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Conference Call: Redhead Redemption

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Junkoposter said:
Fair enough. I suppose WhiteNight or Apocalypse Bird really would be the only "counters" to SAVE and RESET that exist in the verses we got available (not counting Undertale or Madoka making a Wish for whatever reason). Can't even reset the Day when they are up and about.

Alas, all hypotheticals. No way in hell Yuri is gonna get any of this lmao
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To be honest i thoat yhat they both just exsist a little outside of the world... even more then this all abno. So this is why
 
Mercy said:
To be honest i thoat yhat they both just exsist a little outside of the world... even more then this all abno. So this is why
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WhiteNight speaks directly when preventing you from messing with time, while one of Apocalypse Bird's parts is referenced as having held or hidden time away. So I think it is that both of them can actively assert their authority over time against any sort of interference, no matter where it comes from.

On an unrelated note, since Undyne hasn't seemed to randomly forget parts of conversation that I can recall, either no saves have been loaded just yet (or at least not since the node was set up) or everyone's timelines are getting affected. Otherwise Undyne would have ended up out of synch with everyone else chronologically.
 
I remember in the original Conference Call, one guy (the protag of The Mother of Learning) is stuck in a timeloop. When he loops back, no one else moves or forgets him or anything. The Node infects him a few loops in IIRC.

So the fact that Undyne has seen any time weirdness and hasn't spontaneously forgotten shit likely means that this Frisk hasn't tried to reset or reload a save yet.

Then again, the loops in MoL is a simulation IIRC, so maybe not.
 
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No the problem is that two Realms have connected, instead of any user problems. The whole point of the Node is to make a more 'coherent multiverse' or something, so it's an expected result. If a bit earlier than Mod Scarlet was expecting I suppose.
 
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drearyArchon said:
I remember in the original Conference Call, one guy (the protag of The Mother of Learning)
is stuck in a timeloop. When he loops back, no one else moves or forgets him or anything. The Node infects him a few loops in IIRC.

So the fact that Undyne has seen any time weirdness and hasn't spontaneously forgotten shit likely means that this Frisk hasn't tried to reset or reload a save yet.

Then again, the loops in MoL is a simulation IIRC, so maybe not.
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Could I get a link to this,
I've read A mother of learning.
 
I'm not sure how to feel about the Apolcalypse Bird spoiler since I was looking forwards to that fight. On one hand, the terror and despair of finding out that my pause button no longer works mid-boss fight has been averted, on the other hand, isn't that kinda the main draw of the Lobotomy Corp experience?
 
MilitantBird said:
I'm not sure how to feel about the Apolcalypse Bird spoiler since I was looking forwards to that fight. On one hand, the terror and despair of finding out that my pause button no longer works mid-boss fight has been averted, on the other hand, isn't that kinda the main draw of the Lobotomy Corp experience?
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I guess to some people the main draw of lob corp is trial and error. The feeling of accomplishment you get from figuring out how these things tick. I just want to beat the game so I always have the wiki open to read wth these things are gonna do before they do them.
 
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Chapter 14: Insinuation
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    • Chapter 14: Insinuation

    Node1127: Private Channel with emma
    emma: scarlet told me u found out I
    emma: y'know
    emma: existed
    emma: so hi.
    emma: u, uh
    emma: gonna say anything?
    Yuri: Hello, Emma. I apologize for not greeting you when you first joined this Node.
    Yuri: Though, I am glad that the Moderator seems to have taken the time to get you situated personally, such that you are not overly confused.
    Yuri: I look forward to working with you.
    emma: huh
    emma: that's it?
    Yuri: What do you mean?
    emma: was kinda expectin more hostility.
    emma: "why tf haven't u been talkin?"
    emma: "whats your deal lurkin here?"
    emma: "who r u? who who, who who"
    emma: etc.
    Yuri: I don't see the harm in being polite.
    Yuri: Were you hoping for a more confrontational response?
    emma: just thought it was weird
    emma: Kyoko was ruder about it.
    emma: thought you'd have questions.
    Yuri: …
    Yuri: If you insist, I'll be frank with you.
    Yuri: Yes, I have concerns.
    Yuri: Part of me wants to ruthlessly interrogate you about your behavior and abilities.
    Yuri: The information you've gathered on us, imbalanced with the information you've kept hidden.
    Yuri: In an ideal world, I would squeeze you for information until you were bled drier than a victim of a Bloodfiend.
    Yuri: Until you were no longer a threat, and I was satiated.
    Yuri: But it would be pointless.
    emma: wdym?
    Yuri: Whether I like it or not, we are Nodemates now.
    Yuri: All of us are expected to get along, on pain of ostracization and loss of privileges.
    Yuri: This Node is not so easily silenced or escaped.
    Yuri: I can hope.
    Yuri: That you will alleviate my concerns, share pertinent information, and hold no ill intentions.
    Yuri: But as per usual, if you choose otherwise, there is nothing I can do.
    Yuri: I repeat: I look forward to working with you.






