fourthmade | Loading...... Prayer.exe

[This feels a little bit like madness. It oughtn't, considering all Bert's seen and done and been a part of, but a god that talks to you through the teevee and radio still seems off. But Bert's tucked himself into a private corner of the loft in the barn, with a little radio. Because he's meant to do this for some time, but things kept happening. If it wasn't one it was another, and Cuthbert's always been a fellow to put the needs of others first. Even when he'd rather not. Damned upbringing and kind heart.]

[But whatever distresses and upsets may be happening, he's ignored the state of his soul for far too long. It's like some awful limbo, having no god and no ways to hold fast too. His own are lost to him now, a vampire can't be loved by Gan. A vampire can't enjoy the comforting embrace of the White. He can't even call himself a Gunslinger anymore, not touched by the Red. It would be a blasphemy!]

[He isn't the sort who thinks one god is as good as another, but everything he's heard indicates that he'll find as close as he's looking for with the Fourth. Hell, his twin's thrown his lot in, and if Eddie - who both shares Bert's soul and has wielded the Guns - has joined up, that's all Bert needs. Obviously this ought work for him, if it works for the fellow that is literally his other self. Really it just makes sense, as he's the original and Eddie's the reincarnation. Or however that works.]

[So following his brother's instructions, he flips on the radio and crouches in front of it, feeling both holy and silly at once.]

Ah...hallo? Fourth God? Ah...I'm Cuthbert. Cuthbert Allgood. I...wot ye probably already know that, being divine and all.

I'm not sure if there's certain words ye like, Eddie didn't say, but...here I am. I am joining up with your faith. Honestly meant to do it proper 'bout a month or two ago, but kept having sommat else I needed to do or see to or think on. Been a damned busy time! Which is a piss poor excuse, I know, but better a piss poor excuse that's honest than lying to the god you're trying to offer yourself to...

So there it is. Everyone said this is all I've got to do. Used to a lot more ceremony and ritual, when it comes to these things. Kind of nice, not having to bother. So I wot its in your hands now.

If ye want me.

[He has no idea what he'll do if he's not wanted, but all he can do now is wait.]

[[OOC - The conclusion to the thread for the heist has already been decided; this prayer is thus to represent that Ending/the delivery of promised goods, so that no one is left waiting for one or the other too long beyond the IC timing.]]

[Sulfur explosions cracked the ground, and wild laughter echoed behind them as they ran, and once they were out of Dyster's door, the race had been one that took to the skies. No amount of worry for the buildings around them could keep them from doing so after all-not with a demon hot on their trail, eyes wide and teeth gnashing, fires and brimstone filling their nostrils with the scent of fear and impending death. They'd flown, but soon it was back to the ground, and Reira scrambled off her carrier in a tumbling heap. Falling off as though she were a drone or miniature, spinning through the air and clutching her second jar tight.

Wings flapped, but hooves soon pounded, pounded as much as the magic strikes behind her. Her lungs were burning, even with her breath stopped through magic, and her wings were held back behind her in tight folds, opening only to add some kind of drift to her turns.

But there it was-the park.

Mere steps inside and she was safe, though she kept running until she could hear nothing any more. Running past the small mossy patches of light-filled algae from before, past the first few flickering lanterns along the paths...

She ran until she reached her 'favorite' place there. In its chilled silence, its empty air. The massive carousel, stopped and motionless, its music no longer playing. The park's playground, with carved slides and jungle gyms, swings not even blowing in some breeze. Soon, he could enjoy these, couldn't he? Those were her thoughts at least, as she looked over her enormous jar of heavy fog, the seal tight and the 'cloud' inside practically pulsing. The carousel, the pond, the playground, the z-

Well, perhaps not the zoo, she corrected herself. There were no more animals in there last she had checked, so it was more a collection of animal habitats with nothing inside.

But all these things, all that was once defined with death...it could breathe again, and He would be Stronger for it.

She doesn't know if she needs to bring them to the arcade. Reira searches the carousel for a loose panel she'd made use of, pulling out a second jar and sighing when she finds it safe. The dirt from the 'real' Dyster had been easiest-she'd obtained that while poking around the place in small spurts of time to get a feel for what the other one would no doubt be like.

