I mean, you pretty much have (semi) gods in the world just doing their thing, albeit not actual gods but they have their abilities.
But I do wonder about one thing, is Watcher going to become something like Nothing There or an aberration (Like Everything There), or an entirely different entity?
And also are we going to explore all the Aleph abnos? or are they just going to be within the base game?
[X] Wave X over and try to defuse the situation with the pursuing Knights. Keep your weapons sheathed.
-[X] Whatever it is they just saw, you're sure there's a perfectly reasonable explanation for it!
3.8 – Unvoiced Anger
You sigh and wave for X, then walk towards the knights.
Nicole looks at the approaching parties, and moves her finger to the trigger of her gun. You can notice the way her breathing becomes shallower, and her eyes stop needing to blink.
For a second, she's aiming directly at X's head- but then she twitches, and changes direction. She remembered what you said earlier. She's moving to shoot at the girl with the cannon. Ranged attacker,
"Boss?" asks Nicole. "Should I fire?"
"No. Let me talk first. It's best if we keep our weapons sheathed, okay?"
She releases a puff of smoke through her mouth, then nods. She flicks the gun's safety back on, presses a switch and snatches up the ejected cartridge. She then puts it on her belt and places the gun on her back.
You raise your hands to the air, as X jumps off his mount and into the ground. The creature seems to pause for a second, before twitching and sort of… bending? It seems to decrease in size, folding its own body and entering X's coat. In a few seconds, the monster is nowhere to be seen, and the sounds stop.
You feel as if a burden was lifted from your back. There was some sort of… nagging pressure. A lingering ache.
"Mental corruption. You were suffering a constant influx of low-level mental damage simply by being around that creature. I suspect that is a part of the reason why these knights mantained their hostility." notes Abel.
You facepalm.
Goddamn it. Couldn't he have picked a more agreeable Abnormality.
Are there even any agreeable Abnormalities?
"The Dreaming Current was supposed to be agreeable- remember what that led to? You should be thankful it isn't Melting Love, at least."
Figures.
"Okay okay." you say, hands still in the air in a gesture of peace. "What exactly is happening here?"
The two knights seem to be confused.
The one with the cannon lowers it, and the girl with the sword seems to be experiencing a headache. They're also muttering something to themselves.
"What… what are you?"
"...why were we following him… wait, the alley."
Fuck- they were affected by CENSORED, too?
You gesture at your sheathed weapon, and then at the Rhodes Island building. This is a medical facility, you can't go around carrying weaponry. The two knights seem to get the memo, and their weapons are quickly sheathed.
"X." you say.
"...yo. How are you doing, big guy?"
"I am not in a good mood, X. Explain what just happened."
He smiles and waves to the knights.
"Sorry for the psychic damage. That just sort of happens around me sometimes." he tells them. "I'm sorry for the sudden appearance too, but you were about to be kidnapped."
...what?
"Don't worry. I'll explain."
There is someone walking through the alleys, far away from the… current happenings.
This person is known as "Quintus," and that person is very tired.
"Ugh." mutters the former bishop of Sal Viento, before stopping for a second. He looks around the dilapidated alley he is in. There is no one here but him.
"...was that man… not supposed to be here?"
He then pauses and listens, as if receiving instructions.
"Ah. I see. Something unexpected, no?"
He looks again at the alley, and then contemplates the dumpster. It isn't filled with trash. In fact, the metal box next to his own person is entirely empty. He seems to internally debate the merits of what he is about to do, and then simply slithers into the dumpster.
Someone with a keen eye might notice that the man's footsteps, while hidden by his robe, are very strange. Like his legs are lame, or his joints are missing. He more then slides across the ground then walks, like some sort of slug.
Nevertheless, the man sinks into the box of trash and hugs his own legs tightly.
"...I don't know what I am supposed to do, now."
He then pauses again. Someone is speaking to him. Someone who cannot be seen, and cannot be heard by any but the person they are speaking to.
The man, the former bishop Quintus, sighs and parts his hair- whose color and form is reminiscent of some sort of seaweed- while listening to the voice. It is a warm voice. Warm, like the sun. But this man has no patience for warmth.
