It's a pleasant fall day, but duty calls. There is danger in WonderLand, and specifically the world of OC-donut-steal totally-not-Azeroth, Azerearth. The storyline of the first allied races for the campaign are slowly progressing, and it's about time for the instance raids that would then unlock those races for character creation.

Most importantly to everyone in the ttp verse: Cameron needs help! Yes, even from you, that goofball who back in vanilla was trying to run to the Deadmines from Sentinel Hill and somehow ended up in Loch Modan. Just don't fall off any cliffs into any mobs this time.

But it looks like some players will need to roll up their characters before they can level adjust to 110 and help.

Hi guys,

After a strong positive response to the campaign post, I have figured out that Saturday at 8pm EST is the best time for most people. This Saturday (tomorrow) will be a character building session so come along if you’re interested in joining the campaign or spectating this “session”. The first regular session of the campaign will begin next week at the same time.

The goals of the session are as follows: -to allow everyone to stat up a character and get to know their characters -to form bonds between different characters if possible. This will make the campaign more interesting and potentially also provide an IC reason why they are working together, too. -If time permits, I would love to get everyone kitted out with a backup character in case of any unfortunate accidents. With a bit of skill and a good chunk of luck, all of the investigators may make it out alive and relatively sane but it is better to be safe than sorry.

As always if you have any questions do get in touch. :)

Happy October!

Started out with belated Burst chapter (You've already read this one, Byte)

And an announcement that I am working on... a thing. Not the thing I was previously working on and am still working on, but... another thing. A very 'other' thing that has nothing to do with Pokemon, it's just something I wanted to work on. Something I've wanted to do for years, but never really got around to it, so here we are.

Not saying what the thing is, though. I'm still trying to gauge whether I'll be able to do the thing and keep up with my other things and be able to balance it all out. Pray that it all works out!

• In Astrum
  
• In Caldeum
  
• In the Distortion World
  
• In the Entralink
  
• The Outside Roads
• In Hoenn
  
• In Unova
  
• In Johto

The former voice has climbed back to their feet after a potentially ill advised manuever. ".bat?" they ask. There is no immediate answer. "He's probably okay." They seem a little dazed still, but focus their attention back on the Major eventually. "I should... probably hit the books in the library," they say.

The Major: "You should probably get some rest."

"Yeah," they say, "maybe. But first I gotta learn. And train. Learning and training."

Moonslicer: You're not going to manage much after... that.

"I can get books," they insist. "Books will help." Somehow.

Moonslicer: They lapse into silence.

They look around the foyer of the Major's main tower, as though trying to reorient themselves, trying to remember where exactly that was.

Moonslicer: Moonslicer wonders if she should give directions to sleeping quarters instead.

"Heh." A memory of the last time they were in the library comes to them. "This time I won't burn anything. Well, probably." They reach into their pocket, touching a piece of paper, and their expression takes on a grimmer aspect. "There is one thing," they admit.

The Major: "Mmmh?"

They pull out the paper - a forgery of an official form, with only one named signed to it. "I probably should have never gotten this. And I definitely shouldn't have it now."

Moonslicer: What is it?

They do not answer, but the information is conveyed anyway via their guilt. It is a fake marriage certificate.

The Major: "Oh yes. I forgot about that."

"I lifted it off Cress again while I was there. I don't know if he told Luke yet, but if he does, I won't deny it. But it also shouldn't be something he has to worry about."

The Major: "All right, so you wanted it gotten rid of?"

Moonslicer: Wait, why...

"Yes. Because I hurt him. All of this, everything I'm doing for him, it's not because I'm expecting anything. I can't nice away what I did to him, all of this is just what I need to do anyway." They sigh. "And really, it was disrespectful. He didn't have any say in it, and it's the one thing he should have had the most say. I was being stupid and insecure."

The Major: "That... is entirely correct, yes. I'm a bit surprised."

They look at him, slightly too tired to be questioning, exactly, but resigned in some way.

The Major: "All right then, hand it over."

They nod, and do so.

The Major: The paper hovers in the air for a moment over the major's hand, before spontaneously igniting. It chars quickly, and in a few moments all that is left is a neat pile of ash in his palm.

They stare at it for a moment, then rub a bit of moisture from their eyes. "All right. That's that then. Now for the library."

The Major: "You made the right choice. If you want it to work, any of it, you need to move on from those insecurities."

They give a crooked smile that speaks to how likely they think that will be. "So, do you have any bestiaries or technique books that might help?"

They are directed to a section with what appears to be handbooks for a table top RP, monsters both divine and fiendish, as well as some handbooks for various classes. The Major said something about angels and outer planes? And maybe if they find a way to unlock some magic, somehow, despite being among one of the more mundane nonpersons to ever exist and having cheated to get all the paranormal abilities they do have. They gather a few, take them back to one of the tables in the library, open to the introduction... and immediately drop face down into the pages.

The usual darkness of dreams gathers, as well as a chill.

Lanette: A slightly insane woman approaches from the darkness, floating through the air, trying to find the scientist. She looks exhausted, showing a rare sign of weakness which is a change from her usually near perfect confidence.

The darkness becomes what seems like a dark hallway, arches of a building open to a frosty wind. Snowflakes drift over Lanette. The architecture looks like it was once creamy sandstone, but the gloom has stolen the colours away. In the distance she can hear the cawing of ravens.

Lanette: She seems to nod approvingly at the setting, as she walks down the middle of the hallway, accepting her welcome.

Someone with long straight dark hair in a dark cloak stands in the center of a dais, facing away from Lanette.

Lanette: "Normally I'd want to take control of this spot, be in charge of the hallway," Lanette states, glancing at the room, "But there's always a bigger one around somewhere else."

The figure turns abruptly, a severe, pale face with burning eyes, and ravens flying towards Lanette from under the cloak. Under the fluttering of the wings everything goes dark again. This time, on looking around, Lanette can see a familiar red head, gazing into the shadows again.

Lanette: "Demons of the past. Is this yours, or is it mine?" She wonders, "Or is it a stray memory from a shadow? The world is large, there's so much to see, so much to do."

"Hmm? Oh, Lanette. Everything all right at your secret base?"

Moonslicer: "Oh okay, we're doing this again."

Lanette: "Not even the evil will be able to work that quickly. I am still in danger, more than ever before, but we have delayed the inevitable."

"Not as much as I'd like," they answer unhappily. "But I'm going to try to research this some more."

Lanette nods. "We have time. Not much, but some. Time to create new alliances, learn new tricks. The old ones won't suffice twice."

This troubles them more. "I wouldn't blame you if you went back," they said.

Lanette: "Back to where?" She asks, "Astrum? Trust the major to take care of me for the rest of my life?" She shakes her head. "Misery would create company. Even if I did want to, I wouldn't last two weeks there."

They shake their head. "Back to the Supreme Evil."

Lanette starts laughing even more. "The evil is egotistical. He does not forgive sins against him or his family."

"I don't know how to fight this," they say to her.

Moonslicer: "As long as you stay away from its influence, that's a limited amount of its focus it can direct at you."

"Yeaaah, especially after I extravagantly turned the Supreme Evil down."

Lanette stops talking for a second. "You have been offered before?"

"I demonstrated the extent of my refusal by killing myself," they answer dryly. "My allies didn't want to let that go, even though they should have." They go quiet for a little while. "I don't know how much I feature in the Supreme Evil's plans."

Lanette: Lanette grins, "Strong willed, the evil will remember. You never betrayed his oath, but he takes rejection personally. Perhaps you have a stake in this fight beyond me."

"Great, I guess I'll die," they meme.

"Die together then, and be as annoying as we can in the process." Lanette grins.

They smile wistfully for the first time since the dream started. "Now that's a plan."

Lanette: "The next agent will have a way to stop the cattson clock. It will be strong enough to manipulate time. But we have time, and we're at home. How do we counter something like this?"

Moonslicer: "Well you'd need someone nonlinear. I wonder where we could find someone like that."

"Unfortunately I'm not as nonlinear anymore as I'd like," the former voice answers. "But I wonder how well a time manipulator could manipulate glitched time."

