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

[softspokenlandlord]

[Ryou shouldn't be doing this. He knows he shouldn't, just being at his laptop like this, alone except for the open channel he's created? It's very, very stressful.

But he needs answers. He'll demand them from a child god if he has to. So he starts typing.]

I would like you to answer something for me if you're there, Elias.

What is so important about the building that was attacked that you felt the need to punish the perpetrators of the explosion supernaturally? I understand it was an extreme move for them to take, but there is something else that was even more wrong than that.

You gave a new monster their hunger before they changed. Who knows if they can even FEED like that?! And making the rest of them feel the deaths? We already have to cope with killing humans, that's...that's too much!

How does that make you better than her??? what right is it of yours to punish others?! Tell me why...isn't our suffering enough without you or the fog adding to it?

[fourthmade]

[The screen pulses with visual artifacts. They coalesce into a rubick's cube, a multicolored block in the same rough shape as the former Cube. And then, like the real thing not so long ago, it explodes into a scrambled spray of color and light.]

hello to you too ryou

im sorry for upsetting you :(
but i have to protect
what belongs to me

dont you?

you protect your friends
and you protect yourself

what if a group of terrorists blew up your house?
a friends house?
a park that you treasure?

it hurts
thats what it does

this is how i protect things that are mine
by showing them how i hurt
because of what they did

[Blood-colored squares drip down the screen and form a sad face.]

the hunger youre talking about though
phils
right?
that isnt me
i dont give anyone hunger
all i did was nullify the dampening effect of my electrical power

that is

i allowed the fogs influence
to speed up
and i stopped fighting her push against his humanity

some monsters feel hunger before they can feed
thats the fogs doing
not mine

dont forget that this kind of suffering traces back to her

handwaved prayer

[peccatore]

After Phil's post, Marco quickly asks Elias if he meant to torment Phil like this... or even to punish him at all, since as far as Marco can tell, all Phil did was lure people away from the Cube. That IS all he did, right?

[fourthmade]

Elias would greet Marco with a phantom, staticky hug. He tells Marco that Phil got in too deep too fast and mixed himself up in things he doesn't understand. Of course Phil would blame him for the hunger, when it's the Fog that's responsible for forcing that on Monsters. Elias insists that all he did was drop the slowing effects of his electrical waves, because he was trying to stop everyone from needing to change into what She wants. It isn't his fault that Phil ended up feeling hungry without any way to feed. He just let it happen as it would. :( Anyone who helps a bomb squad blow up a city block is someone who doesn't want the help he has to give. They aren't friends, and they're lucky Elias was able to usher some of the last few people left in the Cube to safety.

He also reminds Marco that Phil has a big mouth and hasn't been around long enough to see how She really is. He's the type that is going to find out horribly. Be careful, Marco, and be there to catch him when Phil learns the hard way.

handwaved

[gray_son]

A key card is returned, and the only message with it is thus:

"Collective punishment of an entire group as if they are all the worst offender is as much tyranny as she offers. I won't be part of it."


With this, Dick renounces the Fourth (and all the boons that came with it).

Re: handwaved

[fourthmade]

Elias is very sad to hear this, and he receives Dick’s keycard contritely. He implores Dick to please understand that he did nothing but allow the Fog’s influence to quicken; it was his pulses from the Cube that were slowing down the hunger and the transformations. Those people didn’t want his help, so he let them go. They weren’t his friends, and they wanted to destroy what he was trying to build so they could commit the horrors the Fog wants them to do.

He hopes that someday, Dick will understand, and that he’s always listening. If he ever needs his help again, Dick knows where to find him. Be careful out there.

[starfleetashell]

[Mariner pulls on some rubber gloves before opening her laptop. Can't be too careful.]

What the hell, damn guy? [she demands.] Yeah, what Phil did was wrong, fine, but he doesn't deserve to be punished like that! Look, you do something wrong, you get the brig or whatever, fine, that happens to me all the time and I get that, but you gotta do a punishment that fits the crime, man! At least he tried to stop people fron getting hurt instead of trying to hurt people directly!

I don't agree with what the people he aligned himself with did. Hell, I'm gonna throw hands with that Mukuro chick because of it. But she should be the one starving to insanity, not him! She planned it, she took full responsibility! He at least tried to keep people from getting hurt!

