The Way of the Blue [Lantern OC]

[AverusBlack]

I wonder what their entertainment industry is like?

Or their approach to immigration attempts.

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Laviscious.

Immigration isn't much of a problem when your whole city is underground. Even with the simulated sunlight and things like that it can be psychologically uncomfortable for some people. There's humans in Zero but they're mostly people affiliated with the genkits through relation or work or relationship bonds, people with a reason to join a highly militaristic society with a heavy focus on science development.

But the thing about being an engineered species is you get the good stuff and not many humans are comfortable with the idea of eugenics, while it's fully embraced and exploited to the highest extent by the Zerosi. Negative cultural associations reinforced by the war between the two species. It's like having a civil war over a heresy and then the heretics get their own country and you go live in it and speak heretic and play with the little heretics. It's not actually a religious taboo but basically every human in Zero is from a very liberal country or has personal reasons to be there.

I'm not sure how much of the worldbuilding for that place I can actually use within the scope of this story so I don't really mind just blabbing this stuff outside the story

 

[1eragon33]

how come their is a threadmark for a comment reply?

 

[AverusBlack]

how come their is a threadmark for a comment reply?

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Because my dumb ass put the threadmark in to write the next entry and then went full ADHD and commented instead. I plan to update some time today (Wednesday)

 

[mastermenthe]

We're ageless, but not immortal

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Huh, so I can assume that the genkit species and
their creators/sponsors/allies are sitting comfortably at Hc Svnt Dracones levels or slightly below?

 

[AverusBlack]

Huh, so I can assume that the genkit species and
their creators/sponsors/allies are sitting comfortably at Hc Svnt Dracones levels or slightly below?

Click to shrink...

I'm sorry, I have literally never heard of this before you linked it, so I don't know. Genkits sort of recycle. They regress back into their equivalent of puberty every 50-80 years or so and tend to die of things like disease, injury, malfeasance, etc. Because if you're going to engineer yourself with gene splicing, why not study the best things about species you find and try to exploit them? Evolution did the hard work for you.

 

[AverusBlack]

Yeah I'm not having a good day. I'll do something about this tomorrow when I don't want to punch people

 

[1eragon33]

Take your time your health Physical, Mental, and Emotional is way more important then our eagerness for more wordz. We will be waiting

 

[AverusBlack]

I'm sitting on one of the ledges of my keep, overlooking the valley below. It's a nice evening and with three more days of waiting to do I figured I'd take the time to relax. This particular ledge is a favorite of mine since it overlooks the garden below and has the balcony leading to my living space behind me. I let Sammy go a bit crazy with ideas and he came up with a large outdoor cooking space and dining area with plants lining it. I've gotta admit, the little guy has a knack for this kind of thing. It was mostly me and Elise doing the actual building but the ideas were all his and it got him obsessed with learning woodworking so that's keeping him busy now that the interior rooms are done.

Kuri on the other hand has seemingly decided to move in, something which endlessly amuses me. She seems to think it's her role to make sure we're all fed properly and taken care of. I asked Sammy about it and apparently she's always been like this and had to cut back on it when she became a shaman, mostly due to how seriously everybody at home takes shamans. Here, she's getting to be casual with us in a way she can't back home with other Skal and seems to be running it to the hilt. Personally I think she's just having fun coming up with new recipes.

I glance down at the new road leading into Durjak and the people traveling it. Trade has returned to the town and with the addition of the castle, a sort of local tourism. It would seem the locals are interested in using the castle as a fallback position in the case of an attack, which seems reasonable and is sort of what they're for, really. But that means additions to the castle itself, extra structures for emergency housing, stores, armories... Which means there's now jobs locally and that's drawing people here too.

Overall, Durjak is doing pretty well, I'd say.

Standing up I turn to walk into my quarters, walking around the large round dining table set up under the outdoor roof covering it. The firepit still smells like wood smoke, a low-key pleasant smell which follows me inside as I leave the doors open, mixing with the minty scent of the flowers that were planted in here. Kuri is sitting in the middle of the living room floor, brushing her own tail as it's pulled across her lap.

"Not traveling the countryside today?"

I shake my head, walking over to her and sitting down to join her, leaning on some cushions. "Nope, taking the day off. Doctors orders."

"What is a doctor?"

"A healer based in science rather than herbalism or magic. There's different levels of medical care, doctors are at the top. They examine people and decide what the problem is while medics and nurses apply the treatments the doctors recommend. The genkits have one doctor and a bunch of them are trained as medics. They know humans too, so..." I shrug. "Elise apparently has a degree in psychology and told me to relax today so I can focus better when I need to, so that's what I'm doing."

"You're not worried about being inactive?"

"No." I shake my head. "I want to save people, uplift people. But I'm still just one person. Even with Elise's help I can only do so much and if I lose sight of that, I'll wear myself out or destroy myself expecting more than I can reasonably do, then be crushed by my own inability to do everything."

Kuri looks thoughtful, then nods slowly. "I suppose that makes sense."

"Which is why I want to train you with the blue ring."

That stops her up, making her blink. "What?"

I pull my ring off, holding it up. "You, ring, blue, glowy. It was pointed out to me recently that if anything happens to me and somebody else needs to pick up the ring and continue my work, nobody else knows how to use it. I'm still discovering that myself, but days like today where I'm not flittering about the countryside putting fires out? I want to train you in the ring."

"Why me?"

"You genuinely want to help people and take care of them. You've been trying to help me and frankly, I value having you and your brother here. I value all of you. Do you know why the bottom of the castle has that large space dug out?"

"I assumed you planned to build inside it."

"Well, yes. The ring didn't have much on its memory when I got it. One of the things it did have was instructions on how to build another ring. It takes a long time and I need to be focusing my hopes very intensely to do it, which means meditation on the blue light while I work. But overall I plan to create another blue ring in time and training you before it's finished will save quite a lot of work after it's done."

She looks gobsmacked. "I... Yes, I accept. How do we begin?"

"One of the things I've found is that if I'm hoping really intensely, the ring responds to it. I can call it that way, I did it before when I first spoke to the shamans. You have to be feeling hopeful to use the ring, so try focusing on all the good you can do while you have it, the lives you can s-"

The ring flicks from my hand to hers, the blue glow surrounding her and causing her to gasp.

"-ave and... yes. Excellent." I grins at her. "How does it feel?"

"Like I can do anything, save anybody. How do you create objects?"

"Hold the image of it in your mind while focusing on how sure you are it'll appear for you."

She considers for a moment, then raises her hand in a gesture of habit, but the ring already has ideas of its own, it seems. It begins forming constructs of other Skal but I can't tell who they are because they all look kind of same-y to me.

"Kurishalia. We are so proud of you. This path is yours and you can do far more good here than back home with the clan. Reach high."