    "Pyrrha! Pyrrha! Oh, and Ren!"

    The voice came from behind, high-pitched and energetic. The enthusiasm of a child. And the telltale whoosh! of a speed Semblance—Petal Burst.

    Pyrrha turned around to the smiling face of Ruby Rose. And behind her, not her partner Weiss, but Blake Belladonna. Not a usual pair, but she supposed there was likely a reason for it. She'd heard through the grapevine that Ruby had also gotten into an altercation on the night of the dance, quite possibly even with the same person, though many of the details were a bit fuzzy all around—she'd even heard one upperclassman claim that she'd been arrested and detained! Blake, meanwhile, had been on the scene just outside the great hall. It made sense that she would have an interest.

    Pyrrha gave the two of them a warm smile, stopping in place. Ren, beside her, simply slowed, advancing a little further towards their dorm room and giving the appearance of getting out of earshot.

    "What can I do for you, Ruby?" Pyrrha said politely.

    Ruby eagerly replied, "I heard you got into a fight! At the dance!" Words streamed towards her, almost overlapping. "So did I! Did she come from the CCT Tower? What was she like?"

    Behind the red-clad Huntress, Pyrrha caught the faintest whiff of a sigh escape Blake's lips. She'd probably wanted to approach her in a more serious manner. The concealed cat Faunus tended to want to treat most things with a sense of gravitas, and Pyrrha could respect the effort. That said, Team RWBY wouldn't be Team RWBY without Ruby's childish whimsy and Yang's boisterousness.

    "Yes, she did come from the CCTS Tower," Pyrrha started slowly, trying to put her thoughts in order. "Jaune and I saw her dive out of a window from the dance hall's roof."

    "Congratulations on that, by the way," Blake commented dryly.

    Pyrrha nodded, continuing, "She had long black hair and wore a domino mask. And a telekinetic Semblance, or perhaps one pertaining specifically to heated glass. Given my own Semblance of Polarity," she awkwardly gestured at herself, "it's a little difficult to judge when we only fought for such a brief time. I believe she would have proved herself the superior combatant, had the fight dragged on for long enough, however."

    Ruby gasped. "Really? But you're Pyrrha! Was she really that—" Ruby struggled with words for a moment, chopping about with her hands like a bad ninja impression. At times, the fact that she'd been admitted into Beacon two years early showed. Eventually, she settled lamely on, "—strong? Was she really that, um, strong?"

    "Yes. Ruthless, as well." Pyrrha recalled the image of Cinder Fall's fallen teammate, left to bleed out and scarred for life simply for being in the wrong place at the wrong time, witnessing something she ought not have. It was… disheartening, to have let her attacker escape that night. To allow someone so quick to injure, so unfazed by doing harm to another human being, to roam free.

    Justice should have been done.

    "You're talking about Emerald," Blake said. "I'm not sure if you heard, but she's recovering in the hospital as we speak. Mercury says she should be discharged soon. In time to participate in the Vytal Festival."

    Gratefully, Pyrrha smiled. "That is a relief. Her injury was the result of my failure. If I'd just been a bit faster—"

    "C'mon, Pyrrha!" It's Ruby that interjected, pouting adorably. "Nobody's perfect! If she was really as strong as you said, there isn't much you could've done, right? You'll just have to be stronger next time!"

    …Pyrrha appreciated the effort, truly. But it was a double standard she was being held to. In two sentences: surprise that Pyrrha Nikos had failed at a task, and encouragement meant to lower her own expectations? She could not both be imperfect and the Invincible Girl. And while she would, in many ways, prefer not to be seen as the latter… not at the cost of someone's health. In the future, as a Huntress proper, it would be innocent lives at stake. She could not afford to make errors then. She would have to be invincible in truth, not just in reputation; it was not as if the Grimm cared about it.