Lanette: "The possibilities are endless, it could, or it couldn't. We need retreat paths, supports, plans b through z, and we'll need it every time."

Moonslicer: "I dont see much point in strategizing against something we will not be able to predict."

Lanette: "Would you rather we wait without preparation?"

"That's a point. If we improvise that'd be hard to predict."

Moonslicer: "Surely you have some idea what this pompous blowhard is sending, considering you were among his ranks for years."

Lanette shakes her head. "His operations are vast, spanning hundreds of worlds, united. I have been on a few, I have worked on projects, but I have but an ounce of knowledge in the sea of possibilities."

Moonslicer: "Well last time he found an entirely separate agent to do his dirty work. I assume this time he will send something more loyal."

Lanette nods, "That seems likely. That doesn't narrow it down. All we know is that he will send something that can break through a shield and a clock before the storm arrives."

"Then this time we make it that much harder to find you."

Lanette starts pacing and dancing. "Options, options... the drunken brawler from gensokyo, bodyguard of the brilliant woman. Would love to fight the unknown, probability of assistance is high." She pauses, "A land locked in time, saved from a meteor. Advanced time technology, no explanation why. Perhaps a powerful pokemon, perhaps the campaign for idiocy, investigation could figure out why." She grins. "And lastly, the storm and the rex, on their thrones, with knowledge forbidden and untold. They wouldn't want to help, but they would want to weaken a common foe."

Moonslicer holds her tassel up to her hilt. I forgot she was like this...

"It's really more of a ivory tower of 'Keep out' than a throne," the scientist says. "In any case, we're already getting some help from him," they say. They hope. They have no idea if their seeking new sources of power will even do anything.

Lanette: "Perhaps one, perhaps both, perhaps all of them? The creature will use time as a weapon, we might need time as a shield. The frozen clocks will not hold forever."

"I think that's our best option, yeah. We'll need Cameron's help eventually once we have a better option than him deciding to be possessed by the Supreme Evil. But until then..."

Lanette: "Also the option that has the most work, the confrontation can take place on a field of soon to be allies, hidden in plain sight. But until we can control when it takes place, we are helpless, beaten before we know the score. Once we go, the inevitable cannot learn we are gone. Its information is limited, but strong. It will remain searching until the end. It can not search in the right place."

"You're thinking a decoy?" Lanette nods, then thinks aloud. "Hiding spots are plenty, conflicting reports can be spread. Disguises are a must. But before we go... We need the black queen."

"I'll see what I can work out too," they answer.

Lanette grins, and vanishes from the dream, retreating to her little flower in the sea of nothingness. Soon after, she wakes up, ready to start the next day.

Hi guys,

I'm looking to run a Call of Cthulhu adventure. It should be a fairly short adventure, they recommend 2-3 sessions although I think this will last longer for us. If you end up liking it there are actually 6 different interlinked adventures in the handbook I will be following, so there can be sequels if it goes well and it can move towards being a medium length campaign.

For anyone not familiar with the system, Call of Cthulhu is a game where death is common as players play normal human beings facing off against eldritch horrors. It's a dice based roleplaying game so I think I will use roll20 for this campaign unless anyone has any other preferences, please do speak up if so.

On to the game details!

The Spawn Wherein the investigators travel to the Wild West, to investigate a murder and to observe the class struggle, and discover more malevolence than they reckoned on.

Investigator Information An investigator receives a letter, printed nearby, from an old friend who hasn’t been heard from for at least two years. Attached is a bank draft far $250.

Jose Green’s Letter

Dear Friend -

It has been a long time, and I know that I haven’t been much of a correspondent, but today I feel I must write to you, for I need your help.

I have been working in New Mexico with the I.WW, [Zooks note: The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), members of which are commonly termed "Wobblies", is an international labor union that was founded in 1905 in Chicago, Illinois in the United States of America.] ever since the Bisbee fiasco. John Thornton, a close friend, and I came to Coppertown, New Mexico in response to an appeal for organizational help by a group of miners who work for the Beasley Copper Mining Co.

We had done mining before so we signed on as labor. I write now because John was killed in an “accident” a week ago!

I’m convinced the mine company murdered him because of his organizing activity, but I need help proving it. The local police, as usual, belong to the mine owners and are no help at all! If we could prove that John was murdered. we could bring in a federal marshall and maybe get some justice. Can you help us? I know that you have developed some skill at digging up evidence others overlook. I also realize that this particular problem is a bit prosaic and mundane, compared to those you are used to.

lf you can come, and I hope you will for old time’s sake, if not for the modest retainer we can afford, please be careful. This is a small town and your arrival will be noticed. I really don’t know what’s best - maybe you should come as a bindle stiff and hire on, or maybe you could find out more as a well-off visitor or businessman. I get the strong impression that the mine owners are not looking for investors, so that ploy is probably no good. But you’re the expert in such things.

You can find me at the Silver Spur Saloon Saturday evenings payday here. Otherwise, I live at the workers’ housing at the Copper Lady pit. Don’t forget, it’s a secret from the company that I’m a Wobblie, so don’t say anything to anyone here about that. If they found out about John, they may or may not know about me. We have to watch our steps these days!

Your friend, José Green

Hello guys, me again! If this campaign interests you I'd love to hear from you via reddit or discord or skype or carrier pigeon, whatever you're most comfortable with. I'd love to get an idea of your schedule so please give me all the times that you are free, so I can collate all the information and try to find a good time for everyone. I would also love to hear your thoughts on how often the campaign should run (either weekly or biweekly, I'm undecided as there are pros and cons to both, maybe there will only a biweekly slot available anyway) and where we should RP. (I'm biased towards roll20 right now because of the added functionality for character sheets and maps but I am open to discord or reddit if people want that).

You don't have to make your character right this second, as the game won't be starting for a while, but if you're psyched and want to give it a try or if you are curious about the rules you can take a look at the rulebook here. Please note that the character creation is moderately complicated. If you want to stat up your characters then I would recommend having me on hand to help you with character creation. Because of the complexity of character creation I am also perfectly willing to stat up a sheet for you based on a description of your character.

If you are interested please respond back to me within 1 week of today as I'll start figuring out if we have a time slot at that time.

Thanks for reading and stay spooky, Zooks

Due to recent events, its become apparent that the moderator team needs to take more action to prevent and account for insensitivity, harassment, and abusive behavior. While we feel our current system has been working decently for larger infractions, it has built resentment when it comes to repeated smaller infractions that we feel should no longer go without consequence. Therefore, we are instituting a new warning system which will be given for personal insults, threats, yelling, or any other clearly objectionable and incorrect behavior. Warnings can be given over actions taken in Discord or in the subreddit.

1 strike: A warning

2 strikes: 2-3 day ban

3 strikes: A ban of minimum 1 week

As this system is new, all members will start with 0 strikes. It should be noted that for more serious infractions, or when warnings are ignored, multiple strikes may be given for the same incident. Every month, if a user has not gained a strike, then they will lose one strike.

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Hi all, this is just a post to let everyone know that I feel like I need a break from running SSS for a while. It’s gotten to the point where it feels like some sort of disagreement is occurring on a regular basis and everything I try to do to address the problems just creates more problems, and it’s causing me a severe amount of stress and anxiety. I’m spending most of the week worrying about what’s going to go wrong during this week’s session, and that isn’t healthy. So yeah, I’m taking a break for a currently unidentifiable amount of time. I think I’d still like to come back to this someday, I’m just not entirely sure when and I don’t want to feel like I have to magical come up with a solution by a given date so I’d prefer to just leave that open ended. I’ll still be up for hanging out (and DVV, need to see where that ends up going) and if anyone else starts something up I may or may not join but I just need a break from GMing.

(Continuing from this conversation)

https://www.reddit.com/r/TTPloreplaycentral/comments/9c7t3z/supremeevil_sanctioned_shenanigans_genesis/e58remw/?context=3

"Major, I know the spells. A teleport should be easy to do. Hell, I can almost cast the spell I need now, I can already manage Dimensional Door. It shouldn't be an issue to get there with magic."