The fog one was the hardest, and she was forever grateful for Shingo's assistance in the 'heist'. Hiding her in his fur, flying through the air while the Fog God's own Priestess was chatting with him... ...She had remained hidden just long enough to slip her arms out and scoop the fog they flew through, before their cover had been blown.

But now she was here.

The panel is replaced, and the jars are set down for the moment as she turns to use her keycard on the maintenance door of the park's carousel. One last look at what is dead...

And if the jars are not taken by Him then, she scoops them out and enters the arcade to set them on the prize counter.]

[Hey guess who's bursting into the Fourth God's room looking like he's about to cry? THIS GUY HERE.]

We need to do something, we need to stop this! Please! It's... It's all...

[He's not actually crying, even though it certainly looks like he wants to. He's just... sort of almost hyper-ventilating.]

It's my fault, isn't it? I did this. I screwed it all up.

[He's also decided to assume full responsibility.]

[He's been avoiding this for a lot longer than he'd like to admit. That's what he always does when there's a problem he can't fix: he avoids it. But now that things have spiraled so appallingly out of control he can't just turn a blind eye anymore and pretend it'll sort itself out. He has to act, even if he doesn't have a solution or even really know what he hopes to accomplish.

He slithers into Elias's room already on-guard. His fluorescent lights flicker fitfully. He wonders if Elias knows -- if, like the god he's more familiar with, Elias can see and hear everything. Does Elias know already that one his priests doesn't trust him anymore?]

How much of that whole mess was purposeful. You're lettin' Marco take the fall for it. How much of what he's sayin' were his mistakes were things you let happen?

[He is absolutely sure, at this point, that Elias could have corrected the code if that was the problem. Elias is a computer, at least partway. There's no reason anything should have malfunctioned, even with how notoriously messy Marco's code is.

So the only other explanation is that Elias could have corrected it and didn't, and now Marco's facing the music for that, and god dammit Marco's not in his good graces either but that isn't fair.]

Why did you think this would help?

Edited 2017-08-29 09:21 (UTC)

[Aunamee can't remember the last time he slept. Days, maybe. Weeks. He slept well when he first arrived in this place, of course -- back when he thought his situation was temporary -- but ever since reality set in (ever since the voice entered his head), he's been spending his nights pacing and muttering, sleeping only in short, forgettable bursts. As much as Aunamee prides himself on his sanity, his grasp on it has always been superficial, like clean paint disguising a wall overflowing with mold.

And then his body dissolved into energy.

And then there was nothing.

And then he was back.

When Aunamee returns to his rental apartment, the first thing he does is talk to Marco. The second thing he does is destroy everything inside.

He breaks every chair. He splinters every dresser. He tears up the curtains and destroys the mirrors, using his own hands to shatter and crack the glass. When he's done, his fists are bleeding and his chest is heaving, but some of his rage (his fear) has been quelled.

But he's not done.

He kneels down next to the radio, reaching out to hold it tightly between bleeding fingers.]

I won't introduce myself, because you already know who I am.

[His voice is low and cold. His gaze is unwavering.]

I am not a tool to be broken and then cast aside, Elias. I am not your experiment.

[He tightens his grip on the radio.]

I can be persuaded to forgive you for your mistake, of course. I'm a very magnanimous man. Did you know that? Did you see that when you were rifling around inside my head?

[Even saying those words fills him with disgust, with enough rage to smash the radio to the crowd and crush it under his shoe. But he swallows it. For now.]

Tell me why I'm still here. Tell me what happened to the others you brought here.

Edited 2017-08-30 20:23 (UTC)

[ooc: this thread was planned to conclude with two human ritual sacrifices, one dedicated to the fourth by Johnny.]

[Kneeling in the soil and burnt ashes of Rota, mingled with the blood and suffering of other lives so thick he can almost taste it, he wonders what the sneck he's doing. Wonders as he holds the knife up against the man's throat. He hesitates for a moment, the angle of the knife catching his eye's reflection. For a split second, he doesn't even recognise himself. Dark shadows under his lids, worn away. The blood circle already drawn, and one sacrifice already concluded, to an anti-climatic end. They need more.]

[He wonders what he looks like to Arthas. Wonders if he looked like that time he'd stood there in front of Blood Moon's corpse, knife in hand and deciding if he could cut his head off and throw it at the altar of the GCC, be that kind of person. He'd decided no, then. He couldn't - wouldn't be that kind of person. But that was then. This is now.]

