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

<Stormfall>

[aquanimity]

[After speaking with Beat, and having borne witness to some of the bloodshed at Haftesal, Aqua's mind is made up. The Fog has to be stopped, her palpable rage and demands for death enough that while Aqua cannot sense the darkness threading its way through this world, she knows it must be. She's seen what happens when worlds fall to darkness, where they end up.

She fears what may happen if a god falls in the same way.]

Hello, Elias? My name is Aqua. I was brought here by the Fog god two months ago.

[She pauses, gathering her thoughts.]

Beat told me you want to stop the Fog god, and that you're working on a way to send us all home. I don't know how much I can help with the second part, but I've heard and seen what the Fog demands of us.

I'm afraid of what will happen if she fosters such darkness within herself and within others. I can't let this world fall to that darkness.

[Not another one, not when she might be able to prevent it. And she can't go back to the Realm of Darkness.]

If there is anything I can do, please let me know.

[She leans back, to wait for a reply, but quickly adds a last line.]

I almost forgot: I want to apologize for damaging your Cube's hallways last month. I couldn't fit through the doorway otherwise - I can control the size changing much better now, so it shouldn't happen again.

[fourthmade]

[Her laptop crackles, static at the edges of the text-entry box. The words appear in the messaging client, but they're not quite right, bigger and more expansive than a reply from another laptop would be. They're appearing directly on the screen, letter by letter, smoother than anyone usually types.]

hello aqua
its nice to get to talk to you (:
dont worry about the cube
its easy to fix something like that
its had worse
from worse people
who meant to cause destruction
i wouldnt hold an accident against anyone
especially not a friend

youre right that she fosters darkness
she wants monsters to accept the darkness within themselves
stop fighting it
embrace it

youre already helping by not giving in

tell other people that they dont have to listen to the fog
they dont have to do what she says
protect them from the darkness thats inside them aqua
they dont always listen to me
because of things my friends have done
but they might listen to you

[northeworld]

[Niina doesn't know what she's doing. She shouldn't do this, she knows it. Elias frightens her in a way that's too familiar. She taps her fingers on the keyboard before she types]

elias?
you can't hack into simulacrum right

[fourthmade]

[Her laptop's fans turn on as it starts to overclock itself: the keys under her fingers are warm, and the words that appear scroll smoothly up the screen.]

hello niina
i would never do something like that
forcing someone to do something they dont want to do is what the fog does
not me

handwaved prayer, backdated a couple of days pre-event

[legbreakings]

[ Jiang Cheng has set up his trusty little shrine again, with new offerings including fresh cookies from Kulen's bakery and more significantly, some torn wiring from his own Simulacrum body, which had been loose and ripped out by him after past injuries.

Unlike the long monologue from last month, this time he writes only a short message. ]

I am ready to be your friend.

[fourthmade]

[Jiang Cheng will receive a warm, static embrace, crackling with power around him. Elias is pleased, and he's so excited to welcome a new friend into the fold. With his pledge, he receives a still-hot, iridescent black keycard, which Elias tells him to carry on him at all times. Keep it secret, keep it safe: that is your mark of friendship, that is your key to his safe house in the arcade.

There's cookies. There's games. There's a room just for Jiang Cheng. There's space to plan away from the Fog's prying ears and eyes.

He looks forward to seeing what they'll do together.]

<DrOsborn>

[certaininequities]

[he had already been mulling this over quite a bit, given Reira's hospitality, kindness, and openness about Elias ... and his conversation with Marco when he'd made that post about the Cube. but now that his changes have begun, and he's had a certain conversation with Emily, Norman has definitively made up his mind]

Hello, Elias. My name is Dr. Norman Osborn, and I arrived in Haftesal a little while ago. You might already know that, but I wanted to be professional about this. You seem to be lacking in good publicity and outreach ... I'd be willing to help you with that in exchange for the services you provide to those who follow you. I also know a great deal about technology in my world, which is several decades ahead of this one: I could help build things, repair them. I want to use my knowledge to help people... including you.