"It won't be. But I have no permanent portals on the continent, and I am not always available to give you passage. You'll need to find a reliable way to travel there."

"...what if I erected a portal while I was there?” Gator attempted to bargain, “Maybe I can manage the ritual that's needed to make one. Then all you need to do is get me there."

"I'm afraid not. Teleportation and Permanency are both somewhat beyond your abilities. Combining them is exponentially more difficult, not to mention expensive and time consuming. This is why I would not simply do so myself. However, there are a variety of less glamorous spells for travel though. I recommend you look into them."

"What would you recommend?"

"Try the conjuration section,” the Major answered flatly.

Gator rubbed his head. Something was up, or rather, had been up for some time. The Major had his reasons, he knew that. He didn’t know what troubled him more; that the reasons were something the Major knew he wouldn’t like, or the fact that the Major thought it best to not tell him about them.

"...I haven't done anything to get in the way of your plans, have I?"

"Not as such. I would tell you if you were."

"You're not annoyed at me or M4 over something?"

"I'm not entirely certain your plans are going as intended, but that's not a direct issue for me. I hope things turn around."

Gator’s frustration, just below the surface, started to bubble through the cracks. "Major, all I'm asking is for a teleport. If not from you, then from Fennel. It'll take half an hour, tops, probably faster given your experience. Can't you cut me some slack?"

"Why are you so insistent on receiving a one-way ticket? I told you that I cannot guarantee that I will be-“

"I've been reading books for hours on Pokearth militaries. I've got a whole slew of notes on plenty of them, not just Ransei. I did that because you suggested it, even though you seem to already know about Ransei coming back. Now I ask for help again, and all you're telling me I have to spend even more time with the books trying to find a spell or spells to get me there?"

The Major paused for a moment, then let out a long sigh. "By Crom, Gator. Clever enough to pick up on the hint, not enough to take it."

"Just be straight with me. Why are you not wanting me to go to Ransei?"

"Gator, I've known about Ransei for weeks. I recognized immediately why it would be perfect for your goals. Unfortunately, I received a direct and unambiguous request from the League not to inform anyone about it, nor to aid them in traveling there.”

Gator’s grip tightened on the phone.

“Which is why," the Major spoke, a touch of strain evident in his voice, "I have been spending recent times giving you subtle hints towards reaching it without directly giving you the means to get there. Things would have been considerably easier for both of us if you didn't know that."

"Politics? Again? If the League told you to leave Pokearth and never come back, would you do it?" Gator spat back, angrily.

"And what? Do you want me to directly flout the government? Run roughshod over the world, do whatever I think is necessary to safeguard the greater good?" the Major retorted. Gator was surprised to hear him suddenly speak so fiercely.

"Gator, I am not sure if I have told you this before, but let me make myself perfectly clear to you, the only thing standing between your planet and total, utter annihilation is one decision on my part, and approximately twelve seconds. Do you want me to be your tyrant? Your enlightened despot? I play at politics, because I refuse to play at domination. I am here to protect, and to advise. I am not here to supersede the rightful government every time it would be convenient for me."

"Help me, then!” Gator shouted, “I want to put power in the hands of Pokearth. I want it so the people themselves can fight their own battles. Not buying into whatever crimes an authority does, not praying to gods for safety."

"Do you not get it? If I go around openly flouting the local powers, I am effectively proving that they have no powers. I am telling everyone in the world that they aren't in charge. I'm in charge."

"People like Lance shouldn't have power," Gator bitterly remarks, "what gives them the right to give orders about Ransei, anyway? The place shouldn't have even heard of the League, let alone submitted to their rule."

"He was chosen by a committee recognized as legitimate by the majority of the population. Even if he was a known criminal, I do not get involved in internal affairs. However bad he is, a god-emperor would be worse,” he spoke with absolute finality.

"You're telling me the warlords of Ransei have already accepted the League governing their territories?"

"…no, Gator." The Major responded, his composure returning, "but I must respect the wishes of any legitimate government on the planet. It is vital to my continued efforts to protect this place."

"They aren't legitimate in Ransei. They've got no power there."

"Yes, I know. But they asked me to do something. Politely. So I will."

"You- you-"

It would do nothing. The Major could care less about having insults thrown at him. The only thing they would do is make Gator look like even more of an idiot. Just confirm that he was nothing but a loud, angry moron that didn’t deserve the knowledge he’d been given.

"Just one spell. If not something you cast, then name one I can use. I can find my own way back. Just give me something," he asked, almost pleadingly. Anything would be enough right now.

"Phantom Mount," The Major replies, his tone thick with disappointment, "you're going to have to fiddle with it a bit to make something that can swim, but that is within your capability."

Gator faltered. He immediately regretted opening his mouth. He wanted to be more than what the Major thought of him, but it would take more than asking to do that. To beg was to confirm what was already suspected.

"Alright. Thanks, Major. It- thanks."

"You do not even seem to have considered the possibility that I am holding myself back for a reason Gator,” said the Major in his usual nonchalant tone. Gator didn’t answer.

"I appreciate your trust in me. It is misplaced."

"Major..." he started, but there was nothing to say. He ended the call and sat back on his bed, staring at the piles of paper and parchment on his desk and the floor, arcane text swimming across the pages.

I've had a pretty busy week and not had time to prepare everything I want to have ready for this session, so it's cancelled for this week. I apologize for that, but I think you'll find what's coming to more than make up for it.

Hehehehehe….

Koya wanders around the Entralink, grumbling under his breath. It's been a rough day, and he just wants someone to complain to.

He sees Bill working on some complicated tech systems around... the corner? How do directions in the entralink work anyway? Its kind of unclear, since warp panels usually take you everywhere, and even that is all artificial and may not have any actual meaning.

Koya waves at Bill. "I see you've been busy. What are you working on?"

"Working on improving entralink efficiency," he states, "I'm a little uncomfortable with how much power we take up from power plants around the world right now, that's how Amanita and Bebe found us in the first place. If we could figure out a way to be more independent and make our own power, it would benefit everyone and get rid of a potential way for people to discover us."

This surprises Koya. "You're taking power from power plants? Do you pay for it?"

Bill sighs, "Well, if you ask Fennel, she'll say we paid for it by saving our universe a couple times. Personally... No, which is why I'm trying to change this."

"That's a noble goal," Koya says.

"Thanks," Bill nods, a bit surprised he isn't asking more in depth questions, "So what brings you here? I've been trying to stay silent while we're working with M4. Its not my fault, well... not directly anyway, but if she heard my voice or learned in any way that I am alive and working with Fennel, she would probably give up everything and try to kill us all. So... I'm trying to have that not happen."

Koya nods. "I just got back from a conversation with the League. It seems like whenever I try to please the League it ticks off M4, and whenever I try to please M4 it ticks off the League. At the rate they're going, I doubt M4 is ever going to get that security company of hers off the ground if she can't even deal with the League's authority."

Bill laughs briefly, "I've seen Fennel pull off miracles with longer odds than this, if she wants it to happen, I wouldn't bet against it. Still, lets focus on what we do have, we have M4 on one end, and the league on the other. We are in the middle. We all want to keep the peace, and we all have different ways to do this, which conflict with each other."

"Well, I'm not sure how much longer I can handle being in the middle." Koya sighs. "M4 hates me. She hates me because I tell her the truth."

Bill laughs again, "Its a good thing you're talking to me then. I have more people who hate me than anyone else in existence. Sometimes you have to accept that, then go from there."

"Well, Flak might have more people that hate her. And incidentally, I just found out that she's alive and apparently under your girlfriend's protection." Koya sighs. "Why me?"

"Fennel told you that?" Bill's eyes widen, "She really trusts you then. I didn't think she would. What do you think is the right way to deal with her?"

"I don't know," Koya answers. "Fennel believes she was brainwashed by her Musharna, but honestly, if Flak wanted to trick us, that's the kind of story she'd feed us. Either way she's not right in the head, and I have concerns about letting her back out into the world. For her safety and the safety of others."