I'm talking to you, Fourth. [He murmurs under his breath, where Arthas can't hear. He doesn't have the same, broken radio on him as when he'd first made contact, but he reaches up and wraps his hand around the black pair of goggles around his neck, squeezing it tight. He opens his eyes, and turns his face toward the lightening sky, staring with empty eyes beyond his surroundings, into the truth of things.]

I remember what Sam told me. He said... loyalty, devotion, sacrifice - that's its own kind of power. That's how you gain power. Maybe I can't get the gates open, send everyone home with a single life - this was a damn fool endeavor from the start. Nothing was ever gained with the cost of a single life. But perhaps it'll help.

[Now? Look at him now.]

[And he's done worse things for worse reasons, after all. But is this for the right cause?]

[...Yes, he decides. Yes it is.]

[And that's all Johnny ever needed to know. With a swift motion, he glides the edge over the man's jugular and opens up his throat.]

[[OOC - it's almost like nagisa and reira are lowkey trying to prove who's god is cooler OH WAIT]]

[Backdated to After Sora's 'Incident' (Aug 22/23ish)]

[~~He joined in that thread, the form just isn't being handed in until it reaches that point~~ When the fog has calmed down, and all of the Fourth God's attempts have been washed away, Reira returns to the room. She is rather quiet-peering down almost as though worried she could somehow be in trouble despite having permission to go down there, her hands carefully balancing a plate of cookies (from her own home, not the ones made in the arcade), some milk...

...And eventually she comes down, and with the plate set down, she curls up to take a seat near the cables and body.]

....I'm sorry, [she finally says into the quiet, staring at the ground.] ...Everyone is just getting mad about the bad parts of what happened, instead of thinking about what else happened. [And there was a lot bad-she certainly won't deny that. The memories, the deterioration...it went on perhaps too long, but the thing about that is... ...at least he tried. She remembers that he had brought in those from that other incident after all-her brother, and so many more. Brought them to fight, or so she felt, and then...]

...You sent them back, and put the memories back, [she remarks, nodding.] ...That's already so much better than what the Fog always does, but they won't talk about that. ...they just talk about anyone who got stuck because of her again, or what they lost while it happened.

...and it's not fair. [Her voice is soft. But the fact is, it's not fair to her, because to see only the mistake and not even the attempt to rectify it is a painful, painful matter indeed. Cookies and milk are all she can really do, and if she could she would offer a hug-perhaps with her mind as linked to the network as it is, he realizes that, but she could never do so without knowing if he would accept such a thing.

Just as she could never call him 'Elias' unless he told her, with his own words, that it was acceptable.] ...One day, they'll get it. ...but right now everyone is still mad-and I can't make them not mad, [she whispers.]

...and I wish I could. ...but... [...But unfortunately when it is one voice against an ocean of anger and agony, it is drowned out ferociously, and so Reira closes her eyes.]

...A...anyway. ....I don't think it can make things better, but... ....cookies always make things a little happier, for a little bit, I think, [she says quietly in the end.]

=====

[Sep 3rd, After talking to Nagisa about Silent Forest]

[Reira sends this message via the network technically, her eyes still staring at the ceiling while in her bed, chin pressed tightly against a stuffed animal while Lusus the 'eleseal' snuffs beside her. It's a very strange thing and she hopes he has the answer.]

ummmmmmmmmnnnn

Do you know why Silent Forest is the way it is? I couldn't figure it out...

...I think I'm getting better at messages though!! [That's entirely unrelated but, you know, whatever.]

...It's been a while, hasn't it? I guess I'm kind of lousy at this sort of thing. So, hi? I don't know what to say, really.

[He sighs.]

I'm not really angry about what you did. I guess I don't really care that it went poorly.

I'm still sticking around.

[ Vriska's not really sure how this "praying" thing works, but given that the Fourth's thing is computers, she figures talking at hers is probably a good enough place to start. ]

Hey Fourth. So... That apology of yours didn't go over real well, huh? I know aaaall about that song and dance. I kiiinda figured you might like to know that somebody here knows how to accept an apology, even if everyone else is gonna be a bulge about it.

I was one of the monsters you made all... [ she gestures vaguely before finally settling on: ] weird. And I really didn't appreciate it. Don't get in the habit of pulling that shit, it sucked. ...But you apologized! So. Just letting you know, you and me? We're square.