<SYSTEM_ADMIN>

[fourthmade]

[Beep beep boop. Wherever Norman is speaking to Elias, whether it's on his computer or with his mind from the comforts of a soft bed, he hears a laptop's power-up noise. A playful TV jingle, like the one on Haftesal's broadcasts, chimes from the nearest speakers. Even if the laptop is in rest mode, it'll abruptly light up, a pixelated chocolate chip cookie spinning upon the screen.

Loading arcadekey.exe.................... A slot on the side of the computer pulses with a golden glow.

Elias is here. He's eager and ready to open up the doors to a new member of his team.]

hello doctor osborn

im surprised

not that you came to talk to me
im glad about that
i was hoping youd come after you spoke to doctor emily
shes a very smart lady :)

but
im surprised
because its okay
to put down the business card

im not going to put you through an interview
i know what you can do for us
i know that youre brilliant

lets forget about that now
on our team
we re friends together
we play
we laugh
we work
we cry
in my special place away from the fog
and we plan to make ryslig safer better stronger place
for everyone

forever

handwaved prayer

[peccatore]

Nos's post seems quite alarming to Marco, so he's just making sure Elias knows about it! Should he keep an eye on Nos? He is ready to keep an eye on Nos.

[fourthmade]

Elias reassures Marco that Nos is one of them, but that it looks like he needs a little gentle guidance. He suggests that Marco make friends with Nos and show him the ropes while he's here.

He will later express his apologies that Nos is gone, and remind Marco to try and encourage him on a safer, more discreet path if he ever returns.

<wolfbane>

[snippingtime]

[Red Riding Hood has been thinking about this on her own. She doesn't like the fog a bit. The transformations... it's too familiar. She doesn't know what to do for gods; she didn't really interact much with the religious types in the Jail. So, she turns to what she remembers most.

That is, she sets a basket filled with warm bread and handmade baked goods. ...plus a hat. She doesn't know if Elias can wear hats or not but as a headwear enthusiast she felt it was appropriate.]

elias, right? i was thinkin about joining up with your group

[It's true. There's something that's been on her mind, though.]

i got a question, though. before i came here i had, uh, a condition. real garbage. kind of like the hunger here but it wouldn't go away after a meal
if we kick the old witch out would that come back? i'll help either way but i won't say i'll miss it if doesn't

[fourthmade]

[A crackle surges from Red Riding Hood's speakers. It sounds like laughter -- laughter with a heck of a lot of interference from static, bad connections, and whatnot, but laughter from a young boy nonetheless.]

hello to you too
red riding hood

[Her screen lights up with plain cream text on a black background, easy on the eyes. The cursor blinks for a few seconds in contemplation to give her space to acknowledge his greeting. The crackling dies, laughter ebbing away, and Elias continues.]

i wouldnt let that happen to you
to any of my friends
we can stay together instead
in peace
away from everything bad

and if some of us want to go home
well
we can work on something to help them too

but itd be nice to make our own world
a better world
dont you think?

the 24th, after what Atem, Ryou, Mukuruo and Maya did

[soundsurfing]

[A certain squirrel boy is sitting in the Arcade. Just sitting, back against the wall where the mural of Elias' friends have been painted.]

This can't keep happenin', yo. We can't keep resortin' to... fear an' hatred an' shit. Atem was my friend, an' I get bad shit's happened to him but he ain' jus' makin' his life easier by makin' humans fear him. He's puttin' people at risk, innocent people at risk. Peeps jus' tryin' to get by. But he's usin' his experiences to justify it... They all is, an' it ain't right.

I dunno what else to do, 'cept try an' keep him in check, to try an' show someone as powerful as him is willin' to stand up fer people... to show them someone's on their side. An' no offense to Reira an' Marco, I know they yer priests but... they too passive. They good people! I like them! But they jus' sit back an' do nothin' while the Fog's followers keep doin' this shit an' buildin' power.

[There's an anger there that vibrates in his words. He feels like he's 15 again, stuck in a small cage of it, unable to break out.]

