The Lands Beyond (Outer Wilds/The Land Before Time)
- Thread starter gutza1
- Start date
- Crossover Sci-Fi
Loop 2 - Part 23
- Location
- Orlando, Florida
[X][Destination] MBV Windwaker
-[X] The anomalies with the ships beacon are concerning. Better check that out while we're still in orbit
--[X] Try to cram in as much possible time studying the manual.
You don't really see the point of just ignoring the Windwaker. Besides the mystery of its malfunctioning beacon, you wonder if you might also find some information about whatever is going on with the Submerged City.
You hope Parker's docking skills are up to par.
"Maybe we should just dock with the Mothership," you tell Parker. He smirks.
"Something told me you'd say that. Wouldn't want to leave loose ends, huh?" he teases. "It's as good a time as any to show how an astrosaur docks."
He switches to CORS' rendezvous display, then selects the Windwaker as the target and activates the program. Nothing happens except for a countdown appearing on the screen. Ten minutes.
"Yeah, that's just the burn to get our perigee the same as the Windwaker. Usually it takes at least half a day to rendezvous but the orbit our aerocapture manuever sent us into is already pretty egg-shaped, making it easier to get our orbits in-phase. Guess you made the right choice after all, huh?" he remarks. You chuckle at the thought, then switch back to the manual. In what feels like no time at all, you hear the sound of the Starflyer's jets reverberate through the cockpit as the vessel orients itself for the burn. You see that Gale's Abyss has grown notably more distant.
You slam the book shut the moment the turbopump spins up. Mercifully, the burn is over in a few seconds, and you soon are able toget back to your reading.
Manual Progress: 24 hours/30 hours
Two hours pass before Parker interrupts you to notify you that the rendezvous burn is imminent. You look up and see Gale's Abyss looming in front of you. It feels like the moon is somehow taunting you with its shifting cloud patterns that have no pattern or meaning to be found. Then, to the side of it, you spot a faint pinprick of light gliding to the left, in the direction of Gale's Abyss. Parker notices the direction of your gaze and points towards the object.
"That, I believe, is the Windwaker. From our perspective, we're traveling towards it at a quick pace, which is why we need to slow down very soon!" he explains. You look down at the displays, and spot another countdown, showing only thirty seconds. As expected, CORS fires up the Starflyer's jets to orient the craft opposite to the Windwaker. The turbopump spins up and the engine fires for a good twenty seconds. When the burn ends, Parker manually takes control of the Starflyer and turns it around again. Very faintly in the distance, you can see the Windwaker as a tiny blemish in front of Gale's Abyss' clouds.
"Here comes the tricky part. Normally we'd use CORS to dock, but since the beacon is broken, we'll have to do it the old-fashioned way," says Parker before pressing a button that you recognize as the manual engine ignition switch. You brace for acceleration as the engine roars to life, thrusting for a terrifying few seconds before Parker suddenly slams the throttle to zero. You now see the Windwaker growing larger ever so slowly.
"It may look like a snail's pace from this distance, but we'll be gliding right past the Windwaker if we're not careful. Nobody said docking was a walk in the grass," remarks Parker, his claws on the joystick. For the next twenty minutes, he allows the Starflyer to gently approach the Windwaker, occasionally firing the forward thrusters to slow the vessel. You knew docking was difficult, but Parker's piloting feels like a work of art.
Gradually, the details on the Windwaker grow visible. You clearly spot the disk-shaped aerobraking shield on the front, the side-mounted cockpit and crew quarters behind it, the long truss making up the bulk of the vehicle with two propellant tanks out of eight spots attached, and the engine section, with the four arms of the mothership's power generation and heat rejection systems sticking out. A communication dish is aimed towards Wild Nest.
"No distress signal," remarks Parker. "No visible signs of damage either. It doesn't look like there's anything wrong with her. Perhaps it's just the rendezvous beacon that's broken?"
He pauses to think.
"I'd better try hailing her," he says before pressing buttons on a secondary display. You recognize him as selecting the standard MBV mothership radio frequency indicated in the manual. Once it's configured, he holds down a different button - the transmitter control.
"MBV Windwaker, this is the LCAV-02 Starflyer inbound from Shrouded Ember, do you copy?"
Nothing.
"MBV Windwaker, I repeat, this is the LCAV-02 Starflyer, do you copy?"
Nothing yet again. Parker repeats his message one more time, and still, receives nothing. He turns to you, the worry written all over his face.
"This isn't right. There should be an astrosaur stationed aboard," he says. A pause.
"I'll take us in, but we'd best be careful," he explains. His claws move back to the joystick, and he orients the Starflyer so that it's roughly perpendicular to what you assume is one of the Windwaker's docking parts. He switches the display to the docking interface, showing a set of crosshairs. Parker presses a button, and the view switches to a live camera feed showing the Windwaker, with the crosshairs overlaid on it. Carefully, he brings the Starflyer closer to the Windwaker, aiming towards a docking port on an airlock section inferior to the crew modules. It's an excruciatingly slow process, and you find your mind wandering.
Eventually, a target on the upper-left corner of the docking port becomes visible, and Parker carefully moves the crosshairs on the docking camera to align with it. The final approach takes only a minute, as the docking port grows close enough to be mostly obscured by the camera's field of view. Then, you hear a "clunk" echo throughout the Starflyer, and two indicators light up beneath the docking camera display: "Contact" and "Attach."
"Phew. One more under my wings," says Parker after glancing at the display. You only manage to give him an distant stare.
"Docking's a tricky art. You might just figure it out, if the time loop stuff pans out," he says. You smile weakly. Parker turns to the airlock hatch out back.
"We'd best get our helmets on. Who knows if the atmosphere's still there?" he suggests. You quickly snap your helmet on, then move to the hatch. It takes a few minutes for Parker to equip his suit. When he's ready, the two of you head through the hatch and attempt to equalize the pressure between the Starflyer and the Windwaker. Fortunately, nothing seems to happen, and you are able to pop open the outer hatch, seeing a darkened corner across the threshold.
"Atmosphere seems normal. Encouraging sign," Parker comments. Carefully, the two of you push off from the floor and into the Windwaker's airlock section. It contains an inner hatch, just like your vessel. After looking around for a few moments, Parker pops it open. You are faced with a dim corridor stretching in front of you, weakly lit by lights built into the sides of the walls.
"This is the sleep cycle lighting. Is the crewmate asleep? Figures," wonders Parker. His words don't do much to comfort you as you stare at the darkness ahead of you, imagining what might be lurking in wait. Carefully, you and Parker glide forward through the corridor until you reach a doorway opening into the crew module. It resembles a smaller and somehow even more crowded version of the SkyNest's main room, with food containers strapped to the walls. You are gliding forward into the room when a shape to the right gives you a start. Fortunately, you quickly recognize it as the form of a digger, sound asleep inside a harness.
"Here's our pilot," remarks Parker. "Guess all of that worry was for nothing."
You look around the room to try to find anything useful, but initially find nothing. It appears the Expedition's crewmates took most of the interesting items down with them to Gale's Abyss. However, you eventually stumble upon a clipboard with plenty of notes written on them. It appears to be a journal kept by the pilot, filled with dated observations. Unfortunately, the room's lighting is far too dim to read it, and you don't fancy disturbing the sleeping Saurian on the harness.
"I'd say we bring it to the cockpit," suggests Parker after you bring the clipboard to his attention. "Should be ahead of us and to the left."
This time, you take the lead, gliding into the doorway on the other end of the crew module and through the corridor in front. As Parker predicted, it takes a left turn, and you pass through it towards another open doorway leading to the Windwaker's cockpit. It looks quite similar to the Starflyer's, albeit with less computer displays and more switches or analog instruments. The window is giving you a broad view of Firmament, with all of its other moons visible. From this distance, they appear tiny and fragile, like the eggs of many smaller Saurians. Visions of a fiery wave of destruction turning the moons to dust flash in your mind, making you pull back from the window with a shudder. You almost forgot; by your reckoning, there are only two hours left.
Parker glides up to the displays and begins to fiddle with them. Meanwhile, you use the light reflecting off of Gale's Abyss to read the notes on the clipboard. Most of them are mundane observations of Gale's Abyss' surface or results of the Windwaker's scientific package, but two stand out:
"Day 11 - All attempts at interfacing with the Orbital Relay have failed. Mission Control has ordered Expedition to proceed with primary mission. Rendezvous beacon left behind for later exploration attempts."
So that explains why the Orbital Relay appeared on CORS. Guess MBV made things easier for you.
"Day 91 - Routine attempt at tracking Site B beacon with vessel-board radio transmitter uncovered anomalous signal from distant site, with coordinates 21.40338 N, 2.17403 E. Incident relayed to Mission Control for comment."
"Day 92 - No response received from Mission Control. Ien claims to have encountered similar signal on homeworld, inside the Great Valley. Circumstances seem suspicious. Will need to pay attention."
"Day 101 - No response received from Mission Control. Ien suspects cover-up. Motives of Mission Control unclear. Commander Pearl dismissive of possibility."
Deduction Roll (Medium): 4 + 5 + 4 (Deduction) = 13
13 vs. 10 = Success
Your scales shiver when you realize what these logs are referring to: a Quantum Shard! The records claim that the signal was detected by the Windwaker's transmitter dish, but you wonder if your measely Signalscope can do the job. You pull it out and, as a first test, set it to scan for the MBV frequency. After a bit of searching, you get a hit when you aim it at a location on Gale's Abyss beneath the clouds. This beacon is broadcasting the gentle hum of a flute.
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6mUxMzE3Cz0
You linger on the transmission for longer than strictly necessary. Something about it relaxes you - something you'll need for the next part. Bracing yourself for what's to come, you switch to the Quantum Shard frequency and begin scanning around. When you aim it at a part of Gale's Abyss near the horizon to your right, the eerie wail of Gale's Abyss' Quantum Shard blasts from the speakers. You hear a yell, cut short, from next to you. Parker's neck quills are standing on end from shock.
"L-Littlefoot, w-what did you do with your Signalscope?" he manages to stammer in between sudden breaths.
"The logs said that the pilot discovered a signal on the moon which Mission Control couldn't explain! It's just like the one in the Valley!" you explain. It does nothing to calm Parker down.
"W-what signal? I've never heard of anything in the Valley like that!" he says.
"Y-you don't know about the grove with the Quantum Shard?" you ask, incredulously.
"No, I- oh dear, I guess you've been much more proactive about exploring the Valley than I have!" exclaims Parker, an embarrased smirk on his face.
"Well, maybe we should go down there and look?" you ask.
"Sure, if we have the time for it," replies Parker, his face darkening.
"How much longer do we have?" he asks.
"I think... only two hours," you reply. Parker nods, grimly.
"Then we'd best get a-moving. While you were reading the clipboard, I took a look at the Windwaker's systems. Like I thought, something shorted out the rendezvous beacon. Probably a micrometeorite strike. I'd fix it, but we aren't exactly off the clock here," he says. You nod.
"The clipboard had coordinates to the signal. Maybe we could use CORS to land?" you ask.
"It's worth a try," adds Parker. "I doubt we have enough time to rendezvous with the Orbital Relay, anyway. Nowhere else to go, then."
You nod.
"Well, we'd better head out and undock before Mr. Sleeping-On-The-Job wakes up," says Parker. You follow him back through the crew module and airlock, then shut the hatches on both ends behind you. Once the Starflyer's airlock is no longer connected to the Windwaker's, you and Parker head back to the Starflyer's cockpit. Parker presses a button painted red above you, causing the Starflyer to detach from the Windwaker with a "thunk."
"Alright, 21.40338 North, 2.17403 East..." mutters Parker as he enters the coordinates into CORS. The program displays a yellow triangle overlaid on top of the mostly featureless map of Gale's Abyss, close to your current orbital position.
"Ah, we should be able to spot it now..." says Parker before looking out the window and frowning.
"Littlefoot, could you please find the signal again for me?"
You pull out your Signalscope and scan Gale's Abyss. When you hover it over a the left part of a particularly large cyclone, the signal emerges. Parker only shakes his head.
"Right inside the storm. We can't land in those conditions," he says.
"Then how do we get there?" you ask, somewhat desparate.
"Normally, we'd just wait the storm out, but the loop ends before then. Our only hope would be to see if the source would pass through the eye of the cyclone, but it looks too late for that. Maybe you should try again on a future loop," explains Parker. Your heart sinks as the words settle over you. You came all this way to find answers, only to hear that you'll have to do this journey all over again. Part of you doesn't even want to bother with it.
"So... what now?" you ask. Parker sighs.
"Honestly, I don't think we have enough time to do much of anything. I'd say we just wait out the end."
You don't know how to answer that. Instead, you can only retrieve your manual and resume reading. You try to bury yourself in the words, but you can sense tension in the background. The words begin to blur across the page, and you feel time ticking away with every heartbeat, driving you towards an inescapable fate. Somehow, you manage to absorb the knowledge contained on these pages, but it proves to be cold comfort.
Manual Progress: 26 hours/30 hours
You don't know how exactly it starts. All you understand is a sudden sense of dread overtaking you. Certain that the end is only minutes away, you put the book down and utter two words to Parker:
"It's happening."
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5vG4Be1Ci8&pp=ygUVZW5kIHRpbWVzIG91dGVyIHdpbGRz
Parker nods, dread written all over his face. You should be staying here, but the thought of watching Parker experience the end of everything suddenly makes your skin crawl. Without thinking, you slap your suit helmet on and glide towards the airlock.
"Littlefoot? What are you doing?!" shouts Parker. You pay him no mind as you open the inner hatch and pass through.
"Littlefoot?!" shouts Parker again. You shut the hatch behind you, no longer able to hear his pleas. Instead, you slam the atmosphere equalizer button, taking deep breaths as the air vents. You can't understand why, but you want to be outside when it happens. Soon enough, the indicator blinks red, and you glide out through the outer hatch. Gale's Abyss shines in front of you, but you use your suit tentacles to orient yourself towards Firmament and the other moons.
You bathe in Firmament's distant light as the gas giant begins to shine with unnatural energy. You can't see the red lightning from this distance, but the cloud layers transforming into an endlessly chaotic mass is very much visible. The giant swells, turning lighter and lighter. You are struck by a memory of going blind and immediately shut your eyes.
When you open them a few seconds later, Firmament is gone, replaced by an incandescent wave of pure oblivion. The sphere of plasma travels tens of thousands of kilometers with each second, engulfing Shrouded Ember in the blink of an eye. Your heart drops to your stomach when you witness the wave reach Wild Nest. All you can see of your home's destruction is a trail of debris quickly obscured from view. The blast continues its march towards you, engulfing Lofted Ether and the Quantum Moon without halting in the slightest. You brace as the plasma wave grows closer and closer at a speed you can't even imagine, coming to fill your entire view.
It takes an agonizing few seconds to bridge the gap, but when it does, the end takes no time at all.
-[X] The anomalies with the ships beacon are concerning. Better check that out while we're still in orbit
--[X] Try to cram in as much possible time studying the manual.
You don't really see the point of just ignoring the Windwaker. Besides the mystery of its malfunctioning beacon, you wonder if you might also find some information about whatever is going on with the Submerged City.
You hope Parker's docking skills are up to par.
"Maybe we should just dock with the Mothership," you tell Parker. He smirks.
