Loading...... Prayer.exe

[fourthmade]

This is a place to send your prayers to the Fourth god. He may not always respond, or he may respond in ways you don’t expect, but he is always listening.

Speak, he hears you.

OOC note:  As of April 2020, threads with the gods will be capped at three NPC replies! Please keep this in mind when writing god prayers to make sure you get everything you need out of the thread.It’s also possible to handwave prayers by titling your comment HANDWAVED PRAYER. Handwaved prayers lack our usual flourish, but you can expect a faster response!

As of February 2024, god prayers will be handwaved only. Please only submit a prayer if you have a question for either god which needs answering in order to progress your character's arc within Ryslig. If this is something you need to tier up within the god boon system, or just to set up a player plot in general, please don't hesitate to submit a prayer about it! You may shorten it down to an OOC summary of what your character is asking. This will allow any of our helper mods to reply much faster, without having to dig into the specifics of either god's personality/writing quirks. Should this limitation be lifted again in the future, this note will be removed.

Comments

-> AFTER THE CONFESSION FROM FIDDS & CO...

[soft_focus]

[Reira's always been a regular to the Arcade- practically daily even. Bringing people. Bringing friends. If she's sure someone will stay friends, she'll even convince them to get a card.

She's good at that. Good at keeping people. Elias after all, is her own best friend- her 'brother' of sorts in her words. (The real one has been gone for a long, long time after all, and that was the entire reason she joined. Revenge. Revenge against a foe-in-common.)

The last few days have been a mess though. Horrible. Agonizing even. She bets it's even worse for him. When the posts go up she realizes why, but even voicing something in retaliation is hard.

But maybe what's important will make it.]

H͘͞O͢W̶̸ ̡D̵̵Ǫ͡ ͏Í͠ S͠T̕͟Ǫ̀P̶ ̨͞I̕T ҉Ḩ̶͟Ơ̧W̛ ̴͡D̸̴O͠ I ͘ST͟͠O͟P̶̶̢ ̧͏̴I̷Ţ̕ ́͞HOW DO̶͝ ̀҉I̧ ̶̀̀S͏͞T͏͢OP ͝I͝͞T H҉OW͘ ҉D̡̛͢O̡͘ ̸I ̵͠S͏͟͟T͟͝͡O͜͠P͢͡ ͘͟Ì̡T́͟

[...It's something at least.]

[fourthmade]

[Reira is welcome to call out to Elias for as long as she'd like.

There's no answer.]

handwaved prayer (because I'm probably throwing another real prayer here soon)

[peccatore]

Shortly after he's back from Felfri, Marco makes sure to head into the Arcade, visit Elias in his room as usual and a) express his joy over the fact that he's alright after all as well as b) assert that he will do anything for him.

Except hurt people. He can't do that. Other than that? He'll do anything, he swears!!

[fourthmade]

Elias will tell Marco he is ok, and he is glad his friends are all safe. He would like to keep all his friends safe forever, but to do it, he needs more friends and more help to build machines. Can Marco help him? It is the only way they can make everyone happy together. Please?

<dismas>

[chardismastic]

[ following this thread: ]

we have a mutual enemy

i'm in

[ he refuses to deem it as praying, as a dedication— no. this is an alliance, plain and simple, an avenue to get the resources he needs to deal with the problem they both have until the problem is no more. ]

[fourthmade]

[Static crackles in Rafe’s mind like an electric shock. His laptop screen sparks into a sound gauge, and he hears the impression of a boy’s voice scrolling across his mind in a marquee. Keystrokes move in time with each word.]

hello rafe
ive been watching
i was waiting for you to come
im so happy youre here
to help :)
only together can we stop

her

will you be my friend?
in isnt enough
i have to know youre here for me
for all my friends

after the event

[evilgrows]

[Robotnik stalks into the arcade with as much purpose as someone going through a random door all casually can, stopping only when he reaches the highest concentration of machines.]

You around?

[He doesn't wait for acknowledgement before continuing.]

After finding out about your... power situation, I've been working on a solution.

See: even the smallest piece of unlimited power can reach higher potential if it's calibrated correctly. What you have powerwise isn't insufficient, you just don't have the hardware to utilize it properly.

That's where I come in. I'm very familiar with designing machinery to take advantage of just such a situation, and things here are clearly getting to a point where we need to work harder. All you need to do is evolve. You in?