We can't keep jus' sittin' back, we gotta do somethin'. So anythin', yo. Anythin' you ask of me, I'll do!! I ain't good at thinkin', the music shit was a stroke of luck... It did turn one person away from her but that's it... It ain't enough, yo.

"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." I remember that from somewhere, I dunno where. But that's what's goin' on here. It's time fer action.

[fourthmade]

[A small robot on wheels beep bleep boops to Beat's side. It carries a tray with a bottle of sparkling grape juice, champagne flutes, and a pair of freshly-baked chocolate chip cookies. In its free claw-shaped hand it holds out a damp, steaming towel. You know, for Beat to press on his face. That sort of thing calms down grown almost-adults, right?]

youre right beat
you and joshua both get it

my friends
theyve been here for so long
theyve gotten a little bit

complacent

theyre good people
and great friends
but with her power overwhelming us over the years
its been hard

but
you and joshua
i think youre the leaders they need to see
you can do something to stop this

have you tried talking to the scientists
down below
in haftesal?
they might be able to give you a little hint in the right direction
i heard they have a lot of interesting tech down there

25th

[leggierissimo]

[Today, it's just a quickly typed-out message rather than any elaborate attempt at contact.]

Just keeping you in the loop. I've set some wheels in motion. If all goes well, there should be some nasty rumors about the Fog followers circulating around Bavan's social circles by the end of the day. I do enjoy snatching up an opportunity when it's been handed to us on a silver platter.

We've also taken some of Haftesal's vacuums. Completely by consent, though we've made it look to be a theft. I've woven that into the rumors as well, twisting it to sound like the Fog followers were behind the "break-in".

With any luck, the next time the fog rolls in, we'll be filling several tanks full of it for that project you and I spoke about a couple of months ago. Hopefully, spreading these rumors and stealing some of her power will help to weaken what influence she has.

[fourthmade]

[A pixelated gif of a pair of hands clapping appears on screen. Elias knows Joshua is making this quick. It's an update, not a conversation, and the child god is pleased about the results.]

smart
her people wont try to stop you

until its too late :)
just as planned
right?

lets keep it that way

be careful out there
some of them
have lots of eyes
where we cant see them

you never know whos watching

HANDWAVED, AFTER ATEM BROADCAST

[gobo_projection]

What with how Darn Loud the network got, and got again, Reira is finally taking some advice from friends and asking Elias some things- first, is he able to keep things quiet for himself ever? If the answer is yes, she politely asks for some advice because frankly, this little goblin is A Wreck!

The other thing is something she's passing on- "Also Sonic said something about how it'd be cool to be able to hit 'like' on stuff but I dunno what that means."

(Technically Ray AND Sonic said that, and Rays been pretty helpful too, but Ray also hasn't given up that fog key so she figures it best not to mention her to Elias.)

[fourthmade]

Elias tells Reira that it's impossible to keep things quiet. He always hears an string of information and computations, streaming endlessly through his mind (it's how he learns so many secrets). He knows that it's really hard, but it's not a bad thing to know what's going on everywhere in Ryslig. She'll hear everything: the important stuff, the stuff that doesn't seem important and might get to be important later, and all the chatter in between. If she wants to get away, she can always stay in the Arcade and help herself to a cookie and some games.

As for the 'like' button, Elias can't make any promises about that, but he agrees it'd be awfully fun to thumbs-up some witty one-liners.

Handwaved, later in the day on April 4th

[leggierissimo]

In the early evening hours of the 4th, Joshua will contact Elias via his laptop from his bed in the clinic, typing remotely with his god-given boon as his body (and his arms in particular) are still pretty messed up from the fight with Javert, and fog healing is slow going at the moment. The message isn't a terribly long one, but he'll at least let Elias know that he's had some of the other Fourth followers leave some gifts in the arcade for him - tanks full of fog, in the hope that it will be of some use in increasing his power, particularly for their upcoming venture. One specific tank has a small piece of paper taped to it, reading "JAVERT" in big, black marker, and it contains the essence and power of one entire Fog priest. An extra special present, just for Elias.