"Something told me you'd say that. Wouldn't want to leave loose ends, huh?" he teases. "It's as good a time as any to show how an astrosaur docks."
He switches to CORS' rendezvous display, then selects the Windwaker as the target and activates the program. Nothing happens except for a countdown appearing on the screen. Ten minutes.
"Yeah, that's just the burn to get our perigee the same as the Windwaker. Usually it takes at least half a day to rendezvous but the orbit our aerocapture manuever sent us into is already pretty egg-shaped, making it easier to get our orbits in-phase. Guess you made the right choice after all, huh?" he remarks. You chuckle at the thought, then switch back to the manual. In what feels like no time at all, you hear the sound of the Starflyer's jets reverberate through the cockpit as the vessel orients itself for the burn. You see that Gale's Abyss has grown notably more distant.
You slam the book shut the moment the turbopump spins up. Mercifully, the burn is over in a few seconds, and you soon are able toget back to your reading.
Manual Progress: 24 hours/30 hours
Two hours pass before Parker interrupts you to notify you that the rendezvous burn is imminent. You look up and see Gale's Abyss looming in front of you. It feels like the moon is somehow taunting you with its shifting cloud patterns that have no pattern or meaning to be found. Then, to the side of it, you spot a faint pinprick of light gliding to the left, in the direction of Gale's Abyss. Parker notices the direction of your gaze and points towards the object.
"That, I believe, is the Windwaker. From our perspective, we're traveling towards it at a quick pace, which is why we need to slow down very soon!" he explains. You look down at the displays, and spot another countdown, showing only thirty seconds. As expected, CORS fires up the Starflyer's jets to orient the craft opposite to the Windwaker. The turbopump spins up and the engine fires for a good twenty seconds. When the burn ends, Parker manually takes control of the Starflyer and turns it around again. Very faintly in the distance, you can see the Windwaker as a tiny blemish in front of Gale's Abyss' clouds.
"Here comes the tricky part. Normally we'd use CORS to dock, but since the beacon is broken, we'll have to do it the old-fashioned way," says Parker before pressing a button that you recognize as the manual engine ignition switch. You brace for acceleration as the engine roars to life, thrusting for a terrifying few seconds before Parker suddenly slams the throttle to zero. You now see the Windwaker growing larger ever so slowly.
"It may look like a snail's pace from this distance, but we'll be gliding right past the Windwaker if we're not careful. Nobody said docking was a walk in the grass," remarks Parker, his claws on the joystick. For the next twenty minutes, he allows the Starflyer to gently approach the Windwaker, occasionally firing the forward thrusters to slow the vessel. You knew docking was difficult, but Parker's piloting feels like a work of art.
Gradually, the details on the Windwaker grow visible. You clearly spot the disk-shaped aerobraking shield on the front, the side-mounted cockpit and crew quarters behind it, the long truss making up the bulk of the vehicle with two propellant tanks out of eight spots attached, and the engine section, with the four arms of the mothership's power generation and heat rejection systems sticking out. A communication dish is aimed towards Wild Nest.
"No distress signal," remarks Parker. "No visible signs of damage either. It doesn't look like there's anything wrong with her. Perhaps it's just the rendezvous beacon that's broken?"
He pauses to think.
"I'd better try hailing her," he says before pressing buttons on a secondary display. You recognize him as selecting the standard MBV mothership radio frequency indicated in the manual. Once it's configured, he holds down a different button - the transmitter control.
"MBV Windwaker, this is the LCAV-02 Starflyer inbound from Shrouded Ember, do you copy?"
Nothing.
"MBV Windwaker, I repeat, this is the LCAV-02 Starflyer, do you copy?"
Nothing yet again. Parker repeats his message one more time, and still, receives nothing. He turns to you, the worry written all over his face.
"This isn't right. There should be an astrosaur stationed aboard," he says. A pause.
"I'll take us in, but we'd best be careful," he explains. His claws move back to the joystick, and he orients the Starflyer so that it's roughly perpendicular to what you assume is one of the Windwaker's docking parts. He switches the display to the docking interface, showing a set of crosshairs. Parker presses a button, and the view switches to a live camera feed showing the Windwaker, with the crosshairs overlaid on it. Carefully, he brings the Starflyer closer to the Windwaker, aiming towards a docking port on an airlock section inferior to the crew modules. It's an excruciatingly slow process, and you find your mind wandering.
Eventually, a target on the upper-left corner of the docking port becomes visible, and Parker carefully moves the crosshairs on the docking camera to align with it. The final approach takes only a minute, as the docking port grows close enough to be mostly obscured by the camera's field of view. Then, you hear a "clunk" echo throughout the Starflyer, and two indicators light up beneath the docking camera display: "Contact" and "Attach."
"Phew. One more under my wings," says Parker after glancing at the display. You only manage to give him an distant stare.
"Docking's a tricky art. You might just figure it out, if the time loop stuff pans out," he says. You smile weakly. Parker turns to the airlock hatch out back.
"We'd best get our helmets on. Who knows if the atmosphere's still there?" he suggests. You quickly snap your helmet on, then move to the hatch. It takes a few minutes for Parker to equip his suit. When he's ready, the two of you head through the hatch and attempt to equalize the pressure between the Starflyer and the Windwaker. Fortunately, nothing seems to happen, and you are able to pop open the outer hatch, seeing a darkened corner across the threshold.
"Atmosphere seems normal. Encouraging sign," Parker comments. Carefully, the two of you push off from the floor and into the Windwaker's airlock section. It contains an inner hatch, just like your vessel. After looking around for a few moments, Parker pops it open. You are faced with a dim corridor stretching in front of you, weakly lit by lights built into the sides of the walls.
"This is the sleep cycle lighting. Is the crewmate asleep? Figures," wonders Parker. His words don't do much to comfort you as you stare at the darkness ahead of you, imagining what might be lurking in wait. Carefully, you and Parker glide forward through the corridor until you reach a doorway opening into the crew module. It resembles a smaller and somehow even more crowded version of the SkyNest's main room, with food containers strapped to the walls. You are gliding forward into the room when a shape to the right gives you a start. Fortunately, you quickly recognize it as the form of a digger, sound asleep inside a harness.
"Here's our pilot," remarks Parker. "Guess all of that worry was for nothing."
You look around the room to try to find anything useful, but initially find nothing. It appears the Expedition's crewmates took most of the interesting items down with them to Gale's Abyss. However, you eventually stumble upon a clipboard with plenty of notes written on them. It appears to be a journal kept by the pilot, filled with dated observations. Unfortunately, the room's lighting is far too dim to read it, and you don't fancy disturbing the sleeping Saurian on the harness.
"I'd say we bring it to the cockpit," suggests Parker after you bring the clipboard to his attention. "Should be ahead of us and to the left."
This time, you take the lead, gliding into the doorway on the other end of the crew module and through the corridor in front. As Parker predicted, it takes a left turn, and you pass through it towards another open doorway leading to the Windwaker's cockpit. It looks quite similar to the Starflyer's, albeit with less computer displays and more switches or analog instruments. The window is giving you a broad view of Firmament, with all of its other moons visible. From this distance, they appear tiny and fragile, like the eggs of many smaller Saurians. Visions of a fiery wave of destruction turning the moons to dust flash in your mind, making you pull back from the window with a shudder. You almost forgot; by your reckoning, there are only two hours left.
Parker glides up to the displays and begins to fiddle with them. Meanwhile, you use the light reflecting off of Gale's Abyss to read the notes on the clipboard. Most of them are mundane observations of Gale's Abyss' surface or results of the Windwaker's scientific package, but two stand out:
"Day 11 - All attempts at interfacing with the Orbital Relay have failed. Mission Control has ordered Expedition to proceed with primary mission. Rendezvous beacon left behind for later exploration attempts."
So that explains why the Orbital Relay appeared on CORS. Guess MBV made things easier for you.
"Day 91 - Routine attempt at tracking Site B beacon with vessel-board radio transmitter uncovered anomalous signal from distant site, with coordinates 21.40338 N, 2.17403 E. Incident relayed to Mission Control for comment."
"Day 92 - No response received from Mission Control. Ien claims to have encountered similar signal on homeworld, inside the Great Valley. Circumstances seem suspicious. Will need to pay attention."
"Day 101 - No response received from Mission Control. Ien suspects cover-up. Motives of Mission Control unclear. Commander Pearl dismissive of possibility."
Deduction Roll (Medium): 4 + 5 + 4 (Deduction) = 13
13 vs. 10 = Success
Your scales shiver when you realize what these logs are referring to: a Quantum Shard! The records claim that the signal was detected by the Windwaker's transmitter dish, but you wonder if your measely Signalscope can do the job. You pull it out and, as a first test, set it to scan for the MBV frequency. After a bit of searching, you get a hit when you aim it at a location on Gale's Abyss beneath the clouds. This beacon is broadcasting the gentle hum of a flute.
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6mUxMzE3Cz0
You linger on the transmission for longer than strictly necessary. Something about it relaxes you - something you'll need for the next part. Bracing yourself for what's to come, you switch to the Quantum Shard frequency and begin scanning around. When you aim it at a part of Gale's Abyss near the horizon to your right, the eerie wail of Gale's Abyss' Quantum Shard blasts from the speakers. You hear a yell, cut short, from next to you. Parker's neck quills are standing on end from shock.
"L-Littlefoot, w-what did you do with your Signalscope?" he manages to stammer in between sudden breaths.
"The logs said that the pilot discovered a signal on the moon which Mission Control couldn't explain! It's just like the one in the Valley!" you explain. It does nothing to calm Parker down.
"W-what signal? I've never heard of anything in the Valley like that!" he says.
"Y-you don't know about the grove with the Quantum Shard?" you ask, incredulously.
"No, I- oh dear, I guess you've been much more proactive about exploring the Valley than I have!" exclaims Parker, an embarrased smirk on his face.
"Well, maybe we should go down there and look?" you ask.
"Sure, if we have the time for it," replies Parker, his face darkening.
"How much longer do we have?" he asks.
"I think... only two hours," you reply. Parker nods, grimly.
"Then we'd best get a-moving. While you were reading the clipboard, I took a look at the Windwaker's systems. Like I thought, something shorted out the rendezvous beacon. Probably a micrometeorite strike. I'd fix it, but we aren't exactly off the clock here," he says. You nod.
"The clipboard had coordinates to the signal. Maybe we could use CORS to land?" you ask.
"It's worth a try," adds Parker. "I doubt we have enough time to rendezvous with the Orbital Relay, anyway. Nowhere else to go, then."
You nod.
"Well, we'd better head out and undock before Mr. Sleeping-On-The-Job wakes up," says Parker. You follow him back through the crew module and airlock, then shut the hatches on both ends behind you. Once the Starflyer's airlock is no longer connected to the Windwaker's, you and Parker head back to the Starflyer's cockpit. Parker presses a button painted red above you, causing the Starflyer to detach from the Windwaker with a "thunk."
"Alright, 21.40338 North, 2.17403 East..." mutters Parker as he enters the coordinates into CORS. The program displays a yellow triangle overlaid on top of the mostly featureless map of Gale's Abyss, close to your current orbital position.
"Ah, we should be able to spot it now..." says Parker before looking out the window and frowning.
"Littlefoot, could you please find the signal again for me?"
You pull out your Signalscope and scan Gale's Abyss. When you hover it over a the left part of a particularly large cyclone, the signal emerges. Parker only shakes his head.
"Right inside the storm. We can't land in those conditions," he says.
"Then how do we get there?" you ask, somewhat desparate.
"Normally, we'd just wait the storm out, but the loop ends before then. Our only hope would be to see if the source would pass through the eye of the cyclone, but it looks too late for that. Maybe you should try again on a future loop," explains Parker. Your heart sinks as the words settle over you. You came all this way to find answers, only to hear that you'll have to do this journey all over again. Part of you doesn't even want to bother with it.
"So... what now?" you ask. Parker sighs.
"Honestly, I don't think we have enough time to do much of anything. I'd say we just wait out the end."
You don't know how to answer that. Instead, you can only retrieve your manual and resume reading. You try to bury yourself in the words, but you can sense tension in the background. The words begin to blur across the page, and you feel time ticking away with every heartbeat, driving you towards an inescapable fate. Somehow, you manage to absorb the knowledge contained on these pages, but it proves to be cold comfort.
Manual Progress: 26 hours/30 hours
You don't know how exactly it starts. All you understand is a sudden sense of dread overtaking you. Certain that the end is only minutes away, you put the book down and utter two words to Parker:
"It's happening."
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5vG4Be1Ci8&pp=ygUVZW5kIHRpbWVzIG91dGVyIHdpbGRz
Parker nods, dread written all over his face. You should be staying here, but the thought of watching Parker experience the end of everything suddenly makes your skin crawl. Without thinking, you slap your suit helmet on and glide towards the airlock.
"Littlefoot? What are you doing?!" shouts Parker. You pay him no mind as you open the inner hatch and pass through.
"Littlefoot?!" shouts Parker again. You shut the hatch behind you, no longer able to hear his pleas. Instead, you slam the atmosphere equalizer button, taking deep breaths as the air vents. You can't understand why, but you want to be outside when it happens. Soon enough, the indicator blinks red, and you glide out through the outer hatch. Gale's Abyss shines in front of you, but you use your suit tentacles to orient yourself towards Firmament and the other moons.
You bathe in Firmament's distant light as the gas giant begins to shine with unnatural energy. You can't see the red lightning from this distance, but the cloud layers transforming into an endlessly chaotic mass is very much visible. The giant swells, turning lighter and lighter. You are struck by a memory of going blind and immediately shut your eyes.
When you open them a few seconds later, Firmament is gone, replaced by an incandescent wave of pure oblivion. The sphere of plasma travels tens of thousands of kilometers with each second, engulfing Shrouded Ember in the blink of an eye. Your heart drops to your stomach when you witness the wave reach Wild Nest. All you can see of your home's destruction is a trail of debris quickly obscured from view. The blast continues its march towards you, engulfing Lofted Ether and the Quantum Moon without halting in the slightest. You brace as the plasma wave grows closer and closer at a speed you can't even imagine, coming to fill your entire view.
It takes an agonizing few seconds to bridge the gap, but when it does, the end takes no time at all.
Loop 3 - Part 1
- Location
- Orlando, Florida
Once again, the light shines through the darkness, and you come forward. The statue appears before you, its eye beaming countless memories, happy and tortured, into your virgin mind. You relive Firmament's detonation, Frozen Ember, your spacewalk with Parker, taking off into the Mysterious Beyond, and then-
Crunch. The broken pinecone on your right flank, its fragments seeming to taunt you. You have no more doubt in your mind - the time loop is real. This is how things will be for the rest of eternity until you figure out how to end it. As if on queue, the Bridge Drone uncloaks in front of you, your notes within reach. You feel like you've discovered so much, you don't even know where to begin. Should you head back to the Quantum Grove, or try to find the Biohazard Laboratory, or try to find a working Far Beyonder transponder, or-
You shake your head. Perhaps you need to focus on something closer to home. Parker mentioned something about Cobalt having a daughter digging up artifacts like your suit's tentacles, right? There's also the matter of Firmament itself. Parker suggested Mayor Opal would be your best bet to figure out what's causing it to explode.