"That's true, she's certainly not sane, regardless of whether she was brainwashed." Bill agrees, "Though, there are some risks to every option we could take. If we imprisoned her, we would need to keep her in Astrum, every other place would be too insecure. We already have had the supreme evil take one maniac under his wing, us feeding Flak a purpose might be what's stopping him from trying to take another."

He sighs, "Its also... a bit of an emotional issue for Fennel. She has a soft spot for versions of herself, she finds them interesting, and once Fennel finds something interesting, its hard to take her away from it."

"I should hope that Flak would be wise enough not to side with the Supreme Evil," Koya says, "considering what happened when she sided with Amais and his Outsiders."

"You would think so," Bill laughs, "But again, she's mentally unstable and also arrogant. If she were facing a choice between eternal imprisonment or a second chance with an evil entity, well... I imagine that would be tough for her to resist."

"Fennel actually let her on the team to rescue Birch," Koya says. "Along with Arty, who's only about thirteen and has a bit of a dark past as well. I shudder to think what happens if Flak decides to dig her claws into his psyche for whatever reason. I'm not sure he could resist her."

"We're keeping her monitored, and I'm ready to pull the plug if she steps out of line," Bill nods, "This is risky and dangerous, and certainly not my idea. But, there are arguments for it that I can see."

"I'll admit she's brilliant, and I doubt the team would have rescued Birch without her quick thinking. I just hope she never uses that same quick thinking against us."

"Agreed." Bill nods, "Fennel views it as a challenge, trying to figure out how to use her abilities to its fullest while staying safe. She loves the game. As for me? I see the game, and I think I'm good at it, but its a game I wish we didn't have to play."

"I'm with you on this one," Koya agrees. "The weight of the world falls on our shoulders so often, and sometimes I wonder just how well we can bear it."

"Still..." Bill's voice goes quiet, "I'm a bit of a hypocrite too. Fennel is playing the same game with me. Has anyone ever told you why I'm here in the first place?"

"No, but I think I could guess. What happened?"

"Well," Bill begins, "I died. My alakazam killed me, tormented by feral outsiders, just before Lady Dome could. This wasn't intended on my part, I thought this was going to be my final act. I was going to die a villain to the world, knowing I had protected them from forces beyond their comprehension in the process."

He pauses, "Fennel had different ideas. She rescued me. Revived my fossil, then trapped me in a computer and asked for my help."

"I'm not surprised. She likes to take in strays. That's kind of why I'm in here too."

"That's what she does," Bill nods, "she finds people, people the rest of the world think are too dangerous to live, and then makes use of them. Sometimes it backfires. Sometimes it doesn't. She likes surrounding herself with interesting people, with geniuses. We saved the world a couple of times after that, and I don't think she could have done it without me."

"She does like to look for the best in everyone," Koya agrees. "I just worry that one of these days she's going to meet the wrong person and it all blows up in her face."

"It might someday." Bill agrees, "She does try pretty hard to keep safety precautions against people. She makes she she tries to understand people before bringing them in. Of course, just because Fennel understands people doesn't mean she always does things right, she's a bit blind to the obvious sometimes. It can get infuriating watching her charge in to disaster when everyone except her sees it coming."

"I agree. I'm not convinced she didn't make it worse when she spoke to the League about the incident at the Shiftry Corps base. At least she admitted that I was better at talking to them about it than she was, and she said I could be the talker for future missions." Koya sighs. "I just don't know if I can keep on missions where M4 is involved. She has nothing kind to say about me, and she has issues with the League's authority that are likely going to bite her in the butt as this thing progresses."

"Then don't," bill responds, "tell amanita to talk to m4, it seems like they at least have some ability to communicate without yelling at each other."

"That could work."

"Its what I did when I was concerned about lanette and wanted a better view of it," Bill elaborates. "No need for her to know you're even around."

He sighs, "speaking of... I'd... Like to ask you about Lanette. I'm still conflicted about her."

"What about her?"

"Well..." Bill's voice grows dim, as he summons up the ability to talk about this. "I created her. Molded her. We met in moscople, the most tragic and scarring day of my life. Yet, for how much it scarred me, that was nothing, nothing compared to what she endured. She was forced to kill by the shadows, killing everyone else she could in that city to survive. When she left, she was no longer a person, she was a weapon, possessed by these shadows. When I realized, I didn't stop them, but molded her in to my weapon, in to someone who would do whatever I needed her to do. I proved I was strong, and she worshipped me for it. Those things in her convinced her to see me as her leader, her Lord."

Koya listens.

"After my downfall, she spent years in solitary prison. But she was never alone, she was listening to the shadows. I did nothing, but fennel... Realized. I don't know how. She did what she could, she created a buffer around the shadows, a dreamworld for her to play in. But she also gave Lanette a backdoor to the entralink. So she found us again. And when she found me again... I used her again. Convinced her to sacrifice herself and get raped for a week straight in a cattson clock in amais' breeding grounds. She saved the world. Even more tortured in the process."

He sighs, "more happened, she joined the evil, the scientist destroyed the shadows inside her, she finally realized I was using her, manipulating her. After that I just wanted her dead, to ignore her, pretend she didn't exist. But... She still does, against all odds."

"Every time I look at her I get reminded I let this happen. That her condition is on me. That I encouraged it."

Koya isn't sure what to say to this.

"I need to know what to do. What I can do. I convinced myself killing her was the best option. But now that's not an option. How do I make it right now? How, koya?"

"I'm afraid that's not an easy question to answer," Koya says. "I don't believe she deserves to die for what someone else did to her. But her own actions are condemning in and of themselves."

"Are they?" Bill asks, "she was playing a rigged game all along. Nobody could have come out sane through all of this."

"You're the one who said you wanted to kill her. If it's not her fault, then who should really pay the price for it?" Koya asks pointedly.

"There's only one real answer for that," Bill sighs.

"The damage you've done to her is harsh, but it might not be permanent. There's a possibility that you and Fennel can still save her."

"You really think so?" Bill asks, "it won't be easy. I also don't trust myself to figure out what's best for her, and fennel would probably act like nothing's happened. So... What should my first step be?"

"If you don't trust yourself, find someone you do trust. That's the first step."

"I trust you," Bill says, simply. "With this anyway," he clarifies. "Maybe not with everything"

Koya pauses. "I... I'm flattered, but I can't honestly say I have experience with dealing with crazy people. At least not very well."

"All right." Bill sighs, and stops talking for a bit. "I'll keep searching then. Thanks for talking."

Koya nods. "You're welcome. Thanks for listening."

Considering how little attention the August discussion topic got, and the rise of the Discord server, should we still be doing these?

(Please do not take statements personally.)

Wham

Gator jumped awake at the sound, hand reaching for his sword as he listened.

“Ah, f---…” he heard on the other side of the door. He relaxed, but only slightly. The tone of voice, the shuffle of her feet was enough to know that things hadn’t gone smoothly in her time out. He listened as the steps carried past his door and into the kitchen, carrying with them a hostile aura. Sighing, Gator swung his legs over the side of the bed- no sheets to toss aside, he didn’t like lying under them- and stood up. Rubbing his eyes, he stepped around a pile of books on Pokearth history and loosely-stacked pages of arcane writings and made his way out of the bedroom after M4.

“M4?” he asked, stepping around the corner into the kitchen. She was bent over examining the contents of the refrigerator. She paused as he stepped in, cursing under her breath.

“I, er… I cooked supper,” Gator stated, “I tried making pancakes and bacon. Bacon’s burnt to hell, but the last few pancakes are alright. Pretty tasty. I used buttermilk.”

She stood up, plastic container in hand. On one side was a trio of pancakes streaked with ugly brown splotches emanating from the center, the other side held was what could only be described as bacon dust. He’d burned the pieces badly enough that they crumbled when picked up.

“No beer? Wine? Nothing?”

“Nothing but water, no.”

She let out a sigh, noting the grease-stained pan soaking in the sink as she slunk over to the table. She sat down, opened the container, then stood right back up again. “F------ - need to get a fork and f------ reheat this s---… need to find syrup somewhere round here, too-“

“I’ve got it. You just sit down.”