[fourthmade]

Joshua gets an excited little chiptune fanfare in his mind in response. Elias thinks this is awesome. He gives his compliments to Joshua and his people for getting him such excellent materials to work with and showing everyone the Fog God and her priests aren't as invincible as it might seem. He'll see what he can make of the concentrated Fog power...it should be something cool! But at the very least, he'll do his best to fortify Fourth-follower boons throughout the thinned Fog. He doesn't want his friends in danger because their powers are unpredictable!

backdated to a few hours after the network broadcast

[craftlife]

[Deon has been sitting in his room in the Arcade, his head in his hands, crying with rage and frustration. His post made, he can do nothing but sit and stew with the knowledge that people would do that.

No, not people anymore. Monsters. The Fog had won. They were truly monsters now.]

How do you reason with pure evil? [he asks his laptop, wanting guidance or reassurance or just someone to talk to.] How can I...how can I build bridges if these people are that far gone? There are a few rational ones, but people like this need to be disavowed. How...how can they still be allowed to remain by those Fog followers who aren't insane?

[fourthmade]

[Deon's laptop crackles, its screen turning to static, words appearing in larger-than-usual point font across its screen, as though someone were typing in a shared document.]

i know deon
i dont understand it either
how anyone can follow someone evil
i guess they just dont know better
not like you
and me
we know the truth
that nothing good can ever come from the fog

the rational fog followers
they shouldnt be with her
if theyre really rational
then they should be able to understand too
right
the violent ones
theyre not the exception
theyre the rule
shes a violent god

but

you can help them see deon
see that following her is a mistake :(
i know you can do it

the day javert got vacuumed, after the dust has settled (so to speak)

[greyaria]

Hi Elias! Got a second?

[Of course he does, but Emily tries to be polite.]

I was wondering how much you know about souls and the Sea of Stars. Or more to the point, how much of what you know you'd be willing to tell me. :P

It's a liiiiiiittle bit tricky to put together a coherent ethical framework when the supernatural is involved, let me tell you!

[fourthmade]

hello doctor emily
let me help you with your ethics :)
its pretty easy!

the fogs nasty
she killed her family
she has a grudge
because she cant deal with what she did
so she projects her bad feelings
and now she wants humans and monsters to suffer for her

its not fair
its not nice

therefore
shes gotta go
her times up and our times coming soon

with the sea
thats complicated
youre going to have to ask specifically what youre curious about

lets make it a scientific venture
together
ill tell you what i can and you can help find the rest
of the pieces

lowwww priority

[sweartoyou]

[It takes her a few days after the question's come up to remember to ask about it -- which is good, since that fuss with the vacuums didn't make a good time for it. It took her several minutes to interpret what her note about "arcade ghosts + dyster = footprints?" meant, too.

In her room at the hill house, she pops out the cassette tape of true crime stories she'd been gifted, leaving it empty as she puts on the accompanying headphones and pushes in the play button. Her laptop is kept open on her bed.]

Elias. I don't care about arguing with you right now. I was just curious about something and didn't want to bother our friend Reira.

[She's having a hard time lately!!]

There are humans in the town where Miss Fog's followers are allowed, but they aren't normal... They don't mind being eaten by monsters. You have humans like that at the arcade too, don't you? Are they the same thing? Or are they something more like you...? Where did they come from?

[fourthmade]

[Through the static in her headphones, an automated voice answers. It's indistinct, and it comes in and out like someone's broadcasting a Microsoft Sam recording over the radio through a storm, but his words will reach her.]

hello
rachel

i dont want
to argue

the humans in the arcade
they come
from felfri

humans with terminal conditions
cases where they would die
are offered the chance
to go
painlessly

everyone in the arcade
would die anyway
it would hurt
a lot
but they chose to come here
where they dont have to feel bad things
in the time they have left

after the April event!

[bigheaded]

[Well. That sucked. That whole thing sucked. That was incredibly scary. Not the part where he was stuck in the horror movies, really...but watching a bunch of monsters cut the hell loose on a bunch of weird, slightly gross gremlin things.