Countless options present yourself before you. This time, you know the Mysterious Beyond isn't a distant fantasy, but very much within reach. In your wildest dreams, you never thought you would really become an astrosaur, but fate has granted your desire in the most twisted way. That's just your luck for aiming above your station.
[] Write-in actions
Time: 0 hours/65 hours
Health: 10/10
Food: 100%
Sleep: 15 hours of wakefulness remaining
Inventory: Bridge Drone
Crunch. The broken pinecone on your right flank, its fragments seeming to taunt you. You have no more doubt in your mind - the time loop is real. This is how things will be for the rest of eternity until you figure out how to end it. As if on queue, the Bridge Drone uncloaks in front of you, your notes within reach. You feel like you've discovered so much, you don't even know where to begin. Should you head back to the Quantum Grove, or try to find the Biohazard Laboratory, or try to find a working Far Beyonder transponder, or-
You shake your head. Perhaps you need to focus on something closer to home. Parker mentioned something about Cobalt having a daughter digging up artifacts like your suit's tentacles, right? There's also the matter of Firmament itself. Parker suggested Mayor Opal would be your best bet to figure out what's causing it to explode.
Countless options present yourself before you. This time, you know the Mysterious Beyond isn't a distant fantasy, but very much within reach. In your wildest dreams, you never thought you would really become an astrosaur, but fate has granted your desire in the most twisted way. That's just your luck for aiming above your station.
[] Write-in actions
Time: 0 hours/65 hours
Health: 10/10
Food: 100%
Sleep: 15 hours of wakefulness remaining
Inventory: Bridge Drone
[] Wait a while before proceeding. Kill time however you can.
-[] Write in how many hours to wait.
[] No more beating around the bush. Equip your space suit and prepare for an adventure.
[] Head to the Far Beyonder ruins buried in the Great Valley (1 hour)
-[] Attempt to climb in using the cave entrance
-[] Attempt to enter from the Mines
[] Head to the Quantum Grove and attempt to find what you've missed. New
[] Enter the lift codes and head to the Astrodrome. Requires the space suit to be equipped.
[] Speak to one of the Great Valley's residents. Must write in what to ask or talk about. Cannot be done with space suit equipped. (1 hour)
-[] Your grandparents, who are ever so concerned for your well-being and full of wisdom.
-[] Pterrie, your rescuer and closest thing you have to a friend despite the age difference.
-[] The Hoofhand Twins, who are savants in all things technological.
-[] Maia and Rolph Hoofhand, who you don't know very well but are always willing to lend a hoof to those who ask.
-[] Cobalt, the Museum Curator who is always eager to answer your questions.
-[] Cobalt's enigmatic daughter, who is yet to be found. New
-[] Opal and Quartz, the Mayor and her subordinate researcher who spend their days unraveling the mysteries of the cosmos at the Observatory.
-[] Assin, the Mayor's beleaguered assistant who does most of the day-to-day work of running the City. He's protected Malin and MBV from citizen "uprisings" before. Is it something worth investigating?
[] Write-in actions or location to visit
-[] Write in how many hours to wait.
[] No more beating around the bush. Equip your space suit and prepare for an adventure.
[] Head to the Far Beyonder ruins buried in the Great Valley (1 hour)
-[] Attempt to climb in using the cave entrance
-[] Attempt to enter from the Mines
[] Head to the Quantum Grove and attempt to find what you've missed. New
[] Enter the lift codes and head to the Astrodrome. Requires the space suit to be equipped.
[] Speak to one of the Great Valley's residents. Must write in what to ask or talk about. Cannot be done with space suit equipped. (1 hour)
-[] Your grandparents, who are ever so concerned for your well-being and full of wisdom.
-[] Pterrie, your rescuer and closest thing you have to a friend despite the age difference.
-[] The Hoofhand Twins, who are savants in all things technological.
-[] Maia and Rolph Hoofhand, who you don't know very well but are always willing to lend a hoof to those who ask.
-[] Cobalt, the Museum Curator who is always eager to answer your questions.
-[] Cobalt's enigmatic daughter, who is yet to be found. New
-[] Opal and Quartz, the Mayor and her subordinate researcher who spend their days unraveling the mysteries of the cosmos at the Observatory.
-[] Assin, the Mayor's beleaguered assistant who does most of the day-to-day work of running the City. He's protected Malin and MBV from citizen "uprisings" before. Is it something worth investigating?
[] Write-in actions or location to visit
MordredRaal
Agitating
- Pronouns
- She/They
Ok. So to recap for myself. Last loop we:
- Figured out how to get into space
- Met Parker and checked out the SkyNest and orrery (a device to track the Eye of the Universe (can't narrow it down beyond the Firmament system))
- Explored Shrouded Ember, Met the people there and found a portal to Frozen Ember (Need to scan more quantum signals to progress) (or get better pioneering to reach the second portal)
- Traveled to Gale's Abyss Orbit, found a quantum Signal there (time locked) and still need to explore the Far Beyonder facility in orbit
So. I think it'd make the most sense to go to Gale's abyss again once we are back in space. There is still the Orbital Relay and the Submerged City to check out there, plus the Quantum Signal we need to progress on Frozen Ember.
What to do before take off though? We should definitely investigate the Quantum Shard again. We could also try the mines again. We'll do those with the Space Suit and equipment.
So should we talk to anyone before we get on that?
Maybe let's start by tracking down Cobalt's daughter and asking about artifacts.
[X] Speak to one of the Great Valley's residents. Must write in what to ask or talk about. Cannot be done with space suit equipped. (1 hour)
-[X] Cobalt's enigmatic daughter, who is yet to be found.
--[X] We heard that she has been digging up artifacts and were curious about that. What can she tell us about that?
Perhaps not the most eloquent sentences I've ever formulated, but whatever. Should still be ok?
Also @gutza1 I think a Log of the people we've met, like the Discovery Log, would be very helpful. It's kinda hard to keep track of everyone and what they do. I know it'd probably be a lot of work, but it would make the votes with multiple people to talk to a lot easier, especially the big ones at the start of a loop.
- Figured out how to get into space
- Met Parker and checked out the SkyNest and orrery (a device to track the Eye of the Universe (can't narrow it down beyond the Firmament system))
- Explored Shrouded Ember, Met the people there and found a portal to Frozen Ember (Need to scan more quantum signals to progress) (or get better pioneering to reach the second portal)
- Traveled to Gale's Abyss Orbit, found a quantum Signal there (time locked) and still need to explore the Far Beyonder facility in orbit
So. I think it'd make the most sense to go to Gale's abyss again once we are back in space. There is still the Orbital Relay and the Submerged City to check out there, plus the Quantum Signal we need to progress on Frozen Ember.
What to do before take off though? We should definitely investigate the Quantum Shard again. We could also try the mines again. We'll do those with the Space Suit and equipment.
So should we talk to anyone before we get on that?
Maybe let's start by tracking down Cobalt's daughter and asking about artifacts.
[X] Speak to one of the Great Valley's residents. Must write in what to ask or talk about. Cannot be done with space suit equipped. (1 hour)
-[X] Cobalt's enigmatic daughter, who is yet to be found.
--[X] We heard that she has been digging up artifacts and were curious about that. What can she tell us about that?
Perhaps not the most eloquent sentences I've ever formulated, but whatever. Should still be ok?
Also @gutza1 I think a Log of the people we've met, like the Discovery Log, would be very helpful. It's kinda hard to keep track of everyone and what they do. I know it'd probably be a lot of work, but it would make the votes with multiple people to talk to a lot easier, especially the big ones at the start of a loop.
Last edited:
- Location
- Orlando, Florida
That sounds like a good idea, now that you mention it. I'll see what I can do.
- Location
- Orlando, Florida
As @MordredRaal suggested, I have created a log of minor characters in the Discovery Log threadmark. This should contain all the information you've uncovered about relevant characters as well as some additional details Littlefoot would know but weren't brought up in the story.
- Location
- Illinois
[X] Speak to one of the Great Valley's residents. Must write in what to ask or talk about. Cannot be done with space suit equipped. (1 hour)
-[X] Cobalt's enigmatic daughter, who is yet to be found.
--[X] We heard that she has been digging up artifacts and were curious about that. What can she tell us about that?
I am a bit curious about the Boihazard Lab, but I wouldn't be surprised if we would quickly die without some form of defense.
-[X] Cobalt's enigmatic daughter, who is yet to be found.
--[X] We heard that she has been digging up artifacts and were curious about that. What can she tell us about that?
I am a bit curious about the Boihazard Lab, but I wouldn't be surprised if we would quickly die without some form of defense.
[X] Speak to one of the Great Valley's residents. Must write in what to ask or talk about. Cannot be done with space suit equipped. (1 hour)
-[X] Cobalt's enigmatic daughter, who is yet to be found.
--[X] We heard that she has been digging up artifacts and were curious about that. What can she tell us about that?
-[X] Cobalt's enigmatic daughter, who is yet to be found.
--[X] We heard that she has been digging up artifacts and were curious about that. What can she tell us about that?
- Location
- Somewhere in the area
- Pronouns
- He/She/They
Alright! Finally got around to reading this, and it's all I could have hoped for and more.
[X] Speak to one of the Great Valley's residents. Must write in what to ask or talk about. Cannot be done with space suit equipped. (1 hour)
-[X] Cobalt's enigmatic daughter, who is yet to be found.
--[X] We heard that she has been digging up artifacts and were curious about that. What can she tell us about that?
We also might want to go to the hoofhand twins afterwards, to brush up on our technical vocabulary. That way we can hopefully minimize misunderstandings or moments of outright lack of comprehension on littlefoot's part.
[X] Speak to one of the Great Valley's residents. Must write in what to ask or talk about. Cannot be done with space suit equipped. (1 hour)
-[X] Cobalt's enigmatic daughter, who is yet to be found.
--[X] We heard that she has been digging up artifacts and were curious about that. What can she tell us about that?
We also might want to go to the hoofhand twins afterwards, to brush up on our technical vocabulary. That way we can hopefully minimize misunderstandings or moments of outright lack of comprehension on littlefoot's part.
- Location
- Orlando, Florida
Thank you very much for your participation.
The Stranger
- Location
- Orlando, Florida
[X] Speak to one of the Great Valley's residents. Must write in what to ask or talk about. Cannot be done with space suit equipped. (1 hour)
-[X] Cobalt's enigmatic daughter, who is yet to be found.
--[X] We heard that she has been digging up artifacts and were curious about that. What can she tell us about that?
You decide the best way to deal with the countless half-formed ideas swarming through your head is to reread the notes you left on the Bridge Drone. Unfortunately, this doesn't do much to narrow the many options in front of you. You've already been to two other moons, and you've only just scratched the surface of the Far Beyonders' mystery. Part of you fears it's too great for any Saurian to handle, let alone you. If only you could put all of it aside.
A sudden memory flashes into your mind: Parker speaking of Cobalt having a daughter who knows something about the arms on your suit. You examine your Discovery Log, and there it is, recorded in digital text: a solution to a mystery that has bothered you for months before the fateful morning on the first loop.
With Bright Circle just having risen, it's the perfect time to get a move-on. You wouldn't want to keep her waiting.
The path to the Museum is just as familiar as ever. Your spirits soar as you pass through the City square and approach the bridge... only for your heart to sink as you spot the crowd gathering in front of it. You had forgotten all about the nasty rocket propellant spilled all over the entrance - a constant across all time loops. Of course, you aren't exactly looking to enter the Museum, and Cobalt is standing there, just like the first ti-
"Hello, my friend, hello!"
The feminine voice from behind startles you out of your thoughts. By instinct, you turn around to spot a circle runner with bright pink feathers standing right behind you. From her size, she isn't quite grown-up, but she's definitely quite older than you. Her eyes are a deep shade of turquoise. Around her torso is a belt holding a small pouch with a buckle. Finally and most curiously, she wears a necklace of green stones held together by thin rope. The stone at the center is carved in the shape of a crescent moon facing upwards, with a smaller dot-shaped stone between its tips. You spend more than a few seconds mesmerized by her necklace before she once again interrupts.
"Well, you don't seem to be one for words-"
"Wait, sorry!" you blurt out. "I'm Littlefoot!"
"Littlefoot," repeats the circle runner, running over each syllable with care. "Yet your feet aren't little at all."
You blush.
"Well, that's just how we longnecks are. To us, most feet are little, I guess?"
"But if all feet are little, how would your feet be littler than the rest?" asks the circle runner playfully. You try to stammer out a response, but she cuts you off.
"Of course, I didn't come here to talk about your little feet. Something else brought me to this place. That's what we should be talking about!"
"W-what would that be?" you ask.
"You, of course!"
You are speechless. What could a random circle runner want with you?
"Huh?" is all you can muster.
"Yes, you! 'You' is a subject I already have more to ask about than I ever thought I would!" she exclaims excitedly.
"W-why?" you ask, incredulous.
"'Why' is the question. You were here, then you were gone, then you were here again! Why is that?"
"W-what do you mean I was gone? I was just standing here!"
"Yes. But the last time around, you weren't anywhere to be found while nobody else was lost."
"Last time?"
"Precisely! The time after I saw you leaving the Museum."
"Well, I don't go to the Museum all the time," you reply.
"But the last time, you should have!" is her reply.
"Why should I have?!"
"Because you had gone the time before, and everyone else had done what they were supposed to have done!" she replies, somehow maintaining her obnoxious tone. You feel your blood begin to boil. Now, you understand why her clade is called "circle runner." Can't she give you a straight answer?
"What does that even mean?! What are you even talking about?!" you almost shout in frustration. The circle runner's expression shifts. She now looks... almost heartbroken.
"Well, I guess I was wrong. I thought you would remember how you've lived through this before," she says, sighing. It hits you like a boulder smashing right into your face. The time loops. She knows about the time loops.
"Wait, you know about the time loops? Were you connected to the Great Circle Contingency?" you ask in hushed whispers. Suddenly, the circle runner's eyes have a spark in them.
"Well, all circle runners know time runs in loops... but a hatchling from another clade wouldn't be talking about them unless they could see it for themselves," is her reply. "If that's what you call the machine that gave you the ability to remember, I'd say... yes."
You fight the urge to let your excitement get the better of you. Finally, you've met someone besides Mr. Endling and Nic who can remember the loops! Your previous irritation with her vanishes as your mind roils with questions.
"So you also have a Bridge Drone? Did you also meet Mr. Endling? Whe-"
"Well, you really are full of questions. I'd say you should speak slower," the circle runner replies with a chuckle.
"Well, I guess I can start by asking how you... started to remember the time loops. It was a statue, right? Just like the one in the Museum?" you ask.
"You can say that. There I was, sitting in my home and buried deep in my notes. I heard a noise, and turned around to see that the robot my father was studying had started flying. It looked right at me, and then there was a great flash-" she begins
You nod while puzzling over her words. Father? Who could-
"I don't remember what happened that moment, but when I came to, I saw that the drone was hovering around me. Even stranger, I saw that the Far Beyonder statue in our house was glowing, and I could see a message right in front of it-"
You suddenly realize exactly who you are speaking to.
"You're Cobalt's daughter!" you shout. The circle runner appears startled by your realization.
"I-how could you know?" she asks, hesitantly.
"Well, who else would be a circle runner and study Far Beyonder stuff where they live?" you reply. Another chuckle from Cobalt's daughter.
