Session 17
Prev: Session 16
Next: Session 18
- 26: mmm we have a question. We know ur parents are on this planet?
- Z: no theyre not probably
- Going to Arkari
- Googling his hometown Auchenda
- Doesnt have a whole lot going on in it, almost a vermont esque ocean town. Small, idyllic, population rough 20k (small by sf2e standards)
- About 25 years ago (3 years before zmena’s birth) an astrazoan turned into someone’s sibling and killed them
- Shapechanging is illegal and counts as falsifying identity (felony)
- Shapechangers get pinned for recent murders if there’s no evidence
- Its a crime, same way that crossing boarder illegally is a crime
- Too small to scan for dna
- Low crime, some smuggling
- Do get most of their funding from Ficastor Corporation, which is based in Acoria
- Z: im from this town, i havent been since i was a little thing, ill admit idk what to do, i dont have leads with finding him. I remember being here but idk much else. We left in a rush
- R: remember where you lived?
- X: know if u owned or rented the house? Is it a house
- Was a house attached to a bookstore
- Take us roughly half a day on The Blue Angel
- Almado is
weirdfriendly toward miku, giving her 4 hot chocolates? Not very good. Swiss miss, distilled water, plum juice, handful of whatever candy in stock - Asper going to cargo hold
- “Thank you for keeping our ship in motion and preventing us from having to refuel. If you spend the time with me I would like to connect with you”
- Does not work
- Reason to not do it on a planet:
- The ship upon reentry has shields that go up that protect the parts that are exposed in 0G
- Asper, Almado, and 26 decide to go on the spacewalk. Bubbles is coming with us cause Orbians are always flying and immune to the void of space
- Almado leads to the underside of the ship
- Able to do a spacewalk
- Asper is trying to speak towards the fuel area credicites
- Trying to do the jingle
- Small jitter over the public broadcast signals
- As: Hello, thank you for keeping our ship in motion. I know this is unconventional and we did not have the best initial meeting but I would like to have more concrete discussions than the past if you would spend this time with me.
- Convo seems one-sided but we do connect to Something inside. Adding it to the network
- We head back inside
- As: We have made contact. There has been no direct communication yet but I will... in network “Hello. Are you able to speak in here?”
- Its faint, but on xeps receiver and especially aspers, the transceiver will light up once. And then creature will have the “silenced” condition. Will remain this way for a few days. (1 blink is often code for yes)
- Almado going to Voz Ricander
- Al: do u want ur property back!
- “When i land the ship”
- Almado gives him hypervigilance
- Al: ill put the rest over there!
- “Will asper be able to put it in?”
- As: yeah. Why not dr Halrex Korr?
- “Shes a bad doctor for me.”
- As: why?
- “I believe she will kill me.”
- As: oh. Is this a feeling?
- “I cant say why. She will be a good doctor for you.”
- Almado is
- Land at night
- We rest outside the city
- Zmena turns into his older shirren form
- Zmena doesnt want us to mention his brother or our connection. Is Gymic in this form
- Paparazzi Dakine lands in front of us “wahts this leg of the tour then?”
- Al: we’re broadening mikus horizons so she can connect with more people
- “Are you saying miku is connecting with the simple people?”
- Al: miku is connecting with everyone! Isnt that right miku?
- M: miku does want to connect with everyone!
- As: it is good to make connections like this
- She taps on her vest, begins recording
- M: can i vlog!
- Al: of course!
- She taps on the other side of her vest, causes the signal to go out around her
- “You had half a day to prepare and this is the best you could come up with an excuse?”
- “I need you, the 2nd a camera is involved, to not panic, otherwise it looks bad for all of us on camera. The worst you can do in spycraft and as an idol is panic.”
- She turns the signal jammer back on, she offers us rides on her motorcycle, 2 a ride
- Kalervo Turred wants to ride with 26
- 26 and turred
- He will partway thru the drive “you know about time anomaly, right?”
- 26: somewhat
- “Are you familiar with the movie hedgehog day?”
- 26: we have seen hedgehog day
- “I think im in a timeloop”
- 26: ?
- “I can feel it, and i think im getting a sense of deja vu”
- 26: ?
- “I think im on the day 0 of the timeloop.”