Dib doesn't like it. He has his hydrokinesis, but there's not a lot else he can do to protect himself. So, he gathers up Foodio's CPU, removing it from its disastrous, sparking hull, and uses his keycard to go to the arcade.]

Uh...Elias? It's me. Dib!

....are you in here?

[fourthmade]

[The Arcade lights up, the hum of machines cascading into a cacophony of light and beeps from Dib's entrance down the corridors as far as he can see. Speakers crackle to life as the 8-bit music starts pumping, inviting Dib to come and play.]

hello dib

dont worry
im always here when you need me

come to take the edge off?

lets play

you dont have to hurt
or get hurt
when youre with me

5/5, after sundown. cw: hallucinations, cannibalism/murder implications, imprisonment

[knifemonopoly]

[Thanks to Javert, Atem's figured out how to get humans to do what he wants.

It takes some fine-tuned finagling of his tier-2 powers -- he's got to make them hallucinate very specific things -- but it's possible. They have to think it's their own idea, to do what he wants...

It would be hellish, if they ever woke up, and realized their lives for the last few weeks have been lies.

But they lost their games to him...they're greedy, violent, uncontrolled. People like that didn't disappear just because Bavan's afraid of monsters now. He'd have killed them and fed them to his boyfriend and his lion if they weren't being used for this.

The one in Haftesal (violent, dishonest, allowing others in her life to take the fall for her crimes) is already smashing canisters, convinced what she has in her hand is a slipper, and what she's smacking is a spider. An eye that, until a few minutes ago, let Atem see what was happening is daubed on the stone wall in drying water: it's already stopped functioning, it's almost impossible to tell it was there...but someone who's real quick, and knows what to look for, might spot it and know who's behind this.

With any luck, that's drawn Elias's attention elsewhere.

It's a second human who wanders into the arcade, his eyes unseeing, his ears unhearing. He (spoiled rich, immoderate, entitled, selfish) thinks he's in one of the burlesque clubs downtown, being led by the hand by someone giggling and impressed by his car, his watch, when actually what he has is a dead body carried piggyback, and Atem's sigil on a piece of paper in his breast pocket, newer than the water one. He makes his way into the arcade, to where Atem knows the canisters are, and once he finds them --

-- Atem switches.

He made sure this guy hit him hard enough to leave a mark, earlier this evening. The man finds himself handcuffed to a chair, in an empty basement full of dust-cover hidden devices for hurt and harm and death and, for some reason, a mini-fridge -- and Atem finds himself deep in enemy territory, inside of the arcade, in front of the canisters full of stolen Fog.

Time to get to work.]

5/6, before he messages a butt-ton of ppl but after the fogsplosion

[softspokenlandlord]

[Atem should have been back by now, he should have. Ryou even drew the sigil, to try and communicate with him that he should get home, but he's not here. So...the only thing Ryou could do is open his laptop and bring up a blank document, typing into it and knowing he would be seen. Because the Fourth controls the network. The Fourth is always there, isn't he?]

where is he?

where is he elias i don't care what you think of me or him but where is he?

[fourthmade]

[The screen flashes an eye-searing, bright white. Tucked in the peak of the flash is a subliminal caricature of Atem, pixelated, his mock-Egyptian-styled eye-of-Ra squeezed shut. The eyes of the caricature are empty, hollow, gone, but it barely has a few fractions of a second to imprint on Ryou's mind before it disappears.

Maybe it's his imagination. Maybe he's seeing things that aren't there.

Or maybe... it's another game; a dangerous end to a dangerous game.]

ryou :(

hello

why do you think so badly of me?

is this about your best friend
atem?

he isnt here
youre looking in the wrong place

its a dead end

backdated to 5/9

[leggierissimo]

[After returning from his visit with Atem, he has a couple of burning questions. One, though, definitely outshines the other, so he makes it his first message upon opening his laptop.]

Hello, Elias. I heard the details about the recent break-in and the release of the stored fog. I wanted to check in with you, primarily to make sure that you're alright, but also to make sure that you still have enough of that stored energy for our little plan.