"Well, when you put it that way, it seems quite obvious!"
"Yeah, I'm sorry I didn't recognize you. It's just that I've never seen you around at school, or in town, or... anywhere, really," you repond.
"I'm a bit too big for the Circle of Learning. Besides, my father insisted on homeschooling me - to pass on everything he knew!" she responds with pride.
"You mean, he saw you as his legacy?" you ask.
"Probably. My my, you sound pretty wise for a hatchling," replies Cobalt's daughter.
"Well, my grandma and grandpa teach me a lot about stuff like this," you reply, meekly.
"Grandma and grandpa? Like the teachers?" asks the circle runner.
"Yep," you reply.
"Well, that's- oh, excuse me, I just realized I never gave you my name. I'm Ruby. It's nice to meet you!" she says.
"Yeah, nice to meet you too!" you respond, your voice betraying your unease. For someone aware of the impending end of the world, Ruby is disturbingly cheerful. You let the pause hang awkwardly for a few moments.
"So... about the loops and everything," you try to begin. "For me, I was at the Museum when a strange rainbow face approached me. He acted like he knew something horrible was going to happen, and then the drone in the display case started flying and connected with my mind! When I woke up again, he was gone."
You gulp, hoping Ruby will believe what you are going to say next.
"The thing is, I don't think he was really a rainbow face. I think he was a Far Beyonder. He called himself 'Mr. Endling.'"
Ruby listens intently, not seemingly troubled by your words.
"'Endling.' What a strange name. My father told me it's what the last living Saurian in a clade is called, before the clade goes extinct."
The gears in your mind turn as you process this.
"Then, does that mean Mr. Endling is the last Far Beyonder left?" you ask.
"Maybe, if he was a Far Beyonder at all!" replies Ruby.
Discovery Log updated.
It's a spine-chilling idea. What exactly could kill off the Far Beyonders? Could it happen again? Has it already happened? You try to shake these thoughts and return to the task at hand.
"Yeah," you start, bracing yourself for what you are about to say next. For some reason, part of you feels embarrased at revealing your secret.
"Ruby, I've been.... trying to find out what's going on. I have something you might want to look at. It's an old space suit, with... tentacle arms that look like they weren't made by people in the City."
A flash of recognition crosses Ruby's face.
"This sounds very familiar," she comments. You nod.
"Yeah, someone told me you knew something about strange artifacts and could help me," you reply. Ruby smiles.
"Well then, what are we waiting for?" she asks.
"I'll lead the way," you reply. You gaze at her expectantly before turning towards the distant location of your stash. First, you make sure nobody else is watching, then you begin leaving the town, with Ruby in tow. When you are at the City limits, you stop to examine your surroundings, only to hear the characteristic sound of a Bridge Drone decloaking. You turn around, to find one floating next to Ruby, who is mesmerized by it. You chuckle.
"Yeah, thought you would have one too," you say.
"It's so fascinating, like nothing I've seen before!" says Ruby. She passes her claws underneath it.
"It flies by energizing the air around it into some kind of wind. You can feel it like this," she says. With your curiosity piqued, you tuck your head underneath Ruby's Bridge Drone. Just as she said, you feel a surprisingly powerful gust of wind, along with a tingling sensation in your body. Your worldsight suddenly begins to bend in strange ways, and you remove your head before it can get any worse.
The rest of the trip is uneventful. You manage to arrive at your hiding spot undetected.
"My guess is you hid the suit under those leaves" comments Ruby after taking a few moments to examine the surroundings.
"Yeah, good catch," you respond. You quickly remove the debris on top of the suit. You sense Ruby observing intently as more and more of the suit is excavated, with the strange engraved metallic casing drawing particular attention from her. Finally, once it is all out in the open, Ruby approaches it carefully to get a better look. You are struck by the observation that the turqoise decorations on the tentacle casing seems to be made out of the same material as her necklace stones.
"My, my," she says after a few moments. "The suit has an artifact exactly like the one my father found. Where did it come from?"
"I found it a few months ago in storage at the Astrodrome. It looked like it wasn't used for years."
"Interesting. I never guessed that MBV would make a space suit for a longneck hatchling."
"Yeah, me neither. In the last loop, someone told me that there was a hatchling astrosaur a long time ago. I think this suit was for them."
"I can't imagine sending a hatchling like you into the Mysterious Beyond."
You gulp.
"Well, you don't have to, because that's exactly what I did."
Ruby gazes at you wordlessly. For the first time since you met her, she appears completely and utterly shocked by your words.
"In the past loop, I snuck into the Astrodrome and flew into the Mysterious Beyond on a prototype vehicle MBV built."
The only thing Ruby can respond with is a flat "why?"
"Because the answers to what's happening aren't in the Valley. That's what the Far Beyonder records from their lab in the Valley told me!" you explain, desparately trying to make her understand. Ruby shakes her head.
"Then... you must be braver than I could ever be."
"It's... kind of what I wanted to do this whole time. Just never thought I would ever get to."
"Many hatchlings dream of finding our place in the stars. I'm a bit different. My father and I have always cared more about finding the future written in the past."
"Future in the past? That doesn't make sense!"
"Oh, but it does. Maybe I can help you understand some time."
Ruby runs her claws over the tentacle casing, studying it intently. After some time, she gets up.
"There's writing inscribed here."
You gape with surprise.
"Writing?"
"Yes. I think it's the kind I'm familiar with. I'm going to take a trace of it," replies Ruby. She unclasps her pouch and withdraws a worn notebook, then a pencil. Opening to a blank page in the notebook, she swiftly tears it out, then returns the notebook to the pouch. She then presses the page to the rim of the tentacle casing and begins tracing out the subtle patterns on it. You watch her work with bated breath, all while a million thoughts race through your head.
"You said your suit had tentacles, but I don't see any here," says Ruby midway through.
"They're hidden in that casing. When I put the suit on, they connect with my mind and emerge from it. They let me use tools and hold stuff, like a two-legs!"
Ruby nods.
"They're what let you be an astrosaur."
She is silent afterwards, continuing her work. Her words, on the other hand, run themselves through your mind. An astrosaur. She called you an astrosaur. That makes it official, then. You, Littlefoot, are an astrosaur, just like Edmon and Parker and even Nic. Your kind are a diverse bunch, aren't they?
Once she is done, Ruby holds up the page with the tracings. To your surprise, you see letters written all over them, yet they don't seem to mean anything at all.
"XDFGH?" you read. Ruby chuckles.
"There's a secret to them that my father and I have spent our lives uncovering," she says. "Come with me to my home. It's best if you see for yourself."
You nod, then begin covering the suit up again. Once you are satisfied with how you've hidden it, you turn back to Ruby, bading her to lead you. She begins walking back towards the City, with you in tow. Your mind, as always is filled with questions. You had imagined many origins for the tentacles on your suit, but the fact that vaguely Saurian writing is on them makes you wonder if they were made by Saurians themselves. Yet... it can't be. They look nothing like anything the City has made, and the City is the only civilization on Wild Nest.
Or is it? Whatever the answer is, something tells you that your understanding of the world will never be the same.
You soon make it to the river dividing Saurus Peak from the rest of the City. The crowd in front of the Museum has dispersed, though the domehead in the hazmat suit is still cleaning the acid spill. Ruby takes you across the bridge and up the stairs leading to the Observatory. However, she stops in front of the door of a home carved into the rock a quarter of the way up.
"This... this is your home?" you ask. She nods. You chuckle. In the first loop, you had gone right past it without ever as much as glimpsing Ruby. Funny how things work out.
Ruby pushes the door open, revealing a short corridor leading to a surprisingly large central chamber. The first thing that catches your eye is the looming Far Beyonder statue in the center of the room, already active. You gasp upon witnessing it. To think that Cobalt was hiding this within the confines of his home for all this time-
"Well, here we are!" exclaims Ruby. You, on the other hand, are left speechless. Slowly, you approach the statue, until a purple-tinted readout appears in your vision.
"[10048.2.6-6.4] Great Circle Contingency Transmitter #7 Active
[10048.2.6-7.4] No Active User Detected, Entering Idle Mode
[13004.9.20-8.2] Transmission Received:
Iteration #8
Active User: Bridge Drone #7
[13004.9.20-8.2] Entanglement Drift Complete, Transmitting Received Data
[13004.9.20-8.2] Transmission Complete, Activating Recording Mode
Estimated Time Until Disestablishment: 42 Standard Time Units"
Deduction Roll (Easy): 2 + 5 + 4 (Deduction) = 11
11 vs. 8 = Success
The gears in your mind turn. The last time you looked at one of the statues, the iteration number was six. This implies the iteration number tracks how many times the time loop has occured. Then, the time loop had occured five times before you were connected to it. What's more, it seems Ruby was connected to the Great Circle Contingency around the same "time" you were, if you can call it that. That would make the first individual connected to the Great Circle Contingency be... Mr. Endling.
Your mother's chilling words echo back to you from your memory. "The Far Beyonders made a machine to trap us." It seems it was originally made to trap themselves.
Discovery Log updated.
Maybe they saw their entrapment as their salvation. But in the end, Mr. Endling may be the only one who was saved.
The sound of pages turning breaks you out of your spell. You turn around to see Ruby browsing through her notebook, with the paper trace on her desk. Now, you begin to observe the rest of your surroundings. Cobalt's house is decorated with items of unknown make. Many of them resemble Ruby's necklace or the case of your tentacles: jewelry, strange technological equipment, and even what appears to be the head of a statue depicting an unknown circle runner. However, one artifact draws your attention: a crescent-shaped lamp with a mechanical starfish-armed aperture. Just like the one depicted in Amber's hand, on the statue in the town square.
Your mind boggles at the sight. You had always assumed Amber's lantern was a mere artistic flourish, but could it instead represent a memory of something else entirely? An artifact, with scrambled Saurian writing. Just what is this mystery revealing?
You hear Ruby call to you. Putting aside your thoughts for now, you join her at her table. Her notebook is open to a page that contains inscriptions like the one she traced on your tentacle arms, along with what you assume are her guesses at their meaning. You spot a copy of the inscription at the end:
Besides it is Ruby's guess: "Hands? given (to) (the) handless?."
"Hands given to the handless? How were you able to get that?" you ask. Ruby excitedly launches into a lecture.
"My father has been trying to decipher this writing for decades. In the end, it was my help that completed it! You see, our writing uses the same symbols this writing uses, but they're used completely differently. In our writing, symbols stand for sounds, while in the artifact writing, symbols stand for things."
"And in this case, those things are... hands?"
"I think so. Of course, we could be completely wrong, but I think we should go with this guess for now."
"Hands given to the handless," you mutter. Considering what the tentacles do, it's an apt description. They must have been built specifically for four-legs such as you to be able to use tools, or at the very least were used the same way you use them.
"Well, it's something. But then who built these and wrote those words?"
"It's something my father has been trying to figure out. We've found artifacts just like this one in the Outer Wilds and in the archives of the City, begging for an answer to their mystery. My father's best guess is that they're remains of an ancient Saurian civilization that has been lost to memory."
"But everyone knows Saurians didn't have any civilization until Amber!"
"Everyone knows that, but we think everyone doesn't know anything about our real past."
Discovery Log updated.
The idea shocks you. How could something as enormous as the idea that Saurians once lived like the inhabitants of the City do now just be... forgotten? How could creatures who built and wrote become foragers and mindless predators, aspiring only to live until the next day?
"Then... Amber's lantern. It looks like that artifact here. Does it mean Amber knew about the ancient civilization too?" you ask.
"Probably. In fact, my father thinks a lot of what Amber taught us came from them, and she somehow found their knowledge. But there's only one way to be sure."
Ruby's next words are much more hesitant.
"It's something I would be too afraid to do. We need to break into Mayor Opal's home in the Observatory and look for Amber's codices. Father says they're the original source of our knowledge. If we can find proof it came from the ancients, we'll know for sure."
The thought disturbs you. Breaking into the Astrodrome was bad enough, but to steal something from the Mayor of the City? Completely beyond the pale. Every ounce of morality in your being tells you to reject this idea flat out, yet something about it temps you nonetheless. After all, what is a bit of burglary if it uncovers the long-lost heritage of the Saurian race?
"I, uh, think-" you begin, only for Ruby to interrupt you.
"I've already thought about how you could do it. Opal's home has a window looking out into the Valley. You could try to climb up to it and enter while she isn't there, like at night when she's in the Observatory."
"That sounds super dangerous," you respond. "What if I fall?"
"You might be right. Maybe you could instead try to distract her while I sneak in and look for the codices? I'm a circle runner, so I'm not scared of heights."
The idea sounds more reasonable on the surface, but can you really keep Mayor Opal's attention on you long enough for Ruby to steal one of her most prized possessions. It's quite a gamble. Your conscience takes the opportunity to once again remind you what an awful course of action this is. Perhaps you should just refuse outright.
[] Accept Ruby's quest to steal Amber's Codices.
-[] Sneak in at night and steal them yourself.
-[] Distract Opal during the day so Ruby can steal them.
-[] Write-in actions
[] Refuse Ruby's insane scheme.
- [] Write-in actions
With this update, you have uncovered Echoes of the Traveler, The Lands Beyond's counterpart to the Echoes of the Eye DLC from Outer Wilds. Unlike EoTE, this sidequest cannot be completed all at once and is mandatory for the intended good ending of the main quest. As the main quest progresses, opportunities to progress Echoes of the Traveler will arrive occasionally, with Ruby working in the background to find those opportunities.
Time: 1 hours/65 hours
Health: 10/10
Food: 100%
Sleep: 14 hours of wakefulness remaining
Inventory: Bridge Drone
-[X] Cobalt's enigmatic daughter, who is yet to be found.
--[X] We heard that she has been digging up artifacts and were curious about that. What can she tell us about that?
You decide the best way to deal with the countless half-formed ideas swarming through your head is to reread the notes you left on the Bridge Drone. Unfortunately, this doesn't do much to narrow the many options in front of you. You've already been to two other moons, and you've only just scratched the surface of the Far Beyonders' mystery. Part of you fears it's too great for any Saurian to handle, let alone you. If only you could put all of it aside.
A sudden memory flashes into your mind: Parker speaking of Cobalt having a daughter who knows something about the arms on your suit. You examine your Discovery Log, and there it is, recorded in digital text: a solution to a mystery that has bothered you for months before the fateful morning on the first loop.
With Bright Circle just having risen, it's the perfect time to get a move-on. You wouldn't want to keep her waiting.
The path to the Museum is just as familiar as ever. Your spirits soar as you pass through the City square and approach the bridge... only for your heart to sink as you spot the crowd gathering in front of it. You had forgotten all about the nasty rocket propellant spilled all over the entrance - a constant across all time loops. Of course, you aren't exactly looking to enter the Museum, and Cobalt is standing there, just like the first ti-
"Hello, my friend, hello!"
The feminine voice from behind startles you out of your thoughts. By instinct, you turn around to spot a circle runner with bright pink feathers standing right behind you. From her size, she isn't quite grown-up, but she's definitely quite older than you. Her eyes are a deep shade of turquoise. Around her torso is a belt holding a small pouch with a buckle. Finally and most curiously, she wears a necklace of green stones held together by thin rope. The stone at the center is carved in the shape of a crescent moon facing upwards, with a smaller dot-shaped stone between its tips. You spend more than a few seconds mesmerized by her necklace before she once again interrupts.