He has walked through deserts and wastelands, he has moved faster then even a landship could. He knows not how.
A pilgrim that is guided by the Light needs no map.
If one could hear the Voice, they would hear something… something like this.
"How are you, Quintus?"
"Not well."
He isn't.
"Have you thought about what I told you?"
The man twitches.
"Yes." he says. There is a fire in his voice. "And I disagree."
"...you do?"
"Yes. I do not believe my wishes matter more then the wishes of all others. That is remarkably foolish."
"Well, why?"
"Because the many outweigh the few. If each one attempted to live solely according to what they desire, it would be… madness. True madness."
"Well, I can't deny that. But what I'm not hearing is why, exactly, you think that is so terrible."
"Do you deny that this would simply cause great suffering to the world? Mankind is already divided- see what pain it has brought! Each man cares nothing for his fellows! See the suffering your unrestrained greed and ambition bring!"
"You already live in that manner, Quintus. Did those people really want to become one with the Seaborn? Did you not force your own desires on them? You lived according to your desires. That is all I want you to see."
"It was the better way. It was for their own safety. Did you not see their state? When I arrived, they had been abandoned by Iberia. The Seaborn offered them what no one else gave. They relieved them of pain and agony, and gave them the means to hold onto life."
"I wonder, if you are swallowed whole by the Seaborn… is it even you? Is that not death? Your desires, what you want and what you feel… that is what makes "you," Quintus. All of that dissolves, when one is consumed by the tide."
"It is not death. They are free, they are clean of pain. Cease… cease your blasphemous words."
"You continue to insist upon the pain. If you… if you let go of all those things, there isn't anything left. You stop feeling pain… you stop feeling anything at all. Like I said. The annihilation of the self."
"Ha. What should have they done, then? Starved alone in their rotting city?"
"If you believe this path… the path of the sea… is the best one, then you must wish it. Wish it, from the bottom of your heart. You aren't sure, Quintus. There's so much doubt and so much fear in you. You're finally doubting the Seaborn. You need to realize this, Quintus- what do you really want?"
"Does it matter? Do I matter?
"There is nothing that matters more. But the question, Quintus, is simple. Do you still believe in the sea?"
"...no. Not anymore. I am... not sure."
Quintus has realized something, in his travel. Something which complicates things...
He was reminded of the Seaborn's corruption. He believed it to be a travesty. He still does so. But, when he is reminded of what the Seaborn attempted… he cannot help but wonder. He cannot help but doubt. That unwavering, fanatical devotion in his heart has grown fainter, and the words of the Voice have undermined the fire in his eyes.
They were so eager to purge their own kin…
They were so utterly unconcerned for their own life…
Was it truly... was it truly divinity, what he saw in them? He remembers the First to Talk. He remembers how... the Seaborn did not care. When thousands of innocents were put in danger, the Seaborn did not care. When his brothers and sisters were corrupted, tainted... the Seaborn continued to not care.
Was he seeing things of humans, in something that is not human? Was he holding onto a mistaken belief?
"Evolution is something that concerns the entire group for generations to come. It has nothing to do with itself individually."
"I…"
"Individuals- people- do not matter. That is the truth of the Seaborn. They do not safeguard the individual within the collective, as you believed. Entering the sea might as well be death. The individual, the person, ceases. All that is left is the collective."
"I believe in the many, still. No matter what you say, I cannot accept to be such a selfish person ...and I ask you what you asked earlier. What is…"
"What is… what?"
"What is so bad about that?"
"Do you want it? Do you desire that? If you truly wish for it..."
"I am not sure. I am not sure of anything, now. But… the Seaborn are not God. That I know."
"They are..."
"A different kind of organism. That… is all."
He pauses, and lowers his head. His eyes are tired, and his feet have been walking for a long time. He is exhausted... even with a body that is inhuman. Even with the Seaborn having touched him.
And... how is he doubting this? It is strange. He had never felt such a doubt before. Have the words of the Voice truly affected him this much? He cannot feel the embrace of the tide anymore. Has something changed, in his body? Has the body that was altered by the Church of the Deep been altered once again?
