UN: Yuuki | Text

[neverleave]

I talked with the other bubble city.

[Perhaps you've noticed a construction of floodlights and neon signs, removed from their original locations and plugged in one of Etraya's darker areas. Maybe you noticed it go on and off at night, flashing morse code. Maybe you even noticed that the other city in the sky was signaling back.]

Their oldest resident has been around for six years. They were told they're here for the same reason we are, to save their universe. They don't know if anyone succeeded yet - people disappear sometimes, but no one knows what it means. They said they have "roles" that need fulfilling, and disappearances make it hard to find replacements.

Their "missions" sound more complex then what we've have had so far and could last for two months.

And they battled each other as well as other bubble cities.

I haven't told them anything about us, except that we've been here for a few months. I'm not sure what to do with this information or what else to ask, but I think everyone here deserves to know what might wait for us.

Comments

@ hayan; text

[thorncrown]

Battling other bubble cities doesn't sound good.

[Obvious statement but ...]

So that's something we should expect in the future then. As well as the idea of roles.

[neverleave]

Probably. I don't want to play this stupid game, but I doubt the other side would hold back.

[thorncrown]

More or less. How much we want to play games doesn't matter.

[Alright then. Hayan mulls over this all a moment.]

We'll have to watch each other's backs then with the stronger of us at the forefront. It might be worth giving lessons in proper fighting techniques too. I wasn't half as effective in a fight before I was taught how to throw a proper punch.

[She always led with her claws after all.]

text; un: MAXIMUMLEGEND

[maximumlegend]

judging by that information it sounds like the longer cities are here the more it escalates
the complexity of these missions i mean

or maybe all they want to do in the end is just make us fight if they're not only making people within the cities fight each other but also across cities
which really just makes the people in charge here sound like assholes if you ask me

[neverleave]

Starting off easy makes sense. Work together, get prizes, get used to the idea. Makes you wonder how well they can fight other cities after fighting each other.

I think Echo proved themselves to be an asshole once they made themselves the judge of who gets to live. We don't even know if we pass their tests or not, so winning a might as well be meaningless.

[maximumlegend]

all of this doesn't really feel like a test in the first place
i mean what was that stuff with the stuffed animals even supposed to prove
other than how frustrating it is when you can't communicate intent to other people
it felt like it was just designed to be a huge pain in the ass for all of us

you know like echo is just pestering us on purpose or something

un: hidden | text

[matermali]

They were told this by whom? Aurora, or someone else?

[neverleave]

They said an AI makes announcements, so probably Aurora. Or something like her.

[matermali]

How many other city experiments are actively engaging, I wonder? I have always doubted that Aurora shares the entire truth, if any of it is true at all. Even if there is a danger to our worlds that Echo can counter, then this is precious time wasted on their little games.

If there are multiple cities, just how many 'victors' do they plan to choose? And what do they plan to do with those who fail their tests? It's unlikely that the survivors of abandoned worlds would be permitted to remain.

text; un: summers

[redvisor]

Did they happen to mention how many other bubble cities they've encountered?

[neverleave]

No. And I didn't ask, because they'd probably want more information about us in return. If they have defined roles and people who've been around for years, we can assume they're experienced.

text, un: hawkeye

[westcoasts]

did they elaborate on what these 'roles' are? were they assigned or are they something they've fallen into after six years ( no, thank you ) stuck here?

[neverleave]

They didn't elaborate and I'm not sure if I should ask. They'd ask something in exchange and I don't want us to look like easy prey.

[westcoasts]

if they know we've been here for only a few months, they can probably put 2 + 2 together as far as our knowledge about everything goes.

un: sandalphon

[prevail]

So your endeavors were successful.

So this may span years, and already, we have seen escalation in our short time here. Did they mention what became of the cities they fought?

[neverleave]

They didn't elaborate. I'm not sure if I should follow up on that, because they already asked about us and I don't want to give them too much.

They didn't mention if they won or lost either. With how cagey Aurora is about success criteria there's no guarantee, it's hard to tell what it means.

[prevail]

I understand. They may well be our opponents one day, whether they wish it or not. We're best off not yielding vulnerabilities.

Unfortunately, one of them is our own ignorance... I believe you were right to exercise caution.

un: gorgug, text

[tinflower]

Thanks for sharing this.

What did they tell you about their missions that sounded complex? Or was that about them fighting everyone.

[neverleave]

They said they played capture the flag for two months until someone won. Just organizing a team to work together can take a while, not to mention the variety of potential powers.

un: vdova

[waytodie]

If they have fought against other cities, then, we can at least expect to have our hands forced in such a way in the future, I suppose. Which is not ideal.

[neverleave]

Definitely not ideal. They already took away oxygen force us into the labyrinth. Forcing people to battle will be worse.

un: grayson ; text

[cohero]

Did you ask them anything about fighting each other. I'm curious about that. I can't see how someone could make us fight one another. If we choose not to fight, we should have that right.

[neverleave]

I didn't ask. But they can make at least some of us fight each other. Drop people into the playing field, give them weapons and incentive, and someone WILL fight to kill.

text | un: vulture

[supervulture]

Has anybody here succeeded in saving their universe or do they just disappear from here too?

[neverleave]

We only had a few missions so far. So I think disappearances are about something else, though we can't know for sure.