"Well, you don't seem to be one for words-"
"Wait, sorry!" you blurt out. "I'm Littlefoot!"
"Littlefoot," repeats the circle runner, running over each syllable with care. "Yet your feet aren't little at all."
You blush.
"Well, that's just how we longnecks are. To us, most feet are little, I guess?"
"But if all feet are little, how would your feet be littler than the rest?" asks the circle runner playfully. You try to stammer out a response, but she cuts you off.
"Of course, I didn't come here to talk about your little feet. Something else brought me to this place. That's what we should be talking about!"
"W-what would that be?" you ask.
"You, of course!"
You are speechless. What could a random circle runner want with you?
"Huh?" is all you can muster.
"Yes, you! 'You' is a subject I already have more to ask about than I ever thought I would!" she exclaims excitedly.
"W-why?" you ask, incredulous.
"'Why' is the question. You were here, then you were gone, then you were here again! Why is that?"
"W-what do you mean I was gone? I was just standing here!"
"Yes. But the last time around, you weren't anywhere to be found while nobody else was lost."
"Last time?"
"Precisely! The time after I saw you leaving the Museum."
"Well, I don't go to the Museum all the time," you reply.
"But the last time, you should have!" is her reply.
"Why should I have?!"
"Because you had gone the time before, and everyone else had done what they were supposed to have done!" she replies, somehow maintaining her obnoxious tone. You feel your blood begin to boil. Now, you understand why her clade is called "circle runner." Can't she give you a straight answer?
"What does that even mean?! What are you even talking about?!" you almost shout in frustration. The circle runner's expression shifts. She now looks... almost heartbroken.
"Well, I guess I was wrong. I thought you would remember how you've lived through this before," she says, sighing. It hits you like a boulder smashing right into your face. The time loops. She knows about the time loops.
"Wait, you know about the time loops? Were you connected to the Great Circle Contingency?" you ask in hushed whispers. Suddenly, the circle runner's eyes have a spark in them.
"Well, all circle runners know time runs in loops... but a hatchling from another clade wouldn't be talking about them unless they could see it for themselves," is her reply. "If that's what you call the machine that gave you the ability to remember, I'd say... yes."
You fight the urge to let your excitement get the better of you. Finally, you've met someone besides Mr. Endling and Nic who can remember the loops! Your previous irritation with her vanishes as your mind roils with questions.
"So you also have a Bridge Drone? Did you also meet Mr. Endling? Whe-"
"Well, you really are full of questions. I'd say you should speak slower," the circle runner replies with a chuckle.
"Well, I guess I can start by asking how you... started to remember the time loops. It was a statue, right? Just like the one in the Museum?" you ask.
"You can say that. There I was, sitting in my home and buried deep in my notes. I heard a noise, and turned around to see that the robot my father was studying had started flying. It looked right at me, and then there was a great flash-" she begins
You nod while puzzling over her words. Father? Who could-
"I don't remember what happened that moment, but when I came to, I saw that the drone was hovering around me. Even stranger, I saw that the Far Beyonder statue in our house was glowing, and I could see a message right in front of it-"
You suddenly realize exactly who you are speaking to.
"You're Cobalt's daughter!" you shout. The circle runner appears startled by your realization.
"I-how could you know?" she asks, hesitantly.
"Well, who else would be a circle runner and study Far Beyonder stuff where they live?" you reply. Another chuckle from Cobalt's daughter.
"Well, when you put it that way, it seems quite obvious!"
"Yeah, I'm sorry I didn't recognize you. It's just that I've never seen you around at school, or in town, or... anywhere, really," you repond.
"I'm a bit too big for the Circle of Learning. Besides, my father insisted on homeschooling me - to pass on everything he knew!" she responds with pride.
"You mean, he saw you as his legacy?" you ask.
"Probably. My my, you sound pretty wise for a hatchling," replies Cobalt's daughter.
"Well, my grandma and grandpa teach me a lot about stuff like this," you reply, meekly.
"Grandma and grandpa? Like the teachers?" asks the circle runner.
"Yep," you reply.
"Well, that's- oh, excuse me, I just realized I never gave you my name. I'm Ruby. It's nice to meet you!" she says.
"Yeah, nice to meet you too!" you respond, your voice betraying your unease. For someone aware of the impending end of the world, Ruby is disturbingly cheerful. You let the pause hang awkwardly for a few moments.
"So... about the loops and everything," you try to begin. "For me, I was at the Museum when a strange rainbow face approached me. He acted like he knew something horrible was going to happen, and then the drone in the display case started flying and connected with my mind! When I woke up again, he was gone."
You gulp, hoping Ruby will believe what you are going to say next.
"The thing is, I don't think he was really a rainbow face. I think he was a Far Beyonder. He called himself 'Mr. Endling.'"
Ruby listens intently, not seemingly troubled by your words.
"'Endling.' What a strange name. My father told me it's what the last living Saurian in a clade is called, before the clade goes extinct."
The gears in your mind turn as you process this.
"Then, does that mean Mr. Endling is the last Far Beyonder left?" you ask.
"Maybe, if he was a Far Beyonder at all!" replies Ruby.
Discovery Log updated.
It's a spine-chilling idea. What exactly could kill off the Far Beyonders? Could it happen again? Has it already happened? You try to shake these thoughts and return to the task at hand.
"Yeah," you start, bracing yourself for what you are about to say next. For some reason, part of you feels embarrased at revealing your secret.
"Ruby, I've been.... trying to find out what's going on. I have something you might want to look at. It's an old space suit, with... tentacle arms that look like they weren't made by people in the City."
A flash of recognition crosses Ruby's face.
"This sounds very familiar," she comments. You nod.
"Yeah, someone told me you knew something about strange artifacts and could help me," you reply. Ruby smiles.
"Well then, what are we waiting for?" she asks.
"I'll lead the way," you reply. You gaze at her expectantly before turning towards the distant location of your stash. First, you make sure nobody else is watching, then you begin leaving the town, with Ruby in tow. When you are at the City limits, you stop to examine your surroundings, only to hear the characteristic sound of a Bridge Drone decloaking. You turn around, to find one floating next to Ruby, who is mesmerized by it. You chuckle.
"Yeah, thought you would have one too," you say.
"It's so fascinating, like nothing I've seen before!" says Ruby. She passes her claws underneath it.
"It flies by energizing the air around it into some kind of wind. You can feel it like this," she says. With your curiosity piqued, you tuck your head underneath Ruby's Bridge Drone. Just as she said, you feel a surprisingly powerful gust of wind, along with a tingling sensation in your body. Your worldsight suddenly begins to bend in strange ways, and you remove your head before it can get any worse.
The rest of the trip is uneventful. You manage to arrive at your hiding spot undetected.
"My guess is you hid the suit under those leaves" comments Ruby after taking a few moments to examine the surroundings.
"Yeah, good catch," you respond. You quickly remove the debris on top of the suit. You sense Ruby observing intently as more and more of the suit is excavated, with the strange engraved metallic casing drawing particular attention from her. Finally, once it is all out in the open, Ruby approaches it carefully to get a better look. You are struck by the observation that the turqoise decorations on the tentacle casing seems to be made out of the same material as her necklace stones.
"My, my," she says after a few moments. "The suit has an artifact exactly like the one my father found. Where did it come from?"
"I found it a few months ago in storage at the Astrodrome. It looked like it wasn't used for years."
"Interesting. I never guessed that MBV would make a space suit for a longneck hatchling."
"Yeah, me neither. In the last loop, someone told me that there was a hatchling astrosaur a long time ago. I think this suit was for them."
"I can't imagine sending a hatchling like you into the Mysterious Beyond."
You gulp.
"Well, you don't have to, because that's exactly what I did."
Ruby gazes at you wordlessly. For the first time since you met her, she appears completely and utterly shocked by your words.
"In the past loop, I snuck into the Astrodrome and flew into the Mysterious Beyond on a prototype vehicle MBV built."
The only thing Ruby can respond with is a flat "why?"
"Because the answers to what's happening aren't in the Valley. That's what the Far Beyonder records from their lab in the Valley told me!" you explain, desparately trying to make her understand. Ruby shakes her head.
"Then... you must be braver than I could ever be."
"It's... kind of what I wanted to do this whole time. Just never thought I would ever get to."
"Many hatchlings dream of finding our place in the stars. I'm a bit different. My father and I have always cared more about finding the future written in the past."
"Future in the past? That doesn't make sense!"
"Oh, but it does. Maybe I can help you understand some time."
Ruby runs her claws over the tentacle casing, studying it intently. After some time, she gets up.
"There's writing inscribed here."
You gape with surprise.
"Writing?"
"Yes. I think it's the kind I'm familiar with. I'm going to take a trace of it," replies Ruby. She unclasps her pouch and withdraws a worn notebook, then a pencil. Opening to a blank page in the notebook, she swiftly tears it out, then returns the notebook to the pouch. She then presses the page to the rim of the tentacle casing and begins tracing out the subtle patterns on it. You watch her work with bated breath, all while a million thoughts race through your head.
"You said your suit had tentacles, but I don't see any here," says Ruby midway through.
"They're hidden in that casing. When I put the suit on, they connect with my mind and emerge from it. They let me use tools and hold stuff, like a two-legs!"
Ruby nods.
"They're what let you be an astrosaur."
She is silent afterwards, continuing her work. Her words, on the other hand, run themselves through your mind. An astrosaur. She called you an astrosaur. That makes it official, then. You, Littlefoot, are an astrosaur, just like Edmon and Parker and even Nic. Your kind are a diverse bunch, aren't they?
Once she is done, Ruby holds up the page with the tracings. To your surprise, you see letters written all over them, yet they don't seem to mean anything at all.
"XDFGH?" you read. Ruby chuckles.
"There's a secret to them that my father and I have spent our lives uncovering," she says. "Come with me to my home. It's best if you see for yourself."
You nod, then begin covering the suit up again. Once you are satisfied with how you've hidden it, you turn back to Ruby, bading her to lead you. She begins walking back towards the City, with you in tow. Your mind, as always is filled with questions. You had imagined many origins for the tentacles on your suit, but the fact that vaguely Saurian writing is on them makes you wonder if they were made by Saurians themselves. Yet... it can't be. They look nothing like anything the City has made, and the City is the only civilization on Wild Nest.
Or is it? Whatever the answer is, something tells you that your understanding of the world will never be the same.
You soon make it to the river dividing Saurus Peak from the rest of the City. The crowd in front of the Museum has dispersed, though the domehead in the hazmat suit is still cleaning the acid spill. Ruby takes you across the bridge and up the stairs leading to the Observatory. However, she stops in front of the door of a home carved into the rock a quarter of the way up.
"This... this is your home?" you ask. She nods. You chuckle. In the first loop, you had gone right past it without ever as much as glimpsing Ruby. Funny how things work out.
Ruby pushes the door open, revealing a short corridor leading to a surprisingly large central chamber. The first thing that catches your eye is the looming Far Beyonder statue in the center of the room, already active. You gasp upon witnessing it. To think that Cobalt was hiding this within the confines of his home for all this time-
"Well, here we are!" exclaims Ruby. You, on the other hand, are left speechless. Slowly, you approach the statue, until a purple-tinted readout appears in your vision.
"[10048.2.6-6.4] Great Circle Contingency Transmitter #7 Active
[10048.2.6-7.4] No Active User Detected, Entering Idle Mode
[13004.9.20-8.2] Transmission Received:
Iteration #8
Active User: Bridge Drone #7
[13004.9.20-8.2] Entanglement Drift Complete, Transmitting Received Data
[13004.9.20-8.2] Transmission Complete, Activating Recording Mode
Estimated Time Until Disestablishment: 42 Standard Time Units"
Deduction Roll (Easy): 2 + 5 + 4 (Deduction) = 11
11 vs. 8 = Success
The gears in your mind turn. The last time you looked at one of the statues, the iteration number was six. This implies the iteration number tracks how many times the time loop has occured. Then, the time loop had occured five times before you were connected to it. What's more, it seems Ruby was connected to the Great Circle Contingency around the same "time" you were, if you can call it that. That would make the first individual connected to the Great Circle Contingency be... Mr. Endling.
Your mother's chilling words echo back to you from your memory. "The Far Beyonders made a machine to trap us." It seems it was originally made to trap themselves.
Discovery Log updated.
Maybe they saw their entrapment as their salvation. But in the end, Mr. Endling may be the only one who was saved.
The sound of pages turning breaks you out of your spell. You turn around to see Ruby browsing through her notebook, with the paper trace on her desk. Now, you begin to observe the rest of your surroundings. Cobalt's house is decorated with items of unknown make. Many of them resemble Ruby's necklace or the case of your tentacles: jewelry, strange technological equipment, and even what appears to be the head of a statue depicting an unknown circle runner. However, one artifact draws your attention: a crescent-shaped lamp with a mechanical starfish-armed aperture. Just like the one depicted in Amber's hand, on the statue in the town square.
Your mind boggles at the sight. You had always assumed Amber's lantern was a mere artistic flourish, but could it instead represent a memory of something else entirely? An artifact, with scrambled Saurian writing. Just what is this mystery revealing?
You hear Ruby call to you. Putting aside your thoughts for now, you join her at her table. Her notebook is open to a page that contains inscriptions like the one she traced on your tentacle arms, along with what you assume are her guesses at their meaning. You spot a copy of the inscription at the end:
Besides it is Ruby's guess: "Hands? given (to) (the) handless?."
"Hands given to the handless? How were you able to get that?" you ask. Ruby excitedly launches into a lecture.
"My father has been trying to decipher this writing for decades. In the end, it was my help that completed it! You see, our writing uses the same symbols this writing uses, but they're used completely differently. In our writing, symbols stand for sounds, while in the artifact writing, symbols stand for things."
"And in this case, those things are... hands?"
"I think so. Of course, we could be completely wrong, but I think we should go with this guess for now."
"Hands given to the handless," you mutter. Considering what the tentacles do, it's an apt description. They must have been built specifically for four-legs such as you to be able to use tools, or at the very least were used the same way you use them.
"Well, it's something. But then who built these and wrote those words?"
"It's something my father has been trying to figure out. We've found artifacts just like this one in the Outer Wilds and in the archives of the City, begging for an answer to their mystery. My father's best guess is that they're remains of an ancient Saurian civilization that has been lost to memory."
"But everyone knows Saurians didn't have any civilization until Amber!"
"Everyone knows that, but we think everyone doesn't know anything about our real past."
Discovery Log updated.
The idea shocks you. How could something as enormous as the idea that Saurians once lived like the inhabitants of the City do now just be... forgotten? How could creatures who built and wrote become foragers and mindless predators, aspiring only to live until the next day?
"Then... Amber's lantern. It looks like that artifact here. Does it mean Amber knew about the ancient civilization too?" you ask.
"Probably. In fact, my father thinks a lot of what Amber taught us came from them, and she somehow found their knowledge. But there's only one way to be sure."
Ruby's next words are much more hesitant.
"It's something I would be too afraid to do. We need to break into Mayor Opal's home in the Observatory and look for Amber's codices. Father says they're the original source of our knowledge. If we can find proof it came from the ancients, we'll know for sure."