    It was with a shaky smile that Pyrrha accepted Ruby's smiling advice regardless. "To finish my account, the perpetrator ran off into Vale proper. Blake, you would know; you were there. And we lost her there. That's all I know."

    Blake and Ruby shot each other meaningful glances that Pyrrha couldn't quite decode. Something to do with their sorties against Roman Torchwick and the White Fang? Blake seemed to find it a passion project, on account of it being her people committing the acts of terrorism. Whatever it meant, they both seemed satisfied. So as Ruby gave thanks and turned to leave, Pyrrha began to do the same, catch up to Ren.

    "If you don't mind my curiosity, what are you doing with all that Dust?" Blake asked offhandedly.

    Pyrrha froze.

    That's right. She was carrying a SDC-branded briefcase, silver-and-white. She'd borrowed it from Weiss, thanked her for the lent Dust powder. Almost every different type known to man. It was for the Node, the Relic in her pocket. She'd promised the Moderator, and her Nodemates by extension that she would get her 'multiversal constant' in order.

    With the help of her team, she'd come up with a ready excuse for why she needed it. Jaune had been the one to ask for it, betwixt an apology for harassing Weiss for so long.

    She couldn't remember the excuse.

    "I… um…" Pyrrha stuttered. Blake raised an eyebrow.

    This was mortifying. Perhaps she should just come clean about the Node. Team RWBY were good people! They'd understand.

    A quiet, yet firm voice came from over her shoulder: Ren's. When had he arrived? She hadn't heard him. "Nora wanted to experiment with different Dust types for her grenades. We don't have the funds to purchase it full-price, so we asked Jaune to ask Weiss for a discounted sampler."

    Pyrrha laughed, a little too high. "Ah, yes… yes, that's exactly it."

    Blake's eyebrow lowered, slightly. But if Pyrrha was reading her correctly, her skepticism had not gone away. But she did not question her further, simply replying, "Good luck with that."

    With that, Ren and Pyrrha finally started making the trek back to their dorm room. Ren took the impetus to speak up:

    "Pyrrha… you know I love you. But the phrase 'I'm getting it for Nora' is not rocket science."

    "I…" Brothers, this was awful. Getting lambasted by Ren. He didn't even sound mad. Just… tired. It made it worse, somehow. How did Nora cope? She could cry. She might cry.

    "If lying is so difficult for you, consider not lying," Ren said, tone still carefully neutral. "Team JNPR is here for you, but we can't manage this every time."

    Pyrrha sighed. "You're right, Ren. I'll… I'll think about it."





    Node1127
    Pyrrha: Scarlet, I have all the Dust now.
    Pyrrha: I know it took far longer than it should have.
    Pyrrha: I'm sorry.


    Her whole team was here to see this. Mostly because she was in their shared dorm, and they would've been here anyway. But she still appreciated the show of support! Nora, in particular, was on the floor sitting next to Pyrrha, ooh-ing and aah-ing at each of the Dust vials laid out. She made a mental note to legitimately give them to Nora if they ended up with any left over, since it was clear she would enjoy tinkering with new Dust types. She could make the lie into reality! The thought was appealing.

    Node1127
    ModScarlet: Ah. I'm a little busy right now, but…
    ModScarlet: I can make time for this. Alright.
    ModScarlet: "Dust" comes in a crystalline powder form, correct? Place the Connection Relic into your first sample.
    Yuri: Good luck!


    She uncapped a vial of Burn Dust and did just that.

    "Is anything supposed to happen?" Jaune wondered aloud.

    Node1127
    Pyrrha: Done.
    ModScarlet: I'm getting some exotic energy readings. Let me take these down.
    Kyoko: Hey Pyrrha, mind sending us a snapshot?
    Pyrrha: Okay.


    "Say cheese, Nora," Pyrrha said. Nora shot her a peace sign and a customary grin.

    Node1127
    Pyrrha: /inputFlow
    Kyoko: …Looks way less interesting than I thought.
    Kyoko: Screw it, I'm out.
    ModScarlet: Next sample, please.


    The process repeated with Electricity Dust, Ice Dust, and Earth Dust, each one taking less and less time. Pyrrha thought it was because Scarlet was acclimating and gaining experience. The truth turned out to be less glamorous.