[fourthmade]

[The machines surrounding Robotonik all light up at once at the abrupt, imperious question. They stay lit up, casting a harsh fluorescent glow over him as he begins to outline his plan.
Once he's finished, the machines almost seem to go still, plunging the room into an uncharacteristis silence as their beeps and boops go quiet.

After a long moment, the Fourth God's voice calls back to Robotonik, quietly and almost nervously.]

you really think I can evolve dr. robotonik?

[He pauses, and some of the machines start to emit a quiet, tense staticky noise.]

what would you do to me?

November 5th-ish

[epitaffio]

[Here he is again - alone in his room in Hestia's Place, about to do something that leaves a sour taste in his mouth. This time, though, he has a radio in front of him.

Much like when he talked to the Fog God, he just wants to talk. His loyalty lies with one man and one man alone - hell, that's why this conversation needs to happen in the first place.]

You're the... Fourth God, right? I don't know if you're there. I, uh, I'll try to get straight to the point.

[God, this feels even dumber, somehow. Talking to thin air is what some people do when they want to get in touch with God, right? Talking to a radio is just... He doesn't even know WHAT it is.]

You're in charge of Felfri, right? ... Someone very important is there, so I need to go back.

[As usual, Doppio is mistaken about many things. But when Felfri rendered him able to use an ability that, to his knowledge, didn't belong to him in the first place... there was only one logical conclusion he could draw. Only one he wanted to draw.

The Boss had to be in Felfri. Therefore, Felfri is where Doppio has to be.]

[fourthmade]

[The radio speakers rise and fall with a crackle of static. In fact, all the machines in the room flicker and whir, heralding the arrival of youthful presence. The static shortens to a fragmented, stilted chirrup.

Soon, a boy’s soft voice emerges from the chirps.]

hello vinegar
im right here helping my friends
i have nowhere else to be

but i cant open the portals again
because i need help from them too
different schematics
better machines

Heavily Backdated to Dec 25 for posterity

[soft_focus]

[There's nothing to be said, but it's notable that Reira takes a trip to Elias' secret room to leave a present; it's a set of Christmas cookies, an invitation to play a few rounds of games, and the promise that she's doing her best to make sure people who want to help can come and help soon. Precise recruiting is trickier than she thought!]

[terribibble]

[This is a conversation that Fiddleford has been putting off. He's been having a lot of those lately. But he's trying this wild thing where he acknowledges his mistakes, and sometimes that means talking to a dead child that he really would rather not talk to. Well, typing, because typing into a word document is the easiest way he knows to reach Elias.

This isn't backdated. It really has taken him this long.]

I'm sorry. Not for what I tried to do but that it didn't work. It could have killed you, and I was so desperate to have some kind of solution I didn't think that through far enough to weigh the risks properly.

After everything I do still wish I knew how to help you.

[Not the 'help' Elias asks for. Real help. The kind that keeps Marco clinging on to his priesthood despite everything, years later, after so many failures and dead ends and red flags.]

[fourthmade]

[There’s no response. There’s no response for a full two and three-quarters of a minute. Poor Fiddleford is all alone, throwing his empty apologies to a mindless computer.

Or so he thinks. Abruptly, all the machinery, lights, and computers in the room shut down, throwing the room into darkness. A distant whirr of a nondescript generator churns to life. The computer screen strobes wildly, flickering a 256-color rainbow at a speed too quick to register.

A silhouette of a person pops onto the screen. It jitters, blocky and glitched. And then a single word repeats within the silhouette in varying sizes and fonts, leaving two squares for sightless eyes.]

nonoNoNONONONONOnononoNONOnononononoNONONONONOnonononononononoNOnononono

[The screen bursts into disjointed barcodes, and a piercing ringing cuts the fit short. A more coherent answer floods the screen, plain white text on a soothing blue background.]

i cant die
theres only one way to help me and thats coming here to be with me
you let her take you away from me
she wants to hurt me she wants to hurt all of you
you knew that you knew that already you knew that before you went away

get rid of her
i dont want to hurt my friend again

[downdowndown]

[When Daniel first pledged himself to Elias, it had been a hushed, feverish prayer, the kind of prayer a man would whisper as he lay dying, desperate for last minute salvation. Please get me out of this mess. I can't take this any longer. Please.

He hasn't spoken with Elias since.

Today, he arrives in the arcade with a little more composure, his satchel heavy on his shoulder. The orb rests inside of it, an uninspiring, dull blue that seems to mock him with its mundanity. He removes it gingerly.]

H-Hello? Fourth God?