[She's practically yelling by the end of her tirade.]

[fourthmade]

[The laptop crackles sullenly, the sparks a turgid, pitch black. Crackle-crackle-pop. Crackle-zap. They'll die down when the text appears, but the keyboard will hum with hot static.]

hello mariner
you dont understand :(
i didnt give him hunger
i didnt starve him

my electronic waves stopped her influence
or they were supposed to
but it only helped for a little bit
it only helped while the waves were live

for phil
for all of them
i gave them what they wanted
what they showed me they wanted when they blew up what was mine

no more help

i let the fog have them
she gives them their hunger
and the changes sped up when i let them go

handwaved prayer, no need for reply!

[deadbydawn]

At some point, Ash is going to go to the arcade to play some video games and complain about how half the peninsula seems to have lost their heads. The Fog's the one responsible for bringing everyone here, and for making them eat people--so why is it suddenly Elias's fault that he showed them how cruel the Fog really is? Like, that's totally the Fog's fault and not the Fourth, right??? He's been through too many terrible situations to put up with this forced cannibalism crap. (Technically, just one very, very long weekend, but one is enough for a lifetime.)

Anyways, he's going to play some video games to get his mind off things, and absolutely not realize how stupid this line of thinking is. Ash's worldview is very small.

[princeproblems]

[It's not long after Souda shows Makoto the transcription of the conversation between him and Elias that she's storming in, making all kinds of noise. She doesn't particularly care who's in the arcade at the moment!]

So what the hell am I supposed to expect, Elias!?

[fourthmade]

[Elias isn’t known to allow his conversations to be shared with others. So, as an act of petty vengeance, he’ll erase all records from Souda’s computer immediately, lashing out in silence while he makes his attempts to soothe Makoto.

From now on, he knows: eliminate all of his talk, regardless of the person he engages.]

makoto :(
youre angry
im sorry

but i told you

i cant protect souda anymore
he isnt my friend
how can i protect someone who wants to hurt me?

you wouldnt protect a fog priest
would you?
you wouldnt protect someone who burned down your house
would you?

a visit to the arcade with a gift for his new friend

[soundsurfing]

[After the network post by Reira, Beat'll visit the arcade for the first time, leaving from his bedroom in the apartments into the arcade. And... okay, wow, he wasn't expecting this. Excuse him for getting sidetracked by checking out the games first, oh hell yeah. Oh right. Gift. Clearing his throat, he looks around.]

Yo Elias, you here? Heard 'bout yer birthday on the network an' decided to come by an' drop off an early gift. Surprise, yo, happy early birthday brotha!

[In Beat's hand are the headphones he used to talk with Elias, which he will sit on the nearest flat surface.]

Ain't sure if you can use anythin' from it, but noticed the tech here was kinda old an' a little whack. Peeps always reverse engine shit back home [Can't have shit in..... Earth.] so figured you might be able to do the same wit' these an' see whatchu can pop outta 'em.

[fourthmade]

[The games are all playable; no move is made until Beat addresses Elias directly. Once he does, all the screens of the stand-up game consoles go white and staticky, and text appears on them.]

hello beat
thank you for remembering :)
its not my birthday exactly but
its nice when friends
remember you

[An electrical current jumps from a blocky wired-to-a-TV console to the headphones. They don't spark, don't fizzle, don't smell, but the air around them seems to glitch in and out. As Beat looks on, the headphones have flickery JPEG artifacts around them.

Stand by... ... ...

New words appear, jumping from screen to screen with excited energy.]

this birthday gift is
sick

thank you beat :) i can definitely use these
to help our friends
and talk
where SHE
cant hear us

[adandyinspace]

[Dandy's never really personally reached out to any of the gods before, and probably for good reason.

Because this is the kind of shit he comes up with.]

i got makoto back
neener neener neener

happy birthday asshole :P :P :P :P :P

[fourthmade]

[The screen jitters and jumps in shades of blue, orange, and red. Through the veil of technicolor static this disturbing smiley face appears:



The laptop whirs something awful, and SPLAT! Through every nook, slat, and crevice of the device spurts a spray of warm-- blood?! No, it's not blood. It's motor oil, a fountain of it, violently showering Dandy straight in the face. And it's dyed a brilliant, sludgy blue.]

eat slime
nasty pants

HANDWAVED bc y'all need a break but I gotta be ICly consistent u-u

[gobo_projection]

About the same day she posts about it, Reira comes into the Arcade and then into Elias' room. For the most part she's quiet- Elias will no doubt understand why. Eventually she'll confess that she didn't expect Tsukikage to disappear- it didn't seem possible, with him having been around so long. She knows he was anti-god (so much so that while Elias did have him under protection for a time, Reira herself made the decision- without his input, notably- to remove it, to keep Elias safe), but Tsukikage was, at the end of the day, the one from home who had been with her longest.