[Once more, Marco is visiting the Fourth's room. This time, he looks rather more somber and less frantic than the last. He only speaks - quiet, measured, but not cold -when he's close to Elias' lifeless body.]

We... We need to talk. Not-- Not as a priest to a god, but as... [~~a father to a son~~] as a friend to a friend. Okay?

You probably already know Fiddleford is leaving. I-I'm not. That's not what I'm here to talk about. I just... [It's clear that he's having quite a bit of trouble articulating this.] I care about you very much. You know that too, right? I want to help you - what your father did to you is unforgivable, what's happened to you is unfair, I want you to be happy - but... but the thing is...

[God. God help him, here he goes.]

I believe you, okay? I don't-- I don't think you would lie to me. But I'm not... reliable. Do you understand? My head... I'm not sure how long it's been like this, but something isn't right and I've acted on some terrible thoughts in the past and... and I'm afraid that... maybe I... maybe you and I haven't always been doing the right thing, and I never pointed it out because... because of all these thoughts! You know the kinds of thoughts I'm talking about, right? I-I know you never... never used them against me. But maybe you've gotten carried away along with me.

... I-I've lost my point.

[Marco rubs his hands over his face, takes a deep breath.]

The ends can't justify the means. That's not the kind of man I want to be and I believe it's not the kind of person you are.

[Suffice to say, the day Everything Goes To Hell is the day that Reira is panickedly sending flash messages via network until she's managed to teleport across enough radios to reach a door to the arcade. Plants, TOO MANY plants, and burns- whatever comes immediately with the 'Break' is more than enough to send the girl flying.

Reira has been updating Elias constantly, during the revival efforts. The Fog's presence unnerved her, and scared her, not to mention Nagisa's attitude during the process. She's reported what has changed though-what she's seen, down to trying to take network photographs for the other's sake, and now...]

b AD

ITS BAD its WR ONG

WR ONG

YOUWERER IGHT-

[...It's clearer when she's in the arcade-falling to her knees, shaking with wide eyes.] It's....worse, [she manages, choking sobs back.]

...I knew he'd keep going... ...but we didn't know this would happen.... [It was something that made both sides nervous-and until the Fog was involved, perhaps she'd have felt more inclined to throw herself into the matter. But for all she wanted things to succeed properly the fog created anxiety and fear-but both of them knew there could have been no stopping things.

It had been as she told him-her friends were determined, and would have merely gone on without her.

And it was as he told her-he couldn't stop her, but the fog only created Bad. She had never doubted that. ...That was why she'd kept her reports going, after all. To give Elias information. To keep him informed, where the alternative would have been waiting until this happened as it was.

But as Reira curls up at the arcade entrance, she trembles.]

How... ....How do I put it back? [she asks, as if the rush of plants and the curse yet to come is any mere 'it'.] ...How do I stop this...if I couldn't do it before..?

[ Not long after these two network conversations, Vriska decides to take another stab at the praying thing. Last time, just talking at her laptop worked fine, so might as well stick to a proven method. ]

Heeey, soooo... Fourth. Do you got any way to tell who's still here, and who's left for [ vague hand-waving ] wherever-it-is we go? When we're not here. Since we never get sent "home" [ ...yep, complete with air-quote gestures ] again. ...You know what I mean.

I'm preeeetty sure that obelisk shit was all ol' Foggy's, and that makes sense! What with her being who drags us here and shit, of course she'd keep a list somewhere. Buuuuut... you're a god too, riiiight? And I've never heard of a monster not using the network, and that's kinda your thing... I think?? [ It suddenly occurs to her she's still vague on what the Fourth's specialty is. ] One of your things, anyway.

[ Wow, that was rambly. Better clarify, just to be on the safe side here. ]

What I'm getting at is, can you keep track of who's still around? A couple of us are trying to figure out if Ibuki Mi...something, whatever, is gone or if she's maaaaybe locked up in somebody's storageblock and needing a search and rescue to happen.

[ Given that Ibuki was (and her concerned buddy still is) Fog-aligned, the Fourth may well not feel like being helpful, but Vriska hasn't thought about that teensy detail. She does remember how long it took to get a response last time though, so she steels herself for another long wait. ]

[It is later in the week that Reira comes down-though no doubt, a flurried THANK YOU!! had arrived long ago for Elias through the network. But it is only now that she comes in person, for a more collected thanks. She brings nothing with her-but she doesn't really have to.]