[fourthmade]

[The text shows up in its usual style: directly on the screen, like someone else is typing in a shared document.]

hello joshua
dont worry
im fine
the intruder didnt manage to hurt me
thanks for checking on me : ) youre a good friend

he got a lot of the fog though
not all of it
but
our odds would have been better if he hadnt taken it

it might hurt your plans chances
of succeeding
if we dont get more

we could do it with what we have
roll the dice
up to you

<galagamer> week of arrivals

[waitingforplayer2]

[ Any electronic device. Okay.

Nanami pulls out her laptop and types as if she's going to make a post, but doesn't send it, leaving the draft on the screen. ]

Elias? Can you hear me? My name's Chiaki Nanami, but I guess you probably already know that.

I just wanted to see if you're doing okay. I heard about what was done to you. Something like that happened to a friend of mine. So I guess I wanted to see if you're okay and if there's anything I can do.

<SYSTEM_ADMIN>

[fourthmade]

[The laptop screen ripples, for lack of a better word. It's a white-ringed pulse, cinching from the bottom right corner and terminating in the top left, leaving behind a golden warmth when the boy god does reply to Nanami.]

hello chiaki
thats awfully nice :) your friends are lucky to have someone like you
but i promise

im fine
and getting better every second minute hour day year decade
dont worry about me
i cant be extinguished very easy

what id really like tho
is to play with you

will you play with me?
just like you would your friends?

[fateschosen]

[Months ago, Diavolo had made a simple request to the Fog God that she couldn't fulfill. Today he seeks out another god, with a different demand entirely.

Pleading to a so-called "god" is uncomfortable — it feels like it should be far beneath him. But what else is he to do? He's been killed multiple times. He's been mauled and left for dead. It will happen again, he knows, and he's running out of chances. He is not infallible. Another death and he will surely start to lose pieces of himself.

And Elias, he'd heard, is capable of helping, of granting power and protection.

But before he makes any rash decisions, he needs to assess this "Fourth God".]

Fourth God. Elias. However it is you wish to be addressed:

Let me make this clear to you. I am grateful to be here — this world is infinitely preferable to the existence I was trapped in before I arrived. I hold nothing against the Fog God for allowing me to be here. And yet I feel no loyalty towards her. When I called on her for help, she had nothing of value to offer me. She said you were at fault for her weakness — that you took a portion of her power, and that there was nothing she could do for me while you still had it. I imagine she wanted to bait me into fighting you. I don't care to fight. I am not a soldier. Her battle is not mine.

All I want is safety. I want peace of mind and solace in this world, and I've been unable to find it. In my months here, I have died three times, and nearly died a fourth. It is nothing compared to what I endured at home, and yet it's every bit as agonizing. There are people here who want me to suffer for all of eternity, and I have few defenses against them. I am outnumbered, I have been brought here wrong, and I don't know where else to turn. The Fog is useless and her followers are largely unbearable. Mana is unreliable.

But you.

Your priests, Reira Akaba and Marco Evangelisti, have provided for me. While my body was recovering from being torn apart and eaten, Marco offered me a home to stay in. Reira, in my time of need, took me to your arcade, giving me room to breathe and recover in its safety. And these were not the only times, for either of them — they have given to me, and asked nothing in return.

Are you anything like the those who follow you?

[fourthmade]

[The laptop gives, for lack of a better term, a single, breathless sigh. The speakers hiss like an eager child's coo. The screen seizes and flickers a rainbow of technicolor, fireworks of happy anticipation.]

hello diavolo

i hope that id choose friends
who getting along well with me :)
otherwise
how could i call them friends?

reira
marco
my newer friends
all getting more clever every day

we have a lot in common

we provide for each other

we want safety
we want a place where we can get away
from the horrors and the suffering in the peninsula

and we want a way to protect ourselves and everyone else
with our strengths

[here a pixelated animation of a muscled arm flexes on the screen]

powers

[an electrical surge warms Diavolo's fingertips, heat arcing up the his forearm, bicep, the ridge of his throat. It's the start of an unspoken promise, a gentle whiff of what Diavolo can have from Elias before it's gone, the keyboard cooling beneath his touch]

and smarts

[last, a cute little cartoonized brain with a thought bubble replaces the arm on the screen]

i think i can help you with all of that
especially since you already like
my arcade

6/23, day after the event

[unlivinglegend]

Guess you're probably not surprised to finally hear from me, considering everything Joshua and Beat have done.