    Node1127
    ModScarlet: I think you can stop now.
    ModScarlet: I'm not noticing any notable differences in signature between your different Dust samples.
    ModScarlet: The data gathered after the first sample has been negligible.
    Pyrrha: Oh.
    ModScarlet: I suspect Dust composition, in all of its forms, is quite similar.
    ModScarlet: While it does seem to be unique to your context, it doesn't seem to be particularly foundational.
    ModScarlet: That said, we've still made some noticeable gains here.
    ModScarlet: At least a percentage or two of Core allocation, probably.
    Yuri: Only one or two percent?
    ModScarlet: I never said this would be easy.
    ModScarlet: That said, Pyrrha, do you have any other energy sources or otherwise you'd like to try, since I'm here?


    "You've stopped," Ren noted. "Has there been an issue?"

    Pyrrha sighed, pushing the remaining unopened Dust samples over to Nora. "Different types of Dust apparently only count as a single energy source. The Moderator isn't gaining any new meaningful information. They're currently asking if I can think of any unique ones. Do any of you have any ideas?"

    A moment of silence passed. Nora gave up first, shrugging and returning to putting Dust samples back into the briefcase. Ren was next, though he made no obvious tell about it.

    Jaune, of all people, ended up speaking up: "Hey, Pyrrha, remember when you went to spar against, uh, Undyne? You asked me to monitor your Aura for you, but we didn't have a monitor for Undyne. Did she just not have it?"

    Thinking back, that had been one of the more exhilarating experiences Pyrrha had ever had. Undyne was not nearly as skilled as Pyrrha in melee combat. But she made up for it in spades—or should she say, spears!—with her unique monster magic, calling down storms of spears and freezing her in place with that strange green attack. She'd had to go all-out in that battle, short of using her Semblance on Undyne's intimidating suit of armor and locking her in place; that'd be poor sportsmanship. And she'd still lost! That hadn't happened in… Brothers knew how long.

    When they fought again, Pyrrha would use her Semblance for a cheap win, just to stoke some friendly competition. She had no doubt that Undyne would adapt, whether by shedding the armor for better mobility or some monster trick she couldn't even conceive of. She was looking forward to it.

    (Some part of her thirsted to test herself against Kyoko Sakura. Recalling from the early days of the Node, apparently she'd thrashed the monsters' Captain of the Guard in short order. The raw power that would require… Pyrrha was very curious. She likely wouldn't stand a chance, but even if there was no victory in strength, surely she could learn something.)

    Pyrrha paused in thought. "Apparently, monsters are made of 'magic'. From what I and she could tell, it essentially meant that her body was composed entirely of Aura. She didn't know the term 'Aura', but she clearly used it during our spar. I believe it's simply a difference in vocabulary."

    "What about the other two?" Jaune probed.

    "...Come to think of it, they didn't have theirs' active, when they activated the inputFlow," Pyrrha realized, slowly. "The sense-sharing command," she elaborated.

    Jaune's eyes widened. "Didn't? Or couldn't? Remember, when I first came to Beacon, I didn't have Aura. Maybe that's true of people in other worlds, too!"

    That was a thought worth consideration.

    Node1127
    Pyrrha: Quick question for Yuri and Kyoko.
    Pyrrha: Do you girls possess Aura?
    Yuri: If you mean that strange feeling of nebulous power that runs across your body, then no.
    Yuri: I assumed it was a power unique to you and your friends.
    Kyoko: Nope!
    Kyoko: You mentioned it was a barrier or something awhile ago. What does it actually do?


    "You're right, Jaune," Pyrrha said, awe evident in her voice. "Aura is unique to Remnant. Of course you would be the one to figure that out."

    "I… think that was a compliment!" he squeaked out. Pyrrha dug around in the sample of Earth Dust until she'd retrieved the Connection Relic, still shining brightly.

    Node1127
    Pyrrha: To put it in the words of a friend, it's like a forcefield.
    Pyrrha: One can bare one's soul outward to protect one's physical form. Tools and weapons are conduits for Aura.
    Pyrrha: …You've been fighting without Aura all this time, haven't you?
    Kyoko: I mean, yeah.
    Kyoko: Not like I need it, though!
    Yuri: It sounds like quite the powerful augment.
    Yuri: I would be so lucky to possess something like that.
    Pyrrha: It also may count as a source of unique energy for the purposes of this Node.
    Pyrrha: Scarlet, I'm going to try and push my Aura into the Relic. Are you ready?
    ModScarlet: Yes. Go ahead.


    She didn't do something so rash as to try to activate the Relic's Aura. Rather, she simply treated it the same way she would Miló and Akoúo̱: as if it were a weapon, an extension of her. It was more difficult to do so for the unfamiliar otherworldly connection than it would have been for her battle-tested personalized armaments, but at the same time the Relic had literally no mass, if Scarlet was correct. It balanced out. And results came in immediately.