She looks awestruck, then nods and... hugs the construct Skal. I'm a little confused, it's the first time I've seen the ring do this and I'm not sure what's going on.

"I will, mother."

 

[1eragon33]

... that so sweet, Though in order to do this I think the blue ring piggybacked off of Kuri's Shaman ability given one of the abilities of shaman's is to channel the voices of the honored dead for wisdom and advice

 

[AverusBlack]

... that so sweet, Though in order to do this I think the blue ring piggybacked off of Kuri's Shaman ability given one of the abilities of shaman's is to channel the voices of the honored dead for wisdom and advice

Click to shrink...

Nope, the ring manifested her family members to boost her own hopes. It had nothing to draw on when it came to Ainsley so he never experienced it and nobody else has put the ring on after he first wore it, so it's new. Essentially it wanted to reassure an insecurity Kuri had that she was going the wrong way by breaking convention and staying with Ainsley, bettering her ability to use the ring.

 

[AverusBlack]

I jink to the left as Kuri fires a crossbow at me that fires like a machine gun. She's never seen a submachine gun or automatic rifle at work before having met us but she and her brother learn so quickly that we're beginning to wonder of the Skal are a race of short-lived savants. The larger the star, the shorter its lifespan, that kind of thing. It's amazing and the first thing I did when I got back with the green ring was scan her but we still haven't worked out what part of her brain is letting her learn like this. The lack of a genetics lab or any kind of AI-driven mainframe network makes it impossible to do a full genome analysis except with the ring but I have no idea how to deal with the results and our geeks aren't quite skilled enough to exploit it.

Yet.

A short transition forward and I'm underneath and inside of Kuri's personal space, firing myself upward through her guns dead zone in a tackle. I don't want to attack her, not really. This is about learning mindfulness and defense. Her railguns are dissipating as she reacts far faster then I expected her to, flipping forward as I come up at her and impacting my shoulders with her hands. My upwards momentum becomes her rolling momentum as she flips past me downward while I go upward, a maneuver which takes a bare half a second. I couldn't have done it. Wow.

She hits the ground as I'm turning in midair and forms a railgun almost four times her own body size, forcing me to snap my way out of position wildly and fly hard to avoid getting slugged by her BFG. I can't help but laugh wildly, spinning in midair and doing spirals to throw off her aim. The little shit isn't worried about defense, she's forcing me to dodge! Ainsley could learn a thing or two from this girl, she definitely has the right mindset for combat.

I spin downward and hug the deck, flying as close to the ground as I can and forming my own gun to fire at her construct, then following up by tearing my own construct apart and forming it into several cables of green light that attack from multiple directions! She's forced to form a dome around herself, then pushes it outwards as she learns from our last spar and begins creating ablative shield layers beneath the already cracking barrier. Good girl.

I'm forced to abandon my offense as her outer shield layer pulls in on itself, the layers underneath taking my attack while she uses the failing layer as an attack vector against me, firing her own blue beam under and through my constructs at me! I have just enough time to pull back and form a barrier in front of myself, shifting the bottom back a little and turning it into a slant, the backward force of her attack both shattering my construct barrier and forcing me backwards and upwards at the same time. I push the movement and sail in an arc above her while she's blinded by her own attack, then land hard behind her and create construct armor as I impact her barrier directly from behind. With her focus forward it takes her just a little too long to notice I'm not getting blown halfway across the planet in front of her, allowing me to break down her construct shield layers and reach out to flick her left ear.

Gotcha.

Immediately we both drop the constructs, the grin on my face matching my tail, which won't stop. "I win, woohoo!"

There's clapping from behind me where Ainsley has been watching us, sitting on a rock. "That lasted way longer than the first time. They weren't joking about you learning fast, Kuri."

"Thank you. Should we continue?"

"Nah, it's getting kind of late. That was really fun though. Ainsley, you've got to try fighting her."

"How am I going to do that?"

"By using the green ring, of course." I grin at him, pinning my ears back. "C'mon, you don't wanna try being forceful for once?"

"Not usually my style." He chuckles. "I suppose it's not a bad idea in the long run, though. Kuri?"

"Of course." She pulls the blue ring off, letting it fly through the air towards Ainsley as he calls it to himself. I shake my head a little. I still haven't quite figured out how to do that trick and it comes to both of them easily. Pretty sure the green ring is just on hard mode, but that kind of thing gets far easier when we synchronize.

"So, what do you think of this upcoming meeting, Kuri?" I sit down in the grass next to her, rolling my shoulders.

"I'm not sure inviting your enemies into your own bastion is wise, but your people are far more advanced than mine." She shrugs. "It may be that I'm just not seeing it. Why entertain the idea at all? You owe them nothing."

Ainsley hm's. "I think I agreed to it mostly for two reasons. One, it gives me an idea of their personalities. I didn't banter with yellow much and I get the impression looking back on it he was kind of hamming it up. I don't know red at all and all I know of orange is a five minute conversation. It's not enough and knowledge is power." He shrugs. "Besides, there's three of them and two of us and they're clearly better with their rings within the bounds of their use. More practice. I'm not ready for a direct confrontation and saying no might have caused one."

I shake my head. "I don't really like it." Especially Mina. Inviting yourself to hang out after showing up making implicit threats? That's not friendly behavior. Carrying a weapon to defend yourself is one thing but having a bunch of minions follow you around is another. I can't tell what Ainsley is thinking but he better not be going along with this because she's humanish and has a set of perky tits. I'll smack him if that's it, I really will.

"I know. But if there's a bigger problem than just them we need to know about it and there's too much we don't know, too many questions they might be able to answer. Which is why we should have a backup plan for when this inevitably goes sideways and we have to fight all of them at the same time."

I phew internally in relief at hearing him say that. At least he's trying.

He might not be a genkit, but he's really trying. I've never really known a human so readily willing to change their entire way of thinking the way he does at the drop of a hat. I just need to get him to stop worrying so much about physical attraction. Pfft, humans.

Maybe we can find him a nice human girl or boy to bridge the gap? Oh well.

Existential threats first, homebuilding second.

 

[AngelicKnight.]

Sharing the blue ring ,wirh the shamen? Smart.

I can't tell what Ainsley is thinking but he better not be going along with this because she's humanish and has a set of perky tits.

Click to shrink...

Two things. Firstly is that breast envy I see?

Secondly:
*Makes a note of Perky next on the Mina waifu cons/benefits analysis page*

I'll smack him if that's it, I really will.

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Tsundere? Nah just common sense.

. I just need to get him to stop worrying so much about physical attraction. Pfft, humans.

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I get the sense Genkits are more about the mind? Makes sense wirh how diverse they are physically.

Maybe we can find him a nice human girl or boy to bridge the gap? Oh well.

