[text] ; a few days after the breach is sealed

[shroudedsecrets]

Greetings.

The conditions outside of the barrier are extremely poor, confirming what had been indicated to us previously. The atmosphere is heavy, and full of toxins, and currently uninhabitable.

I have attached some images for those who may be curious.

Be aware, however, that for those of you who might have the ability to withstand such conditions in your previous universes, it will still pose a danger to you here.


... That is all.


[And as the text indicates, attached to this fairly open message are quite a few snapshotted images, and even a brief shaky video or two taken of the outside just beyond the breach, indicating the state of the wall from the outside just before the repairs were completed.

A few shots focus on the conditions of the broken and corroded buildings, ones that indicated that the city had once been larger. One of these shots even captures an odd looking small lizard, hiding among the rubble.

There's a few wider shots of the area, revealing some bleached bones of a large, unidentifiable creature among empty expanses of dry, cracked wasteland, a little further off.

Lastly there seem to be slightly blurred images of some of the monster activity, from further away.]

Comments

[necromanswers]

[There's a long stretch of silence, broken only by the sound of their breathing, until Lup mumbles tiredly,]

I think it's been, like, two decades since I was last sick.

[shroudedsecrets]

[She hadn't... expected Lup to speak at all, but the significance strikes her as familiar, for more than one reason. Part of that reason was why she was here right now.]

... since before you changed.

[Her response is also a whisper, her voice not yet recovered from the coughing fits she had endured.]

[necromanswers]

Pretty much, yeah.

[Three decades, technically, but she doesn't like to count the umbrella years. That wasn't living, and she'd possessed no body to get sick.]

[shroudedsecrets]

... this world's effects are... potent.

[That either of them should be brought to this by an outside force considering their circumstances was concerning on its own. She sighs, a little, her breathing still labored, though she curls up closer. They had made their choices, how could she chastise Lup for following when she had made the decision to go in the first place, but Lup retaining the effects even once returning to her proper body was another matter to consider. Perhaps they might have manifested anyway.]

Perhaps it is why they... thought they had no choice but to abandon their forms.

[Because that's a logical thought in the sea of trying to get away mentally from how scary it was to be so debilitated in the first place.]

[necromanswers]

I thought the world ended up in this state because they went robo-mode. Or maybe it was cyclical? It was shitty so they became robots, and that fixed some things, but when the gods drained dry it got shitty again? I feel like I heard that somewhere.

[She's tired and sick, her brain's a fuzz pile.]

I mean, either way, it's bad. We've been here for months and you can't even tell if we've made a difference yet.

[shroudedsecrets]

It is hard to keep track like this...

[Being ill, and trying to separate facts from fevered thoughts.]

They thought it would fix something, but it did not. Clearly. But we do not have... a grasp of the original circumstances, or even how they lived before they created this city. If only there were a more definitive way to gauge the new energy that is being provided by our presence, we might know for certain our effect on it.

[necromanswers]

I assume they're less interested in any solutions we might come up with and would rather we follow the gods, like they do.

[Which she's fine with for the most part since it's harmless to them and to those around them, but she does not like how other doors have thus far remained closed.]

And if all we're good for is our soft squishy bods, we don't need to be using our noggins for their problem-solving.

[shroudedsecrets]

In their state, it is easier for them to follow.

[Which as well, begets familiarity. Keep quiet, keep safe, don't poke about in the unknown or you'll get hurt. She coughs softly, chest still pained from the ailment, and curls in closer.]

Perhaps that is why they would want the same of us, that we should... know our place even when treated so... well.

[necromanswers]

Well, we have only been here a handful of months. Even if most of it is their fault for hiding shit, we don't know much about the world or what kind of "life" they lead before. Hell, we don't even know their old species.

[Were they all just one people? Was it a bunch of different kinds grouped together? Was this world's population a collective of beings from other worlds who couldn't leave and they became robots to forget?

It could be anything. It could be none of those. They still know too little.]

[shroudedsecrets]

[Being deliberately erased... quite a lot of evidence of that much, with the lack of imagery to know for certain. The lack of a clear definitive past, at least from what they were allowed to interact with.]

There is too much that we do not know.

[They could chase theories around until sun up, but all that would matter in the end is any information they'd managed to gather at all. She has to pause though, for her murmuring. Shouldn't do all this talking without having something to drink, nearby, in their state, but here they were.]

Those... archives certainly hinted at varied personalities involved, if they are around in any capacity to speak freely. Those... records in their entirety could be kept elsewhere.

[necromanswers]

Mm. It's not an unreasonable assumption to make.

