vestigenet | evening of november 26th, after the Technicians' all-clear, @jiang.wanyin

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evening of november 26th, after the Technicians' all-clear, @jiang.wanyin

[ It must be a miracle or something, for you, residents of the containment zone ~~which is not named Virginville, thank you very much, Luusi~~ are in for a special treat today: a message from Jiang Cheng which isn't incomprehensible nonsense.

Maybe it's an early Christmas miracle. ]

I don't think we should trust their message that it is safe now.

Those of us who can fight should venture out first and check that the creatures are gone.

While we are at it, feel free to share here what you have learned about them. I don't ask for my own benefit, but we need to compile information. We have been too complacent after this place wasn't overly dangerous for a while.

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[ Somewhat shaken up after that whole disturbance, Naminé's still curled up as far into the depths of her small cabin as she can get. The network doesn't provide much comfort but it's better than stewing alone in her concerns, so it takes very little time for her to notice the new message. (The delay is longer, in fact, for her to decide to do anything about it.) ]

Being able to fight might not be enough.

[ The ambient effects didn't seem like they'd be easy to combat physically, at least. But more importantly, it really does appear prudent to share their information, so; ]

One of them came very close to my cabin.
It didn't seem interested in attacking me, but that might have been because it didn't need to.

Are you alright now?

I had some encounters with them. It was unsettling.

It's true that fighting skills don't help. Maybe someone else has figured out what does help. I had hoped to discover at least what they are or what they want but I haven't had much luck.

[ There's a telling beat before the message comes in, but: ]

I don't think I'm hurt.

[ And yet she doesn't feel like herself, either. She's still trying to figure out how to express that when she realizes there's an s on encounters and frowns at her screen, brows drawing together slightly. ]

You saw them more than once?
Were they all in the same place?

[ Because the way he phrased that, it sounded like he'd already ventured out, and that raises some questions about his self-preservative instincts. But she's here to assist, not to fret, so, ]

From what I noticed, I think it might help to have a strong mind.

[ At least, the effects presenting themselves seemed to be effecting the mind, so that's her best guess. ]

But other than that, I'm not sure what they wanted, either.
The one that came close to me didn't move like it was trying to do anything in particular.

[ Other than walk around concerningly, that is. ]

Edited 2020-12-18 06:27 (UTC)

I started venturing out right after the warning, and ever since.

I have been observing them both around the houses by the lake and in the town, and I'm sure they have been elsewhere, too. But that's where I have been investigating.

I thought I would be immune to their effects, or at least best-suited to dealing with them. [ Which... didn't turn out as well as expected. ] It wasn't as successful as I'd hoped for but I'm still alive so it doesn't matter.

Edited 2020-12-18 21:37 (UTC)

[ It was inevitable that someone would venture outside, Naminé tells herself. That doesn't make the concerned furrow in her brow any less deep, but she endeavors to look on the bright side. ]

I suppose there was no other way for all of us to learn enough about them.
Someone had to look into it.

[ The previous whereabouts of their unwelcome guests doesn't ease her state of mind much, though. He's effectively named both places she personally frequents, and even if she'd held out very little hope that the town wouldn't be effected as well, it still nudges at that well-remembered and instinctive fear to know those entities were wandering around there unrestrained.

And although she's no small measure curious about why he'd been confident in his immunity - regardless of whether or not that belief had panned out - first things come first. Being alive is all well and good, but, ]

Did anything serious happen while you were out there?

Twice. I had to run from them once, but that was on purpose since I was trying to draw one away from a cabin it was approaching. The other time in town, I ran into someone to aid me.

[ Geralt had saved him, more like it. But he's not going to admit that, least of all where Geralt can read it. ]

I'll be fine. You don't need to worry about me.

You must be very brave.
It wasn't easy for me to even look at one.

[ Which is weird when she thinks about it, since she's seen plenty of terrible things in her life even if she wasn't the one fighting them. Why should any creature have such power that their appearance itself is that frightening? She mislikes that about as much as she mislikes everything else about those visitors.

And telling Naminé to refrain from worrying is a bit like telling a fish not to swim, since by now the habit has - by repetition - become thoroughly ingrained in her personality. Still, she's not one to ignore the requests of others, so, ]

I'll try not to.

[ Which might sound sarcastic coming from some people, but in this case is a fully legitimate challenge for her. Mainly because, ]

But I can't help wondering what the long term effects of all of this might be.
They were able to cause such strange things to happen just by being nearby.
Whatever they did, I still don't feel like I'm the same as I was before.