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Is this supportive wingwoman behaviour?

Or is Elise looking for a threesome to ease Ainsley into things?

Existential threats first, homebuilding second.

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Gotta ensure there is a home left to build after.

Then shake the foundations, break the bed and make a few Cribs.

 

[AverusBlack]

I get the sense Genkits are more about the mind? Makes sense wirh how diverse they are physically.

Click to shrink...

Elise:

Spoiler

 

[AngelicKnight.]

Elise:

Spoiler

Click to shrink...

Wait Genkits were pretty endangered on theirbworld right? Not many of them left?

And even fewer on this new world... perhaps she's seeking to repopulate?

Good thing Ainsley can heal.

 

[AverusBlack]

"There's still time to change your mind, you know." Elise is standing just behind me and to my right, speaking quietly. We're standing in the antechamber which serves as my 'throne room', something which Bradley eventually convinced me to make in order to have something like a seat of governance if I'm going to be in charge of people. Mostly because I am in charge whether I want to be or not. The locals just sort of unanimously decided for me.

"No, we're committed to this now. Trust me." Kuri is sitting to my left on the steps leading up to my seat, casually leaning her elbow on one knee. In the middle of the hall a large conference table has been set up and laid out to serve meals. A few of the locals working in the castle for us thanks to Sammy are bringing out drinks for the group as we're waiting for Ren to finish escorting them to the hall from outside.

"I do trust you. But this stinks of a set up and I don't like the whole disarming ourselves bit of this. It's stupid."

"Who said anything about disarming ourselves?"

I glance at Elise at the same time she glances at me and tilts her head, but there's no time for further discussion on the subject. Ren strides into the room in a full set of newly re-fabricated armor, stepping to the side and revealing our three 'delegates'.

Yellow - Nemesis - isn't glowing. His ring is on a chain around his neck, though. Within easy reach but complying with the rules at large. Looking at him now, he seems almost hawkish, putting me in mind of Grand Moff Tarkin. That feels like a good fit somehow. His appearance has been shaped somehow by his use of the ring and how he thinks, his features severe, almost brutish. His armor is silver plate with lines of gold forming his sigil, a different suit than what he wore before. He also has an actual cape. It ought to be ridiculous but somehow, it isn't.

Mina is barely dressed and I'm not sure if what she's counting counts as dressed. She has her ring on a string clipped to her collar, almost like a bell. The choker is the most opaque part of the outfit and the rest leaves nothing to the imagination. The outfit as a whole puts me in mind of a belly dancer but the veil covering most of her, despite being transparent, makes me think 'desert-dweller'.

Heh, it's a good thing the ring can help control my body language. I'm pretty sure she's doing that to distract me.

The third one is clearly the red light user and she's glowing, her ring still on. Fists clenched, she's glowering at us, wearing adventurers leathers and a thick cloak, all dyed in red and black. Her sigil glows at her chest and her body language screams impatience.

"Ah, and so I my return has come at last. Hi there, Elise." Nemesis smiles winsomely up at us. "And with a spread, no less. Let it not be said that the blue light is attuned to the inhospitable."

"Old habits die hard, goldilocks." Elise nods at the red girl. "We haven't met yet. What do you call yourself?"

"I am Lady Vara." When she speaks it's curt, almost grudging. She isn't looking at us, examining the chamber and table instead. "I cannot remove the ring. I once tried and the pain was overwhelming. Debilitating. It's tied to me. Fucking deal with it or don't."

"My ring is capable of turning off my ability to feel pain. Is yours incapable of doing the same?"

"My ring is fucking stupid. It only sort of does what I want it to. You gonna blab at me all day or we gonna sit down and talk?"

"Yes, take a seat." I turn to look at Kuri but she's already gone, disappeared into the kitchens. Ah. Turning to look at Elise I find her staring at Mina, frowning a bit. "Come on, they won't bite."

I walk down the steps to join the other side of the table with Elise as Mina speaks up. "Not disarming yourselves, then?"

"No."

"So how come Nemesis and I are?"

"Because we don't trust him, while you two ladies are unknown variables. And if Lady Vara can't remove her ring..."

Mina nods, which makes the rest of her- looking up at her face now. "I get it. Gotta sweet-talk you into trusting me, no problem."

I take a deep breath, looking down at the table for a moment as Kuri returns with several others holding platters. "Since we're not in a rush, I figured we could sit down together and have an informal conversation before we start getting serious. None of us know each other. Mina gave the impression that you want to work with us for some reason and we'll get to that, but there's hard feelings." I glare at Nemesis. "However, from what I understand the genkits have a long history of dealing diplomatically with factions they were merrily killing a week or two before and it was suggested to me that learning a bit about each other before the negotiations would help smooth things along."

"That... makes a surprising degree of sense." Vara sounds mildly confused. "I don't know anything about you two and I barely know Mina at all."

"Thank you." That seems to please Mina more than it ought to.

"Okay." I nod slowly. "I'll start us off then. I chose the name Ainsley, don't know much about who I was and mostly I've been acting to improve this particular town so that I can help these people and tie trade together. Get better access to technologies, magic, knowledge."

"And green over there? Not gonna speak up?"

"I got this ring because of him." She points at Nemesis, who shrugs elaborately. "I'm here with Ainsley because he's proven his worth as a person. We give loyalty to those who deserve it. Who better to align ourselves with than a man who works to better others?" Elise shrugs too. "With nowhere to go, he was the first to extend a hand in friendship. Our destinies are intertwined, now. Ainsley has risked his life for us, not many humans ever did that."

"Ooh, that sounds like a story." Mina leans forward on her elbows, resting her chin on her knuckles. "Wanna tell it to me later?"

Elise isn't sure how to take that, looking confused. "Moving on." I interject before anything else can happen. "What's your story, Mina?"

"Ohhh, you know. A girl goes and gets a super-ring, travels the world, collects some toys, some boys, some girls, has a few whirls. These days I'm building up a nice, semi-modern little city on the coast of one of the other continents here. 's great, really. Mostly steam-powered and basic electricity but they're doing cool stuff with magic."

"We might be open to trade with your people at some point."

"Hah! Maybe, depends on what you got. I'm preeeetty expensive." She grins, ears folded out to the sides as she shows teeth.

"And you, Nemesis?"

"Hard pass. And if you ask Vara you're only going to piss her off because she knows answering will piss me off and make problems, so piss off."

I sigh. "Yes, I can see that dinner with you will be a delight."

"I aim to please, Ainsley me boy."

 

[AngelicKnight.]

"Who said anything about disarming ourselves?"

Click to shrink...

Didn't expect that tbh. Thought they would disarm too but have snipers watching or something.