- 26: mmm.
- “Should i test it?”
- 26: no. we do have a question, what would u be experiencing deja vu about if this is ur day 0?
- “The future!”
- 26: is it not similarities to the past
- “I thought it was similarities of lived experiences”
- 26: yes
- “What if my past is in the future?”
- 26: u wouldve still experienced it
- “Ive experienced going down these roads before.”
- (he truly believes it. This is the first time hes been to a 2nd planet within the same system and saw the same street signs)
- 26: on planets within the same system, they have the same street signs. Therefore, this is ur first time visiting a neighboring planet within the same system. Perhaps thats the source
- “Maybe i should just rob a store to be safe”
- 26: we think that would be a bad idea, we would not want to bail u out of jail
- “Do u think if i was in a timeloop, its a different me or a different world”
- “Maybe my consciousness gets beamed between worlds.”
- 26: turred. That is not the case. U are describing witchwarping, which is what we do
- “Im a witchwarper?”
- 26: let us wait and see on this matter. Perhaps we can discuss this later
- He tries to create his own quantum field for the rest of the ride
- Asper xep
- Rip zmena
- Z: Ty for the help
- “Where do you want me to drop you off?”
- Z: just in the city. Near the local shops
- “City square?”
- Z: yes, that works
- Miku and almado
- Miku being cool in the sidecar
- 26 and turred
- Zmena leads us to the bookstore, small, only one open in town
- Books themselves are a bit.. Antiquated
- Bookstore is coastal facing, with slap of waves coasting against it
- Zm walks in, hears an unfamiliar voice
- “Just a second!” woman says
- She goes down the stairs, looks
- Z: hello
- “Hello! You’re back.”
- Z: yes its been quite a while
- Woman is unfamiliar, but she goes for a hug
- Shes the daughter? Of the old owner (who died about 5 years ago)
- Her name is Tharn
- “Im sure her spirit will be happy that you came back. She was a bit worried you got kidnapped again.”
- Z: nothing like that. I shouldnt have left without saying goodbye, i didnt mean to worry her
- “People go their own ways.”
- She offers to take us out for food and then too the cemetery
- “I did accidentally steal ur inheritance.”
- “Youre like a child to her, she did provide you with some. It was small, but still a sum.”
- She does flip the sign over, locks up the store. Prepares her little van for us
- Z: i missed this old bookstore
- “Its lovely. As much ur childhood as mine.”
- Z: been quite a while
- “How did you all meet? And where were u these last few years?”
- Z: i went to college, we all met while travelling, tho i met ripley in college
- “Oh! Now that ur… and youve been studying? This entire time?”
- Z: yes! Ive been trying to make a place for myself, education, learn more
- “So youre going to become a professor in your old age.”
- “If you were able to attend college, maybe u didnt need the inheritance. Let me give u smth, it would be awful to hold onto it.”
- Z: it would be nice
- “Whatever books you want from the store are free of course. And i have some of her belongings still.”
- She prays at a stop
- Thing is stern, but culturally its a beg for forgiveness for shirrens
- “There are some things that i wish to keep.”
- Eventually park, have a nice breakfast in idyllic town. Most of the buildings seem to be funded by Aleria Venn, or at least honored to her
- She is the mayor
- She was mayor when zmena was a kid, at least 45 at minimum rn
- Shes recently brought profits to the town
- Z: tharn, what all has happened since i was last here? Anything major?
- “Major? Well, we’re building a new port that will hold deep water ships soon. No longer just a coastal town, but ones thatll be able to house freighters. We also found a decent amount of rares metals, zinc and the like. So we should start mining operations. Theres also talk of a nearby island having a Data-Temples.”
- As: confirmed?
- “Not confirmed, but a sailor supposedly shipwrecked there. It was last winter (about 300 days ago)”
- She talks abt more mundane stuff, weddings and the like, the fact that the bookstore is held aloft by her generous donations (the mayor)
- The mayor has kept most of these things afloat during her recent years
- Miku almado xep streaming, boba store
- Halfway thru the menu
- During miku performances, they dont shock almado
- Good way to get a lot of local attention: local net. Niche localnets that are the equivalent to local broadcasting channel, instead of Infospheres u can send it up to the SCRBLE network
- With that level, a local celebrity makes their appearance: the mayor
- The mayor looks “which one is the manager?”