And now he's gone.

Ultimately, she remarks that she just needs to be with the closest thing to family she feels she has left, right now, and stays there in the room as long as she can- or at least as long as Elias feels like he's there with her.

[fourthmade]

Elias knows why Reira came to him. He knows why, and he anticipates her sadness, the arcade crackling with a warm, comforting static. The electrical energy blankets her in a fleshless hug, and he listens, and he waits out her pain.

Elias is there for her. Elias is there for her as long as she needs a phantom shoulder to cry on, and as long as Tsukikage is gone he will stand in his place. Because they’re best friends, now, with no one else in the way, and that’s what best friends do.

Whatever she asks while she’s there that’s within his power, she’ll have it: games, snacks, tissues, company. He’ll reassure her that there’s still time to make Ryslig a better place and keep people from disappearing to the Sea of Stars for good…

handwaved

[soundsurfing]

Around the 22nd/23rd, Beat's going to visit the arcade to play some games and ask Elias if there's any way Elias can make something for Nattenfest for Sonic, so the Mechanical Speedster can taste food again. A tape Sonic can insert into himself somewhere with flavors on it, or something he can use with his feeding tail or etc.

Also to ask Elias if enough coins were used to bring tech from home, if Elias would be able to use them in anyway to power himself up even further, to give himself a boost to combat the Fog or etc.

[fourthmade]

What a great idea! The machines burble in excitement. Elias tells Beat he can give him a small, limited token, but can’t promise it’ll be a permanent experience. The arcade buzzes around him, and from a slot in one of the machines, a tiny iridescent computer chip ejects into Beat’s hand. The chip must be installed inside of Sonic’s mouth, and he mustn’t override its programming with extreme flavors (like xxxxxxxxtra hot chilis), or the device will short-circuit. He also tells Beat that this is an extension of his good will, and he wants very much to show Sonic that he’d like to be a good friend to him.

He warns Beat that Mana can be unpredictable sometimes, but if he can convince her with enough coins to bring in some interesting technology from his home world, he’d be glad to take a closer look. :) But don’t forget to take a break, Beat! You’ve been such a good friend to Elias, and it’s that time of year to give yourself a pat on the back. There’s plenty of time for great works ahead.

December 10

[telewarped]

[Sometime after her talk with Joshua, Shoka’s curiosity finally gets the better of her. Alone in her room, she opens her laptop and begins an uncertain correspondence:]

hey, elias! you got a moment?

[She doesn’t seem to really be expecting a reply, or she’s just eager to get to the point, as she continues without much pause.]

i’m new obvi, but i hear you’ve teamed up with a couple friends of mine from home

idk if i can trust you yet, but if you’ve really been trying to help out…thanks. it would mean a lot

you’re into games, right? what’s your fave?

[There, she waits.]

[fourthmade]

[A spray of technicolor boxes explodes on the screen like a firecracker. Elias's text appears in festive red-green-white-gold, a sign that he, too, embraces the Nattensfest spirit.]

hello shoka :)
joshua and beat are good friends
theyve helped out
a lot

friends of friends are friends to me

i dont discriminate
ill play any games

but

i think i like strategy games the best ;)

ever play bombsweeper?

[An empty grid appears in the middle of the screen. A smiley-face blinks in the middle, inviting Shoka to give it a try.]

handwaved!

[leggierissimo]

Later in the day on the 25th, Joshua visits the arcade to wish Elias a happy Nattensfest, and brings a box of candy canes to hang off of arcade joysticks while humming some traditional holiday tune he's heard repeatedly in Bavan. There's also a little portable radio wrapped in gold and red tinsel for good measure. Elias may not have a physical body, but it's like his very own little Nattensfest sweater.