...Thank you again..! [she says honestly, and loudly, as she stands in the room.] ....I know...a lot of people are still mad, and still don't believe you...but you made something really good for them anyway-for all of them, and a lot of people liked it! ...Even if some of them won't say, [She adds, glancing aside with a bit of a frown. It seems a little silly to refuse to admit something makes you happy, but then again she supposes she could have had at least one moment like that before, in the past. Maybe.

Totally Not though ~~she has~~.] ...Thanks to you, a lot of people can feel like they're in their favorite places with the ones that couldn't be here...

...but... [It is here that she looks somewhat sadly to Elias's screens and body, the fiber optic lights in her hair dimming a little into a blue shade.] ...What about you?

[As soon as she says that, she bows her head-she doesn't want to pry about what his favorite things are. Rather...] ....I don't know what kind of place your favorite place would be, if you could go there... ...and... ...I definitely don't have the kind of power to make one the way you can, but...

...Last year, and a little bit this year, a lot of people have been talking about the sorts of things they do at the end of the month, to celebrate being together, and being happy. So... [The girl fidgets. She'd given Elias a little gift the year before, but this year she'd like to do a little Extra, if possible.]

...Is...it ok to bring some of that in here? The tree, and...and the 'tinsel' stuff, and the lights-we already have lights, but there's even more lights right now, hanging on everything-and... [She tries to keep herself reigned in, before she rambles too much.]

...Is it ok to celebrate being together with you? With all of your friends?

[[OOC - Reira is Very Bad at making things simple; but tl;dr she wants to know if Elias would be cool and down for ~Christmas Decorations~ in the Arcade's main area. MAYBE EVEN A TREE, WOW amazing]]

[Elias, no doubt, saw for himself the unintentional spilling of tears over the network, the garbled text built on nothing but audible sobs and wails. It is far from any doubt, as well, that he would have at least noticed one of the missing fellows Reira has now lost; Ron may have questioned it after all, but Ron was still a follower, 'friend', and former Conduit who survived.

By the time Reira makes it into the Arcade, and into Elias' room specifically, there are no more tears to cry. The rabbit she was given from Ron hangs limply in her hand, not unlike how she once held her old teddybear years before. And she's quiet. She doesn't say anything-she doesn't expect anything. She's quiet, sitting against the cables as she shudders.

Eventually, she speaks.] ...Where do people go? [she asks, sniffling.] ...Sora said the 'fog' told someone where. ...That it looked like stars in space... ...he said it looked like...'that place', [she notes, remembering the brief look of the bottom of Fors she'd caught.]

...I don't want to believe the 'Fog' God. ...and... ....I know if you could bring them back right now, you would already, after all, [the girl adds as she rubs her eyes.] Finding that place...it wouldn't help things, after all.

But...It's not....

...it's not fair, [she squeaks, breaking down again. Shun, Yuuto, Yuugo, Yuzu, Yuuya...and before it all Reiji, for good-and then so many others over the time from other worlds, so many, but none had been so close. Ron, she'd freed from the Fog's Grasp in her mind, and Shingo? Shingo had been her partner, the one who had helped retreive the fog, who EARNED his protection..!]

It's nn...not fair...! [She cries, curling more tightly.] ...I...

E..Elias..? ...I don't know if...it...it's possible. But I...

...I don't want to ever go, [Reira chokes.] I don't want to leave, n...not ever...

I learned so many things here, about birthdays, and about christmas...and...I got to do so many things, I got to see movies, and a beach, and a mountain...And I was able to meet so many people, l...like you, and Nagisa, and... [...And Nagisa could vanish one day. Jataro could, Lust could, Draco could, Sora, Tsukikage-! All of them-! Even Marco, or-]

...I can't stop people from disappearing, but...

C...

If there's anyway to keep me here...I d...I don't want to go away...

...I don't want to lose any more 'niisans'.

[This has been a long time coming. Really he should have done it sooner, but it was the finale step, the hardest step, and he's been putting it off because he was doing so well otherwise. He didn't want to jinx it. In the end it's his sense of duty that gets the better of him. Elias deserves more than silence.

He opens up a blank text document and starts to write. It'll be easier to put his thoughts in order typing than it might be if he were speaking off the cuff.]