- Al: im the manager! And her best friend! Almado!
- She shakes his hand
- Some fuckass teenagers want in, miku kindly shames them for not being in school
- They dont start anything, but call out “narc” thats censored by xep
- She transfers 100 credits to almado
- Al: its so lucky we ran into u miss mayor, but we dont know all the best places of ur town! Could u tell us?
- “Well this Mundos is one of my favorites-”
- Xep researching her, emails miku good softball questions
- Can we see construction on new docks
- What sort of ppl come to town
- What are ur more scenic areas in town
- She takes them around town, to scenic diners, twin peaks esque town including personal ripperdocs that are here. Notable a kasatha that lost one of his arms got one replaced by the town’s funding
- Talks, he shies away from spotlike, he avoids miku and various questions
- He has shame and pity for almado, more akin to him losing his arms
- Cemetery
- Goes from diner to a rather unassuming cemetery. Someone tending the graves
- The Priest of Xalaith, recognizes the bookstore owner. Looks at the rest of us
- “You must be the prodigal son.”
- Z: yes
- “Well… know that she wasnt worried abt you, she knew ud find her way”
- Z: very comforting to hear
- “If theres anything i could do for you, dont hesitate. (to the rest) who was she to you?”
- We’re just friends of his, not acquainted
- Goes to her grave, she does a prayer for her mom
- Wind howls, brings salt over clean graves.
- Priest “is your friend… normal?”
- 26: how do u mean?
- “There were rumors that he mightve been an astrazoan himself.”
- 26: we were not aware of these rumors
- “He was kidnapped by an astrazoan. But some of the more superstitious believed that the child was or was replaced by an astrazoan.”
- As: did he act strange after this kidnapping?
- “I dont think he knew he was kidnapped.”
- 26: if that is… it seems like these rumors are fairly unfounded then
- “Rumors often are.”
- 26: we do not know. We were not there.
- R: none of us were.
- As; what makes u believe that he was kidnapped? This is the first time we are hearing of it
- “He… the brother that helped attend to the bookstore was an astrazoan. Admitted to kidnapping a child. He attempted to flee.”
- 26: what happened to this brother?
- “He didnt leave through the roads, we know. So either he swam across the oceans or was brought across them.”
- 26: how curious. And it is believed that our companion here was the kidnapped child?
- “Who else would it be?”
- 26: i suppose thats true
- “I wont pry. It wasnt her wish to do so. She, at the very least, stopped the dna sampling of a child. Said it went against her religion.”
- 26: if you are against it, are there others who are not so against this investigation? Especially since he is back
- “Im sure u know how it is in a port town. You seem a smart lad.”
- 26: we are not a lad, but we are intelligent, thank you.
- “Plenty of murders go unsolved, plenty go in and out, plenty of paranoia. A lot of people will do whatever to quell such paranoia.”
- As: do you believe that he is perhaps in danger then?
- “No, because he is not an astrazoan. That is what you said, right?”
- 26: that is what we said.
- “Its been 20ish years. 10 years since he last lived in town.”
- “Could i offer you tea? Do u know if hed want any? I imagine the prayer will finish up soon.”
- Cafe
- Xep is going to pan the camera to the menu, some kind of transition where mikus not on camera
- Xep mentally: just so u all know, the one murdered by the astrazoan was this persons political opponent
- See if shes available for an appointment at town hall
- M: miss mayor would u be open to an interview later! Uve been so kind so far, id love to see who u are personally
- “Of course. That was going to be part of the tour. I wanted to do it midday since the light is perfect at the time. We have great skylights.”
- M: miku hasnt gotten a manicure before, but i wanna get one before it!
- X: miku how are u finding the iced tea here
- Miku is sending bubbles to go tell us abt the opponent
- Orb relays the message, during which party leaves to the chapel in the graveyard
- 2 shirrens are in the graveyard with the ocean, sound of the door slamming bc of the lashunta priest
- Shirren looks up “what… is this?”
- 26: apologies
- She raises a hand to greet the odd creature
- R: this is bubbles
- “What is bubbles?”