    Node1127
    ModScarlet: Exotic energy readings, once again.
    ModScarlet: This was a good idea, Pyrrha. 'Aura' seems to be much more foundational to your context's underpinnings.
    ModScarlet: This should free up a few more percentage points.
    ModScarlet: You can stop now, by the way.


    As Pyrrha did so, another thought occurred to her. One that should have much earlier, in fact. Even if Aura was not native to her Nodemates' contexts, that did not mean she could not unlock their Auras for them! They surely had souls, after all. It could help them in their day-to-day lives, especially if they were anywhere near as dangerous as the life of a Huntress.

    Node1127
    Pyrrha: I may be able to unlock your Auras, in fact.
    Pyrrha: I'm sorry I didn't consider it earlier; I had simply assumed you all already had Aura.
    Yuri: Is it a complicated process?
    Pyrrha: It should only require touch, some focus on my part, and a recited stanza.
    Pyrrha: I assume all of you are interested?
    Kyoko: God damn right.
    Yuri: I would not turn down a personal forcefield.
    Pyrrha: Undyne?
    Undyne: Oh! Yeah! Sure!
    Kyoko: You've been awake this whole time? Been pretty quiet.
    Undyne: Hey Kyoko!
    Undyne: Who's God?
    Kyoko: Wait, the Hell?
    Kyoko: I thought you were a Christian!
    Kyoko: I've seen you swear on His name!
    Undyne: Okay, look here.
    Undyne: I just picked it up from the human cartoons Alphys keeps watching!
    Undyne: Humans keep saying it when they're pissed or surprised, same way Gerson and some of the old folks keep swearing on the Angel!
    Kyoko: For the love of God, you're ridiculous.
    Undyne: Yeah, exactly like that!
    Kyoko: I've heard of taking the Lord's name in vain before.
    Kyoko: Never quite like this, though.
    Undyne: For that matter, what's a Christian?
    Kyoko: Wait, back up, hold on.
    Kyoko: You get your knowledge about humanity from cartoons.
    Undyne: HOW ELSE???
    Kyoko: Ah, right. Cave.
    Pyrrha: I think it's admirable that you are trying to learn about a different culture or species through any means possible.
    Pyrrha: Though I will admit, children's cartoons are perhaps not the ideal way to do so.
    Undyne: It's not kiddie stuff, it's CARTOONS!


    What?

    Node1127
    Pyrrha: …that's what I just said?
    ModScarlet: Ah, sorry to interrupt!
    ModScarlet: I think there's a translation issue going on here.
    ModScarlet: Pyrrha's context does not have a perfect translation for the word "anime".
    ModScarlet: Likely, it doesn't exist as a concept?
    ModScarlet: The translation service is approximating the best it can, for all three of your languages.
    ModScarlet: Kyoko and/or Undyne, would you mind providing a definition for the word?
    ModScarlet: I'll fix it manually, on the backend, when I find the time.
    Kyoko: Eh, sure.


    "You look like someone just stole your pancakes!" Nora exclaimed. "What's up?"

    "They're talking about cartoons now," Pyrrha confusedly explained. "Apparently, both Kyoko and Undyne's worlds have this special kind of animation called 'anime'. Comes from a place called Japan? Wait, actually, Undyne doesn't really know. Kyoko says it comes from Japan, though she also doesn't have much experience with it. Wait, now Yuri's chiming in? It's a specific style?"

    Pyrrha's report rapidly devolved into contradictory murmuring. The rest of Team JNPR watched, first worried, then amused. In the end, they failed to establish a consistent definition of anime, settling on "You'll know it when you see it."

    All in all, a pretty good day.






    Node1127: Private Channel with ModScarlet
    ModScarlet: Emma, would you mind if I connected your Realm to the Relic?
    ModScarlet: I'd like to get a baseline of spacetime in your vicinity, to compare and contrast with the other Realms'.
    emma: sure.
    ModScarlet: /relic modify Relic1 add Connection{'Realm5'}

    Modifying Relic.
    Opening Connection.


    Emma turned her hand over, watching the glowing Relic cascade between her fingers. Like a marble, or a coin. No sensation of touch or mass. She didn't have the dexterity to stop it from escaping her grasp, so it gently fell and rested on the carpet.