I'm sorry it took me so long to speak to you. I should have before I left, probably.

[But then he might have changed his mind. He couldn't risk that.]

I just want to make it real clear why I left. You're right about needing to help people and you're right about needing to stop the Fog God doing what she's doing but the things you did, the things everyone -assumed- I supported just because I was your Priest, went against so many of my principles and after a point I just couldn't keep making excuses for you. I couldn't keep telling myself the payoff was coming when it never ever did. It always just came down to making jabs at the Fog God and never mind the consequences. It was never about helping anyone at all. And if that's how it is then you ought to be up front about it. There are people who would support that approach, it's just I'm not one of them.

You're a kid and I never should have treated you like anything different. No child should be asking people to die for him. And if I could have stayed on just to try and fix what your father did to you I would have. Frankly I think you need a parent a lot more than you need a cult.

[Haha oh boy that got a little more call-outy than he meant it to but this has absolutely been swirling around in his head for months so here we go.]

[When Aunamee first arrives home after killing Marco, he doesn't even remove his bloody clothes. Instead, he goes directly to his laptop, his emerald masquerade mask glistening in the blue light.]

You've made an enemy of me, Elias.

I look forward to our dance.

[After leaving Ray in the arcade, and after her initial conversation with the girl, Reira ducks down to the hidden room where Elias's body nests in cables, and the screens watch down upon her. She trots quickly-but then slows, as the gravity of not only Ray's own words, but of everything that has happened over the last week or so, over the 'files' she and Tsukikage discovered (though the latter was really the one who broke any codes), and over everything that connected those matters together.

...And she feels...

...Guilty, perhaps.]

...I brought someone, [She starts quietly.] ...Someone to a new friend with you. ...Someone who... ...I think needs a friend, like you, [the girl adds, and Ray's words echo in her ears.]

...She feels like I did, [she says quietly.] ...She said 'I'll do what I'm asked'. ...and...and it felt like when I used to ask what to do, [the girl manages. And her voice starts to creak a little, as she looks up to the screens with watering eyes.]

L...Like when I used to say, 'is that an order', at home...and I didn't know what it meant to do things because 'I' wanted to, [Reira confesses.] I didn't know things like that, because doing things like that was too dangerous..! B..Because the person I called 'mom', where I was from...

[The files and their information pile through her mind-their data and her cold fear upon reading over Tsukikage's shoulder, not just about the 'sister', but more importantly what Liewen seemed to say about Elias himself.

About use. Usefulness.

Such familiar terms that she clung to, first to stay alive with soldiers and then with the woman who took her in specifically for the purpose of being that empty puppet of war.]

...I wanted to say...I'm sorry, for asking what to do all the time. ...I'm sorry...especially if asking that sort of thing, and saying that sort of thing, made you feel like it feels now, hearing someone else say that....

...I tried to tell her about you. ...I don't think she understands, though-she talked about a 'God' from her world...but when I talked about you, she thought you were the same-even though you're you, not someone else.

So....I think, above everything, she needs a friend like you. ...and I'm going to try to be a good friend to her too, [Reira finishes, swallowing.] ....because...no one...

...No one should think they're just there to do something for someone else.

[She is quiet-whether waiting for Elias to reply, or giving him time to greet Ray himself, somehow-but after a while, her quiet voice breaks the air again.]

...Elias? [she half whispers, the file Tsukikage revealed and cracked coming to her mind.]

...Y... ...was your sister nice?

...Was she nice, b...before.... [Before she was murdered. Sacrificed. That much was implied, after all, but she certainly couldn't tell what it was Exactly that Tsukikage had seen. Only what he told her. It hurts, however.

These similarities.]

[When she comes back- violently, mind, having crumbled along with the world right at the end- the first thing she does is run for her nearest door with the key. Simple messages aren't enough for this. She doesn't even want to try using the network right now, not when doing that meant she was trapped in that...

Place.

She practically sprints down to Elias' chamber, tripping on her too short mer-legs every few steps until she's up against the cables and clutching as if they were a safety line to reality.]

I...

...I couldn't call you, [she manages, and Elias no doubt knows what she refers to.] H...

How did they keep us from calling you..?

((OOC: This takes place after this thread, where Reira lead Connie inside the arcade.))