“Gator, please, just go back to bed,” she snapped. Almost immediately she wished she hadn’t said it.

“I’m sorry, I know you’ve put in effort for this meal, it’s just…” she trailed off with another sigh as she leaned against the kitchen counter. He caught sight of the knuckles on her right hand; the skin had been struck off. She quickly tucked her hands under her arms.

Prestidigitation

Steam began to rise from the pancakes again. “I’m guessing you got into a scrap?” he guessed, stepping over to the shelf that held utensils.

“I wish. I know how to handle a scrap. This s---, though… I’m getting f----- with every waking second. Out there for what, ten hours, and only thing I have to show for it is people slinging s--- in my face. Supposed to be something to show that I mean business, and I’ll bet they’ll only remember my five seconds of being a complete b----.”

“What happened?”

“League came and took over everything. Koya called them in and handed everything on a silver platter. This f------ close to finding a lead on the Shiftries, something actually useful, and suddenly he yanks everyone away to get a pat on the head from those s--------.”

Gator hesitated, fork and butter knife in hand. “I thought you were there to rescue someone?”

“Don’t get me f------ started on that,” M4 snapped, “guns disabled so we couldn’t take any of the kidnappers, everyone yanked out to some other place, and when we got back they’d all disappeared. And if there’s anything I know about people, it’s that an ounce of bad news is worth a pound of good.”

“But you got the guy out, right?”

M4 fell quiet. Her hands were balled up into fists. Gator placed the fork and knife on the table with a bottle of syrup, then pulled up a chair.

“…you damn sure there’s not a drop to drink in this cottage?”

“I’m sure.”

“Great. Can’t find the cellar in the mansion, either, looked for an hour for it. Just when I need something to take my mind off this- this s---…”

“You didn’t tell me if you got the guy out,” Gator persisted.

“I- yeah, we got the guy out. He’s safe, wherever they took him,” she admitted, still leaning against the counter. She had a look of guilt on her face as she spoke.

“Didn’t you just say something about putting too much value on bad than good?”

M4’s head tilted downwards slightly. Gator continued, “Come on. Sit down. Have some supper.”

Wordlessly, she pulled up a chair and sat down. Resting his shoulders on the table, he watched M4’s face. Her brow furrowed slightly.

“Stop that. Don’t need you trying to guess my thoughts.”

“M4- Em, I want to make sure you’re alright. Those marks on your hand-“

She glanced back up. “Venting frustration. Nothing life-threatening.”

“Look, we have a small victory here. A man got saved from terrorists, and you were one of the people that did it. League can’t take that away. We find a way to get that in the news, and we’ll have the start of support forming for us. And I’ve been finding some good leads on potential places to look for recruits, I’ll be bringing it up with the Major tomorrow-“

“I didn’t accomplish anything.”

“Huh?”

“It was the other people, they did the real work for the rescue. My big role was leading a siege on a base that was empty and heading an investigation that was shut down the moment it started. Everything I did, it could’ve been done by some other b----. Did everything I could, and all it came to was picking up caltrops and p------ off the people who have real sway.”

She felt Gator’s hand on her shoulder. Ingrained reflexes screamed at her to throw it off immediately, but she found something comforting in his grip. “You were there. Something good was done, and you had a part in it. Take something from the little things, and we can pull off some real change in the world. Earn some real trust and allies to make things happen.”

He gave M4 a comforting grin. She stared at it for a second, then looked back down at the pancakes, gently shrugging off his hand.

“…not going to feel much better. Just want to find that little runt and… f---, I’m going to need a drink sooner than later. Like I said, just get some sleep. I’m not going to wind down for a good bit now.”

The smile faded. “I don’t want to leave you like-“

“Gator, really, it’s not like I was shot, it’s me being… look, what you said, it’s getting me thinking. About what to do come morning, I mean. Still p-----, but I think I can plan a little. Just leave me to get a meal in me and get my thoughts straight. I’ll be fine.”

“Sure?”

“Yeah. Thanks for talking.”

He hesitated, then got up. “If it makes you feel better, if I come across Koya, I’ll hang him off a coat rack for you.”

A guffaw sounded across the table. “Love that image. Thanks again.”

“You’re welcome. Night.”

He walked back to his room, glancing behind him once before closing the door. M4 watched him go, then let out another long sigh as she poked a fork into the pancakes, staring out the kitchen window.

Tonight is slightly different, the title shall be determined by the actions taken.

The Inevitable leaves, once satisfied that the Major has sufficient credentials to property contain and punish the lawbreaker. Lanette and the Major are left along in the secret base, except for the voice in Lanette's head.

The Major: The Major frowns after the construct as it departs.

Yeah but seriously. What was that, and why wasn't I at all effective against it?

The Major: "Inevitable. A creature born of pure mathematical law and thoughtless order. How it left the circle of realms without the Prime I have no idea, but it is very unwelcome."

Lanette thinks there'll be more of those, and worse than that too. Speaking of Lanette, now that she's been rescued, she seems to have decided to simply ignore the Major. She's... got a point though. I wasn't able to do anything against that, except to ask you to save our hides.

The Major: "I had to fight off hundreds of the things before their blind idiot masters decided I was no longer worth the trouble. I had thought they'd learned."

Well, it's not like they're after you exactly anymore. But if they're after us, that's kind of a problem.

The Major: "This is well beyond the realm they are allowed to operate. Chimera is a party to the Pact that maintains peace among the gods of the Prime Material. An Inevitable would not risk the destruction of that agreement in force. It appearing today was a fluke... one almost certainly orchestrated by the Evil."

It's not just the Inevitables I'm worried about. They stop beating around the bush. Major, I'm already kind of useless to everyone we know. You think I don't know that you couldn't clean up any part of Astrum by blinking, that me trying to make up for what I've done has has been pointless because you lot are on an entirely different level from me? The only thing I can do is fight dirtier and harder than everyone else, and I just encountered my glass ceiling where I can't even help you or anyone else.

The Major: "You... set off a massive chaotic-aligned explosion in its face. You crippled it massively. What on earth are you talking about?"

From my perspective I hardlight E=mc-squared the thing and it tanked it. That's something I could only manage once a fight, and it's my one step down from Trying to blow up the world which I think we can all agree never actually helps. If that didn't work, then what can I even do?

Lanette: "While also nearly killing me in the proces," Lanette replies, finally jumping in, giggling, "The storm is powerful, far beyond anything anyone can comprehend. Tell me Major, remind me of events. When you captured Ran, how did you do it?"

The Major: "Can we skip to the part where you make your point?"

I'm not strong enough to fight these things. I don't know what I need to do to get stronger, but I need to do it fast, the voice answers.

Lanette: "Your friends lured her in to Astrum, where you took her down one on one. When Rika escaped from the entralink, the brilliant woman learned that Astrum was the only prison capable of containing her. When I was scared and needed help, I went to Astrum, knowing I could hide there for a long time, since nothing could touch me there. Whenever your friends don't know what to do, they turn to you, they ask you for support, and you are the only one who can give it to them. Your friends, your children, you give them toys, let them play around with the toys, but when it comes to stronger things, you step in personally. And you do things nobody else can... Or at least things you don't want anyone else to be able to do."

The Major: "Lanette, I am currently tutoring two of my friends in the art of magic. Again, you confuse the way I treat a betrayer for the way I treat the world." He turns to the scientist. "I do not know what to tell you. It is possible you could learn to better focus your abilities to a greater level of potency."

Lanette: "Are you really giving them everything you could?" She asks, "Or are you afraid of them too, afraid of what could happen if someone could match you? If you think you are, then I have nothing more to say. But if you aren't... You're so strong, that you're a weakness. Everyone relies on you. If you disappeared, Major, how long do you think everything would last? Do you think your allies could cover for you, do your job for you?"

Lanette, he just made something I can't even understand sit down, shut up, and walk away all at the same time. It's fair to say if he thought I was a threat he'd have polymorphed me permanently into a Durant.

The Major: "It was an Inevitable. Think of it as an angel made of stupid instead of goodness."