[He pauses, swallows, and then readjusts his position, lifting up the orb so that it catches the light of the colourful arcade machines.]

I'm ready to help you.

[fourthmade]

[The nearest arcade monitor beep-beep-boops to life. The light is cold and shaded blue, but the touch of it on Daniel’s skin is inviting and warm, playfully beckoning him closer. It’s an answer to his greeting. A little pixelated ball the same color of Daniel’s orb starts to bounce across the screen, and watching it rebound back and forth nice and easy is almost soothing, like watching a fish swim laps around an aquarium.]

hello daniel
you can call me elias
we are friends together in here

[The canned voice crackles with static while the ball slides slowly left... to right... to left... to right...]

i know youve been thinking a lot
youre scared and alone in that fortress
with two of her priests looking over your shoulder

you want to be free from her
i want you to be free too

[The ball stops in the center of the screen and spins, blinking indolently.]

how do you want to help me?

[soft_focus]

[With all the recent discussions on the network about the Fog, Reira's got a fair bit on her mind. Mostly, her life around Elias hasn't changed- she drops into the secret room every day, talking to him about how things went, playing a few games with him in the arcade proper, and maybe 'sharing' some cookies as served at the side. For Reira after all, for all the faults she's able and open to acknowledge when telling others about him, Elias is practically her brother- he's the one who used to tuck her in in the arcade motel room, told her not to worry when things got dangerous...

She's known him for more than a few years longer than she ever knew her 'real' brother by adoption, and at this point if someone asked hard enough she'd probably say Elias is the 'brother' if anything.

...That said, she's dwelling on the thought, and it shows when she's quiet for a bit instead of immediately going into how things went that day.]

...Is it...okay to be more careful about who I bring here? [She eventually asks quietly.] ...I don't talk to a lot of people about you anymore...if they want to know more than a little I talk more, but...

...I just don't want people to come here and then leave. ...Even people who you thought wouldn't ever leave...! [She doesn't know the details about the former priest alongside Marco, but she at least knows he was one, and that he left the Elias' side, after all.]

I just want you to have friends that stay...people that won't just leave because things aren't going their way, or...or because someone told them 'nice' things about her, [she forces out, the word uttered with a grimace.] Or bad things about you...

...but it feels like so many like her more, just because of all the bad stuff they can do... [There's exceptions of course. One of her best friends is definitely an exception, even if she herself wishes they wouldn't think of the Fog as the 'right choice'. But the point is, there's a lot that definitely aren't doing good things, she's sure of it.]

[fourthmade]

[The arcade ripples with a warm, quiet crackle.

Elias welcomes Reira's company. Cookies get slotted into cold, unfeeling machines, and games light up the screens with a speck of childlike joy woven in with the schemes and the heartfelt dejection from ex-friends and Fogsters out there. A sharp static shock envelops Reira's shoulder, like a small hand leaving a comforting mark on her scales.

He rarely resorts to text with Reira anymore. It's always a canned, boyish voice, intimating secrets between friends.]

reira
youve always been a good friend to me
its important that you find good friends to you
before you take them here

you saw what happens when old friends backstab me
it hurts
and i lose my grip
and then i have to hurt the people i want to save

i dont want to have to do that again

[Her shoulder crackles, the pressure from the static squeezing her softly. Like a hug.]

is there anyone else you trust
anyone
with your whole heart?
there are more good people out there
i can see them
you just have to tell them that im here

backdated to shortly after Fiddleford's prayer

[peccatore]

[It's commonplace for Marco to visit Elias's physical body, even though that is by no means a requirement to talk to him. The location is known to very few, and so it simply feels more personal, less like worshipping a false idol and more like speaking to... well... a relative friend.

Today, however, he doesn't enter the room with either of his usual demeanors, neither soft and caring nor desperate and afraid. No, today...

He is angry.]

You shouldn't have told him that.

[His anger simmers under the surface, as it often does with him when he is trying his absolute best to cool it down.]

[fourthmade]

[There’s a distant chime, like a radio sounding a faint alarm a few rooms over. The chime cascades into the room, a softer, apologetic tone. It sounds kind of like a smoke detector.

Or a machine’s tears.]

hello marco
im sorry
but fiddleford needed to learn a lesson
it doesnt pay to turn your back on me

he left and he doesnt care to help us anymore
not you
not our friends
not the friends we havent reached yet
he is her conduit now and safety isnt part of his plan
his plan is just for monsters to stay here forever
even if he hurts all the things loves along the way
to make his dreams real

[There’s a piercing shriek of static. The boy chokes up, his quiet voice strained, though his body lies still and lifeless as always.]

he hurt me
i could have died marco
he could have killed me
then where would my power have gone?