Ah. How droll.
"Leave me be for now. I will attempt to sleep." he says.
...there is no answer.
Only silence.
Quintus' misshapen, twisted form curls up, and he tries to close his eyes to sleep.
No such rest comes.
Your name is Nicole.
Right now... you're kind of confused, all in all.
First, your boss came back. That was really nice. You missed him a lot. Hopefully Linette and Beats can come around without any problems. You were kind of worried about the state of your Office after you found out they were here.
But you have absolutely no idea who this "X" guy is supposed to be.
But your boss seems to know him, even though he hasn't ever went to Kazimierz before? How... strange. You thought he was someone he met back in Iberia, but... he said he has been here for a week, apparently.
Now, time travel. According to what you remember of Lech's explanations, back in the City, it's technically possible, only ridiculously costly. The only "time travel" that T-Corp had, was the theoretical "inversion of the flux." Essentially, using T-Corp's TT2 Protocol on the entire universe, while keeping one person or object inside a sealed chamber.
You remember asking him what the point of that would be. He explained it's a theoretical concept and had applications in the discovery of that theorem and that equation and blah, blah, blah.
The point is, time travel is impossible.
Or so you thought.
You remember waking up in the middle of the desert, some time ago. You wandered for a while and eventually found some sort of creature. A slug. You tried to kill and eat it, but you were so exhausted and wounded from your fight in the Library that you just collapsed. Eventually, you were found by a passerby and taken into a village.
You eventually found the village's lord. The rest is history, and leads you to Rhodes Island.
Sleepy awoke in the middle of the Ursus wastes, and just wandered aimlessly until he got himself to this very same place you're in right now- Kazimierz. He tried to hit a gig as a contract killer, but it ended up not working out. So Sargon it was.
Eventually, the two of you found each other. There were some discrepancies in the timelines, with your memories in Terra having three months of time over Sleepy's own, but you assumed it was just the "lost in the middle of frozen hellscape" thing. But now... it seems you two actually did land in Terra in different time periods.
Sieg found himself here less then a month ago. Arabella and Wympe found themselves here roughly five days before him, in the Iberian coast, which, according to your Bloodfiendish friend, is filled with monsters that are yearning to consume absolutely everything.
Eh, nothing new.
There seems to be a significant difference, though. You landed here roughly two years ago. Sleepy, one and a half. But... Linette has pretty much an entire decade. No. She was here to fight the Black Knight in the 19th edition of their gladiator tournament. You're seeing the 24th, and this thing takes place every four years. She was here for 15 years, in the very least.
Holy shit, man.
You wonder if there's anyone who was sent here further back in time.
You wonder if any of your friends are dead, now, of old age.
You wonder if any of them will come to Terra in the distant future, when Turbulence Office is buried six feet underground, and you've finally lost the battle and reverted into one of those tangled messes of faces and flesh.
...it seems that X and Sieg finished talking to those knights.
Apparently, they were going to be kidnapped or something, so this X guy formed himself from a puddle in an horrific spetacle to draw their attention and lure them out of the path of the kidnapper. They're not believing the whole story, but apparently there's evidence of one of their friends acting unnaturally, having a strange pattern of light shining behind his head at some times, and spending inordinate amounts of time completely incommunicable.
That sounds suspicious, yes.
Eventually those two knights agreed to stay in the Rhodes Island facility for the night- after talking to their friends to stay away from the kidnapper as well- under the excuse of being low-priority patients here for a check-up. They're Infected, after all.
Seems that Sieg is as convincing as ever.
You'll keep your distance from them just in case.
Anyway, the second boss lady is coming up. There was an assassination attempt on Hibiscus, so the Doctor and Amiya are coming to check up on her, alongside some Wing stooge to keep the situation under control.
Why the fuck would anyone want to kill Hibiscus is beyond you.
You tap Sieg in the shoulder. He's currently lecturing this X guy for his fuckup. You have to admit, there were a thousand better ways to manage the kidnapping situation beyond the... you know, the "gruesomely form yourself from a puddle" thing that apparently happened according to the knights.