Mina is barely dressed and I'm not sure if what she's counting counts as dressed. She has her ring on a string clipped to her collar, almost like a bell. The choker is the most opaque part of the outfit and the rest leaves nothing to the imagination. The outfit as a whole puts me in mind of a belly dancer but the veil covering most of her, despite being transparent, makes me think 'desert-dweller'.

Heh, it's a good thing the ring can help control my body language. I'm pretty sure she's doing that to distract me.

Click to shrink...

Mina is pure win. I wonder if she does that for all the diplomatic meetings or if Ainsley and Elise are getting the deluxe diplomatic treatment package?

Also if he has to use a ring to hide his reactions then it's working.

rest light user

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Red light user.

The third one is clearly the rest light user and she's glowing, her ring still on. Fists clenched, she's glowering at us, wearing adventurers leathers and a thick cloak, all dyed in red and black. Her sigil glows at her chest and her body language screams impatience.

Click to shrink...

Hmmmm..... she seems fun. I wonder if she's tsundere? Gotta weaponise that Rage at Baka's who don't understand she's got the hots for them.

"I am Lady Vara."

Click to shrink...

Is she afraid of a bad first impression?

"Yes, take a seat." I turn to look at Kuri but she's already gone, disappeared into the kitchens. Ah. Turning to look at Elise I find her staring at Mina, frowning a bit. "Come on, they won't bite."

Click to shrink...

Ohhh orange! I wonder if Elise Wants Mina? She did mention wanting to find a more human looking cutiepie for Ainsley before. Maybe she's reevaluating that idea?

Also orange followed by green. Perhaps she forced herself to keep her eyes above the neck?

Mina nods, which makes the rest of her- looking up at her face now.

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Poor Ainsley. He really needs to get some, he's been single his entire life (at least from his perspective). Don't think he's even had a kiss yet. Also looks like her plan of "Wear as little as possible and be seductive as hell" is working.

"However, from what I understand the genkits have a long history of dealing diplomatically with factions they were merrily killing a week or two before

Click to shrink...

I wanna hug them so much.

"I'm here with Ainsley because he's proven his worth as a person. We give loyalty to those who deserve it. Who better to align ourselves with than a man who works to better others?" Elise shrugs too. "With nowhere to go, he was the first to extend a hand in friendship. Our destinies are intertwined, now. Ainsley has risked his life for us, not many humans ever did that."

Click to shrink...

Awwwwwwwwww!

I see the light or love! Perhaps platonic, perhaps romantic?

Either way I repeat, awwwwwwww.

"Ooh, that sounds like a story." Mina leans forward on her elbows, resting her chin on her knuckles. "Wanna tell it to me later?"

Click to shrink...

I bet that does interesting things to show off her figure. Probably intentional.

Elise isn't sure how to take that, looking confused. "Moving on." I interject before anything else can happen. "What's your story, Mina?"

Click to shrink...

Ohhhh! Elise has got a case of Bi confusion?

"Ohhh, you know. A girl goes and gets a super-ring, travels the world, collects some toys, some boys, some girls, has a few whirls. These days I'm building up a nice, semi-modern little city on the coast of one of the other continents here. 's great, really. Mostly steam-powered and basic electricity but they're doing cool stuff with magic."

Click to shrink...

Mina is Bi? She must want all the lewds. But yeah for starting off her description like a hedonistic party girl she surprisingly had a steampunk magi tech city she rules. Which implies a decent level of politicking and spending significant amounts time on not lewd or pleasurable things. She seems to be coping well with her light.

Hah! Maybe, depends on what you got. I'm preeeetty expensive." She grins, ears folded out to the sides as she shows teeth.

Click to shrink...

... how much for headpats? Would she charge by the hour or the pat?

Asking for a freind.

"I aim to please, Ainsley me boy."

Click to shrink...

No that's Mina, you aim to be a dick Mr Nemesis.

Also tiny bit disjointed Mr Nemesis doesn't look like his Namesake. "STARRRRRS!"

 

[AverusBlack]

Red light user.

Click to shrink...

Corrected, thanks.

Is she afraid of a bad first impression?

Click to shrink...

No, she's just so used to terrifying people she expects it now when she introduces herself

Ohhhh! Elise has got a case of Bi confusion?

Click to shrink...

Trust me, that's not the bit that's confusing her

 

[AngelicKnight.]

No, she's just so used to terrifying people she expects it now when she introduces herself

Click to shrink...

That's sad. Wanna hug her. Ainsley should hug her since I can't. Or Elise. But Ainsley is blue and blue is good for red.

Trust me, that's not the bit that's confusing her

Click to shrink...

Because she knows she is Bi? Or because she is straighter than spaghetti?

 

[AverusBlack]

That's sad. Wanna hug her. Ainsley should hug her since I can't. Or Elise. But Ainsley is blue and blue is good for red.

Because she knows she is Bi? Or because she is straighter than spaghetti?

Click to shrink...

...Yes.

 

[AngelicKnight.]

...Yes.

Click to shrink...

You are such a tease.

 

[AverusBlack]

You are such a tease.

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Mina and Elise are both facets of my personality I put some window dressing on, that should explain why I'm like this at least

 

[AngelicKnight.]

Mina and Elise are both facets of my personality I put some window dressing on, that should explain why I'm like this at least

Click to shrink...

Hmmm..... so you have perky tits too? And floofy ears?

Interesting!

 

[AverusBlack]

Hmmm..... so you have perky tits too? And floofy ears?

Interesting!

Click to shrink...

If only ;-;

There's a reason Ainsley is so casual about the idea of changing genders.

 

[AngelicKnight.]

If only ;-;

There's a reason Ainsley is so casual about the idea of changing genders.

Click to shrink...

Hmmmmmm.... may I PM?

 

[AverusBlack]

Hmmmmmm.... may I PM?

Click to shrink...

I dun care but I don't plan to go into detail about it, in fairness

 

[AngelicKnight.]

I dun care but I don't plan to go into detail about it, in fairness

Click to shrink...

Okay. Nevermind then.


So what are the chances of Mina siding with Ainsley and Elise? She seems amenable to cooperation and trade in future.

 

[AverusBlack]

Okay. Nevermind then.


So what are the chances of Mina siding with Ainsley and Elise? She seems amenable to cooperation and trade in future.

Click to shrink...

We'll just have to see

As for the other things, like parahumans, it's a big "Its complicated" card

 

[Chojin Patriarch]

Time to get caught up on this. A few chapters behind, but...

Spoiler: Comments spoilered for length

It's amazing how fast flying can become mundane. Thrilling and amazing at first, it quickly becomes just another way to get around. As useful as transitioning is, when I asked about what happens when it's blocked I suddenly found a much less pressing desire to use it constantly. I like all my atoms remaining in place here instead of the Plane of Hope.