    Node1127: Private Channel with ModScarlet
    ModScarlet: Not ideal.
    emma: ?
    emma: problem?
    ModScarlet: Not yet.
    ModScarlet: You'll learn more soon; I'll be telling the entire Node.
    emma: it's like 2 am tho…?
    ModScarlet: And?
    emma: nvm.


    Emma spun herself around in her chair and rose to her feet. She walked to the window, covered by heavy curtains. Peeled back a corner, granting her a slight glimpse of the world outside it.

    It was palatable, looking out over the darkness. A crescent moon tonight—that was nice, too. Not too bright. Not too dark. Outlines were visible. But nothing concrete. Not enough detail to make out anything too small. Anything with too many legs, too many wings. Anything, really. She stood there, and stared, without flinching.

    It was her way of making progress. Of crawling—no, she didn't like that word. Of pulling herself, pulling herself back together. Back from the brink. A week ago, she wouldn't have even tried to do this much. Wouldn't have tolerated it. She knew she wasn't winning any records like this, but even the small steps felt like monumental undertakings, these days. Maybe, someday, her room wouldn't reek of repellant—necessary, for now. She'd be able to go outside again.

    …Might want a HAZMAT suit first.

    She was thinking about a moment, earlier on.

    Node1127
    Kyoko: You've been awake this whole time? Been pretty quiet.
    Undyne: Hey Kyoko!
    Undyne: Who's God?


    That was a deflection. A dodged question. Undyne wasn't even being subtle about it. Nobody noticed, called it out. It strained disbelief. The other redheads could not be this oblivious.

    …No, they absolutely could. Pyrrha was formal, polite, but in a celebrity's manner. Like a hero waving down from a pedestal. She was trained, but not practiced. In terms of interactions with peers on an individual level, Emma wouldn't be surprised if she were only experiencing it with her term in college, in this Node. Kyoko was confrontational in a way that suggested she spent most of her time alone, aggressively warding people away. The two people Emma knew of that she'd met in person, she'd attempted to kill, which spoke volumes about her social skills. And Yuri… She probably had noticed. She worked in a corporate environment, with fellow 'Fixers'. Had demonstrated that she knew how to toe a company line for the most part, presumably how to read the mood of a superior and react accordingly. But she was paranoid, skittish. The same social savvy that let her detect Undyne's blatant bullshit also discouraged her from saying anything about it.

    Emma had formed a detailed profile of the Fixer. Her introduction hadn't gone as planned. In the wake of Yuri's unconcealed fury, she'd been socially obligated to reveal information. She'd explained a lot of base details about Earth Bet, parahumans, and herself: mostly the same things she'd told Kyoko. But she had learned a lot about her Nodemate that she otherwise would not have. Disparate puzzle pieces, finally pieced together thanks to a glance at the bigger picture. Providing information that she was willing to do so regardless: it was a good trade.

    She could boil down her Nodemates, their desires and wishes, into single, digestible words. It was reductive, but sometimes she didn't have time to take into account every element of every person. Sometimes, she could feel a panic attack coming, a memory resurfacing, and knew she didn't have much productive brainpower left. Needed to simplify. One-word concepts and quick solutions, conclusions.

    Kyoko was 'independence'. Undyne was 'justice'. And Yuri was 'safety'. She craved the abstract feeling of 'not feeling like she was in danger'. And almost all of her actions could be structured around that: She worried over Emma because the unknown was dangerous. She was terrified of ModScarlet, of Pyrrha, because they were powerful, and therefore potentially dangerous. She chose her words carefully, because saying the wrong thing in a social situation could be dangerous.

    Ironic, that she wasn't very good at it. Yuri had tried. To hold back her true feelings, and stay professional. But it had taken only a minimum of prodding to get her to spill over. Social savvy, but with poor self-control? Emma wondered if she'd realized her own weakness, if it was part of the reason she tended towards quiet.

    When it came to silence, Emma was in no place to judge.

    Back to Undyne. Undyne being quiet all day, despite being awake, wasn't anything troubling on its own. The fact that she felt the need to hide the fact, however, was. She'd forgotten, in the end, to follow up on her initial question, on God. Content that the flow of conversation had been driven away from her. The cover-up was a failure: it revealed more than silence would have.

    Undyne, what are you hiding? What are you concerned about?

