video | un: plushiesidequest (everyone lets talk scylla)

[reincarnesiac]

( Alex looks refreshed. Which does not seem like that should be anyone's present normal, but she had a little help for feeling clear headed and then some, so she's doing better than she would have coming out of the last two weeks. She also waves to the camera, and then holds up a piece of paper with writing on one side. Slowly, she turns it over to show the back side is covered in mathematical equations. )

Hey everyone, it's Alex again. Scylla talked with me briefly right before the fog started clearing up. Mostly I wanted to bring up the journal page he left with me. I can read it out loud for people, just ask, but he said there's a total of nine more of these in Etraya right now. Anyone else get one? What he and Aurora can't talk about directly because of a specific curse on what they're allowed to say can probably be guessed at through these entries.

( Holding that mathematical side closer to the 'camera' such as it is, she adds: )

So who here are our math wizards? He said the mathematics explains what's going on, and his challenge was us looking for a solution to the whole problem. I don't think he actually thinks we will, which kind of makes me want to all the more.

( Another pause. )

If you have questions about what else we talked about, you can ask that too.

Comments

[reincarnesiac]

Ah, wine, a great plan! Let me know if you end up wanting any cheese or breads to go along with it.

( Because those are things people often pair with wine in media where it's not at home, where it's different sorts of foods that tend to go along with. Regardless. )

Thank you, you were right on it! And you're right, we do all need to share.

So, to kick things off, everyone involved with this? Is named, probably self-named at this point because really it's too coincidental otherwise, after Greek Mythology. Scylla, Echo, Aurora, Borealis, the list keeps going. He kept the vent from closing to see if messing with the nebula's effects would get Echo to respond. Echo didn't. I told him about Solmara and we can ask Aurora if he talked to her about it, I didn't see everything in her post, maybe she brought it up already?

( She pauses, then sighs. )

He was saying he shouldn't have been able to do what he did, and have it not be impeded, so he's worried where Echo is. "If this is a game, where's the director?" He also said the nebula resonated with people based on specific... factors, and the things we saw that became real, if you saw those? Are based on real fears of ours, taken in weird ways. He gave me that page I showed earlier after saying if I guessed what the cost of saving a world might be. He said it wasn't his writing, and it was a really long time ago that it was written at all. And the one he's looking for, that he has to find, is caught up in all this. Echo's side of all this, I think. The bubble cities, the trying to solve how to keep worlds alive and not destroyed. He said he left more of these pages around, for a total of ten. I clarified that part. Uh... there's not much else that was relevant? He said Aurora might have given us just the math, but he thought the journal part was important for us too.

[repaintress]

I'm not hungry.

[ She's too nauseated from the invasion of her soul and mind - he hadn't precisely been delicate. Her Chroma is roiling around and intangible parts of her feel raw in a way she doesn't like, but it does strengthen her resolve to leave her sister's situation as it is. ]

He said he did name himself.

[ There's a sound of glass clinking in the background, then pouring. The wine may not be helping her stomach, but it's helping everything else. She'll live. ]

I'm not pleased he kept the vent open.

[ Clea's tone is clipped. ]

When...I.

[ There's a hesitation before the pronoun. Not her. The other her. Now she truly wants to vomit, both emotionally and physically. ]

When I spoke with him, I brought up an analogous situation from my experience and he did not refute it. In that situation, a being with power in a certain arena could not act because her attention was needed elsewhere and if she attended to that arena, the situation outside would become more dire. Aurora mentioned Echo attending to multiple matters. Echo may not be responding because it would cause worse problems if he were to do so.

[ Off-camera, Clea's lips purse in displeasure. Yes, she had experienced such a thing. Or rather, a Clea had. ]

What I do not understand is the person he's attempting to find. It is not Aurora. It is not one of us. It is not Echo.

You should share irrelevant information as well. It may be useful for determining his trustworthiness or lack thereof.

Based on Monsieur Eiffel's note, yours, and mine, it seems there have been attempts to create new forms of scaffolding for the worlds in question - an attempt to transfer them from their current scaffolds in totality. That would be...difficult. The journal entry mentioning threads is referring to the fact that worlds likely require external scaffolding and energy - you can't build the world on itself as a fundamental foundation. It will collapse.

[ There is something almost instructional in Clea's tone, despite her weariness. ]

Our presence here may be as reference material.

[reincarnesiac]

It'd make sense, there's no way a bunch of unrelated people would all end up with Greek mythology themed names and not have it be on purpose.

( She's not fussed on if it was an original name or now the assumed name he's given himself; people do take on different names over the course of their lives, times past and present. )

Which would at least mean Echo's still active. Or else what that other area of focus is for Echo is so demanding, maybe we'd be concerned if we knew.

( Because that is certainly possible, and Alex sees no reason to argue against it. Too many unknowns! She can't make that call. )

Mm, yes, but the scaffolding fails, one way or another. Or universes collapse inward, or they prevent futures from happening that once might... and I wonder.

( But she leaves it at that. She has a better understanding of the destruction of worlds than anything else, and that's a newer... less grounded knowledge. Endings are inevitable, sure. Whole universes though? That isn't. Maybe firm ends, maybe fewer branches, will help save lives, but can they be lost, or can they be merged, or what else? What else? )

It'd feed right back into the idea of a reality show, or a game, or anything else. You watch to see what you can learn.

[repaintress]

All I have at the moment is speculation. I believe we can assume Echo is somewhat active: Aurora is receiving mission information from him. Although it's possible he set up the missions some time ago and they are being communicated automatically without his intervention.

There may also be trouble with the world outside of this one - with where the scaffolds of this world are anchored. If the scaffolds are destroyed from the outside, this place would collapse. Or there may be other worlds he views as more important. It's also possible Echo or his power are at risk.

[ As insufferably positive and cute as Alex is, she at least takes initiative and seems intelligent if impulsive. ]

If they're trying to transfer worlds to new scaffolds, they'd need a proper understanding of the world's energy and properties. I am uncertain that I would consider it a 'game', as I don't think it matters if we 'win'. The point would be to determine how our energies respond to different situations to build more accurate models.

That may also explain some of the locations.