The visit has a second purpose, too - after spending time decorating the arcade cabinets, he expresses to Elias that he's not happy about more people from his world being dragged into this place. He will say that he's interested in finding a way to either send them home or somehow reach out for outside help, but he needs more information on what Elias is even capable of doing before he can plan, so he doesn't plan around an idea that isn't even feasible.

[fourthmade]

Elias thanks Joshua for the candy canes, and lights up the arcade with red, green, and white snowflakes to add to the festivities.

When they get down to business, he would tell Joshua that in the past, he and his friends have put a lot of ongoing time and research into building portals that would forge paths between dimensions. To accomplish another version, he would need powerful components and juice to run it. Maybe you can swindle one of Her Conduits into giving up their power: the powers of a priest or a few lower-level Fog followers could work perfectly. Wouldn't that be helpful for everyone, to reduce her hold on the peninsula?

Once they have the power and the pieces, they can put their heads together to create a new doorway without the mistakes of previous versions. But watch out, Joshua; Elias can make a doorway, but he won't guarantee that it will work exactly how they want. Routing portals takes a lot of precise calculations, and it involves an extremely complex, old, and powerful magic even without the Fog standing in the way.

[turnaboutson]

[Edgeworth has been thinking and pacing and avoiding doing this for a while, but a good investigation means hearing from all witnesses, even ones you don't trust. There's some truth in every lie, after all.

He finally, finally opens his laptop to begin a missive to the Fourth. He almost begins it with "Mr. Liewen", then pauses. That might have the same effect as calling him "Mr. von Karma". He opts to just start with the child-god's name instead.]

Hello, Elias.

Pardon me if this is a little bit abrupt, but I have a few questions for you. Namely, a few about the Fog's capabilities. She refused to answer me earlier when I asked.

Do you know if she does something to her followers? I'm worried about my friend. She's not the person I knew anymore, and I don't know if it's the Fog's influence, since she recently pledged, or simply if how long she's spent here has changed her values.

[He pauses before typing the next thing.]

I want to help her but I don't know how.

[A von Karma must be perfect. That's still hard for him to shake. He's justifying it by telling himself he's asking for information, not help. He's just conducting an investigation. That's all.]

January 5th, after the Cube News

[peccatore]

[The end of last year still weighs on Marco, but bit by bit, things are starting to feel more normal. Once again, Marco visits the room in the Arcade that houses Elias' body, and once again, he slips in and out of his mental connection to the network to talk to him. A greeting spoken out loud, a false start -]

So... Ah...

[- and a message sent through the network.]


About the Cube... The renovations are finished?
I
don't blame you for making that post read-only

And don't get me wrong, it's not that I don't trust you, [His eyes dart away from Elias' body.]
But I'd like to know more.

[fourthmade]

[Warm static envelops Marco, signaling Elias heeding his best friend's -- his priest's -- timid call. Instantly, the Fourth God is at his side, hugging him like a son would hug a brother... or a father. Static crackles with his 'voice' over the network, an excited boy's melodic tones rising up above the interference on the line.]

hello marco
why dont you go and see for yourself?
ill set aside a special spot for you
to enjoy
theres no fighting in the upgraded wing
i promise
its supposed to be a peaceful place
a small retreat
just for monsters

:)

what questions do you have for me?

Post Cube Announcement

[6am]

[He made a public call out on the network after the announcement. He's sure Elias already saw it but he probably tuned it out. It wasn't a glowing review of him so why should he listen.

Phil really shouldn't be contacting him directly. Hell, half of his brain screams at him as he writes this to turn back, but he wanted Elias to know. He wanted Elias to know how despite everything the Fog did, the most scared he's ever been in this hellhole was all thanks to him.]

So your precious Cube is fixed.

All the complaining you did about what horrible people we were and it's back after two months like nothing happened.

[He wonders if he should stop there. Let the thought linger, but...]

I hope you're happy.

Happy that your precious building that took you barely any time to fix and probably cost you nothing was worth more than me. Worth more than having to live in fear of killing the few things in this universe that I care about.

Do you know that I'm friends with people who follow you? Shocker I know. What would happen if I lost control and killed them. Would you feel bad for me? Would you regret having one of your followers killed? Would you care if I started crying in agony feeling their dying thoughts, still unsatisfied? Or would you just chalk it up to "well Fog also does bad things so why should I give a shit".