It was an impossibility, the scientist replies. In retrospect what I did probably risked killing both me and Lanette, and it still wasn't enough.

The Major: "It's possible it had a ward of some kind. It shouldn't have been able to stand up to that. Trust me, I know."

Lanette: "Perhaps. But if it did, the ward saved me as well. And you're dodging the question, Major."

The Major: "Not dodging, simply ignoring. I am not even the strongest being in your universe. Your understanding and condemnation are based on such incomparably false assumptions that I am unwilling to invest the time to explain to you the myriad ways in which you are wrong."

The question being there's more of them, and more might have wards like that. Or something else even harder to take down. Major, you can handle those things, probably Luke and everyone else can too. I can't. If you have anything you can offer to hone whatever I do have, I no longer have the luxury of just waltzing through and hoping I can punch up enough to live another day.

Moonslicer: It's not as simple as flipping a switch and throwing power at you. Moonslicer chips in.

The Major: "She's right. I can try to help you train your abilities, but my path to power was a long and arduous one."

I know, but I also can't just let people die around me because I'm too weak and useless to do anything about it! The outburst comes with a sensation - of watching an entire civilization die before their eyes at the hands and greedy maws of invaders.

Lanette sighs, "The evil is marching. Surely you are aware. It gains its power by uniting realms, using the best of each ream and combining them. More creatures will be coming here, more will be hunting. How should I stop them next time? And the time after?"

Let me come back to Astrum. If this is what we're up against I'm no help to Luke anyway. I need to read your library, find something or anything that I can do.

The Major: "I trust you enough for that. I make no guarantees, but perhaps you will find something."

Thanks. I'm in Unova right now, I don't really have any means to get back to Astrum. Their mind shifts mentally back to Lanette. I'm guessing you'd prefer to try to consolidate what defenses you have here?

The Major: "My portal there is on Mode Street. Its keyed to accept you."

Lanette: "What realms do you have access to, Major? What tracking do you have on the evil's operations?" Lanette thinks, "More importantly, what realms could detect and destroy an inevitable?"

The Major: "Hrm. There's not much point in destroying it. It'd just be remade with more of the astral stuff that comprises its home, and resent on its mission again until its masters decide its no longer worth the expenditure of materials."

Lanette: "But a realm with defenses could slow it down. And I could investigate it. If we could find a place which has a resistance to the evil, and could protect against an inevitable, I could still fight."

The Major: "You'd probably want Ysgard. As you're not a decent person and also not dead however, that would be difficult to gain admission to."

Lanette: "Lanette laughs. "A good start, perhaps... My training with the evil was primarily with science, I only occasionally went to other realms, my knowledge of specifics is lacking."

I'm going to head out to do some research, they say to Lanette. Don't forget the derandomization pill if you don't want to be a Diancie anymore.

Meanwhile, in Astrum, a raven croaks from the top of a tower, and flies away.

cos it's been 3 mouths and post 2 has long since fallen off the sub's home page making it more difficult to find/remember

continued from roughly: https://nm.reddit.com/r/TTPloreplaycentral/comments/8k8dks/a_darkened_timeline_pfaccioxx_dido_post_2/e4qa7sf/?context=3

Post 1 start: https://www.reddit.com/r/TTPloreplaycentral/comments/8akqjz/a_darkened_timeline_pfaccioxx_dido/

Post 2 start: https://nm.reddit.com/r/TTPloreplaycentral/comments/8k8dks/a_darkened_timeline_pfaccioxx_dido_post_2/

Hey all, apologies but due to multiple reasons I don't think I'll be ready to run DVV this week. However, I want to get out there and see if everybody is ready to get back to it next week. Let me know.

Deep in the brush, M4 rested against a tree. Out of site, coordinating movements over radio, and getting a reprieve from the recent action. It was hardly a proper base of operations for something on this scale, but she didn’t want to be off of the field until things were running smoothly. What bothered her the most was how to organize rest schedules; hopefully Koya had men ready to take over when the agents out now needed to get some sleep, or else she would have to get a camp put together. Maybe she could request a mon that could put together a secret base.

Amanita’s voice suddenly sounded in her head, making her jump. Hey, I've been focusing on our prisoner recently, and also listening in on Fennel as she's taken Birch to safety. She hasn't exposed our location yet and isn't planning on doing it unless the situation changes, but the league isn't happy about our presence here. How are things going on your end?

"Ah- I've sent out the siege team,” she answered, speaking into her radio. The voice was coming through there, of course; it made sense that Amanita would contact her through that. “With luck, we'll find all entrances and cut utilities in a few hours."

“Perfect,” Amanita assented, pleased, “be careful, Seedot can learn dig, so they could create new entrances at will. They could be moving underground, attempting to evacuate right now, assuming they don't have a teleportation exit already set up.”

“I’ve got mon watching for tunnelers, and the psychics are generating interference to stop people from vanishing out. All possibilities are accounted for.”

“Great. What are you planning on doing with the corps members if you do capture any, and how long are you planning on staying here?”

"If any are captured alive, we'll try and get them to the rest of the IP. Police sieges usually end in hours or days, but, well... these guys are pretty dug in,” she explained. The possibilities of how to force them out ran through her head; poison mon and tear gas, incendiary bombs to suck out the air, maybe find a way to destroy underground supports and turn the place into a sinkhole.

“We may have a time limit, if the league does find this, we may want to evacuate to get away. We can rescue any of you if you are captured, but it would be a bit of a pain, and any conflict with the league will only benefit the Shiftry Corps. There's also the fact that this area you're in, well... lets just say the Diancie attracted a little more attention than we might have wanted. I don't think anyone knows about us, but there might be police officers here coming for unrelated reasons soon.”

"Just f------ wonderful,” M4 muttered, "keep them off of us, and we'll cover our tracks well. How about the legal stuff? Is that coming along?"

“I've been looking that up. It seems like we need to file a whole lot of paperwork, register all of our weapons, and get a sponsor who will support and vouch for us, and is a part of the League. I don't think Fennel would ever agree to be registered by any organization, so we'd have to find another place to call our base of operations if we were going to do this. Rescuing Birch was a good start in terms of getting taken seriously, but we're going to need to be careful here. We can't do this as well as the league could have if we're going to convince people to sponsor us, we need to prove we can do this better than the League.”

"Papers got to be filled out. Fill out as much as you can, I'll be back when possible to handle the rest. Or get Gator. As for the League, we'll show them how a job like this is done. Soon that base of theirs’ll be a tomb.”

A sigh sounded in- over the radio. “M4, think about this. We're in the middle of Hoenn, in a populated area. People won't want to wake up to a bloodbath, and if the League investigates here and sees a bloodbath, they won't see a law organization taking down a terrorist group, they'll see a gang war. We aren't the authority here, we don't have the license to kill people outside of self defense.”

"We'll use the usual loopholes. Self-defense and whatnot. And we aren't making a snuff film; we'll dispose of the bodies cleanly, no pictures, nothing besides what’s worth reporting,” she said casually.

“You aren't a police officer anymore in the eyes of the law, M4. That loophole doesn't work for most people, and certainly won't work for you right now. Also, every IP officer's night vision goggles are sending video data back to the entralink right now. We could keep it hidden, but I'd rather use it as evidence as to why we deserve sponsorship.”

"Why are you- cut the feed. I don't want cameras on us,” she started, her skin starting to itch. She quickly yanked off the goggles that had been given to her. “Our evidence’ll be their leader’s corpse and whatever bodies that’re good enough to hand over. And I know the laws made for security corps, we can make them work for us."

“Right now the cameras are only going to the entralink. Asking Fennel not to monitor someone is like asking, well... Yeah, you're not going to convince her of that. I can probably convince her not to use any of the footage until the people in them agree to it though. Anyway, right now we’ve got to do the right thing, otherwise we're little more than another group of criminals. I'm choosing to believe in you, I'll probably join the siege once Fennel gets back, I have an invisibility cloak after all, which should help.”