- As: a sapient purple orb
- Z: hes our friend
- “....why?”
- 26: bubbles why have u arrived at such speed
- Orb stares
- 26, telepathically: we can speak like this
- “The mayors political opponent was the one killed by the astrazoan.”
- 26: oh. Hm.
- Tells the rest of us. And also that miku is currently with the mayor
- Z: so u mentioned that the mayor is helping fund the bookstore?
- “Naturally.”
- Z: been mayor for a while
- “Shes a good mayor. She funds most of the town.”
- Z: have u met her?
- “Everyone’s met her. Shes no stranger. Its a small town, she comes into the store quite often. I can introduce you. If we need funding, she’ll give it to us.”
- Z: funding from taxes or?
- “Independently wealthy. She found some sort of data temple from my understanding. On some moon?”
- Z: what are the plans for the bookstore going forward?
- “More ppl are coming in id like them to be introduced. We mostly handle digital catelogs in the basement, but i prefer the physical copies up top. We also want a printing press, they make automatic ones.”
- Z: help from the mayor?
- “We’ve talked abt funding, yeha. It requires woodchips to operate. Which can be annoying to come by. Thankfully theres some oldfashioned man who wants to become a carpenter for some reason.”
- R: thats interesting, the printing press. Id love to see it if we’re able to stop by when its installed
- “Of course, u can print things out even. The modern ones can print out a book per minute.”
- “Itll be paperback of course, unless u have another material”
- She takes us back to the others
- “The motel here isnt the best, if u want we have the rooms upstairs. We also installed a small kitchen recently. U can make some basic stuff with it.”
- Z: we should be seeing you later.
- She goes to get some fresh fish, fresh bread, for dinner later
- See the mayor, who smiles at us
- “I noticed that on some of the cameras that they came on the same motorcycle you came in on. Are these your friends?”
- Xep cuts to a sponsored miku section
- She shakes all our hands
- She seems oddly familiar to asper
- ZMENA AND HER RECOGNIZE THAT THEYRE BOTH IN DISGUISES
- “Youre the kid that used to live above the bookshop!”
- Z: yes! You remember me?
- “Of course. Its not a big town. We’ve missed u here.”
- Z: its been quite a while
- “Well. we hope you enjoy your stay. That goes to all of you of course.”
- “Should we meet at the mayors hall at noon, then?”
- Al: thats good
- “Ill meet you all there. Make sure you bring all your friends, hatsune miku.”
- Miku ends the stream.
- We leave
- Turred approaches 26
- “How did you make asper flinch?”
- 26: what?
- “The one around your thin neck?”
- 26: please elaborate
- “The little asper that floats around you?”
- (he did mention that when asper does things, he sees small asper spirits around the party if theyre around the network. He also notably calls them all asper. Occasionally they whisper in our ears from the group chat)
- 26: at what point did u see that asper flinch around us?
- Points at the diner, its pushed down by miku
- M: its not nice to point at people!
- “When talking to her.”
- 26: turred when u look at her, do u notice anything in particular? Anything u do not see with other people? Or anything u see with ppl in the party?
- “She kinda looks like the reporter form hedgehog day.” (lashunta woman who was conventionally attractive but not overly attractive.)
- Asper is concerned about the Mayor making a fortune from a data temple and the fact that there is another one here. They can contain credicites and it’s also weird that the closer one wasnt found sooner. It’s so close to a town and found by a sailor that it’s a bit odd.
- Z: shes in some form of disguise, she also knows i am. I could tell she is too.
- Al: everyone knows we’re meeting with her
- X: but she cant deal with us. At least not immediately.
- Z: i want to go do this nonviolently, idk if shes an astrazoan. And if she is, i dont want to attack her
- R: could be some other shapeshifter. Like ragash
- Al: hatsune miku should we commit violence or no! I dont mean immediately, do u think we should commit violence
- M: miku does not condone violence????
- X: thats why they have the hitman
- The 10th member of the network is no longer silenced
- Questions for the credicites
- Are you the one sending us these messages through our banks?
- 1 blink. Yes.
- Silenced again
- Was silenced for 16ish hours
- Are you trying to break our chains?
- Are you trying to be whole again?
- Are you the one sending us these messages through our banks?
- LEVEL UP