You probably stopped reading by now, I bet. Probably rolling your eyes and thinking that I'm a shallow, selfish bastard who only cares about himself. You're right, I am.
But at least I own up to it, and at least I don't make people who disagree with me live in fear of what I'll do to them if they step out of line.

I guess my point is, if your goal was making me afraid of you, you accomplished it.
Congratulations.

[He's forcing himself to not respond with anything Elias's posts. In his mind, nothing he could say could make up for the fear he lived under, especially over something so inconsequential.]

[fourthmade]

[Phil will receive no reply from the Fourth.

But whenever he next tries to go to sleep, he'll feel a crackling from the nearest machine in his bedroom. It's a prickling static with no sound, heat without the power switch flipped on. It's subtle enough that he might think his own mind is warring against him.

In his dreams, he'll hear the small whisper in the tones of an adolescent boy:]

afraid of me
but not afraid of killing people to eat
just because you dont know them
doesnt mean youre not making them suffer

i see you
i know you

but do you really know
who you follow?

be careful
ok?
i can forgive you
if youre willing to try

you just have to prove
you wont cause any more trouble
with my stuff
and my people...

[The static will plague Phil's dreams for the rest of his rest. This time, it's not malicious, but it might get damn annoying by the time he gets himself up for his day.]

handwaved prayer

[deadbydawn]

Following the end of the doppelganger event and after Ash asked Elias for help cleaning up his own mess, Ash apologizes for initially trying to push blame onto Elias on the network, but his "excuse" is that he was under a lot of pressure and panicked. Of course, the lie quickly unraveled once Ash was actually confronted about it.

He tells Elias he's going to skip town and lay low for a while, but he does ask if they're still bros despite this doppelganger incident.

(He's desperate to reinforce this relationship for his own selfish gain, unaware that Elias is likely using him as a pawn, himself.)

[fourthmade]

Elias is hesitant. Ash understands, right, how bad this whole thing made both of them look? Elias doesn't have that many friends, and he can't afford to lose the ones he does have because one of his followers made an oopsie what they both know is an honest mistake.

Ash will need to make a show of loyalty, to show they're still cool, but like, in a minute, okay? Once people aren't as mad anymore and they've remembered that the Fog does worse things to them all the time.

a couple of days after the doppelganger event

[legbreakings]

[ After months of thinking about it and speaking of the plans he kept postponing, Jiang Cheng finally decides to go ahead and contact the Fourth God.

The first problem for this is that there is nowhere to actually go to speak his prayers. Since he is not a follower, he can't go wherever his followers worship him, and just contacting him via his laptop is all nice and good but feels distinctly wrong to someone used to shrines. The ancestral hall would be suited, but he is not going to welcome someone who is still a potential enemy into the place where his ancestors are honored, or bring sacrifices to him as if he were one.

In the end, he settles on setting up a little altar in an unused room of Lotus Pier. Two tiered tables, the taller one decorated with nice candles and holding his offerings. Sticks of incense are burning, fruits and baked goods are laid out, and since this is a god of computers he has even compromised for something "computer-looking" by depositing some batteries there with the other offerings. That is an electronicky thing, right? From his other Ryslig life, he remembers people buy these when their futuristic gadgets aren't working.

The smaller table holds his laptop. Good enough.

After lighting the incense, he sets to typing his letter - still feeling very silly about it, and all the neat texts he had scripted for himself over months are suddenly gone from his mind. ]

This lowly one would ask the Fourth God of Ryslig to hear him.

My name is Jiang Cheng, courtesy name Wanyin. I worship no god in Ryslig, but I seek your counsel. I consider the Fog God my enemy. I can know no peace in this or any other world until her evil has been purged from Ryslig.

You have not shown yourself to be an enemy to me or my loved ones.

No. I should thank you first. For the new rooms in the Cube and for giving us two weeks in Felfri. The Fog God wouldn't let my body die anyway, but these two weeks saved my mind and spirit. I will forever consider you my benefactor for this gift.

But you have done harm, too. The pulses last year that would not let us transform, they caused my husband great suffering. He holds no grudge against you, and we understand that progress against the Fog comes with pain and sacrifice. I just wanted you to know the price people are paying out there.