[How much is hidden, and how much is just- old history, records lost? When you change your body so irrevocably, when there's no going back, a part of you must want to forget the old you. Whether those memories are painful, or the thought of what you've lost fills you with an ache that will never quell- some things are better left in the past. That perception, at least, is not entirely unfamiliar to her.]

...We went to a world that's a lot like this, y'know. Me and Taako, almost a hundred years ago.

[shroudedsecrets]

... What was it like there?

[She knew their circumstances upon arriving in that world must have had its differences. Given it wasn't likely they had been called upon by gods to fix a problem, but who knew.

Her own perspective on the matter was already varied, given her experiences. Perhaps because of them.]

[necromanswers]

It was... rough. Most of the planet was one big ruin. No life, no people. It took us months to find signs of civilization, and it was just a single city, inhabited by nothing but powered metal golems- robots, in other words. The whole population had transferred their souls into these metal bodies in order to survive some kind of horrible plague. They lived like that for centuries, never ageing, never eating or sleeping... when we showed up they couldn't stop gawking at us, like we were the weirdest things they'd ever seen. All because we had skin and bones, and they'd forgotten what that was like.

[Sounds awfully familiar, all laid out like that.]

[shroudedsecrets]

[She remains quiet for a moment, just taking in that incredible similarity. There's a word for it, she knows, some odd phrase to encompass the sense of reliving a past situation, but she can't think of it now.]

It is not the same situation, but it sounds close enough that any insights would be valuable.

[necromanswers]

No kidding. I've been trying to think of anything that might be useful, but they weren't all that forthcoming with us back then, either. And we were with them almost an entire year.

[She hums thoughtfully, then coughs and regrets it, huddling a bit closer.]

What I remember most, though, is that a few of the answers we were looking for were found below the city.

[shroudedsecrets]

Below... we still need to determine further whether such a case exists here. If we can secure such an area without drawing attention.

[That had been part of their little expedition outside, but perhaps even trying to find a place inside where they could create such a search was within reason. They needed some next step to focus on from this attempt, at least. Once their recovery was secured.]

Gaining access to their higher areas would also tell us more, as likely as it those records have been... adjusted.

[necromanswers]

I could try sinking into the ground, but even I can't do that for long without taking risks. And with how mad Taako is right now?

[Yeah, not a chance she's doing anything reckless for a while. Gotta play that long game.]

If not adjusted, they're magically hidden. Notice how some text didn't appear unless under specific circumstances?

[shroudedsecrets]

It was curious that it was the older items which reacted in such a way... as though it had been encoded, or perhaps fell apart because of the inability to maintain that energy...

[Such a notion wasn't lost on her, with her varying theories that she'd muttered at one point or other. And perhaps it would be less... reckless if they kept their focus to isolating factors within the barrier than what might be outside of it.]

If we keep our exploration to within the barrier, perhaps you can remain corporeal so we can test that aspect further. Perhaps a hidden area may reveal itself, or give further indication to somewhere that might.

[necromanswers]

Mm... maybe. We'll keep an eye out for opportunities.

[Any further thoughts are interrupted by a large, emphatic and indelicate yawn, and she huffs and snuggles in closer.]

Can we talk in the morning? Taako's gonna throw shit at us if we keep this up, and we should be looping him in on these plans, anyway.

[She's not going to draw out his ire a second time, certainly not in a matter of days.]

[shroudedsecrets]

[That's a yawn one feels in their soul. Still, this was cozy, she wasn't about to argue. No need to have Taako shouting at them again.]

... yeah.

[She knows Lup's right. Talking about this stuff was just a bonus, a habit with their theorizing minds, a distraction from other things, like the reason she'd wanted to not be alone in the first place. Besides, even with the whispering, it still was strain on her throat, despite how little she had spoken at all these past few days anyway.]

We have some ideas, at least. Rest well, Lup.

[necromanswers]

Mmhm... g'night then.

[It's halfway slurred in her weariness, and it doesn't take her long to doze off, curled up close against Honerva's side. Whatever the next step is, it can wait until they're well again.]

[shroudedsecrets]

[Until they're well again. What a good promise. So much to do, so much to learn. But now, rest was nice. Resting not alone was better. What was the point in all these rooms being separated, anyway, aside from keeping their stuff sorted? It's... an amusing thought, amidst the theories that still burn in her mind before she allows those, too, to quiet so she can also, rest, allowing herself to surrender to it fully, even the wheeze rattling around in her chest finally settling down. Lup was there, it was safe.


About time, really.]