    Node1127: Private Channel with ModScarlet
    ModScarlet: I thought I'd provide a warning to all.
    ModScarlet: It has been brought to my attention that two of the people in this Node share a Realm.
    ModScarlet: I've done some limited analysis with the data from the portal Relics, to try and narrow down which two.
    ModScarlet: However, I haven't been able to draw a meaningful conclusion.
    ModScarlet: If two of your contexts' fundamental rules were similar enough, I'd mark those two down as 'probably the same context'.
    ModScarlet: But that hasn't been the case; all of your worlds have notably different constants.
    ModScarlet: Oh, huh. None of you are awake, are you.
    Undyne: I'm awake!
    ModScarlet: And you have no comment?
    Undyne: Nope!
    ModScarlet: …Okay then.
    ModScarlet: As it stands, I'm left to believe that two of you share a Realm, yet live in areas with vastly different physics and rules.
    ModScarlet: You're likely a fair distance apart, whether spatially, temporally, or dimensionally.
    ModScarlet: The reason that this is a warning is because, as a general rule, other Nodes and other Moderators don't appreciate it when one of us lays claim to more than one User in a single Realm.
    ModScarlet: "Undue influence", they might claim.
    ModScarlet: Even if it was an accident! Which it was.
    ModScarlet: That said, I'm fairly certain that you guys will not run into any other Nodes.
    ModScarlet: The odds of running into another Moderator in a nearly infinite multiverse is nearly zero.
    Undyne: Same as the odds of picking five outta five redheads from a nearly infinite multiverse?
    ModScarlet: …Point. Regardless, I stand by that.
    ModScarlet: I've nothing else to say. Back to your… sleep, probably.


    Undyne was awake this late. If Emma wanted to, she could confront the monster, at the cost of revealing her presence to one more person. One more little thing she would have only grasping control over.

    …She was probably getting worked up over nothing. Undyne was going on a date with Alphys, or hanging out with Papyrus. Something she didn't want to talk about, but not something to worry about.

    It didn't matter. She'd be fine.

    Not like Emma could make a difference, anyway. Not in this Node full of monsters and Magical Girls. Even Yuri at least had combat experience, though she'd been keeping coy about her superpowers.

    …Pyrrha's offer to unlock their Auras was a tempting one. She'd have to reach out to a third person. But the reward? A personal forcefield, like Glory Girl's? Even at its weakest, it could be a Brute 1 rating. Enough to become a cape, to count as parahuman. She could feel strong, and have it not be a lie. Maybe even enough to catch up to—

    Distantly, Emma felt the impact on her ass. Knew she'd fallen down. It took a backseat. To the scratching. Scritching. Buzzing. A tiny cacophony, for her and her alone. Her knees, hugged to her chest. Hair fell into her face, and she welcomed it. Familiar red blocked out the vision of her room, the blackness infecting the edges of her vision.

    It would pass. It wasn't the first time. They'd been lasting shorter, shorter.

    But any time was still far too long. And in the meantime…

    It still proved she was the same victim she'd always been.
     
  • Threadmarks
    • So, which two have potentially connected realms separated by dimension/time/whatever?

    Undyne/Undertale
    Kyoko Sakura/Puella Magi Madoka Magica
    Yuri/Limbus
    Emma/Worm
    Pyrrha/RWBY

    I think Worm is on it's own as a 'sci-fi' setting, while the others all have mystical elements. PMMM feels like more of a universal setting than a single planet one, so tentatively I'm saying 'not it'.

    RWBY has the whole 'before the moon blew up' setting change. Limbus city is
    on the moon
    So my guess is going to be RWBY/Limbus are same setting. Limbus in ancient history before lots of dramatic stuff happened.
     
    ptbptb said:
    So, which two have potentially connected realms separated by dimension/time/whatever?

    Undyne/Undertale
    Kyoko Sakura/Puella Magi Madoka Magica
    Yuri/Limbus
    Emma/Worm
    Pyrrha/RWBY

    I think Worm is on it's own as a 'sci-fi' setting, while the others all have mystical elements. PMMM feels like more of a universal setting than a single planet one, so tentatively I'm saying 'not it'.
    Click to expand...
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    I mean, they figured it out by scanning Emma's realm, so I would imagine it's Worm/X, with the X being in some other dimension of the local Wormverse Dimensional Cluster, like Earth Aleph. Not sure which one, but I would guess PMMM myself.
     
    powergoat said:
    I mean, they figured it out by scanning Emma's realm
    Click to expand...
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    Not really?