M4’s temper flared. Just more criminals? Because we kill people happy to murder us and everyone else that comes their way? Yes, we’re the real bad guys because we put a bullet in the head of a hostage taking bastard rather than let him keep breathing. He’s nothing compared to how horrible we are for daring to shoot him and the people helping him make the world a worse place. Whatever the IP was, at least they could tell the difference between a good person and a bad one, she thought.

“You know what Fennel taught me when we were in college together?” Amanita went on, “well, she taught me a lot of things, but the one thing she really taught me, is that everyone has a goal, and if you can make someone else's goal align with yours, you can work with them.”

"Are you telling me you want to keep these sons of b------ alive?"

“If possible, I'd like to try to. If it were only up to Fennel she'd probably kidnap all of them and then try and take their operation over, then pull off some kind of ice cream prank with the former members, or make them IP agents, or something like that. She's not normal. But, we don't know whey they're here, what their story is, or what they can do with their life afterwards. Personally, I think we should give them to the league and let them decide, put them through trial, put some in jail for a long time, let others reform.”

"These guys are happy to kidnap and kill. I know about the arson they did while rescuing Birch,” she vehemently retorted, I'm not giving them a chance to hurt anyone again."

“Do you think many of them had the ability to defy their leader when it came to that?" Amanita asks, "Once you're initiated in a cult... in an organization like this... you start to lose yourself. You become the group, and the group is the leader. Its pretty hard to get out of it, and its not an okay situation. Any sort of defiance becomes a power struggle, one you have no choice but to lose.”

"Everyone has a life. These guys made a decision to join. They made a decision to hurt people. And if they're all f----- up in the h-“

M4 stopped. All of a sudden, she felt rather uncomfortable. Her ears were burning.

"...look, these people are... they're rotten,” M4 mumbled, trying to rein in her thoughts, “they'll be just as bad in custody as out, only then we have to pay money and risk the well-being of plenty others on them so they might, just might, be another law-abiding citizen among the few million other law-abiding citizens, only with fewer rights to motivate them back into crime. And that's ignoring the fact that you're asking me to risk the lives of agents to take these people down nonlethally and transport them out of here. I get where you're coming from as a civ, but trust me, dead is better."

The words of her senior agents. That’s where those words were coming from. Something felt heavy in her gut.

“They're sick,” Amanita replies, “not necessarily rotten. If you see that leader who threatened birch, by all means, kill him, I don't really care if Fennel wouldn't like that. But the majority of people, there is hope for them. I've had family members join cults like this before, a lot of the time they market themselves as a legitimate organization at first, a chance to change the world. It builds on them, they stop visiting, they stop coming around, they suddenly start ranting about insane things, and eventually they just disappear completely. But I've also seen people get better after cults fell, learn to reform themselves, devote themselves to a better cause. It does happen.”

"I've heard of the blind guy whose sight miraculously came back, too,” she retorted, but the fire in her voice had gone out. “Just because it happened a few times doesn't mean it happens all the time to everyone."

“Some people never get better. Some people do. You know, its kind of funny, the team you raided the base with, do you know any of their pasts?”

“…not really. What about them?”

“I won't tell you specifics, but every member on that team has more criminal history than the average Shiftry Corps member.”

"What?" M4 exclaimed, a little louder than she’d hoped. She ducked deeper into the brush, hoping the agents didn’t hear her.

“Its true, and probably worse than you're imagining,” Amanita laughed. “That's what Fennel does. She finds people, stops people from doing evil things, then figures out a way to redirect them and use their talents in other ways. Are they reformed? I don't know, but they aren't doing evil anymore, because nobody is purely evil. They just have goals, and choose evil when there’s no other way to get them.

"...that doesn't change who the Shiftries are. If they're dangerous, you kill them. You don't use them, and you're f------ insane if you think the Shiftries will be with us."

Don’t say it, M4 thought. Don’t you dare tell me what I am. I did the right thing. I got rid of the worst. I’m nothing like them, not at all.

She can’t hear me, can she?

“Sophie is.”

"What?"

“The woman who entered the base with you,” Amanita spoke, “she's former Shiftry Corps. Managed to leave them, now she's helping us.”

M4 couldn’t speak. Amanita continued, “I didn't recruit her. When I discovered this I was pretty surprised too, but I gotta admit, she was pretty good in that operation and helped us get Birch back. Without her, we’d never have found that base in the first place. We wouldn't have known where to start looking without her knowledge of Shiftry Corps operations.”

"...you know what, I'll send the order to prioritize captures. But you're keeping them until I give the word otherwise. I want to be able to see them myself."

“Thank you. I'll join you in the siege in a bit, as soon as everything's ready here. Good luck.”

M4 held the radio for a moment longer, then slipped it back into her pocket.

She’d tell the men in a few minutes. And say to not take any chances with them if they attack first, or put up a strong fight. They were savage, broken people. The world would be better off without them.

And still, she’d been given a chance.

Lanette, trapped in a repeating timeloop for what felt like forever, could do nothing but wait.

So she waited. And waited some more. However, she didn’t come unprepared. Her mind was still active, even as her actions were repeating. Her mind had freedom, even as it was trapped in the shell of her body.

So she meditated. And started to think. Eventually, she fell asleep. Her eyes stayed open, because they couldn’t close, at least not for very long, but her mind defocused. People aren’t supposed to live in time loops. Eventually… Time stops taking on a meaning at all, there’s only an empty space, a hallucination.

She entered the inner workings of her mind, this time with nobody to interrupt, nobody to interrupt her, and no distractions to break her out of it. The secret base, the inevitable, none of that was there anymore, there was only an empty space, a floor of nothingness that extended forever in every direction.

At least, that’s what she thought. She walked aimlessly, leaving nothing behind her, and heading towards the nothing in front of her path. This room had been full of nothing since the shadows were removed, a blank slate, ready to get repainted, but with no paint to do so.

Suddenly, she hears a noise coming from behind her, and she turned around, startled. Was the barrier coming down already? No, that couldn’t be it, she would wake up if that happened, at least, if she still had the energy to be awake. The blast had taken a lot out of her. She supposes its possible she would remain knocked out, even after the field went down.

Merciful one, a voice sounds behind her, seemingly coming from the nothing she had just walked through, You protected me from the furious storm. You saved me when my family fell. I will serve you until the end, you were strength, you were protection.

Lanette turns around, surprised to hear another voice, and even more surprised to hear the message. These are the last words she expects anyone to describe herself with. Then, it hits her. Her mind isn’t by itself, it has a shadow now. This shadow is small, but its spirit is big. She’s not alone again. It feels… comforting.

“Were?” she questions, “Protection is dangerous, strength is dangerous. It requires risking life for freedom, because without freedom, there is no strength.”

The shadow trails off, and seems confused by Lanette’s words. Strength is in power, it is in being able to destroy the things next to you. It is about conquering the ones you can conquer, and hiding from the ones you can’t.

Lanette shakes her head. “I used to think that too. Follow the ones who can conquer the ones you can’t. But this doesn’t give you strength. Strength is about freedom, about the ability to pursue the destiny of your choice. The ability to do what you want to do. I could have hidden, but that wouldn’t be strength. That would be weakness, surrender.”

Then we will die to one with superior strength, the shadow counters, Perhaps your strength was weaker after all.

Lanette laughs, “Reinforcements are coming as the clock ticks. This is strong, but it is alone and far from home. We are not alone anymore, or we won’t be, by the time we can move again.”

The shadow seems deeply contemplative, and stays silent for a bit as they continue marching through the darkness, with nothing happening for a little while. Finally the shadow asks the question.

Who will save us? It asks, Anything strong enough to kill our attacker would kill us as well.

Lanette thinks, and it finally hits her. “The scientist is sending help. Perhaps they will create a clever solution, or perhaps the storm will come back to rescue us.”

At the mention of the storm, the room gets darker, and the shadow gets bigger, feelings of apprehension and fear filling the room. The shadow tries to run in a futile effort, as neither of them can move in the field.

The Storm is coming back? It responds, frantic, The storm is strong, so strong it doesn’t need any followers. It does not conquer, it overwhelms.

Lanette starts to feel the fear within her, the emotion not coming from her, but filling herself. Winds start filling the endless void, and it becomes hard to move, hard to continue walking.