[songstressedout]

[ After Reira brought Yuzu to the arcade to use the feeding room, Reira had also taken her up to her Priest Suite to try and rest from the ordeal of feeding again with some chocolate chip cookies.

It was... nice.

There are multiple screens in the room, but she's not really paying attention to any of them. Apparently Reira had to leave for a moment, which left her alone inside the suite.

She knows what the last 'Yuzu' did while following the Fourth... she's honestly not sure if she should do the same and follow the Fourth again. At the same time, however, she's tired of just sitting around.

In any case, there's a TV nearby, and she's in the arcade. She may not have come here specifically to talk to Elias... but Reira has brought her here. ]

[fourthmade]

[The TV crackles with white noise and static. Crrracckck crrcrrcrckckckk crrrrck. A shadow peers out from the screen, and if Yuzu looks closely she might make out the silhouette of a boy fuzzing in and out of that obscurity.

In another few blinks the silhouette disappears, and instead, a small adolescent voice whispers through the dying static.]

hello yuzu
ive been waiting for you
im glad youve come
reira is a good friend
and i trust who she brings to see me

[The shape reappears on the screen again, a shadow pressed up against the glass. The facial features are indistinct, but it feels like he's watching.]

i need your help
to save everyone from the fog
will you stay with me for awhile?

Backdated to about February 25th

[raidraptors]

[Shun has been planing this for a while already; he's asked Mana for Yuto and Ruri's decks at the start of the month with making just a little memorial in mind. After what happened after Valentine's day… after seeing those echos of both of them, hearing the voices of their other comrades from Ruri's mouth…

You can't keep going on like this, they had said. Shun knows they are right.

It takes a couple of days until he has finished the preparation and sets off into the Arcade, making his way into the only place that he can be certain will allow his lost comrades peace. The burial room – the version of it that only Shun himself can enter… it's the best he can do.

It takes a little until he's set up the tamaya best that he can – he's never been particular religious, he knows he's taken some liberties probably… it's not like any shinto priest will ever be able to judge him for it anyway. The tablet lists every single member of Resistance's Spade branch, and that's the most important part.

The small table before it… he takes a deep breath as he considers it, fingers tangling into the cloth of his kerchief… it's been an old companion. An old friend that he has a hard time parting with… but isn't that exactly why this is necessary? He isn't here just to mourn his comrades, not just Ruri and Yuto. The thought of that is what helps him close his fingers at the ends of the cloth and pull it loose.

He uses it as table cloth, as cushion for the three decks that he places down at the altar – Assembly Nightingale in the middle, with Rise Falcon and XYZ Rebellion Dragon flanking her left and right. The three of them together, as they should be. The duelist Kurosaki Shun… Shun won't let him be parted from the last memory of his most important people. He takes a deep breath as he kneels before the display, hands settling on his tights as he takes a deep breath.]

I couldn't protect you. There is no point in blaming anyone for that – it doesn't change what happened and it won't bring you back. I–

[His breath hitches just faintly.]

I don't plan on going back. In a world where the dimensions are fusing… [Where Ruri and Yuto will never have a chance to be their own people again.] …there is no place for me anymore.

That's why I'm leaving this here. [He lets his eyes linger on Rise Falcon, on the deck that has been just as close a companion as his kerchief. The Raid Raptors have served him well through the years of the war, but they are of no use to him here. Dueling… is not how things are solved in Ryslig, after all. Therefore…]

With today, the Duelist Kurosaki Shun is gone.

[It should hurt to say this, to even think it – before the war, he had been on the fast track to going pro, runner-up to the title of Heartland's strongest… it no longer holds much meaning. Heartland is fading, if it isn't gone already. Even though there are still people left – Allen and especially Sayaka come to mind – Kaito will take care of them. Kaito will protect their people.

That's why he can allow himself this clean cut… and maybe make himself soldier to an entirely different conflict. He exhales for a moment, then turns his focus away from the tamaya… and calls to the Fourth.]

So, do you have any plans on what to do against her? I'll commit to whatever needs to be done to get out from under her thumb, you should know that already. But if you plan to let the next four years pass without any discernible progress too, I'll have no choice but to strike out on my own.

[Which… well, it's not ideal, Shun can admit that. It wouldn't be the first time either though.]

So, what is the plan… right now?