    It was only when they scanned the last realm that they knew that there were four realms, but five sets of physics/metaphysics. Up until they scanned the last realm it could have been (as they expected) that there two of the people on the same realm AND same physics/metaphysics. So Emma's realm isn't specifically more or less significant than the rest.
     
    I feel like the connected Realms are either Worm/PMMM or Limbus/PMMM.

    Worm and PMMM's Greater Scope Antagonists act similar enough that one could be mistaken for the other. The Entities and the Incubators are hyper-advanced aliens who empower less advanced species for the end goal of delaying/stopping entropy altogether, neither have human mentalities and human emotions could be considered mental illnesses for both species.

    As for Limbus ad PMMM, the way that Distortions and Witches work are notably similar. Both are beings born from an excess of negative emotions, both could create subdimensions that reflect their personal issues, and both often have the ability to create sub entities with similar powers. Distortions could also turn into Abnormalities, who could be harvested for energy like the Witches. Most importantly, this similarity has been noted in two Quests that I know the author had read and liked.
     
    Last edited:
    Of course, there's also the fact that Worm has dimensional travel as a major thing, and Undertale is stuck in a cave. So that's two that could very easily fit into another.
     
    Everyone here is doomed by the narrative in their own stories, as I've come to notice.

    Yuri, to die tragically in an attempt to be useful after finally finding a place where she thinks she can belong and a semblance of Hope.

    Undyne, to die DETERMINED and heroically to save as many as she can from a genocidal "monster".

    Pyrrha, to die against Cinder in an attempt to stop a monster, granting a Pyrrhic victory for her friends.

    Kyoko, to shatter her very soul to make sure a certain blueberry won't be alone and suffering in despair.

    Emma, to be another casualty among many to Scion, dying alone and scared in her room.
     
    My take on who's sharing a realm would be Undyne and Yuri. Because Pm-verse has the most amount of unknown space to put things in (we barely know what's going on outside the City and it's only the size of a small country, so there is an entire planet left blank for now) and the way Undyne has been described as made out of soul-stuff reminds me of the way a distortion of a Remnant native not having aura has been addressed in Amber's quest.
     
    derpfen said:
    Of course, there's also the fact that Worm has dimensional travel as a major thing, and Undertale is stuck in a cave. So that's two that could very easily fit into another.
    Click to expand...
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    It could really be any of them because Worm has the parallel worlds, Litmus is apparently on the moon, Remnant is a non earth planet and Undertale has all the supernatural stuff underground which means 4 of the 5 have reasons to justify them being one of them. Only thing I'd add is that worm has the entities being aware of all the alt worlds in their realm so you'd have to justify him still picking bet plus wog is souls and magic don't exist in worm which rules out worm/rwby and worm/undertale.
     
    famfrit said:
    plus wog is souls and magic don't exist in worm which rules out worm/rwby and worm/undertale.
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    This is a little incorrect. The exact word of Wildbow is that "if souls exist in the parahumans verse, the entities do not know about them or how to interact with them." It could be inferred that, given how advanced entities are and how many civilizations they've consumed the knowledge of, that if they don't have proof of souls then souls probably don't exist - however, it is theoretically possible that souls do exist, but they're hard enough to find that none of the many civilizations eaten by entities had any proof of them.

    As such, things are kinda open season in terms of fanfic canon compliance on that front. We do also have a word of Wildbow that if the entities encountered magic, they would do science to it and probably figure things out pretty fast. If they can interact with it, they can have shards poke it until they learn how the magic works. It'd be interesting, sometime, to have a Wormfic with an outside-context power that actually examines how the shard network would react to said outside element.
     
    ImperatorV said:
    This is a little incorrect. The exact word of Wildbow is that "if souls exist in the parahumans verse, the entities do not know about them or how to interact with them." It could be inferred that, given how advanced entities are and how many civilizations they've consumed the knowledge of, that if they don't have proof of souls then souls probably don't exist - however, it is theoretically possible that souls do exist, but they're hard enough to find that none of the many civilizations eaten by entities had any proof of them.
    Click to expand...
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    Which assumes the entities never had something actively hidden from them. Successfully anyway. Or that a more advanced civilization brought magic into the realm of a scientific discipline and had purged any supernatural sounding language from it's rigors.
     
    Unless new information from more recent seasons has changed it, I've seen people draw connections between the Gods in RWBY and the entities. Also between semblances and parahuman powers. Other people have pointed out entity/incubator parallels as well so my theory is either it's Worn/PMMM or Worm/RWBY. Of course it could also be Undertale/whatever.
     
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