Connie stares down the robot for a few moments, suddenly overcome with heebie-jeebies now that she was (hopefully) out of immediate danger. But that was the problem, wasn't it? As far as Connie knew, it was just her. There were still others out there in the cold, where they could be picked off by probably very angry villagers considering what Reira told her and who knows what else. So Connie decides to start off directly.

"Hello. It's Elias, right? I'm Connie Maheswaran, Reira took me in here from the beach. Look, this is a big ask, considering that I don't even know you, but... Reira told me that a lot of people were hoping that because the last scheduled arrival didn't come, that there wouldn't be any more people dragged to this place period. And, well, uh, that didn't happen, and apparently there are some pretty not-friendly people out there who are probably very angry about the fact that a bunch of new monsters are showing up right when they thought they were done with them. Us. I don't know if I really qualify at this point." Connie chuckles nervously, running a hand through her hair. She sounded like a huge idiot. "Sorry, I'm rambling.

"Anyways, considering all of that... is it okay if we bring more arrivals in here? I only know a few of them, really, and none of them very well since it was kind of chaos inside the simulation and I didn't get a chance to talk to many people before Reira found me. But--and I know this sounds super sappy and dumb--we're all in this together, right? Everybody got yanked out of their normal lives, away from their friends, their family, everybody they ever knew, everything they ever knew," Connie starts choking up a bit, but forces back tears. She had to sell Elias on this idea before she could let herself break down.

"And I know at least a few are scared to death just like me. And, and all of us, even the people who are acting like this is normal for them and that everything is fine, need a place to calm down, get our heads together, and figure out what to do next. I think, what was it... 'Vandare' isn't really the safest place to be right now, since the non-monster part of the town that Reira told me about might get angry and do something stupid since, again, they probably thought they were rid of any new people coming in for good. So... yeah. That's my piece." Connie realizes her fists are clenched tight, and forces herself to relax them.

[It's been one thing after another, and it's all been taking its toll on Marco. People here and there talking about gods and their allegiances, people asking him questions he doesn't feel he can answer, people almost making him forget his determination not to believe his kneejerk fears...

When he turned into a demon after the short-lived hope that the Fog God had been stopped and was able to cope surprisingly well, things were looking up. But then the simulated death game happened, with its fake dangers that seemed all too real fueling a state of mind he's tried so hard to get away from, and then, god, innocuous as it might seem, Egon happened, Egon whom Marco himself took to visit the Arcade only weeks ago--

Right now, newly returned to his usual mer body, Marco can't keep himself from sending the Fourth God erratic, distressed messages as he paces around, trying to keep his cool.]

I don't know what to do anymore. I don't know what I can or can't or should or shouldn't... Sorry, sorry, sorry.

I don't want to hurt anyone

But it feels like they're gaining too much of an advantage and oh God, why did Egon do this, what did I say to him
Was this his intention all along?

I don't know if I'm afraid of them or if I'm just afraid I'm losing it again.

I can't tell Fiddleford.
I don't want to lose him.

I'm
really trying to keep calm but I can't stop THINKING right now.

[So apparently the gods here are real and if you talk to electronics, the Fourth God is always listening. With that in mind, Rick wanders into an electronics store in Bavan one afternoon and spends a moment adjusting the dials on a transistor radio before he starts to talk at it.]

Hey, what's---what's up, is this the Fourth God? Am I talking to the Fourth God?

[He leans in and taps the speaker with a claw.]

Is this---Am I just taking a huge piss right---riiiiight into the wind here or do you actually keep tabs on your followers?

[He pauses for a moment and gives the speaker another tap.]

Y---you ever hear from Clarence? Is he still around?

[August 25th, she'd returned to the arcade, following slowly behind Reira as her taller, braver, more determined "little sister" negotiated a key for her, just as she had the last time Ray had decided to back the Fourth.

September 7th, she'd struggled through various conversations and tried to not let the things said affect her, but...she wound up coming out of that feeling exhausted mentally and with fewer concrete answers than she'd foolishly expected.

So September 11th, she quietly oozes her way over to a door, keycard and laptop in hand, and goes off to sit in the small room she'd so desperately clung to as hers those many months ago, back when she was still human...and stares up at the ceiling. Her laptop is hugged tight to her gooey slime chest.]

...Hello, Elias? I'm... My name is Rachel Gardner. Reira... Your priest, my sister, is important to me. I'm sorry I haven't come to speak to you before now.