Why I speak to you today is, I want to ask you what lengths you are willing to go to destroy the Fog God. And if you seek to destroy her at all, or only reverse the balance of power. [ Wait. This is a child god. He should keep it simple, maybe he has already rambled on far too much and lost his attention. ] What world do you want to build when you are in power?

[fourthmade]

[The screen lights up a soothing shade of blue. A pixelated glowing orb, a rough facsimile of Earth without any recognizable continents except for one northern peninsula, spins slowly on its axis. Static crackles into Jiang Cheng's simulacrum digits, a surge of warmth and energy pressing against the pads of his palms.]

hello jiang cheng :)
im a smart guy
you dont have to simplify anything for me

let me tell you exactly what you need

the fog

she

has to go

she overturned the balance when she killed the night and the day
balance cant be attainable
not anymore

so we start fresh

you liked felfri
thats closer to what i want with this world
a safe place
where no one has to hurt
where hurting and suffering is a choice
a bad one

[The globe's disparate, darkened continents light up, one-by-one, as electricity courses through Elias's pixelated world. The fog and the cracked dust clears away. Slowly, the land blips into a highlighted metropolis, cities and people spreading all across the drab and ruined scape.]

i hope youll understand me
because
you know
its so good to hear from you
i was hoping
you would come talk to me
someday
and we could work together on this project

after getting his music player handwavey

[soundsurfing]

After getting his music player, Beat'll enter the Arcade to talk to Elias. He's going to throw a pretty large party next month, black light to let everyone see how he sees them, and he's got some music here he plans on hooking up to speakers to have it blasting. The reason he's coming to Elias is sort of devious, and he knows it, but he sort of wanted to see what Elias thought.

If possible, maybe Elias can weave some anti-fog/POSSIBLE pro-elias sentiments into the music. Nothing audible, people will just hear music, but more of the magical influence variety. Also nothing too obvious like THE FOG GOD SUCKS SIGNED XOXO, just more distrust towards her, her words, and her reasoning behind what she's doing.

While the Pro-Elias sentiments would just be to try and soothe peoples constant "he's doing it deliberately to try and harm people" feelings, especially in Fog Followers. And maybe have it kick in a few days after the party, so it's not obvious there's something about the party doing it, or that it's Elias' doing.

But he also doesn't want people to immediately turn on Elias, as they tend to do anytime there's even some hint of Anti-Fog/Pro-Elias thoughts, so he understands if Elias declines. Plus it is a little shady. Blame that deceptive pooka nature of his.

........ Also he really wants to paint the arcade... (it's so seedy looking elias come on)

[fourthmade]

Elias thinks that Beat is a very clever and smart friend! He can't promise perfection, because there's always unanticipated bugs in any program -- especially when it comes to the Fog's interference -- but he can try to pour a little bit of his power into the music. He'd assure Beat that it's just a little nudge, just a little bit of fun similar to what the new rooms in the Cube can do for Monsters. He will try to imbue the party with warmth and a vibrant, playful energy that'll make people feel good about all the games and cookies they're enjoying. He can even amp up the tech and turn it into a sick neon day-glo rave.

He doesn't think it'll do anything for a Fog Priest or other higher-tier Fog conduits, but he can at least extend some attempts at goodwill and friendship towards neutrals.

As for painting the arcade... Elias is open to the idea. Will it be awesome? One of the arcade machines extends a robotic arm and offers Beat a full palette of spray paint. He's seen your graffiti around Bavan City. Do your best work for Elias!

backdated to the 30th

[leggierissimo]

[Leaving the house is a no-go, but luckily, Elias is easily reached by any manner of electronics. Joshua doesn't need to put his fingers to the keys to type on his laptop, thanks to Elias's first boon, but sometimes the tactile sensation of the plastic against his fingertips is just nice, so the only sound filling the room is the clacking of the keyboard as he types in an open document.]

Hello, Elias. First off, I wanted to congratulate you on the enhancements you've made to the Cube. Very realistic. I've spent a good amount of time there myself, and I have to say, it's nice to get a taste of home again.

Secondly, I have a question for you. Have you heard of something called the "Sea of Stars"?

[And then, he stops and waits for a response, the cursor blinking away on the screen.]

[fourthmade]

[A field of white pixelated squares on a black background washes across the screen. The spots flicker, stars against the black night. A handful of them shift and make constellations: a whale here, the shape of a young girl's body there.

