Video;; Shimmer Wrap

[fridgeflower]

[ The feed opens on Laurie's living room, on Laurie's tired face as she sits on the floor in front of her sofa with her knees drawn to her chest. She's in a tank and sweats, hair up in a sloppy bun, expression pressed into Absolute Neutral. When she speaks, her affect is flat save for the occasional quiver. ]

It's been several days since the anomaly in De Chima collapsed in. There are five of us who were there at the end: myself, Kirie Goshima, Ruka, Will Solace, and Nico di Angelo.

We want to apologize for the delay in coming forward. We also want to tell everybody what we learned.

They were OTO. They wanted to rid the world of imPorts by sending them somewhere else, to another world, so they built a Porter. They didn't do a very good job, though. It tapped into a world that bent everything the wrong way and made no physical sense. The shoddy porter isn't the entire issue, though.

They also had this box, this device that powered their false Porter. It was a... a gift, maybe, from Atropos.

So. That's a hell of a team-up.

Most of the people working on it were dead when we got there or near it. Two of us died while we were at the center and came back again. Hundreds of others died outside of that center, but they don't get to come back. I don't think they do anyway. I want to ask about means and ends. That's what my mind keeps getting stuck on, but... That's not why I'm addressing you.

What I've said are the bare basics. We'll try to answer any of your questions that we can. We've all... We're all in the same place, so we can check ourselves against each other if need be.

Thank you.

Comments

[fauxmarth]

How do we stop this, Laurie?
Something like this can't ever happen again. Not if it's in our power to stop it.

[fridgeflower]

I don't know how much of it IS in our power.
Atropos and the OTO aren't supernatural, necessarily, but at least half of that clique is larger than our understanding.

On its face, the best option is probably to quash the OTO before they gain anything else from Atropos. Even that's a massively tall order.

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[lesterzeppelin]

[ His expression is careful, neutral. He can't afford to show expression in public, and yet part of him has to know - ] Who among you died?

[fridgeflower]

Kirie and Will.

They're back now. They're here with me.

audio;

[dragony]

[ Which is also technically in person, but... technicalities. Her voice is still a little rough, strained and not quite healed, but certainly recognizable. ]

... Thanks for laying it all out, Laurie. I think they'll appreciate it, too. Even if it's nothing good.

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[fridgeflower]

Yeah. It's... I know I don't understand everything properly, or I feel overwhelmed about it, at least, but... It's better than nothing and darkness.

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[cassassin]

[cassandra has been... quietly falling apart over this for a few days. this was so beyond her, she doesn't know what she could have even done, but she can't help but see de chima as her responsibility, and so many people--

it's painfully clear laurie isn't okay. which doesn't help her guilt, at least in the moment.]

Should have been there. [she winces, before moving on.] I-- this... it has to stop. OTO. All of it.

Re: video;

[fridgeflower]

Yeah. It should stop.

Don't feel... [ "Don't feel bad," isn't the right sentiment by a long shot. It's more like... ] Once they set it into motion, there was no stopping it without great loss of life. It's on them.

Now we have to be on them, too.

[VIDEO]

[forgeabettertomorrow]

Wait wait wait...

I was told that OTO want to see us bring out our truest potential by trying to break us.

Now it sounds like they're trying to get rid of us.

And now this Atropos character is dropping gifts into their lap?

This doesn't make sense. What's the pay off? The endgame?

[He sounds like he has some experience with this.]

[VIDEO]

[fridgeflower]

Anybody else's guess is as good as mine. I'd just as easily-- [ Sigh. ]

In my world, certain super-powered people are hated. Sometimes, to some people, that hate burns so strong that they'll risk innocent lives, cause mass destruction, become what they claim to hate in order to put it down. And that's not logical, but I know it happens.

The OTO doesn't make sense right now, but I think it's a mistake to think it has to make sense at all.

[baphlement]

Hey, so, being relative new this is all strange to me.
But if you need any help, well, you have my bow.

[fridgeflower]

Metaphorical bow, or literal?

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[girlybruiser]

[ Haru recognizes all those signs of exhaustion; sympathy in her own expression, she leans forward attentively. ]

I still don't fully understand what this OTO is, but to be able to build another Porter should be near impossible, yes? And if so, even with a device Atropos gave them, they must have resources elsewhere to allow them to do that in the first place...

[ She pauses, trying to imagine how much money and back-up this OTO must have. ]

... are you alright, by the way?

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[fridgeflower]

Yeah. There's a lot of hurdles they would've had to clear in order to do this. They're pretty invested, to say the least.

Me, though... I assume I'm as fine as I could be, which probably isn't saying a lot. I've most been trying not to think too hard.

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[deformer]

...it's the same thing.

[Rua sounds a lot exasperated and a whole lot pissed off.]

It's the same fuckin' thing they were doing before. It's just Vulcanus again. They don't even care that what they did destroyed a whole world last time.

[Deep breath. He lets it out.]

...thanks.