"Light." you tell him, showing him a cigarette.
He lights it without even taking a breath, or stopping the lecture.
You take a long drag from your little stick, and look at the dark blue sky. No stars can be seen.
Yay for night pollution.
You wonder what Sleepy is doing right now.
Your name is Sleepy.
Everyone is gone.
The new guy is apparently doing something with Wympe. The process of getting them into the city ended up having some trouble and they're going to be embroiled in it for some time. They're certainly not going to be talking to you, as they're currently in the library and will spend the entire night there.
Arabella is in the city, same with Nicole and Sieg. Most Operators have left or are not sleeping anywhere near your dormitory. This is the best possible outcome, considering you can't step into the city or you'll have the cops in your ass.
But what matters is that the dormitory camera- which is creepy as shit, by the way- is turned off. It apparently broke. That's great. The Doctor won't come out of nowhere and tap you in the head for no reason while you're trying to sleep. Which, again, is great.
And there isn't anyone else assigned to this dormitory right now. Tequila is with Shamare bullying the Chamber stooges into buying gold at ludicrously overinflated prices, as an example. That's the best part.
Because it means, there is no one to judge you for your actions and the dormitory is completely empty.
You snicker maliciously behind your mask.
Pillow fort time.
You stare at the little girl with bunny ears talking to Shining right now. Your instincts tell you that she is very much dangerous- there is something about her that gives you a chill on your spine. But that's for another time.
She is the CEO of Rhodes Island, here to find out what, exactly happened.
The hooded person of indeterminate gender, referred as "the Doctor," is another one of your superiors.
To their left is a horse-eared corporate stooge. He looks very nervous- constantly taking peeks at the windows. Probably fearing another bullet will come for him.
He really shouldn't worry. If another one of the Sankta's bullets comes for him, you'd bet everything you have that he won't be able to dodge, no matter how much warning he has.
Anyway, they're here to get an explanation, and your version of the story is important for that goal. Neverthless, you're pretty happy with what you've achieved today.
Even if you had to chew X for his pointlessly dramatic antics.
If he wants to join, he better be on his best behavior. The knights are extremely suspicious of you and him now. The only reason they agreed to stay was the Apostle thing, which you justified as Arts that a guy uses to control people. They'll certainly going to be wanting more explanations on that soon.
Two Apostles are confirmed, now.
Thank god you didn't have to explain [CENSORED].
But so far, Rhodes Island doesn't know much. They think X is a mere passerby, that those knights are here for a simple check-up... You wonder what you should tell them, after Shining finishes her own testimony.
Oh, looks like she's finished. It was pretty simple. She said you arrived with someone hot on your heels, who tried to shoot Hibiscus, that they left a message demanding her and someone called "Abram," who they don't know.
Well.
They're looking at you now.
"...hm, Mr..." says the stooge.
"Sieghart."
"Well, Mr. Sieghart, you followed after the shooter and captured them. Can you give us your testimony of that night?"
Exactly what happened, from a certain perspective [X]Write-in. -[X]A mad Sankta Priest started taking potshots at the medic he was guarding so he stopped the shots, chased him down once he confirmed said medic was able to make it back safely and beat him black and blue.
That a neat way of stopping a kidnapping. Though does that mean X know how to track the apostle or was he looking for a spot and just so happened to be in the neighborhood?
Another question to asked now though, should we tell them that the shooter and the attempt kidnapper are related? Well we didn't tell them about that part yet. So should we tell them that as well?
Also Pinus Sylvestris, should we tell them that their friend is connected to the shooter?
We probably shouldn't hide the danger Adam presents. We can say we recognize the handwriting on the warning and that we know who the shooter is working for. We should also find a time to open up about the Light and the As to our team.
[X]Write-in.
-[X]A mad Sankta Priest started taking potshots at the medic he was guarding so he stopped the shots, chased him down once he confirmed said medic was able to make it back safely and beat him black and blue.