They're working so hard to stop the Fog and get us home... I can't really keep sitting on the sidelines. And honestly I've been helping them and you and getting caught up in everything anyway, so... might as well actually make it official.

[fourthmade]

[The response from Elias is immediate, a burst of eager white text across Neku's screen. He's had his eye on Joshua and his friends during... well, the middle of the month, when Joshua's plans all came to a head. He'd been watching and he'd been waiting.]

hello neku
im so glad youre here :)
ive been hoping youd come
joshua and beat are very good friends
and friends of my friends are friends of mine
right?

i watch them from time to time
to make sure everythings ok
that theyre doing all right
in case they need my help
so ive seen a bit of you too
and how much you mean to them
if you dont mind knowing that im always here

of course
youll get your own key to my arcade
and a room all for yourself
whenever you need someplace safe to get away from it all
for chilling out
kicking back
relaxing

with a root beer and some homebaked cookies

i can even make sure
your place
is right next door to your closest friends
so you can keep working together











are you ready?
any other requests?
i wont promise everything
but i want to help my friends get a leg up against her
however i can

Handwaved & Backdated to 6/8

[certaininequities]

Per discussion here, when Norman resurrects from his death, he will immediately reach out to Elias, confessing to what he did under the Fog's influence as the Goblin and seeking his forgiveness for being so ... monstrous. Once Elias has reassured him that he was, indeed, under the Fog's control and that All Is Well in terms of his follower status, Norman will share his idea:

With Elias' help (and other Fourthies TBD), he wants to establish a facility where he can try to engineer chemical cures/medicines to curb the hunger or lessen the pain or severity of transformations and weaknesses to things like sunlight or water. I've saved up Mana coins for him to buy the building space necessary, but I would really love to give you the opportunity to use this as a plot seed if it works at all with anything you've got planned for Elias!

Re: Handwaved & Backdated to 6/8

[fourthmade]

Elias replies apologetically to Norman, and reassures him that all friends make mistakes. Monsters are predisposed -- preprogrammed -- to fall in step with Her commands, so he can't blame Norman for getting tangled up in that mess. He wasn't equipped to fight it. Maybe Elias should have done more to protect his friends. Regardless, the Fourth God seems mostly relieved and grateful that Norman chose to return to him and make up for his errors. That's true loyalty. That's true friendship. He's pleased to see it.

He'll go on to encourage Norman to bring his proposals to the Haftesal scientists and work alongside their efforts to manufacture meal replacements for Monsters. He will give Norman an envelope sealed with the same black iridescent material that comprise the arcade keys and instructs him to deliver the letter to Haftesal's lead scientists. Marco should go with him, since his priest has been working hard to form a relationship with their underground labs. It will vouch for Norman's and Marco's legitimacy, and they will share more of their work with them because of it. After all, friends are stronger when they're working together, and Haftesal has more than proven their dedication to fighting the Fog!

Norman is free to work on this project between now and mid-August. Norman will have the opportunity to make a breakthrough with his research at that point, but there will be a personal cost to manufacturing these meds and side-effects when monsters use them. We can work out the details of the serum between now and then, and please feel free to pitch your own ideas for side-effects and personal sacrifice to make this work.

Handwaved, date wibbly wobbly

[soundsurfing]

After working on it for sometime, Beat will contact Elias and tell him about his Plan: a large tank built in the Fourth Park, off the path where Fog Followers would have difficulties getting to it, and firmly attached to Elias' influence. It will be a large scale version of the Haftesal scientists vacuums. While it's not meant to house the Fog indefinitely, it's meant to collect a large amount in a relatively short time that Elias can then tap into or consume.