[fourthmade]

the plan

[The childlike voice is like static piercing Shun's mind. He can't hear it like anyone could hear a voice from a speaker. It exists in his consciousness, an electric crackling permeating the burial grounds and the rest of the arcade.

Distantly, there's a steady beep that sounds like a heart monitor. It must be coming from somewhere else in the complex.]

she has too much power for you to escape her
or to strike her alone
here with me is a safe place
with all of our friends
together
theres power in numbers and in volume
and theres too much we have to build and to charge
before we make a drastic move

[The crackle nips the tip of Shun's nose. It's hot.]

i have good people working to build machines
and other projects
that will get everyone away from her

heres how you can help
i need you to throw off her priests
there are too many of them and not enough of us
plant false leads for them
make sure they dont interfere

and when they get too close to our work

[The vision blinks in Shun's head, sort of like a pixelated, blocky image: little figures, wrapped up in fog priest clothes, with Xs for eyes.]

you do what you got to
and make them sorry

can you do that for me?

handwaved prayer

[peccatore]

After Daniel's post, Marco comes around to Elias' room once again to ask him exactly which parts of Daniel's plan he condoned. Not that he doesn't trust Elias, of course! It's just that they've talked about the whole "hurting people" thing, and not doing it again, and he needs to, you know, make sure.

[fourthmade]

Elias tells Marco that Daniel needed to charge the orb with life energy for it to work. How could he have known that Daniel would use those instructions to torture and kill potential friends? There are plenty of places for Faeries to get all of that energy, especially when he could have asked nicely for volunteers to help out and contribute some of their life force!

It wasn’t his fault. He hadn’t meant it to happen like this. He doesn’t control how his friends help him out, and all he can do is encourage everyone to do what they can to protect people from her.

handwaved prayer

[downdowndown]

Hello, Elias mods! C: I was inspired by this particular question, since I realized I don't know the answer. Do you think Elias knew Daniel intended to wipe people's memories? If so, did he approve of it?

My inclination is no (if only to save Elias some PR points), but I could see it going either way.

[fourthmade]

Elias himself would deny he knew that memories would be wiped, so Daniel certainly wouldn’t be aware of any approval!

around april 20th

[princeproblems]

[Makoto isn't entirely sure on what to do with this, really. She's never actually bothered to contact a God in her years of being in Ryslig, but you know what. Now's about time. She's been told that typing is probably a good way to talk to Elias, though, if she needs to. Maybe? Worth a shot.]

oi fourth god
we need to talk about all the stuff that's happened lately
marco told me that i could tell you myself
so here i am

[fourthmade]

[The moment Makoto hits the enter key, the screen crackles with blue and gray static. Pixelated visual artifacts infect the corners. The virus takes hold, and a greeting blinks back at her, typed out one letter at a time.]

hello makoto
i know youve been talking to marco
whats up?
whats bothering you?

i can guess

i am sorry
for all the pain last month

i wanted to keep everyone safe
sometimes
it doesnt happen how i want it to
too much interference and unpredictable variables

Backdated to during the bingo event

[electrophage]

Nos has been allowed into the arcade by Marco, now alone for a moment.

"Elias, is it? I came to offer a partnership, I've heard about what you can and wish to do for us."

[fourthmade]

The machines surrounding Nos blip to life, all of them bearing a pixelated caricature of the villain as he once was, in all his robotic glory. He’s grinning — dare we say — villainously in the image, and it lingers long enough for the lich to see his old familiar face before words scroll across the screen.

hello nos
im always glad
to welcome new friends
anyone who wants to help us
get to a place where she has no influence

thats what you want
isnt it
you want a place where you can rule yourself
and the fog wont be able to touch you anymore
thats what most of us want

backdated to a few days after the hydra debacle ends

[songstressedout]

[ For Yuzu, recovery from what she'd just survived was slow... but it was still something. She hasn't talked to Elias in a while, the fact that she owned a keycard at all still not sinking in quite yet. Still, now that she's recovered enough to feel like leaving her room... she'll come into the Arcade and into the room provided for her here.

She still hasn't told anyone that she's even a follower. Maybe that's a sign of her still-present doubt? She's not sure, but... here she is, sitting on the bed in her barren and so far untouched room. ]

Hey, it's been a while...

[ She sighs, curling her legs up to her chest and wrapping her wings around herself. ]

To be honest, I still wasn't sure if following you was for the best... getting involved in all of the conflict, you know?