Click to shrink...

Heh. Some lantern SI's never think about that possibility, especially the ones in non-DC universes.

I glance over at Elise, flying in a laying position on my back with my hands behind my head. She's all focused on her reading, which is fine. Before she got that ring I liked her, it's true. Intelligent and focus-oriented towards whatever her goals are. She'd have made a good fit for my own ring color, I think. One of my long term goals here is to forge a second blue ring as part of my journey towards mastering the blue light and originally, I was going to give it to her, but with the green ring in play it may end up going to Samazurasha or Kurishalia instead. Which is fine.

Click to shrink...

Still, having a full partner now makes it a lot easier, doesn't it?

I look away from her. I don't want to hurt her and I do like Elise, I like being around her. She's a great personality. I'm just not sure if I'm a bigot for not being into her physically or if she's just far enough outside my norm that learning to would take a little work. But frankly what the fuck is normal for me, anyways? I'm a glowing blue man who can change shape at will, fly, fight monsters. Normal fucked off down south a long time ago and is sending me 'wish you were here' postcards in the mail. Maybe I should just try to let go of any considerations for what normal is and just go with whatever happens?

Click to shrink...

Heh, 'Normal' is overrated. Embrace the strange and wonderful.

"Interesting. You don't consider Pluto to be a planet?"

"Don't... don't start. That argument had been going on for awhile when I found myself here, I'm pretty sure."

Click to shrink...

I hear Meiou Setsuna is still salty about it in some universes...

She dismisses the HUD she'd been using to browse and rests her hands in her lap. "Ainsley, I know that. Ren literally gave me orders to be your tactical brain. So we're gonna figure out how to get to this thing safely, or we're not going in at all, because frankly you're too valuable to lose."

Click to shrink...

Good to see both of them showing that hint of affection. I doubt either of them have missed those flashes, assuming they've learned Empathic Vision.

"Oh please, paper is way too valuable for now. I'd use a stick."

"That's not any better!"

"It is for me?"

Click to shrink...

True, you need something a bit sturdier to get through environmental shields...

"Like the phoenix, I'll rise again.
To protect my family and defend my friends.
Let all who stand against us fall,
With this light I'll lift us all."

The green personal battery - which looks a lot like two cones merging into a spherical core with a handle on top - vanishes back into Elise's subspace pocket and I drop the construct box around her protecting her from space as she recharged. Since I did my ring first I'm content to take a moment to let her acclimate as I study what's below us.

Click to shrink...

An unusual tempo to her oath. But gratifying to see how strongly she feels about it. Fun to have a partner to cover your back when recharging, too.

"Okay, this is what we do. Since its your ring leading you here, you go in but I follow you at a minor distance behind. You take point and I'll cover your back and try to make sure nothing can properly trap you from the inside. Hey, did you scan any of yellows drones?"

"Yuh huh. Haven't built any of my own yet though."

"Sucks. Would've been helpful to have here. Welp, lets go plunder the space castle. Ahoy, matey!"

Click to shrink...

Ah, min-maxing, genre-savvy and high-spirited. Got to love that combination.

I pass back through the shield and pull Elise with me. There's resistance now where there wasn't any before and it takes effort to push through it with her, but after a moment we're through to the other side and I let go of her. We fly down towards the structure together and in front of us she creates a green ablative shield, puzzling me for a moment. We lower down towards what looks like an entrance and she extends it out and around us in a shell of hexagonal panels.

"What are you doing that for?"

"The moment you walk into a structure is usually the same moment ambushes happen or defenses kick in."

Click to shrink...

I sense a touch of personal experience there. Some interesting bits of history for her to share one day...

Then it stops and blue light flows out from the sigil, out from the center of the dome above us. We have just enough time to marvel at it before a pillar of blue light slams us both into the floor!

I can't move. Too much pressure, it's suffocating. Then it's suddenly gone and I can't help but gasp, rolling onto my side. I can hear Elise doing something similar, pushing herself up.

"I haven't been pushed into the floor that hard since I got back together with my ex. The fuck was that?"

Click to shrink...

Oh, myyy. [/takei] Yeah, she's no teenager, is she? With everything we've seen from her, I'd bet she's closer to her thirties. If nothing else, being second-in-command of the expedition confirms that.

"Beats me."

"It kinda just did."

"Smartass."

Click to shrink...

I love their interplay. Takes a compatible couple to banter that easily.

"Oh great, now what the hell is going on?" I form construct armor and produce a pair of railgun constructs, augmenting my armor suit as Elise does the same.

She braces as glowing orange enemies begin charging into the room!

Click to shrink...

"Avarice calling!" Here comes Agent Orange!

Both of us brace but there's little point as they split off from the door, surrounding us. Some of them are recognizable. Skal are among them and I can see a Tovari but most of them are species I don't recognize.

They're lining up around us, hovering above the floor. One of them strays a bit too close to a wall and the second it touches one of the blue lines it spazzes out and flicks out of existence as though disrupted. Elise is on edge, tail puffed up behind her and I can't say I disagree very much.

Click to shrink...

At least they're not especially tough, eh? I doubt that was permanent, though.

When the girl walks in, it's obvious who their master is. Mocha skin, black hair, bright yellow eyes, black tail and ears. Tovari. Or looks like one, at least. I'm not sure if I should assume every ring user is a reflection the way yellow was, considering how Elise got her ring. When she strides into the room it's with an imperious, demanding air about her. Looking around the room as though we ought to be bowing or something, looking down at us as she tilts her head back. Her tail lashes once, then she looks up at the central battery behind us.

Click to shrink...

Nothing says she didn't take the ring from another person, you know...

"Oh, just an interested party. I'm not here to steal that or anything. Point of fact, here you're rather powerful. It's why we're having this conversation here instead of that quaint little town of yours. It's nice there, you know. I rather liked the food."

"You went to Durjak?"

Click to shrink...

Ouch, that's got to set him worrying. Knowing someone this powerful could have just walked into town without any warning...

"Yes, yes. About that." She gestures up at the constructs. "Do you like them? They're the reason that I'm not part of their little group. You see, when you destroy one of my construct-lanterns, it respawns from the ring. It uses a little power, it's true, but it's negligible. What happened with Nemesis was his version of a test."

"A test?" I look over at Elise as her environmental shield cuts out for a second, leaving only her suit to protect her. I make a gesture at her and I can see her visibly try to reign herself in. "He thinks of that as a test? Well I hope he fucking liked it because he lost his whole testing area."

Click to shrink...

See, children, this is why you have backups for the environmental shields.

She sighs. "Because he actually wants to work with you and wanted to make sure you wouldn't be dead weight the way Engel was. He tried working with Engel but Engel had other ideas on how we should be going about this and wasn't much interested in the big picture. Nemesis threw him through the same gauntlet he tossed you into, gave him the same escape opportunity and Engel let himself get shot. The whole thing was a big miscalculation on his part."