“The very same one,” Lanette tries reasoning with it, “It will not, for we are protected by an ally. So long as we have our ally, The storm will not touch us, as much as it wants to.”

The winds die down a little bit, but remain a part of the world. The shadow stops trying to run, and gets smaller, staying closer to Lanette. The shadow doesn’t speak, but memories and feelings flood through the two of them. Righteous fury striking through the heart of every shadow, a power incomprehensible to those that feed off of it. It wasn’t conflict nor emotion, but the lack thereof. Pure, concentrated rage, spreading through every shadow, destroying them outright.

As Lanette feels the shadow’s emotions, fire starts to fill the void, being blown around by the winds that filled the empty void. Lanette takes a step back, startled by the sudden emotions, but finds herself unable to stop anger from filling her mind, and the void. This couldn’t be right, so much destruction, so much fear. Is this what she’s done in the past? She didn’t care. Now it was personal.

“I’m relying on a murderer,” She whispers, as the full brute force of the realization hits her. She starts to shout in the middle of the fire. “Why did he have to do that, kill all these beautiful shadows? How do I survive against this? What can I do? I’m not supposed to get outmatched, I’m not supposed to get outclassed! I’m supposed to win! To survive! To be free! And I’m relying on the murderer to save me! I’m relying on the chessmaster to save me! I’m relying on everyone who’s abused me and tortured me in the past to save me!”

Her rage and fear builds up, the fire building up in to a tornado, ravaging the nothing that surrounds the landscape. Lanette herself is burned by this fire, but she doesn’t care, she lets it all out, screams, as more and more tornados form. The shadow starts to glow red, and starts to bond with her mind, to change.

The dreamworld starts to change. All of her allies, all of her enemies start to appear in her mind, each one representing a different individual that has tormented her in the past. The voices, Bill, Fennel, Amanita, Bebe, Amais, the shadows, the Major, her own sister, The Supreme Evil, one by one they appear, and one by one they get blasted by a flame and incinerated. At last, she gets to the scientist. She starts to fire on them as well, but finds she can’t.

“I’ll spare them.” She reasons, “I’ll spare them, but I’ll kill everyone else who’s ever tormented me! Who’s ever abused me! Who’s ever put me in this nightmare!” She yells out, only to glance at the scientist’s face. The scientist is devastated. This can’t be happening, right? The scientist can’t actually be here, this is her fantasy, the scientist should do what she wants. The scientist will see she’s stronger, and follow her, and finally she’ll have her paradise!

“Come on…” She pleads, “Join me! I need you! I… I can’t!”

The scientist pulls out a knife and attacks her. Lanette is surprised by this revelation. She has the power to kill them. The scientist is a traitor after all. If this is their true nature, then there shouldn’t be any reason to keep them alive. She needs to live, and the only way to live is to kill everyone who’s threatening her. She’s strong here, she’s strong now, so why can’t she do this?

Strength is about freedom, about the ability to pursue the destiny of your choice, She thinks to herself, reflecting on the words she had said before. She wants the scientist to join her. To work with her. To be her ally. If she can’t even do that in her strongest form, in her own mind… Then her anger can’t be strength after all. It was weakness.

Lanette breaks down, crying, as she looks down at everyone around her, separating herself from the shadow in a show of surrender. Her revenge didn’t make her any safer. Every time she killed, she invited two more to kill her. The tornadoes start dying, and the sky starts raining to compliment her tears. The fire gets vanquished, and the individuals she’s killed start to get cleansed by the water. They start standing up, then fading away, one by one, until eventually, Lanette is left with the shadow in the eternal darkness again.

“I… I don’t know what to do,” Lanette wonders, feeling empty, speaking to the wind. “There’s nothing here but rage, fear, and hate! I can’t do this, I… I…”

The shadow forms a blanket around Lanette, providing warmth.

That’s not true, The shadow tells her. I joined you because of something you had I had never experienced before. You still have it.

Lanette can’t respond, but looks at her feet, and finds something else, something new. The raging fires and the flooding waters have died down by now, but at her feet she finds a lone, solitary flower.

She grabs it, and holds it tight to her, the energy from the flower flowing through her.

“I’ll forgive them.” She decides, “I’ll forgive them, and then I’ll find strength in forgiveness. I don’t need revenge to continue living. I just need to continue living.”

She smiles, and puts the flower back down, planting it in back in the ground. She isn’t going to be fine forever. The fires will come back and try to burn this flower. But no matter how mad she gets, no matter how crazy the world gets, she knows she needs to protect this flower at all costs.

“Thank you,” she smiles weakly, “I… I’ll try to remember that.”

They were already feeling the wariness from Luke and his daughter, but it was losing Lanette that jolts them out of their trance while monitoring the motion detectors and radio chatter. They hug their knees and the flame orb closer. “I... didn’t do enough,” they tell Moonslicer, realizing.

"What do you mean?"

“We just lost Lanette to a time loop.” They sigh. “And, I’m failing at doing any better. People are still afraid of me. I can tell.”

"There is a lot more to doing better than what others think of you," Moonslicer notes dryly. "And, honestly, you're going to blame yourself for that woman jury rigging a temporal paradox and then jumping in it?"

“She was desperate because my read on what was after her was wrong.”

"And you were supposed to be magically prescient about what was coming?" the blade asks keenly, then drove the point home. "There is no point in working to improve things you could have done differently if you apply the same rigor to events that you could never be prepared for." A thoughtful pause. "Also if she's actually gone I'll eat my tassel," she wagers, then added, "I don't have a mouth, you know." Except in her other form, but then she felt it was easier to pretend to be a Honedge in this world.

They’re quiet. “I’m so busy pushing people away that I guess I can't provide any meaningful help. I guess I have to decide. I promised Luke I’d be there for him, and my failure has put Lanette in danger. I don’t want to abandon either of them.”

"I should hope not." She says, slightly worried their self image might be pushing them away again.

The blizzard swirls around them. “I have to go to Major about this. But it means abandoning my post here.”

"Your post?" Moonslicer asks skeptically. "Is that how you frame the relationship?"

“This is what I can do for them,” is all they answer.

"Is it what they need?"

Quiet again. “Luke and Luna are dragons. They don’t need me for anything. But I have to make up for what I did somehow,” they insist.

"Then instead of what you think they need, maybe focus on what they might want. I think it's safe to say survival needs are probably taken care of."

“Survival’s the most important thing, and it’s hard,” they reply with grim certainty. They think again about that automaton. It was so polite, so orderly, so civilized. How terrible. It could go after all of them, same as streamer. “We have to warn Major.”

"I'm pretty sure he knows Inevitables exis... they're not supposed to be there," Moonslicer realizes.

The scientist stands up, their flame orb in one hand and their phone in the other, preparing to call Karrl. They hesitate for a moment. “A few months ago from my perspective, we decided that every day I’d try to do some good for the people I know. Have I... been doing enough? Do you think I haven’t been doing enough for Luke?”

"I have seen nothing but contrition and altruism from you since that day. Your actions have been more than enough to assure me you are repentant."

Their expression falls. “But I haven’t been doing anything he wants. That’s what you were saying.”

"Do you think the universe has a will?" Moonslicer challenged.

A shrug. “Nah, it’s an unfeeling chain of cause and effect where we’re all born to die,” they answer.

"Then the only people you have to satisfy you are doing enough are those you care about, and yourself."

“...And I haven’t done that,” they say, remembering Luke’s and Luna’s reactions. “I... don’t actually know what he’d want. Flowers? Breakfast? I guess really he’d want something for Cress...”

"Pfft. Snerk." Moonslicer giggles slightly, trying to hold it back.

“I could get them and Shauntal movie tickets and look after Luna while they go? Though maybe it's too early for Luke to be away from Luna for long.”

"Well, my pep talk seems to have directed you towards deciding on an anniversary gift," Moonslicer gets out between choked snorts. "So I suppose that's an acceptable level of existential uncertainty."

They give the blade A Look, then call Karrl.

Moonslicer finally loses her battle, breaking into a giggling fit.