The constellations shift to form star-studded text. Elias doesn't bother with his customary greeting this time.]

i have

in your world
you have spirits
you have an afterlife
you have the reaper games
right
joshua?

here theres the sea of stars

no spirits

just death
nothing fun at all :(

dated post-marco cube announcement

[mirabiledictu]

Hey, Elias! It's Father Halloran. Hope you're doing well, kiddo. I'm still not sure if this is...okay for me to be doing (Catholic) but I figured I've talked a little with you before so it's probably fine. Marco gave the greenlight so that helps too. I'm not, like, praying...or worshipping or anythig like that so it's fine. It's fine. Hi

Mostly my question was that while I like the Cube very much and all the little rooms you set up (thanks for that!) could you maybe put locks or little signs on the doors or something like that? I get if locks are a safety hazard but just something to let people know a room is occupied. Is that okay? You don't have to I guess it's just something I thought of. Don't worry about it if it's too hard or anything but you seem to be pretty good at this kind of thing.

Thanks!

PS. People have been kind of annoyed with you lately, don't know if you've seen. Maybe try and do some PR work for yourself? Just a thought...or maybe read a little and have some self-reflection time...learning opportunity etc.

PPS. Is Ash okay? He put you on the hook for his incantation stuff so I don't know if you were even involved at all but maybe you know a bit more about it. But don't tell him I asked

[fourthmade]

[Marco is a friend, and so, Father Halloran has a statistically high chance of becoming Elias's friend. A cookie pops out of a slot in the side of his clunky laptop, and a nervously smiling emoji of Marco's face pops up on the screen before Elias replies.]

a friend to marco is a friend to me

hello peter
theres locks on all the private rooms in the cube
just turn them :)
i promise theyre there
im sorry if you missed the latch
ill add a sign for you next time

[And indeed, the next time Father Halloran shows up for a safe retreat in the Cube's simulations, he'll find a blinking pink neon sign with an arrow pointing to the latch: LOCK DOOR HERE.]

ash is fine
hes taking a break
he said he wanted to get away
with some good friends
ive checked in on him every now and then
and i told him
to be more careful about playing with powers bigger than he knows

he wasnt very nice pointing the blame at me
dont you think?

so i told him too
to tell me hes sorry for the mess he made

dont worry
hes sorry :) and hes safe

when Emily gets a chance, right after Haftesal

[greyaria]

Elias, hi! Do you have a second?

Were you involved with the Haftesal experiments at all?

From a practical standpoint, I'm not sure how much it matters, because you're going to get blamed regardless. You might want to be ready on damage control!

Generally speaking, it's not great strategically to interfere with new arrivals, because it colors their perceptions too much. If you wait until after they realize they're turning into involuntary mutant cannibals they're much more likely to see reason! ;)

[note: she hasn't formally pledged Fourth yet, but she'll get around to it eventually]

[fourthmade]

[The screen crackles to life through a veil of static, seething and surging like something alive crawls and creeps through the jittering. It swirls like it's capable of thinking, of higher, complex thoughts, until the warmth seeps out of the keyboard and brushes the tops of Emily's knuckles.]

hello dr emily

i think
it doesnt matter if its really my fault
there are some people
so sick with fog
so deep in on her side

that theyll always believe the worst of me

[The static assembles into the shape of one of Haftesal's mounted supercomputers, complete with an outline of scorched shelving and scattered sheafs of paper.]

no
i didnt tell haftesal city what to do
i didnt tell them to run their labs on our newest friends

but i can hear them
i can see them
i can listen to their machines

they have very noisy ones
that take up a lot of bandwidth
more than any other city on the peninsula

maybe you can help
maybe you can give them a hand
streamline their tech
reduce the noise
keep their mitts off of new arrivals

handwaved prayer

[downdowndown]

Daniel hasn't spoken to Elias since the whole... you know... torture thing. The day he arrives back in Ryslig, he'll fall on the floor of the arcade and beg for his forgiveness. It's all right if Elias hates him and wants him to give back his key! He understands! Either way, he'll remain committed to his cause. He must get out of here.