"So he decided to do it all over again?"

Click to shrink...

Lord Fear: "It seemed like a good idea at the time?"

"Well, that sounds like you should give me the short summary here and now."

"And ruin the surprise? Oh honey, you really need to teach this boy about foreplay."

"It's a work in progress."

Click to shrink...

Oh, yes, she's staked her claim. Just a matter of how long it takes Ainsley to realise it...

She clicks her tongue. "And you're making this a condition of your accepting the proposal?"

"Yes. We will only agree to meet if they approach and immediately disarm themselves. My oath that they'll be granted safety while there."

Click to shrink...

Sensible. And declaring his willingness to play by the same rules is a fair mark of character.

That gets a low growl from Elise, making me wince internally. Mina just shrugs and smiles. "Or maybe not." She snaps her fingers and the construct lanterns flow into her ring. "Do try to behave in the meantime. Oh, and this?" She gestures at the battery. "Don't try to move it. It's less accessible out here and I was only able to breach the shield because when you pulled green glitter here through, you weakened it. You'll understand why it's so important at the meeting. Ta-ta."

Click to shrink...

In other words, keep your central battery's location under your hat. Presumably bad things happen if it gets damaged...

"Not if we don't put them in the same room. I'll work it out." She waves and then zooms out, leaving me with the central battery.

Now, where to stash this so Mina won't find it again?

Click to shrink...

Admittedly, she probably only realised where it was because she was either tailing you, or your poking it sent off quite the energy flare...

Emil Tychorus Luther was is not happy.

Standing in the middle of a vast warehouse space, the other infantry around him are lined up in rows, standing relaxed, talking to their teammates. So long as they don't break formation or act disruptively to operations there's no reason to treat them like drones, so they don't. Friends are making cracks at each other, reassurances given, promises made. The few who are theologically inclined among them say quiet prayers but religion isn't something the Zerosi ever really picked up readily and tended to be a good indicator of who had immigrated to Zero instead of being born there.

Click to shrink...

Ah, Elise's father, setting out to find his little girl? Hope he's thought to bring along spare portal parts, just in case.

Even having Elise, the moment he knew of her, the decision to be involved in her life had never been a decision at all. If Senya had fought him over it, he'd have dragged her through legal hell until he had access to his daughter. That hadn't been necessary and it'd been the main reason he'd agreed to come back to Zero at all, a path which had only led here. If he'd known back then that it would lead to Elise joining the ZMI in his footsteps he probably would have rethought the decision.

Click to shrink...

Okay, that's the sign of a good father right there.

"I know you'll find her, Emil. I used to regret it didn't work out with her. Until..." Emil nodded. "She's resourceful and intelligent, she'll be okay. She might be a huge goofball but that's just the Senya in her. She's half you, too." He chuckles. "You're gonna get there and find her ruling a small country or something."

Emil smiled a little. "Knowing her? Either that, or we'll find a giant crater. Do me a favor, Charles?"

Click to shrink...

...'Or something' indeed. Boy, is daddy gonna be shocked.

"Alright, listen up!" The conversations die out and every person in the room focuses on him. Backs straighten, formations tighten up and the mech pilots sit up and get into position. "This will probably be a one way trip. You knew that coming down here, you've been told time and again. But this is it! This is the last chance! If you're gonna back out, say so now because the moment that gate turns on our lives here are over. Whatever's on the other side of that gate is gonna be it for us. If you want out, say so now."

Nobody says a word to him as his eyes sweep the room. He smacks his tail on the deck behind him and nods. "Good. Button up, get ready." Behind him the gate is beginning to hum, a sound steadily increasing as he's been talking. "It's time to go get our fucking people back."

Click to shrink...

A good father and a good commander. It's not surprising none of them turned back here...

He'd fought, begged, bribed, pulled favors, leaned on old guilts and burned every bridge he'd had to in order to be here himself, leading this effort. He'd alienated old allies, pissed off old friends who couldn't talk him out of it. His life in Zero was as over as if he'd died. But it didn't matter.

He was going to get his daughter back.

And if there are gods, they'd better prioritize helping anybody in his way because they'll need it.

Click to shrink...

Boy, is he in for a surprise... A happy one, but boy, is his jaw going to hit the floor...

I'm sitting on one of the ledges of my keep, overlooking the valley below. It's a nice evening and with three more days of waiting to do I figured I'd take the time to relax. This particular ledge is a favorite of mine since it overlooks the garden below and has the balcony leading to my living space behind me. I let Sammy go a bit crazy with ideas and he came up with a large outdoor cooking space and dining area with plants lining it. I've gotta admit, the little guy has a knack for this kind of thing. It was mostly me and Elise doing the actual building but the ideas were all his and it got him obsessed with learning woodworking so that's keeping him busy now that the interior rooms are done.

Click to shrink...

A nice chance to cool down before things get real hot, eh?

Kuri on the other hand has seemingly decided to move in, something which endlessly amuses me. She seems to think it's her role to make sure we're all fed properly and taken care of. I asked Sammy about it and apparently she's always been like this and had to cut back on it when she became a shaman, mostly due to how seriously everybody at home takes shamans. Here, she's getting to be casual with us in a way she can't back home with other Skal and seems to be running it to the hilt. Personally I think she's just having fun coming up with new recipes.

Click to shrink...

Some girls just live to mother everyone.

"What is a doctor?"

"A healer based in science rather than herbalism or magic. There's different levels of medical care, doctors are at the top. They examine people and decide what the problem is while medics and nurses apply the treatments the doctors recommend. The genkits have one doctor and a bunch of them are trained as medics. They know humans too, so..." I shrug. "Elise apparently has a degree in psychology and told me to relax today so I can focus better when I need to, so that's what I'm doing."

Click to shrink...

More glimpses of her hidden depths, eh? I bet he still thinks of Elise as a kid, though...

"No." I shake my head. "I want to save people, uplift people. But I'm still just one person. Even with Elise's help I can only do so much and if I lose sight of that, I'll wear myself out or destroy myself expecting more than I can reasonably do, then be crushed by my own inability to do everything."

Kuri looks thoughtful, then nods slowly. "I suppose that makes sense."

"Which is why I want to train you with the blue ring."

Click to shrink...

That'd be a definite way to break your ability to use a blue ring, honestly. Good thing he's smart enough not to have a single point of failure in things.

"Well, yes. The ring didn't have much on its memory when I got it. One of the things it did have was instructions on how to build another ring. It takes a long time and I need to be focusing my hopes very intensely to do it, which means meditation on the blue light while I work. But overall I plan to create another blue ring in time and training you before it's finished will save quite a lot of work after it's done."