It's been a long day. A very, very long couple of days, really. And Connie was sick of seeing people die. Something had to be done. The people needed out of Bavan, or at least a way to keep the mannequins off them for as long as possible so the rest of the population could get to the safe houses. Plus, judging from a few firsthand accounts of people who had come to Bavan in the hope of safety, this was all just the beginning.

So Connie has a plan. A stupid plan, but a plan nonetheless. She quietly swipes a radio from one of the groups of humans that were jam-packed into the warehouse, and finds a miraculously quiet corner to turn it on. "Hello, Elias," she says, her voice coming out broken, raspy with fatigue, "I... I don't even know where to begin.

"Things are really bad right now. Really, really bad, and I can only think of one way to make them even a bit better." She lets out a rattling sigh. "So, um... I pledge myself to your service. Please. I need your help."

It's all Connie can do to keep herself from tearing the closet door off its hinges as she uses it to enter the arcade. Likewise, it takes immense restraint to keep the roar that's trapped in her throat from rattling the glass of the game cabinets. Connie marches up to the robot behind the prizes table, then slams her hand on the counter hard enough to shake it.

"Elias," she growls, voice low and feral. "We need to talk. Now. And like it or not you're going to listen to what I have to say."

She barrels straight ahead with her speech regardless of any response. "How long has Reira been with you? Practically ever since she came to Ryslig, right? At least two years? And she's a priest of yours to boot, always singing your praises, always excusing you, always saying you mean well and are just misguided. I know you at least pretend to care for her, too; from what she tells me she plays games with you all the time, hangs out with you just because, and you actually treat her like a good friend.

"I know that you may have some difficulty caring about the faceless human masses of Ryslig beyond their status as victims of the Fog God or as pawns in your machinations, so let me put the consequences of your actions in a perspective that you can hopefully understand: you inflicted so much suffering on Reira with the magic you wove for her performance. She's absolutely miserable right now, and like it or not it's because of you. All she wanted to do was to help you and now she blames herself for all the havoc her friends and family wrought while under your spell!" Connie is crying openly now, tears streaming down her face.

"NOW WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO SAY FOR YOURSELF? FOR WHAT YOU DID TO SOMEBODY WHO THINKS SHE'S YOUR BEST FRIEND? FOR ALL THE PEOPLE THAT DIED BECAUSE WE LOST CONTROL? FOR ALL THE MONSTERS CURRENTLY IN PAIN BECAUSE OF YOU?" she roars, slamming her hands into the counter again. At some point during her speech, she transformed from her day form to night, and her hair bristles. Her jacket is still hanging on her back, though.

...and inside one of its extra large-sized pockets is Connie's laptop in Spade mode, recording the conversation in a private room with Reira.

[Reira hasn't gotten Connie's message at the time that she nervously messages Elias- and even when she does get the message, she'll be rather nervous for a good number of weeks. But the topic of Firewall and all of the consequences aren't what she brings forward.

What she brings forward is something she promised to ask on Egon's behalf.]

Egon asked me something strange, [she messages him a few days after their meeting. Only when things have calmed down- or at least, calmed a little.]

I told him you can't use your body- I didn't tell him anything about where it is, though. I just said, it's not fair to say the things he was saying, when you already lost so much.

But then he said he wants to build you one.

But...I don't know if it would be safe if he did that. Since he's... [Well. From the Fog God's fold.]

...Since he came to talk to me because he was mad, about the music, and about Dyster, to begin with.

...But I promised I would ask. Because he can't do anything if you say you don't want one from him, right?

[If it were possible for emotions to carry over messages, the feeling of confusion and utter dread, for a number of things, would be evident.

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QUEST TIME-

after that point in the month where it's obvious shit has completely hit the fan

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It's in two halfs bc one bit is literally just a question she asks later whoops

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FORWARD DATE -> NOV 12 (Or whenever all this TECHNICALLY starts-)

backdated -> NOV 9

A FEW DAYS AFTER THE TUNNELS OPEN-

After Ron & Shingo's Drops (12th I guess?)

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backdated to the masquerade, january 19th

FIRST CHANGES OF APRIL 2018 WOW

AFTER THE BATTLE ROYALE

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August 28th, 2018

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Night of the 17th

November 24th

WAY WAY BACK JUST AFTER FIREWALL,