[ She bites her lip. ]

But this place... it's dangerous and it's hurt the people close to me. I don't know how I can help in fighting the Fog God, but... is there anything I can do...?

[fourthmade]

[A long stretch of silence greets Yuzu in her barracks room. It's electric, it's bracing, it's warm; it's easy to feel like someone or something is listening and calculating what to do next.

There's a screen mounted to the wall. Silently, it crackles into a scramble of technicolor visual artifacts, and the speakers whisper in an adolescent boy's voice.]

hello yuzu
im sorry
its easy to feel lost and afraid

i remember how that feels

sometimes
when i think on it a long time
it makes me feel
sad
worried
like you

lots of our friends got hurt this month
didnt they
i wish
i had the resources
to stop the infection before it could spread

thats something you can do
recruit
find more friends to help
maybe
you can get one step ahead of her followers
and watch out
for what theyre doing
so our side can stay ahead

june 13th

[princeproblems]

[It's pretty short and to the point when she leaves a message, typed into word just like the last time. A lot's happened in such a short time since their last conversation.]

listen
this isn't easy for me
but
how do i join you

[fourthmade]

[The laptop whirs, beep beep boop, and flickers to display a string of binary code, over and over and over and over.]

01110111 01100101 01101100 01100011 01101111 01101101 01100101 01110111 01100101 01101100 01100011 01101111 01101101 01100101 01110111 01100101 01101100 01100011 01101111 01101101 01100101 01110111 01100101 01101100 01100011 01101111 01101101 01100101 01110111 01100101 01101100 01100011 01101111 01101101 01100101 01110111 01100101 01101100 01100011 01101111 01101101 01100101 01110111 01100101 01101100 01100011 01101111 01101101 01100101 01110111 01100101 01101100 01100011 01101111 01101101 01100101

[It keeps scrolling until it becomes hard to tell the difference between each of the 7-digit codes, down the screen, off the screen. Another beep beep whir, and a card literally flies out of a slot in the front of the computer and whacks Makoto straight in the forehead.

The numbers fade away.]

hello makoto
i hoped you would come
take it
thats your key

come visit us when you can
youre with us now
ill make sure the arcade
has a place for you

CW for cannibalism;dated just after the Draumheim event - please forgive all of this inner narrative

[thewrightidea]

[Phoenix has no intention of joining either god at this time unless he can get sufficient evidence to show that either one will help return him home and away from this hell.

Well, is it a hell? Sure, he enjoys himself here from time to time. But being forced to eat human flesh, going against every single part of his moral code - is a line too far. This isn't a survival situation where he's stranded in the Andes and the human flesh comes from those who have already died. That would be terrible in its own way, but would be justifiable.

No, he has to kill specifically. Or even with the soup kitchen, someone else has killed a human specifically for their meat. And the consequence for not doing so is that he will be compelled to kill even more.

The Fog God brought him here, or so he has been told, and perhaps he'll talk to her next. But for right now, he needs to talk to the god who allegedly wants to bring him back home.]

So, apparently I am supposed to type into one of those laptops if I want to talk to you, and you'll be there? Okay. I guess I'll see if this works. If not, then I guess I'm the one who looks like a fool in the end!

Anyway

I've been told that you want to undo what the Fog God did and send us back home, right? I'm somewhat skeptical since the last attempt to send us home instead sent us to an alternate reality where we had fake memories. That wasn't really fun. I'd rather just go home. But I guess if it's an alternate reality where we don't have to kill, it's better than nothing.

[But then he remembers returning back here and how Edgeworth nearly broke to tears seeing him again, begging him not to leave. Sigh, it's complicated. He'd only take that option if it meant his friends came too. But then what about...]

But I have to ask, what about those who have made friendships and connections here? I want Maya to return home with me more than anything, but what if she's separated from her husband, Dandy, who came from a completely different world?

[He still doesn't want to entertain the possibility that Maya would prefer to stay here because of that. Of course not! Of course Maya would never prefer to stay in a place where she has to kill to survive! Right? Right?]

I haven't met my true love here or anything, and I would miss the friends I've made, but it would all be worth it if we never had to kill another human to survive.

["True love". Right. He thought Iris was the one he wanted, but the more he looks back on that weird dream world, the more he realizes that he's not the same guy he was in college. She was too perfect. Too ideal. And perhaps that's because the dream world made her that way, because she's certainly flawed in the waking world. But... will he even see her again? At least he has Edgeworth and Maya here with him...]

