to giving them what I've taken from the other versions of Earth, but giving them TSAB-tech can only lead to trouble."

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[] Call Doctor Vahlen out for not saying hello. You wanted to contact XCOM specifically and she doesn't even admit when you succeed? Rude.
-[] Also, shouldn't you at least be having this chat in a more secure venue? Dumping loads of intel is good for getting their attention and trust, but now that you actually have the first of those two, you really should be going.

[] Yes, but you're only willing to give them what they could find on the other versions of Earth. You don't trust the Resistance to hold on to the details of more advanced technology, so anything you provide could be stolen by the Ethereals.
-[] Also, if they connect whatever storage mediums you give them to something important, you'll need to have a long talk with them about proper cybersecurity.

[] Write-in

General additions:

[] Ask the Pilgrims if they could please let you in now. You'd like a real chair and maybe something to drink.

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