The thought disturbs you. Breaking into the Astrodrome was bad enough, but to steal something from the Mayor of the City? Completely beyond the pale. Every ounce of morality in your being tells you to reject this idea flat out, yet something about it temps you nonetheless. After all, what is a bit of burglary if it uncovers the long-lost heritage of the Saurian race?
"I, uh, think-" you begin, only for Ruby to interrupt you.
"I've already thought about how you could do it. Opal's home has a window looking out into the Valley. You could try to climb up to it and enter while she isn't there, like at night when she's in the Observatory."
"That sounds super dangerous," you respond. "What if I fall?"
"You might be right. Maybe you could instead try to distract her while I sneak in and look for the codices? I'm a circle runner, so I'm not scared of heights."
The idea sounds more reasonable on the surface, but can you really keep Mayor Opal's attention on you long enough for Ruby to steal one of her most prized possessions. It's quite a gamble. Your conscience takes the opportunity to once again remind you what an awful course of action this is. Perhaps you should just refuse outright.
[] Accept Ruby's quest to steal Amber's Codices.
-[] Sneak in at night and steal them yourself.
-[] Distract Opal during the day so Ruby can steal them.
-[] Write-in actions
[] Refuse Ruby's insane scheme.
- [] Write-in actions
With this update, you have uncovered Echoes of the Traveler, The Lands Beyond's counterpart to the Echoes of the Eye DLC from Outer Wilds. Unlike EoTE, this sidequest cannot be completed all at once and is mandatory for the intended good ending of the main quest. As the main quest progresses, opportunities to progress Echoes of the Traveler will arrive occasionally, with Ruby working in the background to find those opportunities.
Time: 1 hours/65 hours
Health: 10/10
Food: 100%
Sleep: 14 hours of wakefulness remaining
Inventory: Bridge Drone
Last edited:
- Location
- Somewhere in the area
- Pronouns
- He/She/They
Another person with us in the time loop! I'm glad we encountered her early, this way we can work together in figuring this all out. From how she reacted to us talking about going into space, I think it's safe to say that she won't be joining us up there. While she'll probably be spending most of her time on her research of the Echoes of the Traveler, she could also act as a set of eyes/ears on Wild Nest while we're out in space during the loops. Such as if we ever need to know what a specific person in The City is doing at a specific time in the loop in order to better understand a mystery.
For now, I think distracting Opal and Quartz while Ruby steals Amber's Codices is the way to go. The question is how long do we think we need to distract her for, and what conversational topics can we use to do so? Didn't Parker say something about how Opal might know more about why the Firmament is exploding at the end of the loops? Maybe we can use that as one of our topics.
Spoiler for the IRL source of the text in the update: I also got to say, using the text from Heaven's Vault here is an inspired choice!
For now, I think distracting Opal and Quartz while Ruby steals Amber's Codices is the way to go. The question is how long do we think we need to distract her for, and what conversational topics can we use to do so? Didn't Parker say something about how Opal might know more about why the Firmament is exploding at the end of the loops? Maybe we can use that as one of our topics.
Spoiler for the IRL source of the text in the update: I also got to say, using the text from Heaven's Vault here is an inspired choice!
- Location
- Orlando, Florida
Glad to see someone caught the reference. Let's just say the text isn't the only thing inspired by Heaven's Vault in Echoes of the Traveler.
- Location
- Illinois
Ooo, I didn't expect us to bumble onto the pseudo-expansion pack! I'm definitely exited to see more though.
To be honest, with consequences being less of a long term issue, I feel like it couldn't hurt to try to distract the Mayor to get this done. But then again, is that what we want Littlefoot to think in such a way?
To be honest, with consequences being less of a long term issue, I feel like it couldn't hurt to try to distract the Mayor to get this done. But then again, is that what we want Littlefoot to think in such a way?
MordredRaal
Agitating
- Pronouns
- She/They
Great Update! Lots of new information and yet another fellow traveler!
[X] Accept Ruby's quest to steal Amber's Codices.
-[X] Distract Opal during the day so Ruby can steal them.
--[X] Opal supposedly knows something about why Firmament is exploding. That sure sounds like a conversation that would consume all of her attention. And there are plenty of ways to stall by getting emotional, whether she knows something or not.
Typos?:
I think this is an editing fragment, cause Littlefoot did introduce himself, here:
This should be distract Opal, I'm pretty sure
[X] Accept Ruby's quest to steal Amber's Codices.
-[X] Distract Opal during the day so Ruby can steal them.
--[X] Opal supposedly knows something about why Firmament is exploding. That sure sounds like a conversation that would consume all of her attention. And there are plenty of ways to stall by getting emotional, whether she knows something or not.
Typos?:
I think this is an editing fragment, cause Littlefoot did introduce himself, here:
This should be distract Opal, I'm pretty sure
- Location
- Orlando, Florida
Both errors have been fixed, thanks for pointing them out.
- Location
- Somewhere in the area
- Pronouns
- He/She/They
[X] Accept Ruby's quest to steal Amber's Codices.
-[X] Distract Opal during the day so Ruby can steal them.
--[X] Opal supposedly knows something about why Firmament is exploding. That sure sounds like a conversation that would consume all of her attention. And there are plenty of ways to stall by getting emotional, whether she knows something or not.
Also "fellow traveler" is a great term for the people hooked into the timeloops with us.
-[X] Distract Opal during the day so Ruby can steal them.
--[X] Opal supposedly knows something about why Firmament is exploding. That sure sounds like a conversation that would consume all of her attention. And there are plenty of ways to stall by getting emotional, whether she knows something or not.
Also "fellow traveler" is a great term for the people hooked into the timeloops with us.
- Location
- Illinois
[X] Accept Ruby's quest to steal Amber's Codices.
-[X] Distract Opal during the day so Ruby can steal them.
--[X] Opal supposedly knows something about why Firmament is exploding. That sure sounds like a conversation that would consume all of her attention. And there are plenty of ways to stall by getting emotional, whether she knows something or not.
That's a good one! I'm going for it.
-[X] Distract Opal during the day so Ruby can steal them.
--[X] Opal supposedly knows something about why Firmament is exploding. That sure sounds like a conversation that would consume all of her attention. And there are plenty of ways to stall by getting emotional, whether she knows something or not.
That's a good one! I'm going for it.
- Location
- Orlando, Florida
"Traveler" was the term I was going to use, borrowing it from Outer Wilds' original travelers: the characters you meet around the campfire in the end of the game.
Nova
- Location
- Orlando, Florida
[X] Accept Ruby's quest to steal Amber's Codices.
-[X] Distract Opal during the day so Ruby can steal them.
--[X] Opal supposedly knows something about why Firmament is exploding. That sure sounds like a conversation that would consume all of her attention. And there are plenty of ways to stall by getting emotional, whether she knows something or not.
As you run the idea over in your head, you feel something like resolve strengthen in your heart. After all, what is a law compared to the lost history of the Saurian race? Besides, if you get caught, nobody will remember by the next loop.
That leaves the question of how you plan to steal the Codices to begin with. You have barely any experience with climbing, and the prospect of hanging off the side of a building, with a steep drop to the ground, evokes a primal fear within you. You don't understand why Ruby is volunteering to go in your place, but something tells you that a two-legs like her might be better at it than you. You relay your choice to Ruby, and a flash of fear crosses her eyes.
"Well... I guess that really settles it? I'm going to be the one to... climb through the Mayor's window..."
"Hey, circle runners have hollow bones like longnecks, right? You're lighter than you think you are!" you reply.
"I guess, but I definitely won't risk it without some help," says Ruby. Her eyes light up. "I know! What if I borrow one of the grappling hooks the Rangers have?"
"Uh, wouldn't you get caught?" you say, eyeing her suspiciously.
"Well, maybe not, if I run fast. We circle runners can run almost as fast as rainbow faces can!" she says with a prideful flourish. You only nod with faint approval. Taking that as a "yes," Ruby heads towards the door. Not wanting to lose her, you follow her through and back out onto the stone stairway.
"Ready to see a circle runner run?" asks Ruby.
"I gue-" you begin, only for Ruby to begin racing down the stairs before the last few syllables leave your tongue. From a standing start, she now appears like a pink blur, reaching the bottom in around five seconds without tripping over the steps once. You gape from your vantage point as she blazes on across the bridge, then around the town square, all without running into anyone or being caught. Soon, her figure shrinks into almost nothing as she races towards the Airstrip.
It takes about a minute of anxious waiting for you to spot her distant figure returning towards you. Somehow, she once again manages to avoid all Saurians along her way. You breathe a sigh of relief when she crosses the bridge and then makes it up the stairs to your position a few seconds later, now carrying a grappling hook in her claws. She stops right in front of you, not phased in the slightest.
"So, how did I do?" she asks nonchalantly after a few moments.
"That was amazing!" you shout. "Can circle runners do this all the time?!"
"You bet! We can run for at least half an hour before needing to cool off!"
The idea impresses you. You know too well that Saurians are cursed with a very active metabolism, yet many struggle with removing waste heat. Even you have often felt yourself overheating after minutes of sustained exhertion, and you can't imagine how much heat circle runners and rainbow faces have to deal with. Of course, something tells you they also possess adaptations your clade lacks.
"So, ready to meet with Mayor Opal?" asks Ruby. "I'll be ready to climb, just give me the signal!"
You nod, then face the upward curve of the stairwell. Here goes nothing. With one step after another, you reach the entrance to the Observatory. You hesistate a bit, standing on the threshold. Are you really going to do this? You turn around, and see Ruby waiting behind you with her grappling hook in tow. She flashes you a smile. Well, there's really no use dallying, is there?
You raise your right forelimb in approval, then turn and head through the entrance.
"Mayor Opal?! Quartz?! Anyone there?!" you call out, making sure you do so as loudly as is reasonable.
"Oh? Who is this?" calls a voice from past the end of the hall. It's Quartz. Ruby's mother.
"It's Littlefoot, from the Circle of Learning! My grandparents teach there!" you reply.
"Ah, Littlefoot! Is something the matter?" replies Quartz.
"Yeah, there's something I really need to ask the Mayor about," you reply.
"Oh, what so?"
"It's a science question. I know it sounds stupid, but it's something I'm really scared about..." you say.
"Well, that's something the Mayor definitely has time for! You may come right in," answers Quartz. You breathe a sigh of relief. Of course, the hard part is yet to come. Quickly, you cross the hall and enter the Observatory proper, taking a few moments to marvel at the enormous telescope in front of you. Quartz is standing by the door. Looking at her, you note that Ruby definitely has a much stronger resemblance to her than Cobalt.
"The Mayor will be with you shortly," says Quartz. Your heart begins to race as you imagine the Mayor in her quarters, in the right position to gaze out her window at the worst possible time and catch Ruby hanging out-
The sound of a door opening assaunges your fears, as the Mayor herself emerges from her private quarters. Her feathers look dishevled, as usual. A faint smile crosses her beak once she spots you, and she carefully walks towards you before speaking.
"Well, this quite is a curious sight. Tell me, Littlefoot, what question brought you all the way to me?" she asks. You gulp, somewhat nervous about what is going to come out of your mouth.
"I've been having really bad dreams," you begin, almost cringing at the words. The Mayor's bemused expression definitely doesn't help. Still, you force yourself to press on.
"I see Firmament swelling, then exploding and destroying the entire Near Beyond! I know it's just my imagination, but is it really possible for a gas giant to... explode like that?" you ask. You expect the Mayor to scoff at your question, but a spark lights up in her eyes as she ponders it.
"A gas giant exploding is certainly a strange concept. You are probably expecting us to laugh, then send you home without a second thought. But I believe there is something to be learned here, and as a woman of science, it is my duty to consider such possibilities, no matter how remote. After all, our greatest advances have often come from us asking seemingly absurd questions such as yours."
She eyes you curiously.
"In this case, I believe I can answer your question with enough certainty to put your fears to rest."
She turns to a blackboard mounted on one side of the Observatory walls, then beckons you to follow.
"It may help if I write it out."
You move alongside her towards the blackboard, where she takes a piece of white chalk from the ledge. Motioning for your attention, she begins writing down symbols on the board that you can't quite recognize. They seem to be some kind of equation, but not a purely mathematical one.
"When one asks if a gas giant is capable of exploding, we must first ask: how can it be so? To our knowledge, the most likely phenomenon that could trigger such an event is a nuclear chain reaction, unleashing the vast energy stored within the mass of the gas giant's inner layers."
She draws a set of concentric circles, labelling them as the outer envelope, mantle, and core of Firmament.
"At the moment, we know of two kinds of nuclear reactions that can propagate indefinitely. The first is nuclear fission, wherein atoms of heavy and unstable elements spontaneously divide into atoms of lighter elements through neutron bombardment. However, it is unlikely that sufficient concentrations of such fissile elements exist in the lower layers of Firmament to trigger a prompt chain reaction. This leaves only one possibility."
She points to the equation dramatically.
"Nuclear fusion. Two or more atoms of light elements colliding together and forming heavier elements, only occuring under unimaginable temperature and pressure-"
For a moment, her words seem to fade into the background as you feel yourself surrounded by an immense crushing force. Once again, you are a charred pile of carbon descending into Firmament's metallic lower layers, the hydrogen atoms compressing you more than water in the deepest ocean.
"-we know, of course, that extreme temperatures and pressures exist at Firmament's core. However, my calculations have shown that a gas giant would have to be fourty times the mass of Firmament for even the brief fusion of heavy hydrogen at the beginning of its life, let alone fusion of normal hydrogen like in the core of-"
An image of an infinite sea of swirling atoms overtakes your mind. Suddenly, a new particle arrives, unimaginably hot and dense. It bounces off the atoms in the sea with the sound of a flint striking stone, leaving sparks of energy in its wake that crackle more and more powerfully.
"Still, though, your question is surprisingly pertinent to our research. For ages, stargazers have noted completely new stars shining for up to a month before disappearing just as quickly. We believe these "novas" are actually the result of immense chain fusion reactions occuring in a star at the end of their lives, tearing them apart in a titanic explosion - exactly what you feared would happen to Firmament."
A enormous ball of gas hangs in space, its layers clearly visible. Suddenly, flashes of bright energy appear in its mantle, growing more and more frequent as the orb begins to swell with heat. Then, in an instant, shockwaves appear in the mantle all at once, propagating through it in a blink of an eye. The orb flashes with unimaginable power, and you are brought back into reality. Opal is pondering the topic intensely.
"Interesting how things turn out. A flash of insight, mirroring the universe's deepest-held secrets, coming from the mouth of a hatchling."
As Opal speaks those words, a bright flash of light shines through the room. You feel searing heat, as Opal's feathers catch alight and her flesh seems to begin melting straight off her bones. Suddenly, a piercing shriek stabs your mind.
"Littlefoot? Is something the matter?"
Opal is standing over you, looking just as healthy as ever. You blink, then shake your head, trying to clear your mind. Despite your best efforts, you still feel a deep pit of dread in your stomach. You run over Opal's reasoning. A chain fusion reaction in Firmament's core, triggered by... something? What is it?