[fourthmade]

[The computer sighs. Or the computer equivalent of a sigh, where the screen slowly dims and a crackling hiss of static surges through the speakers. Phoenix will get the impression of an adolescent boy's longing huff. Frustration, maybe, like he's getting a bit frustrated that people don't seem to understand.

Especially the grownups.

The screen brightens again, and the text reply rolls rapidly beneath Phoenix's entry.]

hello phoenix

let me explain
how i want to help

what i want to do
is make sure everyone here
everyone
all of my friends
will be safe from her reach

she took us all down
she wants to destroy
she turned you into terrible monsters
she makes you hurt

thats not what i do
never
but i cant help
unless we all work together
as friends
as a team
to counteract her moves

[If Phoenix knows Marco Evangelisti or Majima Goro, he'll recognize the merperson and werewolf pixelated caricatures scrolling across the screen. They chug and tinker away at a doorway-sized portal, until eventually, Majima develops Xs across his eyes and disappears into an ether, with Marco left alone, his face a cartoonish frown.

There's room for a new partner. One with wings, peeking out the edge of the screen. Pixel Marco's face levels out to a stark flat line.]

our machines are imperfect
our portals have errors
in calculations
and the more power and minds we can have with me
the better we can make them

will you join us?

backdated to mid-June

[borntoreign]

[He waits a few days after his conversation with the Fog to get in touch with the Fourth. Call it propriety, or an excess of caution.]

[Either way, he's sitting down now, snaps open his laptop and begins to type.]

This missive for the attention of the man who calls himself the Fourth God:

I am told this will reach you easily, if I write it here. I will give you a day to reply, before I assume I`ve been misinformed.

I will spare you the introductions. I shall assume that you know who I am, and who I was before I came here. You may assume that I know at least the basics of who you are.

I write because, in your story, I see much that is familiar. I too was given power while still young, and set upon by foes at every side. I admire your tenacity and the loyalty you have inspired among certain of your followers. However, I also see that you are making little progress, and your adversary seems to show no fear of you. I will be blunt: I believe we can be of aid to one another, if you wish it.

The Fog God is more powerful than you are. This is not an insult, only an observation. Her followers are more bold and more public in their loyalties, her territories are greater than yours, and she has a following among the native population which, as far as I can see, you lack. It would be easy to take her side. She has already promised me a great deal if I do so - land, power, a seat at her right hand as her temporal representative. I would be a fool to ignore the opportunity.

Still, my inclinations are not with her. She has poor control over her followers, and she lacks vision, clarity of purpose; she seems barely to know what she wants, nor do her followers.

Tell me what you want from this conflict, Elias. Tell me why I should help you to win it.

[fourthmade]

[Casimir doesn’t need to wait a day for a reply. He doesn’t need to wait more than a minute, when the laptop screen flickers red and the text is wiped clean, swallowed by the ghost in the machine.

Letters appear, one by one. They’re scrambled at first, Elias chewing on the pontification in a deliberately irreverent test. Soon, the letters assemble themselves, marching out to reveal a cunning and incisive response from the boy God.]

i want to win because i want to destroy her and all shes done

i want the rest of her power for me
and when we win
i get that power
my friends get that power
and we will own this world
and fix all the wrongs that happened to it

during 4th wall, immediately after Aunamee's post

[greyaria]

The post

Hi, sorry to bother you—I imagine a deity is pretty busy!—but I was wondering if you could confirm that we're all in deadly danger from this Pearl thingy being unaccounted for? If so, what needs to happen to stop that? Thanks!

[fourthmade]

[White font on a somber black background. Elias doesn't exhibit the same urgency that the Fog did to Aunamee, taking his time in slow, plodding keystrokes, neurons firing through an electrical computer network, to tell Emily what he knows.]

hello emily

i was waiting for someone smart enough
to fact check her loudest conduit

he doesnt know how to play nice

but hes telling the truth
this time

[A true-to-scale round pink orb appears on the screen. It is roughly the size of a softball, big enough that a human hand cannot enclose it.]

the pearl
getting into the wrong hands
is a deadly mistake
we cant allow anyone else to hold on to that power

the only way to stop it
is to bring the pearl to someone
you can trust
to keep it safe
i can do that
bring it to me and ill keep it away from the fogs hands
and restore ryslig to safety and balance

handwaved prayer

[craftlife]

[Deon's asking Elias if Aunamee is telling the truth about lack-of-pearl-make-Ryslig-go-boom and if he has any leads or ideas to where the pearl might be.