For bein' in there. With Ruka. I owe you one for that.

voice;

[fridgeflower]

People who do things like this probably don't do a lot of reflecting about their morals and the consequences. This is pathological selfishness.

You don't really owe me anything. I didn't do anything worthy of a debt. We all just sort of fell into it.

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[darkpants_warmfeeling]

Thank you for getting in there, Laurie. All of you. I'm sorry you had to go through that. It must have been Hell, at the heart of it all.

[Jacob looks somber. He had barely hit the outskirts of the Shimmer before it had taken him.]

What can you tell me about the box?

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[fridgeflower]

I don't know if I can tell you much. Black box, power source... I had a degree of technopathy, at the time, so I could speak to it. It wouldn't answer most questions. When I asked where it came from, though, it answered 'Atropos.' It has a quiet voice, almost like a whisper.

Will opened it. You'll have to ask him, but I think he died pretty instantly. Radiation. Then everything buckled in on itself.

voice

[queenofseers]

[ Cassandra sighs exasperatedly before she speaks. She's been stressing over Atropos for weeks now, and she can't tell whether it's more or less comforting to know this was all interconnected. It makes their power more overwhelming, and yet makes things far less complicated... ]

Yeah, of fucking course this was how it would be. Explains the messages in the Majority Report. Thanks for letting us all know.

[ A short pause. ] Obviously we have too many things to deal with now, but- how were you all sure the box was from Atropos? Not that it's not likely, but you seem pretty certain.

voice

[fridgeflower]

It told me.

I don't think it lied, but... I didn't really consider whether it could lie.

[ video ] » ID: Psylocke

[violetnce]

Oh, bloody hell — I'm tired of one group trying to rid the world of another. On any reality of earth.

[Honestly, she is So Tired Of This Shit.]

Are you all right, after all that, at least?

[Just checking.]

[fridgeflower]

Everybody keeps asking...

I think we'll be okay, mostly. I can't speak for everybody else, but I'm... I don't know if everything's settled in my mind yet. I don't feel much of anything aside from feeling tired.

video ➜ actually have both my (marvel) ladies

[divaricate]

If any group truly had the power to eradicate imPorts, do you think we'd all be done for by now? It doesn't make it any less annoying, but, damn. It's kind of like watching Tony Stark come up with another supposed genius idea, and then everyone else sarcastically sitting back with the brooms and cleaning supplies all ready to go like 'wow I can't wait to see how this is a colossal, cosmic fuck-up this time'.

As in: These threats to imPorts seem to be a whole lot of bark with none of the bite. Or, at least a bite that barely draws blood.

[fridgeflower]

I don't know. I feel pretty drained, personally. And a lot of people did suffer and die.

Like... A lot.

It's not very fair or reasonable to only consider the impact on imPorts. Even if they haven't successfully gotten rid of us, I wouldn't say they lack bite; it's all there in their recklessness.

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[dreamkid]

[ Matthew doesn't keep up with any of this stuff as well as he perhaps should, being an imPort, but he did experience the shimmer himself and--more importantly, to him--he recognizes a couple names. ]

Is Will okay?

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[fridgeflower]

You'd have to ask him.

He's back. He's here with the rest of us, and I've got everybody calm. Everybody can sleep when they need to. Outside of that, though, the story might be different.

He's physically fine.

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[prayercycles]

[ He's tried to make the effort to understand all this since he got here- OTO, this person they call Atropos- and he's used to nothing if he's not used to complicated things like this. So when he has little to say, it's more of a case of prioritizing. ]

Thank you. For the information. I- I do not think any person in that place...understood it. [ Himself included. He pauses for a moment. ]

What do we need to do? [ He's used to someone having a mission. ]

[fridgeflower]

I don't know. We got a few small pieces of information. Names. We're going to try to dig into them, and into the building that was housing the project.

I assume the Mars mission is still relevant, but may not cover the whole of the OTO's reach. Keeping an investigation going into other branches and projects is ideal.

Most of that seems like common sense, saying it out loud. I wish I had something more concrete, at the moment, but...

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[onlydoubts]

[ he just listens quietly, hand over his mouth.

yeah. that's... a lot. finally: ]

I... thank you for stopping it. It must've been worse, in the heart of it all.

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[fridgeflower]

Maybe. I don't really-- A lot of what happened beforehand kind of compresses and expands, distorts, in the mind. I'm sure people experienced some terrible things.

I mean, it wasn't a picnic. I don't think it's worth comparing, though.

Video

[shesalittle]

I'm sorry for what happened. To you guys and all the others.

We need to... we can't balance that, that's not how it works [She doesn't seem too sure what she's trying to say]

If there's anything we can do, for their families, their cities, anything...

Video

[fridgeflower]

Yeah. Most of the discussion so far has been focused on how we're going to stop these people, which is part and parcel to preventing humans as collateral damage.

This half, the support half... That's at least as important, and it's easy to forget it in the face of a threat. In all honesty, I'm not sure if anybody's organizing for this sort of thing. Probably worth an open inquiry, and/or a call to the imPort Ambassadors.