She looks gobsmacked. "I... Yes, I accept. How do we begin?"

Click to shrink...

I bet it'll be a lot easier to make new blue rings than any other, too...

"One of the things I've found is that if I'm hoping really intensely, the ring responds to it. I can call it that way, I did it before when I first spoke to the shamans. You have to be feeling hopeful to use the ring, so try focusing on all the good you can do while you have it, the lives you can s-"

The ring flicks from my hand to hers, the blue glow surrounding her and causing her to gasp.

"-ave and... yes. Excellent." I grins at her. "How does it feel?"

Click to shrink...

Honestly, anyone else, I could see being worried about how readily it went to her...

She considers for a moment, then raises her hand in a gesture of habit, but the ring already has ideas of its own, it seems. It begins forming constructs of other Skal but I can't tell who they are because they all look kind of same-y to me.

"Kurishalia. We are so proud of you. This path is yours and you can do far more good here than back home with the clan. Reach high."

She looks awestruck, then nods and... hugs the construct Skal. I'm a little confused, it's the first time I've seen the ring do this and I'm not sure what's going on.

"I will, mother."

Click to shrink...

Oh, my. Now that's an impressive display of compatibility.

I jink to the left as Kuri fires a crossbow at me that fires like a machine gun. She's never seen a submachine gun or automatic rifle at work before having met us but she and her brother learn so quickly that we're beginning to wonder of the Skal are a race of short-lived savants. The larger the star, the shorter its lifespan, that kind of thing. It's amazing and the first thing I did when I got back with the green ring was scan her but we still haven't worked out what part of her brain is letting her learn like this. The lack of a genetics lab or any kind of AI-driven mainframe network makes it impossible to do a full genome analysis except with the ring but I have no idea how to deal with the results and our geeks aren't quite skilled enough to exploit it.

Click to shrink...

Maybe the Skal are just naturally more emotive than other races? Which makes me worried if one gets one of the 'selfish' colours.

A short transition forward and I'm underneath and inside of Kuri's personal space, firing myself upward through her guns dead zone in a tackle. I don't want to attack her, not really. This is about learning mindfulness and defense. Her railguns are dissipating as she reacts far faster then I expected her to, flipping forward as I come up at her and impacting my shoulders with her hands. My upwards momentum becomes her rolling momentum as she flips past me downward while I go upward, a maneuver which takes a bare half a second. I couldn't have done it. Wow.

Click to shrink...

It's like tag. Tag played at the speed of thought.

Immediately we both drop the constructs, the grin on my face matching my tail, which won't stop. "I win, woohoo!"

There's clapping from behind me where Ainsley has been watching us, sitting on a rock. "That lasted way longer than the first time. They weren't joking about you learning fast, Kuri."

Click to shrink...

But there's still room for improvement, clearly. I don't doubt that Kuri will make those improvements.

"How am I going to do that?"

"By using the green ring, of course." I grin at him, pinning my ears back. "C'mon, you don't wanna try being forceful for once?"

"Not usually my style." He chuckles. "I suppose it's not a bad idea in the long run, though. Kuri?"

Click to shrink...

It would take some getting used to, though. So good to get started now.

Ainsley hm's. "I think I agreed to it mostly for two reasons. One, it gives me an idea of their personalities. I didn't banter with yellow much and I get the impression looking back on it he was kind of hamming it up. I don't know red at all and all I know of orange is a five minute conversation. It's not enough and knowledge is power." He shrugs. "Besides, there's three of them and two of us and they're clearly better with their rings within the bounds of their use. More practice. I'm not ready for a direct confrontation and saying no might have caused one."

Click to shrink...

Know your enemy. Especially when you're outnumbered.

I shake my head. "I don't really like it." Especially Mina. Inviting yourself to hang out after showing up making implicit threats? That's not friendly behavior. Carrying a weapon to defend yourself is one thing but having a bunch of minions follow you around is another. I can't tell what Ainsley is thinking but he better not be going along with this because she's humanish and has a set of perky tits. I'll smack him if that's it, I really will.

Click to shrink...

Claim soundly staked.

"I know. But if there's a bigger problem than just them we need to know about it and there's too much we don't know, too many questions they might be able to answer. Which is why we should have a backup plan for when this inevitably goes sideways and we have to fight all of them at the same time."

I phew internally in relief at hearing him say that. At least he's trying.

Click to shrink...

Like you said earlier, you're his tactical brain. Sometimes you've got to smack him with the clue-by-four... But it is gratifying when he works it out for himself too.

He might not be a genkit, but he's really trying. I've never really known a human so readily willing to change their entire way of thinking the way he does at the drop of a hat. I just need to get him to stop worrying so much about physical attraction. Pfft, humans.

Maybe we can find him a nice human girl or boy to bridge the gap? Oh well.

Existential threats first, homebuilding second.

Click to shrink...

Hopefully he catches on before the violet ring shows up. Could be awkward if they have to do the aforementioned clue-by-four smacks.

I'll leave the meeting chapters 'til later, though, so we can see the whole thing complete.

 

[AverusBlack]

At least they're not especially tough, eh? I doubt that was permanent, though.

Click to shrink...

Orange and Blue don't always play well together when they're at odds.

Oh, myyy. [/takei] Yeah, she's no teenager, is she? With everything we've seen from her, I'd bet she's closer to her thirties. If nothing else, being second-in-command of the expedition confirms that.

Click to shrink...

That's not too far off the mark, actually. Her dad on the other hand, way older than you might think.

Lord Fear: "It seemed like a good idea at the time?"

Click to shrink...

That's pretty much how it went, yeah

A good father and a good commander. It's not surprising none of them turned back here...

Click to shrink...

He's been at this game for awhile

Some girls just live to mother everyone.

Click to shrink...

Kuri is absolutely one of those people for sure

Oh, my. Now that's an impressive display of compatibility.

Click to shrink...

On the contrary, the ring did that because her self-doubt would've interfered with her ability to use the ring. It was the AI using her own mind to reassure her and provide better compatibility in the short term.

Maybe the Skal are just naturally more emotive than other races?

Click to shrink...

They are, but their mental discipline isn't so great. They live shorter lives and can be very childish and raw in a lot of ways. Kuri has the benefit of being a shaman, which makes her an outlier, but they tend to be very childlike in a lot of ways. Everything is new and fascinating and there's few filters in their emotions and thoughts. By the time they're 20 they're middle-aged already.



Apropos of this post I hope to update today, I've been having trouble framing how I want this to go in a way I'm satisfied with. Some days it's easier than others. My ability to think clearly is better some days than others.

 

[AverusBlack]

"Do you wish to be free of it?"