[ Since he apparently encountered them multiple times, of course she's concerned about what that might mean for him, too. ]

I didn't have much luck looking at them, either, and I didn't learn much. I don't know what bravery was good for.

[ And oh, how it chafes, considering he is someone who has trained all his life to fight what regular people can't face. But there had been something about these creatures... ]

I'm concerned. I believe you that you feel different. Being touched by dark energies can leave a lingering effect on you. It can change you. Did you get close to one of them? Or, were you touched by them?

[ This is really alarming, more so than he wants to let on. What if the change, whatever it is, is permanent? ]

Bravery is good for lots of things.
Even if it didn't work out this time, at least you can say that you did your best.

[ Perhaps there was some different approach that no one thought to try - or, more likely, there was just no way to get the information that was needed. As for dark energies... well, that sounds familiar, doesn't it? ]

None of them were able to touch me since I stayed inside.
But when one of them came near my cabin, it felt like

[ Goodness, how does one even describe it? ]

I couldn't keep my own mind straight anymore.
Suddenly I remembered all sorts of things that I shouldn't.
Things I know never happened.

[ Things she hopes never happened, yet the more she experiences this place the more she has to wonder whether she can actually be sure of anything she recalls. Relenting, ]

And a few that might have.

You remembered

That is very alarming.

I believe something like that might have happened to me, too. I thought I was making it up, that it was like a dream or a hallucination from the stress.

I'm worried. They are powerful. They didn't even have to try and do us harm. What when they return seeking to do actual damage.

I thought so too.
Anything that can change what's in someone's mind so easily is very dangerous.

[ Including Naminé herself. It's all the more frightening to her because of her firsthand knowledge on the subject. If even she couldn't resist it... ]

Since it happened to both of us, you probably didn't make it up.
What I saw were definitely memories whether they were real or not, so it might have been the same for you.

[ Which is a peculiar thing to say, isn't it? Still a memory, even if it was fake...? But she knows whereof she speaks, funny enough. ]

That's a good question. It's frightening even to think about it.
But it's hard to say whether or not they'll return. It didn't seem like those creatures were supposed to come here in the first place, so maybe they'll take more precautions now.

[ The Technicians might have their work cut out for them, regardless. ]

If they really meant it when they told us to hide, that is.
It could be that they were expecting some of us to go out on purpose because they warned us but
all of this feels a little bit different from what usually happens.

I suppose so. It was different.

When I arrived, someone who had been abducted by the Technicians before told me that they used not to lie. But they did lie here. They said the lake is safe and I nearly drowned on the lake when I first woke.

But this seems too complex a lie for them. They aren't shy about wanting to do us harm, and they are too powerful to need lure us into putting ourselves in danger.

Then again, I don't know why they warned us. They want us to suffer, right?

Nothing about this makes sense.

[ -- Ah. Well, that's a lot to take in. First some of the people here were in a place called Asgard, and now there's something about a different round of abductions...? Huh. ]

I hadn't heard about this happening before.
Thinking about it though, maybe it does make sense. They seem to know what they're doing.
It'd be more surprising if this was their first try.

[ Practice makes perfect, and all that. Now, if only she could remember that time she was in The Box. ]

But what was wrong with the lake? It looked pretty calm from the shore back then.

[ Which doesn't mean much of anything, really, but is the extent of her knowledge on the subject. As for the conundrum about the Technicians' motivations... ]

Maybe it would be the wrong kind of suffering.
If there is a right kind, that is.
Since they control everything that happens here, it might be that they choose what happens to us more carefully than we think.

[ Or so she's considered before, anyway. If there's anything even remotely related to magic involved, a ritualistic aspect would certainly check out. ]

Either that or
they were afraid of something else those creatures might do.

[ He has to think a little about that question, brows furrowing slightly as he tries to recall exactly what had happened in that confusion of waking up in the middle of the lake. ]

The lake was calm then, too. But my boat drifted towards the middle of the lake, and it got sucked into the deep. I got sucked into the deep. I was lucky to escape, though I lost the boat and my first phone.

The wrong kind of suffering? That is an interesting suggestion. I hadn't considered there might be specific requirements for our suffering. Thne it would be that they didn't save us, they were saving us up to die the right kind of deaths.

Maybe they worried these creatures would have taken their toys away from them.

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