-[X]There is an enemy named Adam using Arts to mind control people and turn them into "Apostles"
[X] A Sankta started shooting at Hibiscus with some kind of Bullet Controlling Arts, so you deflected the bullets and retreated. Once Hibiscus was safe, you tracked the shooter down and beat him. The Sankta tried to shoot himself to avoid capture, but then his gun jammed and he collapsed like a puppet with his strings cut. The Sankta had that same effect applied to the Pinus Slyvestris member on him, so whoever wanted Hibiscus dead was also the one who was going to kidnap the two Knights.
[X] A Sankta started shooting at Hibiscus with some kind of Bullet Controlling Arts, so you deflected the bullets and retreated. Once Hibiscus was safe, you tracked the shooter down and beat him. The Sankta tried to shoot himself to avoid capture, but then his gun jammed and he collapsed like a puppet with his strings cut. The Sankta had that same effect applied to the Pinus Slyvestris member on him, so whoever wanted Hibiscus dead was also the one who was going to kidnap the two Knights.
[X] A Sankta started shooting at Hibiscus with some kind of Bullet Controlling Arts, so you deflected the bullets and retreated. Once Hibiscus was safe, you tracked the shooter down and beat him. The Sankta tried to shoot himself to avoid capture, but then his gun jammed and he collapsed like a puppet with his strings cut. The Sankta had that same effect applied to the Pinus Slyvestris member on him, so whoever wanted Hibiscus dead was also the one who was going to kidnap the two Knights.
-[X] I have some suspects, but I'm not sure...the Sankta here was taking about some god or something like Savior... Either this is a cult situation or there are religious nutters running around on the street...best that we be careful.
[X] The Sankta tried to intimidate you and demanded that you hand over the girl and Abram. You disagreed and beat him up instead.
-[X] They don't have to worry about Abram, you've guranteed his safety already. They'll probably want to up the security for their personnel for the time being however.
-[X] Point is, there's a new Cult running around in Kazimierz, and they're behind the weird mind-control that's affecting the two knights' friends and the gunman. You've seen this before, and the mind controlled targets eventually transforms into monsters that could threaten the city if no one stops the mastermind behind the cult.
-[X] You can stop the Cult, but you'll need back-up, information, and free reign to explore the city.
Still not sure if the girl the letter referred to is Hibiscus since Andoian did try to kill her, but the plan here is to reveal as much as we can to stress how dire this situation is. The Doctor and Amiya played the KGCC hard in canon, so here's hoping they get us what we need to stop WhiteNight.
[X] A Sankta started shooting at Hibiscus with some kind of Bullet Controlling Arts, so you deflected the bullets and retreated. Once Hibiscus was safe, you tracked the shooter down and beat him. The Sankta tried to shoot himself to avoid capture, but then his gun jammed and he collapsed like a puppet with his strings cut. The Sankta had that same effect applied to the Pinus Slyvestris member on him, so whoever wanted Hibiscus dead was also the one who was going to kidnap the two Knights.
[X] The Sankta tried to intimidate you and demanded that you hand over the girl and Abram. You disagreed and beat him up instead.
-[X] They don't have to worry about Abram, you've guranteed his safety already. They'll probably want to up the security for their personnel for the time being however.
-[X] Point is, there's a new Cult running around in Kazimierz, and they're behind the weird mind-control that's affecting the two knights' friends and the gunman. You've seen this before, and the mind controlled targets eventually transforms into monsters that could threaten the city if no one stops the mastermind behind the cult.
-[X] You can stop the Cult, but you'll need back-up, information, and free reign to explore the city.
I Like this one
Do you think we should tell them about White Night? If we do, I vote we describe it as an apocalyptically dangerous Arts ritual if explaining Abnos is a no-go. Because we do NOT want that thing to fucking Advent. It'd be a good reason to make a truce with the Library at least.
[X] The Sankta tried to intimidate you and demanded that you hand over the girl and Abram. You disagreed and beat him up instead.
-[X] They don't have to worry about Abram, you've guranteed his safety already. They'll probably want to up the security for their personnel for the time being however.