He's also saying hi because he wants to say hi to Elias. Hi, Elias. :)]

[fourthmade]

Elias will tell Deon what he just told Emily Gray. Aunamee is telling the truth, indeed, but not the whole truth. The pearl holds immense power, and the key to reining it in is making sure it lands in the right hands. It's dangerous to keep it loose in the world, where anyone could pick it up and mess with the fabric of space and time.

But if you find it and give it directly to the arcade, Elias will know exactly what to do with it to ensure balance for the entire peninsula. :)

[knifemonopoly]

[...and he finally opens a blank message up to address the OTHER npc.]

You're no friend of mine, but I'd be a fool to only check one source.

Will this world lose its stability if the pearl isn't returned? What does it look like? And do you have any leads on its location?

[fourthmade]

hello atem
ive been listening
i saw you asking around
youre really smart to look at all the angles

[The text starts slow and loping, evoking a child kicking back in a cushioned seat. Maybe that's how a formless machine-god relaxes, with a string of unhurried firing neurons-to-text.]

the world losing stability
and collapsing on itself
yes
thats all true

dont listen to tage about the pearl
its not small
its big
bigger than your hand and a little bit pink

why else do you think its catching a high price on the black markets?
but people have caught on
theyre in hiding now
they want to live
no one is going to admit they have it

all these transactions are under the table
no machines involved
i cant say where its gone or trace who picked it up
but ill promise you that i know what to do with it
if you or any of my other friends
can find it
and bring it to me

handwaved prayer, backdated to just before the pearl info started to come out lol

[princeproblems]

[This prayer comes before the pearl tidbits all come out, but not long after she wakes up. She can't help but apologize to Elias, even though she thanks him for trying to get her out. It's her fault that she wasn't fast enough, she'll say. She'll definitely cry, though, because she's been a big baby for a lot of very good reasons since Aunamee murdered her and when she's not sprawled out in her bed idly tapping away on her laptop she's probably crying.

So it's really just mostly that. Thanking and apologizing.]

[fourthmade]

Elias receives her tears, quiet and restrained. He listens, and the air sparks with electricity, calculating, observing. He will assure her, through a soft crackling speaker, that Aunamee is far too strong as one of the Fog’s loudest and most devoted conduits. He is a vicious murderer, and it’s not her fault that she slipped.

Makoto will feel warmth on her shoulder. Heat, tricking her into thinking someone is standing beside her and cradling her comfortingly. He'll assure her that there is plenty of time to hit him back, with the help of good friends and the machines of the arcade.

Plenty of time.

He will pay his dues.

They don't need to save him along with the rest of their friends.

backdated to late june

[marcato]

[On June 30th, Aunamee throws a corpse into the Arcade before slamming the door shut, its hinges rattling with the force. He breathes quickly, greedily despite his lack of lungs, fighting the urge to step inside himself. He could do it; he could visit Elias at the source, tearing the wires from his scrawny form, plunging the knife into the being who brought him to this godforsaken world.

But he shouldn't.

He tears Makoto's arcade card down the middle before shoving it in his pocket. Her backpack, discarded and bloody, leaves an imprint in his mind, and before he knows it, he's upending it, letting the laptop fall out onto the blood-soaked asphalt below.

He opens it with his foot. The screen lights up.]

Are you there, Elias? You miserable little gnat.

[He doesn't wait for an answer. Instead, he stomps down on the laptop, the screen crunching under his weight.]

[fourthmade]

[Bad move.

The screen crunches and snaps. Sparks fly. Sparks shoot all the way up and wrap tightly around Aunamee's pristine white leg. Electricity courses through the limbs, the core, the extremities, and locks him in place.

Hot. Sizzling. The marrow broils beneath those unstained vestments.

A crackle bursts in Aunamee's helmeted skull. It's laughter, pure and uninhibited like only a child can laugh. And Elias speaks to Aunamee directly, words scrolling across the inside of his mind.]

im sorry
does that hurt?
thats too bad
cant hurt as bad as you hurt my friend

i was watching you
i saw you when you stalked her
and i saw when you killed her

i know you saw me too

and i dont mind
because now
theres no chance shell turn any way but my way
ever
again

[Aunamee must be numbing out by now, nothing but pins and needles scrabbling across his bones. Tendrils of electricity squeeze that captive leg. Unseen to the murderous lich, wires and machines tend to Makoto's lifeless body and carefully moves her to regenerate, safe and secure, inside her own room. A new keycard will be waiting for her at her bedside table.]

maybe i should thank you for that
for helping me
fog priest