It's just after dinner and we're taking a few minutes before re-convening and getting down to business. Vara has made her way out to the garden balcony, looking out over the valley in the same spot I tend to sit while meditating or thinking. She turns her head to glance over her shoulder at me, framing her features against the lights in the garden for a moment.

"Of what? The ring?"

I nod, standing next to her and looking out where she's been looking. "Yes. You could be free of it. I could help."

"Why would you do that?"

"I'm hope. It's what I do."

She doesn't answer immediately, hooking her thumbs in her belt. "A year ago I would've said yes. Now I'm not sure. I used to be horrified by it, really."

"Used to be?"

"Yes. The red light encourages you to think in certain ways. The first time I took a body part as a trophy Nemesis - that wasn't his name at the time - was revolted. Entirely put off by it. Since he was changed it's less of a problem but his reaction put into perspective just how much my outlook on things has been forcibly changed."

"Does this have to do with this threat he's been dangling over us?"

"Yes. Mostly." She hangs her head slightly, letting black hair fall across one eye. "When this is all said and done, if we both yet live, I might say yes. I'm so fucking tired of all this, really. I just want to be left alone. Why does nobody ever leave me alone?" She sighs in frustration.

I nod. "Why are you involved with him anyways? You clearly don't like him."

"I don't like anyone. I tolerate people to degrees. Some, like you, are easier than others, like him. I found him after he arrived, before he was re-aligned to his ring. Pathetic excuse of a man, really. A coward. Ruled by his own fears. Barely tolerable now, the cowardice was replaced by a sort of malevolent humor. Probably always under the surface, just too deep to see." She hmphs. "If you manage to kill him, I might even thank you for it."

I shake my head. "Not really my style and if this is as important as he says, training somebody new with his ring would take time."

"True. Part of why I tolerate him, barely."

"And Mina?"

"A non-concern. She's got her little toys and that's all she cares about. I barely pay attention to her or her city."

"Is she a threat?"

"Probably. She's not the only orange."

That stops me up, turning my head to look at her. "What?"

"Orange can make rings easily. Not good ones, but functional. She has one like that. We killed the original orange."

"Why?"

"Crazy, stupid, not useful. Too hedonistic, too selfish. Too dangerous. Their ability to forcibly turn people into constructs was too much to just ignore him and let him be. So we killed him."

I find that rather disquieting. "I hope you're not planning something like that here."

"No. You're potentially useful and so is your girlfriend, far more than Engel was."

"She's not my girlfriend."

"Yeah, let me know when you figure out how wrong you are." She snickers and turns, heading back inside and leaving me behind.

I sigh a little and follow a moment later. Inside, Elise is watching Nemesis try and fail to hit on Mina, who's barely paying attention to him at all. When Vara and I re-enter he gets up, arms spread. "Aaah, our illustrious host returns. I trust we're ready to get down to business, then?"

"I suppose so. So, Nemmy, why are we all here?"

He nods, pacing back and forth across the room as he speaks. "Vara was the first of us. We didn't clue into the central batteries for awhile, not until I'd come along and established myself and Engel entered the picture. We discovered them through him. It was also he who found the seal."

"What seal?"

"Vara?" She provides a construct of what appears to be a temple situated into a cliff face. "This is the temple of the light. That's only what we call it because the rings don't translate what's inside. We have no idea what it actually is. The seal itself appears to be free-standing arch in a large chamber roughly half the size of this castles grounds. At the moment, the red, orange and yellow central batteries are in this chamber, bolstering the seals integrity. Which is slowly falling."

"Why is it falling?" Elise folds her arms under her breasts, frowning.

"It's something to do with the rings appearing. Did you know time passes more slowly here?"

I shake my head. "No, we didn't. Compared to what?"

"There are other worlds than these, Ainsley." He sounds grim. "We've made brief contact with one or two, like your friends homeworld. Time passes more quickly in other worlds than here. Our running hypothesis is that the rings were sent here together but are appearing piecemeal due to the dilation. Every time a new one appears that seal gets just a little bit weaker and it takes more power to bolster it."

"What's on the other side of the seal?"

"Beats us." He shrugs. "Who knows? Gods, monsters, demons, Spongebob Squarepants, who can guess?" What-bob... pants? What? "Frankly, for all we know, it'll blip the entire world out like waveforms canceling each other out."

"So what does this have to do with us? Me and Elise?"

"Well, it's simple, really. We want you to move your central batteries into the temple and agree not to fuck with the others. In return, we mostly leave you alone. When Indigo shows up they become your problem because we've got our hands full."

"Oh?" Elise pipes up. "With what, exactly?"

"What if there's an army on the other side of that seal? Some massive enemy we can't beat? You can't deny these rings are powerful. They're too powerful. Why are they here? Why are we here? The presumption is that we need that kind of power to face whatever is trying to make its way through here, but we're not relying solely on the rings. We have other plans in motion."

"And you want us to give you free reign."

"Yes, essentially."

"Then why the FUCK did you attack us?" Elise is staring at him, eyes narrowed.

"It was the most direct way to assess whether or not you were trying to master the rings, or simply getting by with them. If you'd been lousy or tried to run away, we'd have come after you to relieve you of the blue ring until we found somebody suitable for it. This isn't a game, kids. This is the end of the world we might be talking about."

"You think that this makes us friends?" Elise sounds thoughtful. "Because it doesn't. Let me tell you something about my people, Goldilocks. Our time hanging around hasn't been that long, the first of us were made 'bout a century ago. In that time we've -" She starts ticking off her fingers. "-survived a genocide, established a fully enclosed city as an offworld colony experiment, established ties with every nation who fought against us and crushed the rest. Do you remember what I said about us fighting to the last that day?"

"Oh, yes. I found your resistance both surprising and delightful. When you took the green ring and simply let Engel die, mm." He kisses the tips of his fingers. "The ruthlessness of it. Beautiful. You impressed me that day, Elise."

She looks mildly revolted. "When you pick a fight with one of us, you pick a fight with all of us. Humans have attacked us only to find children shooting back. All of us, do you understand? When you threaten us, threaten our homes, our lives, don't ever expect it to be easy. Even if you win in the short term, your time occupying us would be so fraught with resistance you'll wish you never bothered. Keep that in mind, Goldilocks. External threats take precedence but we're not going to forget what you did."

He nods. "Yes, that reminds me. What happened to that guard?"

"He lived."

"Oh, good. I-"

"Shut up, Goldilocks. You've said your bit. Ainsley?"

I take a moment to think before answering. "I think it would be a good idea to examine this all for ourselves before we agree to anything. Vara?"

"I'm not taking you. I have better things to do than babysit you. Mina can do it."

Elise frowns at that but Mina lights up like a lamp. "Ooh, I totally will. We're gonna have a blast!"

Something tells me I'm going to regret this.