-[X] Point is, there's a new Cult running around in Kazimierz, and they're behind the weird mind-control that's affecting the two knights' friends and the gunman. You've seen this before, and the mind controlled targets eventually transforms into monsters that could threaten the city if no one stops the mastermind behind the cult.
-[X] You can stop the Cult, but you'll need back-up, information, and free reign to explore the city.
[X] The Sankta tried to intimidate you and demanded that you hand over the girl and Abram. You disagreed and beat him up instead.
-[X] They don't have to worry about Abram, you've guranteed his safety already. They'll probably want to up the security for their personnel for the time being however.
-[X] Point is, there's a new Cult running around in Kazimierz, and they're behind the weird mind-control that's affecting the two knights' friends and the gunman. You've seen this before, and the mind controlled targets eventually transforms into monsters that could threaten the city if no one stops the mastermind behind the cult.
-[X] You can stop the Cult, but you'll need back-up, information, and free reign to explore the city.
[X] The Sankta tried to intimidate you and demanded that you hand over the girl and Abram. You disagreed and beat him up instead.
-[X] They don't have to worry about Abram, you've guranteed his safety already. They'll probably want to up the security for their personnel for the time being however.
-[X] Point is, there's a new Cult running around in Kazimierz, and they're behind the weird mind-control that's affecting the two knights' friends and the gunman. You've seen this before, and the mind controlled targets eventually transforms into monsters that could threaten the city if no one stops the mastermind behind the cult.
-[X] You can stop the Cult, but you'll need back-up, information, and free reign to explore the city.
[X] The Sankta tried to intimidate you and demanded that you hand over the girl and Abram. You disagreed and beat him up instead.
-[X] They don't have to worry about Abram, you've guranteed his safety already. They'll probably want to up the security for their personnel for the time being however.
-[X] Point is, there's a new Cult running around in Kazimierz, and they're behind the weird mind-control that's affecting the two knights' friends and the gunman. You've seen this before, and the mind controlled targets eventually transforms into monsters that could threaten the city if no one stops the mastermind behind the cult.
-[X] You can stop the Cult, but you'll need back-up, information, and free reign to explore the city.
But what matters is that the dormitory camera- which is creepy as shit, by the way- is turned off. It apparently broke. That's great. The Doctor won't come out of nowhere and tap you in the head for no reason while you're trying to sleep. Which, again, is great.
And there isn't anyone else assigned to this dormitory right now. Tequila is with Shamare bullying the Chamber stooges into buying gold at ludicrously overinflated prices, as an example. That's the best part.
Because it means, there is no one to judge you for your actions and the dormitory is completely empty.
Ah yes, the true Arknights Base experience base update when
[X] The Sankta tried to intimidate you and demanded that you hand over the girl and Abram. You disagreed and beat him up instead.
-[X] They don't have to worry about Abram, you've guranteed his safety already. They'll probably want to up the security for their personnel for the time being however.
-[X] Point is, there's a new Cult running around in Kazimierz, and they're behind the weird mind-control that's affecting the two knights' friends and the gunman. You've seen this before, and the mind controlled targets eventually transforms into monsters that could threaten the city if no one stops the mastermind behind the cult.
-[X] You can stop the Cult, but you'll need back-up, information, and free reign to explore the city.
Do we really need to convince them that we need the freedom to explore kazimierz? I don't think its necessary. If we said we just wanted to investigate i think RI would allow it, not to mention that we're here for linette and beats now that X is with us.
While adam is a problem, its also not a problem I'd hoist onto anyone at RI that isnt a feranmut.
Without trying to get approval from RI or extra help taking him down, do we need to embellish anything? All they want is an account of the last night, which is
"Some wacko with bouncing bullets tried to shoot us, his gun jammed and he got real sad so we took him back for questioning."
Tbh i dont really like any of the plans. Theyre either too brutish ("beat him black and blue"? Seriously?) Or they expound too much.
[X] A sankta attempted to shoot hibiscus, demanding we turn her over. I was able to chase him down and apprehend him, since his gun jammed and he broke down.
[X] A sankta attempted to shoot hibiscus, demanding we turn her over. I was able to chase him down and apprehend him, since his gun jammed and he broke down.