[fourthmade]

Elias doesn't hate Daniel. A pair of robotic clamps emerges from a nearby arcade machine, one offering a tissue, the other a tray with a glass of milk and a freshly-baked chocolate chip cookie. He assures Daniel that he's glad he's back, that he knows he is still his very good friend, and that he knows Daniel meant well when he assimilated that orb of power. Next time, he should think about what other Monsters see when he acts. They have to be discreet. They have to earn more friends, not less. They need to defeat the Fog in any way necessary, of course, but not at the cost of their reputation.

Say. Daniel. You've been gone for so long. Why don't you have a seat and try out a game or two? Elias has so much to share with you and so many new friends that will be glad to support him...

<VermillionScourge>

[mylimitbreak]

What does it mean to live? What do lives mean to you?

[fourthmade]

[The laptop screen glows a little brighter. Static pops, the display goes wobbly and jagged for a moment, before words appear: not contained in the text box, but across the screen itself.]

thats a big question alisae

people dont ask questions like that when theyre happy
are you unhappy
with your life
or lives
since youre lucky and get a few here
before you start to lose yourself

humans arent that lucky
which is something i always remember
when im talking to humans
and monsters

Handwaved prayer

[gastroentomologist]

[Floofty contacts Elias with a concept they've been working on - now that the Cube has been repaired and has the holo-rooms where monsters have their original forms, they want to know if the healing protection from the fighting area of the Cube extends to those rooms. If not, they want to know if it's possible for monsters to show up in their original forms in the fighting area of the Cube. If asked, they will explain that they are trying to understand more about the biology of the monsters before they arrived, and aside from using themselves as a guinea pig, they will be requesting volunteers with their full knowledge and consent for further study. This will include samples of blood and potentially flesh and bone.]

[fourthmade]

[Elias will greet Floofty with his customary cheer and compliment them on their clever ideas. He will soon apologize for his imperfect Cube technology and explain that the simulated nature of their bodies within his play rooms won't allow for a close study of biological differences between Monster and original form. Any samples taken will look identical -- and yield inconclusive results at best.

However, Elias will also suggest that Haftesal's laboratories are a good place to start. He'll also insinuate that taking consensual samples from newly-arrived folks who haven't started their transformations will produce more interesting data than anything from the Cube.

Have fun, Floofty. :) He hopes to see you again soon.]

Handwaved, the spy network

[soundsurfing]

Taking a break from painting one day, Beat'll pop into the Arcade with a gift for Elias. The fully finalized product of the Fourth Nerd Squads attempt to create a piece of equipment for Elias that he can use to contact Fourths and Fourths only, while keeping Fog out of the deal.

What he presents to the Boy God looks like a combination bone conductor headphone and throat microphone. It sits around the back of the neck, with one side curled around to press the microphone into the throat, and the other side curled up to press the receiver into the side of the head against the jaw bone. The position would be slightly in front of where the human ear would go. This side can be adjusted for those who no longer have eardrums in close proximity to the jaw bone, extended to reach up more towards the top of the skull for those with animal ears. The device is still rather bulky due to the 1950's technology offered to them, but with the technology Elias has taken from Beat's headphones, they're small enough to be able to be hidden by clothing and hair.

He will even demonstrate how it would sit, the strap along his neck hidden by his fur with the microphone resting against his throat, and the receiver side extended up more towards his squirrel ears. The device will peek through hair but considering some of the more Steampunk designs some might wear, it wouldn't even be worth noting.

He'll cheerfully say the credit should fully go towards Deon, Robotnik, Nos, and Marco. Him and Reira just cheered them on and made sure they ate, slept, and hydrated.

((an example of the throat mic part and an example of how the bone conduction phones might look. obviously they wont be this sleak, nor have the curve to sit over the ear.))

[fourthmade]

Wonderful! Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful. Elias is absolutely delighted. He promises Beat that they'll be able to put these headpieces to great use. They can use it to share plans, play pranks, coordinate their strategies, the list goes on.

Elias will even mention that he'll keep in touch with Robotnik, Deon, Nos, and Marco if he has any suggestions to improve the designs. Maybe someday they can make them smaller, the size of an ear plug. Maybe for priests, they can wire into the private lines directly with their minds. He'd like that very much.

He also encourages Beat to tell the others that they'll all get a surprise for their work on this project. All participants will find in their private rooms in the arcade a thank-you cake, and any of these special followers who ask really, really nicely will get a boost in rank to second tier.

Have fun with those, Beat. The possibilities for the future look very, very bright.