Deduction Roll (Legendary): 1 + 6 + 4 (Deduction) + 2 (Mother's Warning) = 9
13 vs. Failure = Failure
You rack your brain, but you can't quite make the puzzle pieces fit. Still, you think you may have an inkling of what is causing the end of the world. If Firmament can't naturally explode on its own, then perhaps it is possible to stop it. The dread still grips you, but for the first time in what feels like ages, you have a sliver of hope.
"I'm... fine, Mayor Opal," you respond after a few moments. "Thank you so much for answering my question."
Opal relaxes.
"My pleasure, Littlefoot."
She is about to say something else when you hear something that makes you freeze. It comes from the direction of the Mayor's private quarters, ever so faintly, but still audible nonetheless: a clearly mistakable thunk. Your heart leaps into your throat, and you are completely paralyzed. Both Quartz and the Mayor have taken pause.
"Did I hear something?" asks Quartz. She glances at the Mayor curiously, then at you. For a few moments, she is frozen with indecision, and you fear for the worst. Then, she speaks again.
"It's probably the air conditioner."
You fight the urge to let out a sigh of relief. You're safe, for now. Opal speaks to you again.
"I apologize for that interruption. Littlefoot, you go off to your grandparents. Tell them I said hello."
Similar words to the first loop. It sends a shiver down your spine. Yet another reason you have to stop them as soon as possible, and you may have just gotten your first clue on how to. You bid Mayor Opal and Quartz farewell, then head back outside the Observatory as quickly as you can, not wanting to outstay your welcome. To your relief, Ruby is standing on the stairwell, grappling hook under one wing and two bound leather tomes in the other.
"You-you actually did it," you remark with surprise and trepidation in equal measure. Ruby cracks a smile.
"It wasn't quite as much trouble as I thought it would be."
You shake your heard.
"We heard you back there, when you were getting out. You should have been more careful."
"Well, one cannot fault me that the window failed to close silently."
You concede the point.
"Now, let's take a look at these dusty tomes," continues Ruby. You begin following her down the steps towards her house. Along the way, you take a glimpse at the sky, watching Firmament hover in your sight with fear. You are looking at a vast pile of fusion fuel. If only you knew of the spark that sets it off.
Discovery Log updated.
Once you are inside Ruby's house, the circle runner carefully sets the two tomes down on her desk, making sure not to damage the cover. Getting a closer look, you observe the appearance of the books: their leather covers worn, but not catastrophically degraded. You spot a few minute claw marks on them, but no damage otherwise. Written on them is more symbol-writing:
Moreover, both of the tomes have a different symbol next to it:
and
. Ruby opens her notebook and transcribes the inscriptions, then begins checking her notes to come up with a translation. After a while, she arrives at an answer:
"I think the title reads, 'Book of Ancient Learning.'"
"What about those other symbols?" you ask.
"Oh, those are easy. The one with the circle dot means "one" or "I", while the one with the sharp mark means "two" or "you," depending on the context. In this case, my guess is that they're being used as numbers."
"Then, what kind of learning do they hold?"
Ruby smirks.
"It's time we find out!"
Carefully, she lifts the cover of the tome marked with the "one" symbol. On the inside of the cover, the following words are written:
Ruby once again writes down the inscription, then checks her notes.
"'Owned Forgotten Library'?" she ventures, before shaking her head. "No, 'Owned by the Forgotten Library'!"
"The Forgotten Library? What do you think that is?" you ask.
"My guess would be this is where the Codices originally came from! Did Amber... steal them from it? Just like we stole them from the Mayor?" ponders Ruby.
Discovery Log updated.
"Well, that's another mystery we have to figure out," you comment. Ruby flips open the next page. It contains a table full of symbol-writing, ordered meticulously.
"I assume this is a... table of contents? Never mind, let's go past it," says Ruby. She flips to the next page, and is immediately confronted with an array of geometrical diagrams depicting the properties of various shapes.
"This is... oh dear, I can't even begin to understand this! It's all math and geometry and stuff that makes my head turn! I don't think you'll have any luck with it too!"
She can say that again. Just looking at the page makes you go cross-eyed. And you thought the Starflyer manual was difficult to get through. Frustrated, Ruby begins flipping through more pages, slowly at first, then faster and faster out of sheer frustration. Then, you get a glimpse of a particularly strange-looking page.
"Wait, stop!" you shout. Ruby's hand freezes, then puts the page down so the both of you can get a better look at it. The page to your left is filled with symbol-writing, but the one Ruby just set down is dominated by a large diagram depicting multiple ellipses, some of them more circular than others, surrounding a central circle, with what appear to be mathematical expressions being inscribed onto it. Each ellipse has a smaller circle embedded into it at some point.
"This is... interesting, but I still can't figure out what it means. Is is a geometry thing or-"
Deduction Roll (Medium): 3 + 2 + 4 (Deduction) + 1 (A Dream of Flight) = 9
10 vs. 10 = Success
"Ruby, these are orbits. Like the moons, or even full planets!" you exclaim.
"Then... the Ancients knew about how the Mysterious Beyond worked?" wonders Ruby.
"Maybe they even had space travel!" you wonder excitedly. The thought gives you chills. If it's true, then the Ancient Saurians were even greater than you could have possibly imagined. Does this mean that MBV wasn't so much inventing spaceflight as rediscovering it? If so, that would make your childhood heroes... perhaps not quite as heroic as you hoped.
Ruby continues flipping through the pages. At some point, she reaches a new section. This one seems to be outlining mechanical contraptions, starting with very simple machines such as gears, pulleys, inclined planes, etc., and soon progressing to increasingly intricate technology. Math and other symbol-writing can be found on some pages, and while the details fly over your heard, you can clearly spot what appear to be crankshafts and other power transmission mechanisms. Near the end, Ruby flips over a page to reveal something that takes your breath away.
Sitting there, illustrated in its full glory, is a rocket engine, with a schematic of a turbopump on the page next to it. You gasp.
"So... this is where MBV came from," you say after a few moments of silence. Ruby has nothing else to say. She flips to the end of the tome, shuts it, then opens tome #2. Unfortunately, this one is somehow even more arcane than the first, being filled to the brim with arcane mathematical expressions. Ruby flips all the way through an entire section until she reaches pages of diagrams you can't begin to interpret. They consist of symbols encased in squares connected by brackets, annotated by the occasional mathematical sign or equation. Ruby flips through it, but the schematics seem to grow only more incomprehensible. Eventually, the two of you just give up on this tome entirely. You take a moment to ponder what you've seen.
"Littlefoot, this proves we were right all along. There was an ancient Saurian civilization, just as advanced as us if not more so! This... I can't believe it!" she squeals.
"Then, what do we do now?" you ask hesitantly. You can't possibly expect to just return the Codices to the Observatory.
"Well, we need to follow the artifact trail and find the Ancients!" says Ruby. "My father found them from travelers coming into the Valley, and we can track them to their source!"
A buried memory resurfaces, of a conversation wiped away by twisted time.
"You know, I heard from Pterrie that some of the Rangers think they've seen ruins on their expeditions. Do you think those are from the Ancient Saurians?"
"They could be," replies Ruby. "I guess we should check the Airstrip."
"Yeah," you reply. You are running over your options when a disturbing thought pops into your head.
"Hey, Ruby..." you begin. "...if the Ancient Saurians were advanced, what caused us to just forget everything they learned and live in the wild, as if they never existed? Did something... happen to them?"
Ruby pauses cold in her tracks, an expression of subtle horror on her face.
"It's... probably best we don't think about that for now. Not until we have evidence."
You nod, but can't help yourself from feeling unnerved. Still, you try to shake it. While Ruby prepares to head to the Airstrip, you think about how to proceed. You would love nothing more then to spend time helping her look for leads on the Ancient Saurian artifacts, but the time loop is advancing whether you want it to or not. With all the things you have to investigate, you wonder if this is just a diversion from the real task at hand. After all, you've already spent an hour on this.
The choice is in your paws.
Time: 2 hours/65 hours
Health: 10/10
Food: 100%
Sleep: 13 hours of wakefulness remaining
Inventory: Bridge Drone
-[X] Distract Opal during the day so Ruby can steal them.
--[X] Opal supposedly knows something about why Firmament is exploding. That sure sounds like a conversation that would consume all of her attention. And there are plenty of ways to stall by getting emotional, whether she knows something or not.
As you run the idea over in your head, you feel something like resolve strengthen in your heart. After all, what is a law compared to the lost history of the Saurian race? Besides, if you get caught, nobody will remember by the next loop.
That leaves the question of how you plan to steal the Codices to begin with. You have barely any experience with climbing, and the prospect of hanging off the side of a building, with a steep drop to the ground, evokes a primal fear within you. You don't understand why Ruby is volunteering to go in your place, but something tells you that a two-legs like her might be better at it than you. You relay your choice to Ruby, and a flash of fear crosses her eyes.
"Well... I guess that really settles it? I'm going to be the one to... climb through the Mayor's window..."
"Hey, circle runners have hollow bones like longnecks, right? You're lighter than you think you are!" you reply.
"I guess, but I definitely won't risk it without some help," says Ruby. Her eyes light up. "I know! What if I borrow one of the grappling hooks the Rangers have?"
"Uh, wouldn't you get caught?" you say, eyeing her suspiciously.
"Well, maybe not, if I run fast. We circle runners can run almost as fast as rainbow faces can!" she says with a prideful flourish. You only nod with faint approval. Taking that as a "yes," Ruby heads towards the door. Not wanting to lose her, you follow her through and back out onto the stone stairway.
"Ready to see a circle runner run?" asks Ruby.
"I gue-" you begin, only for Ruby to begin racing down the stairs before the last few syllables leave your tongue. From a standing start, she now appears like a pink blur, reaching the bottom in around five seconds without tripping over the steps once. You gape from your vantage point as she blazes on across the bridge, then around the town square, all without running into anyone or being caught. Soon, her figure shrinks into almost nothing as she races towards the Airstrip.
It takes about a minute of anxious waiting for you to spot her distant figure returning towards you. Somehow, she once again manages to avoid all Saurians along her way. You breathe a sigh of relief when she crosses the bridge and then makes it up the stairs to your position a few seconds later, now carrying a grappling hook in her claws. She stops right in front of you, not phased in the slightest.
"So, how did I do?" she asks nonchalantly after a few moments.
"That was amazing!" you shout. "Can circle runners do this all the time?!"
"You bet! We can run for at least half an hour before needing to cool off!"
The idea impresses you. You know too well that Saurians are cursed with a very active metabolism, yet many struggle with removing waste heat. Even you have often felt yourself overheating after minutes of sustained exhertion, and you can't imagine how much heat circle runners and rainbow faces have to deal with. Of course, something tells you they also possess adaptations your clade lacks.
"So, ready to meet with Mayor Opal?" asks Ruby. "I'll be ready to climb, just give me the signal!"
You nod, then face the upward curve of the stairwell. Here goes nothing. With one step after another, you reach the entrance to the Observatory. You hesistate a bit, standing on the threshold. Are you really going to do this? You turn around, and see Ruby waiting behind you with her grappling hook in tow. She flashes you a smile. Well, there's really no use dallying, is there?
You raise your right forelimb in approval, then turn and head through the entrance.
"Mayor Opal?! Quartz?! Anyone there?!" you call out, making sure you do so as loudly as is reasonable.
"Oh? Who is this?" calls a voice from past the end of the hall. It's Quartz. Ruby's mother.
"It's Littlefoot, from the Circle of Learning! My grandparents teach there!" you reply.
"Ah, Littlefoot! Is something the matter?" replies Quartz.
"Yeah, there's something I really need to ask the Mayor about," you reply.
"Oh, what so?"
"It's a science question. I know it sounds stupid, but it's something I'm really scared about..." you say.
"Well, that's something the Mayor definitely has time for! You may come right in," answers Quartz. You breathe a sigh of relief. Of course, the hard part is yet to come. Quickly, you cross the hall and enter the Observatory proper, taking a few moments to marvel at the enormous telescope in front of you. Quartz is standing by the door. Looking at her, you note that Ruby definitely has a much stronger resemblance to her than Cobalt.
"The Mayor will be with you shortly," says Quartz. Your heart begins to race as you imagine the Mayor in her quarters, in the right position to gaze out her window at the worst possible time and catch Ruby hanging out-
The sound of a door opening assaunges your fears, as the Mayor herself emerges from her private quarters. Her feathers look dishevled, as usual. A faint smile crosses her beak once she spots you, and she carefully walks towards you before speaking.
"Well, this quite is a curious sight. Tell me, Littlefoot, what question brought you all the way to me?" she asks. You gulp, somewhat nervous about what is going to come out of your mouth.
"I've been having really bad dreams," you begin, almost cringing at the words. The Mayor's bemused expression definitely doesn't help. Still, you force yourself to press on.
"I see Firmament swelling, then exploding and destroying the entire Near Beyond! I know it's just my imagination, but is it really possible for a gas giant to... explode like that?" you ask. You expect the Mayor to scoff at your question, but a spark lights up in her eyes as she ponders it.
"A gas giant exploding is certainly a strange concept. You are probably expecting us to laugh, then send you home without a second thought. But I believe there is something to be learned here, and as a woman of science, it is my duty to consider such possibilities, no matter how remote. After all, our greatest advances have often come from us asking seemingly absurd questions such as yours."
She eyes you curiously.
"In this case, I believe I can answer your question with enough certainty to put your fears to rest."
She turns to a blackboard mounted on one side of the Observatory walls, then beckons you to follow.
"It may help if I write it out."
You move alongside her towards the blackboard, where she takes a piece of white chalk from the ledge. Motioning for your attention, she begins writing down symbols on the board that you can't quite recognize. They seem to be some kind of equation, but not a purely mathematical one.
"When one asks if a gas giant is capable of exploding, we must first ask: how can it be so? To our knowledge, the most likely phenomenon that could trigger such an event is a nuclear chain reaction, unleashing the vast energy stored within the mass of the gas giant's inner layers."
She draws a set of concentric circles, labelling them as the outer envelope, mantle, and core of Firmament.
"At the moment, we know of two kinds of nuclear reactions that can propagate indefinitely. The first is nuclear fission, wherein atoms of heavy and unstable elements spontaneously divide into atoms of lighter elements through neutron bombardment. However, it is unlikely that sufficient concentrations of such fissile elements exist in the lower layers of Firmament to trigger a prompt chain reaction. This leaves only one possibility."
She points to the equation dramatically.
"Nuclear fusion. Two or more atoms of light elements colliding together and forming heavier elements, only occuring under unimaginable temperature and pressure-"
For a moment, her words seem to fade into the background as you feel yourself surrounded by an immense crushing force. Once again, you are a charred pile of carbon descending into Firmament's metallic lower layers, the hydrogen atoms compressing you more than water in the deepest ocean.
"-we know, of course, that extreme temperatures and pressures exist at Firmament's core. However, my calculations have shown that a gas giant would have to be fourty times the mass of Firmament for even the brief fusion of heavy hydrogen at the beginning of its life, let alone fusion of normal hydrogen like in the core of-"
An image of an infinite sea of swirling atoms overtakes your mind. Suddenly, a new particle arrives, unimaginably hot and dense. It bounces off the atoms in the sea with the sound of a flint striking stone, leaving sparks of energy in its wake that crackle more and more powerfully.