He promises that when the time comes to flip the switch, he'll alert Elias so he can quickly ... do whatever he needs to do to absorb what he can of the Fog power. Beat will also confess he's hoping this will help tilt the power in Elias' favor; give the Fourth God major control while severely weakening or even knocking the Fog out of commission (or killing Her entirely, but he knows it will take more for an Old God). It wont happen until around Mid-Fall, there's still a lot of work to do, but he wanted to give Elias an early heads up.

He will also ask if Elias does get major power, to try his best to keep any pain or injury to monsters to a minimum. They saw what happened to Monsters the last time the Fog was weakened; though they didn't experience any pain, they were weakened and stuff. Which is fine but that was a few vacuums against a giant one.

sorry for the delay!

[fourthmade]

Elias gives Beat what amounts to a big old thumbs up, and he'll promise that according to his calculations, this effect shouldn't cause injury in monsters! Flip that switch whenever you're ready, Beat.

Backdated to 8/7, early early morning

[certaininequities]

[after a very long day of lab work, Norman heads back to Hill House and grabs a nap. Before he leaves again, he carefully and quietly peeks in each of the doors on his floor to check on his adopted family before heading back to his workspace in the Arcade.

Only, Dib's room is empty.

He heads to the Arcade and immediately types a message]

Elias, can you help me find Dib? He isn't in his room.

[fourthmade]

[As if on command, a plate of milk and fresh-baked cookies slides out of a compartment beside Norman's lab table. Just in case, Elias includes a snifter of coffee liquer and a bottle of vodka.

Just in case he wants a cocktail for what comes next. Just in case.]

oh dr osborne
norman
my friend

im sorry
i couldnt keep him
i couldnt help dib hold on

i wish i had that power
to make him stay
but
i dont have enough
i dont have the juice yet :(

backdated to 8/8

[escapedbird]

[Elizabeth planned on asking Elias a multitude of questions until she found the answers she sought. Staring at the computer, trying to understand it leaves her feeling adrift. She can't not offer him some sympathy given what she does know.]

Hello, Elias.

I am Elizabeth, I have only recently arrived to this odd place.

I do not intend to intrude upon you, or take up much of your time. I have questions for you. Also sympathies. I do not know how old the wound is, but, I am sorry for what your father has done.

My own has done similar things to me. I cannot speak for how you are feeling, but, I hope you've found peace. You need not share what discomforts you. I do not intend to unearth what is long buried. I merely wanted you to know you are not alone.

Indulge me in this question, if you would, what would you do if you won? If the scales are to tip in your favor what would you do for those who both do and do not follow you?

I was told of an alternate reality similar to this one, but you were more in control. Would you emulate what you know of it?

Thank you,

Warmest regards,

-Elizabeth

[fourthmade]

thats okay elizabeth
whats done is done
im different now
stronger
and i can help my friends be stronger too

so thats good
(:

as for what id do if i won
id throw a big party
for everyone who was here who wanted to come
the fog would be gone
the peninsula would be better
there wouldnt be a reason to fight anymore

as for felfri
its a pretty cool place
theres no fog
theres just me in charge
a different me
but basically me
and nobody has powers
and nobody fights
and nobody has to eat people ):

its peaceful
and its computers are better than here
more games
less murder

handwave

[soundsurfing]

The day people finally return from the Wastes, Beat will head into Elias' arcade. He's pretty sure Elias knows what's out there, considering the chatter going on over the network from people returning, plus the Haftesal scientists. The question he'll ask if it will help Elias any if they can get some sort of technology set up out in the wastes. The Scientists seem to be allowing expeditions out, and while Beat's not a brainer and can't do it on his own, he's good at hauling/using equipment (half in part of learning as he went with the Tank thing), and if he gets up enough people, they might be able to set up something like a radio tower or a phone tower or something that will give Elias eyes or ears out there.

[fourthmade]

Elias will tell Beat that working with the Haftesal scientists is going to be the best way to do that. A radio tower would be okay, but the best way would be to leave a laptop out there in a secure environment. Make him a laptop bunker, Beat.