"Still, though, your question is surprisingly pertinent to our research. For ages, stargazers have noted completely new stars shining for up to a month before disappearing just as quickly. We believe these "novas" are actually the result of immense chain fusion reactions occuring in a star at the end of their lives, tearing them apart in a titanic explosion - exactly what you feared would happen to Firmament."
A enormous ball of gas hangs in space, its layers clearly visible. Suddenly, flashes of bright energy appear in its mantle, growing more and more frequent as the orb begins to swell with heat. Then, in an instant, shockwaves appear in the mantle all at once, propagating through it in a blink of an eye. The orb flashes with unimaginable power, and you are brought back into reality. Opal is pondering the topic intensely.
"Interesting how things turn out. A flash of insight, mirroring the universe's deepest-held secrets, coming from the mouth of a hatchling."
As Opal speaks those words, a bright flash of light shines through the room. You feel searing heat, as Opal's feathers catch alight and her flesh seems to begin melting straight off her bones. Suddenly, a piercing shriek stabs your mind.
"Littlefoot? Is something the matter?"
Opal is standing over you, looking just as healthy as ever. You blink, then shake your head, trying to clear your mind. Despite your best efforts, you still feel a deep pit of dread in your stomach. You run over Opal's reasoning. A chain fusion reaction in Firmament's core, triggered by... something? What is it?
Deduction Roll (Legendary): 1 + 6 + 4 (Deduction) + 2 (Mother's Warning) = 9
13 vs. Failure = Failure
You rack your brain, but you can't quite make the puzzle pieces fit. Still, you think you may have an inkling of what is causing the end of the world. If Firmament can't naturally explode on its own, then perhaps it is possible to stop it. The dread still grips you, but for the first time in what feels like ages, you have a sliver of hope.
"I'm... fine, Mayor Opal," you respond after a few moments. "Thank you so much for answering my question."
Opal relaxes.
"My pleasure, Littlefoot."
She is about to say something else when you hear something that makes you freeze. It comes from the direction of the Mayor's private quarters, ever so faintly, but still audible nonetheless: a clearly mistakable thunk. Your heart leaps into your throat, and you are completely paralyzed. Both Quartz and the Mayor have taken pause.
"Did I hear something?" asks Quartz. She glances at the Mayor curiously, then at you. For a few moments, she is frozen with indecision, and you fear for the worst. Then, she speaks again.
"It's probably the air conditioner."
You fight the urge to let out a sigh of relief. You're safe, for now. Opal speaks to you again.
"I apologize for that interruption. Littlefoot, you go off to your grandparents. Tell them I said hello."
Similar words to the first loop. It sends a shiver down your spine. Yet another reason you have to stop them as soon as possible, and you may have just gotten your first clue on how to. You bid Mayor Opal and Quartz farewell, then head back outside the Observatory as quickly as you can, not wanting to outstay your welcome. To your relief, Ruby is standing on the stairwell, grappling hook under one wing and two bound leather tomes in the other.
"You-you actually did it," you remark with surprise and trepidation in equal measure. Ruby cracks a smile.
"It wasn't quite as much trouble as I thought it would be."
You shake your heard.
"We heard you back there, when you were getting out. You should have been more careful."
"Well, one cannot fault me that the window failed to close silently."
You concede the point.
"Now, let's take a look at these dusty tomes," continues Ruby. You begin following her down the steps towards her house. Along the way, you take a glimpse at the sky, watching Firmament hover in your sight with fear. You are looking at a vast pile of fusion fuel. If only you knew of the spark that sets it off.
Discovery Log updated.
Once you are inside Ruby's house, the circle runner carefully sets the two tomes down on her desk, making sure not to damage the cover. Getting a closer look, you observe the appearance of the books: their leather covers worn, but not catastrophically degraded. You spot a few minute claw marks on them, but no damage otherwise. Written on them is more symbol-writing:
Moreover, both of the tomes have a different symbol next to it:
and 
. Ruby opens her notebook and transcribes the inscriptions, then begins checking her notes to come up with a translation. After a while, she arrives at an answer:"I think the title reads, 'Book of Ancient Learning.'"
"What about those other symbols?" you ask.
"Oh, those are easy. The one with the circle dot means "one" or "I", while the one with the sharp mark means "two" or "you," depending on the context. In this case, my guess is that they're being used as numbers."
"Then, what kind of learning do they hold?"
Ruby smirks.
"It's time we find out!"
Carefully, she lifts the cover of the tome marked with the "one" symbol. On the inside of the cover, the following words are written:
"'Owned Forgotten Library'?" she ventures, before shaking her head. "No, 'Owned by the Forgotten Library'!"
"The Forgotten Library? What do you think that is?" you ask.
"My guess would be this is where the Codices originally came from! Did Amber... steal them from it? Just like we stole them from the Mayor?" ponders Ruby.
Discovery Log updated.
"Well, that's another mystery we have to figure out," you comment. Ruby flips open the next page. It contains a table full of symbol-writing, ordered meticulously.
"I assume this is a... table of contents? Never mind, let's go past it," says Ruby. She flips to the next page, and is immediately confronted with an array of geometrical diagrams depicting the properties of various shapes.
"This is... oh dear, I can't even begin to understand this! It's all math and geometry and stuff that makes my head turn! I don't think you'll have any luck with it too!"
She can say that again. Just looking at the page makes you go cross-eyed. And you thought the Starflyer manual was difficult to get through. Frustrated, Ruby begins flipping through more pages, slowly at first, then faster and faster out of sheer frustration. Then, you get a glimpse of a particularly strange-looking page.
"Wait, stop!" you shout. Ruby's hand freezes, then puts the page down so the both of you can get a better look at it. The page to your left is filled with symbol-writing, but the one Ruby just set down is dominated by a large diagram depicting multiple ellipses, some of them more circular than others, surrounding a central circle, with what appear to be mathematical expressions being inscribed onto it. Each ellipse has a smaller circle embedded into it at some point.
"This is... interesting, but I still can't figure out what it means. Is is a geometry thing or-"
Deduction Roll (Medium): 3 + 2 + 4 (Deduction) + 1 (A Dream of Flight) = 9
10 vs. 10 = Success
"Ruby, these are orbits. Like the moons, or even full planets!" you exclaim.
"Then... the Ancients knew about how the Mysterious Beyond worked?" wonders Ruby.
"Maybe they even had space travel!" you wonder excitedly. The thought gives you chills. If it's true, then the Ancient Saurians were even greater than you could have possibly imagined. Does this mean that MBV wasn't so much inventing spaceflight as rediscovering it? If so, that would make your childhood heroes... perhaps not quite as heroic as you hoped.
Ruby continues flipping through the pages. At some point, she reaches a new section. This one seems to be outlining mechanical contraptions, starting with very simple machines such as gears, pulleys, inclined planes, etc., and soon progressing to increasingly intricate technology. Math and other symbol-writing can be found on some pages, and while the details fly over your heard, you can clearly spot what appear to be crankshafts and other power transmission mechanisms. Near the end, Ruby flips over a page to reveal something that takes your breath away.
Sitting there, illustrated in its full glory, is a rocket engine, with a schematic of a turbopump on the page next to it. You gasp.
"So... this is where MBV came from," you say after a few moments of silence. Ruby has nothing else to say. She flips to the end of the tome, shuts it, then opens tome #2. Unfortunately, this one is somehow even more arcane than the first, being filled to the brim with arcane mathematical expressions. Ruby flips all the way through an entire section until she reaches pages of diagrams you can't begin to interpret. They consist of symbols encased in squares connected by brackets, annotated by the occasional mathematical sign or equation. Ruby flips through it, but the schematics seem to grow only more incomprehensible. Eventually, the two of you just give up on this tome entirely. You take a moment to ponder what you've seen.
"Littlefoot, this proves we were right all along. There was an ancient Saurian civilization, just as advanced as us if not more so! This... I can't believe it!" she squeals.
"Then, what do we do now?" you ask hesitantly. You can't possibly expect to just return the Codices to the Observatory.
"Well, we need to follow the artifact trail and find the Ancients!" says Ruby. "My father found them from travelers coming into the Valley, and we can track them to their source!"
A buried memory resurfaces, of a conversation wiped away by twisted time.
"You know, I heard from Pterrie that some of the Rangers think they've seen ruins on their expeditions. Do you think those are from the Ancient Saurians?"
"They could be," replies Ruby. "I guess we should check the Airstrip."
"Yeah," you reply. You are running over your options when a disturbing thought pops into your head.
"Hey, Ruby..." you begin. "...if the Ancient Saurians were advanced, what caused us to just forget everything they learned and live in the wild, as if they never existed? Did something... happen to them?"
Ruby pauses cold in her tracks, an expression of subtle horror on her face.
"It's... probably best we don't think about that for now. Not until we have evidence."
You nod, but can't help yourself from feeling unnerved. Still, you try to shake it. While Ruby prepares to head to the Airstrip, you think about how to proceed. You would love nothing more then to spend time helping her look for leads on the Ancient Saurian artifacts, but the time loop is advancing whether you want it to or not. With all the things you have to investigate, you wonder if this is just a diversion from the real task at hand. After all, you've already spent an hour on this.
The choice is in your paws.
Time: 2 hours/65 hours
Health: 10/10
Food: 100%
Sleep: 13 hours of wakefulness remaining
Inventory: Bridge Drone
[] Assist Ruby in searching for evidence on the origin of the Ancient Saurian artifacts. (Echoes of the Traveler) New
[] Wait a while before proceeding. Kill time however you can.
-[] Write in how many hours to wait.
[] No more beating around the bush. Equip your space suit and prepare for an adventure.
[] Head to the Far Beyonder ruins buried in the Great Valley (1 hour)
-[] Attempt to climb in using the cave entrance
-[] Attempt to enter from the Mines
[] Head to the Quantum Grove and attempt to find what you've missed.
[] Enter the lift codes and head to the Astrodrome. Requires the space suit to be equipped.
[] Speak to one of the Great Valley's residents. Must write in what to ask or talk about. Cannot be done with space suit equipped. (1 hour)
-[] Your grandparents, who are ever so concerned for your well-being and full of wisdom.
-[] Pterrie, your rescuer and closest thing you have to a friend despite the age difference.
-[] The Hoofhand Twins, who are savants in all things technological.
-[] Maia and Rolph Hoofhand, who you don't know very well but are always willing to lend a hoof to those who ask.
-[] Cobalt, the Museum Curator who is always eager to answer your questions.
-[] Opal and Quartz, the Mayor and her subordinate researcher who spend their days unraveling the mysteries of the cosmos at the Observatory.
-[] Assin, the Mayor's beleaguered assistant who does most of the day-to-day work of running the City. He's protected Malin and MBV from citizen "uprisings" before. Is it something worth investigating?
[] Write-in actions or location to visit
[] Wait a while before proceeding. Kill time however you can.
-[] Write in how many hours to wait.
[] No more beating around the bush. Equip your space suit and prepare for an adventure.
[] Head to the Far Beyonder ruins buried in the Great Valley (1 hour)
-[] Attempt to climb in using the cave entrance
-[] Attempt to enter from the Mines
[] Head to the Quantum Grove and attempt to find what you've missed.
[] Enter the lift codes and head to the Astrodrome. Requires the space suit to be equipped.
[] Speak to one of the Great Valley's residents. Must write in what to ask or talk about. Cannot be done with space suit equipped. (1 hour)
-[] Your grandparents, who are ever so concerned for your well-being and full of wisdom.
-[] Pterrie, your rescuer and closest thing you have to a friend despite the age difference.
-[] The Hoofhand Twins, who are savants in all things technological.
-[] Maia and Rolph Hoofhand, who you don't know very well but are always willing to lend a hoof to those who ask.
-[] Cobalt, the Museum Curator who is always eager to answer your questions.
-[] Opal and Quartz, the Mayor and her subordinate researcher who spend their days unraveling the mysteries of the cosmos at the Observatory.
-[] Assin, the Mayor's beleaguered assistant who does most of the day-to-day work of running the City. He's protected Malin and MBV from citizen "uprisings" before. Is it something worth investigating?
[] Write-in actions or location to visit
- Location
- Somewhere in the area
- Pronouns
- He/She/They
Hmm, do we (the players) think we can trust the Hoofhand Twins to help Ruby with translating/understanding the Amber's Codices? While these seem to be purely technical tomes, it's possible that they may shed some insights on Ancient Saurian Technology, or will at the very least fill out more of Ruby's language codex with scientific/engineering terminology for future translation efforts. If we're lucky they may even have some hints as to Ancient Saurian locations we can investigate for more clues, though I'm not going to hold out hope for anything along those lines until proven otherwise.
The reason I ask this is because we only have these Codices in our possesion for this loop, we'd need to steal them again to regain access to them, so we should fully utilize them to the best of our ability. If we can get the Hoofhand Twins working on the translation efforts with Ruby while we're out in space/outside the City, it would be a much more efficient use of our time and resources than just hiding them away somewhere.
@gutza1 How much does Littlefoot trust the Hoofhand twins to keep the existence of Amber's Codices secret? And is Ruby willing to work with them to translate as much of the text on them as possible?
Also, side note: Ruby's ability as a circle runner to cross vast distances of land incredibly quickly could come in handy in assembling all of our Wild Nest derived tools at the beginning of the loop, so we should definitely keep it in mind in the future.
The reason I ask this is because we only have these Codices in our possesion for this loop, we'd need to steal them again to regain access to them, so we should fully utilize them to the best of our ability. If we can get the Hoofhand Twins working on the translation efforts with Ruby while we're out in space/outside the City, it would be a much more efficient use of our time and resources than just hiding them away somewhere.
@gutza1 How much does Littlefoot trust the Hoofhand twins to keep the existence of Amber's Codices secret? And is Ruby willing to work with them to translate as much of the text on them as possible?
Also, side note: Ruby's ability as a circle runner to cross vast distances of land incredibly quickly could come in handy in assembling all of our Wild Nest derived tools at the beginning of the loop, so we should definitely keep it in mind in the future.
So the gas giant is being/will be irradiated by muons? Or the Creep noted in the atmosphere ("purple particulate", IIRC) makes it dense enough to start fusing in its core.
Interesting.
Interesting.
- Location
- Orlando, Florida
Considering that they've kept the secret of the space suit for months, Littlefoot would trust them to keep the Codices a secret.
The purple streaks in Firmament's atmosphere are not Creep, but unicellular "sky plankton." Creep is not purple but sickly yellow in color.
MordredRaal
Agitating
- Pronouns
- She/They
[X] Speak to one of the Great Valley's residents. Must write in what to ask or talk about. Cannot be done with space suit equipped. (1 hour)
-[X] The Hoofhand Twins, who are savants in all things technological.
--[X] If Ruby agrees, ask the Twins to help translate Amber's Codices with Ruby, using their technical expertise and Ruby's knowledge of the Ancient Saurian language to accomplish the task while Littlefoot is exploring outside The City and Wild Nest.
This, for now. May switch to a write in about showing the codices to the twins if someone writes it up. Don't have the energy to do it myself rn
Edit: Switched to write in as announced.
-[X] The Hoofhand Twins, who are savants in all things technological.
--[X] If Ruby agrees, ask the Twins to help translate Amber's Codices with Ruby, using their technical expertise and Ruby's knowledge of the Ancient Saurian language to accomplish the task while Littlefoot is exploring outside The City and Wild Nest.
Edit: Switched to write in as announced.
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